Clemencia

"Clemencia, your excellence is unexcelled. In other realms, the blind lead the blind, in ours, the piercing light of truth shines unabated. Rather than to allow the enfeeblement of our people in the times of peace and let the times of unrest catch us off-guard, we strive for strength ceaselessly. In our land, those who rule are fit to rule, and those who are ruled are fit to be ruled! It is a hard law, but it is also a strong law, and the law of the gods.

All Moraths should be grateful to our land, rather than to fear our power and veracity. Is not our land the sole bulwark protecting Cargandom from the barbary of the Atrahasites? Is not our state the sole custodian of Cosmic purity against the perversions of the Confederacy of Sorcerers? Have not we alone subdued the goblins and ended the forthcoming of their hordes? Clemencia - uphold forever the torch of Purity and Power!"

Clemencia customarily styles itself as the oldest and greatest Frankish country. It spans all of the land south of the Mare Interior and north of Haram. The Grand King of Clemencia holds dominion over five kingdoms: Nardigena, Giquella, Javigera, Sarigol and Vacidonia.

People

The people of Clemencia tends to be slightly shorter than other Moraths, with an olive complexion. Hair colour ranges from dark to black, with a greater spread of colour in Giquella and northern Nardigena. Noblemen are usually taller than commoners, and most of them attempt to keep their skin as pale as possible, avoiding sunlight and applying whitening lotions.

The Clemencians of Giquella look much like other Franks, though possibly a mite shorter. They are noticably lighter in hue than other Clemencians.

Many Clemencians, especially in the south, are positively swarthy.

Language

Clementians speak a special variant of the Frankish tongue, called Clemencian (or Occidental Frankish), a language shared by the Senines. This dialect has diverged so widely from the rest of the Frankish tongue that only 50% is understandable to those speaking normal Frankish (Oriental Frankish). This dialect is marked by a pronounced lisp. Clemencians from Giquella have Oriental Frankish as their mothers' tongue, though most of the middle and upper classes also speak Clemencian fluently.

Religon

Clemencia diverges from the Free Kingdoms in matters of religion. After the coming of the Second Dynasty, the Clemencians, formerly orthodox Apollonians, have come to embrace the Abraxian heresy, claiming that Apollo and Hades are the main aspects of one surpreme god.

This faith has led to some cultural differences;

However, even the religious divide has not separated Clemencia from the other Franks. Political interests, the intermarriages of nobles and a flourishing trade keep the bonds across the Mare Interior strong. The priesthoods of Hades and Jupiter are not without sympathy for one another.

Even though their religious dogmas and practices give many Franks pause, the Clemencians also have various good points. They are cultured and well organized, having built a strong state which is able to keep magocrats, Atrahasites and goblins at bay. They are also seen as having succesfully supressed sorcerers and mooncalves within their own realm, and taking a firm stance against the thieving of dwarves and gnomes. Many Franks of the middle and upper class have little trouble justifying the sacrifice of some entirely insignificant commoners in return for stability and wealth. It is beyond doubt that the legalized worship of Pest has led to Clemencia being less affected by plagues than the other Frankish countries.

Visiting the Clemencian countries is fairly safe, at least outside Vacidonia, unless one belongs to a religion considered heretical by the Clemencians (such as the Apollonian, Terminant or Witch faith), is a sorcerer, a mooncalf, or belongs to the dwarven or gnomish race. All of these are the subject of harassment, and may soon become subject to the kindly attentions of the Merciful Order of the Unsparing - the Clementian inquisition - which has informers everywhere.