The Land of Wygate is a religious state in service to Irori. As such, their political decisions are made by the priesthood and other religious figures. Unlike most Theocracies, however, they are also a representative democracy to a degree. Only those who have served their nation in a military capacity can attain priesthood without being elected. Once every 5 years, the nobles vote for the local priesthood, with each noble receiving votes weighted by his populace and rank. The priests vote for the Bishops, the Bishops vote for the Cardinals, the Cardinals vote for the Chancellors, of and the Chancellors vote for the single Lord Chancellor. This system allows those born into any class to attain higher social status through personal ability. Even serfs and merchants can become nobles if they can garner enough signatures from the priesthood. Of course, only men can attain such privileges. Women are not given any rights when they are not legally attached to a man.
Wygate is a lawful place where personal betterment is the utmost goal. Cleanliness and physical excellence are seen as evidence of the caliber of a man, and laziness is highly taboo. For the most part, military style cuts are worn to emulate the soldiers, since service is the quickest way to priesthood for most. Priests are commonly shaved bald or sport long, tight ponytails. Facial hair is mostly unseen, except on the elderly. Along with fiscal and legal privileges, upper classes are the only members of society permitted to carry weapons openly in public places.
Wygaters are accepting of outsiders as long as they are contributory to society. Leeches, bums, and gypsies are not tolerated. Amongst themselves, they are cordial and friendly, but only to make themselves more upstanding in the eyes of the community. In truth, the culture of Wygate is very competitive, and the people there generally see each other as adversaries.
In cases in which the law is broken, justice is meted out swiftly and fairly. Involved parties and witnesses testify before whichever priest is most readily available and a decision is made as quickly as possible. Punishments are harsh, usually involving an eye for an eye in addition to community service.
Economically, Wygate is nearly self-sufficient. Their wide, rolling, plains allow them to furnish most of their needs without imports. The mountains along the edges of the territory are rich in iron, bronze, and copper. However, luxury goods are not cultivated because they are considered to be wasteful in the official Holy Texts. Of course, plenty of the privileged desire such delicacies, so most of Wygate’s imports are spices, silks, precious metals, and jewels. Money comes in to Wygate primarily through its enormous grain industry. The Wygaters have perfected agriculture to such a degree that they are able to produce vastly more wheat, corn, and barley than they need, so they are able to supply food to the surrounding nations.
Geographically, Wygate is surrounded on the North and West by mountains, the East by a great river, and the South by uncharted frontier. Wygate is landlocked, but full of wide, fast rivers stemming from the Red River, which runs west to East. The Stern River also flows out of the eastern edge of the Northern Mountains and runs southeast until it meets up with the Red. Marine shipping along the Red River and the Stern River is the primary means of grain transport out of the country, but no rivers flow into Wygate, so imports are generally on foot through Sewren. Most of Wygate’s land area is fields, but there is a large forest on the South side of the Red River leading into the frontier areas. There is no firm Southern border because the area south of Wygate is uninhabited.
Approx. 56,000 sq. mi.
Approx. 24,000 sq. mi. of wilderness.
Demographically, Wygate supports about 4.4 million citizens. Of those, there is 1 Lord Chancellor, 10 Chancellors, 100 Cardinals, 1,000 Bishops, and 10,000 Priests. About 175,000 people live in urban centers. The population is largely human, but tolerant of elves, dwarfs, halflings, gnomes, and other "ordinary" races. Traffic generally follows the rivers except for along the main road from Laheath to Bywood. The only way for foot traffic to cross the Red River is via the great bridge at Wowick. Otherwise, marine travel is necessary.
Laheath: Capital – 35,700 - Mining, religious center
Bywood: 21,400 - Lumber, elves, magic
Coaford: 20,300 - Agriculture, livestock
Heawick: 15,239 - Mining, metalworking
Sewren: 12,191 - Imports, military base
Fibrook: 9,700 - Agriculture, livestock
Cohill: 8,300 - Religious center
Wowick: 5,800 - Great bridge, university
Pethorp: 4,900 - Fishing, livestock
Erford: 4,100 - Last town before the frontier
Lehill: 3,100 - Agriculture, halflings, gnomes
Woostone: 2,000 - Mining, dwarfs
Map
The area to the east of Wygate is a mixture of small kingdoms and warring tribes. There are a few leaders who have gathered together enough followers to be considered a kingdom, but the growth of such kingdoms is limited by the barbarians and war tribes. Occasionally, a few tribes will temporarily band together to attack one of Wygate’s border towns, but no siege has been successful in recorded history.
The area to the south of Wygate is frontier land and wilderness. It is populated only by monstrous humanoids and other such “wild” species. Adventurers and settlers from Wygate regularly extend the inhabited area deeper into the unknown, but there is little motivation to expand Wygate’s borders, so no official foray has been made into the south.
