Droaam
A mere two decades ago, Droaam was part of Breland. But while the maps reflected this claim, few Brelish lived in the western barrens beyond the Graywall Mountains. The place has always been dangerous, a haven for monsters of all sorts, and the land was never easy to work or hunt. A few brave settlers tried to tame the land over the years, but none of them ever met with much luck. As the Last War wore on, monster warbands became more aggressive, striking at Breland either at the behest of warring nations or for their own spoils of war. In 987 YK, King Boranel of Breland evacuated the few remaining Brelish and declared that the land west of Graywall Mountains was sealed and off limits. In that same year, a trio of hags declared the sovereignty of the new nation of Droaam.
Over the course of the following year, the hags established their power through force of arms, destroying or scattering humanoid tribes and the domains of lesser warlords. After a sufficient numbers of examples had been made, the sisters called for the remaining powers of the region to present themselves at the Great Crag. There, the hags declared the foundation of the nation of Droaam—a haven for all the creatures feared and shunned by the common races.
Over the next few months, Sora Katra established the basic system of tribute that passes for government in Droaam. Since then the hags have been rebuilding the court at The Great Crag and slowly establishing contact with the outside world. (They petitioned, unsuccessfully, to be included in the talks that led to the Thronehold Accords, and thus the nation remains unrecognized by the rest of Khorvaire.) While Katra’s charisma is undeniable, the long-term goals of the green hag and her sisters remain a mystery.
Life and Society
The Daughters of Sora Kell have brought great change to the western barrens that once belonged to Breland. Over the past ten years, a legion of ogre workers has constructed roads between the major communities. These new cities have tremendous racial diversity, and can be quite a sight for travelers. Harpies and gargoyles wheel in the sky, while shifters and orcs rub shoulders in the streets and ogres drive wagons pulled by dire horses. All manner of creatures can be found in these cities, from gnolls and bugbears to worgs and even the occasional lamia. Some of these monsters have always lived in the region; others have emerged from Khyber or drifted to Droaam from other lands. Almost any creature could appear in such a place, although powerful and intelligent creatures—such as most fiends—would be unlikely to accept the rule of the hags. Only a few of these multiracial cities exist, and only a handful of roads. The majority of Droaam is untamed wilderness. In these outlying areas, communities are usually divided along racial lines. For example, left to their own devices, medusas rarely mix with minotaurs. The notable exceptions to this rule are the warlords and tyrants. Gnolls, goblins, and orcs make up the majority of the population of Droaam, yet the nation has no villages where they rule their own kind. Invariably, the strong rule the weak: orcs lording over goblins, ogres ruling orcs, ogre mages dominating ogres, and so on up the chain. Due to the low intelligence of these more powerful creatures, most of these communities exist in an extremely primitive state. To outsiders, Droaam appears to be a lawless nation, and this is largely accurate. The hags are only concerned with major threats: hostilities between monstrous communities, raids on trade caravans, or brawls or other actions that will result in significant property damage or multiple deaths. Sora Maenya’s troll guards deal with these crimes and with any actions that directly threaten the hags. Less severe crimes are ignored; as a result, street violence is commonplace. In the smaller communities, creation and enforcement of laws depends on the whims of the local dictator. In most cases, the strong do what they want while the weak have no rights whatsoever. A few of the more intelligent races, including the medusa followers of the Queen of Stone, take a slightly more sophisticated approach to law and order.Structure
Only a decade removed from savage anarchy, Droaam currently follows a form of despotic feudalism. The most powerful warlords and dictators are required to give their tribute and loyalty to the Daughters of Sora Kell. Each of these dictators oversees a particular region and collects tribute from the smaller and weaker communities located there. This tribute may be paid in gold or goods but often takes the form of services; soldiers or laborers are sent to the Great Crag, where they may be set to work or sent out to serve as mercenaries in other parts of Khorvaire.
This system holds together through the underlying threat of force. The hags possess an army of giants and considerable magical might, while each local dictator has his or her own means of dominating a region. While the hags are feared more than they are loved, the lesser warlords recognize that they are shaping Droaam into a greater and more effective force. As a result, most grudgingly accept the rule of the three sisters. However, beyond that the nation is extremely volatile. The hags will act to prevent full-scale warfare between communities, but assassination, coups, and other minor power struggles occur constantly. Different tribes and races have ancient grudges to settle with one another, and as long as the feuds don’t disrupt the hags’ plans for Droaam, the sisters do not interfere.
History
In addition to hosting aggressive tribes of goblins, ogres, and Khorvaire's largest gnoll population, the region has long been home to a wide variety of dangerous monsters—both natural beasts and strange creatures formed from dark magic. Aside from a few fertile valleys, the region is rocky and inhospitable; while glory-seeking knights often ventured into the barrens in search of adventure, no ruler of Breland ever considered the full conquest of the area to be worth the effort.
For their part, the various monsters of the region never developed the organization or leadership required to threaten the eastern domain. Instead ogre and troll fought one another, pausing only to crush the occasional questing knight. And so throughout the history of Breland, the barrens were a place of dark legend. Mothers would threaten to send bad children to the barrens to be eaten by monsters, but otherwise few people thought much about the creatures lurking to the west.
Postwar Droaam
The Last War did not go unnoticed by the monstrous inhabitants of the barrens. As Breland's forces were depleted and diverted to the front lines, monsters began to venture into the lowlands, raiding villages or striking travelers and fading back into the barrens. But these actions were uncoordinated attacks with no long-term goals or effects, since no central authority could exert influence over the various creatures of the land. Other warring nations occasionally sent scouts into the barrens to rile up the monsters or hire monstrous warbands to strike at Breland. Karrnath was particularly good at convincing monster warlords who ruled various parts of the barrens to descend upon and pillage the lowland settlements. The turning point for the region came in 986 YK with the arrival of a trio of powerful hags, the Daughters of Sora Kell—Katra, Maenya, and Teraza. These crones were already legends. The green hag Sora Katra had haunted the Shadow Marches for generations, while the annis Sora Maenya had terrorized the Eldeen Reaches and the dusk hag Sora Teraza romed the Demon Wastes in search of ancient knowledge. The hags had prepared for many years to claim a land for their own, and they arrived in the barrens with an army of fanatical gnolls, ogres, and trolls. The sisters and their minions established themselves in the ancient ruins at the base of The Great Crag.Demography and Population
Religion
Droaam has no national religion. Priests of the Mockery and the Shadow can be found in many communities, and there are a few cults dedicated to Dragon Below scattered throughout the land. While religion plays a minor role in the daily life of the citizens of Droaam, hatred of the Church of the Silver Flame is universal throughout the region. A traveler bearing the symbol of the Silver Flame invariably receives a hostile reaction from any creatures that he or she encounters.
Agriculture & Industry
Droaam has developed little in the way of organized industry. The greatest resource it possesses is the natural power of its inhabitants. Over the past five years, the Daughters of Sora Kell have been making contacts across Western Khorvaire, most notably in Zilargo, Aundair, and Breland (despite the continuing conflict between the two regions).
Now ogre laborers and minotaur bodyguards can be found in Brelish and Zil cities, courtesy of the rulers of Droaam. Thrane refuses to harbor any of these monstrous mercenaries, and many adherents of the Church of the Silver Flame find the practice to be somewhat disturbing. In addition to these active resources, the land possesses considerable mineral wealth. Dragonshard fields (particularly Eberron shards) are scattered across Droaam, and the northern mountains hold veins of rare byeshk ore. In the past, this area has been too dangerous to survey, but House Tharashk has recently acquired the rights to mine within the kingdom of monsters.
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Capital
Government System
Despotism
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Barter system
Major Exports
Mercenary services, byeshk
Controlled Territories
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