Alghert¶
"The Jewel of Dalmar." — the kingdom's byname among its neighbours (S319)
Contested
This page is named in the open question State of Alghert in 704 SM: the Rivenlands gazetteer (S319) describes a prosperous and secure kingdom in Fall 704 SM, while the Sancturi campaign (S180-S184) describes the same kingdom consumed by a fungal mega-Hollow with its capital in chaos.
Alghert is "a moderate sized kingdom, but very prosperous" of the Riven Kingdoms, "located against the mountains with rivers as natural borders" in the lands of old Dalmar, and "renown for its idyllic prosperity and secure borders" (S319). Its native population is Humans, Dwarves and Wood Elves; its patron is Kalar, God of the Sun; and "no army has penetrated into the kingdom in the last 100 years" (S319). Its capital is Pemeril. Beneath the prosperity the royal house keeps a coven of witches and a pact with a demonlord, and the kingdom's southern half has been given over to a Hollow.
Government¶
The Tugard Dynasty has ruled as an absolute monarchy "for almost 200 years" (S319); the Factions page covers the court and its coven. King Baellin Tugard, "a plump old king" whom "some call the mad king", wishes above all "to keep his kingdom separated from the dirty and corrupt outside world" (S319); his only child and heir is Princess Ewe Tugard, "renown as a great beauty and diplomat." A statue of King Ullric Tugard, a dragonslayer with a two-handed hammer from before the Dark Sun, stands in Pemeril's Temple Park (S184).
Law and borders¶
"There are strict laws against magic use of any sort other than from the Priests of the patron God Kalar. Penalties are harsh, especially for outsiders. Slavery and the Undead are not tolerated" (S319). All are welcome in theory, but "all outsiders are required to have papers issued and travellers are frequently stopped on the king's roads to have their papers checked. Refugees are turned away" (S319); the petty kingdom of Tharne "ends up taking most of the emigrants turned away at Alghert" (S319).
Economy¶
Alghert "takes advantage of several uncorrupted dwarven iron mines. It also is well known for its apples and bread. Alghert smiths and masons are some of the finest in the Kingdoms" (S319). Several nearby kingdoms "are all but vassals, which depend on Alghert for protection and prosperity" (S319). By the summer of the Sancturi campaign "all trade in/out of the kingdom has ceased. Scouts have reported finding empty villages on the borders, those sent deeper into the kingdom have not returned" (S180).
Places¶
- Pemeril, the capital, has its own page.
- The Outpost in the Pass, the village of Amberwatch and the town of Isford mark the party's road into the kingdom (S180); at Amberwatch they met spore demons and a spore fiend, "spore bombers" of the Hollow (S181).
- Blackbush, Gaverat and Mossglen are the lordships of the three witches of the Alghert Coven: Governess Jehanna Motters, Lady of Blackbush; Lord Radulf Erkenger of Gaverat, "who manages much of the handling of refugees"; and Lord Emory Tiebald of Mossglen, Master of Coin, "who manages the Hollow and is proxy Hollowlord" (S181, S182). The sources give the places no description of their own.
- The mountains north of Alghert hide "a deeply buried Aquitanian complex ... used by Namakan priests as a site for Dread (Umber) experiments until they lost control" (S176).
The Hollow of Alghert¶
"The kingdom is a beacon of prosperity, hope and light in an otherwise bleak landscape. But it is? The king and princess harbor many secrets and have made pacts with dark creatures to keep their country safe and prosperous" (S127). By the campaign's account the Hollow is fungal, "Lv 4 at it's center", and "not controlled by Asmodeus": "Alghert is now the site of a Demon vs Devil war" (S181). The Demonlord Adramycos, a fungal demonlord serving the Archdemon Bhaal, had moved in. "Alghert holds a secret: part of the Mithis Heartstone", and the king and princess were "moving mithis object[s] to create/expand the hollow around the vault" (S181). "The hollowing is having a terrible side effect on the populace at this point, though the capitol is largely unaffected. The King and princess have agreed to the plan so long as the hollow is stable, they regain control of Alghert and they have been promised great powers from the long term hollow. The hollow covers most of the southern area of Alghert" (S182). Out in the country are "The Infected", people carrying "demonic spores from Adramycos" with orange pustules, purple ooze running from the trees, and a shadow realm "infected as well" (S181). The piece of the Mithis Heartstone sought here is the Kalamite Chestplate of the Rising Sun, guarded by Selaphiel the Watcher, "a weakened ascendant of Kalar" woken by the Hollow and using it to thwart Bhaal's minions (S182).
The White Fire sent the half-Oesterkull Sivar to "look into darkness falling on Alghert" (S179), and the Keepers of Abaddon held Pemeril's wards. What followed is told on the Pemeril page and in the Sancturi Campaign. An earlier plot note has Princess Ewe worried "that they are ignoring the rising storm (Sancturi, Hollows) and that when the storm hits, they will be helpless" (S133), and the king placing a bounty on the exiled Prince Immeron, living in the Florentine Woodlands with a Kalari relic (S138); Amer, as the campaign came to know him, is a Figures matter.
Later ages¶
In the Proturan reckoning Alghert's end is recorded in the Great Guhvil War: "Alghert, a reclusive, but very prosperous neighboring kingdom fell to the Guhvils and many refugees spilled south into the other northern kingdoms or east into Proturas. Alghert itself was left a sunken swamp after a series of massive floods" (S107); the timeline marks "Alghert Refugees" arriving in Proturas around 675 AL. The Grotto of Proturas "is located near the old kingdom of Alghert, north of old Dalmarr" (S076), and ruins of Alghert lie scattered through the Sunaram Cluster of the Rift (S066). See the Guhvil Wars. At the other end of its history, Alghert is among the nations "rebuilding and prospering" in the first years after the Dark Sun (S326).
Earlier accounts¶
The earliest dynasty note says of the king that "he knows he is guided by witches, but does not realize the full extent of their control" (S154), where the campaign sessions make him and his daughter knowing heads of the coven who "serve Demonlord Adramycos" (S181). The same note gives the king's age as 52 and the princess's as 22, against 48 and 24 in the later gazetteer (S319, S181).
Gap
No source names Alghert's rivers or mountains, its towns beyond those above, or the dates of the Tugard accession and of Ullric Tugard's reign.