TEXT: Lands in Shadow for  
  Shadow of the Demon Lord
  ~Credits~
  Writing and Design:  
  Eric Cagle
  Development: Robert J. Schwalb
  Editing: Tom Cadorette
  Art Direction: Kara Hamilton and Robert J. Schwalb
  Proofreading: Jay Spight
  Graphic Design and Layout: Kara Hamilton
  Illustrations: Kyllian Guillart
  Cartography: Cecil Howe
  The Grand Duchy is ©2017 Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.  
  All rights reserved.
  Shadow of the Demon Lord, Lands in Shadow, The Grand Duchy,
  Schwalb Entertainment, and their associated logos  
  are trademarks of Schwalb Entertainment, LLC.
  Schwalb EntErtainmEnt, llc
  PO Box #12548, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
  info@schwalbentertainment.com         www.schwalbentertainment.com
  An ancient land, prosperous but backwards, nestles 
  against the Shield Mountains on its west and 
  the shattered remains of the Empire to its east. A 
  collection of small fiefdoms, intransigently set in their 
  ways and suspicious of change, the Grand Duchy of 
  the West has long been considered a rustic, backwater 
  region, a place that is both the literal and figurative 
  definition of “provincial.” 
   Serfs toil miserably in the Grand Duchy’s marshy 
  rice fields and inside its deep and dangerous mines, 
  spending their entire lives doing so without daring 
  to look beyond their landlord’s borders, or to dream 
  of anything better than the lot life has dealt them. 
  Their lords are little different, paying little heed to 
  the tumultuous events taking place outside of their 
  tiny domains, focusing instead on their own petty 
  squabbles and ceaseless infighting.
   Led by a feeble Grand Duke with few ambitions and 
  seemingly no interest in governing his own nation, the 
  “Westers”—as the rest of the Empire derisively calls 
  them—live in a state of deliberate ignorance of the 
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  growing dangers of the world just outside its borders, 
  and of the insidious corruption slowly seeping into 
  and infecting their own land. With the remains of 
  the Empire in flames, the Grand Duchy keeps to 
  itself, pretending that all is well, stubbornly clinging 
  to a nostalgic ideal of “days of old” that never truly 
  existed. 
   In short, the Grand Duchy of the West is a land 
  ripe for massive upheaval and widespread chaos, a 
  powder-keg primed and waiting to explode. It’s just a 
  question of time as to when some unexpected spark 
  will set it off…
  Ripe for the Taking
  The Grand Duchy of the West is one of the oldest 
  provinces of the Empire. When the High Warlord 
  Eronymous made his push west from Caecras, his 
  armies discovered a huge portion of land that was 
  a mix of rugged hills and valleys to the north, vast 
  marshlands to the south, and deep forests along the 
  mountains. Hordes of unspeakable monsters and 
  beastmen poured out from the hidden hollows and 
  dark swamps to swarm and harass the soldiers with 
  brutal and terrifying effectiveness, grinding their 
  westward advance to a halt. 
   After several years of war with these hordes of 
  horror, Eronymous learned that three ancient hags 
  held sway over the monstrosities of the land, their 
  military leadership of the hordes rivalling that of 
  the Empire’s best generals. Changing his tactics, 
  Eronymous’s forces located the hags and defeated 
  them one by one, the long war culminating in a final 
  decisive battle near a craggy ridge along Sapphire 
  Lake, which would later become the seat of Castle 
  Vanderbrun. Indeed, it was a young commander, 
  George Vanderbrun, who dealt the killing blow 
  to Grandmother Rattlebones, the last and most 
  powerful of the three hags. With her last breath, 
  however, the hag laid a terrible curse on the land, 
  one that would take hundreds of years to unfold.
   With a dozen years of bloody conflict behind them, 
  the victors turned their eye towards settling the 
  newly won lands. Despite the rugged and sometimes 
  unforgiving terrain, they discovered that the region 
  was pocketed with areas that were remarkably 
  fertile and fecund, full of exotic fruits, rice, wheat, 
  cotton, sugar cane, and much more. Surveyors and 
  prospectors also found rich deposits of iron, silver, 
  tin, and copper in the hills and mountains. Word 
  quickly spread throughout the fledgling Empire of 
  the riches to be had in the western lands, and just as 
  quickly came those seeking to acquire them.
  Wester, Ho!
  After the demise of the hags, the Emperor declared 
  the western lands cleared and open for settlement 
  and expansion, naming it the Grand Duchy of the 
  West. As a reward for their sacrifice and bravery, 
  many of the commanders and soldiers of the army 
  were granted full rights by the Emperor to become 
  lords of the land by carving out and ruling over 
  their own fiefs. In an effort to bolster the region’s 
  population, a decree was sent throughout the 
  Empire that any citizen who wished to settle in this 
  new province would be freed from all previous debts 
  and automatically pardoned of any crimes. 
   Hordes of commoners, craftsmen, refugees, and 
  more than a fair share of criminals hoping to escape 
  their past made their way westward, seeking to take 
  advantage of the promise of land and the chance at 
  starting anew.
   Many of them, however, had their dreams dashed 
  either along the way or when they arrived. The 
  paths to the western lands were still fraught with 
  danger from both the lingering remnants of the 
  hags’ armies and the wildness of the land itself. 
  Upon their arrival, those who survived the arduous 
  and dangerous journey quickly discovered the best 
  lands had already been claimed by the new lords. 
  Flooded by the huge numbers of settlers, the newly 
  minted dukes and barons were either very particular 
  or inexplicably arbitrary as to what settlers they 
  would allow into their fiefdoms. Those who were 
  turned away had little choice but to settle in the 
  swamplands, or in the unexplored dark hills and 
  forests where none would venture for fear of the 
  surviving minions of the hags who lurked there.
   To this day, large swaths of seemingly 
  uninhabited swamps and hills are still the home 
  of the descendants of these settlers. Suspicious, 
  xenophobic, and insular, the swampfolk and hillfolk 
  have become the stuff of legends and nightmares 
  throughout the Grand Duchy.
  A Time of Growth
  Granted the title of supreme leader of the western 
  lands due to his great valor and military leadership, 
  Grand Duke George Vanderbrun the First set 
  about establishing his new realm’s government and 
  infrastructure. Across the region, keeps were raised, 
  towns were built among the hills, new roads began 
  to crisscross the lands, and miners dug deep shafts 
  to extract riches from the earth. Regular commerce 
  was established with the imperial capital of Caecras 
  and other parts of the Empire, all of whom paid a 
  premium for the rich bounty and variety of goods 
  the Grand Duchy of the West produced.
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   This progress and growth was often threatened, 
  however, whenever the Grand Duke had to contend 
  with the painful transition of veteran soldiers into fief-
  holders and farmers. Men used to having their will 
  imposed at sword point found it difficult to resolve 
  land disputes with each other peacefully. Vanderbrun 
  found himself constantly intervening in the conflicts 
  of his vassals in order to keep them from killing each 
  other, along with the settlers on their lands. 
   By a quirk of ancient history, the Grand Duke’s 
  efforts to cease the constant squabbling and territorial 
  disputes between rival lords were aided by old 
  demarcation lines of previously developed farm plots 
  from many centuries before, along with the presence 
  of ancient but sturdy foundations of buildings long 
  since gone. Using these primeval plots and ruins 
  as borders and settlement sites made it easy for the 
  Grand Duke to parcel out and allocate lands to his 
  vassals for their farms, keeps, and towns. No one 
  knew who originally settled these lands or built these 
  structures, seemingly from a time beyond the earliest 
  reckonings. Regardless, little thought was given to the 
  mystery as the citizens of the Grand Duchy focused 
  on building a new future.
   For centuries, the Westers toiled and labored, slowly 
  creating a realm wealthy and powerful enough to 
  give the Emperor and his advisors in Caecras pause. 
  The dukes and barons of the west, however, seemed 
  content to rule over their own lands and serfs, 
  showing little interest in the world outside of their 
  borders except as commerce and trade required. Over 
  time, any fears of the Grand Duchy representing a 
  threat to the Empire were easily laughed away.
  The Hag’s Quake
  Several centuries after its official establishment, 
  the Grand Duchy was literally shaken to its core. A 
  massive earthquake ripped through the land, from the 
  Deepings Gorge in the far north to the edges of the 
  March Lands in the distant south. Untold numbers 
  of people were killed, keeps toppled, cities and towns 
  leveled, and the very topography of the land itself was 
  shifted and altered. 
   Adding insult to injury, the weather mysteriously 
  turned extremely foul at the same time, as angry 
  black clouds began to ceaselessly roll down from the 
  peaks of the Shield Mountains, pelting the lands of 
  the Grand Duchy with months and months of heavy 
  rains. Those fields and roads not destroyed by the 
  quake were soon washed away, and the swamps and 
  marshes throughout the Duchy soon doubled in size.
   During the quake, a portion of the foundation of 
  Castle Vanderbrun cracked and split apart, collapsing 
  part of the fortress. Westers were horrified when 
  a ghostly figure flew out from the crack and begin 
  terrorizing the lands of the Duchy for several weeks. 
  Eyewitnesses attested to spotting the same figure 
  in all parts of the realm: a hideously ugly specter, 
  resembling a hag, its cackle capable of driving people 
  mad, spoiling milk, and killing livestock, seemingly 
  by frightening them to death. The general belief was 
  that this was the vengeful spirit of Grandmother 
  Rattlebones, the hag defeated and killed by George 
  Vanderbrun the First, finally come to fulfill her curse. 
   Thereafter, the events of this time came to be 
  known as the Hag’s Quake. Eventually the sightings 
  of the hag-spirit diminished, but the damage was 
  already done: the combination of the earthquake, the 
  relentless rains, and the spirit’s rampages took a hard 
  physical and mental toll on the Westers, from which 
  they never truly recovered.
  A Time of Rot and Apathy
  The Hag’s Quake marked a turning point for the 
  Grand Duchy. Although the horrible weather 
  eventually abated, for many years thereafter the 
  previously mild, sunny realm was instead covered 
  in gloomy clouds and drizzle for most of the year. 
  Farmers struggled to raise anything, engaging in all 
  kinds of desperate measures and methods to deal 
  with the climatic shift. There are dark tales of blood 
  sacrifices made during these times, of both animals 
  and people, in order to make the crops grow.
   Things became darker for the lords and their 
  people as well. The history books tell of the terrible 
  cruelties and abuses inflicted by the lords upon the 
  people they ruled. Skirmishes between duchies 
  increased, often erupting into small-scale wars. 
  Corruption, always a concern, grew rampant and 
  even became codified into law. 
   A permanent malaise and pervasive apathy fell 
  upon the Westers, which has lasted to this day. 
  Even otherwise civilized or urban areas grew more 
  suspicious and paranoid towards outsiders. Ignorance 
  and heresy grew as scholars, clergy, and merchants 
  from outside lands were either killed or driven away, 
  and few chose to return to the Grand Duchy.
  The Present Day
  Today, the Grand Duchy is a fragile shell, kept 
  together by sheer inertia and the authoritarian 
  control its lords hold over their serfs. Trade continues 
  between the Grand Duchy and the other realms, 
  although yields for the Westers continually decline. 
  Corruption and graft dominate the political landscape 
  and the current Grand Duke himself seems unable, or 
  even unwilling, to do anything about it.
   Held fast by its feudalistic government, the lords 
  and barons look only to fend for themselves and 
  pay their tribute to their masters above—problems 
  outside the borders are intentionally ignored. Even 
  the increased tensions with the Borderlands of Tear 
  3
  
  and the orc uprising in Caecras have done little to 
  motivate the nobility to prepare for conflict. In fact, 
  the various dukes and barons have turned away 
  refugees, forcing them to seek haven in Tear or the 
  Holy Kingdom, which has only served to further sour 
  the Duchy’s already troubled relations with Tear.
  The Grand Duchy
  The Grand Duchy comprises several smaller 
  provinces nominally loyal to the Grand Duke.
  Duchy of the Sparrowlands
  Located farthest east and adjacent to the fertile Low 
  Country, the Duchy of the Sparrowlands has been a 
  major producer of grain and fruit for centuries. The 
  seat of the Grand Duke, it is dotted with numerous 
  villages and thorps. It is the most stable, prosperous, 
  and “civilized” of all the duchies, but still regarded as 
  rustic at best by outsiders.
  Vanderbrun
  The largest settlement of the Grand Duchy, the town 
  of Vanderbrun serves as its capital and main nexus 
  for trade. It sprawls along the banks of Sapphire 
  Lake in a twisting, confusing manner. In addition 
  to trade, Vanderbrun has a surprisingly lucrative 
  industry in the creation of clocks and toys, mainly due 
  to the effort of an expatriate artisan from Kem who 
  established several workshops throughout the city 
  decades ago.
   To outsiders, Vanderbrun is the only bright spot in 
  an otherwise grim and brooding land.
  Castle Vanderbrun
  Rising high above the shores of Sapphire Lake, Castle 
  Vanderbrun has belonged to the family of the same 
  name for almost eight centuries. Its foundation was 
  built on the remains of a rocky outcropping that was 
  the lair of the dread hag, Grandmother Rattlebones.
   The castle has a long history of unfortunate 
  accidents and terrible murders. Some say that the 
  hag’s spirit returned to haunt the castle after her 
  terrorizing spree centuries ago.
  Duchy of Tildus
  The most northerly of the realm’s duchies, Tildus 
  butts up against the Deepings Gorge, the Borderlands 
  of Tear, and the Holy Kingdom. The bulk of the 
  realm’s army resides here, commanded by their lord, 
  Victor Tildus, also known as The Red Duke. The 
  duchy is a large, prosperous realm, comprised of 
  rolling hills and abundant fields. Of all the duchies, 
  Tildus is the most concerned about the potential 
  conflicts to come, although the Red Duke’s warnings 
  to the Grand Duke to undertake war preparations 
  have been virtually ignored. The Red Duke has taken 
  matters into his own hands, funneling funds to help 
  beef up his own internal levies, in addition to seeking 
  out mercenaries to bolster their ranks.
  Duchy of Torth
  Even compared to the rustic and simple folk of the 
  rest of the Grand Duchy, the Duchy of Torth is a 
  backwards, ignorant place. Located in the far south, it 
  is a land of vast swamps and marshes, surrounded by 
  forested hills, all black with age. 
   The Duke of Torth ekes out an existence by 
  demanding tribute from barons, who themselves 
  bully, cajole, and harass their own serfs into extracting 
  whatever animal skins, ore, or other resources they 
  can from the wetlands and hills.
   Outside of Creeb, the main town, there are few 
  villages, with most of its citizens living in small, 
  inbred family groups. Dark terrors still remain in the 
  brackish, fog-covered waters that cover most of Torth.
  Duchy of Shieldbreak
  The Duchy of Shieldbreak is a long, slender region 
  that skirts the eastern slopes of the Shield Mountains. 
  It primarily produces lumber and various ores from 
  the rich veins beneath its rugged hills. Relations 
  between the Westers of Shieldbreak and the dwarfs 
  that live in the mountains are very strong and, of late, 
  some thought has been given to breaking from the 
  Grand Duchy and allying themselves with the stout 
  folk. However, the seemingly endless and erratic 
  ambushes from beastmen and fouler creatures 
  from the mountains have kept its ambitions of 
  independence in check.
  Westers
  Throughout the rest of Rûl, Westers are considered 
  simple, rustic, xenophobic, and ignorant. Education 
  is nearly unheard of among them, and few, including 
  nobles, have any desire to learn or better themselves. 
  A typical Wester is highly superstitious, often 
  blending a mishmash of lore from the Old Gods 
  and the Cult of the New God into a confusing and 
  primitive interpretation.
   Those Westers who don’t live in the few large towns 
  and cities of the Grand Duchy generally consider 
  themselves swampfolk or hillfolk. Regardless of their 
  home terrain, both are extremely insular, viewing 
  anyone outside their immediate community with 
  suspicion or hostility. Over time, most of the rural 
  villages, relatively distant and isolated from each 
  other, have developed their own unique, and often 
  depraved, customs and traditions.
  4
  
   The centuries-old curse of Grandmother 
  Rattlebones seems to have rooted itself within the 
  very heart of many Westers, making them a grim, 
  apathetic, spiteful, and hidebound people. Not every 
  Wester is touched in this way, however, and those 
  who aren’t often seek to leave their homeland as soon 
  as possible. In fact, in recent years, large numbers of 
  serfs in the Duchies of Tildus and the Sparrowlands 
  attempted to migrate into Tear, lured by the promise 
  of abundant farmland there, free of the tyranny of  
  any feudal lords.
   In characteristically harsh and brutal fashion, the 
  dukes and barons of the Grand Duchy commanded 
  their armies to stop these migrations, up to and 
  including incursions into Tear to recapture and  
  return any Westers they found there back to the 
  Grand Duchy—yet another contributing factor to  
  the increasing tensions between the two provinces.  
  Nobles
  The Grand Duchy is a patchwork of smaller duchies, 
  baronies, and smaller fiefs, some no bigger than 
  a farm. Every square inch of the land belongs to 
  someone, who in turn pays tribute to some superior 
  above them. Nobles run the gamut of personalities, 
  but most are arrogant, greedy, and self-important, 
  believing themselves to be the rightful and “true” 
  rulers of the Grand Duchy.
  Serfs
  Where other realms call their people the “Common 
  Folk,” in the Grand Duchy there are only serfs. Serfs 
  till the land, hew the trees, mine the ore, and so much 
  more. In general, they break their backs to give up 
  the majority of the fruits of their labors to their lords, 
  ostensibly as recompense for their protection—but 
  more often than not, it is given so that those selfsame 
  lords don’t put them to the sword for refusing to pay 
  what is “owed.” 
  Soldiers and Knights
  Each lord is responsible for maintaining a force for 
  protection of their own lands, and to provide for the 
  general defense of the realm if summoned by the 
  Grand Duke. Wester soldiers are middling fighters 
  at best, used to taking part only in minor conflicts 
  between neighboring fiefs and duchies. Knights, a 
  term applied to lesser nobility who serve the landed 
  nobles, command these forces. Some of these knights, 
  however, operate independently, selling their lances  
  to the highest bidder.
  Sheriffs
  A sheriff is the top law enforcement official in any 
  particular duchy or barony. Individual lords appoint 
  sheriffs, though many domains consider it a hereditary 
  title that passes down to the oldest son or, in some 
  cases, daughter.
   A truly thankless job, sheriffs serve as the first line 
  of defense in attack, hunt down bandits, investigate 
  crimes, and are responsible for extracting payment 
  from recalcitrant serfs. Since graft and corruption are 
  rampant throughout the Grand Duchy, most sheriffs 
  become quite wealthy and powerful through the 
  exercise of their office, sometimes superseding their own 
  lord in terms of control and wealth. Despite their own 
  corruption, most sheriffs are smart enough to ensure 
  that any serf uprisings are quickly quashed, and that 
  enough taxes are collected to keep their lords satisfied.
   Sheriffs are armed with the full power of their lord 
  when it comes to investigating and meting out justice. 
  The line is drawn, however, when crimes involve the 
  nobility—a common occurrence, which typically 
  results in most charges getting swept under the rug, 
  with no recourse available to the victimized, who are 
  almost always serfs.  
  5
  
  Artisans
  The Grand Duchy boasts a decent 
  population of artisans: blacksmiths, 
  carpenters, wheelwrights, and the like 
  to keep the economy moving. Compared 
  to those of other nations, the products of 
  the Grand Duchy are basic, no-frills, and 
  serviceable, lacking anything in the way  
  of flair, beauty, or innovation.
   The odd exception to this is the 
  production of certain forms of folk art and 
  the manufacturing of toys. Secluded from 
  outside influences, artists of the Grand 
  Duchy produce fantastical, odd, and in 
  some cases, disturbing artwork and toys 
  that other kingdoms find fascinating. 
  Other than in the town of Vanderbrun, 
  there are no schools or trade guilds to 
  teach these crafts, so the output is unique 
  and purely organic. Strange, haunting dolls 
  and puzzle boxes carved from a single 
  piece of wood are typical fare, though each 
  hamlet and thorp has their own unique 
  specialty. Although the demand for these 
  items is high, the Grand Duchy rarely 
  exports these items, since the makers have 
  a superstitious dread about giving this 
  artwork to outsiders—they see each item 
  as possessing a tiny portion of the maker’s 
  soul. Selling or giving such an item away 
  would court damnation, they believe.
  Government and Politics
  Since its creation centuries ago, the Grand 
  Duchy of the West has followed a feudalistic 
  system with little incentive to change. The 
  Grand Duke George Vanderbrun IV sits at 
  the top of the hierarchy. Indeed no other 
  family has ever held the title, though more 
  than a few upstart dukes have tried (and 
  failed) to wrest it for themselves.
   Beneath the Grand Duke are four duchies, 
  ruled by dukes. Each duchy is further 
  broken down into baronies, followed by 
  counties, and then individual plots of 
  land ruled by knights, baronets, merchant 
  lords, and other minor lords and ladies. 
  This incredibly ponderous and top-heavy 
  pyramid sits heavily upon the backs of the 
  Grand Duchy’s masses of soldiers and serfs.
   Law is divided into two portions. 
  Upper Law contends with the power and 
  politicking of the noble class. Justice in 
  Upper Law is slow, baroque, and rife with 
  6
  
  corruption and backroom deals. Lower Law deals 
  with the remaining rabble and tends toward the 
  draconian for fines and punishment.
   The word of a lord is law. Most lords have survived 
  long enough to determine how much is too much 
  when exercising their power. More than a few, 
  however, are infamous for their cruelty and the harsh 
  extremity of their edicts. In turn, lesser lords must 
  follow the edicts of their superiors. The law of the 
  Grand Duke allows for rival (and often related) lords 
  or ladies to challenge each other in combat to settle 
  disputes, which sometimes turns into full-fledged 
  warfare between competing nobles. Regardless of the 
  outcome, usually inconclusive, hundreds of serfs and 
  soldiers die during these petty disputes—rarely, if 
  ever, does any noble suffer real harm or backlash from 
  the conflict. 
   While the other realms have evolved in their 
  governance, the feudal system in the Grand Duchy 
  has remained stubbornly intractable. Serf revolts 
  have occurred in the past, typically under weak or 
  ineffectual lords, but none have been able to last for 
  more than a few months at a time. Once the revolt 
  was put down, its leaders were usually subjected to 
  extremely cruel torture and execution, to serve as an 
  example to any future rebels.  
   Agitators, particularly those from Tear and the 
  Holy Kingdom, have become more common in recent 
  years. They publicly rail against the ineptitude and 
  lackluster rule of the Grand Duke, particularly in light 
  of the looming threat of the orc uprising in Caecras. 
  Most are quickly rounded up and sent to work in the 
  mines for the rest of their lives, or chased out of the 
  country—but sometimes their ideas, infectious and 
  insidious, take root in the minds of the long-suffering, 
  simpleminded serfs.
  Grand Duke George Vanderbrun IV
  The fourth of his name, the Grand Duke has ruled 
  for as long as most people can remember. A small, 
  slight man, easily startled, with a receding hairline 
  and a clubfoot, Vanderbrun does not inspire much 
  confidence. Raised in wealth and comfort, he has never 
  had any great ambition or aspirations, nor is he even 
  particularly bright. From an early age, he shunted 
  off most of his responsibilities to his court advisors, 
  spending most of his days fishing in Sapphire Lake, 
  playing with the toys created in the workshops of the 
  town, or cavorting with his various mistresses.
   As part of a tradition for the past two hundred 
  years, the Grand Duke married a family member, 
  in this case his own aunt Matilda Vanderbrun. 
  Matilda is a cruel woman who delights in pitting the 
  various nobles at court against one another, just for 
  sheer sport. She also loathes her nephew-husband, 
  haranguing him at every opportunity. 
   Despite this, the couple has managed to produce 
  nine children. With only a few exceptions among 
  them, their offspring are simpleminded, deformed, 
  or outright insane. While indifferent at best to his 
  children, in truth, the Grand Duke is absolutely 
  terrified of his wife and their twin sons, one of which 
  he must soon name his heir apparent.  
   Vanderbrun has rarely left the confines of his 
  castle and only ventured to view the rest of his land 
  once—vowing, out of fear, never to do so again. In 
  other lands, the ineptitude of such a sovereign would 
  be cause for revolution, although the iron grip that 
  the lesser lords have on their people have kept that in 
  check for years—so far.
  The Lords Albrecht  
  and Aldon Vanderbrun
  The Grand Duke’s twin sons, Albrecht and Aldon, 
  are marked as the next heirs for the throne. They are 
  both hulking, brutish specimens in their thirties, with 
  little in the way of social skills. They spend their days 
  torturing small animals, terrorizing the servants, or 
  making knights fight (and intentionally lose) to them.
   One day, the Grand Duke must decide which one 
  7
  
  will become the true heir. The fear of how his wife 
  and the son not appointed will react, however, has 
  kept him from making any decision.
  The Red Duke
  Called so for his flaming red hair and armor, Victor 
  Tildus is known throughout the Grand Duchy as 
  “The Red Duke.” As lord of the Duchy of Tildus, he 
  commands power, money, and influence second only to 
  the Grand Duke himself. The Red Duke is quite unlike 
  most Westers—confident, educated, and ambitious. He 
  sees himself as the Grand Duchy’s only protector against 
  the threat of Tear and the orc uprising in Caecras. 
   Outwardly a devotee to the New God, he is actively 
  seeking an alliance with the Holy Kingdom against 
  Tear.  Despite the good relations between those two 
  nations, the Red Duke is playing upon the Matriarch’s 
  not-so-secret desire to annex Tear should its current 
  ruler Horus die. Tildus wants to eliminate the threat 
  that Tear represents to his lands, as well as prepare 
  for the war he believes will be waged by the orcs 
  spreading outward from Caecras.
   Unbeknownst to anyone else, however, the Red 
  Duke suffers from hallucinations, hearing the 
  cackling voice of an elderly, grandmotherly spirit who 
  gives him bits of information that would otherwise 
  not be possible for him to know. So far, Tildus has 
  kept this a secret, though the voices are growing 
  louder and more persistent as the clouds of war begin 
  to gather on the horizon.
  Fealty and Servitude
  Old, hierarchal, and autocratic, the Grand Duchy of 
  the West has survived for hundreds of years with little 
  change or progress. The feudal system established 
  centuries before remains obdurate as lords and 
  barons greedily cling to their domains, expanding 
  and contracting through marriage, or through the 
  occasional territorial grab from a neighboring fief.
   Every Wester knows their place—lords rule 
  over their people and serfs toil on their land. 
  Even seemingly “independent” individuals, such 
  as merchants and clergy, owe their servitude to 
  someone above them, be they guilds or bishops. 
  Upward mobility is an almost unthinkable concept 
  anywhere in the Grand Duchy, and most Westers 
  unquestioningly accept their status, with entire 
  generations living and dying without ever leaving the 
  confines of their farms and hamlets.
  Economy
  Although the Grand Duchy sits on rough and rugged 
  terrain, it is a fertile land that produces a tremendous 
  variety of foodstuffs that help feed the rest of the 
  continent. Farming dominates the economy, followed 
  closely by animal husbandry and mining.
   Due to the feudal government, however, this wealth 
  of produce rarely translates into prosperity for the serfs 
  and farmers of the land. Depending on the barony or 
  duchy, anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of food, livestock, 
  and ore produced goes directly to the lord of that land. In 
  turn, serfs can keep the remainder and sell it. 
   This proves a delicate balancing act for the serfs, 
  since they are selling off the very food and goods 
  they usually need to survive. Some few are smart 
  or lucky enough to make something resembling a 
  profit, while most barely eke out enough to keep 
  their family moderately fed. Outsiders who visit the 
  Grand Duchy are constantly amazed to see so-called 
  “prosperous” serfs that would be considered terribly 
  poor in other kingdoms.
  Vanderbrun Agricultural Consortium
  Established generations before, the Vanderbrun 
  Agricultural Consortium serves as brokers to sell 
  produce from The Grand Duchy to outside realms. 
  As food flows upward from serf, to local lord, to the 
  duchy’s duke, and finally to the Grand Duke himself, 
  the Consortium monitors transactions for “quality 
  assessment,” and to ensure that taxes are paid on each 
  deal. In the end, the portion left over after feeding 
  the realm’s troops and royalty is carted away for sale 
  in distant lands, and the money returned (minus 
  substantial and numerous fees, of course) to the 
  Grand Duchy’s coffers.
   The Consortium is universally hated outside the 
  halls of Castle Vanderbrun, and it escapes no one’s 
  notice that the Grand Duke profits at every step of 
  the way. Fat and self-important, members of the 
  Consortium use long-established rules of graft, bribes, 
  and corruption to line their own pockets, always 
  skimming a bit off the top here and there.
  Law and Order
  As a feudal government, each duchy is responsible for 
  maintaining its own peace and laws. Lords establish 
  their own unique rules, often stacked on top of older, 
  obsolete decrees that can make navigating laws a 
  tricky task. Ultimately, a lord’s word is law, regardless 
  of precedent.
   For most matters, each lord relies on a sheriff to 
  enforce the law. Sheriffs run the gamut from capable 
  and dedicated to sycophantic and corrupt, heavily 
  skewed toward the latter. In addition to their own 
  cadre of deputies, sheriffs rely on their lord’s coterie of 
  knights to help enforce the law, collect taxes, and hunt 
  down serfs who attempt to flee instead of pay.
   Most law enforcement officials, especially the 
  sheriffs, are notoriously arrogant and swaggering, 
  using their rank and power to cow, intimidate, and 
  8
  
  steal (which they call “impounding”) at will. Lax lords 
  turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of their enforcers, as 
  long as tribute flows upward.
   To further complicate matters, each local sheriff in 
  turn “belongs” to the realm itself and is accountable to 
  the Grand Duchy’s highest law enforcement official, 
  the High Sheriff. Idealistic sheriffs that attempt to buck 
  the system often find themselves “encouraged” by their 
  lords to step down and find another line of work, or 
  end up floating face down in the village’s mill-pond.
   Justice in the Grand Duchy is imbalanced and 
  haphazard at best. An offender might find himself at 
  the mercy of an angry mob while the authorities look 
  the other way. Nobles, however, have the luxury of the 
  Ducal Court to air their grievances, and the power of 
  coin to get themselves out of most legal troubles.
  Defense and Warcraft
  The Grand Duchy has survived war for centuries due 
  to its large army. Every lord has a duty to maintain 
  its own force of knights, soldiers, and peasant levies, 
  both for its own defense and in defense of the realm. 
  The Duchy hasn’t expanded much since its creation 
  and has a notoriously narrow-minded point of view 
  in regard to how war is waged. Most lords build 
  their forces knowing they will more likely fight their 
  neighbors in small skirmishes or raids rather than 
  against some large, outside force.
   That attitude has changed some in recent years with 
  the stability achieved in the Borderlands of Tear, and 
  the threat many believe Tear poses to the Duchy. The 
  Duchy of Tildus, which would bear the brunt of the 
  attacks from that province, has the most robust and 
  trained army of the realm. The Grand Duke, ignorant in 
  the ways of war, is content to let the Red Duke deal with 
  Tear, ignoring Tildus’s warnings and repeated requests 
  for more men and resources. The Red Duke grimly 
  prepares for war while the Grand Duke plays with his 
  clockwork toys in the safety of his castle on Sapphire 
  Lake.
   The armies of the Grand Duchy are disorganized 
  and unsophisticated, but boast large numbers that 
  often win the day.
  Religion
  Religion is deep and pervasive in the Grand Duchy of 
  the West. When the original settlers arrived centuries 
  ago, they worshipped their old gods in a simple but 
  fervent manner. However, before their arrival, the 
  land had been occupied by an older human culture, 
  leaving behind some vestiges of temples and sacred 
  sites devoted to even older and darker gods from long 
  before. Over time, the faith of the Old Gods in the 
  Grand Duchy morphed (some would say devolved) 
  into a more base and crude form of worship, 
  introducing some of these “newfound” older gods and 
  beliefs. Priests turned more into witchdoctors and 
  soothsayers than guides and spiritual leaders for their 
  flocks. Superstition, hexes, and curses became the 
  form of worship for the masses.
   For hundreds of years, this crude form of worship 
  dominated the realm. This began to change with 
  the arrival of the Cult of the New God from the east. 
  Seemingly overnight, the faith of the New God spread 
  like wildfire throughout the Grand Duchy, as the 
  Cult’s evangelists changed hearts and minds. Newly 
  converted priests probed deep into the secluded hills 
  and marshes, hoping to bring enlightenment to the 
  backward villages and hamlets. Some were successful, 
  while others were burned at the stake or worse.
   In time, the Cult of the New God prevailed as the 
  dominant religion. However, the old gods and their 
  ways were not forgotten, but were either driven 
  underground or twisted to blend with the newer 
  beliefs. To this day, a commoner might attend a 
  service of the New God during the day and sacrifice to 
  the old gods at night. Knowing this, members of the 
  Inquisition constantly travel to isolated communities 
  to root out heresy, often finding blasphemous 
  ceremonies and black rites intertwined with the 
  teachings of the New God.
  Adventures in the Grand Duchy
  Although ancient and relatively stable, the Grand 
  Duchy of the West is still a brooding and dangerous 
  place. The rough land is full of hidden groves, thick 
  swamps, secluded mountain valleys, and rolling hills 
  that keep many travellers away, and thus is ripe for 
  hiding secrets and sheltering monsters. It is a land 
  where religion and belief hold sway in a fervent, 
  zealous manner—a dichotomy of the superstition of 
  the old ways blended with, yet fighting against, the 
  evangelical zealotry of the New Religion.
   Adventures in the Grand Duchy should be 
  characterized by creeping and corrosive horror, 
  paranoia and terror, and dark secrets and horrible 
  truths best left unrevealed. Isolated hamlets, often 
  comprised of families inbred over several generations, 
  are scattered throughout the countryside. The Grand 
  Duchy’s base and coarse people find little joy outside 
  of crude humor and bawdy songs, favoring cruel 
  and sadistic entertainment such as dogfighting, 
  bearbaiting, or stoning criminals. Most families, 
  whether highborn or low, seem to have a dark past, 
  a history of corruption, or the stain of something 
  unspeakable. Westers are xenophobic, suspicious, and 
  willfully ignorant of the world outside their fiefdom.
   The lands adjacent to the Shield Mountains are 
  commonly attacked by hordes of beastmen, trolls, and 
  other sinister creatures. The swamps of the south are 
  full of similar dangers, in addition to those primitive 
  Westers who have retreated deep into the vast lakes 
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  of dead trees and rotting muck. By comparison, the 
  duchies of the north are more civilized, but travels 
  through those lands can be fraught with their own 
  dangers, due to the suspicion and xenophobia of the 
  people who live there, and the ever-present threat of 
  invasion from the Borderlands of Tear. 
   You can use the following ideas to spark your own 
  adventures:
  • Two rival lords began a campaign of war over a 
  newly discovered iron deposit. Both sides seek 
  out mercenaries and adventurers to bolster their 
  inexperienced forces.
  • Strange lights and eerie, booming noises are seen 
  and heard over the deep swamplands of the south. 
  Hordes of poisonous creatures, both natural and 
  monstrous, emerge and terrorize the countryside.
  • Seemingly healthy livestock in and around the 
  town of Vanderbrun begin giving birth to horribly 
  disfigured young, coinciding with rumors of a 
  huge, black figure spotted swimming along the 
  shores of Sapphire Lake.
  • Numerous non-humans entering into the Duchy 
  of the Sparrowlands disappear. Their mutilated 
  and flayed remains are found inside crude wicker 
  baskets hanging from trees along main roads.
  • A large vanguard of troops and scouts from Tear 
  manage to penetrate deep into the Duchy of Tildus. 
  Rumors persist that the leader of this expedition 
  was killed not once, but three times, and seemingly 
  returns each time after three days.
  • Ignorant serfs lynch a visiting scholar and magician 
  from the east. Upon burning his books, a terrible 
  demon is unleashed that is ravaging the land.
  • There are rumors of orc war-bands from Caecras 
  probing into the Duchies of Tildus and the 
  Sparrowlands, possibly scouting parties to 
  determine what resistance a larger orc army 
  following them might face.
  Wester Characters
  Players who create characters hailing from the 
  Grand Duchy of the West can choose from any of the 
  ancestries described in the main rulebook as well 
  as halflings from Demon Lord’s Companion. Other 
  ancestries are extremely rare, virtually unheard of in 
  the backwards and xenophobic hills and marshes of 
  the West.
   Wester characters can swap out one profession 
  for any of the following: Artisan (any one), Farmer, 
  Laborer, Miner, or Woodcutter. All people in the 
  Grand Duchy speak a heavily accented, commonly 
  ridiculed dialect of the Common Tongue. In fact, 
  there is a version of this accent so thick, with enough 
  age-old, impenetrable idioms to qualify as its own 
  language: Westerspeak. A character from the Grand 
  Duchy can choose to use Westerspeak in place of the 
  Common Tongue, or as an option if they know more 
  than one language (this qualifies as a secret language).
   Lastly, Wester characters can use the following table 
  in place of the background table from their ancestry.
  Wester Background
  d20
  Background
  1
  You spent your youth in the swamps and marshes, 
  far from civilization. Add fisher or hermit to your 
  list of professions.
  2
  You are the legitimate heir to a small, prosperous 
  barony. You start the game with the wealthy 
  lifestyle.
  3
  You and your family received a slightly larger plot 
  of land on decent ground. You start the game 
  with the comfortable lifestyle.
  4
  You received an education. You can read and 
  write the Common Tongue.
  5
  You were caught up in a skirmish with raiders 
  from Tear and have been marked for death by 
  them.
  6
  Your family was killed and hamlet destroyed by a 
  capricious lord. You vow revenge on the arrogant 
  lord and the knights involved.
  7
  You come from a terribly inbred family line, 
  known for debauched practices. Start the game 
  with 1 Corruption.
  8
  You are the bastard son or daughter of a local 
  lord.
  9
  You were captured by debased swamp or hillfolk, 
  but managed to escape after 1d3 years (add the 
  years to your starting age). Gain Westerspeak as 
  an additional language and start the game with 
  1d3 Insanity.
  10
  You earned a living working in your profession. 
  Nothing significant happened to you.
  11
  You were mauled by a horrible creature (your 
  choice) and bear terrible scars on your face and 
  body.
  12
  You come from a family of fanatics of the New 
  Faith. Add evangelist to your list of professions.
  13
  You witnessed a debauched rite between 
  swampfolk and beastmen, and have been haunted 
  by nightmares ever since. Gain 1d3 insanity.
  14
  You saw a traveling magician in your youth, giving 
  you motivation to travel and explore.
  15
  You were falsely accused of insulting your local 
  lord and had to flee in order to save your tongue 
  from being cut out.
  16
  You belong to a family notorious as poachers and 
  livestock thieves.
  17
  You are a spy or saboteur sent by the Borderlands 
  of Tear. You funnel information about the Grand 
  Duchy to your masters in the north and work to 
  sabotage efforts to expand its reach. Add spy or 
  saboteur to your list of professions.
  18
  Your father or mother served as a knight to a 
  powerful lord. You start the game with a suit of 
  medium armor or a military melee weapon.
  19
  You found a curious and ancient bit of treasure 
  deep in the swamp. Start with a random 
  enchanted object.
  20
  You belong to a family that performed carnal rites 
  with dark fiends long ago. Start the game with 2 
  Corruption.
  10
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Shadow of the Demon Lord/Lands in Shadow/SotDL - Lands in Shadow - Grand Duchy.pdf