Zweilunds

[Sorontar]

Discussion thread for Zweilunds (http://www.birthright.net/brwiki/index.php/Zweilunds). If you would like to add a comment, click the Post Reply button.

[Sorontar]

The wiki page has the Hag as regent. Is this correct? Aren't these Great Bay islands?

Sorontar

[tpdarkdraco]

The Hag isn't the ruler. She has her own domain on the main land next to Wolfgaard & Grabentod from memory.

[Sorontar]

That's what I thought. The Hag is regent for Kordan.

But who should the wiki say is regent for the Zweilunds?

[Thelandrin]

That overpowered pirate mage, I believe. The one who can rule his overpowered islands' populations without harming his mebhaighl because he's a half-Sidhelien and thus in tune with the natural world. *gag*

Idea! Colin Shaefpate, I think, is his name.

[Sorontar]

I gather you are meaning the Island Mage, whose source domain is in the Domain:Zweilunds category, but not mentioned on the page. Mind you, not much is on the page because this is one of the many Location stubs (as is the source domain).... hint hint.

[Green Knight]

I sya let the pesky islands sink into the Bay and be done with them :D

[Sorontar]

Okay, I have made the Island Mage the regent for Zweilinds in the wiki. If you know any better, please correct it.

[Wilenburg]

Colin Shaefpaete aka the island Mage

[AndrewTall]

I'm guessing that the hag reference meant simply that someone copied the table from her domain - she has a L2 domain with no people in it (or at least which has no children in it for several centuries)...

The Zweilunds seriously need to be cut down to size imho, I'd say starting by merging them into two domains, and then by cutting the population down. But I've ranted on that subject before.

[Rey]

The ranting needs to be repeated so people don't forget, and I totally agree.

[Thelandrin]

Hear hear. The Zweilunds are wildly overpowered as presented.

[Retillin]

I agree its over populated, but really it's the only foil that Muden has in the Great Bay. Maybe keep the 4 islands; keep Anzlau at 2/5, Make Uelzau and Warzlau both 3/4, and make Zweilund at 5/2. Just an idea.

And as far as being the only foil for Muden I just mean it's the only realm that is not full on internal strife who has a strong navy and powerful leader.

[Sorontar]

Given the islands' locations, wouldn't they be iced in during winter? Wouldn't that restrict the realm's power and trade?

[Rey]

The Island Mage has some significant power, his boat is enchanted, he could do something to surpass the ice, maybe.

Btw, the winter need not be a bad thing for them, if no one can reach them, no one can defeat them, so they could enjoy peace. The only problem is, if they have no benefit of magic, how do they survive the cold months?

The answer is caverns, because it says the islands are rocky, barren and cold. People really do live in the caverns, some say even dwarven architecture graces the underground, and Colin holds the volcanoes activity by magic.
You can import tons of food, or even plunder, raise some of your own (very unlikely), do fishing when the weather permits it.

[AndrewTall]

I agree its over populated, but really it's the only foil that Muden has in the Great Bay. Maybe keep the 4 islands; keep Anzlau at 2/5, Make Uelzau and Warzlau both 3/4, and make Zweilund at 5/2. Just an idea.

And as far as being the only foil for Muden I just mean it's the only realm that is not full on internal strife who has a strong navy and powerful leader.

Muden has a fairly significant internal issue as it has two regents, and even if they get along and the captain nominally accepts the Count, their courts will inevitably tread on each others toes, internal dissent and inefficiency is probably its biggest problem.

Muden's 5 L6/L7 provinces mean that it can basically take on not merely anyone but likely everyone in the region... Muden's key enemies would, imo, be Kiergard (who else will dare stop its slavers and pirates), Grabentod (which has a ridiculous L7 province but still lots of pirates even if the central control is currently gone), Rzhlev's raiders, and any Vos who come (during summer) to raid the great bay as a change from raiding the Khinasi.

But back to the Zweilunds. The islands are simply too small to be provinces, Zweilund itself is half the proper size if not totally unreasonable, but the others just don't measure up - Anzlau is a joke and Uelzau and Warzlau together are half the size that a province should be.

I'd have the Zweilund island as one province of L4 - average sized for a prosperous realm but not a real center of culture. All the 'outer isles' could be lumped as another province of L3 or L4. That stops the realm having its own serious navy, but the islands can still be a safe harbour for every independent pirate and privateer in the bay and so fulfill the same role as before - I've never seen them as a serious military threat to Muden frankly. As L3 or L4 the islands could support themselves from the sea - as mountainous realms by the sea 4 or 5 should be the absolute limit on their size (look at Danigau which has just 1 L5 province despite a far stronger culture, etc, etc).

If you wanted to make the Zweilunds more credible, you'd have to change their terrain to at worst hills, expand their map footprint, possibly carve a province off Grevesmuhl, etc. Frankly though I think that their power is simply inappropriate for their role - if the pirates were that numerous trade would be impossible, the coast would be routinely raided, and whole provinces would be getting stolen...