Impiltur (Old Fanon)

Cartographers usually roughly divide the land of Impiltur into three main regions, beginning with the lands south of the Earthfast Mountains stretching from the Gray Forest to Sarshel, known to all as the Easting Coast. Bordered by the Earthspur Mountains and the confluence of rivers and waterways that flow into the Easting Reach lies the region known as the Uplands. As one travels north along the Herald’s Road and crosses at the Narrows between Bluefang Water and the Old Water, they come to the third and final region of Impiltur, known as the Farwater. This territory can be described as Impiltur’s true frontier. The lands north and west of the fortress-town of Ilmwatch are for the most part wild and lawless, dotted with trading towns, caravan rests, and other small fortified inns and way stops that survive thanks to the trade with Damara and lands further north.

• The Easting Coast
• The Farwater
• The Uplands

Since its founding in the Year of Splendor (-72 DR), Impiltur has been ruled by a hereditary monarchy, save during the handful of years when the Fiend Wars raged and during the Kingless Years following the demise of the Elethlim Dynasty. The Heltharn Dynasty, the current ruling family, is the fourth in Impiltur’s history. The dynasty has worn the Crown of Narfell since the Year of the Dawndance (1097 DR) and the accession of King Imphras the Great. The Queen-Regent Sambryl wields authority in the realm under the aegis of the Lords of Imphras II, a council of advisors created by her father, King Rilimbrar. Despite her advancing years, Sambryl retains her vitality through the use of longevity magic, causing many outside the realm to question what will become of the Heltharn Dynasty when she dies. What few outside Impiltur know (and within the kingdom only a few more), is that the Queen-Regent’s tenure on the Golden Throne quickly draws to an end.

The young King Imbrar II, descendant of Imphras II through his son Velimbrar and the rightful king of Impiltur, shall claim the throne on his sixteenth birthday in the waning days of the Year of the Lightning Storms (1374 DR). His authority extends to dissolving the Lords of Imphras II, allowing him to rule unfettered by dynastic machinations, hidebound tradition, and the strictures of the past. Many modern scholars and thinkers believe Imbrar’s accession will invigorate the realm and that the focus of the realm will turn outward as it wakes from somnolence. A few even believe that Impiltur will once again achieve a pre-eminent position in the doings of the East, which it once enjoyed around the time of the raising of the Standing Stone.

For now, the kingdom remains under the hand of the Lords of Imphras II, known also as the Council of Lords. Originally made up of twelve paladin descendants of Imphras II through his fourth and sixth sons, the council was invested with authority by the ailing Rilimbrar to prevent the acquisition of power by his nephew and son-in-law, the conniving and detested Crown Prince Imphras IV. Five new appointments to the council due to death from old age or misadventure have occurred since this decree. Seven out of the original twelve children of the Dowager Aunts remain on the council.

Of the current Lords of Imphras II, the leaders are the Lords Limbrar, Helimbraun, and Oriseus. Their voices speak out most often in council, and they often decide among themselves what is “best for the realm” on any particular issue. Lately, Lord Helimbraun has become almost puritanical in his zeal to “root out evil” in the kingdom, urging less tolerance from the council in matters of lax morality and when dealing with questionable attitudes and occurrences. Lord Limbrar opposes Helimbraun’s newfound zeal, pointing to a looming breakdown in their formerly strong triumvirate. Of the younger members of the council, Lords Silaunbrar, Engarth, and Delimbrar are considered the “next generation” among the lords as they curry favor with young King Imbrar II, playing a role in his upbringing and nurturing as a paladin. The older lords Soargilm and Rilimbraun long ago adopted the role of sagely advisors to the Queen-Regent, speaking seldom in public or even in council, but having the ear of Sambryl – who relies on their wisdom and abundant good sense. The two female Lords, Rilaunyr and Idriane, usually act in concert and consider themselves something of a moderating influence on the extremes of some of the other members of the council. They urge consensus and cooperation in all matters pertaining to the safety and welfare of Impiltur.

The remaining Lords Simgar and Haelimbrar are the wily, battle-hardened veterans of Impiltur and the realm’s first choice in any military endeavor of note. They care little for diplomacy, statecraft, or the court and spend most of their time leading the Warsword of Impiltur in military exercises or mounting demon and orc-scouting expeditions into the nearby mountains and forests. Effectively distancing himself from his advisory role on the council, Lord Simgar spends more and more time away from Impiltur’s civilized regions, relishing the martial role he has whole-heartedly embrace. A recent foray into the Giantspire Mountains produced a report on the safety of the kingdom’s northern borders with all the weight of his authority, despite rumors of another hobgoblin horde forming there in secret.

After the Queen-Regent and the Lords of Imphras II, the nobility of Impiltur wields a modicum of power. Since the reestablishment of the realm, the nobility of Impiltur has comprised only a relatively small but influential section of Impilturian society. This social strata numbers some two-dozen houses, mixing “old blood” families – those nobles tracing their bloodlines to the days of the realm’s founding – with more recently ennobled clans. The burgeoning middle class supersedes the nobility in terms of wealth, and business interests in modern Impiltur, yet the nobility still retains a certain status in the realm the middle class only aspires to and often attempts to marry into.

Of the older noble families, the Forgecrowns and the Relindars are the strongest and most influential in the realm. Controlling extensive property holding in Lyrabar and Hlammach, as do most old blood families, they also own country estates bordering the Gray Forest. Their leading spokesperson is Lord Eldrar Forgecrown, a sprightly, canny graybeard who benefits from unfettered access to the Queen-Regent and usually provides a rather different perspective on matters of policy than the Council of Lords. The newer noble families, such as the Starsunders, the Wellhavens, and the Dintersans that rose to prominence after the Kingless Years have eclipsed most of the old blood families and concentrate their business in the cities of Dilpur and Sarshel, with larger property holdings in the Uplands of the realm.

As with most goodly realms, the common folk of Impiltur form the general backbone of life and society in the kingdom. Impilturan commoners are known for their self-reliance, martial aptitude, and piousness. A prosperous middle merchant class buttresses a large and increasingly prominent farmer class, as agriculture and animal husbandry prove more and more lucrative.

Urban Impiltur shines as an example of how benevolent rule, coupled with a religious focus toward combating poverty and disease, makes a difference in the life of the common people. No city or town in Impiltur save for the shantytown of Bay Town, contains anything that observers would describe as a slum or beggar’s quarter. The efforts of the priest of the Lords Assembled to alleviate the suffering of the urban poor has seen a general trend toward better health and increased wealth for the lower classes and a realization from the upper classes that with their wealth and power comes significant responsibility to those less fortunate.

In addition to the more mundane activities of farming, laboring, and herding, the common folk of Impiltur have always readily acted as a source of manpower for martial activities in and around the lands of the Inner Sea. Along with Chessenta and some of the lands of the Vilhon Reach, Impiltur has historically furnished well-trained fighting men for “just and noble causes that pay well,” as the mercenary leader Helingar “Threeswords” Lornim once commented. Since the Kingless Years, the authorities regulate mercenary companies in Impiltur, requiring them to obtain a royal assent in the form of a Lord’s Charter and a binding oath of service to the throne and realm when called upon.

Races and Cultures

Life and Society

Economy

See Also: Coinage of Impiltur

Law and Order

Impiltur operates a system of laws known as the “King’s Code” which dates back to the time of King Bellodar III, who reigned from 642 DR to 673 DR. This monarch, known as the Sage King, set down the first unified and coherent body of law for the realm, drawing upon the customs and practices that had developed over centuries, beginning with the ancient tribal laws of the original Narfelli humans. Today, it remains the foundation of Impiltur’s system of laws, modified by successive kings and dynasties of the realm.

Law and order throughout the realm is maintained by the various Royal Constables located in every settlement of small town size or larger. These Royal Constables hear and try minor matters and levy punishments such as fines, confiscation of property, or public censure (usually by placing an offender in the stocks in the local marketplace). The Lords of Imphras II deal directly with more serious matters such as crimes of violence, arson, and kidnapping in the legal forums known as Lord’s Courts. Such forums feature members of the Council of Lords who sit in judgement on matters heard on a bimonthly basis in the major cities of the kingdom. In practice, however, the Lords of Imphras II delegate this responsibility to the local Heralds, whose roles also include administrative work and tax and revenue collection. Only the most serious crimes, or those that require the special intervention of a member of the Lords of Imphras II, merit a hearing before a member of the Council of Lords.

Punishments for serious crimes include exile, hard labor at the prison mines of Vordric Dun, incarceration at Graycliffs (the prison island off the coast of Hlammach) and detention for periods of less than three years at any of the Royal Gaols located near Lyrabar, Dilpur, and Ilmwatch. Capital punishment exists in Impiltur but is reserved for the crimes of willful murder, treason, and a rather unique wrong named in the Code as “consorting with fiends.” Legal scholars of the realm believe this punishment would extend to wizards who summoned creatures from the Lower Planes, even for the purposes of study or to gather information, but Impiltur’s legal history is yet to decide on such a matter. Wizards who summon fiends with any regularity carefully conceal such activities from the authorities.

Defense and Warcraft

See Also: The Knights of Imphras II

Religion

Main Article: Church of the Lords Assembled

History of Impiltur

Main Article: History of Impiltur See Also: Roll of Impilturan Monarchs

Government

• Sarschel: Current capital, built as the unified capital of North and South upon the Bluefang Cataracts.
• Lyrabar: Ancient capital of the South, combines classical beauty with a solid dwarven foundation.
• Ilmwatch: Built upon the Cliffs of Dread, this fortress city is the vanguard against Nar incursion.
• Hlammach
• Dilpur

The Twelve Duchies

• Cirdan
  • Symbol: Vert, a boar passant proper, crowned Or.
  • House: House Von Doin
  • Capitol: the Carberg, Doingorod
  • Duke: Borril von Doin-Heltharn
  • Baronies: Blasingmark, Doingorod, Imbrath, Lauviger, Wye
  • Cities: Eichenholz, Imbrath, Blasingdell, Wye (City), Lauviger
  • Important Locations:
    • Blasingmark:Caernarfon, Kundrukar, Lake Kronov, Mount Lament, the Witchwood
    • Doingorod:Dun Guldur, Lake Sarph, Schloss Mordenheim
    • Imbrath:Bryn Celli Ddu, Dwimorberg, Mount Gries, Pentre Ifan
    • Lauviger:Ithfell Pass, Kingsmouth, the Long Stairs, the Shadowed Paths, the Towers of the Gates
    • Wye:Argol Plinth, Cathedral of St. Vitus, the Devil's Bridge, Eisendorf, the Golden Palace, Schloss Pretorius

• Rillanon
  • Symbol: Azure, a griffin with gull wings, tail and tongue rampant Or, armed, beaked, langued and membered between four argent crowns.
  • House: House Heltharn
  • Capitol: Lyrabar
  • Duchess: Sambryl Heltharn
  • Cities: Westwood, Induril, Soargrave
  • Important Locations: Mithtuare (the Grey Wood), the Hill of Tombs, Knightshome

• Yordic
  • Symbol: Gule, pallets Or, two towers sable.
  • House: House Becket
  • Capitol: Gethrun-upon-Imphras
  • Duke: Lazar Becket
  • Cities: Narsult, Ombrinhafen, Solidis
  • Important Locations: The Twins, the Bluefang Water, the Halls of Loyalty

• Highvale
  • Symbol: Party pale argent and vert, a hammer countercharged.
  • Capitol: Sidrav
  • Duke: Gerren Hammerhand, War-Prince, High Thane
  • Cities: Summeroak, Tomrav, Dunfee
  • Important Locations: Icemelt Lake, Kementuare (the Earthwood), the Monastery of the Yellow Rose

• the Reach
  • Symbol: Argent, a proper rose, crowned Or.
  • Capitol: Sarshel
  • Duke: Waldo con Tyrell con Heltharn, "the Fat Flower"
  • Cities: Songhal, Goldenheath, Feldenbar
  • Important Locations: The Battleride, Highgarden, the Abbey of the Rose

• Illtower
  • Symbol: Sable, a giant displayed Or, between two chains argent.
  • Capitol: Ilmwatch
  • Duke: Jon con Umber, "Great Jon"
  • Cities: Cairnfire, Maracrath, Mulltown
  • Important Locations: Last Hearth Keep, the Rawlinswood, the Farwater Marshes

• Onder
  • Symbol: Gule and Or party per bend sinster, a gauntlet displayed sable, compartment crown Or.
  • Capitol: Kiel
  • Duchess: Isara con Harandil con Heltharn
  • Cities: Oldtown, Lechfield, Hassberg
  • Important Locations: The Barrowlands, the Pillars of Imphras, Reachward Island

• Borca
  • Symbol: Black and silver serpent on a burgundy field, its coils severed into nine parts and flanked by nine silver stars.
  • House: House Boritsi
  • Capitol: Marsov Hall, Levkarest
  • Duchess: Ivana Boritsi
  • Baronies: Ilvin, Lechberg, Sturben, Vor Ziyden
  • 'Important Locations:
    • Ilvin:'''
    • Lechberg:the Royal Grove, Degravo
    • Levkarest:the Blightwood, House of Lament, the Great Cathedral of St. Ezra, Misericordia, Vioria Forest
    • Sturben: The House of Sages, Mount Gries
    • Vor Ziyden:''Lake Srebro, Tainted Wood, Ziyden Woods

• Filur
  • Symbol: Pupure, an argent tower.
  • Capitol: Filur
  • Duke: Ganlin of the Hightower
  • Cities: Easting, Azurewatch, Weirding
  • Important Locations: The House of Many Tombs, the Citadel of Conjurers, Soargalan the "Hightower"

• Whitepoint
  • Symbol: Argent, a cresting wave sinister azure.
  • House: House Easterling
  • Capitol: Dilpur
  • Duke: Reynald con Easterling
  • Cities: Klandle, Ondel's Spur, Eastpoint
  • Important Locations: The Sisters, the House of the Lady's Song, the Foundering

• Mistren
  • Symbol: Ermine, sable saltire, crown argent.
  • House: House Mirandor
  • Capitol: Hlammach
  • Duchess: Ravenna con Mirandor
  • Cities: Mistrenpost, King's Reach, Bristen
  • Important Locations: The Gray Doors, the Drowned Moor, Cliffside House

• Bluet
  • Symbol: Azure, a masted carrack sinister proper.
  • Capitol: Baytown
  • Duke: Rested con Bluet, "the Merchantman"
  • Cities: Lord's Hand, Wheeling, Bridgeport
  • Important Locations: The Herald's Bridge, the Bluefang Water, the House of Balanced Scales