Ivograd



Affiliation: Trade Republic

Location: Northeastern Trade Republic, Underkingdom Headlands

Leadership: Council of Boyars, Prince Oleg Pritkin

Population: 80% Human, 18% Dwarf, 2% other



History

One of the last great remaining outposts of the Bulgor culture, Ivograd has grown up along the banks of the deep, cold waters of lake Gaspar, fed from mountain streams drawn from the peaks of the Underkingdom mountains. Once a simple fishing and trapping outpost, over the last two centuries the population has boomed, with prosperity coming from the network of canals and roads that allowed Ivor (as the natives refer to themselves) trade to gradually connect the great arteries of the Underkingdom and the trade republic.



In the shadow of the mountains days are short, nights are cold, and the human people have taken on the dour character of the dwarves without their mirth. The city is dominated by the kappels (fortress homes) of the great houses: behind high walls and under the distinctive onion domes, the temperament of the Ivor shows its softer side. Within the walls of a family's kappel the gray light gives way to the ruddy glow of roaring hearths and snug rooms warm with bright tapestries.



Policy is determined (when it is determined) by a council of the heads of the great families, a collection of notable citizens called Boyars. The position of Boyar is not, strictly speaking, hereditary, nor is it strictly noble. Some boyars are merchant princes, captains of industry both new and old. Others are great landholders, controlling vast estates of dark, rich soil spread across the high valleys and dark forests of the surrounding countryside. Admission into the council (and thus recognition as a peer) is by invitation, the true sign that a house has graduated from a tribute of other houses to a force in and of itself. Consequently, when a house has fallen far enough that a new head is not accepted into peerage, it is a sign that things are very much amiss (for no Boyar would dare offer such an insult to a house capable of returning that insult).



The council currently seats 12 Members and the Prince: two permanent non-Boyar members are the Master of the Oprichnina and the Patriarch (spiritual leader) of the city. The Monastery is a curious feature of Ivograd, a massive building carved from the living stone of the mountains, it houses the Oprichnina. An ancient order that for centuries has enforced the Prince's Law within the walls of Ivograd, the Oprichnina also serves to preserve and propogate the methods of the Way (what some call the psychic or psionic power). That this form of eldrich art is ill favored in the rest of the lands is a point of some pride for the Ivor.



The office of the Prince is for life, elected by the assent of the assembly after the death of the former prince. The prince concerns himself with enforcement of the law, the institution of law enforcement and judge united in this office.



<h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in">Notable Citizenry

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Prince Oleg Pritkin: Nominally the the supreme executive of Ivogrod and the surrounding districts, the office of the prince ensures honesty by making it dependent on the other elements of the state. For over a dozen years Prince Oleg has navigated these dangerous waters through scrupulous honesty, spotless integrity... and by knowing that when the moves are unpopular, they must be taken quickly.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <h2 style="margin-bottom: 0in">Houses House Romanov, a major family in Ivograd. Represented on the Boyar council.

House Harkavitch, a family formerly in service to Romanov. Possibly extinct. For now.