A Region of The Kingdom of Bordevar
The Upcountry, the Highlands, the Winter Palace or simply Weiland, this western most region of the Kingdom of Bordevar has always been a place of growing things, of peasant concerns largely shielded by the martial might of Bordevar. It is here that Bordevar's peasants worked to feed and make wealthy the nobility and people of the Kingdom.
Separated from the rest of the Kingdom by the rising Lenscaster Hills, Weiland is at a higher elevation than the lowlands of Royal Bodevar that descend towards the Explorers Sea. In these highlands, cold winds descend from the Steinvault mountains and dark omens creep from the nearby Greenweald. It is a cool region, with gentle summers and clear but cold winters, occasionally dusted by snows.
The people of Weiland are overwhelmingly peasants rather than nobles. With many of the knightly nobility preferring regions with a greater chance of danger such as Royal Bordevar. The lords of Weiland tend to control quiet fiefdoms with small hamlets that tend the land. Their greatest problems being a harsh harvest or a wayward wolf pack.
Now the heartland has become the homeland.
The Towns
The town for which the region is named, Weiland is a surprisingly well equipped and large township for the nature of the region. In times past it acted as the gathering point, market and urban centre of the region, boasting three smithys, a pair of competing taverns and the only church to all spheres for leagues around. Now it is expected to do all of that and more, as the unofficial capital of Bordevar. Stepping beyond the muddy streets, tilled fields stretch as far as the eye can see. Now, as many fields are filled with refugee settlements and military camps as wheat and barley. Weiland contains The Old Weiland Town Hall, once a community hall which was replaced with a finer version once the town grew. Following decisions by the Senator of Weiland in 223AE, the Old Town Hall was turned into an embassy, and has been the Concordian embassy to the Dendarri ever since.
Travelling north along Jovells Road, you will reach Carningsfield the second largest settlement in the region. Where Weiland has a true Bordevarian peasant spirit, Carningsfield is a border town, with a substantially different air. The clean, cold waters of Lake Ladure, the constant activity around the Lake Ladure Quarry, and the looming danger of the Greenweald make for a town with an air of intensity. Here people work for the kingdom, not for rest. Here they don’t wear swords for honour, they wear axes for hard use. While less manned by Knights watching the Greenweald than in previous years, it remains a martial place.
Far to the south-east of Weiland township, Arbington is a small settlement, not much more than a village. Arbington is a place for those seeking to avoid the gaze of the Kingdom. Its distant location, proximity to the Woldfen Woods, the Lenscaster Hills and the inhospitable Steinvault Mountains gives plenty of places for someone to disappear, both voluntarily or otherwise.
The Stand has grown from an unofficial meeting place to a wide camp of colourful heraldry, noisy with the ring ofsteel and shouts. It is here that the remainder of Bordevar's military is based. Ranging from peasant levies to heroic knights. While many of the nobility have moved into Weiland proper to be closer to processes of governance, many cannot leave the war behind and have made their permanent homes in the pavilions and camps of The Stand. It is from here that Bands of Bordevar and the 1st Banner make patrols along the Westmarch and throughout the Lenscaster Hills, forcing back the Onyx Aristocracy.
Once the winter home of King Artourious Bordevar, King's Vigil is a strange settlement. Built into the winding halls, gardens, and hills at the base of the Steinvaults, it is closer to a sprawling apartment complex than a true township. Home to little more than two hundred souls who spend their time tending to gardens, hunting in the hills, and drinking in the towns only bar, known as Vespera's Hall, named after the Duke who saw to the modification of the settlement for the downtrodden of Weiland over 225-226AE. King's Vigil is also home to the, now empty, tomb of King Artourious Bordevar. The mausoleum complex acting as the offices of the Sepulchral Sentinel.
The Fortresses
Commissioned in Autumn 222 by then-Senator Ser Louisoix Leveilleur, the Borderforts of Starscar were completed in Autumn 224 to defend against the Onyx Aristocracy. Rather than being one structure, the fortification is composed of five individual bastions spread along the border between Starscar and Royal Bordevar. In Autumn 226, the forts received further upgrades as ordered by the Deedholder of the Lake Ladure Quarry, Alyce Baker.
From north to south, the fortification is comprised of:
The Oaken Keep sits on the northern edge of Starscar, bordering both Wolfsbuel in Vassertal and Draemoor in Royal Bordevar. The grounds facing into Draemoor feature a series of sturdy redoubt mounds, designed to disperse an enemy force as it approaches and to provide concealment for defensive troops.
The “Watchers of the Oak” are of all castes, but have a tendency towards scouting and similar small-group operation. Maps, supply caches, and report boards are all commonplace around the Keep.
Barrow’s Roost is set apart by the towers jutting from its walls, and the birds that flock there. While it is the main nexus of news from the north and east, the messenger birds are capable of carrying more than just written word. Thanks to a cross-breeding experiment with one particularly large falcon, the Roost now boasts a wing of birds capable of carrying weapons and entire suits of armour to assist stranded knights.
This fort was previously named Peregrine’s Roost until it was gifted to the Barrow Hounds in Autumn 226 by the Duke of Starscar, Duke Wynters, though the aviarists still operate in the towers above.
Caelin’s Barrack faces directly into the Crownlands along the Westmarch road.The most martial of the forts, it also spans the widest area, focusing on width rather than height. Its defenses are supplemented by nearly two miles of trenchwork outwards into Royal Bordevar, embedded with spiked palisades and arcstone reinforcements.
Caelin’s Barrack hosts the majority of the knights that can be found among the forts, with a number of knightly and paladin Orders dedicated wholly to the defence of the realm.
The Keep of the Horned Count has the highest concentration of noble houses united under the primary management of House Pearbell, an agricultural house from Heartsgrave. The Keep is perhaps the most aesthetic and outwardly proud of the forts, its halls filled with artworks and effigies of “Horned Beasts and Men”. The walls are accented by arctone buttressing and crenelation, and display large banners of Bordevar, Starscar, and House Pearbell facing out into the Crownlands.
The Gray Keep is nestled at the base of the Steinvaults, the only fort that stands on the border to Stonestep. The natural defenses of the mountains are heavily utilised, making Gray Keep the most castle-like of the forts. Strategic walls funnel attackers to strongly defended locations and a vault has been carved into the base of the mountain itself, keeping important functions of the fort safely away from any combat.
The “Keepers of the Cold” mirror the array of castes in the “Watchers” to the north, though tend more towards larger war parties that sweep through the fort’s surrounding area.
The Roads
Westmarch travels from Royal Bordevar itself all the way through to Weiland, connecting this distant region to the once capital. Cobbled and signposted, it is one of the easiest roads to travel in the region.
Elaiths Line is mournfully named for the Daughter Artourious never had, being unfortunate in love throughout his life. The road is simple dirt edged with stones. Every league a single oak tree has been planted, and while some do not stand to this day, many do.
Jovells Road or ‘The Rangers Way’ is named for King Artiourius’ favourite huntsman, who would often lead hunts northwards into the mountains and Greenweald in pursuit of monstrous prey. A poor road, it is frequently torn up by heavy carts laden with Arcstone from Lake Ladure Quarry.
Modwyns Way is dour road, cobbled with black slate stones, it is named for the Kings final bodyguard. A powerful Valleyfolk mercenary named Modwyn who is said to have carried the King's coffin himself from Royal Bordevar to its resting place at The Manor.
The Lands
The Lenscaster Hills separate Weiland from Royal Bordevar. These crags are covered with deep green grass and form a rabbits warren of shallow canyons, winding hollows and dead ends that rise upwards to Weilands high position. They are so named for the belief that with a fine enough lens you could see all of Royal Bordevar from their heights. A fanciful belief but a name that stuck fast.
The Wolfden Woods are a thin cold forest that hugs the foothills of the Steinvaults and feeds off its snowfall. Criss crossed with small melt streams, the region is home to large populations of wolves that feed upon the herds, pets and peasants of southern Weiland. Owing to its Greenweald connection, the deeper, colder parts of the Wolfdens are home to far more dangerous creatures than wolves.
Rickon's Tier is a contested island where the Eisen River lets out into Lake Ladure. Claimed by both Bordevarians and Wealders, it is frequently the sight of small scale violence and competition between the two peoples. The island is managed by the Groundskeeper of Rickon's Tier, a title competed over between Bordevarian Commoners and Wealdfolk once a year.
A rocky, crystal-strewn scar across the land north of Carningsfield, The Crystal Maw is the damage left by the Shardcircle when they utilised great magical power during the invasion of Weiland in 224AE to swallow a vast horde of undead and crush them in crystal teeth. The resultant canyon quickly flooded, leaving Carningsfield with a submerged, undead-filled, magical problem to its north. While the damage this has caused has not been completely resolved, it is at least safe to traverse thanks to works by the Shardcircle and Duchess Winnifred Eldermere, who ensured the creation of a dam known as Winnifred's Wall to stop waters flowing back from the Maw into Lake Ladure.
The Waters
Fed by the Eisen River flowing through the Greenweald, Lake Ladure is a massive, calm lake that is perfect for sailing, fishing and swimming. In deep enough winters it even forms a crust of ice that can be skated. The hamlets along the shore vary between fishing villages, boatwrights and noble summer homes.
The Heights
Looming over all Bordevar, The Steinvault Mountains are present along the southern border of Weiland. This titanic range is an impenetrable wall of glaciers, granite and foul tempered creatures that have resisted any interloper. Beyond its peaks lies the fertile Iron Valley, but well outside of the reach of the people of Bordevar.
