AnteCarzala
AnteCarzala is a quiet barony of peaceful, honest farmer-folk, mostly human. Its major products are honey and several types of mead. Locals do not like outsiders, seeing them as trouble makers, but they are tolerated if passing through or known to have business with locals. The main road is almost deserted of farms and settlements apart from Silverdrake and Luck. Luck has no accommodation; hostel, inn, or hotel. Foreigners are encouraged to stay in Schizton (Four miles to the south outside the Barony). Because life here is so good, the locals dissuade outsiders settling.
Lord Prudence AnteCarzala, Baron of AnteCarzala is a powerful mostly human mind-mage and semi-retired dragon-slayer intolerant of evil-doing. He is on good terms with Duke Leto DeWinter and the Seagate Adventurers' Guild council. His unpretentious private estate (sparsely decorated in a KinLu style) is west of Silverdrake on the forest's edge. In Lord Prudence's frequent absences, the barony is nominally governed by his illusionist aunt, Madame du Lally. She is a former exile of the Spice Isles, but is now normally found at Smuggler's Folie which is a picturesque sea town over looking dramatic rocks, tempestuous seas and romantic, if clichéd, vistas (the wrecks are changed monthly). It is widely known in 'courtly circles' that Madame du Lally is a Silver Dragon and the locals are too polite to mention it.
Demon-worship is forbidden. Proselytising 'Powers of Lighters' are asked to leave, mainly because most locals worship an 'Old God' who is seldom named aloud. He is depicted in gilded statues as a muscular man of mild appearance. Worshippers call themselves 'Musclemen'. There are small Musclemen temples at the villages of Luck, Mede-on-sea, and Lions Rock, a Priory at each of the villages of Unseen and Mede-on-sea, and an Abbey just out of Luck. There are monk water-mages at Mede-on-sea and low-level non-monk Musclemen wiccans near Lions Rock.
The inhabitants of the Barony are not rich, but have a good lifestyle. Additional food, especially spices and herbs, are plentiful. There is virtually no crime and the Musclemen monks have undertaken extensive good works from the personal (healing and teaching), to the large-scale (public works, especially irrigation and reservoirs). Many monks have combat skills and patrol the roads to deter undesirables. The philosophical emphasis is on self-discipline and defence, rather than aggressive violence.
Day-to-day running of the barony is in the hands of the Clerk of Luck, appointed by the Abbot, often as a punishment detail. The person who is clerk changes but is always a 'Muscleman', often a senior monk. Strangers leaving the main road, especially if they are rude or violent, will usually be stung by bees or even eaten by the local lions. However, the wildlife and its behaviour does not trouble the barony's residents.
Note to GM's: Musclemen are, in fact, a peaceful sect worshipping Foras, President and Lord of Seekers. This is not widely known. GM: Michael Parkinson.
