Cygnar

Cygnar has long been considered one of the most welcoming and cosmopolitan of the Iron Kingdoms. In the wake of the Claiming, the kingdom’s commitment to openness has served it well, transforming it into a bastion of hope, an exemplar of religious and ethnic diversity, and the center of a technological and cultural renaissance. But even though Cygnar seems poised on the cusp of a new golden age, its long, tumultuous history suggests that this achievement will not be easy.

Caught between deadly and ambitious foes, Cygnar can ill afford to let down its guard. Trapped between Cryx and its nightmares to the south and Khador and its dreams of conquest to the north, Cygnar has long contended with internal strife, ranging from protracted battles with local trollkin kriels to the violent secession of what became the Protectorate of Menoth. For today, however, peace—or what passes for it in the Iron Kingdoms—reigns in Cygnar.

Cygnar’s enemies have been quiet in the years since the Claiming, and new residents have flocked to the kingdom’s cities, drawn by the promises of work and opportunity. The Church of Morrow has proclaimed a policy of religious tolerance throughout the land, making Cygnar a haven for Cyrissist cults and Thamarites who helped repel the infernal threat. All of these diverse groups have added their unique talents and insights to the kingdom’s cultural and technological revival.

Although this new policy of acceptance has helped Cygnar rebuild at a staggering pace, much of the nation still lies in ruins, and the relations between disparate groups have not always been smooth. The treaties with the United Kriels have held firm, leading more and more trollkin to move into Cygnaran communities, but the encounters between rural trollkin and their urban neighbors have led to sporadic violence, and Cyrissists and Thamarites—though technically welcomed—are still sometimes looked upon with suspicion by a wary populace.

Beyond its borders, the bright light of Cygnar’s golden age casts long shadows, and the nation’s prosperity draws the envious eyes of its rivals while old enemies stir in the dark places where reconstruction has not yet reached. Cygnar’s future depends not only on the resilience of its people but also on the resourcefulness of its young king, Julius Raelthorne.

GOVERNANCE

For centuries, the kings of Cygnar passed the throne to their heirs upon their death or abdication, with tradition favoring male heirs at every level of peerage from knight up to the sovereign himself. In all its history, Cygnar has had only one queen regent. With the adoption of Woldred’s Accord-by-Hand Covenant in 286 AR, however, the kings and potential queens of Cygnar were permitted to choose their own successors as long as the choice came from among the descendants of the ruling families of ancient Caspia, Thuria, or Midar.

For all of Cygnar’s pride in being a modern and forwardlooking nation, it is a land filled with ancient traditions dating back to the days before the Orgoth Occupation. As such, it is home to a complex system of nobility, including archdukes, dukes, earls, barons, and knights. The noble houses of Cygnar make up the Royal Assembly, who debate and decide the laws of the kingdom.

Many Cygnaran titles have been handed down through generations since before the signing of the Corvis Treaties, but the massive loss of life incurred during the Claiming sundered many noble bloodlines. Many of those of “common” birth now see unprecedented opportunities to rise to positions of social power in this new Cygnar, and the king retains the right to bestow new titles and appoint new holdings, even to those of “inferior” birth.

The current king of Cygnar is Julius Raelthorne, bastard son of the deposed Vinter IV. Despite his father’s cruel reign and traitorous actions, Julius was named king by his uncle, Leto, who had ruled after the Lion’s Coup against Vinter IV. Julius inherited the kingdom as it stood on the cusp of the greatest disaster since the Orgoth Occupation, and his reign has been fraught with challenges.

Not an especially popular ruler, King Julius has nonetheless helped shepherd Cygnar through the perilous years of reconstruction and has worked to oversee the modernization of Cygnar’s military. The young king’s new army implements technological advances developed during the battles against the infernals and borrows from the mechanikal innovations of the Cyrissists to create a new generation of warjacks powered by storm chambers, making Cygnar’s the most advanced army in western Immoren. Having had his overtures of marriage rebuffed by Queen Kaetlyn of Llael, King Julius married Lady Marjorie Sparholm, a Cygnaran noblewoman, in 614 AR, with whom he joyfully had two sons that are the pride of the nation.

SOCIETY

No nation is perfect, and Cygnar has known more than its share of troubles. Despite this, the kingdom is seen by many as a template for what a modern nation should be: its laws are considered just, its citizens enjoy freedoms unknown in many other lands, and its society encourages open trade and friendly relations with its neighbors.

Of course, it has not always been this way. Under the reign of Vinter IV, Cygnar was home to the Inquisition, ostensibly meant to root out dangerous practitioners of magic but actually wielded as a tool of terror to crush any who might oppose the tyrannical king. In spite of these blotches on their nation’s history, however, Cygnarans enjoy—and, for the most part, are proud of—a welcoming, free, and diverse culture.

These conditions have increasingly become the norm in the aftermath of the Claiming. With its population devastated, Cygnar welcomed with open arms all those who had joined the fight against the infernals. As a result of new and more tolerant citizenship laws, trollkin, Rhulfolk, Iosans, ogrun, and gobbers took up permanent residence within the nation’s borders, while religious acceptance led to an influx of Cyrissists, Thamarites, and even Menites who had grown disillusioned by the Protectorate or left its desolate villages behind. Although some Cygnarans look upon these new arrivals with distrust or even hatred, Cygnar today has few laws restricting the practice of magic or the free exercise of religion. For the most part, the people of the kingdom thrive on their differences and embrace a diverse society that varies considerably from one town or duchy to another.

The relative peace that has reigned since the Claiming has been good for Cygnar, freeing its citizens to direct their energy toward rebuilding what was lost—or, in the view of many, building something even better.

GEOGRAPHY

The lands of Cygnar stretch from the Broken Coast in the south to the Thornwood in the north and from the Black River in the east to the shores of the Meredius in the west. These regions are divided into nine duchies. Only six duchies existed prior to the reign of King Leto, who divided the massive Midlunds into four smaller duchies.

The nation is split down the middle by the vast stretch of the Wyrmwall Mountains, which run all the way from the Dragonspine Peaks near Bainsmarket to the Broken Coast. These rugged peaks divide eastern and western Cygnar, and the cultural divides they mark are as steep and sharp as the geographical split.

Crossing the Wyrmwall Mountains via any route but rail is hazardous at best, and the jagged mountains are home to all manner of predators, from dragonspawn to Tharn. The spires are even home to the dreaded dragon Blighterghast, who keeps a silent and eternal vigil from the peaks amid the Duchy of Southpoint, ever watchful lest Toruk, the Dragonfather, should stir from the Nightmare Empire and set his sights upon the mainland once more. Although Blighterghast has made his home in these peaks since before the founding of the first human kingdom, and his lair is not far from the city of Highgate, many Cygnarans believed that the dragon was a myth until late in 608 AR, when Blighterghast and several of Toruk’s other offspring clashed openly with the Dragonfather in the skies above the Banwick River. By the end of the ensuing conflagration, a wounded Toruk was driven once more from the mainland, and Blighterghast resumed his vigil atop the peaks, although not before swearing an oath not to attack Cygnar directly. The dragon takes his oath very literally, however, and sees no reason to prevent creatures created by his draconic blight from preying on mountain settlements or on travelers who attempt to cross the perilous Wyrmwalls.

Lying at the feet of the Wyrmwall Mountains, eastern Cygnar is a breadbasket of fertile farmlands that stretches along the length of the Black River, while northern and western Cygnar are home to dense forests and marshlands, including the Thornwood, Widower’s Wood, and the Gnarls.

Type

Geopolitical, Country