Other countries : Amagal / Dorgania / Central
Authors note: Another country overview I headcanon based on game lore. This time is Begus and there'll be some role-playing as Archbishop. BTW every country overview will have some Easter eggs. Did you find them?
Begus is known to be a religious, but sometimes racist country. Why does the church have so much power? Why do they hate demi-humans? Let’s view things from Begus’s perspective to understand their point of view.
Geology
Begus is a vast country that is mostly covered with snow, although there are some places that are a bit warmer. Rich metal ores distributed all over the places contribute greatly to their economy, including the jade vein that can’t be found in any other countries. Over the years they have managed to dig massive mine networks that could’ve potentially been used as housing if they weren’t overran by undead. Beyond their eastern border (outside of game map) lies huge untamed land filled with secrets and mystery waiting to be discovered. There are some monsters roaming on those unclaimed land but they’re not as dangerous as those on Dorgania’s western border and they seldom intrude into Begus territory.
Most of the populations in Begus consists of humans, dwarfs and angels.Only few demi-human and other species still stubbornly live within Begus as most of them have migrated to the demi-human zone just outside of eastern border, which the government prepared for them to live.
Politic, Economy and Culture
Begus has a diverse food culture that differs from town to town. In the few villages that are warm enough they plant grains and vegetables. For other towns that are too cold for regular crops, they instead raise livestock for their meat and dairy product (the reason why Begus is the only country that sells cheese in their shop). Most importantly, Begus has a much larger alcohol industry than any other countries as alcohol is the life essence of 1/3 of their populations and it helps human to warm up in the cold as well.
Mining & Metallurgy industries flourish in towns that are lucky to have mineral veins nearby. Dwarfs usually migrated to such towns as this is where they can shine. Apart from exporting raw metals, dwarven forges have created countless legendary weapons that are sought after all over the world. Swords, spears, maces, katanas, you name it. The only exceptions are guns and other firearms as they are deemed heresies by the church.
Due to the vast distance and permanent snow, transportation & communications are difficult throughout the kingdom. This, couple with the drastic difference in environment and industry from town to town, makes it hard to form a centralized government. As a result, Begus follows a classic feudal system. Royalties only have direct control on areas around Calterburry. The rest are distributed among different nobles for them to govern based on different local cultures and needs. This makes it vulnerable for the infighting between nobles and the lack of respect toward royalties. Royalties must rely on a powerful faction to maintain a stable rule: the church.
The Church of Begus
Welcome to our humble church. I am the Archbishop of the Church of Begus. We realize you have many questions regarding our actions. Fret not, as it is our duty, as messengers of God, to help the misguided open their eyes not with fervent screaming, but with logics and truthful discourses.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Our goal is to spread the wisdom of God to every corner of the world, starting in Begus. To do so we send agents such as missionaries and priests to various towns. They will not only spread his gospel but also help local communities such as babysitting, healing, teaching, and if needed, exterminating undead. Requesting our priests to heal you require some fee as these are crucial incomes for us. I understand this sounds greedy but it’s necessary. We still need to eat and developing new healing spells cost a fortune. With these incomes, nobles and other political parties won’t be able to bribe us and tarnish our duty to help people.
Everyday God weeps as he sees human barbarically butchering each other for their petty greed, both literally and figuratively. Sure, violence is required to defend our species against undead and monstrosities, but God didn’t created human just for us to grind our own species into extinction. Something must be done to prevent nobles from bringing anarchy to Begus. That’s where we come in. By rallying religious civilians and soldiers, we will be able to coerce nobles with the pressure from the masses.Instead of killing each other, human should work together and fight the monsters and undead that threaten the existence of mankind. That’s why we allow other weapons but ban guns as it’s obviously designed to kill other human, not monsters, and should be removed.
And of course, let’s talk about the question that’s been brought up a lot, about our attitude toward demi-humans and many other species. The truth is, we never wanted to exterminate them. God create every creature for a role to play in the world after all. It’s just that the “role”of demi-humans in the world is different from that of humans, angels and dwarfs. Many heretics demand us to treat every species same way as human, little realizing this would send a message that the “role” can be changed on a whim and things will spiral out of control.
For example, if a human claimed some demi-human,which are half-cow and speak 90% of our language, should be treated as human and we agreed because they look “close enough”, soon these enfranchised demi-humans will demand the same treatment to species that are 3/4 cow because they also look “close enough” in their eyes. This would go on until some 99% cow species claim the cattle tilling the farm are people too and accuse farmers of slavery. Alas, if Alraune casts some strange magic to the plants or if there’s a second magic outbreak that affect the plants and the salad in our plate start speaking like gentlemen, these heretics will demand every vegetarian in the world starve themselves to death!
No, lines must be drawn. Angel, human, and dwarf can be Begus citizen, no more. It is not demi-human’s role to live with other humans.Dwarfs are basically shorter humans thus can be regulated with the same law while angels are tied to heaven itself and their transgressions will be automatically smitten with comeuppance, such as there’s once an angel tried to cheat in a duel so God punished him by stripping most of his power temporarily and made him easily beaten by a dwarf. However, how do you regulate demi-human? Do you know how many people got severe allergies and were even hospitalized because some demi-humans always leave their fur all over public church? Do you know how many demi-human criminals had gotten away with their crimes because they can communicate and collude in ultrasound or other animal gestures no other species can understand?
But don’t worry if you’re a good demi-human. When God closes a door, he also opens another window. If you can’t play the role as a Begus citizen, why not play the role God prepared for you? God blessed you with animal features so you can thrive in the wild! Not human civilization! We have prepared a special demi-human zone for you, just outside of our eastern borders so demi-humans can regulate themselves without Begus jurisdictions.You’ll be free to dress as we do, live as we do and prey to God as we do while enjoy the nature with your animal sense. Your zone can also serve as a traffic hub between human civilizations and unknown eastern land. Your economy will thrive as passing adventurers purchase supplies, lodge in your inns, and sell treasure to you. Adventurers will also thank you as their family & friend back in Begus will feel safer for there’s a buffer zone protecting them from the untamed east. A perfect solution that will benefit all children of God!
We know Her Majesty wish to separate government from church, either by solving undead crisis or by bribing military. We understand her good intention, but the young queen is still too naïve and ignorant of the ugly political battle the church has been fighting for her.
Sure, white silver weapons are good against undead, but can she find the elusive Undead Lord in the first place?
Whose soldiers are going to weld them anyway?
Her personal soldiers? What will happen when royal soldiers just come in and show local people how they can kill the undead easily while local garrisons couldn’t for decades? She might unintentionally destroy the reputation of reginal commanders and nobles for their only fault is not having white silver and they’ll be antagonized even if they originally supported the queen. They’ll do anything to undermine her such as stopping her soldiers from entering their domain with all kinds of excuses or even back stab the soldiers when they’re fighting undead.
Giving white silver to nobles? Can she be sure they won’t commit embezzlement by selling them? And what about the nobles who’s already cleared all undead in their domain? They couldn’t be rewarded with legendary weapons because they did a good job protecting the citizens?
Giving them to her soldiers and every single noble? Does she have that much money to craft so many weapons of such unique material? And in which order will she distribute? Just the act of sending the first batch to one certain noble first before the others could send unintentional message and cause political backlashes.
And there are lots of problems if she tries to bribe military against us as well: She can out-bribe us, but can she out-bribe all the nobles and political factions in Begus? What if someone else can give more money to commander Walcot, offer more privileges for the commander of Ironholm Prison, or blackmail new commander of Diminus Castle into submission by fabricating criminal evidence?
Unless Her Majesty is willing to bathe her hands in blood, barring the church from politics will only cause more misery to our innocent people.
The world is ugly, that’s why Begus needs us! That’s why the world needs God! Only his word can nourish people’s soul beyond every material wealth and unite them to do what is right. Something our mortal government could never achieve!
“But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”
Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more. But instead—the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace!