The New Covian Encyclopedia

[Linaeus]

Brought to you by the Covetowne Gazette.

Official Name: The Baronship of Cove

Coat of Arms:

Head of State: The Baron of Cove (Current: Mikael von Richter)
Governing Body: The Baron's Court

State Motto: A posse ad esse - From possibility to actuality.
State Religion: Northern Avatarianism

Official Currency: The Covian Shilling
Official Language: Britannian Common

Total Population: 200,000
Ethnic Groups: 40% Covian, 30% Altmerian, 15% Non-Covian Northern, 10% Britannian, 5% Other

Map of the Baronship of Cove:

1. Covetowne:

Covetowne is a mostly residential area, housing the working class. It features many large business opportunities with the mineral rich Glenmore mountains looming over, and the equally lucrative docks. The residents of Cove proper tend to be common folk, speaking quickly, clearly and most of all, loudly. They are the stereotypical hardy commoners, and something about the tight packed residential area inspires a sense of opportunism within them. If there's a coin to be made, a resident of Cove proper won't be far from it.

2. The Baronship Household:

The Household is the nerve centre of the Covian empire. It houses all the highly important headquarters of government and is also where the Baron resides. It is the epicenter of culture and politics; and the place from where all major decisions are taken. People who are born within the Household are few, but those that are tend to be high born nobles or merchants. The people of the Household have a generally disdainful attitude towards the Covian peasantry and especially outsiders. Household residents tend to speak with a clear cut high born accent, usually using full words and a vibrant vocabulary, much to the irritation of other Covians.

3. The Glenmore Highlands:

The Glenmore mountains are bleak, dominating, craggy rock spires. They jut out from the ground and claim the Covian skyline as their own. On their flank dwells the Covian orc fort, and this in combination with the poor soil and harsh weather mean that Glenmorians are few and far between. Since the demise of the 4th Glenmore Highlanders, the place has been all but abandoned. Only a handful of hard faced humorless mountainmen (and, it is rumored, a clan of Dwarves living within the bowels of the mountains) remain to try and carve out a living. They face a bleak existence, and their style of speech reflects that. Their words are guttural, and they make many odd sounds. In fashion, it is easy to tell a highlander as they are often clad in animal furs and adorned with numerous orc heads.

4. Covianshire

Covianshire is a rural place, sparesly populated, and what few people are there tend to interest themselves in cultivating the land by either farming or lumberjacking. They are country folk with country ways, and despise new technology and innovations. They are usually devout Avatarians and deeply distrust foreigners and anyone who isn't human. Ironically, Covianshire is also home to most of Cove's Elven population - the source of a great deal of conflict.  They are certainly not an arcane folk, and often take it upon themselves to outcast anyone who has such a 'gift'. The people of Covianshire have a thick accent, speaking slowly and often emphasising certain parts of words, giving them a drawl.

5. Avaricia/The Mountains of Avarice

Avaricia is a rugged, mountainous region, populated chiefly by Minocian immigrants and natives of neighboring Covianshire. Avaricians are a tough folk, hardened by generations of mining. However, there is also a great deal of fear amongst the Avaricians - many years ago a disaster killed dozens of miners and left the caves now known as Covetous unusable. Folk tales tell of a buried citadel whose inhabitants were damned for eternity for their avaricious and proud ways.

6. East Altmere

The wide and fertile plains of East Altmere provide a staggering 70% of Cove's agriculture, and contain at least a quarter of the population. The farmlands of the regions nearer to West Altmere are juxtaposed with the almost urban regions closer to the Covian Bay and Covianshire, and the inhabitants vary from roughneck Altmerian farmers and Covian nobility to Yewish and Britannian immigrant workers.

7. West Altmere

West and East Altmere could scarcely be any more different. Indeed, it seems to many that the only thing they share is their name. While East Altmere is more densely populated, West Altmere has one of the lowest populations in the Baronship. This is, perhaps, because of the terrors that swarm out of the desert with alarming regularity, and the all-too-frequent Royalist incursions from across the river. West Altmere might at some time have had the potential to share in its Eastern sister's prosperity, but decades of near constant battering have left it a sparsely populated, impoverished, war-scorched wilderness.

8. The Desert of Compassion

Perhaps the most ironically named Province in the known world, the Desert of Compassion is home only to scorpions, swirling vortexes of living sand, and a large number of assorted Guardian Spawn. Perhaps more alarming is the tendency of these inhabitants to periodically migrate North into West Altmere and inflict a variety of unspeakable horrors upon the already limited population. Needless to say, the Desert lacks any significant human (or Elven, Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling, etc.) population.

9. The Desolate Bog

It has often been asked of the Desert of Compassion; "What could be worse than this sweltering pit?". The answer is the Desolate Bog. As the name suggests, the desolate bog is both desolate and a bog. It is an uninhabitable hostile area, filled with many odd creatures and occasionally odder folk. Many enemies of Cove and indeed mankind linger here, haunting the area, killing all they encounter. The people of Altmere say that in winter, a strange mist emits from the bog, and that the sky there becomes ever twilight. Few dare to venture there, and even fewer come back to tell the tale. Luckily for Cove, the bog sits along its border with Britain - a fact that has crushed the dreams of many an ambitious Royalist.

[Linaeus]

The Legend of the Covian Cap

Written by Corporal Althalus, and edited by Commander Eason. Reposted here with permission from Althalus.

Long ago in Cove, times were hard and riches were short. The town was frequently under attack from many a foul beast, to which the Baron tended to fighting himself. There, he stood alone... However, one day he faced an Enemy that overwhelmed him in number and in strength. All hope was lost, until one man from Cove, a simple farmer, came and stood beside the Baron with nothing but a pitchfork. Together, they fought the Enemy and won victory for Cove.

With the coffers being slim, the Baron had nothing to offer the farmer for his aid, other than the beaten cap he wore upon his head. Since that day the Militia have proudly worn their headdress, the Covian cap; a symbol of loyalty to the Baron, and of His commitment to the Army.

[Linaeus]

Commander Gregor Eason

Reposted from the main Baronship tome, original writer unknown, edited by Torrak Keres.

Former Commander of the armed forces of the Baronship, the Covian Militia (now the Covian Army), Gregor Eason heralded from a military and educated background. During the Orc Campaign, he showed a considerable zeal in defeating the unwelcome occupants of Cove, and saw Cove through many conflicts with the Militia across Trinsic, Vesper, and Yew.

Having endured a hard career, Eason was set to retire. However, following an accusation made by the Guardsmen Militia that Eason had been involved in the Yew Rebellion of recent days, the former Commander went underground - faking his own death and disappearing for a number of months.

Former Commander Gregor Eason unites the North, prior to his downfall.

He returned to find the Baronship in a state of disrepair as Baron Octiovus along with a number of prominent Covians had deserted Cove, fleeing a deadly plague. It was during this time Eason took his place again as Commander, and, with the help of the remaining Covian people, saw the spirit of the Baronship rekindled. New Allies were made, as well as Enemies.

Yet the Commander did not linger. A vicious conflict with the Yewish Militia to the West saw an unforgiving defeat set upon the Covian Militia, with Commander Gregor Eason at its helm. Many Covian lives were lost, and blaming himself for the fatal loss Eason resigned the Baron's Commission and retired into the forests...only to return when he was needed once more.

[Linaeus]

Military History of the Grand Imperial Covian Army

(Missing entries about wars taking place before Summer of 2008. Anyone who is able to supply articles on these events is encouraged to contact me.)

The Border Wars (Summer 2008)
Commanding: Grenadier Captain Raiden Morana
                   Sergeant Hoagie Grayner

The Border Wars began when the Republic of Vesper, under Captain Esca Flowne, launched yet another attempt to recapture the Royalist-occupied City of Minoc. As fighting between Royalist forces and the Republic dragged on, several attempts were made by either side to drag Cove into the war. However, when it was discovered that the Yewish had attacked the Covian Army Barracks disguised as Vesperian Militiamen, Cove was forced to enter the war on the Vesperian side, reforming the old Northern Alliance with the Baron of Vesper and Cove's Sergeant Hoagie Grayner commanding the combined forces.

As the Minoc Front ground to a stalemate, Northern Alliance Forces shifted the focus to the Covian province of Altmere, through which major Royalist supply lines had run prior to Cove's entry into the war. Brutal fighting between the Royalist forces, comprised of the Guardsmen Militia of Yew, Britannian Guard, and Skara Braean Army, and the Northern Alliance along the Templewood River resulted in several devastating defeats to the Northerners. A massacre at the Yew Mills, alleged to have been perpetrated by the Vesperians, boosted the Royalists' resolve even further, and by the time of that year's Britain Moot the Royalists were in complete control of the entire western half of the Covian province of Altmere and retained control of Minoc.

Vesperian Civil War (Winter 2008/2009)
Commanding: Commander Raiden Morana
                   Mercenary Captain Hoagie Grayner

Following a vicious plague, a string of military defeats, and the utter depletion of the Baronial Treasury, the Covian Army was disbanded and the Covian Mercenary Company formed from the remnants. Newly-promoted Commander Raiden Morana soon began advertising the Company's services abroad.

Following a highly publicized dispute between Vesperian Militia Captain Flowne and then-Chancellor Deacon van Cocidius over alleged corruption, the Vesperian Militia declared martial law and seized several of Vesper City's main islands. In response, Chancellor van Cocidius formed the Vesper Trade Union with the Vesper Trading Company and the Stirling & Kendall Trading Company, hiring the Covian Mercenary Company to assist them. The Company performed admirably, driving the Militia to the brink of defeat over several weeks of bitter fighting, eventually capturing the Militia Headquarters and ending the Militia's ability to make war.

However, directly following his victory the Chancellor resigned, and Trade Union General Devante Stirling was unable to defeat Captain Flowne in the emergency election that followed. The Company collected its payment and returned home.

Vesparicia-Covianshire Border Dispute (Winter and Spring 2009)
Commanding: Commander Raiden Morana
                   Mercenary Corporal Torrak Keres

Following the disbandment of the Northern Alliance by the newly elected Chancellor Esca Flowne, Vesperian forces were spotted constructing fortifications on the Covian side of the Vesparicia-Covianshire border, prompting a detachment of Mercenaries under Corporal Torrak Keres to attack. Vesper claimed that their maps placed the area as Vesperian territory, while Covian maps showed it to be well within the Baronship. Several skirmishes were fought throughout Covianshire and Avaricia as Vesperian forces made forays into longstanding Covian territory, none of which were clear victories for either side.

War of the Great Combine (Summer 2009)
Commanding: Commander Raiden Morana
                   Captain Hoagie Grayner
                   Grenadier Sergeant Torrak Keres

Following the Border Wars, Cove had begun working to improve relations with Yew and its allies, resulting in the Great Combine - a coalition of Cove, Yew, the Knights Templar, and Skara Brae aimed towards discouraging rising Vesperian aggression in the North and abroad. The addition of a traditional enemy of Cove, the Army of Kaldor, to the Vesper Alliance, caused relations to deteriorate even further. When Covian forces intercepted a Vesperian raid on Stonekeep while travelling there for a prisoner exchange, war broke out between the Combine and Vesper.

Cove and Yew, reluctant to assault Vesper directly, instead chose to attempt to sever Vesper's trade routes to the outside world. However, this plan quickly fell apart when a Combine assault on Nujel'm was routed. Vesper in turn went for the throat, striking at Yew itself, but an outnumbered Combine force was able to drive their landing forces back into the sea. The Combine then attempted an assault on Vesper via the Windenbourg road, but failed to secure a bridgehead into the City. In the final days of the war, Vesper made desperate assaults on Cove and Minoc, failing to capture either town. That year's Trinsic Moot saw a ceasefire declared, with Trinsican, Templar, and Skaran forces providing peacekeeping forces in Minoc.

Enforcement of the Trinsic Ceasefire (October 2009)
Commanding: Scout Corporal Jenifer Feather

Late in October of the year following the War of the Great Combine, Vesper made a sudden assault upon the demilitarized zone in Minoc, meeting initial success against its outmatched defenders. Claiming the Templars had failed to hold elections in Minoc as promised, new Vesperian Chancellor Olk Samsca called for the complete restoration of Minoc to the Republic of Vesper. Unfortunately for Vesper, Covian and Yewish reinforcements arrived in Minoc just in time to foil this latest act of Vesperian aggression.

The Altmere Revolt (Late Fall 2009/Early Winter 2010)
Commanding: Grenadier Captain Torrak Keres
                            Arcanist Corporal Bersi

Following Cove's defeat in the Border Wars and her perceived neglect of Altmere in favor of ethnically Covian regions, there was constant unrest in the provinces of West and East Altmere, the Bog of Desolation, and Avaricia, where major Altmerian populations resideded. In late Fall of 2009, these tensions reached a head when a band of rebels under Redmond Carleton branded themselves the Altmerian Liberation Front and conducted several attacks on Covian patrols in the region. Knee-jerk reactions by the Covian Army, particularly the burning of suspected rebels' crops, produced both a minor famine and a major surge in rebel activity.

The rebels proved particularly difficult to root out, especially after the newly-appointed Commander Keres ordered a halt to reprisal attacks against local farmers. A major scandal involving alleged arms sales to rebels by relatives of several leading Army Officials nearly provoked a civil war within the ranks of the Covian Army, and morale hit an all-time low after an entire Covian battalion was brutally killed by rebels. Shortly after this, however, rebel leader Redmond Carleton was captured and hanged for treason, depriving the ALF of its most experienced organizer. Unrest persisted for several years after, but never again on such a large scale.

The Jhelom War Games (Winter 2009-2010)
Commanding: Commander Torrak Keres

Wary of their soldiers' shrinking numbers and skill and bulging waistlines, the armies of the Great Combine staged a three-way mock-invasion of Jhelom, battling for control of the island in the following months. Initially successful, the Covian Army was unable to maintain it's momentum in the first few weeks, with the numerically superior Yewish forces overunning several of the zones of control. Facing a shutout, Cove and the Knights Templar joined forces, scoring their first victory since the campaign's beginning. In response, the Yewish Militia hired a clan of ninjas from an island known as Koga-Jima to aid them.

In the weeks that followed, fortunes shifted from week to week as one side or another gained this territory or that. Unfortunately for Cove, the growing unrest in East Altmere compelled the Army to transfer several units away from Jhelom, leading to the Yewish Militia snatching victory by a single region in the final week of the games.

[Linaeus]

The Legend of Raaz

Originally recorded by Hrothgar De'Mar, transcribed and edited by Torrak Keres.

At the time of Duke Conrad Gavestone, the first ruler of Cove, the Orcs were a great threat and manipulated the people of Cove as they wanted. Slavery and murder was a common thing at those times.

One man known as Raaz, a fisherman and captain of his own vessel came home one day to find his "wife to be" had been brutally murdered by a group of Orc scouts that had snuck into the town. Raaz, blinded by his rage, grabbed a pitchfork off the wall of his home, marched to the Orc fort and tales tell that he slaughtered half of the Orcs there before finally being overwhelmed.