The Despotate of the Bress

Whilst the Maronni empire was crumbling to dust the ancestors of the Bress stormed their lands, and like many others they carved a chunk for themselves, but unlike the rest, they were a very united horde. The bress of that day were ogres, orcs and their half breeds, all ruthless and brutal, but subserviant to might, and the might of chieftain Bressnuk they followed.

With hammer and axe they culled all peoples they deemed un usuable, dwarves for being too stubborn, elves for being too smart, owlfolk for being too sly. Humans were allowed to exist, and with time they proved to be as ruthless as their overlords, so they gained a place amongst the.

Jargus, Despot of the Bress

Hazek the Clubber, a Bressnian Hadjuk elevated to the rank of Boyar

The Despotate of the Bress borders the Istvani empire to the south trough the Psarik forest, the Galburian Tsardom to the east , the remnants of the Tsardom of the Bress across the Hadje forests, the Nasiob to the north across river and mountain, and inside their domain lies the Principality of the Vlast.

The bress used to be ruled by an Istvani noble family which controlled them with cunning and diplomacy, but after the Calamity most of their mighty wizards were lost and their Istvani allies were too busy reconstructing the shambles of their empire, so the ogres took control. Under the Despotate, orders are simple and followed. The Despot sits atop, with Boyars underneath him ranking themselves by might and the ones of their Pronijars and Bastinik, which are akin to knights and freeholders with the difference that they do not inherit anythinng, and must prove themselves each generation.

Unknown member of the Lobja Kopek, a mercenary company renown for its brutality

Your average bress will be a peasant with little education yet a heart full of pride, as even the dumbest ogre ruler has learned that it is better to be loved by his own and hated by the rest. Raids across the sea and adventures in mercenary work are ingrained in the Bress culture. The despise for intelect that came after the Calamity has left the Despotate without universities or any real men of study, there are few blacksmiths who can work steel, and the magic items they posess are stolen or centuries old. The most common spellcasters are priests of Lathlander, whom they praise with fervor, and the Hadjuk circles, which are outside the reach of anyone but themselves.

In battle, the Bress are a wall of metal. They wear the heaviest armor their bodies can handle, ride atop wholly beasts from the mountains and a few wealthy ones arm themselves with the weapons of brimstone and thunder. Hookguns the size of men, mortars and sawed off cannons to be used as shotguns.

Of notoriety are the Hadjuks ,free men of the mountains who rule themselves, but occasionally may hear the words of the Despot, although they are much fonder of the elven Tsar at Draghnas. They are masters of the ambush, the bludgeon and the arquebus, for they let volleys fly as if they were twice as many.

Palace of Draghnas, with the Bresstelic Mountains looming over the horizon

The Tsardom of the Bress

On the northern reaches of the lands of the Bress lie the last remnants of what once was a fierce, yet noble Tsardom. In centuries past the might of the Bress peoples was reigned over by the Drahgnas dinasty, elves whose pure blood dates back to the days of the Maronni Republic, and were part of their elite stretching into the era when the Istvani took and lost control of the region. Staunch allies of Istvanopoulis, they sat atop of the hierarchy, but the arts of magic and knowledge never impressed the bress whom they reigned over, so to assert that they were worthy of ruling they took the sword and lead from the front.

This came to be the slow undoing of the dinasty, as no matter how skillfull, the frame of an elf has no place at the front of a heavy ogre infantry battallion, yet that was the place they had to take if they wished to keep face. With every battle they lost valuable officers that took centuries to make, replacing them with men that could not keep up until they had to cave in and allow the men below them have some power to themselves. In this way, the grunt Jargus came to rise as a Despot, and once he did no amount of smart words stopped him. Elf aristocrats were defenestrated and their towers razed to the ground. It was due to the Hadjuks in the Bresstelic mountains that the Tsar managed to flee after defeat and reach his throne at the capital, from which he has reigned over a fraction of what he once had.

As all the ogres and orcs joined Jargus, only the humans and half bloods remained under the Tsar. This society is stricter, with the high elves sitting atop, but having learned their lesson they have allowed the lower positions to be taken by merit. Infigthing is unheard of, so is betrayal, as even the Hadjuks from the mountains are afraid of what lies beyond the mountains. Given the good relations with the Gahunre, Istvani and other kingdoms, the Tsardom enjoys lots of trade, making them richer than their counterpart. Magic is paramount, utilized in the defense of the tsardom every day, and promoted at every step.

Lyvanna Astarel, a high elf who turned herself a Hadjuk and gained the respect of a band

The Cakoni

Chieftain Vurko Sebastoklic of the Cakoni, known for partaking in cannibalism, heresy, and other unspeakable acts

As the Tsardom fell their greatest ally refused to deal with the Despotate that engulfed most of its former territory. The Istvani empire, proud as it still is, closed all trade and recalled all the envoys that could make the trip, yet they still needed an ally with strong soldiers to call upon. Many Bress were recruited into posts as "Tsakones" meaning guards. This word was butchered by the ogre mouths into "Cakoni" and came to be their name.

As it always did to the beliguered empire, war came upon its doors. The anatols laid siege to Sabur. Emperor Palailogos sent forth his armies, so did House Hadrianos and Salonikos. To cover the emptyness in the garrison, Andrios Hadrianos, head of his house, recruited many with promises of easy gold, as he claimed he was promised that the emperor would foot the bill. The Bress mercenaries came, they patrolled the border with the Galburs who dared not to cross it, but when time came for them to be paid, there was no gold to be offered.

Enraged, the Cakoni plundered villages in both sides of the border, the galburian skirmishers had no staying power to hold with, and the men of House Hadrianos were off to war, not expected to come home until the following year. Once the Cakoni realized this, the plunder turned to the most evil and devilish of acts .The had been sent to the walled cities, so they hunted people for food and sport, a practice they forced upon their slaves with glee. Tsar Masink of the Galburs finally faced them in battle , as he retreated hoping to lure the heavily armored enemies into an ambush they simply left for their homeland.

Word of their attrocities spread far and wide, and so disgusted was the world that even Jargus, a tyrannical Despot could not fathom them, but he could also not afford to exterminate such a nice army. He gave them a city bordering the Istvani empire and left them to take mercenary work as they saw fit, as long as they kept their attrocities outside of his domain short of their hideous city.

The Cakoni turned to piracy, banditry and mercenary work. The Republic of Ragoza found them usable, as long as they were corralled and only used against enemies who they really did not care about, yet they still found the need to excecute a few after every battle after seeing things not even they could withstand. The Anatols and the Duergar employ them as well, but more as a terror troop, something to tire the defenders with.

Ogre Warlord Barko Tumelik, better known as "Blood Teeth"

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