Llael
A proud realm with a complex history, Llael has perhaps
suffered more than any other nation in the Iron Kingdoms
in recent years. Even before the Khadoran invasion and
occupation, the kingdom experienced the sudden and
unexpected death of its monarch, King Rynnard, who left
behind an unclear line of succession when he perished in
595 AR. The feuding Council of Nobles quickly fell to further
infighting, and shortly thereafter to cold-blooded murder.
Within a few short months, virtually anyone who might
have possessed a legitimate claim to the throne had been
slain. Even those with no ambition for the crown were struck
down, many succumbing to poison or an assassin’s blade.
With no clear road to ending the conflict, Archduke Deyar Glabryn, Minister of the Treasury, assumed the mantle of prime minister, claiming that he was acting as regent until the proper succession could be determined. To many Llaelese citizens, the name Glabryn would soon become one of the most reviled in the nation’s history. Even as the prime minister worked to line his own pockets and increase his power—all the while showing no signs of abdicating in favor of any monarch, legitimate or otherwise—he was secretly working with Khadoran agents to undermine Llael’s defenses in preparation for the coming invasion.
In the winter of 604 AR, Khador attacked Llael in force. The war that followed was the most brutal that the citizens of Llael had ever known. The Khadorans were more than willing to slaughter defenseless noncombatants merely as an example to others, and after months of bloody conflicts and protracted sieges, Prime Minister Glabryn announced Llael’s surrender in 605 AR.
Khador took all of western Llael during the war, but portions of the south and east remained free from the Motherland’s soldiers, and pockets of Resistance fighters sprang up in even the most heavily occupied cities. Then, in late 606 AR, Hierarch Severius brought the armies of the Protectorate of Menoth’s Northern Crusade to Llael and offered the Llaelese Resistance a partnership. Together, Severius claimed, they could drive the Khadorans from the kingdom.
In 607 AR, the combined Protectorate of Menoth and Resistance forces recaptured the city of Leryn without firing a shot, as Severius undermined the city’s defenses from within by appealing to several Menite practitioners of the Old Faith among the Greylords Covenant. The relief of the Resistance fighters was short-lived, however, as Severius declared the city the capital of the Northern Crusade and burned its Khadoran governor alive in the town square. Despite promises to the contrary, the Llaelese Resistance had merely traded one occupying force for another.
Ironically, the events leading up to the Claiming ultimately freed Llael from its oppressors. As the wars across the continent persisted, the forces occupying Llael found themselves stretched thin. Severius took much of the Northern Crusade back to the south to defend Tower Judgment from the skorne, a battle in which he fell. When the infernals began to attack en masse, neither Khador nor the Protectorate of Menoth could continue holding out against the forces of the Resistance, and both began withdrawing troops to protect their own interests. Resistance fighters took back most of Llael bit by bit, but the land was changed forever, and the scars left behind by war will take years—if not generations—to heal.
GOVERNANCE
Shortly before the Claiming, a new contender for the Llaelese
throne appeared. Princess Kaetlyn di la Martyn had been
smuggled out of the country as a child and hidden for years,
first in Ord and then in Cygnar. In 614 AR, having finally
reached the age of majority and secured the backing of key
figures in both Cygnar and the Llaelese Resistance, she
returned to take the throne of a new, free Llael.
One of the first things Queen Kaetlyn did in the years following the Claiming was to cement the fledgling nation’s alliance with Ord by marrying King Baird’s grandson, Alvor Cathor. Unfortunately, Kaetlyn proved to be a weak queen, and her marriage was based on political expedience rather than love. Alvor generally remains in Ord, where he was rumored to have a mistress among the rival Mateu family.
SOCIETY
The Llaelese are a people proud of their culture—and a people
who have seen that culture crushed. Whereas the rest of the
continent reeled from the events of the Claiming, the people
of Llael had already been reeling, occupied by unyielding foes
and subjected to vicious cruelties the likes of which they had
not seen since the time of the Orgoth. Although a free Llael
was never entirely eradicated, it is impossible to say that
Llaelese culture entirely survived, either. Most of the nation’s
aristocracy is dead or so deep in hiding that they have yet to
be found, and countless citizens were lost to the Claiming
here, just as they were in other nations.
Llael has seen an influx of new citizens in the years since the Claiming, as well as an increase in trade with unlikely partners, including sporadic trade with the Trollkin kriels who make the nearby Glimmerwood their home. The strong relationship between Llael and Ord means that Ordic citizens come and go in the kingdom frequently, with some settling here. The nation also maintains strong trade ties with Cygnar and Rhul.
One key aspect of Llaelese society that has remained intact through all the wars and occupations is the Duello, a codified system of rules for conducting duels. Although duels are not unknown in other lands, Llael has refined them into an art form. Today, the stringent rules of the Duello survive even though most of the aristocracy has perished, but in the aftermath of recent cruelties, few Llaelese have the stomach to fight to the death.
Llael is the traditional home of the Order of the Golden Crucible. This important organization recently returned to the kingdom even though it remains headquartered in Ord, where it moved during the Khadoran occupation.
The Golden Crucible has reopened offices in Leryn and been embraced by Queen Kaetlyn despite reservations about its growing power and influence. There are those among the order’s ranks who believe the queen is biased in favor of the Llaelese chapter, where the Crucible Guard exerts much less influence than it does in the organization’s headquarters in Midfast.
As other nations rebuild, Llael has a chance to redefine itself. Whether it makes the most of that chance remains to be seen.
With no clear road to ending the conflict, Archduke Deyar Glabryn, Minister of the Treasury, assumed the mantle of prime minister, claiming that he was acting as regent until the proper succession could be determined. To many Llaelese citizens, the name Glabryn would soon become one of the most reviled in the nation’s history. Even as the prime minister worked to line his own pockets and increase his power—all the while showing no signs of abdicating in favor of any monarch, legitimate or otherwise—he was secretly working with Khadoran agents to undermine Llael’s defenses in preparation for the coming invasion.
In the winter of 604 AR, Khador attacked Llael in force. The war that followed was the most brutal that the citizens of Llael had ever known. The Khadorans were more than willing to slaughter defenseless noncombatants merely as an example to others, and after months of bloody conflicts and protracted sieges, Prime Minister Glabryn announced Llael’s surrender in 605 AR.
Khador took all of western Llael during the war, but portions of the south and east remained free from the Motherland’s soldiers, and pockets of Resistance fighters sprang up in even the most heavily occupied cities. Then, in late 606 AR, Hierarch Severius brought the armies of the Protectorate of Menoth’s Northern Crusade to Llael and offered the Llaelese Resistance a partnership. Together, Severius claimed, they could drive the Khadorans from the kingdom.
In 607 AR, the combined Protectorate of Menoth and Resistance forces recaptured the city of Leryn without firing a shot, as Severius undermined the city’s defenses from within by appealing to several Menite practitioners of the Old Faith among the Greylords Covenant. The relief of the Resistance fighters was short-lived, however, as Severius declared the city the capital of the Northern Crusade and burned its Khadoran governor alive in the town square. Despite promises to the contrary, the Llaelese Resistance had merely traded one occupying force for another.
Ironically, the events leading up to the Claiming ultimately freed Llael from its oppressors. As the wars across the continent persisted, the forces occupying Llael found themselves stretched thin. Severius took much of the Northern Crusade back to the south to defend Tower Judgment from the skorne, a battle in which he fell. When the infernals began to attack en masse, neither Khador nor the Protectorate of Menoth could continue holding out against the forces of the Resistance, and both began withdrawing troops to protect their own interests. Resistance fighters took back most of Llael bit by bit, but the land was changed forever, and the scars left behind by war will take years—if not generations—to heal.
GOVERNANCE
Shortly before the Claiming, a new contender for the Llaelese
throne appeared. Princess Kaetlyn di la Martyn had been
smuggled out of the country as a child and hidden for years,
first in Ord and then in Cygnar. In 614 AR, having finally
reached the age of majority and secured the backing of key
figures in both Cygnar and the Llaelese Resistance, she
returned to take the throne of a new, free Llael.
One of the first things Queen Kaetlyn did in the years following the Claiming was to cement the fledgling nation’s alliance with Ord by marrying King Baird’s grandson, Alvor Cathor. Unfortunately, Kaetlyn proved to be a weak queen, and her marriage was based on political expedience rather than love. Alvor generally remains in Ord, where he was rumored to have a mistress among the rival Mateu family.
SOCIETY
The Llaelese are a people proud of their culture—and a people
who have seen that culture crushed. Whereas the rest of the
continent reeled from the events of the Claiming, the people
of Llael had already been reeling, occupied by unyielding foes
and subjected to vicious cruelties the likes of which they had
not seen since the time of the Orgoth. Although a free Llael
was never entirely eradicated, it is impossible to say that
Llaelese culture entirely survived, either. Most of the nation’s
aristocracy is dead or so deep in hiding that they have yet to
be found, and countless citizens were lost to the Claiming
here, just as they were in other nations.
Llael has seen an influx of new citizens in the years since the Claiming, as well as an increase in trade with unlikely partners, including sporadic trade with the Trollkin kriels who make the nearby Glimmerwood their home. The strong relationship between Llael and Ord means that Ordic citizens come and go in the kingdom frequently, with some settling here. The nation also maintains strong trade ties with Cygnar and Rhul.
One key aspect of Llaelese society that has remained intact through all the wars and occupations is the Duello, a codified system of rules for conducting duels. Although duels are not unknown in other lands, Llael has refined them into an art form. Today, the stringent rules of the Duello survive even though most of the aristocracy has perished, but in the aftermath of recent cruelties, few Llaelese have the stomach to fight to the death.
Llael is the traditional home of the Order of the Golden Crucible. This important organization recently returned to the kingdom even though it remains headquartered in Ord, where it moved during the Khadoran occupation.
The Golden Crucible has reopened offices in Leryn and been embraced by Queen Kaetlyn despite reservations about its growing power and influence. There are those among the order’s ranks who believe the queen is biased in favor of the Llaelese chapter, where the Crucible Guard exerts much less influence than it does in the organization’s headquarters in Midfast.
As other nations rebuild, Llael has a chance to redefine itself. Whether it makes the most of that chance remains to be seen.
Geography
Situated at the feet of the mountainous dwarven nation of Rhul, Llael also shares borders with Khador, Cygnar, and the mysterious forests of Ios, making it the most centrally located realm in the Iron Kingdoms. This position has helped Llael thrive and made its merchants and aristocrats rich as a result of trade, but it has also placed the kingdom in the crosshairs of its larger neighbors, especially Khador.
Today, Llael enjoys the free-flowing trade that comes with more open borders, although the Iosans to the east have once again closed their nation to outsiders. Not even the occasional Seeker ventures out of the forest, and as dark rumors gather at the edges of the deep woods, what was once a nearly unguarded boundary is now watched warily by Llaelese forces.
Although Llael borders vast mountain peaks and trackless forests, the kingdom itself contains little of either, consisting primarily of rich, fertile plains broken up by limestone basins, rolling hills, and small stands of deciduous woodlands. In the south, near the capital city of Merywyn, the nation’s borders cut through the eerie Glimmerwood, a forest long considered cursed by the local populace. Named for patches of algae and lichen that grow on the trunks of its trees and glow with a ghostly blue light in the dusk, this wood is home to several Trollkin kriels who occasionally engage in trade with the Llaelese but do not welcome outsiders with open arms.
History
The War in the Sky
During the battle to liberate Llael, the skies above Merywyn
became a new front for warfare as Khadoran and Cygnaran
skyships clashed during the violent siege of the city. Although
Cygnar’s HMS Cloudpiercer and Khador’s Stormbreaker-class
skyships were powered by different means, both proved that
flying warships could be effective in battle. Despite the cost in
resources to manufacture these aircraft and the relatively new
technology that keeps them airborne, all of the Iron Kingdoms
have now turned their attention to the skies in the quest for
military supremacy, and those who do not yet have skyships of
their own toil to find ways to send their forces aloft.
Included Organizations
Related Ethnicities
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