As it came up in a character conversation, I've decided I do need to come up with a reason why the Dwarf King Khermumi Axechest rules over a kingdom of a few hundred square miles.
From the By This Ax book:
The process of becoming a ruler begins with the acquisition of an area of land, known as a domain. Domains can vary considerably in size. A very small domain is a 2-square mile area of land (one 1.5-mile hex on a local map). A typical domain is a 32-square mile area of land (one 6-mile hex on a regional map, or sixteen contiguous 1.5-mile hexes on a local map). A very large domain, fit for a king, is 500 square miles (one 24-mile hex on a continental map, or sixteen contiguous 6-mile hexes on a regional map). The area of land making up a domain is called its territory. A domain’s territory is often contiguous, but it may be noncontiguous if desired. While there are no restrictions on a domain’s size or shape, large and noncontiguous domains are harder to control, as explained below.
Domains are classified as either civilized, borderlands, or wilderness. A newly established domain is civilized if all of its territory is within 48 miles of an existing dwarven vault with at least 625 urban families. A newly established domain is borderlands if all of its territory is within 72 miles of an existing dwarven vault with at least 625 urban families. All other newly established domains are wilderness. Dwarves may not establish new vaults within 72 miles of human settlements with 625 or more families.
As the Respeth Kingdom is (quickly pulls out a number) about 70 miles x 30 miles along the mountains mostly, but a bit into the Ocean Trade Route in order to tax the caravans. Using 6-mile hexes, it is roughly 11 x 5 hexes along that mountain range. Which I should really name. Though the name may vary based on what side of the mountain you are on, or who you ask.
Reading through that, I realize that the much larger Respeth Kingdom is larger than Dwarven domains usually are. This one is a special case: they have essentially taken over the defunct previous kingdom. Their original domain was centered in the Thuluhm mountains for a few miles around that. But, seeing the potential riches in those western, and as yet untapped, veins of ore and crystal as well as there not being a ruler of any sort for more than a century, gave King Firbear Axechest ideas. And the non-Dwarves in the former kingdom, while now paying taxes again after a few generations of not paying taxes but getting Orc raids, are willing to pay their bit for the protection Axechest proffered. And thus he assumed the previous kingdom.
Considered a borderlands domain by the Dwarves as it has been ruled by the Dwarves since Axechest's father, King Firbear Axechest took the ancient Tuvano Kingdom as his own. Centuries ago, the Wizard King Kalinore of Tuvano, after his wife's death, slowly descended into madness. Though rumors of his still being both alive and dead remain to this day, the kingdom itself was dead. Firbear Axechest, having a holdfast in the Thuluhm Alpine, had always kept his eyes above as well as below ground. Seeing a way to expand his vaults into the western ranges, and having no real opposition, started Dwarven patrols along the Ocean Trade Route. He re-established the borders while scouts and explorers studied the mountains. A rich vein of ore sits on the border shared with the Kingdom of Ismelkonia. The current Queen Belion, known as the Prodigy for her tactical skills, is aware of the ore and did not want to give that potential treasure up. Her son, Prince Artwain, is rumored to have a contact in the Respeth Kingdom that keeps him informed.
For 30 years, there was a stalemate between the kingdoms. King Firbear was killed by an unknown assassin, whose only trace was a short run of mucous slime and the poisoned dart in his neck. King Khermumi was just under 100 years old when he took the crown four years ago. Since then, he has started increasing some of the taxes and has been building up his own garrisons at the vault. The trade route has remained untaxed, though selling wares from the caravans invokes a tax of about 1% the value, which is about average for the southern kingdoms. Dwarven tax collectors have been known to be fairly zealous when inspecting caravans at major trading cities. In Windemere Crossing, this is Henrutha Alerock. Our characters never met her, but the caravan master did (which reminds me, I probably should have him or her set up just in case they go back to town and inquire about the caravan. It will give me a chance to see about a merchant NPC as I do have a merchant class).
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| King Khermumi Axechest |
The By This Ax book has a chapter devoted to Dwarven domains, so I am using some of that. And yes, I've decided to also back Kobold Press' Castle & Crown KS even though I barely use the 1st book in the series (Cities and Towns). But I like books and I do re-read these and get new ideas once in a while. Even if most of the world building stays in my head. Though I did use the battle maps the 1st one had, and yes, I did back at a level where I get those maps in the new campaign. And we do meet for face-to-face gaming every other week so these will eventually get used. Regardless, these books are really aimed at player characters creating their own kingdoms and towns which is what a lot of higher-level players end up doing. While at least one other player like to do this, not sure it fits with the others as anything other than background they usually don't care about. But who knows - perhaps we will level up faster than by the 2031 estimate given by one player based on the entirety of 300XP split among 4 players from killing that giant python. The next session, assuming they survive, actually has a fair amount of treasure. But there are a LOT of skeletons!
Tuvano is actually a Fantasy Trip adventure. The actual city is over the mountains south of Windemere Crossing. My TFT players were heading in that direction before that group fell apart. If push comes to shove, it will be easy to adapt to OSE. Or hey, we could always translate the characters to TFT and play it that way! The group did not stick around in town long enough to pick up many rumors, which may have covered some of this. Or not.
And to close out this length world-building post, my perpetual refrain of "how much of this is really useful?" The main point is that I do this for fun, so useful or not, in the end that does not really matter as this is one of my forms of entertainment. But how much is useful at the actual table? If I could present it well enough, I think it adds to the verisimilitude of the world. The Ax book gives me the information needed to help calculate the number of families per hex based on the Dwarf expectations and world model as presented in that book. I need to cross-reference the Organic Town and the Campaign Builder: Cities and Towns to see how they all compare in terms of populations. The Ax book does have peasant Dwarves that farm and do other regular things. Someone has to supply the grains for that Dwarven bread! Not all Dwarves are fighters or blacksmiths. In fact, the majority are just doing regular things which is all background. But the background actors are also important, I think. We just don't interact with a lot of it.
For those of you who are Traveller fans - yep, list like Scouts Book 6: let's generate the entire system, dozens of moons and calculate orbital mechanics. Why? Because it is fun!
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