Borderlands

**The Borderlands** are one of the 6 constituent regions of the Kingdom of Aqoris. Prior to an invasion by the Kingdom of Aqoris during the Age of Warriors, it was ruled over by the Clans of Alba as apart of the wider "Alba" territory. The Alba lost the war and the Borderlands were annexed by the Kingdom. As a result, Alba culture is still very prominent in Borderland society but does differ from House to House. They are the only region that still worships the Old Gods of Alba.

The Region is ruled over by House Slait, a former minor Alba Clan, that adopted aspects of the southern culture and led the other Alba Clans. They were granted the title "Warden of The Border". Some Houses stuck more so to their Alba heritage than others, this is more seen in the east of the region where the Alba Mountain Clans are most prominent. The Mountain Clans are clans of the old Alba controlled lands and they refused to bow down to the "Southern Invaders" and took off into the mountains to form their own clans. They are direct descendants of The Alba.

## Geography

The Borderlands is the furthest north in the Kingdom and are most affected by the Winter, it is very cold most of the year. A lot of the Borderlands is mountainous with hilly plains in the passes not dominated by mountains. In the very west is the Bay of Ice which is known for it's deadly cold temperatures. Along the Eastern Coast is a vast mountain range known as The Titans'. There is a large body of water called Carlingwark Loch in the central east of the region and it is also very cold but has a great fish population. The Borderlands directly borders the lands of The Alba to the North which is mostly defended by impassable mountains and some minor fortifications with a small wall in the passable areas.

### Settlements

* Greycrest, ancestral seat of House Slait (the ruling house of the Borderlands).
	+ Duns, seat of House Cherman.
	+ The Arcop, major mountainous fortification between the Borderlands and The North and seat of House Fortaare.
	+ Barrinkeep, seat of House Barrin.
	+ Thornhill, seat of House Donnering.
	+ Fangdor Keep, seat of House Fangdor.
	+ Windspell, the seat of House Deeroft.

## Military Strength

In comparison to the other regions, the Borderlands does not have a standing army of trained, uniformed men. Each House may have a household guard but the fighting style of the Bordermen is unlike anything seen in the rest of the Kingdom. Each Borderman is trained with an axe from a young age and every Borderman is a fighter, hunter and trained soldier in his own right due to the nature of survival in the region. They are simplistic in that they don't need to have large ceremonial guards in flashy armour, preferring to fight brutally and aggressively with axe and shield, wearing very little heavy armour as it provides better mobility and speed in the rocky terrain of the Borderlands.

In times of war, Bordermen will automatically form fighting forces under their Lords without the need to call a banner. This gives the Borderlands an edge over the other regions as they can form armies very quickly and do not take a long time to start fighting as each man has his own equipment. As a rough total, they can field an army of around 80,000 warriors.

Another combat advantage the Bordermen have is in guerrilla warfare, more specifically mountainous guerrilla warfare. Armies have a hard time sieging down the Borderlands as their fighters can be anywhere, quickly attack and then fade away back into the mountains, similar to the fighting style of the Alba Mountain Clans. In the south however, this is less advantageous as shown by the disastrous defeat at the Battle of The Tyne against the battle-hardened and uniformed army of the Rebels under Prince Keagan during The War of The Bears.

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