Skip to main content

Khaganate of the True Gold Horde

Khaganate of the True Gold Horde

Head of State: Tsusan Khagan Esen of the Mohl
System of Government: Clan-Based Monarchy
Major Religions: St John, Triplicity
Minor Religions: Mallan
Languages: Keidar, Chelkra, Alvaric
Major Species: Humans, Orcs
Minor Species: True Elves
National Descriptor: Khaganfolk

Once a peaceful, pleasant country, Keidar was torn apart by the invasion of the undead army of the Lord Undying in 1307, which claimed its entire northern half. The Khaganate was formed from the remainder when Esen of the Mohl assembled a force in Durholme to take over from the vacillating Keidran nobles, all the bravest of whom had already died in war against the undead.

Five Rumours about the Khaganate

Rumours may be known by characters who are not from and have not visited the Khaganate. This is just a small sample of rumours you might have heard about this semi-nomadic and constantly raiding country.

  1. Nobody in the True Gold Horde has any houses, so they are always having to move around their country.
  2. The True Gold Horde are the greatest horse-thieves in the entire world. They stole the country just to steal all the horses in it! This is what has attracted so many true elves to the nation.
  3. The True Gold Horde wears light pink to try and ward off the curse from North Keidar.
  4. The True Gold Horde is a curse from the gods on southern Keidar, just like the undead were a curse on
    the northern part.
  5. Somewhere in the Khaganate, the unbroken bloodline of the last great Keidran dragonslayer continues to this day. If ever a dragon should threaten this land, so too will the descendant of the dragonslayer rise to defeat it. Unfortunately, the undead did not bring an undead dragon with them. If they had, they would have been immediately destroyed!

Five Facts about the Khaganate

For your OC reference, or IC if your character is from the Khaganate or has visited it in the past.

  1. Governed from the Saddle: Tsusan Khagan and his court and army spend their time roaming as nomads across the wide, flat plains of the Khaganate, collecting tribute and raiding their northern undead neighbours. All horses within the land are the property of the khagan, who lends them out to his people as needed, including the horses of visitors. Yaks, by contrast, can be owned by individuals, and so are great symbols of wealth.
  2. Perpetual Raiders: Every year, Tsusan Khagan leads a great raid into the blasted wastes of North Keidar, seeking to slay undead and loot the abandoned wealth of the country. Raids into other neighbouring territories are not officially backed by the khagan’s court, but enthusiastic young warbands often cross the southern and eastern borders to harass their human neighbours anyway. This has done nothing to reduce the unease with which the Khaganate’s neighbours have viewed the land since its strange change in the Mists of 1299.
  3. A Land Divided: The lands of the Khaganate were once the southern part of Keidar, a nation successively ravaged by war, undead invasion, and a mysterious blast from the heavens which fell upon the north. It was then conquered by Tsusan Khagan in 1308. For many of the nobles and peasants of the former South Keidar, things have changed little since the conquest, and they remain on their land as they did before the invasion, paying tribute to the khagan as he travels by. Some, however, have chosen instead to ride with the khagan among his warriors and advisors, and joined the True Gold Horde.
  4. A Nation Reborn: The True Gold Horde is modelled in large part after the Golden Horde, a nation of Triplicite and Mallanite orcs near the Ancient Empire, which vanished when their lands were mysteriously erased in the Mists. New clans are being founded by groups within the Khaganate, all under the khagan’s control. All members of the True Gold Horde usually wear some light pink, often in the form of a sash, but each clan has their own separate clan colour too.
  5. Here Be No Dragons: Many old Keidran myths tell of dragons, and of the heroic dragonslayers who slew the beasts. No dragons have been seen in the land for centuries, and the former Keidrans’ national mythos makes them determined to keep it that way. Whether these myths of dragons and dragonslayers are true indeed, or are some product of the strange change in the land during the Mists, cannot be told.