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Drillian

Drillian is one of the five countries that make up the Small Kingdoms. Drillian is located to the west of Rivers Bend and shares a 'border' with Carnak along the Central Mountains. The Great Swamp forms the southern edge of Drillian.

The Kingdom of Drillian has always been at war. At war with water. Flooding from rains is rare but with yearly floods from the Chandler Cowles River. The first inhabitants of this were humanoids, mostly hobgoblins and goblins in the higher dryer areas and Lizard Men and Bully Wugs in the wetter swampier ones. Elves traveled through the marshes occasionally but the land was flourishing on its own with the Treants to guide growth.

Humans slowly grew as a presence and with the aid of the Treants large dikes were built to help control the flow of the flooding waters. These were not to drain the swamps but to guide it to separate the land into usable areas, the amount of water flowing into Drillian was unstoppable but they hoped to guide it.Through these efforts the northern portion of the Kingdom became more suitable for farmland. Which encouraged more human settlements and conflict with the Hobgoblins, Lizard Men and the smaller races. Treants retreated towards the swampier areas.

Over hundreds of years human settlements became organized into the Kingdom of Drillian and the real opponent to the Kingdom remained water.

Drillian unusual in its form of monarchy - Matriarchal Male Primogeniture. It is officially called the Kingdom of Drillian with the inheritance running the the male son. However the Queen is the ruler of the Kingdom and only a Queen can rule. This creates the dynamic that a Queen looks for the best woman for her son to marry and each noble house vying for the next chance to rule the Kingdom. Once in the past a Queen married her son to her own daughter but the other nobles rose up in arms over this scandal.

Many of the towns and hamlets follow a similar pattern of having a strong female noble presence. Some such as the Lady Emerald Quellcon rule over a small town and surrounding lands. Visitors might be welcomed for their stories or shunned as potential agents of evil depending on recent events.

The military in Drillian is made up of four parts. There is a small standard army, there is a small army of two units of all females and there are several mercenary units that are kept on retainer. There is also a Paladin Order dedicated to the destruction of the Vampire Lords of the Mist.

The Order of Brotherhood stands to fight the Vampire Lords and to protect the Royal Family of Drillian. The Brothers each are sworn to another brother and pledge to protect each other and to not let his or her brother to fall and become an undead - death by a Brother's hand is preferred.

A full two thirds or more of Drillian is covered by The Mist. The Mist is said to emanate from the Vampire Overlords Castle deep in the swamps south of Drillian. The Mist blocks much of the natural light as well as having a magical effect. There are no sun rises or sun sets in this part of the world, only a dull glow in the sky marks the passage of time. There are no stars at night and the moon glows like a silver sun in the nights mists. The Mist blocks all divination and traveling magics and also dampens any healing magics. There are negative modifiers for Priests who attempt to Turn Undead in The Mist. It also creates a barrier even for travel through the planes. Only the Paladins laying of hands is not affected. The Mist dissipates the farther north from the swamp it reaches and the northern stretches of Drillian are not affected by The Mist. There are three ways of describing the effects of The Mist - Light, Thick and Dense.

The Dragonslayers became involved during the Mist Wars era in some of the side skirmishes between the Paladins and some of the other swamp creatures. Latter on during the Phoenix Era new characters established bases here in Drillian and continued to have many adventures here.

There is a saying from the travelers through Drillian that "The Mist get in your blood" and that "The Mist will draw you back". This could come from the idea that even the most unlikely creatures that inhabit the swamps seem to get unnatural powers from The Mist. There has been a war running between the Paladins sworn to protect and the various hordes from the swamp and the Vampire Lord's minions.

In the northeast corner of the country lies the small town of Roppenmere.