Powys Peninsula

Kingdom of Ior:
Kord had four disciples, Ash, Ghol, Nim’t, and Ior. Understanding that their teacher’s sacrifice was a means of giving their people a new home, each of the pupils found a corner of East Powys to settle with their followers.

History:
Founded by Ash the Outrider, the bastard son of a King Alwyn of Rho and a continental princess. Ash was a key member of Kord’s rebellion, serving both as a master tactician, a close compatriot, and the diplomat who led the drafting of an alliance with the Elves of Rho. Ash founded his kingdom at Ashford Isle as a means of creating a bridge between the freedmen of the Frostbit Coast and the Elves of Rho.

Ash was able to leverage the island’s fertile land, dwarven engineering, and an elven green thumb to establish the breadbasket of the Frostbit Coast. The island’s central position also allowed it to serve as an early land hub for learning and trade. Always a keen student, Ash encouraged the practice of the Dieraian faith and sought out master craftsmen and scholars.

Ashden:
The seat and jewel of Ashford Isle. The city consists of three districts. The old city exquisitely blends dwarven and elven design and serves as the residence for the noble houses, merchants of historical business establishments, temples, and public works buildings. Easden, located along the north eastern walls of Old Ashden, serves as the main agricultural and tradecraft market district. Westden, located along the northwestern walls of Old Ashden, is a middle class neighborhood for merchants and landowners.

While Queen Alonash has done her best to serve her people well, the fallout with Rho and the kingdom’s move to international trade, under King Iordanos XV’s rule, has significantly hampered the city’s trade income.

History:
Ior the Craftsman, Kord’s only apprentice and legendary smith, continued in his master’s footsteps during the rebellion, forging arms and armor for Kord’s army. Ior’s craftsmanship is still valued to his day, with noble houses across the Frostbit Coast treasuring these relics to this day.

After the war, his followers stayed in Craig Nor and Cold Harbour with him out of loyalty and duty to purge both places of any memory of their former captors by settling there and transforming it into their home.

Although the direct line of Ior no longer practices the craftsmanship of their ancestor, the duchy is still centered around the industry their founder established. Master craftsmanship within the Duchy of Ior is preserved by branch families and noble dwarven lords of Craig Nor (some of whom claim to be descendents of Kord).

Craig Nor:
A mine pivotal to the Frost Giant occupation of the Frostbit Coast. Dwarves, humans, and goliaths were captured during raids on the continent and brought to Craig Nor to work the mines. The mine was the start of the Kordian rebellion and the original seat of the Ior Duchy. Today, the mine is pivotal for supplying the Frostbit Coast with iron.

Colbhour:
Originally called Cold Harbour during the Frost Giant reign on the Frostbit Coast, the city was the last one liberated during Kord’s rebellion. Control over the harbor allowed the dwarves, goliath, and humans of Craig Nor to develop trade with the continent and with the elves of Rho, giving the newly founded kingdom a kickstart. The name was shortened after King Iordanos the VII moved the capital to Colbhour. King Iordanos XIV, in a partnership Lord Bloes of Gholon and Lord Dorzay the Second, greatly expanded the kingdom’s navy and opened trade relationships with continental kingdoms as a way to make up for the lost trade income from Rho.

History:
It is said that the goliath, Ghol the Behemoth, was the length of a sword shorter than a hill giant. He was an early partisan in the Craig Nor mines. When the miners went on the offensive, his bravery and rallying presence earned him the honor of leading Kord’s vanguard. After the war, his thirst for adventuring, led him back to the mysterious north. He and his followers settled in the ruins of a city that once belonged to an ancient forgotten empire.

In the war, Ghol saw his and the vanguard’s responsibility as a force that secured the safety of the rest of the army. They hunkered down the giants with their shieldwall until Kord and the main could strike on the flank. Ghol extended this responsibility to his regency of the north, with his people, to this day, serving as the jagged barrier between the East Carn Mountains and the Kingdom of Ior.

Serving in the cavalry gave Ghol’s vanguard a leg up when it came to animal husbandry. The north gave them ample land for livestock. Today, the horses breed on the Gholon Plain rival those of the neighboring elven empire. The sheep raised by the Gholonian people supply the kingdom with most of its wool.

Ol’ Gholon:
Ghol saw a few advantages to building his capital in the ruins of an ancient empire. The ancient city’s walls were not as far gone as many believed and Ghol was able to quickly rebuild them. The city’s position on a hill made it easier to defend and extended the watch tower’s vantage over the surrounding lands.

West Gholon:
As Ol’ Gholon out grew itself, some of its shepards migrated south to settle West Gholon next to the waters of the River Poyle. When Lord Bloes heard that King Iordanos XIV wanted to expand the navy, he poured a kings fortune into modernizing West Gholon. The city produces the sails and rope necessary for the kingdom's navy and has a growing shipbuilding industry.

Beacon:
While most Gholonians see Ghol as a demigod, those who settled at the outpost Beacon see him as an equal and maybe even superior to Kord. They call themselves lantern keepers and manage the temple at the outpost.

The city is also the home of the scourge aasimar, ancestors of those who served in Ghol’s shock cavalry and were transformed through his blessing. The aasimars see Beacon as the spear against any encroaching evil that is a threat to the kingdom. Those who survive their academy are given the right to wear the Mask of Beacon and are a welcomed guest anywhere in the empire.

Red Chargers Lodge:
While not officially a town or hamlet, the establishment’s historic existence in Gholon has left its mark on most prestigious cartographers' maps. The location has become a quiet respite for nobles and individuals of means traveling (who happen to have rooms on retainer) between the four kingdoms. The inn is run by the former dwarven ranger Angharad Hillflower and her four sons (Liam, Lherzolite, Leo, and Logan). The inn is also home to a company of Giffs who have sworn loyalty to both Angharad and later Lherzolite for their help on the battlefield. It is rumored, mostly through the tellings of old Angharad, that the lodge was a prize won by her ancestor in a card game against Ash and Ghol.

Ríc Hathaoir:
In the early days of the kingdom, Ríc Hathaoir- known then as the crossroads of the four courts - served as an equidistant treat for the kings of the four kingdoms. It served as a place for the kings to escape court life to discuss court life between themselves. As marriage ties and dynastic structure brought the four kingdoms under the Ior banner, the retreat fell out of use. Under the rule of King Iordanos XIII, the land was granted to an adventuring halfling and lone survivor of a party who rescued the King's daughter, Sir Bandobras Bandawax. Being thankful, but not too thankful, the King granted the gratingly optimistic halfling the Ríc Hathaoir estate.

While most citizens of Ior would agree that Ríc Hathaoir is a fairly unremarkable blimp along the road, few are old enough - and those that are, doubtfully care - to remember the poor state the lands were in before the Bandawax clan went to work. Today, the village numbers roughly 500 to 600 citizens. It draws most of its income from the Bandawax Brewery, which produces a handful of meager meads that are consumed by the peasant folks in the surrounding lands. Individuals that do not work in the Brewery either raise sheep, manage the honey collectives, or run various general stores. Ben Ban Bandawax (age 43) is the current lord of the estate.

History:
Nim the Evoker, a dwarf wizard, was one of the more talented blast mages employed by the giants of the Frostbit Coast. Nim was the last of the four great followers of Kord to join the resistance, only joining after the forge was fully in Kord's hands, having largely been a skeptic of the movement's chances for success. However, the prospect for academic freedom largely drew her to the cause.

After the war, Nim traveled north east and established a laboratory at what is now the city of Ninth. Although her plan was to study and experiment with arcane forced in solitude, her reputation, from her work in the mines and on the battlefield, led those who wished to study under her north eastward. Those followers, awaiting an opportunity to study under the master mage, set up a settlement around the laboratory, that is today the city of Ninth. Those talented enough to draw Nim's attention from her tomes became her apprentices and eventually master mages in their own right.

Unlike Ior, Ash, and Ghol, Nim no interest in ruling over the city that developed around her and largely left the governing of Ninth to the residents. Future cities within his duchy followed this model, leading to the region adopting the moniker of the Free Cities of Nim’t. Although the cities are often grouped under one umbrella by the people of Ashden, Gholon, and Ior, the free cities largely function independently of each other, with each having its own power influences and forms of government.

A council, made up of diplomats from each of the cities, represents the region’s interests when it comes to business with the kingdom at large. However, political mechnizations by various regional factions makes it difficult to tell who exactly the council represents at any given time. While the free cities do pay a tax to the Kingdom, the amount paid (already a sore subject for residents) often falls grossly short of capturing the true economic activity of the region. The duchy also skirts most other responsibilities embraced by the remainder of the kingdom. Both issues are a nuisance for Ior royalty, which has often been reluctant to poke the hornet's nest that is Nim’t. The Laissez-faire nature of the free cities attracts any number of odd characters to the region, including Rakshasa merchants, Yuan Ti cults, exiled mages, and open sea raiders. A unified front, made up of the diverse factions that occupy Nim’t, has always been a perceived lingering threat for the royalty of Ior.

Aeyr:
Most cities on the Frostbit Coast contend with some levels of corruption and crime. The pirate harbor of Aeyr, whose residents see it as the last bastion of freedom in the world, has become a home for both. The city has largely functioned in a disjoint manner, with policy for various pockets being set forth by which ever faction controls that set of wharfs or streets. It is rumored that the city has come under the unified control of a single individual going by the name of Ambrosius Aurelianus.

Kingdom of Marinnia:
Elven kingdom set in the Frostpines that started as a colony of Rho for the ambitious and daring adventurers. The rough and rugged climate bred resilience and perseverance eventually leading to Marinnia’s independence. The former colony began to thrive after the discovery of silver in the West Carn Mountains. Having mastered silversmithing and trade, the Marinnian aristocracy now rivals their ancestors.