Fleshing out Zir
I'm planning on running a game based in Zir to give the players the feeling of being in a totally alien land. I've made some notes about Zir's culture and institutions, and was hoping to get some feedback, and any other ideas the community has to other.
For reference, I'm not using the Titans, and I'm using the default 4e pantheon (which I believe is the same one Mercer uses in Critical Role).
So without further ado, a bunch of notes:
The Council of Seven are elected by their respective schools, and the High Magister is elected by the entire populace (or at least the dragonborn wizard populace). This leads to shifting alliances between the schools, as no single school can muster enough support to elect one of their own High Magister.
The Ziranthian Guard is the military power in Zir. They are divided into four orders:
Order of the Watch – Responsible for law enforcement
Order of War – Serve as the standing army
Order of Inquisition – Secret police/hunt down and execute heretics
Order of Doctrine – Militant scholars who interpret Tiamat’s will, and make sure laws and customs are in line with it (primarily clerics and paladins)
In the center of Ziris is a great pyramid. It is hollow on the inside, and is used as a grand arena. Due to the pyramid’s shape, there are fewer seats at the top that hang out above the lower tiers. The nobles in higher seats get a “god’s eye” view of the action, without having to see the unwashed masses below.
The majority of Zir’s population is chromatic dragonborn at about 60%. Another 15% are metallic dragonborn, who are treated as second class citizens. 20% are dwarves, gnomes and halflings which are kept as slaves. Halflings and gnomes are generally house slaves (their small size making it easier for them to keep out of the way while they work), while dwarves are used for manual labour (prior to the fall of Kalazanbar, there were no dwarf slaves in Zir). The remaining 5% is made of the other civilized races, primarily diplomatic envoys.
The only legal religion in Zir is the worship of Tiamat. The only other being acknowledge as a god is Bahamut, but he is treated as The Devil. Any heretics are hunted by the Order of Inquisition. If caught, they are executed. Any metallic dragonborn found worshiping Bahamut are tortured until they publicly renounce him prior to execution.
So that's what I've got so far. Let me know if you have any thoughts.
Posted Jul 31, 2017, 2:55 PM UTC