Heortland

The kingdom of Heortland is located in the magical world of Glorantha, on the southern coast of its northern continent Genertela. It is one of six major sub-kingdoms of the Holy Country, a theocracy led by an immortal Godking.

Description

Inhabitants

The human population concentrates on the lowland plateau, and thins out the further up the mountains or into Dragon Pass one gets.

Culture:

There were, and are, numerous outside influences, some of which helped set Heortland apart. Most notable are the general Kethaelan culture, with particular influences from the other Sixths, and the western culture of the Malkioni. The cities of Heortland have attracted immigrants (craftspeople and merchants) from all over Kethaela, who brought their believes and their customs with them. This has made the cities almost cosmopolitan centres within a mostly Orlanthi countryside.

Heortland has more or less direct borders to three of the other Sixths. To the south lies God Forgot, a strange atheist culture in the middle of theist Genertela. They adopted Western influences early in their history when they accepted a stray group of refugees from Brithos (the now lost home-country of western culture, the former Kingdom of Logic) as their leaders, along with their potent sorcery. The Theyalan people of God Forgot adopted the Brithini caste system. In the Second Age, the Jrusteli merchant-conquerors found this culture a fertile ground for their new philosophies, and when they constructed a great machine to rival the gods of the surrounding peoples, many adherents of that special philosophy found their way into that land. Finally, after the Closing of the Oceans, merchant-knights from Ralios opened an overland trade route between Kethaela and the West, and many of them settled in the border region between the Orlanthi kingdom of Heortland and God Forgot.

That border region has always been contested between Heortland and God Forgot. Neither side ever rescinded their claims on the land between the Martof River and the coast, around Mt. Passant, and it changed its owner many times. However, after the Heortland Civil War the kingdom of Heortland succeeded to conquer all of that land around 1370 and managed to keep it until the onset of the Hero Wars. Nonetheless there is a definitely God Forgot influence in this part of the kingdom, which shows in architecture, agriculture, language, and creed.

To the north of Heortland lies the troll-inhabited Sixth of the Holy Country, the Shadow Plateau and the adjoining Haunted Lands (IMG the lands north of the Dammed Marsh, but south of the Crossline). There the interaction between trolls and Orlanthi humans produced the Kitori tribe, which consists of both trolls and humans who share their darkness believes. Other Orlanthi inhabitants of that region have resisted the darkness influences, but some peculiar customs there are certainly related to the long period of Kitori dominance in those parts.

Off the western shore of Heortland lies the Rightarm Island archipelago, which is inhabited by human fisherfolk and Ludoch merpeople. The human fisherfolk dominate the Mirrorsea Bay, and have settled all around it, including the shores of Heortland. They have given coastal Heortland a maritime orientation, and their language has influence the coastal dialect strongly.

While Esrolia is no direct neighbour of Heortland, the sheer number of its population has made Esrolians quite common among the foreigners who settled in the kingdom. Their female-dominated culture prefers to keep low profile in the comparatively patriarchalic Heortland, and tends to blend in quite well in most other matters. Of all the Sixths, only Caladraland fails to have a greater cultural impact on Heortland.

The perhaps most important outside influence on Heortland is the impact of the Western culture. Already during the Second Age the Western Empire of Sea and Land managed to erect three cities in Kethaela, one of these between Esrolia and Heortland. Their God Learners investigated (and to some extent changed) the religions and myths of the native peoples, but except in the Machine experiment, did not try to impose Western philosophy on them. Their demise in Kethaela came when the Machine experiment started to rival the gods, and was wiped out by a coalition of all the religions of the region. The curse of the Closing less than a hundred years later prevented them from returning in strength.

After the fall of the God Learners, Ralios emerged as the first centre of Western culture in the Third Age. The nobility of the Safelstran city-states engaged strongly in merchant ventures into the east, and established a chain of castles through the savage lands of central Maniria to the riches of Kethaela.

Languages:

Heortlander is closely related to the other Kethaelan languages. The transition to the dialects spoken in North Esrolia is gliding. Caladrian and God Forgot use many non-Theyalan loan words, from Firespeech in Caladraland, and from Old Western in God Forgot. Islander is quite similar.

Since Heortland used to represent Storm in the elemental scheme of things in Kethaela, it has a lot more of - mostly archaic - terms from Stormspeech, the language still spoken by the Wind Children of the Storm Mountains, compared to other Manirian Theyalan languages. However, cultural exchange often starts with linguistic exchange, and there are numerous dialects which have developed in secluded areas or have adopted different influences.

The various dialects spoken in the Volsaxi Valley tend to use archaic Stormspeech expressions more often than most other dialects. Volsaxi are also accused of speaking a broad accent, and to speak (and think) slowly.

The Kitori dialect has taken in more Darktongue elements than any other Orlanthi language. Kitori speakers tend to sound gruff, use much variation in volume, and have a habit of inserting sometimes meaningless, sometimes important grunts, similar to trolls darksensing while they speak.

The Karse (the lowland, and barony, along the lower Marzeel Valley) speaks a creole similar to urban Kethaelan, with many Esrolian and Islander infuences.

The Coastal Flats speak a dialect of either Islander or Heortlander with strong influences of the other language. Speakers of this dialect often pronounce their language nasally. Sentence melody goes in calm waves.

The Plateau dwellers mostly speak the Hendriki dialect, considered the most common form of Heortlander. This dialect betrays its mountain origins now and then, and has taken in many Western expressions, and some Western turns of grammar.

The foothills have many local dialects, which can be categorized along the River valleys, at some rivers all the way to the river mouth.

The southern Plateau around Mt. Passant has taken in even more Western than the Hendriki dialect, owing to many God Forgot natives and Ralian immigrants.

The Border Marches in southwestern Prax have few own dialects. Instead, the scattered settlers hang on to the dialects they spoke when entering the land, or if they have been around for longer, a jargon borrowed from the mercenary companies stationed at Knight Fort. They speak with a throaty, often hard to understand accent. The Oasis people who live among them have a totally different language, and neither Praxian Beast Riders nor Pol Joni cattle bastards have much peaceful contact with the borderers. Some families still speak some Ralian language at home.

Gouvernment:

Since the Aeolian Church's rise to pre-eminence among the Hendriki nobility and upper class, the kingdom has been organised in western style feudal territories. Three duchies form the administrative backbone of the kingdom, roughly separated by the Syphon River and the Martof River. They are subdivided into shires lead by ealdormen in lowland rural areas, eorls in the city shires, and powerful clan lairds (comparable in power to tribal chieftains in Sartar) in the foothills. The shires, at least in the lowland, are subdivided into hundreds, districts of one hundred hides. In the foothills this subdivision is neglected, and organisation is dictated by the terrain.

The nobility is mostly hereditary, but there are no generally accepted rules for inheritance, and besides noble heritage a candidate for ealdormanship or similar posts needs the approval of the folkmoot, even in Hendriki lands. Only in the duchy of Mt. Passant inheritance sometimes overcomes acceptance.

Taxes have taken over from the king's feorm, back when the king did not have a permanent seat but travelled from clan to clan with his companions and household, and was fed and supported by the people. Nowadays the king's reeves collect the amount necessary to support the imaginary royal train, in addition to the tithes to the local nobility and the temples.

Religion:

There is a strong western influence in Heortland, which manifests in several ways: the native henotheist Aeolian Church of Heortland, and various other Malkioni faiths held onto by more or less recent immigrants. Strongest among these are the Rokari, whose bishop sits in Nochet.

The Aeolian Church of Heortland is a hybrid of Orlanth worship and Malkionism. The church fathers claim that their creed had been brought to Heortland by Arkat and the Lightbringers who had returned with the Liberator. The Knowing Companion of Harmast, leader of the lightbringers, had taken the nom-de-guerre Aeol when he studied with the wizards accompanying Arkat in Ralios, and he was following a revelation from Malkion that Orlanth was the Creator reborn into the world.

Adherents of the Aeolian faith worship Orlanth and his associates as well as Malkion, Hrestol and a number of Malkioni saints. They say that all worship of these divine or saintly beings is worship to the Creator, and Creation. They have access to the divine magics of Orlanth, but they use the wizardrous arts instead of the common magic which is taught by the traditional temples.

The church is strongest among the Hendriki tribe and the urban citizens of Heortland. It shares the holy places with the traditional Orlanthi religion in the cities as well as on the flat part of the Heortland plateau. Among the hill clans the church is practically unknown, and practitioners of the wizardrous arts are eyed with some suspicion, though no outright fear. Even there, the occasional worshipper of Orlanth the Wizard can be found as a subcult of traditional Orlanth worship.

The duchy of Mt. Passant sports more immigrants from the West than the rest of Heortland. Most of them came from Ralios during the first decades of the Second Age, as Trader Princes. Many have since joined the Aeolian Church of Heortland, but there still are adherents of other Malkioni sects, both Stygian and Old Hrestoli. When Seshnela had come to power again after the battle of the Asgolan Fields, the newly fangled Rokari faith was spread over all the conquered lands in Ralios, and beyond where the ambitious Seshnegi trader families established contacts among the Ralian Trader Princes. One of the first institutions to be occupied by a Rokari was the ancient bishopric of Nochet, previously held by the Old Hrestoli faith.

The duchy also has a significant number of God Forgot natives who tend to live silently in villages of their own, procure their lords with the due taxes and feudal support, but follow their rigid caste system among themselves. Lacking rulers, and for the most part lacking sorcerers and warriors as well, they cause little trouble unless forced to participate in the ruler's religious rites. Most feudal lords learn this lesson quickly, and enjoy their placid followers, tolerating the strange methods they use in everything they begin.

The Kitori tribe in the north of Heortland is unnique in that it consists of both humans and trolls. The Kitori humans worship gods of Darkness - foremost Argan Argar and Zorak Zoran - besides Orlanthi deities. They have special myths of friendship between Orlanth and the troll gods unknown to most other Orlanthi. Once the dominating tribe of the north, they now have been forced into the shelter of the Troll Woods by an alliance of sun worshippers and Volsaxi tribes.

The cities are quite cosmopolitan, and have holy places to cults and deities not normally found in Heortland. Often there are small enclaves of immigrants in the nth generation who manage to keep up a small temple or shrine where they worship the deities of their home country.

Interest Groups in Heortland The Lanbrili (Mockers in Karse) This thieves' cult is quite widespread in southern Genertela, but it is especially strong in urban Kethaelan society. The Lanbrili in Heortland are criminals and outside of the common society, but there they also perform a valuable service to the society: they are foremost in keeping the criminal activities free of chaotic control. The enmity between Lanbril and Krarsht is strongest in Heortland, where both cults claim to have their dominance. The Lanbrili-led criminals will engage in band wars against Krarshti-led gangs or even "families" filling the sewers and rivers with more corpses than any gouvernment clean-ups of chaos nests in the cities. This activity has made the Heortland Lanbrili quite patriotic, since they can count on support of the populace against their arch-enemy. They never cooperated with either Rokari or Lunar occupators, but they held their fight against the official authorities in check, too. The Krarshti Network This is probably the largest criminal organisation in Heortland, with franchises in protection rackets, assassination, smuggling, etc. The network aims for control of public affairs rather than to propagate chaos worship, and might be regarded as a part of general Heortland society. Their assassins are employed by the local nobility and merchants when an assassination seems opportune and no other bidders or methods are available. The Krarshti have competition and enemies on any single field of their activities. Thieving and protection rackets are rivaled by both Lanbrili rings and independent bands; smuggling is performed even by "honest" merchant cartels, but also by the Goldgotti and other specialised organisations including some thieves rings; the assassination market is shared and contested among others with Humakti duelists who use different methods to achieve similar ends, Vadeli or God Forgot sorcerers with exotic means, again thieves rings with less scrupulous attitudes; street robbery is rivaled by political outlaws as well as unspecific or Gagarthi robbers, or (somewhat renegade) Humakti highwaymen; and the espionage services are rivals with all other information gatherers and brokers. The Krarshti network also has competition with chaotic groups, some of which are actively fought. Cacodemon covens are sometimes tolerated or even allied, but as often they are persecuted when they hinder more mundane operations. Thanatari assassinations or knowledge thefts sometimes step on the toes of local lips or jaws and can cause inter-chaos strife. At other times they might even be hired... The Scorpionman Queendom of Jab is a customer rather than an ally. Other chaos in rural regions is mostly ignored, but sometimes the (human, or at least human appearing) Krarshti are even hired to assassinate local chaos chieftains. Of all other cults and organisations, the Lanbril rings are the most active enemies of the Krarshti network. They try to upset Krarshti protection rackets (and vice versa), and generally fight the urban organisations of the network whenever they are aware of Krarsht connections. In rural regions, however, the Lanbril rings or solitary Lanbrili are less frequent than the followers of the Gaping Maw, and the Network rules a lot of the ordinary criminal activities there. The Rokari Mercenaries This group's activities are quite recent. Sir Richard the Tigerhearted was the leader of the first larger company of Rokari knights (and sergeants). He arrived in 1615 and was commissioned to man and hold Knight Fort, a great castle from an earlier age located at an oasis which had been repaired and expanded by the Heortland kings of the late 14th century in order to provide a protection for the ambitious settlers on the Praxian border. The Fort (I use the plan of Le Krak Des Chevaliers, for instance in the Palladium "Compendium of Weapons, Armour & Castles" p.193) served as the base of a larger mounted force able to hunt down any raiding party short of a full tribe's invasion. The castle itself was built to withstand any size of invasion. In the early stage of the Zistorite wars during the 2nd Age the defenders held off a Zistorite siege (using the most advanced siege equipment short of Mostali tools) for five years until the was lifted upon the arrival of a large force of Golden Horse mercenaries. Most of the damages the 14th century kings had to repair stemmed from this siege, since the war depopulated the Kethaelan settlements on the Praxian border and left them to the Oasis People. Richard's company replaced a large company made up of Volsaxi and exile Sartarite mercenaries led by Brian of the Volsaxi who had held this fort since 1610 or so. While the Sartarite and Volsaxi noble cavalry - officially "supporting" both Heortland and Manirian Trader Prince knights - had been adequate at holding off nomad raiders, the fully armoured Rokari knights had been able to charge through a bison charge, and turned the domination of the marches in a series of a few skirmishes and two minor battles, gaining the respect of the animal nomads. This success promoted Richard's original company to the capital at Durengard, but brought in replacements from the West. The service in Heortland has become a post associated with caste advancement among the more ambitious Rokari sergeants. While Sir Richard's company still is mainly composed of hereditary knights or even high nobility, those companies succeeding him at Knight Fort have an increasing number of spurious knighthoods within their ranks (see also MOB's Wyrm's Hold scenario in Tales 13 for such occurrances). With the war in Ralios becoming more serious (i.e. more decisive, with higher losses and less plunder), the more prudent mercenary knight-captains have begun to regard Maniria and Heortland as a safer way to prosperity, and filtered into the Holy Country on Sir Richard's trail. Depending on the time your campaign is set, the Rokari fulfil one of three roles:  prior to Dark Season 1617: Rokari knights become increasingly popular with the more westernized nobles of Heortland, who make it a fashion to have real Rokari knights among their followers, and also start to equip their native knights with Seshnegi style equipment. Richard plots to gain more and more influence at the court in Durengard. By end of 1616 he is named Marshal of Heortland, an office he uses shrewdly during the civil war of 1617. Dark Season 1617 to Earth Season 1620: The Rokari knights and nobles rule Heortland, which they have christened the "Kingdom of Malkonwal" (the holy country of their own religion). All over Heortland, the Rokari leaders are put into offices and gain fiefs from native families falling into disgrace. However, there grows dissense between the leaders of the Rokari. Sir Mularik Ironeye, at first Sherriff, then Duke of Jansholm, becomes an active supporter of iconoclasm against the Aeolian churches (in order to raid the Orlanthi temple ornaments, which make quite valuable booty); Sir Gerard de Montanpein becomes Duke of Mt. Passant through King Richard, but he also marries the former duke's daughter, mostly for love, but partly in an attempt to redeem some of the wrongs done in the civil war; King Richard himself finds his role as the monarch complicated by the open antipathy between his most valued followers. The Bishop of Nochet, Vancelain du Tumerine, both supports the king and makes difficulties for him with his claims on church land. "Malkonwal" suffers about the same amount of internal disorder as does the kingdom of Seshnela, but with a subject populace of a different culture, the kingdom is destabilized a lot more than the motherland. Earth Season 1620 and later: After the Lunar victory over Richard's army, most Rokari nobles lose their fiefs and titles. A few persist, mostly in the south between the God Forgot expansion and the Lunar gouvernment, or in the Praxian Marches where they enjoy considerable popularity. Most others revert to the life of landless adventurers they had led before Richard's takeover, and remain to serve as mercenaries for whoever will hire them. The Lunar military gouvernors tolerate them as long as they are properly licensed. The natives harbour grudges against them, but rarely become powerful enough to vent these. After Brians reappearance from the siege of Whitewall, some Rokari mercenary companies find service with the Volsaxi king (see the so-called "Tigerhearts" under Sir Carvon in RQA #4, which have been redefined for my Glorantha), and later join Prince Argrath Dragonspear in his Dragon Pass campaigns. Most prominent of these are Sir Narib's company (Sir Narib being a Pithdaran noble?) and Baron Sanuel (Sanuel being of Orlanthi origin). The Goldgotti (Issaries) (Goldgotti is rumoured to be the by-name of their leader which has been adopted by a lot of his followers) Goldgotti was a Manirian Trader Prince whose caravan guards became an elite unit in Prince Argrath's Free Army. He had come to power and prosperity through his organisation of smugglers and traders who scoured the land for valuables, and who made a good fortune out of weapon sales to Sartarite rebels and later Heortland resistance. They also cooperated in the vitalia scheme which supported the besieged city of Whitewall. See RQ Adventures #4 for some ideas about the Goldgotti. The Guilds While these are several separate organisations, they have been known to act in cooperation at most times. The crafts have separate guilds in the large cities, while in smaller cities several crafts share one organisation. The merchants have cartels rather than guilds, but these cartels tend to unite against pressure on their mercantyle interests, even if they support different political or religious factions. Generally the guilds are tolerant towards acceptable religions, including even God Forgot atheism or strict Rokari monotheism, but they draw a line at the Vadeli ways, Praxian or troll (only, excepting Argan Argar) cults, or open chaos worship. Under Lunar gouvernment, Lunar religions were considered acceptable, although the range of acception varied from resentful admission to open support. The Seven Mothers priesthood was careful not to stress the chaotic aspects of the religion too openly, and neither did the Etyries cultists. The Wolf Pirates They don't really have an organisation in Heortland, but they tend to appear in the country at most inconvenient times which suggest that they have informants there. To them, Heortland is one of the tougher (but lucrative) places to raid, and a good training ground for raw recruits to weed out the weak. Sometimes they visit the free ports of Karse or Refuge to trade, or spend their plunder on pleasures, and a few times they disguised themselves as traders and entered port cities of the kingdom of Heortland, be it on raid, spy, or trade missions. When they appear as raiders, they are interested in slaves (or hostages for ransom) as much as in valuables, lifestock and tools. Their rough-and-tumble community on the Three Step Isles demands constant replacement for worn-out slaves or maids... The Iron Fist This is an organisation of ultra-conservative Orlanthi who want to free Heortland's society from all foreign taints, be they Esrolite effeminate ways (they even bear down hard on more foppish Humakti duelists), rampant Malkionism in the Aeolian Church (or sometimes worse, sometimes too alien to be fought at once, God Forgot or the Rokari), or increasing influence from the Mirrorsea folk in the ports. (They dislike the Lunars, too, but too few have been causing trouble to figure greatly among their targets.) The Fists are quite xenophobic, and suspicious of the Vadeli (the Karse enclave, situated next to the shipyards across the rivulet, has been raided already once in 1617, with serious casualties on both sides), Wolf Pirates (who, when they come to Karse in peace, can bet on getting into a raucous brawl with some Fists), Teshnan or other eastern Genertelan traders, Kitori, Sun Domers, Praxians, Caladrians, Handrans, Newcoasters, Nolosites, "they come, we name them". Once they have overcome their initial suspicion, the Fists get along quite well with exile Sartarites who speak Manirian Theyalan (Heortlander), but they despise Tarshite-descended Orlanthi. The Fist is strongest in the cities, where the traditional Orlanthi form only one group of many, or even a minority. The Aeolian Church is somewhat worried about their activities, but has refrained from persecuting them so far in order to avoid open religious war. Karse has one of the strongest Iron Fist groups, which plots to take control over the city, and then to convert the neighbouring Heortland. The Marcher Barons This group of land-holding minor nobles is a hardened community of individualists who cooperate with each other only against the outside threat of Praxian raiders or invaders. They respect each other's power and cunning, but that doesn't keep them from bickering or pursuing long-standing vendettas. This attitude has made them less a part of the kingdom of Heortland than most other regions (except the Volsaxi confederation). While they are grateful for the kingdom presence in Knight Fort, they rarely intercede on behalf of one political party or the other in the motherland. They are quite proud of their self-sufficient holdings, even if this makes them look hardly different from Pol Joni nomads at times. (For more information, compare Martin Crim's article on the Praxian Oases on the digest or the text in Tales 14, p.28. Martin Laurie has some consistent and solid ideas about the northern Marcher Baron area, involving a Refuge-based mercenary company.)  The Warden's Company A semi-permanent military organisation west of Larnste's Footprint, composed of permanent units of Uroxi berserks, Humakti centuries, and the Warden's household troops (current Warden of the Footprint Marches is Korlaman of the Orshanti), plus numerous part-time members from the farmer and village populace of the Syphon Valley and surroundings. These part-time members are regularly called into the militia - in fact it is part of their cult time requirement. Being part of the active militia doesn't necessarily stop them from plowing or harvesting on their own steads, but they have to do so armed, armour ready, and ready to leave for any chaotic outbreak. Thankfully the great scorpionman spawning from the Queendom of Jab takes place in Dark Season, when all field work is done... The Knights of St. Elmal This fighting order of the Aeolian Church is native to Jansholm. 24 chosen cnihts and their captain form an elite to fight back the trolls and trollfriends from the Troll Woods, and once also the Marzeel Valley. They are very elitist, and take only proven cnihts of noble birth as their squires. The cnihts follow strict vows of chastity and noble conduct. They learn the wizardous arts during squirehood and specialize in light magics.

People of Note:

Aelbreht, Bishop of Jansholm

Ashart Tidebiter

Arnbrod Grimaxe, Rune Lord of the Stonewood temple to Stormbull

Brian of the Volsaxi

Eadwulf Carlmansson, Duke of Jansholm

Fazzur Wideread, Gouvernor-General of the Lunar Provincial Army

Sir Feoric, Captain of the Knights of St. Elmal

Gagix Twobarb, Scorpion-Queen of the Foulblood Forest

Sir Gerard de Montanpein, Lieutenant of Sir Richard's Mercenary Company

Gwydion of Sklar, Archbishop of the Aeolian Church of Heortland

Harrek the Berserk

Kallyr Starbrow

Korlaman Highbrow of the Orshanti, Warden of the Stonewood Marches

Marro, Eorl of March and Champion of Durengard, Premier of Heortland

Owain, King of Heortland

Pharaoh

Sir Richard the Tigerhearted

Baron Sanuel

Vancelain du Tumerine, Rokari Bishop of Nochet

Vingkar the Kolating

Wolfred, Ealdorman of Jaransbyrig

History:

The Hendriki were allied with the Only Old One, but Belintar undertook a great heroic quest to draw them on his side. He succeeded with the help of the Aeolian Church of Heortland, then just a wizardrous subcult of Orlanth, and gained Hendriki help or at least neutrality in his struggle with the Only Old One. The Hendriki, whose new king was a staunch supporter of the Aeolian Church and a close ally of the Wenelian Merchant Princes, started a campaign to unify all the tribes under his personal kingship, and he succeeded to subdue the other three tribes by 1325, sending waves of refugess north into Dragon Pass. His son and successor continued his expansion policies and conquered the God Forgot-held southern part of the Plateau around Mt. Passant with his mounted cnihts. This time the refugees went both north and east, into the Praxian Marches. Refuge was taken and became the seat of his younger son.

Not all dissidents fled as far as untamed Dragon Pass. One particular group moved into the Karse, then a thinly settled stretch of land, and received it as an independent barony directly from the Pharaoh. Many of their subjects were fisherfolk. After they had begun work on a citadel and palisade, many craftspeople from Nochet saw an opportunity there and moved into the new city, whose walls imitated the great walls of Nochet. Other dissidents flocked to Refuge and beyond, joining some of the more enterprising or desperate settlers from Wenelia in the Praxian Marches.

Once the Hendriki kings had established their supremacy  the Aeolian Church was accepted as a state-bearing force. Slowly the traditional Orlanthi religion of the Hendriki was integrated as a different, less enlightened form of worship in the cities and the Aeolian-dominated rural areas, whereas in the foothills and traditionalist rural areas of the plateau the Aeolian wizards were accepted into the temples as priests of an associate cult. The hardliner conversion course of the church gave way for a more tolerant co-existence, much to the benefit of the kingdom.

The kingdom became involved in the rivalries of the Sixths and the lesser independents of the Holy Country, and much of the energy which had gone into the unification and pacification of the kingdom was transferred into the evolving dynamics of the internal rivalries of the Holy Country. Several "non-hereditary" (i.e. not permanently assigned to representatives of the Sixths) offices in the Pharaonic state were coveted by various of the subkingdoms and lesser entities, and had to be defended once obtained. Especially the warlords of the Pharaonic expeditionary forces were sought positions, and ones the Heortlander kings liked to fill with trusted vassals of theirs.

One Heortlander in the service of the Pharaoh came to notoriety when he mixed the Pharaoh's business with personal ambition, and became the hereditary ruler of the non-Kethaelan lands of southeastern Dragon Pass, and nominal overlord of the entire pass region. Sartar was the son of a thane of the Orshanti clan before he entered the service of the Godking. He had discovered some special powers during a Tournament of the Masters of Luck and Death, and rumour has it that he could have won that Tournament, but chose not to. Instead he established trade treaties in the Pass region which opened new and less heavily taxed routes to the riches of Peloria, to the mutual benefit of the Holy Country and the peoples of the Pass region. The Godking was unhappy about the new organized state just beyond his border, though, and for two generations the relations between the Principality of Sartar and the Holy Country were difficult. Only when the Lunar presence in Tarsh became a threat the Pharaoh chose to aid the princes of Sartar.

Maybe this change in policy came too late, but by 1602 the Lunar Empire had conquered Sartar, and made all the remaining lands of Dragon Pass tributary to their gouvernor. Carried by the success of the conquest of Sartar, both the Tashite faction and the Imperials mounted an invasion of the Holy Country in 1605.

Places of Interest: