Wissenland, Talabecland, Stirland
Stirland
Overview & Geography
Stirland is a south-central province, bordering Averland to the south-west, Reikland to the west, Talabecland to the north, and Sylvania to the east. After the Vampire Wars, Stirland incorporated Sylvania legally though much of the southern demesne remains haunted and dangerous. Terrain includes river valleys (Stir River, others), hills, forested zones toward the east, marshes in places, rural farmland mixed with wildwood. Many old castles, ruined keeps, haunted sites dot the landscape, especially near Sylvania.
The climate is mixed: fertile areas closer to Reikland and Averland are productive; eastern parts suffer from proximity to haunted border, dense fogs, undead curses, low morale; winters are rough eastward and in uplands.
People, Culture & Economy
Stirlanders are descended from the Asoborn tribe. They are conservative, somber, superstitious. They prize tradition, honor, and continuity. Many families are old, lineages well known. Folk customs are strong; religious ceremonies, ancestral rites, burial customs are taken seriously. Because of repeated undead threats from Sylvania, death and ghost stories are part of everyday life.
Economically, Stirland is modest. Agriculture is workable in safer parts; cattle, grain, some vineyards. Trade roads pass through and bring goods, but less wealth than Reikland or Wissenland. Towns are fewer, infrastructure less developed. Many people eking a living, less urbanized. Crafts exist, especially woodwork, small-scale smithing, hunting. The southern zones (former Sylvania) have little development; many settlements ruined or abandoned; survivors paying homage to or defending against undead.
Politics & Government
Stirland is ruled by Grand Count Alberich Haupt-Anderssen. Government is feudal, relatively conservative. Local barons and nobility in countryside hold sway; church and clergy powerful, especially in the cults of the dead (Morr) and protective magic. Because of its border with the undead, Stirland has many fortifications, watchposts, patrols, and small garrisons. Town burgomasters manage some local affairs; nobles concerned with maintaining loyalty to the Empire, defending their lands, collecting taxes despite hardship.
Threats & Challenges
Undead / Vampires from Sylvania**: Raids, curses, undead infestations threaten southern Stirland.
Hauntings and supernatural threats: Ghosts, curses, haunted forests and ruins.
Poverty and depopulation: Some parts abandoned after wars; many people fled; famine risk.
Political isolation: Stirland is often squeezed between more powerful neighbours; demands of defense can outweigh returns, leading to strained finances, appeals to Reikland or Empire.
Trade disruptions: Roads may be unsafe; merchants may avoid parts; infrastructure damaged; fear keeps commerce low in haunted zones.
Talabecland
Overview & Geography
Talabecland sits in the geographical centre of the Empire. Its capital is Talabheim, a large city-state built inside a titanic meteorite crater. The province spans wide east-west distances, touching many other provinces: Hochland, Ostland, Ostermark, Stirland, Reikland, Wissenland, Middenland. Dominant features include the Great Forest, the Rivers Stir and Talabec, and the Old Forest Road, which is a major north-south trade artery.
The Great Forest covers much of Talabecland; the Barren Hills lie in the east—lands haunted or partly corrupted by dark magic, with mutations and strange beasts. There are hills: the Kölsa Hills, Färlic Hills, central hills; valleys where cities and agriculture are concentrated. Crater city, river trade, forest trade routes, logging, wood-craft etc.
People, Culture & Economy
Talabeclanders are a mixed people. Because of their central position, many travelers, merchants, refugees, and outsiders pass through, making them more cosmopolitan than remote provinces. Still, many are woodsfolk, hunters, foresters, charcoal burners, woodcrafters, loggers, farming in cleared glades. Talabheim is a great magnet: trade, culture, religious institutions.
Their culture gives strong reverence to nature; Taal (god of nature) is especially honoured, second only to Sigmar for many. Woodsfolk culture, forest traditions, forest rights, logging regulations, protection of forest. Inns and coaching houses are common; trade posts, tollhouses, roadwardens are important. The inner forest becomes dangerous; many choose to stay near roads or towns.
Exports include timber, salted pork and fish, religious icons, woodcraft, minor forest produce; salt where possible; trade revenues from tolls; small-scale fishing in rivers. The port Talagaad provides river access trade.
Politics & Government
Talabecland is ruled by an Elector Count, Grand Duke Helmut Feuerbach. The government tends toward centralized control (especially around Talabheim), but as forested regions are remote, many small lords or local authorities hold de facto power. Councils of town burgesses, woodwardens, forest guardians, religious order houses also contribute.
Talabheim is unique: built in a crater, high-walled, practising strong self-defense. It also acts as cultural, administrative centre of the province. Roadwardens are important in enforcing and protecting roads through the Great Forest and Barren Hills. Tollkeep forts, guard posts, small local militias. Nobility here sometimes more concerned with trade, regulation of forest use, maintaining order on the roads than frontier defense.
Threats & Challenges
Forest dangers: Beastmen, Greenskins, bandits, wild creatures in Great Forest. Mutated beasts or magic taint in Barren Hills.
Corruption / Chaos residue: In lands close to Barren Hills, ruins, old sites, strange magical phenomena (moon-spells, mutated wildlife).
Raids & banditry: Roads are vulnerable; trade caravans attacked along the Old Forest Road. Tollhouses sometimes overrun.
Infrastructure decay: Roads through forest and hills are difficult; maintaining bridges, keeping watch posts, clearing fallen trees etc is costly.
Political uncertainty: The Elector Count’s absence (if gone to war) can cause local lords to act independently; remote areas rely on local leadership; friction between forest dwellers and more settled folk; forest rights disputes.
Wissenland
Overview & Geography
Wissenland (or Whisenland) lies in the southwest of the Empire, forming a roughly triangular region bounded by the Grey Mountains to the west, Black Mountains to the south, and the River Reik to the north. Originally its territory was located between the River Sol and the mountains; after the destruction of Solland, Wissenland absorbed that land (Sudenland etc.). The province contains the city of Wissenburg (capital), but its most important city is Nuln—industrial heart of the Empire. Rivers, streams from the mountains, borders with Dwarf-held mountain passes, trade routes through the passes are key geography.
Western parts are mountainous, rugged, mining heavy; eastern and central parts more cultivable, well watered. Winters harsh in the mountains; flood risk in river valleys during snowmelt or rains.
People, Culture & Economy
Wissenlanders are hardworking, earnest, plain-spoken, dour perhaps, sometimes taciturn. Many are miners, smiths, artisans, and factory workers (especially near Nuln). The city of Nuln is famous for its foundries, workshops, black powder works, the Gunnery School, cannons, rifles. Small towns and farms around Wissenburg supply food, wool, textiles, and raw materials. Sheep and cattle in foothills, vineyards or grain in more temperate zones. Because of proximity to Dwarf holds, mining rights and trade are both an opportunity and source of tension.
Culture includes respect for engineering, craftsmanship, discipline. There’s pride in being the industrial backbone of the Empire. Religious devotion is strong; many chapels and shrines in cities. Folk memory mourns Solland, whose lands were lost and then partially absorbed; symbols of Solland sometimes appear in local banners (as remembrance).
Politics & Government
Wissenland is ruled by Grand Countess Emmanuelle von Liebwitz. While she is Elector Countess, much of the day-to-day power (especially industrial regulation, guild authority) lies with city authorities (Nuln’s guilds and engineers), noble landholders, and mining lords. The county council of nobles, priests, and burghers convenes in Wissenburg as needed. Because Nuln is so large and important, many decisions centralize there; sometimes the rest of the province feels neglected.
The province maintains state troops, especially artillery, engineers, demoralized but well disciplined infantry, and support units. Because warfare in southern borderlands and industrial regions often require resources, Wissenland is critical in supplying arms, artillery, and workshop support.
Threats & Challenges
Invasions through mountain passes: Greenskin wars, Skaven incursions, or marauders using passes for raids. Winters block passes; supply lines fragile.
Industrial danger: Black powder accidents, smog, collapse of mines, overexploitation of resources, tensions with Dwarf claims over mines.
Flooding & natural disasters: Rivers swollen by snowmelt; risk to riverside towns. Landslides or avalanches in mountainous zones.
Political tension: Between city (Nuln) and rural areas, between guilds and nobility, between province and Imperial demands. High nobility may resent the influence wielded by industrial wealthy burgesses.
Trade competition: With Reikland, Talabecland, and Marienburg; import/export dependency for certain luxury goods.