Grand Duchy of Komjátina

#### **Population**

Because of the council’s nationwide population surveys, the racial mix of Komjátina is well documented. It is reported to be around 80% human, 10% drow, 5% Hobgoblin, and 5% Other. Komjátina is also home to a sizable amount of unholy monstrosities. Werewolves, ghouls, vampires, and many more creatures of the night can be found in Komjátina. Because there is no sunlight, most of the races that live here, including humans, have developed a limited range night vision. They can see a lot better in the dark, at the drawback of not being able to see well at all in the sunlight.

### **History**

#### **The Beginning**

The first known record from the ancestral lands of the Duchy comes from its first king Petre Suta. Written around 3050 - 3120, it is a biographical account of his rise to power as king. It tells of the previous ruling dynasty called the Vladislavs and their iron rule on the land. How they courted the foul necromancers from the swamps to twist the people and the lands to their will. With the necromancers' help, they solidified the seemingly eternal darkness above them to become permanent with powerful ritual magic. Through their experiments they warped the plants and animals to be able to survive in the sunless land. They also warped their subjects as well, changing them to be able to see in their new environment. It is written that through their studies they created terrible beasts that look to be a man but can transform into a ferocious animal, made to guard the royal house and police the lands. It was an open secret that their ultimate goal was to achieve immortality without dying as the necromancers did. To do so they cast complex rituals to blur the line between living and dead and subjected the peasantry to their foul experiments. There are rumors that they succeeded, if in a flawed state. He then talks about how as a governor with the help of his friends, managed to get the peasants to revolt and attack the royal bloodline during one of their cursed rituals. “The entire royal family that we know of was there”, he reports, “and when we attacked the castle, they were in the middle of one of their twisted experiments. Magic at that level is extremely volatile, with even the slightest issue causing a catastrophe. The attack didn't make it past the ground floor when it happened. A boom, shake, and a explosion of ice. They all died in the resulting blast, which turned them into frozen statues. Even from far away I felt like my very soul was wrenched deep into the coldest snow I could possibly imagine, for I have never felt such a cold as I did that day. There was a small fear that they were still alive somehow, but soon enough they melted, and the Vladislav line is now dead.” He noted that after taking control of the situation, the peasantry started to destroy all traces of their rule. Their statutes were taken down and melted, and their homes were burned and destroyed down to the last brick. He also notes that deep underground his men found the ritual that hypothetically was keeping the sun at bay forever, still running and producing it’s magical effect. “After much deliberation and discussion, we decided that it would be best to seal away the ritual and swear to never reveal its location. Neither me or my father or his father has ever seen the sun, and I believe that if it ever returned this land and my new people, now suited for the darkness, would wither and never recover.”

#### **The Rise of the Noble Vampires**

No one knows how the vampires came to be. The few vampires who bother themselves with Komjátinan history argue fiercely over how they were created. Some argue it came from the cannibals and their thirst for mortal flesh. Others say it came from the lich lords and their foul experiments. Most vampires however don’t like to think of their very state of being coming from such uncivilised places, and will say that it came from the Vladislavs experiments at immortality, finally coming back to its homeland. Nevertheless, the touch of the vampire first came to the area then under the Kingdom of Sutreign around 3270 - 3340. While the natives of this land were now used to dealing with the threats from the undead, dead, and the werewolves, they were unprepared for their arrival. The subtlety of the vampire allowed it to allude common knowledge for some time. Because the land was already cast in darkness, the vampires could walk among the living during waking hours. People would fall strangely ill and die, and the cause was blamed on spirits. However, a horseshoe over the door and salt on the windowsill did nothing to stop the deaths. Because of their thirst for lust and power, the new vampires quickly went to the nobility. They infiltrated the galas and the parties to feed in the heart of luxury. Soon enough lesser barons and governors were touched by the vampire's kiss. They died and rose again with a newfound thirst for blood they could not control. Soon enough peasants were being called to visit their rulers and returned looking weak and drained, or not returning at all. Soon enough the baron and baroness houses started to become infected.

A secret game was established among the noble vampires where they would lure their prey at parties and other events in threes and fours to a secluded area, and attack them for a feeding orgy. As the days went by the number of living nobles shrunk. As more and more people died and were buried more and more graves were dug up and empty the following day, the peasantry started to figure out that a new type of unknown threat was preying on them. Soon the remaining nobles figured this out too, but it was too late for them. They were played with as cats would play with a captured mouse. However the vampires soon grew bored of the fragile toys, and disposed of them. Among these final living noble souls was the King Remus, the Queen Simona, and their three year old princess Valeria. They were kept alive as part of the game, and their lives were saved for last. Uninvited, every major and minor noble that could make the journey arrived at their estate. Dropping all pretense of their mortality, they overwhelmed the guards and destroyed the makeshift barricades sealing the royal chamber. The king died valiantly, ramming a silvered sword into a baron's stomach as his wife and child ran out a servant’s exit. They did not get far, and were quickly caught and fed upon. The vampires killed the royal bloodline before they turned, and then fed on them until their corpses were dry. There is a popular folktale among the peasantry that Valeria somehow survived and escaped that day, however this is most likely untrue as Flaviu Komjátina himself attests that he saw her die, screaming out for her mother. Whether or not he was actually there is unknown, as few others from that time still live and those that still live do not know what happened to the girl for certain. However it matters not, as that day marked the death of the Sutreign royal family. Their kingdom had fallen, and the noble vampires rose to take their place, beginning the fight between themselves to see who would be the new ruler.

#### **The Sutreign Peasant War**

The king was dead. Among the peasantry the news spread like a fire. There was not a shred of doubt anymore that a dangerous, powerful, and inhuman creatures now threatened their very lives. These were a people experienced with dealing with deadly monsters, and quickly went to work learning about their new enemy.

As the nobles reveled in their new power, hosting parties to fuel their hedonistic indulgences, vampires were hunted, captured, and experimented on. Through gruesome trial and error, the abilities and weaknesses of the vampire were soon learned. This information was passed from town to town, and the common folk started to arm themselves. Stakes were crafted, and crossbows were modified to carry wooden bolts. Silver knives which were first forged to find and hunt werewolves were now being used for a new purpose. To prevent the hypnotic gaze of the vampire from affecting them, petal helms were created which used the white petals to prevent direct contact with the eyes, but could still be seen through. When vampires now went into town to feed, they were ambushed and most often killed. They are still deadly creatures though, and many mortals fell attacking them. Soon enough there was an all out civil war between the noble class and their subjects.

The war lasted for two years, from 3352-3354. The vampires stayed mostly in their manors and castles, only going out to feed and to meet any soul brave enough to dare step into their layer. The villages and few towns not directly under vampire rule descended into anarchy, with the ruler usually being who had the biggest force of power under their belts. During this chaos, the savages of the marches, the cannibals, and the necromancers all pushed into Duchy territory, killing and enslaving the people for their own purposes. The werewolf population which was on the decline from concentrated hunting efforts bloomed as fresh meat was ample and no one could focus their efforts on killing the foul beasts. Some even willingly subjected themselves to the curse, in the hopes that it would make them stronger to fight the vampiric menace. They were wrong, and the newborn werewolves ravaged the countryside, eating anything they could when they turned. Because of the pitiful amount of game in the Duchy, humans were the main source of prey. Without the proper burials, spirits of the dead from the war haunted the towns and fields where they died, poisoning crops and driving mortals to death with their touch.

After two years of this the population plummeted. A day that no one died were counted as a blessing. Only a fraction of both the commoner and vampire population was left, but neither side could completely kill the other and peace was nowhere in sight. Two months and 4 days after the summer solstice however, a vampire noble called the remaining living houses and the leaders of the commoners class to his estate. By his messengers, he pleaded for one thing: peace. With hesitation and fear the vampires and peasants came, and after weeks of discussion the Komjátinan pact was finalized, and the war was declared over.

#### **Komjátinan’s Pact**

This was the agreement that brought the Sutreign revolt to and end. To end the brutal and bloody conflict that had ravaged the nation for over a generation the mortal races bent the knee once again to the vampire nobles. The vampire houses would never again kill Komjátinan subjects, and would instead convert a portion of taxes owed to be not paid in food or coin, but in blood to feed. The Houses would also hunt any creature that threatened their subjects, be it the ever more common threat of werewolves, rogue vampires, forgien threats, or other creatures. They also swore to the other houses that the days of open infighting were over, and that they would instead all rule equally on a council. This day is called Verpacti, and is celebrated by both mortals and vampires.

### **Culture**

#### **Mortal Culture**

Because of the monstrous threats that are commonplace in Komjátina, the populace is extremely well armed and knowledgeable. Every man, woman, and child carries a silver weapon on them, and every house is reinforced and can be easily barricaded. By dealing with monstrous threats all of their lives they know exactly how to kill them.

When a mortal dies, they are buried in what is called a morugrădină (moru-grə-dinə). A small and fortified field where the body is then used to grow a special type saprophytic plant called gurau. This plant has many uses, but is mostly distilled into a tasty and slightly hallucinogenic beer that is drunk on days of celebration and tragedy.

Komjátina has many days of celebration that are practiced by both mortals and vampires. The first day of summer is called Luminăzi (lu-minəzi), and is practiced by catching fireflies during the day and releasing them into a giant globe made of paper. Everybody then brings out the Gurau and enjoys the light show. The next big celebration is three months and 9 days after the summer solstice and is called Verpacti. Verpacti is the day Komjátinan’s Pact was agreed upon, and it is celebrated by every able bodied mortal and vampire going out into the woods and hunting monsters. Suspected weres are rounded up and are tested with silver, and if any are found they are killed, brought to the village square and are hung. Several watchguards are then posted who then ambush any carrion eaters that come for their meal. This has evolved into a competition between the vampires and the mortal races, and they compete to see who can find and kill the most monsters. The last notable festival is hosted two months and 7 days after the winter solstice and is called Balul Mascat. It is hosted by the local baron and baroness, who disguise themselves as a mortal as best they can and invite every subject under their rule to enjoy an evening at their manor. They then mingle, and everybody tries to guess who the vampire is. Someone can accuse somebody of being the vampire, but if they are wrong they are pelted with rocks and are chased out of the manor. If they are right however they receive a tidy sum of wealth and get to chase the vampire out into the woods and everybody gets to spend the night in the manor. At midnight, the vampire reveals themselves and if they were not found, they throw everyone out instead.

#### **Vampire Culture**

Because vampires have a natural affinity with wolves, houses breed them for sport and entertainment. Instead of turning wolves into dogs however they try to get them bigger and more nastier. It is a status symbol, as having a dire wolf would mean you were rich and powerful enough to feed your dog a lot of meat in a land with not a lot of excess game, and that your house has been around long enough to produce such a fine creature.

### **Government**

Komjátina is a dictatorial Republic run by a council of vampire counts and countesses. The council is jointly run by Duke Flaviu Komjátina and Duchess Anișoara Komjátina. In reality they are the queen and king and have been for hundreds of years but have not abdicated their titles due to an old law stating that the nation would be run by a council with no king or queen. Sessions are most of the time held in the nation’s capital Koborbirku. However sessions are held in other count’s castles and manors to keep everyone busy. They have full power over the council, and use it to keep a tight leash over the other members. The house of Komjátina keeps the other members busy scheming amongst themselves and showing off to their fellow Counts. Due to the Komjátina’s strict rule these conflicts never result in bloodshed or civil wars, and the Counts only moderately tax their subjects to show off, instead of bleeding them dry. Duke and Duchess Komjátina’s main goal as head of the council is to maintain the status quo and to keep busy for eternity.

#### **The Houses**

The nation is run by several noble vampiric houses. Each house has their own rich lineage and history, but none is as old or noble as the house of Komjátina.

##### **The House of Komjátina**

Due to their extremely long lived life, Duke Flaviu Komjátina and Duchess Anișoara Komjátina find mortals to be more a source of valuable entertainment and less of food. Due to this and the rational fear of a bloody revolt, they see more value in keeping the human population alive then dead, and impose this will on the council.

### **Geography**

#### **Ecology**

Due to the workings of a powerful and ancient spell, the Grand Duchy has been plunged into eternal darkness. The sun cannot ever shine on the land, and the moon and stars are the only source of natural light. The sky is normally the same light level as a few hours after nightfall, but can variate depending on the moon and the weather. Before the spell the nation was commonly overcast and cloudy, and traces of this can still be seen along the edges of the border. The day and night cycles are still followed by both mortals and vampires, with everyone getting up in the day and sleeping at night. This is because the moon and the sky is a little brighter in the daytime.

Because there is no sun, the ecosystem is rather unique. Plants that get nutrients to grow in three ways. The first is relying on nutrients in the soil. The second is the production of energy from the moon’s rays. The third way is growing on decomposing animal matter (ex. Saprophytic plants). Instead of leaves, plants bloom flowers to soak up the moon’s rays. They can be any color, but are mostly black or white. These flowers follow the lunar cycle. Going into a micro hibernation when the moon is empty and blooming when the moon is full. Regular trees can also grow, but use flowers to gather energy instead of leaves. They're are also some evergreen trees. In some parts of the land, the trees have been allowed to thick from an absent human population. In the more mountainous areas, few can be seen because of the altitude and climate.

The full moon becomes very important in Komjátina. The days leading up to it are used for foraging and harvesting, as edible plants can be seen with their flowers in bloom and determined to be ready to harvest or not. The full moon itself brings out werewolves and other monsters, and the death of local fauna stemming from that would allow for a lot of fresh carcasses for saprophytic plants to use to grow. The days after the full moon would be used to plant new crops. In the spring and summer, humans would harvest fruit and plants and store up for autumn and winter, where stores would be tapped into and game would be hunted as the soil replenishes its nutrients. The local wildlife mostly consists of small burrowing animals because there is no grass for grazing animals and not enough food for big animals. There would be small birds that eat fruit and bugs, and fish that would eat moon plankton. Carrion eaters as well would also be present. Most of the carnivores are tiny, like foxes, small wolves, racoons, and other tiny creatures. These creatures are small because there are not a lot of big creatures to hunt.