Lamordia (la-MOR-di-a) is a bleak coastal realm in the northwestern Core, a land ravaged by the elements. The domain lies south of Darkon's Jagged Coast on the Sea of Sorrows, and includes the string of islands known as the Finger, which stretches out to the northwest. Notable are the frozen Isle of Agony, where a demonic creature is said to lair, and rocky, forsaken Demise. During the summer months, a muddy causeway links the islands of the Finger, but few travelers brave the brackish muck. The interior is a region of towering forests where the black trees grow massive and dense. The woods are forlorn and eerily still, but travelers often have the impression that they're being watched from the shadows. Each spring, woodsmen inevitably find thawed corpses deep in its wilderness, their forms mangled beyond recognition. The terrain is rugged in the north, especially along the rocky upland region known as the Sleeping Beast. To the south, a wooded delta marks where the mighty Musarde River meets the Sea of Sorrows.

Lamordian villages are tidy and attractive, whether awash in summer wildflowers or slumbering peacefully beneath winter snow. Two or three stories tall, the neat rows of homes and shops look down over narrow streets of gray, smooth cobblestone. Buildings are constructed with thick timber frames and bricks, then plastered and painted white or cream. Roofs are steep and gabled, with thick thatch to keep out the cold. Although Lamordia is a temperate domain, its winters are extraordinarily harsh. Blizzards blanket the land with unending snow and batter the inhabitants with bitter, howling winds. For much of the year, sleighs and snowshoes are the preferred modes of transportation. The summer is no less difficult on travelers, as thick, sucking mud collects in low areas.

Major Settlements

Ludendorf (pop. 900), Neufurchtenburg (pop. 700)

The People

Population: Humans (99%), Other (1%)

Languages: Lamordian*, Mordentish, Falkovnian

Religions: None

Lamordians are lean, square-shouldered folk tall in stature and wiry in physique. Their skin is exceptionally fair but tinted ruddy from the numbing wind that seems to blow across the domain constantly. Eye color is usually green or blue. Their straight or wavy hair is light blond to dark brown, though fairer hair is slightly more common. Men cut their hair to medium length, usually to just above the neck, and keep it styled back. Women grow their hair long and either pin it up or weave it into twin braids. Mustaches and bears are never seen on men, but muttonchop sideburns are quite popular. Clothing is exceptionally well made in Lamordia, but modest and somber. Men wear collared shirts, vests, and trousers, with wealthier men adding a waistcoat and scarf. Nobles often wear pointed black caps as well. Women prefer modest woolen dresses with high collars and frequently wear tight, white bonnets. Color is almost unheard of in Lamordian garb; black, white, and shades of gray are the only hues to be seen. Jewelry is never worn, even among the nobility, though noblemen carry accessories such as canes and pocket watches.

Lamordians are extremely hardy folk accustomed to the domain's savage winter storms and generally treacherous environment. They persevere with calm determination, convinced that they can survive and thrive through sheer hard work and will. Unlike many folk in the Land of Mists, Lamordians are not at all superstitious. They are in fact rational almost to a fault and believe in tackling every problem with a commonsense solution. No church has been able to gain a foothold among the Lamordians, who are deistic or outright atheistic. They are skeptical of anyone who promises easy answers through faith or magic, which they see as crutches for a weak mind. Lamordians pursue humble crafts and try to savor the simple joys of life. They reserve their disdain for Victor Mordenheim, a somewhat shady surgeon and scientist who conducts strange experiments on his estate in northern Lamordia.

The Law

Lamordia is a hereditary aristocracy with republican settlements. Baron von Aubrecker rules Lamordia from his estate in the Sleeping Beast. The baron is an aristocrat hailing from the family that has ruled Lamordia for centuries. He continues to uphold his household's tradition of distant rulership, collecting tribute and maintaining small garrisons of his own soldiers throughout the domain. The baron is more interested in holding court at his manor than regency, and he seems to be the most content in the darkest winter months, when the snowbound settlements can't bother him with their petty problems.

Each of Lamordia's settlements has a mayor, appointed by a council of wealthy aristocrats, who are in turn elected by all male Lamordian landowners in the village. The mayor's main responsibility is to encourage trade and economic ties with other settlements and domains. While Lamodria's villages are neat and orderly, few laws are enforced even at the local level; the Lamordians manage to get through daily life with a minimum of conflict and crime. Nonetheless, should the need arise, troublemakers are dealt with swiftly by both town militias and the baron's enforcers.

Trade and Diplomacy

Resources: Rye, sheep, cattle, dairy, fur, cod, mackerel, herring, flounder, beer, sausage, furs, salt, leather goods, furniture, ships.

Coinage: Glutton (gp), sable (sp), marten (cp).

Lamordia has a deserved reputation as a domain where travel can be difficult and hazardous. For this reason, and maybe since it is such a cold, lonely place, Lamordia's ties with other lands have been slow to emerge. Trade continues to expand in Darkon, Dementlieu, and Falkovnia as outsiders learn of the exceptional quality of Lamordian furs and handicrafts. Baron von Aubrecker cares nothing for his realms political standing in other lands, and most Lamordians have precious little regard for the opinions of outsiders anyway.

Magic

The rationality of the Larmodians can stand out as an oddity in the world. They believe in what they can see and feel for themselves and in the Truth gleaned by those men of genius who have gone before. They outright deny the existence of magic and unnatural creatures or - more commonly - dismiss them as natural phenomena for which there are not yet elucidated scientific principles. Those who dabble in such "preternatural" forces without truly understanding them, such as wizards, are akin to savages playing with gunpowder. Only disaster can come from this kind of carelessness and presumption.

Most spellcasters receive a vaguely hostile reception in Lamordia. More alarming to them, however, is the rare but utter failure at times of spellcasting attempts. Called the Dakj Fe'nunft (Lamordian for 'the smothering of reason'), the idea of an unseen force stifling magic throughout Lamordia is disquieting to practioners of the Art.

Characters

Lamordian heroes are usually fighters, rangers, or rogues. Adventurers in general are perceived as shifty mercenaries without an honest trade. Fighters are given a healthy respect for their skills, though epithets like "brute" are whispered behind their backs. The talents of the rangers are admired, but those who espouse their woodland spiritualism are mistrusted. Rogues are despised unless they prove a willingness to apply their skills toward the protection of communities rather than the pursuit of criminal acts.

Lamordians are almost exclusively human. Nonhumans, including the dwarves of the Sleeping Beast, are regarded as natural abnormalities and flawed branches of the Great Tree of Life, the top of which is crowned by humanity.

Lamordian characters begin play with proficiency in firearms and black powder weapons.