Vonderwald

## The Land Returned To Good

*"It's the thing that exists before you get a proper country"*

Vonderwald is a country lying in the north-western mountains of Zyreema. Split off from the majority of the continent by steep mountain ranges and powerful magical hotspots, most of Vonderwald's territory consists of vast dark forests, sprinkled with the occasional castle on a mountain and village.

Formerly under the control of a powerful Dungeon Keeper it has become an independent League nation after the end of the Sixth Black Crusade.

## History

Due to its geographic location Vonderwald was always a steaming pot of political infighting mostly left to its own devices. The political structure was that of Feudal Lords (not unlikely to be Dungeon Keepers ) keeping control of vast portions of land and executing their will on the local populace, which would occasionally rise up and storm the castle on the mountain of the local lord and teach him the literal meaning of the word defenestration.

Vonderwald would probably have stayed a footnote in history if not of the fact that it is the birth place of one of the most famous Dungeon Keepers of the modern era, Salieri. Becoming a Feudal Lord and Dungeon Keeper he quickly gathered power and influence throughout the fractured land, uniting it for the first time in its history under one rule, in an event called Salieri's Unification Crusade. He created the power structure and tradition of monarchy that still exist in this land today.

However, all this changed when Salieri died during the Fall of Avatar Island. After getting news about the tragedy a Light worshipping country neighbouring Vonderwald raised an expedition and spearheaded an assault on the now leaderless capital of the country and home to Salieri's main Dungeon, Burgentall.

The campaign was led by the remnants of the Vlad Family. One of the noble families who were given asylum in a neighbouring Light-worshiping country after narrowly escaping capture by Salieri's forces, they seized the opportunity to reclaim Vonderwald for the Forces of Good.

Trough their valiant efforts the Forces of Good managed to reclaim Burgentall and, using the infrastructure put in place by Salieri so as to avoid confusion and settle the populace as soon as possible, installed the Vlads as new rightful monarchs of Vonderwald blessed by the Light Gods.

## Salieri’s Unification Crusade

"Salieri's Unification Crusade" is the name given to the years long war Salieri waged with other Feudal Lords and Dungeon Keepers to take control of all of Vonderwald. During it, Salieri started to develop a special ritual which allowed him to accelerate the process of claiming new land he conquered, and by extension spreading Corruption faster. This ritual gave him tactical and strategical advantage in the battles to come and was instrumental in his success of unifying the country.

Rumors have it that he might have shared this secret techniques with Mukrezar, which became the Mad Keeper's trump card and led to the fall of Avatar Island many years later.

## Vonderwald today

After the final remnants of Salieri's rule were deposed the territory of Vonderwald came under the control of the rightful rule of the Vlad Dynasty, who were one of the noble families who managed to escape the country before it was overrun by Evil decades ago and who played a major part in the battle that liberated the territory once again.

While the Vlad Dynasty manages to control a majority of the land centred around the core and the capital, the outer edges of Vonderwald have fallen back in to the hands of local Lords and Dungeon Keepers creating a constant war zone on the border of the country.

## Culture and technology

While currently ostensibly united and serving the Light, Vonderwald is always one step away from falling back in to the chaos of fractioned and warring principals that long Dungeon Keeper rule instilled into the populace. Because of that the country is much more morally relativistic then one would expect from a Good Nation.

### A tainted legacy

Salieri's chief strategy during unifying the country was to spill as much blood as possible and to accelerate the corruption from the dark energies emanating from Dungeon Hearts via special rituals, encompassing all the land under his Dungeon Keeper Claim. As a side effect there are practically no spots suited for a properly sanctified Cathedral of The Light. Because of this the monarchy cannot rely on the usual powers and magic granted to servants of The Light, or commune with their Gods.

For now, the League of Good Nations doesn’t have the resources to spare to send an expedition of highly skilled clerics to Vonderwald, as they would basically have to purge the entire country one battlefield at the time. A task made even more difficult by the fact that the outskirts of the land have reverted back into a constant war zone.

Furthermore while being under the servitude of Dungeon Keepers the people had to manage to survive in whatever way they could. Ironically, by taking away anyone who showed a talent for Magic to their Dungeons (either to serve them or to become a living mana battery) the Keepers made it so the current Vonderwald is a pioneer of non-magical research and scientific improvement.

Determined not to give in to the Dark Gods, the Light-serving people of Vonderwald use science and technology whenever encountering a problem they would usually ask the Gods to help with. Thanks to that Vonderwald is one of the fore-running countries on Zyreema in terms of engineering, medicine, and technology. While the reasons for this status is not anything the populace remembers with glee, the ravaged territory had very few things other than this to revive its economy. Multiple Universities have been raised, each dedicated to a specific branch of science and technology.

Since coming into power the Vlad family has worked tirelessly to make the commodities of the their technology available to all its citizens, catapulting Vonderwald in to an early industrial age.

## The Vlad Dynasty

The Vlad Family was one of the few Noble Houses worshipping the Light in Vonderwald. During Salieri’s Unification Crusade they fled to a neighbouring country that offered them sanctum. After Salieri’s fall on Avatar Island descendants of the Vlad House lead the assault to reclaim Burgentall and with it the country.

Now they are determinate to keep the Light alive in a still unstable Vonderwald, at any cost necessary.