Reetland is the oldest of the three human kingdoms in the North-West of the known world.
It also sees itself as the most civilised of the three and the most powerful. Since the
bulk of the population of the other two kingdoms,
Cambria and Sankhar, are also
Reets the Reetland monarchy has frequently felt
it should be ruling all three kingdoms. The legends concerning the ancient
Pelorean Empire have only encouraged this
belief. Sadly apart from a brief period when Reetland conquered Sankhar and installed puppet
kings its imperial ambitions have come to nothing.
The faltering foreign policy of the Reetland Kings has in fact led to them losing power to the
Reetland Council consisting of nobles, bishops and Guild leaders. This process started after
Reetland's unsuccesful
invasion of Cambria in 1056 and have
continued to the present day. Successive monarchs have bargained away their power to get Council
support for their current projects.
Still Reetland has a lot to be proud of, particularly in supporting Sankhar in fighting off
the Gnolls on its eastern border. It has four excellent universities, and is recognised
for its musicians and public theatres. It has also managed to regulate arcane magic to
ensure that it serves the public good. Unlike in Cambria the Pelorean Church is unified and
strongly supports the state (if not quite supporting the monarchy as much as it did in the past).
By allowing non-humans to join Guilds and having strong legislation supporting the rights of
Guild members Reetland has the greatest legal protection for its many races of the three
western kingdoms (even if the population is 90% Reet). Citizenship for all races is openly
being talked about and said to be favoured by King Saradoc VI as he feels Reetland will
show Cambria up in this regard.
Reetland armed forces remain strong with many units clad in platemail. The Reetland cavalry have
continued to breed larger and stronger horses making their mounted charge a truly formidable
attacking weapon. The development of such large horses has also helped Reetland agriculture and
industry be more productive.
The troubles of
King Burgred of Cambria have not gone unnoticed in Reetland
and much thought has been given to how Reetland should react in the event of a possible
Cambrian civil war. The intervention of the Reetland army in such a war should be decisive
but King Saradoc, a keen student of history, is only too aware of the pitfalls for the monarchy in interfering in
Cambrian affairs. Nevertheless Reetland has an extensive network of spies in Cambria
monitoring the situation.