Duchy of Harr
From World of Kralis
| Regional Information | |
| Population: | 800,000 (75% Junde, 10% Dejah , 5% Isande, 5% Elven, 5% Aelwyn) |
|---|---|
| Capital: | Curliath |
| Government: | Monarchy, Ruled by King Azar Craigmount |
| Major Religions: | Elal, Hadak, and Odiryn |
| Imports/Exports: | Iron Ore, Herbs, Livestock, Ale, Glass, Cut Stone |
The Duchy of Harr was established in 950 B.F.A under the flag of Sir Byron Curtash in a united in kinship against onslaughts of fire dragon clans, ogres, orcs, and broodlings in the region.
Considered to be the second oldest kingdom of the Northern Realms, the Duchy of Harr, is unique amongst the nations of the north. It is not a very large nation, but its greatness lies within the various dales, city-states, and provinces. The borders of Harr are Ta' Kanasiti and Myanothia to the north, the Sea of Dragons to the South, and the orc nation of Nathak to the south-east. There is constant fighting along the borderlands of Nathak and Harr.
The Duchy of Harr is a nation devoted to the silver coin, profits that can be brought in by the various provinces in order to secure a more powerful position within the duchy. Harrians do not fight over land, but rather wage war on who can gain the most profit in a year. Many a mercantile has been born and has died within that single year, while others have thrived off of the very existence of trade.
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Life and Society
Life within the borders of the Duchy of Harr is a mixture of different styles and cultures. Like the southern nations with their vast numbers of beings coming from all walks of life, the Duchy of Harr is a nation of such mixture. There is a strong elven culture intermixed with dwarven ways of life, smothered with northern human views. This mixture changes as you pass from one province to another.
There are 32 provinces, similar to the fiefs of Panthias, yet each province is looked over by an elected governor that officiates and establishes new laws based on popular vote. Only those that own land have a vote on what laws and regulations that are passed in their province.
Many times these laws create internal struggle, an upheaval of the land owners and the opening of old feuds. Fortunately, these feuds and battles do not last long and are waged mostly with rotten items, very few turn deadly and burn out in a few days.
Much of the life in Duchy of Harr is taken up by tending summer crops, winter hunting and mining, which dominates much of the land. There seems to be thousands of dark-holes that led to mines for raw iron ore. The rolling hills that take up most of the land is littered with mining holes, mining stations and other small mining operations. Of course, not all of them are functioning, many are dead and have become the homes to wild and extremely dangerous animals such as poisonous snakes, bloodthirsty animals and the few roaming tribes of monsters. Many times these mines become the home of giant spiders whose webs are so thick like rope nets to trap other creatures such as wolves, savannah lions and other monsters which they eat.
Unlike the majority of the northern nations, Duchy of Harr has countless roads that cut through the land in hundreds of directions, each leading to this or that province, town or village. These roads, while well traveled, are dangerous nonetheless. They attract all types of predators from dragons to bandits to large grey worms that seem to erupt from the ground without a moments notice.
Duchy of Harr is also renowned for its use of the heat operated sailing balloons, these are great ships that are speed along through the air with the use of coal and air in a large, canvas balloon that has been soaked in heat sap for several days and then allowed to dry giving it a air-tight bag in which air is pumped into the bag. Along with coal, bits of Dark Dust are added to the propulsion of the air ships engines, which give the airships an extra boost of speed.
These airships are often used for moving trade, out of the reach of the bandits, but they often end up on the wrong end of a dragon attack, or an attack by other province airships or even sky pirates. There are many times that two airships are seen ramming each other in the sky, only to come crashing to the ground in some other province, which does not always bode well for those that came crashing out of the sky.
Unlike most of the northern kingdoms which are defined by specific economies and are generally maintained by a single source (the throne, churches and temples, etc,) the money power in the Duchy of Harr is ever changing and evolving.
The standard coin exchange rate as used by most of the world is also used in the Duchy of Harr, however, there are a few minor oddities. First, the province that makes the most money in a single year becomes the new “capital” province and all power in the area shifts to it (this includes taxes collected at the end of the year). Second, entire provinces are susceptible to falling under the lack of profit, when this occurs a new power with the province may rise to replace the old, dominating power, this not only changes the structure of revenue within the province but it can also mean the change of the name of the province.
This economy-power struggle is a war that is being fought everyday among all the various merchants of the different provinces through out the Duchy of Harr.
Major Cities
Curliath
The largest city of the Duchy Harr is situated on the shores of the Sea of Dragons. With a population of 35,000, it is the official capital of the duchy, despite the fact that each year a new "capital" is designated in a new province. The city is the ruling power of King Azar Craigmount, whose castle stands within its walls. Curliath is built long and narrow arrayed along the waterfront. The city is well known for its ship building.
Major Features
The lands of the Duchy of Harr are not “dark” nor are they covered with hundreds of acres of wild forest. These lands are somewhat explored, mostly by the great hot air ships from the capital of Curliath. From these high views a number of features have been recorded and somewhat explored.
The Great Pit
Sitting in the almost exact center of the land is a large, great pit that is nearly 1 mile in diameter and several hundred feet deep. It is bowl shaped and has a rim that extends several hundred feet above the plains and hills that surround it.
While it is easy to look down into the pit you cannot see the true bottom as a thick layer of fog, ash and steam cover the bottom. It has been suggested that this layer of cloud is near to 200 feet in depth and could possible be floating at least another 200 feet the bottom. Of course this is speculation, and has yet to be proven as those that have ventured into the depths of the cloud-bank have never returned.
It has been told by the ancient tribes of firbog that make their homes near this pit that it leads to the great inner world of chaos. That when the world was created and the One imprisoned Chaos its was done here and that the roaring that is heard erupting from the pit time and again, and the great ground clouds is actually Chaos attempting to escape but is far to large to escape from such a small hole in the ground.
Many tales indicate that there have been large dragons, earth and air, to come in and out of the pit only to disappear into the Wild Lands or beneath the clouds.
The Great Pit sits in its own province, one that is not greatly populated nor is it governed. However, those provinces that border it have been given (forced really) to taken on the responsibility of “guarding” the pit in case something dark or evil decides to make its way out of the clouds.
The Living Forest
Running along the edge of the nation southeastward towards Nathak lies a large forest of tall redwoods, pines, and other trees. It is not a dark forest like the great Storhet, but it is a thick forest nonetheless. It is a brilliantly colored forest, while mostly green there are a wide variety of green coloration, blues and yellows. Yet there is something odd, unusual about the forest itself.
One cannot escape the feeling that they are being watched at all times while in the forest. This is rightfully so. Most of the forest is home to the great Sidz Ra and other plant creatures both of an evil bent and those devoted to the Great Mother.
There are few roads that led into the Living Forest, most roads take the longer, and generally safer, route around the forest leaving well enough alone and not wanting to face the particular creatures that inhabit the forest.
Both legend and history tend to agree that within the Living Forest, there is a large city of stone, constructed by the earliest firbogs to move through this area only to lose this city to the growth of the forest, and its inhabitants during the Great War of the Gods. History states that it was abandoned with the firbogs taking everything with them, legends hold that in the center of the city if a fountain of golden waters, like molten gold erupting from the ground and contained by thick grey stone. Other legends say that there is large mine that delved deep into the earth and broke into a gigantic cavern filled with raw gold, veins of it, stalagmites and stalactites made of pure gold. Whatever the legends hold, one fact remains the same, those that enter the forest in search of such treasure have rarely returned, and those that have returned have done so unable to speak of what they encountered and refuse to speak of it to anyone.
The Great Mines
Its not unusual to venture into the Wild Lands of the provinces of the Duchy of Harr and find a large mining site, fighting back the encroaching Wild Lands while digging deeper into the earth of Ta Los. These mines, often ran by northerners with the help of dwarves and aelwyn from the local area, are deep and they often extend for several miles in many directions.
These mines become the home and workplace of the miners, there are hundreds of small air holes that snake their way to the surface to allow fresh air to enter the deeper portions of the mines. There are many mines that have a large area of barracks, headquarters, kitchen, supply as well as a pre-manufacturing where the raw ore is separated from the red, dark earth.
Most of the mines are still active, however, there are those that are “lost” or dead. These mines have been abandoned for a number of reasons: breaking in on an underground lake or river, breaking onto colonies of hostile DeepEarth dwellers, disrupting the sleep of an earth dragon or running into darker things such as demons and minions of Azhaka.
Important Sites
The Great Maze
Situated south-east of Curliath some 35 miles towering hedges have sprung up from the thick grasses, forming walls that grow in a tangled profusion named the the Great Maze. The Great Maze takes up over 4 square miles and is continually shifting, changing its shape on a monthly schedule. The entrance of the maze, as well as its exit, is for ever changing sometimes trapping individuals within the maze for several weeks or even months. The maze has been known to become the unwelcome home of various monsters and animals that have wandered into the maze only to have the entrance move, locking them inside. The hedges themselves are said to be impossible to cut through, and reports from those that have escaped the maze indicate that those that have “attacked” the hedges have themselves been attacked by great vines or have been encircled with thorny hedges that tear at the trapped being. The Great Maze is said to grow where an ancient college of seers once stood, and those who have wandered its passages and returned have spoken of ghostly buildings and beings within.
The DeepEarth Web
In the province of Cynhurst there is a natural series of underground caverns that form a huge maze filled with dead-ends, drop offs and is the home of the Spider Queen Er’ythic and her servants, who are said to be giant poisonous spiders and undead who guard the tunnels. This is a dangerous area, hidden deep in the Wild Lands, legend holds that these caverns are the upper portion of a lost natural mine of raw red steel ore, but the legend also states that those that attempt to take the ore from its home will never find rest.
Clock Towers of Curliath
Standing in the heart of Curliath, are five towers filled with machinery that hums and clicks and whirs throughout the day and night. These towers have been here since the settling of Curliath and are told to be ancient. Very few beings have attempted to enter these towers as those that have entered and have returned, have returned changed, altered in unusual ways. It is rumored that the five towers work together as parts of a great clock that tracks the age of the world and the stars, a clock which is perpetually breaking down and in need of repair.
Stone of the Maiden
The Stone of the Maiden stands 10 feet high and is covered with odd, strange symbols on one side of the stone and a cross on the reverse side. The cross is very weathered, but the symbols are very clear. Even the sides of the stone were carved. The stone itself has a large gash on one side, as though a great axe or sword had cut into the stone. Legend holds that long ago there was a maiden accosted by a handsome young man. He boasted that he could build a road in the less time than it would take for her to bake a loaf of bread. The maiden thought this an idle boast and agreed to the wager with herself as the prize.
When the young man did indeed build the road before she could bake a loaf of bread, she realized he was demon sorcerer in disguise. She attempted to flee but the demon grabbed her by the shoulder. As she wrenched away, she prayed to Gishra to be turned to stone rather than be the demon’s bride. Gishra hearing her plea granted her wish and turned her into a block of stone. This angered the demon and in an attempt to destroy the maiden, the demon took its great axe and struck the stone, causing the stone to break and fall apart. Enraged Gishra thrust the demon into the furthest depths of the Nine Hells as she could, forever imprisoning it there. The stone was put back together, but a single piece, the piece that was gashed out by the demon had been lost.
Legend holds that if this stone is found and replaced the maiden will return to her natural form.
The Circle of Gilbyn
Surrounded by the golden plains of the Lochland province stands a great circle of monolithic basalt stones that are said to have been placed here by the Great Father Elal before the great War of the Gods. There are sixteen of these stones standing next to each other with just a few feet between each of the stones. In the center of the stones there is a large octagonal shaped stone with four large flat spots on it.
This circle has fascinated writers, artists and spellcasters for hundreds of years. Some believe that the circle is a large and much more powerful WorldGate that may link to another world. Others believe that it is a sacrificial place where early barbarians of the north made sacrifice to the gods.
Major Organizations
The Duchy of Harr's economy, political and social structure is based on hundreds of different groups, guilds, and other organizations. As such it is difficult to call or indicate that one is more important than another. With that said, there are a few organizations, based on their size and political power or their dark intents that are appear to be more important than others.
The Mercantile
The Mercantile is a large organization made up of members from the different provinces. The organization has a total of 230 members mostly from the more powerful provinces of Duchy of Harr. The Mercantile is devoted to maintaining a status-quo and keeping the “peace” of the nation at an acceptable level of good trade. They are always negotiating with other nations through out Kralis in an attempt to keep their products and the Duchy of Harr at the top of the trading that take place in Kralis.
The Mercantile is known for its shrewd tactics, its double dealing and its great capability to maneuver both politically and monetarily with all those that it deals with.
The Great Serpent
The Duchy of Harr is a very wealthy nation because of its trading nature and this wealth attracts those of a dark nature that believe living off the fat of others is the only way to survive. Of these various organizations, only the Great Serpent is a constant foe. This organization, with ties to Obsidian Order and other evil organizations, has a strong foot hold into the Duchy of Harr. The Great Serpent is a den of organized thieves, assassins and bandits that work towards siphoning off gold and wealth from the duchy into their own pockets as well as the pockets of other evil organizations that they support.
It is rumored that the Great Serpent is actually controlled and dominated by an ancient fire dragon along with a number of his own younger kin, keeping it all in the family.
Duchy of Harr Air Defense
There is nothing more obvious about being in the Duchy of Harr than the sight of the great airships moving through the skies above the great plains and hills of the nation. These ships are always moving day and night following specific flight lanes. However, these lanes can often become places of contention as merhcants and tradesmen via for control over specific areas. These areas can also be places of violent battles between groups and organizations as well as battlegrounds for those that see the shipping lanes as great plunder.
These areas are defended by the established Harr Air Defense of the nation. The air defense is a large group of men and women that have been trained to fly smaller, light ships called Dragoons that are used to glide through the air, are highly maneuverable and capable of defending the lanes against most sky-pirates. In addition to these light wing defenders are the heavy air-galleons that patrol the air, making regular stops along the lanes above the greater towns and cities of the Duchy of Harr to re-fuel and re-new defenders. Many times these defenders tend to be gunthian, aelwyn and gnomes as they are lighter and more capable of moving from ship to ship in mid-flight. A number of the defenders are humans and the occasional minotaur and/or firbog.
Sky Pirates
Though made up of numerous scoundrels, robbers, murders, and scalawags the Sky Pirates is a term to define all those that unlawfully rob a sky-ship (or water-ship) or attacking land based holdings from the sky. These men, women and beasts rob these ships for personal profit as well as the lure of adventure.
These individuals and their crews are an unwelcome sight through out the world, and actively hunted down by the Harr Air Defense (as well as other organizations that defend the skies of Kralis).
All the wealth and treasure that they gain is moved through other organizations, such as the Great Serpent and other thieves’ guilds.
These pirates are well known through out most of the north and have been known to sail as far east as the Kingdom of Nashatras and as far west as Myngaard. Their black flags have also been seen over the Duchy of Mashrapur and as far south as the Empire of Resha.
Kingdom Riders
Made up of volunteers from every fief in the kingdom the Kingdom Riders are the single greatest force of warriors that the kingdom can rely upon. There are hundreds of Kingdom Riders made up of groups of individuals ranging from 20 to 50. These groups patrol the kingdom and its Wild Lands in order to keep internal struggles at a minimum and banditry as very low levels.
