The Baronies of Upir

"The rotten place you'd call my home can go to hell for all I care. There's simply no joy. The next best thing you can hope for is terror if you're lucky enough to be a sadist, but normally it's just soul-crushing boredom and monotony. And they wonder why I snapped."
-Ivan Vezkovik

Intro

The Baronies of Upir are an antiquated set of semi-autonomous regions, most of which are within the Harpsbilgian sphere of influence. They are strictly feudal with defined social rankings from birth. Upirites are a particularly superstitious folk, and for good reason, the region has a history of being the origin place of a number of terrifying monsters.

Geography

Upir is located northeast of the Crown Ocean, straight west of Sin Oro. It occupies a roughly 1000 square mile coastal region on the same continent as Harpsbilge and Timberwelsh, though a fair bit further north. The landscape is primarily boreal forests, interspersed with large plains, perfect for farming. The lands are often covered in downpours or dreary mist, so clear weather is uncommon.

History

The Baronies of Upir go back nearly 2000 years, to around -1000 HB. Local legend has it that the first Viscounts were all from the Vezkovik family, an elite and secretive noble family. Supposedly, the Vezkoviks were fair and noble rulers who used the Viscount position to better the lives of all within the region.
All was well until Ivan Vezkovik stepped onto the throne. Ivan was cruel and uncaring towards others. He inherited the position not because he wished to, but simply because he was firstborn. He spent all his time pursuing reckless self-interest, and the barons saw that he needed to be corrected. They staged countless interventions, but Ivan turned a cold shoulder to them each time.
Ivan eventually grew sick of their harassment and decided to shut them up once and for all. He invited all the successors to a banquet and served them wine. When they tasted the wine they realized it was blood. Ivan informed them that he had killed their parents and served them the blood, and warned that this is what happens when one disturbs him. The new Barons and Baronesses, shocked and horrified at their parents' deaths, cursed Ivan to be forced to rule for 1000 years and to have to consume the blood of all those he loved. Ivan loved nobody, so was instead turned into the first vampire and made to rule the Vezkov Barony for the next millennia. That millennia ended 124 years ago, and he has not been seen in the region since.
Since then the position of Viscount has been passed from baron to baron, never getting into the hands of the Vezkovik house.
In more recent years, the baronies have slowly fallen into the Harpsbilgian sphere of influence. Most barons are staunch allies of Harpsbilge thanks to some bribery and some indoctrination from a young age. Those not subservient to Harpsbilge often end up warring with their neighbours or even with Harpsbilge themselves. Recently the Vezkovik Barony, previously controlled by the Viscount, has been invaded by Harpsbilge and is now an official territory. This has sparked concerns among the rest of the barons if Harpsbilge intends to do the same to them.

Governance

There are 22 baronies in the Upir region, each small enough to be ruled by a single Baron or Baroness and their family. Society is strictly feudal, with the baron on top, noble families below them, merchant families below them, knights below them, and peasants below them. Each presents money or service to the tier above them and the same to the tier below them.
All the barons answer to a single Viscount. The Viscount holds little more power than a normal baron, save for the fact that they alone hold the power to call all the barons to meet at Bezny Palace, a neutral place and the traditional seat of the Viscount. The Viscount position rotates every five years, passing from baron to baron in a set rotation. During this time, the baron will set aside their position as head of the house, giving it to their spouse or firstborn child until their term as Viscount expires. The current Viscount, who has thus far served 2 years, is Ratimir Chekotovich.

Inhabitants

The inhabitants of Upir are mostly human, though for some all is not as it appears. Upir is known to have outbreaks of lycanthropy within its borders. Additionally, one Barony is known to hold a number of changelings - and the ruling family is even suspected to have been replaced.
Nonhumans do exist within the baronies, but they are few and far between and are generally treated with initial fear and distrust.

Culture

The family is of key importance to the culture of the baronies. If you don't belong to a family then you are treated like trash because it's assumed you were either kicked out, or you aren't worthwhile enough to find somebody to love you. Families typically hold members of three to four generations. Marriage is expected to be between a man and a woman, though the attitude is generally uncaring if two people of the same gender marry as long as they still have children with members of the opposite sex.
Upirites also value the idea of hard work. It doesn't particularly matter how productive somebody is being, they should be working at least ten hours a day. It's believed that if somebody isn't able to handle the long hours they would never be able to handle caring for their family and are thus shunned. The byproduct of this attitude is that intellectual professions generally don't flourish in this society outside of the nobility, where this attitude is more relaxed.

Founding Date

Circa -1000 HB

Demonym

Upirite

Government System

Oligarchy

Power Structure

Feudal state

Neighboring Nations

• Sin Oro