Ok, Jason, here's my two cents (you're lucky I'm up late working on a
project).

First off, I have to say "No" to having a PC in your RPG be a secret
assassin for the Order of Coron. To put it in RPG terms, such assassins
should be NPC-only. They only leave their temples when they have an
assignment, and they only target people who try to achieve immortality
or life-extension without divine sanction. That is, of course, assuming
that such a group of assassin-priests exists. In game terms, their
existence is mere rumor, and I haven't decided if it should be anything
more than that.

As far as including a legionary, if he didn't see much action, he was
probably stationed in Cedonian Tirmar, near Talishara and Mirrish
Tirmar. Considering that legionaries sign up for a minimum enlistment
of twenty years, and most enlist at eighteen to twenty, unless he
mustered out due to wounds, that would make him 38 to 40 years old. If
that's too old, you could make him a former legionary officer; Cedonian
army officers purchase their commissions, so the character could have
purchased a subaltern's commission, served a few years, decided that
the legion life was for him, and resold his commission to someone else.

Now, as far as what Cedonians look like, there are three major racial
types(Cedonian, Selarian, Kasovian), and a host of minor types from
Cedonia's past as an empire.

Ethnic Cedonians from the Imperial River basin average 5'10" in height,
rarely exceeding 6'0". They tend to be rather broad and heavy for their
height; the average Cedonian man weighs about 190 lbs, while the
typical Cedonian woman weighs about 150 lbs. Cedonian standards of
female beauty emphasize the voluptuous and the zaftig--Kate Winslet
would be a real-life example. To Cedonian eyes, most American women
considered beautiful are painfully thin. Typical hair colors are
light-brown, dark-brown, and black; blond is very uncommon, and
red-heads nearly unheard of. Hair is generally wavy or moderately
curly. Most Cedonian men start to go bald in their late forties.
Typical eye colors are brown and hazel; again, blue and green are very,
very rare, and usually indicate mixed-ethnicity. Complexions range from
light tan to olive. For a real-life example, think of Greeks,
Sicilians, and Palestinians. Other MidSea peoples often make jokes
about the Cedonian nose, which tends to be markedly hooked and
prominent. Cedonian males have a lot of facial hair; most men need to
shave twice a day to remain clean-shaven, and so beards and mustaches
are common.

Ethnic Selarians come from the plains of Selaria and are renowned for
their horses and horsemen, providing the Cedonian Legions with cavalry.
Selarians are much shorter than Cedonians, averaging only 5'4" in
height, and weighing less in proportion. They tend to be darker of hair
and skin than Cedonians, although the darker skin is often the result
of spending much more time outdoors than the average Cedonian. Their
hair is usually curlier, and their eyes are dark brown, hazel, or
black. Selarians of both sexes tend to be slightly bow-legged. Unlike
the Cedonians, Selarians have little facial hair, and very few Selarian
men go bald, and those that do lose their hair, do so after about the
age of sixty.

Ethnic Kasovians are very different in appearance and culture from the
Cedonians and Selarians. Kasovians are quite tall, averaging 6'2" in
height, but they tend to be wiry in build. Light-brown, blond,
strawberry-blond, auburn, and red are common hair colors, and their
hair is usually straight or slightly waved. Both men and women braid
their hair; the braid pattern signals age and marital status. Blue,
brown, green, grey, and violet-grey are common eye-colors. Both sexes
tend to have unibrows, and a David Letterman-esque gap between the
upper front incisors is very common. Most Kasovian men have beards, but
not mustaches. Due to differences in culture and religion, most ethnice
Cedonians feel uncomfortable around ethnic Kasovians.

In most Cedonian villages, the only stone buildings are the local
blacksmith's shop and the local temple. Most buildings are made of wood
or half-timber wattle-and-daub, and most homes and shops are decorated
with painted wood carvings made by the occupants. Think Eastern
European in style. In the cities, you see more stone buildings, which
are usually governmental or religious, but most buildings are brick,
with carved stone friezes for decoration. Cedonian government and
religious buildings look somewhat gothic, due to the Cedonian love of
carved-stone decorations.

All Cedonian cities have well-maintained aqueducts and sewer systems
and strict sanitary laws. Villages tend to be messier, but as a rule,
the water in Cedonia is safe to drink. Kasovia is an exception.

As far as clothing is concerned, styles vary by ethnicity and region,
but in general clothing styles resemble the later Byzantine empire in
the cities, but less decorated. Most clothes are made of cotton, linen,
or wool, with silk reserved for the elite. Selarian tend to wear a lot
of leather. Kasovians wear patterned woolen kilts and trews to show
clan membership, and often wear knitted wool sweaters over linen
shirts.

Many ethnic Cedonians whittle or carve wood as a hobby; it has to do
with their religion. Ethnic Selarians tend to get obsessed with horses,
racing them, breeding them, stealing them, etc. Ethnic Kasovians are
utterly loyal friends and absolutely implacable enemies who never
forgive or forget an insult.

As a final note, Selarians and Cedonians often intermarry, blurring the
'pure' ethnic types. Kasovians do not often intermarry with the other
two; as mentioned above, this is due to cultural and religious
differences.

Andrew


	
		
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