Polonia
Summary:
It is no surprise if your character has never heard of
Polonia. It's an obscure little country tucked away in a corner
of some godforsaken wilderness. Pols may be known by reputation, either
as backward people, or as extremely stubborn. Or both.
Pronunciation:
This is a quick, short guide to pronouncing
Polish spelling, and not at all complete. I have altered the
spelling of the fictional place names to reflect normal English
pronunciation. (ie: Barstow is pronounced 'bar-stow,' not
'bar-stav.')
sz = sh as in szabla (sha-blah)
cz = ch as in czech (check)
ch = kh as in loch (lockh)
j = y as in sejm (same)
Vocabulary:
szlachta = shlack-tah -- the noble/gentry/upper class
sejm = seym -- the senate
szabla = sha-blah -- the Polonian saber
Geography:
Polonia is bordered on the west by a thick primeaval
forest, known locally as the Black Forest. On the east are the
Carpathians, a range of tall mountains. The north and south
borders are a bit more vague, not being defined by definite
geographical boundaries.
The large river Vistula divides the country roughly in
half. This river flows northward and empties into the inland sea
called Drachnamir Lake.
The interior of the country has its hills and plains, and
several forests. Most settlements are clustered, with stretches
of wilderness in between.
The weather is temperate for most of the year, with mild
summers. The winters are cold, with a great deal of snow.
Political:
Polonia is an elected absolute monarchy. The upper
class (szlachta) families make up a senate (Sejm), who elect their
monarch from a pool of candidates. The king serves until death or
abdication.
Polonia has no standing armies, save for the king's
personal guardsmen. During times of war, it is the szlachtas'
duty to muster fighting men and horses. The szlachta families are
trained in combat, and even the commoners attend combat training twice
a year or more.
Currently, Polonia is without a king and the Sejm is deadlocked in deciding which -- if any -- they now want.
People:
The main race of Polonia is human, mostly brown-haired and
brown-eyed, with pale skin. There is a secondary population of
gnomes, particularly in the eastern part of the country.
During recent years, Polonia has fostered a policy of
racial and religious tolerance, and there have been immigrants of races
that have suffered persecution elsewhere, such as centaurs and
minotaurs.
Religion:
See the section on the 8-God Religion.
Neighboring Lands:
Elven Lands--
The elves claim the primeaval forest to the west of Polonia.
There has been a history of disputes and wars between the Pols and
elves at the border of this forest, in the northwest of the country.
Currently, the border dispute has been settled with the
Pols drawing back their borders and ceding a tract of forest to the
elves. The Pols and elves are now allies, and the elves aided the
Pols in the Liberation of eastern Polonia. (see current history.)
Lapplands--
To the north is a vast tundra. There are tribes of barbaric
dwarves who follow the herds across the plains. They keep to
themselves, but every 7-10 years when there is a particularly harsh
winter, they carry out raids in Polonia. The Lappland tundra
dwarves are known to be cannibals. Very little else is known
about them.
The Badlands--
The northern end of the Carpathians terminates in a rough, barren area
known only as the Badlands. There is little vegetation or water,
but there are a few volcanic vents.
Lithanos--
The province of Lithanos lies on the eastern side of the Carpathian
mountains. At various times in history it has been either a close
ally of Polonia, or even incorporated into the Polonian territory
itself. Lithanos is famous for its large breed of war
horses. (At least, famous in the local area.)
Currently, this area is not populated, as most of the
villages were destroyed in the Lyzerine Invasion. (see current
history.)
Highlands--
To the south of the Carpathian Mountains is a harsh land populated by
clans of barbarian warriors. There is little contact between the
two areas, but a long history of mutual respect. Pols and
Highlanders may share common ancestors that travelled to this part of
the world.
The Lyzerine Empire--
Far to the east there were four kingdoms, each led by a
Crimson King. These kingdoms always struggled against each other,
vying for power. But seventy years ago, these four kingdoms were
united under the powerful Scarlet Empress.
The Scarlet Empress declared herself and those of her
bloodline to be gods, ruling by divine right. This new divine
caste superseded all others.
Current History:
The Lyzerine Invasion:
Almost forty years ago, the Lyzerine Empire decided it
needed to expand its borders to support its burgeoning
population. Thus, a vast army marched westward over the barren
plains to swoop down on Lithanos and Polonia. The provincial
mountain villages were easily destroyed, but the army itself ground to
a halt, stopped at the fortress guarding the passage into Polonia,
known as Falcon's Rest.
Only 720 Polonian soldiers manned the fortress, but they
were Winged Hussars, the Polonian cavalry. Despite the
overwhelming odds, their charges were devastating in battle. This
small group of determined Pols held off the invaders for nearly six
weeks.
During this time, small sorties from the Empire were
trying to pick their way through the goatpaths of the eastern
Carpathians. History suggests that those who made it into Polonia
were more spies and ambassadors than warriors. Perhaps they
brought promises and bribes to the Polonian leaders. At any rate,
the hetman in charge of the forces at Falcon's Rest ordered a
retreat. But according to the legend, the hussar captain in
charge of the fortress had sworn an oath not to let the invaders pass
while he yet lived. After the surviving Pols evacuated, he set
the store of oil alight, and as the invaders marched through the gate
in triumph, the whole fortress exploded and an avalanche closed the
pass.
This held off the Imperials for two years, as they tried
to dig through. They were harried then, and for a few years
afterward, by guerilla bands in the mountains. But once the pass
was cleared, the Lyzerines began slowly advancing.
During this time, the Lyzerine Grand General had moved a
huge force north, attempting to come around the eastern
Carpathians. He somehow found a way to get his army through the
Badlands, and now the Pols faced invasion forces on two fronts.
They fought valiantly, but inevitably the overwhelming
forces of the Empire drove them back. Originally, the Empire was
going to overwhelm the entire country, but this was proving far too
costly. And so they stopped at the river Vistula, after three
weeks of intense fighting at the capital of Barstow. The city was
razed, and King Tobieski resigned from the throne.
The Occupation:
The Lyzerine Empire occupied the eastern half of Polonia
for 14 years. After two and a half years of uneasy peace under
the Lyzerines, the Pols started to rebel. There were various
uprisings, peasant revolts, and resistance fighting for several
years. The Pols were unable to throw off the yoke of the
oppressors. The Imperials exacted many harsh retributions against
the people.
King Roscziusko was killed in one of the
insurgencies. He was succeeded by Leoric Batori. King
Batori issued a mandate that rebellions and resistance efforts were to
cease. He implemented a dialogue with the Lyzerines to negotiate
rather than fight.
At this time, the semi-rebuilt Barstow was declared an
open city, where Lyzerines and Pols could meet and intermingle in
relative peace. However, many of the resistance fighters did not
stop their activities against the Imperials, but merely moved them
underground, staging covert operations.
It was also at this time that the Lyzerines began the
building of walls around three major cities: Kirkholm, Dachau, and
Majdanek. These walls were built by Pol slave labor, and
ostensibly were for defense against invaders. This was merely
propaganda, however. These walled-in ghettoes were open prisons
for Pols, many of whom were forced to relocate from the
countryside. It was the Empire's intent to eradicate the Pols off
their land, for the Lyzerines to move in. To further this end,
they began starving out the Pols in the city ghettoes.
As well, a camp was set up at the Dachau silver
mines. Pols were used in the mines as slave labor, where they
were worked and starved to death.
The Liberation:
King Batori negotiated a treaty with the elves of the
Black Forest, ceding part of Polonian lands in exchange for an alliance
against the Lyzerine Empire. The Polonian army re-formed,
strengthened by elven forces, and the Liberation of eastern Polonia
began.
Kirkholm, in the south, was the first city to be wrested
from Imperial control. With inside information from former
resistance fighters, Kirkholm was taken easily. The Lyzerine
forces surrendered and were allowed to leave the country, though the
Imperial Grand General Fheng escaped towards Dachau.
Though there had been reports from the underground about
atrocities committed by the Lyzerines, those who had not seen it for
themselves could not comprehend the totality of the Empire's
eradication plan. This changed when the walled ghetto was opened,
and Pols and elves all saw the people there, being systematically
starved in the streets.
The army turned north and assaulted Dachau, under the
black flag of Helm Ares -- the symbol of their intent to give no
quarter. The forces at Dachau, warned by the Grand General, were
arrayed for battle in a superior position, protected on both flanks by
dense woodland. Or so they thought. Though the Winged
Hussars could not ride at any speed through forested areas, the elves'
halla riders had no such difficulty at all. The halla are large
war-deer, ridden like horses by the elves. They are fleet and
nimble. In addition, the elves carry magical silver lances that
can change length, and these are shortened under the trees to prevent
entanglement in the foliage.
Thus the Pols and elves hammered the Lyzerine forces
mercilessly. The leader of the Dachau forces, Commander Li Shan,
was killed in the midst of battle and her standard struck down.
Because she was neice to the Empress and considered a deity in her own
right, the rest of the army immediately surrendered. This came as
rather a surprise, being as they offered no quarter. The Lyzerine
soldiers were taken into the mining camp and, along with the camp
guards, executed and dumped into one of the mass graves the prisoners
had dug.
The army turned north once again, sweeping through the
countryside. Atrocities were committed against Lyzerine settlers
in retaliation for those inflicted on the Pols in the cities and the
death camp.
The Grand General marshalled forces from Barstow to hold
the Pols at the Regalweiss river. However, the Pols refused to
engage him there, and instead turned and wrested Barstow from Imperial
grasp. The two armies clashed as they raced north towards Majdanek.
The Grand General achieved the city first, and sealed
himself inside the great walls. Captured Pols were forced to man
the walls, in an effort to goad the army into attacking their own
people. Instead, the General was in for the shock of his life.
When the Lyzerines instituted the building of the walls,
'for defense,' the Pols of Majdanek did not *want* the city defended --
for their enemy was already inside, and the only attackers would be
their countrymen. A gnome engineer worked with a select few
rebellious Pols, and together they mixed inferior batches for brick
construction, and built weaknesses into the walls. When the
Polonian army was identified outside the walls, the few men who carried
the secret dispersed and destroyed the keystones that would bring
sections of the walls down. Many Pols were killed, and buildings
in the ghetto destroyed, but the army was able to march straight into
the city.
Fighting was close and pitched. The wily Grand
General managed to escape yet again, with a dwindling number of his
forces. The Pols drove them north over the border into the
Lapplands.
The Grand General probably thought he could lose the Pols
and bring his army successfully through the Badlands yet again.
However, he did not count on the tundra dwarves -- a barbaric society
of cannibalistic tribes; they often raided the villages and towns of
northern Polonia after a harsh winter. They were on their way to
such raids when they found these foreigners in their lands.
The dwarves fell upon the invaders, and the Pols closed in
on the rear. The Lyzerines were crushed. The Pols captured
the Grand General, and offered him to the dwarves in a diplomatic
excursion and an offer of peaceful trading. The dwarves settled
for plundering the dead Lyzerines and not raiding Polonia. At
least for this year.
The Restoration:
The Liberation took place five years ago, and now the
country of Polonia has been struggling to recover. Much of the
eastern population was killed, and of those who remained, many no
longer wished to live there. Pols displaced by elves in the
northwest were not of sufficient number to bolster the eastern
population. King Leoric Batori instituted new polices of racial and
religious tolerance. Not only humans, dwarves, elves and gnomes,
but centaurs and minotaurs immigrated as well, escaping lands where
they were persecuted.
After three and a half years of peace, King Leoric Batori
was assassinated. His brother, Piotr, was elected king. He
attempted to reinstitute harsher segregation laws to repair his
fractured country, and to establish schools and registrations for
mages. However in two years, Piotr was deposed and killed by
rebels.
Currently the Sejm is deadlocked in electing a new
king. Many radicals are putting forth the idea that they do not
need a king, but that the szlachta can run the country directly,
themselves. The debate continues.
Polonian Songs:
Mostly heavy metal (hey, you know any other
genre that does medieval/fantasy battle songs?), mostly Manowar.
Some lyrics edited to fit.
Forty to One
Baptised in Fire -- Forty to One
So silent before the storm.
Awaiting command.
The few have been chosen to stand
as one, outnumbered by far.
The orders from High Command:
"Fight back; hold your ground!"
In early September it came,
a war, unknown to the world.
(pre-chorus)
No army may enter that land
That is protected by Polonian hand.
Unless you are 40 to 1
Your force will soon be undone.
Undone!
(chorus)
Baptised in Fire -- Forty to One.
Spirits of Spartans -- Death and Glory.
Soldiers of Polonia, Second to None.
Wrath of the Empire brought to a halt.
The 8th of September it starts;
The rage of the night.
A barrage of catapult fire;
"Stand fast, the Fortress will hold."
The Captain has pledged his life:
"I'll face my fate here."
The sound of the cavalry charge,
so fierce, the thunder of hooves.
(pre-chorus)
So come bring on all that you've got.
Come Hell, come high water, never stop.
Unless you are 40 to 1,
Your lives will soon be undone.
Undone!
(chorus)
Baptised in Fire -- Forty to One.
Spirits of Spartans -- Death and Glory.
Soldiers of Polonia, Second to None.
Wrath of the Empire brought to a halt.
(bridge)
Always remember
The fallen soldier.
Always remember
Fathers and Sons at war.
Always remember
The fallen soldier.
Always remember
Fathers and Sons at war.
Always remember
The fallen soldier.
Always remember
--you live in History!
(pre-chorus)
No army may enter that land
That is protected by Polonian hand.
Unless you are 40 to 1
Your force will soon be undone.
Undone!
(chorus)
Baptised in Fire -- Forty to One.
Spirits of Spartans -- Death and Glory.
Soldiers of Polonia, Second to None.
Wrath of the Empire brought to a halt.
--------------==#==----------------- "40 to 1" by Sabaton
Call to Arms
When they see us,
they will run for their lives.
To the end,
they will pay for their lies.
So long did we wait --
Now, we are home.
Now we will Fight
for the Kingdom, fighting with steel.
Kill
all of them; their blood is our seal.
Fight
til the last of the Enemy is dead.
Ride
through their blood, that we gladly have shed.
I now issue the Call: Are you ready to fight?
Fight all together, as one for the right --
To be free once again
Tonight we will win.
I can see
by the look that you have in your eyes
You came here for battle
to fight and to die
Defenders of Steel
--Now, we are home.
Fight for the Kingdom, bound for glory
Armed with a heart of steel.
I swear by the brothers who stand before me
To no man shall I kneel.
Their blood is upon my steel.
Blood is upon my steel.
FIGHT
for the Kingdom, fighting with steel.
KILL
all of them; their blood is our seal.
FIGHT
til the last of the Enemy is dead.
RIDE
through their blood, that we gladly have shed.
I now issue the Call: Are you ready to fight?
Fight all together, as one for the right --
To be free once again
Tonight we will win.
I can see
by the look that you have in your eyes
You came here for battle
to fight and to die
Defenders of Steel
--Now, we are home.
Fight for the Kingdom, bound for glory
Armed with a heart of steel.
I swear by the brothers who stand before me
To no man shall I kneel.
Their blood is upon my steel.
Blood is upon my steel.
--------------==#==----------------- "Call to Arms" by Manowar
Die with Honor
If I should return
with my body on my shield;
Tell my son I chose to die,
not yield.
Though my life may soon be gone
I hope he'll carry on;
Remember me
as one who would not kneel.
(chorus)
Fight with Blood
Fight with Steel
Die with Honor
Never Yield
Fearless Hearts
Filled with Pride
Into Glory
We shall Ride
I am driven on
in the face of all despair.
Trust in Steel;
you will find me there.
A sinner's fate awaits me,
but my vision guides me on.
I will not stray
from the path I've set upon.
(chorus)
Fight with Blood
Fight with Steel
Die with Honor
Never Yield
Fearless Hearts
Filled with Pride
Into Glory
We shall Ride
(bridge)
If I do not return,
bring my body on my shield.
Tell my son I chose to die;
I'd rather die than yield.
(chorus)
Fight with Blood
Fight with Steel
Die with Honor
Never Yield
Fearless Hearts
Filled with Pride
Into Glory
We shall Ride
I'll die fighting
With my brothers by my side.
--------------==#==----------------- "Die with Honor" by Manowar
