Principality-of-Sturgia -

881 CE :: Braganca![[sturgia 1.png]] # Principality of Sturgia Centralizing Monarchical Principality. A Former Confederation. Rebellious Descendants of Foreign Conquerors. Efficient and Crafty In a Land of Fortune and Fur. They are Simultaneously War and Business-Minded in Search of Preeminence. **Grand Prince,** [[Raganvad]] [[Gundaroving]] # Culture ![[-_0001s_0002_Layer-0-copy-9.png|inlR|150]]"The Sturgians come from the northern woods, just south of the icy **Byalic Sea**. For centuries they lived an isolated existence in the dark forests, their numbers kept in check by the deadly winters. But as [[Calradian-Empire]] expanded to fill out the Calradian continent, traders ventured into the woods in search of honey, bog iron, and most of all fur. Great towns sprung up on the network of bays and lakes that joined the [[Sturgian]] lands to the outside world, attracting fortune-seekers from the coast, the steppes, and the [[Nordland-Cnty.]]. The princes and boyars of this land have now begun to turn their eyes outward, earning themselves for a reputation for their warlike approach to business and their businesslike approach to war." [ — Bannerlord / Modules / SandBoxCore / ModuleData / spcultures.XML] I suppose back there we had to run away to fight another day, **as the hero [[Cathalac]] once did**. If you remember the **story**, though, for the next three years he sat by himself in a bog, unable to look anyone else in the eye. So let's not do that too often, shall we? [ — Bannerlord.XML] "**Founded in 1002** by the warlord [[Gundar]], who united the fractious colonies established by raiders in the forests and bogs of the north. The [[Calradian-Empire]] granted him the title 'Warden of the Marches.' Its people are a mixture of northern colonists and the tribes of the cold woods south of **the Gray Sea**." [ — Bannerlord / Modules / SandBox/ wolrd_lore_strings.XML] I can teach you part of the **saga** of **Helgerad and Kara**. It is a heroic tale, full of blood and battle. The **shieldmaiden Kara** chooses the warrior **Helgered** as her lover, as he is the only man who can defeat her in combat. Her father, who pledged her to another, comes with his sons and his huscarls to kill Helgered. They fight, and Helgered and Kara slaughter the entire host except for Kara's beloved younger brother -- who, alas, grows up to avenge his father by slaying Helgered. The depiction of warrior and shieldmaiden as equals will appeal to some women, but a mail-wearing, blood-spattered heroine will shock and repulse others. [ — Warband.XML] For more on this poem, see [[Poems]]. [[Asaios]]: (See page [[9]].) > **In the south ([[Calradian-Empire]], [[Southern-Empire]]), we tell tales of the Sturgians as though they were half-wild man-bears, cousins to the wolfish Battanians, obsessed with war.** When I entered the gates I saw the Boyar [[Olek]] [[Kuloving]] ride by, and he really was an image out of a southerner's nightmares - **all bearskins and metal and beard, and a great scowl on his face.** > > But the townspeople all look and dress much like [[Imperial]] citizens, save for their fur-lined hats. **They are not so much in love with war as commerce** - specifically, commerce in furs. Everywhere I looked, bearded men and fierce-looking women were counting pelts, inspecting pelts, weighing pelts and bundling pelts onto caravans. There are no ancient lineages up here. Even the haughtiest Boyar remembers that, no more than a few generations back, his family was not much richer than anyone else, and it is fur that transformed this land from quiet woods into the thriving realm it is today. > [...] [[Asaios]] on [[Zorgan]] and '**the Vech**', a [[Sturgian]] council. (See page [[9]].) > His outlook and prejudices reminded me of my own father (Valicos Sr.) - when things went wrong in a kingdom, it was always because the Prince, hungry either for power or the adulation of the mob, had refused to listen to the wise old men. [[Zorgan]]'s family was from a leading family that had sat on '**the Vech**', the town council. [[Raganvad]]'s father ([[Vadinslav]]) had dismissed them, threatening to hang them for treason, when they balked at paying for a war. In the old days, he said, anyone could summon '**the Vech**' just by ringing a great bell in the marketplace. [[Raganvad]]'s father had melted down the bell and used it to make bronzed helmets for his druzhina bodyguard. > [...] [[Asaios]] on the people of [[Principality-of-Sturgia]] and the [[Vakken]]. (See page [[10]].) > From time to time I caught a glimpse of fires burning in the woods off the trail. Villagers told me these were 'the [[Forest-People]]', who call themselves the [[Vakken]], burning down a swathe of woods and sowing their crops. They say that the cleared land gives great yields at first, and a [[Vakken]] must work less than a [[Sturgian]] to feed himself and his family. But it is quickly exhausted, and so the [[Vakken]] must move about from place to place. [[Istiana]]'s man [[Arto]] in [[Sibir]], himself half-[[Vakken]], told me a bit about his people. **No one could say whether they came to this land first, or the Sturgians.** For as long as anyone could remember, he says, the two people have intermingled. Sometimes they trade, sometimes they fight, much in the same way the [[Aserai-Sultanate]] live side-by-side with the Bedouin of the desert. Yarka [[the-Shieldmaiden]] > I came from a good family, with much land. Since I was a girl, I wished to be a shield-maiden. I practiced fighting with the village boys and the old warriors. But it is a strange thing - **while some families in our lands take pride in a daughter who takes up arms, others accord it a great shame**, and my father was of the latter type. [[the-Accursed]] > My mother had already died, so I was taken in by my uncle. But he didn't really want me. See, I had a birthmark on my shoulder, the kind that some people means the bearer can cast '**the Evil Eye**'. Whenever there was sickness in the streets of my uncles' village, the people would mutter and curse at me. Eventually they demanded my uncle drive me out of the village. It was no great loss for him to comply. Probably saved him worry over where he was going to find the money to marry me off. # Kingdom ![[-_0001s_0003_Layer-0-copy-10.png|inlR|150]]"The confederation of small kingdoms that is now the Principality of Sturgia came into being only a century ago. As boomtowns sprung up alongside the bays and lakes of the north, the local tribal leaders forged marriage pacts with [[Nord]] and other adventurers, hiring their swords to subdue their neighbors. Under pressure from the empire, they elected a prince to lead them in war, and eventually the princes became a hereditary office. But the idea of monarchy has never sat easily with the independence-minded boyars, and the potential for rebellion always lurks under the surface of [[Sturgian]] politics." [ — Bannerlord / Modules / SandBox / ModuleData / spkingdoms.XML] # Leader "The current Grand Prince of Sturgia is [[Raganvad]] [[Gundaroving]]. Harsh and uncompromising, he believes that it is the right of the prince to command the boyars in all things, not just in making war. For the time being they obey him, not least for his ability to call on the kinsmen of his mother, a [[Nord]] princess with ties to the fearsome [[Skolderbroda]] mercenary company." [ — Bannerlord / Modules / SandBox / ModuleData / heroes.XML] # Summary ![[-_0001s_0004_Layer-0-copy-11.png|inlR|150]]"Sturgians are the descendants of the foreign tribes of northern [[Calradia-Conti.]]. As the [[Calradian-Empire]] expanded into their cold forests, they found that a ready market for the luxurious furs of woodland animals whom they traditionally hunted and trapped. [[Sturgian]] chieftains became princes, vying for pre-eminence with the help of Nord ([[Nord]]) mercenaries who migrated into their realm. They are good hunters and wanderers, travelling far in search of opportunities both for trade and for plunder." [ — Bannerlord / Modules / StoryMode / ModuleData / module_strings.XML] # Clans "Clans represent major extensive families, or in some cases, family-like organizations. A kingdom is usually made up of several clans who hold fiefs and lead its troops. A clan will have a ruler, and when that ruler dies, the clan's leadership and titles will pass to his or her heir. Clans are nominally bound by blood ties, but marriage will result in one of the spouses (usually the wife) joining the other's clan, and sometimes clans will adopt members." [ — Bannerlord / Modules / SandBox / ModuleData / concepts.XML] **Sturgia owns zero ==Silver Mines==.** | 7926 **Owns 1 of 2 ==Iron Mines==** & **Owns 1 of 2 ==Stud Farms==** | TIER 6 | [[Gundaroving]] Ruling Clan - Centralizing Sturgia's Power | ![[raganvad.png\|150]] | [[Varcheg]] [[Balgard]] Mazhadan Castle Nevyansk Castle | ![[__0085_banner - 2024-08-31T164307.685.jpg\|150]] | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | 1623 | TIER 5 | [[Kuloving]] Old Believers - Ties to Jomsvikings ([[Skolderbroda]]) | ![[olek.png]] | [[Omor]] | ![[__0084_banner - 2024-08-31T164322.168.jpg]] | | 2396 | TIER 4 | [[Vagiroving]] Based on Icelandic Explorers - Independent, Forging Outward | ![[godun.png]] | [[Tyal]] Urikskala Castle | ![[__0083_banner - 2024-08-31T164342.053.jpg]] | | 9042 | TIER 4 | [[Vezhoving]] Clan of Vashorki, the Despicable | ![[vashorki.png]] | Ov Castle | ![[__0079_banner - 2024-08-31T164519.481.jpg]] | | 3892 **Owns 1 of 2 ==Iron Mines==** | TIER 3 | [[Ormidoving]] Clan of Yorig, An Enthusiastic Raider | ![[yorig.png]] | [[Varnovapol]] Vladiv Castle | ![[__0082_banner - 2024-08-31T164436.586.jpg]] | | 4650 **Owns 1 of 2 ==Stud Farms==** | TIER 3 | [[Togaroving]] Clan of Vyldur, the Gentle Lord | ![[vyldur 1.png]] | [[Revyl]] Ustokol Castle | ![[__0081_banner - 2024-08-31T164450.698.jpg]] | | 2330 **Monopoly on ==Lumber Yards==** | TIER 3 | [[Isyaroving]] Clan of Fafen, the Cold and Calculating | ![[fafen.png]] | [[Sibir]] | ![[__0080_banner - 2024-08-31T164506.789.jpg]] | | 1297 | TIER 2 | [[Kostoroving]] Clan of Rolan, But Run by Matriarch Dakhila, Ally of [[Olek]] | ![[dakhila.png]] | Kranirog Castle | ![[__0077_banner - 2024-08-31T164608.447.jpg]] | | 1120 | TIER 1 | [[Ubroving]] Clan of Tovir, the Brave and Headstrong | ![[tovir.png]] | Takor Castle | ![[__0078_banner - 2024-08-31T164533.552.jpg]] | | Approximate Wealth = 34,276 | | | | | | # Settlements & Minor Clans | ![[__0008_stur-cast.png\|150]] | [[Revyl]] [[Varcheg]] [[Omor]] [[Balgard]] [[Sibir]] [[Varnovapol]] [[Tyal]] | ![[__0065_banner - 2024-08-31T162605.656 1.jpg\|150]] | [[Forest-People]] Natives - [[Vakken]] Nomads | | :----------------------------: | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :---------------------------------------------------: | :--------------------------------------------------------------: | | ![[stur caste 2.png\|150]] | [[Sturgia Castles List]] | ![[__0069_banner - 2024-08-31T162444.571 1.jpg]] | [[Lake-Rats]] Mostly [[Sturgian]] Thieves, Fugitives, and More | | ![[__0009_stur-vil.png\|150]] | [[Sturgia_Villages_List]] | ![[__0073_banner - 2024-08-31T162248.993 1.jpg]] | [[Skolderbroda]] [[Nord]] Mercenaries | # Companions | Urgil [[Coalbiter]] Dueling Sword For Hire - Former [[Skolderbroda]] | [[Frostbeard]] Former Hunter, Trapper - Simple Misanthropic Scout for Hire | | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | | Yarka [[the-Shieldmaiden]] Honorable Warrior - Slew Husband in a Fair Duel | [[Longknife]] Proud Professional - Will do any Task However, Even if Dishonorable | | [[Breakskull]] Braggart - Former [[Vaegir]] - Former [[Skolderbroda]] | [[Willowbark]] Herbalist - Traveling Doctor for Hire, Warrior in-Training | | [[Bloodaxe]] Former [[Vaegir]] Guard for [[Arenicos]], Former Emperor | [[the-Accursed]] Traveling Vagrant, Engineer - Thought to be Cursed via a Birthmark on Her Shoulder | | [[the-Fish]] Irritable Former Farmer Now Mercenary | [[the-Lucky]] Gallant [[Sturgian]] Warrior - Saving Up for Great Voyage | # Troops | ==Source:== | [[Sturgian]] Skirmishers | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [ — Bannerlord / Modules / Native / ModuleData / multiplayer_strings.XML] | The [[Sturgian]] frontiers have often attracted fugitives and escaped slaves who prefer to live free beyond the reach of any boyars' authority. These desperate men and women, who traditionally fight with javelin and axe, will still frequently enlist in the boyars' armies for a few silver coins and the promise of loot. | | [[Sturgian]] Light Infantry | [[Sturgian]] Light Ranged | | Every village and town in the [[Sturgian]] lands supplies a force of Voi, or militia, to the boyars and princes. They support the druzhina in battle, and if they distinguish themselves, can hope for promotion into its ranks. | Every [[Sturgian]] community has hunters and trappers who bring back the luxurious furs of the north to be traded for goods from warmer lands. In wartime, they will often enlist as archers, trackers, and scouts. | | [[Sturgian]] Heavy Infantry | [[Sturgian]] Light Cavalry | | The Varyags are handpicked from the best mercenaries and adventurers from the north, and are household troops of [[Sturgian]] princes. They serve as bodyguards and are considered to be one of the best heavy infantry in the whole of [[Calradia-Conti.]]. | A handful of the wealthier inhabitants on the [[Sturgian]] frontiers own their own horses, and many have learned the riding skills of the nearby horse tribes. They are much valued by boyars as scouts and screeners for the main force. | | [[Sturgian]] Shock Infantry | [[Sturgian]] Heavy Cavalry | | The Berserkers are elite northlander mercenaries that wield great two-handed axes and other fearsome weapons, with simple wolf skins to cover them. These agile warriors are famous for fighting in reckless abandon to serve as shock troops to break the enemy line. | [[Sturgian]] boyars are always on the lookout for skilled warriors to bring into their druzhina, or personal retinue. Kept loyal with gifts of gold, equipped with the best weapons and horses, they form the shock force of any northern army. | # Dev Diaries ![[Pasted image 20231230133923.png|inlC|150]] ### [Dev Blog 03/05/18](https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/58) > The Sturgians populate the cold and forbidding forests of North-Eastern [[Calradia-Conti.]]. They are based on the federation of predominantly Slavic city states known as Kievan Rus, with influences taken from the many different peoples who travelled to and settled in this region. This gave us quite a bit of free reign when choosing the design for this faction. In the end, we decided to lean more towards the Viking style of art, which we felt would be more recognizable. The Viking shield is perhaps one of the most iconic shields we can think of, so using that in the center of the design was an idea we had right from the start (the sword just naturally fit in with that!). We combined this with a design taken from some Viking jewelry (a torc) which helped to bring the whole piece together. The dark blue of the banner was chosen to represent the cold and harsh environment in which the Sturgians live, and also the seas which they travelled across from their homelands. ![[Pasted image 20240529151459.png|inlC|500]] ### [Dev Blog 14/12/17](https://www.taleworlds.com/en/Games/Bannerlord/Blog/39) > The [[Sturgian]] forests are forbidding and cold, but great wealth lies within. Wild honey can be found, and bog iron, but the real prize has always been fur. For centuries, brave traders ventured there to buy the pelts of fox, rabbit and ermine from the tribes of the woods. As the empire expanded eastward, that trickle of traders became a flood. Great towns sprung up on the rivers. Fortune-seekers came from the coast, from the steppes, and most of all from the [[Nordland-Cnty.]]. Tribal elders made alliances with the newcomers, sealed by wedding vows, and with their share of the trading profits hired mercenaries to subdue other tribes. Sturgia became a collection of principalities, then a kingdom, the great powerhouse of the north. > > The Sturgians are based on the federation of city-states known as Kievan Rus, Other wise know as Ukrainian Kingdom and or Ukrainian Empire. Like many boomtowns, the Rus river cities attracted people from faraway lands. Predominantly Slavic communities were forming into states at a breakneck pace and borrowing institutions, religions, and ways of trade and war from their neighbors. Greek missionaries, Finnic foresters, Turkic and Iranian steppe tribes, and most famously the Varangian Norse all left their mark on the aesthetics of the Ukrainian art, arms and armor. We think the motifs and styles of [[Sturgian]] equipment – gilded and peaked helmets, furs and gold brocade, runes and gripping beasts and folk embroidery and Arabesques -- will make it some of the most spectacular in the game. > > As with other factions, we let history be our inspiration for Sturgia's politics. The chroniclers weren't shy about expressing their opinions about the different princes. Some rulers, like Vladimir the Great or Yaroslav the Wise, have come down to us as far-sighted rulers. Others, like Sviatopolk "the Accursed," accused of murdering his brothers, or Vseslav, the sorcerer-king of Pskov, were depicted as some of the more colorful tyrants in medieval Europe. [[Raganvad]], the current [[Sturgian]] prince, is cut out of the latter mold: he knows how to punish but not how to reward, and he'll put to the test the old dictum that it is better to be feared than loved. > > The commercial ethic was strong in early Rus, with the town veche or council ensuring that merchants had a major role in state policy. Danger and opportunity went hand in hand. A Muslim chronicler recalls how the Rus father of a newborn boy would show the baby a sword and tell him this would be his only inheritance: the blade would have to win all the rest of it. The Icelandic sagas, though geographically very far removed from the Rus, have also been an inspiration for the Varangians' ideal of businesslike warfare and warlike business, the kind of society where a father could say, "Son, you've been lazing around the fire all winter. Time to get up and show you can take some responsibility for your life. Go pillage someone." > > The Rus employed both cavalry and archers, but the core of their forces in the early period was most likely formed infantry - also a Norse specialty. We've been working on the close-up foot-slogging side of Mount and Blade. Look out for high-tier AI opponents bashing you with their shield in the teeth, following it up with a blade going into your ribs. Disciplined infantry will be more likely to stay in formation, and will leave a space for a player in their ranks so you don't get crowded too closely by your allies. > > Now, the [[Nord]] were a favorite faction in Warband, and we know a lot of people are drawn to Vikings - the blood eagles, the shipboard funeral pyres, the berserkers eager to join the feasting at Valhalla. Sturgia is [[Nord]]-influenced but it's not really a Viking state: the [[Nordland-Cnty.]] are off of the map (for the present, anyway) and they wouldn't really form the kind of proto-feudal kingdom that the Bannerlord factions represent. But, if players want to have a west Scandinavian-style play experience, the raiding, the companions, the ring-swords, two-handed axes, Valsgarde helmets, hauberks and raven banners will all be there. Among the [[Sturgian]] minor factions are the [[Skolderbroda]], a mercenary brotherhood based on the (possibly legendary) Jomsvikings of the Baltic. The Finnic tribes meanwhile are represented by the Sons of the Forest, a semi- nomadic clan that practices swidden slash-and-burn agriculture in the depths of the woods. At any rate, there should be plenty of allies and plenty of enemies for players who want to win their inheritance with the blade, the Rus way, in this cold land of deadly opportunity. ![sturgia proto feudal heirarchy|inlC|500](https://mountandblade2bannerlord.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Mount-and-Blade-2-Bannerlord/sturgia_proto_feudal_heirarchy.png) ![companion 0|inlC|500](https://mountandblade2bannerlord.wiki.fextralife.com/file/Mount-and-Blade-2-Bannerlord/companion_0.png)