Verona

Verona is a mysterious land of the coast of the Land of the Free Folk.

Rule
Verona is a kingdom and is therefore ruled by a ruler, a member of the Royal House of Verona. The kingdom has existed for the past 800 years and has Always been a kingdom solely inhabited and ruled by humans that settled there in the Feywild.

Since the kingdom is solely inhabited by humans they where sceptical of the current king, King Bert, taking a high-elf for a wife, but the Veronans grew to love their new queen as she proved to be an excellent diplomat.

When the king passes his oldest child wil become the ruler of the country. This is Sylvaura Rosiello, a half-elf.

Some still believe that the kingdom should remain solely ruled by humans and see Arlo Rosiello, the son of the kings brother, to be the rightful heir to the throne.

History
Verona was an island in the Feywild under the control of the feylord known as the Queen of Night and Magic. She was hardly ever there as the Fey-court required her presence almost at all times.

When she found time to check on her Island around 800 years ago she found that humans from the Prime Material Plane had settled on her island finding its lush fruits and nature to be the Paradise they had sought.

The Queen was not pleased and sought to curse the humans for their greed, but a Hero stood against her. He countered her charm and enchantment based magic with his music and for 60 years he stood on the front line with the paladins and others that had come to defend their new homes.

The Hero passed away of old age and when he did the Queen saw her chance to finally punish the humans for defying her. Since the Hero had fought her with his music, she cursed the island to be permanently silenced. She even made the people of Verona forget his name so that they would never again challenge her.

The humans of Verona had adapted to their life in the Feywild and Sylvan had become the official language of the island and when it was silenced the people struggled to remember any other languages other than the written texts they had in Sylvan. The people developed their own kind of sign language and for almost 800 years this was the standard.

Around one hundred years after the curse had been cast the people even started losing their colour, as if energy was draining from their very essence. Their hair became start white, their skin pale and even the things they touched became paler and would eventually lose colour.

Around 10 years ago the island was mysteriously drawn into the Prime Matterial Plane, lifting the curse of the Island.

It however came to lie in water controlled by a ruler known as Baharan of the Free Folk. Soon this man sailed to their Island with his army forces but he saw the island did not need to be freed from corrupt rule as so many other villages and islands did. Therefore he instead proposed to marry the daughter of the king to still make the island his without to much bloodshed.

Religion
Since the people of Verona where already oppressed in their creativity, a previous ruler of Verona decided Veronans should be free to choose their religion as they please. It is however not allowed to worship gods in the evil spectrum.

Since worship is therefore widespread most towns and cities hold many shrines and temples to various gods.

The most worshipped gods in Verona are:
 * Pelor. The land thrives on its export of fruit and they depend on good weather all year round to keep this up.
 * Obad-Hai. More worshipped in the wilder areas of Verona such as villages around Apple Achre and in Pomarium for the same reason as Pelor worship.
 * Ehlonna. Mainly worshipped in Pomarium for its lingering relation to the woodlands of the Feywild.
 * Oghma. He is said to be the god of the Hero of Verona and to have stood by the hero's side as he fought of the Queen of Night and Magic.
 * Heironeous. Worshipped by those who believe Oghma to be to passive in their history with the Queen of Night and magic.
 * Trithereon. Only recently have people started worship of Trithereon, believing they should now strike back at the Queen of Night and Magic, having been freed from her curse of silence. People believe it was he who freed them from her curse and placed the island on the material plane

Calendar and holidays
Verona follows the normal Greyhawk calendar. However since they spend a while in the feywild they found that their seasonal celebrations where off with the material plane. This took some adjusting but has now been corrected.

The day of the Hero
The day of the Hero is believed to mark the passing of the forgotten hero who defended the land from the Queen of Night and Magic. On his death day all seaside cities set little boats with candles on them into the ocean in the hope that the Hero can see the light and return to them.

On this day the Mare Heros becomes partially dry allowing for passage on foot. And his is also the only day priests of Oghma are allowed to set foot on the forbidden island of Cubilis Sui, where the hero is said to be buried.

The day of the Queen
The day of the Queen follows the day of the Hero and marks the beginning of the Curse on Verona. On this day the people gather to tell stories of the Hero and their lives before the curse. There is usually a silent play put on in the main square of the major cities that retell the fight of the Hero against the Queen.

The day of Sound
The day of Sound marks the arrival of the island on the material plane. On this day most people travel to Turrim Luminis where they hold a great firework show around the tower. This day is also seen as a celebration for the Arcane Assembly.

The day of the Quest
The day of the Quest is a day of celebration of the royal family. On this day a great gladiator fight is held in the arena of Justinia and lots of people travel to the city for it. Entry in the tournament costs 200 gp a person and there are various "Quests" these parties must overcome. Parties trying to enter can have any size they please, but only 5 members can partake in a Quest at one time.

Examples of these Quests are: These Quests are either a timed challenge or a knock-out system. In the knock-out system the party that loses is out. In the timed challenge the slowest parties (number depending on number of entries) are out of the Quest.
 * Capture the flag against another team while monsters attack both (knock-out system)
 * A 5 v 5 battle (knock-out system)
 * An invisible maze in which the challengers must collect keys (timed challenge)
 * A creature battle (timed challenge)

At all times there are clerics on stand by and unconscious individuals are immediately teleported out of the arena. (This means that if you go unconscious you are immediately out, even if your party has healers that could help you)

Outsiders are welcome to participate but not to spectate as they will often cheer and Veronans don't like that.

The day of the Apple
The day of the Apple marks the day after the day of apple harvest. It is tradition to eat various apple related foods and there are great carnival parades in Justinia, Aexivia and Fluvios. This day is also seen as a celebration for the Merchant Association.

The day of the Storm
The day of the Storm marked an anual day on which a great storm would wash over Verona in the Feywild. Paladins and other followers of various religions related to the weather and light would hold a great parade before the day arrived to lessen the storm winds and rain. The great parade is still held, but now more as a show of power and faith to the people of Verona. This day is also seen as a celebration for the Royal Guard of Verona.

Transport
Verona has various forms of transport. Across the island there are trails and roads, but the most commonly used form of transport is the Soundless Rails. These trains travel on wind power at high speeds between the major cities, and underground in a subway like system.

Furthermore all major cities have teleportation circles under the eye of the Arcane Assembly. A member of the Assembly is present at these circles at all time and folk can pay fees to be teleport ed elsewhere.

The roads are mainly used for the transport of goods, but Lady Gwyneth has her own Soundless Train to transport her apples quickly across the Island to other major ports.

Organisations
The following organisations are distinguishable in Verona
 * The Royal House of Verona
 * The Arcane Assembly
 * The Royal Guard of Verona
 * The Merchant Association
 * The Low Hanging Purse