Royal Dunfalcon & environs

The Royal Court at Dunfalcon

In 2416 AUC (1716 AD) the line of Egarne, former Stewards to the Volstadd Kings, emerged from the Civil War as the rulers of Dunfalcon and a rump holding comprising much of what is now the Royal Domain, but the noble families of the Realm have never accepted their claim to rule, despite a tenuous claim of descent from Volstadd IV. Over the years since the Egarne have extended their rule south from Lake Neme to the coastlands of northern Tilea, giving them access to the rich trade routes of the Inner Sea. With this wealth an ambitious and capable King might yet unite the Realm...

King Yrag Egarne III

'Good King' Yrag Egarne

'Good King'  Yrag is a stout and jovial fellow of 47 years (YY 60-), noted for his magnimity and his love of feasting and frolics. He is much loved by the common people, although the nobility of the Royal Domain may be less enthused. His bushy brown beard is now streaked with grey. King Yrag's mother Queen Margaret Egarne died in YY 76, when the roof of the Great Hall collapsed, killing her, her husband the Prince-Consort Artus, Yrag's two elder brothers, and sundry nobles and court officials. Yrag is married to Queen Eleanor, but is said to dally frequently with sundry ladies of the court, with the royal chambermaids, and pretty much any attractive female who should pass his gaze. Consequently his two legitimate children are accompanied by numerous bastards, for whom Yrag provides generously. However darker rumour has it that it is not wise to reject the King's advances.
King Yrag generally prefers to surround himself with attractive members of the opposite sex, often scantily clad at best, and many roles at the Dunfalcon Court are now filled by women, to the consternation of more conservative elements. Likewise the serving girls of King Yrag's Court wear skimpy blue outfits that leave little to the imagination.

Queen Eleanor Egarne (nee Buchamp)

The fair and gracious Queen Eleanor is 37 (YY 60-), and retains her youthful beauty, but is said to be exasperated by King Yrag's priapic tendencies. From the Buchamps, a noble family with long links to the Crown - County Beauchamps lies east of the Royal Domain, but is often considered a part of it. She married Yrag at the age of 16, in the same year (YY 76) as he became monarch, and has two children.

Crown Prince Luke Egarne

Yrag's heir the Crown Prince is 20 (YY 77-), a strapping broad-shouldered fellow. Where his father's interest is in revelry, Prince Luke is said to be militarily ambitious. His allies at Court include his mentor General Calviticus Hara, who seeks military glory for the Realm, and Chamberlain Ydral Metz, who is said to join with Bisop Ichabod Fraimd in that he would prefer a more austere court than King Yrag's hedonism, and certainly one with fewer women! Luke is unmarried.

Princess Caroline Egarne

The Princess is 18 years old (YY 79-), and said to be a fine flower of young womanhood. She is expected to be wed before her twentieth year, most likely in pursuit of a dynastic alliance with one of the major Palatine nobles; perhaps Talworth.

Notable Male Courtiers - 2
Professor Tithus Corelian (m115), Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College
His Grace, Icabod Fraimd (m29) Bishop of Dunfalcon, rarely at Court, said to be digusted by its hedonism. 

Patrizia diCosta, Princess of Vincera

Notable Female Courtiers (Courtesans) - 8
Miss Bailey Zaid, courtesan (m120)
Lady Elleen Lasondiere, drunkard (m64), 
Miss Eydis Brynja, Norse emissary (m76)
Lady Nysha Hones, 'the mediatrix' (m 66) - diplomat
Patrizia diCosta, Princess of Vincera, Tilean hostage noble (m 69). Vincera is a city in northern Tilea which fell to Dunfalcon 25 years ago in an attack led by then-Colonel Calviticus Hara.
Miss Liende Strand, courtesan (m74)
Miss Iona Blunn, Lady in Waiting to Queen Caroline (m33)
Queen Voadice of the Siluras Cnobrii, 'hostage' barbarian monarch (F3) -nominally a hostage at court, her presence keeps the Siluras on Dunfalcon's NW frontier quiescent, to the benefit of both, and Voadice in fact receives more respect from King Yrag than do many 'free' courtiers.

Miss Liende Strand, Royal Courtesan

Queen Voadice of the Siluras Cnobrii, Hostage

Notable Functionaries - 4 (1m 3 f)
Chamberlain Ydral Metz (m35): The Chamberlain (YY 42-) efficiently oversees the routine administration of the Court.
Lady Saundra, Chancellor of the Exchequer (m52)
Charlotte Morgan, assistant slave to Chamberlain Ydral Metz (m54)
Mortissa Deigja, the ancient Court Magist, rarely seen (m88)

Miss Charlotte Morgan, Ydral's assistant

_______________

Dunfalcon Military
With Beauchamps and all the vassal domains stretching south into northern Tilea, the King at Dunfalcon can potentially field up to around 6,000 men, plus up to ca 2,000 mercenary crossbowmen from the Tilean City-States beyond Dunfalcon's southern borders, potentially enough to crush any individual Palatine Noble state such as Herdley to the north. However the threat of the River Lords banding together against Dunfalcon has long contrained the Kings' ambitions.
King Yrag's Palace Guard at Castle Falcon is notable for being an 'amazon guard'; entirely female and normally clad in revealing leather 'armour' that might more properly be considered 'costume'. Nevertheless, the women of the Guard are dedicated and capable warriors.
The Dunfalcon City Guard patrol the streets and guard the walls of the Royal City. The Field Army comprises a few small garrisons, but otherwise exists only in name, except when the levies are mustered for war - which has not happened in over twenty years.

Captain Alvina Ardecorn of the Palace Guard

Notable Military Persons Include - 3m 2f
General Calviticus Hara, The Hero of Vincera (m63), Commander of the Field Armies (YY40-). A natural man of action, Calviticus has long chafed under two long decades of peace.
Adar Stormrunner, General's aged Advisor and Chief of Scouts (m119)
Guards Captain Nafor (m60), Commander of the Dunfalcon City Guard
Captain Alvina Ardecorn (f) (m83), Commander of the Palace Guard
Elody Dragonheart (f) (m102), Lieutenant of the Palace Guard & Dragon Mistress (Zerkart the Black)

Elody Dragonheart of the Palace Guard, and Zerkart

Royal Dunfalcon pop. 58,000
A large port city on the north shore of Lake Neme, Dunfalcon was once the capital of the Realm of Man, and still claims that title. She is known for the venerable Royal College, to which only men are admitted, which still rivals the College of Yggsburgh, and for the Dunfalcon Guild of Sages, of which it's said Zagyg himself was once a member.

The Archbishopric of Shar

Nerian Crusader

South of the Tilean city states in the central Sharan Peninsula lies the ancient, ruined city of Shar, former capital of the mighty Sharan Empire. Dead for more than a thousand years, Shar still exercises a hold over the minds of Men, most notably in the form of the Sharan Great Church. The nominal head of the Church is the Archbishop of Shar, who rules a small but influential theocratic domain centred on the Eternal City.  The Archbishopric regularly pronounces crusades against the Paynims, and can be encouraged to declare your enemy Paynim - for a price. The Great Church has considerable rivalry with the older Sharan Church centred on the eastern city of New Shar, a remnant of the ancient Sharan Empire, but generally maintains good relations with the black Kingdom of Neria to south and east across the Inner Sea - Nerian missionaries brought the Light of the Lord to the barbarians, and crusading Nerian Paladins having proved instrumental in King Volstadd the Falcon's liberation of Shar from the legions of Bafomet in 2100 AUC, six hundred years ago.