Duchy of Ashlar The Known World & Raging Swan Press The current year for our homebrewed campaign setting is set during 672 CY (Common Year). Inspired By Gary Gygax

The Duchy of Ashlar is a small, isolated realm clustered around the cold, treacherous waters of Hard Bay, with a population of approximately 63,200. The forbidding Forest of Gray Spires forms its southern boundary, while the rugged Dying Hills mark its western reaches. Between its settled lands stretches the Salt Mire, a vast marsh that nearly divides the duchy in two.

Outsiders sometimes dismiss Ashlar as “Fenland,” but its inhabitants are hardy, resilient people accustomed to difficult terrain, savage weather, and the dangers of frontier life. Ashlar is ruled from its capital, Languard, by Duke Armas Nenonen, a elderly half-elf descended from the adventurer who founded the duchy almost six centuries ago.

Hereditary lords administer their own holdings and swear loyalty to the duke, enjoying considerable independence provided they refrain from oppressing their subjects or openly warring against their neighbors. Nevertheless, ambition and rivalry complicate local affairs. The competing claims of Wido Gall of Dulwich and Hilduin Lorsch of Woodridge over Longbridge—and its valuable crossing revenues—demonstrate how political disputes can threaten trade and unsettle nearby communities. Most Ashlarians live in villages or scattered rural households, supporting themselves through farming, fishing, hunting, woodcutting, and charcoal making. Languard, Dulwich, and Dunstone are the duchy’s principal centres of commerce and skilled craftsmanship, connected by the Great South Road. Dulwich prospers through lumber, pottery, and wool, while Languard’s harbour supports trade and shipbuilding. Increasing merchant wealth challenges the traditional authority of nobles and priests, with guilds seeking greater influence over taxation, commerce, and government.

Religion and organised fellowships help bind Ashlar’s scattered settlements together. Darlen represents law, justice, and the sun; Conn watches over community, family, and rulership; Abarin governs industry and artifice; and Serat is revered by those whose lives depend upon the sea. The Order of the Watch Eternal, devoted to Darlen, defends the duchy and its common people from its strongholds at Tor Abbey and Languard.

Notable Settlements
• Dulwich

Notable Locations
• Valentin's Folly

Meanwhile, the Sagacious Masters of the Eldritch Nexus pursue magical learning from their fortified Black Tower, and the feared Shadow Masks dominate Languard’s criminal underworld. Beyond Ashlar’s walls and cultivated fields lie the remains of older peoples and kingdoms. The immense dungeon of Gloamhold honeycombs the Mottled Spire, while forgotten tombs, abandoned strongholds, and fallen dwarven halls await exploration elsewhere.

Near Dulwich, the ruined Shadowed Keep, once the home of Valentin Ironwolf, shelters bandits, Blood Moon goblins, and deeper supernatural dangers. Ancient evils persist beneath the landscape, and the duchy’s defenders cannot safeguard every road or investigate every ruin. Adventurers consequently find plentiful opportunities to earn their livelihoods, recover lost treasures, and protect communities living within reach of the wilderness.