Cascadia

The region of Cascadia is on the western coast of North America, between Alaska and California. It is chiefly populated by Gaians in the south and by indigenous groups such as the Haida in the north.

Ancient History
Following the world-shattering disruptions of the event, the far north was abandoned to its own devices. Few places did the famines hit harder than in the inland north, where the population had dramatically outgrown the region's ability to produce food. Through what little agriculture they could manage, and a partial reversion to traditional tribal structures and a seasonal round of hunting and gathering, a hardy few were able to continue. Their descendants are the Yukoners and the Dené.

On the coast, the story was different. The Pacific Ocean relieves the cold and aridity of the north, producing coniferous rainforests all the way up to the 60th parallel. Here, with continued access to the bounties of the sea, the ancestors of the Alaskans and Tlingit managed to maintain a greater degree of social organization, leading to the emergence of a new noble hierarchy which began to painstakingly restore what had been lost.

The Tlingit Shgúndis were the first of the recorded noble houses. Emerging from a center of power in Ketchikan, in the southern end of the Alaskan panhandle, the success of house Shgúndi spread a Tlingit ruling class across the region, alongside a syncretized form of Orthodox Christianity that came to be known as Kanéist Átk'aheen: the Cross Faith.

The northern panhandle, centered around Juneau, slid in and out of domination by the wealthier south, who dominated trade routes to the Tsimshian and Gaians.

Although House Shgúndi would eventually fade from prominence, they were succeeded by other dynasties, the greatest of which were the Xunaas. Daniel Xunaa would establish the first post-event Kingdom, uniting all of Alaska from the Lynn Canal to the Dixon Entrance. His sons would even briefly expand control over the inland Tlingit of the southern Yukon, establishing the duchy which they called Dakká. While this coastal rule of the poor and isolated interior was short-lived, it would have a lasting impact by reintroducing their Christian faith.

In the interior prior to this period, two general groups emerged. One was more settled and agricultural, looking to their mythic pioneer forebears and stubbornly maintaining to a lifestyle which struggled to thrive in this isolated, forested land. This group practiced a form of the Trailwalker faith. The latter embraced the traditional hunting and gathering mode of living which had thrived in the north for millennia before settlement. Historians may note the irony that it was this latter group which remained broadly Christian. When the Tlingit began to influence the interior once again, they unified the interior Christian sects under Kanéist Átk'aheen, sending the northern Trailwalkers into steep decline.

The Raven Deluge
Modern history in the northwest begins with the cataclysmic invasion of the Haida. The legendary King Yahguaas, Right Hand of Raven, laid low the Tsimshian and the proud Canuck dynasties of the south. Much has been written of the glorious and doomed resistance of the southerners, but this is not their story. The Tlingit were weakened and isolated by this disruption of trade, and maintained a tense, decades-long standoff with the rising Haida Tlagaang, as it devastated and then supplanted the old realms of the south. This cold war came to an end in an utterly one-sided war fought in the 2616. Xetsuwu Xunaa was defeated, while house Ross, their northern neighbors in Juneau, did nothing in the hope that they would be spared. Recognizing that no aid would come, Xetsuwu Xunaa surrendered, and for his swift submission was permitted to retain his ancestral seat in Ketchikan.

Kaakastoon Xunaa, not so willing as his kinsman to give up the fight, fled into the north to rebuild his strength in the inland Tlingit realm of Áa Tlénx. From there, he turned to the other locals. As the most powerful Chieftain in the region, Kaakastoon forced the Charlies and Godins to swear fealty, thus uniting the western Yukoner tribes under a reconstituted High Chiefdom of Dakká.

Duchy of Hlanggas Ýaat'áay (Duchy of Alexander)
Duke Xunts II Katana descends from an ancient line hereditary chiefs from Hydaburg, on the south end of Prince of Wales Island. His father had been a grudging vassal of the Tlingit, and was swift to ally with the Haida Tlagaang during its meteoric rise to power. House Katana were elevated to Dukes for their loyalty, and have served the all-conquering Tlgunghungs as their northernmost marcher-lords ever since.

"Xunts Katana is a crafty lord who can aim to either consolidate control of his Duchy, or further empower himself by being the spearhead of the Tlagaang's northward drive. Someday, he might even look towards being more than just a Duke."

The southern Xunaas of Ketchikan abandoned the Cross for the Raven, but never truly abandoned their ambitions to reclaim their birthright. Their overlord, Xunts Katana, himself a servant of the mighty Haida Tlagaang, was all too aware of this plotting, and recently had the recalcitrant K'alyaan Xunaa quietly replaced with Gookshí S'awdáan, in hopes that he would prove to be a more pliable vassal.

"Gookshí S'awdáan is the last Tlingit ruler under the Haida Tlagaang, and the hopes of many of his people lie in him. He has abandoned Christianity to secure his position from Haida reprisals, and must now tread carefully, lest his liege take any slight as just cause to revoke his lands. Will House S'awdáan be the ones to restore the Tlingit realm, and write a new chapter in their people's history?"

The fall of the long-standing Xunaas opened up many opportunities for individuals of unique ambition, and few have risen further than Walter the Black. An upjumped ne'er-do-well Alaskan, a strongman and occasional pirate from Petersburg who adopted Raven Tales to secure his position within the new Haida hierarchy, to say nothing of providing a veneer of legitimacy to his merciless raiding against the Christian north.

"Walter LeConte has ambition, competence and a chip on his shoulder. He is a fiend in hand-to-hand combat, and a terror of many of his fellow Alaskans. As a soldier of fortune who only recently came into landed title, he has an abundance of opportunities, both to raid abroad and to advance himself, and any family he might sire, towards greater and greater power."

Duchy of Juneau
Kaakastoon Xunaa, throughout his consolidation of power in the north, never took his eyes off of southern opportunities. He bore a deep and hateful grudge against Gunnar Ross, the Duke of Juneau, for failing to aid his family during the Haida invasion. As the elderly Ross ailed, Kaakastoon pushed the claim of an ally, Seward Brooks, to seize control of Juneau. While the war was successful, but Kaakastoon would perish late in the fighting. His only son, Yeilgooxu, would seize the county of Chilkoot as 'restitution' for this loss.

{{Blockquote
 * text=Seward Brooks holds the loss of Chilkoot against Yeilgooxu, but also knows that he owes everything to the High Chieftain. Nonetheless, he is now independent and powerful. An alliance with the inland chieftains could do much to stave off the constant threat of a Haida invasion, although this would entail accepting the loss of a constituent part of his duchy. Nonetheless, he will need all the help he can find in order to resist the might of the Tlagaang, as its attentions shall inevitably fall on him.

High Chiefdom of Dakká (Duchy of Yukon)
Many prominent houses have ruled the Yukoner tribes in spoken history, but this is only the second time that foreigners have made such a claim. High Chieftain Yeilgooxu has made moves to strengthen his rule over the region by marrying the widowed Chieftess Aurore of Whitehorse. While her succession in the region initially seemed safe, her youngest son Francis recently died under suspicious circumstances. Were the same to happen to her elder son, Pierre, the richest region in the whole of Dakká will be inherited by Yeilgooxu and Aurore's yet-unborn male heir.

"Yeilgooxu Xunaa bears the torch for the last branch of the Xunaas, erstwhile kings who have reigned over the Tlingit for nearly two centuries. He is well-positioned to assert dominance over his vassals, with some force and skullduggery, and has some opportunities for outside expansion as well. However, the challenge of retaking his ancestral homeland is severe. His realms are poor, backwards and tribal, and will need to be strengthened before they can even stand up to Duke Seward, to say nothing of the looming Tlagaang. In spite of this, his relative strength and remoteness may make him the best hope for the continued survival of Tlingit culture and the Kanéist Átk'aheen faith."

Whitehorse, or Kwanlin, has long been one of the major centers of the Yukoner tribes. It has been the seat of Cournoyers and McIntyres in the past, and most recently has been the seat of House Godin. Chieftess Aurore Godin is the most recent to rule, but her reign has not been easy. After the end of her first marriage with a madman named Yvon, Aurore was courted by Yeilgooxu. Believing her inheritance to be secure, she accepted this to protect her family's rule. However, as misfortunes befall her children and last surviving heirs, she begins to fear the worst.

"Aurore Godin rules the richest and most prestigious land in the realm, but her position is uniquely precarious. It is critical that young Pierre comes of age and produces legitimate issue of his own, or her house is doomed to die with her. Should her family survive, they shall emerge as the strongest vassal with the best opportunity to overthrow Tlingit rule, but should it fail, all of her descendants shall bear the name 'Xunaa'. All rests on the innocent, unsuspecting shoulders of a twelve year old boy."

In Kluane, above the lakes and below the mountains, Elias Charlie reigns. His ancient and storied house said to be descended both from the distant north and the distant south, and their patriarch is a well-loved Chief with a large and thriving family. While the Charlie claim to Kluane is rock-solid, Elias is concerned with the power and machinations of his liege, and is eager to betroth one of his children to whoever may be born of Yeilgooxu and Aurore to secure his family's place at the side of the High Chief.

"Elias Charlie suffers no concerns for succession, having five sons and three daughters with his wife Vera. However, his mountainous county is miserably poor, isolated and remote. He and his heirs must act with caution, forethought and intelligence, should they desire to maintain or even improve on their current lot."

High Chiefdom of Stikine
Isolated from events on the coast, with their only access to tidewater being through the grand canyon of the Stikine River, this is the sole independent high chiefdom still ruled by a Yukoner. After losing Whitehorse to the Godins, the McIntyres trekked across the continental divide to Watson Lake, on the upper reaches of the Liard river, where they re-established their strength. Generation by generation steadily extended their realm south along the inner edge of the coast mountains, down the ancient Stewart-Cassiar route. The realm peaked in Tony McIntyre's 24-year reign. However, Tony perished three years ago, and the land was divided between his two sons, Rich and Jack. In many ways outshined by his younger brother, Rich's circumstances grew more difficult still when his family's longtime steward, the Dalton Horwood, obliged him to grand him rule over Cassiar. Today, High Chief Rich's circumstances are dire. His heir and younger brother, Jack, is a master of intrigue blessed with many talents, while the elderly and heirless Horwood remains stubbornly long-lived. Complicating matters, his father's bold expansion brought the high chiefdom into contact with the Tsimshian Count Gwunba Calder of Prince Rupert and Nass, a vassal of the mighty Haida Tlagaang. If that weren't bad enough, Watson Lake is vulnerable both to the ambitions of Yeilgooxu Xunaa in Dakká to the west, and Edzo Betsina of Liard to the east. While the former has agreed to a pact of nonaggression for the time being, High Chief Edzo has made no such promise and shares none of the internal vulnerabilities that plague the McIntyre realm. He would love nothing more than to reaffirm the ancestral Dené claim to the upper Liard.

"Rich McIntyre is much weaker than he may first appear on the map. His personal demesne is poor and much of his land is divided among vassals. He is most vulnerable to Liard and the vassals of the Haida Tlagaang. However, if he can survive these early trials and emerge unscathed, then Stikine might once again be in a position to capitalize on moments of weakness in their neighbours."

"Jack McIntyre is young, skilled, and next in line to inherit the entire duchy, should anything untoward befall his dear brother. However, his realm is right on the border of the Haida Tlagaang, and if he does not move swiftly, he will have no room to maneuver in order to bring greatness back to his house."

"Dalton Horwood is a weary old man who has lived a life beset by tragedy. He married Emma McIntyre, elder sister of the great chieftain Tony, and has served the McIntyres loyally for generations, but has ever been on the wrong side of luck. His first son, Hank, was born weak and died a sickly man before his thirtieth birthday. His second son, Harry, was a strong genius, and as such inevitably died a mangled mess before inheriting. And now, as a final blow, his life partner lies in her deathbed, a shadow of her former self, consumed from within by the ravages of cancer. Dalton will either bow to fate, or rage against the world that has so mistreated him so, and make one last attempt to secure his family's immortality."

High Chiefdom of Liard
Edzo Betsina is the westernmost Peyotist ruler and a uniter of many Dené peoples on the Liard and Hay rivers, from the Kaska to the South Slavey. With strong Dené to his east and Freden's anabaptists to his south, it is widely expected that Edzo's next actions will bring him into direct conflict with the McIntyres over Watson Lake.

Duchy of Kiladáay (Duchy of the Coast)
Gwunba Calder is a Tsimshian lord based out of Kitkatla, known to many as Prince Rupert and to his liege as Chínáay. He has managed to deftly maneuver under Haida rule, to the point of being awarded a prominent Duchy. As a dutiful servant of the Tlagaang, he is most posed to extend his realm north, at the expense of the McIntyres, although he always maintains a healthy degree of self-interest- should disaster befall the Haida, he will be well-prepared to enforce his independence from the islanders by force of arms.

Haida Tlagaang
Tlagaang. Raven. Haida. Xhúuyee K'iigaang. These words are dreaded by all of their neighbours, and with good cause. All that happens in this region is transformed by the Haida Tlagaang. Even after the realm was wrestled in twain by the squabbling sons of King Hluunaagad some thirty years ago, the northern half remains well-positioned to comfortably disassemble any of its neighbours in a one-on-one fight. Young King Yahguaas Tlgunghung is the first Haida king to bear the name of his legendary progenitor: either a naïve boast, or a dire omen with terrible implications for his neighbours.