LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
"LORDS OF THEEURTH"

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He pitched a strong encampment upon the hillock there,
Some men were toward the mountains, some by the stream arrayed.
The gallant Cid, who in good hour had girded on the blade,
Bade his men near the water dig a trench about the height,
That no man might surprise them by day nor yet by night.
So might men know that there the Cid had taken up his stand.

And thereupon the tidings went out through all that land,
How my lord Cid the Campeador had there got footing sure,
He is gone forth from the Christians, he is come unto the Moor,
In his presence no man dareth plough the farmlands as of yore.
Very merry with his vassals was the great Campeador.
And Alcocer the Castle wider tribute had he laid.

El Cantar del Mio Cid, traditional poem

1. All roads not supported by Project Support will degrade on Turn 21.  Royal Roads will become Postal Roads and Postal Roads will disappear.  The same will be true every turn thereafter.

2. Turn 21 is the turn when all remaining cathedrals in regions will degrade to monasteries.

3. Most people are figuring their AP's wrong.  The terrain modifier adds to just about everything you do in a region.  So human armies attacking to Pacify (3 AP) in a forest region require 4 AP.  Human diplomats conducting diplomacy (4 AP) in forest region require 5 AP, etc.

4. I've had it with diplomacy orders.  Starting this turn and forevermore, you get no credit for anything not in the order.  "Diplomacy" means one 4AP DP order with no bonuses, even if you spend 40 AP on it and even if you wrote an entire symphony on the subject somewhere else in your orders.  How hard is it to write "DP+36AP"?  I am not going to do the math for everyone.  Most of you, by the way, are doing it right.

5) Please notice that MSP production requires Yard Capacity.

MEDARHOS -

North-Western Medarhos -

The Skane Jarldoms -  Ruler - King Gustav Capital - Vanaheim Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult

In midwinter of 2877, a hunting party in Foldbjerg found a sick and dying man lying in the mud of a deer track deep in the wilderness.  Deep in a fever, he raved about a great city of light, a city that had sung to him.  The man died that night.  Ten months later, one Pokken of Utbridge, a swineherd and drunkard of Godemar, claimed that he had seen a strange walled city in the Trollmoors the previous spring.  Since Pokken was a known liar who would never have had the courage to enter the Trollmoors, he was roundly laughed at wherever he went.  In 2879, a Thule tribesman from Saltholm swore he had seen just such a mysterious city in the uplands of Krogen the previous year.

The Edgemoor Orcs -
Ruler - King Tello
Capital - Zaramaka
Dominant Race - Orcs
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Ghedrosia [-]

King Hauge recruited two thousand orcs for his personal army and then promptly died.  Rather than move out of the royal chambers, his wives told no one of his death until the stench of his corpse proved too much even for them. Hauge had no heir, but to everyone's surprise the orcs did not immediately disintegrate as a political force.  There were many revenge killings and knives in the dark, as usual, but the adherents of Prince Tallo killed his most important enemies and Tallo was acknowledged king in 2876. Dak the Handsome took command of two thousand troops and tried to raid the Bekanai steppe regions of Buidhe Creag, Aonach and Bekanor. Men on shaggy ponies can be difficult opponents for orcs on foot, and under Dak's mediocre generalship the orcs accomplished little.  Still, it got them out of the caves for a bit, and that's always nice. Taun the Talker traveled to Ghedrosia as the Edgemoor dipomat, but did not talk particularly long,

and failed to convince the Ghedrosians that they were better off within the confederation. Taun then marched north to lay claim to the former Tirgonian province of Aré, rich in natural resources.

Meanwhile, Prince Tallo (later King Tallo) tried his hand at converting the halflings of the Purple Hills with speeches on topics such as "What has your god done for you lately" and "Try Evil! It's really not that bad."  However, the halflings were resistant to any such notions coming from an orc who spoke Low Conorrian with an abysmally bad accent.

The Kingdom of Harkoria-
Ruler - King Sotoris
Capital - Cadares
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Maxis [FA]

King Sotoris called General Aeneas to him and laded him with titles and honors.  The king then gave command of much of the army to Aeneas and commanded him to bring the evil city of Angaurek to its knees. This Aeneas did with skill and speed.  Angaurek had lost its walls in the wars with Harkoria, so there was nothing to stop Aeneas's cavalry from storming through its streets and slaughtering the paltry resistance the town could muster. Aeneas then ordered the sacking of all the Dark Court temples, the breaking of their altars and the ordered that the golden idols be melted down for his personal baggage.  The town's populace was made to swear allegiance to the Lords of the Grail.  Those who refused were immediately put to the sword.  A few dozen faithful martyrs died for the Lord of Bones that day, but most of the city submitted meekly. Back in Cadares, Prince Agathokles governed the city and fathered a daughter in 2877.  His wife died

in childbirth that year.

Bishop Thanos sat down with the Duke of Maxis and convinced him to join the King's court as an honored vassal with command over his own forces.

In 2877, a series of dangerous fires, explosions and murders beset Clytheus's Hold, Harkoria's guild of wizardry.  The school was badly damaged, but not destroyed.

South-Western Medarhos -

The Brythnian Confederation -  Ruler - King Boran Clovenhoof Capital - Carrenthium Dominant Race - Taurid Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Lloricam [EA], Hailh Endhor [C], Bodhria [-]

Boran Clovenhoof sent the great mass of the peasantry and most of the national treasure into the Great Meadow to till the fields and settle villages and thorps throughout the land. To do so, he took a large loan from the bankers of Carrenthium. Several of Boran's vassals improved the position of his government in the provinces.  Frona Quickstep conversed with Karideas of Bodhria until he was suddenly called away to support the king (see below). Kallos Twospot convinced the lord of Lloricam to pay Brythnian taxes after a brief trip to the Firefall East to claim the territory and drop off a garrison. Eutropios Greymare managed to claim the lands of Hailh Endhor on behalf of the Confederation. In 2877, a horde of eighteen thousand orcs slunk down out of Aurum and struck without warning the midst of a bitter winter. After overrunning Orosel, they marched into Tathlann, eager for blood and slaves. However, Boran and his vassals were ready.  While the orcs ravaged Orosel, the taurids converged on Carrenthium and prepared to meet the threat.  More importantly, in a move perhaps learned the hard way from the Ascars,

Brythnian assassins awaited the arrival of the horde.  The horde's general, a huge orc named Vaskarag, was badly wounded and unable to effectively command, being forced to give orders from the litter on which he was carried into battle. King Boran met the horde with sixteen thousand troopers, including twelve thousand cavalry (for which the plain of Tathlann was the perfect killing ground). Despite the orcs' greater numbers and the sorcerous summonings of Vaskarag, the outcome of the battle was never in doubt.  The thunder of centaur hooves was the last thing that many orcs ever heard, and the flash of steel amidst a cloud of dust the last thing they ever saw. The day was a total victory for Boran and the Brythnians.

Despite their total victory, the attack of the orc horde was not without cost.  The Brythnians left more than five thousand of their fellows dead amidst the stubble of cornstalks in the winter fields. The bonfires of their funeral pyres lit the night for many leagues.

Aelissia - Ruler - King Clem Plowhorse Capital - The Great Delve Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Good King Clem continued the prudent and somewhat staid policy of steady expansion of the burrows and lanes of Seafarthing and Greensward.  Seeing no particular need to centralize power around himself, the aging general dispersed his fellow oligarchs back to their respective home cities.  Each was responsible for their own sphere of influence and each operated largely independently of the others.  Clem's little brother Irving governed the capital and instituted a novel, if somewhat cheeky plan whereby he had workers cut open or collapse the flooded burrows of the old city (destroyed by earthquake a quarter century ago) and use the resulting canals for city transport.  Crowley Ratcatcher and Agatha Flycatcher governed the cities of Greensaddle and Gate of Bells, respectively.  Hayden Blackkettle's tomboyish daughter Iva was sent to the Gate of Bells to command the southern army.  A smart and aggressive leader, she was also a prickly and dangerous woman, prone to drunken fistfights in which she was known to fight very dirty.

Corland - Ruler - King Bertrand Capital - Khairais Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Misery came to Theeurth in those years, and made its home in Corland. In 2876, Queen Sirienne declared her niece Beatriz to be her heir.  Two months later, Beatriz was murdered.  Her bloody remains were spread about her locked chamber with no signs of entry or exit. Constance, Duchess of Khairais, the queen's sister-in-law, and Beatriz's mother, died of shock when she heard the news. Lord Darras led a large raid on the warehouses of Khairais and encountered a surprising resistance from the locals.  In the end, he hung several dozen locals as traitors and heretics. Lords Reginald and Cerwyn traveled to Larcogne with three thousand elite foresters and began to raid the adjacent mountains, harassing the Stoneheart giants from the rear. In conjunction, Queen Sirienne sent a large shipment of gold to Belfirth to support the Neldorean elves. It was in 2880 when true disaster struck.  It started

in Khairais, but soon spread like lightning throughout all of Corland.  It went by many names: The White Death, the Pale Scourge, the Ivory Plague, the Blood Rot, the Vampire's Kiss.  By whatever name, it was extremely deadly, causing the victim to become pale and white and find the touch of the sun or bright light to be unbearable.  It spread with frightening speed and killed thousands in every city.  The worst death toll was in Khairais, where so many died or fled that there were too few left to bury or burn the bodies, which became carrion for the rats, dogs and crows. But Rhavais was ravaged, and the smaller ports of D'Armand and Port de Brises were abandoned altogether.  The merchant fleets of Port de Brises were thoroughly ravaged, as were many of the military units around the nation, particularly those in garrison. Queen Sirienne died in Khairais during the plague.  So too did her daughter Imogen.  So too did Lord Reginald, Prince Cedric of the Cavadhe and Lavaine of Lilloger. Prince Bertrand assumed the crown in a small and subdued ceremony. The White Death hit neighboring regions, too, though it did little damage there.  Bruyenne and Artence suffered deaths, as did the Northern Stoneheart mountains and Huareth.

 

The Sea Empire of Lorraine - Ruler - Empress Ysolde Capital - Armorica Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Malidisant [F]

The landless and penniless of Lorraine were sent west to live among the halflings of Priamus.  It was not long before the trickle became a flood and soon the halfling character of the province was swallowed up in a tide of lumbering Big Folk. Elsewhere, the nation slowly recovered from the rebellions of the past generation. Empress Ysolde traveled to Malidisant and there made common cause with Duke Anton.  During their negotiations, the two fell in love and were married in 2880. Lord Eaddwyn set to sea in a score of ships and with a contingent of marines he raided the forests of Hastaalm, in the former Daerond.  Forest tend to be devoid of much that is worth selling or eating, and so it proved in Hastaalm. Eaddwyn died of a stomach disorder soon after returning to Armorica.

Duke Thomas of Lothian died at the tender age of twenty-nine during a jousting accident that sent a sliver of wooden lance slicing through his momentarily exposed neck.

Queen Elevuil decided that the Whisper Wood would not sit by and watch the destruction of her cousin's realm in Neldorea.  She recruited five thousand elven archers and set them to guarding Menelcandara.  Then she and Lord Dranuel marched south with five thousand elves, including fifteen hundred elite elven archers.  She met with Master Giles and sixteen thousand human troops of the Order of the Dawn in Huareth. (See The Battle for the Tarwood, below). Lord Vairë administered her realm from Menelcandar, while Lady Shantera commanded the home army.

The Neldorean Wood - Ruler - Queen Nereil Capital - Elenuil Dominant Race - Elf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The beleaguered Neldorean elves received staggeringly large sums of money from Corland, the Crusader States, The Great Church and from Har'akir. They recruited two thousand elite elven archers and began a campaign designed to harrass the Stoneheart giants.  First, Queen Nereil marched into the Leosse Glades with ten thousand elves and set up a strong defense against the coming of the giants.  She sent rangers led by the Brown Parker into the Tarwood to scout out the giant positions and learned that the giants also had created strong defenses and were holding them against the coming of the elves. Meanwhile, Rumil Ancalimë and several scouts watched the Dura passes. In Daarlem of 2877, just as the allied armies reached the Riftmarch (See The Battle for the Tarwood, below), Queen Nereil led a raid into the Tarwood, more to distract the giants and draw their attention than for any gain.  Neither happened, for the giants stood fast to their defenses. In Daarlem of 2878, just as the allied armies reached Manariyë, Queen Nereil moved against the giants in

the Tarwood.  With ten thousand elite but lightly-armed elves, she stormed the defenses of ten thousand regular but heavily-armed goblins and their giant masters. The wooden ramparts built by the giant armies were a deadly barrier against the elves and their archers. Nereil's command of her army was enhanced by Voice of Command and Courage of the Firstborn spells, while the monster general Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower hurled deadly spells about the battlefield. Alas, Nereil was captured by the giants during one of their charges against her command position, and dragged back to the giant lines.  Nothing went right for the elves after that, and though they drove themselves against the giant positions with a fury that was terrible to behold, the day was lost.  The elven army was utterly defeated and the queen captured. Fewer than five hundred giant allies were killed.

Worse news was to come in the Tarwood (See The Battle for the Tarwood, below).

Queen Elevuil dispatched the Runeknights adventuring company to the far south, from which they never returned.

The Exarchate of the Great Crusade - Ruler - Exarch Maros Capital - Pontezium Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The Crusader States steeled themselves lest the Stoneheart giants suddenly turn east.  The Exarch gathered to him the main Crusader army at Pontezium, and built stout walls about the circumference of the city. Brave Sir Beau took a fast force of five thousand cavalry north into the South Akasian Hills, from where he could quickly react to any invasion. But the Exarch was not without concern for the sufferings of the elves.  He sent a ship from Pontezium to Belfirth laden with treasure, that the elves might better support their war effort.  As usual, he also donated a sum to the Order of the Dawn.

The Holy Order of the Dawn - Ruler - Grand Mistress Praeclaria Capital - The Akasian Hills Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Firefall East [OH], Mynos [-], Calodunum [-]

The Order champion of all that was good and foe of all that needed a good beating, received cash subscriptions from the Crusaders States, the Conorrian Empire, the Llyran Republic and Har'akir. Grand Mistress Praeclaria took command of nine thousand cavalry, including three thousand Knights of the Golden Dawn and rode into the halfling forests of Calodunum. There, she and many postulates of the Order attempted to found larger estates.  Alas, her time spent on the needs of her large military force precluded her from fully concentrating on the new estates, and the deal was not consummated - the halflings refused to let the Order have their estates. Masters Benedictus and Giles rode west at the head of sixteen thousand infantry to confront the giants of the Stoneheart Mountains (See The Battle for the Tarwood, below).

Master Fortis rode east with six thousand Order cavalry, including three thousand Knights of the Golden Dawn, to join Senator Vargus and the Conorrian army in its assault on the hobgoblins of Lederata.  (See The Conorrian Empire, below).

THE BATTLE FOR THE TARWOOD
(Berlas, 2878)

Great armies of the Grail assembled to aid the Neldorean elves against the evil Stoneheart giants.  In Daarlem 2876, sixteen thousand troops of the Order of the Dawn met with five thousand elven archers from the Whisper Wood in the former Ianthan province of Huareth. They marched through Leana and thence into the Riftmarch, where they combined with five thousand troops (and one skyship) from the Llyran Republic. Master Giles of the Order was in overall command, supported by Master Benedictus.  Queen Elevuil commanded the Whisper Wood forces and was attended by Lord Dranuel.  Constans Pip Topkapi commanded the Llyrans from his skyship.

Arrayed against these twenty-four thousands were a mere thousand giant-allied men and orcs and a large group of settlers from the the mountains.  These the allies quickly put to flight or destroyed, killing Fárbauti Cruel-Striker in the process.

By Daarlem of 2878 the allies marched into Manariyë and liberated it in the name of Neldorea.  Unbeknownst to them, the Neldorean army was at that very moment being destroyed in detail by the giants in the Tarwood (See The Neldorean Elves, above).

Next the allies, led by their joint commander Master Giles of the Order of the Dawn, marched into the Tarwood and challenged the giants in their great forts.  As against the elves, Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower was a master tactician and war-mage, and his defenses were strong.  Arrayed against him were Master Giles and the brilliant Lord Dranuel of the Whisper Wood.  The allies managed to surprise the giants, who did not expect attack from the east.  Nonetheless, the battle went nearly as poorly for the Grail allies as the battle two months earlier had for the Neldorean elves. 

As the allies entered the region of the Tarwood controlled by the giants, they came upon the hideous sight of the bodies of the fallen Neldoreans.  Everywhere, bodies hung from trees, half eaten by overstuffed carrion birds.  Tears of fury came to the eyes of their Whisper Wood kin, who roared their demand for giant blood and launched the attack.

Hræsvelgr's giants and their smaller allies rained shot and arrows down upon the swarming Grail armies.  The vast numbers of the Grail army overran the western defense of the giants and pushed them back towards the middle, but this turned out to be a ruse, for when the allies pursued the giant-kin they outran some of their fellows and were cut off.  The Llyran skyship (the Windlord) was destroyed when it came too close to the fground, trying to direct fire on the giant command position.  One of the giants hurled a boulder at it which smashed the rudder, causing it to careen out of control and slam into the forest canopy, bursting into magical flames. Constans Pip Topkapi survived the crash with severe burns.

The loss became a rout.  Lord Dranuel, knowing the fate of any who fell behind, tried to stem the tide and effect a fighting withdrawal, but he was overrun by the pell-mell retreat of the men and elves around him.  Only a third of the allied army survived to regroup in Manariyë.

Rhanalor -

The Shadowed Realm of Ascarlon - Ruler - Baron Gauros the Arisen Capital - Denavine Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Dakhash [T]

Once again, the nation of Ascarlon culled its neighbors to provide the manpower to run its burgeoning economy.  Only now the "neighbors" are father afield.  Baron Gauros led a highly successful raid up the Raethalas River and across the plains to the north, seizing slaves and cattle in Marrodh and Onather and returning with them to Dakhash. He marched with four thousand human troops and a thousand undead horrors from whom his enemies fled and hid. Meanwhile, Lord Vabanne and Lord Mezger of Hildreth convinced the orcs of Dakhash to pay tribute to the marauding Baron in exchange for the promised labor of the enslaved tribesmen. The second Ascar expedition was a spectacular disaster.  After easily beaching their ships in Sargari and quickly conquering the Valaskan tribes, Lord Erekhad and many feudal allies rode into Kandik at the head of seven thousand troops.  They had been outmaneuvering the hapless Kandiks for a week when five thousand harkeen marched, hopped and flew into the steppe, their wings buzzing and the light shimmering off their jewel-colored carapaces. Caught by surprise, the startled Ascar troops began a withdrawal towards Sargari, but the enraged

har'keen swarmed over them, spreading panic and mayhem.  The death total was staggering. Approximately half of the feudal armies returned home, hastily casting off as soon as they had returned to the ships.  Lord Erekhad was not among them.

Back in the heart of the realm, a wave of religious fervor swept through Denavine and the countryside.  Churches and temples were filled with worshipers and nonbelievers were stoned or even hung in the streets.  Missionaries with the light of the dark gods in their eyes traveled to the Sinking Land and Kamali, where the natives feared to resist them and turned the worship of the Dark Court.

The Worldspine Orcs -
Ruler - King Wargest
Capital - Mount Kauroth
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

At long last, the region of Vilcea was cultivated and fresh grain and meat was enjoyed in Mount Kauroth for the first time in many a year.  The orcs began, slowly, to give up their wild hunter/gatherer existences. King Mankiller and Lord Splitface died in 2878, having killed each other during a duel over which was the greater warrior. After some tutelary bloodletting, a cunning beast of an orc named Wargest was acknowledged to have no challengers for the throne, and became king.

Maugroth III felt his age creeping up on him and desired once more to ride the steppe and crush his enemy.  He gave into his son's command the bulk of Carhallas's infantry, gathered his vassals to him and rode forth at the head of eighteen thousand cavalry to pave the road towards Lederata in blood and bone. The Emperor descended upon the peaceful men of Jurath in the fall of 2876.  The Jurathi had called upon their fellow tribesmen for aid, and the men of Lauroth had heeded the call.  Those of Yrineth chose to stay at home.  Thus it was that the Emperor's eighteen thousand were met by the brave but doomed force of three thousand cavalry, whom he drove aside as one might swat a fly. Soon both Jurath and Lauroth were complete wildernesses, populated only by the small garrisons of Carhallas troops the Emperor left, sifting through the ashes of Jurathi villages and farmsteads.  The humans themselves were driven by whip and lance into Adumar, where they were put to work building a road from Naurog to Lauroth.  Meanwhile, his own hobgoblins had laid a road through Naurog to the Manndaran river. In Carcaroth, the Emperor's son married and fathered a boy.  Maugroth IV's wife died during childbirth in 2878. With the Emperor away, however, the delicate power structure of the empire began to collapse.  Much of the Empire lay at great distances from Carcaroth, with miles and miles of steppe and unbridged river in between.  The Empire was held together by the will and administrative skill of the Emperor, and without him, rebellions sparked in Pukel and Zhagon.  There were riots in Elsend, but these were put down by the local governor...for now.

The Great Kingdom of Annvar - Ruler - First Councillor Pataniax Capital - Varthane Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Thuidhel [-], Marvald [F]

The Standard of Annvar

First Councillor Pataniax hosted a meeting of representatives from Annvar and Meledrian.  They met in secret and the ambassadors then departed by ship. Lord Sariax led an assault on the elven woods of Pinnas.  Nearly the whole Thuidhel tribe rose up to repel the invaders, and the elves of Thuidhel threw out the Annvarite government that claimed to rule them.  Sarias rode into the western woods at the head of six thousand light troops, including twenty-five hundred elite annvar jaegers.  They were met in the summer of 2877, by six thousand elven archers of Thuidhel.  The battle was fierce and without quarter, but Sariax's leadership and the courage of the jaegers told in the end.  The elves slowly gave way and retreated stubbornly into woods.  Suddenly, silence replaced the din of battle, punctuated only by the moans of the wounded and screams of dying horses. Annvar had won a solid victory against elves in their own forests. Lord Puchoniax lead four thousand cavalry across the Mannadaran river and into the fields of Gromon, ripe with summer grain.  The Gromon militia came out to meet them, armed with picks and scythes, but also with long knives and stout bows.  With these the the militia stood their ground against the Annvarite riders, driving them back across the river. In 2878, a band of unknown brigands killed several priests and guards at a small temple in Asep and fled without encountering resistance.

The Forest Realm of Meledrian -
Ruler - King Eldareth Hammerhand
Capital - Laurelindë
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

King Eldareth summoned his war host and all his generals.  In 2877, they crossed the Wolf river into Falmallinar at the head of eleven thousand elves, including more than a thousand elite elven archers.  Though the human tribesmen of Falmallinar were mounted and quite fierce, their numbers were no more than two thousand.  Those who did not flee were slain or enslaved.  The elves then had to put down an insurgency as they rounded up the tribes and took them back to Silithos as slaves.  Eldareth left a token force of five hundred archers in Falmallinar to hold the region for Meledrian. Meanwhile, Lord Aeliniel rode around Nimbreth, speaking to all who would listen about the glorious power of the Dark Court. He had a lot of success, as the Nimbreth elves began to listen to his talk of how the elves should seize their true destiny as masters of Theeurth.  Bishop Killcrantor had no success with similar arguments in traditionally conservative Rainas.

Meledrian continued to employ the services of the human mercenary, Sir Haden.

The Duskwood Reavers of Azhran -
Ruler - Grand Master Nath-Imperator Melenchlaenith the Archdisrupter
Order Fortress - Silithos
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Duskwood Reavers accumulated wealth.

The Kingdom of Tiringol -
Ruler - King Borlath
Capital - The Underhalls
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Tirondalas [T]

The halflings built a new village in Tiringol and trained in siegecraft and magic.  King Borlath fathered a son and daughter in the Underhalls. Tobias Bullroarer decided on more peaceful pursuits than in the past and traveled to the green hills of Tirondalas, where with many a mug of nut brown ale, he convinced the Stoutheart halflings to send tribute to the king. William Shroud, the great halfling wizard, locked himself in his tower and communed with the spirits.  Of course "locked himself in" is a relative term.  William emerged for breakfast, second breakfast, dinner, supper, tea, and a late night snack.  But not lunch.  That, he had sent in.

The Conorrian Heartland -

The Conorrian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Kaius Capital - Echoriath Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Medensus [+10YfC], Lauriacum [NT]

Regent Vargus saw his opportunity for glory and gravitas and he acted with decisive clarity. He assembled a vast host consisting of the army in praesentalis and several allied auxillae and marched against the Lederata hobgoblins with twenty six thousand soldiers, including four thousand Conorrian legionnaires, twelve thousand cavalry and six vexillations of the Empire's newest weapon, Conorrian Eagle Riders!  They also included six thousand cavalry from the Order of the Dawn. At their head strode the aquilifer, bearing the ancient and revered Blood Eagle Banner. Against this vast host stood the Lederata army.  Six thousand strong and well-trained, it stood no chance against the worse than three to one odds, even if the Conorrians had not brought their War-Wizards with them. Senator Madragar and Sagramakes of Eatris each summoned a terrible firestorm that swept through the hobgoblins in the moments before the legionnaires crashed into their lines.  The battle was over in just over two hours.  King Naudrath escaped with a small remnant of his army to flee into Lascuta, but Vargus was in total possession of the field.  The city of Colanum refused to fight against the overwhelming Conorrian host and simply opened its gates and submitted. Elsewhere, Kaius Varantius, son of Saxonius the Younger, came of age and was crowned Emperor.  He sent word to Vargus, naming him Princeps and ordering him to occupy Lederata in the Emperor's name.

Without the steady hand of a regent or Emperor in Echoriath, the farther provinces rebelled or simply stopped sending taxes to the capital.  Imperial vigiles crushed a nascent revolt in Baetulo, but were unable to stop the dwarven regions of Zela and Pautalia from declaring their independence.

Lord Maecinus spent years gaining allies for the Emperor in Medensus, while the mercenary elvish diplomat Melial convinced the halflings of Lauriacum to allow the flow of goods and trade down the via brythnia, improving trade with the Crusader States and opening trade with the Brythnians for the first time in centuries.

The Great Church of the Lords of the Grail - Ruler - Patriarch Galetus Holy City - Conorr Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Muzir [-], Tarrentica [AB], Eleucria [MN]

The Patriarch's Standard

The priests of the Lords of the Grail spent vast sums on the University at Conorr, especially the study of Evocation magic. As usual, they sent significant sums of cash to coreligionists in Aelissia, Lorraine and Neldorea, hired many mercenaries and mercenary leaders. They recruited two thousand soldiers at the city of Connor and put them under the command of the mercenary, Joris. Patriarch Galetus oversaw the creation of a monastery in the Conorrian city of Eleucria.  He carefully planned the sturdy, humble buildings and selected the abbot who would rule within its walls.  Bishop Photius oversaw the movement of church hierarchy from Faloricum to Elenuil in Thariyya.  Contrary to popular belief, it was only the people that moved.  The elegant building, "Cathedral Grailius Deus(s) Faolricum", remained where it had always been. Bishop Altair oversaw the same process at work in moving the hierarchy from Eatris to Uls Fakhar in Thariyya. In the west, Bishops Alious and Adrastes tried to evacuate the city of Cruachan and the region of Nivaan.  The folk of both refused to rise up and follow the bishops, feeling that they had no place to go. Alious eventually wound up in Elenuil with the mercenary Joris, while Adrasetes sailed south to Landegol and remained with a small force of infantry. The mercenary Joris sailed around in western waters, delivering gold and goods to Aelissia, Neldorea and Lorrain, the traveled to Elenuil, where he guarded the city with some eight thousand troops and more than a score of warships. In the west, Church authority continued to decay as the Churches in Cadares and Quesante simply disappeared.

The Dwarven Realm of Dhûnazhar -  Ruler - King Thorin Capital - Khelem Vala Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Ring of Karduk [F]

King Thorin sat on his throne, annoyed to learn that Naugor had been built inland when he had ordered that it be made a port for trade to the southlands. Sighing, he ordered a large wall built around it anyway. The rest of his court, including his twin sister Thorinna, Turok the Wise, Garag Bloody-Axe and Darak Iron-Helm traveled to the Ring of Karduk.  There, with the aid of the Crystal Brazier and with appeals to ancient custom and the brotherhood of dwarves, they convinced the lord of the city to swear fealty to the king.

From his high stone hall in Vigilum, King Gregor strengthened his national armies by recruiting a mixture of troop types and centralizing the army under his command. In the north, motley caravans periodically traveled across the tower Taklamakas mountains to visit the halflings of Tiringol whenever the passes were clear of snow, but as yet little wealth flowed along that narrow and dangerous route. Lord Cuthbert traveled to the oak forests of Vindobala where he meddled in the politics of the hobgoblins right up until the enormous Conorrian army drove straight through them. Lord Argent conducted diplomacy in Keldior, arranging a marriage for King Gregor and elevated Lord Brickson to an ally of the king's. Meanwhile, Prince Ulfast and Sir Belson of Edhel Gorthas were also conducting diplomacy in the wild and sparsely populated forests of Durobrivae, arranging transit rights for Vigilum's merchants and soldiery. Sir Belson died of a heart attack in 2879.  Belson's son soon renewed his family's oath to the king.

VALES -

North-Western Vales -

The Llyran Republic -
Ruler - Constans Pip Topkapi
Capital - Tarrentica
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The Republic built another skyship and skyskiff to add to the Constans's growing personal force. It also built a wide moat around the new port city of Bella. Constans Pip set out to sea with a vast armada of over one hundred warships and more than a score of transports.  Leaving his ships behind in Halianis, he marched inland with five thousand troops, one skyship and one skyskiff to rendezvous with the forces of the Order of the Dawn and the Whisper Wood. Together they would confront the Stoneheart Giants and liberate Neldorea...or so they hoped. (See The Battle for the Tarwood, above). Elsewhere, Tarsa ol' Kenset put to sea with nearly thirty ships, including several skyships, and patrolled the waters around the home islands, flying the flag of the Red Pact of Vales. Magus Lloyd Sanchola, who had gone to war with Constans Pip and had supplied the army with magically sharp weapons, died in in Manariyë in 2880 of exhaustion.

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran -  Ruler - Queen Joyce Thistledown Capital - Sedeskan Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Maddari Diplomacy - Naidhan [-]
Queen Joyce founded two new cities on the shores of Veij and Madukkan. They were Moonrise City and East Harbor, respectively.  Small villages, barely larger than any of a dozen that dotted the hills behind them, they each had natural harbors and that was all that mattered to give them the status of "cities" in the Queen's eyes. Maddari missionaries, never terribly popular in the eyes of men, found success in Socphares by stressing the caring, forgiving aspect of the Mother.  With time, the principles of Paarmadan would follow.  In Kumrat, however, suspicious men forbade their wives to hear any of the inflammatory words of the foreign women and shut their doors whenever the Ahurans approached. Queen Joyce, although late in years, gave birth to a daughter in 2878.  She declared a contest to vie for the position of heir, with the theme of combat.  Each of the women of her court vied in the Grounds of the Royal Consorts at games of strategy and at tests of leadership.  So it was that Jesse Holly, a woman of low birth but great talent, was named heir by the queen in 2879. Katelyn Sparhawk traveled to Naidhan to meet with Landress Kell, but the Landress was unwilling to tie her restive elven woods closer to the human women of Ahuran.  Jesse Holly spent many years with the elves of Haalthor, who were already close allies of the queen.

Har'akir - Ruler - Sultan Qadir Alouda Capital - Mar Awas Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Har Jadme [A]
	The sultan sent some of the wealth of Har'akir to both the Neldorean elves and to the Order of the Dawn.  "It is always better," he noted to his court, "to fight the enemy when it is across the sea than when it is in your homeland."  But the sultanate was wealthy enough to handle such expenses.  Indeed, the sultan granted a long sought-for license to the various merchants of Agazier to form a trading guild, the better to compete with their brother merchants from Valesia and Conorria.	Sultan Qadir
	The sultan continued to indulge his passion for ordering the merchant fleets of the nation, but had plenty of time to father two sons and a daughter on his beautiful and fertile wife, Allyana. Emir'al Bev Bevan continued his distinguished naval service to Har'akir by enforcing the Red Pact of Vales.  His fleet of forty ships ranged about Roldein's Gate and the Sea of Bells, flying the scarlet banner of the Pact and keeping order on the high seas. The sultan gave his sister Ruwaydah's hand in marriage to Lord Isaam, creating him Prince Isaam. The newly-elevated royal brother-in-law then mounted his magical flying carpet and traveled to Har Jadme, where, with the aid of Ridwa of Gon Bahar, he convinced the men of that eastern forest region to rejoin the sultan as allies. In 2880, rumors reached the ears of the sultan that adventurers had breached an ancient tomb in the cave-riddled Adramagdus mountains and made off with some

treasure.

The Valesian Empire - Ruler - Primarch Valerius Capital - Centauris Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Primarch Diomedes died.  His son Valerius assumed the throne. Rumors reached Centauris of a wandering holy man in the Kherouf desert.  He spoke of the strength and power of the god Drauluin and many personages of note have consulted him because of the accuracy of his visions.

Luxur - Ruler - General Haasta Capital - Thedelos Dominant Race - Sathla Dominant Religion - Autumna Diplomacy - Merwal [+10YfC]

The sathla of Luxur continued to build their military, recruiting three thousand infantry and eight ships.  They also built a new port, Coilus, on the shores Cassar.  The Maressh tribes of Cassar were angry at this intrusion and there was some violence between natives and settlers. Luxurite missionaries traveled to the Steaming Kingdom of Drormt and there converted the masses in Drormt and Ree'ka to the worship of Udjo. General Adnassuk went on maneuvers with his troops.  He died in Thedelos in 2878, sparking a contest among his followers to lead the succession.  Magus Cheryk intimidated all into following him, but died himself the following year.  Speaker Haasta, a relatively inoffensive patrician, managed to seize control of the realm for himself at that point with the halfhearted acquiescence of the nobility. Captain Ophidius and two thousand elite troops stomped around in Sekhem and Aysira, discovering a Fleshweavers cultic cell in Sekhem and putting all the heretics to the sword. Speaker Shonyx and Speaker Haasta continued to conduct diplomacy in the great metropolis of Merwal.  The Valesian-speaking sathla of the east still did not trust the Mykelean-speaking generals in Thedelos. Shonyx died in 2879 and Haasta traveled to Thedelos to take control of the armed forces. In 2879, a lone sathla traveling in the woods of Khent discovered a dull yellow lump in a pool by a woodland stream.  He recognized it

as gold and rushed to the nearest town to sell it and purchase digging tools and slaves.  Try as he might to keep the truth a secret, word soon got out and thousands of sathla and humans were flocking to Khent, trying to strike it rich. And many did.  Soon, the city of Aysira itself began to outgrow its walls, simply because of the supply of Khentish gold.

The Holy See of Udjo - Ruler - Pysus Holzilz Holy City - Merwal Dominant Race - Sathla Dominant Religion - Autumna Diplomacy - Cassar [AB]

The Holy See built beautiful granite temples in Naqada, colorful paeans to the Scaled God beside the languid waters of the Artaxes.  In Merwal, great works of sathla art were restored and ancient statues to the scaled saints were hacked out of the thick river mud that had entombed them for centuries. Barge-loads of gold was sent upriver to the poor sauruses of Drormt to help them build their own religious schools and to spread the truth of Udjo's power. With them went the inevitable missionaries.  In concert with Luxurite priests, they converted the province of Drormt.  Missionaries had less success in the human realm of Egu, where the tribes and smallholders rejected Udjo's all-embracing call. After the loss of Lady Aloshes in Naqada, the Holy See put out a call for the destruction of all foreigners and foreign ideas within sathla lands. Pysus Holziz  summoned four thousand mercenaries and spread them across Naqada, asking questions until someone talked.  Then, the mercenaries descended upon a small village along the banks and killed all within - for they were all secret worshipers of the Dark Court god Andobulos - they were Fleshweavers. They were roasted alive on the altars of Udjo.

High Priest Alimsoth journeyed to the Maresssh region of Cassar.  There, he founded an abbey and increased the influence of the church.  It was his last devotion to Udjo, however, for he died there in 2878.

The Serpentine of Mykele -
Ruler - Sauressh Isskor II
Capital - Oroyon
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Vaasilos [EA]

within the city, Kae'lee made her bid for power. She had always been popular with the army, and was far better known than her brother.  Careth, too, was a popular general with the troops, and for several days it appeared that the husband-and-wife team would seize control of the capital. But it was not to be.

Kae'lee and Careth were both poisoned in their homes.  Isskor, in a show of public fury over the murders and the slight to his honor, blamed Raacko of Ursurrnam, who had fled the city two days before the deaths.  His agents had poisoned the lovers out of spite, went the public history, and to make it seem as though Isskor were behind the murders.

Lords Shren and Nagel lent their prestige to Isskor, assuring that he would assume the throne as Sauressh.  But they themselves grew in power, and that of the Sauressh was now dependent upon the nobility for its effect.

Almost unnoticed in the chaos was the fact that before his death, Lord Careth had secured the right to impose taxes on the city of Vaasilos.

North-Eastern Vales -

The Kingdom of Thariyya - Ruler - King Shadazar Vahdin Capital - Uls Fakhar Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Al Muhd [T]

The halflings of Thariyya celebrated their good harvests and expressed their thanks to the gods by sending supply ships laden with grain across the Gulf of Thariyya to the Grail Primacy at Conorr. Despite being only twenty-four years old, King Shadazar was consumed with worry about producing an heir.  He eschewed the usual political marriage and simply married one of his more distant cousins with good child-bearing hips.  Shadazar was a good judge of hips, for she bore him two daughters and a son in the next few years. The national mania for defense continued with Prince Beyzr defending the capital and Sultan Ontzhamas maneuvering about the woods of Shood in command of several thousand halfling soldiers. Wallastre Zendowan and Princess Leila worked to convince the lord of Al Muhd to pay tribute to Uls Fakhar.  At last the chieftain assented when he was permitted to marry his eldest son to the king's sister Kelinas. As he had for so many years, Admiral Yryons put to sea with a score of warships, enforcing the Red Pact of Vales in the eastern Valesian seas.

The Warlocks of Accolon - Ruler - Emperor Elijah Cuu Capital - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Unaagh [+5YfC], Arbath [FA]

The port city of Riatus continued to grow on the green Mulgaunt delta, and rivaled Agharra for wealth and prominence.  Recognizing its new status, Emperor Elijah had a sturdy wall built to discourage raiders, pirates and crusaders. Keystone in Hatti also had its walls enlarged and strengthened. The Emperor himself traveled to Unaagh, a city still resenting its perceived demotion from the heart of the religious administration to just another provincial river port.  He spent five years in residence, being seen at the theater or riding through the streets, and meeting frequently with civic leaders.  This did much to improve his own popularity in the city. Meanwhile, back in Dammarask, Elijah's son and heir Razir ruled in his name and fathered two daughters.  Alas, in the absence of the emperor's watchful eye, the edges of the sprawling Empire began to fray. The desert tribes of Sharar ignored the harried imperial governor and Ymars farmers in Carru revolted, throwing up roadblocks and cutting off Accolon's large southward trade routes. There was also revolution in Eumana, but this was quickly and ruthlessly put down by the garrison and the Imperial Inquisitors. Erikur Even-Handed and Bloody Lady Lenora worked in far-off Arbath to secure a feudal oath from the primary chieftain of the province. Dhul Fiqqar of Dursarc died in 2877 after a severe bout of dysentery. Kalaam Cuu, the Emperor's cousin and governor of Agharra, died in 2878 of a heart attack.

The Shadowed Primacy of the Dark Court -   Ruler - High Priest Gezz Half-Shadow Holy City - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Redwind [CH], Unaagh [MN], Gateway [MN], Riatus [-], Keystone [-]

Bishop Elian, a supremely handsome and charismatic man and a popular leader among the rich and powerful, established two monasteries at Unaagh and Gateway during a one-year stay at each city.  Bisop Raulduin died at sea, the voyage too much for him.  His body was returned to Agharra for burial. Drel Dorath, Prince of the Church, returned from annoying dwarves to the city of Riatus, where he attempted to found an abbey in the waning months of 2880.  However, he was not so fortunate as the great Bishop Elian.  In fact, his heavy-handed orders to clear a poor neighborhood for the building of his abbey sparked riots in the city, and Drel Dorath (just recovering from a dwarvish axe-wound) was freshly injured by the mob and forced to flee. Bishop Jalak, while on a larger mission, stopped to investigate some local rumors in the city of Keystone.  Hearing of goblins in the sewers, he descended into those new brick tunnels...and disappeared. Gezz Half-Shadow made no appearances in public until 2880, when he appeared before a crowd in Dammarask and gave it his dark blessing.

The Shadowguard of Marador -  
Ruler - Queen Madariel Shadowfoot
Capital - Lantar
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Daio [EA]

The Queen ruled the realm from Lantar.  In 2876, the queen gave birth to a son, her first in nearly ninety years.  She proclaimed a month of celebrations and festivals, and the elves rejoiced with the same wild abandon which marked their conduct of war. Madariel's elder son, Alitcean, traveled to Windan where he invoked the spirits of wind and rain to bless the growing things in the region and cause it to burgeon with fruit and useful herbs of every description.  He then returned to Lantar and aided his mother in the administration of her realm. Alitcean's cousin Vaeril Fallingwater likewise conjured elementals of stone and water in Balan, diverting small streams into beautiful pools and elegant millraces. She then went on to govern the new city of Lothorion. Evarear Darkblow traveled to Daio, a region which acknowledged the queen's hegemony, but no more. Through his logic, elegant manners and knowledge of local custom, convinced the elves of Daio to pay taxes to the queen in return for her protection.

South-Western Vales -

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
Ruler - Queen Xochilti
Capital - Breeka
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Ezikita [FA], Oiohutu [C], Narvan [NT]

With the monetary assistance of the Temple of Udjo, Queen Xochilti continued to improve her nation's economy.  Markets and small villages were set up across the Steaming Kingdom, and wild sauruses increasingly sought to settle in these places, increasing the Drormtish population. The Queen worked for four years on a census of her people, and then marched into Likasal on the Upper Vine Sea and claimed it for Drormt.  She also founded a small town named Coqui on the hot and overgrown shores of the Lower Vine Sea.  The Drormtish had no rutters of the Upper Vine Sea, and so could send no ships to Nyange or Kaznuma, but the traders of Sendahl and Mekebele soon found the port and began to trade their goods for amber or hardwood from Drormt. Meanwhile, Lord Kadoorp traveled to Ezikita and imposed a feudal oath on Lord Haloopt. The oath bound Haloopt to supply troops on the demand of the queen. Lord Mudorpt traveled to Oiohutu on the coast of the Nekinet sea and claimed it for the Steaming Kingdom.  At the same time, Lord Yramt traveled to Narvan and negotiated the rights to trade across Narvan territory with Weshtayo.

Sendahl - Ruler - King Trist*an Capital - Nyange Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

The Sendahlese sent thousands of human settlers north through Syniken and Maurix into Durudin where hundreds of square miles of rich farmland lay untilled and unharvested.  The settlers claimed as much land as they could and set up a booming market in grain and ancient pottery from Ser Medhele. Meanwhile, cultivation work continued slowly in Mbarre. For the most part, the royal court concentrated on administering the realm and governing Bwayo or Nyange. One exception was Prince Mekend, who traveled to the ruins of Ser Medhele in Durudin and entered the long-abandoned catacombs for the mere challenge of the matter.  There, the adventuresome hero fought a colony of giant bats and retrieved a trove of valuable gems. In 2880, Sendahlese ships began to bring Drormtish goods from the port of Coqui.

The Grand Empire of Mekebele - Ruler - Emperor W'tanabe Capital - Awayal Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Foru [-], Garmazt [-FA]

Emperor W'tanabe invested heavily in the settlement of Eza.  Smallholders and skilled craftsmen were encouraged to build homes in the outlying districts and market roads began to connect the various villages. Prince Dhuzl tried to gain full citizenship for the folk of Foru, but his abrupt and brief style made this impossible.  Worse was in store for Lord Tnute who similarly refused to spend much time on his diplomatic mission to Garmazt.  The locals were angered by this slight and ceased to pay full tribute to the Empire. Prince Dhuzl  and Lord Chisulo both died in a flu epidemic in 2879. The great aqueduct of Kaznuma was completed, bringing clean, clear water down from the heights of Eura and into the port city.  In 2878, The Company of the Silver Axe attempted to steal several juvenile mekebele leatherwings from the breeding pits at Awayal.  They failed to steal any, but were recognized.  They also fought and killed a large pair of mated leatherwings.

South-Eastern Vales -

The Dwarven Realm of Aurdrukar - Ruler - King Thulnor Capital - The Brass Tower Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Hibru [F], Lrandirla [A], Zhutetl [-]

Banner of Aurdrukar

Banner of Khor-Naland

King Thulnor sent forth more sheriffs and knights to enforce order and discipline on the scattered dwarven clans. He also founded a new city, laying out its future walls with the haft of his axe high on an alpine meadow in the hills of Hruma'ru.  He named the city Zanzakar. The king also caused missionaries to be sent into human populated Kamandi, where the men were surprisingly receptive to the foreign ideas of the Lords of the Grail. Thulnor himself convinced Dignar of Hibru to accept full status within the kingdom as a great nobleman, his subjects to be Aurdrukar citizens. Lords Dhokir and Rignus gained an alliance with the far northern Deephelm province of Lrandirla, securing the northern border against surprise attacks. Far to the south, Lord Blorin continued to inveigh

with the Redwrath orcs of Zhutetl.  For their part, the orcs steadfastly ignored his presence.

In the absence of direct rule from the Brass Tower, the distant Ironheart lands of Unukuro and Zhevis ignored the royal governors and simply followed their own directions.

The elves of Sengkar continued their city-building efforts by founding two new ports.  Dhal Sandhar is a pleasant Ozhayaran town on the Shadow Coast, most often frequented fishermen and the occasional Quellende elf from the forests of Urvupal. Ghelfar is a boomtown in Radrhost, a rough-and-tumble trading village on the upper reaches of the Mulgaunt where the famed serenity of the elves is but an echo of that in Ezrand and Jarende.  Instead, merchants hawk dwarven and human wares and rub elbows with outlaws and wanderers. In the older ports, a growing Sengkar navy began to take shape, with dozens of sleek, swan-prowed warships crowding the quays of Jarende, Xantotun and Valoralondë. Prince Namaril the Hunter took command of the national cavalry forces in Ezrand while Talan of Mita continued in command of the smaller infantry forces.

Namaril fell in love and settled down with a local noblewoman of a fine family.  The handsome prince was considered the most eligible bachelor in all of the Empire.  It was said that a number of noble ladies in Ezrand dedicated themselves to the priestesshood after the nuptials were announced.

Princess Shariel, supplied with intelligence, magic and a winning smile, nonetheless failed to convince Prince Tamril of Gothambauk to relinquish sovereignty over his land to the Emperor. This no doubt made for some chilly nights...Tamril is Shariel's husband.

Lord Thorondil, on the other hand, convinced the elves of Ozhayar to accept full citizenship in the Empire.

In 2879, it became known in the ports of the Ymarian sea that Sengkarese gold coins were in fact not pure gold, containing as they did a high lead content.  The resulting refusal of most merchants to accept payment in Sengkarese coins resulted in a collapse of the currency that threatened the Empire's finances and tax structure.

The Kingdom of Weshtayo - Ruler - King Terbish, Red-Feathered Lord Capital - Khulank Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Osaru [FA]

King Terbish reached the age of majority in 2880.  A large and somewhat dull boy, he became a large and moderately dull man.  However, he had the good presence of mind to offer the former regent the status of Prince in his court.  Lord Gan gracefully stepped aside in favor of his young ward. The Weshts began a great project of clearing the forests of Tresalet and making way for small farms, logging villages and tiny hamlets. Lord Kelmek traveled north to Osaru on the Artaxes river and charmed the local chieftains into declaring their allegiance to the boy king and pledging troops to hold the north for him.  Kelmek then returned to Ssru. Trade began to trickle westward once again as the sauruses of Drormt resumed control of the Narvan fens.

The Imperial Realm of Zikuyu -
Ruler - Emperor Bhekizizwe
Capital - Ivallkyu
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

In the winter of 2877, a terrible rumbling was heard in Ivallkyu and the Mogolla River leapt from its bed.  Then the buildings began to fall.  Thousands were killed as the earthquake levelled buildings, damaged the city wall and flooded the low-lying districts of the city.  In Qash, the roads and bridge were badly damaged. The king's brother Philani was killed when a large piece of palace masonry fell onto his head while he was praying to the earth spirits to quiet their rage.

The Valraj -
Ruler - Sultan Azaad
Capital - Muddakir
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

Prince Daruun and Lord Amr Ghaas sailed away south in five small ships.  They returned to Shenthalass in 2880. Little is publicly known about what transpired in between, and the sailors have all been tight-lipped about it. Sultan Azaad made the very public announcement that he joined with Grand Duke Salene of Meneen in a mutual defense treaty. The two sides pledged their mutual support for each other.

In 2878, a raging fire burst into flame in a poorer district of Mudakkir.  Early attempts to put the fire out were hampered the by the city's ancient, narrow streets and the streams of people fleeing the conflagration.  By the time the authorities began to combat the fire with serious efforts, it was a raging monster beyond their ability to control.  Indeed, for all in Mudakkir, the question had instead become one of survival. A river of humanity flooded out into the Luud countryside. The fire burned for two weeks and in the end only a few of the more isolated districts survived.

The Grand Duchy of Meneen -
Ruler - Grand Duke Salene
Capital - Yaz Meneen
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Ivralit [NT]

The Grand Duchy withdrew for the present from its southern strategy and instead concentrated on developing the homeland.  The elves built small villages and improved the city of Imreer with many tale, pale towers looking out to the sea.  The Grand Duke and his trusted friend lord Feantë summoned spirits of sea and earth into forms both grand and terrible and directed them to till the soil of Chodaru and lift up the boughs of great trees into forms both shapely and useful to the elves. Feantë then sailed north with the Meneen fleet, ferrying materials for some of the greatest of Meneen's merchant families.  They landed at Olonár and established a merchant's guild to bring in the wealth of north, west and east back to Yaz Meneen. Also in the convoy was Lord Habnar, who left Olonár and trekked eastward through the strange but beautiful forests of Ivralit.  He stayed with the Ouellende chieftains and told them of the ancient and high culture of his people, the Sea Elves.  They agreed that the Meneen might visit at their will, and that goodwill ruled between the kindreds.

The Kingdom of Ukanve -
Ruler - Queen Edova
Capital - Ukanve
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Kim Taba [A], Olvia [-], Darja [A]

Queen Eamata began a project to improve the capital city, clearing the land west of the city that had always been a swampy dumping ground for the refuse of the city's poor.  Drained and leveled, the additional two hundred or so acres represented a significant expansion of the city's size. Princess Edova concluded an alliance with the lord of Kim Taba.  This sparse expanse of jungle may be worth practically nothing as a source of goods, but it formed a vital link between Ukanve in the west and the port of Eamata in the east. For similar reasons, Lady Norwalk sought and received an alliance with the Iriol elves of Darja.  But Lord Retzak had no such luck with the elves of Olvia, who refused to recognize any Ukanvan sovereignty over their beloved rain forests. Queen Eamata died at the ripe old age of seventy-two in 2879.  Her daughter Edova made a show of tears at the funeral, but few were fooled.  There had been little love lost between mother and daughter and there was noted pomp and celebration when the young queen assumed the throne.

The Kingdom of Nikitya -
Ruler - Queen Olga
Capital - Vikitana
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serriku Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Koltlus [FA], Falmallinar [-].

Queen Dowager Olga named her sons Ragnar and Loki as heir and prince of the realm.  Then she and Wulfdan the fierce put to sea and landed on the far shore of the Sea of Whales at the edge of the great sea of grass.  During a brief stay, the men of Koltlus flocked to the queen, begging to serve her and become part of the kingdom.  Olga accepted their feudal oaths. She married her son Ragnar to a chieftain's daughter. Olga and Wulfdan then sailed to the other side of the Wolf River delta and were shocked to find that the dark elves of Meledrian had enslaved the men of Falmallinar only a few months before.  No one but small garrisons of elves were left to patrol the vast steppe.

The Principalities of Korondor -
Ruler - King Vorin
Capital - Nikkildun
Dominant Race - Dwarf
Dominant Religion - The Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Khond-Zelen [F], Kyuinachka [A]

The Koron dwarves delved marvelous mansions throughout the hills of Pupukta (a human name, certainly not their own for the region!), as well as mines, great galleries of falling water and grand staircases.  Too, they built farmsteads on the surface and meadhalls to serve them. Knowing his bloodline to be cursed with the Nun-gibilthar, the Petrification, King Vorin had no more children.  He gave the hand of Prince Torin's widow in marriage to Prince Tolan of Khond-Zelen, raising him first to the royal family, then naming him heir to the kingdom. Lord Bolan, meanwhile, improved relations with the humans of Kyuinachka, making them full allies of the realm. The men of Orodask remained independent for the time being.

The Shanatar Empire -
Ruler - God-Emperor Talena
Capital - Feroe
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The God-Emperor
Diplomacy - An'Hirz [-], Sourinn [-]

The wealth of Chamir began naturally to flow west up the Naifir road, enriching the poor farmers and townsfolk of Leilan.  As merchants and armies passed by, they purchased goods along the road, attracting first ostlers and farriers and later whole towns to be built around them.  These were in turn supplied by the farms and hamlets further afield from the road. The forced cultivation of the formerly elvish region of Mandek by elvish slaves and free humans was at last complete.  The elves worked the land as slaves. Cultivation continued in Sourinn, where Prince-Consort Migdala went as a result of a divine order.  He did not question his wife-god's orders (for she could make no mistakes and brooked no disagreements), but found that Sourinn was already a full part of the Empire, as he'd already known. Lord Amir Driaz traveled to An'Hirz to convince Lord Yurin to bring his region back into full communion with the god-empress.  Though Yurin and Amir

prayed to their god together, Yurin still held out his province as an independent realm.

Meanwhile, God-Emperor Talena and her best general, lord Ullaran, rode east at the head of eighteen thousand hard-bitten Shanatar troops to confront the evil spirits of Rachif. Their weapons danced with magic, flashing in the moonlight like living things.  The wazirs of Feroe had also summoned up a horde of half-men, hulking armored creatures who bore lances of bone and who had no eyes discernable to men.  They knelt to the god-emperor and croaked a horrid battle cry as they marched at her side.

The plains of Rachif were a horror.  Dead bodies lay everywhere, some as they died, others half-eaten, and yet others arranged in grotesque tableaux that could only be conceived by the most vile and hateful of souls.

At first it seemed as though the phantoms who preyed upon the unwary in the mists would not trouble so large a concentration of soldiers. But the battle was joined at the army's encampment near a small, dead, village named Velesht.  God-Emperor Talena awoke with a stifled scream, having dreamed that she was violated by at dark, cold figure.  Just then, the spirits attacked.  The ghosts themselves were terrifying but immaterial.  Many soldiers died of fright or broke their necks when running in the initial panic.  But the phantasms were not alone.  Twisted shapes emerged from underground, pale shambling parodies of men whose skin the sunlight never touched.  Sunken-eyed and hollow-cheeked, they stormed the great encampment by the thousands, perhaps the tens of thousands.  They had no discipline, no order and no desire beyond hunger, for each ghoul stopped when it had killed or severely injured a man and dragged his body back into the darkness.

The Shanat troops were disciplined and well-led, once the initial shock of the night attack was over.  Talena rallied her guard about her and summoned brilliant lights to hurt the eyes of the ghouls.  Ulleran ordered his lieutenants to gain control of their troops and form a circle to repel the attackers.  This done, the men and half-men began to brutally drive the ghouls back into the night, for they were wild, uncaring if their fellows fell beside them.

With the battle won, Talena knew that the war was not over.  She and Ulleran and a handful of the best knights of the realm descended into the ghoul-warrens, killing many and losing several of their own.  At last they snuck into a great underground necropolis, a city of the damned.  There, in a contest of sorcery, the god-emperor bested the Ghoul King in battle. Having overthrown him and tossed his remains to his followers, she used her arts to seal the undead within the city, hopefully never again to disturb the living. 

The Farmuz Emirates - Ruler - Sultana Najya al Zahmer Capital - Azhkatûm Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Sultan Yaman was quick to begin the rebuilding of Mukatir.  It was, after all, his native city and the seat of his power.  But the Sultan died in 2877 after a sudden seizure.  Then began Farmuz's great rebellion.  Mustafa ben Shiraz, perhaps the most loyal and capable of the sultan's men died in the same year when he succumbed to a brief bout of influenza.  This left the relatively contentious Najya al Zahmer and Mustafa's brother, Rabin ben Shiraz, as the powers in the Emirates.  Najya, being present in Jahali, seized control of the capital and declared herself regent.  Anbar ben Ramil of Navilok refused to recognize Najya as his superior and marched his armies home, while the desert regions of Mahan and Ahmuzay rebelled. Rabin ben Shiraz remained loyal. Once in power, however, Najya was not about to let it go.  She replaced the palace guards with those loyal to herself and seized command of the army.  In just a few months, she declared that the late sultan's entire family had never been at Azhkatûm, and had it fact been killed in the Mukatir fire...every last one of them. Najya declared herself Sultana and braced for the results.  Most of the northwest rebelled against her will, but the urban south and Argabazos river valley was more concerned with the flow of trade and refused to join the rebellion.  In the end, the usurper Najya found herself queen of the richest portion of the Emirates, and in complete command of its army. Men gritted their teeth when dealing with this murderous old woman, but none dared oppose her power. In 2880, the Gurek of the Red Stone, Farmuz's national adventuring band, returned from deep in the desert to lay the fabulous Silverstone Amulet on the sultana's aged lap.

During all the confusion, there were many priests and agents of the Shanatar God-Emperor who spoke out against the Lords of the Grail, insisting that Farmuz's woes were the direct result of not worshiping their proper and natural god - the God Emperor.  Few harkened to the easterners, for such talk had been heard from dusty Shanatar for centuries.

 

The Kingdom of Vaudan - Ruler - King Afshar Capital - Chegamum Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia

King Eldred's last important act before dying in 2877 was to create the Seekers of the Source, a guild of wizards in Nrinayri.  These he charged with the responsibility of training new wizards and uncovering the great secrets for Vaudan.  Then he left this life and went on to discover the great secrets for himself. His son Afshar was crowned after him, and quickly named his youngest brother Danush as a prince of the realm. Afshar ceased governing the city of Chegamum and took up the governance of the kingdom. Most of his court was likewise engaged in the governance of the realm's cities, though those few with magical talent also aided the regions around them by summoning spirits of rain and sun. It was, all in all, a peaceful time in Vaudan.

The United Clans of Mainos -
Ruler - King Kaedhrol Greyfeather
Capital - Badmira
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia

The elves of Mainos lived in splendid isolation, contemplating eternity.

The Dragon's Reach -

The Kingdom of Uheju -
Ruler - King Gansukh
Capital - Shkomyemri
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - Orithia

King Gansukh ordered that all his vassals, chieftains, ministers and sons attend him and give testimony of all that lay within the dominion of the Uheju.  In this he was aided by his eldest son Kaidan.  Together the two formed an accurate picture of what the king owned and what lay within his command.  The slow cultivation of Inni continued as a few hardy souls from Shkoyemri trekked west into the endless grasslands to wrest a living from the soil. Lord Feodan of Amak died in 2878 at the ripe old age (for a hobgoblin) of fifty-eight.

 

The Kingdom of Kasadir - Ruler - King Maejith Capital - Tamiyot Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia Diplomacy - Sekpata [F]

King Maejith and his lieutenant Osbeston traveled to the wild western forests of Sekpata and, armed with good intelligence and overlaid with a Glib Tongue spell, they convinced the rustic woodsmen to swear allegiance to the king. Maejith's eldest daughter Zlawa, a wild child who had refused proper training all her life and grown up fighting with the common soldiery, suddenly returned and demanded to be made heir.  She informed everyone that she would be bearing no children and that her sisters would bear her heirs.  This was simply too much for the powerful Kasadir nobility, who refused to accept such a hellion in a position of authority, even if her father was blind to her behavior.  When they threatened outright rebellion, Maejith relented and refused to name his daughter heir. Kasadir missionaries went even farther afield than Sekpata, traveling among the savage hobgoblin tribes of the steppe at Inkadyol.  Those who were not killed out of hand found that the language and racial barriers were almost insuperable.  Besides, the hobgoblins enjoyed their bloody spirit rituals and had no intentions of giving them up. Kasadir continued to employ the Order of Havirj for its own secretive purposes.  The Order has not been seen in Kasadir for many years.

 

The Kingdom of Ahandu - Ruler - King Quetza Capital - Zathurrin Dominant Race - Saurus Dominant Religion - Orithia Diplomacy - Mihagga [F]

Queen Hexoatl died of scalerot on a winter morning in 2877.  Her minor son Sotek was too young to become king, and so a period of instability threatened.  Lord Quetza maneuvered the palace staff into recognizing his authority as a distant relative of the queen's.  Quetza immediately strangled Sotek with his own hands (or so the rumor runs...the lad's body was never found.)  Hexoatl's other two children, a son and daughter, also met with grisly fates as the determined and ruthless Quetza seized control of the kingdom. So swift and complete was the coup that the provinces of the realm, though restive, failed to revolt or object in any meaningful way. In the meantime, Lord Chiccgoq traveled to the city of Mihagga, where he oversaw the complete integration of the city into the kingdom.  Charged with educating Hexoatl's daughter Mundiloq, he drowned her instead at Quetza's order. Lord Pahaux, a fine general but a rather timid and foolish soul, attempted to explore the Xiangyun Sea in nothing but a small skiff.  He was never seen again.

The Empire of Mogodor -
Ruler - Regent Torek
Capital - Aone
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia

Regent Ataana ordered a massive movement of serfs into Kolempmun, where camps, farms and villages sprouted up almost over night.  The serfs dug their own wells and clear cut farmland out of necessity. The Regent died in 2877 during a bout of typhoid fever that also took Lord Hethde of Bangaha and Jailur of Tekkur. Queen Lisistrana was still far too young (only six) to rule, so yet another regent was acclaimed by the family, Lord Torek. Torek was already governor of Aone and quickly assumed power in the Empire. Lord Hethde's death had serious repercussions in Bangaha, where he left seventeen heirs.  They immediately fell to fighting viciously among themselves and paid no further attention to the alliance with Mogodor. Lord Jailur's son in Tekkur continued to pay taxes and tribute to the capital, but sent forth no more troops.

Ataana never liked Lord Mesak, and so sent him on an improbable adventure to the giant-held region Ethegadu across the Sea of Frozen Stars.  However Mesak stunned everyone by becoming a hardy adventurer.  He routed a lair of cold-drakes in the Ethegadu hills and looted their hoard.  Little of value was found save for an old and crumbling parchment...

The Kingdom of Suhanir -
Ruler - King Valiel Sunlord
Capital - Kaonayu
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia

The lack of a strong central government meant that the far eastern province of Anbarako, with its towering forests and ocean cliffs, seceded from the kingdom. Thereafter, King Valiel put all the treasure of his government into building a strong and efficient system of magistrates to bind his nation together.

The Kingdom of Amantai -
Ruler - King Mardule
Capital - Mahlish
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Keama [C]

King Mardule led a diplomatic mission to the western region of Keama.  Keama considered itself to be at war with Amantai since Mardule's father tried to overrun it fifteen years before.  Mardule ended hostilities by presiding over the marriage of Pavery, his eldest daughter, to the lord of Keama.  The negotiations were not as successful as he had hoped, but the war was ended and an Amantai claim begun on the succession in Keama. Lord Janz of Jutuh, whom Mardule had brought with him as an aide, died in Keama in 2877.  There being no strong heir in Jutuh, the Jutuh troops marched home. Ledrick the Swift assembled the nation's light troops at the capital and became governor of Mahlish.  He died in 2878 during one of many waves of the plague which swept through the city.

The Kingdom of Nuitai -
Ruler - King Arpald
Capital - Temanom
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia

King Arpald entrusted his elite force of two thousand Nuitai Foresters and his transport fleet to Lord Ranit and the hero Ghavrit, about whom so many new tales were told.  He also sent the materials to build several new forts in Basirzos in hopes of holding out against the new and terrible evil.  Nuitai priests of Orithia blessed the young general with Greater Shield, a complex of spells and prayers designed to protect him from the vile magic of Kuan Li Jiang, undead lord of Erdiyek. This aid came none too soon, for when Kuan Li Jiang had summoned to him the awful shambling dead of his necropolis, they marched into Nuitai's colony of Basirzos. There, Ranit and Ghavrit built elaborate defenses and braced to fight the invader. As Ghavrit and the Forestors watched from hilltop forts and hidden redoubts, an army of skeletons, seasoned with the recent dead whose flesh had yet to slough off, advanced into their homes and farmsteads. At the head of the army was not Kuan Li Jiang, but his ghoulish assistant Zhi Kwan Li.  While Zhi directed the efforts of the army, Kuan Li Jiang calmly unleashed necromantic energies not seen in Theeurth in seventy centuries. As a green miasma spread out from the unholy mouth of the lich, it

enveloped the tiny Nuitai army, leeching life energies from the men, aging them before each other's horror-struck eyes. 

But then suddenly Ghavrit was among them, suddenly older himself, but brimming with fiery vitality.  "Fight!"  he urged them.  "Fight for your homes, your king and your lives!"  And the Foresters did just that, raining down stones and bolts upon the attackers and driving them back despite their terror and despite their steady losses.  Kuan Li Jiang and his army of the shambling dead were driven back to Erdiyek...for now.

Back in Temanom, King Arpald fathered twins, a boy and a girl, in 2876.  His wife Queen Beri died in childbirth in 2877.

The Kingdom of Choran -
Ruler - King Kerian
Capital - Choran
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serikku Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Ketkume [T]

The Chorans continued to train their naval crews with their traditional esprit de corps, determined to remain a great naval power of the eastern seas. And not only at sea.  A large flotilla of river barges and pole boats regularly made the journey up the Gardagos river to trade goods at Vakla, and King Trelan added considerably to the size of that riverine fleet. Admiral Phelan the Proud patrolled the waters around Choran with a small fleet of warships, while general Lan patrolled the landward borders. Lord Drofu of the Storm Pang sailed west to Ketkume and through cunning diplomacy and subtle threats, arranged a payment of tribute to Choran each year. Drofu died in his quarters in 2879. King Trelan the Bold also died, in 2878 at the age of thirty-four.  The great families met in secret and after many weeks it was decided to give the "kingship" (a titular position if ever there was one) to Lord Kerian. The families would have preferred to nominate

Admiral Phelan, who was very popular with both the army and the navy. Unfortunately Phelan was taken prisoner two years earlier when he lost a naval battle with an ally of Tekume (See The Empire of Tekume, below). Lord Kerian was nominated King in his stead.

The Empire of Tekume -
Ruler - King Vo-Laareth
Capital - Suru'or
Dominant Race - Giants
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Chobo [T]

The giants put their slaves to work in the fields of Olere, while giant stonemasons worked to build a higher, better wall for the city of Zayitun. King Vo-Laareth returned to Suru'or and ruled his Empire, eagerly watching the happenings across the Sea of Frozen Stars in Erdiyek and Basirzos.  He fathered a son in 2877, but his queen Ni-Luento, died in childbirth the following year. Ar-Giothen and Na-Tarnek sailed to Tekume's human colony of Chobo and exacted a tribute after telling harrowing tales of those who had defied the empire. Ar-Giothen died in Chobo in 2879 of pneumonia. An-Grothek, the great giant mariner, sailed around the northern seas, exploring as far west as the Permanga Sound in his small fleet of ships.  Another mariner who made his name in this time was Bo-Volduk, allied lord of Tauntum.  He sailed west and was attacked by a human fleet out of Choran.  Bo-Volduk's small fleet of three warships and a cog outfought the five Choran warships and captured their admiral, Phelan the Proud.  Bo-Volduk went on to lose most of his fleet to storms exploring the Sea of Shen'xi, and returned to the capital.

The Kolyut Isthmus -

The Sylvan Realm of Hecadia -
Ruler - King Avedis
Capital - Belgramma
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Orithia

The peaceable kingdom recruited two thousand halfling light infantry to help keep the peace.  These were sworn to the king's service and joined his army in Belgramma. The road crews maintained their busy pace laying a broad paved road connecting the capital to the city of Lepreum in Rundar. The king named his daughter Agatha as heir to the throne and fathered two sons in 2877 and 2879.

The Kingdom of Kerendis - Ruler - King Lochilann Makkure Capital - Orbelain Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Chemada [A]

The Kerendans built a new wall at their outpost of Argus and strengthened the wall surrounding the capital.  The Darkseer Council, Kerendis's college of magery, summoned helper daemons in Kibe and Emparar to till fields and erect bridges. King Lochilann ruled the kingdom from Orbelain.  He and his new bride Siobhan had a son, the future king, in 2878. Lochilann's brother Cormac conducted diplomacy in Chemada, completing an alliance with that wealthy region.  At the same time, he brought in gold and domestic animals, encouraging the wild Chemadans to settle down and farm the rich soil of their land. Lord Saerbrethach and Bishop Shaeloth the Shadowed sailed south in six warships to chart the bays and inlets of the Jaundor Sea.  Saerbrethach and his entire command crew died on that voyage when their ship struck a rock off the coast of Davashu.  Bishop Shaeloth was able to complete the mission and return with the precious rutter.

Fearghus of Rabiate died in 2876, leaving his entire province to the king on his deathbed. Cado Strongknot of Anshuyo died in the same year.

The Kingdom of Threns -
Ruler - King Nijon
Capital - Vaayil
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Runambi [NT]

King Nijon had imperial expansion on his mind.  He tore down the walls of Siruvargal and allowed the city to expand far beyond it's prior borders.  The unwalled city of Vaayil also expanded, become a great metropolitan port, rivaled in the south only by Azhkatûm. Lord Papichulk traveled across the Hecadian Straits to the elvish forests of Runambi and extracted a recognition from the elves of Nijon's sovereignty.  Lord Burrostronium of Siruvargal was to have accompanied Papichulk, but died in port, leaving turmoil in his city. With the death of Lord Burrostronium, there were many who repudiated the alliance with Threns, now seen as a pagan force.  The city dared not take the ultimate step of rebellion, but sent no troops or taxes to the capital. Lord Sauvestron was inquiring about local conditions in Sukan one day when he heard the strange tale of a man who had murdered his whole family.  The next day the man was found working in the fields as always.  Before his neighbors executed him, he loudly swore his innocence.  Two months later, several hobgoblins from the Kolyut Hegemony were killed in a bar fight by a man whom all witnesses swore had died the previous week.  Sensing something strange afoot, Sauvestron tracked several clues to a small village where he found a creature of sinister magic, an eidolon, a magical construct capable of assuming the appearance of anyone it chose.  Driven mad by its grief over the lost civilization of its creators, it had taken to murder.  Sauvestron managed, at great risk to himself, to deactivate it and return with its considerable hoard of treasure. King Nijon's final expansion was to his family, as he fathered two boys in 2877 and 2878.

The Kolyut Hegemony -
Ruler - Hegemon Mordo
Capital - Ketarid
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

After reorganizing his troops and recruiting an additional four thousand, the Hegemon ruled from Ketarid with a third of his army.  The other two-thirds he gave to his lieutenants Shart Weakgrip and Megar the Bull. Shart and Megar both marched northwest to Phinmai, then parted ways.  Shart marched north into Yekansi with four thousand infantry, while Megar marched west into Irnatra with seven thousand light infantry. Shart proceeded to attack and enslave the Indahl tribesmen of Yekansi.  They were quickly joined in battle by the Indahl humans of Phinmai, who revolted at the mistreatment of their brothers.  Despite being one of the worst generals to ever command a troop, Shart was blessed with both well-trained troops and an unreasonable amount of luck.  He defeated the three thousand Indahls in two campaigns, successfully enslaving the Yekansi.  He had to fight the Phinmai again when he returned south and this time he won through sheer numbers, re-pacifying the restive province. Shart was killed in battle, though the battle was won by then.  The dim-witted general had muddled through his orders successfully, but at the cost of more than half his army, dead on the fields of Indahl. Megar the Bull was a more cerebral commander, not prone to wasting his troops, but his orders were to accomplish a great deal in a short time and he could not afford to wait after each battle to collect stragglers or heal the wounded.  While Shart was enslaving Yekansi, Megar used the power of his army to force conversions upon the men of Irnatra.  Naturally, they objected and had to be brought to the bloody altar by violence.  That was okay with Megar's hobgoblin troops - they preferred it that way. Next, Megar and his army, who were about to march on Makuwai, received word that Hegemon Mordo was dead.  Knowing that the Hegemon's son was a mere

infant, Megar ignored the remainder of his orders and immediately marched back to Ketarid, picking up the rump of Shart's army en route.  Megar declared himself regent and placed the infant heir Moodor into protective custody.

The Free cities expanded their power eastward with the inclusion of Sudrhis and Viramar in their spheres of influence.  To help control such large territories, Young King Histro commissioned more than a hundred spathirs to administer justice and collect taxes.

The Delves of Ahum - Ruler - King Tolman Redbelly Capital - Saumya Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Nuree Diplomacy - Dhal [A]

King Tolman elevated his queen, Forsythia Boffin, to a position in the government.  Unfortunately, the queen died in 2878 during childbirth.  Before that unhappy event, the couple had two young sons, one in 2876 and the next the following year. The nation of halflings continued its monumental work to convert their sathla neighbors to the worship of Nuree. Isumbras Lowstick gave his last preaching the virtues of the Three-Faced god in the jungles of Assa, while Turuk Daggermaker labored in the sweaty Sauryas rainforests. It was in the east, in Amovish, where newcomer Poppy Artfulspark made real strides among the natives, converting thousands at mass charismatic rallies of ecstatic Nuree worship. Meanwhile, Baris Dustybrook remained in Dhal, settling the terms of an alliance with the human region. The region of Sukurem was cleared of its wilderness and put to productive growth and harvesting.  Mesora Slickbrook, sheriff of Sukurem, died shortly after seeing the cultivation complete.

The Orcish Raj of Virityal -
Ruler - Raj Algoz
Capital - Chharit
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - Nuree

The orcs of Virityal began to build a large and complex arena in the city of Chharit. With considerably less fanfare, a merchants' guild was begun in the city of Garupal.  Many of the merchants were orcs, but most were foreigners.  Humans, for the most part, but also hobgoblins from the north, halflings from the west and even a few sathla from Rajahdan. Prince Drendak led raids into the jungles of Sapanju and Uttaya, and into the hills of Nachika.  He suffered a spear wound to the thigh in Sapanju that festered and eventually killed him.

The Empire of Rajahdan-
Ruler - Emperor Zlathex of the Jungles
Capital - Jalahl
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Virunir [-], Ammanit [C], Assarat [F], Gattapal [F]

The Emperor ordered that the region of Balrava be improved with many small villages, canals, roads and roadside inns.  A postal road to the Virunir border was also completed. The Emperor also had built twenty stout cogs which he directed to carry the produce of the Empire between its cities. He directed the redistribution of shipping all across the empire, and still had time to father three sons, ensuring the dynasty. Lord Adoichi visited Virunir and Ammanit on brief diplomatic tours.  He managed to establish a vague claim of right to the overlordship of Ammanit. Lord Kadath offered N'Basgus of Assarat some very significant manors in Rajahdan and Balrava in exchange for his oath of fealty to the emperor.  Kadath died of heat stroke almost immediately afterwards. Lord Szychall, another diplomat doomed to die in office, failed to convince Inzixl of Gattapal to give up

his regions' independence.  But Inzixl only survived Szychall by a year himself and it was his dying wish that Gattapal join the Empire.

Anku Elevya -
Ruler - Regent Ishtak
Capital - Jinguir
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Iapsengi [F]

The sauruses of Anku Elevya rehired the elven mercenary diplomat Alandeth. The kingdom celebrated wildly at the completion of two large religious monuments, the Heart of the Dragon and the Horns of the Wyrm.  The Heart of the Dragon is temple complex in Iapsengi, the center chamber of which is shaped like the heart of a dragon. Temple priests man booming drums at all hours of the night, keeping the steady rhythm of a giant beating heart. The Horns of the Wyrm in Warang are two, thin Ivory towers, each with a slight curve in the structures. From a distance, they look like two, fine horns rising out from the earth. Curved stairways are carved into the inner and outer walls of the towers, one set used for ascending pilgrims the other for descending. Regent Augur Kril, with the assistance of Toras Una, Hursson Trak and Wano of Pekesedun convinced the lords of Iapsengi to join fully with Anku Elevya.

The effort was the last for Kril and Toras Una, for they both died in 2876. 

General Ishtak, guarding Anku with three thousand soldiers, was appointed regent for the still-infant Vasileth V.

The Celestial Empire of Shen'xi -
Ruler - Emperor Lou Tan
Capital - Wu Lan
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Kifan

The large size of the Celestial Empire had overstretched the abilities of its professional civil service to control it.  Taxes went uncollected and many regions were forced to create local administrations in lieu of any central administration from Wu Lan.  Baoyu, Shi and Xiluan became merely tributary states, while Baoquin disavowed its feudal status.

The Lulipayat Empire -
Ruler - Khathros IX
Capital - Kelakuan
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Mukarma [-NT], Bukuturru [T], Tasarwi [FA]

The Empire completed its colonization of Bukuturru.  The sauruses were allowed religious and cultural freedoms, but it was the sathla who held the land and all the government posts. Lord Chan Tao and Zhiao-Than of Dentu conducted diplomacy with the lords of Mukarma.  Although the men of the region seemed favorably disposed towards the Lulipayat diplomats, they  surprised both lords by rescinding their feudal oaths and merely acknowleging Lulipayat supremacy.  Meanwhile, Autumna priests worked to spread the word of Udjo within the human population of Mukarma.  Despite the religion's racist overtones, they did remarkably well. Zhiao-Than died in Mukarma in 2879.  His troops sailed home and no tribute was sent to the capital in 2880. Lord Thesk and Daarlek of Mersemb traveled to the

islands of Tasarwi and convinced Vaanek, the high chief of the islands, to ally with the Empire.

The Serenity of Wayahapta -
Ruler - King Alycor
Capital - Keluan
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Omasune [FA], Yan-Kuei [C], Azuika [HS]

The priests and architects continued to build elaborate villages in Kumpawi around the great temple fields. They also began the cultivation of Tappta. King Alycor left Ushuqua to sail to the the land of Imochid, the easternmost point on Wayahapta sailing rutters and then marched overland to the wealthy province of Omasune.  There, he convinced the wizard-prince of Omasune to become a vassal of the halfligns of Wayahapta. Meanwhile, Lord Mendrassu sailed to the Ryori Sea in three small warships and mapped the contours of the sea as far north as the Choran outpost of Tolnek. Mendrassu then landed at Yan-Kuei and laid claim to the city in the name of the Serenity.  The local merchants laughed. Lord Harand traveled to Azuika, north of Omasune and conducted diplomacy with the human lord.  Unfortunately, the diminutive diplomat greatly annoyed the human chieftain with his squeaky voice, and was murdered by the Azuikans.

The Dwarven Realm of Khudukan -
Ruler - King Kodor
Capital - Nodo-Xan
Dominant Race - Dwarf
Dominant Religion - Kifan
Diplomacy - Hidekeda [F], Tomarom [F]

The tough but diminutive dwarves of Khudukan built a walled city on the shores of the Nhodras river in Hidekeda and named it Ikoro.  It was not long before traders from Anku Elevya, Lulipayat and even Virityal found their way upstream to trade for dwarven goods. King Kodor assembled a census of all his peoples, establishing exactly what he could tax. Meanwhile, Prince Xang Glitterdelve and Lord Sirom Stiffbeard traveled to Hidekeda and conferred upon its tribes full citizenship in the kingdom.  Lord Garf Ironfist and Kilor Blacklock did the same in Tomarom.

The Empire of the Pearl -
Ruler - Saito Shimane
Capital - Hitotome
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Kifan

The Empire of the Pearl continued its military buildup, recruiting nearly four thousand troops including roughly equal numbers of siege engineers and heavy elite infantry. The Emperor also continued to fund his new civil service. The court seemed to be gathered in the tranquil halls of the Crysanthemum Palace at Hitotome, concentrating on some great, silent project...

The Jade Republic of Akagekku -
Ruler - Khoram IV
Capital - Akagekku
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Kifan

The elves of Akagekku recruited two thousand elite elven archers and trained them rigorously in infantry tactics and siegecraft. The foundries and guild halls of Komotsu were enhanced, bringing fame to the smiths and armorers of the city. Emperor Koram IV formed a personal guard of elite soldiers four thousand strong at Komotsu, leaving the rest of the army to local leaders and city garrisons. Meanwhile, Lords Edorel, Faressë and Findarwin governed the cities of the Jade Republic.

The Emerald Realm of Lekandi -
Ruler - King Galens Eagleheart
Capital - Suwelho
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Ukele Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Kupenda [A]

The wild elves of Lekandi improved the beautiful meadows of Arumbom, and built a new city of elegantly carved woods and rare plants.  They named it Lanshai and built it over the ruins of the sathla city of Isanio. Lord Juelans found a kindred spirit in Lassesul of Kupenda, who agreed to become an ally of the king's, thus paving the way for the Emerald Realm to expand into the wealthy valleys of Fuama.

Page Completed 13 December 2007