Kontelezh Kernev

Structure

The County of Kernev is a vassal state of the Duchy of Letha, located in the Penn-ar-Bed in the Southwestern corner of the Armorican Peninsula. The county maintains its own array of vassal states, a collection of loosely aligned Viscounties, Baronies and Lordships, exerting a degree of independence from one another, but required to obey certain feudal obligations and duties. For the most part, these include collecting and spending taxes, managing lands and responding to calls to arms, each under the authority of the next level up the chain.
The vassals of Kernev include:

The Viscounties of Aven, Glazig, Plougastell, Poher

The Baronies of Bidar, Bigouden,

Dardoup, Kernevodez, Penn-Sardin, Rouzig

The Lordships of Crozon, Fanch, Fisel, Kab Sizun, Kalanel

The Deanery of Chtou.

Culture

Kerneved houses are often decorated with elaborate facades with engraved lintels , foliage , braces , and moldings.
Kernev is colourful costume.

Demography and Population

The Bediz

Outside of Leon, the County of Kernev has the smallest population of Bediz in Letha, largely concentrated in the capital of Kemper, fishing towns such as Konk-Kern and, to a lesser extent, interior trading towns such as Ker-Ahes. Beyond these, the population is spread in small villages and hamlets supporting these larger communities. Isolated cottages in the moors and cliff-strewn shores of the region are a common sight.

The Pilhaouer have a large population in the North of the region, working as subsistence farmers in the mountainous interior, traveling as ragpickers to the port cities in Dreger and Leon.

Korrigan

Where the Bediz have a lesser presence in Kernev, the Korrigan Fae have a larger one compared to the Eastern half of the peninsula.

Boléguéans - The Korrigan of the Tumulus maintain a small but noteworthy population within the County, maintaining sacred areas for Korrigan ceremonies at Menez-Hom and An Uhelgoad, among others. The Boléguéans operate as advisors, priests and diplomats among the Korrigan peoples, traveling throughout the County to other settlements when not overseeing these ceremonial areas.

Boudics - It is impossible to tell just how many Boudics, the Korrigan of the Farms exist in Kernev, as the diminutive creatures often prove difficult to see as a result of their size, secretive nature and extensive obfuscating glamour. Many homes, farms and other structures, both mundane and magical, throughout the region have Boudic residents that act as boon or bane to the inhabitants. There is evidence, however, of far more Boudic activity in the region than in the East.

Gargoul - The Gargoul have traveled as far West as Kernev, but the populations are typically considered feral, wild populations residing in the Meneziou Are or in ruins around the region. Some trouping Gargoul have established themselves in Quimper and Konk-Kern, but these are small colonies compared to those of the East.

Kornikaned - The Kornikaned infest the region, especially the forests of the Western Brekilien, where they have their largest numbers in the region in Poher, Fisel and Fanch.

Kriores - The Kriores, largely found in neighboring Gwened and along the Ar Mor Breizh in Dreger, have nevertheless established a presence in Kernev, largely in the mountainous interior, where mining colonies toil away in the search for ores and building materials.

Poulpiquet - The Poulpiquet are common in the Kastellin Basin in the Aon Valley, with most living in the regions of Bidar, Dardoup, Glazig and Rouzig. Smaller populations are common in Aven and the Western peninsulas.

Teuz - The Teuz are spread widely across the region, especially in the Kastellin Basin and the plateaus of the Southern Ar Mor in Aven and Bigouden.

Tohoseguéannets - The Korrigan of the cromlechs are found in force throughout the region, guarding their stone circles from trespassers. They are found throughout the region, but have their largest concentration in An Uhelgoad in Poher.

Sidhe

Tempestarii - The Tempestarii have their largest permanent settlement with the storm-city of Barrad-Faout in Kab-Sizun, but their windships are a regular sight across the region, trading regularly with Quimper and Konk-Kern.

Tuatha de Danaan - The Queens of Summer and Winter have their throne at Menez Hom in Glazig, a neutral ground on which the rule is changed at Midnight on Kalan-Goañv and Kala-Hañv. Eladan are found throughout the region, taking advantage of the desolate country roads for their processions and festivals.

Fomorian

Fomorian settlement in the region is largely confined to the interior regions of Bidar and Dardoup, where followers of Hastings Fireforged fled after their defeat by Duke Alan "Al Louarn" II, surviving in the swamps of the Yeun-Elez for centuries. New waves of Norman and Orkish Fomorians have settled in the Western Peninsulas around Douarnenez Bay, particularly the regions of Crozon, Kab-Sizun and Penn-Sardin. The Storm city of Barrad-Faout is home to many of these Fomorians, who toil away in the lower levels of the city.

Territories

Located in the Southwestern corner of the Armorican Peninsula, Kernev is surrounded on two sides by the Mor Bras. The Western Ar Mor is carved out by jagged peninsulas and dramatic inlets. The County is divided from its Northern neighbor Leon by the Elorn river, with the Viscounty of Plougastell and the Barony of Kernevodez taking up the Northern shores of the Rade de Brest, which follows the Barony of Rouzig South to the Crozon Peninsula, bearing a Lordship of the same name, jutting out between the Rade and Douarnenez Bay.
Douarnenez Bay is surrounded by the Viscounty of Glazig, the Barony of Penn-Sardin and the Lordship of Kab Sizun, which occupies the tip of the peninsula. The storm-tossed city of Barrad-Faout, sits on the Western Edge at the eye of an ever present Wyldstorm.
The Coast continues along the Barony of Bigouden until it reaches the Odet River, across which sits the Viscounty of Aven, the largest territory in Kernev, which completes the coastline at the Blavezh River.
The interior regions of Bidar, Dardoup, Kalanel, Chtou Fisel and Fanch are found in the mountainous regions of the Meneziou Are to the North and the Meneziou Du to the South. Between the two ranges is the Kastellin Basin, which follows the flows of the Aon River. The interior has an exceptionally low Bediz population, having been partially granted to the Sidhe and Korrigan by Konstanza de Leon, and its remote nature doing the rest. The itinerant Pilhaouer make their meager homes in the highlands of these desolate regions.

Founding Date

28 SI

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Capital

Kemper (+)

Alternative Names

The Horn of Armorica, The Hornlands

Leader Title

Kont/Kontez

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Mixed economy

Currency

Like most of the Duchy of Letha, Kernev has linked its currency to a largely unified valuation based on the Livre Tournois, a result of pressures from mercantile interests such as the Lugoni or the Julod of Montroulez. As with much of its neighbors, 12 copper Deniers are worth 1 silver Sol (Silver). 20 Sols are worth 1 golden Livre.
The County has been granted the authority to mint their own coins. Ore-rich Kernev, drawing ores from the mines of the Meneziou-Aree, has a higher content of precious metals in its coins, and are thus typically worth more than those of its neighbors in the Penn-ar-Bed. The coins of Kernev are stamped with the image of a rampant ram, the symbol of the region.
Outside of the few large towns and well-traveled roads of this largely rural County, the barter economy is in full swing across the fishing villages and farming communities that make up the largest portion of the Kerneved population.

Legislative Body

While Kernev is represented in the Estates of Letha, the County largely forges its own path, typically indifferent to the whims of the Duke in the East. Instead, laws are created in Kemper, or on a purely local level by the Kerneved nobility.

Judicial Body

The Count of Kernev, and any nobility with the rank of Baron or higher has the ability to pass High Judgement, while any noble with standing in the County Court may preside over Middle Justice involving their lands or properties. Average and Low justice is carried out by magistrates and representatives throughout the region.

Executive Body

While Kernev sends regular representatives to the Estates of Letha, its remote location and independent streak remove it from a great deal of Ducal influence, instead drawing its laws from the whims of local nobility and church officials. Ducal representatives hold more sway in the port cities of the region, where a reliance on trade instills more of a need for a unified approach to legal disputes.

Official State Religion

The Southern Church

Parent Organization

Duchy of Letha

Subsidiary Organizations

• Barony of Penn-Sardin
• Lordship of Kab Sizun

Location

Kernev Plateau

Official Languages

• Brezhoneg (+)

Related Traditions

• Fest Foll - Feast of Fools

Controlled Territories

• Aon River
• Douarnenez Bay
• Gwaien Bay
• Kastellin Basin
• Meneziou Are
• Meneziou Du

Neighboring Nations

• Biskonti Leon - Viscounty of Léon
• County of Gwened
• Kontelezh Dreger

Notable Members

• Aldroenus

Related Myths

• The Lai of Guigemar (+)

Related Historical Events

• 430 SI
  The Battle of Keremma Dunes
• 224 SI
  Ahes Dahut is Born
• 40 SI
  The Battle of Tours
• 29 SI
  The War of the Two Brothers
• 28 SI
  Gradlon Mwar, King of Kernev and Ys