Reikos
Overview
This formerly peaceful stretch of the Couros river was also home to pleasure gardens, parks and country estates. Reikos is composed of sweeping plains with occasional patches of decidious woodland or raised elevation. The only major woodlands outside of the Great Forest of Peytaht is Broken Ride, while only the south-eastern downs around Chalcis Mount really count as being hills.
The wealth of Reikos traditionally came from four places. Firstly, the Vigilant Swan and the Great Forest at Reikos produced quality stone and wood respectively, as well as highly sought after white granite and weirwood. Second, the Gardens of Chalcis produced herbs sold all over the Empire. Third, the wide roads helped connect the Navarr in Therunin and the Urizen in Morrow with the rest of the Empire and several towns grew up to cater to the needs of merchants and pilgrims. Fourth, the beauty of Reikos itself made the territory wealthy - the great gardens, sweeping estates and peaceful surroundings made it a favourite place for Imperial citizens from across the Empire to convalesce after illness, or to spend time away for the cares of everyday life.
The downfall of Reikos came from it's border with the Great Forest of Peytaht. At its edges, the Great Forest is an abundant source of lumber but, it's heart is wild and untamed. The long border with the dark forest was notoriously hard to defend, despite the efforts of vigilant chapters such as the the Grey Watchers of Peytaht, but at least the forest was equally hostile to human and orc alike. When the Druj barbarians launched a surprise attack through the forest in 367YE, the Highborn were woefully unprepared for it. Those chapters on the edge of the forest that did not retreat were overwhelmed in the first few months of the attack.
Recovering Reikos is an important goal for many Highborn chapters. Several, such as the (now-Bastion based) Shattered Tower; the Unbound Chapter (now in exile in Casinea), the Cantiarch's Hold, Stone Vigil, Reumah's Reoubt or the Lux Reikos have their foundations here, while others such as The Unrelenting have formed specifically to ensure that Reikos is recovered. They will not rest until the Druj are driven out, Reikos is restored, the gardens re-planted, and the bells set up on high so that the sacrifice of the defenders of Highguard will never be forgotten.
Recent History
In 367 YE Reikos fell to the Druj barbarians who took advantage of the cover of the Great Forest to launch numerous assaults against the fertile territory. The territory was lost along with half the wealth of Highguard. Many benefactors were ruined in the attack, and many more are still struggling to restore their fortunes. The gardens, parks and pleasant villages of Reikos were largely unprepared to face the onslaught of the Druj, and hundreds died in the initial attacks before they were able to take refuge in the fortified chapter houses. The presence of refugees complicated matters severely; several northern chapters fell prey to disease and starvation. The malicious tactics of the Druj served to make the situation even words - they regularly poisoned supplies; publicly tortured and displayed the horribly abused corpses of captured guardians and priests; crippled and maimed Highborn refugees then allowed them to flee so that their presence would further damage morale and absorb valuable medical supplies. Slowly but surely they pressed their advantage and drove the Highborn defenders southward.
Finally, in Autumn 377YE the Druj mounted a major offensive against the surviving Highborn chapters in Riverwatch, Haros and Tabernacle. The last regions of the territory fell beneath this assault, leaving only a scattered handfuls of fortified chapters as guttering beacons of hope in a sea of dread.
Major Features
High Chalcis
High Chalcis was one of the larger settlements in Highguard. The town was a centre for healing and the study of the apothecary arts where the medical knowledge of the Empire was codified and expanded. The settlement fell to surprise attack in 367YE, and the storehouses of knowledge raided by the Druj and turned to corrupt uses. The town has since been converted into a twisted fortification by the Druj. While the Gardens are the best known, the hillse of Chalcis Mount were the site of a great many herb gardens, and was known for producing very fine quality Imperial Roseweald. Scouts suggest that a number of Druj apothecaries are using the place as a base of operations, supplying the orcs in the territory with potions and herbs harvested from the remaining herb gardens and the nearby Gardens of Chalcis. (OOC Note: High Chalcis is now a rank one fortification in the control of the Druj.)
The Gardens of Chalcis
Said to contain every kind of flower, fruit and herb in the known world, this walled sanctuary was once a haven of tranquility and the study of the healing arts. While much of the gardens were given over to the study of healing herbs, it was also maintained as a conservatory where examples of plants brought from all over the world were cultivated and studied. Since the fall of High Chalcis to the Druj in 367YE, the gardens have been gutted and enslaved Highborn now toil to produce herbs and poisons for the use of the barbarian invaders.
The Sign of Tamar
A vast sigil incised into the plain in northern Reikos, created by digging long trenches in the earth. Scholars are unsure what purpose (if any) it serves, or when precisely it was constructed. There is no viewpoint nearby where the entire figure can be seen clearly, although scholars have paced out the sigil and drawn it, and declared it a humanoid figure that matches the constellation called the Drowned Man. Until Tamarbode fell to the Druj, there was a great deal of speculation as to who Tamar might have been, who placed this sigil here, wether there was any connection with the Old Pig in Mournwold to the west, and precisely why the region as a whole was called Tamarbode.
The Great Forest at Reikos
On the borders of Reikos, covering the eastern hills of Broken Ride the Great Forest is an abundant source of valuable timber including precious weirwood. It was lost when Broken Ride was over-run by Druj barbarians in 369YE.
The Great Forest at Reikos was an Imperial Bourse position which produced weirwood. Under Imperial control this Bourse position produced 25 Imperial wains of weirwood every season. it is not currently being auctioned.
The Vigilant Swan
This quarry complex north of Riverwatch recently fell into the hands of the Druj despite the efforts of the brave Highborn defenders at Tabernacle. The site was guarded by a flock of white and black swans who nested on the washing ponds below the quarry's workings, it was claimed they cried out whenever intruders come near, but their presence was not enough to deter the barbarian invaders bent on claiming the whole of Reikos.
The Vigilant Swan was a National Bourse position which produced white granite. Control of the Vigilant Swan was assigned to whichever Highborn candidate received the most support from Highborn owners of congregations. This Bourse position produced 25 Imperial wains of white granite every season.
Regions
Broken Ride
The rolling forests of Broken Ride were regularly used for hunting and for training Unconquered recruits. Only a few scattered chapters were built here, and they were especially isolated from the rest of Reikos when the Druj invaded. These woods are the site of the massacre at Exile in 369YE. Exile was built round a chapter of Unconquered who trained in the solitude provided by the deep woods. It was a hard place, and the Highborn there embraced many trials designed to harden the soul; they held out for three years before they were finally overrun. In the last days of the siege, the choice to hold against overwhelming odds or leave with honour was given to all of the recruits, not a one of whom chose to leave. In battle now, some of the unconquered say: “Remember Exile. We will return” in memorial of fallen friends and mentors.
The Druj are believed to have desecrated the corpses of the dead, using them to construct a shrine of terror and hate that now stands as a monument to the dominance of the Druj over the territory. Scouts suggest that the Druj have continued to add to this shrine, and claim that it exerts as malignant presence that is beginning to make itself felt in Longshire, Tamarbode and Chalcis Mount.
Chalcis Mount
They gentle hills of Chalcis Mount are in the hands of the barbarians. They are the site of the Gardens of Chalcis, and the walled town of High Chalcis. In some poems, they were called the Red Downs due to the distinctive hue of the Imperial Roseweald that grew profusely on their slops. Since the region fell to surprise attack in the Autumn of 367YE, however, the name has fallen out of use.
Grey Charge
The wide plains of Grey Charge are avoided by the Druj themselves, but lie under the control of at least one of their subject tribes. There are believed to be a number of enslaved human settlements still intact here, used as a source of brutalized labour by their barbarian oppressors.
Haros Water
The chapters of Haros (the settlement takes it's name from the tributary of the Couros on which it stands) are currently under siege; but all is not lost. The river gates of Haros still allow daring forays by expert boatmen who manage to get much-needed supplies to the surviving defenders. Without this lifeline, the Highborn could not hope to hold their settlement against the Druj. One of the surviving chapters, the Draughir dominated Suns of Couros are believed to be holding firm against barbarian attacks, and keeping the central crossing-point across the river from falling into Druj hands.
Beyond the walls of Haros, the fields and gardens have been burnt to ashes. The Druj seem to take a particular pleasure in crucifying captured cataphracts within sight of the walls of one of the surviving chapters, goading the defenders into is leaving their walls and attempting a rescue mission.
Longshire
The plains of Longshire are scattered with the ruins of chapters that have fallen before the barbarian assault. These ruins have been claimed by various barbarians, some of whom are said to launch raids against each other when they think th gaze of their Druj overlords is elsewhere. In 370YE scouts from nearby Tabernacle reported that one of the captured chapters - the Granite Chain chapter - had been razed to the ground and every orc within it slain and left for the crows. Apparently the Druj themselves did this as some sort of warning to other orcs. At least one band of Unconquered takes advantage of the superstitious dread the orcs seem to feel towards this place and use it as a base of operations - although they report that the place is almost certainly haunted by the angry spectres of both slaughtered barbarians and murdered Granite Chain Highborn.
Riverwatch
Site of the settlement of Tabernacle, this was the last region of Reikos to fall to the Druj after many months of sustained assault. A well-fortified triple-ringed chapter whose settlements sprawled outside its walls in long years of peace, most of the town has fallen to barbarians. In happier times this was a popular stopping-point for merchants travelling between Casinea and Sarvos in the east and the Navarr steadings of Therunin to the west. It is believed there may be some chapters still holding out in or around Tabernacle, but it is unknown how much longer they will be able to survive.
Tamarbode
The desolate plains of Tamarbode are best known as the site of the enigmatic Sign of Tamar, and at least one chapter dedicated to protecting and guarding the eerie earthworks. It was also home to a couple of fortified chapters on the borders of Brocéliande, facing into the forests there and keeping a careful watch on the Vallorn that slumbers fitfully at it's heart. There has been no news from any of these chapters since the last of them was overrun by Druj in 372YE. Now the region appears to be under the control of an especially vicious Druj Ghulai who goes by the nickname "Greenmask"
OOC Notes
- With the loss of the last Imperial region, the production of all resources in Reikos cut in half.
- Any invasion of Reikos will be complicated by need to establish a beachead.