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NATION OF ERINDAL

County of Dulavein

The County Behind the Mist

County Record

Official nameCounty of Dulavein

Common nameDulavein

GovernmentHereditary county

CapitalRosenveld

RulerCount Diterich der Fletzlingen

AdministrationProvincial governors and local councils

Major peoplesDelaunay humans; Veldian elves

Official languageCommon; Ylvaari'il

Principal faithHuman Pantheon; Elven Pantheon

Foundedc. 700 BHF

The County of Dulavein was formed around 700 BHF from the human territory of Delaunay and the elven lands of Rosenveld. Marteaux joined the county later and kept its own ruling family until the decline of House Sunsinger.

The mist covering Dulavein is not ordinary weather. It imitates people a traveller trusts and sometimes places a false refuge beyond the road. Those who follow these apparitions are rarely recovered. The marked roads provide the only reliable routes between settlements, and even those become dangerous when the mist is thick.

Diterich der Fletzlingen has ruled from Rosenveld for more than two hundred years. Officially, his long reign is attributed to elven blood, but few people have seen enough of his private life to confirm it. Stories that he is a vampire are common throughout the county.

The same rumours claim that an old cabal of vampires shares power with Diterich. It is often called the Old Compact. No public office acknowledges it, yet many people believe the Compact acts through the nobility. Mehira de Varenne is the person most often named when these rumours are discussed.

Travellers who cannot finish a crossing before night may seek shelter at the Cathedral of St. Elowen. It stands near the centre of the county where the principal roads meet. The cathedral keeps its gates open after other settlements have closed theirs.

The people of Marteaux still wait for a Sunsinger to return. The family is almost extinct, but no accepted proof exists that its entire line has ended. Appointed governors administer the territory without holding the loyalty once given to its former rulers.

CapitalRosenveld

RulerDiterich der Fletzlingen

Road guidesMistwalkers

Foundedc. 700 BHF

Land and People

Geography

Dulavein contains low wooded hills and broad farming valleys. Old stone towns stand far enough apart that most journeys require several hours on the road. Rain is common, while the winters are cold without usually becoming severe. The largest fields lie in Delaunay. Rosenveld is more wooded and contains most of the old Veldian estates.

The main roads are raised above the surrounding ground wherever possible. Their edges are marked by heavy stones carved with patterns that can be recognised by hand. Iron rings allow travellers to secure a guide rope when sight becomes unreliable. Road stations record every group passing through them.

The mist does not respect the shape of the land. It may fill a valley while leaving a nearby hill clear, or close around one section of road without appearing farther ahead. Wind can move through it without dispersing it. Attempts to predict it through ordinary weather signs have never produced a reliable system.

Delaunay

The northern territory of Delaunay is populated mainly by humans. Its towns are larger and more open to foreign merchants than settlements in the south. Formal manners matter greatly in Delaunay, particularly when meeting someone for the first time. Its towns also provide wider access to education than most of Rosenveld.

Delaunay farms provide much of the county's food. Cloth and glass from its towns are sold throughout Dulavein. Travelling performers use the northern roads during the clearer months, although their companies stop before the evening mist begins to gather.

Rosenveld

Rosenveld is both the southern territory and the county's capital. Veldian elves form most of its population. They speak Ylvaari'il, the same elven language used in the Holy Kingdom of Alyren Shaeras, although the dialect heard in Dulavein has changed during the long separation between them. Most Veldians have dark hair. White or blue hair is rare and traditionally regarded as a favourable sign.

Veldian society is more private than that of Delaunay. Rural estates hold considerable influence, and strangers may require years to earn the same trust as a local family. The night and the mist have made this caution part of ordinary life. Doors are closed early, and nobody opens one merely because the voice outside sounds familiar.

Most Rosenveld settlements depend upon farming controlled by old estates. Their craftsmen favour durable work suited to houses that may be closed for days during heavy mist. Magic is legal but treated with suspicion when used without a clear purpose. A spell performed for entertainment in Delaunay may be regarded as irresponsible in a Rosenveld village.

Marteaux

Marteaux lies apart from the old Delaunay–Rosenveld division. Its strongest local loyalty remains attached to House Sunsinger. The family once governed the territory under the Count, but its recognised line slowly disappeared. Only doubtful branches and unproven claimants remain.

Marteaux is currently administered through officials appointed from Rosenveld. This arrangement is lawful but not widely loved. Old Sunsinger symbols remain on gates and meeting halls. A claimant who could prove descent would gain immediate support, which has also made the territory a regular target for impostors.

Population and language

Most humans in Dulavein speak Common. Delaunay possesses its own local speech, but it is usually treated as a dialect rather than a separate official language. Common is used in trade and by officials working in the human territories.

Veldian elves speak Ylvaari'il. Their dialect differs from the form used in the Holy Kingdom, but speakers from either country can understand one another. County documents affecting both peoples are issued in Common and Ylvaari'il.

Humans and Veldian elves live throughout the county, but large mixed settlements remain less common than in many trading nations. Intermarriage is legal and no county law separates the two peoples. Long-lived Veldian landholders have nevertheless preserved a strong regional divide.

The Mist and Travel

The mist can reproduce a traveller's memories with disturbing accuracy. It usually takes the form of someone the traveller would leave the road to help. At other times it offers shelter where no building exists. Every deception attempts to draw someone beyond the marked route.

A marked road does not prevent an attack or remove the mist. It allows travellers to verify where they are. When visibility fails, everyone keeps hold of the nearest physical guide until the next marker has been confirmed. Anyone seen away from the road is presumed false until the same person can be found and physically identified on the road itself.

Groups establish private challenge questions before departure. Road stations record how many people entered a route and which Mistwalker led them. A bell heard from open mist is never trusted because the mist has learned to imitate those as well.

Mistwalkers

Mistwalkers are professional guides trained to move without trusting what they see or hear. They learn the distance between road markers and recognise each route by touch. A covered lantern is carried for the benefit of the group, not because its light can reveal which shapes are real.

Mistwalkers do not travel by instinct. A guide who claims to feel the correct direction is considered dangerous. When a marker cannot be confirmed, the group stops. No voice beyond the road is investigated, regardless of whom it resembles. Even skilled Mistwalkers disappear.

The First Mistwalker is appointed by the Count and controls the training of new guides. The current holder, Odran Maret, also decides when reports justify closing a road.

Cathedral of St. Elowen

The Cathedral of St. Elowen stands near the geographical centre of Dulavein at the meeting point of several raised roads. Its outer court contains a guest hall large enough to shelter several caravans, with stables built against the wall. The gate remains staffed throughout the night, although every arrival is counted and questioned before being admitted.

St. Elowen was a cleric credited with organising the first permanent roadside shelters after a period of widespread disappearances. The oldest cathedral records confirm the construction of those shelters, although later stories about Elowen walking alone through the mist cannot be verified.

The cathedral receives county funding as well as donations from merchants. Travellers may rest without payment when conditions make further movement unsafe. Those able to contribute usually leave food or lamp oil for the next group.

Culture and Society

Dulavein culture changes noticeably between north and south. Delaunay towns favour formal greetings and public performances. In Rosenveld, a household's reputation matters more than its public display. The larger roads have carried customs between them for centuries, but neither region has lost its own identity.

Daily life is organised around safe hours of travel. Markets close before visibility becomes unreliable. Inns count their guests at night. Children are taught that a familiar voice is not proof that the speaker is real.

Stone and brick are used throughout the county. Wealthy northern houses often display painted interiors, while Veldian estates turn inward around enclosed courts. Heavy shutters are fitted even to buildings far from the road.

Theatre is taken seriously in Delaunay, and wealthy families compete to support successful companies. Rosenveld places greater value on household craft and work that can be kept within an estate. These preferences are cultural rather than legal divisions.

Slavery remains legal but uncommon. Count Diterich opposes the practice and refuses to use enslaved labour on his own estates, but he has not abolished rights claimed by several old families. Runaways and abuse cases produce repeated legal disputes. Lucienne has tightened inspection of contracts and prosecutes owners who exceed even the county's permissive laws.

Government and Administration

Dulavein is a hereditary county ruled by House der Fletzlingen. The Count holds final authority over the army and county law. Provincial governors administer the territories, while towns retain their own councils. Old estates possess rights that the Count cannot remove without risking resistance from the families around them.

Diterich der Fletzlingen has ruled for more than two centuries. Official genealogies present him as a Veldian elf, but those records are controlled by his own court. He appears in public rarely enough that rumours about his nature have never disappeared. Some stories claim he travels through the county in disguise; others insist these sightings are people paid to preserve the appearance of an active ruler.

The Count delegates most daily government to Lucienne Lacroix. Diterich first kept her near because she was young and attractive. Lucienne then made herself necessary by handling the provincial business that the Count no longer wanted brought before him personally.

The Lacroix family normally gives precedence to women in questions of succession. Lucienne inherited its place at court and was educated for administration from a young age. She is also trained with a sword, which is useful when government business requires travel beyond Rosenveld.

Marteaux is the principal exception to the county's stable administration. Appointed governors can enforce taxes and law, but they cannot replace the loyalty still given to the absent Sunsinger line. Diterich has never declared the house fully extinct, avoiding a direct conflict over who would inherit its old rights.

The Old Compact

The Old Compact is the name commonly given to the vampire cabal believed to share power over Dulavein. Its existence is not recognised by county law, but it is more than a secret known only to a few scholars. People speak of it in taverns and use it to explain why some noble families survive every change of government.

The rumours rarely agree on how the Compact is organised. Some claim that Diterich leads it, while others believe the vampires tolerate him because neither side can remove the other. There are also people who consider the Count their prisoner. His possible vampirism remains part of the same argument.

Mehira de Varenne is widely suspected of belonging to the Compact. House de Varenne is the largest private landholder around Rosenveld outside the Count's own family. Entire villages rent their homes and fields from it. Mehira therefore needs no formal office to influence the nobles who govern those lands.

Faith

Dulavein does not possess one national pantheon. Delaunay temples follow the human gods worshipped elsewhere in Erindal, while Veldian communities keep the elven faith. County law recognises both traditions.

Alali is honoured by both peoples as a protector. The two traditions disagree about parts of Alali's history, but joint roadside shrines are common. The Erudites of Delaunay and the Pure Hearts of Rosenveld interpret the same teachings differently.

The Lord of the Morning is especially important in the south. His first light marks the reopening of roads after a dangerous night. His clergy warn that daylight does not make the mist harmless.

The Cathedral of St. Elowen serves both pantheons without merging them. Separate chapels maintain their own rites, while the guest halls and road ministry are shared. St. Elowen is honoured as a saint and protector of travellers rather than a goddess.

History

Before the county

Before unification, the southern Veldian lands were divided among estate rulers. Delaunay contained several human principalities that traded with one another when they were not at war. Early records describe no single border separating the two regions.

The earliest name for the united realm was Delauveld, formed from Delaunay and Rosenveld. The modern form, Dulavein, entered official use gradually and had replaced the older spelling in most county documents by the early AHF period.

Unification

Around 700 BHF, Hinrick der Fletzlingen brought the Veldian rulers under one authority. Some submitted after defeat, while others received confirmation that their estates would remain in the family. Hinrick then moved north against Delaunay. Its last major ruler surrendered in exchange for a place within the new county administration.

The arrangement did not end resistance. Several rebellions followed, and former Delaunay officials were permitted to retain local authority in return for supporting the county. Hinrick's daughter, Syele, answered later uprisings so severely that she became remembered as Syele the Cruel. Her reign secured the dynasty but left grievances that lasted for generations.

Marteaux and House Sunsinger

Marteaux entered the county under its own settlement. House Sunsinger retained regional rule while recognising the Count. The family became one of Dulavein's most visible military and political lines, and its emblem appeared beside that of der Fletzlingen on southern roads.

The Sunsinger line weakened over many generations. By the time its last accepted ruler disappeared, several branches claimed distant descent but none could prove a right to govern. Marteaux passed to appointed administration. Local ceremonies still leave a place for the ruler whom the people expect to return.

The current reign

Diterich inherited a county whose regional nobility had grown accustomed to weak central supervision. Several temporary taxes were removed during his reign, improving his standing outside the oldest estates. The court also began receiving reports from unannounced inspections, although nobody has proved that Diterich performed them himself.

Lucienne Lacroix's appointment marked a more organised phase of the reign. Her office required disappearances to be recorded consistently and directed money toward damaged road stations. The mist remains no less dangerous, but routes are now closed sooner when several groups fail to arrive.

Main article: History of Dulavein

Economy

Farming provides most of Dulavein's wealth. Delaunay supplies grain and cloth to the rest of the county, while Rosenveld estates control much of its timber. Marteaux exports stone through the old roads crossing its territory.

Large estates collect rent according to old local agreements. Free farmers and town workshops are more common along roads protected directly by the Count. Maintaining those roads consumes a large share of county revenue.

Foreign trade is limited by the cost of crossing the mist. Caravans travel in guarded groups and pay heavily for guides and insurance. The Wright banking network maintains services through selected agents, but its notes for Dulavein journeys carry stricter conditions than those used on the safer routes of Lugeorti.

Military

Dulavein maintains a professional county army supported by local forces. Most county soldiers fight on foot. Spear companies hold the road, while swordsmen remain close to the wagons they are protecting. Polearms are common among the troops stationed at gates. The army does not use firearms.

The Hinrick Footmen form the oldest permanent infantry companies and provide the core of any larger force raised by the Count. Delaunay towns maintain their own guards. Veldian estates provide soldiers according to inherited agreements.

Road patrols rarely pursue an attacker into open mist. Their duty is to keep the surviving group on the road. Soldiers assigned to a caravan follow its Mistwalker's decision about when it is safe to move, even when an officer commands the defence.

Mercenaries may be hired during emergencies, but foreign companies are kept small and placed under county officers. Commanders distrust troops unfamiliar with the roads, especially those who believe courage is enough to overcome the mist.

Magic

Magic is legal but regulated. Spells capable of controlling another person or threatening an entire settlement require a county licence. Ordinary household magic is permitted. Delaunay audiences accept public performances more readily than Veldian villages, where an unknown spellcaster may be asked to leave.

Many mages have attempted to disperse or control the mist. Brief clearings can be produced, but none has remained stable. Some revealed false roads that looked safer than the real one. Testing such magic beside an occupied route requires permission from Lucienne's office.