Wyrmteeth Gazetteer, continued

Geography of the Wyrmteeth Range

The Wyrmteeth region is dominated by the ominous mountain range, which extends north east of the Finial Range. Seen from a distance, the mountains seem to form a dragon's smile, with the lower caps as inferior teeth and higher ones as superior. The Wyrmteeth Range occupies approximately an additional 9,000 km² (about 3,613 square miles) not officially in the possession of the Dragon King; but dragons, many of whom have sworn allegiance to him, live here, and there are no other settlements nearby. The mountains occupy most of the region, with more than two third of the territory incapable of sustaining human settlements. The Wyrmteeth mountains can reach heights of 5,000 meters. Their climate is harsh: winter, with heavy snows and temperatures as low as –25°C, lasts from late Sviftmont to Flaurmont. Spring runs from Flaurmont to Klarmont, Summer from late Klarmont to Fyrmont, and Fall from Ambyrmont to late Sviftmont. What little agriculture exists is in the valleys between the mountains, most of which lie 300-600 meters above sea level. Thus, human cities are all built at this level.

Southwest of the Wyrmteeth range are the Black Marshes, inhabited solely by Black Dragons, and extending for approximately 6,000 km² (2,343 square miles). A few village border the marshes, inhabted by Norwold woodsmen who pay the dragons to have access to the woods of the region. Green dragons live on the forested slopes of the eastern territories; they have an agreement with the Great Druid of Norwold not to allow anyone to cut the trees there (they accomplish this quest with joy, thus being able to hide occasional murders as "justice"). Red dragons live in the central vulcanos. Whites can be found throughtout the mountain range; though Blues are less common, preferring to live in the western foothills or in the territory north of the official Wyrmteeth boundaries.

There are just four cities in Wyrmteeth, comprising nearly all the humanoid inhabitants of the region:

Seel.   Population 8,500 (5,000 Thyatians; 1,000 Averoignians; 1,000 Heldanners; 1,000 Vestlanders; 500 Soderfjordans; [3,500 are werewolves]). Seel was founded in 885 AC by lycanthropes. Many of the current residents of the city are werewolves, though officially most deny it. The laws of Wyrmteeth allows them total privacy, so they enjoy a life envied by many lycanthropes in the world, in an active, hospitable (if a little rough) city. All the Thyatians living in Wyrmteeth are settled here as well, so Seel is an ideal place for foreigners. Seel is surely the first place a homesick visitor should go; people here are the most open to foreigners in all Wyrmteeth, so long you don't mention "lycanthropy." The local ruler of the Army is a werewolf, and will not hesitate to have the intrusive or too-curious put in jail with on a trumped-up charge, just to keep things quiet. In Seel, there is also a small arena, built in the Thyatian style. The arena is used only in the summer, for gladiator fights as well as threatre.

Th'hral.   Population 3,500 (2,500 lizard men). Th'hral is one of the strangest cities of the Old World; it hosts a community of lizardmen and other lizardkin. Th'hral is seldom visited by humanoids of other Wyrmteeth regions, and there are no temples of Pearl in the city, just a small temple dedicated to Ka. Humans are regarded with suspicion, and so non-reptilians/non-draconics are seldom found here. The lizard men sustain themselves by fishing in the subterran lake of Th'hral; fruits and vegetables are brought to the community by merchants who come here twice a week.

Tua'than.   Population 10,000 (3,500 Heldanners; 1,000 Vestlanders; 2,000 Soderfjordans; 1,000 other humans; 2,500 dwarves; [500 of the humans are werewolves]). Main city of Wyrmteeth, Tua'than has a permanent dwarven population that lives underground in the quarter of Grag Cath. The dwarves work the mines in the service of the Dragon King; they enjoy their job and position, considering themselves the trustworthy artisans of a great King, who appreciates their work and appropriately rewards them. They have a strong militia, and a very good relationship both with Stormhaven and Rockhome. However, these dwrves are more gruff and serious than those, and are typically more closed-minded of other races, for example believing that the humans of the city are of value only because they have apprenticed under the dwarves for the last two centuries.

Tua'than is reminiscent of Northern Reaches settlements, suspicious and cold toward outsiders. Drinking and wrestling are popular pastimes. Tua'than also is home to the main barracks of the Holy Blood Sword and the Legion of Moon.

Wheine.   Population 2,500  humans. This town is built on the banks of a small river, which provides good fishing to the population.

Other settlements.   1,500 dragonkin and 500 dwarves work directly for various dragons in mines or as personal guards; they have barracks or small mining villages scattered through the region. A number of humans and dwarves who work in the mines may be found there too, depending on the need of manpower.

1,500 Heldann woodcutters and woodmen have small communities of 30-50 men in the woods of Wyrmteeth. These too may be more populated if men from the cities or from Norwold are temporarly employed there.

Politics

Wyrmteeth's politics mostly concern Norwold and its political situation. The main interest of the Dragon King is to wait for a weak moment for Ericall and his Alphathian troops, to claim northern mountains of Wyrmteeth (which are yet unsettled by Norwold).

Internally, the dragons must keep from attacking humans living inside Wyrmteeth (though Greens often do it anyway, so the eastern border with Norwold is less settled). Thus, they usually travel far before raiding villages or human towns - usually to Denagoth, or Norwold settlements in the northern part of the country, or around Landfall. They always work alone or in small groups, and officially Wyrmteeth denies any involvment in such raids; many raids are officially said to come from the Wyrmteeth region that is not part of the Kingdom, and is nominally under Ericall's control. Mors Rufus has long pondered whether it might be best not to reclaim the northern range, in order to have a scapegoat for thee raids. Due to Wyrmteeth's havy dwarven population, good relations must be maintained with Stormhaven; dragons never attack dwarven communities.

Relations with Oceansend are similar to those with Norwold, although the clerics of Pearl would prefer less attacks since many Oceansend families are of Thyatian and Heldann stock; so, the occasional raids here are not liked by the human population of Wyrmteeth.

Relations with the rest of the Old World are few and far between. The help given to the Heldann refugees after the conquest of their country by the Knights of Vanya has assured Wyrmteeth the hate of the new rulers of that country. The dragons have decided to increase their popularity by helping the Resistance in Heldann, giving political asylum to many persecuted revolutionaries and giving them economic support. This is not an "official" action, however.

Wyrmteeth has a mutual defense treaty with rockhome, though both countries would be loathe to ask one another for help. Both support the Canine Protection Society, so their relationships with Glantri are simply the worst possible, because of the total religious freedom in Wyrmteeth, plus the help lycanthropes in Glantri get from their werewolf cousins of Wyrmteeth [Editor's Note: - This situation is liikely to change after Malachie du Marais is crowned Prince]. Wyrmteethians are unwelcome in Glantri, and it is very likely that a visitor would be arrested on a false charge. In Wyrmteeth, one is very unlikely to meet Glantrians who are not allies of the werewolves, or clerical exiles.

Wyrmteeth is also an ally of Thyatis, and many of the dragons' raids are conduced against Alphatian ships, or even against Alphatian communities on the Isle of Dawn. Thyatians of Wyrmteeth strongly support these raids, and are proud of being helpful to their Empire, though they live so far away.

The Army

The Wyrmteeth Army is a very powerful one, with nearly 5,000 full time soldiers in four divisions (4 x 1,245 per divions = 4,980); the military makes up nearly 20% of the population. In peacetime, soldiers are employed as farmers, fisher, or in other essential occupations. The army also serves as the nation's police force, fire brigade, and justice Tribnual. Apart from the regular infantry, there is also the Order of the Holy Blood Sword (see below), a strong military force. While the Wyrmteeth Army may not e capable of fighting a large-scale war, it is strong enough to defend the country and can valiantly help any ally. It must be remembered that in case of need in Wyrmteeth (e.g., invasion), there are also 1,200 dragons, plus the militia of the dwarves.

There are four Dragon Rulers, who act as the supreme generals of the army. (In actuality, they rarely interact directly with the army.) Each army division consists of 1,245 soldiers, divided as explained below. The Dragon Rulers are independent of one other and nominally indpendent of the Dragon King, as well - they respect him and reclutantly admit his superiority, but have never sworn oaths of fealty. As commanders of the army they must report to the Dragon King; in this way the Dragon King has attempted to impose a sort of authority on these dragon lords. Most other dragons have sworn loyalty to one of the rulers or directly to the King, so civil war could be devastating; but this is not normally a concern. The Legions are officially loyal to their commanders; the Dragon King, without the feudal Legions, would not have an official State Army. However, he has at his orders all the Order of the Holy Blood Sword, and many soldiers would find it very difficult to obey to a Dragon Ruler against the Dragon King and vice-versa. At any rate, the relationships of the single Dragon Rulers with the King are good - it's in the interest of the King that the dragons' armies don't fail him in case of need, and it's in the generals' interest to have the powers and protections guaranteed by their role in the army, so both parties consider themselves happy and satisfied with their deal - at least for now.

There are 2 Overlords for each division. The Overlords must periodically report pertinent information from the ranks to the Dragon Ruler. (The Overlords are detailed in the NPC section.)

The Overlords of each division have at their orders 11 Captains (5 each plus one Captain under combined command.) Captains are all fighters of level 7-13, armed with plate mail, 40% two-handed sword and hand axe, 30% axe and shield, 30% sword and warhammer or axe; there is a 50% that the weapons are magical, with a combined total bonus of +(1d4+1); otherwise they have a combined bonus of 1d4-1. There is also a 20% chance that they have 1-3 other magical items of medium or lesser power.

Each Captain has at his orders 2 Lieutenants, for a total of 22 Fighters of level 4-9. They are armed with plate mail, shield, sword and hand axe or warhammer. There is a 20% (+5% per level over 4th) chance that they have magical weapons, of a total bonus of 1d4. Otherwise, they have excellent quality weapons (4th-6th level) or two +1 weapons (7th-9th).

There are 110 Sergeants (fighters of level 2-5), 10 for every Lieutenant. They are armed with banded armor, shield and long sword, warhammer or axe. The weapons are all of excellent quality.

Regular Infantry consists of 1,100 Fighters of level 1-3; every 10 respond to a Lieutenant. They are armed with weapons of good quality: chain mail, shield, short sword or hand axe.

continued

Copyright 1999, Giulio N. Caroletti. All rights reserved. Used by permission.