Kelvernia: Jerimet

Jerimet is a relatively young kingdom. It had long been a loose amalgamation of petty baronies and princedoms, each with petty rivalries and frequent skirmishes with their neighbors. All that changed a little over twenty years ago, when the old lord of Kasjar (a small coastal province) died, leaving his son Drew to rule. 

Drew, though a young man, proved a capable leader. When his southern neighbor encroached upon Kasjar farmlands, Drew took his troops and pushed the southerners back. Not content with this, the young lord continued his advance and defeated the entire province. 

Thus began a ten year campaign of conquest. Drew proved a fearless general and a capable warrior in the field. In the end, the entire peninsula bent the knee to Drew I, king of Jerimet (called thus for the old imperial name of the land). 

King Drew is now a middle-aged man. A greater warrior than ruler, he is nonetheless conscientious enough to appoint good advisors and the kingdom runs smoothly enough. He married a Doge's daughter several years ago, and has an heir of his own now. The crown prince is only a boy, but should be more than old enough to take the crown before the king would die of old age. 

In the meantime, much of the crown's energies are spent keeping the old rivalries between the provincial lords from flaring up. As a result, Drew I wonders if a unifying cause might not be useful. He eyes expanding eastward into Cramond, and tests his neighbor's resolve occasionally. 

In a further attempt at unification, King Drew has made the Church of the Five the official state religion, and the patriarch is on the royal council. The king hopes that the presence of the official church in every province will preach fealty and loyalty to his subjects.

Jerimet is not friendly toward the Changed or the Metalmen. Those found among the populace are sent to Berkut, a "settlement" on the shores of Lake Rabine to the north. Foreign mutants or androids are required to carry papers at all times, and can expect to be stopped frequently by the town watch.  Many establishments will not serve them. Outside the cities, it's usually worse, where "papers" mean little to nothing and a mob may turn ugly if a mutant come to their village. 

Nations of Kelvernia: Cramond

In an effort to stick to the "Avoid Minutiae" goal, I'm going to keep the "GAZ" section of the setting fairly light. The nations will end up slightly more detailed than the information below, but I want to set a baseline of where I'm going with each of them before pursuing any in depth.

Cramond: In many ways, Cramond is a typical "fantasy kingdom" with a western european feel. There are castles and forests, rivers and lakes, lords and ladies, knights, bandits, wizards, and the occasional monster. It is a large, agrarian, human nation. The capital city is Zaporta, and it is ruled by an elderly queen with grown twins (brother and sister) as heirs. The queen has named neither of them as her official successor yet. It is a very old dynasty, and Cramond is one of the oldest nations in Kelvernia. The land is divided into three duchies, with vassals under them.

The kingdom is currently having "border trouble" with its western neighbor, Jerimet. Such disputes happen occasionally, but the two countries have only rarely come to blows over it. The last "real" war between them was over thirty years ago.

The Church of the Five is the recognized faith in Cramond. Folk worship and the like is discouraged, and occasionally a "heretic" gets run out of town (or even beaten), but the crown does not go so far as to declare the Church the "official" religion of Cramond. It was until about two centuries ago, when a schism between the crown and the priesthood caused a severing of ties. The church keeps hoping to reverse this.

There is an excellent university in Zaporta, full of sages and other experts. The Guild of Magic and Alchemy maintains their headquarters in the city as well.

Cramond is home to many of the changed and metalmen. They are afforded rights as citizens, but are in reality second-class citizens best, and heavily discriminated against.

The northern edge of Cramond holds the Spear Mountains, which is home to the largest known dwarf population. They consider themselves autonomous and resent human encroachment on their territories. That doesn't stop some human miners from trying to exploit the veins of gold and iron to be found there, though.