Ratik
Proper Name: Archbarony of Ratik
Ruler: Her Valorous Prominence, Evaleigh, the Lady
Baroness (also Archbaroness) of Ratik (CG female
human Rog9/Wiz3)
Government: Independent feudal monarchy having
severed all fealty and ties to the former Great Kingdom,
its successor states, and noble houses; member
of the Northern Alliance
Capital: Marner
Major Towns: Marner (pop. 6,600), Ratikhill (pop,
5,500}
Provinces: Fourteen freeholds ruled by human and
dwarven great lords
Resources: Shipbuilding supplies, furs, gold, gems
(IV), timber
Coinage: [Modified Aerdy] orb (pp), crown (gp),
scepter (ep), penny (sp), common (cp)
Population: 138,500—Human 79% (Sof), Dwarf 8%
mountain 80%, hill 20%), Halfling 6%, Elf 3%, Gnome
2%, Half-elf 1%, Half-orc 1%
Languages: Common, Old Oeridian, Dwarven, Cold
Tongue
Alignments: N, NG*, CN, CG
Religions: Procan, Xerbo, Kord, Norebo, Trithereon,
Phyton, Oeridian agricultural gods
Allies: Frost Barbarians, dwarves and gnomes of the
Flinty Hills and Rakers, Nyrond, Knurl (see Bone
March)
Enemies: Bone March, North Kingdom, nonhumans
in Rakers, the Pale (minor), Snow Barbarians
(sometimes), Ice Barbarians
Overview: Ratik is a small but prosperous nation located in the northeastern corner of the Flanaess. It is seated in a cultural crossroads between the otherwise civilized south of the former Aerdi Great Kingdom and the barbaric north of the Suel on the Thillonrian Peninsula. Ratik stretches between the Rakers and the Solnor Coast, where the modest city of Marner, the capital, is its only major port. Its southern border is marked by the fortified hills separating Ratik from Bone March. These extend east all the way out to the Loftwood, where the hearty woodsmen are allied with the archbarony. Ratik's northern border divides the Timberway between itself and the Frost Barbarians, a long-standing informal boundary that has been respected by both sides for centuries and only recently was acknowledged by formal treaty. While these barriers have profoundly isolated Ratik from the rest of the Flanaess, they also have served to protect it from invaders for centuries.
The climate of Ratik is wintry much of the year, with heavy snows swollen with moisture from the Solnor falling steadily during the height of Telchur's sway. The windswept Timberway remains the greatest focus of the realm. It is a hunting ground that produces the pelts and furs used widely in the dress of the nation. It also provides Ratik with its greatest bounty, the timber and shipbuilding supplies that drive much of the economic activity of the archbarony. The western border of Ratik is an endless range of foothills, inhabited by dwarves for millennia. These mountains are dotted with mines of gold and precious gems situated between citadels of stone that protect the ways from the denizens of the deep mountains. Some farming is conducted during the short growing season in the open lands between Marner and Ratikhill
Ratik is populated chiefly by folk of Aerdi descent, with an Oeridian-Suel mix being common. Few Flan are here, though many Fruztii and some Schnai are present, expatriate farmers from their homelands. Dwarves and gnomes are numerous in rougher lands. Only humans prefer the coasts, where their fishing villages are located. Ratik is well settled despite being located so far north of the population centers of the former Great Kingdom, partly because so many refugees fled here from Bone March.
While the rulership of the realm rests completely
with the hands of the baron or baroness, its lord takes
counsel with numerous constituencies, including
the Council of Great Lords (fourteen human and
dwarven peers), as well as the burghers of the small
cities and towns. The current baroness, Lady
Evaleigh, is the widowed stepdaughter of old Baron
Lexnol, who yet lives but has been incapacitated for
several years. Baroness Evaleigh is mistrusted by
many in the kingdom, for she was not born in Ratik
and does not always seem to understand its precarious
position. It was the old baron who won the trust
of the Fruztii and negotiated a treaty with their king.
The dwarf and gnome lords respect decisiveness, and
Evaleigh has shown little during her short tenure.
While the military is loyal to the crown, many grumble
that the count of Knurl, Evaleigh's father, has
grown far too influential in the affairs of Marner.
Lexnol had been working on a treaty with the Schnai
to shore up his position against Bone March and its
allies in North Kingdom, but these efforts are currently
in shambles. Few things would please North
Kingdom's "Overking" Grenell more than to see this
realm succumb to chaos.