Ilbarych

The Kingdom of Ilbarych is a monarchy ruled by a royal house and a group of noble houses. Its capital is Crownhold.

History

• Founded by refugees from a collapsing imperial power to the west of Ilbarych over 500 years ago.
  • These refugees were the Wolfen Lance, an imperial war unit (mostly made up of heavy cavalry) and the various family, hangers-on, and others the Wolfen Lance picked up along the way.
  • The refugees fled east over the Steel Road, ending up in the so-called Steel Lands, home of a culture of smiths whose steel was highly coveted in the west. These smiths were the wrightfolk, and they could not stand against the military might of the Wolfen Lance.
• Ilbarych was a general of the force that formed the core of retreating group, and was its first king.
  • The other Houses were made up of Ilbarych's sub-commanders and important retainers within the military structure of the force.
  • All Houses hold their power by military force to this day.
• House Ilbarych did not provide more than three monarchs before it was destroyed by internecine strife among its powerful nobles.

The Land

The Crowndom of Ilbarych is made up of the following regions and landmarks.

Crownhold

Once a large trading hub of the wrightfolk, Crownhold has been turned into a city. Notable for the river that runs through it, which harbors a spur of rock upon which stands the Thronespire, the keep of the Ilbarych kings. It is surrounded by a double-wall which hosts small estate-keeps allotted to the various Ilbarychan noble houses, ostensibly to force them to contribute to the defense of the city. Crownhold is located at the terminus of the Steel Road, along the Crown River which serves as the boundary between Steelvale and the Greensward.

The Steel Mountains

The Steel Mountains are the wall which defends the Crowndom of Ilbarych from the dangerous lands that were once the Empire. They are tall and imposing, with very few passes among them. There are a good many alpine valleys and meadows sequestered between the tall peaks here, tiny pockets of rich plant life and the native cliff goats, cave bears, and mountain wolves often seek out these sanctuaries.

• Houses of the Steel Mountains: The Houses of the Steel Mountains are hardy folk who are used to doing a great deal of up-close fighting themselves. The valleys of the Steel Mountains do not have large populations, so the houses here do not have the luxury of raising large armies. Instead, the nobility are all doughty warriors and mountaineers themselves, defending tall cliffside spires and keeps.
  • House Modifiers: Defense +10 • Influence – • Lands -5 • Law +10 • Population -10 • Power – • Wealth –
• The Steel Road: Winding westward out of Crownhold, the Steel Road is an ancient imperial road. The keep Steelgate stands at the point where the Steel Road enters Ilbarych, defended by the Knights of Steelgate.

Steelvale

The gently rolling plains that unfurl out of the Steel Mountains are among the longest-settled of the domains of Ilbarych, and home to some of its most established nobility. Steelvale is the bread-basket of the Crowndom, with a great many wide agricultural fields, broken up by orchards, vineyards, and the famous lakes of Steelvale.

• Houses of Steelvale: The oldest of the Ilbarychan nobility hail from these long-settled, populous lands rich in the resources that have kept the Crowndom prosperous for generations. Because of this age, many of the keeps of the Steelvale are smaller and less grandiose than in some other places, and the need for large armies is significantly less.
  • House Modifiers: Defense -5 • Influence +10 • Lands – • Law – • Population +10 • Power -10 • Wealth +5

The Greensward

The grasslands of the Greensward are the shield against the wild wealdfolk. Lumber camps dot the edges of the Wildweald here, and the noble houses provide soldiers to protect these encampments against the fury of the wealdfolk, who strive to stop the harvesting of the great forest's edge.

• Houses of the Greensward: The Greensward Houses command large tracts of land, much of which was secured in living memory. As a result, the armies of the Greensward are frequently large to help defend those lands, and the houses thereof benefit greatly from the wealth that comes of them. Its upstart nobility are still taming these lands, however, and both bandits and wealdfolk raiders are a common problem.
  • House Modifiers: Defense – • Influence -5 • Lands +10 • Law -10 • Population – • Power +10 • Wealth +5

Northshore

The cold coastal waters of Northshore were, until very recently, a haven of bandit and populations of rebellious wrightfolk driven out of the northern hills. For generations, those northern hills were considered the wall that protected the Crowndom from the savagery of those desperate souls. Ninety years ago, however, Crown Arfandal dispatched the Crown Wardens, his elite peacekeeping force led by the Knights of the Crown, to these lands to see them pacified and settled by upstart houses. Now, though these lands provide only sparse crops, coastal settlements fish these cold waters and mines in its western reaches produce iron, tin, and copper.

• Houses of Northshore: Nearly every house of Northshore is small, recently-founded, and nowhere near as prosperous as the nobles of other parts of the Crowndom. Despite this, their lands are ample and well-guarded by both ample house troops and the Crown Wardens sent to pacify it.
  • House Modifiers: Defense – • Influence -10 • Lands +5 • Law +10 • Population - • Power +10 • Wealth -5

Barrowhills

A dry, cold swathe of hills and canyons along the central western reaches of the kingdom, the Barrowhills are home to small clan-groups of wrightfolk who live the way their people did before the coming of the imperials, mining iron ore and tending to flocks of goats. The nobles of these lands learned long ago to allow the wrightfolk to live as they have always done in order to harvest the ore wealth of these lands.

• Houses of the Barrowhills: The Barrowhills houses are wealthy, benefitting as they do from the ubiquitous mines of these lands, and their defensive structures are strong, to defend those resources. The Crown has long watched the nobles of these lands carefully, however, fearful that they might try and turn that wealth against the throne. As such, the masters of these lands do not dare to raise large armies, even if they had the population to do so.
  • House Modifiers: Defense +10 • Influence – • Lands – • Law +5 • Population -5 • Power -10 • Wealth +10

Three-Rivers

x

• Houses of Three-Rivers: xx
  • House Modifiers: Defense +10 • Influence +10 • Lands -10 • Law – • Population +5 • Power -5 • Wealth -

The Wildweald

A massive primeval forest that forms the eastern and part of the northern borders of Ilbarych, the Wildweald is home to wealdfolk, nomadic people who are related to the wrightfolk (though culturally at odds with them).