Power in the Townships of the Northern Province



           

With devastation sweeping up from the south, the Towers and Hamlets of the Northern Province are minimally staffed by the sages guild and No men of the King are present in the northern realm except by boat and they do not disembark but at the last tower of the north.  there is no real rulership of the province, as ancient pact between John and Inbaranen, bar either from being present in the lands as a representative of their power or rulership.  The cities, town, hamlets and villages are all self governed or held with loose alliance, and protected often by guards made of the populace, or local militias.  

An Example of this is the Coldwater Guard in Brighton.  The Coldwater Guard are mostly farmers, older men and retired fighters. They protect the farms of the north, not an easy task, from the Clanned Kords, monsters and evil men that would prey upon the remote settlements and homes. When they cannot protect them, they avenge them. Their numbers range from 30 to 90 men and women though few are Committed. Most ride the pickets or scout in the evening after the more arduous of their duties are done. Word can travel quickly among them (by horse) and it would not be unlikely to have 20 riders assembled in half a day. They have three Lodges, though one is scarcely more than a camp, and seven Watches spread throughout the hinterlands. They are fairly well regulated, being landowners and workers, and are not the type to be found in taverns or lounging about in the shade on a street corner. They are mostly concerned with the protection of the families, livestock and crops of the people of the Yidari Duor, or the Yellow Way; the old Elvin name for the arable lands to the north and northeast of Brighton, and the farms and people there.

They organize hunts each year.  Bear Hunts, Dragon Hunts, Boar hunts, game hunts, where all can be assured that they will have meat to eat and preserve.  Their best hunt in memory was the year before Akua closed the road. They brought back the skins of 13 Green Dragons and 33 bears and lost only 3 of their Guard. The Bears will carry away livestock and families while the dragons will nest in the fields and kill anything they feel threatened by. The Danger of the dragons is their near invisibility during the months before a harvest. These hunts keep the population in check. Clanned Kords (None of the Godkings People have made it up to the Northern Province yet) are killed whenever they are encountered in most cases as if they are outside the Yidari Duor and not traveled with humans, they are bandits, renegades and murderers.  There are many known clans of Kords operating in the Hinterlands and the heels of the Brake that border on the territory of the Coldwater Guard.

New members of the Guard are gained only during the hunts. They are called Hands (like a Cleave of Wardens) and are voted in at the feasts that follow the two hunts. The “ritual” is informal and almost all Hands are made Riders, so long as they acted honorably and showed the character required of the duty of the Guard. It is not necessary for a person to kill a dragon to enter their ranks. Many young boys and girls accompany their parents on the hunts. 

It is a Ritual also to give the new Rider a sword, a horse and armor.  Many of the Hands that become Riders have their own weapons and mounts; the meaning of the ritual is to be symbolic of serving the will of the Guard and not their own. All riders use the Long Sword and the Long Bow. All Coldwater Guard must wear the Livery (Surcoat with Blue shield, black tower on waves) when riding for the Guard. None of the Coldwater Guard are paid though a smith will visit the Lodges once a month, and there is always warm food and a bunk available there. 

The Coldwater Guard has a Leader though it is an informal one and there are not usually orders given. Most Guards have rigid structures, the Coldwater is the exception to the rule.

 

There are Many Lords in the Notrthern Provence, possibly 90. A good example of the rulership of a Lord is Lord Hurn. Like all lords, She served the King in the South with her Name. Her Men were her own, drawn to her from a life and a career of fighting the Kords. She retired here before the Uprising, claiming lands she works, holds free of monsters and uses to help the provence.  She Built a Keep and a Tower (Lords who stay in the south are also required to build the Wall for their lands and most of these new Lords will/must build at the further reaches of the realm, people and make safe their lands and encourage trade and serve the king by sending their sons to the College of War, and to make their daughters available to the Future Lords of the King, both being willing of course.) as was required by her oath, though in technicality, it is not required for those who expatriate to the north.  

Her keep is in the Hinterlands west of Bricking and yet not half way to Manyrivers from there. The village of Hurn rests on both sides of the banks of the lost river at the feet of Goldskull Vale while Goldskull Tower sits on its north bank. Further north by an hours ride sits Hurn’s Keep on a promontory of the Break overlooking the vale she settled. The Skull of Ahl, the Great Nature Golden Dragon above her door. She has 5 Male children from 13 to 30 and three daughters, one the wife of Harlus of Grayrock, a Lord of the Northern province who live farther south by the sea near the realm of Akua. She has 23 Soldiers, all veterans of the war in the south, one of which, Graine, serves her with his name. There are 60 Men At Arms at her keep and 18 at the Tower. Her household and Grounds staff number twenty and she trades with Bricking, Brighton and Ashdale, and sells in Manyrivers. She has Two High Elves in her service and a Dwarf. She does not keep slaves.  She maintains a warehouse and office in Bricking and Brighton and owns an Inn in the small hamlet at the feet of her vale.  She has been called on by the People of Bricking 4 times since Akua took the Road, and once was called upon by the Coldwater Guard. All times She rode out to aid. She has been known to hire Adventurers from many Rivers though She is known to be loath to involve with them.

The king has four Provinces left after the fall of the City of Freewinds and most of the Southern Province during the uprising. A province should be Adjudicated by a Seer of the Sages Guild. Each Hamlet must maintain an Administrator of the Sages Guild and a Tower along with their Guard. After the Peace with Inbaranen, all servants of the king were called south.  With the War in the south and the balance of the life of all men in the Northlands in jeopardy, Many native born in the north, head south to fight and help the king.  Others, having served long enough, or having their souls near extinguished in the never ending war between John and the God King, head north to retire or as some hope, begin a place there, a last place for men.  

At the end of the day, the rule that remains the strongest is the rule of power. You must be strong enough to protect yourself and yours. Be that strength from negotiation or pact or simple skill with a blade.