Marnh
King: Ephraim IV, House Ipres
Doom: 4 (5 in Queensport, 12 in Dresgilioch) Capital: Dresgilioch
Economy: Average, with strong sea (all sea-related objects, including troops such as sailors, are obtain- able at one wealth level lower than usual)
Spellbound density, countryside: 0 close; 3 high. Spellbound density, town: 0 or 1 close; 5 high. Spellbound density, city: 0 or 1 close; 7 high. Queensport: 0 or 1 close; 7 high. Dresgilioch: 0 or 1 close; 12 high.
Culture: Marnh values the open sea and journeys. Anyone whose childhood is spent in Marnh gains 2 skill points to be spent on a sea-related skill. All naval organizations of Marnh increase their force score by 2.
Military: There are 6 duchies with one WL 17 army and one WL 17 navy each. There are also two royal navies, each WL 20.
Symbol: Cutlass and crozier crossed over sea waves Ceremony: Stones in the Sea
Jungles and seas define Marnh. One of the great pow- ers of the world, its strengths are its naval power, its sea-trading network, and its mastry of the dramba and maelstrom magic schools. None of these are equaled anywhere in the Claw. The university at Queensport is also considered the strongest in the Claw. Geographi- cally, Marnh is dominated the the twin rivers, the Diamond and the Mantis, as they charge southward through temperate forest highlands giving way to tropical jungle lowlands.
Surveillance
King Ephraim brooks no challenge or pretense of freedom on the part of the peasantry. Arnh, the lotter- ies are open and quite visible – or at least the results
are.
In the jungle-clearings where the stupa and stone towers rise, or in the low coastal villages where fisheries and dock houses sprawl, the one constant of life is the lottery. Conducted irregularly by House Ipres, the lotteries inspire a fear known as far as Dynn. In fact, the Dynni disparage the Marnh lottery, saying, “At least we only take the guilty.”
In a Marnh lottery, all the lower class gather in the tillage or town center. Sometimes a local baron, sometimes a bishop, and sometimes a peasant honored as the Peasant King masters the ceremony. The details vary: the pick could be a true lottery, by tiles drawn from a box. Other times, the master of the ceremony simply chooses someone. The “winner” of the lottery is usually a man or woman with a family, as this is considered to have the benefit of instructing everyone in the family. The fate of the lottery winners is of- ficially relocation. The monarchy explains that there are secret villages maintained in the northern forests and western jungles, where the winners’ daily life over the years is explored in detail through alchemical and magical means, yielding important information that they might not even know that they carry. In fact, the King’s official title for the lottery winners is “explor- ers.” Of course the explorer cannot be examined in his home village because the spells involved would inter- fere with the spells used by the king’s wizards to help the local populace farm, raise healthy children, and more. And of course most explorers can never return to their home village because of the fear of reprisal. Someone who said something wrong in the presence of the explorer, or someone who held a secret that the explorer divulged to the kingsmen, would inevitably seek revenge. For their own good, most explorers must never return. Instead, they help the King explore dis- tant shores, bringing glory to Marnh in their new role.
Once in a while, a few explorers do return home, but whether these are the same people or mere changelings is fiercely, but extremely secretively, debated. No one would dare to debate openly what the
kingsmen say when they return the explorers. In addition to the lottery and the terror it in- spires, House Ipres and the other noble houses main- tain the usual network of kingsmen, informants, and diviner wizards. Dramba doctors using Switch Bodies and Erase Memories are particularly effective.
University at Queensport
Formal education is not as strictly enforced as it is in most of the rest of the west. It simply is not as impor- tant to the social order as it is elsewhere. Some say King Ephraim doesn’t educate the youth because he relishes punishing the adults for transgressions they
never knew were wrong.
Perhaps ironically, the non-compulsory nature of early education has led to the development of the best academic university in the Claw. While Thyre challenges in aeronautical and submersible engineer- ing, and Azenahal is a rival in alchemical study, the University at Queensport is the equal of all and mas- tered by none. The university libraries and archives are a hive of intrigue. More bodies turn up in the University than anywhere else, as noble houses and magic orders employ agents to live here year-round and plumb the halls’ secrets. The Museum of St. Jhess’ Rock dazzles paying visitors with its selection of trea- sures from every part of the known world (entrance is only open to patrons at wealth level 3 or higher). The Shadows and Sparrows
This is a theater, tavern, and night club. The Shadows are the mirages and illusions created by spellsmiths to entertain. The Sparrows are the typically female singers that the tavern is famous for. On any given night, patrons might find a play involving a smuggler trying to smuggle his own bride out of Dynn; or hear a singer’s recital of the classic Azenahal elegies; or join in dancing to the violins, roundly acknowledged to be superior to those of Rithaign.
The proprietor is Buckminster Silk, a nine- blood standing well over six feet tall and built like an inverted Jakattan ziggurat. Despite his imposing physique, Buck is amiable and friendly to student and kingsman alike. There are rumors that he is an aboli- tionist, but those may be wishful thinking among the increasingly wild students.
The Shadows and Sparrows only lets in people at wealth level 2 and above. Bribes or an argument is the only way in otherwise!
Grace Shalloch’s Angel Scream
The Angel Scream is a thieves guild in Dresgilioch. It is fairly new, and not an especially powerful or-
ganization (scope 7, efficiency 4, F 3, A 4, S 6). It is notable for two reasons. One, Grace Shalloch is the daughter of the Queen, Ephraim’s wife Marta. She is not Ephraim’s daughter, however, and Ephraim knows this. The public does not. Grace Shalloch is, in public, a dutiful crown princess, set to take over the crown. In private, she is a desperate, tough, but very scared young woman. Ephraim’s younger son, with Marta, is named Antonin. Grace is sure that he and his father are scheming to remove her. Never one to let matters fall to chance, and also never one to turn down a bit of the wild side, Grace has started the Angel Scream. Its primary goal is to keep her alive, by any means neces- sary. Its secondary goal is to discover who her father is.
Stones in the Sea
The ceremony in Marnh is called Stones in the Sea. Celebrants take turns dropping stones into water and observing the ripples.