Bellerophon

""All are free, or none. Ye of this land, suffer no compromise in this.""

―Carved into a stele of stone by the Sword of the Free

The Glorious Republic of Bellerophon is an Evil-aligned member of the League of Free Cities.

Their sigil is three peasants waving pitchforks.

International Policy and Relations

Bellerophon is officially aligned with Evil, though the Tyrant of Helike accuses them of treating it as a hobby without acting the part. According to Anaxares, Good and Evil in the Free Cities are more like rooting for a chariot team than actual factions.

In more practical terms, they are somewhat isolationist and have a strong superiority complex. It is strongly implied that the kanenas have killed people for the crime of not thinking patriotic thoughts.

The Republic hates Penthes, considering the city an "ugly knock-off Mercantis". As a result, most of the wars Bellerophon declares is against Penthes.

Laws and Internal Policy

The governmental structure of Bellerophon is a peculiar one. All government officials are chosen by random lot-drawing every three years, meaning that the competence of the administration can vary wildly. The only exceptions are members of the diplomatic service, who are still chosen without having a say in the matter.

Diplomats and their loved ones are implanted with magically shrunken boulders by the kanenas, and at the slightest hint of treachery the spell can be released, leading to a very quick yet gruesome death. Diplomats of Penthes made something of a game out of trying to prompt sufficiently unpatriotic thoughts to get Bellerophan diplomats executed in as few words as possible.

Bellerophon does everything supposedly in the name of the Will Of The People, and as a result their laws harshly punish anything even slightly offensive. Their elected officials are expected to do everything they do as the public desires it and never seek to improve their own station or act on their own initiative.

The Gods Below have one vote in Bellerophon's councils.

All of this is overseen and enforced by the kanenas, who monitor not only the actions but also the thoughts of the citizens to ensure that they are sufficiently loyal and dedicated to the ideals of Bellerophon.

It is traitorous to find out who is a Kanenas.

Public weeping is not allowed in Bellerophon, as it has been deemed Against The Will Of The People.

Bellerophans are forbidden to commit suicide by law. And to wilfully take actions that will result in their death.

One has to be granted the right to use a foreign product by a proper committee.

Relying upon foreign labour – which is, by definition, the product of tyranny – without official sanction is treason.

The knowledge of how to swim has not been restricted in decades although showing too much eagerness in learning the skill is considered suspicious.

Burning trash for warmth can only be done where an assembly of citizens from the quarter decided to allow for it.

In war, enough draws counted as a victory.

Officially, Bellerophon does not use scrying rituals, as they are labelled as a trick of wicked foreign tyrants and have never worked. Thus, 'communication rituals' are used instead. However, these 'communication rituals' are actually scrying rituals.

Omens are decreed to be ignorant superstition.

Culture

Little is known about the culture of Bellerophon, aside from the fact that they take great pride in considering themselves the only true democracy on Calernia. Whether this is actually true is ambiguous.

For the first year after the Peace of Salia, the heads of Bellerophans who had broken the city’s laws had taken to spontaneously exploding. A sign that Anaraxes, the Heirarch, had succeeded at arrogating the powers of the Choir of Judgement, if only for a brief time.

It is also likely that their culture is extremely mild and bland in flavor, as anything that might offend anyone's sensibilities might be declared Against The Will Of The People.

Bellerophans truly and wholeheartedly commit to courses of action approved by vote. When the Bellerophon army voted to serve as the League's vanguard in Keter, they unflinchingly absorbed casualties that would have broken any other army's hardest troops despite being the equivalent of peasant levies. This attack all but wiped out Bellerophon's army, but also destroyed a Keteran battle line that had balked the entire League military until then.