Auropolis
by Giulio N CarolettiLocation: Endworld Spine, secluded valley somewhere in the Spine.
Area: 638 km sq
Population: 1,500 duckmen.
Languages: Scottish (Klantyre dialect)
Coinage: Pound (1 pound = 12 sp)
Government Type: Dictatorship
Industries: Mining, agriculture (wheat, potatoes), farming (sheep)
Important Figures: the Khan of Auropolis
Description: Auropolis is the home of the duckmen. Duckmen are 2 1/2 feet tall humanoid ducks, whose wings have changed into arms. They are feathered but unable to fly. Duckmen were created a lot of time ago, on a distant dimension by Duncan McGregor, an ancestor of Brannart McGregor. The duckmen proved an interesting race: while some were useful as servitors, other were able to learn spellcasting, and in general they seemed a very creative race, although stubborn and greedy. But when the McGregors turned to necromancy, some duckmen were used for experiments, while others, using their magical abilities, left hoping to find a new place to live. The McGregor's world was no place for them: the fear for magic had always kept their existence limited to McGregor's family estates, and thus they used plane-shifting abilities and left for another reality, reaching Mystara. The duckmen arrived in a valley of the Endworld Spine in 433 AC. A former volcanic zone, and still an active thermal zone, the valley, called Auropolis by their leader Gerald Conway, was warm, and had a temperate climate. Winters are cold, due to the abundant snow, but springs are mild, and summers warm. The valley was perfect: secluded, isolated, where agriculture and farming could have been possible...if they had anything to start with. Several duckmen left for the outer world, hoping to find things to start with. They stole cattle and plants in the Zuyevo and Klagorst regions, mostly undetected by humans and humanoids, and created their own little paradise under Conway's guidance. The life of duckmen went on peacefully. Sometimes, a duckman left to roam the outer world, but for the most they remained in the valley studying strange and particular fields of magic, and working in their farms. Gold and diamond mines are also present in Auropolis.
The situation changed somewhat in 998 AC, when a duckman returning from Ethengar proclaimed himself Khan, and killed the third King of Auropolis, McNamara. A group of his followers left Auropolis, while the Khan, whose name is not known, has imposed his rule on the valley. He is imposing very high taxes, and not paying them results in harsh punishment. Since 1006, the Khan has begun to change jail and slave labour into missions outside Auropolis to find treasures in the outside world, but this is very dangerous, and could soon turn into human and humanoid interest in a valley who has never been visited before...