Lormark or Lower March[2] or Northern Marshes (Polish: Dolna Marchia or Górne Aedirn) is a disputed region in Upper Aedirn. Located north of the river Dyfne, King Henselt of Kaedwen took it during the Nilfgaard-Kaedwen division of Aedirn early on in the Second Northern War with Nilfgaard.[3] The Peace of Cintra, however, restored it to Aedirn.[4]
Emblem
The coat of arms in the infobox was designed by Artur 'Ruttou' Bagdasarian and based on the description in Crossroads of Ravens. The arms of Lormark is shared with Mansfeld family: Argent, a boar's head erased Gules.[2]
Locations
History
This region's southern border was set by the Pontar river until 1215, when the powerful Mansfeld family that lived in this region chose to invade their southern neighbor, Aedirn, and proclaimed the new southern border was now at the Dyfne river. Aedirn's king, Videmont, fought back and eventually drove the Mansfelds back across the Pontar. However, this conflict would end up causing the two kingdoms to have skirmishes for decades along this contested border.[2]
Second Northern War
Once a part of Kaedwen, the long disputed region, in late July 1267, during the Second Northern War, was awarded to Henselt after the fall of Aedirn and his treaty with Emperor Emhyr var Emreis. The Dun Banner, along with five other brigades, were sent to occupy the region, and to meet Nilfgaard at the Dyfne should tensions sour.[3]
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Lormark is once again the subject of dispute between Henselt and Aedirn. In the game, if Geralt aligns himself with Iorveth, Vergen manages to repel the Kaedweni aggressors and Saskia with her advisor Philippa and Henselt agree to a truce. Upper Aedirn is formed with Saskia as the head of the nation.
If Geralt aligns himself with Roche, Kaedwen wins the day and takes the Pontar Valley.
Upper Aedirn has valuable resources such as coal, silver mines, numerous factories, and white marble.
Journal entry
- The part of Aedirn that lies between the Pontar and Dyphne rivers is called Lormark or Upper Aedirn, depending on the interested party's political persuasion. These lands have been disputed for ages, with Kaedwen laying claim to them as well. During the last war with Nilfgaard, Aedirn found itself in deep trouble, fighting an uneven battle to repel the onslaught of the Black Ones in the south. Sensing that its southern neighbor would ultimately bow to the invaders, Kaedwen, Aedirn's ostensible ally in that conflict, sent its armies into Lormark, annexing the region. Several days later Margrave Mansfeld of Ard Carraigh and Marshal Menno Coehoorn, commander-in-chief of the Nilfgaardian army, greeted each other on a bridge spanning the Dyphne River. They shook hands over the bleeding, tortured corpse of the Kingdom of Aedirn, sealing – let us not mince words – a criminal partitioning of plundered lands. And even though Kaedwen restored Lormark to Aedirn after the war, its taking of the territory with Nilfgaardian support was one of the most disgraceful acts in history – though I venture to say it was probably not the only or last act of its kind.