“The way things go with unclaimed lands tends to be ridiculous when viewed from an outside perspective. More often than not, one or more of the nations that bordered the unclaimed land would claim it as their property, even when they never did a thing to try and make the land habitable.

It was often a matter of stupid pride, to be honest, yet this silly pride had led to several wars in history, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of lives lost all over a matter of face and pride. Sadly, competent rulers who realized the folly of these matters rarely rose to the thrones.

Far too many were blinded by their so called national pride and honor that they never even questioned the necessity of these wasteful wars.” - Aideen deVreys, the Silver Maiden, circa 594 VA.

Aideen put together what she knew of Alcidea as the Duke kindly allowed her the use of his map room, where a detailed map of the Kingdom of Posuin and its surroundings, as well as various other less detailed ones depicting other areas of the continent were spread out on a table.

She had intelligence from before she departed to the northern continent, of course, though many of those were either hearsay or out of date. As powerful as he was, the Bone Lord was just not interested in expansion, and while he kept tabs of his neighbors well, his intelligence network had notably less knowledge of what happened in the northern continent.

Ginnie had provided her with information of the lands around Knallzog. The biggest unclaimed regions in the area were as mentioned by the Duke, the wastelands between Dvergarder and Knallzog, which Ginnie hinted were part of a long-term settlement project for the dwarves, the Forest of Despair to their north, just northwards of the wastelands, and several uninhabited islands to the south, which were often fought over by Knallzog and the Kingdom Down Under.

The swamplands to the north-east mentioned by the Duke was new information for Aideen. She had heard of the existence of the tribal lands to the far north, of course, a region inhabited by orcish tribes who banded together against outsiders. Unlike in Ur-Teros where most orcish tribes outside the Western Isles had integrated into society, in Alcidea they were apparently heavily discriminated against by their human neighbors, and as such hostilities were strong between them.

As for the Forest of Despair, she chalked it up as a possible location. Mana Veins almost always meant fertile lands, but their tendency to attract beasts and monsters, which had accumulated in the region over unknown millennia, made the region a losing proposition for the nations that neighbored it.

While they officially laid claim to the forests, none of them even considered settling it, or even culling the beasts that inhabit the region. The cost in lives for such an endeavor was simply considered far too high for the potential profits colonizing the regions might bring them.

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Even the maps in the Duke’s cabinet were rather lacking in information about the far east or the northern plains, however. It was understandable, given the distance between the Kingdom of Posuin and those lands, much less given how they favored keeping things mostly isolated in the Elven Domains and the Kingdom Down Under.

“What about this Kingdom?” Aideen asked the Duke, as the man had personally accompanied her to the map room. Such rooms were often closely guarded, but the Duke considered it an acceptable favor as repayment for her saving his daughter’s life. “Any areas I could take note of?”

“Well, to be honest, there’s quite a bit of land only nominally claimed by minor nobles further towards the coastlines,” replied the Duke. “Our laws stated that as long as the claimant had failed to develop those lands, which they had so far, others could pioneer it and petition to be made a minor noble and lord of those regions. Assuming the King and Royal Parliament approved, that is.”

“So a political spectacle meant for those who already have backing behind them, got it,” she replied, as she understood the hints he gave and the words he left unsaid. “And just to make it more fun, I bet even if you get the backing of one faction at court, another would vote against you just because they don’t like the faction who backed you, right?”

“Pretty much. Our parliament is a fucking mess, to be honest. We have three major factions and at least ten minor ones vying for their own benefits and desires all the time,” admitted the Duke with a shrug. The tone the man used suggested that he had long grown tired of such a situation. “Most of them don’t even care about the rest of the kingdom, just for their own bellies and dicks. Pardon my language.”

“I presume you don’t consider yourself as one of those then,” replied Aideen with a slight smirk. TO be honest, the Duke had so far given her the impression of an upright, honest man, one far too blunt for political schemes. A warrior, not a politician.

“My faction is one of the largest in the court, indeed. Mostly just me, Jonkver, Algenverr, and our vassals,” said the Duke as he named the three border duchies of the Kingdom. The Kingdom itself had eight Duchies, and at least five dozen regions belonging to lesser nobles. The Dvergarder-Jonkver-Algenverr trio formed a line that covered the Kingdom’s entire landbound borders to their east, as they bordered the coastline elsewhere. “We mostly just demanded our autonomy to remain as it is so we could serve our purpose as the nation’s shield.”

“I assume the other five duchies are of a different opinion then,” asked Aideen with some curiosities. The way the Duke mentioned the other borderland duchies hinted at camaraderie, and close relations.

“They’re just leeches who grew fat on their parent’s hoards, and had long forgotten what it meant to be responsible for the lives of their people,” replied the Duke with a disgusted tone, one which suggested he would have spat on their faces if that were an option. “If you happen to proceed westwards with your travels, you might see it for yourself. They even made immigration illegal of late, just because so many of their subjects ran over to our lands in search of a better life.”

“To be honest, what I saw on the way in rather impressed me,” admitted Aideen honestly. “I’ve been around and visited pretty much all of Ur-Teros, and I can probably count the cities that looked as prosperous as yours with the fingers on my hands.”

“This city is our family’s pride. The manifestation of our oath, To Shield and to Provide,” said the Duke with evident pride in his voice. “My ancestors were pioneers who built this city from nothing and had become landed nobles in the early days of the Kingdom. We just carried on their legacies, while never forgetting where we came from.”