Syndramas
In the frozen north of Druskenvald, an icy province of perpetual battle runs endless. The dead fight, die, and rise again in a war that has persisted so long no one can remember what sparked the conflict. However, none of the three factions would be willing to make peace. Syndramas lays now as a hollow remnant of a once-great kingdom that united humanity and dragonkind full of immense necrotic power.
Any living thing that dies within its borders rises again as an Undead creature, joining the endless armies of graveborn and other species of the province.
Provincial Folklore
The Sepulchral Legions
An eternal war goes on by three militant legions, each with its own culture, territory, capital, and military hierarchy, as well as specialized tactics, weaponry, and occult arts. All three pledge fealty to Wyrm Queen Sapphira, who allows and encourages conflict, so long as it does not spill beyond the borders of the province. The victory condition of each legion is the total annihilation of the other two so that they may earn sole favor of their draconic monarch and prepare for the eventual conquest of the rest of Druskenvald
The Rimeshade Legion
Clad with heavy plates of drakkonite and armed with icy, runic blades, this legion relies upon the superiority of its war chest. They hoard more resources than the other two legions combined. Its armies are equipped with exceptional weapons and armor engraved with eldritch runes of frost and shadow and they march to battle alongside immense war machines. Huge floating fortresses powered by ancient magic drift through the sky, allowing the Rimeshade Legion to bring the might of its armory to every front.
The Bloodboil Legion
Each soldier fiercely pursues mastery of combat. Aided by blood magic rituals that province supernatural strength, precision, and battle instinct.
The Marrowfest Legion
Sheer numbers and viciousness allow this faction to compete in the war. They emerge from great hives made from dragon bone. They fight in waves of innumerable warriors- each fallen soldier is replaced by two more. This legion employs few complex tactics, though it frequently unleashes the vile necrotic magic of the province itself to wither and putrefy its enemies.
Drakkonite
Countless dragons perished in the conflict that destroyed the kingdom of Syndramas. Their bodies have broken and been covered by the frozen wastes. As mass death fell upon the great creatures by the thousands, their draconic essence was leeched into the province itself, not only changing the land forever, but also creating a new metal ore that is now known as drakkonite.
Vast deposits of this dark and unnaturally cold metal can be found throughout Syndramas. It's known for its immense sharpness, strength, and lightness. It is widely used across the province in the construction of weapons, armor, and structures. Even warriors outside Syndramas have had deadly battles over drakkonite mines.
Noteworthy Folk
Wyrm Queen Sapphira
The wintry dragon that leads Syndramas is the last being to die in the brutal civil war that destroyed the once-thriving kingdom. She witnessed the destruction of petty lords, the extinction of her kind, and her final moments were consumed by unbound rage and hate. This set off a necrotic chain reaction that turned the province into a land of undeath and resurrected Sapphira as an immensely powerful necromancer.
She raised the former humans of the kingdom, twisting them into the ghoulish graveborn and became their Wyrm Queen. She rules with pride and ruthlessness, manipulating the three warring factions into constant conflict with promises of glory (partly due to bitter vengeance but also out of necessity)
The hungering necrotic wrath of the province has grown beyond the Wyrm Queen, and she knows that it can never abide peace. Should one legion ever claim victory, it would turn its sight southward to consume Druskenvald.
Sister Howl
Prefers the thrill of close combat, unleashing primal instinct and raw fury enhanced by a self-empowering witchcraft. Not too interested in the broader machinations of the Coven of the Midnight Moon, but will take any excuse to fight and kill. She leads hordes of vicious beastmen across the frozen tundra, conducting raids and guerrilla warfare against all three Sepulchral Legions. They continually spread a curse of bestial bloodlust that twists soldiers into slavering pack members. She one day hopes to turn the Wyrm Queen herself into a mindless beast of mass destruction that would empower Howl to live by her own rules and break away from her family.
Location Location Location
Sepultura
An enormous, fortified necropolis that stands at the center of Syndramas. It's built from gravestone and darkkonite that serves as a neutral territory where all three legions have agreed to a truce while within the city's walls and for ten miles beyond its limits. Violating this non-aggression pact is considered such an agregious and dishonorable tabboo that even the most treacherous and power-hungry people of the province find such a thing unthinkable.
Any who engages in an act of war within the city is personally dealt with by the Wyrm Queen Sapphira herself within the drakkonite citadel at the heart of the necropolis.
Carved up into quarters: The Frost Quarter, the Blood Quarter, and the Bone Quarter for the Rimeshade, Bloodboil, and Marrowfeast Legions, respectively. The Wyrm Quarter acts as neutral ground for meeting and mingling amongst members of opposing factions and for conducting military business with Sapphira's personal army: The Queensguard.
Visitors from other provinces are rare, but much coin can be made in offering goods and services of comfort to soldiers who experience so few of life's pleasures.
Dragons' End
The most sacred site in Syndramas. A vast dragon graveyard in a hidden valley in the northernmost mountain range of the province. Miles of snowy landscape are covered in massive skeletal remains of thousands of wyrms, drakes, and other dragonkin. The valley was the site of the bloodiest battle of the civil war that rendered the winter dragons extinct. Sapphira occasionally takes time to reflect in solitude here and allow herself to feel any grief.
Legend states that many powerful artifacts of war were lost in the battle and stil wait, scattered among the bones.
Would-be grave robbers must face numerous dangers including the unforgiving elements, huge scavenging beasts that still feed on the dragons' marrow, and lingering curses that helped bring an end to a civilization.