The Country of Gorlmark (GAWL-mark)

Gorlmark is the home of the Gorl, a tribe of humans and dwarves who have lived there since the early Golden Epoch. They are bound by their culture and by ancient alliances between the different clans of the Gorl, that makes them more or less one nation, if very fractured.

Demographics

The majority of Gorl, about 50 percent, are humans with some dwarven blood, but not enough to make them distinguishable from other brightkin. A further 20 percent are half-dwarves proper, and another 20 percent are more or less full blood dwarves, which would be considered hill dwarves by Fiorans and Duurians. Among the final 10 percent, most are half-orcs and stonekin, and a negligible amount of Gorl are from other races.

Government

Gorlmark is a federation of sorts, between 15 warrior clans. The head of each clan is called the chieftain, and the leader of one clan holds the title of High Chief. While he might be called the "king" of Gorlmark by outsiders, in truth his power rests with the Alting, a council of each of the clan chieftains. While the High Chief can function as the arbiter of disputes between individual chieftains, and can function as a tiebreaking vote at the Alting, his power can be stripped and given to another chieftain at any time by a simple majority vote at the Alting, so in the end, the privilege of ruling Gorlmark falls more on the individual chieftains. The chieftains divide their lands among their Huscarls, a title similar to knight, and in that sense they are similar to nobility.

History

The first Gorl came from the Rygan Mountains sometime in the earliest Golden Epoch. They were of Fioran descent, and mostly dwarves, though there were some humans among them even then. Part of their impetus for emigrating was the promise of mining opportunities in the Ironroot mountains, and part of it was the conservative opinions of the other Fiorans, who did not look kindly on those who intermingled, and especially intermarried with humans. They settled in the the lands west of Morogar, and though some iron was found, the mining opportunities turned out to be less than what they had hoped for. However, the Gorl soon learned to farm the land, to hunt for pelts and meat, and they started building ships to trade with the southern kingdoms. This is when the Gorl learned to become great sailors, and over time their speed and skill with their longships led some of them to stop trading and start raiding instead. The ability to strike fast in rich, undefended provinces, and quickly return to a land far from those who would seek restitution was too good an opportunity for some Gorl to turn down. This practice continues to this day, especially among the westernmost, most isolated Gorl clans.

The crest of the High Chief of the Gorl.

Area
Ca. 169.000 km2

Type

State

Population

Ca. 900 thousand people

Inhabitant Demonym

Gorl

Ruling/Owning Rank

High Chief of the Gorl