An Overview of Wydyr
Ground Work for the Upcoming Glasstongue Campaign Area
The Wydyr, Duchy of
Her Sovereign Grace, Mauraeda Enjkiess, The 21st Duchess of Wydyr (Cavalier level 10)
Capital: Gaunt Wydyr
Population: ~150,000
Demi-humans: some (mostly elves and halflings)
Humanoids: rare (more common near mountain regions)
Resources: foodstuffs such as cattle, grain and fruit, some ores, gold, gems
A former satrapy of one of the distant clans to the west (the Poxnos clan), Wydyr enjoys autonomy guaranteed by the Starays after the wars of unification. The Paladin Daentrella protects this far region by providing arms for its soldiers and occasional naval patrols near its coast.
The region itself is framed by the Duskspire Mountains to the west, the Bitter Reaches to the north, the lofty Gray Walls to the east, and the Sallowflow River to the south. The dominant waterway, the River Wyd, flows directly into the fog-shrouded Sepulchral Seas in the southwest corner of Wydyr. The region is subject to biting winds from the Bitter Reaches and, from the River Wyd south keeps a persistent early Spring damp in the air no matter the season. Despite the cold reaches to the north, it rarely snows here.
The realm is ruled from Gaunt Wydyr by the Duchess Mauraeda. She rarely ventures from this great keep, and instead holds court in extreme luxury while the rest of her realm is largely left to fend for itself. Rumors are she is overly fond of a particular vintage of wine brought in from Rath Talorr.
The three other decently sized population centers are Kilvarna, Roscrana, and Rath Mor, with the first two taking prominent positions on the River Wyd and the latter sitting south on the Sallowflow.
The Duchess maintains a personal household guard of 250 fighters (no less than 2nd level) along with 200 heavy cavalry. The three other large settlements can provide up to 750 mounted archers and 3,500 well trained infantry proficient with the hookbill and the light crossbow. A peasant draft can fatten the defending forces by another 1,500 soldiers.
Gaunt Wydyr itself is a large and baffling complex. Built originally as a forward outpost to the east by the Poxnos, it was steadily expanded over the centuries into a labyrinthine structure that few understand. Poxnos architecture still dominates the keep, and there is a Poxnos quarter in the surrounding city serving as a hotbed of intrigue for those still loyal to the clans in the west. Rumors abound concerning deeper sections of the dungeon under the keep containing chambers and corridors that have not been seen by human eyes in untold years yet are haunted by ghosts of past nobility who wandered in there never to return.
Dominating the landscape of Wydyr is the massive Shrouded Weald… an immense and deep forest ruled by the Great Druid Yarro. When Yarro is not advising Mauraeda (advice she rarely heeds), he is here in his Great Grove somewhere at the center of the Weald. In the northern part of the Weald are several large lakes fed by streams which flow away from the great River Wyd on the north. One of these lakes served as the bastion of the now vanished Ravenwake dynasty… an aristocratic family who left Gaunt Wydyr under cloudy circumstances and moved to this isolated region only to vanish decades later. Whispers tell that the Ravenwakes brought with them an unknown Archonic artifact that had been resting in the dungeons of Gaunt Wydyr.
In the eastern reaches of Wydyr, near the Gray Walls, stands the Tower Nythros… home of the great Wizard Sabanorak. This reclusive Magus holds practical rule over this region extending as far west as the Weald and as far south as the Sallowflow, and collects taxes from the farmers in that region as well as a tribute of strange herbs, especially the fabled ghost-willow bark, from the Weald.
Southwest of Tower Nythros lies the enigmatic Caeldghul… an eldritch phenomenon rarely explored. Appearing as a large lake, the Caeldghul has no sources flowing into it, no movement on its surface, and no apparent depth. The ground within a bow-shot of the water is unnaturally smooth and devoid of all life; moonless nights give way to a reflection on the surface which doesn’t show the stars above, but unknown stars and constellations from some other place. Anyone traveling within a half-mile near the lake’s edges can feel a subtle hum that lightly vibrates the teeth. What examination that has taken place of the Caeldghul usually is fruitless and results in death, though Sabanorak himself is said to have compiled extensive arcane knowledge of the lake through his investigations.