Orange-background counties are mainly war-oriented; green are more concerned with domestic issues.
Geography
Arrona has a warm-temperate climate; it is fairly arid, growing wetter in the north and east. Rolling hills and broad river valleys dominate the landscape; to the south, the hills become higher and more broken. The lowlands are almost entirely deforested for agriculture, but most hilltops are covered in scrubby woods, used for goat-grazing.
Social Structure
Arrona is divided into counties, each ruled by a noble family. If new territories are conquered (as has happened recently with Urisland), new families are created to rule them, usually from minor branches of existing families.
The Marital Convolutions of Aronnan Nobility
There has always been a tradition among the Altak that men are better rulers in matters of war, whereas women do better in matters of peace. Various nations have tried different ways to implement this idea.
Noble families are headed by a married couple; the female is responsible for the internal issues of their lands - mostly agriculture, tithes and justice - while the male is responsible for warfare. Each noble family has either matriarchal or patriarchal descent; patriarchal lines are more war-oriented, and predominate. The noble marriage is always imbalanced in favour of the heir, though the extent of this varies a great deal. The heir rules until his death, and may remarry if their spouse dies first. If the heir dies first, their spouse must retire.
On occasion, a line can switch its mode of descent; this requires a royal edict, and is very rare.
Among the peasants, this isn't followed; the first-born inherits what little there is. The middle classes vary; some of them negotiate the inheritance of children as part of marriage arrangements.
The Royal Families
On top of all this is royalty. Arrona always has two royal families; one provides the King, the other the Queen. The royal couple are symbolically married, but also have real spouses. To further complicate things, the families alternate; the first son of the Queen will be the next King, and vice versa. The royal families maintain their own territories, which are mostly administered by their respective consorts. When either ruler dies, the other must retire; this is usually the queen, and Queen Mothers (though ostensibly forbidden from politics) are a strong influence on Arrona's court.
The problem with the system is that the royal families tend to be the two most powerful noble lines, and thus often in competition. The other noble families like it this way; it prevents the royals getting too strong. At present the king is a Dunar and the queen an Adant; these families have ruled Arrona for over two hundred years, mostly in a state of mild squabbling.
The Lower Heirarchy
Beneath the titled nobles come various grades of lieutenants - generally minor nobility and often relatives. Some are military officers; others administer individual villages; others act as magistrates, taxmen or menagers.
Beneath these come the peasant class; the most fortunate of these are retainers, paid a small annual stipend in order to give their lord first priority on their work.
Houseguards
Traditionally, Arronan nobles were expected to lead the charge; they thus cultivated a small group of experienced, loyal warriors as a battlefield bodyguard. Over time the houseguard's role evolved; now valued craftsmen, scribes, artists and wizards are routinely made houseguards - though they still retain a military flavour, particularly in the guards of male lords. Houseguards are intentionally kept out of the chain of command, and cannot be nobles - though if the noble blood is watered down enough, this might get overlooked.
The character of houseguards varies depending on the individual noble and on family tradition; some are small and intimate, the best friends of their lord; others are rigid and formal. Some of the more powerful lords have even begun to divide their houseguards into seperate blocs, assigned to particular tasks or functions; the Shadow Guard originated as one such.
Originally houseguards were bound by oaths of total loyalty; to disobey, betray, lie to or conceal anything - even an opinion - from one's lord was a suicide-level dishonour. These rules have relaxed somewhat, but houseguards still feel a very strong sense of duty. For a houseguard ever to serve another family is unthinkable; a disgraced houseguard thus loses everything.
Religion
Most noble families have legends about long-distant ancestors, generally great warriors strongly identified with an animal or animals. Nobody worships these heroes, per se, but they are privately regarded as the embodiment of a line's principles, feature on regalia and so forth. The clergy generally turn a blind eye to this, although in Catela they have been vigorously suppressed.
Taboo and Despised Groups
Accursed. Since injuries caused by curses cannot be magically healed, there is a great horror of them; and curses are usually assumed to be contagious, even though most are not. If people are unable to conceal curses, they often find themselves ostracised.
Meat diet. Certain animals (cattle, game, horses) can only be eaten by nobility, children, or pregnant women. Chickens, doves, ducks, pigs and fish are only eaten occasionally by the peasants; most of their protein is vegetable.
Deformity. With most injuries easily healed, the deformed are often assumed to be cursed. This is particularly the case among nobility and the rich.
Wizard rulers. Most Altak commoners associate magic-using rulers with despotism, slavery and foreign domination. (This prejudice is weaker in Etter-sympathetic nations such as Catela.) Maledictors, dissolution-crafters and heumonicists are particularly suspect. Although the proportion of magic-users is at least as high among nobles as in the rest of the population, most find it prudent to conceal the fact.
Heterosexual adultery. Descent is important to the Altak, and anything that might muddy the waters is disapproved of. Female heirs and male spouses can, in practise, get away with adultery more easily than male heirs and female spouses. Homosexuality is regarded as preferable to either, however.
Miscegenation is somewhat disapproved of.