Dark Karameikos: Current History

Next up in a series of posts about my rework of The Grand Duchy of Karameikos into a grittier, darker setting, here's an overview of current history.

Current History
With the Elfwar a distant memory, the Traldar (the name that the men of the area had given themselves as a people) continued growing their society.  Three powerful families - Marlinev, Sulescu, and Vandevicsny - established trade routes to Luln via sea, and Krakatos, Kelvin, and Threshold via river.  The three families consolidated their trade routes in a central location, which would eventually become Marlinev, the capital city of the region they referred to as Traladara.

Unfortunately for the Traldar, another nation of men had been growing to the east.  Calling themselves Thyatians, they were far more organized and expansionist than the Traldar.  The Thyatians secretly and quietly built Castellan Keep within the borders of Traladara and used it as a base to establish relations with the Traldar and insure the Traldar remained unthreatening to the Empire of Thyatis.

By a century ago, Marlinev was a flourishing trade city of 500 residents, and the chief port of the Traladaran region.  At the same time, improved communication and trade raised the standards of living within the other disparate and previously isolated communities in Traladara, which created a sense of national identity and pride.  This did not go unnoticed by the neighboring Thyatians, and approximately 40 years ago Stefan Karameikos III pledged to do something about it.

Stefan had inherited a small but unusually wealthy duchy in the Empire of Thyatis.  Dissatisfied with his lot in life, he wanted to rule a territory shaped by his own hands and formed in his own image.  So he approached the Emperor of Thyatis with an offer: he would relinquish his duchy to the Empire in exchange for Empire-recognized ownership of the Traladaran region and a guarantee of autonomy.  The Emperor was intrigued; Traladara had potential to become a wealthy region, but it would take more time and effort than the Emperor was willing to devote.  The Emperor and Stefan came to terms: the Emperor recognized Traladara as The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, a sovereign region under the rule of Stefan Karameikos III.  Both signed decrees of eternal friendship and the promise of mutual defense in case of invasions, and the deal was set.

Immediately thereafter, Stefan launched an attack on Marlinev from sea, while ground forces from Castellan Keep assaulted the inland settlements.  Without a standing army to defend the Traldar, Stefan's land forces quickly took Threshold and Kelvin, and began their march to Krakatos.  As Marlinev fell to Stefan's naval forces, Stefan approached the heads of the Marlinev, Sulescu, and Vandevicsny families; he promised no further bloodshed if the rest of the region swore fealty to him. The three families accepted Stefan's offer, and the towns of Sulescu and Vandevicsny swore fealty.  Stefan renamed the region's capital to Specularum - a much more Thyatian name - and christened the region as The Grand Duchy of Karameikos.  He granted a small town outside of Specularum to the Marlinev family, which also swore fealty to the now Duke Stefan.

A few days later, riders returned from Krakatos, Luln, and Selenica.  Both Krakatos and Luln swore fealty, while Selenica did not.  Given Selenica's remoteness, Duke Stefan deemed this acceptable for the time being, and Duke Stefan officially called an end to his invasion.

Since then, Duke Stefan bequeathed a barony on the west side of Karameikos to his cousin, who supported him, in order to watch for invasions and hostilities.  Fort Doom is the capital of the Black Eagle Barony, and his cousin - Baron Ludwig von Hendricks - rules the area with an iron fist.

As the Duchy sits now, the Traldar and their Thyatian rulers share an uneasy co-existence.  Their faiths and lifestyles are very different, and while Duke Stefan has not required adoption of Thyatian practices, Traldar faith and folklore is looked down upon and often ridiculed.  Luln, Vandevicsny, Sulescu, Marlinev, Krakatos, Kelvin, and Threshold are still nominally ruled by Traldar families, however, each swore fealty to Duke Stefan and each houses a compliment of Thyatian soldiers to "keep the peace".  Being so close to the Black Eagle Barony, Luln is often overtaxed by the Baron for not just funds, but resources and labor as well.

Selenica remains independent, however, is it permanently surrounded and monitored by a force of Thyatian soldiers, and all those coming and going are subject to in-depth interrogation.