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[Demalion] Duchy of Rivereign

Rivereign is a peaceful Duchy located on the border of the Neran and Hrothi areas in the heart of Demalion.

Crescent shaped, it stretches itself mostly in the Lower Mountain biome, but a closer attention to its resources distribution reveals that the eastern part, closer to the Hrothi Alpine Tundra, is rich in stone, minerals and clay while the south west part is mostly dabbling into forest work.

The Duchy is cut in the middle by a large river/lake going from its eastern border to its western one. The northern part of the Duchy seems to be linked to the Duchy to the west, Prudentia, through two small rivers and a trade road. The southern part is linked to both the Duchy of Kaga to the south and Dae Erath to the east by two large rivers going all the way to the sea and an important trade road following the biome border and going south east.

Here you can find a hand stitched map of the Duchy created before the start of the Settlers of Elyria event :

This somewhat central position has brought Rivereign to host a large number of merchants and traders, the Duchy actually harboring the largest number of trade orientated large settlements. That characteristic has not escaped player’s notice and the Duchy’s community is mostly composed of trader/merchant and craftsmen minded people.

The Duke’s vision of the Duchy is one akin to “live and let live”. The Markof dynasty considers that as long as its vassals abide by its laws, pay their taxes and fulfill their vassals duties ( as defined by the game system) they are souverain in their domain and as such won't suffer from Ducal interference unless asked or dragged in to settle disputes. The only Duchy wide plan of the Ducal dynasty is to develop the Duchy into a place where people can have fun and grow their trade and craft in a peaceful and safe environment.

The Duchy’s seat of power and administrative center is the capital sized city of Markofstadt in the County of Markhozia.

Domains and Settlements

Rivereign is a Neran Duchy, populated mostly by Neran (56%), with a large population of Hrothi (32%). As such it will be a Virtorian Duchy, but following the views of the Markof dynasty, all the main religions will be tolerated as long as they do not disturb the life of the citizens, notably, but not limited to the duchy’s population of Brudvir and Kypiq.

All law abiding citizens of the Duchy are important to the Duke’s dynasty and as such no tribal prejudice or discrimination shall be tolerated.

Early Exposition Duchy level development will include some extension and improvement of the road system, creation of a few new settlements in order to link the Duchy to the large northern trade network and to a smaller one to the south west. There will also be improvements to the Education centered Town of Whitewright Village and to the overall use of the rivers in the Duchy (fishing and traveling). The Markof family will also work with each Count and guild to see how they can help or partner in each individual development.

Fundation Lore

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12/31/2019 9:21:59 PM #1

Player Nobles and Aristocrats have settled from north to south as follows :

County of Valley

  • Town of Valentine

County of Greybear Cove

  • Village of Yahn’taar

County of Vintland

  • Town of Purvin

County of Markhozia

  • Capital City of Markofstadt
  • Town of Rivergate
  • Town of FakhroGrad
  • Town of Silverbark
  • Hamlet of Shlaetta

County of Nordheim

  • Town of Greifenfels
  • Village of Winters Hope

County of Stakefire

  • Village of Falling

County of Crowland

  • Town of Marcelot
  • Town of Aradok
  • Barony of Grimhold
  • Hamlet of Maderador

12/31/2019 9:22:35 PM #2

The times After the searing plague were chaotic ones, many lord’s dynasties had disappeared or been crippled, bandits and raiders were roaming the land, entire settlements had been wiped out to be either reclaimed by nature or were now hosting more sinister denizens. It took several years, nearly an entire generation for things to settle and calm down before finally order returned. During that time the County of Markhozia appeared as much a beacon of hope as it had during the plague, attracting refugees and new settlers. Otto and Cunegonde the founders of the County spent their life caring for their people and strengthening their domain, extending their borders into the forest, restoring order in Siverbark Cross. By the time the next generation took power markhozians were controlling most of the Silver forest. From that central point in the duchy they focused on developing economy. The Loop, a trade road linking all the major settlements around Markofstadt was the first step, then they worked on the rivers and their link to neighboring duchies. By the fifth generation of Markhozian Counts, their domain had become the heart of the duchy, linking the north to the south and the east to the west, the strong Hrothi population in the county was bounding the duchy with their powerful Hrothi neighbors of the east and the rivers were like the life line that was tying them to Kaga in the south and past them to the sea and the whole world.

Over a century had passed and the face of the duchy had been reshaped. The Dukes from their holdings in the south west started to resent the situation, there was no room anymore for the old ways as neighbors were now trade partners and friends, their fortifications and troops now more a burden than anything else. They felt that their power was dwindling, slowly fading away and so they decided to act ! They invited the counts of the duchy to celebrate the coming of age of their last daughter, Emeline, under the pretext that the main castle was already full and in order to provide good accommodation, the counts of Markhozia and a couple of other counts known supporters of the markhozians were hosted at a different place, an old manor standing in the center of the old district of the town. The night of the celebration, after every one retired once the party was over, a fire spread in the old district and spread to the manor. By the time the fire was extinguished, half of the district had burn and the manor was nothing but a smoldering ruin. It was claimed that the unfortunate souls that were sleeping in the manor were unable to flee the disaster and perished in the “accident”. The lie fooled no one and that night was remembered as the night of treachery. A couple of days later, while the ruins of the old district were still smoking, the Duke ordered is army to march toward Markhozia under the pretext that the heir to the County, lord Alaric was but a teenager and was not able to run the county alone.

Outraged by the murder of his parents and to protect the legacy of its forefathers, the young Alaric put on the Count’s cloak and in a desperate attempt at resisting called to arms all the vassals of his parents and sent messengers to plead their trade partners and friends to send help. In his machiavelic plans the Duke had forgot one thing, the Markof were loved and respected and the loyalty they earned from their partners naturally passed on to their heirs, especially when he displayed enough courage to face the murdered of his parents. Using the roads that yesterday were transporting goods, troops from all the eastern counties gathered around the town of Silverbark, using the rivers, mercenaries hired by the Hrothi mining guilds and the Kaga traders and merchants joined them, while the duke’s army made a slow pace through the forest. When both armies faced each other on the outskirts of Silverbark, they were matched size but the markhozian army had time to prepare. The center was held buy a Hrothi phalanx flanked to the right by the markhozian light infantry and rangers protected by wooden pikes and earth field fortifications and to the left by the kagan mercenaries supported by archers from the county of Vintland and the hunters of the silver forest kept as a reserve was the elk cavalry of young count Amalric. On the other side, the army of the Duke was a more traditional one, mainly composed of spearmenn and archers, with some heavy cavalry. But it was an army used to garrison and fortress defense not forest warfare. The battle plan of the Duke was straight out of the Neran military academy manuals, it started by a barrage of arrows three full salvo before the infantry rushed the center and the cavalry charged the left flank that was not protected by fortifications. The idea was to soften the lines, fix the Hrothi phalanx to prevent it from moving while the cavalry would shatter the left flank than turn to dislocate the phalanx from the side, than it would only be an easy job to pursue the fleeing light troops and dispatch all opposition. A fine plan had the battle field not been the heart of the silver forest. The trees considerably reduced the effects of the long range barrage of arrows and impaired the heavy cavalry charge even more. The horses arrived dispersed in small group often far from full speed and were easy pick for the forest trained archers, by the time they realized what was happening they were already engaged in a pinned battle with the mercenaries, unable to manœuvre and harassed by sniping arrows mostly aimed at the horses, throwing the armored riders to the ground where they were swarmed and butchered. At the centre the infantry met with an unshaken Hrothi phalanx, while the forest savvy light troops of the right flanked, moved to engage the archers. That is when the elk cavalry with the young count leading the charged inserted itself in the opening left between the center and the right flank and fell on the rear of the duke’s infantry spreading panic among the troops. Soon the center collapsed and the phalanx moved to come on the rear of the duke’s cavalry, while the elk cavalry pivoted to flank the archers and the battle was finished. The duke’s army crumbled those that were not killed either fled in all directions or were surrounded with only two choices either die or surrender.

That day Alaric Markof proved himself on the battlefield despite his young age and earned himself the respect of his troops and the nickname of silver stag. Pushing their advantage and using the siege weapons abandoned by the duke’s army, the markhozian ost went to siege the Duke’s seat of power. To save what could be of his dynasty the Duke sued for peace, offering his daughter Emeline in marriage to Amalric transferring to her the title of duchess to be passed to their heir to come and to his son the count title while he would abdicate and retire into a monastery.

From that time and for a little more than four and a half centuries, the Markof dynasty have been ruling the Duchy of Rivereign and presented a silver stag on their coat of arms. Focusing on the development of the duchy, working closely with the counts and engaged in prosperous and friendly trade relations with their neighbors, they have guided the duchy in an era of stability and peace, nurturing economic growth and the well-being of the population.

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