Before Sigmar

The Fennones were a small tribe that settled in the regions that would become Ostermark, Sylvania, and eastern Stirland. The eastern tribal lands were as inhospitable then as they are in the early 26th century. The northern portions were blanketed by the Great Forest and the western tribal lands moderately fertile. The Fennones eked out a sorry existence there, especially with some much of the forest and eastern mountains teeming with goblins and other more sinister creatures. Trade with the neighbouring tribes was limited as the Fennones had little to offer. Despite the nearness of Zhufbar, the Fennones avoided contact with the Dwarfs. Some believe that this was due to the fact that the Fennones traded with the nearby goblin tribes, while others suggest something more disturbing.

The Fennones worshipped a harsher version of the Old Faith than that practiced elsewhere in the land that became the Empire. As part of their beliefs, the dead of the Fennones were buried in the various bogs, moors and fens that were common throughout their land. This burial practice has remained intact through the present day.

More information on the Fennone tribe can be found in the "Nine Tribes" article by Tim Eccles and Ryan Wileman in Warpstone 17.

Drannus and the Coming of Sigmar

Raids by Goblins against the Fennones began to grow as more bands of Orcs entered the lands through Black Fire Pass, especially in the years following the improbable rescue of Dwarf High King Kargan. Drannus, tribal chieftain, led his warriors against the treacherous greenskins in one engagement after another. At about this time, an emissary from the Unberogen chieftain, Sigmar, approached Drannus with an offer of friendship and support if he agreed to ally his tribe with the others against the greenskins. Drannus, immediately joined seeing an opportunity to better the lot of his tribe, and himself

Some later, more cynical, historians have suggested that Drannus' decision had more to do with the fear of what would happen to him should Sigmar consider the Fenonne as confederates of the greenskins. The only real decision for Drannus was to throw his lot in with the Unberogen leader to avoid the later extermination of his tribe.

The war was tenacious with no quarter given or asked, it was a war of survival. With the aid of the Dwarfs, Sigmar's mighty host obliterated the Orc and Goblin horde at the climatic Battle of Black Fire Pass. The victorious tribal chieftains realized that their people could not be safe unless the tribes remained united. So, they met in Great Council in Reikdorf for many days deciding the future. In the end, they elected Sigmar Heldenhammer as Emperor, who was then crowned by the High Priest of Ulric.

One of Sigmar's first acts was to reward those who led their tribes in battle. To Drannus, Sigmar granted the lands along the eastern reaches of the River Stir and south to Aver Reach. Drannus founded the town of Buchebad, near the western border of his lands, as his capital. Drannus also rewarded his war chiefs with lands in the western part of his realm as well. To maintain his claims in the east, however, Drannus "freed" his slaves and settled them in those poor lands. Drannus elevated the warriors who provided him great service to the lords of the eastern lands.

Drannus lived a long life and firmly ruled his lands. In his eighty-first year, the old warrior met his death at the hands of goblin raiders from the Great Forest as he patrolled his northern borders. In accordance to his will, Drannus' lands were divided to his two remaining sons: Fraomar, the eldest of the two inherited the western lands (Langwald) and Cuthwine the Grim received the eastern lands (Sylvania).

Strife and the Age of Wars

Religious Oppression

Soon after his ascension as Primate (Grand Theogonist) of Sigmar, Kazgar I began a process of gathering evidence that supported allegations that practitioners of the Old Faith partook in "unwholesome rituals of worship," including human sacrifice and "wanton immorality." When he gathered sufficient proof, Kazgar I met with the Ar-Ulric, several elders of the Taal faith, and the High Priest of the Myrmidia cult in Nuln (the latter having taken root as a result of commerce with several Tilean cities) to call for the salvation of the souls of the duped followers of the Old Faith and the suppression of that tainted belief.

The War of Cleansing took place chiefly in the eastern Empire where the Old Faith was the strongest. A number of Druidic priests were forced to denounce their evil beliefs and convert at the point of the sword to one of the "sanctioned" cults. Many refuse to do so and were consigned to the flames while others fled into the wilderness. In Sylvania, many died trying to protect their faith, others claimed to follow the goddess Rhya, though they preferred to refer to her by her local name of Gurheid. Though there were some deviations from the normal rituals, these ceremonies were close enough to satisfy the "Purgers of the False Faith" (as the sanctioned hunters of the Old Faith styled themselves).

In their obsession with destruction, the Purgers never realised that the worship of Gurheid was a darker, more malevolent deviation of that normally associated with Rhya. In fact, the cult was more vengeful than the variant of the Old Faith that had been previous practiced by the Fennone tribe. Some later religious historians would advance the theory that the cult of Gurheid was actually nothing more than a cover for the Old Faith derivative originally followed by the Fennone. Moreover, this War of Cleansing made the local people more obsessed with the power of death and, thus, opened the door to the worship of Kháine.

The Deadly Black Plague

Baron Frederick van Hal came to power in Sylvania as a reward for rooting out diabolical wizards in the eastern Empire in concert with Emperor Boris Goldbringer's efforts to suppress the sorcerous arts. Baron van Hal's ambitions were just being realised when the outbreak of the Black Plague commenced simultaneously in the western cities. The plague spread quickly eastward and devastated the population of Sylvania. Corpses remained where they perished as those still living struggled to survive.

The Skaven seeming erupted from the forest and hidden lairs throughout the eastern Empire, enslaving the living and destroying villages. Baron van Hal had no intention of allowing these overgrown rodents to disrupt his plans so close to fruition. He was forced to reveal himself as a Necromancer and raised the Dead to fight the invading vermin. The battles between the Undead and Skaven further decimated Sylvania and weakened both opponents. By this time, word of the devastation of the land and peasants reached the Imperial nobility. Led by Grand Prince Mandred von Schilderland of the Reikland, an Imperial host marched through Stirland towards the war in the east. Ravaged by disease and suffering great losses, the Skaven forces were systematically destroyed by Mandred's army in Stirland.

Victorious, yet weakened, Mandred's army engaged Vanhal's (as the infamous Necromancer was called) army in the Stirlander barony of Langwald in an indecisive battle. Vanhal's forces were too many and the Imperial force could not muster an effective counter to the Necromancer's power, so complete was the late Emperor Boris' folly in eliminating sorcery from the Empire. Mandred decided that the remaining Skaven forces in the Great Forest represented the greater danger and crossed the River Stir, leaving a small, defensive force to watch the Sylvanian frontier. By the time that the last of the Skaven were slain, Mandred received word that Vanhal had been assassinated and his Undead army crumbled into dust. Taking little chance, Mandred reached an agreement with the cult of Mórr to send their Raven Knights to cleanse Sylvania of the taint of Necromancy. Mandred then returned west to proclaim that the abominations known as the Skaven had been utterly destroyed.

Mandred elevated the status of the province to a (non-Electoral) County when he promoted the ill-fated Baron Theophilus von Stirbrück as Count of Sylvania, successor to the cursed Vanhal. After a reign of 20 years, Count von Stirbrück lost his way during a hunt in Hunger Wood. His mutilated corpse was found days later near the River Stir.

Age of Wars

The end of Emperor Mandred's reign plunged the Empire into an age of utter anarchy. Sylvania was reduced to minor holdings of nobles constantly vying against one another for advantage. Weather also betrayed the land and drought became commonplace. With so little intrinsic value, poor soil and resources, none of the powerful nobles in the surrounding provinces took any interest in Sylvania.

The first family to rise from the ashes were the von Teufelheims, a murderous and depraved family from the eastern part of the county. For decades the peasants and lesser nobles suffered grievously from the von Teufelheim rule. Many young men and women disappeared. Some were simply ravished and returned to their villages broken in both body and spirit, others died while fulfilling whatever decadent need the ruling family desired. In time, a Peasant Revolt erupted and the family and their noble allies, few as they were, were annihilated.

More information on the von Teufelheim family can be found in the adventure scenario "Conspiracy in Marienburg," which is slated to appear in a forthcoming issue of Warpstone.

Anarchy continued in Sylvania for the next century. The next prominent family to gather enough power to rule Sylvania was the von Draks. The first of these new Counts, Ludwig von Drak, was a capable and strong ruler. He declared Sylvania neutral in the conflict that arose when Ottilia of Talabecland declared herself Empress. The isolated location of the Count's dominion allowed Sylvania to remain relatively unscathed from the wars in the west and north. This provided the von Draks to secure their hold on Sylvania for generations.