The Kingdom of Evenhold (🔊) is one of the largest and most influential nations in central Addar, known not only for its bold fighters and explorers but also for its learned academics, clever craftspeople, and skilled practitioners of magic. The kingdom sits at the northern end of the Malphigian Sea and encompasses a wide, arc-shaped region of fertile coastal plains, forests, and hills. Its capital is the bustling port city of Evenhold, site of the king's court and headquarters of the storied Guild of Free Adventurers.
The current monarch is King Thorvald, a stern but fair ruler popular with the citizenry.
Politics
Evenhold is a monarchy whose kings and queens of the past three centuries have been drawn from the region's interrelated noble houses. The monarch's court and official seat is at the ancient castle of Evenhold, with government offices occupying much of the nearby King's District. The monarch is served by a deliberative assembly known as the Senate which acts both as an advisory body to the king and as a legislature that drafts laws for his signature.
The kingdom is on friendly terms with most of the nations on its western border, including Trillium, Rhyl, Negavia, and the New Kingdom, and is also allied with Nexdor to the east. It's fought a long and intermittent war with nearby Sicilia whose House of Charlast has been a sworn enemy of Evenhold for nearly a millennium.
Geography
The central and western portions of the kingdom are the most fertile, populous, and affluent, with much of the nation's trade happening in the docks and streets of its busy settlements, and much of its food grown in its verdant fields or fished from its coastal waters. In the northeast the landscape has a darker and less inviting cast, with the looming mountains, sickly swamps, and Sicilian aggression all contributing to a sparser population. The far eastern provinces, in the foothills of the Jarlschlager Range beyond the salty Dreamless Sea, supports a busy industry of mining and metalworking, while the northernmost arm of the kingdom extending into Davelmar Forest is a rich source of lumber and a buffer against the warlike peoples of the Northern Reaches.
Having formed as a union of smaller territories, the kingdom's internal structure is complex and includes provinces, shires, baronies, duchies, and earldoms, as well as a handful of insular areas that operate with varying degrees of independence.
The central and largest portion of the kingdom is the historical territory of Aevinn which is divided into various shires, each of which is administered by a shire lord (Evenshire, Lindomshire, Duneshire). Areas beyond this are more often divided into provinces and marches managed by governors (Baronia, Darland, Woodmarch) or territories ruled by a noble lord. Among the latter are duchies (Virrat, Montgarde, Grunewalde, Earl), baronies (Lucidia, Cold Iron), and earldoms (Cantor, Aknor). Self-governing enclaves within the bounds of the kingdom include the palatine Duchy of Elebron, the coastal city-state of Lumen, and the Tanjidi enclave of Aksha.
