Lost & Found Studios, LLC

The Six Cities

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Änßter

Initially started as a trading post by Varden Änßter (ain·shter), the inventor of the caravel, it would eventually grow to be the most diverse city in all of Dälvorn as the only major hub of external trade. The caravel trade expanded the reach of Dälvorn’s influence across the Plains, primarily creating trade with the port city of Aarvelia, as well as improving trade with the Oasis and facilitating some trade routes out to Vinca. In addition to Kühlivar, Änßter is the only other city to retain rulership from its original founding House, but there is currently no heir to the aging matriarch, Countess Helena von Änßter. With her deteriorating health, she will soon need to pick a successor from one of the minor noble houses, else Edelbayern’s reach will stretch even further across Dälvorn.

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Arka​

Arka (aR·kah) is the capital of Dälvorn and was constructed as such around 200 years post-unification as a symbol of wealth. A mountain top was flattened at great expense under the rule of Queen Arkada von Vanden and in the remaining stone a city was carved into the mountain itself. Most of it is carved of dark grey granite, just above the snowline of the mountain top. While wood is a rare building material, due to the difficulty in shipping it up the mountain paths, there are a few areas of comfort built for the nobility primarily out of wood and at great expense. Food is generally in very short supply, leading to large amounts of thievery by the less fortunate members of the population, with harsh sentences given to those unable to pay. It is quite cold in the city year round, with many locations of both indoor and outdoor heating fueled by large brazier filled with coal, leading to dark smoke trailing above the city, especially in the coldest months of winter. There is a brief, single month respite in the summer, generally marked as a time of plenty by the common peoples, known as the Festival of Unification, commemorating the accomplishment of the cities namesake, King Arka von Vanden. In more recent years, Arka has fallen under the rule of the so-called dark unifier, Lord Edelbayern after the initial collapse of House Arka and subsequent murder of the members of its successor branch, House Ikvan.

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Kühlivar

Kühlivar (kuhl·ee·var) was originally founded as a small band of roving artisans, they eventually settled down in a relatively flat area, within an easy riding distance from Vanden. As it grew, so too did its reputation, eventually attracting artisans and artists of all stripes, cementing itself as the cultural capital of the region, despite not being the actual capital. Between its sculptures, jewelsmithing, live performances, and other arts performed, it is a vacation destination and local trading hub for much of the surrounding area. While it is not a true military power, it has become the home of those resisting Edelbayern’s efforts at consolidation, both noble and commoner alike. Still under the leadership of House Kühlivar, it is only a matter of time before the rallied opposition explodes like a powderkeg under increasing incursions by forces from Arka and raids sponsored by House Bardig.

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Möl

Möl (mull) is the agricultural heartland of Dälvorn and the oldest of the city states in the region. It is incredibly prosperous, founded at the confluence of a tributary of the river that runs to the north of the Oasis and a naturally occurring spring. While its founding by Angvarn Möl is generally well known, there are a limited number of people that are familiar with the fact that House Möl was the first noble house to support the unification led by the later King, Arka von Vanden. With its significant strategic importance, securing this farmland would prove vital to any military effort seeking to unify the region. In addition to its verdant fields, it is also home to much of the animal husbandry in Dälvorn, responsible specifically for breeding draft horses for usage both in general hauling applications and as the standard warhorses of the region. While House Möl had continued to run the city for generations, in more recent years, Edelbayern’s allies, House Ashterva, have seized control, with the remainder of House Möl fleeing to Kühlivar, allying with the opposition.

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Schnaden

Unlike all of the other cities in Dälvorn, Schnaden was not founded through what one would expect. Instead, it started as a loose affiliation of lumber camps, mines, and quarries, all originally built in order to feed the expansion of Möl. Eventually all of these disparate resource harvesting operations would be unified into the Schnaden Resource Company by Amalie Schnaden. After the creation of the SRC, many people began to move into the relatively remote area, roughly in the center of the resource harvesting zone, seeking riches and employment in the surrounding forests and hills. After the end of the Golden Age, which followed the construction of Arka, Schnaden was the first city to break free of the Dälvorn Trade Agreement, looking to trade without interference from Änßter. Shortly after this, without the support of the other cities, it fell to House Kirvas, loyal allies to Edelbayern. While the SRC still exists, it is unclear what has happened to the remaining heirs of House Schnaden.

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Vanden

While Vanden is known to most in the region as the birthplace of the unifier, Arka, it was originally founded by a group of metal workers, looking to create a place dedicated to their craft. After the discovery of a coal vein and multiple sources of several different, but very low quality metals, it turned into a project of learning to refine those impure metals into fine materials for crafting. With the later founding of Kühlivar, many of the silver and goldsmiths left the city, leaving much of the industry to be dominated by the manufacture of arms and armor, mundane and magical alike. Much of the city is constructed from metal, with a small amount of light wood reinforcement in the older structures. After the fall of Houses Arka and Ikvan, House Vanden was significantly weakened, having been the progenitor of both houses. In its weakened state, it was easily usurped by the criminally aligned minor house, House Bardig. While corruption has risen heavily in the city, as well as general cruelty from the rulers, it is clear that there is no love lost between House Bardig and Houses Ashterva and Kirvas.​​

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Key People

Contemporary

Lord Edelbayern
The current ruler of Arka, Lord Edelbayern (ay·dul·by·earn) is something of an enigma to many, even those that oppose his effort at reunification. Known for both his brutal means and a name shared with a noble of centuries past, the purpose behind his actions is as much a mystery as his origin. Rumors have been circling about exactly who he is; ranging from hushed whispers claiming that he is the original Edelbayern, succumb to vampirism and murderer of House Ikvan, to simple theories that he is a commoner from a far off place, using a familiar name to build a power base and lay claim to a fallen country. These rumors have been spread ever since he stepped into the public arena over 20 years ago, shortly after House Ikvan fell. In recent years, few have seen him, but all still feel the iron grip of his rule over Arka, enforced by both his own people, and the upstart noble families that have chosen to follow him.

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Giselle Amrian

The previous leader of the Schnattenordung, Giselle, has distinguished herself in a new position as the head of Arka’s military forces. While a far cry from the fieldwork of her younger years, the fifty-five year old human, while commanding the loyalty and respect of her troop, the move into managing the needs of a standing has made her no less sharp, and her appetite for subterfuge has been the cause for the failure of many attempts by the noble houses to retake Arka from Edelbayern.

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Helena von Änßter

The current ruler of Änßter, Helena has served for decades as both ruler and head of House Änßter as it has deteriorated down to a single woman. While she has resisted both Edelbayern’s expansion efforts and raids from House Bardig, her age is clearly beginning to slow her down, in both body and mind. Soon she will need to pick a noble family to succeed her house as ruler, lest the entire city fall either to Edelbayern himself, or secondarily to the twin rulers of house Bardig.

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Ilse Schweigend
Once known as Ilse Ardovan, she is the current leader of the Schnattenordung and Edelbayern’s right hand woman. It is said that she earned the name Schweigend (sh·vig·and) on a particular mission where she managed to destroy an entire household, undetected to the last. While Edelbayern was not her original master, she has long served him with distinction, including getting something of a reputation as a black widow while in his employ. Recently, she has taken a more active role in the direct rule of Arka, as Edelbayern’s presence in the public eye has waned.
 

Petra Mildoan
The current leader of the Leopardenkontingent, Petra Mildoan (mill·doe·an) is one of the few members of the Schnattenordung to leave for another profession. In her current position she acts as the chief ambassador, not just for Arka, but for all three cities that Edelbayern’s unification has consolidated. With her primary role taking her far from Dälvorn, she has a degree of autonomy that few serving under Edelbayern’s banner can claim. Rumor has it that she is currently traveling to Avarin in order to facilitate an exchange of technology between the two countries.

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Historical
 

Amalie Schnaden

Amalie Schnaden initially founded the Schnaden Trading Company with the intent to simply profit off the resource harvesting that was already occurring near Möl, however in a few short decades, she would find her merchant life and family catapulted into the newly forming nobility, presiding over a city bearing her own surname.

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Angvarn Möl

The founder of House Möl, Angvarn (Aang·varn) was a member of one of several farming families that settled in the area where the current city of Möl stands. Likely due to long held agricultural practices passed down through the Möl family, he was able to outcompete the crop growing of the other families in the area, eventually more or less buying out the other families and paying them to work his land which they now lived on. It was in this way that Angvarn became the first ruler of anything in the Dälvorn region.

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Arka von Vanden
While born in a time of desperation for House Vanden, Arka von Vanden would go on to unify Dälvorn under one flag. Sometimes treated with a level of reverence tantamount to a deity, especially during the Festival of Unification, in life he was not so large. A slight man with dark hair, he was entirely unremarkable except for the ideas he had about what Dälvorn could be. It took nearly his whole life to make unification a reality and the end result of his efforts were a splendid golden age for the country, but he was never able to see it, dying long before the impact of his efforts would become completely apparent.
 

Arkada von Vanden
A descendant of Arka von Vanden, Arkada was both the one to build Arka in her ancestor’s name and to preside over the start of the golden age of Dälvorn. She is also notable as the break off point where the line of House Arka would break from the rest of House Vanden, becoming a smaller ruling line for the country. This deliberate action was to prevent House Vanden from rising any further above its station as stewards of its namesake city.
 

Varden Änßter
In his twenties, responding to a need for a way to transport goods without the usage of draft animals, Varden invented the Caravel, a type of wagon blown by the wind. Soon after, internal trade between the cities of Dälvorn would reach an economic capacity where further profit was nearly impossible to generate. Seeing this issue, Varden made the Änßter Trading Post as a place to stage caravels and goods for international trade, as well as a marketplace unto itself. In short order, he would call an Althing for the leaders of the cities to discuss a trade agreement. The result of this trade agreement would both solidify the foundations for the city of Änßter, as well as provide a framework that would later be used by Arka von Vanden for unifying Dälvorn.

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Factions

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Leopardenkontingent

While originally envisioned as a diplomatic organization, in recent years under the leadership of Petra Mildoan, it has incorporated soldiers, spies, and even less savory types, carefully staying out of the way of the Schnattenordung. All current members of the Leopardenkontingent have been handpicked by Edelbayern, despite its establishment by House Ikvan.

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Schnaden Resource Company
Founded hundreds of years ago by Amalie Schnaden, the SRC has endured as the premier group for sourcing anything from within Dälvorn itself, but in recent years, with the disappearance of House Schnaden, it has been put to less savory use. House Kirvas has put them to work committing acts of extortion and much of the SRC has been reformatted to be a mercenary company. Whether it can return to its previous prominence as a trading business remains to be seen.
 

Schnattenordung
The Schnattenordung is an order of spies, assassins, rogues, bards, and others that specialize in skulduggery. While currently led by Ilse Schweigend and under the control of Lord Edelbayern, the order itself has existed for nearly 200 years. Originally working as contract killers and intel gatherers, after the end of House Ikvan, they exclusively became an arm of Edelbayern’s government, with leadership exchanging hands several times in the last twenty years.

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Nobility

Founding Houses
 

House Änßter

One of the last founding houses controlling its own city, House Änßter intends to stand on its own. While given great advantages in the Dälvorn Trading Agreement, House Änßter never pressed them, even after the unification. In more recent times, House Änßter may be the next to fall into obsolescence, with their aging head Helena, having no heir through familial means, she will need to select one soon, as in her advanced age there is no telling how much time she may have left.

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House Kühlivar

House Kühlivar, originally a guild of artisans, controls one of the last free cities in Dälvorn. They and their city are home to the movement opposing Edelbayern, in hopes to keep the region free of what they expect to be a dark reign tinged with blood. 

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House Möl
While House Möl were the original stewards of their self-named city, the family itself was, starting several decades after the founding, known both for its horsebreeding and horsemanship. Their rule was considered fair and even-handed by the common people for generations. With House Ashterva taking over their city, their flee to the opposition was inevitable.
 

House Schnaden
In addition to their stewardship, House Schnaden was renowned for their mercantile success, having a hand in business dealings all throughout Dälvorn. However, with House Kirvas taking control of both the city of Schnaden, the SRC and the disappearance of all members of House Schnaden, it remains to be seen if they still exist.
 

House Vanden
The origin of both King Arka and the line that would lead to the creation of House Arka, House Vanden was a house of good repute. With their history as metalworkers, Vanden was also the first to equip a fighting force in Dälvorn. With the destruction of both House Arka and House Ikvan, Vanden was weakened significantly in terms of both political and military alliances. As such it is no surprise that House Bardig, with their criminal ties, quickly swept in and pushed out Vanden’s powerbase, seizing control and usurping their rule.

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Usurper Houses
 

House Ashterva
Aligned with Edelbayern’s means and methods, House Ashterva (ash·ter·vuh) was the first of the minor houses to pledge themselves to him and his attempt at reunification. Otherwise notable only for their cow-towing to the nearest larger power to gain favor, in Edelbayern’s employ they have grown powerful in their own right, ruling the city of Möl.
 

House Bardig

Led by the twin brother, Axel, and sister, Annika, House Bardig (bar·dish) is barely considered nobility. With their ties to several thieves guilds and other unsavory types, it was only natural for them to continue in the same way after exploiting the weakness of House Vanden. No allies to Edelbayern or his ilk, House Bardig has chosen to raid indiscriminately among caravans moving near their territory, should they fail to pay the ‘fee’.

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House Kirvas
Another of the minor noble houses who declared their loyalty to Edelbayern’s unification, House Kirvas (keer·vas) were rewarded for that loyalty with his support in the taking of Schnaden and the SRC. With the city in their grasp, profit has been an easy thing for them to come by, increasing power both economic and mercenary in nature.
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Destroyed Houses
 

House Arka
Created by Arkada von Vanden as a split from House Vanden, intended as a royal line, House Arka ruled all of Dälvorn through the golden age and the next few centuries. As time went on however, the House began to diminish as many minor noble houses arose as offshoots, all wanting to inherit Arka and its seat of power. As they truly began to crumble around one hundred years ago, House Ikvan was chosen as the successor as the largest of the descended minor houses.
 

House Ikvan
Ruling Arka for nearly eighty years, House Ikvan saw the entirety of the turmoil that would destroy what Arka von Vanden created many centuries earlier. While being quite young compared to many of the noble houses in Dälvorn, they were generally considered respectable and dependable, but missing some key elements of House Arka’s leadership. Around twenty years ago, they were deliberately killed in their entirety, with none taking credit for the murders.

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Local Knowledge

Caravels
Caravels are a type of larger, lightweight wagon propelled by wind, magical or mundane, caught by a large sail  invented by Varden Änßter. These are the primary way that Dälvorn trades with the outside world, with the caravels primarily used to cross the Plains, trading with far away destinations like the Oasis and Aarvelia. The wind driven component of these wagons is generally beneficial for outrunning horse riding raiders on the way to those destinations.
 

The Dälvorn Trade Agreement

The Dälvorn Trade Agreement was the first formalized agreement between the original five cities of Dälvorn. It was intended to create a framework for external trade, but in many ways created a monopoly on trade for House Änßter. The framework would later be used to convince and cajole the noble families willing to work for unification back in Arka von Vanden’s era.

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Festival of Unification
During the brief period of Summer in Arka, the Festival of Unification is held to remember King Arka von Vanden, the Unifier. While in times long past, this festival would bring together those across all classes and professions, attracting people from all across Dälvorn for a festival of plenty, in more recent years it has acted as bread and circuses event for the common folk of Arka.