The Kingdom of Gabbro

The Territories of the Gabbrons are highlighted in grey in southern Leuteboden.

The Gabbrons were a light skinned, tall, muscular people. Their mastery over their mounts was rivalled only by the Halk steppe nomads. The first agricultural menschen to emerge from the nomadic Wuster tribes, when not fending off their cousins to the north they keep busy fighting among themselves. A very tradition focused people, The Kingdom of Gabbro was resistant to change and highly superstitious. They might have been one of the preeminent powers in the world, if only they could bring themselves to unify for an extended period.

### Food

Gabbrons were fond of fermenting roasted grain along with hops, freezing this liqour in barrels in order to increase its strength. They ate lots of beef and mutton as well as sourdough bread and vegetables that grow in such a climate like cabbages, carrots and leeks.

### Recreation

Many Gabbrons ingaged in feats of great strength. These strongmen trained for many events including but not limited the lifting of several boulders to stands of shoulder height, the tossing of an immense log incredible distances and the hammering of wooden posts into the gound in as little time as possible.

### History

Long ago, a nomadic horse people came to inhabit the southern river valleys of Leuteboden and the northern plains of Reichlichia. Over many centuries, possibly due to climate change, some of these people made the decision to begin farming in permanent settlements. These settlements would develop into small chiefdoms, these city-states would mostly operate independently of each other, engaging in occasional skirmishes.

In 798 BT one of these chiefdoms would succeed in absorbing one of its neighbours, sparking a period of intense war. After generations of brutal conflict, one people stood atop the ashes, their leader would become the first King of the Kingdom of the Gabbrons. They would rebuild quickly, becoming prosperous, however internal tribal blood feuds threatened to tear the new polity apart. It was only when the raids from the sea people to the north increased in intensity that the personal squabbles of the past were forgotten and unity between these people was cemented.

In 655 BT the Gabbrons dealt a series of punishing defeats to the Skärgåd after suring up their coastal defences. Now unmolested by northern raiding, the Gabbrons entered an era of peace, though it was not to last. In 452 BT, Gabbro joined a coalition of peoples seeking to eliminate the Skärgåd for good. However, due to poor leadership in battle by Gerlad the Pious and an unforeseen unification of their once divided enemy, the invasion was a complete failure. Losing control of their marauding neighbours, the next century or so saw a string of ineffectual leaders such as Wolfgang the Fat and Herman the Bald, leaders who would rather placate or pay off the Skärgåd than engage them in battle.

In 347 BT, a force of Skärgåd raiders arrived at the city of Baelclody, positioned at the mouth of a river leading deep into Gabbro. The leader of the raiders offered the defenders peace, should they allow his flotilla passage to raid on beyond the fort. The leader of the defenders, Otto Berengar denied this request. After a 115 day siege, the reigning Gabbron monarch Arnulf the Simple arrived and promptly paid off the invading Skärgåd in 3500 weight of silver, and allowed them passage down the riverz. Enraged by this injustice, Otto would spend the next several years establishing alliances with disillusioned nobles and in 343 BT he would kick off a sixty year civil war known as the War of the Ten Princes.

The conflict ended in 288 BT when Rudolphous the Tall eliminated his competition at the Battle of Begmullach. A strong and united people once more, the Kingdom of Gabbro delivered a shocking campaign on the Skärgåd, establishing their modern borders. With the homefront secured, they then set their sights on the newly discovered Continent in the north. They would foster this colony until 105 BT, when the Dominion would starve them out via naval blockade, then launch a massive simultaneous assault on population centres, refusing to fight on open ground as is the Gabbron way. With no other options the Kingdom of Gabbro was forced to sue for peace, promising never again to set foot on the Continent.

With raiders to the north, a failing colony in Gazar and a civil war begun in 22 BT, Gabbro’s future was far from certain.

### Combat

For the Gabbrons war was a family affair, and a largely seasonal one at that. When not reaping or sowing, each warrior was expected to bring two horses for himself and an extra for each family member or camp-follower in tow. Gabbron wives acted as cooks, doctors and moral support for their men, either chastising them after a defeat or exalting them after victory. For Gabbrons the primary impetus of war was not to gain territory or display their tactical brilliance, instead it was a chance for men to display their courage, strength and vigour. The wealthiest Gabbrons wore bronze cuirasses, however most simply wore cotton tunics and trousers, some even wore nothing at all like their ancestors. Nearly every Gabbron on the field was be mounted, though they sometimes would dismount in rough terrain. They were still very dangerous on foot. Gabbrons charged, either on foot, on horse-back or on the water, if you were fighting a Gabbron you could be sure that at any point during a battle if the Gabbrons were not currently charging they were setting up to do so.

### Governance

Though a Kingdom for the last several centuries, the tribal blood bonds among the Gabbro still ran hot within their veins. Whenever the reining monarch perished, either naturally or otherwise, a new king was appointed by the High Council (A collection of about a dozen powerful families) from the High Council, ususally due to said council members merit as a ruler though sometimes nepotism played a role.