So I got to wonder, does the nations of Eberron actually have flags? I can easily make some, but if there is some out there, well then I won't have to.
And if we don't know of any, what kind of flags do you think the different nations flags would look like?
For example I imagine that Q'barras flag would bear a close resemblance to the Galifarian.
I am almost certain that Five Nations has, if not flags, then crests for Aundaire, Breland, Karnnath, and Thrane (and possibly Cyre). I can't recall them off the top of my head, except for Brelands, which I believe is a portrait of a roaring black bear over a blue field with crossed silver stripes?
There are coats of arms in Five Nations.
Aundair: The head and wings of a dragonhawk, on a field of blue, beneath the tome of knowledge and grains of unending wheat
Breland: A roaring bear surrounded by gold wyverns on a crimson shield
Cyre: Crown and bell on a field of green, above a hammer and bellows.
Karrnath: A blood-red wolf head on a shield of silver and black.
Thrane: A silver sword set beneath the symbol of the Silver Flame.
Given that the political system is supposed to be feudal (although there is little evidence of feudal culture in the approach to most published materials), and assuming a European heraldic approach, flags would likely be adaptations of the coats of arms. It is reasonable to assume that Galifar combined them into a coat of arms with five sections, or perhaps quartered with the nation holding the seat of the current monarch in the centre. Or maybe Karrnath is always in the centre since that is where Galifar ir'Wynarn was born. Q'barra would probably be similar, with some sort of distinguishing mark.
I would expect royal arms to be different from national arms, as each monarch claims a right to the throne of all of Galifar. Probably variations on the Galifar arms, although they would have to use something else in the field or it would get confusing.
Beoric is obviously on point with the 5 nations' flags.
I would submit that each of the 12 Dragonmarked Houses also fly their own flags baring the heraldry of their house at any location or on any equipment they own.
I would think that the nations of Darguun, Zilargo, Mror Holds, and Valenar would all have flags as well; though they may well be based on clan affiliation.
Thanks for great ideas everyone. It seems I will have to give Five Nations a new readthrough.
You can also get an idea from many of the art insets at the beginning of the source books as well; I've seen the different creasts represented there, Karrnath especially.
Beoric wrote:
On the whole feudalism thing, is anyone aware of any references to the trappings of feudalism whatsoever? I'm thinking of serfs, vassal knights, manor courts, and the like. Most of the writing seems to assume the five nations are post-feudal monarchies, with free peasants, an aristrocracy that is rich and powerful but appears to have no patroly duties (or vassal duties to the monarch).
There are references in the 3.5 Campaign Setting. "Galifar was a feudal monarchy, as are most of the nations that formed after the Last War shattered that legendary kingdom" (p.131, under "Government"); "in some nations, farmers are serfs indentured to the lords that control their lands" (ibid, under "Rural Life"). "Nobles and Vassal Lords" are mentioned amongst the power groups of Aundair (p.139), Breland (p.145) and Karrnath (p.179); New Galifar is also called a "feudal society" (p.195).
Note, however, that feudalism is not restricted to the Middle Ages. Serfdom persisted well into the modern period. In Russia, it was abolished in 1861, in some provinces even later. The great "enlightened monarchs" did not do much against it (Catherine the Great), or failed (Frederic the Great freed those on the royal estates, I believe, but could not force his nobles to adopt the idea; Joseph II failed here as he did in most of his well-intentionned reforms).
Levies by nobles are mentioned in the above-cited passages, but it seems to be particularly relevant to Karrnath. The warlords there are fairly independent. Check Forge of War: I believe there is some relevant information in there.
Where my Eberron is concerned:
Breland has largely abolished serfdom. Instead, they get a pseudo-industrial proletariat. The nobles there have caught on to the idea that, while you can exploit serfs, you can exploit workers too - and charge them rent and sell them their own produce as well.
Cyre is no longer relevant, but used to have serfdom in outlying regions (what is now Valenar, for instance: a situation never published, but expressed by Keith Baker; essentially, it was occupied territory exploited by the nobility of Cyre proper).
Thrane's feudalism has been shattered by the theocracy: those feudal lords who did not switch their allegiance from Crown to Keeper find that their serfs can simply appeal to the Council of Cardinals.
Aundair is in the process of becoming an absolute monarchy, with the Royal Eyes trying to get the nobles under control, but it's not there yet: I play it as the early days of Louis XIV, with Aurala being far less secure than she would like to appear. The landed nobility runs the gamut from caring masters who actually look after their people to decadent exploiters, but increasingly, they are expected to be present at the Royal Court so they cannot cause any mischief, or built up their power bases (especially since some took their chance to rebel alongside the druids when the Eldeen Reaches declared themselves independant).
Karrnath is actually a political disaster waiting to happen. Kaius III has all the power of the German Emperor during the Holy Empire. He controls the main cities - Korth, Karrlakton, Rekkenmark, Atur, and a few royal demesnes in which he has indeed abolished serfdom; virtually everywhere else is ruled by Warlords who may or may not take notice of what the King decides, especially since the royalties decisions to switch from the Host to the Blood and back again has split the country (and caused a rift between a pro-Royal faction of the Blood of Vol, headed by the Order of the Onyx Skull, and a pro-Crimson Covenant one, headed by the Emerald Claw). I also make a big contrast between the large rural areas, where people are at the mercy of the Warlord, and the big cities of the West, where royal power and a strong middle class holds sway. I also implemented the rule, which existed in the German Middle Ages, that an escaped serf living in a free city for a year and a day was legally free - a law supported by the king partially to curb the power of his warlords.
Syltorian, your Eberron political sense is impressive! I totally agree with your views and especially enjoy your take on Karrnath!
Thanks. Be aware, though, that it's only a personal version. For instance, whereas in my Karrnath, there has been a schism in the Blood of Vol, and the Order of the Onyx Skull has turned against the Emerald Claw, Keith Baker has mentioned that in his campaign, the Onyx Skull was dissolved as well. Besides, it would also make sense to have Kaius III use Louis XIV's ploy of making court attendance mandatory for his nobles (thus keeping them under surveillance and too far away from their own power bases to stir up trouble), instead of Aundair. One way to make this happen would be through the Order of Rekkenmark, for instance - especially if it gets regularily infused with royal appointees who owe their career not to descent from nobility, but to royal favour. Kaius III cannot keep his courtiers too close, though, lest they notice a certain strangeness in the king's behaviour, such as his sleeping in a coffin, forgetting to eat normal food, and refusing to go near holy symbols, or expecting the water-features in the pleasure gardens to be turned off when he is passing...
I made very good use of the Order of Rekkenmark in one of my games; though I viewed it as a meritocracy with a strong emphasis on attending Rekkenmark Academy itself. You're inspiring me to revisit all of that!
The Order of Rekkenmark, as presented in 5N, works both as a genteel Old Boys Network, a War Council for the King, an organisation potentially opposing the King (at least, the At All Costs subgroup does), and many other things.
I too tend to see it, and Karrnath as well, as a meritocracy, though I still have some trouble combining it with the weight put on descend and bloodlines, since you're not necessarily a good officier just because one of your ancestors under Karrn the Conqueror was. Perhaps it produces a particularily unforgiving climate, where sons and daughters of noble houses who are not up to it are disinherited, or expected to take the honourable way out. These families could also consider refreshing their bloodlines by allowing their scions to marry non-nobles, provided these showed merit.
Also, I could see a few opposing groups within the order itself, for instance, one who makes the distinction between those who properly attended the Academy, and those who were granted the Opal Ring, seeing the latter as upstarts.
Unfortunately, though, 4E declared that Rekkenmark Academy was closed during the entire war. I tend to ignore that, and the fact that, if the maps of Forge of War hold true, Rekkenmark spent more time being Aundairian than Karrnathi. In my world, the countryside was taken, but the citadel-city of Rekkenmark (which I developped along the Vauban/pentagonal system complete with casemates) held out against the invader, though with all the damage caused by protracted sieges and the Thrane air raid.
Ha! By your description, I am put in the mind of feudel Japan. As I think more about it, a nation that had such a large swath of it's population die due to famine would probably have to give titles to those who'd earned them through service as well as a landed class that clung tightly to the traditions of hereditary inheritence. I imagine many of those 'old blood' noble families which survived the war moved quickly to snap up fallow lands and increase the reach of their power; adding more weight to the feel that Karrnath is a nation ruled by Warlords crouched in their petty fiefdoms resenting Royal oversight.
I can only but agree that the Order would have many types of factions among it's members. I'll have to take a look at Forge of War again (what a great book!) and check out the maps, but I always imagined that Rekkenmark continued to train Karrnath's best/brightest miliary minds even during the War. Once the White Arch bridge was destroyed and the Wyrven air raids started, I imagine Rekkenmark leaning even more heavily on the expertise of the Academy as well as those who wore the Opal Ring.
I also imagine that any non-Karrnathi natives awarded the Opal ring before the war were in very high demand in their own lands.
How did you deal with the ruin of the White Arch Bridge?
In the game I ran a whole slum had grown from underneath the remaining ruin and called itself Undershade. :-)
Sorry to come to the thread so late, but here is the flag I came up with for Zilargo a while back:
The white field with a green laurel wreath is for Trolanport.
The green field with a red gemstone is for Zolanberg.
The red field with the white dogwood blossom is for Korranberg.
StrikerGreen wrote:
Syltorian wrote:
That's an interesting out-of-character reason, especially since (as I understand it) the Cherokee "little people" seem to be some kind of fey, just as the Gnomes have roots in Zilargo and the feyspires. I didn't know the dogwood stood as a symbol for knowledge though, but it might well be a flower sacred to Aureon. I particularily like the yin-yang symbolism. I wonder whether it'd be possible to carry it further and include white in the gemstone, a green centre in the dogwood flower, and perhaps a red ribbon to the laurel wreath?
Syltorian wrote:
I liked the previous gem better; this looks more like an egg. Perhaps using two gems, or a gem set within a ring or mountain/rock might work, if you don't want to have multicolored facets? The other charges are great.