Solland, formerly the Grand Barony of Solland and the Grand Barony of Sudenland, was once one of the southernmost Electoral Provinces of the Empire of Man before losing that status in 2512 IC. The territory it held dominion over is now called Sudenland or Old Solland and has been officially incorporated as a region of the province of Wissenland.[8a]
Destroyed by an Orc Waaagh! commanded by the Warlord Gorbad Ironclaw, the province was devastated and its ruling Elector Count slain in 1712 IC. For centuries, Solland lacked a proper feudal government until Emperor Magnus the Pious reformed Solland into the Grand Barony of Sudenland in 2305 IC, incorporating even some regions of southern Wissenland into Sudenland in the process, a decision which angered many Wissenlanders.[8a]
For centuries, Sudenland was ruled by House Toppenheimer until the events of the Turmoil of 2512 IC. During that crisis, Wissenland and Sudenland came into conflict as Reikland-aligned factions in Nuln sought the annexation of the province. Surprisingly supported by the eight children of the then-Elector Countess Etelka Molrella of House Toppenheimer, Wissenland was able to fully annex all the territories of Sudenland during the great administrative reshaping of the Empire's Electoral Provinces that followed in the wake of that political crisis.[8a]
The province is named after its namesake, the River Sol, which acts as the traditional border between western Wissenland and eastern Sudenland.[5a]
History[]
Origins[]
Solland was originally the home of the tribe of Men known as the Menogoths, who joined Sigmar during the reign of their king Markus.[1a] Its symbol was the sun, which was incorporated into its nobility's crests and is in use even today.[4a]
At the onset of the Age of Wars after the death of Emperor Mandred Skavenslayer, the Elector Counts chose Otto of Solland as the next Emperor of Man because of his weak character. Otto was unable to rein in the Elector Counts and, after his death, the office of emperor became a mere trophy to be traded among the Elector Counts without any real authority.[1b]
The original province of Solland and their Elector Count Eldred were lost when a massive Orc Waaagh!, led by Gorbad Ironclaw in 1707 IC, attacked the province in a tide of violence. The Solland Runefang Grudge Settler was seized by the invaders after the Battle of Solland's Crown and it is said that Gorbad ripped off the crown of Solland from the head of the slain Elector Count and placed it on his own head.[2a][3a]
The Runefang was retrieved centuries later by a joint group of Men and Dwarfs under Thane Ergrim Stonehammer from the lair of a Chimera in the Worlds Edge Mountains. Stonehammer presented it to the emperor in Altdorf, who placed it in the Imperial Treasury.[6a][7a]
In 2272 IC the "Free State of Sudenland" was declared as independent of Wissenland, re-founded by nobles claiming a link to the lost electoral seat of Solland. Border conflict was rife in the state at this time, its people fiercely defending its reborn autonomy from its neighbours, though such independence was not lasting and the region was eventually reincorporated back into Wissenland before the Great War Against Chaos began.[14a]
The lands of Solland essentially lay in ruins until Magnus the Pious ordered the reformation of the province in 2302 IC, renaming it the Grand Barony of Sudenland. For centuries, the newly established Electoral Province lasted until the Turmoil of 2512 IC, when Wissenland dissolved the province and annexed its territories once more.[8a]
In the modern Empire, the lands east of the River Sol are sometimes referred to as "Old Solland" or "Sudenland".[1c] Some nobles originating from the original province refuse to accept Wissenland's claim and use the term Sudenland in opposition to the claim of the Wissenland Elector Count.[6b] This region is famed for its wool and the furs trappers bring from the Black Mountains.[1d]
Praising the Sun[]
The Menogoth tribe settled in Sudenland before the coming of Sigmar Heldenhammer, and at present, the god Söll, an ancient deity of vengeance revered by that tribe, is sometimes believed to be an aspect of Solkan, one of the Gods of Law. Worshippers of Söll are prominent in the southern lands of the Empire in Old Solland and vocal in their demands for a reinstitution of the former Electoral Province.[12a]
Söll still has followers in Wissenland, in the former province of Solland. It is no coincidence that the Solland Runefang was named Grudge Settler and the provincial symbol is a golden sun. Worshippers in Solland believe their god will avenge and restore their sovereignty, by wiping out the Orc successors of Gorbad Ironclaw. There is a part-ruined temple to Söll just outside Steingart, with faded wall frescoes of Söll vanquishing a horde of Bloodletters.[13a]
Still Myrmidian scholars insist that the symbol of the blazing sun was inherited in Solland by the spread of the Cult of Myrmidia from the south.[11a]
Assassination of the Duke of Sudenland[]
In the 20th century IC the Imperial criminal Marquand Volker assassinated the Duke of Suddenland by cutting the heart out of the duke while his wife slept on soundly beside him.[10a]
Geography[]
A map showing the former territory of Solland in present-day Wissenland.
Far to the south, almost out of sight and often out of mind of the rest of the Empire, sits the Grand Province of Sudenland, once ruled by the Grand Baroness Etelka Morella von Toppenheimer before 2512 IC. One of the newest Grand Provinces, Sudenland was created by Magnus the Pious in 2305 IC from the ruins of lost Solland, devastated in Gorbag Ironclaw's invasion of 1712 IC, and the southern half of Wissenland, something Wissenlanders in both provinces still resent. Shaped like an arrowhead, Sudenland lies between the Worlds Edge Mountains to the west, the Upper Reik and Averland to the east, and Nuln to the north. The Black Mountains and the Dwarf holds including Khazid Hafal, Karak Gantuk, Karak Hirn, and Karak Anghazhar form its southern boundaries.[8a]
It rises from rich farmland in the area of Pfeildorf for about 100 miles to the south, then climbs gradually through lightly wooded hills into lands dedicated to cattle and sheep-raising in the foothills of the Black and Grey Mountains. There mining takes over, with rich veins of copper, tin, and gold -- though the Dwarfs claim the gold is stolen from their lost mines and tombs.[8a]
As Sudenland is seen as a backwater, most trade with outsiders is conducted in Pfeildorf at the great Marktplatz where the River Söll and the Upper Reik converge. The rivers are crucial to Sudenland's economy, with ore and finished goods travelling by barge from upriver ports as far as Mendelhof and Kroppenleben. This makes them rich targets for river pirates, and so the current ruling Grand Baroness Emmanuelle von Liebwitz maintains a strong force of Riverwardens.[8a]
Sollanders[]
Largely descended from the Merogen and Menogoth tribes of Men, modern Sudenland represents a blending of two ancient tribes forced together when Magnus the Pious tried to fill the vacuum left by Solland's loss. The two ancestries diverge significantly: the Merogens resemble their Wissenlander and Nuln kin, while Menogoths are shorter, with sun-bronzed skin, and brown hair and eyes. Sudenlanders are regarded as a quiet, thoughtful lot by others in the Empire, as if their past weighs on them. Once known as the Grand Province of Solland, the region was utterly devastated and depopulated in the Orc invasion led by Gorbag Ironclaw in 1707 IC.[8a]
The people slaughtered, the province's royal family sacrificed to the Orc gods, the lands and towns burned, the provincial Runefang lost -- it's as if the shock of that catastrophe still weighs heavily centuries later, something the province's refounding and renaming did little to ease. Emperor Magnus I's reforms did little to make things better, as Wissenlanders and Sollanders still sometimes clashed over control of the River Söll and its rich adjacent farmlands.[8a]
Wissenland still resents having its southern half torn away from it before 2512 IC, while many who live there and whose ancestors were originally Wissenlander still resent being ruled for two centuries before 2512 IC by a "foreign" house. Along with the echoes from Solland's prior destruction in 1707 IC, this leaves the current Grand Baroness Emmanuelle von Liebwitz an unsettled land to rule. Though the Cult of Sigmar is spreading thanks to itinerant Reiklander clerics, most rural Sudenlanders worship Rhya, goddess of nature and agriculture, particularly in the western, newly settled portion of the province.[8a]
East of the River Söll, the further one goes into "Auld Solland," worshippers of Söll, the Menogoth god of vengeance and, some say, an aspect of Solkan, become more prominent. Söll's priests agitate for the restoration of Solland as a Grand Province. Riots between Rhyans and Söllites are a regular headache for the authorities. The landscape is dotted with standing stones and stone circles, some still in use, though temples are now more common. East of the river old Sollander castles and abandoned towns destroyed in Gorbag Ironclaw's invasion haunt the landscape. Deep in the foothills and vales of the south, it's said that loyalty to Sigmar and other common deities is rare, and that the locals have pledged themselves to more ancient, obscure gods.[8a]
Forces of Solland[]
Sollander uniforms
before 2512 IC, Sudenland controlled a State Army consisting of, in addition to the Grand Baroness Etelka Molrella's household cavalry and the town militias, a light infantry made up from the Road Wardens and Riverwardens, as well as axe-and-hammer-wielding infantry from Vennland to the south.[8a]
In times of crisis, the grand baroness could invoke treaties to summon contingents from the Dwarf holds, though the Dwarfs successfully demanded clauses "keepin' us out of your silly civil wars." Currently, the Margrave of Vennland commands the Sudenland State Army in the Elector Countess Emmanuelle von Liebwitz's name as her "Sudenmarshal".[8a]
Sudenland has long employed Tilean light cavalry units, called stradioti in their language, to patrol its southern reaches, granting them the highly regarded moniker of "The Elector's Own Lancers."[9a]
Notable Locations[]
- Kreutzhofen - Kreutzhofen is an important village and waystation in the province for Bretonnian and Tilean trade.
- Pfeildorf - The city of Pfeildorf is the capital of old Solland.
- Steingart - Steingart was the second city of Solland, but today is a commercial centre of the wool trade.
Canon Conflict[]
In the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Core Rulebook, the Barony of Sudenland is listed as one of the Electoral Provinces of the Empire of Man.
Beginning with the 4th Edition Empire armybook and the 2nd Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay onward, Solland was described as having been overrun by a Greenskin Waaagh! commanded by Gorbag Ironclaw in 1707 IC and then folded into Wissenland, never to be its own independent province again.
However, following the introduction of the 4th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, in Archives of the Empire Vol. 1 and the new The Enemy Within campaign books, the event known as the Turmoil of 2512 IC essentially tied the older canon concerning Sudenland from the 1st Edition of the roleplaying game back into the present-day canon of the Warhammer universe.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (4th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 8
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (8th Edition)
- 3a: pg. 18
- 4: Uniforms and Heraldry of the Empire (Background Book)
- 4a: pg. 45
- 5: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (4th Edition)
- 5a: pg. 13
- 6: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (7th Edition)
- 7: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)
- 7a: pg. 10
- 8: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Archives of the Empire Vol. 1 (RPG)
- 8a: pp. 16-18
- 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Up in Arms (RPG)
- 9a: pp. 44-45
- 10: Town Cryer 13
- 10a: pg. 5
- 11: Knight of the Blazing Sun (Novel) by Joshua Reynolds
- 11a: Ch. 3
- 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Archives of the Empire Vol. I (RPG)
- 12a: pg. 17
- 13: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Archives of The Empire III (RPG)
- 13a: pp. 52-55, "The Cult of Solkan"
- 14: Warhammer: The Old World website
- 14a: Explore the Old World (Interactive Map)
- 15: Runefang (Novel) by C.L. Werner