The history of the Leurens Protectorate begins during the time of the Empire of Anhkvaris.  In 589 a hobgoblin tribe that had fled the Eastern Drakenscales was allowed to settle in the Northern Palatinate by the emperor of Anhkvaris.  In exchange for land to live on and imperil protection the hobgoblin tribe agreed to aid the empire militarily.  This experiment was found to be a success and more tribes were allowed to settle in the border zones, mostly hobgoblin and orc and these two races were found to be able to control themselves.  Given security, plenty of food to eat and an outlet to their natural aggression (in military operations organized by the empire) these humanoid tribes settled down into a semi-civilized state.  Some of these humanoids even began to learn trades mostly farming.

     During the Great War with Telargen humanoid troops were used more and more by Anhkvaris as casualties mounted.  As the war progressed Anhkvaris encouraged their humanoid allies to recruit from humanoid tribes outside the empire in an attempt to hold off the Telaragen advance.  Finally it became evident that Anhkvaris was going to lose the war and the humanoid tribes returned home to prepare to defend their own lands.  After the cataclysmic destruction of the Ankhvaris capital Telargen found its forces were spread to thin, and with trouble brewing back home, they decided to hire humanoid tribes to subdue and govern a portion of the enemy lands.   This area was called the Leurens Protectorate as most of the land included in it was of the old kingdom of Leurens.  The most powerful leader of the humanoids was made Imperial Governor and left to his own devices.  The humanoids made quick work of the remaining defenses in the area they were to govern and settled down to rule in the name of the emperor of the west.

     The first Imperial Governor succeeded in leading the Protectorate for the remainder of his life as the memory of the Telargen victory was fresh in the minds of the humanoids.  After his death one of his sons took up the governorship and only ruled for a few years before being challenged and defeated by another tribal leader.  Things stabilized under the new leader, but after a dozen years he was in turn challenged and defeated.  This led to a miserable period for the human population serving under the humanoids as one leader after another was defeated and replaced in quick succession.  It was realized that this process could not go on and the most powerful leaders met to discuss what could be done.  Several plans were brought forward including a simple partition of the protectorate between the tribes but in the end a plan thought up by a human advisor was approved.  Under this plan the leader of each of the main tribes would rotate being governor for three years a term.

     The period of the rotating leadership brought much stability to the nation and it is during this time that a distinct Leurens society developed.  Almost 40 years ago the system of rotating leaders unraveled as two of the warlords allied and in lightning strikes succeeded in coming to power.  It did not take long for one of these lords to betray the other and seize total power.  This new lord abolished the old tribes and made it so that the warrior lords reported to him directly.  The current ruler is the grandson of this leader and the system has worked successfully for 3 generations.  It should be noted that each of the leaders has always taken the title of Imperial Governor and pay at least lip service to an "emperor of the west", even though no such emperor has existed for many years.

     Imperial Governor - This position is now hereditary in the Ironclaw clan, and is the highest position in Leurens.  They have complete control of foreign affairs and the military.  They have the power to create or dismiss lords (though the latter is rarely used) as well and raise a commoner to the warrior class.  The current governor is Zorgesh II.

     Lord Chamberlain - This position is recent creation, only going back to the first of the Ironclaw governors.  Ettiene D'Aliers (of an old minor noble family under the empire) has held this post since it's creation 36 years ago.  It is his duty to run the Governor's court, including the scheduling of meetings with the Governor himself.  It is primarily for this duty that it was decided this job would go to a human who (it was hoped) could be more neutral in his dealings with each of the lords than choosing someone from one of the clans.

     Lords - The lords act as governors of small lordships (often called baronies) within the protectorate.  These lords are responsible for maintaining order and collecting taxes (a large portion of which is due the governor).  Also the lords are bound to supply military units to the governor if called on to do so.  The lords have a large degree of autonomy in how they run their area and their treatment of humans run from oppressive and evil to enlightened and almost equality.  Currently there are 31 lords (24 hobgoblin, 7 orc).

     Free Mayor - Free Mayors are appointed (usually for life) by the governor to rule the independent cities of the protectorate.  Later on these cities formed the nucleus of human "reservations".  There are eight of these reservations in the protectorate.

For more on the political make-up of the protectorate see here.

     Much of the society of Leurens developed in the time of the rotating leadership.  The upper crust of society is the local lords, each of whom govern a part of the protectorate in the name of the emperor.  These lords developed from the clan leaders of the old tribes.  Under the lords is the, one could almost say the caste of warriors.  The warriors are the only ones entitled to wield a weapon greater than a dagger and their position is hereditary, though the governor can appoint someone to the warrior "caste".  These warriors always serve one of the lords or the governor, for any that find themselves dismissed and can not find a new lord become outlaw and are either killed or flee the protectorate.

     The majority of the population are commoners, with most of the commoners being human.  In most of the lordships the condition of the commoners has gotten better over time.  Some have even been able to rise into positions of authority in the local or national administration, though technically they remain under the least of the warriors.  Also in this group are a large number of mixed human/humanoid peoples as well as some pure humanoids descended from disgraced warriors who chose to become a commoner instead of suffer exile or death.

     At the bottom of the heap are the slaves which can be of any race.  Commoners are forbidden to own slaves (though there are ways of getting around this) so only warriors and mostly the lords own them.  There are also populations of goblins and kobolds that live in Leurens but these races for the most part have no position and are often killed outright by the warriors if they get the impulse.

    Leurens is blessed by a number of large rivers which not only enables river transport but also large irrigated fields.  The entire eastern border is dominated by the Drakenscale Mountains, which restrict travel further east except for a few passes.

    Except for the White Wolf Hills and a lesser branch of the Drakenscales cutting through the middle of the protectorate the land is generally flat.  

Population & Settlements :

    Fasnan is the second most populous city in the protectorate owed largely to the immense mineral wealth of the nearby mountains.  Huge deposits of iron, tin, silver and copper have been found as well as several promising veins of gold.  Smiths of all kinds and quality can be found here, and the city is the main arms producer of the protectorate.  The latter fact has led to the designation of a special imperial overseer to watch over iron and arms production.

    Neuflis has a large textile industry, importing wool from the lordships to the east, as well as using some locally grown cotton.  Neuflis is also the site of a yearly cattle drive as the lords from the Voire Plain bring in part of their herds to be butchered and prepared.

    Most of the other free cities are involved in trade industries, but are not especially noteworthy.  An exception being Lorraise which builds a majority of the boats that ply the river systems.

    There is only city of any size outside the "free cities" and that is the capital of Luechek.  There are over 70,000 inhabitants of the sprawling city.

    Over the past couple hundred years there has been a steady migration of Ratheeri into the Entremont Forest and have now started to settle in Noan forest.  There have been several minor skirmishes between these Ratheeri and Leurens troops, but the government of Leurens so far has not done anything about it.

    The other (unnamed) towns on the map have a population between two and five thousand people.  There are numerous other small towns, villages and such that are not marked on the map.