Savage Worlds Accursed Valkenholm

Valkenholm

The northern realm of Valkenholm has long been seen as one of the most pre-eminent regions of Morden. Its vast, thick forests provide many benefits—amongst them rich lumber, furs, and food. Valkenholm sits astride the mighty Scythe River, itself a prime source of fish and minerals. To the southeast, the realm’s forests give way to a deep and largely unexplored series of bogs and swamps known as the Sunken Lands.

Valkenholm was originally settled as part of Steppengrad over seven centuries ago. For many years, the first inhabitants of Valkenholm built villages and farmholds, peaceably working the land, exploring deeper into the forests, and establishing the first roads and trails. The people of Valkenholm were industrious, independent, and honorable, establishing several traditions of hospitality and fairness. However, the Grafs of Steppengrad saw the region’s rich forests as a resource to exploit rather than a culture to embrace. Many of the area’s settlers were stripped of their profits and forced into indentured servitude under the direction of Steppengrad nobles. Most settlements in Valkenholm evolved into plantations and logging camps. These centered around fortresses and castles built by the Grafs to defend their wealth against the occasional peasant uprising or bandit raid from the neighboring Outlands.

After thirty years, the countryside of Valkenholm was scattered with developed villages and looming towers, but citizens of the region had reached their breaking point. Messengers traveled from settlement to settlement in the dead of night, and townsfolk gathered to collect weapons they had cached against just such a need. In one bloody week of uprisings, the rebels drove out most Grafs, while a handful of the cruelest or least fortunate noblemen were rounded up and killed.

Having attained its independence, one of the leaders of the rebellion rose to prominence and named himself King Stefan Hightower the First. This began a tradition of royalty in Valkenholm that King Hightower’s descendants cemented over the following decades. Valkenholm became famous for the institution of feudal order. The former Grafs’ castles were turned over to the King’s supporters, creating peers and a system of vassalage. Nor were the commoners ignored; a House of Commons was established to help advise the king and provide a voice for those without noble blood.

The more egalitarian realm grew in size and influence until it became arguably the foremost nation in Morden. Valkenholm dealt affably with all realms of the Outlands, traded with Cairn Kainen, and was a popular destination for caravans leaving Hebron and Hyphrates. Relations with Steppengrad were less than warm, but the two realms learned to coexist.

The Enochian church chose Valkenholm as a central meeting point and constructed a mighty cathedral there—the fortress-monastery of Massif Helsenn. In fact, the Enochian church has a prominent presence in Valkenholm. Over the centuries, the monks have worked with the monarchy to establish several orders of knighthood in service to both the crown and the church.

The nation lasted in this manner for centuries, and it was the invasion of the Witches into Morden that changed the character of Valkenholm. Prior to its conquest, Valkenholm prospered over its neighbors. Forestry, carpentry, and lumbering were some of Valkenholm’s largest industries, followed by fishing, mining, and riverway trade. The capitol of Kulidar—even after the ravages of war—is amongst Morden’s largest and most well-developed cities, featuring numerous guild houses, villa homes, and Enochian cathedrals.

Citizens of Valkenholm were famously proud of their nation, having gained a reputation for believing they were just a little bit better than any other realm in Morden. That pride was shattered by twin blows. The first blow was the loss of the war against the Witches. The second blow to Valkenholm was enduring the crushing grip of subjugation under its conqueror.

After the conquest, Valkenholm is a symbol of what awaits the rest of Morden. It is a realm fallen from grace, firmly under the thumb of a ruthless Witch and preyed upon by monsters. Its people, once proud and prosperous, cower and walk with their heads cast down—an object lesson in how the Witches exert their dark influence across the land.

Role in the Bane War

The invasion of the Witches smashed through the Outlands and ran directly into the bulwarking forests of Valkenholm. For centuries, Valkenholm depended upon the Outlands—specifically, the strong military forces of Riverspring—to shield it from the beasts and terrors lurking in the Darkwall mountains to the north. Once that shield was stripped away, Valkenholm was forced to scramble to prepare its own defenses against the Witches and their Accursed armies.

At the time of the invasion, Valkenholm’s ruler was King Stefan Hightower II, regarded by many across Morden as a wise, courageous, and just monarch. With the utter devastation of the Outlands, the true scope of the Witches’ invasion became clear. Knowing that time was short, King Stefan made great efforts to build the other realms of Morden into a unified force that became known as the Alliance. The King became the spokesman for this council of nations. Under his leadership, Valkenholm quickly became the center of organization for the Alliance’s efforts to turn back the Witches and their dark armies. Barges traveled the Scythe River to transport men and supplies, while the forest roads were thick with knights and cavalry riding patrol circuits and messages between camps. The Alliance used Valkenholm’s staging grounds to launch numerous raids against the Witch armies. These raids were, for the most part, quite successful, for the Witches were focusing their efforts on subjugating the Outlands and augmenting their Bane forces with the newly-created Accursed.

However, the Alliance soon gained an answer to their raids from an unexpected source. Hordes of reanimated corpses poured over the Highlands—the cauldron-born had entered the war. This dark surprise was the creation of the Witch known as the Morrigan, and she launched her assault from the moors of Cairn Kainen, a border that many in Valkenholm—including King Stefan—considered safe. This mistake cost the Alliance dearly, as the shambling horrors wiped out many villages in the Sunken Lands and the eastern forests of Valkenholm.

King Stefan took charge of the survivors and gathered his host for the final battle. The Alliance made a pact with the Seelie Fey in a desperate gamble to sunder the Witches’ Grand Coven and break their hold upon the dark hordes threatening to overrun Morden. It was a moment for heroes, and the king did not flinch from his duty. He rode at the head of his knights, his guards carried the banner of the crown of Valkenholm into the teeth of the Witches’ assault. In another time, another land, such a stand would be made into legend—but that day, in Morden, the King and his band of loyal knights fell. They died to the last man defending their home, but all of their valor was not enough to stem the tide. The Alliance’s plan did succeed in destroying the Grand Coven, but it was too late. The ruthless Witches had conquered Valkenholm, and all of Morden.

Aftermath

It did not take long for Valkenholm to feel the grasp of the Blood Witch cementing her victory. Sanguinara swept into Kulidar, the capitol city, arriving within days after the Grand Coven was sundered and most of the dark hordes dispersed back over the Darkwall Peaks. The Blood Witch made few appearances, but she made it known throughout the land that she laid claim to the ancient title of Countess. The trappings of King Stefan’s monarchy were wiped away and she established herself quite comfortably in her court at Kulidar. The glory and majesty of Valkenholm had been plucked like a ripe apple from the tree.

Life in Valkenholm after its conquest continues much as normal. The farmers bring in their crops, hunters sell pelts and meat to the outer villages and cities alike, and miners dig away in shafts beneath the forest searching for veins of precious ore. However, the atmosphere in Valkenholm is much bleaker than can be remembered. The dark, thick forests that the region is so renowned for are now home to terrible, blood-hungry beasts. Banes have driven out all but the bravest or most stubborn settlers from the swamps in the Sunken Lands. Many villages are more frightened of the Redhawk knights who ostensibly patrol the realm for their safety than the monsters that lurk in the night.

For the self-styled Countess Sanguinara Nasady, Valkenholm is a plaything that she enjoys toying with endlessly. She has shown no signs of tiring of her games. From Kulidar, she spins intricate webs of plots and schemes, ensnaring young noblemen with her beauty and charm. Many of these paramours end up as pale corpses drifting in the Scythe. Villagers in the surrounding settlements have learned to hide their more attractive sons and daughters, for many beautiful young men and women—some barely out of childhood—have been taken away by the black-armoured Redhawk knights to serve as “pages” and “ladies-in-waiting” for the Blood Witch’s amusements.

Sanguinara does not have as much control over the realm as she might prefer. She has largely chosen to ignore the Enochian religion within her borders, finding the monks and their studies to be highly boring and mundane. In truth, the Enochians and their support of the Order of St. Vitus are one of the greatest threats to her rule. Similarly, some of the plots that hatch within the Blood Witch’s court are hidden from even her awareness within the highly byzantine political maneuvers that surround her. There are a handful of nobles who remember the Valkenholm of old and have no love for their conqueror, no matter how fair and pleasant she might seem. For the nonce, the Blood Witch seems content to solidify her power and prepare for expanding her rule—it would seem that her desire for power is nearly insatiable.

Culture and Government

Valkenholm is no longer a beacon of civilization in Morden. Instead, it has become the seat of power for one of the most feared and hated conquerors—the Witch known as Sanguinara. What drew Sanguinara to Valkenholm in the first place is unknown—many believe that she finds turning the center of the vanquished alliance into her personal fiefdom amusing. One of Sanguinara’s first acts upon assuming control of the realm was to completely abolish the monarchy, instead choosing to reinstate feudal rule through the titles and traditions of ancient Steppengrad, when the two nations were one. The Blood Witch crowned herself as “Countess" (a version of the Steppengrad title of “Graf”) and formed a court primarily composed of sycophants and minor nobles to rule the realm. Having done away with the older trappings of Valkenholm’s statehood, Sanguinara next formally disbanded each chapter of knights, with one exception—the Redhawks. This singular order of knights became the core of the Countess’s military force after its commander was transformed into a vampire. He now serves at Sanguinara’s right hand as her bodyguard.

The Blood Witch rules Valkenholm with both the velvet glove and the iron hand. She tolerates no open dissent, but she seems to thrive on the schemes of her court. She enjoys playing factions against each other and encourages unchecked greed amongst her courtiers. Ambition, in fact, is the core of Valkenholm’s politics today. All of Valkenholm’s citizens commonly assume that any involvement of the nobility or Sanguinara’s court is undertaken to gain some political advantage (large or small).

Sanguinara understands the value of subtlety as well. She keeps the majority of her banes outside of Valkenholm’s cities—although many of the smaller villages are fair game—and is careful not to replace too many important citizens with vampires or her own confidants. Most citizens of Valkenholm are aware of the Witch’s “restraint” and are given periodic reminders by patrols of Redhawks or notices nailed up on the village green. The Blood Witch’s preference for ignoring the Enochian presence in her lands is also used as a demonstration of her restraint rather than any true respect for the religion.

The citizens of Valkenholm live a life of comparative luxury to many of the other realms in Morden. Food is usually plentiful and opportunities for work are not lacking. In fact, many of Valkenholm’s merchants are quite wealthy, and the nation as a whole is still strong in the aftermath of the Witch’s conquest. However, Valkenholm suffers under a shadow of fear and cruelty. Not only must they live under the domination of the Blood Witch; her agents walk amongst them to ensure compliance with her will. This secret police is known only as “The Watch,” and it has been quite effective in silencing any opposition amongst the common folk. There are many nobles as well who stay aloof from Sanguinara’s court, but few dare say anything against her rather than face a brutal reprisal. More than one rich burgher or agitating baronet have been made examples of by the Watch in the last twenty years.

Important Citizens

Little Red Cap

A figure of much whispered legend in Kulidar is an assassin known only by an unusual nom-de-guerre: Little Red Cap. Her name comes from the brilliant dark crimson color of her hooded cape, a quite distinctive piece of apparel she is never glimpsed without. This wild, blonde-haired young woman sets high prices for her services, but she has never failed in a contract to end her target’s life. Many say that she ritually dips the hood of her cape in her victim’s blood in order to maintain her snake-like swiftness and precision. Little Red Cap’s origins are similarly mysterious—those who have seen the young girl in action claim that only one of the Unseelie Fey could move with such liquid grace and strike with such deadly aim. Wild rumors surround this assassin. She is said to be anything from Sanguinara’s natural daughter to the hidden head of the Watch. Whatever the truth, some things about Little Red Cap are known for certain. She is ruthless in her approach, defends herself with fierce swordplay, and has taken many consecutive contracts for the Blood Witch’s favorite nobles in the court of Kulidar.

Sir Azriel

The realm’s most staunch defenders once filled the knightly order known as the Redhawks. This brotherhood was founded by King Reacher—an ancient Valkenholm monarch—in honor of a great victory against Nordheim raiders. Much like their homeland, however, the Redhawks have been completely seduced by the Blood Witch and now serve only her will. At the head of the Redhawks is a tall, gaunt knight whose grey-burnished armor and massive black sword have become a feared sight across the land. This knight’s name is Sir Azriel, and he is a vampire. Previous to the Witches’ invasion, Sir Azriel was merely an unremarkable knight. Sanguinara chose him to receive her curse and transformed him into a powerful bane. Sir Azriel combines all of the supernatural powers of a vampire with his own skills of war, and his dour, grim nature makes him perfect to serve as the Countess’s chief bodyguard. Many have condemned the knight’s change of loyalties from the man who knighted him—King Stefan himself—to the charming conqueror, the Blood Witch. None who knew Sir Azriel would have credited him with a surfeit of pride or ambition that would mark him as a man likely to turn his coat, so a lingering mystery remains. What happened to this once-honorable knight that he would bend his knee to the evil Countess?

Baron Gehemnis

Not all schemers confine themselves to the capital. In the castles and towns outside of Kulidar, a certain nobleman has been playing his own game against the Countess. Baron Gehemnis is his name, an older and distinguished noble whose family line has been a part of Valkenholm’s upper class for centuries. Gehemnis is quietly fomenting rebellion against the Blood Witch and has made contact with numerous agents, including several bands of the Accursed, in order to further his plans. The Baron presents himself as a reasonable man pushed to extremes by the repugnant evil of Sanguinara’s rule. In truth, however, Gehemnis desires the throne above all else. The Blood Witch merely provides him with an excellent lever to use in order to gain support for the many-layered plots he has hatched in every corner of Valkenholm. Some amongst the Order of St. Vitus suspect the Baron’s altruism is merely a ploy, but many Accursed and other freedom fighters in Valkenholm are willing to work with anyone who can provide them with funding and direction in efforts to cast out the Witch and her bloodthirsty followers.