The Black Vale - Information

The Black Vale is a large, but sparsely populated nation with an isolationist bent. It is the southernmost province of Aesgir, in the chilly north. The entire nation is encompassed by a massive, circular mountain range called the Ravenpeaks that provide a natural barrier to the outside world. The country's only points of entry are a heavily guarded and treacherous southern mountain pass and a wide, deep river carving its way into the basin from the east.

The Black Vale is led by the mysterious and feared necromancer king Ulfang von Haren, the latest in a long line of dark monarchs. The Von Haren bloodline was cursed long ago, damning them all to forever be born with a black mark, imbued with dark magics that would kill any children born to the blood within twenty years. Instead of bringing calamity onto the family, however, the Von Harens learned to wield this magic that was thrust upon them, turning to the Black Arts to take souls so as to sustain their bodies and raising vast armies of the dead to take The Black Vale by storm.

Since the House's rise to power, the economy of the Black Vale has changed dramatically. Where centuries upon centuries ago, people carried out menial tasks in a highly stratified society, now menial labour is performed almost exclusively by undead servitors. Everything from day labourers to miners to farmers has been replaced entirely by undead. As a result, nearly the entire population of the Black Vale is middle-class, consisting mostly of scholars, artisans, government personnel, and other callings that require intellect or fine motor skill. Although given normal necromantic magics, food contamination due to rot would be an issue, the Von Haren's special soul-fueled black magics allow them to raise decay-resistant corpses who remain in working order for decades. It's a strange dynamic, but it has worked to build a surprisingly idyllic society, but for the tyranny of the absolute rule of House Von Haren.

For centuries it's been under their stewardship, and although House Von Haren are feared and spoken of in shaky whispers, they are universally respected by the people. For in The Black Vale, there is very little crime; all crime is punishable by ritual sacrifice to its benevolent dictators, feeding as they do upon the souls of the fallen. The land is quite fertile and arable, despite the cold, and food is distributed in such a way that no citizen of the Black Vale goes hungry at night, from the poorest pauper to the farmer who oversees the fields to the richest merchant.

Since the great decline in crime, and the subsequent lack of live sacrifices, each year the citizenry pay a "blood tax", in which each Valeman draws a blade down their hand, spilling five ounces of their lifeblood into basins held by hunched crones that knock upon their doors, dressed in black vestments and impenetrable veils, saying nothing, for their intent is understood by all. None know the identity of these chilling creatures, for they come only once in a year and disappear immediately after the blood tax is counted, sequestered away where even the gods cannot see.

Despite this gruesome ritual, the people pay only minimal monetary taxes in order to sustain the country's infrastructure, generally free to keep and spend what Vale crowns they earn. Most citizens save up their coin to spend it all during the Blackwatch Anniversary, a yearly celebration of the Von Haren army's first conquest of the Black Vale. Merchants from many different nations are allowed within the basin during this time, usually congregating in Greenvale, the Black Vale's most populous town, hocking wares to eager Valemen while bards play jaunty tunes about the Vale's glorious leaders on their lutes. It's a time to break from work, to eat and drink and be merry. For the Von Harens know the value of love just as they know the value of fear, and this festival keeps the king and his cohorts close in his people's hearts -- whether they realise it or not.

In order to keep their isolationist country undisturbed by the outside world, the Von Harens have raised a massive standing army of undead, supplemented by a small unit of living volunteer militiamen and a few elite living units. The typology of Black Vale troops is as follows:

• Shambling Husks - The most basic undead trooper, armed with iron shortswords and light leather armour. They're good for little except swarm tactics in order to provide a buffer for stronger troops.

• Revenant Spearmen - The most numerous of the Black Vale regular undead, the Revenant Spearmen are armed with short spears and round shields. They possess a high level of unit cohesion, and their armour is sturdy, but light.

• Revenant Pikemen - The backbone of a defensive Black Vale army, revenant spearmen are well-preserved undead armed with long, deadly pikes and an unprecedented level of unit cohesion. They are protected by breast plates, chain mail, and iron barbute helmets, as well as thick steel tower shields.

• Revenant Berserkers - The most aggressive basic Vale unit, Revenant Berserkers are undead troopers armed with steel buckers and broad one-handed axes. They charge wailing into battle wearing studded leather or hide armour and hack into the enemy with vicious abandon.

• Revenant Swordsmen - A good all-rounder unit, Revenant Swordsmen are armed with long swords wielded with both hands. They sport a small buckler on the left arm and are protected by light chain mail armour. They are surprisingly skilled combatants, having been 'programmed' with several treatises, although this also makes them predictable in single combat.

• Revenant Longbowmen - Lightly armoured undead that fire long, heavy draw longbows at impressive distance, although their accuracy leaves much to be desired

• Skeleton Raiders - The most mobile and most difficult to hit of the Black Vale's units, the Skeleton Raiders are, obviously, made up of entirely bone. They wear no armour, but wield javelins or throwing axes which they toss with deadly precision. They move more quickly than other Vale units, propelled by necessarily stronger magic as their joints have been completely supplanted by magical bindings.

• Ivory Dragons - Towering structures of bone, Ivory Dragons are a rare, but terrifying sight upon the battlefield. Raised from the decayed corpses of Storm Dragons hunted by Ravenpeak Giants, the Ivory Dragons maintain some of the inherent magic of the Storm Dragons. This allows them to call the occasional bolt of lightning, as well as breathe jets of cold, flash-freezing flesh in a fraction of a second. Their claws are as deadly in death as they were in life, and while they cannot fly as Storm Dragons can, they are also almost impossible to take down with mundane weaponry.

• Ravenpeak Giants - While the Ravenpeak Giants are almost never seen outside the Ravenpeak mountain range, they have been known to come down from the mountains to defend the Vale in times of great need. Although their technology is only Bronze Age, the Ravenpeak Giants are not to be trifled with. Standing at twenty feet on average and wielding giant mauls of bronze as well as javelins the length and thickness of pine trees, they make for a terrifying sight upon the battlefield. They usually wear thick laminated linen armour reinforced with bronze lamella and animal hides. 

• Raised Gryphons - Raised Gryphons are exactly what they sound to be -- gryphons raised from the dead during hunting expeditions into the Ravenpeaks. These are the main cavalry unit of the Black Vale forces, and are heavily armoured to fit the role. While they are not near as fast as a living gryphon, they do still have the ability to fly, and their sharp beaks and claws are perfect tools for rending their enemies apart.

• Volunteer Militia - Consisting of humans who did not excel at education and found no place with the tradesmen of the Vale, the volunteer militia is a small, but potent auxiliary cavalry unit. They are heavily armoured with chain mail that covers their entire body including their face. They wield long lances and kite shields for charging enemy formations, and ride upon the backs of strong and sturdy mountain horses who are similarly protected. They wield arming swords as secondary weapons, and are well trained in their use. While not deployed, they are utilised in helping to police the Vale's sparse population, supplementing the Revenant Peacekeeper force.

• Dread Knights - By far the most terrifying and deadly of Black Vale military units, the Dread Knights are an elite unit trained expertly over several years in the use of every martial weapon available in the Vale. They are outfitted with heavy black plate armour and ride undead horses into battle, though they are known to dismount to engage after the initial charge. Perhaps most intriguingly, however, they are able to wield a fraction of the Von Haren power, enhancing their strength immensely, granting them the ability to raise the dead, allowing them to transfer their essence to save fallen comrades, and bestowing upon them a multitude of offensive dark magics. They are likely an unmatched force the world over, owing to their intensive training and vetting, but they are few and far between, as very few survive the training process. Usually, they act as the King's honour guard in battle, or as the last line of defense if the Harenhalls are attacked directly.