Slave Realm of the Mothers

Founded in the wake of the Great Crusade in 713 that ended with the capture of the last of Baba Yagas cruel warped daughters, the land formerly known as Goldenwill was a nation of knights who swore to watch over the Witch Queens prison, the tower of Gallowspire. The crusaders established the mighty walled capital of Highmount and the gleaming white port city of Shadowwick. Although the crusaders still found purpose in fighting to contain the orcs of the dreary land, many knights believed their organization’s glory days were behind them. Their vigilance and zeal gradually dwindled. Meanwhile, the Witch Queen Moraganna plotted her escape and eventually developed the destructive weapon known as the Witchfire. In the devastating summer of 1333, hidden witch covens appeared and obliterated the village of Indred's Hope and the crusader capital of Highmount. At the same time, The Shades activated cells throughout Goldenwill, synchronized murders, arson, and uprisings that shattered the nation. In one season, Goldenwill was broken. Goldenwills ruler, Watch-Lord Revasal II, was forced to retreat to the Republic of Dolene. Goldenwills most influential priest, Aylun Vatos, led recently arrived philanthropists and the stone-faced crusaders who organized daily evacuations aboard ships departing Shadowwick. The remnants of Goldenwill are now known as the Slave Realms of the Mothers. Hordes of undead and monsters roam the countryside, their movements coordinated by the Witch Queens loyal officers. Goblin tribes and those few orcs who chose to ally themselves with the Witch Queen now travel openly within the nation’s former borders. However, to this day some of the former residents of the land chose to stay. Only the truly desperate remain huddled in crumbling strongholds or on failing farms. To travel openly across the Slave Realms is to court death, but the surviving Knights—seek to stem the tide of evil and return to their old land and rid it of the Witch Queen and her sisters once and for all, even in the face of incredible odds. Legendary crusader fortresses such as Castle Everstand and Castle Firrine stand empty, abandoned when their defenders could no longer count on supplies or support. These castles still stand tall on rolling hills, each as empty and grim as a tomb. The land is now bleak just as it was before the crusade so long ago. Its lands were healing, but all for not, as its returned to a crippled dark land. Those that are familiar with Vedania would be shocked to see lands this poisoned.