Kingdom of Aertos

Overview

Aertos is a kingdom that treats magic as daily life and public duty. People use magic to grow crops, build homes, keep roads safe, and settle disputes. Magic is taught in schools, regulated by local councils, and supervised by royal orders. Most citizens know at least one basic working, such as a light charm, a ward against pests, or a healing poultice. The kingdom values patience, memory, and continuity. New practices must be tested for side effects on the land. Summoned heroes are welcomed with care. They are asked to train, register, and learn local rules before acting in the field. Aertos believes power should protect communities and living places first, and personal ambition second.

Government and Law

Aertos is a constitutional monarchy. King Theron handles defense, national wards, and treaty law. A Council of Circles, made up of regional wardens and guild representatives, writes codes for magic use, resource rights, and land stewardship. A Ministry of Oaths records binding agreements, guardianship claims, and inheritance of magical duties. Magistrates apply plain-language law. In cases involving magic, they must consult a certified Arcanist Clerk who can explain risks and confirm correct procedures.

Key principles:

No working may poison water, spoil soil, or disrupt a warded habitat without an emergency writ.
Oath magic is legal only if all parties consent, understand the terms, and have a rescission clause.
Familiar spirits are citizens’ responsibility. Damage caused by a familiar is charged to the bound keeper.
Summoned heroes must carry a travel writ and an escort token from their host circle for the first year.

Geography and Regions

Aertos spans river valleys, old-growth forests, hill countries, and cool coasts. The state divides its territory into Circles, each with a Warden and a Circle Hall.

High Canopy: Dense forests, high rainfall, protected groves. Exports herbs, resins, and crafted lumber from fallen trees only.
Sun Plains: Grain, flax, and pasture. Windbreak hedges are maintained by hedge-witches and farmers’ cooperatives.
Stone March: Hills and quarries. Stonewrights and rune-cutters work with strict blasting wards.
Tide Reach: Fishing towns, seaweed farms, salt pans. Harbor wards protect shipping and prevent storm surge when possible.

Roads follow old ley paths. Milestones mark safe resting places where way-watches keep public hearths and maintain minor wards.

Capital and Major Cities

Crownstead (Capital): The royal seat, central archives, and national ward stones. The Hall of Oaths holds public records of bonds and treaties. The Academy of Quiet Arts trains officials in calmcasting, dispute mediation, and ritual safety.
Greenfast: Agricultural hub of the Sun Plains. Known for irrigation charms, seed banks, and fair-weight markets.
Runebank: Stone March city with large rune yards and conservators. Major exporter of ward plates, boundary markers, and safe-lock vaults.
Harborfall: Tide Reach port. Shipwrights fit hullward lattices and anchor-charms. Customs officers are trained in spotting cursed goods.
Eldertrail: High Canopy town at the edge of protected forests. Guides, herbalists, and covenant-keepers live here. The town issues permits for research harvests and stewardship tasks.

Magic: Practice and Control

Magic in Aertos is organized into common workings, circle workings, and royal workings.

Common workings: Simple charms anyone may learn with a license. Light, minor warding, clean water, cool storage, and field-healing.
Circle workings: Community-scale rites requiring a Circle Hall, a Warden, and a trained cohort. Weather moderation, blight control, flood routing, road wards, and quarry stabilizers.
Royal workings: High-risk or realm-scale rites authorized by the Crown and supervised by the Seal Keepers. Realm boundaries, plague interdiction, breaking mass curses, and restoring damaged ley lines.

Spellbooks are regulated as technical manuals. Every working must list materials, steps, countermeasures, emergency cutoffs, and aftercare. Copying a working without its safety section is a felony.

Religion and Orders

Aertos allows many temples and shrines, but all religious rites that affect land, water, or air must be registered and inspected. The most active religious groups help run hospitals, poor kitchens, and disaster response teams. Priest-healers cooperate with secular clinics and log treatments. Orders that keep sanctuaries also keep repair crews and ward maintenance tools. Spirit pacts are legal if recorded and revocable. Any pact that demands harm to bystanders or to the land is void and prosecutable.

Economy and Trade

Aertos exports well-made goods with strict quality marks: ward plates, safe-lock vaults, hullward lattices, healing tonics, cultivated herbs, seed stock, and carved stone with certified runes. It imports heavy metals, rare crystals, and precision instruments. Markets use stamped contracts tied to a public registry. All large shipments include a provenance sheet and a tamper ward. Disputes go to the Trade Bench, which can compel a re-test, third-party assay, or full recall. Falsifying a provenance sheet leads to heavy fines, loss of license, and prison time.

Summoned Heroes

Summoned heroes are placed under the care of a host Circle for a probation year. During this time:

They receive language support, local law training, and rite safety training.
They are paired with a field mentor and given a clear scope of practice.
Their powers are tested in controlled settings to map risks and limits.
They carry an escort token to show they act under Circle authority.

After probation, most heroes apply for a Free Agent license. This allows independent contracts, but they must log work sites and notify local wardens before major actions. Heroes who refuse training or act recklessly are barred from licensed work and may be expelled from the kingdom.

Military and Civil Defense

Aertos does not rely on large standing armies. It fields trained wardens, ranger cohorts, and rapid-call levies. Civil Defense Teams handle floods, fires, pest blooms, and blight outbreaks. Each Circle keeps emergency caches: food, clean water kits, medical supplies, and ward anchors. A National Signal Net uses beacon towers and messenger charms for dispatch. Royal Battle-Menders and Seal Keepers respond to major threats such as curses, plague spirits, or realm-breach incidents.

Standard kit:

Ranger bows with binding lines
Ward stakes and quick-raise plates
Blight masks and salves
Signal beads keyed to regional beacons
Rescue stretchers with weight-lightening runes

Education and Guilds

Children learn reading, numbers, civics, and basic charms. At age twelve, they choose a path: general schooling, craft apprenticeship, farm cooperative, or Circle service. Guilds run workshops, set safety standards, and certify mastery. The Crown funds bursaries for rural students to attend the Academy of Quiet Arts, the Conservatory of Runes, or the Harborfall Hullward College. Annual reviews check that schools teach safety and record-keeping, not just techniques.

Factions and Public Roles

Seal Keepers: Royal order that guards realm-scale wards and performs high-risk rites.
Conservators of the Mark: Rune engineers who certify stones, plates, and boundary lines.
Covenant Clerks: Civil notaries for oaths, pacts, guardianships, and emancipation papers.
Hearth Watch: Local volunteer service that maintains milestones, rest shelters, and small wards.
Herbward Cooperative: Growers and healers who manage seed banks, soil health, and fair pricing for medicines.

Relations with Neighbors

Solara: Cooperation with caution. Aertos buys proven tools and sells certified wards. Disputes arise when devices strain the land or skip aftercare. Joint projects require full safety audits and rollback plans.
Grimstone Hold: Reliable trade in stone and tools. Shared standards make deals smooth.
Sylvaniar Glade: Careful exchanges of herbs and conservation methods. Border protocols protect rare species.
Aok: Neutral respect and occasional humanitarian support during crises.

Threats and Risk Management

Aertos tracks three main risk groups:

Blight and Pest Bloom: Handled by Circle workings that rotate fields, purify waterways, and apply safe tonics.
Curses and Rogue Rites: Traced by Conservators and broken by Seal Keepers with court orders.
Realm Breach Events: Managed by national muster, beacon alerts, and mixed teams of rangers, healers, and hero units.

Risk rules:

Any caster may declare a halt if a procedure becomes unsafe.
Every Circle keeps a red ledger of near-misses to share lessons.
Annual realm walk checks the health of major ley paths and boundary stones.

Culture and Daily Life

People in Aertos value clear speech, written records, and careful work. Festivals center on planting, harvest, river cleaning, ward renewal, and first snow. Food is simple and fresh. Households keep a small charm shelf for light, water, and health. Markets are calm, with posted weights and open appraisal tables. Music tends to slow rhythms and steady patterns that match work songs. Storytelling is factual and dates are important. Many families keep a ledger that records births, oaths, deeds of service, and major repairs.

Notable Laws and Practices

Right to Safe Dwelling: Landlords must maintain basic wards against pests, fire, and bad air.
Open Water Rule: No one may block public wells or river steps.
Oath Cooling-Off: All binding oaths require a one-night delay after first drafting.
Recall and Repair Duty: Makers must repair or replace a failed ward plate that harms a buyer.
Travel Marker: Anyone may rest at a milestone shelter for one night, no questions asked.

Current Posture

The Crown has ordered a national ward tune following strange weather and reports of unstable crossings in three Circles. Circles are updating road markers, checking boundary stones, and reinforcing river charms. Summoned heroes are being placed with experienced mentors in high-traffic areas. Trade with Solara continues under stricter afterc