I thought I would make this thread so that the RPers within the Immortalblood Timeline could give a much more detailed backround of their particular realm, or for anyone else that has always had a favorite city or fiefdom that Bethesda just never really fleshed out. Person from Anticlere has kindly allowed the use of his author, Voltaire du Guesclin, to be the "writer" of each particular entry. The Anticlere article, having already been done by Person, will serve as the first entry, and the guideline for creating your own articles.

I guess I'll start off.

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The Barony of Dwynnen
An exploration of the history, traditions, military and politics, as written by Voltaire du Guesclin

History

Deep within the forests of Greater Bretony sits the Barony of Dwynnen, a somewhat backwards land of myth and lore, where the people hold dear the ancient customs of their kind.

Dwynnen began it's days as a land where the Dead rose from their graves, and vampires stalked the night. The great fortress, Wightmoor Castle, having long been the seat from which the Baron's rule was, at the time, under the complete control of a foul lich that commanded and directed his undead army to terrorize the countryside. Being at a time when Imperial Authority was rather lax, no aid was ever sent to help the forest folk that dwelt under the shadow of Wightmoor.

Perhaps the only reason that all of the area did not become one massive forest filled with undead was because of the Druid Circles that dotted the area. The Druids of Kynareth, a long dead sect of the greater clergy, were at the time quite powerful, rivaling the power of Witch Covens that were more prevalent as one went closer to Daggerfall. It was these druids that served as the guardians of the people of Dwynnen, laying wards on homes and hamlets to drive off the invading undead.

Beginning in 3E 247, the lich, with his army of ghastly creatures, turned his focus away from the helpless people, and onto the druids themselves, under the fine logic that if the protectors were dispatched, then the protected would quickly follow. So, in the course of ten years, the lich was able to stomp out a majority of the Druidic Circles, paving the way for his conquest of Dwynnen and Greater Bretony. However, this was never to come to pass. For as the 257th year of the third era rolled around, the lich's fortunes changed for the worse, for one of the greatest heroes Tamriel was ever to know had come to Dwynnen, and with him came Divine Retribution.

Othrok of Dwynnen, First Baron of Dwynnen, is surely one of the most famous figures in High Rock history, if not Tamrielic history. Hailing from the Wrothgarian kingdom of Sharnhelm, Othrok was only a young man when 3E 257 hit. At the time, Sharnhelm and Camlorn were constantly warring with each other over the foothill cities of Koegria and Kambria, and eventually Sharnhelm attempted to push and invading force down through the Eagle Pass, and obtain a foothold with which is could better challenge Camlorn. It is believed by archivists and historians that Othrok was among this army, likely a knigh in the service of one of it's lords.

The disastrous Rout at Koegria, when Sharnhelm's army was utterly destroyed and driven off by Camlorn and their orcish allies, would have spelled the doom for young Othrok, but instead of joining in the rout back to Eagle Brook, which Sharnhelm had taken days before, Othrok found himself heading south rather than north, and he soon found himself within the forests of Greater Bretony.

Suffice to say, on the 5th of Sun's Dawn, 3E 257, Othrok, with the help of the druids and people of Dwynnen, launched an assault upon Wightmoor Castle, and dueled with the lich who had for so long tormented the land with his army of undead. With the lich finally laid to rest, and Dwynnen free, the people offered rulership to Othrok, which he accepted.

Othrok ruled his new barony well, and it flourished in the ten year span of peace that had settled over it. This peace was shattered by the coming of the Camoran Usurper and his armies. Othrok at this time had taken to wife the daughter of the Count of Phyrigas, and was already raising a family. Word of the Usurper's conquests reached High Rock in early 3E 266, but preparations to repel the invasion did not begin until early the following year. Historians attribute two factors to High Rock's hesitancy. The primary powers of the Bay were ruled by particularly inept monarchs -- Wayrest and Sentinel both had kings in their minority, and Daggerfall was torn by contention between Helena and her cousin Jilathe. The Lord of Reich Gradkeep (now Anticlere) was deathly ill through 266 and finally died at the end of the year. There were, in short, no leaders to unite the province against the Usurper. Of the leaders with any influence, at least eight (the "Eight Traitors" of legend) made secret allegiances with the Usurper to protect their lands.

Seeing that no leader was going to arise from the ancient noble families of the region, Othrok emerged from his remote realm and called together his neighboring lords, the lords of Ykalon, and Kambria, and his father-in-law, the Count of Phyrigias. Together, they united the province (with what some people would say to be extreme force, but this historian believes otherwise), and made ready for the invasion of Haymon Camoran.

The Battle of the Firewaves is worthy of a lengthy book by itself, but it is known that Angharad, Othrok's good friend, was slain by the Usurper before he himself was torn to pieces by the Redguard mercenaries that were manning his ship. Othrok himself was technically not present at the battle; rather, he was in command of the army that met the Usurper's main army as it crossed over the Wrothgarian Mountains, in what would become the less known Battle of the Bloody Hills.

Othrok's descendants have since ruled the Barony, bringing it through the chaotic days of the War of Betony, and even through the Oblivion Crisis, which saw Dwynnite troops defending Daggerfall.

Politics

The current Baron of Dwynnen, Olwyn of Dwynnen, is the nephew of the former baron who ruled during the Oblivion Crisis, Fychan of Dwynnen. As a firm believer in the virtues of the knight, and having a strong sense of noblesse oblige, Olwyn is perhaps one of the more upright and honourable lords among the cutthroats that make up a majority of the Greater Bretony nobility.

Despite its remote nature, Dwynnen does indeed have a number of interesting locations. The most obvious of these being Wightmoor Castle, the massive citadel of war that is the baron's stronghold and primary residence. Situated a hard day's ride south of the city of Dwynnen proper, its remote location serves only to add to its redoubtable defenses. When one gazes up (you actually have to strain your neck!) to see the towers, you can't help but be awed by the majesty of the castle as it seems to scraqe the sky itself. Easily one of the most impregnable fortresses in the area, Wightmoor Castle is a work of some of the finest military engineering outside the Imperial Legion. The castle boasts a full three baileys, the first two of tough wood and the last of thick stone. Each of these baileys is set up in the interest of protecting the keep, and if the first two are taken, the garrison of the castle can continue to work in the last bailey. The keep itself is another gargantuan structure of stone, and manages to have five towers large enough to entrench siege weaponry upon.

However, Wightmoor Castle's defenses don't all lay in stone and weapons. Before Othrok became baron, the castle was the lair of a lich (which could attest to the fact that some of the older sections of the castle lack all but the most basic comforts), and the wards of magick that had been set down in the lich's time are still being maintained by a cadre of mages within the baron's employ.

But Wightmoor Castle isn't the only attraction in the Barony of Dwynnen. The actual city of Dwynnen is another place I visited, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it wasn't nearly what I thought it was. The city is set up in a rectangular form, with two lanes that bisect in the center of the city. To the West and East, there are two gates (Kynareth's and Arkay's respectively). Unlike the wooden walls of the city, the two gatehouses are sound structures of stone. To the North and South sit to very different buildings. North you have the Temple of Julianos, the primary deity worshipped by the common folk of Dwynnen. The temple is a quaint build of half-timber, and inside it is very peaceful and filled with books, ranging from simple historical accounts, to darker tomes of necromancy and the antithesis thereof. At the southern end of the city are chapter houses of the Imperial guilds, as well as the city gaol. The less said about that place the better, but I heard from some commoners in a tavern that their is a special chamber in the prison where people convicted of practicing necromancy are taken. I don't know what goes on in that chamber, if it does indeed exist, and I don't really want to know.

Other important towns within the Barony of Dwynnen are Baelwood, where the headquarters of the Order of Raven sits. Crossbrugh, the only city of Dwynnen devoted entirely to agriculture. Deerwood, a powerful Castle-Town that sits at the fork of the Urvaius/Bhoriane road, and is such the primary land trade city of the barony. Upridge, the location of the baron's hunting lodge and a gathering point for hunters of the undead and more....docile targets. And finally Wildertower, the only port of the barony.

Compared to its more "modern" neighbors, Dwynnen is incredibly autocratic, which a nigh omnipotent nobility and poor peasants, who survive by hunting, herding, and farming. This can be somewhat offensive to outsiders, who can not help commenting on how "barbaric" Dwynnen is, and their have been some attempts by the Kingdom of Wayrest to compel modernizations of the barony. Not only were Barons Fychan and Olwyn against it entirely, so were the people of Dwynnen, who saw the attempts as trampling upon their beloved customs.

Sitting off the two major trade routes that run along the East and West coasts and only boasting one small port, Dwynnen is incredibly isolated from the rest of Greater Bretony, leading to a distrust of outsiders. Due to this, Dwynnen has very little interest in expanding it's border.

Military

While most of the regions of High Rock have moved on with their militaries into armies of heavy infantry, pikemen, and a paid cavalry core, Dwynnen still maintains the ancient customs of warfare. Because the forests of Dwynnen are not conducive to the use of long weapons, like the pike, and the roads are little more than well-worn trails, the military of Dwynnen has regressed into the use of lighter weaponry and armor.

Within each town is a office building called the Rhyfela Blas, meaning War Hall in the ancient nedic language. Here, all the able bodied citizens are compelled to sign up for duty on their coming of age (14 for boys, 16 for girls). Here, they are placed into either the Ceitherne, the footsoldiers directly under the Baron of Dwynnen's control, or into the Saethwyr, the elite bowman of Dwynnite society. Once placed, they are trained in the arts of war till their twentieth birthday, on which they travel to Wightmoor Castle to receive the acknowledgment of the baron himself.

Unlike the commoners, the nobles of Dwynnen form their own fighting force, called the Ridire. Because mobility is valued highly in Dwynnen, the nobles arm themselves in lighter armors. These men, in a more modern army, would fill the niche between light and heavy cavalry. Because Dwynnen is still rather feudal, the nobles can get out of military service by paying a Gwael Tax. This is similar to the scutage tax of other realms, but unlike that payment, this tax brings with it incredible shame, and accusations of disloyalty to the baron unless a person is infirmed. Suffice to say, most nobles do not pay this tax.

Some of the nobles, however, prefer to fight on foot. These men group together into bands called Galloglaichs. Armored much the same way as their horse-bound brethen, these men forgo the use of the shield in favour of heavy two-handed weapons.

The most renowned fighting force at the baron's disposal, however, is the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:Order_of_the_Raven. Unlike their fellow soldiers, these knights are armed to the teeth in thick steel plate, and wield heavy weapons. The Order of the Raven is split into three groups. The first of these groups is the Knight-Brothers; a normal member of the order is one of these. These are the knights that are often found patrolling the roads and borders, as well as delving into places that even the Fighter's Guild wouldn't go. The second group are the Knight-Commanders. There are three of these at every chapter house of the order. Usually, they are grizzled veterans who have years of experience under their belts, and are tutors to the younger knights. The last group are the Knight-Companions. These are some of the finest warriors that High Rock has to offer, and form the core of the Baron of Dwynnen's household. There are only thirty at any given time, and the requirements are incredibly strict, which makes me wonder how there are any at all to begin with.

Because of the legendary nature of the Order of Raven (gaining their greatest fame in their fight against the Camoran Usurper), the order is usually swamped with applicants, and the Knight-Commanders are being forced to turn some would-be Knight-Brothers away.

Tradition

What would most shock any visitor to Dwynnen is their style of dress. Kilts and plaids of tartan form the common dress of most of the men of Dwynnen. The garments are usually worn over their normal clothing, and seem to provide a way of identification than an actual fashion. This may be because the Clan system is still in partial use in Dwynnen. Unlike Skyrim, which has a very rigid system, Dwynnen's is much more lax, with plenty of intermarrying, and feuds are usually kept to a minimum.

However, when a Blood Feud does erupt between a clan, the participants are arrested, and investigations are launched by the Order of Raven to discover the reason behind the feud, and proper judicial process is then carried out.

Another odd habit is for men to grow their beards very long, usually reaching to the middle of chest. I cannot even begin to explain the reasons behind this, and most outsiders like myself look askance at the strange facial hair. Only amongst the more progressive nobles of the realm, the Baron not included, is normal facial hair prevalent, perhaps in an attempt to appear more modern and cultured; to differentiate themselves from the commoners.

Hospitality is sacred among the people of Dwynnen, which owes to the fact that even though the peasants are poor, they are all well-fed. Nobles sometimes boast that more peasants dine at their tables than they have servants, and this is likely true. Mehrunes Dagon could expect a meal and place to sleep in any Dwynnite dwelling be it noble or peasant.

-Voltaire du Guesclin

EDIT: Revision needed :hehe:

For the sake of having everything in the same place, http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=971916 my original article about Anticlere, first 'written' by Voltaire du Guesclin.