Midgard: The Eternal Conflict of the Septimes

A brief overview

If you have read any of the setting material for Midgard, by Kobold Press (a D&D 5e and Pathfinder publisher I highly recommend), you have probably heard of the Seven Cities. The Seven Cities are located within the southwestern peninsular region of the main continent of Midgard. It is comprised of seven city-states, each with varying claims upon the others' lands, which is acted upon yearly. This conflict has been going on for centuries, ever since the Elves left Midgard in what is known as the Great Retreat.

 

Each of the Seven Cities has its own unique qualities, making for an interesting game setting. The cities are as follows:

Will complete this section soon

• Capleon: 
• Friula:
• Kammae:
• Malana (not pictured, lies about 200 miles north of Triolo):
• Triolo:
• Trombei:
• Valera:

This region has been in a near-constant state of war since the city-states gained independence. Over this time, the populations of the region have come to view war with an unsettling degree of normalcy. Eventually, the cities came to depend upon the industry of war. Seen as bloodthirsty or coldly calculating from the outside, these cities now follow stringent standards that regulate when, where, and how war is made between the cities.

My personal additions

After reading about this region of Midgard, a comparison immediately jumped out at me: these societies sounded like a merging of the Boros and Azorius guilds. If you play the Magic: the Gathering card game, you've probably heard those names before. If you haven't, they are two guilds within a sprawling city known as Ravnica. The Boros legion is the military force of the city, enforcing the laws written by the Azorius guild. They act as militaristic executioner and bureaucratic judicial system, respectively.

A combination of these guilds would result in a sort of stereotypical Lawful Good Paladin, the sort of character who strictly lives by some arbitrary code, and fights and defeats any who would stand against it. Add in six other paladins with similar but slightly different codes and the scene resembles the Seven Cities. To this end, I began to consider where the "lawfulness" of the cities ended and where the chaos of actual combat or war began. But what if that lawfulness never ended?

Take the Lawful Good Paladin; a usual campaign beginning with this stereotype would likely end with some major character developments as the paladin learned of the world around them. But instead imagine the paladin attempting to follow their particular code of conduct at every moment in time. This character quickly turns comically useless as they attempt to greet each opponent and have them sign a contract stating the terms of their duel (in the middle of combat, perhaps), never allow their party to surprise anyone by always clearly announcing their presence, and refuse to accept any reward and require their companions to do the same.

This behavior is comical due to the complete misunderstanding of how the world works by the paladin. But in the Seven Cities, the world works as the paladin believes. There may still be criminals and monsters and such, but the populace and governments all behave according to a specific set of laws and codes. With this perspective, the Seven Cities become the Lawful Good Paladin's dream of order, built upon the major industry of war.

War is truly the crux of the Seven Cities. Ironically, it is the one thing that unites them. Over the centuries these cities and their leaders have created a set of laws that must be followed in times of war. The people of the Seven Cities, often referred to as the Septimes, believe that the whole world should obey these laws of war, but of course that is not the case. If one of the cities were to disobey these laws and begin warring in the "uncivilized" manner, they would be treated as an outsider and be dealt with accordingly (probably by their own people).

Over many generations, the Septime nobles and leaders have cultivated certain laws for war and combat. These laws ensure that there is always a balance of power, and that there will consistently be a military industry for these kingdoms. Specifically, these methods of war are as follows:

• War can only occur from the beginning of the month of Springmelt to the end of the month of High Summer (a 6-month period, all of the Spring and Summer months).
• A war can only be fought between two parties, and a party may be involved in up to three unrelated conflicts during a season.
• To call for war requires a "just cause", of which there are five:
• to seize territory to which one has a proper claim
• to secure the blessings of Mavros (the god of war)
• to avenge an insult to a ruler or a people
• to force payment of tribute (and sometimes this is read as plunder)
• to punish a city for supporting a foreign power
• Declaring war requires both parties to create and sign a contract in the presence of an unaffiliated priest of Mavros. (The creation of a contract often goes back and forth for months between each party's  "war lawyers", and is usually for a future season.)
• The winner of each war is decided by which party has gained more Victory Points, as defined in the contract.
• The loser of each war must pay reparations in proportion to the costs incurred by the winning side. The proportion is 50% or defined within the contract.
• A party may concede the war at any point, requiring all additional combat between the two parties halt. The winner of the combat is immediately decided as the opposing party, regardless of current Victory Points.
• A party may call for recess from a war with the agreement of the opposing party. If a recess is called, the duration of the recess must be agreed upon and signed within the presence of a priest of Mavros.

Note: the contracts for war each have a "default template" that indicates many additional rules, which the cities have agreed upon. Only the indicated cities may be besieged, plundering of conquered territory and harming of conquered civilians is forbidden, battles may only be fought in daylight, etc. Any of these rules may be removed, but both parties must sign on the final contract. The city of Friula is particularly adept at creating and finding loopholes within the contracts they agree upon, making them quite fearsome enemies within the Seven Cities.

This contractual agreement for war seems bizarre; why would any sane group of people agree to go to war, especially against a possibly greater power? But because of lasting traditions and the prosperity created, not destroyed, by these tightly controlled wars, the Septimes in fact celebrate the coming of war. It means the bringing of wealth and life to their city. Within the Seven Cities, war has become the most important industry as well as the most senseless form of violence.