Vegdarbarra

The land of Vegdarbarra is about 80 miles wide and tens if not hundreds of thousand miles long it follows the wall (is the wall linear or circular) and so is in its shadow and thus is it is dark for much of the day, it is cold because of this going form –10 in the summer to –50 in the winter (I assume where probably not going to use Celsius or the 4 seasons we have but you get the gist) The ground is covered in a permanent layer of ice and snow, many parts are covered in forest which in some places is so deep that no human has trodden in there for thousands of years. The trees in Vegdarbarra have a strange asymmetry about them in that one side is covered in pine like leaves the other side is bare of leaves this is due to the presence of the wall.

Where there are no forests the land is barren and uninhabitable however inside the forests there are many squirrels, bears, wolves and birds, as the trees are the main source of the food chains. In the depth of the forest are also many small villages and hamlets as the only food and building material available is in the forests so why not make life easier also the trees provide protection from the almost continual snow and hail, the inhabitance are all skilled huntsmen and live of a diet of game. Many of these villages have been forgotten about and may have not been in contact with the outside world for possibly hundred of years. The villages are run either by a chieftain or by village elders. Many of the larger villages and forts have witch doctors they are often the true rulers many of which where or are avatars they wear goats skulls so no one can tell there identity, many take apprentices which they later secretly sacrifice deep in the woods and take there place.

Every 50 miles along Vegdarbarra is a fort, these where constructed in the days of the empire to protect those inside of the wall from the horror outside which occasionally break through holes in the wall or climb over it, as time has passed the wall has deteriorated in parts creating holes which hordes of monsters break through and so many of the forts are in a permanent state of attack, many of which are fighting a losing battles however these forts are completely isolated and forgotten about as most of the city and indeed the rest of the land inside the wall is unaware of the situation and even of the forts in the first place mostly because messengers in either direction have a tendency not to reach there destination due to a combinations of bears, wolves, monsters and the intense cold and thus many have not left there fort for centuries, and are thus rather out of touch.

In the calmer area of the wall great citadels have been constructed where powerful warlords live with vast armies demanding tribute off villages in the vicinity, these mighty warlords are often in long and bloody feuds other warlords along the wall many are the direct descendants of the commanders appointed by the emperor and some still believe that they fight for the empire. (possibly some war lord that gets too powerful could begin to try to reclaim the empire)

Lords of Vegdarbarra

Summary

Baron Yuri von Litkinstien: Brutal Dictator, Fat, foul, ugly, Very sadistic, owns more land than any other warlord, Has vast slave armies, conquering one fort after another, he seeks power and lots of it (possibly might be looking to expand out of vegdarbarra)
Captain Alexander Vasilievich: Old, noble, comes from an era before the empires decline, has the insane quest to rebuild the empire and destroy all those who stand against that, launches many crusades, Has a small but powerful army of battle hardened soldiers.
Captain Leonard Qveton: Pale, skinny, frail, devious and corrupt, mid 20's, the forts on either side of horizon, demands large amounts of gold form the city, charges large amounts of money for people to pass towards horizon, will often turn a blind eye things coming from the other end provided they can pay.
Three warlords believe themselves to be the ruler of Vegdarbarra. And so accordingly have sent ambassadors to Horizon.
Baron Yuri von Litkinstien took up the position of captain of fort VIII shortly the war after the tragic murder of both his father and elder brother. In the last 30 years he has taken forts III-VII as well as forts IX-XIV. In each fort he takes, the captain and all of the command staff are publicly tortured to death and there heads stuck on spikes on display at the gate house. The civilians: men, women and children are forced down to the mines or the workshops where they are worked to death. To power and produce his war machines. The soldiers are drummed into the baron's army all those who refuse are executed as are there wives and children.
The baron has had his slaves convert fort VIII into a towering stone citadel itself surrounded by the black smoking chimneys of industry surrounded by a stone wall.
The baron himself is grotesquely obese, short, and foul both in manner and in level of hygiene. He is cruel and often offers a man wealth and power for information or for his betrayal of others, and then has them killed the next day. He will take allies only as long as it helps his own ends.
Captain Alexander Vasilievich is old likely in his 70's though even he has forgotten. He is a noble warrior of the empire, completely dedicated to the service of the emperor. He is a relic from the past in the present, as five hundred years a haggard old woman came to his fort demanded to be let in and was turned away by Alexander. This woman turned out to be of fae descent and was so enraged be Alexander's behaviour that she placed a curse on Fort XLVII (Alexander's fort) and all of its inhabitants such that whey would sleep for five hundred years. When he awoke he discovers that the empire was no more and so he embarked on a quest to rebuild the empire. As his army comes from before the fall and indeed many of the wars. His army is powerful, well trained, organised and will blindly follow the will of the emperor. In that cause they are torching the villages and forts of all those who refuse to join him in the quest. And pressing all who do not refuse into his service. His army is slowly approaching Horizon from where he will move on the city and free the emperor.
Captain Leonard Qveton is young and scrawny likely getting to his current position through blackmail and poisoning. He controls the towers closest on either side to horizon (forts XXVII and XXVIII). He is highly corrupt and is for ever demanding more money from the city so that he may protect the trade caravans passing along the road from increasing bandit attacks. If he does not get the money he will send his mane out disguised as bandits to ensure that there is an increase in the number of attacks, once his demands are met he will slowly decrease the attack frequency. His guards also wait on the road requesting protection money from rich merchants due to the dangerous nature of the road ahead and they ensure that things happen to all those who refuse to pay. [He has always had his eyes on horizon because of the immense power its control would give him. And could be planning to take it, I'm not sure if this bit is appropriate or not]
(Also as regards the last war Leonard Qveton sent some of his small army to to aid in the siege in order to gain favour with the city. as did a few other minor warlords including captain Ivan Cherchenenko (fort XV), captain Nicholas Kutuzov (fort XXXI) and captain Peter Wittergenstein (fort XXIII). The baron did not get involved in the the last war using the distraction to aid his own private war. Alexander was asleep at the time and so was uninvoled) Captain Ivan Cherchenko's fort is very close to the barons wave of expansions and so he might during the game send out a plea to the city for help given his past assistance in the seige)