Mariksen, Barony of
by Michael BerryArea:
392 square miles
Population:
AC 1000 - 700
AC 1014 - 685
Villages: (population values are given for AC 1000 and AC 1014)
Gavrilovka(150/140): is a growing village in the southern part of the Barony on the main caravan trail. It is the economic, administrative, and social center of the Barony.
Kyzyl (0/112): is new village in the southeastern part of Mariksen. It was founded by immigrants from the Bramya region of Glantri.
Lyapichev (67/65): is a village nested under the tower of the Baron and serves the needs of the Baron and his retainers.
Demkin (57/54): is a village nestled in a mountainous valley in the northeast portion of the Barony that engages in logging of the forests north of the Barony in the Two Volcanoes Free Province. Kapinsky (60/63): is a former goatherding village that is becoming a mining village due to the large copper strike and new mine in mountains above the village.
Ethnic groups:
AC 1000 - Boldavians 70%, Outerworlders 10%, Flaem 10%, Heldann 8%, Other 2%
AC 1014 - Boldavians 60%, Ethengarian 13%, Outerworlders 10%, Heldann 10%, Flaem 5%, Others 2%.
Languages:
Boldavian, Thyatin (common)
Ruler:
AC 1000 - Laszlo Wutyla (Nosferatu born 946, M9 2nd Circle Necromancer, AL - Chaotic)
AC 1014 - Sergei Wutyla (born 950, M10 1st Circle Dream Master, AL-Lawful)
House:
AC 1000 - Igorov
AC 1014 - Skullhorn
Military:
The Baron's Calvary serve as the constabulary in the Barony. They consist of 20 F1 Cavalry (short bows, swords, riding horses) and are based in Medvezhyegorsk. They patrol the Barony always on the lookout for trouble, from the outside and from the inside. Any troublemakers or lawbreakers are arrested and taken before the chief magistrate in Medvezhyegorsk. The cavalry also trains with Glantrian Army detachments and can serve in a military capacity as well as civil. Mariksen occasionally hosts detachments from Ft Tchernovodsk patrolling the Czaikow Road.
Food:
slightly deficient
Trails:
There are three main trails in the Barony of Mariksen. . The first is a fair trail. It is the main trade and commerce route of the Barony which runs from the village of Medvezhyegorsk south to the main east-west trade route which connects Glantri and Rymskigrad to points north and east. The second is a new trail which runs from Medvezhyegorsk to the southeast through Kyzyl and leads to the new Barony of Kursk. The third winds into the mountains to the Baron's new mining operations. Both of these trails have been rated 'poor' trails by the Glantrian branch of AAA. The Baron is said to be considering future public works projects to improve the quality of northern trail and perhaps the southeastern.
Economics:
The discovery of a substantial, yet as of now undetermined, vein of Copper in its territory in 1013 was unexpected and quite timely, happening just when Mariksen was beginning to feel the pinch of the Council's support being shifted to Lipetsk in the east. Infrastructure is still being constructed to make the Copper extractable and profitable but large scale mining operations are set to begin in the next year or two. The discovery sent shockwaves through the area and prospectors have descended into the Wendarian Ranges over the last year hoping to be the next to strike it big.
Before discovery of the Copper and the immigration of the Bramyans to Mariksen the primary resource of the dominion was wax and the substantial goatherds of the mountains. With the influx of new immigrants from the Bramya region, a new village has been formed by them and attempts to grow Mulberry trees have started. Time will tell if the trees will take in the colder environment and if silk might become another product of Mariksen. Atypical of Boldavia and its dominions, the people of Mariksen actually have reason to smile and hope for a brighter economic future.
Mariksen Monthly Financial Ledger (figures from AC 1000)
Main resources: 2 animal (bees, goats)
5 hexes: mountain; borderland; pop. 280; tax 14 dc
2 hexes: forested hills; borderland; pop. 280; tax 14 dc
Medvezhyegorsk: village; pop. 140; tax 14 dc
Total population: 140 rural, 560 borderland
Tax Income: 42 dc
Resource Income: 168 dc
Standard Income: 336 dc
Council Tax: 109.2 dc
Net Cash: 100.8 dc
Overhead (35%): 35.3 dc
Available Cash: 65.5 dc
With 2520 XP/year, in 10 years the Baron could gain 25,200 XP.
Alternate: 504 XP/year.
History:
Barons of Mariksen
Lajos Wutyla 935-938
Bela Wutyla 938-961
Matthias Wutyla 961-990
Laszlo Wutyla 990-1012
Sergei Wutyla 1012-
The Barony of Mariksen was created by the Council of Princes in AC 935 at the request of Prince Morphail to assist in consolidation and control of the Eastern Wendarian Range and Czaikow Hills bordering Ethengar. Much like Vladimirov and Palatinsk the Barony was originally more an administrative and military outpost. However after a hundred years of peace Morphail did not have a proven battlefield commander at hand to recommend to take the new dominion, so the title of Baron was to be decided by an Awards Festival.
After weeks of feverish campaigning by scores of qualified wizards the field narrowed to three viable candidates by the time the Council was due to vote. The first, Lajos Wutyla, was promising necromancer whom Prince Morhail had his eyes on for some years. The second Piotr Szymanowski, a draconic sage of some note, was also a Boldavian who failed to recognize that Lajos had won the support of the Prince of Boldavia and thought Morphail was undecided. The third and final candidate who thought they had a chance and did not withdraw his petition to the Council prior to the vote was a promising Flaemish Mage, Aleida Verbeck, who hoped that she might capitalize on any anti-Boldavian votes. The Council of Princes rejected Szymanowsk while both Wutyla and Verbeck received the necessary votes and thus were sent to the Parliament. When the Parliament voted, one week later, both again received the votes necessary. According to Glantrian law the impasse was to be broken at the Dueling Court where Lajos defeated Aleida thus becoming the new Baron of what he later named the Barony of Mariksen.
Mariksen throughout the rest of the century was an important military outpost and depot for Boldavian settlers who were beginning to move even further eastward into the Czaikow hills and into the foothills of the eastern Wendarians. Life in the Barony was tough and dangerous with frequent raids of Ethengarian raiders and the undead, especially Vampires, preying upon the population. During the Great War, the Glantrian Army had a large presence in Markisen guarding the eastern landward approaches to Glantri and life for the Barony was never so good with all the soldiers spending their hard earned ducats on rest and relaxation and the Ethengarians busy to the east with the Heldannic Knights. However the threat of monsters summoned by the Alphatians were a constant and deadly aspect of life to the people of the Barony and the famed Boldavian Hunter-Killer group 'The Cossacks' led by Vladimir Ankundinov pretty much resided here during the war and Mariksen served as their home base from which they operated.
The end of the Great War brought many profound changes to Mariksen, the hated and feared Baron Laszlo Wutyla was murdered by a Ethengarian Cleric and Laszlo's brother Sergei inherited the Barony. For the first time since the Barony was founded it had a Baron that actually worked to improve the state and condition of the Barony. This culminated with the discovery of a large Copper deposit in the northern mountains of the Barony. Also it must be noted that Sergei, surprisingly considering the circumstances that led him to becoming the Baron, has shown a great deal of kinship with the Ethengarian people. He has become very friendly with Prince Krinagar and invited settlers from Bramya to settle in his Barony. It is also noted that Sergei is rarely seen without a particularly striking woman of the Steppes.
In 1014 Sergei switched political allegiance from the House of Igorov to the House of Skullhorn. What this might bode for Sergei and his barony remains unforeseen. Surprisingly the relationship between Boldavian and Bramyan has been pleasant. Both ethnic groups do keep with their own kind but when they have been together they have been cordial and civil. Add in the substantial Flaem population found in northeastern Glantri and you have the most ethnically mixed Baronies in the Boldavian region. Today the future looks bright for Mariksen right now, but some do worry if the Barons switch of political allegiance may someday bear bitter fruit to the Barony as Prince Morphail is not known as a particular forgiving of betrayal or the breaking of political loyalty. As of now the Baron, and the people of Mariksen have not suffered any direct repercussions from the Prince over the change in political loyalty but few expect that to last long.
Notable sites:
The village of Kyzyl is a village of some one hundred people in the southeastern part of Mariksen. It was founded recently by immigrants from the Bramya region of Glantri. The Mulberry trees planted in hope of cultivating silk worms are a source of quite some fascination to the locals. Two wizards that moved with settlers tend for these trees using arcane and traditional mundane methods as well as provide a powerful basis for defense of the new village from Ethengarian raiders and from the undead.
The village of Gavrilovka is the center of life in the Barony located only a few miles from the southern border of the Barony. Long a sleepy town, today it is a thriving and growing village with large numbers of miners and prospectors having moved into the area and using the village as a base of operations for exploiting the mineral wealth of the recently found copper vein as well as prospecting for additional (and perhaps even more profitable) veins of precious materials.
Coat of Arms:
Useful links:
Glantrian Nobility during the years by Harri Mäki
The Economy of Mariksen by Aleksei Andrievski
Glantrian Heraldry by Chimpman
Laszlo and Sergei Wutyla by Michael Berry
