Locations[]
The Madras Duchy consists of three provinces: Delamock, Yungechandler, and Sidgler Provinces.
Delamock Province is well known for its vast farm fields supplying almost all of the duchy's food. The main administrative city is Kobo City, from which the food production and storage of the province is managed.
Yungechandler Province is located south of Delamock Province. The biggest trading city of the duchy, Vanades City, is located in this province. The famous Lichtana Citadel, constructed at one end of the Liden Mountain Range, guards the border with the Andinaq Kingdom.
Sidgler Province is located west of Yungechandler Province. This is the main fief of Duke Madras. Sidgler Province can only be accessed through the pass guarded by Xith Castle in Yungechandler Province. The capital of the duchy, Edelise, is in this province.
Military[]
The Madras Duchy had one Blademaster and seven Gold ranked knights. Naturally, the Blademaster served the duke by his side while four of the Gold ranked knights held posts within the Seamountain Legion. The Ironguard Legion was instead managed by three Gold ranked knights.
Trade[]
Blackpearl Merchant Guild[]
The Blackpearl Merchant Guild was the largest merchant guild in the duchy. It was said they were one of the duchy's largest backers. They monopolized the salt and fish trade. The salt merchant committee's suppression in the duchy was their doing. Their method of salt production through boiling seawater was horribly inefficient. It resulted in ridiculous prices. Despite their prices, there was still a market for their salt throughout the duchy.
Their salt farm and fishery are located at Platinum Beach's southernmost end. They also fished near the coasts and sold their catch to the four central duchies. Seafood was also one of the few specialties of Sidgler.
History[]
When Lorist led his convoy through the duchy, he had them disguised as merchants and successfully conquered Xith Castle. He left it in the care of the second highness's troops. But right after the duke mobilized Seamountain Legion from Sidgler, the second highness left after a few days because it was only good for defending against outside threats rather than inside ones. While Xith Castle was hard to take from the outside of the valley, the opposite was true from the inside. The reason was that the duke was afraid he would be trapped in the valley if anybody managed to conquer the castle and hold there.
The duke renovated the castle heavily over the past few years and made a simple citadel into a triple-walled contraption. The company he had originally stationed in the castle was also increased to a full regiment. Even if one managed to conquer the first wall, the troops defending the castle would still be able to put up resistance from the second and third walls. It was precisely because of Duke Madras's confidence in his castle that he allowed his most elite unit, Seamountain Legion, to head to the frontlines to give the Northland bumpkins a long due lesson and chase them back across the river.
The second highness's strategy started with him encouraging the four houses to devastate Delamock. But he never thought they would attack Sidgler and only wanted the duke to coop up in his lair. He felt conquering Xith Castle was nothing but a pipe dream. The dangerous terrain aside, the narrow pathway into Sidgler prevented any army from displaying their true potential. Small waves of a hundred-people going against the castle was nothing but suicide.
As the saying went, “to defeat an army, go for the commander.” Lorist had never planned to rely on defeating the duchy's army before making his move to swallow it up. The plan to wait till spring before crushing the duke's army was only something Lorist used to mislead the second highness. What the four houses wanted was for the duchy to be in a state untouched by war when they took over.
While the second highness's plan for the four houses to wipe the nobles in the province out to stifle their ability to resist was a sound plan, it would effectively render the territory useless even if they conquered the entire place. The four houses would have to invest lots of funds to redevelop the land. This was the true reason they refused to follow the second highness's suggestion.
When the duchy's most elite force, Seamountain Legion, arrived at the camp opposite the Northlander army, Lorist knew Duke Madras' lair, Sidgler, was no longer defended. It had already raised the odds of his plan to take Sidgler during the 12th month to 80 percent. If they were able to encircle Edelise without anyone noticing and capture the duke himself without letting word spread, he could use the duke's personal seal to enter Xith Castle, Vanades, and Kobo unimpeded without the defenders knowing any better. The duchy would effectively be no more after those three places were taken.
It was a shame the duke never predicted the enemy would come from the sea during the winter. Apart from the thousand guards that defended the central castle at Edelise, there were no more than two thousand men defending the inner and outer cities. Most of them were conscripts brought on board specifically to serve for the winter.
Nobody performed their duties fully; the cold was just too much. As they saw it, no enemy could get past Xith Castle. Had it not been for the banquet the duke hosted, which saw many nobles of the duchy going through the castle and tipping the soldiers on duty, none would bother to show up for their shifts.
After the Firmrock troops completed their landings, the floating bridges would be retracted and left near the reef so House Kenmays could use them as a port as per the agreement between Lorist and the count.
During the 1st month of Year 1777, House Norton and their Firmrock Legion attacked Sidgler via Platinum Beach. They conquered Edelise and managed to apprehend Duke Madras and tens of other duchy nobles. Firmrock Legion's commander, Gold-ranked Knight Potterfang, used Duke Madras's seal to gain entry to Xith Castle and Vanades for a surprise attack and managed to occupy both. On the 23rd day of the 1st month, Kobo also fell. From that day onward, the Madras duchy was no more.
On the 17th day of the 2nd month, the citizens of Edelise revolted. Near a hundred thousand citizens protested on the streets against the surprise attack and demanded House Norton leave and Duke Madras return. Only ten thousand of the legion's soldiers were present. Gold-ranked Knight Malek gave the order to kill to suppress the revolt, which resulted in the deaths of more than 30 thousand of Edelise's citizens and the capture of 40 thousand more. Malek, who gave the order without the slightest change in expression, was known henceforth as Ironface.