Free Palatinate of Dyrwood

Free Palatinate of Dyrwood
concept of local Humans
General
Type	Elective Monarchy
Adjective	Dyrwoodan
Demonym	Dyrwoodan
Products	Wyr wool gal glas timber Glanfathan deer hide tin lead iron copper
Demography
Population	1,900,000
Nomadic People	80 % Resident 20 % Transient
Urbanization	20 % Urban 80 % Rural
Races	40 % Thyrtan 30 % Sceltrfolk 10 % Hearth orlans 5 % Calbandra 5 % Aptapo 5 % Natlan 5% Other
Language(s)	Aedyran some Hylspeak Glanfathan Vailian
Main Faiths	Galawain Skaen Magran
People
Founder	Admeth Hadret
Leader(s)	Aevar Wolf-Grin(??- 2823 AI)
Locations
Headquarters	Defiance Bay
Locations	Dyrford Village Gilded Vale
Connections
Divisons	Knights of the Crucible
Related	The Dozen Dunryd Row House Doemenel
Symbols

The Free Palatinate of Dyrwood is an independent nation that contains the entirety of the Dyrwood.

History

Historically, it was once a colony and later a large, remote duchy of the Aedyr Empire. Led by their duke, Admeth Hadret, the people successfully fought for their independence over an excessively burdensome campaign to colonize the dangerous ruins of Eír Glanfath on behalf of the empire. After the Dyrwoodan war for independence, the Dyrwood officially stopped the Aedyr Empire's practice of exploring and plundering Eir Glanfath's sacred ruins, an act that had sparked previous wars. Later it fought the Saint's War.

Dyrwood along with its neighbor the Vailian Republics are the two leading nations in animancy research.

Society

Most residents of the Dyrwood are Aedyr humans, elves, and dwarves, but many are also culturally integrated orlans or children of Glanfathan elves. Although slavery is no longer legal in the Dyrwood, many Glanfathan orlans and a few elves still work/serve in a state that is little better than slavery. Because Dyrwoodans sneer at appeals to authority, locals who dislike the state of affairs often feel that they have to take care of it themselves or do nothing at all (usually the latter).

Dyrwoodans have a strong sense of nationalism due to the revolution, despite the fact that they are no longer, properly speaking, a palatinate (nor a duchy), they continue to refer to their home as a "Free Palatinate" out of pride. Despite having fought a war with the Aedyr Empire in the past, they are now trading partners and have maintained few grudges. Their one continued point of contention is exploration and colonization of Eír Glanfath, which Aedyr continues to push through official and unofficial means.

• Dyrwoodan virtues: independence, perseverance, sacrifice, communal hospitality, and vigilantism/feuding.
• Dyrwoodan vices: servility, shirking (responsibilities), selfishness, lingering (near Engwithan ruins), "facepainting" (pejorative term for sympathizing with/acting like a Glanfathan).

Government

Dyrwood is an elective monarchy lead by a Duc and before their independence they were ruled by a gréf of the Aedyr Empire appointed by the fercönyng. During the rebellion, the gréf followed the example of the Vailian Republics and declared himself the duc of the "free" palatinate. After his death during the closing of the revolution, the remaining erls of the Dyrwood elected his son to be the next duc.

Not all ducs of the Dyrwood have been from the Hadret family, but they are all elected by the seven hereditary erls.. Before the revolution there were 9 erldoms but two were dissolved after the revolution, leaving seven erldoms:

Name	Ruling Family	Heraldry	Area
Baelreach	Ethgowr	Party per fess embattled vert and argent, two estoiles or.	Defiance Bay, Forked vale, Dyrford and Baelreach.
Coldwater	Ungradr	Chequy bleu celeste and argent, a falcon perched gules.	from the Grasp in the West to Cold Morn in the East
The Grasp	Bademar		Geiran's Grasp, New Heomar, Gilded Vale and the ruins of Caed Nua.
Helsgate	Manhem	Party per chevron sable and gules, a dragon rampant sinister counter-charged.	Hel's Gate Citadel, Road's End and most of the land north of Pearlwood Bay, but excluding Gilded Vale.
Norwaech	Rafendr(pronunciation: RAH-ven-dur)	party per pale vert and azure overall a tower argent.	New Yarma, Godhammer Citadel (formerly Halgot Citadel), and the isolated Hangman’s Abbey.
Tenferths			Echo Bay, Fleetbreaker Castle, and King’s Lantern.
Ashfall
Dissolved erldoms
Yenwood	Gathbin	Party per fess dancetty gules and bleu celeste, an oak tree eradicated counter-charged.	Formerly encompassing Gilded Vale, Caed Nua and Maragans Fork
Cwynsrun

Military

There are quite a few military structures/fortified areas in the Dyrwood ranging from fortified cities to castles. The Dyrwood does not have a standing army, but many erls keep professional soldiers organized in groups the size of a platoon or (for high-conflict areas) a company even during peacetime. These professional armies serve their employers, who often are nobles (though sometimes simply wealthy individuals). Of course, all of those nobles pledge to serve the will of the duc. This does not always work in practice. When nobles levy armies in the Dyrwood, the only lawfully do so under a ducal order of conscription. The service that peasants pledge is to the duc and their country, not individual nobles. In practice, they always serve under regional nobles(typically erls and thayns).

The army is structured similar to real life armies, though there are a few differences. The "lieutenant" rank in the Dyrwood uses the title "steadman" but is functionally the same. And there are no subdivisions of steadman, sergeant, or corporal ranks.

Notable Locations

• Defiance Bay – capital and largest city of the Free Palatinate of Dyrwood. Located on the west coast, the port city is gateway to the riches of Eír Glanfath.
• Gilded Vale – grain producing area northwest of Defiance Bay.
• Dyrford Village – isolated town in the eastern part of the Dyrwood.
• Anslög's Compass – Named for a rocky stretch of land which theoretically resembles a sundial, this lagoon provides decent fishing for both brave Dyrwoodans and a local contingent of Xaurips. More than one ship has met its end upon the nearby reef, and debris occasionally washes ashore from the wreckage.
• New Heomar – a port city in the northern part of the Free Palatinate of Dyrwood.
• New Yarma – city near the border to Readceras.
• Mercy Vale – a village that was destroyed during the Saint's War.
• Caed Nua – a stronghold directly above the Endless Paths of Od Nua

Ingame Books

• The Doughty Burglar: A Dyrwoodan Farce, Part 1
• The Doughty Burglar: A Dyrwoodan Farce, Part 2
• The Dyrwood, Part 1: Early Colonial History
• The Dyrwood, Part 2: The Broken Stone War
• The Dyrwood, Part 3: The War of Black Trees and the Rise of Admeth Hadret
• The Dyrwood, Part 4: Hadret's Rebellion
• The Dyrwood, Part 5: The Proliferation of Animancy
• The Dyrwood, Part 6: The Saint's War and Waidwen's Legacy

Gallery

• 

  a Xaurip hut at Anslog's Compass.

• 

  A district of Defiance Bay

• 

  The watermill in Dyrford