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Murex is a kingdom founded by refugees from the Northern Spire realm mingling with the Murri tribe on a great plateau of stone. It is one of the largest and oldest lasting kingdoms.
Geography
The Kingdom of Murex is a land of temperate fields and forests. A substantial coastline off the Inner Ocean brings plenty of maritime trade. The God's Teeth Mountains fortify the west, and the Cradlelands secure the south. The biggest danger comes from Maelim kingdoms to the northeast. They also have ties to the Northern Kingdoms and the two regions have influenced each other in the past.
A Kingdom of Knights and Scholars
Murex boasts some of the greatest cavalry of the Mortal Realms. Tales of Murexen knights are nearly as famous as those of Godshards and Imperial Commanders. Many of the noble houses have long storied histories of great deeds and works. Ballads and songs are a common fixture, and there's much competition to have the best one. This is in imitation of the Benelim Lifesongs, of whom the Murexen people have a strong bond with.
Given the mostly secure position, the kingdom rarely deals with hardship and as a result its wealthy tend to be quite educated yet also quite privileged. Murexens have a reputation of being snobbish and greedy. Some are obsessed with being prim and having proper etiquette. The society is quite feudal with large swathes of the population being quite poor and education is quite lacking.
Murex is a monarchy with the current king a capable if aloof man named Richard the Insular. While not a bad monarch, he's followed the footsteps of his father and grandfather in focusing the policies of the country inward, uncaring of the problems of other countries. This was born from post-Imperial bitterness and trauma, unlikely to change anytime soon.
A Bond with Benelim
Out of all the realms of humanity, Murex has the strongest bond with the Benelim. While they do venerate the Godshards, they have always venerated the Benelim and Gods more. Theirs is a peerless connection, born from such close proximity to the Golden Wood. Even when this kingdom joined the Imperium willingly after the commander Aetius saved them from an alliance of Maelim kingdoms, they still retained this aspect of their culture.
This culture clash would culminate in the Imperial Terror when the legionnaires who hailed from Murex, as well as the knightly auxiliaries would desert in protest. The vengeful Imperials would blame them for the subsequent defeat and when they crossed back over the mountains, they sacked Murex and Rutherna as reprisal. This in turn led to Submersio revolting and later the rest of the Imperium.
The present situation remains tense. The Sacerdozio has always clashed with the Murexen nobles over the possession of knowledge and differing values, but after the Terror that relationship is even more sour. Murex notably does not house a Maximus Godshard, such is their disdain.
Despite the snobbishness and bitterness, the people of Murex at their best are chivalrous, strong and with integrity where it counts. And as a crisis looms, this old kingdom will soon learn that not even they are safe.
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