The Warring Factions: the Duchy of Volborg

The Duchy of Volborg has been ruled by the Arch-Duchess Brunhilde, the older sister of King Karl Franz III, for more than a generation. Her portrait, with its disapproving frown, graces the mantel of every home and hovel across the duchy. The devotion of her people reaches almost religious fervor. Though she is older than her sibling the king, she was never a serious candidate to rule until now. No queen has ever ruled Unkerlant, except for short, disastrous reign of Ekaterina I, also known as the Black Queen. Since then, agnatic succession, that is, succession by only males, has been strongly enforced. Brunhilde has not been seen in public for quite some time, and it is whispered in halls of the capital that Volborg is secretly ruled by the Arch Duchess’s consort Count Augustus, as much disliked by his people as Brunhilde is loved. Whether this rumor is true or not will only be answered when Volborg makes it bid to rule the country.
Volborg itself is one of largest lands of the kingdom. Surrounded by mountains and covered in rolling hills and forests, Volborg juts like a defiant fist out into the west.
The capital of the duchy is also named Volborg, and boasts a population almost equal to Koenigstadt. It’s main exports are a watery cheese called Gluppenschwill, and uncomfortable wooden shoes. The towns of Vollenbeck and Sturmbeck live in constant jealousy of their bigger sister Volborg, and make it a point in trying to do out do each other at every turn. If one builds a church, the other must try and build a larger one, and so on.
When war starts, as it seems inevitable, Volborgians are proud, fierce fighters, loyal to their duchess and their cause.