I'll post some proposals for the ex-quebec regions. They are based on a mixture of current (since I read The Event is assumed to occur in the present) and colonial new france which to me make a lot more sense then people in the future purposefully cracking open the history books and trying to copy medieval france.
If things clashes too much with established canons, let me know.
Note: the weird spelling is not arbitrary but is based on current day pronounciation of certain by someone speaking joual. It is meant to represent the phonetic shift that would invariably occur with 900 years evolution.
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Kingdom of LAURASSY
History
Legends has it that centuries ago, a great catastrophy fell upon the land, tearing down the empires of the days including an empire of the quebecois a proud, fierce and sometime quarrelous people. Out of the chaos that followed this catastrophy emerged a leader who managed to unite the lands along the st. lawrence river as the Kingdom of Lawrencia with him as its guide as King Lawrence the First (many foreign historians believes it might have been an assumed name taken on for propaganda purposes). From his castle in Mourial, he established The Law which he then spread by the sword and the pen of diplomacy, pushing back the roaming bands of
mauntards who preyed upon villagers. Story tells that at his funeral, a large man made of snow came to carry his remains to a beautiful hidden castle made entirely of ice where he still lays garded by 7 maidens.
Lawrence's descendants proved less able then him both as politicians and warlords and were not able to expend the kingdom any further after his death, leaving a patch of lawless
mauntards territory on the south shore of the seaway. The kingdom was stable for centuries but eventualy stagnation sat in and after some internal revolts, more then half of the territory was lost in a short while.
Geography
The kingdom currently occupy most of the saint lawrence valley. Its capital was formaly in Mourial but it was felt by many that too much power was being concentrated in one place leading to the capital being moved to Quaybeyque-a-vieyotte.
The local weather condition makes upkeeping of long stretches of roads arduous so that only the Chmey-dzu-roay which runs on the north shore of the St-Lawrence between the capital and Mourial is maintained by the royal
Voayrie. As it is up to the local seynyeur to pay for the maintenance of local roads under his jurisdiction, the quality of these roads vary widly between
seynyeuries depending on his stingyness and how much he thinks he can get away with.
Outside of winter time, people often bypass roads altogether and use the seaway and smaller waterways extensively to travel within the kingdom. A team of trained paddlers in a birch canoe can usualy make the trip between the capital and Mourial in a few days while a slower moving ship can take up to 3 weeks.
Government
The kingdom is an autocratic monarchy currently lead by Queen Pauline III. The land is divided into a number of
Eymerceay (given in apanage to a
Prayfat) and subdivided into
Seynyeuries headed by a
Seynyeure. As apanages, both are revocable at whim (although the
seynyeurie can be bought and sold while it is held) but in practice they have become hereditary with the eldest child simply assuming the post at the death of the previous one.
The inhabitants of a
seynyeurie elects a number of
Aycheuveyns, the number of which is based on the population's size. These
Aycheuveyns have no legislative powers but serves as advisors to the local seynyeure. They also elect a
daputay to represent a number of neighbouring
seynyeuries at the
Zaytageun who likewise advises the monarch. The
zaytageun meets at least twice a year to present petitions to the monarch from their part of the kingdom but can be call out at any time at the monarch request to advise him on a particular subject. The
daputays majority opinion is in no way legaly binding but for practical reasons, the monarch seldom wholy disregard especialy since the loss of Sagamy and Arcady.
Military
The only permanent part of the royal army is the Royal Guard which is paid for directly by the royal coffers and is permanently garrisoned in the capital except for those who accompany the monarch on his travels. His elite bodyguard are the
bucheux, recognisable by their ceremonial axes and red and black checkered tunics.
Within a
seynyeurie, a captain of the militia (A veteran of the royal guard who was honourably discharged and enobled) trains the local adult population assisted by a small cadre of sergeants. These companies of militia are meant to show up and train on a regular basis. Unlike the Royal Guard, they are unpaid (though certain expenses are covered when on duty) and are known to be less then cooperative when having to serve for an extented period outside of their
seynyeurie. For this reason, when in need, the monarch usualy prefers to rely on volunteers.
Nobility
Within the kingdom, nobility is the notion that a person belongs to a special class within society based on the services rendered to it. membership then is based on occupying a function and is not, in theory, hereditary. In practice however, members of the same family will often succeed their father in the same or equivalent post so that while people can gain (or sometime lose) their status of noble, a number of families have held on for centuries leading them to be considered "Noble Families".
Nobility grants certain privileges, first among them an exemption from the corvés and the taxes deemed ordinary. It also grant the right to bear a sword when out and about (low class members all carries knives for practicle reason but the blade must be no more then the width of the palm of his or her hand) and preseance during events. Other advantages are related to the specific post they occupy.
nobles falls within the folowing 3 groups:
- nobility of sword: gained upon ataining a certain rank or as a reward for military actions
- nobility of quill: gained by high ranking civil servants
- nobility of robe: gained by high ranking members of the church's hierarchy