"Fairest land in the world. The grain is plentiful, travelling is easy, and monsters are rare. Who would choose to live anywhere else?"
Aquitaine, formally the Dukedom of Aquitaine, is a founding dukedom of Bretonnia that lies upon the gentle western coastlands of that realm. Known for having one of the most tranquil lands within the entire Old World, Aquitaine is famous for its highly arable farmlands and its gentle sandy shores. Due to its tranquillity and lack of any external threats to unify Aquitaine's people, this land is infamous in Bretonnia and across the Old World for its unstable, fractious and violent politics, with feuds between its major nobles, peasant revolutions and small civil wars being an all-too-common occurrence in the dukedom's history.[1a]
Nevertheless, the lands of Aquitaine are still a beautiful sight to behold, with their knights being among the most stubborn and courageous out of all the dukedoms of Bretonnia. The current ruler of Aquitaine is the young, enigmatic and courageous Duke Armand d'Aquitaine, a fearsome Grail Knight of the Lady of the Lake who lives within the high walls of Castle Aquitaine, located in the southern reaches of the dukedom.[1a]
Geography[]
"Travel through Aquitaine is boring. Dull, dull, dull. Field of wheat, village, field of wheat, ridiculously overbuilt castle, orchard, small town. Best part of my job."
- — Eldergar of Busreq, Coachman.[1a]
A map of Aquitaine
Aquitaine lies south of the Gilleau and the Forest of Châlons, and consists almost entirely of arable land. There are a few hills, but nothing so steep as to make pastoral farming the only option. The coastline is the gentlest in Bretonnia, with many beaches, few high cliffs, and numerous safe coves. However, there are no suitable locations for a major port, so the largest settlements are fishing (and smuggling) villages. Inland, there are no major rivers, no obvious crossing points through the low hills, and no particularly defensible locations. As a result, no settlements have grown particularly large. Even the town of Aquitaine is no bigger than medium-size, and that is due entirely to the influence of the ducal court.[1a]
Indeed, noble influence is the main factor in town size throughout the dukedom. Noblemen encourage urban development around their castles so that they can tax the trade and become wealthier. So far, these developments have never taken root: when the noble loses interest, the towns shrink again. Thus, there are a lot of towns with abandoned areas as large as the inhabited. The hovels there quickly collapse, but the more substantial buildings slowly moulder away. A similar effect can be seen in Aquitaine’s castles. As there are no naturally defensible locations, the lords of Aquitaine rely on construction to protect their homes. A noble facing attack or possessing extra money extends his castle, and his heirs abandon the parts that are no longer necessary to avoid the expense of upkeep. These abandoned buildings are often taken over by Dereliches, which discourages people from raiding them for building materials and from trying to live in a building surrounded by abandoned structures.[1a]
Inhabitants[]
"Almost no monsters in Aquitaine. Even Beastmen from Châlons seem to stay out. Feuding nobles, gangsters, rebellious peasants, cultists, serial killers, and protagonists in abundance, though."
The Aquitainians[]
The people of Aquitaine do not have to fight to defend their land, so they fight each other. Aquitainians themselves prefer to say that they have honour and the courage of their convictions, but the result is the same. Aquitainians have a reputation for being stubborn and for resorting to violence to solve their problems. As a result, their knights are among the most renowned in Bretonnia, and the dukedom is constantly in the grip of several small wars, revolutions, and feuds.[1a]
People often leave Aquitaine as a result of a serious disagreement with someone more powerful than they are. Others, particularly nobles, leave to prove their mettle against monsters, of which Aquitaine has remarkably few. Some, of course, leave because they are sick of the constant feuding and want to live somewhere people just get along. These folk tend to keep moving. The internal politics of Aquitaine are in constant flux as old feuds die down and new ones flare up. The new Duke has, if anything, made things even worse, despite his best intentions. Whenever he intervenes personally to suppress a revolt or force reconciliation in a feud, he succeeds. However, if he cannot intervene personally, he tends to do nothing, which means that many other feuds are allowed to develop.[1a]
There are a few famous, ancient feuds which Duke Armand has not been able to resolve (although in these cases, none of his predecessors could, either). The feud between the D'Elbiq and Du Maisne families has continued for several centuries. It was started over the soiling of the daughter of one house by the son of the other, but no one now knows which was which (both houses claim that it was their daughter, of course). This feud has become so formalised that the locations of the battles are set in advance, and people come to watch. The feud is still real, though, so the battles are to the death, which attracts even more people.[1a]
A more recent feud is that between the Earl of Desroches, in the west of the dukedom, and the Earl of Fluvia, in the north. The two men used to be inseparable friends, spending much time at the courts of the land. A little over ten years ago, something happened, and the two have been implacable foes ever since. Both are intelligent, fine tacticians and strategists, and superb warriors in their own right. Most of the time they keep their feud low-key, but as no one knows the cause, no one knows what might cause it to flare up into full-blown war. Between them, the two lords command the fealty of over a third of the nobles of Aquitaine; war between them would devastate the dukedom. Relations between Aquitaine and other dukedoms are generally neutral. Disputes within Aquitaine stay there, and other nobles have more sense than to get involved.[1a]
Dereliches[]
Malevolent spirits known as Dereliches are unusually common inside Aquitaine. They inhabit abandonded buildings or sections of larger buildings. They somehow gain sustenance from luring living folk into an area that appears inhabited, then killing them.[1a]
Dereliches are never found in the same room together, but there may be several of them in a larger building with multiple wings. They can also magically change the appearance of the building where they reside to further amplify the illusion.[1a]
Settlements[]
- Castle Aquitaine - Castle Aquitaine is a fortress city and the capital of the dukedom as well as the largest city or town within its borders.
- Derrevin Libre - This village in eastern Aquitaine is controlled by peasants after they overthrew their despotic lord.
- Chateau D'Epee - Located in the centre of the dukedom, this castle is very heavily fortified with several moats and three great keeps.
Tivia[]
The Bretonnian Dukedom of Aquitaine is named after the real world southwestern region of France of the same name. During the Middle Ages the Duchy of Aquitaine was one of the most prominent fiefdoms of France.