Wolfshaunt

The Wolfshaunt is smallest nation-state in the Realm. It is a land filled with shadows, terror, and legend. The inhabitants of the Wolfshaunt live in frontier hamlets under the harshest of conditions. Constant rains and mists allow for rudimentary farming in the rocky soil found in the valleys of this land. Few valuable natural resources in the area and a remote location kept the Wolfshaunt relatively unpopulated during the First and Second Ages. The original settlers to this area were displaced from the Eastern Reaches by the arrival of civilization in the middle of the Third Age. Pushed out by the introduction of law and order, this collection of thieves, criminals and outcasts at first found the Wolfshaunt uninhabited. However, the new arrivals soon realized that an ancient population lived among the high peaks and dark recesses of the land. Traveling by night, the villages of the Wolfshaunt were visited by a handful of strange gothic men and women travelers. Dressed in the noble finery of the Second Age, these gaunt pale folk brought gold to the pubs, a steady demand for merchant services to businesses, and wealth to a people not accustomed to such luxury. In addition, the villages of the Wolfshaunt found protection in form of large dire wolves which protected the people from outside influence. Lured by their new-found lifestyle, the people of the Wolfshaunt never questioned whether the wolves were there to keep intruders out or themselves in. Whatever the case, the people of the Wolfshaunt have pledged their loyalty to the Counts, as the gothic folk have come to be called. Travelers to the area tell of strange sightings in the twilight hours, and woe to the wanderer still on the road when the sun sets. Some say the folk of the Wolfshaunt are bewitched, unable to recognize even when their own kind disappear. The castles of the Counts are another mystery, as few have ever traveled the winding mountain passes to their cold, black walls. Tales of guardian bats and legions of ghouls keep these strongholds remote and shrouded in secrecy.