The Forest Strongholds is the name given to a loose confederation of baronies established by Lannish refugees fleeing the Inundation; they settled along and within the eastern fringes of the Great Forest in the middle of the 14th Universal Century. In the 600 years since the first Strongholders (or Northern Lans, as they are now sometimes called) established their simple motte-and-bailey keeps in the lands east of the River Tharne, the strongholders have had to fight several wars and innumerable skirmishes against the Alvallans and barbarians in the west, Farsalian dwarves in the east, and the Archdukes of Tararo in the south -- each of whom have sought to either expel the Strongholders or subjugate them.

Today, the Forest Strongholds are arranged along what is called the manorial system, a feudal social and economic organization. The center of this system is the manor, ruled by a knight-castellan who has been appointed by the baron within whose territory the manor falls. Typically, the position of castellan is hereditary, although there have been cases where castellans have been removed from office, though this has usually required the violent apprehension of the outlaw castellan and the defeat of his household troops. The castellan is required to send a portion of his taxes to the baron, and to send a contingent of troops to the baron during the summer campaign season; the castellan is often required to lead this contingent in person, although frequently a suitable lieutenant is sent instead.

There are hundreds of manors scattered throughout the Forest Strongholds. The manor is a fortified house accompanied by smaller residences, stables, and other buildings, typically surrounded by a wooden palisade or stone rampart. Outside the palisade are fields and various outbuildings.

The fields and other small industries within each manor are worked by yeomen, free farmers and craftsmen who owe the castellan a portion of their produce each year. Yeomen are also required to serve in the militia, defending the manor when necessary. Beneath the yeomen are the peasants, which class comprises both tenant farmers and vagrants, who move from manor to manor depending upon the need for labor. Peasants of either type typically reside in small clusters of ramshackle dwellings on the outskirts of the manor.

Each castellan will have a small contingent of knights, often from among the members of his own family and those of the more prosperous yeomen. Sometimes a castellan will enlist one or more of the wandering adventurers known as knights-errant into his service, for a season or longer, or to send as part of the contingent the castellan owes the baron each year during the campaign season.

Baronial holdings are called estates, and are the size of small towns. They have marketplaces where yeomen from the manors come to trade their goods and purchase tools, and where knights go to be outfitted for war. Barons maintain sizable garrisons of household troops, housing them in castles constructed in defensible locations. The Twelve Barons are frequently in conflict with each other, attempting to expanding their relative spheres of influence, but they unite with great rapidity when faced with an external threat.

The Forest Strongholders worship the Old Gods of the Lans. Chief among these is Oeris, God of the Sky. His wife is Anala, the Goddess of the Earth. Their children are Karan, Goddess of the Sun; Lunil, Goddess of the Moon; and Turas, God of the Underworld. The stars are the heroes and maids who attend Lunil, who is vain and hides her face because of the scars inflicted upon her by her brother, who was angry at being made to live underground and watch over the spirits of the dead. Karan is a bright warrior goddess who is also revered for her life-giving abilities, while Turas is dark and brooding. Oeris and Anala are more remote figures.

The religious orders of the Forest Strongholds are of two kinds. The mendicant orders consist of monks or nuns who have dedicated themselves to a life of poverty, work, and meditation in the service of one of the Old Gods; they organize themselves in abbeys and till their own fields. Peasants are accepted into such orders, and a few of the mendicant abbeys house oracles that are consulted by laymen. Militant orders consist solely of men drawn from the yeomanry and the knightly classes; their members are referred to as chaplains, and they are dedicated to war, serving in the baronial armies and holding their own manors throughout the Forest Strongholds, particularly upon its northwestern marches, where raiding barbarians frequently attempt to penetrate. The militant orders are independent and hierarchical, with the Grand Master of each order commanding almost as much influence as one of the barons, and some of the latter are suspicious of the former's strength.

The Lannic Road

The resources available within the Forest Strongholds are quite extensive -- lumber, foodstuffs, metals, and so on -- and the baronies' position astride the route to Alvalla, with its exquisite craftsmanship, made it highly desirable for the merchant factors of the Great City to gain access to those goods. The Great Mage, in the early years of the 21st Universal Century, negotiated with the Council of Barons for the right of way to build a road through the Strongholds to the border of Alvalla, along which merchants would be allowed to pass for a nominal tax from the lands to the south to the western edge of the baronies. Many vagrants were hired to do the work, and the influx of gold resulted in prosperity for many manors along the road.

Today, there is considerable traffic along the road, especially during the summer months when merchants are allowed to enter Alvalla and go to the market at Argis. Typically, travelers cross the south branch of the river Tharne and journey under Covenant Guard escort to Hope's Cottage, where they travel by river barge to Lake Gilachor, upon which lies the ceremonial city of Argis. Within the Forest Strongholds, the Knights Peregrine patrol the Road and maintain hostels for travelers.

More recent southward extensions of the road have led to the growth in importance of the Barony of Lague, whose chief town of Silbear serves as the principal port of call for merchant ships from the Lanian Duchies, Bay, Mankara, and even as far afield as Nylus. The growth of this trade has, of course, resulted in an increase in piracy, particularly as the Isle of Kenos lies athwart most sea lanes leading out of the Lannish Sea.

Forest Vagrant

Description: This one of the peasant laborers who wander from manor to manor in search of work or possibly charity. Many manors have rules about how many vagrants may live together in one place, and most other Strongholders are wary of the vagrants, considering them thieves and wastrels. Many of the vagrants are of at least partly barbaric descent, their tribes having been conquered by the original Lannish settlers.

KS Forest Strongholds folk culture 11- [0]
LAN native Lannish [0]
AK Forest Strongholds 11- [0]
Destitute [-10]
Forest Vagrant Cost -10 points

Lannish Tenant

Description: This is one of the peasant farmers who work the fields owned by the yeomen, perhaps also tending a small family plot as well. Some tenants perform other jobs, working as lumbermen, herdsmen, and servants of the yeomen and the knightly class. They tend to be somewhat better off than the vagrants, but their life is still fairly hard, and they are wary of being displaced somehow by vagrant workers.

KS Forest Strongholds folk culture 11- [0]
LAN native Lannish [0]
AK Home manor 11- [0]
KS Home manor 11- [0]
TF Mule [0]
CHOICE of any one PS appropriate to an agrarian society 11- [2]
CHOICE of one: Animal Handler, Streetwise, Survival, or Concealment [3]
CHOICE of one: FAM Healer 8-, FAM Traps 8-, TF Horse, FAM Fishing 8- [1]
CHOICE of one: KS Domestic Animals 11-, KS Nature Lore 11-, KS Herb Lore 11- [2]
Poor [-5]
Package Bonus [-2]
Lannish Tenant Cost 1 point

Lannish Yeoman

Description: This is one of the large "middle class" of Forest Strongholds society; relatively prosperous and secure, yeomen serve as the backbone of Stronghold society, running most of the economic enterprises in exchange for protection against barbarians, bandits, and other dangers. The yeomanry has grown in power and influence since the completion of the Lannic Road.

KS Forest Strongholds folk culture 11- [0]
LAN native Lannish [0]
AK Home manor 11- [0]
KS Home manor 11- [0]
TF Horse [0]
FAM Forest Strongholds aristocratic culture 8- [1]
CHOICE of any one PS (appropriate to agrarian society) 11- [2]
CHOICE of any one KS (appropriate to agrarian society) 11- [2]
CHOICE of one: WF Spear, Literacy (Oeran script), or LAN basic Oeran [1]
Package Bonus [-1]
Lannish Yeoman Cost 5 points

Lannish Knight

Description: This is one of the aristocratic soldiers who serve the castellans and barons of the Forest Strongholds.

KS Forest Strongholds aristocratic culture 11- [0]
LAN native Lannish [0]
TF Riding animal [0]
WF Sword [1]
WF Lance [1]
PS Soldier 11- [2]
CSL +1 w/mounted combat [5]
CHOICE of one: Riding, CSL +1 w/sword, or CSL +1 w/lance [3]
CHOICE of one: High Society, Tactics, or Animal Handler [3]
CHOICE of one: KS Raptors, KS Horses, or KS Heraldry [2]
Perk: Lower aristocracy [2]
Package Bonus [-3]
Lannish Knight Cost 16 points

Monk or Nun of a Mendicant Order

Description: There are at least a score of mendicant orders. Some are peregrini, or wandering, while others are domestici, residing in an abbey or convent that is equivalent to a small manor. The domestic orders often provide shelter to members of the wandering ones, as well as to travelers. Since they are literate, monks and nuns of the domestic orders are often used by castellans and barons as scribes, recordkeepers, and secretaries, in return for which donations to the order are accepted.

LAN native Lannish [0]
AK Home abbey/convent 11- [0]
KS Mendicant order 11- [2]
KS Rule of the order 11- [2]
KS Lannish theology 11- [2]
PS Monk or PS Nun, as appropriate, 11- [2]
CHOICE of any PS related to support of abbey or convent 11- [2]
CHOICE of one: Oratory, INT +3, Bureaucratics, or LAN fluent Old Lannic [3]
CHOICE of one: TF Mule, PRE +1, or Literacy (Oeran script), WF Staff [1]
CHOICE of one: KS Conjury 11-, EGO +1, or KS Occult knowledge 11- [2]
Perk: Ordained (right to administer religious rites) [1]
Vow to obey the rule of the order [-10]
Package Bonus [-3]
Mendicant Monk Cost 4 points

Militant Chaplain

Description: This is a member of one of the five religious orders of armed monks that exist within the Forest Strongholds. These include the Knight-Brethren of the Tower of Oeris (Knight-Rooks), the Order Militant of the Oracle of Karan (Knights Oracular), the Monastic Order of the Heavenly Court (Moon Knights), the Order of the Blessed Temple of Turas (Sanctuary Knights), and the Peregrinic Knights of the Secret Fane (Knights Peregrine). Each is slightly different in origin and purpose, but all generally require their members to take up a life of arms in service to the Old Gods.

LAN native Lannish [0]
TF Horse [0]
KS Forest Strongholds aristocratic culture 11- [0]
AK Forest Strongholds 11- [2]
KS Rule of the order 11- [2]
Perk: Ordained (right to administer religious rites) [1]
PS Soldier 11- [2]
WF Sword [1]
WF Lance [1]
Literacy (Oeran script) [1]
CHOICE of one: Tactics, CSL +1 with sword, or CSL +1 with lance [3]
CHOICE of one: Oratory, Interrogation, or Riding [3]
CHOICE of one: KS Lannish theology 11-, KS Conjury 11-, or KS Occult knowledge 11- [2]
Vow to obey rule of the order [-10]
Package Bonus [-3]
Militant Chaplain Cost 5 points.