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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yair" data-source="post: 1825799" data-attributes="member: 10913">Imagine ancient forests, untouched by man's axe, stretching from horizon to horizon. Imagine man confined to the great river valleys, with his wooden cities and the small villages that serve them passing trade up and down the river. There be great cathedrals, and monasteries led by the black clergy, and the Eastern Church holds sway. But in the remote villages closer to the wild forests, and in the forests depths still, Slav pagans dwell, unchristend, worshiping the ancient powers of nature, the Faerie Gods of old.  Imagine a cold five-month winter of constant snow, covering and destroying all roads, freezing the mighty rivers until trade is all done by sleds. And massive spring thaws, and floods, and than a brief short summer. You are imagining the Novgorod Tribunal.The tribunal boundaries encompass what is now Russia and Poland, from the eastern Carpathians to the Ural mountains. It is circa 1150 A.D, and the land is in turmoil. Polish and Russian princes rule the divided land, each temporarily holding a province or few only to be replaced in a few years by another. Princes rarely die in battle, or of natural causes. Their greatest prize is the large trade city of Kiev in the south, though Novgorod in the north is also powerful, and Krakov, capitol of Poland, is nearly as prestigious. It is mainly in the cities that the power of Boyars, merchants and petty landowners, is growing.A divine aura sorounds the cities, monasteries, and some Christian villages and fields (mostly those villages closest to the cities). In Russia the Russian Orthodox Church holds sway, while Poland answers to the Pope (and is heavily influenced by the German, including the use of stone construction, German law, and the three field system). The church is engaged in a long and bitter fight with paganism, which they do not tolerate, but are tolerant of Islam and Judaism. At the moment the church is mainly concerned with swelling up the local numbers of priests and the strength of Christianity within its own ranks, as there are not enough priests in these times to even visit all the small villages. Most churchmen find violence counterproductive. Volkhvy, pagan priests, still lead many of the more remote Slav villages, and sometimes even work within the cities in hiding – either directly or through emissaries. Their power, however, has greatly diminished from their past glory, and there is intense enmity between them and the Church.Faerie auras are common and strong, although they are diminishing as the Church expands. The fay of Novgorod are divided between the White and Gold courts, aligned with cold Winter and lifebearing Summer. The fay also greatly respect the pagan gods, which some magi suspect are nothing but powerful faeries.Magical auras are, thank God almighty, plentiful and powerful. Many areas within the pristine land are blessed with powerful magical auras. These are often settled by pagan villages, but some are settled by wizards and, of course, most are left to the magical denizens that populate them. Raw vis is plentiful, and the pagan locals do not trouble much the wizards in their studies. This is truly a blessed land.That’s all I have time for for now, I hope it’s enough. If you want more details on any topic – ask. (The info is from the history chapter in The Dragon and the Bear.)Someone – as a Jew, I find the prospect of a Jew accountant amusing. I hope he’ll be greedy. Sure, it sounds fine.</blockquote>

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