Duchy of Fahrig
The other significant foreign power in the Tescaries, the Duchy of Fahrig is formally owned as mostly royal lands by the king of Kilth, but is administered by the appointed Duke of Fahrig. Ruling from the fortress of Torbastil, the duke not only administers the royal lands but also rules over the clans that are pledged to the King of Kilth. Founded by invasion much like the Condominium territories, the Kilthians have not invested as much into the archipelago. Concerned mainly with not losing access to the Angrian strait, the Kilthians attacked a clan in northern Tescary, bid them to submit to the king of Kilth, and then built the citadel of Torbastil in their town.
Lacking great fleets comparable to the Runberi, the Duchy of Fahrig has mainly been successful in subjecting the clans of the northern Grand Tescary coast to Kilthian rule, enough to secure the strait for now. The duke has mostly tried to bring the subject Tescarana properly into the framework of Kilthian rule, attempting to install local clan chiefs as Kilthian lords, or in some cases bring in aristrocracy from home. Not as interested in taking direct control over local industry, the duke has been content to merely tax it, and the sulfur pits are a far rarer sight in the north. Some highland clans have sought alliance with Kilth themselves, mainly as a way to defend themselves from the Condominium .
While the Kilthian mode of rule is not very palatable to the Tescarana, they are considered by many to be a lesser evil than the Condominium.
History
The Duchy of Fahrig was founded on 481, four years after the Condominium made their initial land grab in Grand Tescary. Unwilling to let a rival power have sole dominion over the archipelago, the King of Kilth sought to build a fortress on the island to secure the Angrian strait. The northern clans were not receptive to this idea, and thus he ordered it done by force. Even stretched by the demands of the war against the dragon, the Kilthian army swept away resistance, took over the lands of the Herini clan, and renamed their town to Torbastil.
Already on war footing with the clans, the Kilthians then struck out against the Herinis' neighbors, partially in response to coastal raiding and partially pre-emptively, taking over more land. Eventually, the point was proven and the surviving independent clans sought to avoid antagonizing the house of Arkäntall. However, the Condominium crept northward, and soon a few of the clans in midland Grand Tescary and the northern archipelago actually sought the aid of the king of Kilth to deter Runberi aggression.
In 496, this development sparked a war between the Condominium and the Kingdom of Kilth, as the Condominium sought to invade a clan under Kilthian protection due to an apparent breach in a sulfur trade deal. Thought the Kilthians might have had a chance against the fledgling Condominium, even the limited direct interference of a few of the emirs tipped the scales decisively against them. The Kilthians were smashed at sea, and sent back to Torbastil to lick their wounds. While the Condominium might've been inclined to strike against the Duchy of Fahrig directly, the emirates had no interest in further supporting such an adventure. Thus, the Duchy has kept its territories, though one by one the neighboring independent clans have fallen to the Condominium.
I kind of like the fact that the Duchy has kept their land only because the emirates had no desire to invade them. Really interesting history. :)
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