Dimre
Dimre, Grand Theocracy of:
Proper Name: Theocracy of Dimre
AL LN (LE)
Population: 37,000; Mixed (Human 70%, Humanoid Slaves 17%, Lizardman 10%, Demi-Humans 3%) plus unknown amount of refugee “converts” from Tenth
Ruler: High Canon Szek Winuid
Government: Theocracy
Capital: Falschheit (pop. 5,600)
Other Settlements: Klagenfurt (1,850), Krostenburg (1,820), Lippstadt (1,480), Rostock (2,100), Steyr (1,390), Thun (1,710), Ulm (1,950), Zwickau (1,260)
Resources: Beats, Potatoes, Goat, Phostwood, and Humanoid Slaves
Religions: Pholtus, witness to the Ebongleam
Dimre includes the far end of the Phostwood west of the Artonsamay, and the plains 60–75 miles west of that wooded bend in the river. A small, powerful state, Dimre once raided Tenh and Nyrond through the Phostwood and Nutherwood. Founded prior to the Great Council of Rel Mord by the charismatic canon of a heretical apostate cult of Pholtus, Dimre is greatly reviled in the Pale. Brave young templars are often sent by the Pale’s theocrat to undermine the little realm. The appalling failure rate of such endeavors has led many to suggest (in private) that Dimre presents the Pale with a convenient means for disposing of challengers to the status quo. After several embarrassing defeats in the summer of 583 CY, even the armies of Iuz chose to let matters stand, signing a pact of nonaggression and alliance with Dimre. Dimre is technically governed from Stoink, though it is autonomous in reality. Dimre’s clergy preaches that to understand the glory of Light, one must first walk hand-in-hand with Darkness. Its army keeps watch on all borders, allowing none but the faithful to pass into their sacred land.
Settlements and Locations within the Grand Theocracy of Dimre:
Camp Arnsten
Edge
Falscheit
Iron Faith
Krep’tah
Krostenburg
Longford
Few people would count a religious order of Pholtus when speaking of the notorious Bandit Kingdoms. The Theocracy of Dimre is perhaps one of the oddest domains within the Combination of Free Lords. It claims the lands to the far east of the Combination, wedged against the Artonsamay and the Phostwood. It is a flat, ugly landscape, with little appealing to it save for a short span during the early spring months when the plains are aflame with wildflowers of wondrous variety. These blooms are among the few things that grow with any regularity in this place. The land is pocked with stony outgrowths, making it difficult to till. While the Phostwood sits hauntingly beautiful on its sunrise face, the other trees which grow here are stunted and thorny, and burn with a greasy black smoke. This is the hold of the Cult of Ebongleam.
The Theocracy is currently ruled by the High Canon Szek Winuid and witness to the Ebongleam, the fourth book in the holy text of The Blinding Light. He is the ninth of that line. The disciples of the Ebongleam witness the cold face of Pholtus, full of discipline, punishment and unwavering loyalty. Their dogma: one who does not bleed cannot know life. To understand the glory of Light, one must first walk hand-in-hand with Darkness. Life among the Ebongleam is not one of comforts, but rather embraces hardships. Theirs’ is to suffer, and to find the blessings in that suffering. For if they do not, then the Light will dim, and the Glory that is Pholtus will fade.
Life in the Theocracy is hard. The ground yields little more than beets and potatoes. Goats seem to be the livestock best fitted for the place, and poultry are abundant. Taxation is relatively light, though farmers are expected to surrender a portion of their crops to the priests at The Masak. On the border between Dimre and the Duchy of Artonsamay rests the town of Krostenburg, the main outlet for trade between the Theocracy and the rest of the Combination of Free Lords. Dimre has one principle export: fashioned phostwood. People are often willing to pay exorbitant prices for the glowing fixtures and artifacts.
In a place as fiercely independent as the Bandit Kingdoms, one might question why men would subject themselves to life in Dimre. Absolute obedience and adherence to the doctrine of Pholtus is required. Those who do not observe the laws of the Masak are swiftly punished, and heresy in any form is intolerable. “Pholtus demands you unwavering obedience,” the High Canon once told a crowd gathered outside the alabaster walls of the Masak, “but in return he will keep you free.” This odd paradox holds the key to life in Dimre. Freedom in the Theocracy means not having to worry about your wife or daughters being raped at knife point, or your sons killed in a senseless brawl. Murderers from a dozen lands prowl the Bandit Kingdoms. It is no wonder so many would bow to religious tyranny for the security it offers.
History: The history of the Theocracy dates back to the severing of ties between Aerdi and Nyrond. Then, the Earldom of Dimre was a far western province tied to a larger body of states whose populations were religious in the extreme. When Nyrond gained its sovereignty, these states also declared their autonomy, establishing the Theocracy of the Pale. The southern kingdoms did not support this split and soon the two countries were at war. The warriors of Dimre conducted most of their battles within the confines of the Phostwood, and managed to hold the invading host at that border. The rest of the new nation was not so fortunate, however.
It was during this period that the area around Rift Canyon had become embroiled in numerous petty disputes. The area had always been a hot bed of bandit activity, confined and controlled by Aerdi. Given the aggressive raiding by its neighbors, the province of Dimre had always maintained a strong, regimented standing militia, capable of turning these bandit incursions when necessary. While Dimre’s efforts were turned eastward, the petty lords of these renegade camps struck against a nearly undefended border. A war of two fronts proved almost more than the Earldom could stand, but then these aggressors made a critical error that would shake Dimre to its core.
The murder of the Canon marked a change in the province’s demeanor. His successor, a regal and charismatic priest named Frau Tsagemred, spoke to the heart of its wounded pride, its honor, and most of all to its devotion to the Church of Pholtus. Earl Wendelaine, who now commanded the province in name only, became uncomfortable with the rhetoric of this man. He ignited the people in a way he had never seen before, but there was a cold unbending quality to him. Wendelaine set his most trusted allies to the task of learning the man’s secrets, only to discover Canon Tsagemred was a devout student in what many considered the blackest of the sacred texts of Pholtus: the Ebongleam. When Wendelaine attempted to warn Dimre of the character of its new Canon, Tsagemred accused him of heresy and had him burned alive in the public square of the capital, Sorgard. And while like-minded priests were promoted to the highest stations throughout Dimre, Tsagemred enraptured the citizens with an aggressive campaign to stem the bleeding of Dimre’s western territory to the hordes of bandits which hid in Rift Canyon. Dimre had lost nearly two thirds of its western territory, areas which would eventually consolidate into the Duchy of Artonsamay and the Free City-State of Stoink. The withdraw from the eastern front was in effort to quell this bleeding off of Dimre’s resources. By the time its western boundaries had been refortified, the war between Nyrond and the Pale was at an end.
Victorious in their campaign against the fanatics of the northern provinces, Nyrond claimed rights to all the lands and resources possessed by the Pale and began stationing garrisons throughout the various provinces. The lords of these were made to swear allegiance to Nyrond and denounce the church of Pholtus, who had been the instigator of the uprising. It was unthinkable to defy the orders of the king, but Dimre, which was already wholly controlled by the Church of Pholtus, did just that. By then, word of Earl Wendelaine’s execution had reached Rel Mord. Weary from battles with Aerdi and the upstart Pale, the Nyrondese King weighed his options. If Dimre had retained control of its silver mines in Rift Canyon, his choice might have been different. Instead, while Dimre’s independence was never recognized by the crown, it was left to its own fate. Perhaps the King of Nyrond felt it would be swallowed by the growing tide of banditry in that region. He could not have been more wrong.
In 350 CY, the province of Dimre became a full Theocracy. Work began almost immediately on a temple in the new capital, Marsekeer. The Masak was a massive construct of stone and mortar. It was unlike any of the temples built before it. Unlike many of the beautifully furnished cathedrals of the Pale, the Masak was spartan. Many of the priests snorted and claimed it unfit for proper worship of one as glorious as Pholtus. This was but another sign of the shift of power within Dimre.
Relations between the Pale and Dimre are not what they once were. During the occupation by Nyrond, the church of the Blinding Light it never publicly supported the existence of this evil place. In hushed tones in fact, many priests voiced their concerns. When King Dustan I granted the Pale its autonomy in 450 CY, the Prelate invited the church of Dimre to swear allegiance to him and to rejoin the flock. Once again in its history, the High Canon did the unexpected, refusing to bow to the “pretender” of the church. Thereafter, the church of the Blinding Light has continually condemned the Theocracy of Dimre. Many Prelates have sought to have the High Canon removed and promote one more loyal to the Pale in his place. Loyal young templars were sent out to this end, but none has ever succeeded in those efforts. More often than not, their sacred rings, received upon taking their oaths, were sent back to the Prelate as a mocking gesture. How the Canons of Dimre have successfully avoided this fate is unknown.
The invasion of Iuz in 583 CY caught many of the bandit kings unprepared. When the demigod’s armies reached the borders of the Theocracy, however, they found a well armed militia and a wall of hard-eyed priests. The battle against the humanoid and demon laden hordes were bloody, but it was the priests of the Masak that brought real fear to Iuz’s forces. Hardened by years of painful rites and ritual scarring, the priests seemed impervious to pain, nor did they hesitate to suffer alongside common soldiers. Their exploits during these early battles brought a newfound respect (and fear) among the commoners as well as the other Free Lords, and the borders of the Theocracy soon swelled with homeless bandits eager to take the fight to Dorakaa. Winuid’s demands of them were no less than those he placed on the common men of the Theocracy. When many of the newcomers balked at these conditions and instead chose to ignore them, Iuz’s troops were treated to a great pyre of one hundred burning men. The bandits of the Combination had to decide which was the more hated foe, and soon fell in line with the commandments of the Masak.
Iuz eventually sent an envoy to seek a treaty of non-aggression with the Theocracy. The eventual terms of such an agreement would not be much to the demigod’s liking. Indeed, no one is sure what spell Canon Winuid worked on the attending priest, but from the time he left the Masak to the moment Iuz had his head neatly severed as punishment, the man never uttered a sound; not even to scream.
After securing peace for a time Canon Winuid looked forward and saw that if he wished to have Dimre flourish and continue as an independent nation, he would have to make some changes. He has decreed that slavery of certain humanoids legal (Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Kobolds), thus freeing many of the citizenry of lesser tasks, so they may focus on the security of the country. To help buffer against the Pale backed elven raids from across the Artonsamay River, Canon Winuid has had all the Lizardman tribes in the Phostwood “Converted”. Creating a large contingent of water and forest trained militia. Canon Winuid has also tossed aside the traditional contempt for arcane spell casters. He has integrated them closely into the government to help bolster Dimre’s military strength and keep Dimre safe from internal heresy.
Life continues much as it began in the Theocracy of Dimre. Under the terms of their treaty, Iuz has a small contingent of troops stationed in Krostenburg. An envoy and his guards have also taken residence at the Masak. But there is no question in the minds of its people Canon Winuid dominates these relationships.
Bandit Kingdoms
----------------------------Dimre includes the far end of the Phostwood west of the Artonsamay, and the plains 60-75 miles west of that wooded bend in the river. A small, powerful state, Dimre once raided Tenh and Nyrond through the Phostwood and Nutherwood. Founded prior to the Great Council of Rel Mord by the charismatic canon of a heretical apostate cult of Pholtus, Dimre is greatly reviled in the Pale. Brave young templars are often sent by the Pale's theocrat to undermine the little realm. The appalling failure rate of such endeavors has led many to suggest (in private) that Dimre presents the Pale with a convenient means for disposing of challengers to the status quo.
After several embarrassing defeats in the summer of 583 CY, even the armies of Iuz chose to let matters stand, signing a pact of nonaggression and alliance with Dimre. Dimre is technically governed from Stoink, though it is autonomous in reality. Dimre's clergy preaches that to understand the glory of Light, one must first walk hand-in-hand with Darkness. Its army keeps watch on all borders, allowing none but the faithful to pass into their sacred land.
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