The Shield Marches

The Shield Marches are a loose alliance of petty kingdoms in Land's End, dating back several thousand years. They were once provinces of the Tiberian Ecumene and were charged with guarding the empire's frontier along the Oldgrowth forest.

Prehistory
The Marcher clans are distant kin of the Landsmen tribes that first settled Land's End and the Oldgrowth. Unlike the Landsmen the Marchers settled in open fields and pastures rather than forests and mountains. Over time the two groups grew apart. The Marchers drove herds and sowed crops and kept the old ways, praying to their ancestors for good rains and long summers. But the Landsmen foraged and hunted, sacrificing men and children to the stones, rivers, and trees and - later - the horned gods and wood spirits who came to the forest. The Marches were often raided by Landsmen who stole their women and cattle but the clans were always too divided to hold them off.

Kings over the Marches
Long ago a nameless hero emerged from the Marches, a war leader who briefly unified the Marches into a single kingdom. Much of what is known about him is a matter of legend; no one remembers who he was or even if he was truly one man and not many different individuals conflated by history. There are stories of other great kings before him, however, they are hardly remembered today and in their own time never managed to unite the whole of the Marches. Yet there are common threads to his tale that have never changed. He was the first true King over the Marches, though he wore no crown and never sat a throne. One day while traveling on the road he met Brer the Bard, a famous "weirdsinger", and shared his camp with him. For his hospitality Brer gave him a song - the fourth and most powerful of his kingly gifts. The song made him a King and helped him unite the Marches - however, it could only be sung by one man. While he lived the Landsmen's princes could never crown their own High-King and so made war on his kingdom. He spent the rest of his life marching from battle to battle, never settling down to rule, and kept the Marches safe for sixty years. Eventually he died an old man on the battlefield - his horse brought down and crushing his body. His enemies gave him a royal funeral, burying him in a nameless place with his horse and arms and armor and the men he had died alongside. After this "Last Battle" the Marches fell to the Landsmen and the clans became thralls.

Though he fathered no true sons (only twin bastards) each of the original Marches was named for one of his five daughters. His sons both accompanied him in his last battle. One fled and became an outlaw; the other remained by his side and was taken hostage by Brer the Bard, eventually replacing him as weirdsinger.
 * Morrigan - his eldest child and first daughter, Morrigan's mother was an exiled blood witch of the Riverine people.
 * Somer - a healthy and spirited girl, Somer was rosy cheeked and plump, the lady of a fertile March. She was married to a drunk, slovenly man and although her family prospered she was a secretly unhappy woman. She loved growing things - children as well as plants.
 * Shale - unlike her sisters she married a Prince well beneath her station - a bloody warlord rewarded for killing her father's horse (which crushed him). Many of her descendants died in senseless, petty squabbles.
 * Verdure - one of the few daughters to have a happy marriage. Married a hunter who loved the woods and planted her a "garden" (today a sprawling, airy forest called the Wildergreen). She was tall and swift and slender.
 * Brigandine - a hard and dutiful woman, Brigandine had been a rebellious child but honored her father after his death. She was thought unlovable by many and sentenced her own son to die for his crimes. An iron-widow who never remarried.

The Painted Kingdoms
For a long time the Landsmen tribes ruled all of Land's End - the Marches and the Oldgrowth, the northern range of the Dragonback Spine and the clammy islands in the Pale Sea. To the Tiberians these people were known as the "Painted Kingdoms", though in reality this name only truly applied to the Prydein. Oldest and most illustrious of the tribes the Prydein were a nation of warrior-poets descended from barbarian princes and the daughters of the last King over the Marches. They married into the Marcher clans, though they still kept them in thrall. In the eyes of the other tribes they had grown soft and faithless, adopting the customs of their own slaves while neglecting the old ways. Families rarely gave up their firstborn sons to the woods any longer and they felled trees to build, breaking two of the land's oldest laws.

They shared the Marches with lesser kingdoms whom they could not - or were unwilling to - conquer themselves. Morrigan, a land of bogs and black lakes and endless pines, was home to blood-witches and crow kings and few men dared set foot there. The Sealfolk dwellt along the coasts and sounds and on clammy islands, which held little value. Cairnsmen lived in the black hills and crags of the northern ranges and Shale was a bloody quagmire.

War of Many Arrows
Roughly seven centuries ago the Marches were invaded by the Tiberian Ecumene. A distant and southerly empire, its legions had already conquered most of the known world - including the cantons and petty kingdoms at the Marches borders. Though they despised the rule of kings they offered the Prydein's High-King, Fawr Forkbeard, generous terms - demanding that he give up his lands and crown. Unsurprisingly he found these terms unacceptable but, knowing he did not yet have the strength to repel these invaders, he entertained the Tiberians for a fortnight with feasts and hunts and dancing. He sent his bards to gather his armies together under the pretense of summoning men to pay homage to the Tiberians.

When their patience finally ran out he had their officers killed. But to his surprise their men did not simply desert as he had expected, instead electing new leaders from among them. Although his people fought well they were no match for the Tiberians on open ground; one by one they were burned out of their homes, their lands seized by thralls, and forced to flee into the woods. Forkbeard himself famously held the last rearguard alone, slaying twenty men before he ran out of arrows and was cut down. His last shot barely missed the Tiberian commander's heart - a cruel, parting wound as the barbed arrowhead could not be removed without killing him.

After the battle his crowned head was put on a spike; its retrieval has since been the object of many famous and ill-fated quests. In the Landsmen's place the Tiberians raised up the Marches and gave them back their lands. Some Landsmen surrendered and were spared, becoming Rangers charged with watching over the forests and borderlands.

Second Rising
After the Prydein were driven out of the Marches most fled into the Oldgrowth. Those who lingered in the borderlands survived as poachers and thieves. Some had been spared, becoming Rangers who watched over the forests and wilds and hanged their own people when they caught them. Others lived as woodsmen and foresters, hunters, guides, trappers, and craftsmen, but did so under Tiberian occupation. All they had left of their culture was their spoken tongue - the "High Speech" - which their remaining bards preserved in epic songs and ballads. Normally the Tiberians allowed their subjects to keep their traditions, however, wherever the bards went they stirred rebellion. Tensions strained after a bard had his tongue cut out; a punishment that would afterwards be meted out to any man, even children, who publicly spoke the High Speech. Outraged the Pryden rose up, beginning the Second Rising - the War of the Tongue.

This war slowly escalated from small raids and skirmishes to a full-blown uprising. The Tiberians struggled to come to grips with the rebels, who favored sudden ambushes before melting back into the wilds. They sent three whole legions into the Oldgrowth to root out the rebels - but they did not come out. Their quarry lured them deep into the black heart of the forest. In so doing every tribe and kingdom converged on the legions, who had begun to despair, spread thin as they grasped blindly for an enemy they could not see or catch. Without warning the Landsmen attacked them from all sides, overwhelming them in minutes.

Shields
No tale returned of these men's final stand in those woods. Only a single man left the forest alive; his own tongue cut out in payment. Not knowing what happened to their troops frightened the Tiberians who could only imagine was horror waited in the forest. The Ecumene named the territory "Land's End", the farthest extent of their empire's boundaries, and their legions refused to serve there. The Marchers were named their "Shields" and were charged with defense of the frontier. However, the invasion the Tiberians feared never came and the Shield Marches were more troubled by their own struggles, fighting among themselves for power and position. The Marches prospered under Tiberian rule enjoying wealth and finery they had never known before. Although they'd given up many of their old ways and customs they remained separate from the Ecumene - a harsh frontier at the edge of the known world, with their own laws and the shadow of the forest looming over them.

Cairns
Among the oldest Landsmen tribes are the Cairnsmen who dwell in the northern range of the Dragonback mountains. These flinty hills and crags they call home are rich in coal, however, they have little interest in mining, considering it a dirty, dangerous business. When enterprising lords from the Marches tried to seize their lands for mining the Cairnsmen resisted them for generations, ambushing them in the hills and narrow passes before melting away like mist. When the Marchers sent an army to root them out the Cairnsmen buried them in an avalanche - hence the name "Cairns". Eventually the Tiberians intervened, sending a single legion to quell the uprising. The Tiberians realized that fighting in the hills was hopeless and, unwilling to bog down in a guerilla war, offered generous terms. The Cairnsmen joined the Ecumene as a full March, enjoying all the protections of a regular province in exchange for supplying the Tiberians with coal and brave fighters. Cairns remained fiercely loyal to the Ecumene until its collapse.

Expulsion of the Sealfolk
The Tenneu - or "Sealfolk", as they are more commonly known - were native to the Pale Sea, inhabiting the Shearing Isles and the Broken Teeth since before the arrival of the first Landsmen. Originally peaceful fisherfolk they were driven from their homes by whalers and merchants from the Marches. Now homeless the Sealfolk became vicious marauders, raiding up and down the Pale Sea. To this day they have a bitter grudge against the islanders who stole their homes from them and terrorize the new islanders, stealing their sheep and women and children at every opportunity.

"King Crow"
For a long time the Marks - the lords of the Marches - ruled outside Tiberium's laws. In practice they were essentially petty kings in their own lands but few dared to declare themselves as such, knowing the Ecumene had no tolerance for kings of any sort. The most notorious of these Marks was Cawn of Morrigan; driven mad by a blood prophecy he named himself King over the Marches and put most of his own people to the sword. Although he had an indisputable claim (being a direct descendant of the last King's eldest daughter, Morrigan) none of the other Marks acknowledged him. Today the story of "King Crow" is a cautionary tale told to frighten children.

Fallow Wars
300 years after conquering the Marches the Ecumene collapsed and most of Tiberium was lain to waste Survivors from the cities and farms fled north, leaving fields that had been smothered by the ash-winters. Unfortunately the Marches could hardly feed their own people let alone so many outlanders. The next two centuries saw them entrenched in the "Fallow Wars", desperately trying to securing their own borders. Over time their armies settled and fortified the borderlands establishing the "Red March" - Revenna, which became an honorary Shield. The red knights of Revenna were supplied tribute by the other Marches, however, as attacks grew much less frequent (the outlanders settling on the other side of the border) few lords could justify the expense any longer. The knights then turned to raiding both sides of the border; this forced the outlanders to organize into stronger communities, establishing new, fledgling nations like Canton, Freesia, and Denedell. At the Battle of Red Ground these people humiliated Revenna's armies, breaking their heavy horse and pushing them back with pikes. Since then an uneasy truce has settled over the Marches. Without a clear common enemy the Marches have become more and more distracted by their own internal rivalries. Recently Drustan I, Lord Protector of Revenna, has named himself King over the Marches. A claim that can only mean war.

Marches
The Marches are divided into independent fiefdoms and only a few are called "Shields", an honor given to them by the Tiberian Ecumene. The original five Marches are named after the first King's daughters. There are nine Marches, in order of power and prestige: Brigandium, Somer, Revenna, Verdure, Gullstrand, Shale, Shearing, Cairns, and Morrigan. Each March is a feudal state governed by a high lord, though in practice they rule much like petty kings. They are known by different titles - Warden, Magister, Mark, Lord-Protector, etc. This tradition dates back to the rule of the Tiberian Ecumene, which did not tolerate kings, but originally goes back to the first King over the Marches. No man has since been deemed worthy of that claim - and pretenders quickly find themselves friendless and at war on all sides.

Laws & Customs
Laws vary from march to march, however, they tend to be quite harsh by necessity. Typically "March Law" holds sway at the borders and is quite flexible, blending military and common laws.

In Revenna men are not allowed to leave their lands except under special circumstances (delivering messages, for instance); to do so is considered desertion and punishable by death. All men are also expected to keep themselves armed so that they might be called up in the levies. Knights have unlimited rights over the common folk, however, they swear strict vows of obedience to their own masters. Punishment is typically meted out by the accused's own family. Gallows are a common sight throughout the March. All men - low and high - are expected to forfeit 9/10 of their crops and produce at least one son for the levies.

Brigandine rangers hang anyone caught in the forests as "poachers", a custom dating back to the Second Rising when such men were also considered rebels. Many of the Ecumene's old laws are still upheld, including limited tolerance for nonhumans (there are many Alienages here). Citizens are also expected to either give a day of their own labor to maintaining local infrastructure (walls, roads, aqueducts, etc.) or training in the militia (public service is expected of all men). Its laws tend to be hard but fair.

Cairnsmen always end formal agreements and ceremonies with blood oaths, believing they strengthen ties between men and washes out bad feeling. Brides must be stolen from rival clans, promoting diversity and proving the husband's worth. Instead of formal laws there is a fierce code of honor among the Cairnsmen that demands equal retribution (an eye for an eye). Bitter feuds between clans and families are not at all uncommon and can last multiple generations.

Brigandium
Oldest of all the Shields, Brigandium was once the family estate of Carniferax Princeps - the Tiberian general who conquered the Marches and later lost three legions in the Oldgrowth. Its territory is along the borderlands where the forest gives out to open pastures. Traditionally men that dwell here have been herdsmen, raising cattle and horses. During the Second Rising it was a breeding ground for rebels. Its towns are well-ordered in the Tiberian fashion, though many are built on ancient cattle trails. Much of its infrastructure has been admirably maintained since the Ecumene collapsed; fountains, drains, roads, walls, and even statues and frescoes have been carefully preserved. Even its coinage is Tiberian and still minted with the Ecumene's Golden Bull. Brigandine soldiers are disciplined militia and merchant cavalry, favoring the late fighting style of the Legion. Their lord is called "Warden", a Tiberian title, rather than a "Mark". His sigil is a broken arrow (the last arrow loosed in the War of Many Arrows, which wounded Princeps and had to be broken off - symbolic of the pain that still lingers in the country).

Its people are described as corn-fed, strong, and bullish, with stubborn temperaments and mixed heritage (Tiberian/Marcher/Landsmen)

Revenna
The "Red March", Revenna guards the southern borders and is a gloomy, oppressive country that has been on a constant war footing for the last 200 years. Unsurprisingly it is also the most heavily fortified of all the Shields with hundreds of castles dotting the borderlands. All of its resources are committed to the war effort, even though attacks have grown much less frequent. As the other Marks have begun to withhold support tensions between Revenna and its neighbors have worsened. Its Lord-Protector, Drustan I, now styles himself "King over the Marches". A claim that can only mean war.

History
Revenna was settled by the Marches' allied troops during the Fallow Wars and by necessity had to be fortified. It was named a Shield but depended on immense tribute from the other Marches. Over time the "red knights" became mostly self-sufficient thanks to their enormous military estates and constant raids against outlanders. Tribute became a prickly matter of honor and gratitude rather than necessity.

Fallow Wars & the Sorrows of Canton

For 200 years Revenna held the borders against overwhelming odds. Hundreds of thousands of outlanders left homeless and starving when the Ecumene collapsed fled north in hope of finding safe lands. Many settled within sight of the lands they could never reach, scratching a living out of the dirt while the red knights prevented them from entering the Marches. For a long time Revenna dominated these small communities of outlands, stealing their crops and burning their homes when they could not pay their tithes. This arrangement did not last long; the first uprisings, the "Sorrows", saw Revenna defeated on open ground, their heavy horse losing to massed push-of-pike. These losses were severe enough to force an uneasy truce that has lasted since.

Today many of the Shields can no longer justify the huge expense of supporting Revenna's war effort. Serious attacks on the Marches rarely ever come if at all. A three-sided war is taking shape between the "Hawks and Doves"; the Hawks represent those Marches that desire war with each other (Revenna, Somer) while the Doves (Brigandine, Verdure) are those who've tried (unsuccessfully) to diffuse the conflict. Those unlucky enough to be caught in the middle (Shale, Cairns, Gullstrand) will have to declare for one side or the other.

Society & Culture
Revenna is an extremely militarized feudal state, however, its nobility is not hereditary. Instead the highest social rank is simply "Knight" and is traditionally awarded for brave and loyal service (though favoritism within Knightly families is far from unheard of). All Knights are technically equal by law - up to and including the Lord Protector himself - though their commands vary considerably. They are given land and unlimited rights over the serfs, whose own lot is considerably poorer. Serfs are tied to the land and cannot leave without their master's consent; to do so would be considered desertion, the worst crime in Revenna. Even well-married women have practically no rights at all and are confined to domestic life (Revenna considers the other Shields' "permissiveness" weak).

However, there is a great deal of mobility among Revenna's soldiery. Men who earn their commanders' esteem might be knighted (though unless dubbed personally by the Lord-Protector this is purely an honorary title). There are different degrees of Knighthood. Sigil: a crown of red swords, inverted
 * Landed Knights - have been dubbed by the Lord-Protector after proving their worth; hold lands in his name; these estates are called "commands" (a military estate they hold for life and can pass on to a knight of their choosing)
 * Pages - the son of a Knight is called a "page". They are groomed for knighthood from the time they can walk and are raised with a fierce code of honor. Its not uncommon for them to learn how to dance before they they ever learn to hold a sword - so as to master their footwork.
 * Journeyman - an honorary knight, often a sworn sword; is free to travel and serve other men; often seek to prove themselves worthy of a true command, hence the name. Many patrol the countryside, act as outriders, or are entrusted as messengers. There was a time when Journeymen could expect shelter and hospitality anywhere in the Marches but thanks to worsening tensions these courtesies are all but forgotten.
 * The Circle - those knights with the greatest commands act as the Lord-Protector's war council. Only they are eligible to replace him and are privy to matters of state.
 * Lord-Protector - absolute ruler of the March of Revenna; only he has the power to dub Knights, pardon crimes, declare war, and permit new fortifications.

Description: (people) tough, unsentimental, hardy

Shearing Isles
Lambden, Shepton, Baledowns, Fold, Brume

A clammy little archipelago in the Pale Sea, Shearing is damp and rocky and known for its impenetrable fogs. During the warmer seasons it blooms dramatically and is covered in colorful wildflowers but is otherwise cold and grey throughout the year. It lies not far offshore from Gullstrand and the two marches have always had close ties. The islands were originally inhabited by Sealfolk driven out by the current settlers. Some vestiges of these people remain such as the mysterious standing stones that used in weddings and ceremonies. Most of the islands are uninhabited; the soil is stony and there is precious little grazing land even for the islanders' hardy sheep. Whaling is what keeps them alive. They have many watchtowers and beacon fires to look out for raiders and whales alike; when they're lit the men pile into their open boats and head to sea. Whales are rare beasts, although sightings have grown in recent generations, and no islander would pass on the chance to feed his village for months at a time. Likewise no man must shirk from facing the Sealfolk on the water. Many of the islands are completely enclosed by waist-high walls meant to deter sheep thieves and raiders. The people live in stone-crofts. There are no forests on these tiny islands, and the trees are best described as "woody weeds".

Description
They wear lambswool, fleece, and oilskin cloaks and boots (to shed water). Sealfolk disparagingly call them "sheep". They are considered somewhat meek. Curly hair.

Culture
Much of their way of life revolves around sheep herding and whaling, sharing their crofts with their flocks. Their lamps and beacons are lit by whale oil. They are always alert for Sealfolk raids which come with little warning and steal away their women and sheep. Whalers avoid catching Blackfish, thinking they are an ill omen. They prize what little color there is on the islands, such as the wildflowers that bloom during the warmer months. They also never leave one of their own behind; whether its a lost sheep or a man who has fallen overboard.

Diet
Mutton, whale meat, seafood, kelp, malt beer

Warfare
They rarely start conflicts, preferring to defend their homes and herds. Skilled staff fighters.

Characters: A "black sheep"/prodigal son, the good shepherd, wolf in sheep's clothing, sea shepherds

Sigil: fog grey field, a small flame in the middle

Cairns
The smallest of the Marches, Cairns is only thinly populated but covers a vast amount of territory in the northern ranges of the Dragonback Spine. It is so named because of the frequent rockslides and avalanches that can bury whole settlements in rock and snow. Its people live in hardscrabble villages and are a self-reliant, clannish folk clinging to old wisdom and superstitions. They fight, trade, and marry freely with the Landsmen as often as each other. Their bitter feuds often go back generations, even centuries, but it is also not unheard of for rival clans to grow as close as kin. Most Cairnsmen make their living as fur trappers or hunters and their villages spring up around trading posts. There are also rich coal mines in Cairns but mining is done by only the poorest clans.

Description
Cairnsmen are burly with shaggy hair and beards and wear feathered caps, buckskins, and amulets, resembling mountain men.

Culture
Traditionally women are abducted from other clans as a rite of passage. This proves the man's worth and promotes diversity among the clans. Cairnsmen believe in the notion of "blood brothers", thinking that mixed blood (which prevents inbreeding) also strengthens bonds between men; thus formal agreements are always sealed in blood. Although men have the final say in all matters its not uncommon for family matriarchs to exert considerable influence over the clans, as they often outlive their husbands and sons. Their women are also famed for their epic, haunting ballads and knowledge of folk-medicine.

Diet
They brew a foul but potent alcohol from tree sap. Remarkably "clean" diet.

Warfare
From boyhood Cairnsmen are raised to be strong and assertive. In battle they favor skirmish tactics and lack discipline, behaving more like brawlers than soldiers. Before charging into the fray they raise a shivering battle cry that unnerves other men (it's rumored they can summon avalanches with just their voice!). They're known for their skill with hatchets and throwing axes as well as slings but are also famed wrestlers, considering their hands to be as good as any weapon. The Tiberians often sought them out as scouts and skirmishers.

Morrigan
Morrigan is the oldest settled territory in the Marches; a trackless wilderness of pine barrens, black lakes, and stinking bogs infested with snakes and mosquitoes. Its people dwell in poor villages and have an unsavory reputation for practicing witchcraft. They do not trust outsiders and are unintelligible to other Marchers. They are descended from the Riverine people but their ancestors were banished for their abuse of blood magic. By all accounts Morrigan is a backwater country; the only thing of note is its blind seers, who are able to divine the most terrible futures with perfect clarity. Throughout history Marchers, Landsmen, and Tiberians alike have all sought these seers’ counsel, though only in great need. They alone foresaw the Last Endings and the Fallow wars, as well as a darker time still yet to come. Lord Cawn named himself King over the Marches, having been told by a blind seer that he would be King but also die terribly. This drove him mad and he put most of his own people to the sword, including the seers. The Tiberians eventually intervened and sent the Legion to bring him down, but by that time most of the province had already been decimated. Not long afterwards the seers reappeared in Tiberium, establishing the Temple of the Fates in the ruins of Pallas-Ides.

Sigil: a wall of black pine trees against a blood red sunset

Shale
Tiny, roughly triangular country between two rivers, with Somer on one side and Revenna on the other, and many fordings in between. Poor, make their trade plying the rivers and streams, dominated by its neighbors, wars here often devolve into a bloody quagmire.

Sigil: mud-red field

Somer
Somer produces more food than the rest of the Marches combined and is especially famous for its wine. It supplied most of the food to Revenna during the Fallow Wars, even at the expense of its own people. For generations many went hungry paying their tithes to the Red Knights, even though Somer was far removed from the horrors of the frontier. As attacks on the Marches grew less frequent Somer began withholding tribute and prospered. It appears ready for war with the Red March, though it lacks defensible terrain and Revenna's professional soldiery it can levy more than fifty thousand men - more than any other March - and has good standing with the other Shields. It has many feast days (bread and circuses, fattening the peasants before the slaughter) and its people are known for their Dionysian attitudes.

Shale claims to have wrongfully lost much of its land to Somer; Gullstrand fears Somer may try to dominate it; Brigandium and Verdure consider it a "Hawk", as it has continued to instigate war with Revenna, and are concerned about hegemony.

As the war has worn on Somer's fields have been picked bare and there are few men left to plant new crops. Its become a land of widows and orphans, old men and cripples and young boys.

Sigil: bundle of golden wheat on a green field, bordered in vines

Description: (People) ruddy skin, better-fed, merry, like to party

Influences
A "March" or "Mark" refers to a militarized border region, such as the Scottish or Welsh Marches (the borderlands between (England, Scotland, and Wales). Border wars were common and kings relied on hand-picked Marcher Lords or Wardens to defend their frontiers and regulate trade. Often marches had different laws than the rest of the country, called March Law, which blended common law with military law. It was not unusual for families on either side of the border to switch allegiances when it suited them, raiding or even encouraging open war when it benefited them. Lawlessness was rife and at times neither monarch's writ was heeded. Local farmers often had to pay off clans on both sides so they would not be attacked. The changing nature of the borders, owing to frequent wars, made them ripe for bandits. Wardens were entrusted with keeping law and order and from time to time cooperated with each other to bring down freelance raiders.

In the case of Wales the purpose of the Marches was to contain and subdue the Welsh but despite building hundreds of castles they were never completely effective. They were a true frontier society in every sense of the word and peasants were encouraged to settle there, lured by the promise of land and low taxes. Here wardens had powers normally held by the Crown and did not pay royal taxes, ruling much like petty kings. Welsh law was sometimes used instead of English law and there were often disputes over which code took precedence.

The Shield Marches are inspired by the Welsh and Scottish marches and the American frontier.