Ansburg and Markham (athenril-of-kirkwall)

## Ansburg and Markham

Heraldry of Ansburg (above) and Markham (below)

Ansburg and Markham are known as the "sister cities" of the Free Marches, with their shared culture and history possibly dating as early as the Ancient Age with the dissolution of Evrion's domains; although they emerge more concretely in the historical record in the Divine Age, shortly after the Second Blight.

Ansburg's reputation as a backwater, and the meteoric rise of Markham, is generally accepted to have begun following Ansburg's devastation during the Fourth Blight. Although many Ansburger refugees who fled to Markham returned to rebuild, the even more rapid resurgence of Antiva and the rise of the Van Markhams of Nevarra led to Ansburg being eclipsed by its northern and southern neighbours.

Markham now enjoys a reputation for prosperity and education in the eastern Free Marches, rivalling Starkhaven and Ostwick in these respects.

## **History**

### **Ansburg**

#### Founding

The Free Marches as a whole have legendary origins dating to the divisions of the former lands of the Tevinter Imperium amongst the sons of Maferath, companion and betrayer of Andraste. The area which would become the Marches was assigned to Eviron, which rapidly fragmented into tribal divisions, with many modern Marches tracing their history to these Alamarri tribes. Ansburg and Markham stand out amongst these for their relatively more recent foundings in the Divine Age, where the Orlesian Empire sent its troops into the north of Thedas up until the Anderfels to defend Thedas against the Second Blight.

Although Emperor Kordillius Drakon died before the Blight was ended and the Anderfels broke away from Orlais soon after his death, numerous Anders who had converted to Andrastianism remained obliged to their oaths to the Orlesian Emperors, engaging the darkspawn as ethnically-identified auxiliaries and eventually assisting in ending the Second Blight at Starkhaven.

These Anders would travel down the Minanter River in search of permanent settlement, eventually reaching the rich soils (their fertility ascribed to blown-over mountainous dust from the Vimmarks and the mountains of Marothius) of what would become Ansburg, with the etymology of the city's name originally being Andersburg (or Anders-fort) before being shortened to Ansburg. The peopling of Ansburg remains disputed to this day, with archaeology, linguistics, and folkore being enlisted to glean clues concerning the exact relationship between the Anders settlers and the descendants of the Alamarri tribesmen already tilling the fields.

One such line of evidence can be found in ballads and tales of the all-male Anders soldiers marrying the widows of the Alamarri who battled the darkspawn, with this narrative being dismissed by most historians as a gross oversimplification. At any rate, Andersburg had developed enough of a municipal identity to violently resist King Fyruss's, and later a resurgent Imperium's, attempts at conquering Antiva and the Marches.

#### Odwulf and Luidweg

The first named historical figure linked to Ansburg is the semi-legendary Odwulf the Ander, a supposed chieftain of the Anderfels who converted to Andrastianism (taking on the name Cathaire) and followed the army of Emperor Kordillius Drakon, involving himself and his tribe in ending the Second Blight at Starkhaven. Although most histories credit the slaying of Zazikiel by the Grey Wardens Neriah and Corin, Ansburgers claim that the archdemon was first grounded by Odwulf and his archers piercing its wings with a hail of arrows. Of the line of Odwulf, the first historically probable ruler of the territory of Andersburg is a certain Luidweg, apocryphally titled "King of Andersburg."

### Markham

#### Founding

Markham's settlement dates to after this period, where Ansburg soldiers pushed south of the River Minanter and up its tributary, the Hercyne River, to end the threat of nomadic Betuven raiders, descendants of Eviron's Alamarri. These Betuven plundering Ansburg's granaries and razing their fields before escaping to the foothills of the Vimmark Mountains to the south. A massive fortress was erected near the base of these foothills, with numerous way-stations along the Hercyne River also being constructed to ensure their control of the region.

Markham's name derives from "March-home", with the area being known as the "March of the Marches"; literally, the borderland of the March of Ansburg. The Princes of Ansburg first appointed a Margrave to command this fortress during the Towers Age, then as time passed and the locals sought cooperation rather than conflict, these Margraves soon found their duties expanding to governance over the subject Ansburger and Betuven peoples of the region.

#### Adelheid, Clothilde, Elegast and Hamelen

Numerous semi-legendary figures are associated with the founding of Markham, the first set being the ancestor of the Dukes of Markham, Captain Adelheid and her sister Clothilde, who are said to have overseen the construction of the fortress of Markham after Adelheid's husband and Clothilde's betrothed were slain by Betuven raiders, and the second being the last of the Betuven holdouts, a chieftain named Hamelen, descendant of the raider chieftain Radboud.

Clothilde had been a maiden during the Ansburger campaign against the Betuven, and challenged Hamelen to single combat to end the war, taking him as her husband when she prevailed as per the terms of their duel and settling their family down in what is now the village of Hambleton. Adelheid remarried, this time to an Orlesian named Elegast du Cherneau, an elf-blooded soldier of fortune who was supposedly descended from the Drakon emperors.

### **The Fourth Blight**

Ansburg's rule over Markham lasted less than two centuries, with Starkhaven suffering far more than either polity during the Third Blight, with the subsequnent Fourth Blight during the Exalted Age forever altering their fortunes. After the darkspawn had devastated Antiva, Ansburg was next to be overrun by the Blight, with essentially all of its survivors flocking up the Hercyne River to seek refuge in Markham.

#### The Nevarran Conquest

It is at this point in history that the single most famous Margrave of either Free March, Tylus van Markham, seized upon his chance in history and rallied the Free Marches against the Pentaghasts of Nevarra, usurping them and expanding the march's domains into other marches and even into Orlesian territory, forging the Kingdom of Nevarra in blood and steel.

Tylus raised his brother Alamos to the rank of Duke and sent him to their home in Markham, with the title of Margrave now being assigned to the administrators of the recovering march of Ansburg, the last of the princes having perished during the Fourth Blight.

#### Jon Leuven University

Necessity forced agricultural innovation in rebuilding the Free Marches' breadbasket during the Blight, spurring an unprecedented influx of scholars and researchers, and even mages from all over the Marches and the Continent to Markham and Ansburg. The eventual result of this scholarly renassiance was the founding of Markham University with the Divine's assent in 5:41 Exalted. Its first known rector was Jon Leuven, a mage who used elemental spells to transform the Blighted farmlands into fertile soils.

Jon Leuven University, as it was named on the centennial of its founding rector's death, remains in operation to this day as a leading institute for magical and technical education. It has a friendly if intense rivalry with Ostwick University to its south, the two marches being connected via a mountain pass in the Vimmarks. Notable expressions of this rivalry entail sporting and combat tournaments between the two campuses as well as pranks such as the Ostwick students stealing the head of Jon Leuven's statue to use as in bowls which elicited revenge from the Markham students, who stole the university's banner to use as a tablecloth.

#### War in the Free Marches and the Minanter Accord

As Nevarra's influence grew, the rest of the Free Marches grew concerned on the rising influence of the new nation on Marcher politics, especially its relationship with Markham and Ansburg. Several border wars broke out between the Minanter Entente (an alliance between Tantervale and the tyrants of Starkhaven) and their Van Markham neighbours to their west and east. The most extensive and destructive of these wars was triggered by the Van Markhams' annexation of Cumberland to the Kingdom of Nevarra, whereupon Markham's neighbours joined the Entente in attacking the ambitious march. This conflict lasted until the expiration of the Van Markham dynasty in Nevarra and their overthrow by the previous dynasty.

The resurgent Pentaghasts did not repudiate their links to Markham but signed the Minanter Accord disowning any direct or proxy rule within the Free Marches, with Matthias van Markham eventually being browbeaten into ratifying the Accord declaring the full independence of Markham and Ansburg from Nevarran rule and promising to refuse any military alliance with Nevarra until the next Age. While Starkhaven's despots would be overthrown and replaced by the Vael Princes and the Accord was permitted to lapse, Nevarra and Markham had long since diverged politically, if not culturally.

### Modern Times

#### Ansburg

Ansburg has recovered over the four centuries since the last Blight with its rich soils being augemented by the most refined hydroengineering and magoclimatology known to the region, yet still suffers from the sterotype of being an undeveloped backwater, much to the chargrin of its wealthy bourgeoise. Its grain trade, even with Antiva directly to the north, is strongly regulated by Markham, whose hereditary Dukes exert considerable control over the appointed margraves, who cycle between the leading noble landowners of Ansburg.

The Ansburger middle classes have found unofficial means of influencing the appointment of the Margrave of Ansburg, with the missives of the Agarian Guild carrying considerable weight in the Duke's decisions, to the point that the Margraves are considered semi-elected.

#### Markham

Markham has greatly enriched itself from Ansburg's grain as well as from the itinerant scholars and students of Jon Leuven University and the economy associated with them, with the university developing from a technical college in the Exalted Age to a centre of scientific, philosophical and artistic learning, with Marcher portraiture schools' artists being sought in great demand by the elites of Nevarra and Antiva.

While Markham maintains a still-impressive range of defences, the waystation strongholds along the Hercyne River have been converted to resort villas with water-wheels powering a considerable industries, further enriching the wealth of its elites independently of Ansburg's grain.

## **Geography**

### **Ansburg**

Ansburg is located north of the Minanter River, which serves as the official, but porous, border between itself and Markham, with most of its 6070 square miles (15,000 sq. km) being floodplain farmland, extensively cut through with agricultural channels. Mountainous dust from the Vimmark Mountains as well as the ranges separating Tevinter from Antiva has, by quirk of topography, landed in great volumes upon the Ansburg plain, accounting for its great crop yields.

Its largest and densest settlement is also named Ansburg, sometimes distinguished from the march itself by the name of **Ansburg City** and is located at the intersection of the Ansbach River and the Minanter. Much of the city's river port has its trade channeled into its lands through piers and jettys extending into the Minanter, with teeming shoals of river barges and boats being the chief conveyers of small goods. Its population numbers in the high 100,000s.

#### Shires of Ansburg

Andhoven (in which Ansburg City is located), Berchem, Bering, Beveren, Bridgeton, Broekham, Durmet, Carolos, Gaunt, Genque, Heynot, Malinois, Melechen, Millbroek, Lierre, Sintruin, Wagram

### **Markham**

Markham's territories south of the Minanter River, located on both banks of the Hercyne River leading to the Vimmark Mountains, occupy about 7,800 square miles (20,400 sq. km) of river floodplain, foothills, and mountains. Markham is less densely populated than Ansburg, with a slightly smaller population spread across a larger area, albeit one that comprises uninhabitable mountain ranges.

The Vimmark Mountains and the various rivers leading into it (along with the Ansbach to the north) supply the Lower Minanter with much of its water, and as a result Markham's floodplains are also extensively cropped. While watch towers along the Hercyne River had been used in the past to police river traffic leading to Betuven territories, the consolidation of Ansburger rule over the area has seen them converted into mills.

While Markham's eponymous capital along with Jon Leuven University is located at the base of the foothills by the Vimmark Mountains, its largest settlement is in fact **Adelheide**, built upon the south bank of the Minanter River, where (much like Ansburg City) it controls much of the riverine trade leading to Markham. **Hamelen** is located at the Markhamite end of the Scholars' Pass within the Vimmark Mountains connecting Markham and Ostwick, so named for its thoroughfare comprising numerous students and lecturers, amongst the usual tradesman, going between its universities.

#### **Counties of Markham**

Amstel (in which Adelheide is located), Clotilda (in which Markham City is located), Alamo, Broensem, Breda, Denbosch, Denhague, Elzenhagen, Endham, Enschede, Groening, Hamelen, Hercyne, Konkorde, Kerkrade, Ontrecht, Tylente

## **Politics**

### **Governance**

#### **Ansburg**

Ansburg is administered by a Margrave, whose word is considered the highest law in the land and legally cannot be countermanded by the Duke of Markham or even the Divine, although in practice the Margrave has traditionally deferred to both potentiates in times of crisis.

The Margrave is cyclically chosen amongst the leading landowners of Ansburg for a fixed term of two years; while in theory the selection is made by the Duke of Markham the petition for a new appointment has transformed from a simple legal document to a recommendation from Ansburg's populace, leading to the position being semi-elected.

The administrators who collect revenue from these landowners and govern them with the Margrave's authority are known as the Steward-Landholders, and are usually carefully selected by the Margrave to maintain the balance of authority amongst the gentry of Ansburg. No other aristocratic titles exist amongst the Ansburgers owing to its structured, republican, resettlement after the Fourth Blight.

#### **Markham**

Markham is ruled by a hereditary duke, with the founder of the Van Markham dynasty being Alamos van Markham, brother of the Tylus, the conqueror king of Nevarra. Centuries of interchange and noble emigration between Markham and Nevarra ended with the ratification of the Minanter Accord by Matthias van Markham, who in accordance with its humilating terms divorced his Pentaghast wife, disinherited his own son Willem, and remarried an Ansburger magnate, Genova de Broek.

The Van Markham line ended abruptly after that as Matthias and his seneschal Cornelius Duvall were lynched following the revelation that the Duke had sentenced Genova and his son by her to death on forged evidence provided by Cornelius, with the crowd's fury undoubtedly fuelled by their national humiliation during the War of the Minanter Entente.

The hereditary dukedom then was presented to the Broekhuis family (the de Broeks changing their name to match their new station), Genova having survived their death sentence by hiding in the mountains. Genova's son did not survive their persecution and she had no other children, with the first male ruler from the House of Broekhuis being her nephew, Florian de Broekhuis. Members of this family have ruled Markham since then, with the current rulers provided by its cadet branch, the House of Decken, following the main line's affliction from the Hundred Days' Plague which nearly destroyed the Orlesian royal family.

While the Dukes of Markham were originally its margraves, the title has fallen out of use save as that used by the heir apparent to the dukedom (i.e. the oldest child of the current Duke, which is reabsorbed into the ruler's titles if there is no such person), and the Margrave of Ansburg, the only other title, is appointed by the Duke of Markham in what ranges from hegemonic rule to a legal fiction depending on the marches' fortunes.

The Counts of the various outposts in Markham trace their heritage from the military commanders who pacified the region in Adelheid and Clothilde's time, and any landowner of sufficient tithe is awarded the title of Baron upon submitting a suit to the Duke and his chancellory. Beyond pre-existing land deeds, the title of Baron permits certain dress styles and building additions to their houses. Markham's First Enchanter is granted the title of Baron of the Mage Quarter as a courtesy.

### Circles

Ansburg and Markham are notorious amongst the Marches for their relatively liberal attitudes towards mage freedoms, with Libertarians and Lucrosians alike frequently pointing towards the sister marches as case studies for freer mage settlements. Primal magic and its elemental spells are considered so crucial to the upkeep of farmland in Ansburg that each landowner maintains rooms on their estates for what in other polities would be considered court mages, along with Templars assigned to monitoring and protecting them and their supervisees.

This has led to the Ansburg Circle, as it is, easily being the most decentralised in the region as its main offices essentially have merely administrative functions; First Enchanter Luidweg was caught abandoning his duties in favour of studies into supposedly demonic sock theft eight months into his experiments, a clear indication of the sparseness of his obligations.

The Markham Circle of Magi, located in the capital's foothills, handles education for both the mages of Ansburg and Markham, with the resident mages of Ansburg all having a degree of Thaumaturgy at the minimum, and the number of students they are permitted to supervise dependent on their seniority.

In one clear indicator of the so-called "Nevarran Divorce" between Nevarra and Markham, a ban on the practice of necromancy in the march remains in place despite the effective lapsing of the Minanter Accord enforcing the severance between the Van Markham holdings.

That said, the punishment was reduced from imprisonment and the Rite of Tranquility as an extreme measure to a mere fine and the maximum penalty being banishment from the city. However, no Nevarran Mortalitasi has ever been exiled on such charges, speaking to the statute's lax enforcement.

The Mage Quarter of the city where Markhamite mages inhabit is an entire district unto itself with living conditions roughly equal to most other residents and relative freedom of movement for vendors and businesspeople; those petitioning for further freedoms frequently call it the "Mage Alienage" to draw comparisons to elves' living conditions.

It is administered by Markham's First Enchanter under the supervision of the rector of Jon Leuven University and with the nominal authority (and military obligations in times of war) of a Baron in Markham's nobility.

## **Society and Culture**

### Overview

#### **Ansburg**

While stereotyped as backwards farmers, the magnates of Ansburg have enriched themselves so much through their crop revenue that their largesse easily rivals that of the barons of Markham, or the banns of Ostwick, and country villas have only grown in grandeur over the last four centuries. The march's proximity to Antiva has led to a considerable influx of Antivan goods, objets d'art, foods (some of which have been cultivated in Ansburg's fields), and people to the point that the northern Ansburger holdings are strongly intertwined with Antivan culture. Multilingualism is common amongst Ansburger elites, with the most common languages being Marcher dialects of the common tongue, Orlesian, and Antivan.

The labourers and farmers of Ansburg have had settled roots for the past four centuries, with little likely to change so long as the march remains the region's bread basket. Dalish elves are broadly distrusted by Ansburger farmers, although certain days in the year are set aside for trade with them. Non-Dalish country elves are granted broad equality of opportunity on farmsteads, although this rarely translates to equality of outcome. In the four hundred years since Ansburg's resettlement there has never been an elf as a Steward-Landholder, although some have risen to advisory positions on the Margrave's council under exceptional circumstances.

Ansburg City's dynamics are exceptions which truly test the rules, as they are strongly multicultural with respect to the rest of the Free Marches, with especially close connections outside of Markham with Wycome and Starkhaven due to their proximity via water. City elves live in an alienage within the city, as is typical for the continent, although the alienage is considerably bigger than most other major cities' due to its co-development with the port city and they are granted somewhat more freedom than most elves in Orlais or Ferelden due to sheer numbers. Outside of Ansburg City, most Ansburgers will never meet a dwarf or qunari in their lifetimes, and even residents of Ansburg City are only likely to interact with a small handful.

#### **Markham**

Markhamite culture is possibly the most militaristic on the continent next to Nevarra's, although its formalism has ossified to nearly Orlesian extents due to little pressing need for a standing army following the War of the Minanter Entente. While their personal union with Nevarra ended centuries ago, numerous aspects of Nevarran culture, especially West Marcher loanwards remain commonly seen in Markham. All titled nobility members, including *nouveau riche* barons, are expected to provide men-at-arms to the dukedom. Hosting tests of skill in combat a la the Grand Tourney prsents opportunities for the nobility to demonstrate their wealth, and Markham has provided numerous champions to the Tourney.

The dwarven and qunari population of Markham is more than ten times the size of Ansburg's, and their settled elven populations are about the same. Numerous clans inhabit the Green Dales to the west of Markham, with a common understanding having been reached as a easy means of securing the march's western frontier.

Whether soldiers drawn from city elf populations are integrated with human battalions are not depended on the lord until riots broke out following the Markham levy's return from the Exalted Marches against the qunari. Elven soldiers from different battalions had been comparing their conditions with each other, with the segregated units rioting when their counts tried to reimpose their old conditions. Duke Diderik de Broekhuis sent in the Ducal Guard and crushed the rebellion, executing its ringleaders but enforcing desegregation of all infantry units from that point onwards.

Outside of the levy and the Markham branch of the Templar order, other common occupations include logging, mining, farming and trading along the river, along with service occupations relating to the urban areas, especially Jon Leuven University and the Markham Circle. The gentry of Markham has fostered thriving fine arts culture, where art graduates from Jon Leuven University have fuelled a service industry where they travel north to Ansburg to paint pastoral scenes in the lands of the farming magnates in exchange for coin and finished landscapes.

A revolution in this "Grand Tour" business, along with the development of the region's fine arts, was sparked off by the works of the painter Jacen Rhenus, who controversially started adding figures to these landscapes, usually (to quote a contemporary critic) "*Antivan maidens in loose blouses*". "Naturalist" portraits of this nature, along with the usual landscapes and profiles, are now in great demand from Markham.

### **Food and Drink**

The most commonly cultivated crops in Ansburg and Markham are grains such as wheat and millet, and root tubers such as potatoes, turnips and carrots. Fruits are grown in orchards, and berries generally picked from the wild. Spindeweed and lotus plants are grown by the sides of streams so long as their roots do not interfere with irrigation flows. The potato is so ubiquitously grown in both marches that peasant farmers who have sold off their grain crop often eat it as their main staple, and centuries of potato diets have led to numerous creative methods of serving them, from mashing to stewing to frying in all manner of shapes, with fried stems and waffles as popular forms.

Pigs and sheep are grazed, and chickens raised in coops where possible. Meat is mostly served after Chantry services and during festivals. As most grain crops are grown in Ansburg, Markhamite ranchers have instead converted great swathes of farmland to pasture for cows, and beef is served by elites to underscore their status. Game is hunted in both marches and usually eaten by the nobility. Freshwater fish are either caught in nets or grown in fish farms in larger rivers, especially the Minanter, to the point that plains and hill residents frequently complain that Ansburg City and Adelheide are awash in their stench (although this may be for reasons relating to entirely separate professions.)

Berry and fruit juices are often served to guests and at festivalsm whilst water and milk are commonplace in daily diets. The most common alcohol amongst the peasantry of Ansburg and Markham is beer, with potato gin a close second. Brandy is distilled by fruits for the palates of the gentry and nobility. Wine has become increasingly popular in Ansburg due to its proximity to Antiva, and grapes are commonly cultivated in northern farmsteads where weather permits; whiskey is the hard liquor of choice for Markhamite nobles where fruit brandy is considered too saccharine for the occasion. A light cocktail popular in both marches is posset, with the freshness of the milk highlighted when it is served.

### **Folklore and Legends**

Numerous legends have arisen from figures in the marches' history along with those in common history of the Chantry, the Blights and the Wardens, and some of the figures mentioned above such as Odwulf, King Luidweg, Radbaud the Betuven chieftain, the Markhamite founding sisters Adelheid and Clothilde, their husbands Elegast du Cherneau and Hamelen the Betuven, as well as more recent ones such as Tylus and Alamos van Markham, have also had myths arising from their lives and deeds. The folk hero Evra, smiter of the Blood Sisters of Vehnstel is said to have received a ring from Markham's First Enchanter in times past as well.

One other such figure was the Divine **Beatrix II**, acclaimed to the office in the Storm Age and to date the only Divine born in Ansburg. Her ecclesiastical career has since gained numerous embellishments from proud Ansburgers and Markhamites. The most common version involves Beatrix discreetly leaving her chantry to raise arms against pirates who had kidnapped husband from her lay life, spending years tracking down his captors and liberating her husband, and returning to find that none of her Chantry sisters were the wiser as the spirit of Ealisay had stood in for her the entire time. Chantry scholars have rejected these stories as tall tales, with details cribbed from the lives of Markham's founding sisters.

Other stories are clearly legends, such as the tale of the "Lady of Churneau", a kinswoman of Elegast's who was so offended by her Ansburger husband's offer of wheat that she dumped the entire gift into the Minanter, causing it to silt up and herself to fall into poverty until she made penance for her insult to agriculture; elven spirits in the Markham foothills whose wisdom can be invoked by reciting the right phrases (with the Chantry taking a very dim view of such practices); spectral riders identified with atmospheric lights who claim the lives of those who linger outdoors after Satinalia festivities (probably cooked up by parents and spouses demanding their family members return home on time); and the supposed Boatman of the Dead, a demon cursed to ford the waters in a barge made of bones who enslaves the raised corpses of those who died by drowning.

A Markhamite legend which might date as far back as the Betuven occupation of the region relates to two peaks of the Vimmarks close to the foothills of the march. It is said that they are twin giant brothers transformed by either magic or the Maker into stone, ending their reign of terror amongst the human-sized population of the region. The most commonly given names for the two giants are Hebenon and Henbane, although some Dalish elves claim they represent Dirthamen and Falon'Din, and numerous other cultures have called them various famous twins.

Festivals and holidays observed across Thedas are mostly celebrated in both marches. Their regional variation of the otheriwse sombre All Souls' Day consists of colorful parades celebrating Anderfels, Ansburger and Markhamite historical and legendary figures conducted on its Eve rather than the processions of spirits on the day itself, where village elders and leading noblemen will often dress up as the Disciple Cathaire (whose name Odwulf took up when he and the Anders who would settle Ansburg converted to Andrastianism) and give gifts of food from door to door while Chantry brothers and sisters sing hymns.