County of Vourdon
(VORE-dun)
The County of Vourdon is a vassal state of the Overking in Foere, with a great deal of independence from the distant rule of Courghais. It is a peaceful and productive land, enjoying good diplomatic and trade relations with its neighbors on either side of the conflict.
Vourdon has not suffered excessively from the retreat of Foere’s influence, although the demands of the Overking are increasing as their taxes and military power wane. Large numbers of troops have been requested, although so far the Count has avoided sending more than the bare minimum. The tax burden is a bit more serious, and causes consternation among the nobles. Thus far, the County’s status as an independent vassal has allowed it to dodge or reduce several tax levies, but demands from the Court of Courghais are becoming more strident and threatening. At the same time, diplomatic overtures from the Kingdom of Suilley continue, offering potentially enormous benefits to the County if it were to throw off the reins of Foere and offer its fealty to the Suilleyn king.
The concern, however, is that even as weak as the Kingdoms of Foere have become, they could still potentially overwhelm Vourdon through the Courghais Gate (a magical portal between Olaric and Foere) before any help could arrive from Suilley. The County of Vourdon is no warrior nation, much as its knights believe otherwise, and its peaceful lands provide a desperately needed flow of gold and food into the Foerdewaith heartlands. The Count is justifiably concerned that if Vourdon shifted its allegiance, Foere might not just accept the situation as it did with the secessions of Keston Province and the County of Toullen. War would be a definite possibility, and Vourdon is not prepared for such a conflict. Even more vexing, if Suilley’s power continues to expand, while that of Foere weakens, the friendly persuasions of the King of Suilley might change their tone into demands or threats.
Caught between kingdoms, given choices of an increasingly demanding overlord, the potential of ruinous war against that overlord, or possibly waiting too late to join with Suilley on good terms, the Count of Vourdon waits. With good luck, some new event will arise to give him better leverage against the demands of the Overking. With bad luck, some new event may force his hand and require him to rush to Suilley, risking bloody retribution from Foere.
Structure
The Countship of Vourdon is a hereditary title currently held by Count Peilourth Rhombard, second of his name. Below the rank of Count, the country has High Barons as in Toullen, with barons below the high barons and knights below the barons. The Count of Vourdon has only 5 high barons in his council, which means that the high barons exert considerable power in the country. On one occasion, four of the high barons threatened a civil war if the Count enacted a particular law, forcing the Count to withdraw the proposal.
Assets
Spirits (wine, brandy), flax, grain, foodstuffs (grapes, apples, pears), linen, livestock (sheep, swine), wool.
History
The County of Vourdon was established by decree of the Overking in the year 21678 A.E., thus incorporating a region that had been a largely ungoverned expanse since the days of Atlantis that lay between the Kingdom of Foere and the outlying Province of Suilley. Lords and barons with their bloodlines dating back to the Atlantean Age were required to pledge fealty to the new Count, whose seat of government would be Caer Sferic near the thriving market town of Olaric. When the Archmage Quaoule destroyed Caer Sferic in a fit of pique, the Count’s surviving retainers brought the Throne of Harts to the town of Olaric itself, eventually building the Comital Palace to house it properly. In default of living heirs to the Countship, the Overking appointed a new great house to the position, and so began the still-surviving dynasty of the House of Rhombard.
In the Fiend Rains of 20078 A.E., Vourdon was subjected to massive flooding, its rivers becoming deluges, and its lower-lying pastures becoming stagnant lakes. Unlike the catastrophic failure in Toullen, the County of Vourdon, under the leadership of Count Lorn of House Rhombard, responded immediately to the catastrophe. All the great mages of the country were summoned to Olaric to hear the Edict of Rains, which ordered them to different tasks in accordance with their capabilities, knowledge, and prestige. By means of great magicks, and an unprecedented level of cooperation, the mages excavated a number of deep weirs along the Towers, raised ramparts and dykes around many of the larger towns, and bound earth elementals to the task of cutting massive drainage canals to channel the mountain runoff down to the lower-lying regions of Suilley and Keston. The wizards Thylimeles, Fernijan, and Xolobar worked together (reportedly using the lost secrets of Alycthron and Margon) to raise the city of Olaric itself to an altitude 10ft higher than its original standing. All but the owners of the numerous collapsed buildings considered this a small price to pay for such security. The mages also created great terraces carved from the mountain rock east of the capital (using the same unknown magic) to stop rockslides and to abate surges of water during the heaviest rain.
Due to this orderly and expansive reaction to the flooding, the Fiend Rains affected Vourdon considerably less than they damaged the surrounding regions. Some of the canals are still in use, connecting towns by waterway. The artificial mountain terraces are now home to fertile vineyards that produce the mediocre vintages of wine for which Olaric is justifiably not famous but sells in great quantity across the continent to establishments and wine cellars less interested in quality and more interested in price and availability.
In the year 20295 A.E., when the Lord-Governor of Suilley declared himself to be an independent monarch, the Count of Vourdon declined the Overking’s demand to send troops against the rebellious new kingdom, citing obscure matters of feudal law. As a result, diplomatic relations between the County of Vourdon and the Kingdom of Suilley have always been friendly and amicable.
Demography and Population
Territories
The County of Vourdon extends through the gap between the Meridian and Rampart ranges, from the verge of the Shadrack Forest (just east of Shullcross) to approximately 5 miles west of Olaric, 20 miles north of Olaric, and 40 miles south of Olaric.
Vourdon is safe enough that wandering the villages looking for adventure yields relatively poor results, although there are always small groups of bandits to chase, and the occasional predator from the adjoining mountain ranges. Most adventurers in the country are drawn to the mountain terraces, for when these were carved from the mountainsides, some few of them revealed ancient catacombs that had been underground until the removal of countless tons of rock. There are not many of these, but a few expeditions into some have discovered that many of the passageways are of worked stone, their origins completely unknown. Moreover, they are home to a number of dangerous predators and contain ancient treasures. Little organized exploration of these catacombs has been attempted; their terraces are left unfarmed, and the folk of the mountainsides avoid them. It is possible that some of these catacombs are the source of predators that emerge from the mountains, although the high peaks of the mountains certainly house a variety of fell beasts.
Technological Level
Foreign Relations
The County of Vourdon is an independent feudal state, subject to the Overking of Foere.
Diplomatic relations with the adjacent Kingdom of Suilley are extremely good, partially based on the fact that Vourdon never attacked Suilley during Suilley’s war of secession, but also due to trade along the South County Road directly between the capitals, and general sense that the two realms are quite similar in culture and outlook. The King of Suilley constantly attempts to woo the Count of Vourdon into switching their allegiance from Foere to Suilley, making lucrative trade agreements and bestowing gifts. Thus far, all diplomatic efforts in this regard have failed, albeit very cordially. Vourdon’s status as an independent feudal realm under Foere’s protection is a comfortable situation for the Counts of Vourdon, and they see no need to go through the turmoil of changing their fealty.
Of late, however, Foere has made some onerous demands upon the County, calling up a number of troops to join the Overking’s army, and levying several new taxes. If the trend continues, too many demands from Foere might certainly cause the Count to rethink his current loyalties.
Trade & Transport
The County of Vourdon is an exclusively agricultural region, and initiates very little trade beyond its borders other than linen, bad wine, brandy, and small quantities of flax oil. A number of merchant caravans pass through Olaric on the way into and out of Foere along the South County Road, which is a safe and pleasant route. The length of the road from Olaric to Shullcross, while very hilly, is a pleasant journey, lined with fields of flax that turn into a sea of blue during the flowering season. Orchards cover the hillsides, and great terraces carved into the mountains are overburdened with the yellow grapes of Vourdon. Fortified stone chateaux may be seen in the distance, usually on hilltops from which the owner can look over the lands and farms of the fiefdom.
Olaric and Shullcross are both below the highland gap between the Rampart Mountains and the Meridians. Shullcross is a lumbering town, and Olaric is surrounded by fields of golden wheat. Other than farming, Olaric’s main industries are manufacturing linen from flax, selling barrels of “cask-quality” wine, and distilling brandy. Distillation in Olaric is a primitive process of mixing grain alcohol into wine, then distilling the mixture. The brandy is consumed in sailors’ taverns and questionable dives across the Provinces, just as the wine is imbibed in the manors of impoverished knights and the houses of miserly merchants.
The linen industry in Olaric produces fabrics with a wide variety of quality, some of which are suitable to be worn by kings. The lowest-quality flax fibers are woven into rope and twine, and the long ropewalk in Olaric is always a hive of activity.
Founding Date
21678 A.E.
Type
Geopolitical, County / March
Capital
Demonym
Vourdonian
Leader
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Traditional
Parent Organization
Location
Neighboring Nations
Notable Settlements
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