Faction: Gwynt

  • Gwynt

    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.


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