Nemedia is a fertile land. Low mountains and hills form a border with Aquilonia with only a few passes. Great grasslands lie to the immediate east of those mountains, where few farms and villages exist for fear of the Aquilonians, who raid those lands.
Nemedia is the second great kingdom of the Hyborians, technologically and economically superior to the other Hyborian nations save Aquilonia. It is an ancient kingdom, proud of its cultured sophistication and civilised traditions. Although settled by the Hyborians, three thousand years ago this was the land of Acheron and traces of Acheronian blood flow through many of the veins of Nemedian Hyborians. The hills of Nemedia still hold groups of people who boast of their Acheronian descent.
Nemedians are usually of medium height with blond or black hair, they have white to olive skintone. Nemedian commoners wear coarse, knee-length shirts corded about the waist with rope. Merchants wear togas and robes. Servants wear woollen clothing: long belted tunics for the men, embroidered blouses and woollen skirts for the women. The nobility typically wear cavalry boots, fur or leather kilts and pleated silk shirts. The priests wear silken robes. Nemedians take pride in their culture and never dress outside of their station.
Their culture is similar to Aquilonia’s, although the Nemedians emphasise feudal bonds more and personal freedoms less. Nemedia is strict in its feudal hierarchies and each citizen knows his place on that complex schedule of servants and masters, duties and privileges.
All citizens must plege allegiance to the king and are subject equally to the country's code of laws. These laws are administered by Inquisitorial Councils and Courts of Justice, which, to their credit, exonerate the innocent as often as they convict the guilty. The courts are harsh, though they try to make the punishments fit the crimes and make restitutions as fair as possible. Also, the courts will attempt to exonerate the innocent if the guilty can be found. Unfortunately, if the guilty cannot be found, sometimes the innocent must suffer so that at least the illusion of justice is served.
Still, Nemedia is well regarded for scholastic and intellectual freedom for the greatest historians, the most famous philosophers and the pinnacle of powerful orators in the West are Nemedians.
Honour is a real concept for the Nemedians, one that impacts their reputations, moral identities and self-perception. This honour extends to family and friends. Impugned honour results in duels or other forms of redress. The aristocracy consider their honour to hold them above the rabble; honour to them is as real as a castle but vastly more important, for a damaged castle can be more easily repaired than damaged honour. Indeed, acts that otherwise would be considered criminal can be excused if they are committed as a matter of honour. Honour is especially important on the borders of Nemedia where law enforcement is minimal and the people enforce their own laws.
Nemedia is built upon the concept of allegiance toward others. The entire feudal system depends upon allegiance, the reciprocal ties between individuals and between families. An honourable individual will declare at least one allegiance. Individuals with unknown or no allegiances are not trusted in Nemedia.
Virtues, such as efficiency, austerity and discipline are held in high regard for the Nemedians. This shows among other things in their civilised court system that is complex in its attempts to be just. Few Nemedians would dare to resist a member of the police. The Nemedians are civilised enough to submit to the police and the courts and their cruelties are accepted as necessary.
As a civilised nation, Nemedian citizens guild their words in honeyed phrases, veiling their meanings to preserve a sense of respectability and etiquette. Those who do not conform to conservative Nemedians’ sense of good manners are disliked, and may be treated with varying levels of hostility. People who ask questions too directly are not likely to find the answers they seek. The challenge in Nemedia is to properly present oneself, to show that co-operation is returned in kind yet without openly saying so.
Despite the rigid control the feudal system has in Nemedia, with its strict laws and intense law enforcement, Nemedia is far more tolerant of alternative religions than Aquilonia. Likely this is because of Nemedia’s scholastic nature and the crown’s endorsement of philosophical thought. Thus, in Nemedia, a wide range of religious beliefs can be found across the length and breadth of the nation.
Nemedia is a Hyborian nation that honours that most universal of Hyborian gods, Mitra. The priests of Mitra are instructed in many things, for the teachings and works of Mitra have brought about the power and splendour of the Hyborian kingdoms.