Sovereignties

The Sovereignties lie south and west of the Elven Road to the North. A loose federation of nascent feudalities, the Sovereignties encompass seven independent dukedoms and a handful of interrelated wildermen nations. The territory's stability relies on mutual defence pacts, necessary for commerce amid the threat of humanoid raids, wildermen skirmishes, and episodic internal strife. Rich through Midland trade, the Coastal Dukes hunger for resources.   Known for: Independent feudal dukedoms; powerful noble houses; influential religious orders; knights and chivalric codes; arcane magic banned, though hedge wizards are tolerated; strict justice system; humanoid raiders, elven ruins in forgotten woods, diamond mines and glitterpits; literal underground cults.  

History

The Sauvon tribes of Nordmen first settled these lands in the Dim Ages, eventually forming the Southern Jarldoms after joining the Republic early in the Age of Fable. By the time of the Fall, generations of forced conscription into the elves' Northern Campaigns made it easy for the Sauvons to convert to the Lawful Faith and bloodily repel their elven lords south to the Midlands.   Immediately following the Fall, the jarls carved out feudalities from the chaotic wilderness, fought over new borders, and elevated themselves to the rank of duke. Their duchies line the coast to facilitate trade with Midland ports, and steady commerce keeps these settled areas relatively safe. Inland, towards the elven ruins or hidden glitterpits, one risks wildermen, humanoids, and monsters.  

Culture

Sauvon society is a multi-tiered feudal pyramid of lords who secure services from the vassals below them in exchange for protection. At the top is the ruling Duke or Duchess; immediately below are strata of landed vavasours, ranging from earls to knights. The next tier is occupied by the marcheu: Skilled workers, clergy, and fighting men, all free to travel under specific circumstances to the benefit of their lords. At the very bottom, supporting it all, are indentured peasants, who work the land they're tied to.   The land is fertile and most fiefs prosper, abetted by well-ordered administration and a strong Lawful Faith, replete with scores of saints to inspire all. Social station is sharply observed, laws tend to be restrictive, and punishments harsh, for offenders flaunt not only the law, but all the saints as well. Arcane magic is banned as witchcraft, though hedge wizards are tolerated in urban areas. Internal threats to the settled dukedoms typically take the form of civil instability resulitng from the machinations of rival noble houses, but sometimes as punative actions set by harsh lords against disordered peasants or by overzealous clerics rooting out Chaos.   Orcs, gnolls, and goblins press on the dukedoms' borders, while wildermen repel outsiders from theirs. Nevertheless, the Elven Road that separates the Sovereignties from Nordland is heavily patrolled, and the earldoms of Stillwood and the Shield Hills are the most fortified. The Road to the North is lined with elven waystations, and forests on either side shelter elven ruins, none fully plundered; and doubtless there are more to be discovered. Dwarf glitterpits are known in the Low Steps and the East Ridges; their depth has not been confirmed. There are also persistent tales of a portal to the Far Paths in Stillwood, or is it among the dolmens of the Salt Winds, or perhaps among the cairns of the High Moor...   Religion: Lawful Faith, personified by Rega, Lady of Heiron, whose religious orders include:

• Charity: Clerics who feed and clothe the poor
• Hospitaliers: Knights who offer healing and sancturary
• Fighting Order: Knights who defend order
• Fighting Order: Clerics who quest for artefacts and magic items
• Inquisitors: Clerics who root out witchcraft
• Missionary: Clerics who seek converts, esp. among the wildermen

 

Geography

Mixed deciduous and conifer forests dominate, with long stretches of wetlands along the west coast. The land is relatively flat, gently rising hilly and mountainous terrain travelling east from the Shoreless Ocean towards the High Waste.  

Forests

Baywood: Trails are patrolled, and there are waystations. Always a refuge for outlaws robbing trade coming out of Tendrig. Cleric + gnolls; wyverns + black dragon; bandits + MU   Dark Timbers (Aris tribal nation; pop. 106K): The Aris venerate spiders   Eortwood (Eort clan holdings; pop. 200K): The Eortwood has been the Eort clan jarldom since the Age of Fable, and when the Noble Houses converted to Adesh and established their fiefs, Eort held to the old ways.   Stillwood (border province; pop. 105K): Margrave  

Grasslands

Salt Winds (Laria tribal nation; pop 82K):  

Hills

East Ridge (Evagon tribal nation; pop 7K):   High Moor (pop 42K):   Low Steps (Eteri tribal nation; pop 25K):   Shield Hills (border province; pop 30K): Margrave  

Swamps

Troll Marshes:  

Political Divisions

Talk about polities within the territory and how they get along. Is there a central ruler of the territory, or is each division self-sufficient?  

Drethana

Feudal Dukedom; AL L, N; pop. 104K (YYr, ZZu Atlas [XY]  

Esobran

Dukedom (pop. 107K)  

Harolf

Islands (pop. 35K)  

Markhaven

Dukedom (pop. 153K)  

Nador

Dukedom (pop. 190K)  

Neuris

Dukedom (pop. 68K)  

Orgevar

Dukedom (pop. 120K)  

Tendrig

Dukedom (pop. 129K)