Harenzi Kingdom
Ruler - Queen Tomi Harenzi the Gothitelle (Name originally was Tomiko, but she abandoned the ‘ko’ upon taking the throne due to the lost part meaning ‘child’ and her believing she was no longer a child.)
Brief description-
A melting pot similar to a nation like Aether, the Harenzi Kingdom is a nation in itself that resides on a rather small continent far from Avalon. The moderately small size of the land allows the kingdom to rule a very large amount of the land, with only about a tenth of the land being held by natives or not accounted for. The north, south, and east sides of the continent are all beach, with only the existence of sand and the occasional large rock along the shores permitting the existence of it’s three portside towns while allowing easy use of the beaches for the rest of the population. Unfortunately, it has very large gaps existing between the poor, middle class, and the rich, with many meeting their doom if they fall poor or are unlucky enough to be born into such a class. Because of it’s economic issues, crime has a tendency to appear, and while any criminal activity that arises for the most part is easily cut down quickly, it is the birthplace of the Harenzi North Club; a criminal organization that stayed up by using the poor members as a ‘red herring’ to redirect any attempt at bringing the criminals to justice, while true face of the Club remained concealed among the ranks of the rich.
Geology : Being about 3-6 times the size of real life Mississippi, the Harenzi Kingdom is an independent nation existent on it’s own continent far from Avalon. Again, it has a beach on all but it’s western side, allowing the existence of multiple ship ports and plenty of space for activity on the beach. On the western side on the other hand, the land rises, resulting on the west side, while it does have a beach on the north and south ends of that side, having a cliff in the end of the land, and the existence of a glacier also blocks passage through that side. The non-beach area on the west side is heavily forested, and this extends to part of the center area, however this central forest is not very thick, allowing normal passage through it unlike the west side, which one can mistake for a mystery dungeon if not careful. While the western ‘beach’ is mostly rock, any area not covered by the forest or beaches may very well be considered a very stable grassland, with the occasional wetland dotting where potential farms would be.
Climate : Being barely large enough to not be considered a island, it has a rather desirable climate, with ample rainfall allowing the environment to remain largely stable, and trees that grow rather quickly combined by careful harvesting of wood allowing a healthy supply of lumber with little risk of deforestation. While the spring allows for everything to bloom (including the occasional cherry blossom) and the fall does give a pleasant transition to winter and a moderately long growing session for autumn only foods, the summer provides warm temperatures that encourage outdoor activity while the winter allows the inhabitants to enjoy the pleasures with very few hazards spawning outside of the west end. The beaches are open all year, and from spring to fall often see many visitors coming to spend the day, while the winter, while it’s cold temperatures divert most pokemon, still sees some of the more courageous still coming to swim or fish. The only window of complaint from non-ice types is the west end, which with it’s glacier, while it partly melts during the summer and allows better travel of the west end during this time, the glacier suddenly grows during the winter, both becoming slightly larger than the previous year and expanding somewhat to the mainland. However, rumor has it that treasure exists here that can only be accessed during the winter due to the glacier's activities, and many ice types vacation here during this time, so it can be seen more or less as a tourist attraction then a hazard.
Economy : This country is the kind that heavily embraces the rich but severely punishes the poor. The economy of Harenzi use the Quena for their currency, which while it’s bronze variant shares similar value to the Cressent in it’s home nation, the silver is about just as much as 100 bronze Quenas, and the gold equal to 1,000, all three variations hold no redeeming value in Aether or any nation on Avalon save for smelting for the materials, just as the Cressent is seen as worthless in Harenzi. The Rich often enjoy daily balls, luxury, and steady income that upkeeps their status, with the only work they must do being to do paperwork and make sure their staff continues to work. The poor on the other hand however are quite the opposite : more often than not, they struggle to survive, often taking multiple jobs just to be able to afford to eat (farmers being an exception due to the fact that they control a good amount of the food, however they are not the reason for the hunger issue among the poor). Often, the poor will take a loan from a ‘loan garchomp’, or a sort of money lending entity that ends up charging such insane amounts of interest that the client more often than not ends up unable to pay and loses everything, essentially dooming them to becoming homeless and possibly meeting their fate in the cold. The middle class however seems to enjoy a stable life, not rich or luxurious, but stable enough that one can survive comfortably enough without having to resort to loans or other dangerous ideas.
It should be noted however that among both the poor and middle class is a rather busy mercenary and bounty hunter business, which is often called upon by the rich and middle class (the poor lacking access yet often employed for obvious reasons), and while often the middle class use this for normal income or just for fun, the poor sometimes gets into this business to make up for any debt or as an attempt to move up in the economic totem pole. More often than not, the poor ends up failing and being brought down anyway, but sometimes, like in Yuki’s case, they manage to pull off the feat and advance to the middle class. It should also be noted that while food is expensive, this is caused by the rich class pricing food with the notorious price tag. Farmers, fishermons, among other raw-food generating Pokemon have tried to sell directly to consumers rather than to markets not only due to it being cheaper for customers, but also more profitable for the producer himself… however the rich saw through this and managed to pass the law forcing the producing pokemon to sell their entire crop to the market for the exceedingly low asking price.
Government - Being a kingdom, the Harenzi Kingdom (feh, said a word twice) is primarily ruled by a King… or in this case a Queen, with Tomi taking the throne after her older brother proved unable to take the throne due to his poor health. However, the Queen does not have full power; it has a sort of parliament that works to pass laws and keep the Queen’s actions in check, however the Queen does have the final say in most ordeals unless an overwhelming amount of the parliament goes against her. The government of Harenzi can be seen as a monarchial republic, but with more power to the king rather than to parliament. It can be noted that both the Queen and parliament have set up propaganda to try to attract immigrants despite their high tax rates.
Religion - Religion is normally a disputable topic, but in the Harenzi, there is very little care from the government about what you believe in, or if you believe in anything at all. If your primary god is Arceus, they won't mind… or if someone has a issue with you following the ways of Dialga, the government won't do anything about it just because they called you out on the different god. The only exception to this is when the situation causes trouble (such as conducting dark rituals and sacrifice for Darkrai or murdering others due to religious differences.) As a matter of fact, while Tomi, among many others, do take Arceus as their primary god, they also take into account all of the other legendaries that exist. While they may be out of range for many of the legendaries to offer direct assistance or such for worship, many may praise multiple ‘god’ pokemon, sometimes even sending their prayers to multiple legendaries at once. The most notable ‘gods’ they praise are Yveltal and Xerneas, who they see as the gods of Death and Life, respectively, and while they do not make sacrifices for either one, they do pray for and have the occasional shrine in most of their towns, which a good amount of the population prays to or even leave offerings of food or other items every once in a while, Xerneas for either a long and healthy life, protection from death (often during a war or before a key fight) or for a friend who is sick, gravely wounded, or among other things to get well soon… and Yveltal for a quick and painless death, to ensure their foreseen death does not go in vain, or to have mercy on someone who is on the brink of death… or the rare circumstance of help in killing a target or wishing death upon someone (though the final option is exceedingly rare, and only seen among those who truly wish for this death for extreme reasons… and more reason than just the ‘hired to kill’ reason.)
Ruling Family History - Naming the nation they founded after their family name, the Harenzi Family has ruled the kingdom for the entirety of it’s life thus far. The rise of the kingdom came forward when an already existent tribe on the continent that was lead by the Harenzi family started to become rather ambitious and began to expand and create a government of their own while uniting most of the tribes in the area, with a select few staying separate and living on the west side of the continent, where a few still reside today. Initially, they only had tribal equipment that could be seen as a mix of that from the stone age and from native american tribes… However a ship that was near the continent sank due to a Gyarados attack, and the debris and a few survivors washed ashore. Amongst those were maps, weapons, clothing, and others that were closer to the modern era at the time. The Harenzi were not shy about adopting and using these newfound items, and reverse engineered many of the items from the wreck and techniques learned from the journals while also finding a taste in the fashion sense, habits, style of talking, among others of both the dead and the survivors, seeing the start of the blended culture that is seen today.
This also marked the start of the Harenzi no longer being a pure-race family, as the children took an interest in the survivors and courted with them. Also prompted by the habits of the survivors, the local population also started to research more into developing technology and improving on the already existent technology, techniques, and weaponry existent at the time as well as making the shift from camps and tipis... to villages, houses, and castles with walls (although while it’s uncommon, it’s possible to find a tipi in a well developed town simply due to the owner’s favoring). This shift also saved the young nation from ruin when a other unknown nation tried to go on a crusade and take the Harenzi continent for themselves, but with the use of improved bows and arrows, swords that held improved designs, a wide array of armour sets and configurations, willingness to adapt the enemy’s own weapons for personal use, and the conveniently timed construction of the walls protecting the castle, the Harenzi proved more than a match for the adversary. Afterward, the enemy left behind much of their own technology, journals, and ways of life, and the Harenzi once again adapted them all for their own personal use as well as integrated some of the enemy’s ways of life into their own.
The Family’s life in itself is a proud and prestigious one, often managing to find a way in seemingly impossible scenarios… and this somewhat also extends to the present generation, including the present Queen, who both the locals and other nations question as to how she managed to have children with a king outside of her egg group. (This odd feat, however seems to be a family secret for now…)
The most recent Queen, Tomiko Harenzi, is a presently a 31 year old Gothitelle. Originally, she was supposed to just be a member of the family, however, she has chosen to take the throne instead when her older brother’s health proved to be growing poor at too soon a time, prompting the family to elect the healthier and far more likely to live Gothitelle to the throne, and see her change her name to ‘Tomi’, abandoning the ‘ko’ in favor of being seen as an adult rather than a child. She used the daily balls to her advantage to find candidates in which to select a king from, however the king she found to be suitable for the throne was not in her own egg group, causing concern about if the family will hold the throne. This however was diverted when the couple somehow managed to have several healthy children. (Again, how this was achieved is unknown to the general public.) Despite acquiring a King, Tomi retained her role as the primary ruler. Her main challenge, however, of her life is the Harenzi North Club, a criminal gang who has managed to hide under the nose of the law and work it’s way into the veins of the government, so far as to manage to have some power that is greater than her’s. Tomi in turn of this discovery tried to have the gang removed, attempting to remove officials suspected of corruption and deal with the criminal activity. However, her work was rendered mute, as when she tried to remove the officials, parliament’s own corruption proved too great, and essentially vetoed any of her actions, while outside, the guards were either bribed or intimidated into not confronting the activity.
In most recent years, Tomi has received reports of several political assassinations on the corrupt officials she tried to get rid of, alongside the slaying of several members of the Club. (Sometimes, even entire crews, and at one point, she even witnesses an assassination on a corrupt official who she planned to confront, however, the assassin was through with his disguise, and thus even Tomi failed to identify him.) At first, she sought to deal with this unknown criminal and conducted searches for him, but after studying the reports, connecting the dots, and discovering there were no contracts issued for any of the killings, she decided to allow the searches to be short lived for the duration and turn a blind eye on any long-term prompts on looking for the assassin, despite the constantly rising bounty on the unknown individual.
When the Harenzi North Club moved to Avalon to try to expand, criminal activity dropped considerably as Tomi found herself able to elect more honest officials into her roles of government while able to remove the remaining corrupt officials. Just as fast as the Club moved to Avalon, however, Tomi, among others, also noticed the ‘Vigilante’ move with them, suddenly no longer existent in the nation due to the fact that he suddenly was not doing anything apparently. Some time later, she orders that an apparent burned down abandoned house have a government related building built in it’s place, but construction was slowed down when it is discovered that several graves were on the property as well, dedicated to the Sena-Moore Family. Noticing that one member of the family was not accounted for amongst the graves, Tomi has started to gain ground on the identity of the ‘Vigilante’, but decided to not pursue yet, despite one of her daughters coming from Aether in complaint that the Vigilante talked her into going back instead of trying to court with King Alaric of Aether. Still needing the government building, however, she decided to try to move the graves, only to find that all but one of the graves were empty due to the nature of the owner’s deaths, and the grave that had something only held a pink bracelet that gave off a fairy-like glow. Knowing what it was for, but deciding to save it for ‘him’, she has ordered that it is turned over to her and the graves temporarily moved to within the castle grounds.
Notable locations -
1.) Harenzi Capital : Existent somewhat south of the center woods, this is the central castle that rules the kingdom and houses the queen and her family, as well as the capital city, the main market, and the bounty boards. The Holy Grounds exist a few meters to the east from the castle walls as well, to add.
2.) Harenzi North Club Hotel : Existent on the northern side of the continent, this hotel is (or at least was) the center of the Club’s operations on Harenzi. Under the guise of the ownership of the rich, the main portions of the gang reside here, with tourists sometimes residing here for their stays.
3.) The Mysterious Glacier : A ever-growing glacier that gains in size with every year, this glacier dominates the western side of the shores of the Harenzi continent. To most non-ice types, this is a major issue during the winter due to it interfering with marine traffic and expanding on land during this time, farther causing issues on land. However, it does grant the continent it’s stable climate, so some decide against complaining even if they must brave, and rumor says it holds treasure, so it can also be seen as a tourist attraction. However, no one has found the treasure yet.
4.) Rifta - A notable middle class town. It is the most diverse in the cultures and aspects that one may expect from the world, and it is one of several common central hubs for the middle-class to live. The people here are able to live comfortably; not a life of luxury, but one where they can pursue what they wish without the horrors of the lack of funds pursuing them. It houses a few statues that exist to worship the legendaries, including the normal Xerneas and Yveltal, and Arceus, to name a few.
5.) Unknown Government Building - A building under construction that is being built in place of a burned down house. It’s propose is presently unknown, but after a issue with some graves, progress has gone well into building it. There is a plaque on the building saying ‘In memory of the Sena-Moore Family.’, supposedly to honor the family that last owned it, though it’s last still-living owner is not in the nation and is presently unaware of it’s total replacement. Tomi does however plan on compensating him once he returns… given he does not have a fit once he finds out. ---
About Races and characters from this nation - Due to the ‘melting pot’ effect of this nation, many races often cross paths here, and families that form from such mixes of races may find themselves losing knowledge of their race… however, it does not mean that people from here are all unknown, it may be possible for all races to come from this nation, all with different cultures mix-and-matched into one.
Guide written by: Yukimare
Original post: PoA - The Harenzi Kingdom description