In the north of High Soria lies the province Vintermark. It is located beyond the great mountain range separating High Soria. The northern part of the province lies directly at the sea, the southern border are the mountains themselves with only one major pass to travel. The land mainly consists of forests and plains with barren beaches near the sea.
Crispera is the capital of Vintermark. It is a port city in the north of the country serving as major trading point for the North of High Soria. The port of the city is the most modern one in the north. It has massive, stone docks to withstand even larger waves. The beach is enclosed by a range of tall cliffs housing the Icebound Citadel, the main seat of power of house Butterfinger. It is a building made of black stone. Water vapor from the sea formed a layer of ice around the higher layers of the building.
An extensive market area is located near the city center. It is comprised of countless booths owned by merchants who try to sell their goods. Spots on this market can be bought at the cities town hall. Usually, foreign merchants rent those for the duration their ships lie at anchor in the city. People like this often changing arrangement of merchants as there is always something new to discover. This availability of foreign goods led to the citizens defining social stand by how unique and interesting their home and clothes are. Wealthy people can afford far more intricate designs than the poor, placing them at the top of the social hierarchy.
House Butterfinger “War is Loud. We prefer Silence”
The Butterfinger family ruled over Vintermark for around 300 years. They are known as rather relaxed rulers compared to other houses in High Soria, usually preferring diplomacy over conflict. This easygoing nature masks their deeply opportunistic true face. Other houses expand their territory through conquest but house Butterfinger strikes when the time is just right to smoothly expand their domain.
The greatest strength of house Butterfinger is their extensive spy network. The house rulers spend countless amounts of money into strategically placing agents throughout the continent. These agents include people in important positions like ministers but also common people like farmers or artisans. These agents are on Butterfingers payroll report all interesting observations directly back to their homeland. Butterfingers efforts were also noticed in the Northern Council, which promptly put them in charge of the national information network.
The last, greater expansion of house Butterfinger was the Bitterwood Acquisition. Province Bitterwood was ruled by house Vandrake at the time, a house known for their hard, military rule. Bitterwoods citizens were already angry and Butterfinger agents ignited that spark more and more until an all-out rebellion broke out. House Butteringer stepped in to mediate between the rebels and the Vandrakes but during one of their meetings, the Vandrakes heir got assassinated by a “rebel”. In the aftermath, house Butterfinger stepped in as “temporary” ruler to establish stability but never stepped down from that position.