Index
PLAYER
LORE
DUNGEON
MASTER
DEV
Design
Tenets
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DRAKENREICH
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Type
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Monarchy
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Ruler
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The Black Hand of Bane
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Races
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Humans
75%, Half-orcs 5%
Drow 1% Other 19%
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Population
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2,000,000
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Drakenreich
is a nation that covers the Western side of the Mirror
Plane, a land of desert, active volcano ranges and
jungle on the border of Sylvania. Drakenreich is divided
by warring monstrous and barbarian tribes, powerful
merchant lords and sorcerors with private armies and
various other despot kingdoms competing for land,
resources and power.
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PROMINENT
FACTIONS
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The Black
Shields
The duties of law
enforcement and the protection of the Queen,
the Black Hand of Bane (and her extended
family) falls to this military organisation,
rank primarily determined by lineage within
the same royal family.
Whether the Black Shields answer to the One
Church of Bane or not, is a matter of
continuing 'debate' (read: conflict).
Drakenreich Guard
The military arm of the One
Church of Bane and the army and navy of
Drakenreich. All Black Shields are
high-ranking officers within the Drakenreich
Guard. The exception is the highest ranks, the
Lord Marshall and High Admiral of the Guard
and Navy respectively, who are chosen by and
answer to the High Priests of the One Church
of Bane.
The Drakenreich Royal Navy, whilst
retaining considerable independence in rank
and structure, is a branch of the Guard. Few
in the guard are not equally capable marines
as well as infantry.
Merchant House of Zhentarim
In the previous Age of
Change, a shrewd Exodite named Domus, who had
been a considerable power in the Zhentarim
organisation of Toril, united several of the
larger merchant houses of Drakenreich into his
own vision of the company.
House of Zhentarim in Hub
Trade guild and bank, security service
and protection racket - the Merchant
House of Zhentarim is all of these
things. Drakenreich's royal family and
the One Church of Bane are its biggest
customers and it is often this merchant
house that has the real final word on
just about anything, when it involves
money.
A large percentage of the Drakenreich
Guard (last census estimates 23%) are
also employed by the merchant house, and
their loyalty, if tested, is usually to
their company wage.
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The One
Church of Bane
Whilst various sects and orders exist within
this church, some of which worship Bane's allies
as well as Bane, there is only one religious
authority that is lawful within Drakenreich, and
that is the One Church of Bane.
Priests of
Bane arguing
All citizens of Drakenreich must be followers of
this church. Any citizen found to be following
another church will be imprisoned and very
probably executed.
Uthgardt Barbarian Tribes
There has been war between the state of
Drakenreich and the desert barabarian tribes
that worship Uthgardt for centuries and it is
not a situation that is likely to change any
time soon.
Whilst the tribes are often busy feuding with
each other or the Gruumsh Orcish Tribes, they
will still raid Drakenreich holdings, regularly
testing their defences.
Uthgardt
tribal warriors head out to hunt
The Drakenreich Guard has always struggled to
bring any significant force against the tribes,
who are mostly nomadic. When they do establish
settlements, these are very difficult to find
and quickly vanish before they can be
effectively attacked.
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OTHER
NOTEWORTHY FACTIONS
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The Black
Cloaks
Arcane magic is considered a
powerful resource when its practitioners are
under the control of the One Church of Bane, and
a considerable threat when not. The Black Cloaks
are an order of wizards and other evil arcanists
dedicated to hording magical power for
Bane, and the recruitment of others to their
ranks. Or their elimination if they resist.
A Black Cloak busy with
arcane research
Cult of the Dragon
Evidence continues to grow of dragon
worshippers organising in the shadows of
Drakenreich, perhaps with the goal of freeing
one or more of the dragons that remain
incarcerated in the Planar Prison.
Gruumsh Orcish Tribes
Normally keeping to the Orcian Jungle, tribes
of orc and half-orc barbarians that follow
Gruumsh have been making more and bolder
incursions into traditional Uthgardt desert
territories since the end of the Age of War.
Half-Orc
outcasts of a Gruumsh tribe
Fortunately for
Drakenreich, due to these tribes being culled
heavily by their own forces in the wars, the
tribes have been too busy with tribal
conflicts to become any kind of serious threat
to Drakenreich's current holdings.
Guild of Assassins
A very secret organisation, endorsed by
the Church of Bane, with many followers of
Talona and Mask operating within it to
undermine the enemies of Drakenreich and
eliminate threats to Bane's dominance of the
nation.
Corruption of the guild by Cyric and Shar is a
constant concern and as soon as one conspiracy
involving their followers is ended, so another
tends to form soon after.
Whilst Cyric worship is zealously purged,
Shar's influence over the guild tends to be
subtle and rarely revealed. It is likely that
the Church of Bane actively fosters various
sects within the guild, to cull the weaker
members and promote infighting, so that the
guild does not scheme for greater power over
the nation.
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Merchant Lords
The nation of Drakenreich is not a
particularly united one, except in the demand of
the singular worship of Bane. There are numerous
small provinces scattered across the lands
controlled by merchant lords with private armies,
with a diversity of relations with each other,
other inhabitants of the land (such as barbarian
tribes), the royal family and the capital city.
Sorceror Lords
Military control over the large nation of
Drakenreich is spread thinly, with the largest
concentration in the Black City and then on the
border of Sylvania.
This leaves a lot of space for powerful sorcerors,
including necromancers and demonologists, to rise
and challenge the merchant lord provinces.
Sometimes these sorceror lords become powerful
enough to prove a threat to the royal family and
Bane's dominance of the nation.
Currently two sorceror lords are becoming more
serious threats, one leading a cult known as The
Pale Masters, and a second leading a cult
known as the Servants of Myrkul. It is
likely that one or both of these groups are
responsible for a necromantic plague currently
sweeping across Drakenreich.
Underdark City of Arakniam
The largest of the Drow cities in the
Underdark. It is generally believed by common-folk
that the city has not bothered with relations (or
even hostilities) with the surface dwellers for
many decades, instead focusing on expanding
territory and defending against regular
subterranean assaults by the Dwarf Kingdoms.
It is more likely that Drakenreich's ruler will
have some kind of diplomatic channel open with
such a potential threat (or ally) to the nation.
Tower Gate of
the city of Arakniam
However, since the recent re-activation of the
Dais of Exodites, rumours are rampant of
representatives of the city-state having been seen
in the city of Hub, presumably negotiating with
the Overseers for representation in the Grand
Council.
Arakniam's grabs for territory bring them into
conflict with not only the Dwarf Kingdoms, but
more recently with the Eilistraeen city of
Maiden's Song and the two other largest Lolthian
city-nations of the Underdark.
Arakniam has also been responsible for a number of
recent releases of remaining planar prisoners and
their efforts with the Overseers are soured by the
fact they seem keen to continue these operations.
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IMPORTANT PLACES
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