Traveling Through the Kingdoms - Brumund Kingdom

By Faerlyn the Merchant

Brumunt Kingdom’s History dates back from the declining of the old Empire.

Many say that, indeed, the Kingdom began to exist once the Reckless Empress finally got killed after the Order of Martyrdom was unleashed. 

However, this would be only in official terms and politics.

The area of the current Brumund Kingdom was already inhabited by the Goldscale Dinasty long before the falling of the Last Fortress, and the rule of the first King of Brumund - Thurin Goldscale - had been effective in a vital part of what would one day be the kingdom for at least two decades before the fall of the Destiny Gates.

The Goldscale Dinasty, by its time, has come from the Old Continent at the time of the First Invasion, and settled in the current Black Dragon Scale Mine area as simple retainers of their lord at the time - Lord Emilian Black Dragon Knight.

The first years of the dynasty in the continent were rough, and the Hundred Years War took its toll on them.

Some say the current state of the Black Dragon Scale Mines, were human bones can be found at every corner and every hit of a pickaxe, is due mostly to the strenuous effort of the Goldscale clan to keep producing the Coal and mining the precious Miasma Rock for Lord Black Dragon Knight.

Of course, as the Hundred Years war ended, came the advent of the falling of the Last Fortress and the Conception of the Rightful Emperor, when the Reckless Empress unleashed the Order of Martyrdom on all Slave Owners.

At this time, the Black Dragon Knight clan perished amongst the Slave Waves, but the Goldscale clan, which kept its slaves inside the mines most of the time, was able to overcome the Waves by detonating the supporting pillars and burying them inside.

Having no more slaves which they owned, the Goldscale clan then survived, becoming entitled as Surviving Royalty, and welcome the Second Invasion, giving aid to the settling troops.

As the Hundred Years of Ruling unshed, the Goldscale clan then extended its land owning to include a connection to the Sea, in the kingdom’s, at the time first, and today now second, Capital - Ullt - and an inland expansion following the Bearded Mountain Jaw which gave the kingdom it’s peculiar shape, finally ending with the building of the kingdom’s current First Capital - Irta - at the junction of the Small Stream and Great Slither rivers.

For a while Burmund Kingdom also expanded beyond the Giant’s Jaw and encompassed a part of what today would be the Monster Wildlands between Burmund Kingdom and the Dragon Tamer Kingdom.

However, the advent of the City of Miracles in Rose Kingdom brought forth the need to reallocate troops for the Extermination Army and the region was taken back by the many dungeons which hadn’t been completely conquered at the time.

That said, what the traveler may most need to know about Brumund Kingdom is the state of its roads.

Being a mountainous region, Brumund Kingdom have very hilly roads and paths, which may hinder the traveler, increasing the traveling time by one day for each two or three traveled.

It also has only one truly useful road, which connects the two capitals - Ullt and Irta.

If you intend to bring any cargo that may spoil, then bring only the minimum amount needed.

Crossing to other countries by means of the Giant’s Jaw is unwise, and most of the side roads just aren’t appropriate for a four-wheels to go by and a two-wheels doesn’t pay off the cost of hiring the many needed guards and hunters.

Also, differently from more plain countries, food and provisions should be gathered by the roadside. It’s advisable to hire a hunter or two and avoid eating any herb you don’t know for sure. There are many which look alike edible herbs from the countries around, but have been turned poisonous by the mountains. 

On the good side, however, Brumund Kingdom usually has a very low population of monsters, which are kept in check by its Government-Sponsored Adventurer’s Office.

You may find Giant Spiders, Mad Hounds and/or Treants here and there, but a traveler used to the roads will find those to be small treats compared to the usual population of Giant Crickets from Rose Kingdom or the terrible Ant-Headed ‘noids from the Sun Country.

The horned rabbits which sometimes can be found by an attentive traveler make delicious stews and present almost no danger when faced with a spear - even though it is dangerous to face them with short weapons like daggers or bare fists.

In terms of monsters, the worst a merchant will find in this kingdom are, of course, the always-present mountain bandits and their cursed offspring.

Humanoids are some of the worse monsters in existence, excluding the like of dragons, hydras and such, or course, and it’s said each of them have equivalent strength to an Elite Knight.

If you’re planning to travel through the kingdom, again, keep by the main road connecting the two capitals.

Those kind of monsters are sometimes found even there, but the risk increases once one abandons the main road and go inside the many maze-like small roads made by farmers, adventurers and the such.

If you’re traveling in the main road, then two or three mercenaries and one or two hunters should be enough for protecting you and your goods, as long as it’s a single carriage. For more than one, add the double of mercenaries from above for each carriage.

But if you intend to go into the countryside, then just add an extra hunter, keep yourself on two-wheelers, never go with more than one carriage and hope not to be killed because of it.

As a man who lost not only his cargo but also his dignity and a chunk of his flesh, I cannot warn enough those who let themselves be blinded by greed.

Because I do not advise my fellow travelers to go into Burmund’s Kingdom countryside, no matter how much you think you will profit from a little extra risk, I will refrain from specifying the small villages in the way and talk only about the bigger settlements in the Main Road.

Talking about traveling, there’s snow on Burmund Kingdom during the winter, and the place becomes very cold. So you must avoid going there in winter or you will be stuck there for months. 

The Second Capital - Ullt

If you’re coming from the sea route, then this will probably be your first glimpse of a real city in weeks.

If you’re coming from the land route, then I believe this will be where you will give up on the merchant life and become a beggar instead. That or you’re an abnormal.

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Ullt is a stone-walled city with some few dozens of thousands of people in it.

It has a river and many wells, but I would advise making soup and avoid drinking any of it, since the river carries all of the mountain mud and many of the wells don’t have stone guards and the people and animal’s shit is constantly dropping inside.

Even rock soup should be good enough, but the water shouldn’t be drink as it is. 

The wells by the seashore should be avoided at all costs, since they smell the foulest.

Ullt has cheap salt, which the people from inland will buy for great prices.

If you have come with spices, then avoid selling them here. They will make you more the deeper inland you go, as long as it isn’t in Irta.

Be careful with the coin, though.

There’s plenty of people here who smuggle cheap stuff in the copper, so make sure to calibrate your scale and check for the Lord’s Signet. The folk may pretend to take offense when you scale the money after checking if it has the Lord’s Signet, but they will forgive you if you pretend to quit buying.

Coin without the local Lord’s Signet should be brought by the scale’s value, but coin with the Signet and a lighter weight should be dealt with carefully, as the punishment for using the Lord’s Signet without permission is death by impalement.

If you’re coming back from Irta, then make sure to sell your furs here before boarding the ship.

Uphill City - Dorank

The first city you will find when going uphill from the sea is called Dorank and will probably surprise you since it doesn’t have any walls.

In all of my years of travelling, I have never seen a city without walls.

However, Dorank is two-thirds of the way to Irta and isn’t properly a city.

Maybe that has changed by the time you read these words of mine, but Dorank is mostly a settlement for people who are trying desperately to get a place in the Royal Army.

Brumund Kingdom has that weird tradition where the strongest champion of the Royal Arena is allowed peerage and accepted as a Knight in the Kingdom’s rank.

Almost all of the second and third-sons, and many of the daughters, go there to try and get the peerage they won’t normally have for being only second or third sons.

And the place those young lords have chosen to take residence in is no other than this place, which became, over the years, the city called Dorank.

If you have any good weapons and gear with you, Dorank is the place to sell them.

Everyone here is looking for good gear and they have the money to pay for it.

On the way to this place you may have passed through two or three villages with dojos in them, but do not be fooled - selling techniques or magic to these folk isn’t worth it.

Sell this kind of things in Dorank instead. There is absolutely no other place to sell it except here.

You will make a life-worth of fortune out of two or three scrolls - if they aren’t taken from you as tribute to the King in the gate’s inspection.

If you can afford for a wandering blacksmith to come with you all the way, leave him here.

Dungeon Cities and Small Villages - All over the Place

Brumund has a lot of Dungeon Cities, maybe because it’s a mountainous place.

You may find people talking about them in almost any tavern you go to.

But be not fooled.

The King of Brumund concedes every Dungeon Master ownership over not only it’s dungeon but also the land around it.

Business there is harsh.

You do better by buying stuff out of the local travelers who come to sell them at the Main Road’s little villages and settlements.

The Brumund countryside is no place for those who value their money.

The same thing for myths of Miasma Coal. You will find a lot of people talking about having gathered Miasma Coal from the around the Black Dragon Scale Mine, maybe from a secret underground tunnel, but it’s all hogwash.

It’s surely made into graveyard-type dungeons, so don’t follow anyone to that place unless you want to become one more pile of bones littering the place.

On the good side, you should always sell your spices in these little villages.

Prices here go as high as you can imagine, and I myself managed to trade a bag of sugar for a huge piece of miasma coal once. 

Also, you should buy the local herbs and medicines.

The one called Bigfoot sells very well on Irta, so if you’re going there, be sure to buy as much as you can.

First Capital - Irta

Irta is a big city for a mountainous place, but still smaller than Ullr. Probably because of the climate.

Arriving here may coming from Ullr may take around two years or so, so at this point you should have no spices left and a lot of roots and herbs.

But don’t be afraid of having made a bad deal. 

Since the King allows the landlords to pay a part of their grain tax in spices and metal is as common as dungeons around this parts, you probably made quite the deal.

Indeed, once I painted all of my sugar bags with green ink, and could see that, indeed, they were being sold at Irta for a smaller price in coin than what I had sold them to the landlords.

If someday the roads of Brumund allow for one to trade grain directly, that lucky fellow would surely make fortune.

In Irta you want to buy furs and sell your herbs. There used to be a magic shop there which would by some magic ingredients if you had it, but it closed its doors when I was still living in the city, so I guess you won’t find anyone to buy those.

All of the rest is pretty expensive, so you should stay in Irta for just enough time to sell your things and then leave.

Maybe even don’t go there, unless the furs attract you. Plenty of merchants have stayed at Dorank and made a good amount of coin out of simply selling weapons there.

This finishes my advices about traveling in Brumund Kingdom. May you do good business.

p.s: The hex eats in ullr and dorank, but nests in irta.

***

I’m sorry everyone, but the Intermission chapter will be delayed.

Today I will only be able to post Extra Chapter 51 and 52.

I will do my best to post the Intermission Chapter tomorrow.

Sorry again.