Cleyr

Cleyr, known internally as Montclair and also known as the Cleyran Marches, is the kingdom of the Cleyran ratfolk and consists of a united confederation of principalities who swear allegiance to the Marquess of Montclair who rules as king. The current Marquess of Montclair and king of Cleyr is Louis Rochelle Legrande de Beaumont.

History

Cleyr is a relatively recent kingdom, founded about 300 years ago by a group of ratfolk heroes and the armies they gathered to themselves. They drove out dragons and elves and made a home for their kind in the Wintermarches.

Provinces

The four major provinces of Cleyr are Montclair, Bernicia, Deira, and the Northern Provinces

Montclair

Montclair is the westernmost province of the Cleyran Marches and constitutes the original settlement of the Cleyran Army plus newer western holdings. The Army was lead by Richard Legrande, who at the time did not use the title of king, but is retroactively considered the first King of Montclair, Garlaunde Deschamps, Theophania Arondelle, and a few other prominent leaders in their generation and the subsequent generation. The name refers to the picturesque snowcapped mountain around which the initial fortified cities were built. The mountain could be seen for many miles and was called by various names by the Cleyrans including Montclair, Beaumont, Serein, Le Mont Solitaire and other similar names. The mountain is an isolated cluster of three peaks around which several river basins and is nearby a major tributary of the primary river of the Cleyr Marches. It was known to the former elven kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira but was not considered significant as they did not care to extend power that far west until they were challenged by the newly arrived Cleyrans which settled in the no-man's land between Bernicia and the northernmost extents of Lugal which were only weakly claimed by either polity.

Bernicia

Bernicia is geographically the central province of Cleyr, but not the center of political power. It consists of the former high elven kingdom of Bernicia and successful campaigns by the ruling Deschamps family in eastward expansion. It has the advantage of being insulated from most of the major geopolitical threats against its existence and this has encouraged a considerable separatist sentiment among the nobility of Bernicia. It is bordered by Montclair on the west, Deira to the south, the Northern Provinces to the north, and wilderness tribes of Snow Elves to the east. The direct conflicts that Bernicia faces are with these snow elves. All the provinces of Cleyr are in a mutual defense agreement and so it is not at all uncommon for troops from Montclair to defend Bernicia against attacks from Snow Elves and Bernician troops to help policing the Lugalin lands that Montclair claims. Both Bernicia and Montclair send troops to the Northern Provinces and to Deira.

Notable settlements in Bernicia include Anseau, Bèrnichéplas, Vîdeschamps

See Bernicia for more information.

Deira

Also known as Cleyran Deira to distinguish it from the elven rump state of the same name is the southeastern province.

Deira shares a border state and is at war with the residue of the Kingdom of Deira, which is fiercely defended by high elf allies as a necessary buffer state preventing the southward expansion of the Cleyrans into territories of other high elven kingdoms. This war has been going on for as long as any portion of Deira has been controlled by the Cleyrans, which is nearly the entire history of Cleyr.

Notable settlements in Deira include Deira, Trèfle, Blonde, Cimerlanric,Cerniu, Cerros, Cercloudina the historical capitol of Deira and the recently captured former capitol of Elven Deira, Finavondine.

Northern Provinces

The northern provinces are

The Northern Provinces are most notable for their dragoon units and truly impressive fortifications against white dragon attacks, which allows expanded permanent settlement north and east of the extents of the original Bernician kingdom.