Land-locked western kingdom between Cardacci and Morrschatten — and the place where the Order of the Owl’s destruction began.
Overview
Warm summers, often cold winters. Protected by the Order of the Swan. Capital: Vyones.
The most conventionally recognizable of the three kingdoms: a real hereditary crown and powerful counts, abbeys, and cities — the crown has genuine revenue and force, and so do its great lords. Averoignese regard their kingdom as the “vanguard of the West” — the setter of western standards in courtly manners, chivalry, scholarship, and taste — and are rich enough that the claim has to be taken seriously. (GM)
Land & Cities (GM)
- Rich settled farmland in the south and center, rising to hills and rough foothills in the north. Wine, textiles, and large internal markets; Morrschatten supplies its wool and raw materials, Cardacci its manufactured and luxury goods, and Averoigne redistributes both through its river routes.
- Vyones — capital, ~150,000 people, on the Isole.
- Touraine — major southern city on the road to The Holy City, with a Grand Abbey and a university.
- Ximes — northernmost major city; gateway to the northeastern wine country.
- Les Hiboux — major textile center, weaving Morschatti wool.
- Most great secular lords are counts; the title duke marks descent from the royal line rather than raw power — a rich count may outweigh a duke.
- A major settlement of dwarven Clan Agaddum (stonework and masonry) lies here — Marin’s clan (spelling per GM ruling, 2026-08-15). See Dwarves.
The Succession War, Dated (GM)
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1715 | The Crown Prince falls in the Fifth Crusade, leaving King Etienne de la Courcel without a legitimate heir |
| Summer 1731 | Etienne, dying, names his illegitimate daughter Marie-Celeste de la Courcel sole heir, with Marc Abayante of the Order of the Owl as Regent and Lord Protector |
| Summer 1731, +2 weeks | Assassins storm the royal castle at Vyones and kill Marie-Celeste, Marc, and numerous owl knights — see The Night in the Royal Castle |
| Summer 1731 | Michel d’Envers claims the throne through his wife Estoile, the late king’s sister. Guillaume de Fausseflammes of the Swan, the king’s nephew, counter-claims and accuses d’Envers of the assassinations |
| Late Summer 1731 | d’Envers takes Vyones unopposed and is crowned by Archprelate Louis d’Allissy, the late king’s own chief advisor |
| Late Summer 1731 | d’Envers installs Jehanne d’Allais as head of the Order of the Owl |
| Summer 1732 | Several significant engagements between the two parties |
| Fall 1732 | Fausseflammes slain in battle; his wife, the Comtesse de Touraine, fights on |
| Spring 1733 | Fausseflammes forces besieged in Touraine |
| Fall 1733 | d’Envers falls suddenly ill and dies; his son Rincon succeeds. Rincon’s reputation derails the surrender negotiations |
| Winter 1735 | The Comtesse’s daughters escape Touraine |
| Summer 1736 | Touraine falls; the Comtesse kills herself. The daughters surface as guests of the Doge in Cardacci. The civil war is technically over |
Current State (1739)
- King Rincon d’Envers reigns over a wrecked country: the plague has arrived, support for the Crown is weak, and the Crown is deep in debt (S5, expat gossip in Halwa). His possession of the throne is widely recognized, including abroad — and his personal reputation for cruelty is bad enough that even those who accept him as lawful consider him dishonorable. (GM)
- Two rival claimants by blood — the Daughters of Touraine — are alive and sheltered in Cardacci by the Doge.
- The war is formally over but not healed: Touraine was a major aristocratic, scholarly, and ecclesiastical center, and the crown cannot erase those networks without damaging its own kingdom. (GM)
- The Order of the Owl discovered a Sanctum in northern Averoigne in Spring 1731 (GM) — the “Averoigne mountains” site from The Recovered Documents, and the one Estelle does not know about. See The Sanctum Investigation.
- Madeline Foussard was tutor to Marie-Celeste and oversaw the witchcraft case of Constanza Bethlen here — and lost both in one night. (S5, GM)
- The swordsman who holds Kraus’s Folly is likely Averoigne, though Madeline isn’t certain. (S5)
- A surviving prince of Averoigne may have given the jeweled orrery to the Monastery of the Dawn after the Third Crusade. (S3)
Speculation
The party’s western leg keeps pointing here: a sanctum nobody else knows about, an Averoigne swordsman running a private operation across the Circle Sea with a Celestial-runed warp circle, and a throne held by a man too weak to refuse anyone’s help. If someone is using Averoigne, 1731 is when they took it.