Valley of Kolkrona

### Notable Demographics (Most to least)

Werewolves, Werebears, Wereboars, Werefoxes, Wererats. (Base: Human and Half-Elf)

The Valley of Kolkrona (previously, the Barony of Kolkrona), is a small community of lycanthropes settled in the mountains west of Broadsteel.

### Cities and Towns

Steegning: a tiny way-stop with one inn. Population: about 6.

Refuge: Where most of the population lives.

### Geography

The Valley has the long winters and short summers typical of its northern climb. To the east are the Oster Heights, an imposing mountain range that makes travel between the Valley and Broadsteel very difficult for the common lycanthrope. To the west are the Vittrahda Hills, a dangerous forest filled with shadow children, fey creatures, and undead elven warriors. Even the land itself there writhes and roils.

### History

##### Ancient History

Elves settle in the valley, living peacefully with nature. Together, they create an artifact to provide for their people in the Valley's cold land: the Harvest Crown.

A frost giant named Eisenhilde makes war with them in order to conquer them. Bitter bloodshed ensues. In a last ditch effort to save their people, the king and his people decide to use the Harvest Crown to 'go into the hills', leaving the war behind. The adult elves are turned into oak trees and the children fade into shadows. The Harvest Crown, stained by the dark emotions of the war, is corrupted into the Ashen Crown. The frost giant leaves, the Valley is left uninhabited.

##### The Founding of the Barony

The Barony is founded when an expedition sent into the Western Wilds goes horribly wrong. The leaders of the party contract vampirism, and the rest, lycanthropy. They stumble out the north end of the Wilds and set up in the mountains near a spring with what people and supplies they had left. There, they found the town of Refuge. With vampires and multiple strains of lycanthropes in their ranks, they agree not to leave the valley, so as not to spread their curses. With time, the vampire Thacharias Lundqvist, one of the original leaders of the expedition party, becomes Baron.

Viggo Angstrom, Baron Lundqvist's partner on the expedition, finds traces of the ancient elven civilization that had existed centuries ago in the Valley and of their powerful artifact hidden in the Vittrahda Hills, the Ashen Crown. He seeks the crown and, apparently, succeeds, but goes mad. It's unclear if this was a result of the Crown's corruption or interference from the Fey that also live in the hills. He returns to the Baron's family and kills the Baron's youngest daughter Alriette before the Baron can kill him.

Over a century ago, the Baron learns of a plot to kill him and his family. He tries to exterminate the plotters, a group of wererats, burning down a section of town to do so. Survivors fled into the hills to the east and became the Children of Nowhere.

##### The Downfall of the Barony

Tensions between the vampire nobles and the lycanthrope townsfolk come to a head. A girl, Tirene, transforms during the full moon, attacks the Baroness but does no lasting harm to her. The Baron ignors the Pact - an agreement commonly held that lycanthropes are not responsible for their actions during the full moon - and has the girl exiled, where she starves in the mountains.

The townsfolk are not happy about this, and Arica Lundqvist reaches out to the Guild of Wandering Heroes for them to intervene. The Guild finds her monstrous ghost form, a possessed tree stump with enormous hunger, and put her to rest. The Guild helps out with other problems around the Valley and gains audience with both the Baron's family and the Children of Nowhere.

The Guild tries to broker negotiations between the Children of Nowhere and the Baron, but it's fruitless. Following the doomed negotiations, the Children of Nowhere steal the key to the Ashen Crown from the Baron’s manor. Furious, the Baron turns the townsfolk of Refuge to stone. Equally furious, the Guild destroys the Baron, with the help of Arica.

Before the Baron died, he contacted the Order of the Lycan, alerting them to the presence of the the lycanthropes in the Valley. In order to stave off yet more bloodshed, the Guild finds the Children of Nowhere, gets the key to the Ashen Crown, and uses it to cure the town of Refuge of their petrification. A ceasefire is declared between the surviving lycanthropes and the Order of the Lycan.

##### Recent History

The people of Refuge establish a council to rule themselves, and are working with the Order of the Lycan to establish protocol to allow townsfolk to leave the Valley, under certain stipulations.

Bo and Arica are working together to construct a magical organ (the instrument), that might be used to put the people of the Valley to sleep every full moon, to avoid the monthly bouts of town-wide violence.