Doorniik

The Duchy of Doorniik (Dumian: Ducatus Doornikiae, Degol: Hertogdom Doorniik) from 2232 a.a.H. existed as a successor of an ancient and prestigious patrimony and a large division of the lands of the King's Lake De Rey. The duchy was to the south of the King's Lake of De Rey, south to the original personal domain of the King of Degoland, in the eastern bank of the Osorio River, but its dukes came to own considerable possession of numerous Degolandic and Sargonic fiefs further south and west. In its own right, it was the second largest ducal territories in Degoland that existed at the time of the Second War of the Power.

History

Origins

Degoland's reorganization after the First War of the Power: supporting loyalists and familiars of the king, as well some of the "resisters", against the ones who bent a knee to the demonic occupation. The Duchy was promoted as such by King Diego II of Degoland in 2232, awarding it to the House of Doorniik under the banner of Duke Roderick the First, serving as a cadet branch inheritance via Degolandic law to the then ruling dynasty.

Expansion

The Duchy began to expand after the First War of the Power targeting the nearby Elven City-state of Kar'enden'iel formed by surviving elves and colonists in the wake of the war, as well as the still significant tribes of green orcs north of the refounded Degoland city. These minor wars of expansion would take several generations with the Elven 'Kingdom' being the first to fall under then Duke Oswald II, known as The Butcher, though the pacification of the orcish tribes in the hills and forests north of the city and east of Lake Del Rey would consume several generations due to the nature of the terrain.

Don Camilo II and the Sargonic Wars

During the reign of Don Camilo II The Magnificent, king of the personal union Sargos-Degoland, the city prospered, until the Sargonic wars. While the Duchy remained largely untouched by the war itself, having been able to field alarge ducal army to defeat a Kanov army of montañeses, it was caught in the general decline of the economy of Sargos and Degoland in the aftermath. To address this the Duke of Doornik would increase taxes and exactions on the serfs and lower merchant class in the following two decades leading to several large serf rebellions.

Succession Crisis

While strictly speaking a part of the Campaign of Sargos launched by the Dark Legion the situation within the Duchy of Doorniik more closely resembled that of a civil war within House du Doorniik which pitted the aging Duke Rodham and his second born son against his first born son's half-breed offspring Merrick. The result would be the known either as the Traitors Peace, Merrick's Rule or the Wizard's Interregnum (depending on sources) and would radically transform the Duchy in its wake despite the short reign of Merrick III du Doorniik as many of his reforms and changes were adopted by his more long reigning successor Anselm II The Alchemist.

These events arose from the banishing of Roderick du Doorniik by his father for unspecified reasons, though a Church Inquisition was held no guilt was publicly given to then heir, which resulted in the fleeing of the heir presumptive into orc held territory whereupon he got a chieftains daughter with a half-breed child. Most sources accept that the head du Doorniik family launched an expedition of knights several years after this. While the village was destroyed, and Roderick du Doorniik slain, his heir Merrick managed to survive and would spend many years building up a large mercenary Company called the Bloodsnakes.

With the return of the Demon Lords and the fall of Roccasone, Merrick du Dooniik, by then called The Bloodsnake and Ogresbane for past deeds, decided to lead his assembled army south against the Duchy in pursuit of his claim. An initial battle with a retreating army of the Order of Saint Creöle would occur just on the northern border of the Duchy resulting in the destruction of the Nersan Chapter of that Order while the Ducal Army marched from the city to meet him. Both sides would meet at the ruined Elven city of Kardenal in the Battle of Kardel Woods where the Duke and his son would be slain in battle by the mercenary army before the Ducal Army itself would be flanked and destroyed with his death and that of the heavy cavalry.

With this defeat and the scope of demonic invasion becoming increasingly evident the remaining forces of the Duchy began to acknowledge the half-orc Merrick as their formal liege and with a week of the battle the city of Doorniik itself formally surrendered by Adelis du Doorniik to her cousin. With the city fallen and those attempting to flee or resist slain or enslaved by the victorious Orc forces in the following days the remaining hold-fasts an villages rapidly began to surrender as word spread.

Geography

The City of Doorniik was built as a small Keep and river crossing on the Osorio River but rapidly grew into a large town due to prime agricultural land on the rivers floodplain. To the north was Lake Del Ray and a large hilly forest region inhabited at various stages by orc, goblin and bandit clans depending on the historical period.

Major Communities

• Doorniik (Fortified Stone Keep and City)
• Delgem (Castle and Village)
• Garnetts Wood (Village)
• Elsgate (Castle with Village)
• Karendal (Ruined Elven City) (rebuilt by Merrick III) (elven and half-orc town)
• Northwarden (Ringfort and Village) (founded by Lord Groening under Merrick III) (half-oc town)
• Haznen Ferry (Ferry Station and Village)

Demography

Humans

• Weseuros
• Kanovs (A small number)

Non-humans

• Grey elfs (Predominated the non humans)
• Green Orcs (A small number of 'civilized' orcs treated very much as third class people, though raising to second class after the rein of Anselm II The Alchemist)
• Half-Orcs (A tiny population existed prior to the Sargos Campaign but in its wake this population grew into a significant minority population within the city and around Karendal & Northwarden)