- The Confederated States:
Monmurg
Wavestone
Toli
New Veluna
Westkeep
|
Along the southern mountains set between the coastal state of Toli and the western state of New Veluna is a large territory known as Wavestone. It is so named for the rolling stoney countryside set beneath the mountains where the growing city of Hokar is nestled. The state was founded by one of the pirate leaders who abandoned the open seas when it came time to claim nation-states.
The story goes that the pirate leader by the name of Rotherik Brandt, who was fully aware of his weaker status amongst the other pirates, saw the Princes' rise to power and the eventual need to expand and claim individual strongholds. Well before any of the other Princes had chosen their territories, Brandt already had scouts assessing the lands to the west away from the coast. They had made contact with the son of a squatter warlord by the name of Dukaque who slew his father and capitulated to the Princes to maintain sovereignty with Brandt's sponsorship. When the race for land was on, Brandt casually relocated to his new home in the scrubland north of the red peaked Hellfurnaces wherein he already had troops and fortified positions demarcating the extent of his land. Essentially, for those Princes not strong enough to claim a coastal region, by recruiting Dukaque as a new Prince of the Hold, the only land remaining bordered the Hool.
Though Wavestone is no vacation spot, as the heat can be unforgiving and the land virtually worthless for growing food, it sure beats the Hool territories. The rugged terrain gives the lords here excellent defensible positions for their keeps and castles, the land is harsh enough that it takes some survival skill to negotiate off the main roads so it is not a likely through way for aggressive penetrations, skunk blossom grows wild and rampant along major roads seeded by passing caravan guards, and the sunsets as viewed from a ragged hill are truly amazing to behold. Yes, there are worse places to be than Wavestone.
The original inhabitants of Wavestone were small kingdoms of hobgoblins living in the smoothed out wind and water eroded valleys of the mountains to the south. When Brandt moved in he immediately made peace with them and struck up healthy trade negotiations which is where the name of the capital city Hokar comes from which means "trade" in goblin. Now the hobgoblins are pretty much gone. As more humans and civilization moved into Wavestone, Brandt no longer needed their compliance and one by one he routed out each kingdom or forced them deeper into the mountains. But Hokar kept its name and continued to grow. The city is now one of the larger settlements in the Hold where trade is fast paced and there are no rules. Hokar also never sleeps and it is at its mellowest between 1 and 4 pm every day. But at night the taverns stay open until sun up. The buildings are made of iron rich mud brick so the city has a reddish tint and red dust coats everything. Various architects, of the low born variety, have done marvelous building out of this red clay and some of the finer buildings, like the palace, are built with smooth undulations imitating the natural pinnacles and wind hewn pedestals that characterize the Wavestone countryside. Wavestoners are proud of their city above all else and hold this as their cultural identity because no other Hold city has such an extaordinary appearance and most other Holders even consider Hokar as the jewel in their otherwise shabby crown. Like Monmurg and Westkeep and Hoolway, Wavestone and Hokar are without an original cultural identity as Brandt jettisoned it to keep his crew full and took any worthy sailor regardless of his or her accent. By the time they moved inland they were ready to create their own culture.
Wavestone is in the arid southern lands of the Hold. Plants are sparse and scrubby, particularly near the mountains, but the existing plants include pinyon pines, creosote bushes, cholla cacti, yucca, sage bushes, palo verde trees, carob trees, and a variety of desert flowers and grasses including, of course, skunk blossom. In the lower lands, fresh water springs and streams are often clearly evident from a distance by the presence of cottonwood trees.
Severin Brandt is the son of Rotherik. As a ruler of his state, he truly characterizes the frenetic and confused, even manic-depressive, personality of his nation. Severin can be homicidally cruel at one time and unjudiciously compassionate at another for no apparent reason either way. For a median value of his personality, though, most can count on him being opportunistic without fail. And often drunk. Growing up in an environment of excess he has become the Prince of excess and tales told of his hedonistic extents seem to be borne out simultaneously with disappearances of young women from the midnight streets of Hokar. Those closest to him know that he has no concept of restraint and he does what he wills because he can whether it be good or evil. The people of Wavestone bear his inconsistency because for the most part he does not really govern them, his troops are some of the best in the Hold, particularly his sheriffs who roam the countryside, and his soldiers protect him because he pays them very well. Despite his general wretchedness, in his life he has learned to be handy with several weapons and fights with deadly skill when not intoxicated, but he never has to. He is short (5'7") and thin with dark hair and dark eyes and he almost always wears Baklunish silk of any color. He has many children by many women, but he does not care about any of them. His family crest, which is the insignia of Wavestone, is the black silhouette of a griffon engulfed in orange and yellow flame. Artists render the image of a vulture to symbolize Brandt.
One of the most twisted examples of Brandt's nature is his personal bodyguard he simply calls "Broken". Slavery is rampant in Wavestone and since there is very little actual work, except mining in the mountains, the Olman slaves are used as house slaves and creatures to be dominated. Broken is a hugely muscled, bald-shaven, Olman man dressed in platemail, except for the head (so that Brandt can see his expressions), who has a two handed sword fused to his hands. The sword has extremely potent magic, but it is also cursed to never leave the user's grip. This is the torture that is Broken's life. He can do nothing for himself because has hands are always full. There are two Olman girls on long chains attached to his waist who are assigned the task of feeding and addressing all of Broken's needs, but only at the whim of Severin who revels in watching the girls service the man and purely enjoys the indignity he is master of. Broken is never allowed to remove his platemail. Broken has had his tongue removed. Broken is barely conscious of his life and for all intents and purposes is completely insane. Yet through it all, for some reason, the man is totally devoted to Severin Brandt and has slain many men for even raising their voice at his master. Broken has been disallowed from attending Council meetings with Brandt for this reason.
Yes, there are worse places to live than Wavestone. But occasionally, you just have to turn your head away and mind your own business when the screaming starts.
|