THE VREE FIRM STATES


The list in incomplete just yet. Some countries and details are missing,



The current year is 937, on the Common Calendar.


Carlow, the Kingdom of
Capital City: Tullow
Majority Alignment: NG/CG
Ruled by King Cormac Ulfadha
Shares border with Vreconok.
When the Vree first arrived at Landen, they forbade the practice of magic within
their towns, and two generations of sorcerers fled to the end of the peninsula that
is now Carlow. Wizards also practiced here extensively until CY 300, when restrictions
against magic finally loosened and they could travel more freely-but the more persecuted
sorcerers stayed, and in 303 officially founded the kingdom now known as Carlow. For
six centuries, it has remained a small, unambitious kingdom dominated by the unglamorous
realities of potato-farming, fishing, sheep and cattle. There isn't much money in
circulation and the people are a little backwards, but they are also generous to
travelers, and the blood of those first settlers persists, giving present-day Carlow
more sorcerers per capita than any other part of the world. This blood has kept the
land safe from invasion; Carlow is the only Vree state that has not been to war in
300 years.



Dantoria, the Kingdom of
Capital City: Hiltberg
Ruled by King Graffenmark Resolute
Majority Alignment: Neutral, Lawful Neutral
Shares border with Feyl Claudia, Galaga, Garonlok, and the Crags of the Angenrok Mountains.
In order to preserve itself against the waxing might of Garonlok, Dantoria has joined
a reluctant alliance with Galaga. Meanwhile, Dantoria also contends against Galaga
(and Feyl Claudia) for control of the gem-rich Eastern face of the Angenroks known as
The Crags. Dantoria officially resents that Galaga still pursues the Crags when they
could instead become full partners dividing it between them-but unofficially, Dantoria
is a proud kingdom whose resources for the very first time in memory are looking
inadequate to the growing troubles at hand.



Exley, The Order of
Capital City: Pipedown
Ruled by the Exalted Avatar Farraday Stannding
Majority Alignment: LG
Shares border with Fraxley, Feyl Donok, Feyl Vastik
Initially a series of Feyl Donok garrisons positioned to halt Barbarian raids in
the early days of Vree presence on Landen, the region quickly became the proving
ground for the valor and skill of Feyl Donok's best knights, and many great temples
dedicated to Heironeous sprouted. In CY 357, the clerics of these temples agitated
for independence from Feyl Donok, hoping to establish a theocracy, but in the anarchy
that ensued the knights emerged as supreme and formally recognized themselves as the
Order of Exley. For 400 years, these knights governed, acclaiming their chief knight
King, but as the lands were tamed and the population grew, reality necessitated a more
traditional administration, and the kingship became hereditary, as did membership in
the Order. Detractors say Exley has stultified into a bastion of class-based snobbery,
but it also remains a land of stirring pomp and circumstance, where personal honor is
considered paramount-the only nobles who can be absolutely taken at their word, the
only generals who feel duty-bound to tender their resignation should they lose a
major battle. The truly noble conduct of the Exleyians has put them on excellent
terms with the Elves-and there is a major elfin forest at the edge of their territory.
But Exley's sense of itself has come at a cost; in 865, its cities north of the
Yirtincu revolted and instituted their own government. Unwilling to slaughter their
brothers, after a brief war to save face, the Avatar of Exley granted these cities
their independence (see Fraxley, below).



Feyl Claudia, or The Feyl of Her Royal Majesty the Divine Claudia of Shantark
Capital City: Shantark
Ruled by the Grand Prince Zefred Holloit
Majority Alignment: Chaotic Neutral, Neutral
Shares border with Dantoria, Garonlok, Killbatten, Transfeyl.
Founded by the iconoclastic Queen Claudia in CY 348 and ruled by her until 386,
this is one of the oldest kingdoms in the Vree. Claudia was royalty in Feyl Donok
but so far down the tree that she knew she would never become its queen--so she left
and founded her own kingdom. When young, Claudia rode horses into battle, and when
older she declared a new religion and herself high priestess of it (the religion
outlived her by only a few years). A remarkable cavalry tactician, she personally
routed the hill giants to secure her new kingdom, and the cavalry corps she founded
remains to this day perhaps the best in the world. Claudia decreed her kingdom must
always be known as hers, thus every ruler since has taken the title Grand Prince or
Princess instead of King or Queen. Politically, today Feyl Claudia is a thorn in the
side of all neighbors, who resent its high-handed incursions into the Transfeyl and
The Crags but find themselves, due to the current young Grand Prince's astute political
maneuvers, unable to launch war against it without precipitating more widespread calamity.



Feyl Donok, or the Grand United Feyl of Donok
Capital City: Ving Raute
Other Significant Cities:
Majority Alignment: Neutral Good
Ruled by King Declan VI of the House Iverlin
Shares border with: Vreconok, Transfeyl, Killbatten, Feyl Vastik, Exley.
The oldest, largest, and wealthiest of the Vree kingdoms, Feyl Donok considers its
founding to be CY 266, when the first Vree set foot on Landen. Until the official
founding of Carlow in 303, it was the only Vree kingdom. Today, its monarchy is the
most stable, the Iverlin having occupied the throne for four centuries, and Feyl Donok's
aging Declan VI regards his kingdom somewhat justifiably as leader of the entire Vree
civilization. Declan VI fervently believes the Midlands are the future of humanity and
must belong to the Vree. But Feyl Donok has long laid claim to the Transfeyl--and
preferring a permanent, peaceful solution for that region, Declan VI has chosen not
to conquer it--causing some grumbling among his court. Meanwhile too the aggression
and hostility of Garonlok have greatly distracted his resources, though he has managed
to avoid all-out war. It is expected the King's oldest son will make a more
confrontational monarch; whether that's good for the kingdom is an open question.



Feyl Vastik, The Free
Capital City: Tallpyre
Other Significant Cities: Phalanx
Ruled by King Morgan II
Majority Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Shares border with Exley, Feyl Donok, Kilbatten, an Elven forest, a great swamp,
the Angenrok Mountains.
In 390, when the government of Feyl Donok defaulted on pensions it had promised its
veterans, those retired soldiers pulled up stakes and relocated en masse to the west.
They established the city Phalanx, which quickly became the boldest hub on what was
then the farthest frontier of the Vree world. The frontier, however, defeated the Vree.
Trolls, giants, orcs and numberless kobolds overran its villages, and by 440, Vree
attention turned south, where the rewards were sure to be greater than this swampy
backwater. Over the next two centuries, Exley, Feyl Donok and Kilbatten all invaded
and confiscated parts of Feyl Vastik, but by 650, hardy frontiersmen who'd given up
trying to tame the wild forests south of Volczak returned to Feyl Vastik, and Vastik's
King Ethelred the Terrible made expeditious use of them. Within a decade, monster raids
ceased along the swamp edge, which opened the door to a string of successes. The
period 650-850 meant uninterrupted struggle for the Vastik, but by the end of it,
they had pushed their borders back outward, confined the giants to the poorest hills,
and moved the capital to the newer, more defensible city of Tallpyre. Today, Vastik is not
rich or powerful, but what they do have is hard-earned. Though finally certain it has
a future, Vastik is still no place for a life of ease. "Not everyone is meant to live
here," they often say.



Fraxley, The Kingdom of
Capital City: Firaxis
Ruled by King Ulgher Manus
Majority Alignment: Chaotic Good
Shares border with: Exley, the Barbarians
Initially the northern half of Exley, with each passing generation, those Vree north
of the Yirtincu grew more disillusioned with the nobility headquartered to its south.
After all, an elaborate code of honor and inflexible sense of duty are well and good
when far behind the front lines, but in a country of Barbarian raids and increasing
friendly contact with the tribes, dealing with reality demands more latitude.
Finally, in 865, the cities north of the Yirtincu declared independence from Exley,
founding the Firm State Fraxley. After a short, vicious war, Exley recognized Fraxley,
and the new state was free to pursue its own character. Today, Fraxley is the only
Vree state that regularly trades with and wars against Barbarians. It seems anarchic
compared to most Firm States, as Firaxis' enemies of Tuesday can be found happily at
its market on Thursday, but in fact it is a well-run kingdom that functions smoothly
in a difficult part of the world.



Galaga, the Kingdom of
Capital City: Exedor
Other Significant Cities: Otto
Ruled by King Clyde the Wise
Majority Alignment: Neutral, Neutral Good, Chaotic Neutral
Shares border with Dantoria, Garonlok, Montevor, The Crags of the Angenrok Mountains,
the Breczau Mountains.
Many believe "Wise" is a sarcastic nickname, as in person King Clyde seems a lunkish
slow-witted man, but under his brief reign, Galaga has found a way out of the
frustration of bordering on Garonlok--a trail through the Angenroks, into the Midlands.
The most viable passage from the West to the Midlands, Galaga opened it just seven
years ago, and its growing trickle of toll-paying Vree already brings almost enough
cash to balance the trade tariffs enforced by Garonlok on the eastern border. Recently
Clyde moved his capital from the old city of Otto to the "gateway" city of Exedor, to
more closely supervise toll collection. Galaga hopes to flank Garonlok economically--
perhaps in the Midlands, perhaps with a trade route through Montevor to the Wine States,
if such a thing can be established. For the time being at least, Galaga's uneasy ally
against Garonlok is Dantoria, but Dantoria refuses to drop its specious claim to the Crags.




Garonlok, The War Dominion of
Capital City: Merkiant
Other Significant Cities:
Majority Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil
Ruled by His Majesty The Dominator of Garonlok, Kryllson Hurkeron
Shares border with Dantoria, Galaga, Vreconok, Volczak, Feyl Claudia, Transfeyl, Montevor.
When a child is born in Garonlok, the father determines on the first day whether it
will one day make a strong warrior or able woman, and if it won't, the infant is
brought to a place outside of town and abandoned to the wilderness. The people of
Garonlok value martial discipline above all else, and they believe themselves destined
one day to rule all of Landen. Merkiant maintains the largest standing army of any
human country, and they regard Feyl Donok's efforts at diplomacy across all of Vree as
a sign of weakness and decay. Under Dominator Kryllson, Garonlok has imposed punishing
tariffs on roads into Galaga and Dantoria in an attempt to make them vassal states, it
sponsors bandit raids into the Transfeyl attempting to weaken that state's independence,
and it has founded an island colony outside the Brightwater Gulf in an attempt to control
the Creperum Passage.


Kilbatten

Montevor

Smolev

Transfeyl, The Inviolate Soveriegnty of The
Capital City: Provise
Other Significant Cities: Yergo
Ruled by King Bayvetayna II
Majority Alignment: Neutral
Shares borders with Feyl Donok, Feyl Claudia, Garonlok, Vreconok, Kilbatten.
A small strip of very plentiful land and between two major trade-bearing rivers,
the Transfeyl was at one time the far frontier of the Vree civilization, and has
been a contested region ever since. It is home to the only formal wizard's University
in all of Vree, as well as some of the oldest temples from a half-dozen religions.
It has been annexed by every bordering kingdom at one point or another, and within
its borders the Firm States have found pretext for war more often than in any other
region. The current independent government was established by a treaty forced on
Garonlok by Declan VI 35 years ago, but if the currently childless Bayvetayna II
sires no son, then the treaty expires. Meanwhile, "anonymous" marauders seek to
destabilize his reign on behalf of Garonlok and Feyl Claudia, and Declan VI is bound
by his own treaty from sending troops to help. Click here for more on Transfeyl's history
of conflict.

Valorcy


Volczak, The Kingdom of
Capital City: Draconica
Ruled by King Vylnuus IX
Majority Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Chaotic Neutral
Shares borders with Garonlok, Montevor, Smolev
When the Vree refugees originally arrived on Landen, one group of particularly
battered clans refused to settle in the original towns of Feyl Donok and headed
south, essentially as nomads. Eventually their camps became permanent cities, and
the state of Volczak was founded in 382. But Volczak has shown little interest in
the affairs of the rest of Vree, and its people are plainly suspicious of visitors.
Its ports and trading towns are dreary places, but worth visiting for their
tradition of fine goldworking. Their army won an important war centuries ago--
legendarily employing very evil clerics--but its current condition is unknown.
Its navy consists of privateers-often hired Arcallan ships-just enough to remind
Garonlok that conquest of Volczak would not be simple. Volczak is a mysterious
country who some say slumbers under the same evil spell that has shrouded Montevor
and Smolev from the rest of the world.


Vreconok, the Kingdom of
Capital City: Dolmen
Other Significant Cities: Windbraith
Ruled by King Lumar V
Majority Alignment: Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral
Shares borders with Carlow, Feyl Donok, Garonlok, Kilbatten, Transfeyl.
Vreconok has by necessity become adept at politics and war, for without such skill
they would not long survive their location: buffering the two most powerful Vree
states (Feyl Donok and Garonlok) and beside the most contested region (the Transfeyl).
Vreconok maintains a noncommittal distance in most conflicts until the last minute--
and when war breaks out, they consistently choose the side that means the most
material gain. By this realpolitik they have increased their size gradually over
the years, and they believe themselves to be the lynchpin in the presently brewing
tension between Ving Raute and Merkiant-whichever side they choose, they believe,
will win the eventual war. King Lumar V, though not remarkably brilliant, is an
adequate politician, and is always pleased to hear what emissaries from his neighbors
may have to offer him.


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