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McKitrick mobilized for war. Lethbridge sealed the border. Waltham mobilized partially, but no one was too sure about what he would do. In the middle of this chaos, Elizabeth Cadwallader engineered a coup. After a brief and short civil war, she was proclaimed duchess. The army of McKitrick, anchored just offshore, offered her assistance and recognition. She turned down the assist, took the recognition. Lethbridge had recognized her from the first minutes of the war. Waltham followed as soon as the situation was clear. At the next meeting of the Ducal Council, she was seated as Duchess of McMannon.
The Duchess is advised by the council of nobles. Over a third of that council is staffed by women. The civil wars, upheavals, and unrest has put a large dent in the number of male nobles. One of the first laws passed was to proclaim that the oldest child inherits, not the oldest son. This elevated Mary Cadwallader to heir and most eligible lady in the duchy. The other clauses to the law cemented the positions of the women nobles.
The nobles loyal to or part of the Regency Council have a price on their heads. Duke McKitrick thoughtfully provided large sums of cash rewards as a Duchy-warming present.
McMannon is in the process of getting things set to right. Elizabeth resembles Maggie Thatcher in a number of ways. She is used to getting nobles to do what she wants, and what she wants now is a stable and successful duchy. She is on good terms with her neighbors, has a secret agreement with the morkons, and Jhereg (half elf son of Rabban, member of the council of nobles, ambassador to the elves) is working hard at making McMannon the gateway to the elves. She is kindly disposed to her neighbors in many political matters, but in Ducal Council she more than holds her own.
The Duke's second son established a new castle on the edge of the river mouth where 3 small towns had grown together. The new duke prospers through trade, and has a good following among the merchants.
The area in the NE of McMannon is swampy and subject to floods A few fisher-folk live in the area. Snakes are often kept as pets and it is easier to buy poisons and odd potions there than elsewhere in the McMannon. Toward the peninsula the land rises somewhat and is drier in consequence. McMannon once owned the whole peninsula on their side of the river. When the 2nd Duke decided to relocate West, the neighboring Duke took advantage of his absence to claim the best of it for his own. When the young Duke McMannon returned, he was unable to oust the usurper from the area. McMannon established a town near the border, ostensibly for trade, but actually to keep an eye on his neighbor.
The Duke of McMannon and his people originally settled near the shore of the inlet. Gradually farmers moved west, encountering no major difficulty. A couple of generations after the original settlement, a second son (Randall) was taking advantage of being asked to check on the peasants that had moved west. Being an adventurous sort, he did some exploring and reached the Great Forest. He was turned back there by a `glamorous Lady'. When asked who she was or what she looked like, he was unable to say. He also found hills in the NW that would make a better (i.e. more defensible) site for the ducal seat. On the death of his father (Allen) he persuaded his older brother to have a castle built there ... to better oversee the majority of the peasantry.
For many years this was fine, but the peasantry became more numerous under the light hand of the McMannon dukes. They began to press further and further westward. They eventually reached the Great Forest and naturally, for them, began to slash and burn to clear more land for grain. Many reported seeing a Lady who warned them off. They did not heed the warning, the local Earl (D'Asturian) had increased taxes and demanded more and more of the grain they grew. After several warnings, the peasantry began to die of strange things ... strange insects and fierce animals appeared ... animals that were owned by the peasantry became vicious. Storms appeared at inopportune times -- for the peasants. When the Earl went to investigate, he and his party vanished.
The Duke sent numerous parties out to search, but they came back empty handed. Finally the Duke ordered the peasants that survived to move away from the forest. The heir of the Duke developed a taste for the hunt. He began leading parties toward the Forest despite his father's command that it be left alone. At first there was no problem, then the heir became obsessed with capturing and killing a white deer he saw there. Over cups of ale one evening, he told his father of being warned away from the animal by a lady he couldn't describe. It didn't deter him in the least. The heir (Imre) continued the hunt and did kill the animal. He was killed the same day as he rode back in triumph in a freak fall from his horse who appeared to be spooked by a stinging insect.
That night the Druid of the forest attacked to balance the damage done by these upstarts. It soon became dangerous to go out of any of the castle buildings or stand in the open atop the walls to man them. Supplies didn't get through. When the castle's supplies ran low, the Duke negotiated a way for his people to leave the West. In exchange for his life those in the castle, including the peasantry who had sheltered there, were allowed to travel East in peace. No one was to occupy the castle or move West of an agreed on line. Adventurous souls have tried to reach the castle, because it is rumored that most of the McMannon family jewelry and other treasures were left behind.
This is mostly considered a fanciful tale created by the Family of McMannon. Though, the castle still stands, unoccupied.
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