Sylvania (Sil Vaeníà)

Sylvania, formally the County of Sylvania, is a formerly independent realm that had its territories absorbed by the Grand County of Stirland, an Electoral Province of Rhemia. But perhaps the most defining feature of this backwater region of the eastern Old World is that it is considered the rightful domain of the Vampire lords of the Von Carstein bloodline with the current ruler being Vlad von Carstein, whose claim is disputed by the counts of Stirland. As far as most Empire folks are concerned, the County of Sylvania may as well be in a different country all-together. Despite its proximity to the Mootland and Zhufbar, Halflings and Dwarfs are virtually unknown there. Technologically, it lags behind the rest of Rhemia, and gunpowder is treated as a frightening marvel. The emergent middle class of Rhemia scarcely exists, and an unbridgeable gap between the peasantry and the nobility persists, even more so than in Braia.  

History

 

"Sylvania is a foreign land, and they do things differently there." —Krause Kroner, Stirlander Merchant.

  Not much is known of the Fennone tribe who lived in the area that would later become Sylvania. They were a strange and secretive people who spoke their own language and had little to do with the other tribes or the Dwarfs of Zhufbar. They did not join Appallùm’s Empire until the “Drive to the Frontiers” encroached onto their land centuries after its founding. Their tongue persists as a second language, usually reserved for use around suspicious strangers. When Sylvania was incorporated as part of Stirland, there was a mingling of the two peoples, though Stirlanders often say the Fennone blood won out in their dour Sylvanian cousins. Dark rumours circulated about the people dabbling in magic. The magic Winds blow strong in Sylvania, and not just the cold winds that whip down from the World’s Edge Mountains. Sylvania’s nobles built their homes on the points marked by ancient Waystones, nexuses of magical power, though what they used it for is uncertain.   Although still not prominent and in many ways struggling, Sylvania suffered a terrible blow in the twelfth century. The Black Plague boiled up from seemingly nowhere, sweeping across Rhemia, wiping out entire communities and leaving anguish and despair in its wake. Nowhere was as hard hit as Sylvania, though, for what records remain of this time, nine out of ten people perished from this insidious plague.   This was to have an unexpected benefit. During the Night of the Restless Dead in 1681 IC, the Sylvanians were uniquely placed to battle the Undead, being more accustomed to them than most. Some even fought necromancy with necromancy, and corpses battled through the streets. Whilst Stirland was ravaged by the Undead, much of Sylvania escaped unharmed and used this to its advantage, buying its independence with the aid it offered during the recovery.     The Von Draks were amongst the dark wizards who rose to power in Sylvania, a family of brutal rulers despised by all. When Vlad von Carstein took control, the people were glad of it, and many did not change their minds when he revealed himself to be a Vampire. As the Vampire count went to war, the Sylvanians willingly went with him, damning themselves in the eyes of Rhemia. The people willingly joined his army. After the defeat of Vlad von carstein, the cursed Sylvanians were hated by the common people of Rhemia for their part in the war, an attitude that survives to this day. Those who dare leave the province often claim to be from elsewhere to avoid persecution.   Immediately after Vlad’s defeat, Sylvania was brought back under Stirland’s control and given over to a new nobility made of impoverished noble houses, younger siblings, and bastards of the Stirland line. Bitter at being sent into what was essentially exile, these new rulers treated their people no better than the Von Draks of old and were worse at protecting them from the Undead and other inhuman scavengers. Ghoul attacks on the villages became more common without the Vampires to hold the flesh-eaters back and point them at targets outside the province.   However it was never noted that the vampire lord Vlad von Carstein was killed. Many still believe that he still lives secluded deep in his Castle.   In 1158, Gottlieb the Stern lead the “Cleansing of Sylvania,” and Witch Hunters scoured the land, eradicating many who were deemed collaborators in the Wars of the Vampire lords. This only cemented the resentment towards Imperials felt by Sylvanians, who see themselves as a separate nation. When the mortal family who bore the name Von Carstein went public to show they were the true heirs of Sylvania, they won much support amongst the peasants.    

Geography

 

"This land is my home, my birthright. The wind and rain are my allies. The trees and stones are my foot soldiers. The very earth will rise up against you, should you try to take it from me. And my people will feast on your bones." —Vlad von Carstein, the Lord of Sylvania.

  To the east, Sylvania is bordered by the Worlds Edge Mountains, but in the other directions, its borders are less well-defined. The line between Sylvania and Stirland to the west has been redrawn every time independence has been declared; it has ranged from the edge of the Haunted Hills to the abandoned village of Murieste, and it currently stretches from the ruins of Mordheim down to the edge of Bylorhof Marsh. In the north, the River Stir provides a border with Ostermark. To the south Sylvania stops at a barren region historically claimed by Averland, but currently held by Stirland; however, the haunted reputation of that place’s stinking marshes and fallow hills results in both Grand Provinces largely ignoring the area. The south-western corner of Sylvania edges onto Mootland, a narrow border that is steadfastly patrolled by Halfling Fieldwardens.   The jagged shadows of the mountains stretch over this land of night, and cold winds blow down from the peaks. It is a land of harsh winters that paint the ground blindingly white. To go out after dark in such a winter is almost certain death, but to go out at night in a Sylvanian summer is little safer.   Storms frequently come down off the mountains along with the winds and snows. This makes for damp land with many bogs and lonely moors: Dark Moor, Grim Moor on the southern edge of the Grim Wood, the Bylorhof Marsh, Morrfenn, and the twisted Hel Fenn that witnessed the defeat of Vlad von Carstein. The Fennone people disposed of their dead in these bogs for hundreds of years, and many of the Von Carsteins’ Undead troops come from there. Though the unstable ground and threat of Undead makes them dangerous places, the Sylvanians are forced to visit them as they are the source of the peat that fertilises their fields and fuels their fires over the winter, and the area is also home to edible berries like the sweet cowberry.   It is in Sylvania that the woods of the southern Empire become dense forests, shadowy places patrolled by packs of large, perpetually hungry wolves. In the northwest is Verhungern or Hunger Wood, where the canopy of trees is so tangled that a permanent night is created underneath them in which many strange fungi grow. In the northeast is Grim Wood, which is haunted by an unseen monster that takes only maidens who dare to tread there. To the south is Ghoul Wood, said to be ruled by one of the Strigoi who has thrown in his lot with the Von Carsteins and lent them the aid of the flesh-eaters.   Bisecting the land is a string of chalk hills that make good sheep-herding country if nothing else, the Warten Downs in the northeast stretching down to the Haunted Hills in the west. Even when it isn’t chalk, most of the soil of Sylvania is a thin and useless stuff on which the people struggle to eke out a living.