The Duchy of Redcrown is the personal fief of the Crown and host to the capital city of the Kingdom, the titular Rivermark. Situated in the southern lowlands of the Rothlin river valley, the Duchy is a broad and flat plain with the Rothlin meandering westward through the center of it. A low line of hills separates Redcrown from its northern neighbor of Turen d’Vri, and to the south the terrain becomes progressively hillier and more rugged as one enters Nal Crioch or the easternmost parts of Dacai a’Coinn.
Redcrown has always been a breadbasket. Its soil is fertile and well-drained, its climate just rainy enough to ensure that its crops never wither from drought but not so wet that it drowns or erodes the soil. This prosperity brought with it the seeds of strife, as Cairnfolk Clanns raided the many towns and villages that spouted up to take advantage of the valley’s fecundity and the nobles of the region fought amongst themselves for control over territory and vassals. The Redcrown Kings rose up out of this cauldron of politics and warfare, forging a single united kingdom that would eventually grow to encompass the entire Rothlin river valley and become the Kingdom of Rivermark of modern times.
Even prior to the formation of the Kingdom and Redcrown’s assuming the role of the nation’s capital, the region has repeatedly been the target of invasion and conquest by the Vauldan Empire. At first, in the War of Mud and Fangs, the Vauldans sought to prevent the Redcrown Kings from uniting the disparate Northern Kingdoms under their rule. Centuries later, well after the Kingdom’s formation, the Empire succeeded in conquering the Duchy during the Gryphonsbane War, displacing the Redcrown Dynasty into a temporary capital within Turen d’Vri for four and a half centuries before the Marchers managed to push them out of the Kingdom during the Night of Baying Hounds.
Now, the capital Duchy is the flourishing heart of the Kingdom and a major hub for the nation’s cultural, economic, and military activities. Trade routes from across the Continent pass through the Rivermark and the other large cities of Redcrown, and the Royal Army has many of its training bases, garrisons, and logistics hubs in strategic locations throughout the Duchy. Grand castles and monuments that equal those of Imperial Vauldan in splendor dot the cities and countryside, and the cities of Redcrown boast some of the most talented musicians and artists on the Continent. Any Marcher who seeks to make a name for themselves will at some point venture into Redcrown, and the Duchy is a living testament to how far the Marchers’ ambitions can take them.