Formatting code for DuchyOfCoeurDEnnui
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====__The Duchy of the Coeur d'Ennui__====
{{image url="http://parthosrpg.com/gallery2/d/44-3/MidrangeV2.jpg"}}
>>==The Coeur=={{include CoeurMenu}}**[[http://www.parthosrpg.com/mboard/viewtopic.php?t=1616 Midrange Map Key]]**
Solid black lines show major trade roads.
Dotted purple lines show boundaries between nobles' landholdings.
Light green background indicates fertile farmland.
Yellow background indicates low-producing or non-arable scrub land.
Brown background (southern border only) indicates non-arable coast.
Each square on the graph marks about 5 miles. A fully equipped person walking overland can move 5 miles in an hour; a rider can move 10 miles per hour without straining the horse. Characters traveling along roads move slightly faster.
The furthest points on this map should be possible to reach within 3-4 days. More distant locations are off the map
==Major Features==
A: Split Tooth Mountain: A single mountain with a cloven peak, surrounded by low scrub hills that are known to be infested with bandits, orcs, and the occasional hill giant.
B: The Elven Wood: Largest of the oldwood forests that remain near Coeur d'Ennui, this wood is rumored to contain traces of the old sylvan magic that has weakened or fled the others. Peasants hesitate to venture too far beneath its trees, and there are tales of sprites, nymphs, and stranger things lurking in its depths. Elves are occasionally sighted in the forest, but these days the woodland seems too small to support a permanent city of the fair folk.
C: Teardrop Lake: Considered to be a cursed place, the lake's unnatural shape and the deathly, year-round coldness of its waters mark it as abnormal. People have spotted ice glistening on the lake's surface in midsummer, and the fish that live in Teardrop Lake are nothing like the fish found in other waters. No rivers or streams seem to feed the lake, yet its level never changes even in the worst droughts. Strange, ruined buildings line its western shore, built for creatures larger than men.
D: The Westwood: A large oldwood forest, its edges continually nibbled back by foraging peasants in search of food, firewood, and building material. Once there was an elven settlement in the Westwood, but it was abandoned generations ago. No one knows what might live there now.
E: Lake Mauricia: Named for one of the first Duchesses who reigned in Coeur d'Ennui, this lake is famed for the sweetness of its waters and the tastiness of its fish. Lake Mauricia's trout are especially prized among wealthy diners in the city.
F: The Gildwood: An oldwood forest owned by Earl Isair Gildorath and used to stage elaborate hunting games for his guests' entertainment. Whatever mysteries lie in that wood, they are not spoken of beyond his estate.
G: Windhurst River: The main artery of waterborne trade down to the port city.
H: Irontooth Foothills: Low and gentle at first, then progressively rougher and more barren as they ascend toward the Irontooths, these hills contain iron and coal mines, as well as a few wishful gold mines that return more disappointment than ore. The foothills of the Irontooths are inhabited by goblins and orcs, who occasionally mount raids on the farmlands to the south.
I: Smokewood Peak: A stubby mountain whose blunt black peak is barely visible above the trees that surround it. Occasionally thin plumes of smoke drift from Smokewood Peak, diffusing over the forest. There are no records indicating volcanic activity from the peak, and it has never done anything more dramatic than issue sporadic smoke as long as anyone can recall.
J: Coeur d'Ennui: Home sweet home?
K: Finger Lake: Vaguely hand-shaped lake that supports a small fishing industry, though its fish are less prized than those of Lake Mauricia and less plentiful than those taken from the sea.
L: The Saltmire: Large saltwater swamp to the east of the city, generally considered inhospitable and treacherous. The few hunters and trappers brave enough to venture into the Saltmire claim that it is a nightmarish environ filled with trolls, stretches of sinking quagmire, and carnivorous plants, some of which are able to get up and follow their prey. Nonetheless, they continue to go back, and sometimes bring out rare and exotic prizes ranging from lush furs to curious, finely carved stone statues.
M: Taffleberry: One of the largest halfling towns near Coeur d'Ennui, Taffleberry is noted for its vineyards and the quality wines that they produce. The halflings maintain their own militia, which is mounted on an eclectic array of animals and generally considered the best display in any parade they join.
==Towns and Villages==
Towns have a stable population of 1000 or more persons. Most towns are lightly fortified, with simple earthen walls and possibly a fence of sharpened stakes around that. Towns near the northern border are more heavily fortified, due to their higher incidence of goblin and orc raids; those near large cities may have let their fortifications fall into disrepair. Towns located in nobles' landholdings usually have a small castle that serves as the seat of local government and a safe haven in times of danger.
Villages have a stable population of 50 to 1000 persons. Most villages are not fortified; instead, the inhabitants will try to defend individual buildings or flee to the nearest walled town if serious danger threatens. The seat of government in a village is usually the home of the headman or most respected resident, or else the local church.
This map does not begin to show all the villages that pepper the countryside. This list should be taken as a starting point, not as an exhaustive description of every hamlet and one-horse village between Coeur d'Ennui and Knight's Lake.
a: Whetfeld: Small town (~2000 people) that serves as a way station for travelers using the Lion's Road that runs west from Coeur d'Ennui. Whetfeld is noted for its comparatively large Temple of Phaera, which offers healing services not available in the smaller villages nearby.
b: Oyster Rock: Small coastal village that has been entirely abandoned as a result of continued depredations by murlocks coming up from the sea.
c: Danvaer Town: Medium-sized town (~4000 people) that is the ancestral home of the Danvaer noble family. Danvaer Castle overlooks the town from a nearby hill. The current Earl Danvaer is a great patron of the arts, regularly inviting famed painters and sculptors to spend a season as his honored guests. Among traveling minstrels and other performers, Danvaer Town has developed a reputation as a good place to stop over between cities.
d: Wavebreak: Small fishing town (~750 people) that also houses Earl Gildorath's private shipbuilding operation. Alchemists, shipbuilders, and eccentric inventors are frequently retained and given a free hand for experimentation here, especially when their projects would be too dangerous if attempted inside the city walls -- or when Gildorath wants to keep things secret.
e: [[Windymoor]]: Large town (~5000 people) dominated by the Whistling Castle, which was the ancestral home of the Counts of Windymoor until the line died out and the territory was assigned to Earl Isair Gildorath. The Whistling Castle is now used to house some of Gildorath's knights and men-at-arms. Rumor has it that the castle is haunted by the spirits of the departed Windymoors, who are displeased that their family holding has gone to an outsider.
f: Balnamoine: Medium-sized town (~2500 people) that serves as a waystation for travelers along the Windhurst Road paralleling the river of that name. Balnamoine is often used as an informal marker of the "last outpost of civilization" until a traveler nears Knight's Lake. It is noted for the skill of its woodcarvers and carpenters, who work with a wide variety of woods brought up the river from the south or harvested from the rocky hills of the Irontooths. Pieces of Balnamoine furniture are passed down as heirlooms.
-**See Also: [[BelledStag The Belled Stag]]**
g: Tarrybuck: Large town (~4500 people) that is the ancestral home of the Tarrybuck clan. The people of Tarrybuck have a reputation as being genial, good-natured sorts fond of horses and strong beer, of which the most popular is Tarrybuck Tan. The town has a modest population of dwarves and halflings, and for many years has featured a beer-tasting contest at its harvest festival, where dwarven and halfling brews compete against the traditional Tarrybuck recipes. So far, the humans have held their own -- a phenomenon rare enough that skeptical dwarves and halflings sometimes make pilgrimages to Tarrybuck to see (and taste!) this for themselves.
h: Burchill: Tiny fishing village (~100 people) on the shores of Finger Lake. The people of Burchill have strange superstitions about the lake by which they live, and have rebuffed attempts to establish a church in the village for years. Those who have visited the village say that divine magic does not always work in Burchill, but no one seems to know why.
i: [[Tannoril]]: Small fishing town (~1500 people) that also does a bustling business in shellfish and crustaceans. Tannoril is known to be a hotspot for smuggling activity and pirates off-loading cargo, as it's close enough to the Coeur for trade but sufficiently far away that there is less risk of interference by law enforcement.
j: Black Hill: Medium-sized town (~3000 people) that serves as a hub for trade between the southern farmlands and the northern mines' coal and iron ore. Recently, settlers trying to establish farms around Black Hill have begun digging up antiquated arrowheads and fragments of ancient-looking armor, as well as other odd artifacts.
k: Devils' Bowl: Small town (~1000 people) devoted to the mining trade. Named for the rocky, inhospitable land that surrounds it, Devils' Bowl is almost completely dependent on imported food to sustain its population, and often has to fight off goblins and orcs trying to steal that food. It is a hardscrabble mining town, rough around the edges and rife with con artists eager to sell off deeds to worthless gold mines, bounty hunters collecting goblin heads, and fugitives hoping the Duke's guard can't find them here.
l: Rook's Landing: Large town (~4000 people) surrounding Blackrook Castle, the former stronghold of the Earls of Blackrook. Rook's Landing is the last major town near the Saltmire, and also serves a waystation for those traveling along the Stone Road.
==Nobles and Landholdings in Coeur d'Ennui==
The sixteen landholdings shown on this map are all lords who owe at least nominal allegiance and pay taxes to the Duke of Coeur d'Ennui, who in turn owes allegiance and pays taxes to the reigning Prince of Calantyr in V'tavia. Each of the lords is obligated to maintain his own knights and men-at-arms, who are to be trained and equipped in the event that the Duke needs to call upon them, and each of those subordinates owns a smaller parcel of land within the noble's holding. As a general rule, lords on the northern border tend to see more actual fighting, so their soldiers are more experienced than those to the south, who rarely strap on arms and armor except for jousting matches.
The major noble families can be grouped into four loose political alliances. These are not absolute, and individual lords' allegiances will shift and sway depending on the issue, but more often than not, they tend to split along these lines.
Domains bordered in gold tend to ally with Earl Isair Gildorath.
Domains bordered in pink tend to ally with Lord Ealdor the Pious, and are often influenced by their spiritual advisors. This group sometimes fragments when the three goodly temples (or their individual advisors) are in disagreement about how best to proceed on an issue, but is otherwise the most stable coalition.
Domains bordered in purple are independents and choose their alliances based on the situation rather than any static loyalties.
The two domains bordered in orange, known as the Sea Lords, are most heavily influenced by commercial/trade concerns and tend to stake out whatever position best facilitates the smooth running of sea-based trade.
These are the major landholdings, listed by the currently reigning noble. Most characters would be at least vaguely familiar with the nobles' names and approximately where their domains lie in relation to Coeur d'Ennui, but the additional information would be available only to those characters who have Courtier's Grace or appropriate backgrounds.
1: Viscount of Bluvair: An accomplished knight and happily married man who supports a modest fighting force of dedicated Athyrian and Heliae knights in addition to his own soldiers, the Viscount of Bluvair is nevertheless noted for the number of bastards he's sown in the towns surrounding Bluvair Castle. He does his best to support his offspring in small ways, and has ushered many of them into the service of the goodly temples, but that remains a major blemish on the repute of an otherwise respected man.
2: Viscount Corsavin: Recently installed following his elder brother's conviction in absentia of high treason, the present Viscount Corsavin is a cautious, retiring man still trying to find his political footing in the wake of that scandal. The Corsavin title was previously an earldom, but it was demoted a rank after the treason conviction. Some observers doubt that the present Viscount could really have been as innocent and ignorant of his brother's activities as he claims. No one knows where the old Earl Corsavin went; he vanished before he could be tried, and has not resurfaced.
3: Countess Tigraine: A formidable and sharp-witted woman, the widowed Countess Tigraine nevertheless suffers the disadvantages of her gender in a male-dominated system. These disadvantages are increased by the fact that her lands lie near the goblin- and orc-infested Irontooth foothills, requiring her to act as a battle leader who can rally her troops in frequent conflicts. Countess Tigraine is too old to make a good marriage for herself at this stage, and she has indicated no desire to remarry. She has three marriageable daughters and no sons, and she will have to make shrewd matches for them to keep her family title strong.
4: Earl Alsmoor: Bluff and hearty, Earl Alsmoor is known as a great fighter but not such a great strategist; indeed, he's something of a dimwit. He is happiest leading small companies out against goblins and orcs, and leaves most of the day-to-day administration of the earldom to his chancellor.
5: Earl Wrymeade: A shrewd, bookish man and skilled financier whose marriage is more of a strategic alliance than a union of lovers. It is well known in courtly circles that Earl Wrymeade prefers the company of men and that the Countess Wrymeade hasn't been faithful to him in years, but the two of them make a strong working partnership despite their completely separate bedroom lives.
6: Viscount of Grenora: A weak and ineffectual leader, the current Viscount of Grenora spends most of his time lost in a stupor of dreamflower sap (the more potent source from which dreamflower dust is rendered). His castellan exercises all the real power in this domain, and is believed to keep the Viscount supplied with drugs to maintain that fact.
7: Earl Danvaer: Considered the greatest patron of the arts in Coeur d'Ennui, Earl Danvaer spends lavishly on paintings, sculptures, and more ephemeral performances, as well as the illusionists that can record those performances for later enjoyment. This hobby occasionally sinks him into debt, which Earl Gildorath buys off in exchange for continued political support.
8: Viscount Marayne: Called "the Bloody" by commoners, Viscount Marayne is a harsh, ascetic man who sometimes metes out punishment personally to lawbreakers caught in his domain, usurping the executioner's role. He has an intense and seemingly one-sided hatred for Earl Gildorath; most observers assume that this is because the Earl often flouts the law with no apparent consequence, but no one really knows.
9: Earl of Tarrybuck: Young, handsome, and beloved by his people, the new Earl Tarrybuck ascended to his familial seat only last year when his aged father passed. Despite being new to power, he has weathered his first year successfully and appears to have a bright future ahead. He is not yet married, and all over Calantyr, schemes are being plotted and love potions bought to win the young Earl's heart.
10: Viscount Poynshire: A round-faced and bald old man who was once renowned for his jolly good humor, Viscount Poynshire has been cast into deep mourning by the recent deaths of his two eldest children. The son was slain by trolls while riding with a patrol in the Saltmire, and the daughter died of blood poisoning midway through a difficult pregnancy. Only one younger son survives, and his health has never been good. Some say the Poynshire family has been fallen victim to the curse of the Blackrooks, the previous rulers of this domain, who were stripped of their titles and executed after being unmasked as worshipers of dark gods.
-**See Also: [[Wildershallows The Wildershallows]]**
11: Countess Morgael: Known as the "Ice Witch," the Countess Morgael is one of the rare few nobles to openly practice magic and one of the rare few women to rule in her own name. She is an accomplished elementalist, and it is rumored but has never been proved that she dabbles in darker arts as well. When the Edicts were initially passed, Countess Morgael let it be known that she would not enforce those laws in her domain; although she portrayed this as a principled stand against priestly meddling in her power, the effect was to make the Morgael earldom a safe haven for necromancers.
12: Viscount Arundais: Reputed to be intelligent but lazy and deeply dissolute, Viscount Arundais spends most of his time in the city, playing social gadfly at high-end functions and indulging his various appetites. His domain is run largely by his chancellor, a crusty old dwarf who has been in that position for the past four generations of the family and reportedly keeps his job just to indulge his spite against the entire human race by inflicting Arundais scions on them.
13: Earl of Westshore: Haughty and remote, the Earl of Westshore seldom leaves his stronghold, the Castle of the Crags. He has little to do with the Coeur's politics and prefers to be represented at the Ducal court by his eldest son, a prideful young man not well liked in the city.
14: Earl Gildorath: Wealthiest and most influential of the nobles in Coeur d'Ennui, Earl Isair Gildorath is well known as a Falcon adherent. He is an inveterate power player, whether in politics or seduction, and the Gildorath domains have tripled in size since he took the familial title. It is rumored that Earl Gildorath had his father killed to take power, and also that he keeps the assassin Whisper on retainer, but neither of these claims has ever been proven and no one seems eager to investigate them.
15: Earl of Ravenrose: The current Earl of Ravenrose, Ealdor the Pious, is the elder brother of Anselm of the White Rose, the leader of Athyria's Keep. Not surprisingly, the Earl is a strong supporter of that faith, although the other goodly temples are also well represented in Ravenrose lands. Ealdor, now in his late fifties, has never married and has never fathered any children, legitimate or otherwise, leaving the Ravenrose succession uncertain.
16: Earl of the Tidemarshes: An avid traveler in his youth, the Earl of the Tidemarshes has been trying energetically to improve his domain through foreign innovations and ideas. So far he has met with mixed success, although few doubt that the Tidemarshes could use some modernization. This domain is infamously the poorest, most backward, and least developed of the major landholdings, due in no small part to the uncultivable swamps and the sickness that emanates from them. If it were not for the sea trade, the Tidemarshes would be utterly destitute.
Back to **[[World]]**
====__The Duchy of the Coeur d'Ennui__====
{{image url="http://parthosrpg.com/gallery2/d/44-3/MidrangeV2.jpg"}}
>>==The Coeur=={{include CoeurMenu}}**[[http://www.parthosrpg.com/mboard/viewtopic.php?t=1616 Midrange Map Key]]**
Solid black lines show major trade roads.
Dotted purple lines show boundaries between nobles' landholdings.
Light green background indicates fertile farmland.
Yellow background indicates low-producing or non-arable scrub land.
Brown background (southern border only) indicates non-arable coast.
Each square on the graph marks about 5 miles. A fully equipped person walking overland can move 5 miles in an hour; a rider can move 10 miles per hour without straining the horse. Characters traveling along roads move slightly faster.
The furthest points on this map should be possible to reach within 3-4 days. More distant locations are off the map
==Major Features==
A: Split Tooth Mountain: A single mountain with a cloven peak, surrounded by low scrub hills that are known to be infested with bandits, orcs, and the occasional hill giant.
B: The Elven Wood: Largest of the oldwood forests that remain near Coeur d'Ennui, this wood is rumored to contain traces of the old sylvan magic that has weakened or fled the others. Peasants hesitate to venture too far beneath its trees, and there are tales of sprites, nymphs, and stranger things lurking in its depths. Elves are occasionally sighted in the forest, but these days the woodland seems too small to support a permanent city of the fair folk.
C: Teardrop Lake: Considered to be a cursed place, the lake's unnatural shape and the deathly, year-round coldness of its waters mark it as abnormal. People have spotted ice glistening on the lake's surface in midsummer, and the fish that live in Teardrop Lake are nothing like the fish found in other waters. No rivers or streams seem to feed the lake, yet its level never changes even in the worst droughts. Strange, ruined buildings line its western shore, built for creatures larger than men.
D: The Westwood: A large oldwood forest, its edges continually nibbled back by foraging peasants in search of food, firewood, and building material. Once there was an elven settlement in the Westwood, but it was abandoned generations ago. No one knows what might live there now.
E: Lake Mauricia: Named for one of the first Duchesses who reigned in Coeur d'Ennui, this lake is famed for the sweetness of its waters and the tastiness of its fish. Lake Mauricia's trout are especially prized among wealthy diners in the city.
F: The Gildwood: An oldwood forest owned by Earl Isair Gildorath and used to stage elaborate hunting games for his guests' entertainment. Whatever mysteries lie in that wood, they are not spoken of beyond his estate.
G: Windhurst River: The main artery of waterborne trade down to the port city.
H: Irontooth Foothills: Low and gentle at first, then progressively rougher and more barren as they ascend toward the Irontooths, these hills contain iron and coal mines, as well as a few wishful gold mines that return more disappointment than ore. The foothills of the Irontooths are inhabited by goblins and orcs, who occasionally mount raids on the farmlands to the south.
I: Smokewood Peak: A stubby mountain whose blunt black peak is barely visible above the trees that surround it. Occasionally thin plumes of smoke drift from Smokewood Peak, diffusing over the forest. There are no records indicating volcanic activity from the peak, and it has never done anything more dramatic than issue sporadic smoke as long as anyone can recall.
J: Coeur d'Ennui: Home sweet home?
K: Finger Lake: Vaguely hand-shaped lake that supports a small fishing industry, though its fish are less prized than those of Lake Mauricia and less plentiful than those taken from the sea.
L: The Saltmire: Large saltwater swamp to the east of the city, generally considered inhospitable and treacherous. The few hunters and trappers brave enough to venture into the Saltmire claim that it is a nightmarish environ filled with trolls, stretches of sinking quagmire, and carnivorous plants, some of which are able to get up and follow their prey. Nonetheless, they continue to go back, and sometimes bring out rare and exotic prizes ranging from lush furs to curious, finely carved stone statues.
M: Taffleberry: One of the largest halfling towns near Coeur d'Ennui, Taffleberry is noted for its vineyards and the quality wines that they produce. The halflings maintain their own militia, which is mounted on an eclectic array of animals and generally considered the best display in any parade they join.
==Towns and Villages==
Towns have a stable population of 1000 or more persons. Most towns are lightly fortified, with simple earthen walls and possibly a fence of sharpened stakes around that. Towns near the northern border are more heavily fortified, due to their higher incidence of goblin and orc raids; those near large cities may have let their fortifications fall into disrepair. Towns located in nobles' landholdings usually have a small castle that serves as the seat of local government and a safe haven in times of danger.
Villages have a stable population of 50 to 1000 persons. Most villages are not fortified; instead, the inhabitants will try to defend individual buildings or flee to the nearest walled town if serious danger threatens. The seat of government in a village is usually the home of the headman or most respected resident, or else the local church.
This map does not begin to show all the villages that pepper the countryside. This list should be taken as a starting point, not as an exhaustive description of every hamlet and one-horse village between Coeur d'Ennui and Knight's Lake.
a: Whetfeld: Small town (~2000 people) that serves as a way station for travelers using the Lion's Road that runs west from Coeur d'Ennui. Whetfeld is noted for its comparatively large Temple of Phaera, which offers healing services not available in the smaller villages nearby.
b: Oyster Rock: Small coastal village that has been entirely abandoned as a result of continued depredations by murlocks coming up from the sea.
c: Danvaer Town: Medium-sized town (~4000 people) that is the ancestral home of the Danvaer noble family. Danvaer Castle overlooks the town from a nearby hill. The current Earl Danvaer is a great patron of the arts, regularly inviting famed painters and sculptors to spend a season as his honored guests. Among traveling minstrels and other performers, Danvaer Town has developed a reputation as a good place to stop over between cities.
d: Wavebreak: Small fishing town (~750 people) that also houses Earl Gildorath's private shipbuilding operation. Alchemists, shipbuilders, and eccentric inventors are frequently retained and given a free hand for experimentation here, especially when their projects would be too dangerous if attempted inside the city walls -- or when Gildorath wants to keep things secret.
e: [[Windymoor]]: Large town (~5000 people) dominated by the Whistling Castle, which was the ancestral home of the Counts of Windymoor until the line died out and the territory was assigned to Earl Isair Gildorath. The Whistling Castle is now used to house some of Gildorath's knights and men-at-arms. Rumor has it that the castle is haunted by the spirits of the departed Windymoors, who are displeased that their family holding has gone to an outsider.
f: Balnamoine: Medium-sized town (~2500 people) that serves as a waystation for travelers along the Windhurst Road paralleling the river of that name. Balnamoine is often used as an informal marker of the "last outpost of civilization" until a traveler nears Knight's Lake. It is noted for the skill of its woodcarvers and carpenters, who work with a wide variety of woods brought up the river from the south or harvested from the rocky hills of the Irontooths. Pieces of Balnamoine furniture are passed down as heirlooms.
-**See Also: [[BelledStag The Belled Stag]]**
g: Tarrybuck: Large town (~4500 people) that is the ancestral home of the Tarrybuck clan. The people of Tarrybuck have a reputation as being genial, good-natured sorts fond of horses and strong beer, of which the most popular is Tarrybuck Tan. The town has a modest population of dwarves and halflings, and for many years has featured a beer-tasting contest at its harvest festival, where dwarven and halfling brews compete against the traditional Tarrybuck recipes. So far, the humans have held their own -- a phenomenon rare enough that skeptical dwarves and halflings sometimes make pilgrimages to Tarrybuck to see (and taste!) this for themselves.
h: Burchill: Tiny fishing village (~100 people) on the shores of Finger Lake. The people of Burchill have strange superstitions about the lake by which they live, and have rebuffed attempts to establish a church in the village for years. Those who have visited the village say that divine magic does not always work in Burchill, but no one seems to know why.
i: [[Tannoril]]: Small fishing town (~1500 people) that also does a bustling business in shellfish and crustaceans. Tannoril is known to be a hotspot for smuggling activity and pirates off-loading cargo, as it's close enough to the Coeur for trade but sufficiently far away that there is less risk of interference by law enforcement.
j: Black Hill: Medium-sized town (~3000 people) that serves as a hub for trade between the southern farmlands and the northern mines' coal and iron ore. Recently, settlers trying to establish farms around Black Hill have begun digging up antiquated arrowheads and fragments of ancient-looking armor, as well as other odd artifacts.
k: Devils' Bowl: Small town (~1000 people) devoted to the mining trade. Named for the rocky, inhospitable land that surrounds it, Devils' Bowl is almost completely dependent on imported food to sustain its population, and often has to fight off goblins and orcs trying to steal that food. It is a hardscrabble mining town, rough around the edges and rife with con artists eager to sell off deeds to worthless gold mines, bounty hunters collecting goblin heads, and fugitives hoping the Duke's guard can't find them here.
l: Rook's Landing: Large town (~4000 people) surrounding Blackrook Castle, the former stronghold of the Earls of Blackrook. Rook's Landing is the last major town near the Saltmire, and also serves a waystation for those traveling along the Stone Road.
==Nobles and Landholdings in Coeur d'Ennui==
The sixteen landholdings shown on this map are all lords who owe at least nominal allegiance and pay taxes to the Duke of Coeur d'Ennui, who in turn owes allegiance and pays taxes to the reigning Prince of Calantyr in V'tavia. Each of the lords is obligated to maintain his own knights and men-at-arms, who are to be trained and equipped in the event that the Duke needs to call upon them, and each of those subordinates owns a smaller parcel of land within the noble's holding. As a general rule, lords on the northern border tend to see more actual fighting, so their soldiers are more experienced than those to the south, who rarely strap on arms and armor except for jousting matches.
The major noble families can be grouped into four loose political alliances. These are not absolute, and individual lords' allegiances will shift and sway depending on the issue, but more often than not, they tend to split along these lines.
Domains bordered in gold tend to ally with Earl Isair Gildorath.
Domains bordered in pink tend to ally with Lord Ealdor the Pious, and are often influenced by their spiritual advisors. This group sometimes fragments when the three goodly temples (or their individual advisors) are in disagreement about how best to proceed on an issue, but is otherwise the most stable coalition.
Domains bordered in purple are independents and choose their alliances based on the situation rather than any static loyalties.
The two domains bordered in orange, known as the Sea Lords, are most heavily influenced by commercial/trade concerns and tend to stake out whatever position best facilitates the smooth running of sea-based trade.
These are the major landholdings, listed by the currently reigning noble. Most characters would be at least vaguely familiar with the nobles' names and approximately where their domains lie in relation to Coeur d'Ennui, but the additional information would be available only to those characters who have Courtier's Grace or appropriate backgrounds.
1: Viscount of Bluvair: An accomplished knight and happily married man who supports a modest fighting force of dedicated Athyrian and Heliae knights in addition to his own soldiers, the Viscount of Bluvair is nevertheless noted for the number of bastards he's sown in the towns surrounding Bluvair Castle. He does his best to support his offspring in small ways, and has ushered many of them into the service of the goodly temples, but that remains a major blemish on the repute of an otherwise respected man.
2: Viscount Corsavin: Recently installed following his elder brother's conviction in absentia of high treason, the present Viscount Corsavin is a cautious, retiring man still trying to find his political footing in the wake of that scandal. The Corsavin title was previously an earldom, but it was demoted a rank after the treason conviction. Some observers doubt that the present Viscount could really have been as innocent and ignorant of his brother's activities as he claims. No one knows where the old Earl Corsavin went; he vanished before he could be tried, and has not resurfaced.
3: Countess Tigraine: A formidable and sharp-witted woman, the widowed Countess Tigraine nevertheless suffers the disadvantages of her gender in a male-dominated system. These disadvantages are increased by the fact that her lands lie near the goblin- and orc-infested Irontooth foothills, requiring her to act as a battle leader who can rally her troops in frequent conflicts. Countess Tigraine is too old to make a good marriage for herself at this stage, and she has indicated no desire to remarry. She has three marriageable daughters and no sons, and she will have to make shrewd matches for them to keep her family title strong.
4: Earl Alsmoor: Bluff and hearty, Earl Alsmoor is known as a great fighter but not such a great strategist; indeed, he's something of a dimwit. He is happiest leading small companies out against goblins and orcs, and leaves most of the day-to-day administration of the earldom to his chancellor.
5: Earl Wrymeade: A shrewd, bookish man and skilled financier whose marriage is more of a strategic alliance than a union of lovers. It is well known in courtly circles that Earl Wrymeade prefers the company of men and that the Countess Wrymeade hasn't been faithful to him in years, but the two of them make a strong working partnership despite their completely separate bedroom lives.
6: Viscount of Grenora: A weak and ineffectual leader, the current Viscount of Grenora spends most of his time lost in a stupor of dreamflower sap (the more potent source from which dreamflower dust is rendered). His castellan exercises all the real power in this domain, and is believed to keep the Viscount supplied with drugs to maintain that fact.
7: Earl Danvaer: Considered the greatest patron of the arts in Coeur d'Ennui, Earl Danvaer spends lavishly on paintings, sculptures, and more ephemeral performances, as well as the illusionists that can record those performances for later enjoyment. This hobby occasionally sinks him into debt, which Earl Gildorath buys off in exchange for continued political support.
8: Viscount Marayne: Called "the Bloody" by commoners, Viscount Marayne is a harsh, ascetic man who sometimes metes out punishment personally to lawbreakers caught in his domain, usurping the executioner's role. He has an intense and seemingly one-sided hatred for Earl Gildorath; most observers assume that this is because the Earl often flouts the law with no apparent consequence, but no one really knows.
9: Earl of Tarrybuck: Young, handsome, and beloved by his people, the new Earl Tarrybuck ascended to his familial seat only last year when his aged father passed. Despite being new to power, he has weathered his first year successfully and appears to have a bright future ahead. He is not yet married, and all over Calantyr, schemes are being plotted and love potions bought to win the young Earl's heart.
10: Viscount Poynshire: A round-faced and bald old man who was once renowned for his jolly good humor, Viscount Poynshire has been cast into deep mourning by the recent deaths of his two eldest children. The son was slain by trolls while riding with a patrol in the Saltmire, and the daughter died of blood poisoning midway through a difficult pregnancy. Only one younger son survives, and his health has never been good. Some say the Poynshire family has been fallen victim to the curse of the Blackrooks, the previous rulers of this domain, who were stripped of their titles and executed after being unmasked as worshipers of dark gods.
-**See Also: [[Wildershallows The Wildershallows]]**
11: Countess Morgael: Known as the "Ice Witch," the Countess Morgael is one of the rare few nobles to openly practice magic and one of the rare few women to rule in her own name. She is an accomplished elementalist, and it is rumored but has never been proved that she dabbles in darker arts as well. When the Edicts were initially passed, Countess Morgael let it be known that she would not enforce those laws in her domain; although she portrayed this as a principled stand against priestly meddling in her power, the effect was to make the Morgael earldom a safe haven for necromancers.
12: Viscount Arundais: Reputed to be intelligent but lazy and deeply dissolute, Viscount Arundais spends most of his time in the city, playing social gadfly at high-end functions and indulging his various appetites. His domain is run largely by his chancellor, a crusty old dwarf who has been in that position for the past four generations of the family and reportedly keeps his job just to indulge his spite against the entire human race by inflicting Arundais scions on them.
13: Earl of Westshore: Haughty and remote, the Earl of Westshore seldom leaves his stronghold, the Castle of the Crags. He has little to do with the Coeur's politics and prefers to be represented at the Ducal court by his eldest son, a prideful young man not well liked in the city.
14: Earl Gildorath: Wealthiest and most influential of the nobles in Coeur d'Ennui, Earl Isair Gildorath is well known as a Falcon adherent. He is an inveterate power player, whether in politics or seduction, and the Gildorath domains have tripled in size since he took the familial title. It is rumored that Earl Gildorath had his father killed to take power, and also that he keeps the assassin Whisper on retainer, but neither of these claims has ever been proven and no one seems eager to investigate them.
15: Earl of Ravenrose: The current Earl of Ravenrose, Ealdor the Pious, is the elder brother of Anselm of the White Rose, the leader of Athyria's Keep. Not surprisingly, the Earl is a strong supporter of that faith, although the other goodly temples are also well represented in Ravenrose lands. Ealdor, now in his late fifties, has never married and has never fathered any children, legitimate or otherwise, leaving the Ravenrose succession uncertain.
16: Earl of the Tidemarshes: An avid traveler in his youth, the Earl of the Tidemarshes has been trying energetically to improve his domain through foreign innovations and ideas. So far he has met with mixed success, although few doubt that the Tidemarshes could use some modernization. This domain is infamously the poorest, most backward, and least developed of the major landholdings, due in no small part to the uncultivable swamps and the sickness that emanates from them. If it were not for the sea trade, the Tidemarshes would be utterly destitute.
