Masseouli (Foundation Lands Supplement)
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Entering a Masseouli Ball is indeed interesting. All colors can be seen in the dresses of the prominent, it is an spectacle of sublime craftsmanship in some cases and outrageous poor taste in many. The people make circles around the most important figures or any elf. On that, it seems in this land an elven commoner is as prominent as highborns, and one's skill in elvish is the measure of intelligence and refinement. One closes the eyes and hears the language of the Elmeyr forest as widespread as in the forest itself, or at least some attempts at it. When it comes to the foods, I cannot complain, perhaps no one can. They have the finest assortment of delicious dishes I have tasted, even in the lower nobility parties their knights eat better than our kings."
Masseouli are the oldest and most consistent ethnicity of Derosia, with the oldest nobility and the longest lasting alliance in the known world, a 3000 years old alliance with the high elves from Elmeyr.
The kingdom of Masseouli is a constitutional Monarchy with distinct powers to nobles, dignitaries and peasants, where the church has little power and artists much. Their relation to the Elves led to a transformation in their power struct that was incorporated in theirs government as soon as the war was over. Four of the sixteen votes in the High council belong to foreign dignitaries, two of them being elves. The king's power is limited by the letter of the wise that gives veto power to the High council. Effectively the king and high council's power do not extend much beyond the capital with nobles frequently downplaying or simply ignoring orders and taxes.
The elvish influence is widespread and many high-born seek to emulate the elvish ways. Their cities are not built around a temple as with most Astrian cities, but around an open garden, with shade-trees, public seats and stages for artists. A simplified version of the Elmeyr language transcribed in the simpler Derosian alphabet is the de facto language of nobility and rituals. Its weddings and funerals are celebrated in the foreign tongue even for commoners and those who cannot speak it. Some linguists defend that the Masseouli language is pidgin of local languages, similar to Enatheni and to a lesser extent Astriani, and Elmeyrish.
The Masseouli culture has become a blend of Elvish, Enathese and indigenous culture, regarding painting, poetry, clothes-making, gold-smithing and cosine as the higher arts. Different from their elvish allies, Masseouli do not consider arcane magic as an art as much as a science. Among the Derosi peoples, the highest density of wizards can be found in Masseouli, still less than half the density found among elves and Gadirian. Their food is widely considered the best in the world, with many Masseouli cooks living aristocratic lives, be it in their lands or in foreign courts and noble houses.
Regarding military, they have long been known for their archers, their walls, towers and defensive structures, specially machicolations. They do not have a strong tradition in heavy armor, many times using ambushes and counting on more mobile light infantry paired with mounted archers hit and run tactics. Military careers are considered second class and their army is much smaller than their population would allow, being barely the size of greater Astrian city state military, however for cultural reasons, every high-born and middle-class subject trains extensively with the bow, long-sword (shieldless) or rapier. Despite this training, apart from archers, historically Masseouli militias have proven ineffective, for their training focused on duels, not on war formations and tactics.
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