Not Current 1782 Fluff.
As with all of the original nations of Alwyd before the usurper Alykinder appeared, Coftyr is ruled
by a King. The current regent is Chyyldryc mir Myrvvn the Third, in the sixteenth year of his reign.
The King is the ultimate authority and undisputed ruler of the Kingdom of Coftyr, though he leaves
much of the day-to-day operation of city-states and provinces to a trusted cadre of Princes and
Governor-Generals. In addition to these constituent entities, there are also a handful of Principalities
within the borders of Coftyr proper. Ostensibly free and independent countries of their own, each of
these Principalities—and the regents that rule them—recognize Coftyr as their sovereign, pay taxes to
the Crown, and enjoy the King’s protection.
Foremost among these is the Principality of Gwynt. Like so many of the myriad cultures of
quar across Alwyd, the Gwyntish national identity is heavily influenced by the local geography.
Much of northern inland Coftyr is mountainous, riddled with deep ravines and impassable granite
cliffs, and the Principality of Gwynt is no exception. Small and geographically isolated, the Principality
nonetheless boasts both great mineral wealth and strategic importance to the Crown, advantages that
have afforded its inhabitants great privilege and relative autonomy among Coftyr’s subjects.
Originally settled by loggers and trappers exploiting the natural wealth of the Afon Wir river
valley and the Booz—deep woods sprung up from its floodplains—Gwynt initially struggled as
a backwater workers camp. It was not until gold was discovered in the hills and riverbeds of the
headwaters of the Afon Aur that Gwynt began its ascendance. In those days, the Kingdom of Coftyr
was much smaller and weaker, and its claims to the lands to its north and east were tenuous at best.
By the time the weak Coftyr kings were replaced and the Kingdom of Coftyr expanded its borders,
Gwynt was a kingdom of great wealth. This wealth made the minute kingdom an attractive target for
Coftyran expansion, but here too the local geography rewarded the Gwyntish quar.
Access to the Gwyntish plateau and the deep Booz forest was restricted to a narrow pass
through the mountains to the north. Called the Kyllkonek—The Neck, in the local dialect—it was
the only place for hundreds of miles east or west where beasts of burdens or wagons could make
the journey. It was not until centuries later, after extensive improvements were made to make the
Afon Aur navigable this far upstream, that southern Gwynt was reachable by any other means than
the Kyllkonek. No fewer than four Coftyran armies broke themselves attempting to invade Gwynt
through the pass, wrecked upon an ancient ring of fortifications built into the walls of the Neck and
a large wedge of rock called the Zaadyl. Just south of the opening of the pass, the Zaadyl was dozens
of feet higher than the surrounding ground and bristled with guns. That most of those guns were
crewed by Toulmorese and Maer Braech mercenaries was a fact not lost upon the Coftyrans, who
made it widely known that eventually the Zaadyl would fall, and when it did, any foreigner found
among its defenders could forget any hope of clemency or ransom. When the fifth army appeared at
the mouth of the Kyllkonek, the Gwyntish king, deprived of the bulk of his defenders, rode out to
meet the Coftyran Syrnols himself. It took months of negotiating, but eventually a deal was struck,
and the Principality of Gwynt was born.