Hersek

''"For most rulers, their own subjects are the lifeblood of their realms. For masters of commerce such as ourselves, subjects from afar invigorate us as surely as our own. Praise be unto the Dweller on the Horizon, for keeping our roads well-trod and safe. With His guidance we have kept to a true course, a path of fulfillment and prosperity. His will be done, we will safeguard these paths for ages to come." - Lord Skender Frangu, Count of Hersek''

The County of Hersek is one of the nine Placid Realms located on the eastern edge of the continent of Ocedon. It is bordered by the County of Cybel to the north, the County of Brighton to the northwest, the County of Göle to the west, the March of Debrecin to the south, and the County of Phraxos to the east. Centrally located among the Placid Realms with convenient geography for international trade, the County of Hersek is both a hub for trade and an unlikely religious center as the home of the Church of Fharlanghn.

Imperial Crossroads
In the time of the Suel Empire, the Bandon of Horsokos was established as a subdivision of the Theme of Placitum. Due to the location, it became the logistical nerve center of the whole Theme, and enjoyed extra attention from Imperial administrators. Suel engineers built the beginnings of a sizable road project, the first outside of the metropole, in the provincial capital, which historians now consider to have been a potential turning point from military to more civilian administration had the Great Collapse not occurred. Sadly, the whole of the Suel Empire disintegrated less than a century after the completion of the first stage of the road project, leaving the provincial capital with an efficiently designed cobblestone road network and matching river harbor, and the unfinished tendrils of an expansion project stretching for scarcely half a mile towards each of the nearest population centers. Several copies of the plans of this road network, the so-called Viae Magna, did survive and detail a wide web of roads eventually connecting all of the Theme of Placitum for maximum traffic efficiency.

Before the beginning of the first stage of the Viae Magna project, the idea of a road system akin to that of the Suel heartlands had been floated among the administration, but little had become of it. This changed the year before the beginning of the project, in an event known as the March of the Mendicants. According to Fharlanghni church histories, a collection of destitute travelers coming from all corners of the Suel Empire were traveling their own separate paths, desperately trying to reach the provincial capital of Horsokos. The tale goes that each traveler eventually came to the same resting place beneath a tree. As they gathered and grew in number, all wearily sharing tales of lands traveled and woes on their respective paths, they made camp and bonded, brought together by their wanderings. By nightfall, fifty impoverished men rested beneath the tree, tired and cold and hungry. They huddled together by a meager fire for warmth, and upon discovering that the tree they sat beneath bore hazelnuts, they roasted the nuts over the fire and ground them together with water to make a thin porridge to share. Where before each had given up hope of reaching their destination, by sunrise they were invigorated, not simply by rest or their shared supper, but by their fraternal spirit, their realization of commonality.

The group of fifty, rested and restored, were then said to have been visited by a kindly, weathered older man that accompanied them towards Horsokos for three days. Along the way, he is said to have engaged the group in all manner of conversation, each a small exchange with a kernel of wisdom within. These exchanges, now recorded as  The Parables of the Pathfinders , are held as the holy texts of the Church of Fharlanghn to this day. Each night, the group made camp again, always under a hazelnut tree, supping on porridge and gathering around the fire. As the third day drew to a close and the sun began to fall, Horsokos came into view, and the stranger parted ways, saying he had other horizons to see. The fifty wanderers felt the touch of the divine, and realized that this being was in fact Fharlanghn Himself, deciding to walk the earth among mortal men for a time. This group, known in the annals of church history as The Blessed Pathfinders, became the first clergy of the Church of Fharlanghn, and petitioned for a great work most pleasing to Him to be erected. These holy men are said to have teleported directly into the chambers of the Emperor of Suel himself, Vespasianus, by way of divine magics and insisted that he bring the Viae Magna to life, and so awed was he that he authorized the project immediately.

Upon the approval of the Viae Magna project, several enterprising merchant houses of the Suel Empire took a keen interest in Horsokos and the nascent Church of Fharlanghn. Seeing the potential for a new center of trade to emerge, they worked concurrently with the imperial administrators by supporting the Church, funding the construction of what is considered the last true masterpiece of late Suel architecture, the Church of the Annointed Wayfarers. Envisioned as the divine center of a new commercial order by the merchants, the church was built at the center of a new bazaar area that had been designed for the Viae Magna as the starting point of road construction. By the time of the Great Collapse, the Vespasian Bazaar had become the economic hub of the Theme of Placitum, and the Church of the Annointed Wayfarers blessed all manner of travelers, traders, and legionaries that came to pray. Merchant families from all corners of the Suel Empire passed through, as well as dwarven undercaravans from the Karaz Ankor, troupes of elven craftsmen, and even a few clans of halflings from their distant homeland in Terra Pusillus in the west.

Market Adjustments
In the aftermath of the Great Collapse, the final imperial administrator, Komes Emver Bokshi became Lord Emver of House Bokshi, first Count of Hersek. Without the Suel government over the region, there was neither resources nor driving force to finish the Viae Magna, and thus it sat unfinished, though maintained. Over time, trade slowed down and commercial partners diminished, as the disparate pieces of the former empire lost much reason to stay connected. The stream of trade to the south and west slowed to a trickle, and the collapse of the Karaz Ankor and disuse of the Underway minimized dwarven trade into the region. While Hersek remained the premiere endpoint for trade, it was not like the golden age that had been made by the Suel.

During the post-Suel era, the rise of a number of prominent merchant families became a major political factor. In effect they became a new sort of nobility for a time, before the eventual establishment of the short-lived Merchant Republic of Hersek. While only lasting three years, it did have the effect of permanently usurping House Bokshi, allowing a young merchant, Baronet Iskender Frengu, to become Count of Hersek. His dynasty, House Frengu, has ruled for the past 1,200 years, and has kept politics and commerce as separate as possible. This depoliticization led to the final major development in the region: the entrenchment of the halfling clans. Halflings, wanting nothing to do with politics, were relieved by the change in dynasty, and finalized the moves begun during the Suel era, with several Clans in their entirety moving to Hersek permanently. To this day, they maintain ancestral estates on the edges of the capital, where the Elders of each Clan manage the affairs of family trade companies while the youth gallivant about in caravans.

During the Great War Against Tiamat, Hersek saw plenty of traffic, both religious and military. Scores of heroes passed through, many stopping at the Church of the Annointed Wayfarers to be blessed. After the war, almost as many folk passed through on the return trip, bringing bags heavy with draconic hoards and exotic hides for sale. The Great Deluge brought about by the Circle of Laurels did little to the region save nourish the greenery and breifly flood the harbor, but trade still flowed. The Great River War saw the most recent disruption of trade, with the River Cyb serving as an important artery of trade to the north. Hersek committed the entirety of their County Guard, which was annointed with blessed hazelnut oil by the Great Pathmaster himself, Heian Morganstern, and also served as a logistical hub. While much of the fighting in the war took place further north, materiel still had to be distributed across all nine Realms, and Hersek remained the best central location for this. Hersek was greatly hurt by the lack of free trade for certain periods of the war, as blockades and battles stalled caravans and stymied boats, leading to them almost abandoning the war entirely until a trade agreement was reached suspending all taxes and tariffs between the Placid Realms until peacetime. Thereafter, trade into the Verdant and Mercurial Realms became much more free due to the lack of additional layers of expense per border crossed, and commerce flowed steadily, funding and equipping the three armies of the Placid Realms until peace was signed in Fife.

Religion
"Then, Petrikos spoke, and asked 'But why, on this third day of wandering and supping on gruel, do I feel most hale and hearty? My first three decades as a miller did not feel so fulfilling though I had full pockets and larder, but now poor and starved I am invigorated.' The Dweller did speak, and answer 'You found stability in the destination, but so much more in the journey, my brother.' - The First Parable of Petrikos, The Parables of The Pathfinders "The Church of Fharlanghn is the majority religion of the County of Hersek, a true anomaly in the world. In no other land does The Dweller on the Horizon have even a temple, but in Hersek the Church of the Annointed Wayfarers stands as a massive marble testament to his glory. Built as three quartered concentric circles, with two of marble columns, the outermost features hearths, fountains, and statues between the columns, from which the clergy serve the public. The columns support a ring of marble that protects those beneath as they seek sustenance. A set of marble steps elevates the two inner circles by roughly ten feet each, with the second circle having no columns but green spaces roughly 150 feet wide with grasses and hazelnut trees, and marble benches around the perimeter. The innermost circle is is a fifty foot diameter circle of pure white marble with a great fire pit in the middle, ringed by marble columns supporting a white marble halo engraved with scenes of the March of the Mendicants. From here, the Great Pathmaster and his senior clergymen deliver important blessings, perform high rituals, and prepare crucial religious items such as blessed hazelnut oil for use on high holy days. Four roads, the origin points of the Viae Magna, lead into the center and provide a sloped ramp towards the center for carts and wagons seeking a blessing. The outermost circle, known as the Ring of Dusk, offers porridge and water to the poor and needy. The middle, known as the Ring of Twilight, is a free space for wanderers to rest, where any who travels is guaranteed three nights to stay and rest on the grass beneath the trees and sup with the clergy if they so wish. The innermost circle, the Ring of Dawn, is a ritual space first and foremost, with a catacomb network beneath that houses a library, reliquary, and quarters for the clergy. While many towns, most especially in the Placid Realms, feature a small shrine to Fharlanghn beside the most traveled road, no other city in the world features a church dedicated to Him.

The Church of Fharlanghn provides many services to the people of Hersek. Their clergy are often cartographers or guides, helping to compile maps and charts of their region. Many also become local historians of sorts as an extension of this calling, as their records detail landmarks, monuments, and great journeys, usually becoming geography books of decent worth within a few generations. Many caravans, travelers, and heroes will seek out a cleric of Fharlanghn for either a blessing or even as a companion before a journey. In addition, clerics tend to sell small baubles known as Path Pendants. These small copper trinkets, usually no larger than a standard coin, will bear the name and symbols of a locale and a small hole through which one may run a cord or wire. Many travelers purchase one at every stop on their journey, and many merchants who take routes along river tributaries will have collections so large they may need a second or third necklace or bracelet. While inexpensive, usually no more than a silver piece, they are a vital source of income for the Church as well as the locale.

Beyond Fharlanghn, Kord remains a common second choice of deity, though his worship remains an extremely slim minority in Hersek. The two churches maintain excellent relations, with their faithful and clergy often working together on adventures. Yondalla, Goddess of the Halflings, has a small temple in the capital that ministers to the flock there. The Hersek Halfling Clans are happy to have their temple, and the temple itself is well funded by generous donations from caravans.

Culture
The County of Hersek owes much culturally to the influence of the Church of Fharlanghn, and of the longstanding presence of the so-called Hersek Halflings. By way of the Church, a culture of fraternal courtesy has flourished, with many referring to one another with the term "brother" or "sister" rather than "sir" or "madam". Church custom holds that all who wander are brothers and sisters in spirit, and many Hersekers consider total strangers and even foreigners to be distant kin of a sort, curiously different but sharing some things in their hearts. Furthermore, they take any assault on their people to be a family affair, and thus it is not uncommon for people to act in large groups with little more than geography to bind them. For instance, a village may raise a search party for a lost merchant from afar rather than look for an adventurer because they view this merchant as lost kin, not a mere stranger.

The Church has also influenced material culture somewhat. Path Pendants are a common accessory across the Placid Realms but most especially in Hersek, and maps and geography books are more readily available there than anywhere else in the world. Hazelnuts, as a sacred food of the Fharlanghn, have found all manner of applications. Hazelnut oil is not only a frequent item for blessing, but a frequently used balm among merchants, as it helps protect the skin and hair from some of the effects of the sun. The nuts themselves are prepared in myriad ways, raw, roasted, candied, whole, sliced, and ground. Hazelnut porridge is a staple, traditionally eaten on every Sulzday and the high holy days, as well as during christenings, and hazelnut meal is a common bread additive that adds a unique flavor and texture. Herseker breads are renowned for being richer and slightly buttery for this reason.

Halfling culture has permeated Hersek for millennia, most especially after the full move of the Hersek Halfling Clans after the collapse of the Merchant Republic of Hersek. Due to the close ties between the Hersek Halflings and the local human majority, Halfling is actually more common as a written language in Hersek than in their ancestral homeland, the Mootland, or Imperial Moot, of the Sigmarite Empire. Halflings enjoy stories, and thus many own a copy of  The Parables of The Pathfinders  as an entertaining storybook, even though they don't follow the faith. In turn, human interest has resulted in halfling stories being written down that are seldom seen outside the oral tradition. In fact, dramaturges in the region have adapted several into successful plays performed both locally and at the Bardic College of Stratford in the Principality of Avon to the northwest. Furthermore, several halfling traditions have become an important part of Herseker culture, most especially the week-long festival known as Pie Week, though Herseker Halflings have different types of pies from their other kin due to local agriculture, with medlar and hazelnut pie being a favorite, as well as local berries from bushes being used. In addition, Herseker Halflings will insist that both their pie crusts and their pastries in general is superior due to both the borrowed custom of hazelnut enrichment and the varieties of local fruit and berries. Most noteworthy is the so-called "moot pastry", made from placing a sweet or savory filling of some sort onto a layered sheet of puff pastry, then folding it onto itself and baking, essentially making a self-contained treat ideal for travel.

Politics
The County of Hersek is a commercial power first and foremost, and sends liasons far and wide to negotiate favorable taxes, tariffs, and duties. They make it a point to ensure positive relations with all of their direct neighbors, and send emissaries far beyond the Placid Realms to fister trade relations in the Verdant Realms, the Mercurial Realms, the Kingdom of Fife (until most recently), and even far flung realms such as Carthage and the Sigmarite Empire. Domestically, politics seldom interferes with business. While the Count collects taxes and tariffs, as a point of honor and fairness he has personally refused to be directly involved in the running of a mercantile enterprise since the demise of the Merchant Republic. Wealthy traders do often have his ear, and at court their concerns may be heard, sometimes even persuading the Count to direct a regiment of the Hersek County Guard towards a particular route in advance of a particularly valuable caravan. The Count maintains a slightly larger court than most, as his retinue includes a cleric of Fharlanghn selected by the Great Pathmaster known as the Pilot-Palatine, and a representative of the Hersek Halflings selected by the Elders of the Clans known as the Alder-Palatine. These additional advisors are to assist especially in commercial and transportation related matters, including foreseeing areas in need of scouring by the County Guard, advice on merchants to favor, and insight into foreign trade, especially the shifting mosaic of the Mercurial Realms to the south.

Ecology
The climate of Hersek is slightly drier and flatter than the surrounding areas. Rivers still run through, and many swamplands exist at their ends, however, there is slightly more woodland and open space. Hazelnut trees grow wildly, and after the foundation of the Church of Fharlanghn many villages planted them throughout. Berry bushes are also extremely common, to the point where many towns are encircled by them. The forests are still extremely dangerous, especially deeper within where savages and monsters make home. However, the greatest deficiency in the region is an acute lack of available stone. There do exist mines and quarries left over from the Suel Empire, however, after the Great Collapse they fell into disuse as the Hersek County Guard was only strong enough to patrol the many roads and paths of the county, rather than actively guard these far-flung holes in the ground.

Economy
The County of Hersek is a local trade hegemon. Wares from all the Placid Realms and beyond pass through, and rigorously exacted taxes, tariffs, and duties keep the central government funded. Locally produced products tend to focus on use on the road, either portability or durability. All manner of local fruits and berries are converted into jams, preserves, or beverages, and meats preserved through smoke and salt for sale. The tools and supplies for commerce are the main industries of Hersek, with horseshoes, wagon wheels, barrels, crates, and all manner of provisions being the main products. Rounding out economic activity in the realm is the sale of small trinkets as mementos for tourists, maps for travelers, and a form of exotic pet: Mootland Mastiffs, the diminutive hounds of the halflings that are otherwise hardly seen outside the Imperial Moot.

Military
The Hersek County Guard is one of the smaller of the Realm Guard at six companies, largely due to expenses: it is entirely cavalry. Each company rides out with longbows and shortswords in leather armor with unarmored horses for maximum mobility. Usually the County Guard are on patrol, keeping commonly trafficked roads clear of major threats. They are less forward than many other Realm Guard units, staving off the irregular goblin incursion or peppering an errant orc raiding party with arrows from afar. The Hersek County Guard 1st Company, known as the Waywardens, uses compound bows, longswords, bucklers, and studded leather to deal with more serious threats, usually waiting in reserve at the capital until sent by order of the Count.

In addition, the Hersek Halfling Clans maintain their own caravan guards drawn from their extended family, including a select few that have mastered the art of mounted combat. These few, known as Outriders, usually accompany only the most valuable of caravans. On occasion, one or more Outriders may join a Company of the County Guard for a mission, especially if in an area where their Clan will soon be active. Outriders are all very individual persons, with arms, armor, and even mount unique to the Outrider.