Caister (Blackmoor Supplement)
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Situation[edit]
Bordered on three sides by the sea and with only one neighbour, Caister has managed to avoid significant political threats since the brief flourishing of a barbarian civilisation about three centuries ago. Stability has allowed the Kingdom to flourish however, as its climate does not support the timber necessary to build a significant naval force it has not grown as rapidly as it might. The monarchy is ruled through succession in the male line only, and the current ruler is King Rositan.
The peninsular country is about 200 km across and has a warm Mediterranean climate with a dry and rocky interior - Sardinia is a good analogue. The land is sparsely populated, with the highest concentrations towards the south near to the capital Blackmoor. Other population centres tend to focus around fortified castles and manors of the various Lords, Dukes and Earls. The Royal Line The Royal line like many through history has struggled, especially in the provision of male heirs and following the death of King Duncan, then his only son, the child King Dilinas there were several candidates vying for the crown. In the end it was Sadin head of the Hale family that managed to gather sufficient political support to secure the throne and King Rositan, his son inherited the crown from his father five years ago.
King Sadin was a military commander and it is speculated that it was his military influence that helped secure him the political support. Regardless, he was required to relinquish all military ties having taken the crown, his standing army turning over to the state. However, in an effort to retain some engagement with what had been in effect a private army, the King established The Shadow Guard.
The Shadow Guard is nominally a society of like minded military men who meet for tournaments, pursue bounties, pension veterans, protect the weak and are of course loyal to the state. The King is their patron and therefore they are most certainly not a military organisation - that would be unconstitutional.
The Shires[edit]
The seven Shires are in fact Duchies and each of those is held by one of the Dukes of Blackmoor (one of whom is Bowcaster) the Outer Shires are held by the Earls of Blackmoor, there are other dominions beyond the Shires - I'll leave them undefined for the moment. The King holds several estates however and all of the Shires pay taxes to the crown and this is principally where he raises income.
King Rositan holds no army himself (although the Shadow Guard is fiercely loyal to the crown and no doubt secretly supported by the royal estates) instead the crown relies on each of the shires to maintain a force. Politics plays a critical role in the stability of the nation - the King cannot hold his position by force and so he tries to maintain a scrupulously even handed position with all in court - the Inner Shires however are always first amongst equals and this creates a considerable friction between Dukes and Earls.
The Western Marches[edit]
The majority of the outer shires are to the west of Blackmoor and are collectively The Western Marches.
Manningshire[edit]
The largest of the outer shires is held by Earl Wilemsey of King’s Castle, historically the closest ally to the crown, bonded through marriage and kept close with favours and close company.
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