Tambelon
Tambelon
banner_tambelon.jpg
We Are One
map_tambelon2.jpg
location in nora
Capital and
Largest City
Tambelon City
Ruler Queen Generals
Grandia, Etheria,
and Umbras
Demonym Tambel
Formation 1375 NS
Area ?
Population 50,000
Common Languages ?

Tambelon is a territory on the southern coast of Levetiera. The population of Tambelon is predominantly comprised of a breed of magebred ponies that have gained sentience and claimed the territory as a sovereign nation.

Tambelon acquired it current boundaries at the cessation of fighting in 1375 NS. Nora has yet to recognize Tambelon's sovereignty, but has yet to take military action against the territory. Since that year, Tambelon has functioned independently and has formed a de-facto government lead by a Matriarchal Triumvirate.

Alliance with Falroth.

History


Magebreeding experiments

The experiments that would eventually lead to the creation of the intelligent pony races began with the ideal of creating a stronger, more capable cavalry force in Ilefain's military. Magebreeding techniques to make a warhorse stronger or faster were already known, if not common, but there was a belief among certain mages and military officers that creating smarter beasts of war would be just as valuable. Not just intelligent, but the creation of numerous warhorses with special abilities and magical powers. Groups of warhorses were sectioned off and experimented upon, with the intention of creating three specific types of intelligent mounts; flight capable pegasi that could also potentially control the weather, potent magical warhorses with innate sorcery like that of unicorns, and sturdy conventional warhorses that possessed endurance surpassing any other cavalry unit.

The experimentation worked remarkably well. By using genuine unicorns and pegasi to breed with normal warhorses using potions and spells to affect the resulting offspring new types of warhorses were breed that had traits of their unique parents while displaying a capacity to be trained easier and react more intelligently in battle situations. The mages pushed the experimentation further, seeking to create further superior breeds, including adding celestial and elemental blood to the mix.

The location of the bulk of these experiments was fortress along the north east edge of the Starlight Mountains called Eternal Reach, though the creatures created via the experiments were sent to numerous garrisons and units in the north. However it was at Eternal Reach that the spark of rebellion was ignited and a new species came to be.

War of Independence

The signs that something was wrong were initially ignored, if only because few of the mages or soldiers involved could believe that what they were seeing was what they were seeing. Many simply blew it off when seeing horses gathering, seeming to communicate with each other. It was at first ignored that items would go missing from the armories or that it seemed that the magebred mounts were carrying messages to each other.

What was not ignored was when the magebred warhorses, unicorns, and pegasi began to give birth not to full grown horses, but smaller, more expressive creatures that could only be called 'ponies', but with the same traits of magical horns, wings, or stout bodies like their parents. The intelligence of these ponies seemed even higher than their parents, yet their size made them unsuitable as mounts of war. As such it was decided these ponies would simply be disposed of.

The ponies and their larger forebears disagreed with this notion.

Eternal Reach was sized and held within a single day by the surprise uprising of magical ponies, led by half-celestial and shadow-bred members of their kind who held a great deal of innate power. This sudden uprising was not a coincidence, as the older magebred mounts had been planning to make such a move for some time, and their brethren among the scattered garrisons and field units were signaled via magical messaging that the time had come. Entire regiments suddenly lost their mounts that simply ran off in the night to join the rebellion at Eternal Reach.

It was here that the ponies formally formed themselves into regimental clans of their own, selecting leaders from amongst their kind, raising three to the position of generals; the half celestial's Grandia and her sister Etheria, and the half-shade Umbras. These three took command of the pony forces and led them in their first battle against the Ilefain brigade sent to reclaim Eternal Reach. After two bloody days of fighting the Ilefain forces had to retreat. However, the three generals knew their people's position was tenuous and that Eternal Reach could not be held indefinitely. A hard decision was made to march north, away from "civilized lands" and seek a land of their own to inhabit.

The march was harried by Fainish troops, with several skirmishes occurring before the ponies left behind Ilefains' borders. In order to avoid further harassment the ponies turned west and traveled through the Blackthorn Wilds, dodging further pursuit but trading that for the dangers of the forests. Surviving monster attacks the ponies merged on the other side in a wild untammed land between an inlet of the Noran Sea and the Nuefex Mountains. It was here the three generals decided their people would lay down roots and form their own nation.

Tambelon's formation to today

The name "Tambelon" stems from the ruins of a city found inside the Nuefex Mountains that Queen-General Grandia decided to use as the seat of power for the new pony nation. Celestial writings inside the ruins of the city and the catacombs beneath it suggested an ancient history as a 'home' to 'the saved', but not enough writings survived to establish much else about the old city's history. The ponies cared little in their work to build their home; refurbishing the city into a grand if practical castle town and fortress in the mountains.

Vast tracks of land were converted into grazing fields for the ponies, and key locations were chosen to build defensive forts and outposts. Within a year of settlement several small villages were built, the ponies showing a strong affinity for the trappings of civilization despite not necessarily needed it. Within a decade of Tambelon's formation a new generation of ponies were born who had not known any life other than Tambelon, and they form today the largest bulk of the population as they have grown into adulthood.

Tambelon has since maintained a peaceful regime inside its small borders, but has fought numerous border battles with kobold and ogre tribes that inhabit the lands north of the Nuefex Mountains, and fight a daily struggle against monsters in the Blackthron Wilds. Only their isolation keeps them safe from Ilefain's reprisals for their rebellion, but the ponies maintain a careful watch and build their military forces and seek to establish trade routes and alliances with other nations.

Government


The country is highly military in organization and nature. Each family unit is like a platoon, with multiple platoons forming larger companies that are lead by a single war-leader. These companies owe allegiance to a higher command structure of Captains who control specific aspects of the country's protection, production, and settlements. The Captains in turn swear loyalty to the highest tier, the Queen-Generals of Tambelon who work together to rule specific territories in the kingdom. The three Queen-Generals are half-celestials.

The Queen-Generals

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Grandia, Umbras and Etheria

Grandia, Etheria, and Umbras; these three form the highest echelon of Tambelon's government, each sharing an equal amount of control and working (in theory) together to decide the best policy for their people. Each knows that without their unified cooperation their race's tenuous position would be even more dangerous, and the three formed a strong bond of sisterhood while leading their people in battle so, despite differences in personality, the three do their best to ensure there is no division amongst them.

  • Grandia is a half-celestial with a strong connection to the element of fire, but ironically is the most levelheaded of the three Queen-Generals. She commands Tambelon's "expeditionary" military forces and is in charge of most of the country's current actions and relations with the rest of Nora, including the creation and overseeing of the Heralds; ponies hoof-picked to be Tambelon's emissaries to the rest of the world. She has direct command of Tambelon City's Royal Guard, and the eight expeditionary regiments.
  • Etheria is also a half-celestial, who possesses remarkable powers of healing and growth. The kindest of the three, she is primarily in charge of overseeing Tambelon's agricultural and industrial efforts, commanding the ten regiments whose efforts are turned towards building Tambelon's infrastructure and keeping the nation fed. While the least combative of the three Queen-Generals it is rumored that Etheria's anger, once riled, is the most terrifying to behold.
  • Umbras, unlike the other two, is a half-shade, whose power to control darkness is rumored to extend to even infusing choice lieutenants with the ability to walk between shadows. She has a reputation as being extremely focused and results driven, but also the most concerned with the defense of the nation; and hence she commands the largest quantity of regiments; twenty, which are devoted to the garrisoning of Tambelon's settlements and border fortresses. She is currently the only Queen-General who actively participates in battle, personally commanding the defense of the realm from ogre and kobold incursions from a mobile storm-cloud fortress called Vortexis. She has trained an elite company of pegasi warriors called the Dark Riders, who have her shadow walking powers, and have potent weather control abilities.

Regimental commanders to platoons

Each Regiment consists of anywhere from five hundred to a fifteen hundred ponies, and is basically like a clan in terms of structure; with a single war leader, or commander, in command of the regiment. About half of any given regiment is actual adult combat soldiers, while the rest would be young, in training, elderly, or those currently on maternity leave. Not every regiment is strictly for combat, as the formation of a nation has necessitated the existence of civilian roles, but even a store owner or farmer is, in some ways, still considered a solider merely performing a logistics duty. Every citizen is combat trained and ready to fight, if need be.

Each regiment forms smaller family groups, companies, which specialize in purpose. A company might be focused on siege breaking techniques, or farming a particular type of crop, or be entirely made up of recon pegasi; it all depends on the family unit. The company in turn has its leader, and the company leaders, called captains, report to the regiment commanders on the weekly activities and duties of the regiment. Each company is usually around one hundred ponies. For each company there are platoons of ten to twenty ponies, the smallest family unit, usually with a primary male and female pony taking up the role of the family leaders with immediate brothers and sisters serving a subservient role, and the children of said ponies forming the rest of the platoon.

Chain of command

Issues are usually meant to be resolved within any given 'circle' of the chain of command. Platoons take care of problems within their own platoon. If the issue is between members of differing platoons, then its the companies job to deal with it. If the issue is larger, it is still up to any specific regiment as a whole to decide on the larger issue. Only major problems or large scale issues make it to the attention of the actual Queen-Generals, though each one pays a fair bit of attention to the way their regimental commanders are handling things or carrying out their orders.

Specialty Units

Heralds

Tambelon has sent seven heralds out into the world looking for allies in their quest for independence.

The known Tambelon Heralds are:

Censors

The Tambel Censors are the secret police. Keeping the information of the outside world out of Tambelon.

Star Sentinels

Personal agents of the Queen Generals.

Culture


The ponies of Tambelon are still very much working to develop a sense of cultural identity. They were bred for war, and most of them have only known conflict most of their lives. They are highly loyal to the concept of family, the communal good of the race, and to the Queen-Generals, whom many of them view as demi-gods, or at the very least true heroes of their race. Despite the vast differences in the abilities of the different pony types there is a remarkable sense of community and togetherness; the words of the nation "We are One" is no idle chant, the ponies of Tambelon know they can only depend on one another and that division will destroy them.

That said as friendly as the ponies of Tambelon can be towards one another they are very suspicious and carry a growing sense of xenophobia. While the notion that they must make allies among the other races is accepted, overall, few ponies innately trust members of other races, if only because most ponies have not lived long enough nor had enough contact with other races to realize that there may be people out there that won't try to enslave or kill them simply due to their quadrupedal nature.

While individual accomplishments and events are celebrated in a subdued manner they will celebrate communal achievements and events with great gusto. The birth of a new foal into the community is treated like a celebration for the whole community itself, not just the immediate family. The construction of a new well or the finishing of a large project is heralded with great enthusiasm, and celebrations on harvest days are commonplace. The only real 'holiday' they have formalized though is that of their Nation Day, the formal celebration of Tambelon's formation as a nation.

Most Tambelon ponies are focused entirely on the day to day work schedule and performance of their duties. Ponies work hard by day, and relax only when the sun has gone down, and even then many will burn the midnight oil to get a project done. They enjoy playing amongst themselves, but allow themselves little time to do so. Most relaxation time is just after sunset, a sort of 'happy hour' immediately after the sun has gone down where many will gather at a communal spot to celebrate a hard day's work done (taverns are becoming a very popular thing that every settlement has at least two or three of, often situated around the same town square).

Foals are given a fair amount of freedom until around the ages of eight or nine, where they are considered old enough to be tested for aptitudes. Once it is determined what the foal will be good at they are usually sent to immediate apprenticeships or training, often with little personal say in the matter.

One unique aspect of pony culture that bears mentioning is the 'soul mark' each pony gets before reaching adulthood. What a soul mark actually is is unknown even to the ponies themselves, but it is an image that appears on the flanks of ponies, usually after a powerful personal discovery or revelation. It seems to tie in to or represent some aspect of the pony's personality or purpose, and the gaining of one is seen as a sign of the pony reaching proper adulthood.

Music

Song is highly valued in Tambelon. All ponies know at least a couple tunes and often incorporate these songs into their daily lives.

Slavery

Tambelon uses captured enemies as slaves as an alternative to simply slaying their foes. Queen-General Etheria has notably dissented against this law. Most slaves are ogres, but some humans and other humanoids from Nora have found their way into Tambel work camps.

Religion

The main religious movement is that of the Fillies of Harmony; female-only worshipers of the Queen-Generals.

The other (outlawed) religious group is the Horned Cult. These ponies gather in secret and wear cloaks with goat horns adorned on the hoods. They worship an obscure ancient being they call Grogar.

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