The Grand Duchy of Draeth
“The dark lands”
Alignment: NE
Capital: Indraa’chal (pop. 95,500)
Notable Settlements: Dargols Gate (pop. 10,800); Shroudwaet (pop. 9,900); Fel Varaht (pop. 8,000); Iscereth (pop. 10,500); Baathos (pop. 8,700).
Ruler: Grand Duchess Jexeria C’brion, Defender of the Six Spires, Matriarch of Indraa’chal.
Government: Hereditary rule through the familial line of House C’brion with an advisory council of lords composed of representatives from the five noble houses.
Description: Situated along the eastern shores of the storm-tossed Sea of Bhirta, the Grand Duchy of Draeth stretches eastward to the forested slopes of the Vornaukk Highlands, northward to the ruin-riddled wildlands of the Dwimauth and southward through the fertile plains of Vingel to the swamp-bound Woodcairn Forest. The population is predominately (85%) human. There is a sizable number (10%) of hobgoblins that call Draeth home. The remaining percentage is a mixture of demi-human families and a small number of orcs.
Founded one thousand years ago by the expanding High Kingdom of Brython, Draeth spent nearly a quarter of every year cut off from the rest of the kingdom due to the winter snows that blocked the passes through the Vornaukk. This annual separation, plus the distance from the heartland of the kingdom made the price of fealty to the king seem steep and unwarranted. This dissatisfaction festered in the hearts of the ducal families until Duchess Pilar C’brion, a powerful wizard, decided to break from Brython. She entered into a pact with Indu’hroth, a half-dragon Balor with the goal of infusing her offspring with great power. The result of this pact entwined the C’brion bloodline with the Abyss for all time. Her first-born, Valeria, blest or cursed with both bloodlines served as the instigator of the break between Draeth and Brython. Hiding her daughter’s vile nature from everyone, Pilar wove a dark plan to make a strike at the heart of the monarchy. When her daughter came of age Pilar abdicated her ducal seat in favor of Valeria. On the day of entitlement Valeria went before the king to swear her oath of fealty but instead drove her claws into the king’s heart. If not for the timely intervention of the Church Templars, Valeria would have succeeded in eliminating the royal line. This treacherous act started the enmity between the two nations and four hundred years of war has done little to change it.
Today the Grand Duchy of Draeth is seen as a cruel and dark domain stretching out its clawed hands grasping at all it desires and above all it desires power. The noble houses are rife with practitioners of dark magicks, be it pact-minded wizards seeking to sell souls to gain an edge on rivals, sorcerers with the spark of magic flowing in their fiend-tainted blood or clerics calling to demon lords or arch devils. The cities and keeps serve as hubs of manufacturing for the rural communities. While every village may have a blacksmith, cordwainer and other essential types of trade workers, the majority of goods are manufactured in the urban centers. This fact creates an odd schism in the country. As long as the flow of resources to the keeps and cities is not interrupted, the nobles and their servitors pay little attention to the peasantry. Should the flow falter however, the reaction is often swift and always brutal.
The worship of true gods is forbidden within the boundaries of Draeth, but in mockery of the Radiant Temple in Brython there are the Nine Peers, Nine powerful Demon Lords and Arch-Devils who have provided significant aid to the Grand Duchy in the past. These Abyssal powers have open cults within the borders of Draeth and their worship is permitted.
DM Secrets: The armies of Draeth have been a bane to the Vornaukk highlanders for many years but recently the Vornaukk clans have gained support from Brython Margraves and are massing forces to strike into the heart of Draeth. The one thing standing in the way is lack of knowledge of the Draethen heartland.
Unknown to the Draethen aristocracy, Indu’hroth returns every few generations to re-infuse his draconic and demonic blood into the C’brion bloodline. The cost of this renewal is the sacrifice of the current line of male heirs of the house. While Jexeria has no qualms with this stricture, the youngest of her three sons discovered his fate and fled the capital. Jexeria’s personal guard search quietly for the boy, but the time of Indu’hroth’s return is rapidly approaching. Should the boy evade capture the pact that has kept House C’brion strong and in power for nearly four hundred years will fracture.
The ruins of the Dwimauth have always lured the Draethen spellcasters. Dating back to the time of Bhirtur Dominion (a once powerful empire that dominated the region over three thousand years ago) any items brought from the ruins, either by their minions or adventurers, creates a stir. Recently a group of adventurers breached the deep halls beneath Ten Spires, an infamous Bhirtur Ruin, and returned with a king’s ransom in Bhirtur items. Agents of the five Draethen Noble houses have been seeking these adventurers and their items.
The druids of the Woodcairn Forest have always found the farm communities in the fertile Vingel plains to be open to their teachings. While the nobles have always frowned upon this, the druidic traditions do not violate the laws of Draeth and actually keep the peasantry content thus the druids have been ignored. Recently however, this practice has changed. Druids of the Woodcairn have been murdered and several small shrines across the Vingel destroyed. The reason for this change is unknown, but the growing unrest in the region is disrupting harvests. This brewing conflict is the plot of a powerful covey of greenhags who loathe the druidic circle. They hope that by ruining the harvest, the Draethen nobles will destroy the druids or at least persecute the peasantry enough to force the druids into the conflict.
