Thyssenmark

"And now, we come to the land of the esteemed House of Thyssen. Despite its noble providence, it has little to recommend to it. The only "civilized" areas are smoke-choked mining towns filled with gruff red-bearded folk barely capable of speaking Holmgardian. Take care when venturing outside the walls, lest you be snagged by bramblevines, trip over a haunted ruin, or fall down a dark chasm. If you must visit Thyssen, an audience in the Ferronite Hall is most agreeable, as Jormund von Thyssen's home grants a commanding view over the commoners, and his chef's smoked bristleboar is most succulent."
- August von Plock's Guide to the Empire

Thyssenmark, one of the provinces of the Holmgardian Empire, is a desolate, ragged land of ancient ruins, canyons, and gnarled forests. Wedged between the Orochasian mountains to the east and south, the Obsidian Hills to the north, and the dense Drakwald to the west, Thyssenmark is a remote, sparsely populated region.
Thyssenmark is known for three things: steel, ruins, and ghosts. Around the isolated walled towns of the region, great quantities of ore are ripped from the earth to feed the Empire's smithies. Yet as a region that holds many ruined Valmeric settlements, it is now a land haunted by the ghosts of dead elves. The people here are dour, xenophobic, and superstitious, placing amulets of warding and other charms all around their homes. Occasionally, adventurers hired by the Imperial College of Wizards explore the ruins here to bring back obscure artifacts for study. Few others venture beyond the confines of their villages. Beyond these confines however, is a vast expanse of rugged, ancient wilderness possessing a natural beauty of fearsome aspect.
Yet recent events have proven pivotal in reshaping the fate of this once quiet backwater. Refugees from the War of the Broken Crypt have founded new, cosmopolitan settlements, at odds with the existing order.

Points of Interest

Thyssen
The principal city and namesake of the region is Thyssen, named after the ubiquitous Thyssen family that dominates the entire region. The Thyssens hold a monopoly on the iron industry across the Empire and are fabulously rich as a result. Ruling from their ancestral home of Ferronite Hold, a rust coloured stone fortress straddling a waterfall, the Thyssens have a reputation for being highly paternalistic, if benevolent overlords. Margrave Jormund III demands absolute obedience and hard work from his subjects, providing reasonable accommodations and stable governance in return. The city of Thyssen proper is a grid of identical low, stone buildings and smelters constructed around lake Ferronite, the shores stained red with iron oxide.
Prythian
Nestled in the secluded mountains of the northern Fang and the wastes of Agolmar, the secretive mountain home of Prythian was founded in an effort to rekindle the lost civilization of the Dwarves. Though it quickly expanded, the knowledge of its location is still a closely guarded secret. Visitors and immigrants are flagged down in border outposts, blindfolded, and led to the brass gates of the stronghold, where they are sworn to secrecy. Yet those who have visited tell of a city ruled by queens and noblewoman, a hall of wonders with underground ziggurats and a thousand lamps of brass.
Neuheim
The newly built city of Neuheim stands as a symbol of the Karlian renaissance. Constructed mainly out of basalt, it juts defiantly above the surrounding plains like a manmade mountain. Founded by a mixture of refugees from Aufheim and the Barrowmark, it has become a beacon of tolerance in an otherwise regressive time. Yet the mental state of its ruler is said to be slipping as of late.
Aufheim
Once a rival to Thyssen, Aufheim was sacked in the raids of 684 and abandoned. Its scorched ruins stand as a stark reminder of the rivalry between man and orc.

Culture

Thysseners are known for a few peculiar customs. The men dye grow their beards long, dying them a rusty red colour, and tend to wear heavy overalls and sturdy leather garments. Most of them have at least some experience with metallurgy, as many commoners work around the mines or the smithies. Even the poorest folk have metal cutlery, cups, and carry food around in iron boxes. They tend to be highly organized, following a strictly regimented schedule and organizing their lives around the blowing of whistles at predetermined intervals. Similarly, they are also martially inclined, and nearly all folk have experience with a warpick and bow; in battle, Thyssener militia travel in wagons, forming them into a Wagenberg from which they fire crossbows and other projectiles. It is said elsewhere that Thysseners are more dwarf than man, though they would take this as a grave insult. The people of Thyssenmark have a famous rivalry with those of Middenheim, viewing them as ungrateful, exploitative overlords, whereas Middenheimers caricature Thyssenmarkers as inbred, godless yokels.
Cuisine in this part of the Empire is defined by bold flavours, heavily reliant on smoked meat and dairy products. The meat of the bristleboar, a particular aggressive spine-covered creature the size of a bear, is particularly prized. Meat is typically smoked over burning branches of dark wood, then slow-roasted over a steel grate in a technique called koerkog. Meat is typically topped by rich, yoghurt based sauces. The most famous regional beverage is called borak - a type of black liqueur made from distilled stout. Beer here is often drank out of articulated straws connected to hats attached with sealed off horns, allowing the user to imbibe copious amounts of alcohol with minimal use of their hands.

Geography

The land is bounded by the Orochasian mountains and related landforms on three sides. To the east, Thyssenmark technically has a border with Lumeris, though the Orochasians are such a formidable obstacle that it is in effect, walled off from the elves. To the south, the river Blackburn and the southern Fang of the Orochasians make a natural barrier between Thyssenmark and the halfling fief of Lorheim (Lorian). The Northern fang insulates the province from the hostile petty kingdom of Kharaal-Bek, while the expansive Drakwald to the west separates it from Middenheim.
The land itself is varied and rugged, as if Tyr himself churned it up with a great plow. Countless ravines, sinkholes, and rocky outcroppings make travel here difficult. The land is divied up into three major valleys by the hills of the High Moors and the fangs of the Orochasians, so that each area has its own unique customs. Within these valleys (the Ferronite, Blackburn, and Eormir), agriculture is possible in terrace farms and the few plains that exist here.
Water is supplied by three rivers; the Eormir, a natural border with Drakenheim, the Ferron, more of a polluted stream, and the Blackburn, the border with Lorheim.
Winters here are harsh, and like most of the Northern Empire, dominated by unpredictable, freak blizzards and lightning storms alternating with periods of unseasonably warm weather and snowmelt.

History

Long ago, this region was controlled by several Valmeric city states which fiercely resisted the rise of humanity. In the Valmeric wars of the 1st century, these were utterly laid to ruin, their peoples dispersed, and their monuments left to crumble. Their numbers never great to begin with, and with far better lands to flee to the south, the region was entirely depopulated, and nature reclaimed the marble halls and delicate towers of the elffolk.
Gradually, human settlers colonized the wastes, and rich supplies of iron ore were discovered. At the new settlements of Thyssen, Esbern and Aufheim, great smelters were raised to feed the insatiable demand of the Empire for cold steel. These settlements were owned by fiercely independent noble houses which made war on each other for many years. Eventually, the losers were exiled to the wraith-haunted wilderness, where few ventured, and they became known as the Greylanders - cave-dwelling nomads feared by the locals.
For centuries Thyssenmark was a peaceful backwater, but in the year of 684, bands of orcish refugees, fleeing a civil war, migrated into the region. Despite the best efforts of their leader to negotiate with the Empire, Margrave Jormund von Thyssen declared a Crusade against the orcs, and the refugees were put to the sword. He then led an army of 4,000 housecarls into the borderlands near Frostfang pass, ravaging the orcish settlements there and giving no quarter. Declaring a glorious victory, he led a booty-laden caravan back towards Thyssen. Yet in the rugged terrain, his army became disordered, his marching line overextended. Group of warg riders from the north, seeking vengeance, began harrying his caravan, which was ambushed piecemeal. With only 500 men left, the Margrave fled to the safety of Thyssen's walls. But Aufheim was not so lucky.
The orcs launched a retaliatory strike on Aufheim, and with the aid of earth magic, destroyed its walls. The town was destroyed, sparking a refugee crisis and fears of an orcish invasion. Yet these events were soon overshadowed by the war in the south. One of the survivors of Aufheim would go on to be one of Emperor Karl's greatest confidantes...

Thyssen and Krup
Thyssenmark owes its namesake to Bajer Thyssen, a half-dwarven adventurer who lead a team of 500 colonists - much of whom were his extended family - to the iron rich bluffs around the depopulated lands southeast of Drakenhelm in the 2nd century HR. Finding rich veins of ore beneath a waterfall, he established a settlement and promptly named it after himself. He was named the Jarl of Thyssen by Lothar the Great, and soon established profitable mining operations there. But a second band of colonists soon arrived - that of Bajer Thyssen's archrival, Esbern Krup. 
The region became a hotbed of conflict as the two families began fighting each other through industrial sabotage, assassination, and sometimes outright war. House Thyssen and House Krup fought each other for centuries, with occasional interventions from the imperial government. In the 5th century, House Thyssen remained supreme, driving House Krup from their home to live in the wilderness. The fallen house of Krup became known as the "Greylanders" - barbaric, cave-dwelling nomads known for ambushing the occasional iron shipment. 
In the years since, House Thyssen has consolidated its power, becoming a totalitarian syndicate that all commoners work for, buy goods from, and pay protection money to. House Thyssen and its network are based in the Ferronite Hall, a great castle astride a waterfall overlooking the town of Thyssen. Despite their dubious morals, the imperial government views House Thyssen with high regard for their efficient management and loyalty, and Jormund Thyssen is an Elector of the realm.