Lamordia County
Lamordia as a County under Count Wilhelm von Aubrecker is a cold, isolated frontier realm defined by aristocratic decay, relentless natural hardship, and a rigid, archaic social order. Far removed from the mad science of Dr. Mordenheim, this version of Lamordia is governed not by innovation, but by tradition—a noble house clutching to authority as the land and people slip through its fingers like melting snow.
Lamordia is a bleak and mountainous coastal county in the far north, bordered by impassable peaks, perilous fjords, and frozen forests. Winters are long and brutal, and the sun lingers only briefly in the sky, lending the land a perpetual twilight. Life here is harsh, and survival is hard-won.
Key Locations
- Schloss Aubrecker: The Count’s eerie fortress perched above black seas, accessible only by treacherous waters or mountain pass
- Ludendorf: A grim port city whose shipwrights build icebreakers and whaling vessels. The nobility here feuds constantly for power in the Count’s absence.
- Neufurchtenburg: A mining town at the foot of the Ironfang Peaks, riddled with caves, conspiracies, and smuggling tunnels
- The Gray Wood: A haunted forest in the county’s heart, filled with will-o’-wisps, hungry spirits, and ancient standing stones
Lamordia under Count Wilhelm von Aubrecker is a land not of mad science, but of noble rot, frostbitten fear, and timeless horror. The land itself remembers too much, and those who live there learn quickly that tradition can be deadlier than change, and survival often means silence.
Structure
At its head is Count Wilhelm von Aubrecker, an ancient and reclusive noble, who rules from his storm-lashed keep on the Isle of Aubrecker. The Count is more symbol than sovereign to most, his decrees carried out by an insular court of advisors and increasingly erratic decrees issued via distant emissaries.
- Aristocracy Dominates: The noble houses, minor and major, still wield power over vast tracts of land, presiding over tenant farmers and laborers with near-feudal authority.
- Serfdom Lingers: In remote villages, commoners rarely see coin, paying taxes in grain, hides, or timber. Most live in stone cottages, barely heated, and shaped by the austere Lamordian ethic of survival and submission.
- Education is a Privilege: Reserved almost entirely for the nobility and clergy, formal schooling is rare. Storytelling, folk wisdom, and grim superstitions persist, particularly in rural areas.
The Count and His Court
- Count Wilhelm is seldom seen. Those few who’ve glimpsed him describe a tall, gaunt man draped in furs, whose eyes glow faintly in darkness, and whose voice carries the weight of centuries.
- Some whisper that Wilhelm is no longer alive, that he is sustained by ritual, pact, or curse, and that his advisors are merely his undying inner circle.
- His court is comprised of minor barons, veiled scholars, and priests of forgotten northern gods. Outsiders describe it as frozen in time, filled with ceremony without purpose, and laws that contradict reality.
Assets
Technology & Magic
Unlike the domain under Mordenheim’s grip, this Lamordia is technologically stagnant, marked by:
- Gas lanterns, horse-drawn sledges, and windmills that freeze mid-spin in deep winter
- Alchemical curiosities practiced by hedge-witches or court mystics, not institutional scientists
- Magic is rare, feared, and strictly regulated by noble decree. Wizards must be licensed, and those practicing unauthorized arcana risk trial by fire—or exile to the White Wastes.
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