Kharolis

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Terry Doetzel

Kharolis

Proper Name: Principality of the Crown of Kharolis.
Ruler: Grand Prince "False" Toli Knezar (CN male human Bbn3/Rog6).
Government: Independent Feudal Monarchy with hereditary rulership, though with little actual control over the various clan leaders who act independently of one another. The king controls the various villages and cities along the coast, but does not have much authority within the interior.
Capital: Deepwater, however the actual court of the Grand Prince is located at Hearthkeep, a castle a few miles from the city.
Major Towns: Alsip (pop. 1,200), Barter (pop. 3,000), Bonfaire (pop. 900), Deepwater (pop. 2000), Halter Wood (pop. 300), Hamlet (pop. 500), Swiftwater (pop. 700), Than-Khal (pop. 5,000), Valens (pop. 400), Windkeep (pop. 1,000).
Provinces: Various grazing lands held by various clans, which are constantly in flux as the clans intermarry, split apart, or take the lands of their neighbors by force.
Resources: Livestock (especially caribou), horses, diamonds, furs, and cloth.
Coinage: Knez (stl), Zupan (gp), Druzynik (sp), Smerdy (cp). Currency trades at .75 of Ergothian or Solamnic coinage.
Population: 89,000 (estimated) Human 80%, Dwarf 11%, Half-Ogre 2%, Gnomes 3%, Half-elves 4%.
Languages: Kharolian, Common, Ergot, Goblin, Dwarvish.
Alignments: CN*, N, NG, NE, CE.
Religions: The Firemaster (Sirrion)*, Jolith (Kiri-Jolith), Lunitari, Zyr (Zeboim).
Allies: Duntillok, Hillow, Que-Latal, Tarsis, Thorbardin, Daltigoth.
Enemies: The elven exiles of Qualinesti, Nostar, Colinesti (distrusted).

Overview

This is a land in which the cold winds blow continuously off the great glacier of Icewall to the south. As such the waters of Icewall Bay to the south are littered with glaciers and most of this harsh land is covered with tundra and steppes. The conquered forests of the Qualinesti elves and the mountain halls of the Thorbardin dwarves lie to the north, while the endless Plains of Dust stretch east all the way to Silvanesti. Across the stormy ocean Strait of Algoni to the west lay the turbulent nations of Southern Ergoth, as well as the unholy menace of the shadow wights on the isle of Nostar.

At Castle Hearthkeep, the Grand Prince of this realm and the secret priesthood of Sirrion hold sway over the cities along the west and southern coasts of the realm. The interior of the nation is another matter, as various clan leaders pay only token homage to the Grand Prince. These clans make their living by trapping furs, raising subsistence crops, and by grazing caribou in the northern tundra, while cattle and sheep are more common along the borders of Qualinesti. Feuding between the clans is endemic, with the borders between the lands claimed by each clan changing constantly due to intermarriage, succession of heirs, or paid as compensation or tribute to stronger clans. Though technically each clan is expected to respond to the prince when he summons soldiers for military actions, but most blatantly ignore this custom. The Grand Prince's forces are thus mostly made up with mercenaries hired with money from the royal treasury.

The settled towns and cities of the western and southern coasts are quite a contrast to the herdsmen of the interior. Founded on a legacy of trade and diamonds, these towns possess far more wealth, education and luxury than the herdsmen can expect. Though the diamond mines around Than-khal are the property of the Grand Prince, the wealth generated from the diamonds ensures that taxes are light. The luxury items of elven artifacts from conquered Qualinesti, furs, and textiles also ensure that the docks and inns of these cities and towns are kept busy. Than-khal in fact desires to be the city that recaptures the beauty and glory of Tarsis before the cataclysm. However, the treacherous oceans and fell creatures of Nostar prey upon the shipping lanes, restricting the city's potential for growth.

Aside from the crown prince, the link that ties this realm together is the cult of Sirrion. This priesthood is shrouded in secrecy, entrusted with secrets of alchemy and the tending of sacred fires. No one other than the ordained know who truly these priests are. When performing acts of sacred ritual, or enflamed by Sirrion's fire to speak about the present of the world, these priests don an all-concealing orange burka which is reminiscent of a candle's flame. When their duties as a priest of Sirrion are through, they slip out of their burka and resume their tasks in various levels of society. Nobody knows their numbers, but the nature of the priesthood ensures an unseen and powerful influence.

History

Once before the Cataclysm, Kharolis was a vast and powerful nation in the South of Krynn, on par with the great empires of Ergoth, Solamnia and Istar. Their horses were renowned around the world for their hardiness and endurance, their warriors for their valor and cunning. They also possessed a city of beauty and culture in Tarsis, known as the "Jewel of the South".

However, though the Cataclysm left Kharolis relatively untouched (with the exception of Tarsis, which lost its harbour) the lingering effects of the maelstrom in the Blood Sea would eventually destroy it. Everywhere on Ansalon, the dust thrown up by the fiery mountains striking Istar led to a period of darkness, cold and famine. However while the rest of Krynn recovered as the dust settled, the Kharolians found that the rain ceased to fall. The massive and continuous maelstrom in the Blood Sea forced the storms that used to sweep across the southern land north and the plains and tundra of the Kharolis dried up and turned into desert known as the "Plains of Dust". Huge numbers of cattle, sheep and caribou died, famine continued, and warfare for the diminishing resources was endless. Though a few would eventually learn to adapt, the vast majority of the population scattered and looked for new homelands to settle. Some of the refugees would join the refugees and the plains barbarians settling in Abanasinia, others would likewise be absorbed by the people of Blodehelm or New Coast.

The modern nation of Kharolis found its origins in a mass migration of people led by a prince of the realm who could see no future for himself or his people in the now arid land. As such, he led a mass migration of people in 40 AC across the Swiftwater river, into lands nominally claimed by the dwarven realm of Thorbardin. Since it was merely tundra and plains that the dwarves had little interest in, they practically arranged for the Kharolian refugees to deliver a yearly tribute of 10% of the flour from the mills and one out every 10 animal ready to be butchered. This was to offset the devastating food shortages incurred in Thorbardin as a result of the war that shattered the relations between themselves and the hill dwarves who had provided food for the dwarves under the mountain in trade.

However, a peaceful beginning to the new settlement was not to be. The Qualinesti elves were reeling from human settlers in Abanasinia taking so much land from them that their capital city was practically on the border. The elves were determined that the humans would not do the same to the south of their realm, and thus launched a preemptive strike against the Kharolians. In 42 AC elven warriors raced across the plains attacking and scattering the newly settled clans. The Kharolians though caught off guard, quickly rallied and easily pushed the elven invaders back into the Qualinesti forest. Though many clan leaders wanted to push forward with the invasion of Qualinesti, the prince knew that such a move would spell disaster. The Kharolians would quickly get lost in the unfamiliar territory of the lush forest and cut them down in a series of ambushes. Instead, he ordered 1,000 men of various clans to dig in and found a military fort, and to keep a continuous patrol of the northern border. He needn't have bothered, for the elves of Qualinesti turned their back on the outside world and adopted the isolationist policies of their Silvanesti brethren, frightening off or killing any humans who dared set foot in their woods.

After several decades, the clans of the interior grew increasingly independent of the authority of the reigning prince, and eventually left the princes received less and less from the clan leaders of the tribute the dwarves demanded for peace. Since the princes could not rely on the military support from the clan leaders, the task of paying the tribute fell increasingly to the coffers of the prince and the settled towns along the coast. This all changed however, when diamonds were discovered around the area of Than-kal. To the mountain dwarves nothing is more precious than diamonds, for of all the gems diamonds shine the brightest in the torch or candlelight of their mountain homes. Diamonds had also become unknown on Ansalon, having previously come from the lands of Istar. As a consequence Argyle III, the reigning prince of the time, demanded the end of the tribute in return for the rights to buy diamonds from his people. With great reluctance the dwarves agreed and began trading dwarf crafted items from under the mountain in exchange for the diamonds and foodstuffs. With this new economic development, the villages along the coast boomed, particularly Than-kal which found its diamonds in markets as far away as Palanthas. Later, the town of Barter as well emerged as a place of trade between the dwarves and humans, with goods shipped up the Swiftwater River in barges.

During the War of the Lance, after the destruction of Tarsis, the dragonarmies turned their sights on Kharolis. Prince Yakov was branded a coward for his quick capitulation, but he was wise enough to realize that there was no chance his scattered clans of horseman could stand up to the sheer power of the red dragons. Instead, he signed the proper treaties, gave up his crown to a dragonarmy puppet, and immediately began a campaign of guerilla warfare in which he harrassed the draconian garrisons as an outlaw. After a 20-year campaign the remnants of the dragonarmy occupation in Kharolis were scattered and he reclaimed his crown. At the celebratory feast for his return to power Prince Yakov was poisoned, a gesture from the draconian assassins whom he had forced into hiding.

His son and successor Lolek II was raised in the rebel camps, and thus was bored and restless with the domestic affairs of state which his father left him. As a consequence he began asserting his power over the clan leaders in order to form an army that would be capable of expanding Kharolian influence over the islands of Enstar and Nostar. Though his efforts were doomed by the sudden outbreak of the Chaos War, the military preparations undertaken by the prince ensured that his nation was not swept away by the demons of Chaos.

Thus, Kharolis fared better than many other realms on Ansalon, and the Prince Lolek was admired by his people for his heroism. The admiration by his people turned to heedless pride in the heart of the prince, and thus he forgot the lessons of his father during the war of the lance. When faced with the unstoppable might of Bellathrynox the Green, he refused to capitulate. Prince Lolek had faced dragons of fire and ice during the greatest wars to ever shake his nation, and he had no doubt he could face and defeat the monstrous wyrm as well. Thus, when the emissaries from Bellathrynox came to his court to demand he swear fealty to the Green, he had those emissaries beheaded. In response, Bellathrynox flew to Hearthkeep, breathed a poison gas over the castle that choked the life out of everyone inside, then used her bulk to push over the central towers so they collapsed into rubble. With the death of the entire royal family, the clan leaders and village headmen quickly capitulated.

The rule under the green was unreasonably harsh, with the herds of caribou going into her belly, and the diamonds collected to sit uselessly in the piles of treasure making up her hoard. Poverty ran rampant, fear warring with hunger in the people's decision to defy the green dragon. When the agents of the green offered the people a chance to loot and settle the rich lands of the Qualinesti elves, thousands of her hungry subjects in the Kharolis joined her mercenaries, draconians and hobgoblins in the invasion. After Beryl's death at the hands of the legendary elven heroine and mother of King Gilthas, the flash flood that destroyed the city of Qualinost also left many in the dragon overlord's army washed away into a watery grave.

Amidst all this disaster, one man smelled the opportunity. A minor officer in the army rallied the men around him with the reminder that now that Beryl was dead, and that her dragon servants had abandoned her, her lair and her hoard were left unguarded. Toli and his men stole as many horses as they could and rode hard towards the lair of the dragon overlord while the rest of the soldiers were a mass of crazed looters, fighting amongst themselves for the scraps of treasure left among the abandoned elven cities. When they finally found the dragon overlord's hoard, the sheer amount in the glittering piles left them spellbound and immediately the officer realized that there was no amount of power that could not be bought with a treasure such as this.

Seizing the treasure, the officer and his men marched back into the city of Than-khal in glory, claiming that he was the son of Prince Lolek II who had managed to escape the destruction of Hearthkeep 30 years earlier. While very few believed his claims, the dragon's treasure spent liberally assured his acclimation as the new Grand Prince and successor to the throne of Kharolis and the possession of the lands around Hearthkeep which was promptly rebuilt to greater splendor.

Conflicts and Intrigues

Since the throne was bought with gold, Prince Toli has few anchors of support among his countrymen that are deeper than his immediate favors. The daemon warriors and shadow wights on the isle of Nostar have been growing more aggressive, leading many to fear that a large scale attack is imminent. Elves exiled in many nations across Ansalon have started to refuse to do business with any merchant that also trades with Kharolis. What effect this economic sanction will accomplish has yet to be seen, but the elves have been able to see through any ruse by merchants to secretly trade with both themselves and the people of Kharolis.

(Ansalonian Gazetteer - Kharolis originally published in Tobril Issue 1)

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