The Isle of Mát is an enigma among the other nations of Crown’s Reach: it’s a sovereign entity that can provide for its own needs—and its military defense—without technically being part of the Ten Kings. In many ways it is akin to Solvos, in the south, and in fact is rivaled by Solvos in the matter of mercenary distribution throughout Crown’s Reach; Guildhouses DeMaris (Mát) and DuTuris (Solvos) hold a virtual mercenary monopoly that, if combined, would outnumber any other standing army in the north. It could further be argued that both the Isle of Mát and Solvos are allowed their unique status based solely on the sizable forces they could both immediately muster towards their defense if pressed to war.
Some speak of older traditions that bind Guildhouse DeMaris to the Isle of Mát, but few outside the isle’s capital stronghold of Mötgard could tell you what their actual purpose is. The isle’s single-word motto—Vigil—is said to be older than living memory, and if it stands for Mát’s true purpose, well, what they watch for is anyone’s guess. Most people simply consider the Isle of Mát to be the most reliable source for mercenaries in the north.
Mát most recently supplied troops to Zhadra in that nation’s continued attempt to reclaim its sovereign status, and has remained steadfast to its contract, even in the face of Zhadra’s most recent betrayal of some of its closest allies. Note: the word “Mat” has different meanings, depending on the language being utilized. Möt means “against” in Svenan; Maat means “judgement” in Khemite; Mot means “death” in Parsa; Mott means “total” in Bhasjani; and Mat means “face” in Tiengun. There remains to this day much debate as to the island nation’s naming origins.
Locale: A collection of islands surrounding one larger isle in the middle of the Storming Sea; has dedicated ports in Palador, Vertaes, Baltanya, Zhadra, Gault, Cymry, and Waldonia
Banner: A royal blue eye (with a black gauntlet as its iris) on a sky-blue field bordered in night-blue silk (blue sapphire for brooches)
Role: Politically neutral island mercenary stronghold (and secret wizard training ground)
Theme: Sure, mercenaries are cool and all, but this actuaklly an island of mystery and magic! Adventure (or death!) (or expulsion!!) awaits all who set foot on this isle. If you like ancient magical mysteries or J.K. Rowling, well, this place may be for you!
Ruler: Lord Commander Brevon DeMaris
Duchies (Isles): Baleshorn, Bingle, Mát, Narwhale Rock, Oberväch, Taff, Vostra
Capital: Mötgard
Cities & Strongholds: Bronze Hammer Hall, the Buttress, the Collegium Incantamentum, Dias Ambrosius, Galvant Holdfast, Silverpike, Stormport
Notable Towns: Aldor’s Mill, Alesport, Breakneck Quay, Crescent Cove, Ding, Flophen, Forgotten Springs, Kierny, Piper’s Pier, Portshead, Raghead Harbor
Landmarks: Breakneck Bay, Cape Harm, the Eye, the Howling Neck, Indigo Wood, the Scrimshaw Coast, Sea Turtle Sound, Sharksnap Reef, the Stony Climb, Wooly Bay
Exports: Mercenaries
Internal Factions: Guildhouse DeMaris, the Knights of the Enduring Eye, the Shark-Fin Sisterhood, the Storming Sea Trawler’s Consortium
Old Tongue: Auld Wyls (very llikely derivative of 16th century Welsh mingled with 18th century Scots)
Nobiliary: ath (ex: Lord Crimius ath’Bicking)
Noble Houses: Aldor, Algar, Bale, Bicking, Bissel, Cameron, Chalced, Cherek, Coyle, Dalamvor, Dannister, DeLorn, DeMaris (ruling), DeVantis, Ellis, Farrowsmead, Fers, Furyond, Gilley, Guest, Larter, Patters, Rhodes, Taff, Taylor, Toman, Vaughan
Faiths: Deith Diadh (35%), (Illumination Reformation (30%), Zvystni Bohova (22%), Aegyr Udoen (11%), Other (2%)
The Isle of Bujan is said to hold the soul of the demon giant (Koschei). Bujan is rarely spoken of, for it rarely appears… but when it does it usually appears just east of Mát’s main islands. Its appearances and disappearances are usually synchronized with the tides.
This citadel on the isle of Baleshorn was where King Artorius once allegedly freed two trapped dragons, giving cause for the worship and following of his rule at Avalonia. It may have some form of dragon-catching or holding device beneath the city’s main citadel.
Girded by the nigh-impenetrable Crescent Cove and bolstered by the immovable presence of Guildhouse DeMaris, Mötgard stands as impregnable as any fortress in the Northern Kingdom. In fact, it has never been taken by force. Few can say what, precisely, it guards. Some speculate DeMaris guards priceless magical artifacts at Mötgard’s center (the Eye of Horus? The Well of Eternity? Leminkainen’s Shield?) but no one outside the fortress can say—and no one within will.
DeMaris, Brevon: Lord Commander of Guildhouse DeMaris
Tataru: Breven’s stunted, hapless, slightly useless personal aide; slated for a messy death.
This massive inland sea is fed in the south by the Thormir Strait, and lies central to Crown’s Reach. Its shores touch the nations of Palador in the south, Vertaes in the west, Cymry and Gault in the north, and the Duchy of Zhadra in the east (presently controlled by Palador). Once called the Dragonsea because its shape is said to resemble a dragon’s head, it was renamed the Storming Sea, due in part because of its yearlong ferocity.
Tempestuous isle. Small but stolid, it is perhaps the most well-known haven for sharks in all the Otherrealm.Galvant Holdfast: A secret haven for pirates and mercenaries, it is rumored to hold a magical pool (the location of which is secret) with blue waters “as sparkling as an elfin eye,” whose depths are said to be unfathomable, and whose magical effects change daily.
The Isle of Mát’s second-largest isle, second only to Mát itself, Vostra houses a mighty citadel—called the Buttress—but is best known for being the starting point in any formal arcane tutelage, the home of the Collegium Incantamentum.
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