Background
The Duchy of Catheran stood on the east side of the Pillars of the sky, a rugged and exceptionally high mountain range which is the home to several strange peoples, the Frog-lickers in the jungles of the southeast and the wild-folk of the cooler and higher northwest foot hills. The rains tapered as you moved east, tempered by the streams and rivers from the hills and mountains, pouring into the Magnaflume river. Across the river, the dunes were the end of the green lands and the start of the Great Desert. The rest of the Empire of Sylpha were perhaps a month or mores travel to the east across the great desert, but that was too remote for direct control, and trade was limited to the caravans of the Desert Tribes. Some contact was also made by sea, but the trip was much longer and far more dangerous due to numerous shoals and unfavorable winds. It was slightly easier to come from the Eastern Empire to Westlans by sea, but still more ships foundered than made the trips successfully. Then, as there were no ports on the Coast, a long trip had to be made up stream through Kir and Zenther, neither of which were friendly to the ships.
To the south of Catheran, across the Marimagno lake, lay the Duchy of Zenther. Zenther was about the same size as Catheran, a bit wetter, warmer and decidedly less well off, as there a strong feudal system squeezed the commoners into poverty, while most of the nobles lived in lavish style.
Most of the Wild Folk were those few who had escaped this and fought for absolute freedom in the northwestern foothills. Not even a benevolent rule would suffice for them; the wild folk were free and would fight desperately to stay so. They had occasional meetings with the Wood Elves for trade and to avoid any conflicts, or to deal with marauding Orc bands. High Elves were avoided like the intolerant Lords of Zenther.
The Frog-lickers were a different story, Priests had traveled there to save their souls, only to be killed and eaten, armies had invaded to conquer them, only to be killed and eaten. Explorers had gone in sneakily and openly, few of whom returned to tell tales. A few traders made trips into established trading sites and they provided the known worlds very limited view of what these people were like. They were darker than most and knew their environment intimately … their name came from their habit of licking a specific variety of frog, as the skin secreted a powerful hallucinogenic secretion as a defense. This secretion becomes impotent within minutes of coming off the frog’s skin, so cannot be stored. Licking it does no harm to the frog other than making it feel like it is about to be eaten, which it doesn’t like. They are reasonably common in the jungle, so no harm is done. The effect makes the Frog-Lickers high, and while not making them drunk, does give them a feeling of euphoria and capability to perform prodigious feats of strength and endurance for periods of an hour or so. The down side is that another exceptionally similar frog is deadly poisonous, leading those who attempt to copy the Frog-lickers habits prone to a slow, ugly and sure death. They are also quite common and the Frog-Lickers use their secretions as a poison with which to hunt, as it’s lethality is retained for several days. Meat cooked after killing is rendered perfectly safe. Needless to say, the various people whom the Frog-Lickers have killed off have been so poisoned. It’s effects on introduction to the blood stream is apparent within a minute or so, and no known antidote exists. If ingested by licking, the effects are slower, with cramping, seizures, bloody diarrhea and a slower death, but one that is just as sure. The Jungles and the Frog-lickers are best left to themselves.
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Within the Duchy of Catheran, things were going very well. The weather had been good, the crops were plentiful and trade was booming. The Current Grand Duke , so appointed by the emperor hundreds of miles away, insisted on treating all fairly, and a peasant could be confident in a fair hearing against even a noble in the Ducal Courts. The Duchess busied herself mothering the Duchy, seeing that the poor and infirm ate and had both shelter and clothing. No food was ever thrown out after a dinner or a great feast, it went into various kettles prepared in the Dukes own kitchens for the poor and the infirm. Clothing was washed and altered to provide for those less fortunate, and the Duchess was well known and loved throughout the capital’s less well off citizens. The neer-do-well were kept out of the free hand outs by the guards who looked for able bodied men and woman to serve in various state jobs, like soldier or low level public servant. Since these were often those who did not want to work, they kept far, far away from the “free” handouts.
Roads were in good repair, and work was constant on maintaining and lengthening them (using low paid public servants). The rivers and lake were all well served by various trading vessels.
Indeed, it was hard to find anything to complain about; but there is no way to please everyone, and thus it was here too. There were those Nobles who grumbled about the uppity peasants and the vast amounts being squandered in roads and public construction while taxes weighed on those with money. Birth rights didn’t mean what they used to and the forced land restructuring that gave peasants a parcel of land 450 paces by 450 paces from nobles hunting and farm lands, in return granting the nobles a return on those lands for 50 years, irritated those Nobles who lands were being usurped. That they all made or stood to make a fortune in both cash payments and future taxes, soothed few, for it was their birthright to own those lands the Duke was spreading among the people of the Duchy. Who cares if the average peasant was twice as wealthy as he had been 20 years ago, or 5 times better off than those in Zenther to the South. Not even that the Nobles prospered as never before stopped the grumbling in back rooms and private estates. Indeed, even some wealthy Merchants joined in grumbling against the good treatment granted to the average citizen, for their special status was eroding too. It might seem remarkable that bulging coffers did not make up for the loss of power over other people’s lives, but such was the case.
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In Zenther, things were quite different, serfs were there to be used. Lazy and indolent, they needed a strong hand to keep the working. Taxes were heavy to support the nobles as they wished to live. The commoners struggled to find or earn jobs that were somewhat easier than being a serf. But no one was really safe, for if a Noble wanted something you had, he could pay your price, or decide you were overcharging and pay less, or just take it as something no commoner should have. Your family was no safer, for any noble could take your wife, daughter, son or even you for whatever purpose and for as long as they wanted. If a Noble killed or maimed a commoner, they obviously deserved it, but if a commoner even bumped into a Noble, he was in great trouble … God help him if he caused a Nobles death. A few Nobles, realizing that their serfs are the basis of their income, treat their serfs with better conditions and more food, although it cost them status and a lower life style, as well as being weak in the eyes of their Duke and his chosen Lords. They also suffer some depredations as stronger lords steal their healthy serfs, when the Lords die off.
Gurt Hardra De Stang, The Duke of Zenther was an angry man, the Emperor had raised that bumbling weak fool in Catheran to Grand Duke and told him to work on improving Zenther. Catheran’s bloody serfs complained to the man and he listened! He took their word over that of his Nobles! And The Emperor wanted HIM to help Zenther!
Well he show them who had power, he’d show them who commanded respect … just wait and see.
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Kir was a poor country, populated by tribes of hunter-gatherers. There was an overlord of some sort, but few cared or made any effort to work with these tribes. They had little to trade and generally relied on taking what they wanted. Any sort of well armed group was left alone, but anything perceived as weak was fair game.
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The Marquis Nervil D’Astard, Lord Guardian of Yanna, Spirue and the west, rode down the poor muddy track in Zenther, toward his meeting, as common people scurried into the mud and filthy water of the roadside ditches to make way for him. He smiled, that was what he wanted, people to fear and respect him. That was why he came to sell his services to the “King” of Zenther. He would allow himself to be called the Duke of Catheran, at least until he found a way to become King himself.
Never again would some lesser woman refuse him, never again would he have the Duke telling him he was not being fair to that low class rabble who worked his land. They were born to serve their betters, and he would make it happen, as it had been in the past. If he wanted a nice road, they’d damn well build for him, or he’d have their hides.
Behind him rode 40 of his personal bodyguard and 20 more rode ahead, hand picked men who understood, their welfare was directly tied to his success; men who didn’t want to work too hard, but would rather take from those who were less strong than they were. He had 3 companies of these fellows, each 100 man company color coded so they knew each other on sight. He played them off each other and made sure that they never, ever shared a drink, a meal or anything together. It was always a competition to take first and screw the other company…and he handed out the rewards. Today twenty of the Red Company men lead the march, with twenty each of the Blue and then the Green bringing up the rear. Sixty well armed and trained mounted men should give pause to any potential troublemaker. He had made sure they had new Surcoats and the best-looking leatherwork… and of course, they paid for the privilege of having new gear. He smiled… and they fought to come along … they knew that he was going to come out of this with more to pass around. The 80 men of each company left behind knew that they had not done as well … and they would try that much harder to please him in the future.