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| A patchwork of small fiefs rather than a coninuous territory, the demesne of the Duchess Evelenau of House Eiluned exists in the corners of other domains. The Duchy of Rhododedrons comprises territories throughout the southern Appalachians and beyond, gathered by Her Grace in the days of King Barabas. When his cousin Meilge ascended to the Willow throne, Evelenau refused to bend the knee, denying the Willow King her fealty. Numerous rumors are current as to how precisely she got away with this. Evelenau herself will not discuss the matter.
The seat of the duchy is a manor freehold in the Cumberland Gap, called simply Rhododendrons, held by Evelenau by private arrangement with (and, it is said, for a princely tribute in Dross to) the Countess of Cumberland. Her subject fiefs include the Barony of Greenbrier within the disputed Duchy of Winterthorn; the Uwharrie Common Lands on the southwestern rim of the Duchy of the Triangle; a distant stake, the Barony of Antlers, in the Ouachita Mountains on the edge of the Duchy of Ozarks; and the southwestern Blue Ridge mountains within the Duchy of Dogwoods, being the County of Rowan-Oak. Duchess Evelenau lives very privately, and her distase for notoriety has colored the Dreaming throughout her domain. The duchy is little known even within the Kingdom of Willows, and Her Grace seems to prefer that. Indeed, she quietly cultivates the reputation of her holdings as sleepy backwaters unworthy of any serious consideration. Her subject lords support this policy, knowing that the less attention brought to bear upon their own domains the less effort they must spend on simply holding their own against Glamour-hungry rivals. Evelenau seldom interferes in the rule of her vassal lords, preferring to concentrate upon her studies of sorcery. If required to settle a dispute or to hear an appeal, she will do so. Otherwise she contents herself with gathering her subject nobles to her court twice a year at the Equinotices in order to collect tribute, confirm new lords and receive their fealty, and to make the occasional decree. Those gathered to such meetings are oathbound not to discuss them in any detail. |
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