The Fellands

The Fellands is one of the constituent states of the Bandit Kingdoms.

Overview

The plains and foothills of the Fellands are not particularly foreboding with regard to agricultural production. While it requires discipline, farmers produce bountiful harvests regularly. The hills are full of wild game, though this has suffered somewhat over the past twenty years. However numerous streams and rivers that run south to join the Zumker on its journey to the Lake of Unknown Depths continue to provide some means for those who rely on it. There is an intangible sense to the place, something that haunts the dreams of residents and many visitors for years after leaving this fierce region. Those who work the land say it best: “one may only be her partner, she will have no master.”
Many wonder what attracts men to this rueful landscape. Even bearing its spring quilt of wildflowers, no one would call the Fellands beautiful in the same manner one speaks of the quiet valleys of Furyondy. Its style is frank and honest, blooming in the sunrise and haunting at twilight. The soil has a deep red tone to it; so much so, that local sages call the bald patches of earth “blood fields.” It is rumoured that these were the sites of horrendous battles, fought eons ago, so violent and bloody that the earth here has refused to blossom again. The Fellands has always been a place of war and death. The land attracts men of its own character – harsh, brutal and free. For centuries, it has been a place of unrest: a hiding place for bandits, murderers, those not wishing to be found, and those who wished to be left alone.
The people of the Fellands are an odd match. Farmers and herders rub shoulders with highwaymen and cutthroats daily. Everyone respects another’s space, so long as theirs is not sacrificed. This independent demeanor makes actual rule of the Fellands a tricky business, which would help explain why so many have failed at the endeavor. The people here do not care for kings or gods, only sky and breath and shelter from the storm. When threatened these seemingly disconnected people come together like a hive of angry bees.

History

In name, the Fellands belonged to Nyrond when they split from Aerdi in 356 CY. The lords who held grants of land there seldom visited and so long as taxes were paid, there was little cause to seek out those who refused to honor them. These men had long become adept at hiding from the foresters and sheriffs the lords’ employed. When Nyrond broke from Aerdi, Tenh was quick to dispute the territory, which led to a small series of skirmishes between the two nations. His hands full with the armies of Aerdi and those led by the religious zealots of the Pale , the King of Nyrond sought a treaty. Within twenty years the garrisons left here had largely been forgotten. The keeps became the strongholds of bandit lords was the whole of the Rift Canyon area grew infested with such. The few attempts by Tenh to enforce its claims to the Bluff Hills failed miserably. Patrols either found nothing or were wiped out in carefully staged ambushes.
There have been more rulers of the Fellands than in any other domain of the Combination of Free Lords. Most have a tenure of three to four years at best. The longest sitting lord was a man named Felgrin, who was also the first such lord born in the Fellands. His supporters called him the “blood earth king,” for it was well known he came from farmer stock. Felgrin’s approach to rule was simple: give every man space. So long as they acknowledged his control of the domain and did not act against him, they were permitted to do as they pleased. There was no taxation; all income came from raiding against Tehn, the Pale, and even the neighboring free lords. This is not to suggest Felgrin’s reign was a peaceful one. Those who spoke out against him, even in whispers, were often dead before the sun rose on their rash words. A village who refused to house a raiding party was summarily destroyed. Though a brutal man, Felgrin was not one for pointless bloodshed. He treated all equally. When he discovered one of his raiding parties had spent an evening pillaging and looting a town in his care, he personally delivered the heads of each offender to the people of the offended village. No one is exactly sure of Felgrin’s fate. He disappeared leading a raiding party against a Palite village. Many believe he was captured and burned as a heretic. Others feel the shackle of leadership grew heavy on Felgrin, and during the fighting he simply walked away.

Settlements

Towns and Villages

• Flanhome
• Groucester
• Synford

Notable locations

• Black Rock Tower
• Fort Skagund
• Little Hills Fort
• Perdition

Type

Geopolitical, State

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state