Name:
The Duchy of Tushina
Description:
The Duchy of Tushina has been apart of Paigeturne almost since the beginning. In Paigeturne's infant days, a young and powerful dragon left the mountains behind in order to glide down into the lower lands resting at the foot of them. While other of his ilk would have done so to raid and pillage, this drake had grander ambitions... he intended to be a conqueror.
The arrangement tended to be rather simple. Whatever town, city, village, hamlet or other gathering of servant races the dragon came upon, an offer would be made: Swear fealty to their new lord and be rewarded alongside protected from raiders of all kinds... or be killed and replaced by someone who would. Via this method of diplomacy, many cities and towns were united under the dragons rule, the unified lands being called Tushina; Legend says that the name was of the dragoness that the dragon cared for and loved deeply.
While many suspected that there was going to be war between the Duchy of Tushina and the relatively new Kingdom of Paigeturne, Duke Drumknott surprised by the world when he flew into the capital and willingly submitted himself and his lands to serve the crown of Paigeturne. History is unsure as to why the dragon Drumknott did this, but some theories suggest that he wanted to focus his efforts on defending his new lands and subjects from his more ambitious, bold kin back in the mountains and didn't want to be caught between them and the newly risen kingdom.
Duke Drumknott died almost three hundred years later saving the Queen of Paigeturne from an assassination attempt, his son and heir Maets claiming the duchy of Tushina and title of Duke after his death. Duke Maets continued to rule Tushina until rather recently. As dragons grow older, the call of hibernation sings out to them. While in younger drakes this can be merely a matter of months or years, as dragons grow older the length of these hibernation spells increase to decades if not centuries... and Maets had grown old enough that he would be slumbering for a decade at the earliest. Aware that such an absence would be trying even under good circumstances, Duke Maets happily pushed his son and heir Droka to step up and rule Tushina for a period of regency.
Over time, the population of Tushina has changed. When Drumknott founded the duchy originally, the population was largely human with small pockets of dwarves. As the centuries have passed however, a side effect of the magics used by dragons as Tushina became a trading area between the servant races of the world and those dragons intelligent enough to be willing to trade for goods and services started to seep into the servant races of Tushina; Those who lived in Tushina over the generations started to have their forms altered into a more dragon like form. These 'Drakonids' and 'Dragonspawn' as they were now called became the new majority as the human and dwarven populations they originally came from dwindled.
The rise of these dragonoid races has given birth to a series of dragon cults within Tushina. Many see the transformation to be a reward for their families long service to the Dukes of Tushina, while others believe the transformation to be merely a step towards fully ascending to dragon-hood. The dragons themselves don't actually know if the transformations will continue or not since... well, Tushina is kind of the first time this has really happened.
The difference between Drakonids and Dragonspawn is a matter of what race they descended from. Humans who have undergone the evolution process become Drakonids, a species that is best described as 'half man, half dragon'. Bipedal in nature, the standard Drakonid is covered in colored scales with a tail and stands somewhat taller then the average human. Some have horns that grow from their head and some develop spikes from their bodies. They can be mistaken for some breed of lizardman, but calling one such is a racial slur.
Dragonspawn are the descendants of Dwarves who have evolved a dragon like form. Stockier and smaller then their Drakonid kin. The lower bodies of dragonspawn are much like dragons, a scaled hide with four legs and a tail. They have humanoid torsos with long, thick arms, and scaled, draconic heads. Some larger and more powerful dragonspawn even grow wings... but even these rare, blessed few cannot actually fly.
Realm Attributes:Fertility: 2
Industry: 2
Nobility: 1
Prosperity: 2
Realm Traits:
Hardy Folk: Your Heroes can always survive taking at least 1 more Wound, and its more difficult for them to receive Wounds in the first place. You produce 1 additional Craft each turn.
The Secret Art: The Realm's Heroes and its Ruler receive +1 Lore. Your common folk are somewhat more familiar with and resistant to magic.