Kingdom Estherwatch

"I have never seen before the amount of smoke raised into the air coming from the hundreds of forges that came from the city. The Estherwatchians not only forge the finest swords in the Empire, but also have forged their own kingdom and identity not with hammer- but by grit and determination." -Recco's Adventure

Kingdom Estherwatch is one of thirteen kingdoms that make up the Roscrean Empire. It was founded in 5087 2E, and its capital is the great forge-city of Runtkof. The kingdom is known for its excellent forgers and craftsmen. So much material is poured into the kingdom for it to be refined, the large road that runs across the kingdom was named "Material Road". ruins of temples and villages of Serian origin dot the kingdom's landscape because of its past ownership to the Tribe of Seria. The most notable features of the kingdom are easily the great Greywoods that split the kingdom into north and south, along with Forge Mountain which sits just north of the large forest. Kingdom Estherwatch also has a large dwarven population due to its proximity with Guilnile to the north, along with its forge culture, which the dwarves heavily favor.

History

Kingdom Estherwatch first began as apart of the Serian Tribe in the Telgen Peninsula. The present day land of the kingdom was captured in the Water Edge campaigns late in the war with a series of landings from Roscrean forces across the Kenhardt River. After the Roscrean-Serian War and Roscrea took control of the Telgan Peninsula, Roscrea separated the Telgan Peninsula into two parts of east and west. For around three hundred years, the eastern land was simply known as Water's Edge and was a frontier until the construction of the city of Runtkof out of an ancient Serian city for trade purposes in 5081 2E and the kingdom would slowly develope and be founded in the year of 5087 2E. It is because of this that the city of Runtkof looks drastically different from typical Roscrean architecture, with dark looming towers and spikes. In the year 8004 2E, the Eminence Incident would occur, when Tower Eminence was broken into and the magical wards atop the tower to reactivate the portal to the Forsaken Gods in the Plafes. The plan was enacted in order to distract Roscrean forces away from their costal defenses for a land invasion of Roscrea, however the Eminence Incident was stopped by Greg, Paul, and Sarah with the help of the forgers from Forge Mountain. In the year 6700 2E, disaster would strike the kingdom when Forge Mountain began to shake uncontrollably with increasing frequency.

The Grey Woods

The Grey Woods is a large forest found within Kingdom Estherwatch that practically splits the kingdom into two different identities. It is highly saturated with ruins of old Serian ruins since the Serians believed that dark magic was highly useable within the forest due to a secretive reason as to why they believe the forest exists to begin with. The perimeter of the Grey Woods is populated and well guarded and maintained by Kingdom Estherwatch's protectorate legion, the Fifth Legion, but the interior is said to be as wild, mysterious, and magical as it was in the days before humans even arrived in Roscrea. Some have claimed to even have spotted werewolves still deep in the jungle, left over from Seria's experiments with dark magic. The crowning jewel of the Grey Forest, however, is Tower Eminence, a tower built to mock Tower Renown in Roncria, but also to open a large portal in the sky to the Plafes to allow in the Forsaken Gods into Boreus.

Forge Mountain

Forge Mountain is a large mountain found directly north of the Grey Woods. It was once a regular mountain but was soon to be discovered that it had deep tunnels and lava flow that was perfect for the creation of forges from within the mountain. It is also believed that the lava found inside the mountain has magical qualities to it to keep weapons hot till the end of their days, and to keep armor moldable around their wearer. Forge Mountain, while technically under the rule of Kingdom Estherwatch, almost acts as its own political entity. The forgers in the mountain have even created their own god they call the "Forge God" which sits at the peak of the mountain and is made of pure gold. Forge Mountain is said to have rather undesirable side effects, such as Melting Sickness, where some forgers go so insane with their work that they focus on nothing but their projects and go mad. They are then thrown into a pit within the mountain, clawing at the walls, demanding to return to work until they starve to death. The population of the mountain is quite split between dwarves and humans, making it easily the largest dwarven hub in all of Roscrea.