Current (1534 WM) Regents of the Westron Baronies

In the current era of the Valley (year 1534 since the Westerner Migrations first began out of the Olmart Empire, so it is marked 1534WM), each of the various Baronies is ruled over by a regent of some sort.  Most of these are Barons, at least in the nomenclature of the Kingdom of Ymnaris.  The Kingdom was first established, in the year 26 when the First City was settled (now often called Hogle).  The capitol of the Kingdom moved progressively eastward with successive generations and waves of migration.  Each of the four fiefdoms that originally housed a capitol city of Ymnaris is entitled to the title Duke for their ruler, however they are still commonly referred to as Baronies.  Up until the Neill family assumed the throne of the Kingdom of Ymnaris, several generations back. the ruler of the kingdom was referred to as the Archduke, however with the growing separation from the Olmart Empire, this title was dropped, and the title of King (or Queen) has been in use now, by the Neills at least, for the past 352 years (since year 1182).

Rulers of the Westron Baronies
Hogle - Duke Keevar Silverhand (m, age 54), settled year 26. Capitol of Kingdom of Ymnaris from the year 26 until 165.
Macester - Baron Tyremius Ap Troft of Trofthall (m, age 162), settled year 82.
Ockham - Baron Guiscar the Enlightened (m, age 47), settled year 107.
Scallen - Duchess Safeeny Everlight (f, age 53), settled year 163. Capitol of Kingdom of Ymnaris from 165 until 341.
Kof Karn - Baroness Talena Ap Ironheart (f, age 31), settled year 219.
Khomaes - Baron Aldra Ap Iaggio of Erthos (m, age 59), settled year 231.  The city itself is ruled by a Proctor.
Henn - Baroness Lendara Astern (f, age 32), settled year 285.
Pellorix - Duke Falden the Just (m, age 51), settled year 341. Capitol of Kingdom of Ymnaris from 341 until 642.
Werms - Baron Kilgar Ap Huim, Ne Etro (m, age 45), settled year 352. The city itself is ruled by a Magistrate, typically a magic user (currently, a mysterious hooded person titled the Wizard of Werms).
Huygen - Baroness G'Melan Luce Ap Viellot (f, age 33), settld year 394.
Gorrem - Baroness Catherine Ap Terrasund of Tatelis, also called The Second (f, age 49), settled year 462.
Na Kram - Baron Farris Quar Nev of Borleos (m, age 73), settled year 558.
Lynch - Duchess Tindra Ap Logis of Oakforge (f, age 40), settled year 642. Capitol of Kingdom of Ymnaris from 642 until 1021.
Botts - Baron Pesar Ap Gansford of Tuldis (m, age 51), settled year 728
Ungams - Baron Virondis Pulchky (m, age 59) , settled year 902.
City of Narn - King (Archduke) Alasdair IV (m, age 37), settled year 914. Capitol of Kingdom of Ymnaris since 1021.
Devrie - Baron Huntain Dorren of Ymnar Hall, also called The Miner (m, age 51), settled year 1022.
Futtonol - Baron Rolan Ap Kopf of Kopfheim, settled year 1099.
Kennidor - Baron Hugh Voxely, of Lakecastle (m, age 39), settled year 1186.

A curious  event occurred just over four hundred years ago.  The gathering of Barons in the year 1015 had agreed that a new capitol for the Kingdom was needed, as the Tower-Keep of Oakforge (in the Barony of Lynch at the City of Fire) was under constant threat at the time by an army of chaos creatures out of the western Nel Nod forest.  The new location was to be the new settlement forming between the Erando and Moa Thola rivers, which would become the City of Shale, and capitol of the Barony of Devrie.  However, at the last, just before the Malachite Throne was to be transferred to the new site in 1021, a group of northern Barons made the case for transferring it to the city of Narn instead.  Narn was previously not considered, because it was built on the site of a long dead city, taking advantage of the ruins that were there already when the Westroners came in 914, however it was thought to be a safer location, than another capitol in the wild south, where the Sun King Barbarians still threatened all of the settlements and cities.

The new location, at Narn, satisfied most, except for the southern Barons from Gorrem, Lynch, and Ungams, who have referred to Narn as the Shadow Capitol, and refer to Devrie as the Chosen Capitol.  These tensions have spread to understandings and relations among the various eastern Baronies, but nothing has come to open war.  With the passage of three centuries, the original animosity that accompanied the founding of Devrie, and the change of the Capitol from Devrie to Narn, has been mostly forgotten, but the establishment of alliances (however tenuous the reasoning) between the different groups of Baronies, has proven a strong motivation for mutual support, and trade, ever since.

Barony of Henn and the City of Shadows

Henn is the name of a barony in the northern parts of the Rising Land region.  The capitol city is also known as the City of Shadows, and has a population of 18,000.  The Barony, and the city, are both about 1200 years old.

The city of Henn has three major trade towns associated with it.  These are located on roads going to nearby Baronies.

The first, Aldrop (pop. 6,000) is located on the road southwest to Scallen.  The road stops at the Two-Moon River at the independent town of Riverport, but about a third of the way between Henn and Riverport stands the town of Aldrop.  Aldrop is known for the strange community of Gnome herbalists (the Leaf Guild of Mika) that live in the outskirts of the town, and also for the very old (over 1000 years old, almost as old as the City of Shadows itself) Shrine of the Seasons.  This is a a Lass Indol shrine that venerates all four of the Lass Indol demigoddesses, Neuvirra Oss (demigoddess of Spring and Planting), Elongar Suu (demigoddess of Summer and Growth), Olimo Vis (demigoddess of Autumn and the Harvest), and Frigia Nor (demigoddess of Winter and of Feasting).  Even though these four have long been brought into the Westron Church, the community that lives at the Shrine of the Seasons has a distinctive Lass Indol feel to it - preferring to wear the clothing and eat the cuisine of the ancient Lass Indol, when they were part of the Olmert Empire.  Given the nature of the Shrine, there are often visiting clergy that are dedicated to Kyclos present in Aldrop.

The second town, in the Barony, is along the road that goes north and then east to Huygen the City of Light.  This town, Tor Alis (pop. 4,000), is built on a tall, bald hill at the foot of the Jazzan Mountains.  The Huygen Road there passes around the base of the hill, but there is considerable traffic up to the heights of the town.  The town of Tor Alis (named for Alis hill) is in site of Mount Soluto, where the hermitage of the Eagles of Jazzan is located.  Because of its proximity, it is often a meeting place for members of the Eagles order, and also others who would have dealings in the lands surrounding the Jazzan mountains.

The third town of the Barony is Octoris (pop. 3,500) located on the road south to Pellorix.  It is located along the Pellorix Road, about half way between the City of Shadows, and the northern edge of the Redsmoke Woods.  The town is known for two main reasons. The first is the monastery (the Harmonious Reflectory of Order) located inside some curious crystalline caves, just outside of town, that is run by an order of St. Ermo.  These monks have dedicated their lives to the study of mathematics.  For some reason, the monastery have attracted a lot of retired soldiers and masons who have chosen to make a study of the philosophy of numbers.  The monastery is rare in that it is in fairly frequent communication with the Archivists of Parn Tandalorn.  The second thing that Octoris is known for is School of Bonbonis - a school for training young persons of worth, and wealthier men at arms, the fine art of Archery.  It was originally established by Bonbonis, a woodsman of exceptional skill with the bow, from the Redsmoke Forest.  On his retirement from the life of a Woodsman, he had acquired a fair amount of wealth, was annointed officially as a Lord by the Baron of Henn, and settled in Octoris (rather than constructing a castle or keep, Bonbonis instead built the School for archery).  He was joined by a number of his compatriots and companions from his early life as an adventurer and woodsman.

In addition to the population of the dependent towns, there are approximately another ten or twelve thousand people, mostly farmers and members of very small nameless villages, that make up the Barony.

The capitol city of Henn itself is the seat of the branch of the Church, under the division of Nadene, that venerates St. Jaspar.  The great Earthroot Cathedral is here, built out of a very large stone formation that makes up the western edge of the City.  The stone, called the Earthroot, has legendary properties, and is supposedly a ward against the return of the elemental gods of the Old Ones.  The Church, in its official position on the elemental gods, has chosen not to recognize this, and instead considers the stone to have been placed here, far from the Jazzan Mountains, by a band of prescient Storm Giants, that foresaw the coming of Jaspar Wilderman, and his ability to make stone alive, and work it by the gifts of his great strength ('like that of a Storm Giant' it is said).  It is not known if this story, or the one about the ward against the elemental gods is true, but the second is the position officially taken by the Archivists of Parn Tandalorn, and the former is the position taken by the Church.  One of the more visible of the properties of the Earthroot is the presence of the Thousand Sons of the Earthroot.

The capitol is called the City of Shadows for the reason of the fantastic shadows that the city is always in.  These shadows are cast by a cloud of great stones, ranging in size of a small farm pig, on up to the size of a massive windmill, or castle keep.  These float on the air, and rotate, slowly but irregularly, in a circular pattern around the Earthroot, at a height of approximately 500-1000 feet.  It is not known what keeps the stones up, as experiments by magic users from the eight Schools of Magic have not revealed the nature of the magic.  Due to the rigorous nature of the experiments, however, most feel sure that the stones are not going to fall.  They rotate in a radius of approximately a mile or so, but the larger stones are closer to the center.  The movement of these causes a constant shifting pattern of shadows to dance all across the city, hence the name "City of Shadows".

The largest of the stones rotating around the Earthroot, are the Thousand Sons.  There are many more than a thousand of these stones, but the larger ones (the named ones) are called the Thousand Sons. One of the more interesting, Aqualith (the Water Stone) has a small spring of water located on it, and it is constantly producing a fresh gurgling of water up out of it.  This water gathers in small pools on the upper surface of Aqualith, a stone of perhaps 20 yards across the long face, and 5 yards wide, and which is floating lengthwise upright.  However, the water, since it is constantly being produced, is always trickling down as a waterfall down the side of Aqualith.  Once it falls the hundreds of feet to the city, it has mostly dispersed into a fine misting drizzle, however it is enough water to keep the city incredibly lush, and full of the most bountiful trees and gardens.

The current ruler of the city is Lendara Astern of the Moontusk family.  The Moontusk family has been involved as one of the leading families of Henn since they came out of the Olmert Empire, approximately 500 years ago (in a later wave of colonisation).  Her full title is Majestrix Lendara Astern, Baroness of Henn, Queenchief of the Moontusk Diamond, and Protector of the Earthroot.

Baronies - The holdings of the Westroners in the Valley

There are currently 19 Westron Baronies in the Valley of the Old Ones.  Technically speaking, there are 18 Baronies, and the city of Narn, which is the capitol of the Kingdom of Ymnaris - of which the 18 other Baronies are technically fiefdoms.  However, in practice, Ymnaris (currently ruled by Duke Alasdair IV of the Neill family) is little more powerful than some of the other larger baronies.  The two points of exception for Narn are its size (it is larger, by thousands of inhabitants, than the next largest Baronial city), and the fact that the Cathedral of St. Narn is there - for which the city is named.  The Cathedral of St. Narn is also the seat of the Church (technically, the "High Office at St. Narn of the Westron Church of the Three Goddesses").

The Cities (which are technically named for the barony of which they are the capitol) all have their own "official" nick name. They were all settled between the years 26 and 1186.  It is currently the year 1534 of the Western Migration, so the younger cities have only been established as short as 300 years since they were originally settled, compared to the oldest, which has been settled now for over 1500 years.

The population figures given are JUST for the City, and not for the whole Barony.  In most cases, assume that the Barony will number this much again in dependent towns, and double this amount in dispersed rural communities.

So other than the city of Narn, the other 18 Baronies are as follows:

Hogle - "The First City" in the Shattered Plains region; pop. 18,000, settled year 26.
Macester - "City of the Sword" in the Gateway region; pop. 21,000, settled year 82.
Ockham - "City of Enchantment" in the Enchanted Forests region; pop. 19,000, settled year 107.
Scallen - "City of Birds" in the Bartaloo region; pop. 19,500, settled year 163.
Kof Karn - "City in the Cradle" in the Rising Land region; pop. 21,000, settled year 219.
Khomaes - "City of Mists"; in the Darkearth Plains region; pop. 22,000, settled year 231.
Henn - "City of the Shadows" in the Rising Land region; pop. 18,000, settled year 285.
Pellorix - "City of the Lake" in the Rising Land region; pop. 19,000, settled year 341.
Werms - "City in the Clouds" in the Darkearth Plains region; pop. 19,000, settled year 352.
Huygen - "City of Light" in the Darkearth Plains region; pop. 18,500, settled year 394.
Gorrem - "City of Ten Gates" in the Wychwood region; pop. 27,000,settled year 462.
Na Kram - "City of Dust", in the Sildur Reaches region; pop. 18,000, settled year 558.
Lynch - "City of Fire" in the Nightside region; pop. 20,000, settled year 642.
Botts - "City of Wind" in the Sildur Reaches region; pop. 17,500, settled year 728.
Ungams - "City of the Harp" in the Nightside region; pop. 16,000, settled year 902.
City of Narn - "City of the Three Goddesses" Capitol of Kingdom of Ymnaris; in the Suuviz region; pop. 38,000, settled year 914.
Devrie - "City of Shale" in the Shale March region; pop. 16,000, settled year 1022.
Futtonol - "The Shield City" in the Suuviz region; pop. 11,000, settled year 1099.
Kennidor - "City on the Frontier" in the Shale March region; pop. 12,500, settled year 1186.

Note that the nicknames of the city are those that the Archivists at Parn Tandalorn have decided to grant the city, in order to differentiate the City itself form the Barony, which often includes lands, villages, castles and other holdings far beyond the borders of the city.  The local inhabitants, however, will sometimes choose a different name (either from custom, or predating the naming by the Archivists).  For instance, the inhabitants of the First City (capitol of the Barony of Hogle) often refer to it as Granite Hold - which was the name of the Castle first built there by the founding baron, Sir Tuneyer of Ockett, in the year 26.  It took him, and his men, a number of years to build Granite Hold, but they adopted for a stone structure from the start, hence the name.

Wizardry and the Schools of Magic

Magic in the Valley of the Old Ones works in a true-to-old-school Vance-like manner.  If that means nothing to you then it is simply this - spells are a way to release a specific type of energy (called magic) in a certain form (the spell's effects), and that energy is captured in potential form when the magic user "memorizes" the spell.  Once the spell is cast, then the energy is released, and the spell must be re-memorized in order to cast it again.  Priest and Druid magic is different, in that it is merely released from either the supernatural source, or nature (in the case of Druids), so it need not be memorized in the same manner.

The magic of Magic Users is known as arcane magic, or simply wizardry.  It falls into a number of different schools, each having to do with a different aspect of magic.  All practitioners, as usual, have access to the school of Lesser Divination (which provides the basic spells req'd for all spellcasters).  Again, this is as per 2nd Ed rules.

The other 8 schools of magic, however, are all studied and researched at a number of different magical institutions, located in different cities.  This is not to suggest that all of the magic users within a certain barony are of a certain school, only that the master of that school and the chief practitioners are located in a particular city.  It is customary (but by no means universal) that rulers of Baronies will allow magic users to travel across borders, even during times of strife, if they are visiting a particular school and agree to a vow of peace while in the territory.

• Elder Institute for Necromantic Legerdemain - The school of Necromancy is located in the city of Devrie.  It is a tall, spindly black tower, the dome of which is a huge white skull made of marble.  The grounds around the tower - a large circle of land - are devoid of living things.  The current grand master is Necromancer Malchaumis (male).
• Eldritch College of Channeling and Shaping - The school of Invocation and Evocation is located in the city of Lynch.  It is a castle, with a number of massive round towers all about it, each of which is topped with a huge brazier that are constantly burning with multi-colored flames.  Head mistress of the college is Shere Shard (human female)
• Ancient Presagery of Secrets and Mysteries -The school of Greater Diviniation is located in Pellorix.  It is one of the oldest schools of magic in the Valley, being over a thousand years old.  It is a simple manor house on the outside, surrounded by a walled garden.  Inside the house are endless corridors and rooms - some of which are said to stretch on for miles and miles.  The Chief Sage is Ciarra Pickthal (female)
• Tower of Thaumaturgical Flux - The school of Alteration is located in the city of Scallen.  It is a massive tower, with the foundational layers made all of jade and emerald, but the top stories of which are constantly changing in composition and appearance.  The Key of Alteration (current master of the school) is Mistress Trollencule (female).
• School for Mastery of the Illusionary Arts - The college of Illusion is located in the city of Ockham.  It appears as a small castle, floating in the air above a perfectly calm pool.  The castle is always different, and none but those within the School know it's true nature.  The head of the School is Pandulf the Magnificent (male).
• Glamor Hall for Bewitchment and Entrancement - The school of Enchantment and Charm is located in the city of Khomaes.  It is a great walled park, full of flowering plants and trees of all varieties, all year long.  The portal to the halls and chambers of the school (a polished marble and gold arch, with royal purple drapes to be pulled aside) appear somewhere within the park to those who require entrance.  The Queen of Enchantment (head of the school) is Mellisonde (female).
• Demesne of Planar Knowledge and Magical Petitioning - The school of Conjuration and Summoning is located at Werms.  The school appears as a tall black castle, with lots of looming spires and towers, and is always surrounded by swirling clouds of black and grey fog and smoke.  The current master, sitting the the Throne of Knowledge, is Yazeed the Traveller (male).
• Grand Lyceum of Abjurative Sorcery - The school of Abjuration is located in the city of Botts.  It is a walled campus of several buildings built upon a shining plaza made out of curious metals from a fallen asteroid. The head of the Lyceum is the Abjurer Glub Nar (male).

Any character that is a magic user or illusionist, especially a Human or Fey Changelings (half-elf) character, will have studied their basics at the school in question, regardless of their Barony of origin.  A modicum of knowledge about how to travel to the school, and requirements for gaining entrance, are therefore part of the basics that the character knows from their initial training.

Non human practitioners of magic (chiefly Elves and Gnomes) will often have their own masters.  The major exception are the Gnomes of  both the Oncor Hills and the Uidan Forest, many of which who practice magic take up their training at the School for Illusionary Arts at Ockham.  Some even maintain that the School retains several Gnome Illusionists on its staff.