Lycaon is the capital county in the Coast of Aritaur Duchy. The county lies on the cold rocky coast of the Alpine Forest. The Ducal seat and city of Obsidian is a walled Barony that serves as the headquarters for the Duchy’s powerful Navy.
Lycaon’s namesake comes from the Brudvir influence within the County. Hundreds of years before the War of Many Banners, the Aritaurian Hrothi populations along the coast were frequently targeted by Brudvir coastal raiders from the North. These Brudvir raiders idolized the Black wolf and their clan become known as the Lycaons. The wolf represented sacred traits to them of ferocity in battle, team battle tactics, and pack before self in all things. The Lycaons learned early in their development the art of building boats for coastal travel utilizing resources from the forest. The Lycaons particularly learned to navigate at night exceptionally well. They raided along the alpine forest coastline for hundreds of years. This reputation and somewhat mysticism earned the Lycaons the nickname “Seawolves.” The Lycaons eventually created small villages and migrated northern populations South in search of better farmland and mineral resources. Many other counties through the Coast of Aritaur, from Drake’s landing in the south to Eastmarch in the north, experienced a similar Brudvir influx.
The Aritaurian Hrothi populations viewed the northern Brudvir as invading savages, especially in the neighbor Duchy of the Conclave of Aritaur. For hundreds of years there was civil unrest along the coast between the civilized Hrothi and the occupying savage Lycaons until the War of Many Banners broke out. The war posed an existential threat on the population of the Kingdom’s lands. The Duchess of Aritaur brokered an alliance between the Lycaons and the Conclave of Aritaur to defend the Kingdom of Vornair.
During the war, years of hatred and distrust were replaced by respect, admiration, and loyalty as all Aritaur faced the common enemy. The military prowess and seamanship of the Lycaons earned them a revered status within the Conclave, thus removing the “wolf savages” animosity towards them. Brudvir taught the Hrothi combat tactics, hunting, shipbuilding, and naval skills, while the Hrothi taught the Brudvir mining, smithing, farming, and overall civics. The Lycaons not only learned the civilization structure of the Kingdom, they also learned the value of trade during the war. Trade would mostly replace raiding as the Lycaon way of importing goods. The Lycaons began a significant trade exchange with the interior of the Duchy for iron, food and hardwoods. The unification of these two tribes away from home on the battlefield laid the foundation for the modern day Lycaon county.
Today, Lycaon’s tumultuous history between Brudvir and Hrothi can only be read about in History books. However, the keen observer would notice the militaristic naval port city of Obsidian as mostly Brudvir influenced, the inland merchant trading town of Winderberg and inland agricultural city of Lunar Lake as mostly Hrothi influenced. The Lycaon people are a rugged folk with many years spent in the cold sea sprayed region of the Alpine Forest, which is their main unifying characteristic, because a quick glance throughout the County shows much more diversity. Sailors, soldiers, merchants, miners, woodsman, farmers, breeders, brothel owners and many other sorts all call Lycaon home.
Lycaon county is also home to the infamous Seawolf Naval Works. The Lycaons vowed they would never lose their warrior spirit and ferocity at sea. The Seawolves are difficult to understand for outsiders, they are part pirate and part privateer, akin to a Buccaneer. They first and foremost serve the Kingdom of Vornair and the Conclave military interests protecting the coastal waters. The citizens of Vornair extremely value the coastal guard provided by the Seawolves. However, foreign seafarer’s are met with the pirate spirit. Occasionally, a foreign settlement is raided by night with rumors of “wolves from the sea.” However, the Lycaons neither confirm or deny the raids, they simply do not speak of it. The Seawolves see night raiding from the sea as an ancestral right and nobody else's business. The Fleet Pack is led by the First Seawolf, but every ship captain is his own master accountable for the actions of his crew. This can make the Seawolf association and leadership confusing for outsiders that don’t understand the concept of pack over self in all things, including the ultimate sacrifice.
PACK OVER SELF in all things is the Lycaon way!