The Kingdom of Georgia

A Golden Age, The Young Queen, The Riches of the Four Corners

The Georgian nation is newly powerful in every area. Their military are strong and their gains large. Their culture is flourishing, with learning highly respected. Their economy is booming, and their trade never better.

The young Queen Tamar has only barely begun to consolidate her rule. How the power vacuum left by her father will be filled remains to be seen; there are many angles for a crafty noble to gain favour and influence.

Nowhere else in the known world is such a flow of riches evident. The Silk Roads bring finery from the East, and the Georgians themselves are renowned for their skill in craftsmanship. Wealth and comfort surround those enterprising enough to take it for themselves.

The Georgians are clever and resourceful, and the nation can support some very esoteric characters. Example archetypes include:

• The Machiavellian noble scheming to carve out his own power base or impress his Queen.
• The learned Monk seeking more knowledge than can be found in the dust of his library.
• The well-travelled trader of relics and artefacts, working hard to become wealthy.
• The fanatical orthodox priest who is contending for the possession of Jerusalem against the heathen Muslims and the blasphemous Catholics.

• Subjects of the Kingdom of Georgia are followers of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and members of the Orthodox States faction.
• Georgian characters start with a +1 bonus to either their Craft or Strategy skill. This means that the first rank of the chosen skill comes free - if you wish to have the skill at a higher rank, it simply costs one point cheaper.
• Georgian characters have access to Symbolic magic, as well as hedge magic and witchcraft.

Our young Queen barely knows what luck she has in inheriting the crown of Georgia. A country in the middle of a golden age - philosophy, the arts, literature and sciences are all flourishing; the country's military gains have never been as great since the times of her great-grandfather. At least she has the sense to take the reigns of the court before the nobles divide up the spoils of the nation for themselves.

Rusudan Bagrationi, Georgian Princess

They think themselves so powerful, protected by their mountains and their militias. Let them go a hundred years of warfare against many foes as the Seljuk did and see how they retain their stolen spoils. Those who prosper grow fat and soft, and shall surely fall under the weight of their arrogance.

Turgal III, Sultan of Hamadan.

In its early history, the Caucasus was an area filled with feuding kingdoms, whose influence fluctuated over time. Invasions from the Hittites, Urartians, Medes and others were weathered by the solid roots of the people, from whom arose the two great kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. These kingdoms governed the area for a thousand years before attacks from Alexander the Great forces and then the armies of Imperial Rome finally subjugated the area. It was only with the decline of Rome that a Georgian state first emerged and brought Christianity to the region.

In the ninth century, the royal family of Bagrationi liberated formerly Iberian lands from the Arabs and then took control of Armenia and Abkhazia. Finally, Bagrat III united the protectorate states and the surrounding lands to form a unified Kingdom of Georgia. This expansion would not continue, however, as in the eleventh century the Seljuks smashed through the lands, devastating infrastructure, pillaging and looting, raping and murdering. Georgian refugees fled north out of Seljuk control, and began a struggle against the invaders.

David IV took the throne at the age of 16 after the abdication of his father. Faced with the Seljuk occupation of Georgian lands he formed regular army and peasant militia and marched against the Seljuks. With the distraction of the First Crusade which favoured his campaign, he marched to war. Within a decade was able to stop paying tribute and had nearly reconquered the ancient cities of Tblisi and Hereti. Further campaigns against a newly-declared Seljuk jihad recaptured these places and more, and forced the Turks to retreat despite larger numbers. David died aged 52 leaving his country a sizeable regional power, and having also made significant advances in Christianising the country as well as bringing education and scholarship to the forefront of the state.

Queen Tamar has just risen to power. Battling the aristocracy and prejudice because of her young age, she has taken the country forcibly into new heights. The feudal nature of her monarchy means that she is still attempting to consolidate her rule, but has not quite achieved autocratic power. The virgin queen is a powerful and attractive figure in a steadily richer court. Supported by a military elite, she has began to conquer new lands, and has continued the work her great-grandfather started in strengthening the culture of the region and has engaged in an energetic foreign policy which sees Georgia getting more heavily involved in the business of nearby nations.

Sitting at the base of the Great Caucasus mountains on the banks of the Kura, Tblisi is the capital of the Kingdom. It is the central hub of the nation from which power, culture and influence flows, and its position between Europe and Asia, on one of the Silk Roads, gives it great wealth and strategic influence.

The Kolkhilda lowlands which open to the Black Sea in the west are the breadbasket of Georgia. The good soils and Mediterranean climate mean that they are highly productive and the access to the Black Sea means that the region also sees much trade.

Recently freed from Seljuk influence by King David the Builder, Syuniq is a mountainous region (on the Lesser Caucasus) with many fortresses and monasteries. It is an area that has been much fought over for its strategic position and large land area.

Georgians follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but range in their piety from those who merely pay lip service to those who embrace it to the exclusion of all else.

Georgians may have many interests in the Holy Land; not least among these is the directive of the Queen to represent the Kingdom's interests and ensure that those dirty Catholics don't get their way. The Levant also represents the largest single source of customers for the goods Georgian merchants have to offer, and their largest source of curios which can be sold on elsewhere.

The Georgians gain access to the closely guarded secret that is Symbolic magic, with the power to manipulate the world through words, names and marking.

Playing a Georgian gives you access to the Silk Roads, a rich source of curios, trade goods and other wealth from the East.

The Georgians are master builders and tradesmen, and are known for their impressive buildings and fine goods. The leaders of Georgia are strong and are picked by the Queen for their ability to lead rather than their ability to cosy up to the right people. Georgians buying either Craft or Leadership get one extra rank of that skill for free (which may put them on rank 6).

Play a Georgian if:

• You want to uncover deep secrets and twisted plots through Symbolic magic.
• You want to indulge in the intrigue of the Court.
• You want to deal in luxury and acquire items those with fewer contacts and opportunities might never see.