Kingdom of Fastor

Overview
Fastor is a newer kingdom in terms of the human kingdoms. They have deep ties to the Vasranyas tribe, many of them descending from them. It is said that they were a tribe that lived further south and didn’t wish to live amongst the snowy wastes of the north. It’s said they stumbled upon several Rock Gnome settlements, building around and near them. This is what started the long-standing alliance and acceptance of the gnomes within Fastor. Several of the Rock Gnomes lived within caves close to the surface, or deeper within. They’d establish contact with the humans building outside and return to their lives.   

When a mysterious force began killing and destroying the Rock Gnomes’ homes, they were accepted with open arms to the human settlements. Together they began to expand rapidly. This is what led to what we know today as Fastor.

Royal Family
The Kingdom of Fastor is ran by a monarch, who consults a council of selected advisors. Its current ruler is King Percival Everet the Fourth, a harsh ruler who has become a lot tougher on criminals. More criminals are getting much longer sentences, and some drug dens are being sought out and crushed by the Royal Hand. This has led to many criminal organizations to hire mages to use illusion or enchantment magic to protect their bases and get many Royal Hand guardsman off their trail.

Royal Families in the past have belonged to human and gnome alike. The last greatly remembered king and queen were Alston and Orla Raulnor; A pair of rock gnomes who took in many orphans, but were sadly unable to reproduce due to issues with fertility between the two. They instead chose to pass the throne on to Alston’s trusted guard and advisor, Percival Evert the First, a human man who had lived within Fastor and served loyally.

The Council of Yhorkwall
A group of 6 advisors. These people are the King’s most trusted professionals, and all of them take care of their personal duties and oversee the overall success of the aspects they are in charge of. They all have their own personal offices and employees under them. The current positions held are:
 * Advisor of Magic, also known as the Court Mage, which is held by a Gnomish woman named Kristryd Morigak.
 * Advisor of Architecture, an older Gnomish man named Qualen Boondiggles.
 * Advisor of Education, a Fastorian native man named Conrad Leyton.
 * Advisor of Public Relations, a Deshran half-elven woman named Sabah Almasi.
 * Advisor of Fastorian Military, a Fastorian native woman named Alyson Uxley.
 * Ambassador of Fastor, a Fastorian half-elf man named Godfrey Weiss.

Counties
The Kingdom of Fastor is split up into several counties. Each county is run by their own Count or Countess. Each county may have laws that differ slightly from the rest, and each city may have more specific laws. 

History
Many of the human settlements scattered about the Seress Timberlands were united by The First King Gareth Brixton. The First King Gareth Brixton was the one to form a standing militia and unite the various settlements to grow and expand together, instead of separately, as their forefathers intended. The First King rallied his men and women, suiting them in armor and weaponry, to march towards the incredibly tall towers of Vastura. He intended to force them to cooperate and give up what secrets they had found of the land, and he had no intention of taking no for an answer. When the Vasturans would try to leave their city to gather food from the wildlife, they’d be harried by one of his outposts. Vastura, never wanting to raise up arms against what they saw as human rashness and short-sighted views, decides the best option was to prepare a week-long ritual to take to the skies. Fastorians remember them as cowards and incredibly selfish elves. After the unsuccessful interrogation of the Vasturans, The First King looked to the sea, determined to settle his castle and capital there. Over the course of the next century, Yhork rose to a great seat of power. At the same time, they had begun construction of Yhorkwall. This was to act as a halfway point from the capital The Hollow. The original name of Yhorkwall was Hollow’s Watch. Sometime before the fall of Yhork, Elci Gamfel, a rock gnome came to the current queen, Queen Gwendoline Brixton and requested permission to establish a center of learning where all of Fastor would be welcome to come and find information. Her request was fulfilled and was allowed to start her building within what was Hollow’s Watch, at the time. Avonem, the Fireheart, a name that struck fear into many Fastorians before The Architects showed up to save them from the terrible beast. An adult red dragon who sought to steal back an item that The First King had stolen from his father. He rained hellfire and fear down onto the city and screamed for the item to be returned to him. But to the city’s knowledge, they had no idea where it was. Avonem set to destroy everything he could see until it was returned to him. When The Architects showed up after hearing about the destruction he was raining, they faced him with a well-laid plan.
 * Founding of the Kingdom of Fastor, 148 PD
 * Creation of The Hollow, 158 PD
 * The Construction of Yhork, 159 PD
 * Founding of the Colleges of Elci, 293 PD
 * Yhork’s Destruction and the Rise of Yhorkwall, 457 PD

The rest is remembered by many by the rise of Yhorkwall, as the gnomes who resided there made a huge discovery. Yhorkwall sat on several ley lines, making it a magic hotspot and explained the ease of casting and enchanting within the city. This caused a boom, and Yhorkwall grew rapidly and the seat of the Kingdom of Fastor was moved. Fastor had been living in relative peace, taking of more things within its territory, and mostly hiring adventurers for anything that got too dangerous for the normal army. Many of these threats were things like wandering beasts or organized groups of hobgoblins. The odd larger creature or drow raids.
 * War Against the Verdant Tide, 748 PD

That was until the terror of the orcish hordes hit their shore. Many ports were raided, most of their people slain or stolen in the middle of the night. In almost every port of Fastor, a horror of a horde fell upon the kingdom. Fastor’s army was mobilized, spellcasters standing side by side with warriors trained in the weapons of Attorion. The orcish horde continued their raids, choosing to push further inland with each new attack. Fastor’s army now laid in wait in every village near the coast, waiting to capture the orcish horde by surprise and slay them before they could cause any more damage. This would go on for several months, spellcasters using bits and pieces of the orcs that escaped to hunt them down to their ships and rain fire and lightning down onto it, to sink it. The most famous occurrence of this was the Battle of Bloodharbor. After heavy losses on both sides, the mages of Fastor tracked down the large Orc battalion with several of their higher chiefs and shamans among the ships. Not a single orc was spared, and the bay was stained with the dark brownish red blood of the orcs, and the dark black charred wood of their ships. Among the heavy losses of the orcs, various slaves on the ships were lost, as well. Fastor considers this as a mercy to them.

The Orcs lost many of their ships, and even more of their power eventually forced to accept their losses and pull out. Fastor could settle for several decades before trouble would be roused again. Almost a full three decades after their war with the Verdant Tide, Fastor’s army was forced to mobilize. Under a new Advisor of War, Alyson Uxley saw the appearance of Yuramian soldiers as an act against her home nation. She couldn’t let this stand. As Yurami sent more troops to scout the lands to their east, Fastor’s soldier began to move towards the last sightings of them. Many small groups and skirmishes broke out with the two armies. Fastor refusing to believe Yurami had any good intentions, and Yurami attacking in response to the hostilities.
 * War Against the Western Thieves, 775 PD

This would go on for almost 3 years, and only get progressively worse for Fastor. Alyson Uxley is a woman who takes no chances, and this spelled bad news for the Yuramians within Fastor’s territory. Yuramians who may have had no ties to their home empire anymore were taken into custody. Many were tortured for information they didn’t have and were held in prisons. On top of this, many villages were turned upside down to find spies. Some were even razed if they found any hint of Yuramian spies.

The war ended with Fastor begrudgingly declaring defeat, they had lost too many resources and men, and citizens were growing restless and angry. Yurami respected their declaration for peace, and haven’t been seen in any sense of force since the war.

Yhorkwall:
Population: 164,758 (63% Human, 23% Gnome, 14% Other)

The capital city of the Kingdom of Fastor. This city had been starting to be built around the start of the building of Yhork, the original capital. The capital was moved after the destruction of Yhork, and the realization of its placement over the conjunction of ley lines within the earth under it. Yhorkwall was the hub of many gnomish inventors and spellcasters after the discovery. Many of the Colleges of Elci have learned of ways to manipulate and exploit the ley lines to the city’s benefits. This has led to the general increase in quality of life within the city walls. Many homes do not feel the chill of winter, nor the heat of summer. Many of the richer areas have personal baths, whereas the poorer areas have public baths that remain clean and constantly refreshed, despite the lack of large aquifers underneath the city.   

The Village of Tresington:
Population: 355 (86% Human, 10% Gnome, 4% Other)

A village located on the eastern coast, directly east of the Hollow. During a celebration, a tiefling Paladin named Solaren, a Deshran war mage named Zubari, and a Zyrainian Warrior named Flynt disappeared and weren’t seen for a full day. The adventurers returned with various treasures and had several letters sent out to various kingdoms. Yhorkwall sent officials to recover what appeared to be King Ramsey Everet’s armor, which had been stolen by a thief several years prior. It appears that merely a mile away from this village, closer to the Hollow, was home to a Beholder.   

The City of New Yhork:
Population: 13,164 (76% Human, 12% Gnome, 8% Dwarf, 4% Other)

Built atop the ruins of Yhork, New Yhork has begun rebuilding in the bones of the previous capital. Where once stood a proud city, is now being slowly rebuilt after it was lost to dragon fire. Avonem, the Fireheart, a great red dragon fell upon the city in the dead of night. None were prepared for the number of lives lost in the following fires. It took a group of adventurers, known now as The Architects, to slay the dragon and help rebuild the city, and see to it that those who were lost were respected and given their funeral rites. It was a devastating loss for the city. The Architects stayed behind and helped rebuild, this has led them to be greatly respected and has been turned into the leaders of the city. They have retired happily doing such.

Practices and Beliefs
Many of Fastor believe an advancement of technology and the pursuit of knowledge and the arcane are the highest achievements and best pursuits one can make. A lot of Fastor believes in bettering itself as a whole, and improving oneself first comes before improving others. Though this doesn’t keep teachers and preservers of knowledge from being extremely venerated, and to be written down in the history of Fastor, or Attorion at large, is the greatest honor. Many criminals are tattooed, marked with a special marking, infused with arcane properties. These tattoos prevent the criminal from entering certain areas, or not being allowed to be within a certain amount of feet of someone they had wronged. If they attempt to do so, their tattoo begins to burn slightly, growing to immense pain the more they try to fight it. Should the criminal ever right the wrongs they committed, and the person or establishment has forgiven their crimes, the mark will lose these properties. It simply takes a visit to the ones who created the mark, or one of the various spellcasters.

Within Fastor itself, many of the temples are dedicated either to Ioun, Mystra, Bahamut, Gond, or The Crimson General. All of these gods represent something within Fastorian culture that are widely respected and sought to embody. Among these gods, Garl Glittergold, Bleredd, and Nebelun are the widely worshipped Gnomish gods within Fastor. While all the others have temples and shrines to them, the gods listed have the most, and are the most respected within Fastor, though all have their place.