Overview
The western County of Cryllor is one of Keoland's wealthiest and most strategically powerful provinces. The county stretches along the banks of the Javan, in a fluvial valley cut by the river between the Good Hills and the Little Hills, which border the lands of the Yeomanry League. The walled city of Cryllor (pop. 8,400), whose western district opens onto the banks of the Javan, is the fourth largest in the kingdom, after only Gradsul, Flen, and Niole Dra. The city and its wealthy Suel lord benefit strongly from the river traffic and trade that passes just outside his walls on the road between Niole Dra and Longspear. Additionally, riches are still drawn from the lower Good Hills, much of which finds its way to the markets of Cryllor, where skilled artisans are known for their metalwork. The counties of Flen and Cryllor have been rivals for centuries, but while the rulership of Flen has been relatively stable over that time, the lordship of Cryllor has changed hands many times.
The current count is Lord Ignas Manz, a former warrior turned wealthy lord and civic magnate. His personality is often described as imperious, boorish, and unforgiving, and while Manz is often called a phillistine by rivals in the Court of the Land, this calumny he ascribes to envy, for his success and power in the region are very real. Manz styles himself a merchant prince, and his relative isolation from the rest of the kingdom has bred indifference to the politics of Niole Dra. Count Manz has made himself very wealthy from the ores he draws from prodigious mines in the valley, much to the chagrin of the gnomes of Plim’s Delve, who find his methods unscrupulous. The Count is a firm believer in the concept of bread and circus, and he does not disappoint his citizens. He spreads around just enough of his coin to keep the people happy and his rivals among the lords of the county off balance. Toward this end, Ignas Manz has turned an annual swordmeet held during Brewfest, called the Tocsin of Kelanen, into a festival of competition which draws participants and spectators from across the Sheldomar Valley (and no doubt considerable coin into the count’s coffers).
Count Manz has long harbored a desire to annex the rich highlands in the Little Hills, which are believed to hold unexploited mineral wealth, but has garnered no support to do so from his peers in the Court of the Land. He has made it clear to the Countess Elgarin that any alliance with Flen depends upon her support in this endeavor, which she will not give.