Realm of Pretannia

 Alright, here we go, second post. It's taken me a bit longer to get to than I intended but oh well

 This is a follow up to my previous post where I went over various settings that I've thought up. In this post I'll be going more in depth about my most developed Realm, Pretannia, and probably some stuff about my version of how Realms work. The general feel of things is multiple kingdoms vying for dominance admist a world of otherwordly beings and magic, where the people believe in the gods and their priests for they have shown their ability to protect. 

 The Isles of Pretannia are ruled over by the immortal Fey Lord Penndreic Artorios, who's a mythised version of King Arthur after his death. His duty is to watch over the Isles and ensure they are not harmed by other Realms but he leaves the kingdoms of Pretannia to their own devices and if they were to destroy each other than that was their fate. Most humans do not consider him their liege, for most likely they've never even heard of him, and those few who have view his aloofness with disdain. Penndreic Artorios is  viewed as, by the scholars aware of him, as the king of the supernatural in Pretannia; his business is much more focused around what the spirits and otherwordly beings are doing and their affects on human life than the actual human lives.

 The people of Pretannia are very similar to the old Germanic and Celtic peoples of the British Isles, similarly superstitious and similarly proud heathens. Though technically not human (as are all of the people in the various Realms) they are close enough and any differences so minute they hardly matter. They live simple lives of war and agriculture, with a few devoting themselves to the gods so they may help protect their communities. Kings are seen as the greatest people due to their great conquests, with the lands partitioned between their allies who helped the most. Inheritence to the eldest is a not heard of practice, instead possessions are to be split equally among those who helped you in life or, if possible, are buried with you so you may make use of their "essence" in the afterlife. Land is generally leased out by the king and is given back to him after the renter's death. He then looks to a council of elders to see who should be granted the land. A similar thing is done when the king dies, the council decides upon a new king, choosing from the old king's royal or most powerful retainers and sons.

 The common folk of the Isles live in small, mostly isolated communities that occaisionally go to war with each or fight for their king when called upon. They are wary of forests, moutains, burial mounds, and other natural or strange landmarks. This is due to the fact that those areas are portals of sorts, where otherwordly beings have an easier time of accessing when trying to enter into our world. These sorts of sites often haves shrines or temples built on them, to remind beings that reach into the mundane that the people there are protected by their gods.

Common folk fall into a loose hierarchy that can fluctuate greatly depending on the area or time; at the lowest rung are outlaws and thews/thralls - those who've either broken the law, accrued a great debt, or were captured in battle. Once they've paid their dues they become Freemen who, as the name suggests, are free to do as they wish (within the confines of the law, of course); however, there are times where this freedom is revoked and they're forced to fight for their liege. Next, is the minor nobility, those who've maid a name for themselves either on the battlefield or as "statesmen" and have been given land to rule or the right to be an advisor to the king. Finally, before the king, are his heirs - those of the minor nobility who've proven themselves the most worthy and impressed the council of elders who elect the next king; they often travel with the king as advisors or take a similar role as he does and travel the lands. The king is not tied to one area and spends much of his time travelling his realm and aiding his subjects.

 Priests are seen as "priest-lawyer-poets" and care more about the relationship that their local people have with the gods than their interpersonal issues; however, that doesn't mean that they don't work with them. No, as the "lawyer" part would suggest, they're often working out the differences between different people and solving their "legal" problems and as the "poet" part suggests, they also write about the great deeds of their people. However, this is all seen as a "godly" act and as a way to further people's connections to the gods. Priests tend to be a hereditary-leaning bunch, who try to ensure their children continue being priests and usually don't teach their ways to outsiders.

 Adventurers are usually either in the retinue of the king, a retainer of one of his heirs, or a crazed person possessed by a selfish goal. The latter of this group usually only leave their previous lives behind for a short time, but it isn't completely unheard of for a few to wander until they're old.

 Magic is a varied and powerful tool that only those born gifted are able to make use of. It is believed that these people were chosen by the gods and their bones have the runes carved into them. It is often a dangerous journey that can attract the attention of powerful otherwordly beings and mundane monsters. Some overcome this and defeat their foes while others crumple under the weight and a few become tainted by these creatures, turning against the gods. There are qutie a few different ways for spells to be cast, the most common is to learn the "inner" power of the runes.

OK, I think that's everything for the barest bones introduction to things... I'm not really sure if I actually said anything of value, though. Let me know in the comments or on Discord (Dandy, baby#3050) what you think. Next time I'll either start up my 5e Session Reports, something more in-depth for this setting like its gods or maybe monsters (don't have much on either, but we'll see), or perhaps something for one of the other settings... Who knows!

Oh, also, here's a link to my 0eD&D hack that I was going to use for this system. I think it's a full game... quite unfinished though... It's a bit of a mess though, copied it from a Word doc and didn't feel like redoing all the formatting

Oh! One last thing! I forgot that the overall setting name for the various Realms is called "World/Fake"