7/27/2019 Thonia

1/4

Thonia

In 1014, the governor sent a force to arrest the Baron of the Lakes but was stopped at Booh

by a mixed force led by the Baron of Blackmoor.1

This means the governor was traveling west-

bound by road, but not by way of Blackmoor town. There are two such roads that meet Booh from the

East, but only the Greenway avoids Blackmoor. The governors seat was either Williamsfort,Bramwald, or off the map along the Greenway (Dragonia was not yet founded). Given the short period

of time for these events, and since the governor did not take the river route to the Lakes, I vote for oneof the former two. Bramwald offers the most convenient location.

Right now, however, the Empire in the North means Marban. The Empires northwestern

frontier has long been held at the Taff,2

but the Iron Duke also secures the Greenway up to Pugs

Station, and claims east of the Greenway line to the North Sea.3 The lands northeast of the Rockaway

River, including the Iron Hills, are on the wrong side of the Barony of Bramwald and will certainly be

settled during the next campaign season by Ducal colonists, if Imperials dont get there first.

# (sans Leader), Location Armour Level Source Leader

Thonian Cavalry 15EH Chainmail 1 DA3 p. 28 2

Thonian Infantry 8LW/B Chainmail 1 DA3 p. 29Thonian Horse ? DA3 p. 27 ?

The cavalry are the 600 17 Kurgan Lancers Regiment of Cavalry based in Fort Mugger.th

In

practice one will not find 600 men in the fort. Lancer patrols scour the Coombe and Eastern Hak, and afull company (50 men) guard Colenso Station. During the summer (when Blackmoor scouts drew up

the above chart) the fort is left to invalids and green recruits.The infantry are the 1200 8 Green Devils Regiment of Foot. These are based in Oclaire,

Barneys Ford, and Boyo. Barneys Ford is responsible for patrolling the woodlands on the other sideof the Taff; many of those stationed at Oclaire are in reality en route to or from the front line.

The 11thth Mirakoslic Sabres Regiment of Horse does not patrol north of the river.4

Yet. Right

now it performs training exercises in the Rand, and chases down the odd runaway slave gang.

1 DA1 p. 4.

2 DA3 p. 25.3 DA1 p. 60, 61 for Pugs Station. Also note the implications of DA3 p. 25: in the east, the prairie

[Eastern Hak] gradually gives way to a system of hills and woodlands that separate it from the

Greenway and the northernmost province.th DA3 p. 25.4 DA3 p. 27.

7/27/2019 Thonia

2/4

ThoniaFoot Horse Cavalry Horses Overseer Constables Army Citizen Craftsman Slave

Fort Mugger 550 550 1100

Colenso Station 50 50 100 10

Barney's Ford 400 400

Oclaire 600 600Boyo 200 200

Wookum 600 1000 1600 1000

New Bril 200 200 1200

South Chester 40 80 120 30 800

Chesterfield 15 30 45 20 300

New Delving 15 40 55 20 400

Marban 0

Total Population 1200 600 600 1600 70 350 4420 2210 70 1500

Bramwald 800 200 1000 3000

Erak 300 300 1200

Town Population 1100 0 0 0 0 200 1300 4200

Rural Population 1400

Total Population 5600

Bramwald is bounded south (and east) by the Root and its egress into the North Sea. Its

borders in the direction of Southlake and Lake Hope, and north to the Stormkillers, are less clear.5

Bramwalds exact extent was never an issue during the Imperial age, but now the Kingdom has

declared areas like Newgate to be New Lands subject to royal control. The Great Svenny now holds allthe land west of the Steelhead. By contrast, the inhospitable country between the Modok and the

Champion must remain unclaimed; only Wolper Gannet of Archlis and Bram Tagus of Bramwald canreach it, and neither is strong enough to stake a claim just yet.

The total population of the Barony of Bramwald must now be calculated, because it is very

unlikely that everyone lives in Bramwald or Erak. It is impossible to calculate the rural populationdensity directly, especially in extra-Blackmoor territory like Bramwald, but it can be calculated

indirectly. Bramwald fields 1100 troops from their own and helps support 200 more from the Empires.In the Kingdoms Periphery, 12.2% serve in the army; this gives Bramwald a total population of 9000.

Bramwalds Confidence Level is stolidly Average. Life is hard, and the people are beset, but

they respect their Baron and honour their fealty to Thonia.

If the whole of the Iron Dukes territory is at a 19.6% level of militarization (which is a lot,

but possible as a result of civilian emigration), then the Rands armed forces must be drawn from atleast 4420 / .196 = 22,550 nominally free citizens. The cities of the Rand supply only 2210 citizens

(slaves do not count), and the other inhabited places in the region hardly qualify even as villages, most

being temporary labour camps or military stockades. The citizens must hail from elsewhere. The Iron

Dukes other territories certainly number more than 20,340 people.Marban is a small frontier town,

6putting it in the company of Octagern (500), Rusagern

(500), and Erak (1200). But this is relative to the rest of his province. Give it 1500.

Feudalism exists only in name in the North, for both Kingdom and Province. In the Province,

the last vestige is the title Duke (albeit a strong one).7 It would be instructive to find out exactly

when and how the Rand became the Imperial ward it is to-day, and whether other Baronies surviveinside Thonia.

If the Rands peasantry were still giving way to centrally-run latifundia (e.g. South Chester),

the place would be teeming with dispossessed and about-to-be-dispossessed peasants. Farmers have no

5 DA1 p. 44.

6 DA1 p. 617 From LatinDuc Leader. But we are not to read this in the classical sense. In Marcovics case, ithas the mediaeval connotation: local ruler over multiple fiefs.

7/27/2019 Thonia

3/4

official settlements within the Rand; by now, all are disenfranchised. (I am not ruling out hiddencamps in Manwyns Hunt etc., but if they exist the Fetch has not yet discovered them.)

So who are these bandits who infest the woodlands north of the Taff? They are twice as

prevalent in the western Tiverton Greening;8

a pro-Thonia bandit would prefer Bothas Wood.9

The

Greening looks more like the first stop for Thonians fleeing the Dukes regime.

I would conclude that the Duke has asserted central control over his province. This was

probably one of his first acts, as the attendant dislocation seems to have run its course in at least theRand.

His army has already won two victories: one against the Peshwah, and one against the

Skandaharians. Moreover, even though Thonia has lost to Blackmoor many times, the Iron Duke hasconvinced his forces that they fought Blackmoor as a separate unit. And, as every schoolchild knows,

he refers to the retreat from the Crystal Peaks: a defeat, a massacre, a disaster to be sure but not theIron Dukes disaster. The Army of the North saved the Imperial army from annihilation. For the sake

of War Machine calculations, this is counted a third victory for the young governor.Unlike Toska Rusa and the average Thonian Emperor, the Duke knows how to rule over

Thonians. As a result, his people respect him; his duchys Confidence Level is high for a land wherelife is so hard. It wont be less than Average unless he really messes it up bad.

Every four weeks, a supply column from New Bril brings 40 new slaves and fourwagonloads of supplies to the two mines. The column is escorted by 20 constables. After picking up

additional supplies at South Chester and bringing them to the mines, the convoy returns to New Brilcarrying the previous four weeks production of gold.

The text implies (unintentionally) that the convoy goes to South Chester and thence to theNew Delving, to drop off the supplies and the 40 slaves. Then it heads to the Chesterfield, picks up

more supplies, and returns to the New Delving and South Chester, exchanging these supplies for gold.All the slaves are meant for the mines; the Chesterfield, which has incurred a deficit of 28 slaves

during these four weeks (the Imperial Commissary Farm loses a slave a day), will attract new onespresumably through advertising.

However, the text contains a natural break, where it offhandedly notes the convoys escort.This means that the first sentence can be construed a summary of what happens after the column leaves

New Bril. The column is bringing its supplies to the direction of the mines but not to the mines

themselves!The convoys passage can now be reconstructed. (I think.) It goes to the Chesterfield first,

and exchanges supplies and 28 slaves for food and other supplies. Then it treks to the New Delving

and South Chester, where it relieves itself of everything (including the remaining twelve) in exchangefor four weeks worth of gold.

The Duke (being strapped for funds) has issued a letter of marque against Blackmoor. Anypirate and freebooter is permitted, by what we may smilingly label Thonian law, to raid Blackmoors

shipping and to sell the prizes in the Dukes ports. Pirates being pirates, they have been raidingThonian coasts and shipping too.

The Duke has a new 12 level mage to replace the Warden. Such mages are hard to come by inthe Dukes cripplingly sparse population, but he has a large pool of talent in Blackmoors mutinous

Wizards Cabal. Speaking of which, if the PCs havent acted by DA3 Azkanikin will have left the OldNorth Watch and positioned himself elsewhere (but I digress).

The Iron Duke (and Thonia) have nothing to offer to Bork Riesling but the end of the Frog. Inreturn, all the Duke wants from Riesling is for the City to hold to its neutrality. The Duke is therefore

treating the City of the Gods as a warehouse of magical items. To this end, he is laying traps forFroggie agents, and is trading with the Sand Folk through Colenso Station. As for the Frog, as with

everyone else; the Duke is happy to see it bother Blackmoor but would not be so happy for it to win.

The priests which we know from the Church of Thonia (Garamond Bolitho in Blackmoor, his

underlings Brother Richard and Gregor Mendicamp, and theirunderlings in Fairfield and Ten) are allLawful / Good in alignment. No mention is made whether they serve one or varying gods. Since the

8 The Blasted Woods too, but seeAfridhi Strength for my suspicions.9 Currently being explored by other villains; Soldiers of the Frog.

7/27/2019 Thonia

4/4

Church does not complain against Good gods brought in from elsewhere (the PCs clerics), the Churchseems more coalition than religion. The Church has been forced to accept Blackmoors rebellion

(some bishops endorse it) and there is no evidence that she ever questioned the independence of theDuchy of Ten.

To the best of our knowledge, the Church defines herself to be a coalition of deities whosupport the moral value ofjustice over the power of any given religious or temporal entity. This would

make it a religion of Lawful Good in the Northlands.thThe good-aligned factions of the Church coexist uneasily with the evil-leaning State. The

Church supports the Empire because she sees the Empire as the best alternative to anarchy. When the

Empire attacks Church faithful, the Church recalls her clerics; once in Ten, now in Blackmoor. TheEmperors have meanwhile learnt (the hard way) that they cannot persecute the Church without risking

riot and rebellion. The Church carries much more clout in the provinces than she does at home; andshe is much more popular among the Empires thousands of slaves than among their masters.

Even so, there is some dissension within [the bishops] exalted ranks on this matter of the

rebellion.10

Most are staunch supporters of Bram Tagus, who stays against all odds in the Thonian

camp. Some even support the Iron Duke (although few of these reside in the North).

These partisan battles have lately become more heated. Some entity recently burned down

Bramford Abbey and kidnapped all its monks (presumed dead).11

Garamond Bolithos investigation

exonerated the Regency Council, and Fletcher William has (conveniently) acquired further evidencethat the Iron Duke may have been responsible. If so, the Duke has made a huge mistake; the Church

would certainly excommunicate him, possibly even order a Crusade against his province.The bishops are not only concerned with justice for their martyred brothers, vital as that is.

The Afridhi have outlawed the faith in the former Duchy of Ten, and they have made no secret of their

aims against Thonia. As a result, the bishops have unanimously thrown their weight, so to speak,behind the Brothers of the Greenwood and the Robinsport Guild of Thieves. The Church would love to

convoke an all-out Crusade against the Afridhi. But since this scandal, half the bishops now see theIron Duke as a hindrance in that effort. The other half are loudly questioning Bolithos impartiality.

Of course, the Churchs inaction plays into the Iron Dukes hands. But good-aligned priestshave been quietly abandoning that small, northwesternmost province on Thonias frontier. The evil in

the northern province goes beyond this scandal. Even if the Duke did not make the Rand the plantationit is to-day, he brought the slave-holdings under direct government control. His foreign policy is even

more questionable. Some clerics have even been taking charge of Greenwood-style bands in theprovinces growing wilderness.

The rest of the decadent Empire may aid any side. Its aim is to ensure that all sidesconcentrate on each other, and not on Mohacs.

In England, just prior to the Black Death, the greatest city was London (under 50,000),followed by York (between 10,000 and 20,000). Blackmoors population is kept low by the myriad

perils of the North. Ditto the rest of the former Northern Province, only this time due to Ducal excess.The nine other provinces of Thonia will have many cities of more than 20,000 souls. Mohacs will be

the greatest at over 100,000.Thonia has been extremely fortunate, in that the Northern Province was Thonias most

difficult frontier, and has been held against all enemies (as far as the records show). The Redwoodelves and the defensible marshes have done an excellent job keeping the barbarians beyond the gates.

It is also fortunate that its Church is true and good, and has been a real help to the cause of progress(although only the North has paid attention). Under centuries of the Empires oversight

12, Blackmoor

has quietly advanced from the fourth century to the fifteenth.

I would still like to know what proportion of a mediaeval population normally joins the army.

Also,

th In the North, the Church once came under a lot of scorn for venality. Whether this reputation wasdeserved or not, the free spirits of the North respect the Church much more since the rebellion. (JG

p.17)

10 DA1 p. 50.11 DA1 p. 48.12 Pun intended.