The servant entered the torch-lit chamber, kneeling before the great throne, carved of some strange green-tinted stone. His uniform, if it could be considered one was simple. A roughly spun brown tunic over a set of patched, loose leggings of the same brown wool, held in place at the waist by a thick leather belt. Around each wrist he had leather bracelets, similar fetters around his ankles and a narrow collar in the same style, all of them with iron hoops suitable for attaching chains. There were no chains attached at that moment, but wear upon the collar indicated it had once held chains. The only thing resembling an insignia was a bright red X upon his back, glowing faintly, as if it was imbued with magic. He had no shoes, his feet having thick calluses after years of no boots.

Though dressed almost like a slave, the servant was clearly above such. He lacked the starved, desperate look, not to mention the scars and chains a slave would normally have. The man seated upon the great throne did not acknowledge him, his attention upon a scroll of parchment. In the background one could hear the screams of someone suffering some sort of torment.

The lord, for he had to be some sort of noble, suddenly looked up. The very air surrounding him seemed to brighten, revealing his immaculate clothes. Black silk shirt, covered by a steel-plated leather vest and similarly armored leather pants. He was of middling height, neither tall nor short. His charcoal-colored hair and beard were both as immaculate as his clothes. After several minutes, he gazed down at the servant, acknowledging him with a simple wave.

The servant finally spoke. “My lord, your guests have been prepared.”

The lord sat silently for a few moments before speaking in a calm and deep voice. “You have done well, Hreid. Continue to serve well, and your family will be rewarded. Dismissed.”

“My lord, I live but to serve.” The servant rose, placed his left fist diagonally across his chest, bowed deeply then withdrew silently.

The lord sat silently upon the throne for a few minutes, then rose. He made his way out of the throne chamber and down the corridor, away from the tortured screams. As he moved along, the torches behind him went dark, even as the ones in front of him flared up from darkness. Though the tunnels branched regularly and were dark everywhere but right around him, he did not falter, moving surely through them, clearly knowing the path.

After quite a while, he could hear faint whimpering up ahead. He stopped before an unmarked iron-plated door. It was barred from the outside, but it was not soundproof. Whimpers could be heard from within.

The moment he stepped over the threshold, after removing the bar and opening the door, torches flared up brightly throughout the chamber, revealing all within the room. The walls were rough, gray-black stone, unpolished and clearly cut from solid mountain, not a single seam anywhere.

In the center of the chamber, there were four suspended leather harnesses, hanging immovably by chains bolted tightly to the the roof and the floor. Strapped down in each was a woman. Two of the women were short of stature, seemingly no larger than children, yet clearly fully grown. They had pale, almost white skin, their shoulder-length hair dark brown. The two other women had a thin layer of brown fur covering much of their curvaceous bodies, thick black nails on both hands and feet, but not very clawlike.

All four of them were stark naked, all of them clearly terrified. The lord smiled, for things were just as he liked them. Soon enough these four, now violently opposed to his rule, would meekly move about the fortress, their spirits broken and chained to his will. He enjoyed breaking his opponents so.

The closest woman, one of the two deer-like raden, spoke up, her voice practically dripping with venomous hatred.
“My brother will not stand for this! I am a diplomat, protected by law! Release me now or I will...”
Before she could finish her threat, he spoke a strange word, silencing her. Her mouth kept moving, but no sound issued forth.
“No you won't. You are a spy and a traitor. You were caught with stolen scrolls. You have all been judged, sentenced and will soon be punished.”

The other three then tried to speak up in protest, but no sound issued forth from their mouths. It was clear they did not consent to being called spies. The lord did not care. Soon, neither would they.

He turned to a side table, where lay several leather collars, bracelets and fetters. Each had several iron hoops and a number of faintly glowing runic glyphs. He picked up a single collar then walked up to the first woman. Her eyes widened at the sight of the collar. She had not seen one before but she had heard of them. She squirmed, trying to escape even though the restraints were clearly too strong.

The lord smiled. “You recognize it, do you? Your people sent you to spy on mine, to find out the secrets of the collars. You simply should have asked. I will show you exactly how they work, how they are initiated.”
He stepped closer. “You will find that you will enjoy it. All those collared do.”

He bent the collar around her neck, strapping it firmly on. The runes flared brightly and the joining seam faded, leaving a seemingly unbroken ring of leather around her throat. She continued to squirm, helplessly.

“Do not squirm so. It will soon be over. So very soon.”

Returning to the table, he picked up bracelets and fetters, attaching them in the same manner as he attached the collar. Though the seams faded, she continued to squirm, the magic clearly not having activated.

He loosened the chains holding her arms. She could now move somewhat, but she did not have full range of movement. She started to scratch at the collar, attempting to remove it. Not even her thick nails, far stronger than those on most other species, could scratch the leather, let alone remove it.

“I think you will enjoy this last part. I most certainly will.”

Without further ado, he opened the ties at the front of his pants. His erect member slid out.

“You may scream if you like. Nobody will hear you.”
He then stepped up to her, thrusting his member deeply into her body, even as he spoke in the same strange language as before. At first she screamed, trying to hit him, but the chains prevented her from putting any force into it. Eventually after he had spoken the same words over and over several times, her screams of outrage, of horror started to die down. With each shout, the runic glyphs on her leather collar, bracelets and fetters flared up before dimming again, each time they glowed slightly brighter afterwards. As he reached the apex, he thrust in one final time, shouting the words one last time. He released his seed deep within her, the runes flaring brightly one last time before they seemingly sank in through the leather. She moaned with pleasure.

The lord drew himself out of her, smiling as he detached all the remaining ties upon her.

She collapsed onto the floor, then knelt there, looking adoringly up at him. Her former defiance was gone, her spirit chained.

“What is your will, my master? How may I serve you?”

“Tell me your true name.”
The lord knew that the name she had given earlier was false, but why bother with torture, when the collars are so much more effective? Torture was effective as punishment, but it was not useful for gaining information. Besides, he saw no reason to damage beautiful women when he could avoid it.

She smiled fondly at her newfound master. “I am called Thora Langlaugi, master.”

He smiled widely. This was a good catch indeed. “Collar these traitorous spies.”
Upon receiving the command, she practically moaned with pleasure. She had gotten orders, her life's wish was to obey her lord.
The three remaining spies watched shocked as their former mistress obediently attached the collars bracelets and fetters to their bodies. Like she had done, they squirmed. Like her, they failed to get loose. She started with the two settled, saving the Raden for last.

The other Raden spoke up. The lord let her. “What are you doing, cousin? Don't you recognize me? Don't do this! Please!”
She smiled fondly at them. “I have my orders. I obey them. You will soon see how fortunate we are to serve.” Even as she slid the collar around her cousin's neck, she gave her a chaste little kiss upon the cheek, utterly oblivious to her screams. “Relax and you will enjoy it more.”

Once finished, she knelt down before her lord, her face radiant. “Master, it is done. What can I do to please you now?”

He smiled at her, brushing his hand over her cheek. She moaned as he did. “Your obedience is pleasing. You will wait while I deal with these spies.”

The lord made quick work of the three, they proved even easier to bind. He released them from their bonds and directed them to find clothes upon another side table. Soon each was dressed in a scant and revealing dress of fine brown wool. He ordered them to follow him, then moved back up to his throne chamber. The four new slaves followed meekly at his heels. He smiled as he moved up. Not only had he gotten four new slaves, beautiful slaves at that, but he had also cracked a spy ring and thwarted his foe, the Hersir of the valley of Ísabrotá. A good day, he thought.

These new slaves would serve well. He would give three of them to his men, but he would keep their leader for himself. It would be humorous if he should manage to sire a child upon her. The lord could almost see the livid rage upon his old foe's face just from thinking about the idea.

The red dots mark the greater settlements, with there being numerous smaller ones all over the place.
The blue or purple areas belong to the settled, the red-rimmed light green ones to the nomadic tribes, the dark green ones to the forest-dwelling packs, the purple-rimmed red one to the trúlings, and finally the orange zones are controlled by dragons.
That does not mean that the different groups do not venture into each other's territories, but rather that the formal "control" over a region is only one group. Dragons tend to venture out into the regions populated by mankind regularly, as that is where the tastiest food is.

While they are most common on the larger mountain chains, dragons can be found living at least a few in each of the smaller ones, or at least stopping by there while hunting for manflesh. Most dragons have learned to avoid directly approaching larger settlements, but not all.

There are several nomadic tribes in each of their regions.

[Image: TrulingaMapC2.png]

[Image: TrulingaMapCT2.png]