Duchy of Ashfall

Ashfall is a duchy within the realm of the Kingdom of Stormwind. Located on a spur of land jutting eastward from the Redridge Mountains and the Burning Steppes, it dominates the coast of the Forbidding Sea.

The duchy is currently unpopulated, and a directive has been given by the king for it to be retaken and restored to the kingdom.

Geography
The duchy occupies a spur of land on the northern shores of the Bay of Lonn, opposite the Swamp of Sorrows, and extending northward along the Forbidding Sea toward the Badlands.

The geography of Ashfall is varied, given its peculiar location and the upheaval in the wake of the War of the Three Hammers; these variations create a natural division between the four counties that comprise it.

County of Redgold
Redgold, the southwestern quarter of the duchy, is considered the gateway between the Redridge Mountains and Ashfall. It takes its name from the iron-rich rock that also gives Redridge its distinctive coloring. Here, the land makes a gradual upward slope into the northern plateau. The Snowborn River cuts through the midst of Redgold. It begins as a rather swift and rocky river on the north border of the county, and ends at its mouth in a wider, shallower, more placid flow. At the border of the Redridge Mountains is Cinderwatch. Once a bustling border village and traders' haven before the First War, Cinderwatch is now a ghost town, on the map only due to the watchtower that has protected the Redridge Mountains from infiltration. The noblemen on the Redridge side of the border occasionally seek to lay claim to Cinderwatch, as they have been forced to maintain this outpost at their own expense. During the First War, Redgold was the first county to fall when the Horde swept northward into the region. Scouting reports since Reconstruction began indicate that there are some ruins, but many signs that humans ever lived here have been obliterated.

County of Seabreach
The southeastern quarter of the duchy is one of the farthest eastward points on the continent of Azeroth. The land slopes southward from the northern plateau, and then drops sharply, coming to just above sea level on the southeastern spur. At the foot of the sharp decline is a swamp, which is fed by a bend in the Willowswitch River. Unlike other parts of the coast, the beach on the spur is open, and a lighthouse stands high up on a spire of rock. Here, there was once a thriving port city; this was razed to its foundations when the orcish Horde swept through the duchy. Only the lighthouse remains--and it is said that lights can sometimes be seen issuing forth at night, though the land has been abandoned for years.

County of Highplain
The northeastern county of the duchy is primarily a plateau, standing some hundred feet above sea level. Wide and arid, the plain is devoid of vegetation larger than grasses and low shrubbery, except around Willowswitch Lake (which is a widened bend of the Willowswift River, rather than a proper lake). Once a rolling grassland whereon many herd animals grazed, Highplain is now mostly barren of large fauna, due to the Blackrock orcs' incessant hunting.

County of Emberwind
Ashfall borders on the northwest with the Burning Steppes, the site of Blackrock Mountain. The active volcano continues to burn, sending plumes of ash into the wind, which flows across the upper reaches of the duchy. The county of Emberwind is dominated by the fallout zone, known simply as the Drift. Long-term occupation of the Drift is impossible due to the near-constant precipitation of ash, but until recently, there were outposts along the border with the Burning Steppes. These outposts were not only watchtowers, but harvesting centers for the ash, which farmers prized for enriching their lands. The eastward limit of the Drift is set by a chain of mountains that serves as a sort of windblock for the Snowborn River. Along the inner curve of the mountains is the lush Greenbelt, a thick tangle of thriving forest that enjoys the benefit of the ash and the rains that the mountains block. The Snowborn River's waters, shielded from the fallout by the mountains, run pure from the snowmelt of the mountains to the north, and flow south to the fork where the Willowswift branches away to the east. The northern headwaters of the Snowborn were once guarded by the Count of Emberwind; as without the river, the duchy would dry up and perish, Emberwind is often a subsidiary title held by the Duke of Ashfall.

== History ==

Early Years (before the War of the Three Hammers)
The Duchy of Ashfall, when it was first established, was known as the Duchy of Gaunt, so named because unlike the other territories of Stormwind, it was only able to support subsistence farming due to its poor and thin soil. It did a brisk trade in various iron ores, and a gold vein in its southwest permitted the import of what the population needed. Highplain also boasted fine cattle, which were grazed on the plateau. Due to its richness of resources but poverty of cereals and produce, more opportunistic nobles of the Redridge Mountains frequently attempted to annex parts of Gaunt.

The War of the Three Hammers to the First War
The catastrophic eruption of Blackrock Mountain at the end of the War of the Three Hammers, however, changed a great deal. Not only did it lay waste to large portions of the Redridge Mountains--including the lands of House Morgan to the west of Gaunt--but the constant volcanic plume thereafter began to rain down ash upon the northwest corner of Gaunt. It is said that the Duke of Gaunt was inspecting the results of the fallout some months after the end of the War when he noticed the forest that would become the Greenbelt, growing almost before his eyes. He took back some of the ash to his own lands and experimented in mixing and watering it into the soil--and after a bumper crop, he ordered the ash to be harvested from the Drift and shared with his vassals. Soon, the Duchy of Gaunt boasted generous agriculture, and became known as Ashfall instead.

First War to Reconstruction
Ashfall carried on in its humble way until the First War. Cut off from the rest of the world by the orcish invasion of Redridge, the people attempted to flee to safety through the Burning Steppes. Unfortunately, the way was too hard for most, and there were very few survivors. When the reconstruction of Stormwind began after the Second War, however, those survivors resurfaced. Led by Baron Alistair de Stopham of Pinehold, they struck out into their homeland, intent on re-establishing themselves. However, as the raids of the Black Tooth Grin clan (and later, the Blackrock clan) intensified, communication was cut off, and Pinehold was assumed destroyed. Ashfall would remain unoccupied, as Stormwind devoted most of its resources to rebuilding the nearer, more productive, and more defensible territories.

Currently
The defeat of the Black Iron offensive drove the remaining orcs back into the depths of Blackrock Mountain. King Varian’s advisers recommended that this opportunity to retake a long-lost territory be availed, but the Legion invasion forced the plan to be laid aside temporarily. It was not until his son, Anduin, ascended the throne that the matter was taken up again. The potential candidates to retake the duchy were assessed, and most dismissed for various reasons. Finally, King Anduin selected, with the advice of his councillors, Jeremaias Auromere, and elevated the young Lordaeronian immigrant to the rank of Baron in-chief, giving him lordship over “all of the lands you reclaim in our name”.