The Duchy of Falmar

The last great attack on the Inner Nations happened about 100 years ago.  An army of humanoids, under the command of an evil wizard called Cacarn, poured through the gap between the Great Forest and the Harkness Mountains.  Initially the invasion met little resistance, people fell back and allowed homes and villages to be taken as they withdrew to their strongholds - and then, safely behind their walls, they waited for help to come.  Following the precedent set in the earlier invasion, all the Inner Nations sent their forces to help relieve the siege and drive the invaders back.  Initially the ‘war’ was balanced, neither side appeared to have the ascendency – but the gradually the defending forces got the better of the battle and started pushing the invaders back towards the mountains.  Then Dwarf and Elf re-enforcements arrived – they were not large forces, but their appearance was just enough to tip the scales in favour of the defenders, and soon the humanoid armies were fleeing back the way they had come; their troops scattered, their alliances broken and their leaders in disarray.

Once the enemy were gone General Sir Rupert Von Zeeman stopped his army in the gap and secured the border.  Both he and his men understood that a more permanent defence would be required, and that according to tradition Sir Rupert would be asked to build the defence and would be suitable rewarded.  Once he was sure the enemy had fled properly, Sir Rupert sent the bulk of his army home, only retaining only his personal regiment and three units of volunteers to stand by him.   Shortly afterwards the nations followed tradition and  instructed Sir Rupert to build a defence between them and their enemy -  starting with building a city in  the gap between the mountain and the lakes, and then securing the land immediately beyond the gap.  He was permitted to take those troops who had remained with him and would be given the title of Duke ….

They started by building the city and a few villages around it, then larger military outposts (small castles really) were established at Kethlow, Sittor and Matock and placed under the control the commanders of Sir Rupert’s three senior commanders.  Eventually these became administrative baronies, complete with town and villages, which are used to govern the country today.  

Sir Rupert decided to call his city and its new nation Falmar, and thus pay tribute to his family history.  His Great Grandfather had been Captain of a ship called the Falmar that had been part of the armada fetching settlers to the new land of Gonma.  Falmar is an archaic spelling of the word Fulmar, a large seabird, and the flag of the nation is a white silhouette of birds in flight against a green background.  What goes round comes around.

However, three generations later, Sir Rupert’s last set of orders are properly filled.  The City of Falmar sits in the gap, the habitable land beyond is laced with military defences and Falmar’s fastest growing development is Hapsburg, a day’s hard ride beyond Kethlow.

Modern Falmar is rich in natural resources:  The Great Forest provides all the timber that the people need, while the Harkness Mountains are a source of building stone and minerals.  The land between the two is fertile and the farmers get good yields from their crops – growing a variety of vegetable, cereals and fruits, particularly grapes.  Sheep graze the hills and there is almost a surfeit of mutton for the pot or leather making and plenty of wool for spinning and weaving. 

The main exports are bolts of woollen material and a rose wine known, unsurprisingly, as Falmar Wine.  This is supplemented by marble from the hills around Matock, iron from the mines at Falmar City and copper from Hapsburg. Minor exports include preserved fish from the lake close to Hapsburg, leather goods, furs and a few gemstones.