Today, the rolling hills and grasslands south of Zobeck are the provinces of the Magdar Kingdom: a place rich in traditions of chivalry and warfare, where the Widowed Queen Dorytta holds tourneys every summer and hires a great many mercenaries from the Ironcrags when war threatens. The Magdar fight to defend their borders to the east against the wild tribes of the Rothenian Plain and to the south against the akinji, the skirmish troops, and the dragon-blooded sorcerers of the Mharoti Empire. Thanks to this constant conflict, the Magdar have become expert at the use of the war wagon.
Most armies travel with a baggage train: the dwarves prefer mules, the Rothenian centaurs manage with what they carry on their backs, and the armies of the Blood Kingdom rely on zombies. All carry their weapons, food, tents, and other supplies in some form. The Black Army of the Magdar turned this logistical need into a fortification on the open plains where it most often faces its enemies. Their war wagons circle into a tall wall of iron-reinforced wood, a bulwark against attack as good as a wooden palisade.
The war wagons bolster the infantry of the Black Army. Crossbows and even ballistae can be mounted and fired from behind their protective firing slits, and they provide defenses kept strong by sharp-eyed gearforged or rangers This army’s tools and discipline make it doubly effective; it is no peasant army but a professional corps that serves the kingdom year in and out.
Most of the land is united in its devotion to the faiths of Khors and Lada. Indeed, after many years in decline, the worship of Khors has found new strength with the arrival of shadow fey merchants and envoys in Zobeck and (more recently) Cronepisht. Their dark clothes and shadow magic instilled unease in the human citizens, and the priests of Khors offer bright, clear protection from these fey in the form of sun amulets, protective wards for doors and windows, and even blessings to prevent fey glamours from affecting the sight of merchants and buyers in the markets.