Duchy of Ulana
Geography
The largest Duchy of The Final Kingdom by a significant degree, the Duchy of Ulana is known for its wide encompassing of farmland and timberlands along with near-total control of rivers that feed both the Gulf of Penthe and Advent Bay. Encompassing the whole of the Ulanan Grasslands, it is a lush and verdant region. A curious trait of the region is the relatively low number of Fortress Cities relative to its size; its only example of a Fortress City is Pekneth along the Arulia River. The rest of its towns and hamlets are small, but robust; each is equipped with all the comforts and conveniences of major cities from teleportation outposts to central markets to stone-sending and post offices, mostly to ensure the bureaucracy remains in full control of the food supply. The main crops Ulana produces are grains, barley, and root vegetables, bolstered by more luxurious items such as citrus, apples, and (most famously) grapes for the distillation of wine. Ulanan Wine is coveted and prized across all of Sinderlan, and is viewed as a major show of luxury across the sea in Pillarin. This fact led to such high demand that there were outbreaks of several large-scale skirmishes between Duchies and Free City merchant alliances in the 4500s, 7340s, 8200s, and 9010s known collectively as the Wine Wars.History
The people of Ulana are mostly farmers, feeding the vast majority of the Kingdom’s eastern territories. Its people are welcoming and kind, driven by a culture of hospitality and generosity. Poverty is virtually nonexistent in Ulana, and gold is largely seen as a secondary or even tertiary form of payment. Bartering or service exchange is preferred by its people, much to the minor annoyance of visitors from neighboring Cord Ea Lorin. The people typically believe in the contribution to the community over all else. Founded sometime before the age of the First Free City, old folklore attests that the knowledge of wine was given to inhabitants of the region by the now-Dead Goddess of Vines, Vinta, as a gift to honor the "New Monarch" of the land to the south and to remember her influence after her passing from the world. She told them that the Ulanan Grape will always create a wine blessed by the beauty and strength of the people of the region, only able to grow in the Grasslands of Ula. Regardless of the origins of wine production in the region, its influence changed the course of the region for eons to come. Religiously, their primary deities include Koinoniala, god of the community, and Kelos, god of harvests. Several minor deities and primal beings are worshiped in various communities. Their only Augurs reside in the Fortress City of Pekneth, which many farmers make pilgrimages to in order to read the omens on upcoming harvests. Their reverence for the Monarch in Throne is as an extension of their community; the Monarch helps to spread their contribution of crops and sturdy timber to the rest of the Kingdom, next to which there can be no higher honor. Additional cultural touchstones include the various traditions of the riverfolk living along the Arulia River, and the high popularity of Kingdom Competitive Wrestling. The famine which began across the Kingdom in early 9047 has been a major blow to the collective morale of the nation. However, Ulanan crops remain mostly untouched by the blight and the people of the duchy view supplying food for the starving sections of the Kingdom a moral imperative. This has, however, created a lack of food surplus in the region for the first time in centuries. The Ulanan Ducal throne most recently laid in the hands of the Scylan family. Duke Lester Scylan, a Satyr, passed away in the month of Blue Skies of 9047 at the age of 21 under strange circumstances. Officially, Scylan passed due to a bout of Deepwell Malaria. Unofficially, there are rumors it was the result of suicide. The only child of Duke Petir Scylan, Lester died too early to have named an heir or even marry. With no immediate family alive and the rest of the extended Scylan family scattered across Perradin, the throne is currently in the hands of Steward Hiram Letho, a human. Letho, a beast of a man in stature, is from the farming commune of Kirton. He was elected by the local earls as a strong and just contributor to the community. He has led effectively, if timidly, since Bone’s Chill of 9047.
Green Fields Beneath a Clear Blue Sky
Founding Date
Before the Age of the First Free City
Type
Geopolitical, Duchy
Capital
Leader
Ruling Organization
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Market economy
Parent Organization
Location
Related Traditions
Controlled Territories
Comments