The Principalities of Glantri is a fictional nation located within the

Mystara Mystara is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role playing game. It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of ''D&D'' ...

campaign setting, in the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. Located in the northwestern corner of the Known World, Glantri is a Magocracy ruled by powerful magic using princes and princesses. The capital of Glantri is Glantri City.

Description

Glantri is a country ruled by and for magicians. Designer

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game (pen and paper), role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. In February 2007, he elected to join th ...

called Glantri "Quite an unusual D&D game setting", as it is a nation run by an aristocracy of magic-users, with disguised lycanthropes,

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

, necromancers, liches, and Immortals numbered among them; and "a nation where religion is prohibited, and where being a cleric is a capital offense". In Glantri, various aristocratic clans and houses struggle for control of the Council of Princes. Included among the political factions are medieval Scottish refugees from beyond space and time, blood-sucking nosferatu, liches, albino werewolves, dark-skinned elves in the manner of 17th-century Spanish nobles, expatriate Mongol princes, and Immortals incognito.

Geography

The Land

Glantri is enclosed between two major mountain chains, the Khurish Massif and the Wendarian Range through which several major rivers have carved wide valleys, which are densely inhabited. Forests cover the majority of the mountain lands, while the hills are rich in plants, and the valleys have been cleared for farming.

The Capital

Glantri City, is a town of 50,000 built partially on a set of islands at the confluence of the Isoile and Vesubia rivers. The city is known for its fantastic buildings, the widespread use of magic in its construction and for public convenience including public lighting, its maze of channels, and the foremost school of magic in the Known World. Glantri City includes an assortment of guilds and brotherhoods, such as Beggar's Court, the Elven Liberation Front, the Free Fundamentalist Farmers, the Monster Handler's Syndicate, and the Thousand Fists of Khan, each with conflicting interests and political machinations. A magic-user's career includes enrollment in the Glantrian School of Magic, which permits a magic-user to learn new skills, like quick spell-casting and the ability to combine spells. The Seven Secret Orders of the Great School of Magic are the Alchemists, Dracologists, Elementalists, Illusionists, Necromancers, Cryptomancers (runemasters), and Witches.

commented that "Glantri City is the best-developed ''AD&D'' or ''D&D'' game city" he had seen, with the exception of

Lankhmar Lankhmar is a fictional city in the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two antiheroes. ...

as presented in TSR's '' Lankhmar: City of Adventure'', noting that his favorite part is the similarity to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

: "Glantri City has canals rather than streets, and travel is by bridge, gondola, or private boat".

Principalities

*Aalban *Belcadiz *Bergdhoven *Blackhill (destroyed by a meteor 1006 AC) *Boldavia *Bramyra *Caurenze (also destroyed by the meteor 1006 AC) *Erewan *Fenswick *Klantyre *Krondahar *New Kolland *Morlay-Malinbois *Nouvelle Averoigne *Sablestone

History

The Highlands, which was the original name of the region, were settled before the Great Rain of Fire. The first settlers were elves, but they were forced to flee, or were destroyed, in the wake of the great cataclysm. The extraplanar Flaems came next, a people that shows a notable affinity with the energies of Fire. The Flaems founded seven duchies in the region, and clashed with their neighbors from the plains of Ethengar. In time, other colonists arrived: first elves, then humans from Thyatis and Traladara and even

Alphatia Mystara is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role playing game. It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of ''D&D'' ...

, then dwarves from Rockhome. Other, more mysterious, colonists came in through magical ways, such as the Klantyrians and the Averoignians. The Flaems resented the intrusion. The colonists fought back, until the distant Empire of Alphatia tried to take control of the region, with the help of dwarven colonists. The humans and elves allied with the Flaems, chased the Alphatian troops and their dwarven allies and founded a Republic, which later took its name from the most prominent war hero, Alexander Glantri. A council of hereditary Princes and a parliament of minor nobles rule Glantri, as it is no longer a true Republic.

Population

There are several distinct human cultures present in Glantri, including those found in the individual principalities, such as the Caurenzans, the Alphatians of Blackhill, the Aalbanese, the Flaems, the Ethengarians of Krondahar, the Averoignians, the Klantyrians, and the Boldavians. Two different clans of elves, the Erewan and the Belcadiz, live in the southernmost Principalities, and a number of unusual creatures can be found within the borders of Glantri.

Lupins ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

of various breeds and a few

rakasta This is the list of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd edition monsters, an important element of that role-playing game. This list only includes monsters from official ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 2nd Edition supplements published by TSR, ...

and goblinoids complete the population. No dwarf or halfling resides in the Principalities, since the local law hunts down these demihuman people. Most of these ethnic groups are fiercely regional when domestic matters are concerned, but cooperate when facing an external enemy such as Alphatia, dwarves, Ethengar, or the goblinoids.

Government and religion

A Council of Princes rules the Principalities of Glantri. When a decision cannot be taken, due to the lack of a clear majority, the issue is brought to the Parliament, an assembly where each noble has voting power proportioned to his title. The head of state is the Chancellor of the Princes, which is currently Prince Volospin Aendyr of Blackhill. However, in the Glantrian mindset Étienne d'Ambreville, the Headmaster of the Great School of Magic, the foremost center of magical training and research, has more authority, and he has a higher power in votes. A large bureaucracy works to enact the rulings of the Council and Parliament, while nobles maintain nearly complete authority in their fiefs. No Immortals are openly worshipped in this land, and, moreover, clerics are outlawed. Only some forms of mysticism, like the worship of Magic itself preached by the Shepherds of Rad, or the reclusive mystics of Lhamsa, are allowed.

References

External links

Vaults of Pandius
Official site Mystara site's ''Glantri'' page, and source of most of the current fan based projects.
Glantri at the Mystara Wiki Project
{{D&D topics Mystara