Barony of Tollmore

Barony of Duraleon aka Barony of Tollmore

  Tentative Geographic Assignment: Spot 2   Basic Concept: Bureaucratic mess with a tax or fee for everything.     History: Sir Alban was an ambitious young knight in Kantoc. He chafed at serving a chaotic and undisciplined lord and he left his lord's service with a troupe of soldiers and swept in to a leaderless Border Barony to establish himself as the new leader, so he could shape the realm in his image. Now Baron Alban, better known as Baron Tollmore, is an old man and has one of the longest continuous reigns of any Baron in the history of the Borderlands.   Government Style: Baron Alban created order, but he created it with a very thick rule book and lots of red tape. Safety and security is valued but personal freedom is not.   Character of the Realm: The common folk have learned how to navigate the red tape. They are very tight with their purse strings and they choose their words very carefully. There is an air of politeness over everything. Outsiders accuse them of being two-faced.     Religion: Baron Tollmore's value set seems to be very pro-Phidas, but publicly Baron Alban endorses Khemra profusely and he denounces Phidas. He believes this legitimizes his money grubbing. He is also somewhat remorseful for deserting his former lord decades ago, even though it led to the greater good (in his opinion). In some way, his Khemra worship is atonement for the actions of his youth.   A lot of the Baron's ministers and agents are drawn from among Khemra's Keepers. Normally Khemra endorses giving all nine of the Nine appropriate worship but these Keepers are neo-heretics. They are far less tolerant of the three chaotic deities than more mainstream Keepers. They are also incredibly likely to interfere with ALL of the other deities' followers, not just the chaotic ones. The local Keepers know they won't get appointed to government positions if they are not anti-Phidas so they parrot the Baron's prejudices.   Most of the non-Khemra worship is done in secret, even the deities that normally get along well with Khemra.     Challenges:  Tensions are rising between the local Keepers and the mainstream Keepers.  There are increasing rumblings of toppling Baron Tollmore's greed and there is now a small Lantern cult hidden there.