Werben

The crown jewel and capital of the Kingdom of Arran, Werben stands as a sprawling urban city at the absolute heart of the region. The fortress of the Blackrock overlooks the city, hosting the professional army of the kingdom, while the rest of the city is wedged between the Leben and Bost rivers, using them as natural barriers to protect against threats. Surrounded by endless fields of wheat, the surrounding crownlands extend south to the breadbasket of Homfe, with its entire length fertile and abundant farmland. The massive food production has allowed the city to grow so large, hosting citizenry from across the kingdom and elsewhere, with practically all races and creeds represented among its number. Trade is the lifeblood of the city, with several large markets allowing visitors to find anything they seek. The King of Arran surveys his realm from the Blackrock, holding court in the imposing fortress itself.

Politics

The city is ruled by King Berengar, who holds Werben and its hinterlands as his own personal demesne. As such an important city, and the seat of the king, Werben hosts an assortment of diplomats from various rivals in their own embassies, as well as a stunning collection of noble estates, which are considered a fashionable thing for even the most far-flung gentry to possess. Competition is fierce for the finest ones, and neighbourhoods are harshly judged based on who resides where. All of these figures crowd into the king’s court in the Blackrock, swarming the throne room to watch audiences and intrigue against one another. With such a large and unwieldy court, it is no surprise that the king himself is often the target of these schemes, making his recent misfortunes in creating an heir all the more frustrating and public. He and his closest councillors have begun to suspect some in the court of plotting to undermine the throne and somehow make him impotent, but with so many suspects it is hard to narrow them down. The mood in the court has lately turned tense as fewer are welcomed into his galleries and Berengar grows angrier.

In the rest of the city, authority lies with the city watch, a semi-professional force that metes out justice and order amongst the citizenry. Its leaders stem from the wealthy merchant classes, third sons and the like who must make their own way in the world. The nobility of the city and beyond prefers to serve in the King’s army, and do not deign to lower themselves to policing the peasantry. Aside from this city watch, individual nobles govern certain regions of the city, titled as barons, who are responsible for the well-being of neighbourhoods. These figures tend to be extraordinarily corrupt, and work with the watch to remain in power. This makes the city a patchwork of justice, with rules and influential figures completely changing across just a few streets.

Groups

The City Watch

The City Watch of Werben is an almost exclusively peasant staffed militia, defending the city from external and internal threats. Acting as a police force of sorts, they patrol the markets to quell unrest and crime, having sweeping authority to enforce as they see fit the rules and dictates of the various barons in the city. If these barons are the petty kings of the city, the city watch acts as their enforcers, pushing their own private agendas and enjoying the same benefits of their corruption. As such, their justice is often uneven and arbitrary, with individual officers very selective in their enforcement of it. Nonetheless, the watch plays a major role in the city and is very respected in those few neighbourhoods where they practice some form of due process. With such a defender of the people, it should come as little surprise that crime is rampant within some parts of Werben, kept just below the levels where it would draw too much attention from the true overlords of the city.

Nocker

In addition to the levies drawn from his Dukes, the King of Arran also commands a professional retinue, housed in his fortress of the Blackrock. This force is quite large, spreading into surrounding keeps as well, creating a net of defence around the city. The majority is conscripted peasantry from the city, trained and invested in to become elevated beyond a typical militia. Its officers are made up of local nobles, offering a more permanent path to title for many than their lives in a barony. The host is scattered around a series of keeps near Werben, with much of its might concentrated in the Blackrock itself. Primarily used to quell rebellions, the retinue is a powerful deterrent against upstart dukes. The force is often led by a trusted commander, though the King will typically take command in the field.

Landmarks

The Blackrock

The Blackrock is a fortress in Werben and the seat of King Berengar in the region. Built with the help of the Dwarves, the rocks were mined of an immensely hard black granite, more durable than most stone. Fitted together with the craftsmanship of the old Dwarves, the rocks form an almost sheer surface, with cracks barely visible between the massive boulders. Its walls have proven resistant to various siege equipment throughout the years, the black stone remaining unscathed. Among the populace, the fortress is widely believed to be indestructible. The city of Werben stretches out below, surrounded by its own curtain walls that link up to the Blackrock, encircling it and hugging the riverbanks. Its neighbourhoods have swelled beyond the walls, yet they still rise imposing from the urban sprawl. The citadel in the Blackrock occupies a slight hilltop that overlooks the plains around it, a once ancient hillfort upgraded and surviving into the modern day.

Personalities

King Berengar, King of Arrans

His reign has been stable and relatively peaceful, and yet King Berengar is rarely described as more than a fine king, average and mediocre. Affection without kindness, generosity without charity and temperance without restraint round out his qualities. Most of his rule has been about allaying the fears and problems of his dukes, ensuring that they are satisfied to create a stable realm. In this endeavour he has been successful, and despite his lack of distinct virtues, is considered a fairly benevolent King. The biggest scandal to plague him, and perhaps his only true shortcoming in the role, is his inability to produce a true heir. His past wives have died in childbirth, bearing him only daughters. Queen Katerina, his current wife and junior of over thirty years, has continued this legacy, with three being born over their decade together. The issue has slowly consumed the King, growing to dominate his temper. As age weighs on him the topic grows particularly sensitive, easily pushing Berengar into a foul mood. In his youth a strong and capable knight, his perceived impotence has enfeebled him, making him pudgy and soft as his age advances. A graying man in his sixties, his hair thins to balding beneath the crown. Paunch pads his muscles everywhere, accumulated from years of feasts and banquets. He his still tall, however, and carries the added weight with a regal confidence. His face is ironically gaunt and wrinkled, the stress of his situation aging him beyond his years.

Princess Agnise, the Lioness

Unofficial heir to the Kingdom, Agnise is well worthy of the crown. A tall and strong woman of twenty, She is neither the oldest or most influential of her sisters. And yet she has distinguished herself particularly well as a leader, studying stewardship and warfare from her father’s councillors. All of her tutors have remarked at her quick study, and her devotion to Arran institutions makes her a patriotic favourite. She spent much of her teen years in the crusader state of Dobruja, fighting Orcs along the Bolgra river. Here she again set herself apart, as comfortable in front of soldiers as she is at court. Several dukes have gone out of their way to watch the young princess, probing her quality and assessing her suitability as a potential ruler. Agnise is nearly six feet tall, and well-muscled due to her time soldiering. She is lean and youthful, her movement showing off a relentless energy. Her hair is brown and cut short, or otherwise braided.

Leutke, Heir of Arran

The presumed heir to the Kingdom of Arran, Leutke is a controversial figure within the realm. Son of King Berengar’s younger brother Richel, Leutke has been raised in royal luxury. Little was expected from him as a boy, his education brief and incomplete. Study never drew his attention, taking instead to carousing. As a teen, he cultivated a reputation for extravagant mischief, stretching his exploits across lengthy binges of partying with friends. With the king advancing in age, the reality that Leutke may be the next king has only emboldened his behaviour. Pushing the limits of hospitality and decency, he has made himself an unwelcome guest at most major noble estates across the Kingdom, relying on his name and the intervention of the King to keep himself out of trouble. He shirks his responsibilities to stewards, which is perhaps for the best. His judgements are often cruel and arbitrary, causing many to worry about the future of the realm. Leutke is average height, with a decent head of black hair. His face is youthful, despite being in his mid-thirties. A smug smile is often on his face, while his eyes flash with sharp wit and guile.

Othmar, Nocker Commander

The Nocker was once a much different beast than it is today. Atttacting nobles from across the kingdom, its membership was mostly powerful men from every corner of the realm, breeding political discontent as they grew stronger next to the crown. This came to a head with thr usurpation of the crown by the King's cousin, igniting a long civil conflict to see the rightful heir back on the throne. Rather than abolish the Nocker, reforms were put in place to see it more manageable. Urban Peasantry were conscripted and trained, hoping to equal the martial might of knights without the ambition. Nobles were retained as officers, though membership was restricted to lower level nobility. The key tenet was a shift in lesdership, barring the royal family from holding command. Instead the role was given to loyal and proven soldiers within the force itself, promoting from within to inspire loyalty. The current commander, Othmar, is one such man. Fiercely loyal to the crown, he was knighted by the king himself as a teenager. Since then, he has devoted his life to the throne and its protection. A man of average height, Othmar is nearly broad as he is tall. His manners are that of a soldier, with a gruff and raspy way of speaking. A twisted scowl dragged upwards by a scar gives him a sinister appearance.

Johan Tiefin, Primate of Koraldur

The faith of Koraldur is easily the most established and powerful cult in the Kingdom of Arran, and even beyond. Its worshippers made up the bulk of the crusades against the Orcs in the Midlands, but even before these conquests they held plenty of holdings in their home kingdom. Their influence extends into Premyslid, where several keeps and fortified abbeys spread the word of their god among the populace. A majority of knightly orders in Arran are at least nominally devoted to the god, following the designs and machinations of Koraldur’s cult. At the head of this entire system is the Primate, Koraldur’s chief priest and easily the most powerful religious figure in the world. From his grand cathedral in Werben he governs and guides his followers as he chooses, exerting political will to try and shift situations to the cult’s benefit. Johan Tiefin is the current primate, an older man who only recently took over the role from his predecessor. He has been a regular figure in the King’s court, playing a role of spiritual advisor and providing his enormous military might to support the King’s decisions. All of this is to encourage the king to outlaw the offshoot Bright Hundreds group, a radical band of extremists that is rapidly chipping away at the main cult’s support base. Fearing a potential civil war, or losing ground in some sort of religious coup, Johan is being forced to move against the zealots, thus far falling short of outright labelling them as heretics. He is short, with balding brown hair. He has a kind face, with a somewhat large nose dominating his features.