The Kingdom of Marquart is a stalwart, iron-blooded realm born from the collapse of the once-dominant Kharsetian Empire. Like their brothers in Fortes, the ancestors of Marquart’s people arrived not as conquerors but as mercenary settlers—veteran companies, free lances, and war-scarred wanderers hired to secure the empire’s lawless northern marches. Promised silver, land, and titles, they fought tirelessly in a dozen imperial wars, defending borders the empire itself no longer had the strength to hold.
When the empire imploded under the weight of endless campaigns and empty coffers, these frontier lancers found themselves unpaid, abandoned, and surrounded by enemies. Rather than perish as expendable swords, the captains of Marquart raised their own standard and claimed sovereignty over the lands they had bled to tame. United by necessity in a moment of shared betrayal, the mercenary clans crowned their most respected commander and declared the birth of the House of Marquart, named for their fortified stronghold overlooking the river-cliff crossroads where the rebellion first gathered.
Marquart is a realm defined by harsh stone, strict honor, and ancestral loyalty. Its people—descended from a blend of northern raiders, border knights, steppe horsemen, and imperial defectors—value discipline above all. Every town trains its own militia, and every noble family traces its lineage back to a founding warband. Marquartian culture prizes fortitude, stoicism, and oaths so binding that breaking one is considered a spiritual stain.
Geographically, Marquart controls a region of rugged highlands, river-cut canyons, windswept plateaus, and iron-rich hills. Castle-fortresses rise from cliffs and ridgelines like teeth, forming one of the most formidable defensive networks on the frontier. Old imperial highways still cut through the landscape, now maintained and patrolled by Marquart’s knights and levy riders.
Relations with neighboring powers are defined by a blend of memory and iron pragmatism. Fortes Kingdom, born from the same crucible, stands as Marquart’s closest ally—bound by shared ancestry, shared rebellion, and shared scars. Yet rivalry simmers beneath the surface, for both kingdoms vie for influence over border trade routes and the loyalty of frontier clans. To the west, the remnants of the Kharsetian Empire glare with wounded pride, resenting the success of those who broke free. To the east lie the native confederations—human, orcish, and mixed—whose alliances with Marquart shift with the tides of war and diplomacy.
Marquart’s strength lies not merely in its stones or spears, but in its people: a kingdom of oath-bound warriors, granite-willed nobles, and common folk who have endured centuries of war and upheaval. They look out across the frontier with clear eyes and steady hearts, knowing their kingdom was forged in loyalty, sharpened by hardship, and maintained by unbreakable resolve.