Kingdom of Northreach

INTRODUCTION

Far on the North-lands, amidst frozen pillars of ice and frigid piles of snow, sits the kingdom of Northreach, standing as an opposition to the ever-increasing hold of civilization.
After Eralon was founded, some men disliked the bustling city, preferring the peaceful quietude of the wilderness. When they spoke up about it, the governor of the city silenced and eventually banished them, fearing that the people would begin to leave the city in droves.
The exiled men wandered far to the north, eventually founding a city of their own, and called it Noruhald, with means "Hold in the North" in the common tongue. Although the city remained at peace with Eralon, deep grudges were held against its leaders.

TERRITORY

When the men from Eralon began to spread across the land, the men in the north, known simply as the "Northmen", followed suit. They established a number of smaller towns and villages, but never cities, preferring the quietude of village life. To this day, there are no major cities to be found anywhere within Northreach.
Northreach claims territory from the top of Tarkan in the north, to the river Avora in the south, and from the Dragon's tooth in the east to the Terrevern Coast in the west. Despite this enormous swath of land, only about 10% of it is actually settled.

TRADE

Northreach does not usually export much, preferring to keep what they have to themselves. On rare occasion, when they do export, they tend to ship out raw materials such as logs, stone, coal, and the occasional precious metal.
Northreach imports even less than it exports, for fear of ever relying on other kingdoms for its survival. If it does import, it does so with Westgate; for although they hate everything Westgate stands for, they have no problem taking her money.
On occasion, an independent wandering peddler may obtain a government issued license to do trade outside of the country. In this case, it often pedals odd knick-knacks and trinkets far outside of the country, in places such as the Barony of Aorn, Sa'hra, or even Eticia, beyond the Fell Spine.

GOVERNMENT

Northreach is broken up into 10 clans that each claim a swath of territory. These clans are headed by a clan elder, who oversees the affairs of that clan, and represents them at Council meetings.
Below the clan elders, each clan has three local elders which represent their tribe within the clan. These local elders meet in council with the clan elder to represent their tribes interests, so that he may take the interests of each tribe into account when at the Council of Elders.
Every fighting age male in Northreach (usually between the ages of 17 and 50) may be called up for service at any time. He brings his own weapons and equipment, which are stored in a baggage train until they are needed.