Nyrond
Nyrond, or more properly the Kingdom of Nyrond, refers to one of the largest good-aligned states in the Flanaess.
Overview
Nyrond has long commanded the central plains east of the County of Urnst. The Nesser-Franz river system to the west provides access to the Lake of Unknown Depths and the Sea of Gearnat, which gives Nyrond access to foreign ports. Nyrond’s eastern border is marked not only by the picturesque Harp River, but also by the Flinty Hills uplands, where hardy hillfolk and gnomes man royal mines, always mindful of the threat of invasion from Bone March. To the north, the deep shadow of the Pale looms large, engulfing many of the king’s subjects in a bitter game of religious politics. The rocky southern coast, along Relmor Bay, is a haven for fisherfolk and pirates alike. Nyrond’s navy, commanded by Fleet Admiral Hugarnd and stationed along the coast with centers in Oldred and Mithat, patrols Relmor Bay. Longstanding tensions between the Great Kingdom and Nyrond seem to have cooled, but the area remains a potential military flash point. Nyrond’s armies are commanded by General Myariken, a young buck who is said to be great friends with the nation’s new king. Though many of the peasant and freemen levies tend to their farms, major regiments remain in Old Almor and Womtham. Special elf scouting regiments, centered in Woodverge and Flinthill, provide strong service to the crown. The local climate is temperate, with moderate snowfall in the winter months. Summers in the nation’s interior tend to be very dry and quite hot, with cool, pleasant evenings throughout much of the year.History
Though modern Nyrond has existed for fewer than three hundred years, the cultural roots of the nation span nearly a millennia. The last of the major Oeridian kingdoms to fall to old Aerdy, Nyrond’s defeat at the Battle of a Fortnight’s Length, in 535 OR (–109 CY), signified the ultimate supremacy of Aerdy. Nyrond’s strategic importance to the Great Kingdom did little to encourage just treatment at the hands of the Aerdi. The ruling house of the land was made subservient to the eastern House Rax, which ruled the territory from an impressive series of castles and fortresses, centered with the imposing palace at Rel Mord. Though not as vile or ruthless as some of their counterparts to the east, the Rax nobles exhibited insufferable arrogance. When eventually that house gained the Malachite Throne in Rauxes, Nyrond became ever more important to the affairs of the overking. Increased attention meant higher taxes and greater headaches for the local landholders. When Ferrond rebelled in 254, the overking needed soldiers to fuel violent skirmishes on the borderlands north of the Nyr Dyv. He drew from the armies of Nyrondal nobles with little concern for the ultimate futility of their charge. Thousands of Nyrond’s men and women fell in those conflicts. Perhaps due to incompetence from Rauxes, or perhaps because Nyrond offered a convenient scapegoat on which the overkings could heap their frustrations regarding the loss of Furyondy, life in Nyrond was far from ideal. For a full century, the nobles of Nyrond’s junior branch looked upon the affairs of their Rax cousins with open contempt. Finally, in 356 CY, bickering between the Aerdi and Nyrondal nobles exploded into violent political conflict; the local lords declared Nyrond free of the overking’s rule and named one of their own number, the wily Medven I, king of Nyrond. Every Nyrondal lord sponsored troops to an enormous gathering on the nation’s eastern border. All watched the Flinty Hills and Harp River, expecting the banners of the overking behind every hillock. History does not speculate on whether the Suel barbarians who then surged south through Bone March and into North Province did so at the behest of Nyrond silver or by their own estimation of Aerdy’s critical situation. Regardless, they presented the sitting overking with a difficult option: crush the rebellion in Nyrond or lose the whole of North Province. Aerdy’s failure to significantly oppose Nyrond’s independence left the fledgling nation with a huge army and great ambition. Within three years, the famed Nyrondal cavalry had marched into and annexed the newly formed Theocracy of the Pale, burning Wintershiven to the ground. A later foray into the County of Urnst met with equal (if less violent) success, and further expansion met resistance only at the Nesser River, where galleys flying the flag of the duke of Urnst halted Nyrondal progress. The new “Grand Empire of Nyrond” watched, bemusedly at first, as Aerdy’s House Rax degenerated. The failure to crush separatist movements in Ferrond and Nyrond had castrated the Rax overkings, who now seemed to exist only to appease the increasingly independent palatine states of Medegia, North Province, Bone March, and Ahlissa. The Turmoil Between Crowns, initiated in 437 with the assassination of Overking Nalif, changed bemusement to horror. Within nine years, the Malachite Throne had fallen to the debased House Naelax. With chaos and madness ruling from Rauxes, Nyrond’s King Dunstan I knew that no enemy of Aerdy would ever be safe again. Nyrond, he noted, needed allies, and it needed them quickly. Though he could not pledge public support due to the threat of retaliatory strikes from Ivid I’s Northern Army, amassed near Innspa, Dunstan I attended the conference in Chathold that resulted in the formation of the Iron League. There, he privately assured the new partners that any enemy of the League was also an enemy of Nyrond. Dunstan made good on that pledge, sending weapons and warships (though no troops) to aid besieged Irongate at the Battle of a Thousand Banners, the following year. By 450 CY, Aerdy had survived two distinct civil wars. Ivid and his court had defeated their enemies in the aristocracy, and had entrenched themselves in the empire’s political machine. With a stabilized foe, Dunstan realized in his old age that he still needed willing allies, should Aerdy take the offensive. In Harvester, he called the Great Council of Rel Mord. Delegates from every Nyrondal principality and subject state attended, as did representatives from Almor, the Iron League, the Duchy of Urnst, and even Greyhawk. After a month and a half of negotiation, Dunstan the Crafty withdrew Nyrondal troops from the Pale and the County of Urnst, and realigned the internal borders of his subject lands. Furthermore, he publicly threw his considerable support behind the Iron League, and rebuked the Great Kingdom of Aerdy as a “corpulent reanimated corpse, spreading contagion and sorrow to all that it touches.” Thereafter, Nyrond entered a period of supremacy. Castle-building programs dotted the central plains with fortifications, cities expanded, and commerce boomed. The nation gained a reputation for powerful mages and skillful artisans. As evil grew in the east, Nyrond became a reflection of the good folk of the eastern Flanaess.Geography
Political subdivisions
Royal lands:- Province of Justcrown
Settlements
Cities
- Beetu
- Borneven
- Cordrend
- Curtulenn
- Hammersend
- Hendrenn Halgood
- Knurl
- Midmeadow
- Mithat
- Mowbrenn
- Oldred
- Rel Mord
- Womtham
- Woodwych
- Wragby
Towns and Villages
- Adrean's Landing
- Angleford
- Arndulanth
- Arnford
- Big Rapids
- Breakrock Monastery
- Breezewood
- Broadwater
- Callistor
- Copperstead
- Crystalwatch
- Darkshelf
- Deghulan
- Du'Brey Manor
- Entrell Estates
- Faselfarm
- Felton
- Finton
- Greenplane
- Heartland
- Inanlae (Elves)
- Kerrinn
- Millennium
- Nessermouth
- Nivlek
- Nlul
- Owlsthorpe
- Paducah
- Relpool
- River Junction
- Schukendale
- Shantadern
- Stalwart Pines (Elves)
- Storport
- Swan Bore
- Tenhaus
- Theekham
- Uskarn
Notable locations
- Barren Keep
- Bestien's Towers
- Blazebane
- Cracked Tankard Inn
- Demonclaw
- Felt Hill
- Fharlangh's Cave
- Kurast's Tower
- Mistwatch
- Pelleur Keep
- The Reeks
- The Rent
- Sea Watch
- Shining White
- Starhaunt (ruined)
- Stone Canyon Quarry
- Tower of Azal'Lan
Demography and Population
2,618,200 - Human 79% (Os), Elf 9% (Wood 90%, High 10%), Halfling 5% (Stout), Dwarf 3%, Gnome 2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%
Founding Date
356 CY
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Alternative Names
Kingdom of Nyrond
Demonym
Nyrondal/Nyrondese
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Currency
Sterling (pp), Noble (gp), Shinepiece (ep), Shield (sp), Common (cp)
Subsidiary Organizations
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments