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Imperial Artisans ... The Painters, Crafters & Writers Guilds => The Imperial Office => Topic started by: Derek Contyre on June 25, 2011, 03:46:09 PM

Title: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on June 25, 2011, 03:46:09 PM
The Principality of Stattenland

The political map of Stattenland and its territories in Hochland.
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/StattenlandIII_v_politicalmap.jpg)
Red is the border of Stattenland, yellow is disputed territory and the light blue colour is annexed territory in the year 2523.

A more modern map of Stattenland
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/StattenlandIIIcloseup-1.jpg)

The Political Map of Wissenland 2527
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/Nuestaatcloseup-1.jpg)
Red is the Barony of Nuestaat with the town of Nuestaat in the North east corner.


Stattenland, a History.
(As penned by Professor Urial von Sontir, adviser to his highness Prince Seth Contyre and Count Derek Contyre.)

I will begin with a short history of the years leading up to the establishment of the Contyre dynasty in Stattenland. After that will be a chronological timeline of Stattenland and some interesting descriptive notes on the forming of the Principality and then a list of the Contyre’s who ruled Statten and eventually Stattenland.

Every story begins with a great event, although not many would call the Gorbad Ironclaw invasion very great.
But this is where the History of the Principality of Stattenland begins.

1707, Gorbad Ironclaw’s invasion of the Empire smashes through the southern provinces, Solland is destroyed and Nuln flattened, leaving thousands of refugees to flee in the wake of the invasion as it moves towards Altdorf. While many found solace in what was left of Nuln and the Reikland, one man and a group under his protection pushed further north.
This man’s name was Armand Contyre and he claimed to be a relative of the now deceased Elector Count of Solland, Eldred. He reinforced his claim with a magical, rune encrusted sword, said to be a powerful item made by the Dwarfs of Karak Hirn, and gifted to the Electors of Solland. Armand was a visionary, indeed, it must of been quite a man that led this group of people north for nearly five hundred miles.
The journey it was said was brutal, the refugee army was beset by tribes of fleeing Orcs and Goblins, Beastmen and ultimately, the journey itself.
Many lost hope along the way, and blamed Armand for their troubles. Armand, it was said, wept at his charges plight and took all the blame. This restored the people’s confidence in their chosen leader and they travelled north once more along the river Reik, then the Talabec.
Nuln was flattened and Altdorf had pushed them away, and so, at a small town on the north bank of the Talabec, the refugees made their rest.

This town, Statten, was small, only just over a thousand person’s or so, not rich enough to handle over five hundred extra people at once.
So the current ranking nobles came out as a delegation in place of the Baron, who was gravely ill to refuse the entry of these refugees and this Contyre.
Records from the time indicate that the two most senior nobles were men named Van Garret and Van Tasset, who went to refuse the entry of the refugees with three hundred Middenland attired state troops that were stationed at Statten.

The nobles expected a fight from this Armand, but instead he pleaded with them, first face to face, but then on his knees, his people around him doing the same.
The leader of the elected meeting party was Van Garret, and he was moved by the humbleness of the apparently southern cosmopolitan. He accepted, but his condition was that his people had to earn their own way in the community. Armand agreed to that proposition on the provision that they all become Stattener’s immediately and were to be treated as such.
Many in the party refused, as this would enable the Sollander’s to affect the governing of the town.
Van Garret and his side argued with Van Tasset and his side until Armand stepped in and broke the argument.
He famously decreed that; “No Contyre will ever choose to be in power.”
The nobles collectively laughed at him but Armand pressed the issue and swore on his sword. The Middenland soldiers were impressed with this act and they helped convince the nobles that they should accept this Contyre and his followers into the community.

The turn of 1708 marked the beginning of the Contyre legacy. Their previous title was that of Count and Armand kept that title, even though he had no land to go with it.

But the Sollander refugees he brought with him had already agreed that he was their count and called him such.

Armand Contyre was true to his word, he never claimed, but he wanted it. All noble born do.
With his people he divided them in half; one half would build villages and farms on the edges of Statten and Stattenwood (many in Statten knew of the beasts that haunt the forest, but they said nothing, hoping the Sollander’s would eventually be killed by their own stupidity).
While the others began construction on what can only be called ‘Lumber mills’.
Armand Contyre, in his previous life, was the exchequer of trade and commerce in Solland, his tale about being a relative of Eldred was true, the two were first cousins, which had enabled him to gain the position.

The position of exchequer gave Armand a useful insight to the needs of the Empire after Gorbad’s invasion, specifically, lumber and food.
Armand, in his cunning, decided that both would be needed to fund his rise to power.

The year of 1708 was hard for the people of Contyre.
Their monies and valuables had gone into buying grain and seeds to plant for harvest while the lumber and other wood they had first cut was used to complete the lumber mills and their farms and homes.
The only thing that kept them there and going was the Count.

He shared their suffering, their hunger, their anguish when someone was taken by the beasts of the forest, but he gave them something back.
Hope. Hope and drive.

For the next two years the people of Contyre suffered and scraped, their living was left over food from any they sold at Statten. Many a Townsman would sneer at the ‘southlanders’ but when Armand was near, or helping sell the produce his people made at market for the full price, the townspeople said nothing, they were, after all, Stattener’s as had been agreed.

It was nearly five years later, after Armand had planted the seeds of power and prosperity that something changed for the better.

The current baron of Statten, Otto Koenig, was dying and had only one child, his daughter Elsabeth Koenig, to succeed him. Lady Elsabeth was a sharp minded and shrewd individual, she knew much about running Statten and had been aware of the trade abilities that Statten had, being on the main river trade from Altdorf to Talabheim.

Unfortunately, the current will of her father stated that she could not rule unless she was married.
Lady Elsabeth hated the idea of a Van Garret or a Van Tasset in control of her beloved town, but there was no one else that she knew of who was eligible.

That is, until Armand Contyre happened to be in town the day of her reading of the will, stating that she needed to have a husband.

Lady Elsabeth saw him from afar, saw his sword; which, in Statten, is a mark of the nobility and knew that he could save her from domination under one of the Van Garret’s or Van Tasset’s.

Armand Contyre, after five years was finally where he needed to be to make his move. The farms of his people were now producing excellent food at peak efficiency, their last two harvests had produced huge amounts of wheat, barley, cabbages and vegetables, which dominated the markets of Statten and made the people of Contyre able to live comfortably in their villages.

While the lumber mills were working six days a week, their workers now expertly able to tell the difference between the species of wood and what it is best used for. Oak, elm, maple and other species of hard and soft woods had been harvested, clearing the land around Statten even further for farming and the raising of cattle and poultry in relative space.

Armand and his people became quite rich, with the supplies of food and lumber paving the way. All Armand needed was an opportunity, one that Elsabeth gave him.
Her proposal was that he would marry her and become Baron and Count of Statten, while she ruled in his place and their first born son or daughter would rule after them.
Armand agreed to this, on one provision, that he be allowed a permanent seat in the town council and that his lumber mills be turned into a company with him as the sole owner by law.

At first Elsabeth thought his price too steep, but when she heard his plan of selling the timber throughout the southern war affected Empire for cheaper than the other, larger timber companies in the northern Empire, she unanimously agreed.

However, before the marriage could begin, Armand first asked her to let the people accept him and his before he ruled over them.
Lady Elsabeth understood, ever since Armand had led his people to Statten, they had treated them like foreigners and the council had even tried to place unjust taxes on them. But those ever inventive taxes were always defeated by the original agreement by Armand Contyre and Van Garret in 1708.

1713 was a bountiful year, food was plentiful, the increase in trade was boosting the local economy and a marriage was set to take place.
But all that good fortune was almost ruined by a beastmen scourge from the northern forests.
In the dead of night they came, burning and killing. Statten lacked any defensive walls and so was easy prey for the beastmen.
The Middenland troops fought well into the night, but against this enemy they had little experience, coming as they did from further west, where goblin tribes were more common.

The morning revealed the devastation reaped by the raid, many in Statten had been affected by it and Otto Koenig had died during the night.
In the middle of the town square, Armand gathered the finest huntsmen from his people and, raising The Sword of Contyre high, declared; “Revenge shall be Statten’s, no beast of the forest shall ever return to plague my home again!”

The townspeople watched them for with heavy hearts, for he had cut a fine figure and he was a good man.

Three days later, on the day that lady Elsabeth Koenig was to choose a husband, Armand returned. Many had thought him dead, and so the Van Garrets and Van Tassets had pressured Lady Elsabeth into choosing one of them to be her new Baron.

The two men chosen waited patiently while Lady Elsabeth tried every tactic to stall the wedding when Armand and ten of his dozens returned.
They were all injured in some way, with many missing fingers and a few missing an eye or two. But each brought back the head of one of the leader beasts, while Armand carried a massive head with the Sword of Contyre lodged in its brain.

The townsfolk were joyous at his return and almost smothered him and his soldiers.
The wedding was cancelled for the day while Armand recounted his story.
(Excerpted from; ‘The revenge of Contyre’, author anon.)
“We spent two days following them, for they covered their tracks well, but we eventually found them at a hideous part of the forest.
“They had begun feasting on the captives and . . . (I removed this next part as the details were gruesome, I expect this is folklore passed down through the centuries, but it is still sickening) the moans and screams of pain and anguish led us straight to their camp.
“Under a massive statue their ‘celebrations’ took place, drinking and eating till we thought they would burst. But they continued. My men and I were horrified, but we watched, we waited for the perfect moment to strike.
“It came after they had all passed out, drunk and gorged on food and drink.
“We snuck into their camp, slitting throats as we went. We had just killed the leaders when a ruckus brought the entire herd awake, a patrol had returned and had bellowed in anger at first, thinking they had missed their chance at food.
“There were still many drunk beasts left that we had not killed and these awoke in a rage.
“My men and I slaughtered these first but their returning allies were harder to finish off.
“I lost good men and women to these monsters but our will and faith in Sigmar prevailed and we vanquished them all.
“We burnt the entire place to the ground, we left nothing alive.

“Our people are avenged”.

Folklore and records indicate that Armand was almost thrown into the lady Elsabeth with the demands of ‘the new baron! Huzzah!”

The wedding took place immediately following the story; even the Van Garrets and Van Tassets were silent for it.
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: fauthsie on June 26, 2011, 01:30:55 AM
very nice
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: Le Pistolet on June 26, 2011, 10:54:42 AM
Loving it  :::cheers:::

Keep going  :biggriin:
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: The Myrmidian on July 11, 2011, 07:07:28 AM
Excellent work, I like these semi-epic background pieces to a family that has made such an impact already on the characters and histories on this site.
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: Derek Contyre on July 13, 2011, 08:58:11 AM
Chronological Time frame

1707- Gorbad Ironclaw invades the southern Empire and destroys Solland. Refugees from Solland flee up river to Nuln, there a large group is joined and led by Armand Contyre I to Altdorf and eventually the town of Statten.

1708- The Statten agreement is formalised and Armand and the Sollanders settle into the communities around the town of Statten.

Summer of 1713- Armand Contyre is named Baron of Statten, the people of Contyre are finally accepted into the community and the house of Contyre is begun.

The year that followed saw unprecedented growth for Statten, the timber that the Contyre-Statten Lumber co. Produced was used to rebuild the town and to build wooden walls so that a tragedy like the raid would never happen again. Armand became very rich because of the amount of work.
But he funded his wealth back into Statten, buying land and estates from nearby Hochland and the Barony of Ahlenhof-Hohne so that future generations could live and prosper in Statten.

1758- Armand Contyre dies after being Baron for forty five years, his lumber mills and timber business pass to his eldest son, Armand II, who becomes baron.
The people of Statten band together and, with Armand II’s approval buy and erect a statue of Armand Contyre I, Count of Solland and baron of Statten.
The statue is based off of his speech before he exterminated the Beastman of the north forest, the sword of Contyre raised high.

1763- The fiftieth anniversary of Armand Contyre’s victory over the beastmen is celebrated with great success in Statten, the population his almost doubled since the Contyre dynasty was founded.

1798- Rumours of vampires spread from Sylvania, Baroness Matild Contyre funds an expedition to select a suitable quarry of stone so that Statten could build stone walls.

1799- A massive stone quarry is founded in the Hohoch hills north of Statten. Work begins immediately and a small town springs up nearby called Hohochhiem.

1813- The one hundredth anniversary of the “Culling of the Beast”.

1846- Baron Jacque Contyre founds the town of Neuremburg about 70 miles north of Statten at a junction of trade routes and several old roads through the forest. The stone walls of Statten are finished by Dwarf masons, who decide to settle in Hohochhiem.

1888- The Dwarf masons find precious metals and jewels in the Hohoch mines, but before the rumours spread, Baron Emill Contyre contracts them all to silence in return for a share of profits.

1889-the Statten Contyre mining co. is formalised and managed by Dwarfs, Emill Contyre contracts many Dwarf families to work for him for five hundred years.

1913- The two hundredth anniversary of the “Culling of the Beast” is celebrated alongside Baron Emill’s fifty fourth birthday. The towns of Statten, Neuremburg and Hohochhiem celebrate for three days and the three day period is marked as a holiday and pushed into law immediately by some pushy, drunk lawyers.

1947- Baron Emill Contyre turns eighty eight, but during the celebrations, accidentally drinks a spider. His grandson Lucius becomes baron.

1979- The empress Magritta is elected and the Imperial system breaks down.

1988- The vein of jewels dries up and the contracted dwarfs attempt to split from their employer; Lucius Contyre however, re contracts them again to dig stone and gold and erect walls around the now flourishing town of Neuremburg and to build roads and a water supply system suing the river Talabec to annually flood the farmland around Statten and the small village of Talebdorf.
The Dwarfs, ecstatic about so much work, agree wholeheartedly.

1989- Many Dwarf families and their relatives settle in Hohochhiem and are now the dominant number of beings in the town, the humans that live there begin adopting Dwarfish customs and mannerisms.
Lucius Contyre turns sixty five and relinquishes the rulership of the Barony of Statten, his eldest son; Othello Contyre becomes Baron of Statten, Neuremburg, Hohochhiem and Talebdorf.

1990- The barony of Ahlenhof-Hohne begin attempting to block the rise in influence of the Barony of Statten by placing secret trade embargoes with their merchants.

1991- Othello receives information from his contacts in Ahlenhof about these embargoes and also places trade blocks on Ahlenhof, but slowly and only on the materials they are commonly buying.

1992- The Baron of Ahlenhof-Hohne; Baron Edmond Detnas finally declares to his merchants and militiamen that any Statten transport is fair game for reaver’s and pirates. Othello begins hoarding of the thick oak needed for ships.

Late 1992- Caravans heading for Ahlenhof are ambushed and burned, while many merchant vessels headed to Statten are attacked. Some make it through, but many are burned. These attacks intensified over the summer months and eventually broke out into a fierce skirmishing war throughout the Stattenwood.

Spring 1993- The Ahlenhof-Statten war.
Baron Edmond Detnas, fed up with the trade and skirmish war with Statten, gathers his field army and begins his march for Statten.
Othello’s spies manage to get word to him through carrier pigeons and he prepares for a siege while a hastily gathered harassment force is ordered to slow the Ahlenhofer’s to a crawl.
Othello contracts several mercenary Dwarf crossbow and handgun regiments from Hohochhiem and beyond for a siege of Statten only. They march in and begin preparations for a siege.

Summer, early 1993- The battle of Stattenwood
The harassment force of Stattener’s does its job well, slowing Baron Edmond Detnas and his force down and destroying much of his artillery. But the harassers were being led into a trap by the Baron. His army and a regiment of hired Ungol horse archers from Kislev, who, waiting for the ambushers to strike, ambushed them.
The fast moving Ungol horsemen cut down many of the Stattener’s before the day was out and the harassment force was reduced to a pitiful size.
They retreated back to Statten to warn their Baron.

Midsummer 1993- The siege of Statten
The invading forces moved out of the woods and were confronted by a well prepared, walled town. Many of the nearby farms had been burned and the lumber cutting equipment from the mills in and around the Stattenwood had been removed in order to deny their use to the Ahlenhofer’s.
Baron Othello Contyre sent a delegation out under a white flag to parley, but Edmond refused him, declaring that; (excerpted from ‘the Battle of Statten, 1993’ by Othello Contyre)
“I will not parley till your town is reduced to ruins and Ahlenhof-Hohne is the greatest power in these Middenlands.” To which Othello replied;
“Statten and its lands and peoples are not Middenlands and so will fight against your Imperialistic reasoning.”

Baron Edmond refused to say any further and began the attack.
Ladders and pavaise were constructed for the first forays onto the walls, which the Dwarf mercenaries cut down with handgun, crossbow and axe.
Siege towers were then constructed and these spearheaded the assault.
The small amount of cannon that Statten had prepared destroyed several of these while the Dwarf warriors stalled the arracks of the others while Stattener marksmen, arches and crossbowmen targeted the men attempting to batter down the gate.
For almost a month the assault continued, the besiegers army wore down under stress, loss and eventually plague.
On the last day of summer Othello sent out another delegation, under a white flag and offered a cessation of hostilities and a place to come to terms.

Edmond Detnas’ army, his men exhausted, supplies low and autumn fast approaching agreed to parley and terms between the two armies.


1st day of autumn, 1993- The treaty of Ahlenhof-Statten
Othello Contyre, a council of nobles and other delegates from the numerous guilds and a scribe awaited Baron Edmond under a canopy exactly halfway between the town and the besieging force.
Baron Detnas met him with a mirror of Contyre’s delegation and the two began discussion. First to be agreed was a cessation of hostilities for a period of at least five years but not more than ten twenty years.
Territory ravaged and goods lost on both sides were declared null and void (many protests on both sides by the merchant guilds).
The area of land known as the Stattenwood was to be a neutral ground, where only merchant caravans may travel freely. Any other body of men greater than twenty will be declared as an act of war and the treaty will become voided.
The most important agreed item this treaty involved was both sides building a series of paved roads from Ahlenhof to Statten and from Ahlenhof to Neuremburg.
This road will be patrolled by a mixed force of equal numbers of Ahlenhofer’s and Stattener’s to promote peaceful interaction between the two baronies and their military forces.

Winter 1993- The treaty of Ahlenhof-Statten is complete and implemented; the resultant trade embargoes are lifted by both sides as an act of good faith and trade in the centre of the ‘Empire’ resumes.
Barons Edmond and Othello begin correspondence through letters and eventually grow into good friends.

2010- The wars of the vampire counts begins, the Ahlenhof-Statten treaty is renewed and the two baronies join forces to combat the undead spreading out from Sylvania, driving them first out of Ahlenhof-Hohne, then from Statten’s land.
The first documented term of ‘Stattenland’ is used after the true name of ‘Stattener’s land’ is shortened by the Ahlenhofer’s.
Othello takes the word and renames his lands into the County of Stattenland, using his ancestral title of count as his new title and declaring independence of the empire of Middenland.

2011- Othello Contyre, in a quest to stabilise his new province and protect it from the greedy eyes of the Ottilian and Middenland Empires, contracts the Statten-Contyre Mining co. to build a large fortress forty miles north of Statten.
The dwarfs begin designing drawings

2012- Othello’s son , Armand III, leads a determined band of huntsmen across the Empire of Middenland to the capital, Middenheim. There, they sneak into the great library and seize the tax records and the maps of Middenland, after which they set fire to the whole place and burn half of the city down.

2013- The Statten-Contyre Mining co. finish designs of the new fortress of Hamburg, complete with curtain wall and enough space for a human town to flourish within its city streets. The mining and lumber companies are merged to reduce paperwork and they begin stockpiling the materials needed to be used in the construction of Hamburg.
The whole province celebrates the three hundredth anniversary of the ‘Culling of the Beast.’
Armand III returns to Statten with the various documents, Othello is at first furious at his son for leaving, but after he takes stock of the situation, he realises what an incredible boon this is.

2014- The information recovered from Middenheim is altered and reprinted to show that Stattenland had existed as a separate state since before 1707, the tax records are all destroyed and the map of Middenland as well, after taking copious notes and copies.

2025- Othello Contyre establishes the ‘Charter of free Worship’ within Stattenland, enabling all religions to co-exist side by side in relative peace.
Immediately riots erupt in Statten about the Charter, but as it is enforced by both the Sigmarite and Ulrican churches of Statten it quickly subsides.
To demonstrate his faith Othello Contyre commissions a church of Sigmar to be built in Statten.

2026- Work begins on Hamburg just as the Dwarfs finish the walls of Neuremburg, the paved roads of Statten and the flood ways on the river Reik. Othello celebrates his fifty fifth birthday.

2029 Othello dies and Armand III becomes Count of Stattenland. The Barony of Ahlenhof-Hohne declines to renew the alliance and Armand begins stockpiling weapons in Statten and Neuremburg.

2032- Middenland begins its conquests and Ahlenhof-Hohne begins skirmishing with Stattenland soldiers in the no-man’s land in Stattenland.
The skirmishes are particularly fierce as the spring turns to summer, but no side gains any advantage and the two sides retreat to their respective territories.

2033- The Secret war begins.
Armand orders his skirmishers to engage and destroy the military holdings and soldiery of Ahlenhof-Hohne on their own territory. Using the information taken by Armand at Middenheim, these strikes are a complete success, the ability of Ahlenhof-Hohne to make war is smashed for at least a decade, but Armand makes no move, he hopes to prove a point.

2043- The second battle of Stattenwood.
Ahlenhof’s military reaches its previous strength and the baron unleashes another invasion of Stattenland. Armand responds by gathering his professional soldiers at the half completed Hamburg and meeting the invasion in the Stattenwood.
The battle raged for several days, skirmishes erupting into all out attacks along several miles of forest.
The Ahlenhofer’s with knights of the white wolf allies win the early clashes and almost push the army of Armand out of the Stattenwood.
But, in a final charge, Armand slew the captain of the knights in single combat, and in a particularly dense bit of woodland, Stattenlander swordsmen and halberdiers finish the knights off.
Without their heavy cavalry, the Ahlenhofer’s begin losing ground to the superior woodsmen of Stattenland. The final straw came when the baron of Ahlenhof is ambushed and force to withdraw by a smaller force of Stattenlander’s. The battles end was a draw, but one in Ahlenhof-Hohne’s favour.

2047- Armand and his son Alecto reform the army of Stattenland into the Provincial forces of Stattenland, a more professional force in which a standing army of professional state troops train four days of the week every year and the other four days at their business, be it farming, labouring, lumbering or any others.

The order of the Knights Tuetonicus build a chapter monastery at both Statten and Neuremburg with plans to build further at Hamburg.
Alecto joins the Tuetonic knights.

2048- The renewed provincial army of Stattenland, joined by the Tuetonic knights, smash through the skirmishers in the Stattenwood and prematurely catch the Ahlenhof-Hohne army before Ahlenhof on the open plain.
The two forces engage and the Tuetonic knights ride through the infantry of Ahlenhof and almost carry through the gate.
The Ahlenhof-Hohne army retreats and his harried by the victorious Tuetonic knights.
Armand offers a ceasefire with the baron of Ahlenhof but he declines, knowing his town is fortified for a siege.
The Stattenland forces withdraw to the border.

2049- The Third battle of Stattenwood.
The Ahlenhof-Hohne army renew their attack along the border of Stattenwood, but, knowing their eagerness the Stattenland skirmishers draw them into an unwanted battle with the provincial army, the regiments of pikemen from Ahlenhof cannot manoeuvre in the dense wood and the Stattenlander swordsmen begin cutting them apart.
The Ahlenhof soldiers begin retreating in order, only for the Tuetonic knights to ride into their centre from behind. Having outmanoeuvred them and caught them in a trap, the Ahlenhof army disintegrates and routes from the field.
One in four manages to escape the Stattenwood and Tuetonic knights.

2050- The secret war ends with the ‘Stattenwood Treaty’, dividing the woods between Ahlenhof-Hohne and Stattenland, and a ceasefire for at least 50 years.
Armand Contyre III dies at 53 and Alecto Contyre, now a Meister-Captain of the Tuetonic Order, becomes Count. The Tuetonic Order establish themselves in Hamburg and they build a temple to Sigmar and Myrmidia.

2056- After 30 years, Hamburg is complete and the Dwarfs return to manufacturing weapons, jewellery and armour in Hohochheim.
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: Derek Contyre on July 16, 2011, 02:01:35 PM
2097-Two sister towns are established in the Hohoch hills; Oberstadt and Niedrigstadt. These towns become the primary growers of goat, sheep, poultry and even some cattle. Alecto Contyre dies and is succeeded by his second son Aldebrand Contyre. His first son having died at birth.

2098 to 2155 ‘The Reign of Blood’
2098- Aldebrand Contyre begins what many would come to call the ‘Reign of Blood.’
Taxes rise astronomically and the people of Stattenland rise up several times against him but are brutally repressed each time.
2099 to 2110- Aldebrand launches periodic wars against his neighbours to the north and south, large territorial gains are taken from both Hochland and Ahlenhof-Hohne.
2111- Hochland and Ahlenhof-Hohne ally and besiege Aldebrand Contyre and his army at Hamburg. His soldiers plead with their lord for surrender, but Aldebrand refuses all.
2112- The siege of Hamburg takes place, thousands of soldiers die from both sides yet Aldebrand is victorious. Hochland and Ahlenhof-Hohne ravage Stattenland as their armies retreat.
2113- Secretly, all across Stattenland, the people who can celebrate the 400th anniversary of ‘The Culling of the Beast.’ Anyone who cannot wears a brightly coloured item of clothing.
Aldebrand, who doesn’t know what their hidden gaiety is stemming from, rages and raises taxes.
2155- In a concerted effort to end the tyrannical rule of his father, Lucius Contyre II, in collaboration with prominent men of Hochland, Ahlenhof-Hohne and Talabecland, kills his own father and takes control of the County of Stattenland, which at this time includes the City of Statten, the fortress town of Hamburg, the city of Neuremburg, the Barony of Hohochhiem and the towns of Talebdorf, Oberstadt and Niedrigstadt.

2156- Lucius agrees to Ahlenhof-Hohne and Hochland to relinquish all territorial gains made by his father, Aldebrand Contyre.
Lucius marries a young girl from Niedrigstadt; Agatha Dietry. An odd choice for the count many people thought, minor nobility, not much land or wealth, but Lucius married her anyway.

2158- Victor Contyre is born.
2159- Elena Contyre is born.
2169- Tobias Contyre is born.
2160- Alyssa Contyre is born.
2162 Armand IV is born.

2163- The royal Kislev Ballet perform in Statten to a record crowd. Lucius goes backstage to congratulate the director of the ballets that were performed and the sponsor of the Ballet.
Her name was Countess Katarina Lietchin of Kislev; the director and sponsor of the ballet. After several hours, the two are smitten with each other and consummate their love in the concert hall after everyone had left.

2164 to 2167- Lucius II travels to Kislev on the pretext of opening trade lanes to the northern kingdom. Agatha, in a blood sacrifice, turns to Slaanesh and founds the Tagaha cult of Slaanesh.

2167- In a variance of the blood sacrifice she used on herself, Agatha replicates it on all of her children.

2168- Lucius Contyre returns to Stattenland and begins training the provincial army and sending envoys to Hochland regarding imminent attack by Middenland.

2169- Middenland invades Hochland from the middle mountains , sweeping south and east towards Hergig. Lucius Contyre and the provincial army march to Hergig and take part in the siege.
The battle lasts for the summer and autumn months, and only concludes when the provincial army is pushed back from the Hochlander’s southern flank, allowing the Middenlander’s to flank the centre positions. Though Lucius led a spirited counter attack which eventually broke the Middenland right flank and saved the centre of the Hochland lines, by that time the battle was over.
The ‘Emperor’ of Middenland offered clemency to Lucius if he surrendered, which he did, and Stattenland became a subject state of Middenland.

2178- Lucius returns to Kislev and stays with Katarina one final time, though he promises her his eternal soul.
2179- Anastasia Contyre is born in Kislev, her mother Katarina, travels to Stattenland again with the royal ballet and goes to Lucius telling him of their daughter ‘Anya’. Lucius accepts her into the family with open arms.
Agatha learns of the affair and kidnaps Katarina and then sacrifices her to a Slaaneshi Daemon for power and strength. Agatha then lies to Lucius about her disappearance, saying she ran away back to her husband in Kislev. Lucius slides into a melancholy, his only joy is his ‘little Anya.’

2190- Anastasia grows into a beautiful young woman, the splitting image of her mother Katarina.

2195- In a gesture of defiance to Agatha, Anya joins the Pistolkorps of  Middenland.

2199- After 4 years, Anya returns  to Stattenland and Hamburg. She learns of the plot against her and of the turning of her sisters to Slaanesh. At her debutante ball, she is attacked by Agatha, but draws the sword of Contyre and ‘kills’ her.
The assembled ‘Elector counts’ from Middenland declare her a traitor and she flees, taking the sword of Contyre with her.

2200- A large famine strikes Stattenland, Agatha returns to life with the aid of her daughters.
2200 to 2208- Anastasia’s adventures begin, she travels across the lands of Sigmar, Kislev, Bretonnia, Estalia, Tilea and eventually the border princes. There, using a large coalition of mercenary lords and her own private army ‘the Mercenary company of the Lion’, Anastasia conquers the Kingdom of Onore and becomes queen.

2202 to 2208- Agatha slowly infects Hamburg and the provincial army and turns them to Slaanesh, Armand IV is in Middenheim studying when he contacts Anastasia and tells her of the corruption spread by her ‘mother’. However, this is a carefully planned trap by Agatha.

2209- Anastasia returns with a small group of her friends and allies and sneaks into Hamburg, defeating her brothers and sisters one at a time, forced to kill them because of their turning to Slaanesh. After the slaughter, only Agatha remains. Anastasia discovers her father dead in the throne room and is almost overwhelmed by rage, but beastmen prevent her from avenging her father there and then. But her friends fight them off and Joshua von Dusseldorf pulls her to safety.

The Battle of Hamburg

Anastasia Contyre, Joshua von Dusseldorf, Taras Vasiliev and Jacamo El Cid gather the provincial army and other allies and march on Hamburg. However, on the fields outside of the fortress, half the provincial army turns to Agatha and begin attacking the loyalist forces of Anastasia.
The two armies separate and battle lines are drawn.

The next day the lines of men again clash, Anastasia and her loyalist forces easily forcing back the traitors. But midway through the battle, Beastmen ambush the artillery at the back of the loyalist forces and carry on over into the flanks and rear of the main loyalist battlelines. Anastasia rallies her army on her position in the Hamburgian armoured guard and the army draws into a semi circle, however, Agatha calls forth daemons from the ether and the renewed traitors and daemons clash at the same time as the beastmen charge the rear of the provincial army. The circle buckles and almost breaks, but a timely counter attack by Anastasia and her greatswordsmen stall and push back the breakthroughs that occur.
The battlelines clash a third time and the lines of loyalists collapse under the pressure of being attacked on three sides.
But just as the battle seems lost, Taras Vasiliev returns to the field at the head of six hundred Tuetonic knights and crashes into the rear of the enemy lines. But this immense charge fails to break the enemy.
At the height of the battle Agatha reveals herself and attacks Anastasia, but Anastasia triumphs and kills her. Only for a greater daemon of Slaanesh to appear and attack her, easily batting aside the numerous greatswordsmen who rush to her defence, though it was weakened as it did.
The Daemon attacks Anya and the two trade wound still Taras rides in and distracts it long enough for Anya to recover.
The two face off again and Anya uses the ‘De la Croix’ pistol for the first and last time. The daemon dies though Anya is mortally wounded.
The battle is almost over for Anya’s army when the Regent of Onore, Duchess Sophie Aquila arrives with the footemen of the Tuetonic Order and rear charges the enemy, completely destroying them and saving the day.
2210- Anastasia Contyre, recovered from her trials, weds Joshua von Dusseldorf, who moves his surviving family from Wissenland to Hamburg.

2211- Anastasia gives birth to twins; Lucius Contyre III and Katarina Contyre. Middenland declares war upon the Northern league and Anastasia pledges support to the league.
Late 2211- The Empire of Middenland invade Hochland but the Northern league troops defeat the invasion.

2213- The 500th anniversary of ‘The Culling of the Beast.’ In addition the three day holiday is extended to five days as it includes the birthday of Lucius III and Katarina.

2214- After supporting the Northern League for three years, Stattenland is horrified when it surrenders. Anastasia Contyre refuses to yield and begins retraining her army. Joshua Contyre von Dusseldorf oversees the re arming and organisation of both the Stattenland provincial army and the newly formed regiment of the Armoured Guard of Hamburg.

2215- Fortunately, the inter politics of Middenland stop them from invading Stattenland. The people finally have time to recover from the scars of nearly a decade.

2217- Katarina Contyre, the eldest twin, is arranged to marry her second cousin, Maximillian von Dusseldorf. At first the two despise each other, but after being forced together, eventually grow to love each other.

2228- The Tagaha cult re emerges and, in a plot to overthrow Anastasia’s family and place a bastard born of Agatha and one of Anastasia’s brothers on the throne, poison Anastasia.
Even though Joshua is with her when she dies, it seemed a part of himself was lost with her. He draws the sword of Contyre, which hadn’t been drawn since the battle for Hamburg twenty years earlier, and sets off after the cultists. Joshua tracks them to Niedrigstadt and, in a climactic battle, kills the entire cult and burns half the town to the ground.
Late 2228- Anastasia Contyre is lain to rest on a small hill overlooking the city of Statten, the river Reik and the great forest. Her burial is attended by the entire city of Statten, the families of the van Garrets and van Tassets and von Dusseldorf, the Templar captain Taras Vasiliev and a delegation of Tuetonic knights, the commander of the Armoured Guard of Hamburg and the generals of the provincial army of Stattenland and the new King and Queen of Onore, Sophie and Jacamo Aquila, to which they wept.
Anastasia Contyre, in her simple blue dress unadorned with gold or jewels or finery, with nothing but a circlet of white gold atop her head and the silver wedding band with a cut emerald. Though close to fifty, she didn’t look a day over thirty, finally at peace.
Huntsman of the Armoured guard fire three volleys of flaming arrows into the sky as a tribute and the greatswordsmen of her guard lower the massive block of stone over her grave.
Many eyes from the people of Stattenland were wet as their countess was laid to rest.

2229- Exactly a year to the day later, Joshua Contyre von Dusseldorf dies in his sleep, his two children Lucius III and Katarina arrange a small funeral, attended by the von Dusseldorf family, Taras Vasiliev and Jacamo and Sophie Aquila.
Joshua is laid to rest next to his wife on the same hill. Their tombstone reads:
Dedicated to Anastasia Contyre and Joshua Contyre von Dusseldorf, who gave their souls to each other. In conflict did they meet and forge the destinies that were eventually to bring them together forever more.
Beloved friends, loving parents and gracious rulers of Stattenland.
May Sigmar look over you and take you into his heaven.
Erected by Lucius Contyre III, Katarina Contyre, Taras Vasiliev and Sophie and Jacamo Aquila.
Unexpectedly, a beautiful woman arrives at the funeral. She wears the clothing of a noble and introduces herself as Katarina of Kislev, who was rescued by Anastasia as a little girl. Although the ten year age gap between them, Lucius III falls in love with her.
A month later and the two are married.

2230- Lucius III dedicates a church of Sigmar; The church of our lady Anya, in corresponding with the church of Sigmar proclaiming her a saint. A bronze statue is erected commemorating her victory over both her corrupted family and the Daemons they had been enslaved to.
The statue is based off of a bas relief of Anastasia fighting the great Daemon on the fields outside of Hamburg. The statue is erected in Statten, in front of the church of St Anastasia.

2235- Lucius Contyre III, in collaboration with his wife Katarina Contyre, his sister Katarina von Dusseldorf, Taras Vasiliev, Jacamo and Sophie Aquila and the numerous others who knew Anastasia best, compiles the many notes on her and writes a book about her life and travels throughout the Old World.

2242- Lucius and Katarina Contyre complete the reorganisation of the provincial army and the armoured guard. 2242 also saw the birth of Joshua Contyre II.

2270- Lucius Contyre III dies and his only son, Joshua Contyre II becomes count and marries. Later that year his wfe Arriana Contyre gives birth to twin daughters, Anya and Anna, each have bright red hair.
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: The Myrmidian on July 17, 2011, 05:50:34 AM
A beautiful end to a great story, I just adore the tale-telling and the imagery I see just through short blurbs on a timeline. If it had been an entire book, I doubt it could have been clearer to me.  :biggriin:
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: Derek Contyre on July 27, 2011, 08:42:50 AM
2302 to 2304- The Great War Against Chaos.
Anya Contyre and her husband send troops north to Magnus the Pious to help him raise the siege of Kislev. Tuetonic knights that accompanied the force north distinguish  themselves in many battles against the hated Chaos soldiers.

2340- Anya Contyre and her husband die in a freak accident. Anna Contyre becomes countess til Joshua Contyre III comes of age.

2341- Joshua Contyre III becomes Count of Stattenland and begins renovating the fortress of Hamburg. The fortress gains a second curtain wall and even cannon emplacements as the dwarfs of the Statten-Contyre Mining and Timber co. go wild with defensive works.

2355- The village of Luxdorf grows enough to be considered a town and it gains wooden walls as a result.

2365- A goblin horde attacks Luxdorf, though the militia and a detachment of provincial soldiers beat them back. The goblins flee into the forest. Several dozen young Tuetonic knights ride after them, led by the Meisters, they return several days later, battle hardened.

2402- Joshua Contyre III dies and his only daughter, Elayna Contyre ‘the beautiful’ becomes countess. Her fair and good rule is marred by the loss of her husband to a Beastman raid on Talebdorf.

2413- 600th anniversary of the culling of the beast.

2420 to 2424- Grom the Paunch leads his Waaagh! Into the empire, Nuln is sacked, Middenland besieged and much of the north and east provinces are devastated. Somehow, miraculously, Stattenland survives without a scar.
Consequently, the county becomes stupendously rich from the trade nexus that is created in the aftermath.
The city of Statten, making more money in one month than their entire decade previously, commissions the Contyre-Statten co. to build an extensive port and harbour on the river Reik.
The Contyre-Statten co, formerly the Statten-Contyre Mining and Timber co, expands exponentially after the influx of trade. Their head office of Statten buys and builds other offices at Altdorf, Marienburg, Middenheim, Nuln, Hergig, Bechafen, Kislev and Erengrad.
These new trade centres literally explode the Contyre personal fortunes into almost limitless funds. Rivalling that of the Emperor himself, which enabled the province of Stattenland to be lavished with theatres, schools, banks and several new luxurious manor houses for the nobles and other supporters of the Contyre family.

2448- Marius Contyre is born.

2464- Elayna Contyre dies and Marius becomes Count at sixteen. After consolidating his power, Marius reforms the governing body of Stattenland and declares himself Prince.
The old Government house in Statten is demolished and 'The Assembly' house is erected over its ruins. The fifty Assembly 'districts' are created, centered on the various population centres of Stattenland. The Assembly collects after one month and numbers exactly one hundred members, half of them Freemen and the other Nobles.

The Age of the Princes.

2478- Seth Contyre is born. Marius corroborates with the noble houses of Stattenland and establishes the Mayoral Seat of Statten, a ceremonial position, it gives the elected noble enormous prestige on the Stattenland council.
The modern governing system of Statten is put into practise with every citizen eighteen years and above given one vote at every four year election.
The votes decide on the town council, from the delegates that are elected from their industry(merchants, labourers, guardsmen, etc.), the Mayoral seat and other delegates.

2479- The ‘Statten project’ fails abysmally, Marius and every guildhead in Statten meet once a month to decide what to do.
These monthly meetings form the core of the future governing system.

2497- Seth Contyre marries the lady Madellaine of Quenelles, who moves to Statten and is given an Imperial education.

2499- The ‘Statten project’ is tried again, however the council is given limited control of Statten and taxes. The councils seats are fixed to a certain number.

2500- Derek von Dusseldorf is born.

2502- Elayna Contyre II is born, but her mother Lady Madellaine Contyre, dies in childbirth. Seth Contyre is heartbroken.

2506- Marius celebrates his fifty-eighth birthday. The von Dusseldorf’s, cousin family to the Contyre’s travel from Talebdorf to Statten, but on the way are ambushed by beastmen. The entire family line is wiped out leaving one small boy as a survivor; Derek.
He is taken in by the Tussenburg’s, a small merchant family from Statten and raised as their own.

2512- Elayna Contyre sneaks out of the palace grounds of Statten and meets Derek Tussenburg (Dusseldorf) in the marketplace. The two become fast friends though Derek’s foster sister Franchesca becomes jealous.
Seth Contyre becomes Count and discovers the remains of his cousins, the von Dusseldorf’s on the road track, their carriage and coat of arms still there.
2514- Sporadic beastmen hunts begin by the Tuetonic Knights.

2518- Derek is accepted into the 5th provincial halberdiers regiment of Statten.

2519- Derek saves Seth Contyre from a chaos warrior during a battle against chaos incursion.

2520- Promoted to the Armoured Guard of Hamburg Greatsword regiment, Derek saves the Armoured Guard from disaster in Hochland. He is adopted by Seth Contyre after he learns that Derek is indeed his nephew Derek von Dusseldorf.
Elayna and Derek meet again and are overjoyed to see each other after six years.

2522- The ‘Storm of Chaos’, Derek leads the Armoured Guard for the first time in Hochland. Stattenland escapes the Storm with relatively little damage.

2523- Seth uses his influence on Aldebrand Ludenhof, Elector of Hochland and, in exchange for loans of money, takes control of the Barony of Heedenhof.
Derek travels to Wissenland on rumours of rebellion and attempts to buy land there.
2524- ‘The Solland Effort’ takes place; Derek becomes Baron of Nuestaat after buying large amounts of land from the Baron of Wusterburg.

2527- On hints from Seth Contyre, Derek offers his proposal to the Baroness of Sonnefurt.
Title: Re: Stattenland, a History.
Post by: Alexious on August 01, 2011, 07:44:16 AM
I liked your idea of the the Statten Project quite a lot. Nice idea.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Alexious on August 03, 2011, 03:35:13 PM


Derek, with the basics of what you gave me I created the following for you. They have no particular meaning based off your designs. However some of your ideas were a little too much on a shield with too many colors and it looked a bit out of reality.. so I cleaned them up and used basic color choices and designs.

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/Waldenhof.png)

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/contyre5.png)

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/contyre2.png)

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/contyre1.png)

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/contrye4.png)

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/contrye3.png)

(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff189/srparkhill/Empire%20Album/contyre6.png)

Hope you like what I did
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Le Pistolet on August 03, 2011, 04:19:42 PM
Nice work Alexious once again  :::cheers:::

They're all really cool, but the last three are the most awesomest  :happy:
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Chev on August 03, 2011, 05:06:16 PM
Agreed, The last three do look the most glorious.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: GamesPoet on August 03, 2011, 07:13:58 PM
If these are going to be used, what do they represent?
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on August 03, 2011, 09:40:13 PM
If these are going to be used, what do they represent?
They will probably represent the Contyre family Heraldry, and possibly the overall heraldry of the Provincial army and the Armoured Guard of Hamburg.

And they are fricken awesome. And I love the red, white, blue, yellow one with the green griffon.  :icon_mrgreen: I cant wait to use them all thanks Alexious
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: GamesPoet on August 03, 2011, 09:48:40 PM
Well of course, I was wondering which was which? :icon_cool:
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on August 04, 2011, 08:28:38 AM
The gazette of Stattenland

On His Highness Prince Seth Contyre's direction, I have, after many years researching and locating the relevant information in dusty libraries throughout the Principality, this true account of the peoples and census of our beloved land is complete.
As always, at your service.
Prof Urial von Sontir


Gazette of Stattenland

The Principality of Stattenland lies astride the river Reik and is nestled between the river Drakwasser to the west and the Hohoch River in the east.
A heavily forested country, it nonetheless has areas of very fertile land in the more populated areas around Statten, Hamburg, Luxdorf and Neuremburg.

Land mass; hilly and temperate.

Stattenland occupies 19 934.3 Km squared
43% is arable land (8604 km squared)
 57% is wilderness, river, forest hills (11330 km squared)

The population of Stattenland is 598 029 person’s.(not counting refugees)
11 963 live in isolated villages/hamlets.
532 245 live in 1183 villages
33 381 live in 2 large towns and 4 towns
20 490 live in 2 cities.

Average distance between; villages= 4km
                                             Towns= 50km               
                                             Cities= 100km

Stattenland supports 1 315 663 heads of livestock
894 650 fowl(chickens, geese, ducks etc)
421 013 dairy + meat animals (cows, goats, pigs, sheep etc)

There are 15 standing fortifications; 12 are active, 3 are ruined or abandoned
11 are located in settled areas, 4 are located in remote areas.

Gazette of the cities and towns of Stattenland.

Wealth (1= Impoverished, 5= Very Rich)
Garrison/Militia (Quality rated as Excellent (a), Average (b), or Poor (c))

Statten, City of
Ruler; the Countess of Statten, Elayna Contyre II
Size; 192 acres
Population; 11 599, 116 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 50a (Tuetonic knights), 100a ( detachment of the Armoured Guard of Hamburg) 350b( 2 regiments of state troops and the Statten mounted river patrol.) and 200c (the city militia and irregular infantry)
Wealth; 5
Source; trade, metalworks, extended port facility, timber, woodcraft, government, agriculture, tourism, provincial capital, Tuetonic Order chapter house,HQ of the Contyre-Statten Trading co.
Notes; Resting place of Anastasia Contyre, Sigmar’s holy church of St Anastasia was established in Statten, expansive public library, stopping point of the Hindenburg luxury line, beautiful turn of the 20th century red Drakwald wood homes, Stone wall with cannon emplacements rings the city,

Neuremburg, Large town
Ruler; the Duke of Neuremburg, Derek Contyre
Size; 147 acres
Population; 8 891, 89 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 50a (Tuetonic knights), 300b (2 regiments of state troops) 300c (militia and irregular infantry)
Wealth 4
Source; Timber, trade, government, Tuetonic Order chapter house, agriculture, fortified coaching inns, woodcraft.
Notes: Stone wall with cannon emplacements rings the town.

Hamburg, large fortress town
Ruler; His highness Prince Seth Contyre
Size; 150 acres
Population; 7896, 80 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 700a (Armoured Guard of Hamburg), 50a (Tuetonic knights), 600b (4 regiments of State troops), 200c (militia and irregular troops)
Wealth; 3
Source; trade, timber, agriculture, woodcraft, metalworks, Tuetonic Order chapter house
Notes; Garrison of the Armoured Guard of Hamburg, muster for the Provincial army, government, summer court of the Contyre family, expansive rose gardens, expansive double curtain walls of stone with cannon emplacements ring the fortress and most of the town.

Talebdorf, large town.
Ruler; Baron Franz van Garret
Size; 129 acres
Population; 7823, 78 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 300b (2 detachments of state troops) 300c (militia and irregular troops)
Wealth; 3
Source; timber, trade, woodcraft, ship craft, timber craft.
Notes; Impressive dockyards for ship building, nestled in the southern end of the Western forest, stone walls with battlements ring the town, known for the master carpenters that have resided here for nearly 17 generations.

Luxdorf, town.
Ruler; Baron Karl van Tasset
Size; 90 acres
Population; 5423, 54 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 150b (1 regiment of state troops) 150c (militia and irregular troops)
Wealth; 4
Source; timber, agriculture, trade.
Notes; Huge monthly markets that draw half the Principality in to trade, nearby forest known to be a favourite play ground for children.

Hohochhiem, town
Ruler; Baron Helmut von Hergig II
Size; 76 acres
Population; 4581, 46 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 300b (2 regiments of state troops) 150b (dwarf militia) 300c (town and village militias, irregular troops)
Wealth; 4
Source; Mining, trade, timber, metalworks, office of the Contyre-Statten Trading co, agriculture (poultry/dairy), woodworks, weapon forging, dwarf beer.
Notes; ¾ dwarf population dominate the towns industry, large and expansive mining buildings, excellent taverns, beautiful views of the Hohoch hills.

Oberstadt, town
Ruler; Prince Seth Contyre
Size; 69 acres
Population; 4180, 28 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 50b (dwarf militia), 150c (irregular troops)
Wealth; 3
Source; metal and jewel mining, gold mining, industry, agriculture (poultry/dairy), hunting.
Notes; substantial dwarf presence in town, river views, barrows nearby in the Hohoch hills.

Niedrigstadt, town
Ruler; Prince Seth Contyre
Size; 50 acres
Population; 3438, 30 guardsmen/town watch
Garrison; 50b (dwarf militia) 100c (irregular troops)
Wealth; 3
Source; mining, agriculture (poultry/dairy)
Notes; The entire town exists underground!

A description of Stattenland

Of the woods and forests of Stattenland.

In the west, forming a natural border between Ahlenhof-Hohne and Stattenland grows the Stattenwood. A thick, forested and dark wood, it nonetheless has many pathways and hidden tracks riddled throughout from centuries of skirmishing and hunting. The largest forest by far in Stattenland, it holds the majority of the timber trade that made the Contyre family and many of the families that work for the Contyre-Statten trading co. incredibly rich. A huge amount of Oak and Pine trees grow there and give it a dark appearance. But once under the boles of the massive thousand year old trees it can be quite magical. 

Many in Statten and Hamburg give the Stattenwood wide births at some points, mainly the site of major battles long past, the cairns and barrows that protect such areas are avoided like the plague for fear of breaking the seals on these protectors of the dead.

To the east of Hamburg and north of Statten is a stretch of forest known as the Green Heart.
This forest is a place of light, magic and mystery. Many a common man has trodden carefully the edges of the Green Heart, for legends say that those foolish enough to enter unbidden soon find themselves lost for days. Nonetheless it is a veritable playground for children, who seem to find delight in chasing imaginary things around the boles of the younger trees on the edges of the forest. For centuries this has been so, and yet no child has ever gone missing, always returning to their homes before dark.

East of the Green Heart lies the Western forest, its great length stretching the width of Stattenland from Fort Denkh in the North to Talebdorf in the south. This name is peculiar to Stattenland, as the majority of people live west of the Western forest. It came about when the new mining town of Hohochhiem was established at the turn of the 18th century. The dwarfen settlers lived East of the forest named it for its geographical location.
The Western forest was once the home of goblins and beastmen, who would raid out every summer for slaves, sacrifices and food. These raids would devastate the surrounding villages. It wasn’t until the Knights of the Tuetonic Order settled in Statten and Neuremburg and began leading expeditions of young knights into the forest for “training” purposes did the raids truly stop. Several centuries of constant “training” and the Western forest is bereft of enemies. Now it is one of the finest hunting grounds in the Northern Empire, massive deer, boars and pheasant are allowed to roam unchecked throughout, protected until the hunting season starts in autumn. Then the forest is flooded with hunters, woodsmen and noble alike as they hunt to their content.

Of the hills and dales of Stattenland.
There is only one area of Stattenland that is not flat, and that is the Hohoch Hills. These hills, older than the empire, are nonetheless home to nearly a third of Stattenland’s population. Be it rurally, in isolated hamlets and villages, or in the great mining towns of Hohochhiem and Niedrigstadt. Most of the people that live here raise animals that can live off of the hills, goats, cattle and poultry. While the small fertile areas of ground are dominated by dozens of small farms. Rivalry between farmers of wheat and corn and the growers of animals is fierce and competitive as the limited flat ground forces them close together. However born of this rivalry is a fierce pride and stubborn determination from the hill dwellers of Hohoch.
The Hohoch hills are also rich in minerals, gold, jewels and metals are to be found here, which make it a region well endowed in riches.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Inarticulate on August 04, 2011, 10:58:29 AM
Very comprehensive, look forward to seeing more!
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Le Pistolet on August 04, 2011, 12:48:30 PM
Nice  :::cheers:::

Did you use the medieval demography site I posted? It's very useful isn't it.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on August 04, 2011, 08:16:56 PM
Nice  :::cheers:::

Did you use the medieval demography site I posted? It's very useful isn't it.

Incredibly usefull, now that i have the technical syuff out of the way i can get back into my favourite writing, description.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: fauthsie on August 04, 2011, 09:02:42 PM
Nice  :::cheers:::

Did you use the medieval demography site I posted? It's very useful isn't it.

What site???
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Le Pistolet on August 04, 2011, 09:31:32 PM
This one (http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/demog.htm)
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on September 06, 2011, 12:48:10 PM
A little more stuff. .  .

The Contyre's of Stattenland (2522)

His Highness Prince Seth Contyre, Ruler of Hamburg, Oberstadt, Niedrigstadt, Heedenhof, Elaschfurt and Gerzen.
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/SethContyre.jpg)

Born in 2478, Seth looks well and full of life for his 44 years, he is strongly built and tall with piercing green eyes and short cropped brown hair while his beard he keeps close shaven.
Prince Seth’s presence in a room is domineering, he wears his power like a cloak and though he is kind to his family and friends, he is a determined and deadly enemy with sharp wits, strong morals and ideals of good and evil and a master of the codes of Justice in the Northern Empire.

Seth gets much of his vibrant love of life from his mother Lady Anora von Hergig and still enjoys wandering through her extensive gardens in Hamburg to gain peace of mind.
Though he loves his life, Seth still mourns the loss of his beloved wife Madellaine, who gave him a daughter before she died, whom Seth loves without equal.

Seth rose to his rule fairly late, his father Magnus abdicating in 2512. Attempting to outshine his father is a daunting task as the man singlehandedly created the modern governing system of Stattenland as well as the newer system of laws and regulations.
However, after leading his realm through the Storm of Chaos untarnished while expanding the influence and borders of Stattenland, the future seems  like it will long remember Seth Contyre and his offspring.

Coat of Arms:
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/griffoncastle.png)



His Grace the Duke of Nueremburg, Baron of Nuestaat, Marshall of the Amroured Guard of Hamburg and Lord of the Green Heart; Derek Contyre.
 
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/DerekContyre.jpg)

Born 2500IC, Derek was born Derek von Dusseldorf, cousin to Seth Contyre. His early years were spent in Nueremburg as the von Dusseldorf family had been the Duke and Duchess of Nueremburg for several decades.
In 2506, Prince Magnus Contyre celebrated his 58th birthday in Statten, for which the von Dusseldorf’s were requested to attend.
On the way south, several miles from the city, their entourage was ambushed by beastmen and the duke, duchess and their eldest daughter were thankfully only killed.
Derek however survived somehow and covered in blood and mud, found his way to Statten half dead.
The merchant family of Tussenburg took him in, for they recognised his heraldry and took pity on him.
Feverish as he was he did not remember his life beforehand and was raised as their foster child.
Growing up in Statten with his foster father Marius and mother Evaline was a happy time, though hard. Marius was a merchant that primarily traded in timber and other wooden products like miniature clocks and other intricate novelties.
Some weeks the family ate well, but many more they did not.
Living as a merchants son, Derek led a mostly carefree life, in which he took turns torturing his foster sister(though she gave just as much as she got), but he was troubled with nightmares and brooding dark moods.
In 2518 Derek joined the Statten 5th Halberdier regiment to help fight against vanguard chaos forces that had broken through the tenacious defences of Ostland and the Ostermark and were ranging throughout the northern empire.
During the year long campaign, Derek managed to save Seth Contyre from a lucky strike by a chaos warrior and ended up stopping a killing blow. In repayment Seth promoted Derek to the Greatsword core of Hamburg. Following several more battles, Derek eventually became Seth’s personal bodyguard.
In a particularly brutal battle, Derek was knocked senseless, but this allowed him to survive the route of the right flank. Waking up after night had fallen, he managed to sneak back through the chaos line and, after eating a fair amount of food, told Seth and the other generals of a weak point in the chaos line.
This vital information allowed the Armoured guard to break through the encircled lines and break free of the trap.
Derek had saved the Armoured Guard from certain destruction. In response, and in regard to numerous other factors(including Seth finding his cousin family dead and his investigation into Derek’s background), adopted him into the Contyre house.
In 2520, Derek was recognised as a member of the Princes Family, adopted and made the Duke of Nueremburg, finally claiming his birthright.
For two years  Derek studied his new life position as heir to the realm.
He got to know his sister  Elayna Contyre all over again and joined the Tuetonic Order to learn horsemanship and ‘proper’ warfare.

After the Storm of Chaos campaign, Derek and Seth helped save the Emperor from death at the hands of a chaos lord in the middle mountains and in return gifted Derek with ‘Grudge Settler’, Solland’s Runefang for a decade.

In 2524 Derek and a detachment of the Provincial army travelled to Old Solland to help in a separatist effort headed by some important and angered Barons.
While the ‘Solland Effort eventually failed, Derek had negotiated the peace treaty and came out of the war with a new Barony, Nuestaat, and many lifelong friends. For several years Derek Contyre travelled to and from Nuestaat and Stattenland, getting the new Barony in order and helping slip refugees from the north down to the new lands awaiting them.
Then in 2527, Derek was invited to attempt to win the Baroness of nearby Sonnefurt’s hand in marriage.
Though he is only 22(2522) Derek already acts and speaks like someone older than himself, though this could be from his early loss in life, many have decided it is the influence of Seth Contyre and professor Urial von Sontir. Young, athletic, strong, charismatic, happy and full of life, Derek Contyre is the soul of Stattenland, their young hero and heir to the throne. His rapier wit has taken many by surprise, and his cool head and calm demeanour has led the Armoured Guard to many victories over Stattenland’s enemies.
Hardly serious, Derek is full of happiness and light, always affecting everyone around him with laughter, especially his younger sister Elayna. The two are nearly inseparable when visiting and always pull pranks and get up to mischief when left alone.

Coat of arms;
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/whitegriffoncross.png)

The Countess of Statten; Lady Elayna Belle Contyre II

(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/ElaynaknightingDerek.jpg)

While many have said Seth Contyre is the head of Stattenland and his adopted son Derek is the soul, then Elayna Contyre would be unanimously declared Stattenland’s beating heart.
Born Elayna Belle Contyre in 2502, firstborn of Prince Seth Contyre and Lady Madellaine Contyre, Elayna was a beautiful child. Her bright green eyes shone from under her mother’s auburn hair to make her a stunningly angelic girl.
Elayna was shy and curious as a young girl, and this got her into mischief, especially with her maids who would constantly be in tears of fear after Elayna gave them the slip.
Raised the only daughter of a prince as powerful as her father, Elayna was not allowed friends, but that never stopped her making any.
After her sixth birthday she managed to sneak out into the city of Statten and there met Derek.
The two made and instant connection and in the weeks that followed grew so attached many thought them to be brother and sister.

However after Seth learnt of her secret outings he banned her from Statten and made his court at Hamburg. There Elayna grew up around men of war and was taught horsemanship, hawking, swordplay, marksmanship and many other faculties of a ruling lady.

For years she grew up at Hamburg and into a beautiful woman, many were the suitors that came to Seth for her hand, but he had plans for his daughter.
Many of Elayna’s spring months were spent at the Hochland Elector’s court of Hergig, getting to know his son Konrad, a good eight years her junior.

After the Storm of Chaos invasion, Konrad and his father Aldebrand have taken shelter at the courts of Stattenland after Seth took them and their surviving people in out of the elements.
For Elayna this was a trying time, having only re-met Derek again after 8 years.
Now he was her adopted brother and her strong feelings of friendship were replaced by mixed feelings of love.
The ‘Solland Effort’ truly taught her to mature as a woman both on and off the battlefields of Old Solland after seeing what her brother could do when in command.

(2524) Currently Elayna is residing in Stattenland attempting to beat off the advances of dozens of eligible bachelors, for her beauty and charm have swept through the northern empire and many are declaring her  ‘The Jewel of the North’, though this has not endeared her to Emmanuelle of Nuln.
Elayna is a playful yet serious young woman, well learnt in many topics though her favourite is a well written and performed Detlef Sierck play.

Though not averse to using her looks to get what she wants, she prefers to use the rapier wit her father gave her, which she uses to brilliant effect when in the company of pompous noblemen.
While many would claim it, Elayna is defiantly as not as hedonistic as the Countess of Nuln, Elayna still enjoys a good party with lots of dancing, currently, the only person who can out party her is her adopted brother Derek Contyre.

Though Elayna is a Contyre, she chose to keep her mother’s heraldry, but in the traditional Stattenland colours.
Coat of Arms
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/Griffonhead.png)
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Lord_Bieter on September 06, 2011, 06:01:10 PM
A little more stuff. .  .

Officials of Stattenland (2522)

His Highness Prince Seth Contyre, Ruler of Hamburg, Oberstadt, Niedrigstadt, Heedenhof, Elaschfurt and Gerzen.
(http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss270/smithers5934/SethContyre.jpg)

Joe Fiennes' Merlin a bit dark no?

Very nice piece, enjoying seeing Stattenland develop.

Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on September 06, 2011, 08:58:46 PM
Joe Fiennes' Merlin a bit dark no?

Very nice piece, enjoying seeing Stattenland develop.


Thanks, and no it isn't that dark. Seth is brooding remember, its not my fault that the Statten art society didn't use more light and or happiness in their portrait of him. . .
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on September 07, 2011, 09:19:12 PM
*update*
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on September 27, 2011, 08:43:43 AM
The Government of Stattenland

Early Government;

The body that made up the government of Stattenland centuries ago was simply the noble houses that ruled parts of Statten. After Armand Contyre became Baron he reformed the governing body into a council which was elected every ten years to govern the town under the current baron. The council could be any freeman, but not serfs.
This style of government existed for nearly two centuries before being reformed again by Alecto Contyre with the creation of the Provincial Army.

The House of Nobles;

The Noble house system already existed per se behind the now defunct elected government of early Statten. But the flaws of that government were clearly evident in the first Ahlenhof-Statten war when decisions of the body did not work in the best interests of the war at the time. This crippled the County until Othello Contyre reformed the government into four Noble Houses.
The houses at the time of the second reformation;
The Contyre House
The van Garret House
The van Tasset House and
The von Hergig House.
All the noble families of Stattenland were shifted (according to locale) into one of these four houses.
Naturally, most of the noble houses were located in the Contyre holdings, and so the Contyre house became the largest.
The van Garret’s and van Tasset’s were equally large and together equalled the Contyre house.
The last and smallest of the houses was the von Hergig house, however they could tip the balance of power in the event of a stalemate.
This government met in a chamber every week to govern the County, create new laws, raise and lower taxes, recruit troops and send diplomatic envoys.
This ‘House of Nobles’, existed right up until the ‘Reign of Blood’, when Aldebrand Contyre dissolved the House of Nobles and declared himself above the law.

The House of Freemen;

Upon Lucius II ascension to the rule of Stattenland, he immediately restored the House of Nobles system, thwarting both attempts by the van Garrets and van Tassets of finally ousting the Contyre House from power, as no one would rise against the ‘Saviour of Stattenland’ after ending the ‘Reign of Blood’.
The County after the ‘Reign of Blood’ was devastated, the treasury empty, the nobles and people resentful of the Contyre’s. Lucius could ill afford to levy a tax to repair the damages if it would cost him the throne.
Instead he offered everyone in Stattenland a choice;
While the House of Nobles would stay in effect, he would create a second governing body to be called the ‘House of Freemen’.
Lucius was as good as his word; the House of Freemen was established in a wing of the building that the House of Nobles met every month.
This building, called the ‘Government House; grew from a moderate two story building huge palace in several years time.
Lucius solved the cash crisis too at that time. Instead of instigating a tax, he told the people that if any village or town wanted to be represented in Government House than a yearly payment, dependant on circumstance, had to be paid to maintain their representatives. This money would go straight back into building roads, maintaining the Counties army, and of course the Watch, Fire service and any other ‘government’ service.
The Houses of Freemen and Nobles would have powers of creating laws, naming taxes and maintaining the many services that the Government had in force.

The system of Houses worked like this;
Any law relating to the Freemen and their holdings was dealt with by the House of Freemen while any law relating o the nobles, their estates, taxes and powers were dealt with by the House of Nobles and was determined by popular vote.
The House of Nobles at first was the stronger of the House system as many of the Freemen could ill afford to maintain a residence in Statten all year and also the Noble House was more established and knew how to work their system.
Many new and empowering laws were put into place by the nobles restricting Freemen and serfs. But that changed when the House of Freemen gathered in secret and passed a law allowing them to veto the House of Nobles at any time and with a minimum of one member to do so.
The system broke down at first as the nobles refused to acknowledge this new law. But they relented after twenty years when the House of Freemen passed numerous laws and transferred all the Government services over to their body.
Suddenly all the Watch, Fire Services, Military, Trading Guilds and Docking Authorities were controlled by the House of Freemen.
When the House of Nobles was crushed and reduced to begging to be allowed back into Government House, the Freemen relented and allowed the House of Nobles governing duties again.
However the system was broken.

The Reign of the Princes, the Statten Project and the Principal vote;

The House System existed in its broken state for centuries, although the monopoly of power existed with the Freemen.
This needed to change before the common people finally gained control of the County by force if not by law.
The Nobles were terrified and after Marius Contyre came of age and became Count, they pleaded with him to change the governing body before his end is come.
Marius was, above his age, extremely knowledgeable of the law’s regarding Stattenland’s governing body, and while the Governing body existed, the many powers of the Count did not.
The only real powers the ruling family had was the ability to declare war, being exempt and above the Governing body and of course, the head of the Contyre-Statten Trading co.

Stability needed to be restored and Marius was the man who did it.
After being presented with the crown of rulership, Marius marched on the House of Freemen, who, after three centuries had grown corrupt with power.
The Armoured Guard seized the assembly of men and marched them to the centre square of Statten.
In front of ten thousand people Marius declared the House System at an end and crowned himself Prince of Stattenland. The people of Statten terrified of being reduced to serfs or worse, almost overwhelmed the stage he was on.
But, discharging a pistol into the air and bellowing quiet in the name of St Anastasia, the crowd relaxed.
His first decree as Prince was that the Government House be destroyed and a new ‘Assembly’ be constructed. All the districts of Stattenland would ‘elect’ by popular vote their representatives while each noble families second son would be allowed a seat after popular vote in that district.
The fifty districts of the Assembly centred around each major town and city, including many thousands of people.
All of the older members of the House system were discharged and sent home. Elections for the new Assembly would begin in the new year.

The next month, Prince Marius headed the one hundred strong Assembly and gave them its responsibilities.
Taxes, Government services including; Hospices, Fire Services, the Town and City Watch, the Statten river patrol and law creation all became the duties of the Assembly.
The powers of the Prince were the ability to veto the Assembly on any law, Lord High Marshall of the Principalities army, General of the Armoured Guard of Hamburg, Ruler de facto of everyone in the Principality and Speaker of the Assembly.
After much debate this was accepted. With the creation of a governing of Stattenland and civil infrastructure, Prince Marius began the ‘Statten project’.

The Statten Project;

The idea was to create a subsidiary body of governing people to ease the job of the Assembly, busy as they were learning the incredibly difficult job of governing a nation of nearly six hundred thousand people.
Marius created a town council of Statten which acted as a smaller, second government which discharged the duties and saw to it that they were implemented of the Assembly.
His first idea was a replica of the Assembly with fifty districts. It failed.
Instead, Marius, the heads of the various guilds(including the thieves and assassin’s guilds) met with the Watch and Fire Service chiefs, the current ruler of Statten(Marius) the commander of the militia and the Captain of the Stattenland mounted river forces.

All in all a number of fifteen men and women. This council governed the city as best they could and enforced the laws pertaining to Stattenland. However many of the laws filtering down did not affect the major cities so the council was given power to ignore certain laws or change them as they saw fit.

Next Marius went to the people of Statten and gave them the power of a ‘Principal Vote’. This vote gave them enormous responsibility.
The Principal Vote determined the various council members of the Statten Council. Every four years the council would be elected from the voting citizens to one of the seats. This gave the people of Statten a purpose and lowered their resentment of the ruling classes somewhat.

The Mayoral Seat

Seth Contyre, on his ascension to Prince, created the Mayoral Seat for Stattenland and Statten respectively.
The Noble house system, though replaced by the much more modern Assembly, which worked far better at keeping the Principality running smoothly, still existed between the noblesse.
All the noble families of Stattenland belonged to one of the original houses in some form or another and so, instead of these bored nobles causing trouble, Seth created the Mayoral Seat.
Each of the four houses could run for the seat and it is a five year term on the seat in which the Mayor of Stattenland would attend the most important functions of State, have access to The Assembly and a hand in its policies and also act as a court advisor.
Each House took this extremely seriously  as it could potentially tip the scales of power in Stattenland to whichever house held the seat.
Currently, Seth Contyre holds the seat as of 2520IC.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on December 19, 2012, 02:13:53 PM
The Provincial army.

Over the centuries, many Contyre's have reformed the military of Stattenland, usually for the better in response to a threat that the older machine of war couldn't handle.
In the early years of the Contyre dynasty, large unwieldy regiments of halberdiers, supported by smaller units of archers and some mounted spearmen and missile cavalry were the mainstay of the army of Statten. These men were usually drawn from the larger breed of farmhands and farmers, bruisers and mercenaries that the Barony could afford in wartime.

This all changed during the first Ahlenhof-Statten war, when the much more disciplined pike formations and horse archer regiments defeated their Stattener counterparts easily.
The Ahlenhof pike formations having greater discipline and tighter formations than the larger mob like combat techniques of the halberdiers, while the Ungol horsemen, being born into a saddle easily out rode and out fought the cavalry that Statten produced which were little more than mounted men at arms.

Though the Siege of Statten in 1993 ended in the Treaty of Ahlenhof-Statten with a distinct taste of victory to the Contyre's, their military wasn't seriously tested till The Secret War just over thirty years later.
This time, the Ahlenhof army was reinforced with Knights which quickly broke the units of Halberdiers that were sent into battle. However, individual units of mixed arms began to distinguish themselves, namely, small units of highly manoeuvrable archers and highly skilled swordsmen and duellists. These troops, when used aggressively proved themselves time and again.
In 2047 the military of Stattenland is reorganised around regiments of swordsmen and archers as aggressive skirmishers, with Tuetonic knights as supporting and highly efficient flankers.

During the skirmishes of the Second Battle of Stattenwood, this new configuration of troops performed admirably, being able to hold their own against much larger enemy forces and driving them back with highly aggressive tactics.
This new mobile aggressive army certainly proved itself during the 'Reign of Blood', when Aldebrand Contyre invaded Hochland and Alhenhof-Hohne, inflicting stinging defeats on much larger armies.
Though the reliance of very skilled archers and swordsmen eventually became a major problem when casualties began mounting.

After the 'Reign of Blood' and Lucius Contyre seized the throne, he retrained the Provincial Army of Stattenland into a more effective force without losing the eliteness of his regiments.
By making the swordsmen and archer units 'Armoured Guard' units, they kept their status as Elite troops while opening the door to allow regiments of Halberdiers, Spearmen, crossbow and handgun into the army. The halberdiers and Spearmen formed the bulk of the Stattenland infantry, the spears and halberds easier to train the newer recruits in using efficiently without sacrificing large amounts of time to dedicated training.
The massed shooting of the crossbow and Handgun intending to break charges and slow down oncoming troops wary of losing their life to the long range bombardments.
With the creation of permanent elite regiments like the Swords of Hamburg and the Greencoats, the Contyre house needed a form of heavily armoured shock infantry able to charge into the thickest fighting and emerge victorious and alive.
From the numerous wars and skirmishes against Ahlenhof-Hohne and Hochland emerged extremely talented veterans, many of which had earned enough to buy or commission suits of full plate armour from the Dwarfen smiths in Hohochhiem and Hamburg.

The veteran soldiers, usually picked from the Swordsmen regiments and occasionally the Tuetonic Knights were formed into a core of disciplined and ferocious Greatswordsmen. These incredible warriors became the stereotype for the 'Armoured Guard' and also the household guards of the Contyre Family.

With the consolidation of the Provincial army towards aggressive infantry, a professional cavalry force was needed. For defence of the Contyre person, the Tuetonic knights form excellent heavy cavalry bodyguards that would rather die than allow a Contyre to be killed. However, the size of Tuetonic knight detachments varies according to need, so Lucius Contyre created the 'Lancers', a body of fast moving highly skilled medium cavalry designed to flank, harass and generally make a nuisance of themselves to the enemy.
These Lancers, usually only protected by a Lance, small buckler, a breastplate and a pistol are eager soldiers, generally seen leading the van and scouting far ahead. They are usually the first to report back to the Commander of Stattenlands military of potential enemy threats.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on December 21, 2012, 12:04:22 AM
The Lancers also engage other light troops and skirmishers, which their speed, manoeuvrability and hitting power allow them to overcome these foes easily.

Over time, this new military machine proved its worth against a variety of foes. On the battlefields of Hochland against the Middenland Empire, where the aggressive north men found a challenge in the cool, calculated aggressive tactics of Lucius Contyre. The numerous battles in and around the forests of Hochland taught the many allies and enemies of Stattenland to respect the small province's military strength and expertise. 
In particular the Greencoats, an elite regiment of skirmishers and scouts made a name for themselves against the military's of Middenland and its allies.
Their prowess as woodsmen enabled them to outmanoeuvre the slower infantry and artillery regiments of the foe. Meanwhile planning ambushes and traps across the path of the enemy slowed them to a crawl while their accurate bow fire sniped enemy commanders and unit leaders.
Middenland high command placed large bounties and rewards on the heads of these Greencoats, and while those that were captured were tortured and eventually killed, the resolve of their fellows only grew stronger in the face of this adversity.

Not only did the Greencoats gain an almost legendary status in the allied armies, but a particular group of spearmen in the Stattenland muster also gained a certain renown.
The origins of the '5th' can be shadily traced to a mercenary spear regiment that hired itself to the Barony of Statten during the first Ahlenhof-Statten war, the excellent training and discipline these men displayed in their many running battles against their better armed and armoured opponents, generally knights of the white wolf and the Ahlenhof pike regiments earned them a reputation of die hard's and desperate men, that would fight against overwhelming odds and triumph time and again.
As the decades passed, this mercenary spear regiment gained many names, most commonly following whatever particular captain decided on at the time.
How their eventual name of the '5th' was settled on no one knows, but it forged the group of hard soldiers into a penultimate fighting force.
During the battles against Middenland in the 21st century, the '5th' fought in every engagement, even at some point leaving the Stattenland army and fighting for Hochland and her allies in other parts of the Grand Barony. Their exploits became something of legend in the short but extremely brutal war in which Hochland and Stattenland were overwhelmed by Middenland.
The 5th also fought in the Battle for Hergig, where the allied armies of Hochland and Stattenland attempted to halt the juggernaught that was the Middenland army. Outnumbered almost three to one, the allies fought heroically for hours. Whole regiments of soldiers were shattered in the brutal close quarters fighting between the two sides, but in every engagement, the 5th proved itself time and again.

Even when the Provincial army were forced back and the Middenlander's flank and crush the Hochland centre positions, the 5th kept fighting, surrounded by an ocean of white and blue. Only when Lucius Contyre led the spirited counter attack that eventually broke the back of the Middenland right flank and began cutting apart their artillery were the 5th relieved. Out of the three hundred men that were in the unit from the start of the day, only twenty remained, their purple and grey uniforms coated in gore, their spear shafts red from the blood that they spilled.
The 5th proved to be one of the most heroic mercenary regiments in the northern empire. Small detachments of the men can be found in service across the Olde Worlde, their fame and prowess directly proving the excellence of the Stattenland Military that forged it.






Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on December 21, 2012, 05:22:50 AM
With a slew of military honours and campaigns now under the Stattenland military collective belts, it wouldn't be long before they would be tested like never before.
That test came following the return of Anastasia Contyre to Stattenland in 2209 after hearing word that her father Lucius Contyre had been murdered by her mother.
For years Anastasia had grown up with the men of the Armoured Guard, the hard bitten ruthless men of the 5th, the stealthy archers of the Greencoats and the ever present grim and imposing armoured men of the Greatsword's. These elite units taught her everything they knew about fighting and warfare, instilling rigid codes of soldiery and training.
So naturally these elite regiments joined her immediately in the bid to oust her mother from power. Once the Battle of Hamburg was over, the military of Stattenland was in a shambles. Almost a decade of corruption by the chaos powers left many in doubt as to the integrity of the army, indeed after a civil war in which many family members died, Stattenland seemed ripe for the picking.

Anastasia changed that, after her marriage and coronation, she and her husband set about reforming the Provincial army along the lines of her own personal army that she had used to conquer the border princes.
The same cool aggressive tactics stayed the same, with regiments of foot supported by small skirmishing units of archers and detachments of crossbow, handgun and halberd.
The larger regiments became pikes, a distinct change of pace for a northern Imperial army where the spear and halberd are far more common.
These regiments of Pike drew their intakes from the heavily populated cities and villages rather than the much more disbursed farming communities that the older military model had recruited from before. This ready population of young men, many with trades and other skills, could be trained on a full time basis, rather than the part time farmers and labourers from before.
This recruitment area also allowed the state regiments to be at full strength all the time, instead of the soldiers going back to the farms to reap harvests and start families.
This kind of recruiting also set in place a ready village militia system of pike armed soldiers, usually the veterans or their sons.
With the basis for the backbone of the Army in place, the specific units began to come together. Regiments of archers, usually from villages bordering the Stattenwood or the Western forest became a staple part of the army. These men drew the attention of the Greencoats, the best archers and woodsmen across the many regiments being an excellent recruitment for the stealthy scouts.

With the core of the army now pikemen, the provincial army had almost lost the aggressiveness of their former years being more static now, the inclusion of Halberd regiments brought back the aggressive assaulting tactics of the previous decades.
Another change that Anastasia brought was introducing units of her personal troops into the Armoured Guard. The Crimson Dragoons she added into the Guard as an aggressive pistolier regiment. These men she formed in the southern Empire fighting as a mercenary captain, and are some of the finest light cavalry in the Empire. Having travelled all over the Olde Worlde and fought in countless engagements since their inception. The Crimson Dragoons are a band of brothers forged in the hot fires of war. Each an exceptional rider, their status as legal brigands is almost true. The Crimson Dragoons to a man are a regiment of arrogant, self delusional bastards at the best of times, but every man in the Provincial army and the Armoured Guard know that they have the skills as pistol experts and are glad that the Dragoons are fighting with them.

Yet another unit also joined the Armoured Guard Elite regiments, The Nueremburg Rifles. This regiment of elite marksmen drew from the handgun regiments of Lucius' reforms for years, training the best crack shots of the army into one regiment. Though this regiment is only new to the Stattenland army, they already have an excellent reputation for tenacious and spirited artillery defence.

Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Khalim on December 13, 2013, 07:22:51 AM
Crazy amount of detail!

You have got me waiting for the next installment like it was one of my favorite series! Very well done, can't wait for the rest!
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on July 15, 2014, 06:33:36 AM
I'll get this done eventually, damn Uni got in the way.  :eusa_wall: :eusa_wall:
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on October 24, 2015, 11:18:02 PM
Threadomancy here.

I've migrated away from Warhammer Fantasy battles (with good reason considering their ridiculous replacement game, what is it called again?) and have instead drifted dangerously close to Mantic's Kings of War and Warpath game systems.

As a result, I will be continuing the use of my beloved Empire Army (and the Contyres) in that system.
However, that isn't the only news, I pan on actually writing a novel, and for those who have gamed with me in the previous years on this beloved page will know, that novel will be around the life/escapades of Countess Anastasia Contyre.

Just thought I would leave this here for now and see if anyone would actually read the book  :wink:
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: GamesPoet on October 25, 2015, 08:00:25 PM
Welcome back! :::cheers:::

There is a new campaign being contemplated, and although much is still up in the air, there is the possiblity it may follow a similar structure as "The Solland Effort of 2524".
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Fidelis von Sigmaringen on October 25, 2015, 09:32:21 PM
Just thought I would leave this here for now and see if anyone would actually read the book  :wink:

I am willing to give it a Nueremburg trial.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Doc J on February 09, 2016, 04:54:55 AM
I really enjoyed reading this, I like how you broke down the population of your areas and there size ect. The timeline is great.  :::cheers:::
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on May 12, 2016, 12:22:24 PM
Threadomancy.... it's aliiive!
Thanks Doc J!
It took many hours of work in order to do so too so it's always great when someone appreciates that aspect.
The timeline was great fun to write and I have carried that style across to my writing too.
To Fidelis von Sigmaringen hahaha thank you! It looks set to follow a short story I am writing based on my experiments as a GM and the exploits of a PC's character.
I got super exited when writing her up as a character in a campaign so I dearly want to address the story that began burning inside of me several years ago.
I can't wait to tell it.
And to GP, thank you for welcoming me back. I honestly missed you all!
DC
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Derek Contyre on July 13, 2017, 02:35:53 AM
Threadomancy again.

Wow, doesn't time fly?

I have some updates for you all since last year (personal life got in the way, then work began on my breakout novel which I am in the midst of writer's block for), most notably, I finally finished my World Map.
As those who are familiar with GW are, you can imagine what would have happened if I published a novel set in their Olde Worlde. SO instead I made my own Old World.

A familiar, yet different, The Empire awaits you for those who see it (the quality isn't the best, as I hand drew it after all, and my hand-writing is quite messy) but I believe there is plenty of distance between them that I can get away with reasonably writing in it. 

All my characters are present here as well as Stattenland (albeit a bit larger now that I don't have as much world to squeeze it into) and I hope that you guys enjoy it when I start writing.

I'll ensure to post up chapters here so you can read it and get excited (and hopefully buy it when it gets released ;) )

Cheers for still liking my stories,
DC
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Doc J on July 13, 2017, 01:03:54 PM
I look forward to seeing it.
Title: Re: The Principality of Stattenland
Post by: Xathrodox86 on July 14, 2017, 04:09:19 AM
I look forward to seeing it.

Ditto.