Newcastle Primer

Geography and Politics

Your characters all live inside the borders of the former Kingdom of Rivenark, which was ruled by the Riven Clan. This kingdom fell apart nearly four hundred years ago and splintered into a few different countries.

The largest piece of this former kingdom is the Grand Duchy of Armandy, currently ruled byArchduke Jonn II. After the fall of Rivenark, the central region was divided into many Duchies. After centuries of conflict, Armandy finally swallowed up almost all of its rivals and became a Grand Duchy, demoting all of the other Dukes to Earls. You lived in Salisburg, under Earl Brannwho wanted to break away from Armandy. He failed, and as members of his army you were told to either join the Archduke's army or leave in exile.

The Grand Duchy of Armandy accounts for half of the former territory of Rivenark.

In the East, there is the Republic of Novocastria, which is the formal term for the city-state of Newcastle. Many people in the city refer to it as Novocastria, because it sounds more refined. After leading the rebellion against the Riven Clan, this region, which accounts for about a third of the former kingdom, did away with its aristocracy. It is led by Executor Malthus, a General Assembly, and a High Court. All of the surrounding villages in the region are run by Town Councils, and they pay taxes to Novocastria in exchange for protection and services, unlike the system of Lords you're used to in Armandy. Not everyone is happy with this experiment, however. As you saw in Bristol, support can come slowly or not at all to the farthest reaches. Part of the problem is that the city is very insular, as you'll find out.

Neither the Grand Duchy of Armandy nor the Republic of Novocastria have borders the way you and I think of them. There are many pockets of independence that exist because it's impossible for their armies to completely enforce rule. For example, the elves of Flamewood forest are within Novocastria's region of influence, but only a fool would say they are under its rule. TheGold dwarves of Redstone Watch also operate independently though they maintain good relations with the Republic. They are equally loyal to the Gold dwarf Khans that rule over the great dwarven fortresses of Rajan.

The Sultanates of Rajan lie far across the desert to the East, and is rarely thought about except as a source of trade.

People of Novocastria

Humans are the most prevalent inhabitants of the land. Humans once associated themselves with clans, but today they mainly identify themselves by their place of birth or their political attachments. Beyond town or village, humans in Armandy think of themselves in terms of who their Lords are, from the Archduke down to the local Knights. Humans in Novocastria consider themselves to be citizens of their nearest city, in the case of Newcastle proper, or town, in the case of Bristol. The idea of citizenship is new, and hard for many to define. A few Rajani humans live in the city as merchants, and they hail from the Sultanates of Rajan to the East.

Most humans are farmers, but they occupy every strata of society, particularly at the top. They make up 78% of the city population.

Half-elves are very common in Novocastria. When the Kingdom of Rivenark was founded, the Moonshadow clan of elves was conquered and brought into the kingdom. Over time, human blood diluted the elf population. The half-elves of the city identify themselves by family and surname, but they consider themselves collectively to be the descendants of the Moonshadows. Half-elves from other lands or the children of humans and elves do exist, but they are a small minority. Because of the liaison between the goblins of the Red Hand and the last kings of Rivenark, elves and half-elves were once heavily persecuted and even enslaved. The last four hundred years have dispelled many of those old opinions, but some humans will occasionally flare up with anti-elf sentiment when they feel threatened by half-elf success. Established families of half-elves live in the Moonshadow area of the city, which was once a ghetto for half-elves but is now a high-rent neighborhood. Other families live scattered in the city, wherever they can afford to be.

Half-elves are charismatic and resilient. They tend to be clerks, lawyers, bureaucrats, alchemists, herbalists, and guardsman. They account for 15% of the city's population.

Dwarves make up the next largest minority in the city. There are two types of dwarves that live in Novocastria. Shield dwarves are light-skinned dwarves that often have blonde or red hair. They hail from the mountains to the West. Various families of Shield dwarves have lived and worked in Novocastria for hundreds of years. They tend to be artisans, smiths, and foundry workers who live in the Forge or the Scrabble neighborhoods. Many humans who work as artisans and smiths have adopted Shield dwarf culture, such as the worship of Moradin the Crafter and their peculiar accents.

Shield dwarves make up half of the dwarven population of the city, and the other half are Gold dwarves. Gold dwarves hail from the the East. They have dark skin and dark hair, and wear rich clothing in the Rajani style.. Their metalcraft and woodcraft is the finest in the land, but most of the Gold dwarves in Novocastria are merchants. They trade finely crafted goods mainly for agricultural products, which resell at a premium along the desert frontier that separates Rajan and Novocastria. Their most established settlement is to the northeast in Redstone Watch, where they mine and protect their trade routes.

Whether they are Shield dwarf artisans or Gold dwarf merchants, dwarves account for nearly 5% of the city's population.

Full-blooded elves are very rare in Novocastria. The few that visit the city are from Flamewood forest, which has a tense relationship with nearby human-controlled cities and villages. Those that live permanently are usually mercenaries or criminals that can be found alongside tieflings,goliaths, and half-orcs in the rougher parts of the city, like the Scrabble, the Barrens, or the Black Market outside the city walls. Halfling clans occasionally come far down the river on their riverboat flotillas to trade. They collectively account for 2% of the population.

Eladrin and gnomes, and any other inhabitants of the Feywild, are almost never seen since there are almost no easy places to cross to that plane in this region for unknown reasons.