Duchy of Mashrapur
From World of Kralis
| Regional Information | |
| Population: | 800,000 (50% Dejah, 25% Minotaur, 5% Dwarves, 5% Alewyn, 5% Elven, 5% Kanus) |
|---|---|
| Capital: | Various |
| Government: | Various Baronies |
| Major Religions: | Elal, Azahak, Mala, and Akiri |
| Imports/Exports: | Red Steel Ore, Coal, Bronze, Grains, Ships, and Leather Products |
Founded by a number of villages gathered along the banks of the Athin and Halin Rivers that ultimately form the great Hulthar River in 3,150 B.F.A. the Duchy of Mashrapur is one of the oldest established kingdoms of the Southern Realms. It is a realm rife with political intrigue, civil unrest, prejudice and "necessary killings". It is a land of baronies and duchies that are full of robber barons, criminals, religious zealots, vile monsters and few ancient dragons. Mashrapur was once a grand idea of nobility, but it has now become a country filled with war, deceit and betrayal.
It is a coastal realm surrounded by the Myr Woods to the south, beyond the Tuurith Nyg Mountains and the Fire Mountains to the north, and is made up of a broad expanse of prairie and steppe filled with small forests, rolling hills and thick with brush. It is dominated by the great river of Tyher and the Tuurith Nyg Mountains.
It is land torn by war amongst the various baronies and duchies. There are nearly 100 or so baronies. Each ruled by a single baron, baroness, duke or duchess and many are under control of a tyrannical leader. It is a realm of both danger and great opportunity, the land is a realm rich with mercenaries, soldiers of fortune, petty tyrants and profiteers of all types.
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Life and Society
Life and social customs within the Duchy is varied as each changes with the various baronies and duchies. Most people within the various baronies and duchies are a good, hard working people, but many have been marred by treachery and deceit and have little trust of outsiders. There have been abuses from different regimes in many of the baronies. Social customs tend to be greatly affected by class status and ownership of land and slaves in the various baronies.
As a whole the people of the Duchy greatly admire personal accomplishment in individual work or missions. It is a land rife with inventors, craftsmen, lofty artists, soulful musicians and thoughtful poets and writers.
Rulers of their lands control nearly every aspect of the citizenry's life and the residents have gotten used to not making decisions. Most never take a hand in the shaping of their particular barony or duchy, rather they lay low and watch as the power struggles between the various barons.
Since the Year of the Rising Star, 450 S.R., the Duchy was under the control of a single, strong royal family that had absolute power. When the eldest in the line of leadership died the oldest son or daughter took the throne. As time passed the complex relationships begot bickering and war over which cousin as the true heir of the kingdom, this ultimately lead to the Wars of Barons in the Year of Blue Diamonds, 2892 S.R. It was this war that the various "true" heirs began to wage war on each other for the control of the Duchy as a whole, this led to the various baronies that the country is now experiencing.
This had a massive effect on the populace of the Duchy. As the baronies fought for control of their various bits of land, a number of laws were enacted by the ruling classes of these baronies. The most important was the outlawing of non-humans. Many baronies drove out non-human races and as they did, more baronies put into place military laws forbidding these "refugees" from owning land in their baronies, thus non-human races were displaced into barren, worthless land or were forced to create their own baronies which fueled the racial disparities of the realm.
As it stands today there is no central government in Mashrapur. Individual barons and other nobles exercise control over small areas of land, many are without any towns or cities, but a majority are based around large towns and the few great cities of the Duchy. Many areas have no controlling force whatsoever and the laws and justice are what the people of the area deem it to be, right or wrong.
While there are a number of baronies that have fallen under the rule of an uncaring tyrant. There are a several strong barons and nobles in the larger cities that have hopes of returning the duchy to its once former glory. There are very few villages and smaller towns that live outside the political strife that is boiling in the Duchy, those that do are ruled or governed by elders or councils. A number of baronies, while fundamentally sovereign, have allied themselves together to resist the incursions of other larger baronies that are attempting to increase their own lands and resources.
Crime is rampant through out the land as highway men, bandits and monsters move from place to place taking advantage of the fact that many baronies have little or no standing armies or guards to protect their citizenry from raids, or attacks along the various roads that criss-cross the land. Attitudes toward crime and what defines it varies from area to area. Only those cities and larger towns that are the center of a nobles holdings, barony or duchy have any real law, patrols or court systems of any sort that is able to dispense out justice to those caught, if they are ever caught. Villages and smaller towns have resorted to a vigilante sort of justice, find the wrong doers or the accused (with or without damning evidence) and punish them as they see fit.
Through out the Duchy dark sects of worship have risen up, priests of both Mala and Azahak have increased greatly as these dark gods use the strife and conflict to do their bidding. Many times these priests will cause a catastrophe within a barony or duchy, only to show up and reverse or stop it from happening, thus winning the admiration of the citizens. This has gone on a great deal and the number of worshipers of Azahak and Mala have significantly increased over the years.
Major Cities
One cannot speak of major cities without also referring to the Barony or Duchy that it also represents. The major cities are heavily intertwined with their particular areas. Many of the areas are named after the city, thus confusing the issue further. There are many smaller towns and villages that have become the "capital" of their particular area but are not as intertwined with the Barony or Duchy as they may actually be in contention with another small town or village over the definition of location.
Port Senzavas
Port Senzavas is located at the outlet of the Hulthar River. It is a large fishing town with deep waters and many wharfs. The port can serve over 100 ships at a time on its wharfs. It has a standing fleet of fast fishing vessels that work the open waters of the Sea of Ithangar with great success. Fish and shellfish of all manner are hauled up from its depths in abundance. Many of its citizens are directly involved with the various aspects of fishing operations: canning, pickling, salting, and curing, all of which are sold and traded to with merchants from the east and the rest of the Duchy.
This port is an important city located as it is on the banks of both the sea and the river. It is used by other cities that sit along the shores of the rivers that empty into the sea. It is also the last stop of the Long Road that follows the Hulthar River eastward. The city is tightly packed, standing two or three stories above ground as well as many of them having two or three levels below ground. The city has been built from thick stone to withstand the harsh winter storms that slam into the area.
The city has approximately 20,000 humans. It is one of the few cities that has turned its back on other races and have become xenophobic of anyone that is not human. This has lead the Barony to decree that all human interaction with other races is limited only to trade, and only in the outskirts. This has left the city with few visitors and those that do make it in feel unwelcome and spied upon. This has to do with the fact that Port Senzavas is a known harbor for pirates, if not outright sponsoring them. There are few taverns and fewer inns that welcome travelers readily. Visitors are told to keep to themselves and stay close to the city gates, which leads to only one inn that serves travelers: The Cross Inn and Tavern.
The city straddles the river. The northern section is a enclave of high walls and warehouses, where as the southern portion is much older, and heavily fortified with thick high walls. There are a number of stone and wooden bridges that connect the two sections.
Port Senzavas is ruled by the Brotherhood, a group of wizards who were once a part of the Royal House of Ahlkiar. While there are a number of wealthy merchants that have considerable pull in the city, the true power of the city lies within the Brotherhood. It is this group of individuals that is responsible for the xenophobic nature of the city. It is they that have set up the laws against non-humans.
The non-fishing ships of Port Senzavas and the various captains have been given a wide birth to harass the shipping lanes between the Western Realms and the Empire of Resha as well as wage war on the various other port cities of the Duchy, its greatest rival is Russoran.
The city has a standing army of 450 spearmen and swordsman and a large navy of several large war galleons each armed with archers, catapults and cannons.
Russoran
The port city of Russoran is also known as the The City of Flags, or the Green Port. It sits on the jutting portion of the land, surrounded by high white cliffs that form a valley that leads from the city eastward. It is the second largest port in the Duchy, just behind Port Senzavas in population. Just as the Port Senzavas is rife with xenophobic people, pirates and injustice, Russoran is an open city of freedom upholding the ideals of the once powerful Duchy of Mashrapur. As a result, it is one of the most popular ports for merchant ships to put in before making the run north past Port Senzavas.
Called the City of Flags for the hundreds of flags that fly high above the city on great towers and poles, Russoran is an independent city renowned as the most tolerant places of the Duchy, it is home to many adventuring groups, good aligned mercenary companies and a healthy sea-faring population that rivals Port Senzavas. It is ruled by the Grand Duke Chion Silvershield (23rd Rank, Human, Knight of Elal). The city is walled by the high rising white cliffs behind it with only the Vale of Urth the only opening that allows the East Road to exit the city. It has a very deep harbor as the ground just beyond the shore falls sharply off.
It is rivaled by Port Senzavas in number of vessels, the two have often found themselves in naval battles in the Sea of Ithangar, the last battle being won by Russoran. It is a warm and inviting city that caters to the trading merchants from Duryel, Erval, Ailu and the various smaller baronies. The city is tightly packed with many buildings reaching four or five-stories. The largest building is Wyvern Castle that sits in the center of the town and is the ancestral home of the Silvershields.
The city hosts 17,000 citizens of various races, with humans and sea dwarves as the most popular of races. There are many wealthy merchants from further south and the Western Realms here, as many make this their seasonal home while traveling the open sea.
Ailu
Ailu is a fortified walled city that straddles the open plain between the mountains of Tuurith Nyg and shores of Ithangar. Ailu was once a small waystation and trading post on the way from Russoran to the city of Jad until the dissolution of the Duchy when its locale become a refuge from the most serious of infighting among the various nobles and races of the region. It quickly became a rallying point for those that wish to see the old Duchy rebuilt.
It currently has a population of 10,000 mostly dejah humans, but a fair number of minotaurs, elves and dwarves call this growing city home. With its close proximity to the Tuurith Nyg Mountains it is a natural waypoint for dwarves, and adventurers, scouring the mountains for lost dwarven strongholds that are said to be hidden within many of the mountains craggy valleys.
Jad
Jad was one of the major powers in the Duchy, and since the political upheaval it has grown in power. Its location at the edge of the Myr Wood and the along the Dark Road that goes through the wood and into the Empire Rinsha Adynshra, it is a prominent location for trade. It controls all south-easterly travel out of the Duchy. It has great aspirations of power, but unlike many of the Baronies it is tempered by reason and is motivated by more than just blind greed for power. It is allied with Ailu and Russoran in its thoughts of returning the Duchy to power in the future.
Because of its location near the wood and the vast plains westward to the Sea of Ithangar, it is one of the major agriculture headquarters for the Duchy, and the only one in the southern portion of the Duchy. It labors over tobacco, cotton, wines, teas, corn and wheat, all of which it packages and ships or trades to Rinsha Adynshra and the rest of the realm to the north.
In the days of the Duchy it was an important political player, filled with bureaucrats and ambassadors from the various counties of Empire of Rinsha Adynshra. Today, it still plays an important part in the political arena, mostly keeping the hands of Rinsha Adynshra at bay from annexing the southern portion of the Duchy.
It currently has a population of 40,000.
Erevul
Erevul is a small town sitting on the southern shores of the Hulthar River. It was once a much larger city, mainly because it was the main garrison for the Duchy's troops due to its central location, it could quickly dispatch troops to various parts of the realm. Before the political upheaval there were nearly 6,000 armed troops stationed in the city, with combined families, armorers, fest-halls, inns and taverns the population was nearly 30,000. When the Duchy fell into the infighting, the various troops defected to the regions that they were mostly attached to. Rioting citizens, deserting troops and fleeing nobles brought this once great city to its knees. The Fortress of War now is little more than a ruin, a haven for the poor, the unwanted, thieves, mercenaries and a number of darker things. There are still a number of soldiers and their families that have made a home in the ruins and the surrounding countryside, most of them hire themselves out as sellswords to the various Baronies.
Despite the rapid downfall and the criminal element, Erevul has been relatively peaceful for sometime. It is used mostly now as a waystation for adventurers and mercenary groups traveling through the central plains of the Duchy. A number of soldiers have turned their "swords to plowshares" and have setup a number of successful farms.
Eldor
Located on the islands that have formed where the rivers Athin and Halin form the great Hulthar River, Elador was once the Duchy's capital and it has maintained its influence despite the fall of the Duchy. With a population over 250,000, the city has maintained its power and its look. Due to its location the city is the major trading point for nearly all the surrounding baronies. The surrounding lands are very fertile providing a large range of agriculture and farming areas that supply the city and the rest of the Duchy with trade goods. Eldor is home of many fine craftsmen and artisans. It is renown for its armor, leather products, weavers and tailors.
Much of the city was sacked during the infighting, but it has since been rebuilt, all except for the Andrusk Castle which remains in ruins. It has been walled in to keep dark creatures and undead locked within. While it is the largest city and has a massive garrison of troops (nearly 10,000 strong) it has to be careful political so that it does not appear to be regaining to much power in the name of Duke Velin Andrusk. There are a number of nobleman and bureaucrats still loyal to the Duke that reside here.
The city is laid out roughly in the shape of an oval. The long axis of the city runs north-west to south-east along the Hulthar River that is formed among a number of large islands where the rivers Athin and Halin meet. It is spanned by many arched and ornate bridges connecting the various islands. Th waters of these two rivers are gentle and warm.
It is a very cosmopolitan city in the entire Duchy, despite the political issues, it is a civilized city that accepts all races and openly trades with all the baronies, whether or not they are warring with the city or not.
Since the sacking it has become a delight for the eyes. Everywhere new buildings are noteworthy for their ingenuity and grace. The streets are laid out with the islands and the bridges in mind removing the risk of visitors getting lost. The lanes are rarely not full, even in the late nights, there always seems to be something going on, whether it be a street party, or vendors trying to drain the very last bit they can from the city.
Cis
The city of Cis is the first major city that barges from as far as Dardura Sheva come to as they cross into the Duchy. It sits on the shores of a large portion of the river where it is nearly a quarter mile in width and nearly 50 feet deep. It has a large port with many river barges tied to its docks. It is a friendly city, that despite the political upheaval, it has changed very little. It has maintained its status as the entry way into Mashrapur and the influx of refugees from other parts of the realm have swelled this city from 13,000 to nearly 20,000. It is a very busy place as barges unload their wares and merchants hire caravans and other barges to move further into the Duchy.
It is very much a travelers city with many inns, taverns and shops lining its wandering streets. Visitors here feel well received and welcome.
Places of Interest
Citadel of the Dragon
The Citadel of the Dragon is a heavily fortified outpost that was recently completed in the Fire Mountains in response to the ever growing trouble to demons, oracs, and fire giants that have begun to gather in larger numbers in the low mountains. The citadel is home to 1,000 soldiers and officers, it is large enough to fit an additional 1,500 men-at-arms.
The citadel's outer walls are 35' high and 10' thick. There is a 10' wide walk way for defensive troops at the top of the citadel. With the collapse of the Duchy, the morale of the soldiers here is very low as they are unsure how to deal with the crisis.
It is aligned to the Jalumen Barony.
Ruins of Kalis
Situated on the Hulthar River just above the Kalis Gorge sits the ruins of Kalis. This ancient ruin is half buried in thick growth, and mounds of dirt, yet there are remnants of a civilization that once prospered here an age ago. There are a number of crumbling stone buildings through out the area, with a number of them disappearing into the depths of the earth here and there.
It is said that beneath the buildings lays an extensive dungeon filled with unknown treasure and danger. Much of the ruins are haunted by several types of undead.
Stones of Pran
North of the village of Dary on the northeast spur of the Tuurith Nyg Mountains sits a stand of 24 monolithic stones carved from a black granite. They surround a black granite floor piece that has a circular stone "table". No one is quite sure why the stones are here. There are no markings on the stones nor do they align with any of the astrological events or stars. Rumor has it that on the darkest nights the stones glow a soft blue and are used by beings from another dimension to come to Kralis. Others state that it was an ancient place of sacrifice to some dark god or gods. In either case, it is haunted by a number of ghosts.
Halls of the Black Axe
North of the city of Cis the tumbled stones of this ancient stronghold are still visible above ground. It is thought that it was once an ancient elven or perhaps fir darrig stronghold.
The Tor
Situated on a single rising hill near the village of Arcisa is a landmark made of heavy stone for an unknown person or persons. The hill beneath the cairn has since become occupied by several clans of kaznarks who have taken up the caverns in which the tomb is said to be. Rumor state that it was the grave of a large clan of barbarians that were defeated here a thousand years ago, their foes burying them here with their goods and treasure as was custom at the time.
The Deep Caverns
At the furthermost edge of the Fire Mountains, numerous caverns dot the cliffs of the broken land. Many are shallow openings used by oracs, and other creatures as resting places. There are a number of caverns that go much deeper and tend to be the homes of darker creatures and undead. One cavern opens into a series of deep-reaching tunnels and large caverns that many believe have connections to the Deep Earth realms.
Castle Ahlkiar
This once proud castle of the Duchy stands amid ruins after being sacked during the first years of the political unrest within the Duchy. It has become overrun with vegetation and has become home to several clans of monsters: Broodlings, Firvulag, and Jaquaws. Many speculate that much of the wealth of the royal family has been lost to to the collapse or have been buried beneath the collapsed walls and roof. Others hear told that pieces of art, gold, silver and other precous items have made their way out of the castle's lower regions and dungeons.
Dark Marsh
A hundred miles down river from Eldor the Hulthar River slows incredible as it fills in a giant basin that has become a thick, dark swamp on either side of the main river. It is a tangled mess and is home to many types of Lizard Kin, a number of monstrous plants and a number of undead creature: Ghouls, Zombies and a number of apparitions. It is a dangerous place where barges move as quickly as possible through. Each year a number of barges go missing as they are overwhelmed by the monsters that make this foul place home.
Major Organizations
Knights of the Sword
The Knights of the Sword are a secretive group of nobleman and merchants from the various baronies, they continually attempt to manipulate the politics and trade of the Duchy to its advantage, for good or ill purposes. They have been attributed to a number of baronies falling, mercantile assassinations, and political upheavals in various cities and baronies. They are working hard to keep the Duchy from returning to its original state, as the political issues of the Duchy have reaped a great amount of fortune and power for the majority of the Knights. It is their main goal to dominate and control all the trade within the Duchy and to manipulate the trade of other nations, even those as far away as Dardura Sheva.
The Dark Knives
With the upheaval of the central government, there has been a dramatic growth in the criminal element through out the Duchy. The Dark Knives were little more than a "common" thieves and assassins guild based in Eldor, since the dissolution of the Duchy and the creation of the various Baronies in its place, the Dark Knives have quickly become a widespread network of thieves, assassins, and bandits.
They are highly organized despite the shifting political climate that they are in, this is because the hierarchy of the guild is a closely guarded secret with only a few in the Blood Council actually knowing the full extent of the organization and its power within the realm. Each barony contains a separate sect of thieves, bandits and assassins and each barony has one Dark Blade that reports only to the Blood Council.
Authorities and non-guild members are unsure of where the Blood Council is based. It is said that they change locations to new hideouts through out the various baronies every new moon.
The majority of the Dark Knives are made of minor thieves, low ranking bandits, minor assassins, low ranked fighters, spellcasters, merchants and other folk.
The Brotherhood
This group of spellcasters has a great deal of power, enough to rival some of the large world-wide groups in Kralis, but they are rarely heard of outside of the Duchy. Once the collected group of spellcasters for the whole of the Duchy, they were instrumental in its collapse and the fall of the Royal House of Ahlkiar with the spell-assassination of Duke Jhannas Harthyr and his family. Once this deed had been done the fled to Port Senzavas where they quickly established Jewel Tower.
Its primary goal seems to be to control the whole of the Duchy by conquering the various baronies and controlling the shipping lanes in the Sea of Ithangar. Currently it has control over a number of smaller baronies along the borders of Port Senzavas. It must also control or eradicate other power groups within the region before it attempts to take absolute control over the baronies.
