The Ward

Cut off from the rest of the world, The Ward is a wild, untamed land where the only constants are the howling winds and the roiling seas. Its cities are built upon rocky cliffs, their halls and longhouses formed of stone and unique, indigenous wood resistant to breaking under high winds. The cities cling precariously to the edges of Zol itself. The people who live there are hardy, fierce, and no stranger to fighting against the elements or facing down the terrors of the sea.

The storms, known as Greatwinds that rage across the kingdom are a fearsome force, capable of destroying entire villages in a single night. But the people of The Ward’s cities are all to used to this hardship, and they have learned to weather the storms well. They build their homes to be strong and sturdy, with thick walls and roofs designed to withstand the strongest gales. All windows and doors face away from the North-East, opposite The Storm Horizon.

Despite the challenges they face, the people of the kingdom are proud and noble. They are skilled warriors, fierce and brave in battle, and they have a strong sense of community.

In addition to the storms, the people of The Ward must also contend with the dangers of the sea. The waters around their realm are home to all manner of monsters and beasts, including dragons, sea serpents, and giant krakens. But The Ward’s Vikings are fearless sailors, and they take to the seas with confidence, using their long ships to brave the waves and explore the unknown.

Overall, The Ward is a rough and rugged place, shaped by the forces of nature and the will of the gods. But despite the challenges they face, the people who live there are strong and resilient, bound together by their love of their land, honor, and their fierce determination to survive.

The Ward contains the cities of:

• Often - Home to Some of the Greatest Warriors of Zol
• Fike - The Driftwood City
• Hoss - The City of Melted Stone and Enslaved Dragons.

There is also the icy city of myth and rumor, Yoel Sundarum. However many believe it does not even exist.

The Ward is famously rocked by devastating storms on a weekly basis. These storms, thought to be sent by Adrathar, Father of the Wind are said to be of a divine purpose. Regardless of their intention, the winds would destroy any other part of The Three Corners in a single day. However The Ward is no normal kingdom. Millennia of destructive winds have shaped the kingdom, its people, and its wilderness into something nigh unbreakable.

The Storms themselves come on a semi regular basis. The slight irregularity of their arrival is not well understood, but their coming is heralded by individuals of a profession known as Stormcallers. This task was made easier when it was discovered that Luna, one of The Moons of Zol displayed regular patterns on its shifting surface when the storm is 3 days out. This allowed Stormcallers to better approximate the approach and greatly reduced the casualties of the profession.

The Storm is spotted as a large wave and massive cumulonimbus illuminated by lightning. At a distance, it appears as an unmoving wall of cloud. However its massive size is deceptive, as the storm moves at remarkable speed. This manifestation of weather is know as The Surge. The first challenge The Surge poses is the wave of sea water it pushes. The Ward has overcome this challenge by constructing several breakwaters along the coast that take the brunt of the impact. These must be rebuilt after every storm. When The Surge makes landfall it is accompanied by a loud sound similar to that of something breaking the sound barrier. The initial impact is strong enough to throw boulders the size of of large dogs.

To survive this, the people of The Ward reside in very strong structures specially made to deflect the wind. It is culturally recognized that when The Surge approaches, everyone ties down everything not bound to a foundation, and bunkers down inside. You could be fist fighting your worst enemy in the street, but when the winds come you table any conflict you have and get inside. Oddly, The Surge is not stopped by magical barriers. Many fool-hearty Casters have died thinking they could best the elements using common spells.

Plants have adapted unique methods of dealing with the high winds. Low grasses and bushes will fully recede into the ground when agitated. The needles of conifer trees will retract into their branches like cat claws while their trunks depend on their natural strength and and extremely deep taproots for stability.

Many animals have developed migratory behaviors, burrows, or armored exteriors to weather the storms. The beasts of The Ward are also a good indicator of coming storms within the span of a day or so.

After The Surge passes, The Cascade begins. An approximately 2 hour long heavy downpour of rain still has winds high enough to throw a person to the ground.

After The Cascade comes the Stormdew. A unique phenomena where the heavy rain fades to a light drizzle over the course of about 2 minutes and a substance called Stormdew falls with it. Stormdew is a blueish-white, malleable substance that feels almost like clay. It is thought to be organic in nature but no one knows exactly what it is. Surprisingly it can be eaten or used as medicine, and is used everywhere in The Ward’s culture. It has a maple-like taste to it in the first half of its shelf life, that turns to a more acidic citrus flavor in its later stages of fermentation. It has a shelf life of just over a week, which works well as the falling of fresh Stormdew tends to overlap with the final days of the last forage.

Stormdew is left all over The Ward in small deposits that look like little soft coins. It is foraged quickly and packed into jars once the rain begins to dry. It is used in baking, brewing and medicine. Sadly its short shelf life makes it very rare outside The Ward.

The odd natural world that exists only within The Ward is a largely continental climate, but parts do see warm weather on a good day. Its shy plants, and armored beasts cover its beautiful landscape in abundance vanishing like specters at the sign of a storm leaving a barren wasteland of destruction. Then, without fail, the glory of its winding rivers and streams, now full to their brims with fresh fallen water, attract the animals to their edges. The flora soon blossoms from its safe hiding places and the strange cycle begins again.

After The Awakening, the people of The Ward found themselves in the most dangerous of regions that would later become the kingdoms. When the unprepared people were rocked by the storm for the first time, their population was more than halved. The survivors found refuge in caves near the base of Stormwall. For many years they would struggle in flooding caves, slowly discovering methods of surviving out in the storm.

Eventually, structural and agricultural methods had become advanced enough to support life on the surface. Many migrated to the seaside to harvest the bountiful aquatic life, while some stayed behind living more primitive lives.

Six cities were constructed: Weldar, Vauz, Margith, Fike, Often, and Hoss. These cities prospered within the kingdoms unique way of life for many centauries. This was until the final years of The Dragon War drove many dragons to the North-East near The Ward. This gave the region a disproportionately high number of dragons.

The final years of The Dragon War were exceedingly difficult on The Ward. The Cities of Weldar, Vauz, and Margith were destroyed. The other cities likely would have been obliterated as well, if not for the kingdoms sole advantage: the storm. The Dragons were not able to predict the coming storm as well as the citizens of The Ward were. When this was discovered, the dragons were baited out to die in the destructive winds. When the dragons caught on, brave warriors would hide in the dragons’ lairs to ambush, or even capture them when they tried to take shelter from the storms. These tactics would eventually go on to win The Dragon War in favor of The Ward.

The people of The Ward have spent the majority of their history in isolation from the other kingdoms, only interacting with The Glassius Reach, Kapesh, and The Free Cities of Alderun on occasion for things like the exchange of goods and services. They have never gone to war with another kingdom, but this does not make them a stranger to warfare.

The cities of The Ward were originally all under their own rulership, each by an appointed throne called an Archon. These rulers all followed the leadership of Weldar’s ruler, the Grand Archon. This balance was not respected for long as many of the cities were too proud to respect the rule of another.

Skirmishes between cities began, both on land and at sea. They typically amounted to nothing more than an intense rivalry, but occasionally a city would have to surrender resources, or may even be captured for a short while. These bouts of conflict happened on and off until The Dragon War. To unite against their larger foe, the cities created a pact called The North Honor which disallowed fighting between the cities.

After The Dragon War there was peace for over a millennia. The kingdom never rebuilt its lost cities due to its slow way of life and lost resources, but its citizens were happy. Then in the year 3842, the city of Hoss attacked the city of Fike in an attempt to claim it, breaking The North Honor. This rekindled the conflicts between cities. Now Hoss exists in isolation, attempting to overthrow its allied neighbors Fike and Often.

The Archon of Hoss at the time, a Goliath man called Kereth Fjall, began to call himself the Grand Archon, the first time the title had been used in many generations. Apparently, his turning on his allies was sparked by a series of prophetic dreams that his lineage would rebuild The Ward into the most powerful kingdom in all of Zol. Even in modern days his descendants uphold his dream, and push the conflict further.

Often and Fike are bound by The North Honor, they fight justly and honorably to attempt to uphold the peace that used to be. Hoss however uses any means necessary to win a conflict, as they idealize true strength as tenacity and fortitude over honor. They even continue the old, dark method of enslaving lesser Dragons to aid them in combat.

Populated by mostly Humans and Goliaths, and a minority of various other races. The region is relatively accepting of outsiders as they don’t often get visitors. However 3 groups often face discrimination: Dragonborn, Kobolds and Warforged. Dragonborn and Kobolds are discriminated against due to their draconic blood. They are still allowed amongst society but many treat them quite poorly. Warforged are seen as sacrilegious due to their Iron Light physiology. They are usually killed or locked away in a dungeon.

The cities of the kingdom govern themselves and there is no singular ruler. Often and Fike are allied under The North Honor against their common foe of Fike. Within these cities, a ruler called an Archon sits upon the throne. Within Hoss leadership is passed down to heirs, but in the other cities it is voted upon.

The Kingdom is by no means wealthy compared to the others, but that has little effect on how they operate as The Ward is quite isolated. The common class structure of: Lords/Ladies, Common Folk, and Peasantry can be seen in its cities.

Each city governs its own laws.

Religion is the grand motivator of The Ward. Adrathar, Father of the Wind’s influence is ever present within the kingdom’s culture. The main ideals of the kingdom are that of strength, unity, and proving ones self to the kingdoms sole god, Adrathar.

Art and culture revolves heavily on the idea of communal gathering. Traditional dances, great feasts, competitions of strength, storytelling, and music are highly treasured. People will gather in great hall’s built to Adrathar for these events.

Many warriors, usually the young, will take on a pilgrimage to venture out into The Storm Isles, called The Enduring. The purpose of this journey is to prove themselves to Adrathar. One who takes this challenge is supposed to venture as far north east as they can, braving sea and storm. They are to push and push until their body gives out. Where the body stops, there is said to be a gift from Adrathar. This gift may be something simple like a stone or piece of driftwood that will bring their family great prosperity, but some have even found lost magical weapons. Then there are the rare few who are made Stormblessed. These individuals are said to be approached by Adrathar himself within a storm and given a gift of power. These gifts manifest as magical abilities of varying power. Some have received great strength or speed, sometimes even wonderous things like flight or the power to control lightning.

Stormblessed are extremely rare and there is usually only one or two per generation. When one is gifted these powers they are accompanied by ever present marks on the body that look like war paint.

Those who follow in Adrathar say he sends the storms to prepare his people for what is to come. This ominous verse is repeated all throughout The Ward’s culture. Non-believers think this is an engrained doctrine used by Adrathar to manipulate his people.

The Ward also disallows the usage of Iron Light. There are many layers to this dogma, but the followers of Adrathar see it as a bastardization of sacred symbols. Usage of Apparatum is a crime within The Ward. The runes of the Ferric Alphabet can instead be seen inscribed decoratively all over weaponry, clothing, art, vessels, and architecture. The Ward’s culture sees these manifestations of magic as holy, and not for the meddling of mortal hands.

Much education and apprenticeship within The Ward is conducted via private tutelage. Mentors will either accept payment for their services, or will seek out pupils and offer them teaching. It is a great honor to be offered such a gift and is almost never turned down. The Ward is not academically gifted compared to much of the other kingdoms, but there are a small handful of academics who are incredibly well accredited.

There is one academic institution within The Ward, The College of Hoss. It is dwarfed compared to The University, The Kybis Assembly, and Kerketh Academy. However it does offer some very unique teachings. The college is a dark any mysterious place located on the very edge of The Three Corners. It rarely takes on students, and is known to be almost a sister-school to The Kybis Assembly.

On good terms with its nearby kingdoms, The Ward is currently pressured only by its internal struggle between. Hoss and its rival allied cities of Often and Fike.

The kingdom has a considerably small amount of fighting troops compared to the rest of the world, but it probably has the most capable fighters. Fortunately for The Ward its isolation and storms makes them undesirable for conquest. It has by far the best navy, but shares only a small connection of sea with The Free Cities of Alderun. However some brave merchants will carry ships across the lands to The Narrow Sea to make trades with The Glassius Reach.

Currently, the cities are undergoing a civil war. However tacticians and politician’s believe that if they were to face an outside threat that the cities would unite against it.

The Ward borders the kingdom of:

• The Free Cities of Alderun

And also borders the wilds of:

• The Korus Arctic
• The Witchlands

It also contains the mountain range of:

• Stormwall

Its coast lies upon the edge of: The North Sea