The Lunar Empire governor, Euglyptus the Fat, appointed Jomes Hostralos, a Lunar officer, to lead raids against the Telmori. Jomes had experience of fighting the Telmori in his homeland, and his men were used to guerilla warfare. In a daring raid, Jomes captured two of the Telmori leaders and then executed one of them. He also slew the beast brother of Kostajor Wolf-Champion, “King of the Telmori,” and wore its skin. Then he forced the Telmori to negotiate peace and exchange hostages. After that, people called Jomes ‘Wulf.’
The Lunar Empire rewarded Jomes by granting him the old Maboder lands and its survivors. The grateful Jonstown Confederation did not protest, despite angry protests from the remaining Maboder.
Officially called Jomesland, most people refer to Jomes’ Lunar grant as Wulfsland. The grant extends south from the Creek bordered by the Heort Creek, and the Red Cow, to the west. To the east lie the Dogbone Hills and Torkan's Vale, as far as Dinosaur Hill in the south.
The land rises from the Heort Creek in the west to the Dogbone Hills in the east. Settlements cluster along the Creek in a rough line from Stonegate Fort to Red Cow Fort, with
the number dropping off as you travel south toward Stagland.
As of 1618, there are 3,000 people in Wulfsland, 1,500 settlers, and 1,500 slaves, mostly Maboder survivors. Of these 1650 are adults, and 1350 children. Of the adults, around 100 are elders. They are roughly equal numbers of men and women. Most adults work on the land either farming or hunting.
Colonist Origins
Most of the settlers are Lunar veterans owed lands for service. The veterans tend to be ultra-loyal refusing to hear a bad word said about ‘Old Wulf.’ From Aggar, the settlers’ lives are similar to their Sartarite cousins and many worship Barntar, and even Orlanth, as well as the Seven Mothers. Many have taken wives from among the surviving Maboder women, married into the Cinsina, Aranwyth, and Torkani and married off their daughters in return.
Thralls
The Maboder survivors returned to their land as thralls for the new homesteaders, marked out by their close-cropped hair and leather slave-collars. A few Maboder women earned their freedom as wives for the new settlers and a few Maboder men earned theirs when the masters gave them weapons to help defend the village. Most continue to live in servitude.
The life of thralls varies; nobles, thanes, and priests may have domestic slaves and tend to treat them well, treating them as servants; artisans tend to have skilled thralls, who are valued possessions; farmers tend to have laborers, who do the most back-breaking work on the farm — their lives are often short. The cult of Ernalda the Slave is popular amongst the thralls. This is Ernalda in her aspect as a prisoner of the Emperor’s Court, before Orlanth freed her. She teaches endurance and forbearance to her faithful.
Political Factions
Jomes is the ruler of his grant. There is no challenge to his rule, and the succession of the grant is his to decide. Jomes has little time for talk of ‘chosen leaders’ and stamps on those who call for elections. He has no time for the Orlanthi principle that ‘No one can make you do anything.’
An underground movement, the Daughters of Mabodh, exists among the slaves, keeping the worship of Orlanth and the promise of liberation alive.
As well as being a governor of his own lands, Jomes is also a Field Commander within the army.
- The Imperial Loyalists say that Jomes’ first loyalty is to the Empire and that it must work to further the ambitions of the Lunar governor Fazzur Wideread in subjugating Sartar.
- The Own Two Feet movement believes that the grantland should look to its own needs, characterizing the Empire as a disinterested parent at best. They point to Jomes’ alliance with the Sartarite tribes during the Wolf Hunt, the friendly cooperation with the Jonstown Confederation in maintaining the ‘fence against the wolves’, and intermarriage with local clans and say ‘we need to form alliances with these people, not alienate them.’
- The rebels of the Daughters of Mabodh know that this is Maboder land and will fight for its return. They seek the return of the rule of their line of queens and their old lands. They want to throw Jomes out. War makes strange bedfellows, and the remnants of a tribe who collaborated with the Empire, now find themselves allied with those who would expel all remnants of the Empire from Sartar.