⛰️ Borderlands
Spend Gold · Earn Iron
Green hills, old roads and old grudges. Every Lord’s first home. The Old Quarry gave Velmark its first iron. The Bandit Keep belongs to Rook, who has robbed every new Lord who ever came this way.
The lore of ReignBound
A Crown with no King
The world of Velmark has seven realms and one Crown. The last High King died with no heir, and his Crown still sits on the Hollow Throne. It will not pass by blood. It must be earned.
So every Lord starts the same way: a log fort on a hill, a handful of levies and a long road. The realms are bound to the Crown, and the Crown is bound to whoever reigns.
History
The five ages
Velmark’s history runs in five ages, and each one is a stage of your Keep. As your castle grows, it retells the story of the world.
Age 1 · Timber FortThe Age of Timber
Nobody remembers who came first. They cut one great tree at the edge of the northern forest and built a longhouse behind a ring of sharpened logs. The stump is still there. The forest has never forgiven it.
Age 2 · Stone KeepThe Age of Stone
Iron came out of the Old Quarry, and stone came with it. The strongest families raised towers and called themselves Lords. From this age comes the oldest rule of war: shield beats bow, bow beats horse, horse beats shield.
Age 3 · CastleThe Age of Castles
Seven realms fought until the Binding. Each Lord brought a ring of their realm’s metal, and the smiths of Ironforge melted the seven into one Crown. Oswin the Binder wore it first, and a long, proud peace began.
Age 4 · FortressThe Age of Iron
Peace made the Crown rich, and riches made it hungry. Ardan the Last rode out against a rebellion with every heir he had. None came home. The rebels found the Crown on the empty throne, and it would not stay on any head. That night is called the Sundering.
Age 5 · CitadelThe Age of Reigns
Now. The Crown waits on the Hollow Throne, and its Stewards keep the old oath alive. The Crown cannot pass by blood. It must be earned. Only a crowned Lord, a KING, may raise a Citadel of white marble and gold.
Why Lords compete
The Crown and its Stewards
- The Crown is earned, again and again. Every season the Stewards weigh every Lord’s deeds. The best are honoured. The throne waits for the one who reigns longest and best.
- The tithe. Each realm pays the Crown a fixed sum of Gold a day, shared among the Lords who garrison it. More Lords means smaller shares, never more Gold.
- The bounty. Storm another Keep and the Crown pays. The defender loses nothing but pride. Hold your walls against the Crown’s Rival Lords and the Crown pays you too.
- Reigns end. A KING reigns for a few seasons, retires to the Hall of Kings and sires heirs. A good reign leaves a stronger heir.
The world
The seven realms
Start in the Borderlands and open the rest as you grow.
🌲 Timberhold
Spend Gold · Earn Timber
The deep northern forest, held by longbowmen who were here before any Lord. Elk riders guard the Elder Stump, all that is left of the tree that built the first Timber Fort. Above it stands the Great Oak, which nobody dares to cut.
🐎 Horse Plains
Spend Gold · Earn Horses
Golden grass that runs to the mountains, ruled by riders who breed the best warhorses in Velmark. Bring archers. Nobody knows who raised the Standing Stones, and the archers hiding among them are not telling.
⚒️ Ironforge
Spend materials · Earn Legendary gear
A volcano with rivers of fire for streets, where the Crown itself was forged. Ironforge steel is the finest in the realm, and the strangest: it remembers the mountain. Legendary gear made here slowly wears out, as if it wants to go home.
🏰 Warfront
Guild castles · Earn season points
The scorched heart of the island, where the high city burned on the night of the Sundering. The Hollow Throne still stands in the ruins. Guilds fight over the old castles around it, and the Crown pays whoever holds the walls.
🏟️ The Colosseum
Entry fee · Earn prize pool
An arena city on the south coast. The Stewards built it so Lords could spend their pride on sand instead of on each other’s fields. Every week the realm’s best campaigns are counted.
⚓ Exiles’ Port
Burn KING Royal · Earn Legacy KINGs
A misty harbour in the eastern sea, lit by violet lanterns and ringed by whirlpools. The ships of the KING Royals came ashore here. An exile who swears the Oath of Fealty becomes a Legacy KING of Velmark.
Guests of the realm
The allied houses
Three houses from beyond Velmark have come to stand with its Lords. Each brings a sworn crest that is never rolled and can never be changed. Hold one of their cards and you may wed a Queen of that house.
⚓
The house of the KING Royals
Crest: Exile’s Anchor
A royal house from beyond the sea who came ashore at Exiles’ Port. Those who stay swear the Oath of Fealty and give up the banner they arrived with. The anchor means: I came from far away, and I am not leaving.
🧭
The Captains of the Seven Seas
Crest: Mariner’s Compass
Captains of the outer waters, who know every current between the whirlpools. A captain who seals the Sea Pact comes ashore to fight. The compass means: I always find my way back.
🐝
The Beekeepers of Honeyland
Crest: Honeycomb
A patient, hard-working people who keep great hives and never give them up. Nothing is burned: a Beekeeper only shows their hive, and keeps it. The honeycomb means: many cells, one hive.
ReignBound is not affiliated with KING Royal, The Seven Seas or Honeyland. Their houses appear here as guests.
Who you will meet
Advisors, Queens and rivals
🧙 Merlin, the Royal Advisor
He served the last High King and has advised every Lord since who showed promise. He enchants cards in his Tower and teaches new Lords ten lessons. Finish them and he gives a Champion with the Phoenix crest, because that is what he hopes you will be.
“Welcome, my Lord. Every kingdom starts with a small army and a big map.”
👸 The Queens
No Lord rules alone. A Queen is crowned at home or wed from an allied house, and she runs half the kingdom: the healers, the kitchens, the royal stables, the Shieldmaidens and the nursery where your heir grows up.
The Queen’s Court →The rivals of the war table
Duels are an old custom. Two Lords lay out cards for their sworn troops and fight the battle on a table instead of in the fields. It costs pride, not lives.
Rook the Bandit Captain
Borderlands brigand
Every new Lord’s first test, and he knows it. Cheerful, crooked, never quite beaten for good.
Baron Ostrel
Lord of the river forts
Holds the fords and tolls. Careful, proud, and very fond of the rules he wrote himself.
Warlord Kessa
Scourge of the Warfront
A soldier who rose through the burned ruins and never left. She issues Royal Decrees as if the throne were already hers.
The Sable Queen
Mistress of the black court
Silver hair, violet fire, a black castle under a storm. Some say she has tried the Crown on. Nobody says what happened.
The Crown’s Rival Lords
The Stewards keep eight Lords of their own to test every claimant. They grow as you grow, and now and then one of them storms your walls.
- Lord Varric of Ashford
- Lady Isolde of Greywater
- Baron Brand the Red
- Countess Maud of Irongate
- Lord Osric Goldhand
- Lady Wren of the Marches
- Duke Hale of Stormhold
- The Sable Queen
Cards and heraldry
Sworn soldiers and their crests
Every troop card is a soldier sworn to your Lord, named by rank of service: Levy (Common), Man-at-Arms (Uncommon), Knight (Rare), Champion (Epic), Warlord (Legendary). Each carries a family crest, fixed for life.
- 🐗 🦌 Boar and StagFarm and forest families. Most of Velmark.
- 🐺 🐻 Wolf and BearHill clans and border fighters.
- 🦅 🦁 Eagle and LionOld Lords’ houses from the Age of Stone.
- 🪽 🐉 Griffin and DragonHouses that served the High Kings. Dragons are heraldry here. Nobody living has seen one.
- 🔥 PhoenixThe badge of the Age of Reigns: a realm that burned and is rising again. In a Duel it is Reborn. It falls once, then gets back up.
“The Crown is bound to whoever reigns.”
“The throne is empty. The realm is not.”
“Shield beats bow. Bow beats horse. Horse beats shield.”
“A Phoenix falls once. Then it gets back up.”