Harris Powell-Smith

Honor Bound: Teran and Ozera School

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Honor Bound is the upcoming fourth title in the Crème de la Crème Series, coming December 2024. Read more about it here!

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While Crème de la Crème and Royal Affairs are set in the snowy, stiff-upper-lipped Westerlin, and Noblesse Oblige is set on a remote, desolate island in Jezhan, Honor Bound explores an entirely different part of the world: the Republic of Teran.

Teran

Teran is a warm, resource- and technology-rich sprawling archipelago far to the west of Westerlin and Jezhan. A belt of independent islands sit between Teran and Zaledo, some of which have always been separate and some of which seceded over the centuries (the most recent was Dahaika, which seceded around 50 years ago).

While Teran used to be a monarchy, a military coup 300 years ago known as the Teranese Revolution resulted in transfer of leadership to a President and Parliament and dissolution of the aristocracy. Now, Teran is prosperous, has embraced some technological advancements beyond those commonly seen in Westerlin, and sees itself as a meritocracy.

A mountain range bisects mainland Teran; on one side is bountiful rainforest and fertile plains, while on the other the rain shadow of the range makes the land more arid.

A presidential term is five years long, and there’s no limit on the number of terms a President can serve. The current Teranese President is President Nicola Faraci, who has been in office for eight years.

Religion

The Honor Bound PC can have different feelings about religion, ranging from passionately belief, to believing in the gods but not feeling connected with organised religion, to enjoying the community aspects but not having a strong connection with the gods, to being agnostic or an atheist. Within each of those categories, the PC can express nuances such as having been brought up with or without religion, or feeling that the gods saved their life.

The Church of Teran is polytheistic and worships a large number of deities relating to abstract concepts and the natural world. Private shrines with offerings are usually set up in people’s homes, as well as regular communal worship taking place in churches.

Though they worship the same gods, the Church of Teran is a different denomination and split from the Church of Jezhan as part of the Revolution. Tenets of the Church of Teran include valuing personal ambition and striving, wonder and curiosity, and harmonic unity.

These tenets feed into a lot of Teranese cultural principles, in particular individual hustle culture and a general sense that hard work is to be valued.

The deities of the Church of Jezhan and Teran include:

The Teranese Military

Presidents and parliamentary ministers leave the military to take office, but because Teran holds military service with such respect, decorated officers are popular with voters. For centuries Teran has had mandatory two years’ military service known as Teranese Service for almost everyone aged between ages 18-20 which involves basic training and assignment across the Teranese islands or the mainland.

The Dahaikan Secession was the last time a major military operation occurred, but Teran maintains a large, highly-trained army assigned to emergencies, policing, and disaster relief. Most people leave the military on an ordinary discharge, which opens few doors; if someone is particularly impressive they will be discharged respectably, gaining a better pension. Being dishonorably discharged means being blacklisted from many jobs, vastly reduces opportunities, and generally results in social censure.

The Honor Bound PC continued working in the military after their Teranese Service, and has been a career officer. The amount of time they've been doing so, and their seniority, varies depending on their age: late 20s, 30s, or early 40s.

The PC chooses from six previous military roles, and from three details about what happened when they were injured, which results in eighteen unique injury situations!

Modern Aristocracy

After the coup, the noble classes were officially dissolved. However, the President recognises individuals known as Elites with the title Honored (which also bestows a yearly stipend high enough to live a very comfortable upper-middle-class lifestyle) or the higher level title Esteemed (whose yearly stipend enables a luxurious upper-class lifestyle). As part of their title, Elites are also awarded an expensive piece of property.

These titles are awarded for exceptional military, scientific, artistic, academic, philosophical, philanthropic, or otherwise highly notable endeavours.

The main Elite characters at the start of the game are Fiore, who was awarded the Honored title several years ago, and Kass Quintal, Headteacher of Ozera School, who was awarded the Esteemed title around a decade and a half ago. Many of the students at Ozera are from Elite families. They will not inherit the title, and instead will need to earn it through their own achievements—although it's far easier for the child of an Elite to have the opportunity to do so.

The Honor Bound PC will have the chance to become an Elite during the course of the game—though whether they will want to do what it takes to do it is another matter.

Elene’s Prospect and Ozera School

Deep in remote, vast grasslands, Elene’s Prospect is a small, sleepy town. For some time it was struggling with young people moving away, either to the military or to other ambitions, and was waning in fortune.

Around ten years ago, some time after you moved away, Esteemed Kass Quintal, a renowned sculptor, set up Ozera School, an exclusive combined boarding school and ranch for promising wealthy students with interests in art and science. It greatly rejuvenated Elene’s Prospect, which is a couple of hours’ drive (or about a day’s horseback ride) from the school.

With state-of-the-art science and art facilities, a community focus, and a dose of eccentricity—students pitch in on the farm and run local festivals for class credits—Ozera School is in-demand for children of the rich and famous.

It’s now coming up to the school’s tenth anniversary, and you’re going to be living there for the coming year.