Darklande

History
Johan White commander of the Iron Guard, heavy infantry division in the campaign of Henrik the Oldone, was rewarded the Duchy of Darkland for his victories and deeds. When the human kingdom was split by Agorn the Builder, before his death, Darklande became part of the Sudlande under Karius. When Karius became more and more paranoid, Duke Karl White von Darkland, son of Johan White, took distance from Karius and the kingdom of Sudlande. Duke Karl White, now seen as a traitor, got his duchy raided by Karius. Karl White demanded reinforcements from Gondal the Lion but received no help and was left in defending his Duchy alone.

Darklande became more and more empty and desolated as many people fled in fear. Undead creatures, dark knights and ghost, haunted the duchy. Half of the duchy became infertile and lifeless. When Karl White died on his travels, his son, Henrik White von Darkland took over the duchy.

He closed the borders towards the Sudlande and ordered to reinforce farmsteads and filled them with soldiers and mercenaries. People grew sour and fearsome of the nights. When Gondal called for help Henrik White sent half of his forces to help Gondal in exchange of several priests of the cults of Sigmar and Ulric. While Henrik White and his forces fought side by side with Gondal the Lion, Darklande was left in the hands of the priests.

The priests collected silver from the already poor citizens to make blessed weapons and turned the peasants into overzealous believers. On order of the priests holy signs were worn and drawn on doors and soon after the Order of Peg was formed. The Order of Peg, trained to become undead hunters, began to cleanse many lost town and castles of Darklande that were now part of Sudlande.

When Henrik White returned exhausted of the battles in the north, he thanked the priests and added them to his personal council. Throughout the ages, Darklande was attacked several more times by the undead and the Darkländers developed an affinity in killing the undead.

Geography
As the duchy lies in front of the vast forest of Sudlande and as such is covered by light only half of the day, if the rays of light can pierce through the everlasting fog, it was named Darklande. The soil is unfertile and the landscape is defined by gravestones, chapels, churches and reinforced farmsteads.

The duchy is divided into three counties:

- County of Wachheim with the capital town of Darkenhof protected by the fortress of Eisenburg and Hangman Keep. Home of the Order of the Peg.

- County of Darkland with the capital city of Schwarzheim. Many pilgrims wander through all of Firun to reach the City of Schwarzheim to visit the churches and cathedrals. To protect the holy city and its sanctuaries, great fortresses like: Burg Altensieg and Rottenburg are built along the forest of Sudlande. Bissingen Schloss changed name to White Schloss after the local Lord has been revealed to be a vampire and killed by the Order of Peg.

- County of Morringen with the capital town of Siegheim is the main siege of the Sigmar cult located in the Bastion Komet, where it maintains a watchful eye over the forest of Sudlande. Great rituals are performed by the cult of Sigmar to keep the undead away from the rest of the human empire.

Society
Darklande is a small state that lost a lot of its territories to the corruption of Sudlande. Filled with superstitious people and driven by an unquestionable faith it’s a grim and cold place. Even though Darkländers are seen as sour and coldhearted, they are very loyal, once their trust is gained.

As Darklande is covered by the smell of death the cult of Morr is next to the Sigmarites and Ulricans the most revered god.

Festival of the Dead
Every season they have a festival of the death where the Darkländers visit the graves and make sure that they are still closed and untouched, renewing protective runes so that the dead stay dead.

Final Ritual
Is a ritual performed by the priests of Morr, where they embed the deceased with the face downwards. They believe that in the case of reanimation the dead will not find their way to the surface, but dig into the realm of Morr.

Ritual of Light
Is a ritual performed by the Cult of Sigmar every two weeks to protect the borders of Darklande from the dark magic of Sudlande. Holy symbols out of silver are dug along the border and protect by incarnations by several priests. This ritual, in a lot of cases, is also joined by priests of other cults to unite their powers.

Military
Darklande is a very small duchy and as such has no significant local military force and has bolster the ranks with mercenaries, warrior priests and members of the Ecclesia Ignis to protect its borders. A lot of the military that can be seen as such does not belong to the local lords or nobles but to the religious cults or orders. Even though the local military is small in numbers they are well trained and equipped to fight the undead. Every soldier is equipped with gorgets, stakes and maces or hammers to counter the undead the best way possible.

Economy
The economy of Darklande is mostly based on the income of pilgrims and the taxation of the religious cults. As many of these cults are also part of the leading force of Darklande there has never been money missing to build new religious buildings or better fortifications against the undead. Because of the high demand of stonemasons some of the most talented minds in stone works can be found in Darklande and massive amounts are paid by other duchies to lay hand on their works and talent.

For the rest, the duchy of Darklande produces many religious statues, symbols and other fine jewellery that are transported through all of Firun, even though the majority of the citizens are peasants that live in awe of the dark forest.

Religion
Religion plays a crucial part in the life of a Darklande, as such it is normal to find the most beautiful and biggest Cathedral in Darklande:

“The Saint White Dome” build in memory of the White family that has been leading the duchy since generations through the dark times of Darklande.

The most present religions are:

Sigmar

Ulric

Morr

- Blood Wars
The Blood Wars was the name given to the invasion of Sudlande. The Invasion started with several nobles, still loyal to Sudlande, that openly showed to be vampires and began an internal war in Darklande. Soon after undead armies marched over the borders and the Blood Wars began. Karl White reorganized his loyal forces in Altensieg and led a counter-offensive. With the help of High Theogonist Luthar of the cult of Sigmar who prepared with the High Priest of Morr, Hador, and the Master Theogonist of the Cult of Ulric Jolkarl a counter magic ritual to the necromancy of Karius. Luthar and White were able to push back the undead forces back into the Redline Forest and Karius was unable to get his forces any further. Sadly Darklande was now divided in two and Karl was to weak to force the enemy out of the lost territories. Karius unable to break the spell that protected the border prepared for a new invasion. Darklande belonged to him by right.

- Twilight Invasion
Over the years the spell became weaker and the dead grew restless. Spirits haunted the Counties and Undead wandered in the Duchy again. Henrik White now Duke of Darklande began to reinforce the borders, farmsteads and filled the fortresses, along the border with troops. To his horror Gondal the Lion called him to his side to protect the human kingdom from the north. In exchange for several priests and soldiers of the Inquisition Henrik left his Duchy and worried that something might happen in his absence. He was right to worry.

While the priests prepared the duchy for the second invasion of the undead Karius called for a magical fog to cover all of Darklande and call on the primary fears of the humans in their castles and fortifications. During these times the order of peg was formed and even though still young they prove their worth in combat. The Undead army, led by three vampire counts, marched over the border and invaded for a second time Darklande. The battles were ferocious and the first castles and fortifications fell and the living had to fall back. Now the three undead forces stood in front of Siegheim, Altensieg and Eisenburg. When Siegheim was close to falling into the cold hands of the first Vampire Count, an elven force appeared from Alewor and supported the human army. When the first Vampire count fled back into Sudlande the humans from Siegheim were able to support the other besieged Cities and pushed the undead back. The priests send by Gondal, who led the forces knew that they had to reinforce the spell that had kept Karius away for some time and the ritual became since then a local festivity. When Henrik White returned and was told what happened, he offered each cult that helped to protect his lands a place at his side and rewarded the cult of Sigmar the county of Morringen. The cult of Morr received the main old city Morringen and the cult of Ulric war rewarded the town Sankt Ulric.

-The Great Hunt
Even thought the undead armies have been pushed out of Darklande the dark magic of Karius has found root in the lands and the dead would forever be restless. The Order of Peg wandered since then the Duchy to defend local towns and communities against evil spirits, undead and vampire cults. This time was called the Great Hunt. It is believed the over 250 vampires were killed and over 60 dark magicians. The order of peg worked hand in hand with the inquisition and provided manpower the Inquisition no longer had after the invasion from the north and the defense in the south.

County Of Morringen:
Ruled by a Council of the leading Religious representatives of the Different religions of Firun.

County of Darkland:
Ruled by Duke Johan White

County of Wachheim:
Ruled by Countess Katrina von Schloss Weiss.

The Duchy of Darklande was since its first city been in the hands of the White family. As by law religious groups could never take over control over a duchy the title of Duke always stayed with the Whites.

The political overview of Darklande as such is strongly marked by the overshadowing power of the Whites. Who are seen as heroes, saints and saviors. Other nobles in the Duchy are under constant watch by witch hunters, inquisitors and priests, in fear some may turn to the vampires. Nobles in Darklande as such stay for themselves and rarely leave their homes and if they do it is only to proof to other nobles they have not fallen to the call of the vampires.

The Order of Peg
The Order of Peg was formed by Jacob Bone to fight the undead, more precisely vampires. He went from farmstead to farmstead and bought children from the peasants or collected orphans of the war. He then trained them in the fortified farmstead Luminhoff to become religious soldiers and equipped them with old vestments, pegs and improvised weaponry. Over the years they supported the war efforts against the vampires and were hired by the Inquisition as mercenaries to bolster the inquisitorial ranks. These “golden” times for the order of Peg allowed them to gain a lot of support and renown to be accepted as a full-fledged order, with well-trained and equipped personnel.

Bissingen Schloss/Schloss Weiss:
Bissingen Schloss was previously owned by Count Frederic von Bissingen. During the Twilight Invasion he offered his castle to the vampires in exchange for eternal life. Granted his wish he joined the battles on the side of the Vampires. After the Twilight Invasion he hid in his castle and was dragged out by the Inquisition and the Order of Peg during the Great Hunt. After he was executed his Castle stood empty and all traces of his existence destroyed by the Inquisition. In the following years the castle was renamed Schloss Weiss and handed to Countess Katarina.

Höllfeld
Höllfeld is a plain in front of the main city of Duchy Darkland and County of Darklande. It received its name after the battle against Karius forces that besieged the city. After the battle so money bodies covered the ground and so much blood was shed that the land turned infertile. Höllfeld as such became a memorial place for the many lives that were lost. A place where humans and elves share the same graves.

Countess Katarina von Schloss Weiss
Katrina von Schloss Weiss, killed her own parents at the age of 15 when they tried to give her the blood kiss, the ritual used to make a new vampire. She burned down her estate and was rewarded by the Duke the castle: Schloss Weiss.

Witwenberg
Mountain near Luminhoff. It is said that twenty five widows took their lives on that mountain when they saw their husbands walking amongst the dead. Since then many widows that saw their husbands dead bodies amongst the dead take it upon themselves to wander to the mountain and light a candle or kill themselves.

Mittelwald
Mittelwald is a dense forest between Siegheim, Bastion Komet and the Town or Marringen. Many people that wandered in the forest never returned and the ones that did were madened by fear. Words of horrible creatures and monsters were screamed in utter crazyness and even though many did not believe none had the courage to see if any of it was true.