Aquitaine lies south of the River Gilleau and the Forest of Châlons, its lands rolling with gentle hills and fertile fields. Nearly all of the duchy is arable, making it one of Bretonnia’s breadbaskets. Its coastline is the mildest in the realm: broad beaches, shallow coves, and low cliffs provide safe fishing waters but no great natural harbours. Thus its coastal settlements remain modest villages, home to fishermen — and smugglers who exploit the secluded inlets.
Inland, the lack of navigable rivers or defensible sites has prevented large towns from flourishing. Even the capital, Aquitaine, is modest, sustained more by the duke’s court than commerce. Settlements rise and fall with the whims of nobles: when a lord invests in trade, towns swell, but when interest wanes, hovels collapse and stone halls moulder. Abandoned ruins attract carrion-haunting spirits known as Dereliches, discouraging habitation and deterring raiders.
Aquitaine’s castles rely on craft and labour rather than terrain. Wealthy lords expand their halls into sprawling fortresses, but heirs often abandon portions to save on upkeep. Thus half-ruined castles dot the countryside, their shattered wings standing beside lived-in halls.
The Aquitainians are blessed with rich soil, yet cursed with fiery pride. Stubborn and quarrelsome, they resolve disputes swiftly and often violently. Feuds, skirmishes, and revolts flare regularly, and knights of Aquitaine are famed for ferocity born of constant strife.
Two great lords dominate Aquitaine, each commanding the loyalty of over a third of the nobility. Were they to clash, the realm would be devastated. For now, their rivalry smoulders in intrigue and duels, but war always threatens.
Despite the internal turbulence, Aquitainians are intelligent, tactically skilled, and among Bretonnia’s most formidable warriors. Many leave their homeland, either forced out by feuds or drawn by adventure. Some seek monsters to test themselves against — though Aquitaine itself has few — while others simply tire of constant quarrelling.
Duke Armand never expected to rule. As the younger brother of the late duke, he was a reckless Knight Errant, famed for daring and improbable luck. He refused land and wealth, instead earning renown at King Louen’s side, where he slew the Bestigor Darmal the Crooked in single combat.
Disappearing for years on a Grail Quest undertaken in disguise, Armand returned transformed, but silent about his journey. Appointed Standard Bearer of Bretonnia, he carried the realm’s colours with unmatched courage until King Louen himself named him Duke of Aquitaine.
As duke, Armand remains more knight than ruler. He prefers to resolve matters personally, leading charges and settling disputes with his sword. His hands-on rule inspires admiration, though seasoned courtiers whisper that his skill with steel may yet outshine his skill with governance.
The dukedom of Artois is swallowed almost whole by the Forest of Arden, a vast and sinister wood teeming with Beastmen and darker horrors. Only a narrow strip of farmland in the west sustains most of the population. Villages here resemble those of neighbouring Lyonesse or L’Anguille, but those within the forest are starkly different: each huddles behind ditches and wooden palisades, with a noble’s stone keep looming as both fortress and gate.
The forest is treacherous. Beastmen raids occur yearly, with Brayherds mustering in the shadows. Worse, rumours persist of Chaos corruption festering within, with entire villages mutating or vanishing. Many believe a powerful Chaos presence lurks at the forest’s heart.
Western Artois lives much like other dukedoms, trading freely and mingling with travellers. In contrast, deep-forest peasants are insular and suspicious. Outsiders who leave the woods are often thought mad — or undead.
Adventurers from Artois come from both west and east: the former seek fortune, the latter flee necessity. The forest breeds resilience, and even peasants grow accustomed to defending themselves from monstrosities.
Western Artois is effectively ruled by Earl Larret, a cultured and ambitious noble rumoured to have travelled incognito as a minstrel in his youth. He keeps order and loyalty in his lands, and may one day petition for independence from the duke.
In the east, power is fragmented. Villages look to their own lords or, more often, to Baron Chlodegar, a Grail Knight who requested his fief in Arden itself. He has fortified villages with Grail Chapels that double as refuges, each with bells to summon aid. His peasants march yearly to L’Anguille, ensuring rare contact with the outside world.
Duke Chilfroy is a massive, grim warrior. Rarely seen smiling, he is most alive when crushing foes beneath his blade. Though lacking subtlety, he is a fearsome leader in battle. His hall is draped with pelts and skulls of slain Beastmen, trophies of his endless hunts.
As judge, he is harsh and arbitrary, declaring the higher-ranked party in the right and punishing the loser brutally. Few willingly bring cases before him, which suits his temperament. He is less duke than predator — the bane of Arden’s Beastmen, and a terror even to his own vassals.
Bastonne is a land of contrasts: fertile westlands, pastoral east, and the looming Massif Orcal mountains shared with Quenelles. To the north lies the terrifying Black Chasm, a rift hundreds of yards wide, bottomless in places, and filled with deadly fogs that freeze flesh. Horrors known as Chasm Spawn emerge from its depths, though the rift also blocks Orc warbands from crossing freely.
The Forest of Châlons covers Bastonne’s west, an untamed expanse stalked by Undead, Beastmen, and stranger creatures. Few villages endure there long.
Bastonnians see themselves as the soul of Bretonnia, embodying courage, honour, and devotion to the Lady. They boast an unusually high number of Grail Knights and little corruption among their nobles. Yet their governance is woefully poor: stewards are venal, justiciars corrupt, and justice inconsistent. Ordinary folk endure frequent injustice, not from malice, but from incompetence.
Adventurers from Bastonne often leave to prove Bretonnian superiority abroad — sometimes nobly, sometimes arrogantly.
Duke Bohemond, the Beastslayer, is a Grail Knight descended from Gilles le Breton. He hunts monsters across Bretonnia and beyond, answering the Empire’s call during the Storm of Chaos. Loyal to King Louen, he has no interest in the crown, delegating governance (poorly) to a succession of stewards. His prowess, however, commands respect throughout the realm.
Bordeleaux is a coastal duchy of fertile farmland and dramatic cliffs. Its coastline is safer than that of L’Anguille, and dotted with harbours and cliff-carved fishing villages. The city of Bordeleaux itself hosts Bretonnia’s greatest port, rivalled only by L’Anguille.
The southeast is cloaked in the Forest of Châlons, where Beastmen raid with regularity. To the north lies cursed Mousillon, separated by the River Grismerie but still a source of constant undead incursions.
Bordeleaux is infamous for wine. Nobles and peasants alike live in near-constant intoxication, though the same culture produces hardy sailors and mariners devoted to Manann. Inland nobles remain devoted to the Lady, but coastal lords often place the sea god first, creating a cultural divide.
Adventurers often leave either to escape the endless drinking or to flee dangers along the Mousillon frontier.
Duke Alberic is a disciplined, courageous leader who demands the same of his knights. Prevented from undertaking his Grail Quest by his father’s early death, he dreams still of pursuing it, perhaps once his lands are secure. His small but elite household is famed for discipline unmatched in Bretonnia.
Most of L’Anguille is rich farmland, with the southern Forest of Arden providing timber — and Beastmen. Its short coast is perilous, plagued by treacherous currents and sea monsters. Only the city of L’Anguille thrives there, a bustling port and one of Bretonnia’s greatest cities.
L’Anguille is divided between city folk and country folk. City dwellers are bold sailors and traders, valuing courage and chance, while rural peasants are cautious farmers who distrust their coastal kin. This rivalry shapes politics, with merchant guilds and rural lords often at odds.
Once a sailor, Duke Taubert has avoided the sea for fifteen years, instead waging endless war against the Beastmen of Arden. From his expanded Grasgar Castle, he builds signal towers and leads heroic reliefs. Country folk revere him, but city merchants see him as aloof — a perception that suits their ambitions for greater autonomy.
Brionne is the safest and most beautiful of Bretonnia’s dukedoms, shielded by neighbours on all sides. Its fertile westlands and orchards thrive, while its capital, the port city of Brionne, is celebrated as “a gem set in silver.” Castles here are built for beauty rather than war, adorned with white stone and broad windows.
Brionne’s curse is plague. Mysterious illnesses sweep the land yearly, striking high and low alike. Physicians blame everything from spirits to cults of Nurgle, yet cures remain elusive.
Brionne is a land of poets, troubadours, and dreamers. Poetry and courtly love are held equal to martial skill. Knights attempt to live the romances they recite, with predictable results: duels, scandals, feuds, and exiles. Many Brionnians leave not in search of glory but to escape the consequences of ill-fated love affairs.
Politics revolve less around land and coin than affairs of the heart, making Brionne the most chaotic yet strangely prosperous of Bretonnia’s duchies.