Porta Inferni resides between the rock and the hard place that defines all that is Sanctaphandri. At its center, the capital Hound’s Tooth juts out like a rotten incisor. The jagged citadels stained by the whimsy and insanity of its peculiar count decorates the countryside like an oil-soaked piece of glass. It is a place of blackened iron and jagged rock. Along with the Tower of Tullula, it vies for prominence and stature as the second most important fortress in all Sanctaphandri.
Once the capital of the Kingdom Morgenstern, Porta Inferni was founded by dearly departed queen Andari. Shortly after the birth of her first son, she was disposed by her son’s hammer, he was twelve, and the land fell under the dominion of Count Twitchy Logan Morgenstern. At one point the realm engulfed all of Hardside and the Anchor until The Grand Duke Polite entered the lands determined to bring peace and civility to all. County Twitchy was far from happy at being forced from his familial lands and a great war ensued! Led by Count Twitchy, the countryside was beset with fire and destruction, and the power of the family Morgenstern was felt across the land. Alas, this was not meant to last forever. A peace treaty was decided over a cup of tea and a firm handshake. There was something about the sweet words and platitudes of Grand Duke Polite that eased the madness of the Count and peace was declared.
Once under the thrall of The Grand Duke, County Twitchy settled down in the center of Sanctaphandri and named his city Hound’s Tooth, which in the tongue of his people means surviving between the rock and the hard place. For a short while, the town was beset with revolution and chaos. A wicked civilization blossomed in Porta Inferni, stretching from the shores of Entropy Lake all the way down to Dark Heart Hallow, from the Silver Pass River to the edge of the of Tea Cup Pass that defines the Lands of Grand Duke Polite. As the conflict raged on, County twitch’s mind filled with dreadful visions, his mother would come to him in fit filled dreams that filled him with guilt and madness. In order to atone for his past aggressions, she tasked him with reuniting his people under one banner.
Due to war and conflict, Porta Inferni was no longer fertile and the population of Hound’s Tooth was gripped by fear for their Count. They labored under lash and threat of death building great citadels and excavated great underground caverns to create a city under the city. They created grand roads to link the far corners of the land to the capital. Their blood and flesh fertilized the land and brought the fallow lands back to life.
You see, Logan was no mere barbarian tyrant but a true tactical genius in his own right and as his mind filled with the idea of atonement, he began to devise a strategy to help his people grow strong and vicious. All outlined in his infamous treaties Andara: Only the Fit Shall Survive, written in ink distilled from his own blood, scribed in a tome bound with flayed human skin from his mother’s corpse. He set forth to make sure his decade long plan would harden his people and heap great suffering upon them in order for them to appreciate the great bounty yet to come.
After the Andara became the law of the land, the sons of Hound have fought and died on the grassy plains of the far north. The endless streams of warfare have only made the people of this land hardier then those of the weaker south. After years of constant conflict with the northern raiders, The Great King of Ashland united the lands and brought Count Logan Morgenstern to heel.
On the winter of 2031 BAL, Logan Morgenstern knelt before the King of Ashland and promised fealty to the King but reminded the King of one grand truth. You look at us and see nothing but Barbarians. You should be glad that we are, without us, your enemies would be dining on your flesh and reducing your kingdom to rubble. We are a force of nature. Take care on how you treat us because a boon can quickly become the bane of your existence.
