County of Ferrous Valley

When established, the County of Ferrous Valley was built around a modest iron mine at a point where demand for iron was especially high. Now that mine is long since tapped out, so the County of Ferous Valley is named for something that essentially no longer exists.

by me with Midjourney

The realm is one of the poorest Counties in all of Swynfaredia and this galls the Countess who believes a daughter of House Numaness deserves much better. She loathes the fact that she has gained the nickname, the Countess of Rust.
She is an outspoken supporter of the queen's military ambitions in Fumaya and is clearly hoping to carve out a new realm for herself and her heirs.

Government

The county is a feudal realm tied to Duchy of Crescent Rock.
This is one of the few counties in Crescent that doesn't practice slavery, goblin or otherwise. The Countess allows others to move slaves over her land as long as they don't linger and that their owners pay her a small fee.

Industry & Trade

Like most places in Scarterra, most of the peasants are farmers. Most of the surplus supports the Countess and her retainers. The Countess usually pays her feudal obligations in timber and peat and her earns her very modest income by selling the excess.

History

The Duchy of Crescent Rock was known as the Duchy of the Lanterns when it was under control of Talama before Swynfaredia annexed Talama.
The old "Duchy of the Lanterns" had four counties and the current "Duchy of Crescent Rock" has five because the Swynafaredia wanted to give many nobles a piece of the pie. After musical chairs, the County of Ferrous Valley ended up with the short end of the stick.
Ferrous Valley is the only one of the new counties that did not inherit a preexisting county castle from the previous regime. They had to build a new castle from scratch, but the ground is relatively soft here in all but a few places, the realm had to make due with a modest castle.
The Swynfaredias believed this was a "luke warm mine" and that it would replenish at least once every fifty years and it has been well over a hundred years since the last ore surge.

Bendek by Eron12 on Hero Forge

"I like to believe that Hallisan himself has chosen to shut down this mine and that if and when we liberate Talama, the Divine Master of Metal will allow this mine to prosper again."
Sir Bendek Deorac, adventuring knight

Points of interest

Not much is interesting. Peat bogs and a boarded up mine. The Countess has had the mine searched thoroughly for a reliable entrance into Scarnoctis and couldn't even find that.

Geography

Most of the Duchy of Crescent Rock is dominated by gently rolls hills covered in forests and farms.
As the name Ferrus Valley implies, the elevation of this county is a bit lower than the other four, acting as somewhat of a bowl.
The lower elevation actually makes the interior of "the bowl" a little swampy which makes it harder to build in the area and makes the farming less productive.

Climate

The realm is temperate with hot summers and cold winters.

Natural Resources

The farming is okay, but not great, actually slightly less efficient than other counties of in the Duchy of Crescent Rock not counting Klarica County which has to deal with a contaminated water supply.
This is the only county in the Duchy that doesn't have a productive mine or magic font providing an obvious export and nice income stream for the ruler. The realm does have peat bogs, which is a unique resource, but it is not have as little consolation to the ruling Countess who feels she dserves something much better.

Type

National Territory

Location under

Duchy of Crescent Rock

Ruling/Owning Rank

Countess of Ferrus Valley

Owning Organization

House Numaness