Capital of Badelgard
Population: 500
Patron God: Vana the Bringer of Victory, and the Green Dragon
Oskir would be tiny and destitute, hardly a city to the outside world if anyone ever visited. Its people are homogeneously human, distrustful of magic and “the southerners.” Originally named Rigthorpe, the first king of the Oster family renamed it in his honor.
SIGHTS
• Skalds College: A training center and guild hall for Badelgard’s musicians. It is the only one of its kind in Badelgard. Students learn to sing and to play the pipe, the shawm, the horn, the lute, and other instruments. Teachers instill repertoires of heroic ballads and songs of all genres. Once they graduate, skalds entertain the masses of Badelgard as well as the highborn nobles.
• The Church of Vana: The central church of the victory-goddess Vana, built of stone with stained glass windows. Two valkyrie statues flank the entrance, standing guard over the worshipers. An architect from Zarubain was hired to design and oversee its construction in the mid-700s Y.E.
• The Golden House: The dwelling of the High Kings of Badelgard, overlooking the low-town on a high hill.
• The Lily House: A whorehouse in low-town.
• The Mead Hall: The main social center of Oskir where servant girls bring great horns of mead to patrons.
LAWS
Practicing magic carries the death penalty, although now, in the reign of King Sven, it has found a measure of toleration. Prostitution is also illegal, carrying the death penalty for the whorehouse owner, but this has been traditionally overlooked. Lowborn offenders with a death sentence are tortured first. Highborn offenders, even unlanded highborn, receive a quick death, usually hanging or beheading.
CULTURE
Badelgard’s tough warrior culture is evident here. Luxury is scorned and despised, “softness” and “southernness” hated crimes. Literacy is the domain of a few, mostly skalds, professional scribes, and a few educated highborn. For entertainment, those resting from their labor listen to skalds’ tales of adventure and war or guzzle strong drink at the Mead Hall.
TALES FEATURING OSKIR
