Difference between revisions of "Xanth Grange"

Revision as of 11:48, 25 January 2008

Xanth Grange
Xanth Grange's location (dark green) within the Amasynian Peninsula (light green), relative to Regal Province of Trae Kelsa (blue).
Information
Status:	Duchy of Trae Kelsa
Capital:	Crossroads
Demonym:	Xanthine
Population:	--,---
Currency:	Trae Kelsan Shilling
Government:	Ducal Monarchy
Head of State:	Duke Garrison Bromn
Religion:	One True Faith

Xanth Grange, officially the Duchy of Xanth Grange, is a region in the south of the Amasynian Peninsula. It is bordered to the east by Heath, west by the Sea of Amasynia, to the north by Amasynia, and to the south by the Regal Province of Trae Kelsa.

History

The Old Kingdom Period

Xanth Grange has been a core territory of the Amasynian heartland since the before the days of the Ludovingian Kings; first brought into the Kingdom of Amasyn by the great-grandson of King Archenhaud the Bold, the region's rich farmland and gentle climate made it every bit as valued as many-splendoured Lothaine or the heartlands of Amasynia. Xanth Grange's inhabitants were also valued as warriors of great renown, their martial skills honed by raids from beyond the southern Palisade Mountains.

The Amasynian Period

Following the fall of Lothaine and the subsequent fragmentation of the Kingdom of Amasyn, the people of Xanth Grange found themselves beset by a number of troubles; the collapse of both government and support from Ricathair led to widespread unrest, exacerbated by a series of crop failures and a surge in attacks from the south. Only when King Vernell the Pious led the First War of Salvation to the embattled region's aid was the land made secure against raiders. A serious of forts and castles were constructed along the border in the years and decades that followed, and since that time the doughty men and women of Xanth Grange have served as Amasynia's first line of defence against invasion from the south. This period included numberous wars in which the soldiers of Xanth Grange mounted a staunch resistance to the encroaching armies of Trae Kelsa; eventually, however, the Kingdom of Amasynia was not overwhelmed from without, but instead collapsed from within.

The Trae Kelsan Period

Following the fall of the Wekslo line and the transfer of rule over Amasynia to the kings of Trae Kelsa, Xanth Grange at first integrated only grudgingly into the new way of things, unable to so easily set aside a centuries-long mistrust of the southern invaders. This antagonism has faded with the generations since Trae Kelsa gained control, but the people of Xanth Grange remain stubbornly independent, and determined to retain control over their collective destiny for all that they now swear allegiance to a different Crown.

Government

Xanth Grange is ruled by the Duke, who governs on behalf of the Crown of Trae Kelsa. The title is hereditary, and passed from the late Duke Gorthias to his son Duke Garrison in the summer of 207 A.R. (1657 A.I.).

Politics

Law and Order

Military

The region retains its proud military traditions, with several regiments capable of tracing their heritage back to the times of the Kingdom of Amasyn and the Albaringian Kings. The Duke maintains a standing force of professional soldiers, well-trained and well-equipped, and bolstered with conscripted troops in times of war. The uniform of Xanth Grange troops is crimson with grey piping, with all hardware, badges insignias and other detail rendered in silver; the army's battle-standard features a rearing griffon, grey on a crimson field.

The late Duke Gorthias Bromn and to some extent his son (and current Duke) Garrison Bromn maintained private fears that Trae Kelsa would some day take a more active role in the affairs of the Amasynian Province, and as such recent years have seen the region gathering an increasingly militant and well-funded army to defend against this potential threat. Fortunately such measures have not been necessary in Xanth Grange for at least a generation, and for the most part the region remains peaceful, but vigilant.

Geography

Divided from Heath by the Nathair River in the east, Xanth Grange's terrain is for the most part dominated by gently rolling hills and level plains, stretching to the coast of the Sea of Amasynia in the west. The land rises to the edges of the Wekslo Mountains and Lothley Mountains which form the border with Amasynia to the north, and to the foothills of the Palisade Mountains which form the border with Trae Kelsa in the south.

Cities

The capital of Xanth Grange is the town of Crossroads in the north-east of the region, an old and well-established market town at the meeting-place of the roads to Ricathair, Collingford, Threminor and Darras. In times past this was the main stop on the route between Heath and the heartlands of Amasynia, and thus a logical seat for the Dukes of Xanth Grange; in recent decades, however, Crossroads has been eclipsed in size and prominence by the sentinel city of Darras, a fortified settlement that watches over the Darras Gap, a break in the Palisade Mountains that nowadays serves as the gateway to the Amasynian Peninsula for land travel from Trae Kelsa and points further south.

Travel

Most travel to and from Xanth Grange is by land, the region's western coastline having a marked shortage of deep-water harbours suitable for the docking of ocean-faring ships; instead goods are transported up the Nathair River on barges, or carried by road through the Darras Gap. Well-paved roads dating from the days of the Old Kingdom carry foot traffic in straight lines across the countryside, connecting the region with its neighbours and bringing a decent level of trade across its borders.

Climate

Economy

Xanth Grange's main source of wealth is agriculture, with the rich farmlands in the east producing the majority of the region's crops.

Culture