DIRECCION GENERAL DE COMISIÓN DE CINE

The Protectorate was leased to a Marienburg trading cartel led by House Fooger in 2404. The company was named Eureko. As part of a complicated legal manoeuvre shares were also transferred to two firms PKO and PZU that are both to be found dominating all aspects of business within the Colony.

In part, the success of the Commonwealth of Mazovia led to the purchase, but it also ensured that the price was higher than would otherwise have been obtained for an apparently failing colony. The lease was for 150 years, and one reason for the Marienburg component of WheatCEF is to discover why recent profits have not been returned to the shareholders, how to maximise financial returns from the colony before its return to Kislev and why PKO and PZU were recently transacting with business interests outside the cartel.

Nieuw Jutonsryk’s primary exports are high quality gunpowder, corn (gin), wool and linen. The province has closely guarded their secret of manufacturing powder that gives off white (rather than black) gun smoke. Timber is also available around Maas, although felling is very difficult due to the current fighting within this Protectorate pocket inside nominal Hegemony lands.

The Protectorate is governed by a triumvirate of important families – those of Pekao, Handlowy and Slaski. Each family has its own business interests and shares within the two companies – the prime reason for a lack of profit to Eureko.

Due to the colony’s current ownership, the people of Nieuw Jutonsryk are known locally as menheers.

Raska

Raska is the only other colony, after Hunedoara, to retain its loyalty to Tsar Radii Bokha and this is primarily due to a lack of interest in formalising its effectively independent status, coupled with the localised nature of the state’s power structure. Central control is too weak in Raska to succeed in a co-ordinated breakaway; rather each region would rather treat separately for favoured treatment on its own. Given its importance to the Kislevan military as a centre for gunpowder and consequent arms manufacture, Raska has always been favoured in its dealings with Kislev. Exports are saltpetre, manufactured gunpowder and guns. Production traditionally remains small- scale by faktors, small industrialists who manufacture themselves or own a few small factories. However in recent years a small number of powerful figures have arisen and begun to consolidate production within a small number of ‘state arsenals’. This has been achieved with the backing of a Kislev desperate for ever more guns within a limited ability to pay, and the United Commonwealth’s own needs. Originally, the extension of production into the blacksmiths and similar craftsmen of the region was thought capable of meeting demand, but this proved unfeasible – and impacted badly upon those in need of normal smithing services. Proposals were made to the Tsar and the Duma to centralise production, and approval was rushed through due to the desperate state of the Kislevan military. The social structure of Raska was changed immediately through state- sponsored creation of monopolistic powerful armaments ‘businesses’ called faktorier. The most powerful of these ‘new men’ is Diophantes Bossan, but others include Ronneby and Orebro. Kislev has appointed Victor Melderstein its Gun Inspector and he is responsible for the collection, inspection and transportation to Kislev of the guns. Melderstein has found himself in an impossible position. Without doubt, locally produced faktor guns remain of better quality, but more expensive. Faktorier guns have proven prone to jamming, but are more easily mass produced and very cheap. Either he accepts cheap junk from those licensed by Kislev (and is accused by Kislev of accepting poor quality) or he approves quality weapons (and faces demands from Kislev for quantity that faktors cannot meet, and complaints by faktors that they have not been paid and from faktorier that he is breaking their deal with Kislev). One cause of contention that had recently come to light was that the Grand Prince had set the gun production quota for export to Kislev higher than Kislev itself had done, and had been retaining the surplus for his (the United Commonwealth’s) own use. He claimed it necessary for the protection of all; Raska saw it as profiteering.

Raska has tended to adopt a less antagonistic relationship with the Hill Men, replacing military domination with economic. Local production of linen and wool has been traded with raw ores from the mountains to underpin the production of weapons. Raska has been attacked within the current wars, but has been less affected. Its geographical location has assisted, but its less aggressive stance has also made it less of a natural target.

The military in Raska has a surprisingly limited use of the firearm. Although the musket has replaced the crossbow and the army is equipped with musket and pike, the musket is only used as a short-range weapon. Tactics are to fire once at short range and then charge into melee and ‘get stuck in’ with sword, axe and bayonet. In part this is due to the part-time basis of much of the military but experience has also shown that the

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quickest means of beating typical goblinoid and Marauder opponents is a quick rush with ‘cold steel’. Training in the musket has also proven difficult. Another area of shortage caused by the lack of support from Kislev has been the drill officer, resulting in musketeers being ill used to long fire-fights with their muskets. Politically, whilst everyone in Raska is theoretically mobilised to use a musket and production is heavily decentralised, the actual right to carry a firearm is not allowed since the ruling elite are afraid of the consequences of an armed population. The bayonet is an invention of the region. The Colonies tend to rely on small formations for patrol and the chasing of raiders. This leaves musketeers without the usual protection of pikemen and so the bayonet was developed as an alternative to long knives that were frequently attached to the gun.

Ohrid: The administrative capital of Raska is the town of Ohrid, which is located in

probably the best agricultural land in the whole region. However, lack of co-operation between the Colonies and the failure in trade has resulted in each attempting to produce everything for themselves rather than specialise in whatever is geographically more appropriate. The land is thus under-utilised. The town itself shows clear signs of having suffered from assault and a loss of population. The current wooden town wall and palisade quite clearly (in places) is built through what were once outer suburbs of the town, which have rotted over time whilst leaving traces of buildings, roads and refuse.

Technically Prince Sundsvall rules the colony both as Governor for the Tsar and in his own right through his personal landownings. However, his family were ‘granted’ this honour since they were out of favour at the time, and little has happened to change this state. Indeed, the Sundsvall family has become embittered over the years and effectively ceased trying to run the province, but simply ‘feather their own nest’. This enabled local towns and local industrial interests to gain power at the expense of the centre, a tendency supported by many in Kislev more interested in cheap product than social order and minor nobility far out to the east.

Finspong: Bossan runs Finspong. The satellite villages of Loshaltbossan and Knallbossan

are the primary sources of saltpetre, which is then shipped to Finspong.

Jernbolaget: Jernbolaget is the second region of gunpowder and gun production. Akers

(Prince Sundsvall’s seat) is primarily responsible for gunpowder, whilst Arboga and Linkoping are the two ‘new men’.

Other Settlements: These include the town of Nordiska (Orebro’s base of operations),

Ruthenia

Ruthenia is in open revolt against Tsar Radii Bokha and the other members of the Colonial Commonwealth. It has always felt aggrieved at the method by which the Colonies have-been managed, particularly as it has always tried to operate a more conciliatory policy towards the Hill Men. There area number of reasons for this. Obviously its geographical location bordering the mountains encourages moderation, but Ruthenia was established in co-ordination with the powerful tribes already resident here and not by direct conquest, such as occurred at Hunedoara. Indeed, early attempts at this were defeated. Today, a sizeable part of the population is people descended from the original inhabitants. Ruthenia also recognised independent kingdoms on its border and has traded with them for centuries. It also opposed Hunedoaran expansion into the mountains. This is not to say that Ruthenia is allied formally to the Hill Men, since the current attacks have been initiated by the mountain dwellers, rather than those in the plains with whom the colony deals with.

Ruthenia breeds ponies and mules for United Commonwealth consumption and also trades dogs obtained from the local tribes of Hill Men. Exports are iron, lead, copper, zinc as raw materials and also worked items in these metals. Wool is also exported. More recently, blacksmiths and similar craftsmen have moonlighted for the state to produce guns for its militias. Each is expected to produce one gun per week; having developed the expertise, those they produce in excess of their quota can be sold for export to the Hill Men. Small-scale wood production for gun stocks has been developed recently.

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Vlachistan

Vlachistan is an independent colony in its own right and has never been part of the Colonial Commonwealth, but was always an independent principality linked directly to Kislev. This is because of its historic Dolgan influences and the near collapse of Farside in 2300, when the Principality of Vlachistan was created as a means of obtaining the alliance of certain Dolgan tribes. It is divided into Inner Vlachistan and Outer Vlachistan, sometimes known as Upper and Lower (respectively). Inner (Upper) is populated by generally loyal Dolgans – or at least those willing to accept the advantages of an alliance with Kislev, rather than choose the benefits of war and robbery. Outer (Lower) is populated by Dolgans and Marauders of much less assured loyalty, in part due to prejudice by the Kislevans reluctant to deal with Marauders. The fact that they have invented the term (Chaos) Marauder to name various peoples is, of course, indicative of the lack of trust between nomads and sedentary peoples, between Kislevans and easterners, and between civilisation and those assumed as being tainted with Chaos. Whilst in Vlachistan, the people here will be much more willing to educate the PCs as to the pragmatic choices necessary here in the far north and the nature and horrors of the true Chaos Marauders.

The prime exports are cattle, horses and those skilled in horse breeding, but some magical ingredients and archaeological artefacts are also sent west. Local armour has a certain fashionable market in the west, particularly the heavy bürüme cuirass and cebelü mail hauberk.

Vlachistan society revolves around obligation to one’s chief, known as the zupe. The best known in the United Commonwealth are Asen and Tanush, both of whom are regarded as allies – and neither of whom stood against the recent invasion! Asen replied to a request for aid by pointing out that the Marauders were both fierce and numerous, and would the Grand Prince be kind enough not to raise the issue again. Tanush is believed to have joined in the raiding.

Petznak

Petznak has deserted the Union and Kislev, both of which had continually failed to assist the colony in its efforts to defend itself from hobgoblin, goblin and Hill Men raids. The region was devastated in 2300, but, paradoxically, was saved by the Chaos Incursions of 2302-3 as the attention of its attackers was shifted to the north. Petznak was long rumoured to have links with the Hobgoblin Hegemony since post-2302 attacks largely ceased, but in 2511 the colony formally sought the protection of the Hegemony. To other members of the Colonial Commonwealth this was an act of heinous treason. Whilst they themselves might have ceded or revolted, they at least remained honest to their race and did not deal with hobgoblins. Petznak is a term of insult to the others.

Exports from the region to the west were predominantly cattle, horses and a variety of hounds (including some special breeds, popular for fighting) together with an assortment of knights and mercenaries in their famed black steel armour. A Petznak knight’s equipment is well known in the local dialect – tesák (short sword), barbuta (helmet), kord (dagger), sciavona (cavalry broadsword), coracia (plate mail) and collarie (neck guard).

Theoretically, the region is split into chiefdoms ruled by a zupan, but these have currently been united by Ivan the Black under his strong control. The only exception is the self-styled Principality of Galich under Prince Erdélyi.

Tarnovo is the capital of Petznak, although it is not a traditional urban settlement. Casimir

Lwon is located here. He should be at least vaguely familiar to the PCs as he was on the same ship that brought them to Kislev.

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Transnistria

Transnistria is the nominal name to the vague and non-existent border regions of the area claimed by Kislev. It is unlikely that the region has ever been colonised, there are no (serious) plans to do so and the current Kislevan forces would be incapable. Still, nominally Transnistria is regarded as the border march of the United Commonwealth. It even has its own flag and emblem for festival days and similar celebrations.

Colonel Kerenski is believed to be operating within the area on behalf of the Colonial Administration and the Office of Barbarian Affairs. A shadowy figure, he seems to serve many masters; to the Njevskist Ispan he is known as Colonel K and to the Tsar he is Special K.