The former heartlands of the Magnapuri Empire, around Magnapur are often described to be in the "Shadow of Magnapur", for there is little memory of life there before the Empire, or languages outside the Magnapuri tongues. When the Empire prospered, many cities and towns grew in the area, ruled by a few noble high elves, but vastly outnumbered by the slave races they had cultivated. The land is flat and fertile, with lots of rich farmland, and the land roundwards of Magnapur is somewhat protected from the storms that come off the Sabhyan Ocean. Though much of the coast flooded after the fall of the Empire and supposed death of the Magna, much of the land remains highly populated.
Following the proclamation of emancipation from the Magna in Schvataur, many of the noble families who relied on slaves in this region rose in rebellion against the mandate, and in turn their slaves rose against them, causing bloody civil war. One who didn't was Haryman, the Thakur of Ikandore, a smaller and poorer city most that was located in a drier, colder area and produced more root crops that grains or vines. Haryman embraced emancipation, and struck a deal with the former slaves of his demesne to form an army and expand his territory into the lands of his neighbours.
This strategy was incredibly effective, and over a couple of decades, Haryman had conquered much of the land roundwards of Magnapur. In return for his conversion to the Femenite faith, and freeing of the slaves, Grey Rock proclaimed Haryman the Raja of Ikand. However, in doing so the new Raja faced dissent from the high elves that still largely populated his government. Haryman was a bastard of a larger noble house that had been disgraced and largely wiped out in the revolution and ensuing wars (many of whom were slain by Haryman's own soldiers), so bore little respect from his oftentimes more ennobled councillors. The canny young Raja had a solution. Early in his conquests, he had conquered the Thakurate of Istenpore, the former seat of Sanja Fairmaiden, and imprisoned her two children, a young girl named Saraya, and an infant boy named Palash. The boy disappeared in suspicious circumstances, and Haryman betrothed himself to Saraya, claiming the name of Fairmaiden and the connection to the imperial bloodline as his own.
The Ikand Rajdom continued to prosper under Haryman and his descendants as a rich and fertile Rajdom. The royal bloodline has stayed purely high elven, and High Magnapuri speaking, and proclamations from the Pyrux Magnum Grey Rock have often been met with lukewarm assent. A token effort has been made in the crusades, Grey Rock justices are permitted entry but not always obeyed stricly, and tithes are frequently late or incomplete, causing some sabre rattling from the more devout Bookburner forces. After a bout of particularly pointed sabre rattling from an aggressively pious Pyrux Magnum, the Rani at the time donated the lands of Rockwatch Tower to the faith, a stretch of land along the coast overlooking Grey Rock. This managed to head off disagreements with the church, though tensions have still simmered for some time.
The current Rani of Ikand is known as the Weeping Rani, for tragedy claimed her husband and children as the ship they were on set ablaze and sunk while at harbour in Istenpore. It is said she has never smiled since, and wears all black in mourning. Of her family, only her grandson survives, a young boy that the Rani keeps close at all times. The Rani is known to be a hard ruler, and rumoured to lack faith in the Bookburners, instead worshipping the old Gods of the Masters. Her stance on slavery is officially emancipation, but she makes use of large numbers of criminals and prisoners of war that never seem to end up serving their sentences or returning to their homelands, causing great consternation with the church, though she upholds laws on pyromancy with an iron fist.
Prior to his death, her husband, a wealthy second son from the Line of Dost and Dast of the Dastipur Rajdom, inspired her to begin her the lengthy series of conflicts with the Pundran Magnacy known as the Swamp Wars. Officially, especially to Grey Rock, the conflict is the emancipate the slaves of Pundrapur and end the Line of Lord Lust. However, it seems a different goal is the aim - the Fairmaidens seem to be seeking a claim for the ruins of Magnapur itself. Rumour has it that if she takes Magnapur, the Weeping Rani will declare herself Magna and the true heir to the Empire, by right of her bloodline and conquest.