The Duchy of Berghof
by
Sage Wastrich Tychris
of Port Toli
550 CY
The tale of Berghof is a remarkably dramatic story beginning around 250 CY strangely enough far to the north in the Aerdi occupied territory we now call Perrenland with a totally unexceptional man. In fact, Heinrich Berghof wanted nothing to do with remarkable stories, fabulous experiences or personal glory. He was kind of a grumbling lack-wit who made his coppers constructing wagons and carts and repairing those that didn't fare so well upon the road. He wasn't thirsting for more money or a better life; he was just fine and he wasn't interested at all in rocking the boat so to speak. Of course, such people don't make history, but Heinrich never wanted to and try as he might to stop it he was destined to be known by people all across the continent who make their business knowing folk heroes. His is one of the few reluctant historic figures of Greyhawk.
What is even stranger still is that Heinrich Berghof never even made it to the province that bears his name. He was not present at any earth breaking or ribbon cutting ceremony and knowing through historic accounts of Perrenland and from what chronomancers admit to have witnessed of Mr. Berghof's personality, he would have been utterly appalled that his name be used for any sort of grandiose political marker, especially a burgeoning free state.
As it happened, Heinrich heard that a Duke, a young grand nephew to the Overking, was going to build a castle near his village and administer to the governance of the land. Heinrich received this news as a form of quiet gossip from a nearby table at the local tavern. The village itself was a pleasant place with friendly constables and virtually no royal meddling at all. But if a Duke moved there, one could expect more regularly collected taxes, constant Imperial supervision, and generally more oppression. Heinrich Berghof decided to make a move.
Despite the presence of Imperial soldiers upon the road, or maybe because of it, travel in his part of the Quaglands was hazardous for individuals. He had to convince others from the village to join him in a migration to a "better place." So he asked the cooper, the smith, and the brewmeister to come with him and they would organize a communal business center based upon their trades. He stressed the importance of secrecy because he didn't want a general hubbub to be roused. Each of his accomplices agreed, but they did not quite understand the nature of the journey. They thought he was proposing starting a new independent town in a warmer climate away from all political control of Aerdy and Furyondy. So each of the artisans invited three other artisans and their families to come along because they figured their skills would be required for their new state to survive. Heinrich was greatly annoyed. All he wanted to do was move to another village that didn't have the looming shadow of the Empire directly over it, but he was not aware of the misunderstanding yet, so he went along with the plan to relocate half of the citizens of the village.
Once on their way, Heinrich Berghof was glad. But as each sleepy village they entered was denied as a resettling place by the group, he became frustrated. Still, he just went along with the rest. When he saw they were actually leaving the Quaglands heading south into disputed territory he became really concerned. He challenged the wisdom of their path. The smith responded by reminding Heinrich that the whole journey was his great idea, and why should he back out of it now. Heinrich was stunned. Wandering across war torn lands was not his idea. He was confused where this idea for an epic journey had come from, but now he was trapped in this runaway wagon. He weakly suggested going back, but he was the only one who wanted to. He could not leave alone now. So they pressed on into more unruly lands.
For the next few days the group was harried by bandits and they lost many of their supplies, but they kept going. When the group reached the Keoland border and was met by a group of patrolling knights, they were overjoyed. They continued their trek southward to the warmer climates in relative peace. On the northern edge of the Hool Marsh Heinrich Berghof caught a chill and died.
The group was bolstered by his death to achieve success in his honor. As they headed south carried by their undaunted spirits more people began to join the raggedy group and learn of the selfless hero in Heinrich Berghof. They travelled into lands currently owned as states to the Sea Princes, but then the land was unoccupied and free for the taking. The land itself was, however, not that desirable. It was arid and dusty and wasn't a promising place for poor peasants to make a start. They were ready to stake their claim on the land, though, and were thinking to plant their roots when a fur trapper wandered by with a pack full of weasel pelts. He unwisely told the group about a great lake valley at the end of the Gann River just past the first mountains that sheltered lush greenery and thriving animal life.
The group packed up their belongings, which by now could all be carried on their backs, and chased their dream along the Gann River. After several hard days through the mountains they came upon their new home surrounded by mountains looking over the vastness of Lake Spendlowe, a green and blue gem tucked away in the harsh mountains, pleasant and secure for a new nation to slowly build in strength.
The people unanimously decided to name their new home Berghof.
As a side note, the Duke never built a castle in Heinrich Berghof's hometown and apparently never had plans to. The information was just a tavern rumor.
In its protected valley Berghof was able to grow unmolested. In time, another Ducal hierarchy was established and the small state became governed by a series of Grand Dukes whose title was earned through heredity. Similarly, the people also maintained their old way of life including their language, names, and holidays. Entering Berghof was like stumbling into a tiny slice of the Quaglands. A sparse soldiery was created while everyone else was busy building, growing, and hunting. Behind it all was the image of Heinrich Berghof who, in the eyes of the people had become a knowledgeable and idealistic statesman leading his people from tyranny. Artistic renditions portray him as a man with chiseled features and penetrating dark eyes, with a stern look behind an impeccably trimmed beard. Nobody remembered the real Heinrich Berghof with his patchy beard, splotchy face, warty complexion and watery, red eyes, or his constant whining during their lengthy retreat from the Quaglands. If they had, surely there would not be so many mothers willing to name their sons Heinrich in Berghof today.
The protection the valley afforded the small state was imperative to its survival early on. Shortly after the valley was settled many more dukes and barons from other countries began to settle the dusty lands outside the mountains. These groups often came with troop complements and servants and serfs. Some were disaffected religious groups searching for a quiet place to worship, others were missions sent to establish temples from the north, but most were simply entrepreneurial warlords seeking free land and an opportunity for quick cash through mining, farming, or even less scrupulous ways. Though most of these settlers came to the land as a complete pre-fabricated community, those who didn't did not survive, the harshness of the land held them back from raging success. They eked out a dirty little existence for many years before finally gaining their foothold in the land. Meanwhile, just over the mountains to the south, Berghof was finally gaining their foothold into the land, being an incomplete community from the start, many skills had to be relearned as the population slowly grew, but their environment made it all possible. Hunting and fishing were easy as there was game to be had all about. The higher altitude made the climate pleasant and allowed plant food sources to grow plentiful. Nature provided for Berghof.
So by the time the barons from the lowlands stabilized their territories, the first magic-school opened in the town of Hallbridges in Berghof. This meant that at the precise time that the warlords in the north were ready to start expanding their territories through military action, Berghof was teaching new magicians which meant there had to be more powerful magicians to be instructors. Once a spellcasting community gets settled in a township there is usually a natural cascade of events that occurs. Eventually more wizards find out that there is a wizard friendly nation in a far off land in an idyllic valley where a researcher can get away from all of the political intrigue and get down to work. So Berghof and particularly Hallbridges became a very popular place for wizards to set up shop. In a relatively short time some very notable spellcasters lived in Berghof, which meant they were bound to aid in the defense of the state. The lowland warlords to the north didn't have a pixie's chance in Hell of conquering Berghof by the time they were ready to start their campaigns of domination. But they still didn't even know Berghof existed.
The people of Berghof had remained isolated for decades. A few folks travelled to the valley through the treacherous Kamph Mountains after hearing tales of a small village paradise from fur trappers, small-time dealers in magical reagents, and spellcasters already familiar with the valley. For the most part, though, they had all the skills to live a simple life. Even with the rise of their monarchy the demands on the people were slight so the people of Berghof were allowed to grow independently. There was only a narrow precarious trail through the mountains giving access to the valley, so commerce with other nations, even the petty baronies to the north, was pretty much impossible. This allowed Berghof to remain hidden for many years.
It was the rise of its magical population that changed this. Wizards who perform research need glassware, books, rare components and reagents, and many other odds and ends, generally bulky, rare, expensive, and breakable things. A road through the mountains had to be built.
The Grand Duke thought the idea was marvelous and put men on constructing a road immediately. Because he was as isolated as the rest of them, he had no idea who his neighbors were or even that Berghof had neighbors. The current Grand Duke at the time was a paunchy man by the name of Halve Morgen. He was not an exacting ruler; he wasn't even a strong leader, but he was likeable enough, if even a little willy-nilly. People liked him because they didn't need a ruler directing their lives. His only promise to them was prosperity and good times. So when the project to build the road began, his only thought was that it would invite more people to come share in the enjoyment of a worry free lifestyle.
The attacks of raiding beastmen from the mountains upon the road builders was disconcerting, but it was to be expected. Guards were posted while the men worked and that alleviated the problem. The road was finished without any fanfare and the workers went home. Still nobody knew that the road existed except the people of Berghof and they were content in their little valley. It was the magic-users who began to send messages to their suppliers about the road so they could get their research supplies delivered rapidly. The merchants were initially hesitant about passing through the largely wild lowlands, but after a few trips the journey became routine and quite lucrative. It took little time for the merchants to expand their sales not just to the wizards, but also to the ordinary people of Berghof. This also opened up new vistas for the artisans of Berghof who could now trade with the rest of the world. Berghof could grow much faster now.
What they didn't expect was that all of this commerce would attract unwanted attention. The barons began to notice an influx of merchant caravans passing along their roads. They didn't ever really stop to trade in the barons' estates. The people who lived there were poor and had nothing to barter. Besides, it was known that if the barons' soldiers stopped a merchant caravan they could demand a crippling road tax. If you were a merchant, it was best to hurry through the lowlands. Eventually, the barons got smart and began to question the merchants as to their destination. They were amazed to learn there was a prosperous nation nestled in the mountains. Spies were sent to investigate the valley.
When the spies returned, the barons were filled with a jealous rage. It was unthinkable that the best land for hundreds of miles be claimed by a bunch of craftsmen and dirt farmers with funny accents. All of the barons who learned of Berghof independently came to the same conclusion. They would go in and take it for themselves, enslave the people, and make them work in the lowland farms. The first to attempt this was Baron Maggis. His troops travelled up the road, ransacking merchants as they went. A merchant's runner returned to the town of Gannaway to warn of the impending invasion. Three local wizards took flight to intercept them on the road. The road was suddenly iced so that many soldiers slipped off the cliff along the road while others were scattered and slain by a hail of fireballs and meteors. Maggis did not like surprises. He had the spy hanged for his shoddy performance.
Individually, the barons continued their foolish raids upon Berghof and generally the results were the same as the first. Grand Duke Halve Morgen was shocked by the behavior of his neighbors but seemed unable to respond to the threat in any way. Realizing his own ineptitude at all matters martial, he appointed a Commander of Defense to figure it out. This man was the headmaster of the magician school, Herman Van Arthog, who likewise had no idea how to fight a war or prepare a defense. But Duke Morgen knew that Van Arthog would be driven to see any task to thorough completion, and he knew the man was a master of information and research. Herman found his appointment and the request strange and didn't quite understand why they had been foisted upon him aside from his friendship with the Duke. Unlike many magicians, Herman felt a real obligation to Berghof and Duke Morgen, and so despite his reluctance he began his work from the very beginning by reading a basic book on aggression. Halve was not disappointed.
Now that almost each of the warlords had been defeated on the Adlerweg, as the road came to be known, they began a campaign of caravan raiding. They figured if they could keep the caravans from reaching Berghof the small nation would suffer. Initially, they attacked any caravan upon the roads they saw. This indiscriminate attacking was effective at cutting off supplies to everyone. Many times a caravan would be sacked on its way to a neighbor's barony. This tended to increase aggression between the warlords as compensation would then be demanded, but sometimes the elimination of one caravan would elicit cries for compensation from three of the barons most likely looking for an opportunity to cheat one's neighbor. Sometimes soldiers would attack their own caravans. Eventually, all trade stopped. Much needed supplies were not getting even to the barons. A meeting was held by the lowland warlords to stop the caravan raids across the board and a document was signed and sent to the merchant companies to re-establish trade routes.
For the people of Berghof it was curious to them why merchants had stopped coming. Aside from a surplus of goods waiting to be shipped, though, their lifestyles were not hampered at all. They had plenty of food and resources to live without ever trading with merchants. The spell-casters, however, were getting exceedingly pissed off. For months valuable components and items never arrived. Many researchers were stopped by lack of supplies. The wizards began to fret and stew. Everyone knows a stewing wizard is a bad thing.
Many confronted Herman Van Arthog about what he proposed to do. As an answer, he invited any bored wizards to join him in solving the problem. Many were very eager to contribute. The ideas that resulted were anything from fantastic to cataclysmic. Some proposed summoning demons into the lowlands, some thought opening a great dimensional door through the mountains would be best, and others proposed setting outlandish magical traps along the road. Van Arthog thanked them all for their input, but suggested that something simpler should be done. After all, they were just defending themselves from a pack of bandits.
He decided a strategically placed defense structure along the road would be sufficient to keep the raiders out. Construction crews began immediately and a cadre of wizards helped design and build it. The great structure became known as the Keep of Adlerweg. It was built with amazing rapidity and was ready to be garrisoned by the end of the summer that construction began in 416 CY. It was a moderate fortress with two towers, a lower parapet, and a gatehouse complete with murder holes. The whole thing was riddled with arrow slits, so approach from any direction upon the road would be exposed to attack. The Adlerweg passed beneath the keep, under the watchful gaze of ready archers on the parapet, to a room of scales and measures where a tax on all goods passing on the road would be levied. In this chamber were the final touches of the wizards of Berghof who placed four fearsome magical guardians there to dissuade any spirited disagreements amongst the travellers and guards. When the keep was finished it would allow a skeleton defending force to keep at bay a large number of attackers. Finally, it became required that all wizards of Berghof had to spend a term of one year residing at the keep as part of its garrison. To this day, though the wizards are no longer present, the standing force at the keep is one hundred men and that is sufficient.
Because the perceived threat from the north was so great, the keep started with three wizards in attendance. Every day they would scry the area or survey the road by flying above it. Generally, they found the pass to be quiet. Too quiet. The issue of why caravans had stopped coming had still not been addressed.
The warlords by now had realized their folly in attacking all caravans entering their lands and had mended the situation. Merchants were again passing through the lowlands and attempting the Adlerweg. Maggis was the first one to start the blockade of the Adlerweg. He didn't just stop merchants from entering. He killed all the guards and merchants and stole all the goods. By doing this, he thought, only Berghof would be harmed with the lack of goods and in time he could march on their starving land. Maggis still didn't realize that Berghof didn't need trade and that his blockade was merely bothersome. In the meantime, Maggis was becoming quite wealthy from the spoils meant for Berghof. The other barons noticed this and quickly learned what he was doing. The entrance to the pass became a valuable resource for procuring wealth and many battles between warlords were fought to possess exclusive rights to the ambush site. Rather than be embroiled in a bloody turf war with four or five opponents Maggis bowed out of the competition. He would let them kill each other all the while preventing trade on the Adlerweg while he solidified his position for the time when he would march on the valley.
It wasn't long before the patrolling wizards also discovered the blockade at the entrance to the Adlerweg. This infuriated them. It became part of their daily task, sometimes two or three times a day, to go and rout the ambushers. For them it was like shooting ducks in a barrel. Over the next month hundreds of men died at the hands of several angry wizards from the keep. The ambush site had become a dangerous place to be. Merchants once again reached Berghof marveling at the new keep along the way. The barons still did not know of the keep's existence.
This is why after most of the other warlords had been greatly hampered by the wizards' attacks Maggis hatched a plan to conquer the nation in the valley with one broad stroke. By now, there were only five remaining barons of the dry lowlands, all fighting men. There was Maggis, Benja Frandjool, Francis Dukaque, Gendrick, and Freng'grrrzet, a gnoll khan. All of the others had been slowly eliminated by economics, weather, treachery, and infighting, and general useless conflicts. Now the five remaining each owned much greater tracts of dry, dusty scrubland and this generally increased their resources and stabilized their nations. They still, however, did not want to live there. Maggis who had through timely decision-making and luck the greatest army, proposed a confederate force of all of the barons to storm the valley and divide it up afterwards. They had each attempted it individually without success and obstructing trade did nothing to weaken Berghof, so they were left with an all-out assault with a much stronger army. All of the other leaders agreed and they prepared for war.
Together the army was sizeable, not like the standing army of any established nation, but large enough to take Berghof. In 418 CY they crawled along the Adlerweg like poison in the vein of the mountains. When they came to the Keep of Adlerweg they were impressed by its solid appearance and design. It did not compel them to return, however. The army of bandits attacked the keep, but by virtue of the road, the cliffs and the walls, only a small portion of the army could engage the walls. While the rest of the group waited for an opportunity to advance they were peppered with arrows and devastated with spells. They retreated hurriedly and made no further attempt to overcome the Keep of Adlerweg. They each returned to their baronies to fret except for Gendrick and Frandjool who were both slain in the battle, their land and troops divided and claimed by Maggis and Dukaque. Freng'grrrzet and Dukaque were both prepared to give up attempts on the valley and would not commit themselves to another plan without reasonable assurance that the plan could not fail. Maggis was obsessed. He let his steward run the estate while he focused all of his energy upon toppling the Keep of Adlerweg.
It is interesting to note that evidence of Baron Maggis indicates he was not very smart, or had a compulsive nature. He could only focus on one task at a time. He could not see the bigger picture. His attention shifted from the fall of Berghof to the fall of the Keep of Adlerweg. Once he got it in his mind that the Adlerweg was the key to Berghof, then he could see only that the keep was the only thing in his way. Once passed the keep he would have been unprepared for the Grand Duke's soldiers and especially the growing population of spellcasters. After the first attack on the keep Baron Dukaque recognized Maggis' obsessive behavior and distanced himself from the man. Freng'grrrzet always used to tell Dukaque, "That man Maggis gnashes his teeth too much. He dulls them before the fight." Dukaque and Freng'grrrzet both left him to his schemes. But Maggis did not notice. The only thing he saw was Adlerweg.
More years passed and Berghof prospered. The line of Grand Dukes rolled on. Herman Van Arthog retired to raise his family in a country home. They became the premier magician family of Berghof and many of them taught magic at the school. The Van Arthogs remained foremost in Berghof politics and policy through the years despite their individual eccentricities until the family line died with one totally unexceptional son.
But before the family line fizzled out there was one other Van Arthog of note. Heike Van Arthog could have been just another Van Arthog magician, but she had the opportunity to save Berghof like her grandfather.
One day Baron Maggis received a very special guest in the early spring of 436 CY. By now the Baron was much older, cheating death with curatives and his obsession. He had no wife or heirs to his land. He had no thoughts of such things. But now he was given an idea by a dark stranger who came to his court. The only name we have for this individual is Frexel. He came to Baron Maggis to aid him in his struggle to conquer Berghof. Frexel said that all Maggis really needed was bigger magic. It had to be something beyond a person, something with power to live forever—like a powerful magic item. The Baron became excited and instructed Frexel to immediately begin creating a magic item to destroy the Keep of Adlerweg. Frexel protested that the scope of purpose for such an item was unnecessarily narrow, that the item could potentially do more than that. But Maggis would not hear it. Only the Keep of Adlerweg must fall. The rest will be easy. Frexel was not apparently interested in arguing any further about it. After all the project time would be reduced, he would be paid the same, and the customer would be happy.
With the proper supplies and steady work Frexel was finished with his work in a year. He took his extravagant payment and left the fool with his toy. Unbeknownst to Maggis, the magicians of Berghof had scried his tower and learned what he was up to. The Grand Duke was informed and told that he would have to act fast to stop the impending destruction of the Keep of Adlerweg. He appointed Heike Van Arthog as head of the team to stop Baron Maggis. They conferred for only two days and decided to create their own magic item as specific in purpose as the one Baron Maggis was having constructed. With their greater numbers and better access to resources, they were confident they could have the magic item finished and in place by the time Frexel would be done. It would be close though.
Maggis once again contacted his neighbors, the sons of his old alliances, Baron Louis Dukaque and Khan Ch'ch'chteng'grrrzet, both young and thirsty for power. He told them he had a magic item of such power all of the keep's defenses would fall and the surprise to the defenders would make the battle slight. Both Baron Dukaque and the Khan were dubious, having known their neighbor all their lives as a crazy old man, but they were interested in any easy investment. The three bands joined forces and marched upon the road.
The Adlerweg garrison was ready to receive them. Baron Maggis carried the powerful item that would destroy the keep and Dame Heike Van Arthog possessed the magic item that would oppose the first. When the encroaching army saw the keep, they charged the walls. Arrows rained down from above upon the attackers and arrows arced up to the walls from the great gnollish longbows. The fighting was fierce and the attackers were reportedly in fine form. Many Berghof soldiers fell that day, but the attackers were expecting big magic and it never came. If the attack had continued, it has been suggested, the lowlanders might have succeeded without Maggis' "sure thing." As it happened, Maggis realized that his magic item would not advance forward to meet the foe. Feeling betrayed and foolish he retreated before the others realized his failure. The confederate army retreated shortly after the assault began without effective results. Heike Van Arthog spent the short battle atop the high spell casters' battle platform with two other mages. They saw Van Arthog raise the item and direct it at the advancing horde. Immediately, they recognized a small group stop, separate from the advancing group, and they saw Maggis perplexed within it. They had won. As the army retreated, a great sad tragedy occurred. One of the taut support cables for the towers snapped and cleanly decapitated Dame Van Arthog. Her head was knocked from her body into the ravine below the keep and was never found.
The loss was incredible to Berghof. For many other wizards it was merely unfortunate, but to the Grand Duke the death of a Van Arthog was too much. The magic item became property of the Van Arthog family and the family declared that in the future there would always be a Van Arthog Guardian stationed at the keep with the magic item.
It is interesting to note that all records of either magic item, specifically, are non-existent. Even today, we have no idea what form they took, but because of their specific natures' it is not impossible that their powers have become null. In any event, the first item disappeared around the time the Sea Princes took power, the second just before the Van Arthog line disappeared entirely.
Ten years after the final attack, the Sea Princes took power on the coast. They stormed the mainland and conquered many small baronies. Phillipe Dukaque, the very young son of Louis, betrayed his father and in so doing preserved the family name as one of the ruling princes of the land to this day. Ch'ch'chteng'grrrzet fled his homeland before the incursion—some say he was warned by the Dukaque family. Considering the closeness of the families we think it is probably the case. Baron Maggis' decrepit nation was crushed by the Sea Princes from the east and Dukaque from the west. Phillipe claims that he slew Maggis himself, but multiple reports tell us, from Maggis' personal guards, that he left his tower days before the final attack wandering away into the night in a trance.
History of Maggis after his second great failure is fully provided by willingly divulgent eyewitness accounts. After the second defeat of Adlerweg, he received no visitors and never left the tower. The magic item he had purchased from Frexel was always with him, even when he went to bed. He was utterly obsessed.
His servants say he disappeared without a word and two days later Dukaque rode in and claimed his bloodless victory. We have no idea if the events are affiliated or merely coincidental. Istus is wondrous in her ways, no? Maggis was never heard from again.
At this time, of course, the Sea Princes learned of Berghof. Attacking Adlerweg was also fruitless for them. They attempted it multiple times even with magical backup, but they never felled the keep. It became clear that other methods would be required to take Berghof and the Princes were able and willing to find them.
Two things happened that finally weakened Berghof. The first was created. The Princes realized that Berghof's magical friends made the nationlet unassailable. Prince Cato had a plan.
It had been a problem before, but it was steadily getting worse. Wizards' eccentricities, magical experiments gone awry, and hot-headed spellcasters dueling in the streets for silly reasons entirely unconcerned or repentant at the disturbance and damage caused started to become too regular. At the same time a bard appeared in the valley singing songs and telling stories of infamous spellcasters of the world. He told the history of Acererak and sang the song of Keraptis and told tales of diabolic Iggwilv and Asberdies. The bard stoked the fires of distrust between the people and the community of magicians. Prince Cato and his bard never expected the people to rise up against the magic-users of Berghof and cast them out. That would have been suicidal for the people. But what did happen was that all of the communities became generally unfriendly to spellcasters. People did not tip their hats in the street, it became hard to get served in the tavern if you were a known spellcaster, and just general surliness was directed at them. Magicians not use to this disrespect returned it in kind, locked themselves up in their towers, or left Berghof entirely. The Guardians of Adlerweg left their post and spellcasters could no longer be counted on as defenders of the nation.
Meanwhile, the Sea Princes settled on the coast and opened their ports to trade and great bustling cities of commerce sprang up. With their great fortunes the princes were able to organize a merchant militia to support trade and protect trade routes. The cities of Port Toli and Monmurg became fabulously wealthy in a short time and much of the landlocked territories that were conquered by the Princes when they first arrived began to see some of that wealth too. The dejected spellcasters of Berghof were welcomed with open arms to the big cities of The Hold where they could live anonymous lives within the crowds. The Princes reduced taxes of goods coming into their nation, but increased taxes for goods leaving with merchants not resident of The Hold. Trade became a game of goods changing hands for the purpose of transport. The Princes practically paid merchants to bring goods to their land and practically paid local merchants to send them out again. But in order for that to be lucrative merchants had to go to other cities where there was money, notably not Berghof. So virtually all trade coming in stopped on the coast and all trade going out went north or east across the sea. It didn't take long before Berghof wanted to be a part of the excitement.
As an independent state Berghof merchants were taxed heavily for bringing anything back to Berghof and they received no protection from the merchant militias. The merchants needed greater trade freedom, but they were blocked in by the borders of The Hold. Any goods simply travelling through the territory north of the mountains or back to Berghof became very expensive merely to transport through the lands. All goods entering The Hold had to be sold in The Hold to make a profit and anything leaving The Hold would have a profitable destination. After much discussion of the Grand Duke with his advisors, he realized that the glory Berghof had was slipping away. With the emigration of the magic-users and the trade restrictions set by the Princes, Berghof was slowly reverting to its previous rustic state. The Grand Duke did not like this eventual result. Nobody liked this ultimate result. The Grand Duke contacted the Princes, conceded ownership of the land and swore fealty to his new superiors, all with the goal of preserving the idyllic nature of Berghof. It worked. Two years later Cato would have taken it by force and the results would have been much different.
Today Berghof is historically the oldest territory of the Sea Princes. Buildings there are hundreds of years older than anywhere else in the country, giving it an old world and foreign style. Though it appears old, it is very different from the way it was ever in its history. The duke is one of the ruling princes of the nation, trade is open and plentiful, access is unrestricted, the Keep of Adlerweg is garrisoned—but not for real—magic-users don't fill the streets nor are they despised when they come; one could say Berghof has grown up. However, with its quaint small town style it is like no other province of The Hold. There are no other bustling cities of revelry and vice and there also are no squalid diseased conditions and despite the lure of great wealth to be gained there is no slave trade in Berghof. It has become a quiet, distant vacation spot for the wealthy of the Sea Princes. Its age and history have become a draw to those who want to escape from their lives and come to a place that holds more meaning than anything else they know.
~*~