Reikos
Overview
This formerly peaceful stretch of the Couros river was also home to pleasure gardens, parks and country estates. Reikos is composed of sweeping plains with occasional patches of deciduous woodland or raised elevation. The only major woodlands outside of the Great Forest of Peytaht is Broken Ride, while only the south-eastern downs around Chalcis Mount really count as being hills.
The wealth of Reikos traditionally came from four places. Firstly, the Vigilant Swan and the Great Forest at Reikos produced quality stone and wood respectively, as well as highly sought after white granite and weirwood. Second, the Gardens of Chalcis produced herbs sold all over the Empire. Third, the wide roads helped connect the Navarr in Therunin and the Urizen in Morrow with the rest of the Empire and several towns grew up to cater to the needs of merchants and pilgrims. Fourth, the beauty of Reikos itself made the territory wealthy - the great gardens, sweeping estates and peaceful surroundings made it a favourite place for Imperial citizens from across the Empire to convalesce after illness, or to spend time away for the cares of everyday life.
The downfall of Reikos came from its border with the Great Forest of Peytaht. At its edges, the Great Forest is an abundant source of lumber; but its heart is wild and untamed. The long border with the dark forest was notoriously hard to defend, despite the efforts of vigilant chapters such as the the Grey Watchers of Peytaht, but at least the forest was equally hostile to human and orc alike. When the Druj barbarians launched a surprise attack through the forest in 367YE, the Highborn were woefully unprepared for it. Those chapters on the edge of the forest that did not retreat were overwhelmed in the first few months of the attack.
Recovering Reikos is an important goal for many Highborn chapters. Several, such as the (now-Bastion based) Shattered Tower; the Unbound Chapter (now in exile in Casinea), Suns of Couros, Cantiarch's Hold, the Stone Vigil, Reumah's Redoubt, and Lux Reikos have foundations here, while others such as The Unrelenting have formed specifically to ensure that Reikos is recovered. They will not rest until the Druj are driven out, Reikos is restored, the gardens re-planted, and the bells set up on high so that the sacrifice of the defenders of Highguard will never be forgotten.
Recent History
In 367 YE Reikos fell to the Druj barbarians who took advantage of the cover of the Great Forest of Peytaht to launch numerous assaults against the fertile territory. The territory was lost along with half the wealth of Highguard. Many benefactors were ruined in the attack, and many more are still struggling to restore their fortunes. The gardens, parks and pleasant villages of Reikos were largely unprepared to face the onslaught of the Druj, and hundreds died in the initial attacks before they were able to take refuge in the fortified chapter houses. The presence of refugees complicated matters severely; several northern chapters fell prey to disease and starvation. The malicious tactics of the Druj served to make the situation even words - they regularly poisoned supplies; publicly tortured and displayed the horribly abused corpses of captured guardians and priests; crippled and maimed Highborn refugees then allowed them to flee so that their presence would further damage morale and absorb valuable medical supplies. Slowly but surely they pressed their advantage and drove the Highborn defenders southward.
Finally, in Autumn 377YE the Druj mounted a major offensive against the surviving Highborn chapters in Riverwatch, Haros and Tabernacle. The last regions of the territory fell beneath this assault, leaving only a scattered handfuls of fortified chapters as guttering beacons of hope in a sea of dread. it took some time for the Empire to rally after this defeat, but in Winter 378YE a combined Highborn and Navarr force crossed back into Reikos to begin the liberation. It was here that the Imperial soldiers gained first-hand experience of something that would later be referred to as the Druj miasma or the shroud of dread.
After a few skirmishes and the liberation of the Vigilant Swan, the Druj forces in the area - represented by a single clan referred to as the Stone Toads, withdrew into the massive fortification they had built in the ruins of High Chalcis. They left guerillas, traps and ambushers to harry the Imperial troops while they remained secure behind the great white granite walls of Urith Barath.
The territory was rejuvenated - and reconfigured - by a wave of Spring magic that swept Reikos in early 380YE. The magic saw the restoration of great swathes of forest, and the eradication of much of the lingering taint of Druj occupation - but it was not without cost. Drawing on the power of the eternal Llofir, the magic tore apart damaged and ruined structures without concern as to who had built them. The Highborn were able to protect some of their most valuable relics, but a great many damaged buildings were destroyed - including many chapterhouses.
The establishment of the Gardens of High Chalcis, coinciding as it did with the coronation message of Empress Lisabetta, has seen an influx of healers and doctors into the territory - triggering a drive to see Reikos established as the centre for the healing arts in the Empire.
Major Features
The Gardens of High Chalcis
Prior to the Druj invasion, High Chalcis was one of the larger settlements in Highguard. Built on the hills of Chalcis Mount, the town was a centre for healing and the study of the apothecary arts where the medical knowledge of the Empire was codified and expanded. The settlement fell to surprise attack in 367YE, the storehouses of knowledge raided, and the great Stone Toad fortress of Urith Barath built among the ruins. The citadel fell to Imperial forces in Autumn 379YE, but little remained of the original town. In the wake of the destruction, and the powerful Spring magic that washed away signs of Druj occupation, extensive work was been undertaken to restore the Gardens of High Chalcis to something approaching their original splendor.
The Sign of Tamar
A vast sigil incised into the plain in northern Reikos, created by digging long trenches in the earth. Scholars are unsure what purpose (if any) it serves, or when precisely it was constructed. There is no viewpoint nearby where the entire figure can be seen clearly, although scholars have paced out the sigil and drawn it, and declared it a humanoid figure that matches the constellation called the Drowned Man. There has been a great deal of speculation as to who Tamar might have been, who placed this sigil here, whether there was any connection with the Old Pig in Mournwold to the west, and precisely why the region as a whole was called Tamarbode.
The eternal Llofir claims the Sign of Tamar, as it claims the whole of Tamarbode. The sigil itself has disappeared beneath the enchanted forest that now covers the entire region.
The Great Forest at Reikos
The Great Forest at Reikos is a Bourse resource that covers the eastern hills of Broken Ride. Custodianship of the weirwood groves was an Imperial Title that brought with it a Seat on the Imperial Bourse. It produced 25 Imperial wains of weirwood every season. Control was allocated to any Imperial citizen by open auction during the Winter Solstice. The weirwood groves are not currently in Imperial hands; when they are recovered, the Imperial Senate will choose whether to leave them as an Imperial Seat, or re-assign them as a National Seat.
The Vigilant Swan
The Vigilant Swan is a Bourse resource located in Riverwatch. Custodianship of the Vigilant Swan is an Imperial Title that brought with it a Seat on the Imperial Bourse. When restored to full functionality, it would produce 25 Imperial wains of white granite every season. It is currently not clear whether this is an Imperial or National Resource; prior to its loss to the Druj it was a assigned to the Highborn candidate who received the most support from the Highguard owners of congregation resources..
Regions
Broken Ride
The rolling woodlands of Broken Ride were regularly used for hunting and for training Unconquered recruits. Only a few scattered chapters were built here, and they were especially isolated from the rest of Reikos when the Druj invaded. These woods are the site of the massacre at Exile in 369YE. Exile was built round a chapter of Unconquered who trained in the solitude provided by the deep woods. It was a hard place, and the Highborn there embraced many trials designed to harden the soul; they held out for three years before they were finally overrun. In the last days of the siege, the choice to hold against overwhelming odds or leave with honour was given to all of the recruits, not a one of whom chose to leave. In battle now, some of the unconquered say: “Remember Exile. We will return” in memorial of fallen friends and mentors.
The Druj are believed to have desecrated the corpses of the dead, using them to construct a shrine of terror and hate that now stands as a monument to the dominance of the Druj over the territory. Scouts suggest that the Druj have continued to add to this shrine, and claim that it exerts as malignant presence that is beginning to make itself felt in Longshire, Tamarbode and Chalcis Mount.
Keywords: Forested
Chalcis Mount
They gentle hills of Chalcis Mount are in the hands of the barbarians. They are the site of the Gardens of High Chalcis (a great work. In some poems, they are called the Red Downs due to the distinctive hue of the Imperial Roseweald that grew profusely on their slopes - although in the wake of the Druj occupation the name has taken on sadder connotations.
Chalcis Mount has a noticably high population of Navarr residents. Primarily inhabitants of Peakedge Stead in Therunin, the Navarr came to help establish the Gardens to show their gratitude for Highborn support in dealing with a threatened Druj invasion, but many have chosen to stay - at least for the time being. They have established a small settlement on the edge of the region no more than a days march from the steading.
The Shining Towers can also be found here. Shortly before the Autumn Equinox 380YE, a quartet of white stone towers appeared on the site of one of the destroyed chapterhouses - that of the Shattered Tower. Infused with potent Summer magic, the towers surround a weak Summer regio. According to stories, they are the transfigured remains of the old Shattered Tower chapterhouse, and have recently been reclaimed by that chapter.
Keywords: Hills.
Grey Charge
The wide plains of Grey Charge were avoided by the Druj themselves, but given over to the control of one of their brutal subject tribes. The scattered chapterhouses were turned into twisted orc settlements, and the human populace reduced to the status of field slaves. After the liberation, the Spring magic devoured all the ruined chapters, villages, and farms that once stood here leaving behind fresh grassland and fertile farmland. New chapters are being established here by the survivors, primarily dedicated to agriculture.
Haros Water
The chapters of Haros (the settlement takes its name from the tributary of the Couros on which it stands) were largely devastated. Those that survived the initial Druj conquest were broken during the liberation. Over Winter 378YE, after a three day battle in the streets, the Druj fired the town, creating a conflagration that lasted through the night and saw the entire settlement reduced to ruins. The beautiful river gates of Haros, which once allowed daring forays by expert boatmen, are no more.
Even before the final devastation of Haros, the fields and gardens outside the wall were reduced to mud and ashes. The Druj took a particular pleasure in crucifying captured cataphracts within sight of the walls of one of the few surviving chapters, goading the defenders into leaving their walls and attempting a rescue mission.
Keyword: Ruin. Since the season of mushrooms, Haros Water no longer has the ruin quality.
Longshire
The plains of Longshire are scattered with the ruins of chapters that have fallen before the barbarian assault. These ruins have been claimed by various barbarians, some of whom are said to launch raids against each other when they think the gaze of their Druj overlords is elsewhere. In 370YE scouts from nearby Tabernacle reported that one of the captured chapters - the Granite Chain chapter - had been razed to the ground and every orc within it slain and left for the crows. Apparently the Druj themselves did this as some sort of warning to other orcs. At least one band of Unconquered takes advantage of the superstitious dread the orcs seem to feel towards this place and use it as a base of operations - although they report that the place is almost certainly haunted by the angry spectres of both slaughtered barbarians and murdered Granite Chain Highborn.
Keyword: Ruin. Since the season of mushrooms, Longshire no longer has the ruin quality.
Riverwatch
Site of the settlement of Tabernacle, this was the last region of Reikos to fall to the Druj after many months of sustained assault. A well-fortified triple-ringed chapter whose settlements sprawled outside its walls in long years of peace, the town was the last settlement to fall to the barbarians. In happier times this was a popular stopping-point for merchants travelling between Casinea and Sarvos in the east and the Navarr steadings of Therunin to the west. While some chapters survived the initial invasion, there is little sign of them in Riverwatch.
A year of occupation, and the vicious tactics of the Druj during the liberation, has seen Tabernacle reduced to mud-choked ruins scattered with lethal traps and deadfalls that will take months of careful work to locate and disarm.
Keyword: Ruin Since the season of mushrooms devoured the ruins of Reikos, this region has lost the ruin keyword.
Tamarbode
The desolate plains of Tamarbode were primarily known as the site of the enigmatic Sign of Tamar, and at least one chapter was dedicated to protecting and guarding the eerie earthworks. It was also home to a couple of fortified chapters on the borders of Brocéliande, facing into the forests there and keeping a careful watch on the Vallorn that slumbers fitfully at its heart. Contact with these chapters was lost when the last of them was overrun by Druj in 372YE. During the orc occupation, the region appeared to be under the control of an especially vicious Druj Ghulai nicknamed "Greenmask". The region was never fully liberated - even after the fall of Urith Barath, scattered orc warbands held out here for several months. In Summer 380YE, the great surge of Spring magic that began the rejuvenation of Reikos apparently began here, and the entire region was claimed by the eternal Llofir. Tamarbode is now a primeval woodland that thrums with unruly Spring magic, and is largely unknown to Imperial forces. Indeed, there are indications that the woodland might be actively hostile to humans, possibly as a response to an abortive attempt by the Urizen Citadel Guard to drive out the eternal forces here.
Keyword: Forest, Citadel of Llofir
OOC Notes
- As of the end of the Autumn Equinox 380YE, the Highborn control all the regions of Reikos except Tamarbode, which remains in the "hands" of the eternal Llofir. Reikos is an Imperial territory.
- The region of Tamarbode has been fortified in some magical fashion, although details are unclear at this time.
- The Gardens of High Chalcis are a great work which provides a significant bounty of additional herbs to any Highborn character who control herb garden personal resources in the territory.
- Prior to the magic of Summer 380YE, several regions devastated by the Druj had the ruins quality. The powerful magic invoked over the territory removed these qualities as they removed the ruins themselves.
- While the majority of Reikos has been freed from the Druj miasma by the powerful rejuvenating Spring magic that swept the territory in Spring and Summer 380YE, there are still some areas that suffer under its influence. They are for the most part isolated, hard-to-reach places immediately surrounding a miasma stone.