Ketlovia and Setlovia

The **Ketlovians** wished they could stand against the Gnolls, but their nation was quickly overrun. In a plea of mercy the Werewolf King offered his 112 daughters as brides to the Gnoll Emperor. The ruler accepted the offer and organized the wedding, where the Emperor ate his brides-to-be; thus they became one and truly married, for they'd forever be part of his flesh.

The Werewolf King is said to not have spoken since and is now mostly just a decoration carried around by the few werewolfmen which still call the slavestate home.

A tiny sliver remains of the once grand nation though some of them managed to flee deep into the jungle founding the **Setlovia Freestate**, which sadly is now in a state of civil war. Many frontier cities converted to the faith of the maw to stave off Peacock Ogre raids something see as equal to surrendering to the Gnolls by the city folk living behind grand walls. So the remnant of a once grand nation itself too is collapsing in on itself as bloody civil war sweeps the land. The empty Werewolf King is said to have shed one more tear when the civil war erupted.

## History

The **Kingdom of Ketlovia** has stood as a nation for well over 5000 years, although it's people have only been werewolves for the last thousand years. It began when the Young King Ivan van Thraca threw a ceremony to celebrate his coronation in the royal banquette hall. There he became smitten with a woman who he began dancing with. Impressed by her dance the King proposed to her on the spot to which the young woman said yes. The ballroom erupted with cheering that then turned to howling as all the attendants began morphing into the shape of wolves. The young woman would later be revealed to be the daughter of a man King Ivan had killed for witchcraft when he was just a prince. The woman had sold her soul so she could attain power and get revenge on the Ketlovians. The King however was already enchanted by her magic and could not hold any hate towards her and she was able to leave the hall unharmed and disappear into the night. King Ivan would continue to host a ball every month hoping she would return and lift the curse. He also never took a wife, as he was still in love with her.

The crown then passed to Ivan's younger brother who adapted the masked ball event into an event each monarch would throw to find their queen, and if the prophecy is true one day the enchantress will return and lift the curse. Since then each king has kept up the tradition and found their wife in a the Ketlovian Masked Ballroom Dance, an event hundreds of thousands would eventually travel to see.

### Gnoll Conquest

The Gnoll Empire had been gaining strength for some time and had pushed itself all the way to the Ketlovian borders. Minor skirmishes between the forces of King Ivan XVII van Thraca and the Gnoll Empire had been going on for some time and it seemed they were getting more frequent. Knowing the ferocity of the Empire, King Ivan XVII offered the Emperor one of his daughters for Marriage. The Emperor declined and counter offered a marriage to all of them. King Ivan XVII had nearly 200 children through his many affairs, 112 being daughters. King Ivan begrudgingly agreed and the wedding was set to take place in the Capital of Ketlovia in the dance hall. The Gnoll Emperor arrived in the finest Royal Attire and the dance began, moments before the ceremony was complete the Gnoll Envoy that had arrived dropped their royal attire to reveal armor and weapons and began slaughtering everyone. The Emperor did the same and had his 112 brides mass executed in what some have called a sacrificial ritual that became known as "The Last Dance".

King Ivan barely escaped with his life back to his castle and declared war as soon as he made it through the castle doors. Heartbroken at the loss of all his daughters he was determined to make the Emperor pay. The war raged for 10 years and saw many losses on both sides put due to the sheer number of fighters the Gnolls had they eventually pushed the Ketlovians all the way back to their capital. When all seemed hopeless for Ketlovia, The Gnoll Emperor fell back, leaving a small force to hold the border. Many were surprised by this, The Emperor had never stopped a conquest before but whether through pity or a want to toy with King Ivan "the Least" the Gnolls had stopped their invasion.

King Ivan "the Least" now remains the leader of the Ketlovian Slavestate as it is called by outsiders, barking orders to his remaining advisors and court. It seems as though he has gone mad as he has recently been calling "War Councils" to try and reclaim the land that was lost, something his advisors grow worried about, and look towards a successor who may be more stable.

### Setlovia and the Successors

When the Gnolls reached the gates of the capital many Ketlovians took it as a sign to run and made their way past the Lands of the Runaan to forge a new land. The Runaan took many a Ketlovian prisoner during their trek through the lands. These prisoners are now used as labor for the Runaan. Those that made it through however settled in what would become the "Setlovian Freestate" a successor empire to the once great Kingdom of Ketlovia. Setlovia is however currently embroiled in a civil war with 3 main sides, those of the eastern pocket who have converted to the Faith of The Maw to please the native Peacock Ogres, those who wish to reclaim Ketlovia and those who wish to stay and build up Setlovia. Those who wish to reclaim Ketlovia are led by Prince Kiril van Thraca, son of King Ivan "the Least".

Out of 80 sons of King Ivan only 3 princes are known to still be alive, the rest having either perished in the Gnoll War or captured by the Runaan. Each of these 3 is a candidate to succeed their father in the case that he should die, but there is much debate about which one should take the throne.

Prince Mihail van Thraca is the eldest surviving son and fought on the front lines during the Gnoll War. He however deserted when all seemed lost and has since been drifting from nation to nation, seeking a place he can call home. His father sees him as a coward and claims he is disinherited, but as the eldest living son his claim remains strong.

Prince Kiril van Thraca is the only living son of King Ivan and his Queen, Roza, who took her own life not long after the Gnoll War began. Kiril fled with those who would eventually establish Setlovia and thinks of himself as a leader who will one day restore his fathers lands. He leads the faction that wishes to return and reclaim Ketlovia and has begun calling himself King Kiril VI van Thraca. As the only living son of the King and Queen together his claim is seen as the strongest, but King Ivan sees Kiril as a threat that wishes to dethrone him.

Finally, there is Prince Andrei van Thraca, the youngest son of King Ivan. He was too young to go off to war with his brothers and as such remained in the capital with his father. Now a young man Andrei is being propped up as the successor by the Kings advisors but he has little experience having never left the capital in his whole life. Prince Andrei is revered by his father as the only son who didn't leave him, albeit Andrei didn't have much of a choice, and is his father's choice of an heir, although Ketlovians have always gone strictly by the eldest and not the Kings choice.

## People

The Ketlovians aka Werewolfmen all carry the curse of the enchantress, and it is said anyone born on land ruled by House Thraca will be subject to the curse. This is disputed however and some scholars suggest it is genetic where if one parent carries the curse their child will have a high chance to carry it as well. The Curse causes all Ketlovians to take the form of a wolf or wolf-human hybrid when they begin to feel strong emotions. Some, like the royal family of House Thraca, can control this and can choose when to morph. Ketlovians are polyamorous although they each only take 1 spouse. This leads to Ketlovians having many children, something often mocked by those outside the nation, alongside their wolfish appearance.

It is also customary for the princes to wait for their father to die before they do their wedding ceremony so as to keep up the tradition of the Masked Ball Dance being an event of Coronation. This does not stop them from having affairs however but many choose not to have kids before the Masked Ball Dance. During the Masked Ball Dance younger princes and princesses also seek out brides and grooms but theirs is not the focus. The princesses however will often get married unless there are no male heirs but this is very unlikely, having only happened once before leading to the rule of Queen Shenka van Thraca.

## Foreign Relations

### Gnoll Empire

Since the end of the war there has been almost no relations between Ketlovia and the Empire, besides the occasional Gnoll border raid, but they seemingly never go too far only striking to cause a little terror in the hearts of the Ketlovians

### Land of the Runaan

Relations were almost non-existent before the Gnoll Invasion as the Runaan mostly kept to themselves and seemed to pose no threat. However after Ketlovians fled through the country the Runaan struck, taking many Ketlovians prisoner to be used as laborers in their mines, since then King Ivan has declared an embargo on the Runaan and demanded increased security on the border. The Runaan are isolationist however and have yet to show any interest in leaving or expanding their land. King Ivan vows to invade them and set his people free, right after he deals with the Gnolls.

### Setlovia

Ketlovia has somewhat rocky relations with their successor state. Although they are allies and Ketlovia is well informed on what goes on in Setlovia, King Ivan is worried the Setlovians plan to overthrow him, but knows they would have to make a trek through The Lands of The Runaan to do so.