Skelkor

**Skelkor** is, as of the present time, the most powerful dragon empire in all of Laerakond. Many consider it to be *the* evil empire of the continent. While other evil dragon empires exist, none are able to execute their will quite like the Empire of Skelkor.

## Geography

By far the nation of Skelkor holds the vast majority of the open planes and unforested areas of Laerakond. Large mountain ranges make up the vast majority of its boarders while its interiors are made up of many lakes and rivers. With all the different kinds of terrain in the nation, it is quite possibly the most naturally diverse nation.

To the north the Skelkor Mountains cover much of its border. The only way in or out via this mountain range is the Skelkor Pass, a very narrow strip of land that winds through the Skelkor Mountains. Nearby is also the cities of Kaluth and Lamrar Setting up against the Skelkor Mountains is Glacier Lake, the second biggest lake in Skelkor. Further to the east, the Skelkor Mountains give way to hilly plains and then an open valley where the city of Pelandar sits. Considered part of the frontier land of Skelkor, the nation claims this territory as well as the Fangmoor Swaps north of it but both Fimbrul and Relmaur contest these claims. In reality though Skelkor doesn't patrol or guard any further north that Pelandar and use it as an outpost to stop slaves from escaping to Relmaur through this route. The outpost town is often raided and those carrying the colors of Skelkor that travail further north than the city are often ambushed and attack by citizens of the nation of Relmaur.

Along its eastern boarder is the Crippled Mountains, Mount Cormanda, and the Fleeing Ocean. Many of the rivers that feed into the Crescent Lake start here in the Tymanchebar Mountains. In the month of Marpenoth 1385 DR, Skelkor completely overran and conquered the formally independent nation of Tymanchebar, rejoining it with Skelkor after over 100 years of independence from Skelkor. This gave the nation its only mountainless region that touched the Fleeing Ocean and its only port city in the east. The city of Qaragar also sits near its eastern boarder at the northeastern tip of the Crescent Lake.

In the south, Skelkor shares a boarder with Eskorn in the Freedom Mountains. Skelkor refuses to refer to it by this name and calls it the Barrier Mountains and the Freedom Pass also is called Slave's Run by those residing in Skelkor who aren't slaves themselves. The three cities of Arangyn, Bellakh, and Mratanga sit or are near all of the land routes into Eskorn to stop escaping slaves. Each of them have a strong military presence because of this. Mratanga itself sets on the edge of the Tugey Wood, through which slaves have to successfully navigate before reaching the Freedom Pass.

On its western side is coastline that touches the Dragon Sea. The Crescent River and Glacier River empties into the Dragon sea here. In the northwest the last part of the Skelkor Mountains occupy the coast. The cities of Ulvarr, Daerr, and Arangyn sit just off the coast. Arangyne sits just off east of the delta of the Crescent River, making it the only major port city on the west coast of Skelkor. Many military minds have wondered about the danger of such an important port city being so close to its southern boarder.

In its heartland is the Crecent Lake and the river of the same name that flows out of it. The major city of Narvarr sets here as well as the capitol of Marangor. The land is mostly open plains here with a few mountains and dry prairies to the north near the mountains.

## Inhabitants

Skelkor is a nation dominated by dragons. In spite of this they are actually not the most populous race. All of the other races however are kept in slavery. Humanoid races, mainly dragonborn, humans, hlflings and a minority of genasi, comprise the bluk of the empire's population while being kept slaves in perpetuity.

## Government

Skelkor is ruled by Gauwervyndhal, the Empress Dragon. She is one of the most powerful and feared dragons in all of Laerakond. Served by her "suzerains", dragons directly related to her and mostly comprising her own children, they carry out the day-to-day ruling and protection of the empire. Lesser dragons in Gauwervyndhal's nation are tasked with tending herds of food needed to satiate them.

## History

Prior to the War of Fang and Talon, the land that Skelkor occupies was once the domain of a primordial known as Arambar. Falling in battle, his corpse was left to die in what would become Skelkor. With dragon rule solidifying, many humanoids fled to the corpse of Arambar, founding the town of Wandering Stones in the rocks that composed the remains of the primordial. The town of Daerr was established once the nation of Skelkor was formed to prevent future slave attempts to escape to Wandering Stones, which lies in the mountains west of Daerr.

Eventually Gauwervyndhal secured the lands for her own after the war, which had resulted in a victory for dragons, creating the nation of Skelkor. It wasn't long before she was soon in charge of the most powerful of the draconic nations. That however wouldn't be security enough for her though. After the king of Amra forced her to promise her nor any other dragon would attack his kingdom and watching the humanoids of the empire of Eskonamundyr, paranoia consumed her even more than ever.

After the successful independence of Tymanchebar, Gauwervyndhal became convinced of Eskorn's impending invasion. The was in spite of the fact that Eskorn could barely keep its own citizens in line let alone manage a large scale war of the kind that would be needed to defeat Skelkor. Still fearful of the dragonheirs, Gauwervyndhal sent agents into Eskorn to sow disruption. They acted to amplify the political intrigue, assisting in assassinations, and other sorts of sabotage. This she hoped would keep her man enemies weak.

When the Blue Breath of Change struck on the 29th of Tarsakh 1385 DR, the Empress Dragon saw an opening to reclaim Tymanchebar. On the 4th of Eleint 1385 DR, Skelkor's army rolled over Tymanchebar and in under a month reclaimed it as a territory of Skelkor. The rest of the continent of Laerakond, still recovering from the Blue Breath of Change, were stunned. After successfully winning the Reclamation War, Skelkor found itself at war with Eskorn again.

Eskorn had taken a whole long month to muster its army and declare war on the 2nd of Marpenoth 1385 DR. By then Tymanchebar had already fallen. This left the dysfunctional nation on its own in a war with the dominant power of the region. On top of that a mysterious plague was sweeping over the human nation.

This all brought great news to Gauwervyndhal, who was organizing her forces for an attack on Eskorn. Before that attack could fully get underway, a rebellion sprung up in Skelkor. At first it was treated as a minor nuisance that would be easily squashed. Then in was soon realized that these rebels had a new weapon. The substance known as dragonbane amber had been found, and seeing the opportunity of their repressive masters being distracted with war, attack with great ferocity. Reeling but by no means beaten, Skelkor more carefully plans its response to both threats, awaiting the new year of 1386 DR to plan its next move.