The Baronies of Sardiron cover the western slopes of the northern mountains and the lands down to the Great River, and then extend a few miles west of the river to where the land flattens and dries out into the plains. This was originally outlying territory of the Northern Empire. The western slopes north of The Passes are collectively called Srigmor; South Srigmor is within the Baronies. The southern end of the Sardironese mountains is Aldagmor.
The Barony of Sardiron itself is comprised entirely of Sardiron of the Waters, a walled city built on the ruins of a Northern fortress at the headwaters of the Great River, about fifty miles southwest of The Passes.
Sardiron theoretically has more or less the same council set-up as the Pirate Towns. In fact, the Pirate Towns copied it from Sardiron, which broke away from the the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars about 150 years earlier, except it works the way it's supposed to in the Baronies. The Baron of Sardiron, who's chairman-for-life of the Council of Barons, has no real power base but enough authority that he can keep any of the really powerful barons--such as the Baron of Aldagmor--from taking over. The Baronies are effectively a federal state while the Pirate Towns are really a city-state, Shan on the Sea, and its subordinates. Otherwise Sardiron has no connection at all with the Pirate Towns, except that both were once claimed by the Hegimony and broke away.
http://www.ethshar.com/background.html#history
Since the Great War ended the population in Sardiron has been increasing, driving expansion into and through the Passes — when the Baronies first formed that was all wilderness, and now the Passes and Tazmor are mostly settled. Aldagmor had been an area of expansion until the Night of Madness when that was abruptly stopped, and with the dragons there probably won’t resume.[1]
The name "Sardiron" comes from Northern roots.[2]
Dispite their proximity to the Aldagmor Source of warlockry only one Baron was converted to a warlock. They were immediately Called and was ultimately one of about 400 individuals to die amidst the chaos of the Final Calling.[1]
The Baronies[]
While the number of Baronies fluctuates somewhat, being divided through inheritance or merging through marriage, their number is much more consistant than the Small Kingdoms, staying around 14.[2]
In addition there are what are described as the lesser baronies along the Great River, currently including
- Hakhai
- Tselmin
- Takranna