The Kingdom of Sartar is the epicenter of the Hero Wars. Its founder, Sartar, united the lawless tribes that lived as exiles and organized them into a unified principality. After marrying the Feathered Horse Queen of the Grazelands, Sartar was named King, and the kingdom began a rapid growth to power and prestige.
Sartar was occupied by the Lunar Empire for a generation, but overthrew Lunar rule in 1625.
The Sartar Homeland also includes the Hendriki of Whitewall, even though they have never been ruled by the Princes of Sartar.
Sartar unified the tribes in eastern Dragon Pass in 1490 and married the Feathered Horse Queen in 1495. Under Sartar's rule, the people turned from pillage to trade. Sartar and the Feathered Horse Queen set up tax posts, temples, and treasuries. Sartar built roads and forts to protect the farmers and traders from trolls and nomads. He and his heirs fostered literacy, experimentation, and culture.
In 1602, the Lunar Empire invaded the kingdom and sacked Boldhome. The royal house resisted vigorously and, due to this, received Hero status posthumously. Agents and assassins hunted the survivors across the world.
After a generation of sporadic rebellions against Lunar domination, the Empire attempted to eradicate the cult of Orlanth (the patron god of the hill tribes). Instead of Dragon Pass being pacified, Sartar erupted in rebellion. In 1625, desperate heroquesters raised a True Dragon that destroyed the Lunar Army and its priests. Kallyr Starbrow, the rebel warleader, liberated Boldhome and proclaimed herself Prince of Sartar. Sartar is now free of the Lunar Occupation.
The second-largest city in Sartar, Alda-Chur is an important trade center linking the Lunar Empire with Sartar. Alda-Chur serves as the religious and political center for a confederation of four tribes.
A pro-Lunar warlord ruled Alda-Chur for over a decade, but he was devoured in the Dragonrise. Lunar rule continues but has been dramatically weakened.
This small city was founded in 1583 by Prince Terasarin of Sartar for Tarshite survivors of the Battle of Grizzly Peak. Surrounded by deep and hostile forests, Alone serves as the religious and political center for a confederation of three tribes. The city has pledged loyalty to Argrath of Pavis.
The capital of Sartar, this city is built high above the plains in a split valley amid peaks sacred to Orlanth and his pantheon. The founder, Sartar, built it to fulfill an ancient challenge and prophecy. The city serves as the political and religious center of the kingdom, and a center of trade and learning.
Following the Dragonrise, Kallyr Starbrow liberated Boldhome and was acclaimed Prince of Sartar by the assembled free peoples.
The first tribe of Sartar, both in history and in status, the Colymar number about 12,300 people. They are famous for their winter-grown Clearwine grapes, which they make into Clearwine. The Colymar were early supporters of Sartar, who saved their king from assassins.
The Colymar were bitter enemies of the Lunar Empire until the empire conspired to exile the anti-Lunar queen Leika Ballista. For ten years, Kangharl “Blackmoor,” a pro-Lunar usurper, served as tribal king. However, the usurper was devoured by the Brown Dragon at the Dragonrise in 1625, along with the rest of the Lunar Army. Soon after, Queen Leika returned to Clearwine, along with many exiles and adventurers, and reclaimed kingship of the tribe.
This small city was built by Sartar to forge bonds with the beasts and other strange peoples along the River. The wood and stone buildings familiar to other Sartarite cities intermingle with the woven wattle-and-daub buildings of the ducks. Duck Point is the way-station between the ducks and the rest of Sartar and an important transit point for all river traffic between Sartar and Esrolia.
This small city is an important marketplace for the tribes of Sartar. The city boasts the famed Jonstown Library, founded by King Sartar’s son Eonistaran the Sage. Only slightly less famous is the House of Peace, a major temple of Chalana Arroy.
The tribes around Jonstown include some of the most notable tribes of Sartar. The Cinsina and Culbrea both played a major role in the liberation of Sartar, while the Malani are feared because Humakt is their tribal patron.
This small tribe numbers about 4,000 people. The Lismelder are famous for their great beer. They are noted friends and allies of the ducks, who aid them against the undead of the Upland Marsh.
The ranking Light Son of the Yelmalio cult rules this small self-sufficent theocracy centered on the Sun Dome temple itself. King Tarkalor granted this land to the cult in 1579 after defeating the Kitori who previously ruled the area. The cult survives surrounded by hostile Orlanthi tribes through its drilled pikemen —the famous Sun Dome Templars. It fiercely defends its independence, until the right price comes along, at which point the inhabitants of military age become dedicated mercenaries.
This Sun Dome Temple is the ranking Yelmalio temple in Dragon Pass, and the other temples often look to it for direction.
This small city in the semi-arid eastern foothills of Sartar is the political and religious center for a confederation of four tribes. It is an important place of trade with the tribes of Prax.
The tribes around Swenstown include the noble Kheldon tribe that claims the rich valley between Boldhome and Swenstown. Kallyr Starbrow is queen of the Kheldon tribe. The Aranwyth are horse-riding herders of sheep and cattle, while the Balkoth herd sheep and goats. The old Dundealos tribal dynasty was destroyed by the Empire in 1615 and replaced with Lunar settlers, but the Lunars were in turn destroyed by the Dragonrise. A Pol-Joni adventurer reforged the tribal ring and now rules the restored tribe.
These rugged woods and hills are inhabited by a tribe of werewolves called the Telmori. The Telmori are listed among the tribes of Sartar, despite being considered non-human by the other tribes. They are tainted by Chaos.
This ancient fortress temple built atop solid rock is the religious center for the Hendriki tribal confederation. The Hendriki tribes are closely related to the Sartarites, speaking the same language and worshiping the same gods. Indeed, the lands of Sartar were settled by Hendriki colonists three centuries ago.
Long thought impregnable, Whitewall fell to the Lunar Empire in 1621 after nearly three years of siege, despite its white stone walls, 15 meters high and 10 meters thick. King Broyan of the Hendriki reclaimed Whitewall in 1622, but the temple and its fortifications were badly damaged. King Broyan went to Esrolia the following year and did not return to Hendrikiland until 1624, only to be killed by Lunar sorcery in 1625.
Whitewall still shows the scars of the Lunar siege, and although it is still an important religious center, its political importance is greatly reduced.
This small city is the political and religious center for a confederation of four tribes. It has a surprising number of temples and is the main market for southern Sartar. It is famed for its artists and crafters.
The tribes of the Wilmskirk confederation suffered greatly during the Lunar occupation and later liberation. The Sambari tribe is now predominant, with their king, Vamastal Greyskin, one of the new Prince’s counselors. The Olontongi are a new tribe, formed in 1624 during the Hendriking uprising out of the ruins of the Kultain and Sylangi tribes.