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Provinces of the Empire - Halbern
Sella oh Sella, where have you gone? Have you gone down to the sweet shores of our home? Have you passed through the dusty halls of the Mhuirneart? Did a scullery maid spot the hem of your cloak as you slipped out the back door, heading into castle town to mingle with the folks?
Where have you gone? Have you stopped by the villages by the rivers? Have you journeyed to the haughty cliffs of the Chiroch? Sat upon the ancient fallen trees and gazed upon the caps of white? Have you gone to the farmlands of the valley, heaving the plow with your people, sharing in sweat and toil? Have you taken the time to nurture your kit? Have you taken your young one to the long flat balcony that overlooks your home?
Have you taken the little babe on a ride through the lands that are yours by right and merit?
Sella, oh Queen of Queens, where have you gone? Where did you go when we needed you? When the silvercaps came and burned our villages. When they drove us through the ancient forests, past the fallen trees, and off the cliffs of Chiroch. When they destroyed our farms and killed our babes? When we wept and bled.
Sella the Sixth, now and forever our Queen, where have you gone?
Did you speak with him, upon the rocks of Mhuirneart? Did he deceive you? Did he gain your trust and turn it against you? Did he bend you over the stones of Mhuirneart, your rightful home? Sella oh Sella, did his headsman's ax flash in the dying light of the sun setting over the sea?
Sella, oh Sella, where have you gone?
Excerpt from The Downfall, a Local Halberni Propaganda book distributed by belligerent elements.*
Halbern is the newest province of the Empire. It is a place of extremes, of sprawling beaches and towering mountains; of deep gorges and tranquil streams. A significant portion of it is temperate rain forest, making traversal and construction difficult when coupled with the tumultuous terrain. It is a place of secretive, aggressive people who do not welcome outsiders. The province is a hot bed of treachery and sedition. The Halberni people do not take kindly to their gracious welcoming into the Fourth, and they resent us bitterly for it.
The province has vast mineral and lumber wealth, as well as a strong fishing industry. Halbern is a veritable chest full of raw material treasure. Mines dot the mountains, villages clinging to the fringes of the rock. Farms are tucked wherever is feasible, though most reside in the enormous river deltas of the south-west. Where the provincial capital, Castle-Upon-The-Sea, stands proud, built partially into the ocean. The white walls stand tall and proud, even after their people were welcomed into the Empire.
The people who live there are mistrustful heretics, who often practice illegal black magic and worship fell gods. They are superstitious folk, often falling back on simple ancient rituals to try and solve their endlessly self-inflicted problems. It's a shame, as by and large the people are quite lovely to look at; coming in primarily pale shades, but in truth there's as many skin tones in Halbern as there are rebel sects, and there are many, many instances of the latter.
The province is largely dominated by the coastal mountain range, which stretches very closely to the center line of the territory. These mountains are geologically new, tall, sheer, and large enough to force clouds to rain down on the western side, which is why the coastal rainforest is so prevalent. The coastline is comprised of steep cliffs spilling out onto vast beaches. The trees on the westside are vast, growing hundreds of feet tall and living for an estimated thousand years. The east side is drier badlands, where most of the water comes from the snow-melt of the mountains. Dusty and flat, and largely uninhabited. Sprawling, with some of the best views of the starry night sky anywhere on the continent.
This beautiful landscape has been carved and cut back in many places to make way for highways; and upon these highways many regiments of imperial soldiers, whom they call silvercaps, patrol. Imperial shipments need double the guardsmen, as the Halberni are as crafty in their deception as they are in their heresy. The garrisons have barred windows and iron gates. The jails are often full. The people are notoriously irritable, rude, and barbaric in their speech; some communities even speak in a variation of Late Archaic. Officers stationed there are required to learn it so the locals can't communicate in secret. A wrong move can set the Halberni off, and indeed it was the starting point of the infamous Reformation movement that led to the dethroning of the ruling houses, to be replaced by regional governors.
They claim they want independence. As if they'd survive against the monster threat without the glorious Fourth Empire. Arrogant, backwards, and they often perform witchcraft to boot. Some continue to cause problems because they believe in an absurd rumor, that an heir to their last queen Sella the Sixth still lives somewhere within the province.
This, like all their customs, is ludicrous.
It is a beautiful but dangerous province. The people are wild and violent. Travel here at your own risk.
-excerpt from "The Many Places of the Fourth Empire" Fourth Edition, by Barnabus Fleek of Kant Marie.