Epulia Province
Epulia occupies the south-western coast of Helltenen, where the warm shores of Palus Bay support a prosperous province of the Divine Empire. The Empire’s northernmost and most remote holding, it lies far from the centres of power and attracts little attention in grand imperial politics. Its inhabitants generally regard this as an advantage. The province is governed by Viscount Godfrey Casidron, whose family claims descent from its founder. Its principal settlement, the city of Epulia, possesses the finest deep-water harbour on Helltenen’s south-western coast. Fishing, agriculture, maritime trade and the workshops of the capital sustain a comfortable provincial economy. Humans, halflings, elves, dwarves and gnomes have lived alongside one another here for generations, producing a cosmopolitan society often described, not unkindly, as somewhat sleepy.
The Land and Its People
Epulia enjoys warm, dry summers and seasonal rains. Olive groves, vineyards and fig orchards cover suitable slopes, while barley, chickpeas and grazing animals make use of the drier ground. Water remains the chief limit upon cultivation. Wells and cisterns serve many communities, but the most productive farmland draws upon the irrigation channels of Lake Decanter, whose dependable supply has transformed the province. The Fury Mountains rise to the north, their foothills containing scattered settlements and the ancient Tunnels of Laematz. Beyond them, the country becomes increasingly arid towards the Sand Sea of Serekh. Farther east, the Agras Mountains form the great barrier separating the western lands from Helltenen’s south-eastern colonies. Most contact between the two coasts takes place by sea. Imperial settlement has never encompassed all the neighbouring country. West of the Pale Stone, the Talishari retain their ancestral lands under an agreement dating from the province’s foundation. East of Prindis lie the grazing grounds of the Tazhari Nomads, their eastern cousins, whose clans follow seasonal routes between wells and pastures. Both peoples preserve the Old Faith, which also retains followers within Epulia itself.
The Talishari and the Coming of Grash
Long before the arrival of the so-called Higher Races, the south-western coast was home to the Talishari. Later chroniclers dismissed them as “savages,” though their communities possessed longstanding customs, sacred places and a deep knowledge of the country. Their fortunes changed when humanoid tribes descended from the Fury Mountains. Foremost among these was the Goblin kingdom of Grash, a loose confederation of goblins, gnolls and other peoples whose chiefs extended their dominion across the coastal plains. The Talishari were defeated and enslaved, remaining under their rule for generations. The confederation’s power endured until the waning years of Kaegor’s Rebellion, when a human follower of the Old Faith named Casidron gathered a disparate company of humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes. These Free Folk sailed to Palus Bay intending to liberate the Talishari and establish a new home upon its shores.
Casidron and the Founding of Epulia
Casidron’s followers landed at Palus Bay and defeated a local gnoll tribe upon the site of the present city of Epulia. Encouraged by this success, he raised the banner of revolt and marched inland. The campaign went badly. Casidron suffered a decisive defeat in open battle, and the survivors retreated to their coastal settlement. There they endured a desperate siege, short of food and, more dangerously, fresh water. Their venture approached an inglorious end until a relief force from the nascent Kaegorian Empire arrived. Imperial assistance carried obligations. Casidron and the Free Folk swore fealty, bringing their settlement under Kaegorian authority. The veteran imperial troops then broke the siege and drove the confederation’s forces back into the Fury Mountains. Over the following year they pursued the defeated tribes through the southern valleys, burning settlements and breaking their hold upon the coastal country.
Responsibility for the province’s continuing defence passed to the followers of Heironeous, who established Solemnguard Abbey. With the immediate threat removed, the imperial army departed, leaving the settlers and the newly freed Talishari to determine how they would share the liberated lands. Casidron proved more successful at diplomacy than he had at generalship. Recognised as Baron of the new province, he secured an agreement granting him dominion over the lands around Palus Bay up to the Fury Mountains, in return for protection against renewed invasion. All lands west of the Pale Stone were guaranteed to remain in Talishari hands. Not long afterwards, Casidron disappeared from public life. His subsequent fate became a matter of folklore, while the settlement he had founded continued to grow. The present ruling house bears his name and claims his ancestry, a descent officially accepted despite gaps in its earliest records. Its rulers now hold the title Viscount of Epulia.
A Province Takes Root
The settlements around Palus Bay developed slowly, often managing their own affairs while cooperating over trade, defence and water. Dwarves and gnomes established communities towards the hills and mountain fringes, halflings farmed the fertile higher ground overlooking the bay, and humans and elves settled extensively along the coast. These patterns never produced rigid divisions, and mixed households, businesses and neighbourhoods became familiar features of provincial life. Epulia city grew into the principal port and manufacturing centre. Its craftsmen imported timber, metals and other materials from the southern realms, supplying tools and finished goods throughout the province. Bosso developed as an agricultural market town, Malater combined fishing with trade along the western shore, and Prindis became a meeting place between settled farmers and the eastern nomadic clans. The province nevertheless remained vulnerable to drought. Good growing land could yield poorly when the rains failed, and the expansion of farms and settlements repeatedly encountered the same difficulty: there was never quite enough dependable water.
Lake Decanter and the Hawtvels
This changed with the arrival of Gryth Hawtvel and his wife, Duraina. The couple purchased an inland valley generally considered worthless and established their home upon its slopes. Their neighbours found the investment amusing until the valley began to fill with water. The process continued steadily, eventually forming a lake. Only after securing ownership and control of the supply did the Hawtvels reveal their means: a Decanter of Endless Water, placed at the valley’s depths. The couple sold access to the water and developed an extensive irrigation network. Fields became more productive, orchards expanded and harvests grew more dependable. The settlement of Decanter developed beside the lake, and the Hawtvel family became one of the wealthiest and most influential households in the province.
The achievement also provoked a serious religious dispute. Followers of the Old Faith condemned the permanent alteration of the valley and the Hawtvels’ claim over its water. Others welcomed an end to recurring shortages and had little patience with objections to a lake that was feeding their families. Gryth eventually travelled to the Talishari druids and offered himself in atonement. Whether he acted from sincere conviction or an excessive confidence in his ability to negotiate remains uncertain. His sacrifice at midsummer ended the dispute and secured the Hawtvel family’s place in provincial history. His descendants retain control of the lake and its channels. Farmers may grumble over their payments, but few dispute the importance of the water upon which so much of Epulia’s prosperity depends.
Government, Faith and Defence
Viscount Godfrey Casidron (pictured) governs from Epulia city, receiving the allegiance of local landholders and overseeing the province’s relations with the wider Empire. Distance encourages considerable local responsibility, with town officers, religious leaders and established families handling much of everyday government.
At Prindis, Baronet Laszlo Vadild holds the town and surrounding estates as a vassal of the Viscount. His family descends from the third son of the second Duke of Everwatch and has been established in Epulia for generations. By tradition, its second sons enter the Knights Audacious, surrendering family allegiance to the duties of the order.
The Knights Audacious of Heironeous remain the province’s principal organised defenders. From Solemnguard Abbey they patrol the plains, roads and mountain approaches. Their community includes warriors, religious brothers and those seeking retreat from worldly life. Although small raiding parties occasionally descend from the mountains, serious incursions have been uncommon for nearly a century.
Elsewhere, faith reflects local livelihoods and inherited traditions. Osprem is honoured by fishermen and sailors, her clergy maintaining Psant Lighthouse and serving the harbour. Zilchus finds followers among merchants and craftsmen, while Berei and Yondalla are prominent in the farming communities. The Old Faith continues among Talishari descendants and other provincial families, its observances surviving alongside the temples of the imperial gods.
The Knights of Palus are Epulia’s secular provincial order, appointed by the Viscount in recognition of dependable service. Drawn largely from local gentry and experienced officers, its members retain their estates and family responsibilities whilst undertaking to assist in the province’s defence. Their silver anchor badge is a familiar mark of honour around Palus Bay.
The Provincial Frontiers
At the Pale Stone, trade provides regular contact between Epulians and the western Talishari. Market days draw visitors from both sides of the boundary, and longstanding customs govern bargains, disputes and the keeping of the peace. To the east, Prindis maintains similar practical relations with the Tazhari Nomads. Their livestock, wool, hides and woven goods find ready buyers, while the clans purchase grain, tools and manufactured wares. Disagreements over grazing, wells and the passage of herds require negotiation, but both sides benefit from preserving peaceful relations.
Beyond the Tazhari grazing lands, gnoll clans occupy dry valleys and mountain strongholds. Remnants of the old Grash Confederation survive among them, with goblin communities now held as an enslaved labouring class. Their raids remain a concern along the eastern approaches, particularly where access to water and pasture is contested. Within the Fury Mountains, dwarves and gnomes inhabit the uppermost levels of Laematz. Their community occupies only a fraction of the ancient mine complex. Below its inhabited workings, the tunnels descend into unoccupied depths whose full extent remains unknown. For most Epulians, however, such dangers are distant concerns. Their lives turn upon the fishing season, the condition of the vines, the flow of irrigation water and the arrival of ships in Palus Bay. Imperial politics may occasionally disturb the Viscount’s correspondence, but a late cargo or a broken sluice is more likely to command attention in the market square.
Prindis
Small Town: Alignment: NG, Population: 2,760, Mixed (65% human, 12% halfling, 8% half-elf, 7% elf, 5% dwarf, 3% gnome), Languages: Common & Halfling, Religions: Berei, Zilchus, Heironeous & Old Faith, Authority figures: Baronet Laszlo Vadild, Lord of Prindis (human, male, aristocrat-fighter), Market Warden Ysabel Ferran (human, female, expert).
Prindis stands near the eastern coast of Palus Bay, where Epulia’s cultivated countryside gives way to the drier grazing lands of the Tazhari Nomads. Olive groves, vineyards and fields of barley surround the town, while its markets bring together provincial farmers and visiting nomadic clans. Livestock, wool, hides and woven goods are exchanged for grain, metal tools and manufactured wares brought from Epulia city. Wells and substantial cisterns serve residents and travellers, with access to water carefully regulated during the dry months. The town and its surrounding estates are held by Baronet Laszlo Vadild, whose family forms a cadet branch of House Vadild of Everwatch. Established in Epulia for generations, the family retains pride in its ancestry while having become thoroughly accustomed to provincial life. Its seat is a comfortable fortified manor, surrounded by gardens, estate buildings and the homes of household retainers. Laszlo owes fealty to Viscount Godfrey Casidron and maintains a small household guard, with mounted patrols watching the roads and outlying farms.
By family tradition, the second sons of the Prindis Vadilds enter the Knights Audacious of Heironeous at Solemnguard Abbey. This is regarded as an honourable calling, though those accepted into the brotherhood owe their allegiance to the order and its sacred duties. Over the generations, Vadild sons have served as warriors, officers and brothers of the abbey, giving the family a longstanding connection with the province’s defenders. Relations with the Tazhari are generally peaceful, sustained by trade and longstanding agreements over wells, grazing and seasonal passage. Disputes still arise when herds stray into cultivated fields or farmers encroach upon customary routes. Market Warden Ysabel Ferran oversees trading arrangements and visiting encampments, using her familiarity with the clans to settle most disagreements before they reach the Baronet’s hall.
