Aster Malik

Aster Keep
Leader	The Aster Regent
Religion	Vastar
Allies	The Guild of Knights

The Duchy of Aster Malik is a former fiefdom of the Seleucarian Empire, located on the Asterian Peninsula of the continent of Meropis. The Duchy is ruled by a Regency, and hosts the re-founded Guild of Knights as its headquarters. Asteri knights are a common sight on the highways of western Meropis, patrolling against the continent's many dangers as far as Mourning Pass and the village of Luman.

History

Aster Malik was created after the death of Nicator, through the marriage and joining of estates between Pannelia Malik, one of Nicator's many wives, and Pontelius Leland Aster. The occultist Adchachel was a resident of Aster Keep around the time of the Black Wave, and was eventually slain there by Delosian Templar who breached his secret laboratory. The Duchy has passed through several noble families through the generations, including the infamous Castomira Brangwin and the descendants of Damen Kephry after the Wars of Succession. Ruled by Davis Kephry at the Fall of the Empire, Aster Malik signed the Treaty of Meropis alongside Sirocco Fortress and Thornwall Hold to provide mutual assistance and common defense between these surviving duchies of the empire. After the treaty became defunct, Aster Malik sealed its gates to the outside world, and remained closed even after adventurers rediscovered Meropis in 500 AF.

In 772 AF, the vengeful spirit of Adchachel returned to Sapience and the Keep, until he was again sealed and burned alive in that same lab.

In 889 AF, (2588 IP) the Duke Pontelius Aurachias Mauvellio Aster, Eighth of his Name, died without an heir, triggering a succession crisis within Aster Keep. With the pious cleric Chadys insisting on strict adherence to divine laws of inheritance, and the more pragmatic castellan Ranic seeking to fill the ducal seat as quickly as possible, Knight-Captain Jineid sent letters and sought advice from surviving knights that still practiced Chivalry in the Seleucarian tradition. Mayapple, Aerek, and Asria traveled to Aster Keep and held court with the Keep's council to find a solution. In this council, Aerek Ancyrion was elected by the Keep to serve as Knight Regent, and in thanks to the Sapient knights who answered the summons, Aster Keep agreed to host the Second Guild of Knights within its walls, with Mayapple Xanatov as the first Knight Arbiter.

Notable Rulers

Duchess Pannelia Malik

Duke Pontelius Leland Aster, First of his Name

Duchess Castomira Brangwin

Davis Kephry

Duke Pontelius Aurachias Mauvellio Aster, Eighth of his Name

The Aster Regency

889 AF (2588 IP) - Ser Aerek Ancyrion

Geography

Aster Malik consists of Aster Keep, an imposing castle at the heart of the walled Aster Town. Outside the walls lie the ruins of the Old Town, and the once-fertile Asterian plains that are now a moor of salt marshes and sea cliffs between the Sea of Screamed Prayers and the Chelic Ocean. The Duchy is bordered on the east by the Atrousian Jungle, and the lands of Sirocco Fortress to the northeast. The isle of Kanjera once lay off the western coast of the duchy, but sank beneath the waves at the Sundering.