Mountainous and prone to poor weather, Barathor occupies the center of Overhill where it draws its wealth from the mines that dot its rolling landscape like cancerous sores. Smoke fills the skies over massive forge operations and clearcuts as peasants labor under the iron hand of the ruler, Duke Barathus. Trade is welcome in Barathor but only on the Duke’s terms. Taxes and levies fill the dukes coffers and rigid enforcement of sometimes meaningless laws ensure that everything from Barathor costs more. Tax takers roam the roads, accompanied by the Duke’s black clad horsemen enforcing the “Travelers’ Tax” on all they encounter. Dark rumors abound of a secret alliance between the Duke and tribes of humanoids.
Barathor is a land of extremes. Most of the land is mountainous, or hilly at best. Much of the rest is dotted by swamps and sinkholes, the legacy of years of exploitation. The area is plagued by cave-in’s thunder storms and the occasional tornado. The kingdom receives as much as 60 inches of rain a year in its southern areas, while the mountains will see 25 inches at most, all of that in snow. The temperatures here are colder than elsewhere ranging from 80 degrees (F) at the height of summer to –20 degrees (F) in the depths of winter, in the mountains. The mountains are made doubly dangerous by treacherous pathways, abundant bandits and humanoids, and the Duke’s oppressive troops.
The Kingdom is inhabited primarily by humans of Imperial Descent, though a certain breed of Northmen also seem to find the place to their liking. Elves avoid the place at all cost and the Barathor/Everia border is heavily patrolled on both sides. Half elves are more common here than elsewhere, but their Elven parentage has more variety and includes a good number of half dark elves who have escaped culling by their Drow parents. Dwarves and gnomes find this place unseemly but do like the industrial atmosphere and so do business readily with the kingdom, though they do not like to travel there otherwise. Halflings are both unknown and unwanted here. Humanoids, on the other hand, will receive fair and sometimes preferential treatment.
Duke Barathus maintains a large military machine. At the root of the army are waves barely trained spearmen who are herded, rather than led, into battle. Units of mace wielding thugs patrol the more mountainous areas while groups of lance wielding horsemen patrol the plains. The Duke’s knights are used to command both groups or as shock troops in massed battles. The kingdom’s borders are dotted with watch stations and garrisons which are used more to prevent citizens from fleeing than to keep invaders out. A Knight commander who is responsible for making production quotas and paying a steep annual tax rules local towns. Each knight commander is put in charge of troops who remain under the Duke’s payroll. Local militias here are called rebels and exterminated where found.