Kyrrathis

***NOTE:** This is the land formerly known as Halgudar. The old entry on Halgudar will remain in place as a historical reference for players.*

## **Location**

The country of Kyrrathis is found in the southeastern part of Xaria. It is bordered to the south by the Wildlands of Fer Garruth. The despotic country of Rynith watches from the east. To the north lie the Badlands, Urth, and Dakkor. The western border dissolves into Hyrm-Chel.

Kyrrathis has no port on its many miles of coastline, though a handful of likely locations are being surveyed by Rynith for future construction. There is a port town on Lake Lezalon (formerly Lake Cymfal). The southwest corner reaches the Veldren Ocean.

## **Land**

Lake Lezalon is Kyrrathis’s only major internal body of water. It is the source of the Ghiri River which runs through the western plains of Kyrrathis, through Hyrm-Chel, and eventually empties into the Veldren Ocean.

The western portion was mildly habitable in earlier centuries, consisting only of plains. Slowly the southern swamps encroached northward, claiming once habitable land. These marches have become overgrown and wild once more, neglected over decades of war. DeMekrian engineers employed by Rynith are at work draining some of these swamps to create fertile farmland.

The eastern half of Kyrrathis is lightly forested with some gently rolling hills. The population of Kyrrathis is primarily in the eastern half of the country, though the western marches are dotted with new settlements and military encampments.

## **Resources**

As most of the country’s resources go into supporting its defenses or being sent to Rynith, food and civilian supplies tend to run scarce.

The plains in the west are still used for farming, but the communities there are small. The people are generally undernourished, as much of what they grow is heavily taxed.

## **Past**

In 64, General Cymfal began driving barbarians south into what is now Fer Garruth.

In 72, General Cymfal, after successfully pushing the barbarians south, led the victorious warlords to secede from Rynith to form Halgudar. The country prospered until the return of the barbarian hordes and the rise of Rynith’s new government.

In 481, Rynith invaded Halgudar, thereby forcing the country into a war that would last decades.

In 482, barbarians sacked Dobbyn, the capital of Halgudar. The Rynith Guard destroyed the capital soon after. The ruins were left standing as a monument to the war effort.

Halgudar’s borders were invaded by Dakkor in October of 495. War was declared between the two countries. There was little Halgudar could do to defend the western border while its army lay in the eastern portion of the country. The weakened western half of the country fell under assault by Dakkorians looking for easy fruit to pick. They caused considerable damage and forced many Halgudari from their farmlands.

Rynith continued to put pressure on the eastern borders of the country. Supply lines were attacked and goods confiscated, leaving the forts with barely any fresh supplies or sustenance. Talk began to circulate of a mass exodus of the country. Many people left seeking a better life in another land. Some of these refugees took flight to the north into Lindora, and west through Hyrm-Chel to Quivera.

In June 496, Fort Shelton was destroyed by Rynith. A later siege of Fort Canis was unsuccessful, and rumor began to spread that General Cymfal's sword had been reclaimed from his tomb by Halgudari forces. The people began to rally around a soldier named Vy, who many considered the spiritual successor to Cymfal himself.

By early 506, Halgudar brokered a treaty with Lindora establishing fair trade and exchange between the two. Despite Dakkorian efforts, this treaty was ratified by Halgudar's generals. A *de facto* government council consisting of the generals of each Halgudari fortress was established. The Dakkorian border was pushed back, though the reclaimed land was too ravaged to be of much use.

## **Present**

The Halgudari victories rallied the people's hearts, but they came too late to save the beleaguered nation. A renewed push by Rynith forces, bolstered by their allies the Sequestered Ones, decimated what remained of the Halgudari Army.

In September 509 the last surviving Halgudari fled before the onslaught of Rynith's undead armies. The vast majority relocated to the island of Shorn. The land formerly known as Halgudar was claimed by Rynith in victory and renamed Kyrrathis, though many informally refer to it as Western Rynith. With a non-aggression pact with Urth to their north, the Rynith government is now seeking to populate and secure its hold over these new territories.

## **Capital**

There is no true capital of Kyrrathis. The country's affairs are currently governed from Xain, in Rynith. However, construction is currently underway to restore the old capital of Dobbyn to its pre-war state, and the Voivode maintains a permanent field command encampment near the site.

## **Government**

When the capital was destroyed, the Halgudari government was never re-established. Instead, the military hierarchy that controlled each fort ruled over its own individual province of land. The surrounding townships and settlements generally supported their nearest fort, who in turn strove to protect them from invaders, bandits and other threats. As the war continued, these fortresses became the only population centers in the country, clustered around or their forts for protection. After the Rynith victory, Lord Kyrrath decreed the creation of a colonial protectorate called a Voivodeship which would operate in a similar fashion. Though the Voivodeship controls and operates all holdings in Kyrrathis for the time being, the Prime Minister has begun dividing the map into fiefs of land to be awarded to those in Rynith who have proven themselves his most loyal allies and underlings.

The Voivode *(VOY-vohd)* of Kyrrathis is a military commander who reports directly to the Prime Minister of Rynith. Voivode Madzimir is a veteran military officer, a Rynith Elite Guard long known for his undying loyalty to Lord Kyrrath. As he is also a Wolf Beastman, the symbolism of the appointment is not lost on Rynith's ruling elite. His rivals - and he has many - disparagingly refer to him as "Kyrrath's Lapdog".

Eventually Kyrrathis will be absorbed into Rynith proper, so the Voivodeship labors to sway public opinion toward this goal through forced relocation of Rynith peasant farmers and an aggressive propaganda campaign. There are those in both countries who would like to see Kyrrathis become an independent nation allied to Rynith, but Lord Kyrrath has made his intentions plain. He sees this as a reunification of lost territories, not a conquest of new lands, and has proven he will not tolerate any divergent, "seditious" opinions.

## **Military**

Kyrrathis is protected by an arm of the Rynith Guard known as the Wolves of the Voivode. The conquest of Halgudar has given Rynith an untamed land in which to send some of their most incorrigible criminals, making the homeland more easily controlled. The promise of opportunity and gain promoted by Rynith propaganda has resulted in numerous conscripts among Lindoran refugees arriving into the country. It is significant to note, however, that soldiers of the Lindoran Army are inducted into the Rynith Guard as a matter of policy, *not* the Wolves.

Officers are mostly military veterans and political appointees from Rynith. Uniforms for common footsoldiers consist of red armbands bearing the black wolfshead, worn on the right arm. Officers wear the tabard of the Rynith Guard as well as an armband. Rivalry between the Rynith Guard and the Wolves is encouraged by officers of both organizations.

There are many fortresses in the eastern reaches of the land, now used extensively by both the Wolves and Rynith Guard, though mostly for administrative purposes. Maintenance of order is paramount to the Wolves, as Rynith has made many promises of restoring the land to a lawful peace now that the Halgudari Rebellion is over.

Those Wolves assigned to the sparsely-populated western marches are tasked with repelling raids by monsters and barbarians from Fer Garruth and the Badlands, and protecting DeMekrian engineers at work draining the swamplands.

## **Of Interest**

There are very few Halgudari who remain in Kyrrathis, and those who do keep it under their hat, lest they be arrested as war criminals. Tales of the Halgudari exodus are ruthlessly suppressed and the spirit of rebellion has been extinguished. Rynith is hard at work suppressing all traces of the old Halgudari culture. It is forbidden by law to speak the name 'Halgudar', punishable by fine or worse. Children may not be named 'Robert'. The name 'Cymfal', which was once nearly ubiquitous in Halgudar, has been stricken from the maps, replaced by the names of Rynith worthies. For example, Lake Cymfal was renamed Lake Lezalon, after the Baron who has remained loyal to Lord Kyrrath's new order.

Rynith has posted notices through the Hall of Travelers announcing that land may be claimed by refugees and other itinerants who wish to relocate to Kyrrathis for the purposes of farming and helping to form communities. Many Lindoran refugees have taken advantage of this offer, and flock to Kyrrathis.

The laws of Kyrrathis are - on paper - the laws of Rynith. However, in practice, due to the low population and wide dispersal of settlers, enforcement of those laws has proven spotty at best.

The Wolves, at present, offer bounties for monsters and barbarians slain. Most suspect that Kyrrathis's borders will only become more closed to outsiders as the country is settled, so adventurers wishing to make some coin are advised to move quickly.