The Scepter (Nation)
In Faerun, on the eastern-most edge of the Spine of the World lies the upstart industrial haven called The Scepter. The Scepter is planted at the end of a powerful river known only by a bad translation of its old Elvish name, The Root of the Sea. Despite the northern chill, the valley itself resides over hot springs and mild volcanic activity that thaw the river and the frosted mountain peaks.
Though the history has been paved over, the valley where The Scepter rests was once home to a rare citystate, Elvenstone, one of the few Elven mining colonies that competed with Dwarven metalworkers of that era. Their unique mining process did little to disturb the topography, so not much trace of their operation was left, save for a few great mountain halls that were later made rat holes by bandits and wanderers. One vault crafted by the early Elven occupants, nicknamed The Dragon's Womb, has never been breached, and remains closed to present day.
In modern times, the ruins were occupied by enterprising bandits who saw the location as a perfect hub of safety for sea-side raids, with good protection from the steep mountain range on nearly all sides, but close access to major trade routes both on the seas and the roads.
Fear grew in the local cities of the bandit kingdom amassing, and the land was promised to those who could slay the bandits and restore order to the area (order of course meaning cooperation with the local towns) and the prize was easily won by a pair of notorious warlords known only as Yellow and Blue, brother and sister twins. Their victory was relatively bloodless and more of a regime change than anything. They set to work immediately to turn The Scepter into a center for profit, trade, and industry--more or less continuing the reign of terror over the local areas, but this time of a legal, economic kind. The cities that had set the bounty and reward profited greatly and made no more complaints.
Now, The Scepter is a bustling, independent, and highly insular metropolis, with heavily regulated exports, and generous imports of immigrants for labor. The heart of The Scepter is the capital city of Gavinlow.
Demographics
Human 60%
Dwarf 15%
Gnome 5%
Half-Elf 5%
Elf 4%
Half-Orc 3%
Halfling 2%
Other 6%
History
The history of the Scepter as an independent nation comes from its initial undesirability and uselessness. In the days 400 years BPE, it was a territory of the Sword Coast--back in the days when the Coast was united under one rule. Even then, the Coast did little to exercise control over the region, thinking it a useless icy wasteland, but desiring limited control over the few northern roads and access to what few fishing villages were south enough of the cold to avoid permafrost. They had no concept of the existing natives: the elves of Elvenstone, and the few ancient dwarven halls under the Spine.
The queen at the time, called Fiah Rapier used the territory as a way to appease her aging father's wishes that his inept son, Lord Chudrel Rapier, be granted a fiefdom, while also insuring the young man, who she found insufferable, would be out of her sight and mind for good without raising an outrage at court. For his fortieth birthday, Chudrel was granted lordship of the nameless river valley that would later become the Scepter.
Chudrel's rule was essentially over nothing more than a small fishing village, Dampreed, established as the seat of his power out of obligation. Several lords, craftsmen, and fisher families, were paid handsomely to fill the role of Chudrel's vassals. When bandits eventually routed the village, Chudrel cowered in the town, allowing them to carry on their business further north in the valley at the site where Gavenlow would be born. He paid the bandits a small tribute each time they passed and housed them at what would become the only successful establishment in the settlement, a bustling inn, Brigand's Respite, which still stands in the modern era where the River Roots first touches the warmth of the valley. The bandits found this pathetic local lord extremely amusing, and named him their Bandit Lord. In title only.
And history played out as it does, with Chudrel's rule forgotten in common knowledge, but recorded in the official documents at the court of the Sword Coast, which, when disbanded as a nation, was given to the census takers and record keepers of the librarians in Beregost on the Sword Coast. The librarians continued the record keeping, though, and sent an emissary to Chudrel's town once a year to update the royal lineage and record of ownership and relative growth of the valley.
In this way, the Sword Coast became the official, (and technically uncontested) documented owner of what is now the thriving metropolis of the Scepter and Gavenlow. The Sword Coast in modern times, however, has no capital and is no true kingdom, so there is no one in place to demand tribute of its most valuable and powerful asset, no one to call for its armies when war comes, and no one to request representatives at council to discuss business of state.
This is likely for the best, as it seems unlikely that Gavenlow would respond with anything better than a hardy scoff.
Alternative Name(s)
Elvenstone
Type
National Territory
Population
59,112
Inhabitant Demonym
Scepts
Location under
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Related Tradition (Primary)
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