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THE CROWNED REPUBLIC OF NEW BYRNIS
Religion: Orthodox Aedak
Race: Human
Description: 
Though not a particularly expansive nation, the Crowned Republic of New Byrnis enjoys considerable wealth and influence, in addition to peculiar status as "Outpost of Southern Civilization" in the North.  Its capital is the most populous city in the region, its navy is among the most powerful, and its army is one of the best-trained and best-equipped.  The Republic dominates the Middle Sea, controlling several islands entirely and possessing fortresses on others.  However, more important than its direct naval presence are a series of special pacts governing the passage it represents, together known as the Statutes of Monopoly.  Backed by the force of the Kingdom of Byrnia in the South, and agreed to by the other two Great Kingdoms of the continent, the Statutes effectively make the Republic of New Byrnis exclusive commercial intermediary between North and South.


History:
The sprawling city of New Byrnis was “founded” by Imperial Survaekom military and administrative forces who saturated the old Northern city of Elias in the early stages of the Conquest. Though its population was (and remains) mixed between those of Southern and Northern origin, its cultural environment very quickly became overwhelmingly Southern.

Upon the establishment of the Northern Contract, New Byrnis was officially made capital of the Northern Empire. It became seat of the Vizier of the North, highest representative and enforcer of the Sword of Aed in the region. This made New Byrnis the center of many networks: Logistical center of the Imperial Fort system, command center of the Northern Surv-Akur, commercial center of the Southern Shores, and diplomatic center mediating the relations of the vassal-lords. Naturally, the city and its surrounding villages grew large and wealthy over the forty years of Imperial rule in the North.

During the Fifteen Years' War, although New Byrnis never had to face the horrors of a siege, it took on heavy burdens in resources and in human life to support Imperial military needs. When rebellions broke out in the South, then-Vizier Adjuran Sujjid secretly negotiated with the lords of Elon and Juturna. The three defected from the Imperial camp as a league, dealing a death-blow to any hope of Imperial victory. Yet, this decision too had costs. The forts and administrative webs that had projected New Byrnis influence crumbled without the Southern Empire to support and defend them, and much of the Northern Imperial army either rejected the defection or deserted outright rather than remain loyal to the Vizier.  Thus, New Byrnis itself emerged from the war relatively unscathed, but its reach and power outside was much diminished. The only remaining Imperial Fort under its authority was the adjacent Yvor's Keep. Most of the city's commercial and diplomatic connections had fallen apart, especially after Mog Bhelnom was lost to the Almur and Juturna swept over by a native rebellion.

Since the end of the Fifteen Years' War, New Byrnis' history has been one of simultaneously rising power and contentious internal rivalry.  After only a few years of peace, the recently-declared "Free City of New Byrnis" held its first elections, resulting in the defeat of reigning Grand Mayor and former Vizier Adjuran Sujjid at the hands of Ishui Veliu.  Veliu worked swiftly to halt the city's decline, forming ties with other Northern realms while subjecting others to conquering ambitions: the Kingdom of Hessnya lost a third of its territory in a humiliating treaty without a shot fired, while various petty fiefdoms under old Imperial Forts were taken by sieges with the help of Northern allies.  Yet, by the time of the Great Northern War, Veliu was murdered and her family deposed by the Sujjids, critical of her drift towards the Sefti-dominated "Orthodox Bloc" at the expense of relations with non-Aedakom.  Grand Mayor Eyan Sujjid, son and heir of the late Adjuran, would lead the Free City in the coming war, rushing to the defense of Elon and Vinaya.  Though the city was ultimately successful in this regard, war would leave the New Byrnian countryside scarred and deprive it of several island holdings.

After the war, the Sujjids would pursue a policy of "Northern pre-eminence," hoping to restore goodwill among the Northern realms by prompting a regional network of preferential commercial treaties while reducing ties to the South.  This was one step too far, however, for the rising Kingdom of Byrnia in the South.  Officially an intervention by the Southern Ishuis (one of the great families of Byrnia) on behalf of their Northern branch, the short Peninsula Campaign saw a Byrnian intervention fleet decimate the Free City's fleet.  A daring landing by Byrnia's Royal Marines would see the Sujjids deposed again, this time permanently: Those who survived were imprisoned, taken South, and "returned" to their ancestral homeland in Raethon.

To solidify the hold of the restored Ishui Dynasty, New Byrnis was declared a Crowned Republic, harkening to Old Lucente's system of hereditary rule in the trappings of a Merchant Republic.  Furthermore, as Byrnia won its own campaigns against its Southern rivals, the "Two Byrnis" negotiated the Statutes of Monopoly from a position of strength.  Of course, the vast majority of Southern trade already passed through New Byrnis, and in some ways the Statutes simply rubber-stamped an existing reality.

THE STONEFOOT CLAN
Religion: Orcish Aedak (Aedakom Heresy)
Race: Orc
Description:
The Stonefoot are one of the primary, voting clans of the Greater Tribe of Orcland.  In contrast to the contentious House politics of the Firetooth or the warrior society of the Jaggedfist, the Stonefoot Clan is much closer to the monarchies elsewhere in the North.  Though other Houses continue to exist and hold formal position on the Clan Council, House Boarsplitter stands securely as "first among equals."  Due to a century of extensive reforms, the army and the bureaucracy are relatively centralized and loyal to the de facto ruling dynasty, as well as to the Stonefoot brand of Orcish Aedak.
History: 
When the combined might of the Imperial Army and the Northern Vassals defeated the great Wasteland Horde sent to conquer the East, the wastelander orcs were thrown into disarray.  The victors were quick to proselytize to the defeated, who were more than receptive now that their old gods had been humiliated.  Yet, only partway into the conversion process, the Fifteen Years' War erupted and left the wastelander converts to develop their theology largely by themselves.  Unsurprisingly, their version of Aedak was rather unorthodox.  Nonetheless, it was a powerful unifying force, and eventually power was concentrated into the hands of the Stonefoot Clan, which had preserved more power and prestige after the war than its counterparts.  Soon they ruled as proper feudal lords, sustained by a mix of Wastelander, Firetooth, and Southern influences.

The clan and its ruling House Boarsplitter would proceed to make a name for themselves for two competing tendencies.  First, they would act as steadfast allies of the Firetooth Clan and its project to unite the orcs under a Greater Tribe, joining in their campaigns against the Kazan and the Ironskull and even the Great Northern War.  Second, all the while, they would seek to preserve their political and ecclesiastical independence from suspected Firetooth and Orthodox meddling through aggressive centralizing reforms.  Land was craftily swindled from competing Houses and awarded to migrant Wastelanders, granting House Boarsplitter a loyal and militarily fearsome landed gentry.  Village militias were sidelined under the pretext of "generously" reducing their obligations while increasing taxes, and this money was funneled into a great expansion of Stonefoot professional infantry and artillery forces.  Priests were granted privileges and Clan resources, and in partnership with the consolidating state they formalized a rigid clerical hierarchy in Stonefoot territory.  From the growing ranks of subjects personally loyal to House Boarsplitter came a new generation of tax collectors and, later, the beginnings of a full "modern" bureaucracy like those of the Southern Kingdoms, from whom the Stonefoot Clan drew no small inspiration.

Now the Stonefoot stand as the most centralized and some would say Absolutist of the Orcish Clans.  While this has greatly benefited the power of its rulers and essentially nullified the power of its former rivals, new sources of discontent grow as heavy taxation burdens the peasantry and Wasteland-descended feudal aristocrats find their recent privileges curtailed as a mere stepping-stones to Boarsplitter dominance.  However, they maintain one particularly loyal ally: The exiled Ironskull Clan, who accepted the Stonefoot as host (and de facto lord protector) in the face of Jaggedfist bloodlust and hatred for the Firetooth - the primary instigators of Ironskull demise.

THE JAGGEDFIST CLAN
Religion: Orcish Aedak (Aedakom Heresy)
Race: Orc
Description:
One of the primary voting clans of Orcland, the Jaggedfist are a clan of professional warriors: Their rights of passage include fighting in the pits, and they often continue to do so for sport or to gain renown.  Though sharing the Wastelanders' devotion to martial valor, the Jaggedfist consider themselves quite distinct from the nomads, whom they regard as ancestral enemies.  Though they have accepted Wastelander participation in the Greater Tribe, the Jaggedfist still remember the crimes against their legendary founder Kurja, much as Wastelanders remember Jaggedfist atrocities against the Ironskull and their orcish pagan allies.  Outside of the Orclands, the Clan is known for its fierce infantry -often sought after as mercenaries- and its powerful shamans.
History:
According to legend, the Jaggedfist Clan was founded by Kurja, an orc imprisoned by Wastelanders until he slaughtered his captors and their Chieftain in a pit he had dug himself.  They suffered as much as the Firetooth from the Great Wasteland Horde of the Imperial Era, and therefore were eager to convert after the Horde's defeat to cement a partnership with other settled orcs.  However, like the Stonefoot they would end up adopting Orcish Aedak amidst the turmoil of the Fifteen Years' War.

Also like the Stonefoot, the Jaggedfist would accompany the Firetooth in their wars against Ironskull, Kazan, and the defenders of Elon.  However, unlike the Stonefoot, they stubbornly maintained their traditional political and social organization, refusing even many of the strictly military innovations the Firetooth would adopt.  To this day, even minor clans consider the Jaggedfist archaic, but their enduring place as second most powerful clan remains undisputable.

THE IRONSPEAR CLAN
Religion: Orthodox Aedak
Race: Orc
Description: A semi-nomadic client-Clan of the Firetooth. The Ironspear are economically dependent on their much more populous and militarily powerful neighbor. The Ironspear were originally forged from dozens of smaller clans and independent houses in the wake of the Kazan War, and continue to have a large diversity in customs and groups. These disparate elements are held together by House Ironspear with the patronage of the Firetooth, as well as control of the city of New Arkhaer, the economic heart of the Ironspear and one of three major wasteland cities. Militarily the Ironspear maintain a large number of cavalry, especially the feared wasteland warg riders.
History: A little over one hundred years ago the Firetooth sent out preachers and diplomats into the wastes, seeking support for a campaign to drive the Kazan Khanate out of traditionally Orcish lands. Odoacer Ironspear, at the time a minor warlord leading a coalition of small houses, answered the call. The campaign itself was swift and completely successful: the Kazan simply did not have the numbers or technology to fight off a united host of Orcs. They were forcefully evicted from the southern wastes.

As a reward for his assistance, the Firetooth granted Odoacer control over New Arkhaer and most of the southern wastes. Odoacer took this land and granted it to various other Clans and Houses in exchange for fealty and tribute, essentially knitting together a new Clan and elevating the Ironspear from a simple House to a new Clan. With control of New Arkhaer the fledgling clan had a significant economic center, and was able to grow and develop. Odoacer would continue to support the Firetooth in later wars against the Sacrye and Elon, and for his assistance the Ironspear were granted voting seats in the Tribe of Orcland.

Since the founding of the Tribe, the Ironspear have grown prodigiously thanks to the economic support of the Firetooth. More than half of the Ironspear's trade is with their patron Clan. They also act as the Tribe's southern bulwark against potential invasion, an important role given the constant threat of Elonese frontiersmen and rangers.

THE WOLFWYRD CLAN
Religion: Orthodox Aedak 
Race: Orc
Description: A semi-nomadic and historically peaceable clan, the Wolfwyrd have avoided the wars that plagued the North and particularly the Wastelands over the last century.  Although it sends observers to the Council, Wolfwyrd is the only "major" orcish clan that has not officially joined the Greater Tribe of Orcland.  In fact, they have historically held the Firetooth in great suspicion for their competing claims over the Urag mountains.
History:   Wolfwyrd is the "newest" of the major orcish clans, formed in the Imperial Era little more than twelve decades ago. Otsana gra Ortzi, a warrior of the wasteland orcs disinherited for her interest in the Aedak religion, traveled the wastes gathering others of similar views from the later years of Yvor until the peak of Vokoryn's reign. Under her leadership, those orcs disenfranchised and disillusioned with the Wasteland Orcs’ barbarian lifestyle assembled. They lived as nomads to keep from drawing attention until their numbers grew large enough to found permanent settlements. With the creation of a few small villages in the nearer regions of the wastes, Otsana laid claim to the land and declared her followers to be a new clan, calling themselves the Wolfwyrd.

As the Great Wasteland Horde assembled, threatening her people as much as the other Northerners, Otsana travelled to meet with representatives of the Grand Survaek Empire, to petition for vassal status and make clear that her people were not a part of the aggressions. While she was able to establish her tribe as separate and negotiate its status as a kingdom, Otsana’s party was ambushed by a large group of Wastelanders on its way back to the Wolfwyrd’s city. Her injuries left her badly crippled and bed-ridden, and she passed the leadership of the clan to her daughter Lukene.

Under Lukene, the Wolfwyrd Clan would develop a tense relationship with the Firetooth, who attacked her people over claims in the Urag Mountains.  The brief conflict would end in Vaekirate mediation, but the wounded trust between Wolfwyrd and Firetooth would never fully heal.  While formally siding with the Vaekirate during the Fifteen Years' War, the clan would see little action, hesitant to cooperate with the Firetooth and too far from any major fronts to project force on its own.  In the aftermath, she and her heirs would see "Wolfwyrd" become synonymous with "neutrality."  The clan neglected to participate on either side of Firetooth "liberation" wars, avoided the Great Northern War, and even refused to participate in the formation of Orcland.