Pathfinder Chronicles - Gazetteer - Asamnet

Pathfinder Chronicles
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ceding them 14 of the principality’s original counties.
Virholt and Grodlych, the counties nearest Gallowspire,
remained under the control of crusader sentinels
stationed in Lastwall.
Reestablished as the Immortal Principality of Ustalav,
the country readopted the majority of the laws and systems
of its near-legendary past. As the line of Soividia Ustav
was long broken, the crown came to rest with the House
of Ardeav—one of the few noble families to survive Tar-
Baphon’s centuries-long reign.
Since the end of the Shining Crusade, Ustalav has been
wracked by two small civil wars and seemingly endless
political intrigue pitting one county against another.
As his final act, in 4674, the ailing “Eunuch Prince”
Valislav Ordranti decreed that the country’s capitol,
historically based in Soividia Ustav’s home city of Ardis,
be moved south to the larger, more cosmopolitan port of
Caliphas. Ordranti’s longtime companion—but never
wife—Millarea Caliphvaso gave birth to an heir shortly after
the prince’s death. Although the child’s claim might one
day be realized, Valislav’s brother, Prince Aduard III, took
command of Ustalav years ago and is firmly entrenched as
the nation’s legitimate ruler.
Today, Ustalav is a land steeped in traditions, ancient
Varisian superstitions, and grim legends. Beyond the
remaining counties, the country is divided into three
regions: Soivoda, the Palatinates, and Virlych.
Soivoda remains most true to the ways of the founding
empire, where the families of powerful counts rule over
rugged and largely impoverished lands. This largest of
the three regions dominates the country’s eastern half and
is comprised of the counties of Amaans, Ardeal, Barstoi,
Caliphas, Odranto, Sinaria, Ulcazar, Varno, Verssex, and
the Furrows.
To the west, the Palatinates surround the Shudderwood,
where many small communities of simple folk eke out livings
in the shadow of the wolf-haunted forest. The palatinates of
Canterwall, Lozeri, and Vieland form this region.
The most dreaded of Ustalav’s three regions, the
rocky and barren lands that were once the counties of
Grodlych and Virholt are now known as Virlych—a largely
unpopulated area surrounding Gallowspire, the throne
and prison of the Whispering Tyrant. Sentinels from
Lastwall still patrol this region, largely as a traditional
chore of dubious honor, but Ustalav considers the cursed
land part of its dominion. Few civilized people make their
home there, forsaking it to tales of roaming abominations
and the lich-king’s deathless minions.
Varisia
WILD FRONTIER REGION
Alignment: N
Capital: Korvosa (18,486)
Notable Settlements: Celwynvian (unknown), Kaer
Maga (8,000), Magnimar (16,428), Riddleport (13,300),
Urglin (5,800)
Ruler: No centralized ruler
Government: Unaffiliated City-States
Languages: Varisian, Common
Religion: Abadar, Desna, Erastil, Calistria, Gozreh,
Lamashtu, Pharasma, Norgorber, Urgathoa, Zon-Kuthon
At the height of Old Azlant, the wizened mystics of that
island continent-kingdom exiled a powerful wizard
named Xin for his heretical beliefs that cooperation with
the lesser races could build a greater nation. The outcast
arrived on the shores of Avistan with an army and a plan.
He established the empire of Thassilon, and in so doing
brought commerce and civilization to the simple folk he
found living on Avistan as nomads, a people known as the
Varisians. As Thassilon’s reach and inf luence continued to
grow, Xin appointed seven of his most powerful wizardly
allies as governors, splitting his empire into seven nations.
Xin’s governors, each focused on one of the seven schools
of rune magic he himself helped define in accord with his
seven virtues of rule, became known as the runelords.
Yet Xin’s optimisim was sadly misplaced. The runelords
wrested control of his empire from him, and for centuries
their cruelty led Thassilon along the path of decadence,
ultimately collapsing into ruin when the Starstone rocked
Golarion (although sages argue to this day upon the exact
cause of Thassilon’s demise).
The region remained wild for thousands of years,
inhabited only by barbarian tribes known as the Shoanti
and the nomadic Varisian survivors of Thassilon’s fall,
until it came to the attention of expansionist Cheliax,
whose armies marched on the region in 4405. Chelish
armies drove the warlike Shoanti into the rugged regions
to the northeast, while colonists adopted a tenuous peace
with the native Varisians under the pretense of bringing
“culture and civilization” into their lives. It was at this time
that the ancient frontier came to be known as Varisia.
Modern Varisia is a region of conf lict, a strip of
frontier laid against the land of barbarians and giants
to the northeast—the Storval Rise. Although no central
government controls Varisia, three city-states have
emerged, each of which could some day soon claim
control over the region. The eldest and largest of these is
Korvosa, a city of Chelish loyalists ruled by a monarchy but
cleaving close to Cheliax in a bid to be reabsorbed into the
empire. The second largest city in Varisia, cosmopolitan
Magnimar, f lourishes while Korvosa, at best, stagnates
in its thick traditional values. And further to the north
lies Riddleport, a solution to those who find law of any
sort oppressive—Riddleport serves as safe harbor for
mercenaries, thieves, bandits, and pirates of all cuts.