Vulg
Vulg has only recently started to assert independence from Gaillard, about eight years ago. There are rumors that Gaillard’s King Maddthew III allowed the Vulgish to secede based on advice from the Daimn of the Brim. Or perhaps, due to the War of Empty Thrones, he didn’t wish to see his corner of the Splendid Kingdoms join the Carcass Nations in a terrible collapse.
Vulg’s economy is much the same as Gaillard’s, that is, mining, but they forfeited access to prime territory during the secession. Their chief cultural difference is in their form of government, having eschewed a monarchy for a council of nobles guided by a constitution. There are seven Councilors of Vulg. Four are men and three are women. The most powerful is Lord Nieland, who is known as First Councilor.
The governing body of Vulg is also noted as being quite a bit more harsh than that of Gaillard. While Maddthew III is somewhat enlightened as a ruler, the Councilors of Vulg seem to land on the more oppressive side of things. Once secession was complete, they set about passing a great many new laws, and the punishments for transgression are more severe than they used to be. Under the years of the Republic, many citizens would have simply left (now covered by statute 332.4, Divestment of Citizenship, punishable by public flogging and forfeiture of savings and assets), but these days, the horror stories going around make one think twice about seeking greener pastures in the Carcass Nations.
Military
Karlon, having won the grand prize of the Great Fair for his siege machine designs, has used Vulgish tax money and unlimited access to timber and iron to provide Vulg with hundreds of weapons. Some are small, such as repeating crossbows, and some are classic, such as ballistae and catapults. Karlon even designed a series of dams on the River Eld. Due to the vast volume of swift water coming down from The Shield Wall, these dams can temporarily hold and then release the water in devastating surges, making the river near Vulg nigh impossible to cross, and may dead gods weep for anyone trying to approach by riverboat.
In addition, the most impressive, deadly, and taint-your-nightmares-forever machines are known as the Thunderbell and the Thundermaw. The Thunderbell is an acoustic weapon, powered by a complicated series of heated air bellows and primed by blows from an iron hammer. It can be tilted in order to “aim” it toward enemies, and friendly forces should not be positioned down-mouth of the bell housing.
The Thunderbell uses Odic manipulation to create a vibration that not only deafens enemies on the field, it also drives them blind and mad. A single use of the Thunderbell will deafen, but plugging troops’ ears with wax will ameliorate this. After three to five blows, troops will be struck temporarily blind for up to an hour. After eight or nine blows, men will become mad, drop their weapons, flee hysterically or even attack each other. There is no mundane method to prevent these effects.
The Thundermaw is a rolling iron sphere that works extremely well going downhill, but only fair to middling on a flat plain (and is Od-damned useless going uphill). When the prototype was originally tested in battle, Karlon affectionately nicknamed it “Maw-Maw.” The Thundermaw is designed to snap open like an exploding, rusty iron flower and eat anyone close enough, crushing them in iron teeth and drawing the body into the interior. The Thundermaw can redirect itself with autonomy on a hill, zig-zagging as needed to catch prey. The only direction it cannot go is uphill. Furthermore, the more enemies it consumes, the faster it goes, until it reaches the bottom of the grade. At that point, it lies quiescent. However, it is still capable of snapping up more people if they get too close.
Foreign Relations
In the event of invasion by Vichy, Vulg will prefer to take a wait-and-see approach, to determine if Vichy will even make it across the Muse, so they are certainly not willing to contribute resources at such an early stage. If Vichy conquers a majority of the Splendid Kingdoms, the Councilors of Vulg will likely fold, though not without a fight. First Councilor Nieland has confidence in Vulg’s superior capability to resist a siege, but the other six Councilors know that Vulg cannot hold out forever without allies, or better offensive capability.