Map of Middle Earth

In Beginning of a Hero, Luke Callindor is hired to protect the heir of Serab from the Lich and the Hellfire Elf.  In Prodigy of Rainbow Tower, he has to escort the heir back home.  In Allure of the Gypsies, Luke and his surviving friends finally meet Duke Solomon in the capital city of Gods’ Voice.  Then the kingdom of Serab kind of fades into the background, which has people wondering how important it is.  Honestly, it’s something I had to think about for a bit.

The truth is the Serab is a kingdom with smaller ‘kingdoms’ and systems within it.  Think of it as the federal government that handles widespread emergencies and keeps peace among the various groups.  One could even say the United Nations since being part of the Serabian Kingdom guarantees assistance from fellow members in times of trouble.  This makes the Solomon family influential, but not all-powerful.  There are still the Grand Counselors of Gaia, Queen Ionia of Darkmill, and the racial factions that have their own cities and cultures.  They have a lot of autonomy even though they pay taxes to the Solomons and donate military might.

The question of how laws and decisions are made come up.  Well, that is a little complicated and paints the Duke as more of a figurehead.  You have the Kingdom Laws that go for everyone such as military qualifications and tax laws.  Yet every region of the kingdom has their own laws that tend to be suited more for the region.  For example, Maritime laws wouldn’t make much sense in a landlock town like Fyric.  This situation is why you have such a variety of systems and some places that are overly corrupt like Rodillen the City of Thieves.  It does make the Duke look weak since he would be hard-pressed to enforce his laws there.  Yet, it is agreed that in a situation where the entire kingdom is at risk, he is the one who makes the decisions and calls a council.  Every group and city has a member on this council, which is headed by the Duke.  This is how the big laws and decisions are made.

How did it get to this point?  Well, the Great Cataclysm did a lot of damage to Windemere and changed the whole landscape.  Many kingdoms and species were lost during this 10 minute interval.  People found themselves having to change their lives because of what happened.  Serab was one of the few kingdoms to have survived on the Southern continent, which became Ralian.  To help the rebuilding, the Solomon family ventured to the other regions to discuss unification under the Serabian flag.  Places like the southern desert and the Yagervan Plains rejected joining, but agreed to a treaty.  Other areas simply ignored the request, but the societies found within the central and western coast regions agreed.  Of course there had been problems like a brief war with the Snow Tiger tribe and strange messages that lead to them discovering the northern city of Everthorne.  As time went on, the royal family fell to a less controlling role, but they will always have an influence over the kingdom.

So that’s the story of Serab and the Solomon family.  Both important and low key in the world of Windemere.