Ferrik's Expanse

First, to get things clear: 
* Ferrik's Expanse is a location in the far north of the Valley. 
* Ferrik's Forge is the nation within that location, as well as being the name of the capital.
* The Forge is the name of the academy in the capital, and the capital often goes by this name to avoid confusion.
* Ferrik is a hero of legend who was a champion of Vanitthu. It is unknown if they did or did not possess a forge.
Ferrik's Expanse is the largest nation in the Greenbelt, as well as the oldest. It's composed of The Forge and several towns and forts, all built in defensible locations. Of note is Restov, the only town far enough south to technically be within the bounds of what was once Lycia, although it's far to the north and east of current-day Lycia.
=== The Forge ===
The Forge is the largest academy in the Valley, even larger than the Tsar School of Magic or Skor's Royal Academy. Here guards and soldiers are trained in harsh conditions, and graduating from a 3-year intensive course guarantees you a pick of guard, watch, or soldier positions across the Valley.
The city and the academy are really one and the same - the city exists solely to support the academy. Craftsmen churn out training swords and live steel, potions, armor, and training dummies by the thousand, while a complex web of logistics makes sure everyone has what they need.
=== The Expanse ===
The rest of the area is used to generate food for The Forge, as well as generating a strong enough surplus of trade goods to supply the Forge with all the raw materials it needs. While fees for the academy more than cover the cost of running it, extra money is always needed for defense.
Located as it is in a prime spot in the Greenbelt, raiders are constantly testing its defenses, looking for a way in to pillage its wealth. While this provides plenty of on-the-job training for would-be soldiers, money's always needed to rebuild walls, arm troops, and pay the other costs of that ceaseless war. Forts and outposts are often burned down, and must be quickly rebuilt and reinforced. 
=== Other Towns ===
* Restov: A large city of 20,000, Restov is doing well for itself as the closest city to Skor. For that reason it sees a lot of trade and outsiders, who're generally looked down upon as weirdos. It's a good place for business however, and the premier source for dueling swords in the valley.
* Nivakta's Crossing: A small outpost of ~150, the Crossing is largely a dumping grounds for the Forge's unwanted, usually folk who don't follow Vanitthu. It has a decent-sized church to Pharasma, and the town guards an important bridge that separates the Expanse from the Noman Heights.
=== Vanitthu ===
The Lawful-neutral god of guardsmen is worshiped here almost exclusively, and all strive to gain his favor. Vanitthu rarely intervenes directly, but his divine agents are often called on in desperate times, and the golden Inevitables are not an uncommon sight.
=== Dueling ===
The Forgeborn distrust people who use fancy words in place of actual value (here defined as being a good soldier). For this reason, disputes are often settled in duels, where one or both parties must prove they can walk the walk as well as talking the talk. Duels are very rarely fatal, and are as much for onlookers as they are for the combatants. 
The preferred weapon is a dueling sword, a 3-foot long sword with a slight curve and only sharp on one edge. This is often paired with a buckler, dagger, or mail mit. The more well off forgeborn often have very fancy dueling swords, to as a way of saying that they can back up their words with steel. When intended for fair duels the swords are not enchanted, as it would be seen as cheating. Nevertheless, some forgeborn adventurers use magical dueling swords to slay their foes.