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All adventures in Gwyl (or North Mark as it is known th the Gardic conquerors) are set against the background of friction between the Conquerors (from Gard) and the Conquered (the Gwyll). The situation is based on that in 11th Century Britain where the minority group, the Normans, ruled the Saxons. There are oppressive laws to maintain the status quo. The rulers have access to superior Arms and Armour.
There are a few Gards who are opposed to the mistreatment of the Gwyll but most Gards have a long racial memory of hatred against the Gwyll.
Chivalric Knights, worshipping the Three Gods. Over the last few centuries they have advanced to the equivalent of our late-medieval period in the prosperous cities of the south. The King rules the central region, Kingsreach from the city of Tor Meliath. Earls control the outlying regions -
"Welsh" Celtic people whose priests were Druids. No central authority. Dozens of Thanes each ruling a few villages. Most of Gwyll (particularly the North) is covered by Pine Forests. About 20 years ago Gwyll was conquered by Gard and now the Gwyll are second-class citizens in their own lands. Even their language is outlawed and they must pay tribute to their Gardic Overlords. Their land is now known as the North Mark and is ruled by a new Earl (Lord Rothschilde) based at the new city of Tor Wyneth. The druidic religion continues but now the men of North Mark must pay lip service to the Three Gods.
About 120 years ago, because of a Famine, the Thanes of the Gwyll elected a Warlord (known as a Pendragon) and began to raid into Angolin (the westernmost region of Gard). The people of Gard drove the Gwyll back. They set-up a system of Border Forts to keep the peace. The Pendragon made a deal with the Orcs of the White Mts who sent a huge army south through Gwyll. The Gwyll were forced to fight alongside the Orcs (although some Thanes rebelled). Half of Angolin was overrun and the Orcs took thousands of slaves as payment. It took several years to drive the Gwyll back to their original borders. Once this was done the Pendragon was executed by a council of Thanes and the Orcs were eventually driven out. This is the major cause of the hostility between the Gwyll and the people of Angolin.
20 years ago the Gwyll began to complain that the Lords of the Border Forts were raiding their lands. This may (or may not) have been true. The Thanes again elected a Pendragon and began to attack the Borders. This time the King of Gard (the current king's father) decided not to just push back.
In 1939, Gard completely conquered Gwyll
Ever since, the people of Gwyll have become second-class citizens, their language is forbidden and they must all follow the Gardic religion of the Three Gods. The current king revoked the laws against Druids a few years ago but the Gwyll are still expected to worship the Three Gods. There are Gwyll outlaws all over the North Mark. The new Earl of the new province, North Mark, has a full-time job keeping the peace.
This is the worship of the Anima. A goddess thought to be the Mother of All. There are some differences between the Druidism of the Elves and that of the Gwyllic Humans. Elvish Druidism incorporates the need to protect and nurture the Faeries while Gwyll Druidism incorporates several beast-lords (Ideal versions of a particular species with both a beast and a humanoid form) who may be appeased/commanded by bloody sacrifices.
The Church of the True Gods has recently decreed that Druidism is just another form of Magic (not a religion). This means that Druids are no longer outlawed. However as Druids don't have the same viewpoint they loose all Spell Abilities until the following Dawn if they enter a Church (ie. To attend the compulsory Monthly Mass).
Ritual Druid Magic is still outlawed and anyone caught making Sacrifices and obviously indulging in Worship can still be Burnt at the Stake for Paganism. Druids must hold their Religious Ceremonies in secret.
The Gwyll are treated as a lower class of citizen in the eyes of the Law. In the years immediately following the Conquest, if a Gwyll killed a Gard the Gwyll and his entire family were executed. This situation has improved a little in practice but the law still stands.
The severity of the oppression varies from manor to manor. Lords from Angolin tend to oppress their gwyllic serfs more overtly than Lords from other areas of Gard.
The current King, Darion, and the new Earl of North Mark, Rothschild, are encouraging a more liberal attitude. Darion caused the Church to revoke it's Anti-Druidism Laws a few years ago.
An organisation of Gardic Knights loosely affiliated with the Church of Oban. Despite paying lip service to a "good" Church, the Templars are very oppressive and cruel towards the Gwyll. They were founded to be the Scourge of the North at the time when the Gwyll were allied with Orcs.
The northern branch of the Church of Oban is not quite so "good" as its parent organisation. The Fathers led a sort of Holy Crusade to conquer Gwyll. Since the Conquest, they have forced the Gwyll to drop their Druidic religion and adopt the Gardic Faith. The Fathers have had to be fairly brutal at times. Most of them are "good" but there are some, including some senior priests, who are corrupt.
In game terms, the alignment of priests does not affect their level or their access to miracles. While miracles above 3rd Level are not available to corrupt priests from the Three Gods, they can be available via Magic or via Daemonic assistance.
A secretive sect of Druids. For many years the druids have been exiles, living in hiding in the forests. Only in the last couple of years has the Druidic Faith been legalised by Royal Decree. The Wise are embittered terrorists vigorously opposed to the conquering Gards. Not all Druids are as fanatical as the members of this sect.
This group of powerful wizards is the secret power behind many plots and schemes (not only in North Mark, but throughout the land). At least some of the Dark Circle are in the service of the Saurian Empire and are working to de-stabilise the Kingdom of Gard in preparation for invasion from the Southlands.
The people of Gwyll have long suffered from their proximity to the White Mountains and its vast Orkish population. For most of this long history, the Orcs have raided Gwyll lands. But on a few occasions, factions of the Gwyll have allied themselves with the Orcs (or used Orcs as mercenaries). Lillith, the White Queen is one of the Five Dark Gods. She has controlled the Orcs for thousands of years. Every now and then, she causes them to swarm south. The last time was only thirteen years ago, when the Orcs invaded Ustergard.
Bards are well-loved and respected in Gwyll. Gwyll Bards may receive Druidic Spells as well as Mage Spells (not extra spell slots, just a wider choice of Songs of Power) but they can never learn to read. They must be taught their spells by Wizards or Druids, they convert the spell into a Song of Memorisation. They could later teach their Mage Songs to Wizards.
Because of their reliance on memory and oral history, Bards can usually repeat anything they have overheard verbatim.
(could be relaxed for top nobility)
See Also - Adventuring in Meredwyr
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