Lore: The Confederation of the Rukkar

The Confederation of the Rukkar

The Confederation is a union of wealthy city-states and nomadic tribes occupying the land of Rukkarim and the Passage to the north.

Deeper History of Rukkarim

Long ago, Rukkarim was inhabited by both dwarven and dragonkind. This would remain so for thousands of years, with the two peoples living in peace. Even today, the city H'Taba's foundations descend into an ancient dwarven metropolis, whose tunnels stretch beneath Rukkarim's vastness, and far below.

As Nerophet and Xogoth strengthened their influence over Thindul, however, the earlier friendship between dragon and dwarf would be poisoned. When the Draegar emerged as an imperial power, many of Rukkarim's dwarven cities were put to the sword, while others were subjugated. Now the dwarven habitations below H'taba are long abandoned, and the deeper delvings lie flooded.

With the creation of humankind, the remaining dwarven settlements were transformed into largely human centers of industry under Draegar rule. These peoples then further intermixed with elven war captives taken from the Sylvan Dominion.

Meanwhile, swaths of Rukkarim's landscape were granted as a preserve to small groups of humans who, for one reason or another, had been released by their Draegar masters. These human tribes, living as nomadic herders, became a distinct caste in Draegar society, representing to the Draegar their supposed generosity to lesser peoples. The herders, known to outsiders as graze nomads, named themselves the Auad Fane, from the Draegar Auad Vr Ddaen, meaning “free by honor.”

Uprising

When the Draegar's empire, Z'Irada Aurautha, collapsed, humankind came into possession of Rukkarim. The liberated elves and dwarves of the region largely emigrated to Olhuirriar, or to the ever-city of Immerdwelm, respectively. These early years of humanity's freedom were characterized overwhelmingly by a struggle for survival, at first against the remaining Draegar and Dragons, and later against the monsters that had been held at bay by the corrupt, but powerful, fallen empires.

The Wars of Formation

When humankind was no longer faced with a unifying enemy, they began to fight among themselves for dominion over the former territory of Z'Irada Aurautha. Through long and bloody conflict, polities of wider influence gradually established themselves.

In Rukkarim's grazelands, the Dar, Sebras, and Ulyur Kin Leagues gained dominion over lesser nomadic tribes. As Gwynnberrian commodities flowed from the south, Rukkarim's trade cities blossomed into wealthy cosmopolitan centers, at the intersection of several cultures. Although these cities remained formally independent, Viztar became preeminent in the south, H'Taba in the north. H'Taba, though less domestically influential, secured vast wealth for itself by asserting control of the Passage, through which commerce proceeded from Rukkarim into the Steel Empire.

R'Than Dar

In the 800s SR, Periandor, Rukkarim's southern neighbor, expanded by violently absorbing its regional neighbors. The Rukkar cities' Oligarchs then became concerned by that kingdom's rising power. This worry was sharpened all the more when Marlinhelm and Afairn, ethnically Rukkic cities, voluntarily annexed themselves to Periandor in 861 SR.

By this time, the ruler of the Dar Kin League, R'Than the Conqueror, had brought both the Sebras and Ulyur tribes under his rule, unifying the nomads of the grazelands for the first (and only) time. Prompted by their fear of Periandor, Viztar and H'Taba entered into a loose alliance with each other and hired R'Than Dar, along with his vast cavalry force, as a protector against Periandor.

It was not long, however, before R'Than took the funds gained from his protectorship and used those monies to swell his army to an even greater size. He then named himself High King of the Rukkar, claiming authority both over the cities and the open lands, and there remained no one with the strength to challenge him. It was in this manner that the Rukkar became one people.

The Passage and the Gold Spear Company

In the later years of R'Than's rule, the Aeohtar branch-clan Ravtathos seized the Passage from Rukkarim, holding it for five years before the Rukkar were able to drive them out. Upon recovering the Passage, R'Than constructed a string of fortifications defending its length, and saw foundations laid for Fort Vengeance and Fort Talarn, closing the Sunset Pass to further Aeohtarn incursion.

Later, in 915 SR, with the memory of the Passage War still fresh, the Rukkar cities would establish a mercenary company devoted to the protection of the Passage against both Aeohtar aggression, and the banditry that commerce naturally attracts. A formidable power in its own right, the Gold Spear Company is forbidden from crossing south of the River Hursada, lest it turn against its benefactors as R'Than Dar once did.

The company bears bands of gold on their spears, symbols of Rukkarim's wealth and might, and are reputed to be among the most skilled and disciplined fighters on Thindul.

Confederation

When R'Than died peacefully in 904 SR, several claimants emerged among his numerous progeny, each backed by sworn followers among the Auad Fane. None, however, were able to gain a decisive advantage, and they exhausted themselves in fighting. With the power of the graze tribes diminished, Viztar and H'Taba led the cities in voluntary unification as the Confederation of the Rukkar. In an act of compromise, while the seat of the Confederation's governance was established at Viztar, the logistical headquarters of the Golds Spear Company was granted to H'Taba.

After much fighting, the Ulyur and Sebras Kin Leagues regained their independence from the Dar tribes, though the Dar retained their influence in the north. While formally independent, the tribes became, in practice, branches of the Confederation's military, each responsible for the protection, administration, and taxation, of their rural holdings.

The Border War

The Oligarchs of the Confederation have long resented Periandor for their annexation, albeit voluntary, of Marlinhelm and Afairn. Ostensibly, this anger is motivated by the Rukkic ethnic makeup of these cities. More importantly, however, Afairn and Marlinhelm traditionally held both banks of the River Naliir, up to a mile from their waters. When these cities joined the Kingdom of Periandor, control over the river's banks came into the Periandor's possession.

This arrangement prevents the Confederation from effectively managing trade and migration into their lands from the south. Unsuccessfully, they petitioned Periandor to permit the construction of fortified check points along the Rukkar bank of the Naliir. As a consequence of this failure, they are dependent on the Ulyur and Sebras to track and collect fees from travelers as they cross into their territories. It is well understood, however, that the southern tribes have little interest in collecting for their urban overlords, and the Confederation of the Rukkar exercises remarkably little control over their border, or the wealth that passes through it.

While the Confederation harbored no desire to initiate a full-scale war with Periandor, having witnessed the destruction of the Hill-Breaker dwarves at Periandor's hands, they hoped that they might pressure Periandor to renegotiate its borders through the combination of diplomacy and raids of ambiguous sponsorship. They knew well enough, after all, that a major war would benefit Periandor no more than it would the Confederation, for it would disrupt Periandor's trade through Rukkarim into Thindul's interior.

What resulted, however, was not so much a truly limited conflict, but a war that escalated as glacially as brutally, neither side willing to back down, each meeting the most recent offense with slightly sharper retaliation.

Edrim

The situation came to a head when mercenaries in the employ of Confederated city Velnur annihilated multiple Periandic villages on Cloving Isle, and Periandor's King Andro assembled a great host, crossing into Rukkarim near Marlinhelm. The Confederation responded by amassing their armies at Edrim to meet Andro in battle.

As the king's army approached within a day of the city, Edrim's commanders preferred to avoid a siege and assessed their strength as greater. So they sent out their army to meet Andro's in the field but found that their advantage was not as decisive as they had believed. Both sides, unable to advance or retreat, dug into the landscape awaiting reinforcements as their mages bombarded each other's positions.

At last, Andro commanded his vassal, the Dragon Lady Ysandir, to ride out. While she approached from above the clouds, the Periandic army feigned weakness, goading the Rukkar to emerge from their field fortifications and mass for a charge. So, Ysandir descended on the Confederated forces with her dragon, Ahralothon.

While it is possible to overcome a dragon through preparation, magecraft, and staggering courage, this is rendered nearly impossible when it is the dragon that holds the element of surprise. Ysandir broke the Rukkar army and overflew Edrim's walls, laying waste to the city's administrative center. Subsequently, the Confederation moved quickly to negotiate a surrender. Much of their army had died or fled, and those who remained were catastrophically dispirited. Meanwhile, Andro held Edrim and was poised to push deeper into Rukkarim along its well-kept trade roads.

While, if he had wished, Andro might have forced an unconditional surrender, multiple factors stayed his hand. Firstly, he feared that the Confederation would become desperate enough to recall the Gold Spear Company from the Passage, prolonging the war and forcing his army to attrite itself against some of the best mercenaries in the world. Secondly, it was doubtful whether Periandor could gain sufficient control over Rukkarim, particularly over the Auad Fane, before Ostregvaza or the Steel Empire took advantage of the disorder, sparking a wider conflict.

So, a truce was reached, with both nations' holdings returning to their pre-war status, while the Confederation was forced to pay substantial reparations for the damage inflicted on Periandor's watchtowers and villages over 16 years of fighting.

Relations with Other Peoples

Keenly remembering past conflicts, Rukkarim has little trust or affection for Periandor or the Steel Empire, though the three nations are dependent on one another as trading partners. The Rukkar share a strong diplomatic link, however, with the dwarves of Clan Ironheart, and since the Border War, they have permitted the dwarves to establish strongholds in the traditional lands of Sebras Coalition, much to the graze tribes' consternation.

Indeed, the relationship between the Rukkar's cities and its nomadic peoples has been increasingly strained since the end of the Border War. To fulfill payment of their reparations to Periandor, Rukkarim has leaned heavily on the graze tribes, reducing their autonomy and using them ever more systematically to tax traveling merchants. The Ulyur in particular have complained that this employment renders them little more than roving bandits in service to the Confederated cities, and there has been talk of rebellion among the nomads. This possibility is undercut, however, by long-standing enmity between the Sebras and the Ulyur, sometimes erupting into outright battle, leaving both sides weaker.

Rukkarim's strongest alliance is with gnomish Norquii. Both have suffered invasion by the Steel Empire, and they share a war pact, stipulating that if the empire should assail one, the other shall act as if it were equally affronted. This friendship has grown closer with time, despite Norquii's geographical distance, and has led the gnomes to assist the Confederation in the construction of a peerless mechanical watchtower on its hostile northeast border.

Urban Culture

Urban Rukkar culture bears a strong dwarven influence, in which wealth is construed to be a sign of virtue. Unlike with dwarvenkind, however, charity is little valued by the Rukkar. Rather than generosity toward the less fortunate, a form of opulent magnanimity is practiced, in which it is regarded as honorable to exchange splendid gifts among one's social peers.

While wealth is honored, poverty is regarded as a form of vice, and the inability to exchange gifts with others is a source of deep shame. This renders the truly destitute anathema to the cities' inhabitants, but it has had a curious effect upon the next lowest rung of the poor. In an effort to prove their value by giving as magnanimously as their modest resources allow, the poorest workers have over time developed a system of pooling their resources into, effectively, commonly owned property. Thus, certain neighborhoods, particularly in Viztar and Edrim, have become tightly knit communes, and some inhabitants of these areas have begun to question the cultural norms that shape their society.

Although the Confederated cities are marked by a crass disdain for poverty, they are extraordinarily open to other cultures. Foreign luxuries, and learnedness about foreign art and music, are major components of the displays of magnificence enjoyed by the upper classes.

Friendship with foreigners and non-humans, too, conveys an elevated status. Despite the past strife between the Steel Empire and Rukkarim, it is terribly fashionable for the rich to have an Aeohtar advisor or consort among their court, precisely because friendship with a traditional enemy suggests worldliness and social refinement. Only the companionship of an orc born in Ostregvaza is more sought after for its rarity. Any orc who escapes Ostregvaza's xenophobicly guarded borders may be well kept for the rest of their life, if they wish, as a prized member of a Rukkar oligarch's expansive household.

Nomadic Culture

The graze tribes, who live by the herding of sheep and goats, and to a lesser degree steer, hold to a sharply different conception of virtue. Veneration of the Gray Man, the god of the afterlife, is central to the herders' practices. They believe that their brief mortal lives have little value in themselves, but rather are preparation for the eternal life that follows. By cultivating the virtues of courage, honor, and obedience, they ready their spirits for paradise.

Beliefs about the afterworlds vary widely among Thindul's peoples, with some viewing what follows after death as a fundamentally esoteric mystery. The Auad Fane, however, have developed a very specific conception of the next life. They believe that the unvirtuous are sent to dwell forever in an endless slum, packed with the numberless who failed to earn paradise, to toil there in filthy workshops for eternity, producing useless goods that are heaped into ever-greater towers of refuse.

Those who have lived with honor, however, are transported to the infinite fields of Eylas, where there is no more herding to be done, and no more battles to be fought; each may roam in camaraderie or solitude as they wish. For those who desire it, there are unending festivals where food is plentiful, and games of strength and skill afford honor to those who still seek it.

So the Auad Fane believe. Predictably, their valuation of duty and honor, and the need to demonstrate those virtues, renders the nomadic Rukkar a warlike people. While pretexts for conflict are sometimes found, it is not unusual for different clans to enter battle with each other purely in the pursuit of honor. Indeed, among the Dar, who hold these beliefs most fanatically, there exist specific scripts and rules for honor-cultivating mass combat between tribes. The performance of the two clans is overseen by the leaders of other tribes, who evaluate the spectacle and declare a winner, not on the basis of attrition or victory, but in terms of the glory with each side fought.

Needless to say, these cultural differences contribute to a degree of friction between the urban and nomadic Rukkar. When R'Than Dar ruled over the cities, he attempted to reform them according to the dictums of his own code. This, more than anything else, is what spurred H'Taba and Viztar to confederate with the other cities, rather than suffer rule by the Auad Fane a second time.