Koruna

The country of Koruna lies in the south of Mereldia and is also widely known as "The Desert Country" or "The Land of Gold". While the former name obviously derives from its location, the latter refers to its outstanding wealth. Monabur is its oldest and also biggest city, as well as the location of the Cellaryre Palace from which the King of Koruna rules. Koruna also has an alliance with its neighboring country Eriwon.

Arriving in the Desert - Hidalgo OST

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Despite it being the most influencal and the richest country in all of Mereldia, the majority of Koruna is simply uninhabitable. The cities are the epitomes of life and activity, while the rest remains a barren desert. To cross it, you will either need a lot of experience, or a caravan to travel with - though those don't come cheap. Villages are therefore only found in the far south-west, where the climate is less unforgiving. The cities Waria and especially Tenour also lie in such generally habitable flecks of land and both pose as the centres of Koruna's oversea travel and trade.

The land to the South of Koruna has been deemed uninhabitable as well by explorers. Apparently, a lot of dangerous creatures have settled down there - demons and faeries who do not take kindly to mortals.

Crossing the Desert

If you think that having enough water and protection from the heat makes you fit to cross the desert to the next city, then you are sadly mistaken, because Koruna is more than just sand dunes, heat and the occasional oasis.

By far the biggest danger next to criminals are the desert raptors. These predators know how to live and survive in the burning heat and they are cleverer than most people would give them credit for. Their fluffy and bird-like appearance is deceiving, for those birds have sharp teeth and claws that can tear through flesh as easy as a knife. They hunt in packs and are known for tricks and traps. Yes, they are witless, but that makes them even more dangerous. The second you underestimate them you're done for.

Some merchants have once tried to steal a killed raptor's eggs to raise the yet to hatch babies. While the fluffy little birds may look cute, they still won't ignore their instincts and therefore cannot be domesticated. Don't try it!

If you want to play it safe, then learn combat, how to handle knives and join a caravan for your journey. Be sure to save up money for the latter though since they're not for free.

Credit for the desert raptor illustrations goes to 132364 on deviantart

Life in the Cities

Unity Flag of Koruna

from top left to bottom right:

Santugan, Monabur, Waria,

Belrador, Koruna, Tenour,

Nemris, Eden, Maroven

While you cannot live in the desert itself, you can very much live in one of the eight cities in Koruna. The biggest and oldest ones are Monabur and Santugan.

No matter which city you live in, there are certain social structures that are set in place and which you have to follow.

First off, there would be the class system. Koruna's society is divided into different social classes, which are usually kept apart from one another. The classes keep to themselves and only rarely interact with eachother. Those would be:

Royalty

High Society

Middle Class

Low Society

Offscourings

King of Koruna and Monabur

Royal Family of Monabur

Royal Families

Nobility | Guards / Soldiers | Academics

Mages | Middle Class Workers

The Poor | Criminals

Slaves | Outcasts

King of Koruna and Monabur
He is seen as the direct connection to the gods and therefore is regarded as some sort of god himself. Critique on him is seen as critique on the gods and therefore as blasphemy, since the gods are inerrant. The king's word is law and no one in their right mind would talk bad about him.

Royal Family of Monabur
They are the king's family and therefore seen as almost as high as the king himself. They are worshipped and listened to. Their word is law, though the king's of course outranks theirs. No one would dare to speak bad about them since they are kin of the king and decendants of Cynfor.

Royal Familes
Apart from the Royal Family in Monabur, there are also royal families in the other cities of Koruna. Those are, in their roots, related to Cynfor as well and therefore seen as high in their own cities, but the prayers still go to the king of Monabur. They are mainly there for administratory work in their own city. If the king issues a new law, it will be automatically instituted in all cities of Koruna, without needing approval of the other royal families.

High Society
People of noble heritage or just those that are wealthy enough to be able to afford a very luxorious life style, are regarded as High Society. Also those that are empolyed at the palace as guards and soldiers count to that class.

Middle Class
Vendors, bakers, blacksmiths. All of them and more belong to the middle class. Sometimes it even is just a thin line between it and the High Society or even the Low Society respectively. The Middle Class also makes up most of the population of Koruna.

Low Society
Those without occupation, who are too poor and who often call the slums their home, are of the low society. Once born in poverty it is hard to get out of it, so it is not uncommon that some resort to stealing. But not only thieves, but also other kinds of criminals are regarded lowly. Murderers especially.

Offscourings
There is just one class worse than the low society, which are the offscourings. They have no own place to belong and are looked down upon. Usually this are those with an unusal look, which indicates a demon heritage. Demons are widely feared, so those half bloods are regarded as nothing but vermin. Other than those, there are also the slaves. The Raccardis are the most common and prominent example, though also other species are sold into slavery. A poor family with too many children might often resort to selling one of them to keep their family alive and so the slave markets are bustling with all kinds of slaves. Those slaves are treated the same way as animals, so that equines, for example, get bridles and canines and felines get collars, etc. which marks them as the property of someone.

All people in Koruna are highly religious. They follow the book of Prayer, which is a holy work that starts with the legend of Cynfor and how Koruna came to be in the first place. It says to pray to the elements and to worship the light while fearing the darkness. This is why heavenly bodies are of such grave importance to Korunians. They lead them when lost in the desert and spend light when darkness threatens to swallow them. Even the symbol of Koruna is a combination of the North Star - which is the most important heavenly body to Korunians - and the symbol of light.

Following what the Book of Prayer tells them, the Korunians regularly go to the temples of the elements to pray and to be cleansed of their sins. Often, the temples are even centres of holy celebrations.

There are several celebrations, both holy ones and seasonal ones, that are celebrated in Koruna. You can find them in the glossary entry about the Mereldian Calendar year.

Your Character

Do not create a character that is of a royal family, this rank is closed for all members and admins! Only the comic's author is allowed to own such characters.

Your character is highly religious - especially when they're of the middle class and high society - and worships the gods and royal family. Them being an atheist is extremly unlikely to happen, so please design your character with the religious mentality in mind. While characters from outside are possible we also would like to keep those down to a minimum.

Your character does not have to celebrate all of the festivals, but at least the religious ones!
Your character will know Koruna's lore and fear/hate Caspanas with a passion.
They will talk bad of people who live in the "wild lands" in herds or other ways of societies. They are seen as uncivilized and some people even think of them as witless. Most call them wildlanders.
They will own a Raccardi slave. (check the Raccardi Market on the group page to get one. They are for free)
They will own clothing since everyone in the cities walks around fully clothed. The clothing keeps the heat away, especially when they are enchanted for that purpose. No one is seen without a cloak on the streets of a city because that would be seen as uncivilized and extremely rude.

Raccardi

Extra Lore and Ressources

With this, you have read all the most important stuff there is to know about Koruna and the life there. If you want to know more than just these basics, like how to get into a Magic Academy, how each city looks like, what the festivals are, what the history of this land is and what exactly is written in the book of Prayer, then please consult the glossary.

Below you can find some links to glossary entries about Koruna and the general Mereldian life. Reading them is not mandatory, but they might help you if you struggle with coming up with something more detailed for your character's life.

Clothing Ethics | Which clothes are worn where and by who?
Witness and Sentient | The difference between "people" and "animals".
The Mereldian Calendar Year | A collection of all the festivals celebrated in Mereldia each year.
The Book of Prayer | A collection of the so far written canon passages of the Book of Prayer (among other things that includes the stories of the foundation of Monabur and Santugan)
The Korunian Timeline | A list of noteworthy historical events that happened in Koruna since it was founded.
Geography | A collection of maps of Mereldia, its countries and its cities.