Free Margraves

The Free Margraves, often called the Free Margraves of the Aghai or the Zanbaliki Margraves, are a collection of small independent states in the eastern part of the Aghai Massif (far eastern Sularia). They are the only surviving remnant of the kingdom of Zanbalik, one of the major Sularian realms which was overrun and destroyed in Gol Garga's catastrophic invasions, and they lie upon the easternmost part of the Ulthark Marches. In truth, since 'margrave' is the title held by the nobles who govern these lands, they should be called 'margravates', but it has become common to use the same term for both. Thus 'Free Margraves' refers to the lands themselves as well as the lords who rule them.

Prior to the destruction of Zanbalik, the margraves of its eastern provinces were a class of local nobility charged by the king with defending the region's many passes and valleys against orcish infiltration from the south. They had fulfilled this task for centuries, becoming battle-hardened and gaining a grim martial reputation; in exchange for their constant vigilance against the marauders of orcdom, they were granted various special prerogatives and honors, as well as exemption from royal taxes (such privileges also helped stave off the risk of rebellion by the always-headstrong margraves). The title "margrave" itself means march-warden or march-baron, i.e. a lord given responsibility for defending a section of border.

With the destruction of Zanbalik by Gol Garga's horde, the margraves of the eastern mountains were left essentially masterless. As part of their special prerogatives, each owed allegiance directly to the crown itself, with no other liege-lord save the king. The Zanbaliki royal dynasty was wiped out completely and none of the realm's surviving noble houses could make a viable claim on the succession (several different lords in exile attempted to, but none gained traction, certainly not with the bluff and pugnacious margraves who had held their lands while the whole rest of the kingdom was overrun). These stubborn and self-reliant march-wardens therefore each became de facto sovereign ruler of his own small domain, creating a patchwork of independent statelets in the rugged country of the eastern Aghai.

The domains of the Free Margraves are essentially the only part of the whole Ulthark Marches that remains unmoved in the aftermath of Gol Garga's invasions; here, the frontier separating humanity from orcdom barely budged, while everywhere else great kingdoms fell and the orcish menace swarmed hundreds of miles into human civilization. This is a fact that the Margraves and their warriors take great pride in, and of which they are always ready to remind outsiders.

There is an uneasy relationship between the Margraves and the reconstituted Sentinel Orders which, with the backing of Kuzul-Kadrin, have recently been granted extensive new holdings in Dranuria and the western Sornele. They share the same grim task of holding humanity's frontier against further orcish advance, but the Margraves are wary of any threat to their independence, and find the recent talk of electing a new Grand Master for the Sentinel knights particularly worrisome. In it, some smell a dwarven plot to strengthen Kuzulnizam's influence over all the lands along the new Marches. This plot, they suspect, might eventually extend to their own holdings in the eastern Aghai as well.