Barony of Axewood, Keoland

Governed by Baron Anladon of Neheli

Located on the western bank of the Sheldomar River in the northeastern part of the kingdom. the Barony ofAxewood includes that portion of the forest west of the great river, plus some open land south to the border of the Duchy of Dorlin. In ancient days. the forest was much more expansive, its verges reaching nearly to the outskirts of Niole Dra. However. prodigious logging of the wood by the Keoish slowly consumed the timberland. Such activity was eventually banned when the Duke of Ulek assumed a seat In council, leaving the forest with the name it ironically bears to this day. That portion of the forest east of the Sheldomar within Ulek is entirely sylvan, home to many spriggans, treants. and unicorns. This is only somewhat less true of the western half of the forest in Keoland, where more elves make their homes beneath the boughs and humans interact with the peripheries of wood by foraging and hunting sparingly, under the supervision of a local council.
The current Baron of Axewood is a half-elven lord who once owed fealty to the Duke of Ulek, which makes him one of the rare demihuman members of the Court of the Land outside of the Good Hills. The Neheli have largely eschewed the racial mixing common to almost everyone else in Keoland since the kingdom's founding. The only exception seems to be the olvenkind, to whom the Neheli have always shown a liking. The Barony of Axewood sports the kingdom's largest elven population outside the Dreadwood, including many half-elves. The majority of these half-elves dwell near or in the capital, the town of Linnoden (pop. 1.840) at woods edge near the river. The Lord Baron of Axewood is Anladon (LG male half-elf Ftr8/Wiz2). a half Neheli and kin of both the Duke of Ulek as well as Duke Cedrian III of Dorlin, sired when relations between the two duchies were more amicable. But the Baron withdrew his small northeastern barony from the Duchy of Ulek when the latter separated from the Keoish Throne in 461 CY. Recent relations between the Baron and Grenowin of Tringlee, however, are very good.
Anladon is very old, even for a half-elf, and is generally deemed a font of historical knowledge in the kingdom. His experience and memories date back to before the dissolution of Keoland's brief empire in the last century. As a young man he took part in the defense of Hookhill against the Knights of the Hart at the tail end of the Short War and later participated in the ill-fated invasion of Geoff in 450 CY with Prince Luschan (who died on the battlefield). Anladon and Kimbertos are strong and fast friends, and the monarch can often be found in retreat here in Axewood. The king claims it reminds him in many ways of Greyhill, particularly when compared to the artificial gardens and carefully coifed arbors of Niole Dra. Anladon is one of the king's closest confidants. a fact which needles the Archmage Lashton and the king's brother Markos both, for they fear the baron advises the king at cross-purposes to their own. Anladon was a former Watcher, but some unknown falling out with the order causes him to want no part of the knighthood now.

Capital: Linnoden
Areas of Interest: Sheldomar River, The Sylvan Way

  Location in the Flanaess