Westmounts
Westmounts
Religion
Traditions
+15% Movement Speed
+10% Siege Ability
Horns of IronAfter the War of the Sorcerer-King, House Wight, a Moormen Clan that had proven loyal to Gawed in its time of need, was granted rule over the Westmounts. When House Wight was banished and dispossessed in 1350 for siding with Toman ‘The Mad’, soldiers still loyal to them allowed seven of House Wight’s sworn vassals to occupy Wightsgate castle without resistance, thereby creating a secession crisis. These lords demanded that one of them must be elevated to the position of Great Lord of the Westmounts in House Wight’s place, lest they declare independence.\n\nInstead of giving in to their demands, the newly crowned King Welyam I of House Gerwick charged Warde of House Ramsgate, a Gawedi nobleman from the Gawedi heartlands, with restoring the King’s Peace. Gathering a host, Lord Ramsgate rode forth and defeated the seven rebel lords in the Battle of Wightsgate. For this, he was rewarded by King Welyam I with the Iron Ring of the Westmounts and the title of Great Lord, securing both Gawedi hegemony as well as his House’s rule for years to come.
+1 Yearly Devotion
+1 Yearly Horde Unity
+1 Yearly Legitimacy
+0.3 Yearly Republican Tradition
The Wightsgate TollIt is well-known that the Wightsgate has stood for longer than the Kingdom of Gawed has. A strange structure made of gray, smooth stone, it is seemingly untouched by the passing of time. Since time immemorial, it has stood in solitude in the Westmounts, marking the eponymous mountain pass between the Westmoors and Gawed proper.\n\nThe Wightsgate Toll is a tax imposed on all goods passing through the Wightsgate. Even after the King of Gawed takes his share, the Lords of the Westmounts are still able to collect a hefty amount of coin for their efforts in keeping goods flowing from the ports of the Westmoors to the cities of the Alen River.
+15% National Tax Modifier
Ram MagnatesThe uneven and harsh soil of the Westmounts has always proven to be rather difficult to cultivate especially when compared to the soil of the Alenic Expanse and Alen River. In order to make a living, most families of the Westmounts instead have at least one flock of sheep, which has made the Westmounts one of the main suppliers of mutton and wool throughout Gawed. Although they may not be as wealthy as more urban folk, the people of the Westmounts jokingly say that neither they nor any soldier of the Westmounts ever goes cold or hungry.\n\nDuring the early days of the Northern League in the 1780s, the consolidation of livestock rearing rights under certain families led to the rise of the so-called ‘Ram Magnates’, who became influential and powerful figures with investments all throughout Gawed and the Reach.
-10% Land Attrition
WightmoundsIt is said that once upon a time, the name ‘Wightsgate’ was far more literal: the people of the Westmounts are said to have been terrorized by monsters known as Wights – corpses that would rise during the darkest nights and brutally slaughter whole villages. When Godrac the Invader rallied the Alenic tribes to his call, he sent his men to aid the Westmounters, bringing an end to the terrible creatures by ordering that every corpse be buried in what would come to be called the Wightmounds.\n\nTo this day these ominous structures remain standing, thousands of mounds covering the landscape of the Westmounts, and more are added to their number every year. Folk of the Westmounts consider them to be a source of regional pride, monuments to Alenic strength and perseverance, and often place offerings near them to Nerat or other, older gods to keep the dead from rising again.
+1% Missionary Strength
-10% Stability Cost Modifier
Cattlehaunt FoxhuntersWith wolves long since driven out of their lands, families of the Westmounts have grown far more concerned with the swift and cunning Cattlehaunt Foxes who harass their flocks. Preternaturally deceitful and able to evade all but the most skillful of hunters, these wily golden-furred creatures native to the Westmounts have long been suspected to be highly magical by locals.\n\nDespite the so-called Cattlehaunt Fox Investigations, where Gawedi mages found no concrete proof that the foxes were truly magical, the people of the Westmounts insist that the Foxes are – they must have deceived the mages too! Proof or not, the few huntsmen that do manage to hunt these foxes are thought to be quick of both foot and mind, and are highly prized amongst Gawedi armies as both scouts and commanders.
+1 Land Leader Manoeuvre
Dragonheights TerrorsWith Gawedi industry growing, iron began to be in great demand. Thus, prospecting in the Westmounts and the Dragonheights quickly began. The Kobolds of the Heights were just as quick to show their displeasure, and raids and skirmishes with Gawedi miners grew common, almost driving them out of the heights entirely.\n\nIn response to these attacks, the Westmounts established the very first artillery regiment of the Kingdom of Gawed. Aptly named ‘Dragonheights Terrors’ for their incredible size and firepower, these fearsome weapons bombarded kobold burrows and tunnels for months, leading to kobold raids finally ceasing. Having grown fond of the devices, the people of the Westmounts would keep the Terrors well-maintained, something that would years later come to draw the eye of none other than the infamous General Stovan Blackboar. The Terrors would soon after form the core of the Siege Corps of Gawed, with its first major military operation being none other than the Burning of the Redglades in the early 1500s.
+10% Artillery Combat Ability
Talonmount CoalThe Talonmount had long been a sore in the eyes of the Westmounts. Too steep for shepherding and too dangerous to farm, it was relatively sparse in population and seen as little more than an extension of the Dragonheights.\n\nThis changed when massive coal and iron deposits were discovered there by the Magnate Council of the Northern League in the year 1791. In partnership with the local Ram Magnates, massive investment soon came pouring in. By the turn of the 19th century, the once irrelevant Talonmount had swiftly become an important industrial center, with the River Foul forming a major vein of the so-called ‘Black River’.
-5% Construction Cost
+5% Production Efficiency
Ambition
+10% Reform Progress Growth
History
TBD
Strategy
TBD