Ransenar
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[[Image:{{{coat of arms}}}|100px]] |
| Feudal Status: | County |
| Motto: | {{{motto}}} |
| Capital: | Goldshire Hamlet |
| Largest Cities: | Wendor, Tyrelwynn |
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| Local Leadership Title: | Count |
| Local Government: | Feudal |
| Current leader: | (Vacant) |
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| Local language: | Shirithian English |
| Local Religion: | Cedrism, Money |
Ransenar is the core county of Goldshire, consisting of the territories of the first proper Goldshirian state established by Treesian merchants and containing their capital, Goldshire Hamlet. It is named for the Rannish and Elsenari peoples, who were believed to be the resident native tribes at the time of the Treesians' arrival.
A series of bloody military campaigns aimed at Goldshire Hamlet in the ancient past have fragmented or wiped out much of the history of the area. A few legends survive by oral means such as the tale of Ran Dansin, a beast slaying bard whose skill in subduing monsters was matched only by his charm in doing so. Later Duke Wythe of Goldshire made the ports of Wendor and Zolt an academic centre, and alongside those activities the ports themselves provide testament to Ransenar's mercantile origins. The Golden Trio of Zolt, Wendor and Chryse on the Shire Sea, and the River Elwynn port of Tyrelwynn provide an important trading hub between Northwestern Apollonia and the Benacian interior. Despite Musica's influence further south, Ransenar remains a preferred route of shipping for goods of a slow moving but valuable nature - and is host to a series of small shipping companies who provide exclusive and discreet services to noble customers who, for whatever reason, do not wish to trade by mainstream methods.
The geography of Ransenar is dominated by gently rolling hill country, somewhere between the more mountainous slopes of Ynnraile and the flat plains of Lunaris. The climate is of a maritime and temperate nature, a pleasant place to be during summer with its sea of vibrant greens, most famously praised in poetic terms by Duchess Jadie of Goldshire who made the area her home in the 1500s ASC.
Culturally, Ransenar absorbs the best of the mysterious beauty of Ynnraile with the oddball quaintness of Lunaris, combining with all the trappings of Goldshirian Ducal state to provide what is essentially the standard Goldshirian identity. It is much to the irritation of Suthergold, Ynnraile and Lunaris that the popular depiction of Goldshirians among foreigners tends to be somebody of identifiably Ransenari extraction. This is not entirely accidental, as the Ransenari are easily the most outgoing and friendly people of all Goldshire; taught by centuries of mercantile practicality not to judge a man by appearance or first impression (until he at least opens his wallet).
