Setting

The Sovereign Dominion of Widmyr
Commonly called Widmyr, colloquially known as Seven Seats or The Kingdom with No King. Widmyr has known relative peace and some measure of prosperity for three generations. This was not always so.



The Dragon War and Rise of the Prophets
Centuries ago, Widmyr was beset by tyranny. Powerful dragons ruled the land and enslaved its people. These dragons, called Wyrmlords, fought between each other for land and resources, and often sent scores of slaves to die in bloody battles over petty differences. The civilized races were plagued by hunger, disease, abuse, and hopelessness. They people prayed to their gods, but were deemed unrepentant and unworthy of salvation.

Until one man, his heart pure and breaking for those weaker than himself, cried to the gods for justice. Bahamut was moved to see a pure heart among those so hardened and clouded by long-suffering and desperation. For the first time in ages, he granted his power and named Sigrid Seolfor his champion. Bahamut petitioned the other gods to seek similar eligible souls. Each of the remaining ten gods also named a champion, and collectively the storied heroes the world would come to call "the Prophets" began their mission of emancipation.

(This is only one account of these ancient days. Some historians believe that the gods themselves came bodily to Widmyr to fight the Wyrmlords. Others say that Bahamut took the form of a dragon himself, and that the other gods granted their favor to powerful draconic allies that fought their evil cousins for the sake of the world.)

The Prophets were victorious. After harrowing battles that ranged across the boundaries of the known world, the Wyrmlords were banished to another plane and forbidden to return. The battle was not without cost. The prophets of Avandra, Ioun, Sehanine, and Pelor all sacrificed themselves for the sake of freedom... and though there were certainly pledges to be made that they would never be forgotten, their names have fallen out of common parlance just as anything other than token worship of their patrons has all but dissolved.

The Civil Age
When the battle was over, the Prophets realized that they had a further responsibility - they must help recreate a free society from the wreckage of longtime tyranny. They each took whoever would follow and set off to colonize Widmyr.


 * Thea Vissen, called Fairwaters, Priestess of Melora, took shipbuilders and sailors and settled Greenstone.


 * Gregor Ryazan, warrior of Kord, took those he judged the most stalwart and founded Stoneblood.


 * Teledril Taurë T'lonthil, called Lightfoot, ranger of Corellion, gathered his elven brethern and stole away into the forest. The Eleven population of Widmyr are now organized around Deadtree.


 * Pityr Uwak, sorcerer servant of the Raven Queen, took like-minded practitioners off the eastern coast and founded the island fortress of Ravenhold.


 * Oode Ironskull, dwarven warrior of Moradin, joined with Leofrick Woul, human invoker of Erathis. Together they forged into Widmyr's southern mountain range to carve out civilization with pick and hammer - and their progeny shared the south for years. The dwarves from their seat at Khuzdul, and the humans from Cornerstone.


 * Sigrid Seolfor, reluctantly accepting the unanimous coronation of the other Prophets, drew to him any who come and all who were in need. Together they built Suthcastle, the gem of Widmyr, and the Seolfor lined ruled as Widmyr's king for centuries.

The Bellum Omnium and the Fall of House Seolfor
The geographical estrangement of the eight houses led to a kind of pragmatic independence. There was little reliance on the regency in Suthcastle, and most of the houses interacted only with modest trade and the occasional marriage between them. The exception was the humans at Cornerstone and the dwarves in Khuzdul. As time passed, the partnership of their forebears faded into history, and tension between the two houses grew. Land disputes and border skirmishes became common, and eventually it was only a stony dedication to peace itself that kept the two houses from battle.

Tybalt Seolfor, the 10th of his name to wear the crown forged for Sigrid 300 years earlier, lamented the distance between the influential houses in his kingdom. A judicious student of history, Tybalt envisioned a kingdom united by the strong ties of the Prophets of old. His noble dream fermented into obsession, and as he grew old the king thought of little else besides a strong united Widmyr to leave to his son and grandsons. He demanded young nobility to wed to his house, he demanded taxes that the kingdom might be united in central wealth. His orders were grudgingly accepted, but dissent whispers could be heard in alleys and corners throughout the kingdom. When Tybalt decided that the land should be united in devotion, and that temples were to be erected so that Bahamut would be regarded as high god above all others, the whispers turned to shouts. Citizens of Widmyr, and kingdom formed in the mold of peace, took up arms against one another. The Bellum Omnium, or 'War of All', had begun.

Immediately, the gods seemed to turn their backs on their followers. Massive storms raged across the land. Ships were lost in great typhoons, cities fell prey to earthquakes and fires. The storms culminated on the night of the Harvest Moon, now commonly known as "the Night the Sky Shattered", which is held to be the true start to the great war. Devastation was widespread, but no city was harmed more than Cornerstone. Its carefully crafted edifices and finely wrought monuments were reduced to rubble. For Lord Simon the Mason, it was more sorrow and suffering than he could bear. Years of barely contained rage toward his neighbors, recently prodded and agitated by the maniacal behavior of King Tybalt, could be denied no longer. Mason marched his armies with unsavory zeal into dwarven lands. By the time the war was over, Khuzdul was the new seat of followers of Erathis, and most of Widmyr's dwarves were slain. The remaining dwarves fled into the mountains to scrape out a hard nomadic life for themselves and their children.

King Tybalt, seeing his dream shatter like the sky torn with lightning, became truly desperate. Blind to his corrupted ambition, he was sure his devotion to Bahamut would deliver him victory. He consulted his priests and sorcerers, and through reckless ritual magic, began to open the passage between the planes, intent on winning the banished Wyrmlords to his cause. The other houses recognized, even among the turmoil, what was happening in Suthcastle. Bruised by one another and trust severly damaged, they nonetheless banded together for fear of what their errant king might cause. The final battle was one of forged steel and cosmic ether, where soldiers and sages fought side by side. Ultimately, the united houses prevailed, but not without cost. The conflicting magical efforts of House Seolfor and their opposition tore a great rift in the land, and the stunted ritual cursed the Seolfor house with lasting deformation. Suthcastle was lost beyond the rift, and Widmyr was without its long line of kings.

The Formation of the Sovereign Dominion, and Rebuilding Widmyr
Wary of another regent whom power could so easily corrupt, the Houses decided to form a ruling council. A high priest of Erathis, Melora, Kord, and the Raven Queen were named the Halcyon Court (the elves abstained from representation, and only recently joined the council after years of cajoling and consideration). Lord Batas Uwak of Ravenhold was named High Magistrate, and having no clear heir to speak of, abandoned his claim to lordship to accept the office. The Kingdom of Widmyr was renamed the Sovereign Dominion of Widmyr, and each house took an oath that they would never claim regency over the land.

Nearly sixty years have passed since the end of the Bellum Ominum, and a wary, hardened citizenry has begun to allow itself the comforts of peace. In Khuzdul, Lord Rodrick Mason (grandson of Simon, conqueror of the dwarven kingdom) has repented of his grandfather's actions. Under his rule, the once great temple of Moradin has been restored in Khuzdul, and dwarves have been actively invited home, to live in peace with their human neighbors once more. No one has heard from the families at Ravenhold (called "the Forfeit Fortress"). Not so much as a messenger has emerged from the castle since Lord Uwak's exit. After years of diplomatic efforts, the elves at Taure have sent a representative to join the council, though no such offer has been made to the fledgling community of dwarves faithful to Moradin. House Ryazan has gained notoriety for staving off invasions from the north (be they inhabitants of the farthest points of Widmyr or invaders from another land, no one is sure). House Vissen, relied on for the greenstone currency found on the ocean floor, is the most economically influential house in Widmyr, and its lord, Horatio Hazelwood, is the land's most consummate merchant.

The days are marked by a kind of tense accord - the church sets laws and provides justice while new generations of Widmyr's people grow in a land with the clear but fading stains of war. Widmyr, a Kingdom with no King, rises from the ashes again.