JesseLowe/Cherak

Cherak Main Wiki page.

Map

Chief Political Factions

House Ferem: Loyal to the Realm. Dynastic branch.

House Margard: Independent, wealthy, mercantile. Lunar leader.

The Guild: Reduced presence due to House Margard. Focus is on caravans here. Tenuous partnership with Margard (for profit!) but wouldn't mind them being taken down a peg.

Realm Embassy: Dominated by House Ragara. Mostly just functionaries, since Cherak is loyal. Posting is considered a bit of a comfortable backwater, often a sinecure. Things are getting delicate with the Bull of the North, the northmen, and Calin.

The Immaculate Order: Typical Immaculates. Kung fu!

Threats to the Established Order

Calin. Once a Realm tributary, it's now a part of the Confederation of Rivers.

The Bull of the North: Peer to Merta, the Lunar who runs House Margard, the Bull has established a domain from Gethamane to the Linowan lands. Not affiliated with the Silver Pact, he is backed by the Silver Faction of the Sidereals. He is currently consolidating his gains, but Cherak is high on his target list.

The Northmen: A large collection of tribes, disorganized and barbaric, pushed out of the northwest by a combination of the Bull, the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible, and a series of poor harvests. They are mostly agrarian / fisher folk, presently raiding and looking for a place to settle.

Medieval Demographics Data

The population density of Cherak, due to factors such as climate, geography, and political environment, is 30 persons per square kilometer.

Cherak occupies 388,821 square kilometers. Roughly 43% of this is arable land, or 167,836 square kilometers. The remaining 220,985 square kilometers is divided among wilderness, rivers, lakes, and the like.

Population

Cherak's population is approximately 11,664,630 persons.

233,295 residents are isolated or itinerant.
10,381,520 residents live in 23,071 villages.
699,877 residents live in 140 towns.
291,615 residents live in 25 cities.
58,323 residents live in 1 big city.

The average distance between villages is 4 km.
The average distance between towns is 53 km.
The average distance between cities (including big cities) is 120 km.

Cherak supports 0 Universities.

Cherak supports 25,662,186 head of livestock:
17,450,286 fowl (e.g. chickens, geese, ducks).
8,211,900 dairy and meat animals (e.g. cows, goats, pigs, sheep).

Castles and Fortifications

The inhabitants of Cherak have been building castles for the last years.

There are approximately 295 standing fortifications in Cherak.

233 castles are in active use.
62 castles are ruined or abandoned.

221 castles are located in settled areas.
74 castles are located in remote areas, unsettled areas, or wilderness.

(All numbers are approximate, particularly where ruins and wilderness are concerned.)

Subverting Cherak

Remember, Cherak and the surrounding towns (including Scarlet Fortress) are controlled by House Ferem, who are sort of "country cousins" to the Realm. Depending on how you want to go about this, subverting Scarlet Fortress could be a very long-term goal. As I see it right now, here are the options for going about that:

1. Kick out the current rulers and take over, wowing the locals with Solar Social Fu (TM).
   1. Complication: Who's going to defend the town from the Ferem Legions when you leave?
   2. Complication: Who's going to be in charge when you leave?
2. Woo the current rulers (i.e., House Ferem) to be your allies and leave the power structure in place, for now.
   1. Complication: You did just raid them. That pisses people off.
   2. Complication: Allying with an Anathema against the Realm goes against centuries of tradition and mindset -- and furthermore, is likely to be quite dangerous.
3. Help someone else do it who's hostile to the Realm. The trick is finding somone who:
   1. Is strong enough
   2. Won't work against you anytime soon

The obvious candidate on 1 is the Bull of the North, but no guarantees there on 2. The "sun-lord" of the Kamsa might work, but you've already got plans for him -- and you know next to nothing about him anyway.

More importantly: If you decide to go after Cherak or even just Scarlet Fortress, it's going to extend this story arc considerably. By at least ten sessions, I'd guess. Therefore, I'd suggest the following:

1. Pick a strategy
2. Work on the social skills (and Charms) to boost that strategy
   1. For example, boost Performance if you're going to play to the mob.
   2. OTOH, if you want to subvert Ferem, work on Socialize and Bureaucracy.
3. (at the same time as 2) Start gathering the intelligence you need to carry out your strategy: weak points in House Ferem, potential leaders among the mob, likely patsies and double-agents, how outside forces are going to react, etc. Essentially -- set up a spy network in Cherak.
4. It's going to take time. Decide if you want to be on the scene for the long-term work or if you'll depend on a trusted agent.
5. Profit! IOW, get ready to set things in motion once they hit a crisis point. This lets you work on the project while still adventuring elsewhere. Make your spymaster a DB sorcerer with some communications spells (like Infallible Messenger) and you're good to go.

Of course, there are some significant advantages to taking over Cherak:

1. Safe harbor. If you manage to control Cherak, or even just Scarlet Fortress, that's a safe harbor that puts you within striking distance of much of the Blessed Isle.
2. Disrupt the Realm trade network. The Realm does most of its trading with the Guild through Cherak; take out Cherak and they have to rearrange things, which is slow and expensive. Cherak and its satellite cities are also a major source of food, so that could be helpful. (On the downside, disrupting trade like that is going to make the Guild unhappy, too.)
3. Income: Control a couple of manors and set up a trading fleet and you may not have to depend on plunder to keep the Solar Wind Fleet running.

On the flip side, here are some complications with taking over Cherak:

1. The Bull of the North. Take over Cherak, and you'll have to deal with him somehow, either through alliance, intimidation, open war, distraction, or something. And a civil war in Cherak would be a great opportunity for him to walk in.
2. Calin. To the East. It's a traditional rival of Cherak, but it's also part of the Confederation of Rivers, which is presently... at war with the Mask of Winters. Definitely more on the complication side instead of the threat side, but something to worry about.
3. The Realm. You thought they didn't like you before? Hoo, boy... At present, Houses V'Neef, Ragara, Tepet, Mnemon, and Cynis all have significant stakes in Cherak or its satellite cities. They will be incredibly unhappy if they lose those satrapies and manors. (Of course, their rivals will be downright chipper...)