Domain of Hawkmoon
Encircled by the treacherous Scar-in-the-Sky Peaks and the Moonsilver Sea, the Domain of Hawkmoon is geographically isolated, its borders forming a natural barrier against invaders — as well as a wall to dissuade its inhabitants from leaving. The region is said to be a haven of footpads, a place of succor for criminals fleeing persecution. There is indeed a bit of truth to these rumors, as the domain was first settled 300 years ago by marauders seeking a refuge against the armies of those nations they’d plundered. Echoes of this grim legacy can still be heard today.
History and People
In its earliest years, the Domain of Hawkmoon was inhabited by the legendary Yaltic peoples who oversaw seven local dynasties in the area but were in decline when first encountered by outsiders in 1944 I.R. The last of the Yalts fled Hawkmoon in the face of raids and population pressure during the polar shift in 2491 I.R. Within five years, the last of the Yalts had departed the region by sea to establish the city of Coralis, leaving their realm to the newcomers.
The domain’s new masters were a hardy and fractious mix of outlaws and refugees from the fires that burned eastern Akados after the fall of Curgantium, and with little outside authority the region degenerated into a state of anarchy and lawlessness. The domain’s destabilizing influence grew in later years as bandits and raiders — protected by the forbidding peaks of the Scar-in-the-Sky and Forlorn Mountains — started to raid other nations by sea. When Hawkmoon corsairs plagued the Helcynngae Peninsula, the Heldring were forced into a frustrating defensive war.
Eventually, the Heldring had enough of what they called the “open sore” of Hawkmoon on their doorstep and set sail in 2801 I.R. to invade the region and install one of their own on the throne and establish the puppet state commonly called the Kingdom of Hawkmoon.
The following year, the Battle of Oescreheit Downs heralded the downfall of the Helcynngae Heldring, but the Heldring regime in Hawkmoon was too isolated and secure for the Foerdewaith to dislodge. In fact, Hawkmoon became a refuge for the Heldring who refused to surrender, and Heldring rule persisted for nearly four more centuries.
It was not until 3282 I.R. that the people of Hawkmoon, led by many heroes and joined by the mountain dwarves, threw off the Heldrings’ yoke and reclaimed their territory. The rebels were led by Hanfred Vel, a paladin of Muir, and the general Bosworth, both of whom saw a future for Hawkmoon that was well beyond its confused and bloody anarchic past. The overthrow of the Heldring was followed by the so-called Great Purge, during which Hanfred and Bosworth led their forces in a merciless campaign to rid the land of brigands and outlaws.
The new nation envisioned by the two liberators regrettably did not come to pass. Bosworth took the crown of the domain when the Heldring were thrown out, but his dynasty did not endure long after his death. His son Vargha served as viscount for a time, but a series of plagues ravaged the nation, and eventually the individual communities of Hawkmoon largely went back to their own ways. Nevertheless, Bosworth is remembered as the founder of modern Hawkmoon and is canonized among its inhabitants as “the Great.”
Today’s Hawkmoons have retained their old rugged and individualistic spirit, the notion of a united nation never having taken hold. True, the old bandits and warlords are gone, but now the region’s inhabitants remain stubbornly resistant to outside authority. While they would unite to oppose an outside threat, and frequently combine forces to hunt down bandits, monsters and raiders, the people refuse to acknowledge that Hawkmoon is anything more than simply their homeland.
The Hawkmoons are descended from a dozen different ancestries, to the point that they are their own distinct nationality that combines the cultures and characteristics of their numerous forebears. Most speak the Common tongue, but many are fully bilingual with the ancient Sirrocan language, which locals speak when they wish to keep discussions secret from outsiders.
Despite the domain’s apparent anarchy, there is very little violence, as most inhabitants are focused on their own communities and families, with little desire to impose their will on others. This independence is a two-edged sword, of course, for while the Hawkmoons accept little or no outside authority, they receive virtually no help either, making the domain a wildly varied place — wealthier communities maintain their own roads and public works, and diligently enforce their laws, while poorer towns and villages have correspondingly poor roads, sanitation, and defense, or are ruled by organized criminals who masquerade as constables or civil leaders. Likewise, law varies significantly from town to town, with acts that are legal in one being strictly illegal elsewhere.
Banditry and murder are nevertheless surprisingly rare, though property crime, robbery, extortion and similar acts are sadly more common. Hawkmoon boasts a single thieves’ guild that is led by ex-adventurer Sivian Ulphar, who is known commonly as the Lucre King. While the guild controls much of the organized crime in Hawkmoon, the land’s independent spirit extends to its criminal endeavors, and many small brotherhoods and gangs are active on a local level, engaged in highway robbery, con games, burglary of all kinds, livestock theft, smuggling, and the like. These small groups do not compete directly with Ulphar’s guild, but they are so numerous that they commit a large percentage of the domain’s crime.
As Hawkmoon City provides little support to the Outfolk, it falls to the locals to defend themselves against criminals, bandits, raiders and the occasional warlord. A class of freelance bounty hunters known as the Trunchers has developed to serve this need. Hired by individual communities, Trunchers range from moral and reliable freelance law-enforcement personnel to amoral, violent mercenaries who are only a step or two above the bandits that they are hired to apprehend.
Other denizens of the Hawkmoon Domain include the Horselords of Kur, a tribe of fiercely independent centaurs who often trade with local merchants and may occasionally be hired on to assist with merchant caravans or to defend communities against bandits.
Wood elves are also frequently seen in Hawkmoon. Based in the various forests throughout the domain, they are led by the prophetess Zinaida Quespar.
Religion
While the Foerdewaith deities of Thyr, Muir, and Freya have made inroads in Hawkmoon and elsewhere, the region is most notable for its unique pantheon, which scholars believe was inherited from the Yaltic dynasties that preceded the domain’s current inhabitants. Like the people of Hawkmoon, their gods are a widely varied lot numbering no fewer than 29 individual deities, the most commonly worshipped of which include Aletheia, Goddess of Wisdom and Protection; Majium, God of Mercy and Magic; Oon, God of Nature; and Quooembla, God of Wisdom. Other gods are worshipped by smaller and more specialized groups, such as Zahm, God of Money and Business — revered by merchants and businessman — and Ulremara, Goddess of Candles and Desire, who is popular in brothels and taverns.
Most inhabitants of the domain worship their many gods in private, usually with family and close friends, but there are some organized priesthoods and temples, though these temples usually include statues, altars, and worship facilities for multiple gods.
Many in Hawkmoon believe that the moon vanishes from the sky one day each month, at the time of the new moon. They refer to this event as the “Vanishing Moon.” Scholars elsewhere have found no evidence for this event, and the origin of this belief remains unknown.
Trade and Commerce
The Domain of Hawkmoon is mostly self-sufficient, producing foodstuffs, livestock, and timber sufficient to keep its population fed and housed. Excess is sold to the city-state, and outsiders may venture into the domain through Cut Horn Gap to trade in Leafton and Hawkmoon City. Mines in the Forlorn Mountains and the Scar-in-the-Sky produce iron and tin, some of which is exported to neighboring kingdoms, including the Kingdom of Helcynn.
Fishing vessels out of Swordport work the Moonsilver Sea and provide their haul to the rest of the domain. Trade ships from Oceanus and other port cities on the Sinnar Sea have been calling at Swordport more in recent years, bearing finished goods, cloth, clothing, weapons, and tools in exchange for Hawkmoon’s products.
Loyalties and Diplomacy
Neither the domain nor the City-State of Hawkmoon owes allegiance to any other state or kingdom, though a few foreign trade officials and diplomats — the most prominent being those from Castorhage, Oceanus, and Foere — maintain facilities. Most such contacts are with the city-state however, as the Outfolk have little to no interest in diplomacy or contact beyond some basic trade.
Government
At the heart of the domain is the city of Hawkmoon, an independent city-state that answers to no foreign power. The land outlying the city is officially a protectorate of Hawkmoon, though not part of the sovereign state itself. In other words, though Hawkmoon troops patrol the land, the Outfolk (as those beyond the city walls are called) are not beholden to the city nor in any way obliged to follow its mandates. The Outfolk pay no taxes to Hawkmoon, though they do use the city as the primary base for selling of their crops and manufactured goods. This strange dichotomy is the result of the region’s oldest and most revered tradition: “Our ancestors came here to escape authority’s oppressive grasp, and we shall not dishonor them by submitting.” The Domain of Hawkmoon, then, teeters on the brink of anarchy, though it never fully tumbles into The Abyss.
Military
The domain has no official military, leaving patrols and security to the city-state’s armed soldiery. However, the folk of Hawkmoon are independent and resourceful, well able to unite into a potent irregular force. Looking back to their days as Heldring vassals, most Hawkmoons are skilled scouts, hunters, archers, and guerrillas. While they almost joyfully defy any kind of central authority, the region’s inhabitants actively defend their realm against outside threats, with each community forming ad hoc military units and even — in an act that would normally be met with derision and shock — submitting to command from experienced leaders from the city-state. These units are mostly infantry, though a few mounted scouts and skirmishers may be present. These Hawkmoon irregulars have very light armor, or none at all, and fight with light melee weapons and missile weapons, which they wield to good effect, engaging in hit-and-run attacks before vanishing into the wilderness to strike elsewhere.
These irregular community-based units don’t just appear in times of national crisis — they also come together in the face of banditry, humanoid raiding, piracy, and other local threats, sometimes with several communities combining resources to eliminate the danger before returning to their normal independent existences.
Wilderness and Adventure
Hawkmoon Domain is a mixture of settled areas — farms, ranches, towns, and villages connected by locally-maintained roads of varying quality — and wild lands that are often under the control of bandits or monsters. Travel is always a chancy proposition, and trade expeditions between cities must usually be strongly defended. The stretches between towns are often heavily forested, which provides ideal concealment for attackers and requires considerable vigilance.
The land is also full of various bizarre and dangerous locations, the most obvious of which are ancient Yaltic palaces, temples, and tombs, some of which still contain old magic, treasure, and even potent artifacts. These are sometimes defended by spirits, demons, or the undead remains of their old guardians. It is said that a city was founded on an island in a lake somewhere in the domain and was home to a council of wizard-priests, but it sank as a consequence of a failed ritual and is yet to be rediscovered. An ancient dwarven mine is also rumored to exist beneath that lake. Elsewhere in Hawkmoon is the fearsome realm known as the Bonegarden where the spirits of thousands of criminals slaughtered in the Great Purge are trapped.
Region
Domain of Hawkmoon
Controlled Territories
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