Bestia

The Beast Kingdom of Bestia is one of the Six Great Nations of Alter-Mana, and one of the major partners in the Forthena Dominion.

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Bite of the Moon

Land

Bestia controls the bulging landmass of the Forests of the Moon, just south of the Forthena Plateau on the northern half of the continent of Me'Diel. They are bordered from the territory of Jadd by the Korobokuru Wood in the East, and from Wendel by the Mountains of the Moon in the South. The Beast Kingdom's capital city of Bestia is ringed on either side by the small mountain range of Luna's Crown. The Dominion has additionally promised Bestia possession of the lands of Mindas as a province, if a successful conquest is staged there.

The Forests of the Moon is a unique and magical place in all the Web of Worlds, for an illusory dweomer of divine proportions surrounds the place and makes it seem as if it is perpetually nighttime. It is unknown how this could be possible without incurring massive ecological devastation from the utter absence of sunlight, but the forest has existed and survived in this way for as long as any can remember, and is documented as having been this way for centuries into the historic record.

Map of the Beast Kingdom

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Population

Five races make up the Beast Kingdom's population: Beastmen (by far the majority race), Matangans, Chobins, Goblins and humans. The "monster" races (Matangans, Chobins and Goblins) each on their own outnumber the Beast Kingdom's human population, but put together are still a smaller segment of the population than the Beastmen.

Religion

The Beast Kingdom is a predominantly Elementalist nation, though the Beastmen tend to observe their own native twist on the religion. The Beastmen believe that the Mana Elemental Luna is responsible for the Beast Kingdom's condition of constant night, and so they revere her (because Beastmen can assume Beast Form at night, and thus become physically stronger). The Beastmen believe that Luna, the Lady of Eternal Night, wishes for them to be dominant within the lands she has given them, which is why she has used her magic to keep the sun away.

The religious center of the Beast Kingdom is the Moonreading Tower, where the Monks of the Cult of Eternal Night officiate in Elementalist ceremonies. The Cult of Eternal Night maintains affiliation with the Church of Wendel, and its clergy adheres to the Church's larger hierarchy and doctrine while still espousing the native, noble, shamanistic traditions of the Beastmen.

Economy

As part of the Forthenan Dominion, the Beast Kingdom trades with both Forthena and Altena regularly. The main exports of Bestia are various crops of exotic fungus, which can be grown in great quantities right on the forest floor because of the lack of sunlight. The Beast Kingdom's fungal farms are becoming a food staple for the larger Dominion, in addition to seeing greater export in both the Fringe and the Core.

Law

According to legend, the Beast Kingdom was founded in ancient times by two outcasts from human society, who as young boys fled deep into the woods and survived only by being suckled and protected by a large she-wolf. These two brothers became the first Beastmen, and from having been raised by wolves they gained the ability to assume a man-wolf form. In turn, the members of the wolf-pack that raised them gained the ability to assume a wolf-man form, and so a nation was born and future generations were both man and wolf, and yet neither all at once.

From the legends of the founding are derived the Beast's Law, where humankind (which had outcast the Founders) is traditionally relegated to the status of secondary citizens. This stance was relaxed during the rule of Kevin Godhand as Beast King, and all citizens of the Kingdom were declared of equal rights under the Beast's Law. Under Beast King Kev, the Beast's Law became a code of honorable conduct, rather than a blanket racial condemnation: all citizens had certain rights and social obligations under the code of Beast's Law. You owed respect to those both above and below you, those older and younger, those with political power and those without, those who were your neighbors and those who were foreigners. Beast's Law embodied a system for resolving disputes between individuals through honorable, non-lethal combat, which could be invoked in place of a proper courtroom proceeding (which Kev also incorporated) if both parties were willing.

When Larc Dervish ascended and cast Kev into exile, he did away with most of Kevin's reforms and brought back the idea of some being less equal than others, only he was somewhat more selective: his political enemies, he cast beneath the Law, while those who supported him were supported in turn by the Beast's Law. In this way Kev's loyalists were driven out of civilized Bestia, while the vast majority remained loyal Dervishans and supporters of the state.

"Beast's Law" now applies to whoever Larc Dervish says it applies to; those who are "honorable" are those that Larc says are honorable, while those without honor are those Larc does not like, or those who have expressed that they do not like Larc. Most Beastmen are, by default, honorable according to Beast's Law. Those of other races typically must earn honorable status by impressing the Beast King.

Government

The Beast King is Bestia's government. Though Beast King Kevin had attempted to liberalize the nation, and provide more democratic functions to the government, his reforms were utterly undone with the ascension of Larc Dervish. There are now no checks on Beast King Larc's power; he is the sole arbiter of Beast's Law.

The one other person in the Beast Kingdom who has nearly as much power as Larc is his sister, Sierra Dervish. She has no official rank or title, but serves her brother faithfully as a lieutenant.

Internal Politics

All hail the Beast King Larc! Those who hail him have Beast's Law as their advocate, and the blessings of the Lady of Eternal Night. Those who defy him are cast into the sunlight and away from Luna's embrace.

Foreign Politics

Bestia is allied with Forthena and Altena as partners of the Forthenan Dominion. The close working relationship between King Irzoile and King Larc is well known, though how they came by such a close and trusting friendship is not.

Bestia also maintains friendly relations with Laurent and Naba'al, and also with Wendel (although Wendelians tend to be wary around Beastmen, remembering how savagely they fought during the War of Threes).

Military

The main military of the Beast Kingdom is called the Beast Army. Largely because Beastmen aren't overly obsessed with giving their stuff especially original names. The Beast Army is comprised entirely of Beastman volunteers, and is focused on non-battlesuited infantry that make use of the Mongrelle cocktail of combat drugs to induce beast form when engaged in daytime maneuvers outside of the Eternal Night. While in beast form, the average Beastman is probably able to hold his own, toe-to-toe, with your average battlesuited infantryman. The top end of the Beast Army's ranking hierarchy are the Beast Knights, which are lead by a council of Four Death's Hands: a White Tiger Knight, a Green Turtle Knight, a Blue Dragon Knight and a Red Sparrow Knight. Before their ascension, Larc Dervish was the Beast Army's Red Sparrow Knight, and Sierra Dervish was the White Tiger Knight.

Beneath the Beast Army is a smaller force comprised of the Beast Kingdom's minority races called the Servile Militia. The Militia is a conscripted force of domestic defenders, service within which is compulsory for all males deemed physically capable. For humans, this period of compulsory service lasts from the ages of 19 to 24; the ages are adjusted based on the maturation rates of other species. After the period of compulsory service, militiamen are given the option of staying on and becoming career soldiers. Previously, the Beast Kingdom spent very little on armament and equipment for the militia, since the pride and core of its military might was in the warriors of the Beast Army, but as part of the Dominion the Servile Militia shares equipment and training with the Forthenan Army.