Europe at the Time of the Blood Countess

Empire of the One Faith

The Empire of the One Faith is the major power of Central Europe, the home of the Emperor and of the Alchemist, the source of the High Language. The Empire of the One Faith protects the Old Way but tolerates the New Way.

Empire of the Crescent Moon

The Empire of the Crescent Moon has been on the rise for centuries, like an irresistible tide that has crept up via the Balkan Peninsula towards Central Europe. It is the home of the Sultan and the military wing of the Way of the Crescent Moon. Its supply of infantrymen and cavalrymen seems endless.

Commonwealth of the Two Nations

The Commonwealth of the Two Nations is the home of the brave Sarmatians, a freedom-loving people who elect their nobles and their king. The commonwealth is famous for its religious tolerance, with half of the country devoted to the Old Way, and half to Heathenry, with pockets of New Wayers along the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Scedeland

Scedeland, the great New Wayer kingdom of the North, has been marred by the dynastic rivalry between its western and eastern branches. The latter seems to have got the upper hand and to have been envisioning military expeditions to the south.

Albion

Once aloof, ‘Perfidious Albion’ is now rumoured to be sending agents provocateurs all over Europe to fan the flames of the conflict between Old and New Wayers (Albion supporting the latter).

Eastern Lands

After the devastations wrought by the Times of Trouble, the Great Boyar, the new ruler of the Eastern Lands, seems intent on reconquering the provinces lost to the Commonwealth of the Two Nations, or to expand southwards at the expense of the Empire of the Crescent Moon. Whatever his actual aim, one thing is sure: his unnatural armies are soon going to be on the move.

Gaul

This once-proud nation is locked in an ongoing conflict between New and Old Wayers, with most noble families having members in both factions.

Iberia

This old kingdom is officially a fanatical defender of the Old Way, but rumour has it that its monarchs and its nobility are actually dragons disguised as human beings. Since the rumour has been mainly spread by their Gaulish neighbours—who also happen to be their arch-enemies—it is difficult to gauge whether it is true.

13th Age in Csachticz − Detailed Icons, No.5: The Erlking

The Erlking is the king of the Faeries. Although humans have been encroaching his lands for centuries, and although True Faith has cancelled any trace of Heathenry, the magic of the Erlking is still powerful, and it will remain so as long as the stars shine and men dream.

USUAL LOCATION

The Erlking lives in an ancient and immutable fortified palace in the heart of Elfland called the Dark Tower. Elfland is a magical land with a shifting boundary that co-exists with the least civilised places of Europe. In the Fair Kingdom, for instance, Elfland is said to be accessible via the densest thickets of Transylvania, when the Moon is high and the stars shimmer. This magical land however, is growing smaller and smaller as the monotheistic faiths progress. This phenomenon is called the Ebbing of Elfland.

COMMON KNOWLEDGE

The Erlking is one of the most ambiguous Icons of 13C. He rules over Fairies, who are not the nice miniature damsels from fairy tales: they kidnap babies, and they indulge in rape and murder, amongst themselves and whenever they meet mortals. But the Erlking is also the suzerain of the Green Knight (known as Hızır in the Empire of the Crescent Moon) whom he has sent on various missions to save mortals from great dangers. The Green Man and the Green Hunter are other well-known (and yet mysterious) vassals of the Erlking.

ADVENTURERS & THE ICON

The Erlking will occasionally hire adventurers when his agents are busy, or when he thinks the mission he has in mind is below his supernatural vassals.

ALLIES

Frau Perchta is a close ally of the Erlking.

ENEMIES

The Emperor, the Superintendent, and the Sultan, who epitomise the various facets of the monotheistic faith, and who are directly responsible for the Ebbing of Elfland, are the archenemies of the Erkling.

There has been a longstanding rivalry between the Alchemist and the Erlking, as the former champions rational, learnèd magic and the latter the use of spontaneous, natural dwimmercraft.

HISTORY

The Erlking has ruled Elfland for as long as mortals remember.

THE TRUE DANGER

All rational or pious mortals, whether subjects of the Emperor or of the Sultan, know that the Erlking is no friend of humankind and must be opposed. Yet who knows what darker forces of nature he is holding at bay with the help of his vassals—forces that may be an even greater danger to humanity than the Faeries.