LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
"LORDS OF THEEURTH"

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Of finest metal was her armour bright,
With gems of many colours overspread,
The tawny jacinth, yellow chyrsolite,
The emerald green of hue, and ruby red.
Mounted, but not on palfrey, for the fight:
In place of that, she on a wolf had sped,
Sped on a wolf towards the pass; and rode
On sell, that rich beyond all custom showed.

No larger wolf, I ween, Apulia roams;
More huge than bull, unguided by her hand;
Although upon no bit the monster foams,
Docile, I know not why, to her command.
The accursed Plague, arrayed in surcoat, comes
Above her arms, in colour like the sand;
That, saving in its dye, was of the sort
Which bishops and which prelates wear at court.

The giantess's crest and shield appear,
For ensign, decked with swoln and poisonous toad.
Her the two damsels to the cavalier
Before the bridge, prepared for battle, showed,
Threatening, as wont to some, with levelled spear,
To do the warrior scorn and bar the road.
Bidding him turn, she to Rogero cries;
A lance he takes, and threats her and defies.

As quick and daring, the gigantic Pest
Spurred her wolf, seated well for that dread game:
In mid career she laid her lance in rest,
And made earth quake beneath her as she came;
Yet at the encounter fierce the champaign pressed;
For underneath the casque, with stedfast aim, 
So hard Rogero smote her, that he bore
The beldam backward six good yards and more:

And came already with his lifted blade,
Drawn for that end, to take her haughty head;
To him an easy task; for she was laid
Among the grass and flowers, like one that's dead.
But, " 'Tis enough that she is vanquished," said
The pair, "No further press thy vengeance dread.
Sheathe, courteous cavalier, thy sword anew:
Pass we the river, and our way pursue."

Orlando Furioso, Canto 7
Ludovico Ariosto
(1474 - 1533)

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

2. If anything about a situation has an "adventure" feel to it, be assured that bringing your massive army to bear will not solve the situation.

MEDARHOS -

North-Western Medarhos -

The Skane Jarldoms -  Ruler - King Gustav Capital - Vanaheim Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult Diplomacy - The Crown Lands [+6YfC]

The Edgemoor Orcs -
Ruler - King Tello
Capital - Zaramaka
Dominant Race - Orcs
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The haphazard nature of the Edgemoor government (if it could even be called that) meant that it was ill-prepared to deal with controlling so many regions spread over such an area.  Governmental control subsided in the pacified region of Maekron and disappeared altogether in the Gaudhon. Nonetheless, warriors were plentiful and easy to recruit.  Two thousand light infantry joined the army of Dak the Handsome and went raiding into the Eastern March, where they terrorized their old enemies the human settlers.  Dak and his troops then marched into the Purple Hills and ordered all the halfling inhabitants to swear oaths of allegiance to the gods of the Dark Court.  This the gentle halflings would not abide, and they rose up in anger against the orcs, waging a serious campaign against the invader and killing more than a thousand orcs.  In the end, Dak's greater numbers told and the rebellion was crushed.  The survivors bowed their necks to the yoke of the Dark Court.

King Tallo took a local orc has his concubine and fathered two sons and a daughter on her.  Lord Taun the Talker died in 2885 at the age of forty-eight.

The many victories of the recent past caused a resurgence of devotion to the dark gods, particularly to Caravok the Destroyer.  Many young orcs trained to become shamans.

The Kingdom of Harkoria-
Ruler - King Mikos
Capital - Cadares
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

King Sotoris died in 2881 at the age of fifty-one from a sudden fit of cold sweats and fevers.  His son and heir Agathokles was crowned king, but also died early the following spring at the age of twenty-nine.  Agathokles fell into a millrace during an epic drinking binge and had drowned before his drunken guards could retrieve him. Agathokles was followed to the throne by his brother Mikos, who quickly moved to take power and consolidate his reign in the capital. Lord Aeneas and Bishop Thanos, meanwhile, had marched north with five thousand heavy cavalry to the former Daeron region of the Great Rift.  Finding that his cavalry could not descend into its stinking fumaroles, Aeneas and Thanos themselves descended with a small bodyguard.  There, they were attacked by nightmarish creatures of polyp and tentacle, but found no evidence of the rumored evil temple in the Rift Valley.

The nearly empty Harkorian granaries received a fine gift in 2881-82 when a halfling flotilla arrived from Greensaddle and the Great Delve, bearing grain, livestock and other foodstuffs in great abundance.

South-Western Medarhos -

The Brythnian Confederation -  Ruler - King Ankole Clovenhoof Capital - Carrenthium Dominant Race - Taurid Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Unialus [FA], Hailh Endhor [NT]

King Boran decreed a new port, and so one was built on the shores of the Upper Lyodan river near the bridge at Hailh Endhor. The small walled town of Aploia was built with timber dragged from the northern hills or across the Lyodan from the Firefall, for the taurids dared not fell the trees of the Whisper Wood. King Boran fathered another son in 2881.  He died that winter without a named heir.  The clans agreed to allow Frona Quickstep to serve as regent until Boran's son Ankole should come of age in 2884.  The faithful Frona held the post until her death in the spring of 2884.  Ankole was crowned shortly thereafter. Before her death, Frona arranged feudal oaths from the lord of Unialus. Kallos Two-Spot sailed down the Lyodan and was not seen again for many years. Eutropios Greymere managed little in stiff-necked Hailh Endhor, where the tribes were unimpressed by the new port, and agreed to little more than they had before.

Acteon Brokenhorn, allied lord of the Brythnian Hills, died in 2881.  The Brythnian Hills continued to send troops, but no more.  Karideas of Bodhria died in 2884.  His successor continued to send troops to aid the King, but was not the close ally his father had been.

A shipment arrived in 2883 from the Crusader States.  It was a wagon-train of gold! A slightly smaller shipment also arrived from the Conorrian Empire.

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

The Aelissian halflings continued a moderate level of investment in the farms, roads, public houses, wells and granaries of Seafarthing and Greensward. As the population grew, so to did the peacetime garrisons of borderers that guarded them against the wild, as units of siege engineers and Knights Archon took up residence in the various halfling cities. Aelissia continued also its policy of involvement with the Grail nations around it.  A flotilla of small boats carried grain, livestock and foodstuffs across the Golden Sea to the ports of Morthales and Cadares in Harkoria in 2881 and 2882. Finally, the main Aelissian armies under Iva Blackkettle and Crowley Ratcatcher marched south into Corland, avoiding the cities for fear of any residual plague, and marshalled ten thousand mixed troops in the Couronnais before they marched east into Larcogne to confront the Stoneheart giants. Unbeknownst to them, the giants were already in their rear (See The Coming of the Giants, below.) Agatha Flycatcher, governess of the Gate of Bells, died in 2885 at the age of sixty.

Corland - Ruler - King Bertrand Capital - Khairais Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Varbonne [F]

The Corish were quick to rebuild their ports in both Tullieres and Votois.  In the wake of the White Plague, both were much grimmer places. Lords Karrick and Cerwyn marched south from Quesante, stationing two thousand Knights of the Font in Couronnais before marching east to Larcogne with three thousand elite rangers. (See The Coming of the Giants, below.) Lord Darras traveled to the forests of Varbonne where he negotiated a marriage with Lady Elaine, the nineteen year-old countess who brought Varbonne to her lord as dowry. Princess Giselle scoured Khairais looking for traitors.  She found none. Lord Marsil of Mauredoc raided into the mountains of Mons Pilarum in 2881 with twelve hundred light infantry.  Marsil was wounded in a rockslide and all further raids had to be cancelled.

THE COMING OF THE GIANTS

It was only too clear to Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower that he could neither hold his forest conquests against the likely response of the east nor make much use of them.  The elves had been roundly defeated and it was now time for the giants to seize a useable prize: the rich and poorly-defended lands that had once belonged to H'rethek south of the Saronne river.  He assembled his armies at the Tarwood and in Strynod 2881, marched west into the Stoneheart mountains.

In Cleon, 2881, the giants struck west into Larcogne, from where the Corish army of three thousand elite rangers had been raiding the mountains under the command of generals Cerwyn and Karrick.  Hræsvelgr's ten thousand troops marched out of the mountain passes and surprised the Corish rangers, who nonetheless put up a hardy fight, killing a thousand of the giant's followers before themselves being surrounded and wiped out.  Both Corish general were captured by the giants.

From there, the giants marched west into Serry and swiftly defeated the native militia. During this time (Daarlem, 2882), the ten thousand troops of the Aelissian army under Iva Blackkettle and Crowley Ratcatcher had marched into Larcogne, cutting off Hræsvelgr's lines of supply.  He turned his powerful army back on the hills and attacked.  The Aelissians were just beginning to dig into defensive positions when the giants arrived from an unexpected direction - the west.  Iva was far too good a general to be caught completely unawares, for the defenses allowed the halflings to take advantage of them in both directions.

The two great commanders, Iva and Hræsvelgr were evenly matched, and the halflings were in excellent terrain for their slingers and light infantry.  They took a terrible toll on the giants and their orcish infantry, but in the end the heavier equipment of Hræsvelgr's army made the difference.  Once the main body of the Stoneheart army was able to reach the Aelissian position, they began to crush the sturdy halflings like so many children.  The Aelissians lost more than five thousand casualties while inflicting just three thousand.  Under cover of darkness, Iva withdrew her army from their prepared positions, and a few days later crossed the Saronne river into Garromais.  She stayed there for four months, recovering her army's strength and then fell back on Quesante.

The Stoneheart army also spent months recovering its strength before once again turning to conquest.  Now they marched west again, this time into Couronnais.  Before marching to Larcogne, the Corish general Cerwyn had stationed two thousand Knights of the Font in the Couronnais garrison, along with eight powerful castles.  The flower of western chivalry, they were unfortunately very badly led by a local grandee who knew more of fashion than of combat.  The Stoneheart victory over Couronnais was easily the quickest and most lopsided of the entire campaign: Hræsvelgr's army surprised the entire garrison while it was pent up inside one of the castles where the powerful striking force of the cavalry was useless.

From Couronnais, the giants swung through Bruyenne and finally Votois, sweeping up all four of the rich cultivated provinces south of the Saronne.  In Berlas 2885, the giant army marched back into Serry.  After six battles in five years, it was reduced to a mere five thousand strong, but its troops were now battle-hardened veterans.

 

The Sea Empire of Lorraine - Ruler - Empress Ysolde Capital - Armorica Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The battered Sea Empire continued to build small villages throughout its domain. Empress Ysolde ruled from Armorica and gave birth to three children, including a twin son and daughter. Lord Dinrian took fifteen hundred Lorraine marines to garrison Bruyenne, but those light infantry were no match for the six thousand troops of Hræsvelgr's Stoneheart horde that crashed through the region two years later. (See The Coming of the Giants, above).

Queen Elevuil withdrew from Manariyë to the capital at Menelcandara.  This great city had remained independent from the queen's power since the days when the Way of the Sword had taken sway, and the queen determined that it was time for action. She consulted with the great families of the city (of which her own was the greatest) and they agreed to begin moving closer to the ancient lineage. The Queen sent her favored adventurers, the Silent Guardians out to scour the Whisper Wood of evil, and in Maenadia they encountered the lair of a Naarosh, mad priest of the Way of the Sword who had developed a species of troll he called the Blade Troll, a creature whose body was pierced with and had healed over hundreds of sharp implements.  Naarosh planned to create an army of Blade Trolls to take over Maenadia...and then the world.  The Silent Guardians slew the mad elf, but many Blade Trolls fled into the wilderness. Lord Dranuel, mad with grief over the loss of his armies in the Tarwood, marched back into those killing grounds with a mere fifteen hundred elven archers, planning to lay a trap for Hræsvelgr.  It was Dranuel who was surprised, however, for the giants were on the move.  Their entire army crushed the elves aside like an elephant swatting a fly.  Dranuel himself escaped, fleeing east into the Crystal Shore, but his tiny army never returned.

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

The elves of Neldorea built strongpoints throughout the three provinces that remained to them and waited for the assault that did not come (See The Coming of the Giants, above). Gold continued to flow into Neldorea from the Crusader States, Grail Primacy, Har'akir and the Valesian Empire. They sought in vain for their captured queen Nereil, and spent much energy in trying to locate her. They even hired the Company of the Lance to seek her, and although that famous band of adventurers sought for her in the Tarwood and in the Great Stoneheart mountains, they failed to find her. The Grail Primacy assembled a great host of thirty-three thousand soldiers at Elenuil, but remained in the capital, not seeking out the giants.  The Valesian Empire also sent a small force, about thirty-five hundred men, to help guard the elven capital.

The Exarchate of the Great Crusade - Ruler - Exarch Maros Capital - Pontezium Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Pomarche [NT]

The Exarchate continued to build its large army, adding twenty-five hundred infantry and five hundred elite Crusader Knights.  Exarch Maros redistributed the army, placing seven thousand troops under the command of Sir Beau and keeping the remainder with him to guard the capital. The Exarchate sent three large shipments of gold to Brythnia, the Order of the Dawn and especially to the Neldorean elves. Sir Beau marched out in conjunction with the Order of the Dawn and entered occupied Ianthis.  The expected battle did not occur, for the giants were gone.  There had been no love lost between Ianthans and the Crusaders in the past, but the Crusaders took no hostile action on this occasion. After the army arrested the few Stoneheart administrators, they moved out again, leaving Ianthis free and independent.  Beau and his army returned to make their camp in Mocarre. Sir Lewis rode south into the Pomarche and negotiated the right of passage for his troops and the merchants of the Exarchate. Maros's son Rehm was invested as his heir upon his fifteenth birthday in 2883. Crusaders missionaries to Thelianis converted large numbers of the natives back to the orthodox worship of the Lords of the Grail.

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

The Order of The Dawn continued to receive shipments of gold from the Crusader States, the Conorrian Empire and from the Llyran Republic.  It used these sums to help recruit a further four thousand troops, including a thousand Knights of the Golden Dawn. Grand Mistress Praelcaria rode with eight thousand troops to the Firefall East, where she established an Order preceptory amidst the wilderness.  She the rode to Callistus in the Empire to transfer troops to Master Fortis, finally returning with a smaller force to the Akasian Hills. Masters Benedictus and Giles marched out with eight thousand troops alongside the seven thousand of the Crusader States to confront the giants in Ianthis.  When the giants were found to have gone, they liberated the region and marched back to the Lyodan river, finally ending their march in Pontezium.  Master Giles died from the rigors of the march in 2884 at the age of fifty-nine.

Master Fortis returned from the battlefields of Lederata to the City of Towers, Callistus.  There, amidst the impossibly tall towers of that island city, he worked to establish an Order preceptory.  He received troops from the Grand Mistress in 2884, but died later that same year of a fever at the age of thirty-six.  His mission was unfulfilled at the time of his death.

Rhanalor -

The Shadowed Realm of Ascarlon - Ruler - Baron Gauros the Arisen Capital - Denavine Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

"Vengeance!" cried the folk of Denavine, and the Baron agreed.  He assembled his army and summoned up hordes of the undead.  Embarking upon his fleet of ships, he sailed to Ios, wading ashore with twelve thousand troops (once all his vassals had met him.) There he commanded the nomads of Ios to remove themselves to the ships, for there would be war.  This the nomads did, as much for fear of the baron as of the har'keen.  As one fleet departed to take the nomads to Orodea, another sailed east, far down the Wolf River to gather Annvarite allies (See The Fall of Kal Secundus, below). Southward in Orodea, the Ios tribes settled comfortably into rich farmlands and began to live a life they could only have imagined in the cold north of the Hammersea. Agents of Ascarlon met with agents of the Worldspine Orcs in 2883 and transferred control of the hills of Napoca to the orcs. In 2881, a flight of strange bat-like creatures with human riders was seen moving through Ascarlon

 from west to east.  They bothered no one and avoided settlements.

The Worldspine Orcs -
Ruler - King Wargest
Capital - Mount Kauroth
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Napoca [NT], Rimehorns [NT]

The lord of the orcs decreed a great increase in the number of his soldiers.  Four thousand orcs and goblins screamed their war challenge to the echoing walls of the Worldspine Mountains. Wargest spent his years counting the chaotic and evershifting fiefdoms of the orcs.  At night he lay with his concubines, but had no get from them. Lord Turath the Undefeated marched north with two thousand orcs to raid the forests of Brolok.  So often had these poor woods been the object of orcish raids that nothing remained to be looted from it.  Still, the troops got to blood their weapons and slaughter hobgoblins, so all counted it a win. Sneech, a long-faced, unctuous goblin with an oily charm, traveled to Napoca to receive command of the human region from Wargest's Ascar allies.  What the men of the hills thought of the transfer of their region to the orcs is not recorded.

Blatharg, a cousin of the king's traveled to the mighty ice-capped Rimehorn mountains and convinced the Blackspike orcs to allow the transit of Worldspine trade and armies.

Emperor Maugroth III retired from campaigning and took up residence on the Vulture Throne, bringing order to the Empire even as his son, Maugroth IV, brought ruin and terror upon the rebels of Pukel.  His mighty legion, some seventeen thousand strong, crushed his former subjects and enslaved them, showing the true fate of all who dared to oppose the Vulture Throne. Maugroth then drove on into Zhagon, where he nailed the rebel chieftain to a tree overlooking the post road, but forebore to enslave the hobgoblins of Zhagon. Azak of Ghadaril, one of the Emperor's finest commanders, took his small independent command south of the Esharias river and raided into Lascuta, near the Conorrian encampment at Lederata. Incredibly, the western province of Ghadaril rebelled against the Emperor's command.  Upon hearing this, Azak committed suicide in his camp tent rather than face the assured destruction of his homeland by the Emperor's wrath. Human missionaries of the Dark Court entered into Orodel, just over the border from Elsend. They claimed to come from Annvar.

The Great Kingdom of Annvar - Ruler - First Councillor Alfajoriax Capital - Varthane Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Standard of Annvar

Like their allies in Ascarlon, the Annvarites spoke for war.  First Councillor Pataniax trained his army into a smaller, elite force as he waited the arrival of the Ascar ships at Asep.  When they arrived, he embarked with nearly ten thousand men, two thirds of whom were elite Annvar Jaegers cavalry. (See The Fall of Kal Secundus, below). Meanwhile, Councillor Alfajoriax hired two thousand mercenary infantry at Varthane and descended on a manor house in Asep.  There, his troops uncovered and slaughtered a cultic temple dedicated to a shadowy organization he had long been following.  He revealed few public details save that he held the cult responsible for the deaths of several clergy in previous years. Lord Puchoniax returned to Varthane from Vartai and sought high and low in the capital for signs of traitors. When word returned from the west that both First Councillor Pataniax and Councillor Sariax had died in Airnim, Alfajoriax was elected to serve as First Councillor.

THE FALL OF KAL SECUNDUS

Baron Gauros of Ascarlon assembled twelve thousand mixed troops on the shores of Ios, and sent his fleet to ferry ten thousand elite Annvarite troops to the shores of Bayan.  When the two were ready, the marched simultaneously through Bayan and Kajd Tudun, evading har'keen patrols and arriving at Airnim in 2883.

The har'keen were not expecting an attack, but were nonetheless ready for one, particularly in Airnim itself.  Six thousand har'keen warriors and two thousand har'keen flyers stood guard amidst the weird, fluted forts and strong points of the cultivated plain.  The humans had nearly three times their numbers, sorcery, cavalry and excellent commanders.  It would be a nearly fair fight. 

As the Ascar undead shambled into the har'keen mass, the great insects dismembered them with abandon.  Meanwhile, the Ascar army drove in behind them, taking advantage of the chaos to break the har'keen army into two groups.  The Annvar Jaegers quickly drove around behind the har'keen lines and began to harass the right flank.  The Hive Queen responded by sending her flyers to disperse the Jaegers with aerial strikes.  That was when the Baron unleashed his final stroke, the massed heavy cavalry of Ascarlon.  Some two thousand strong, they represented the true striking power of the Shadowed Realm.  They drove like a wedge into the har'keen left, scattering the bugs before them, but taking terrible casualties themselves.

As night fell on the first day of battle, both sides had to account themselves hard pressed, but neither was willing to give way.  Nearly a third of each force was dead, wounded or scattered. When dawn rose the three armies continued the previous day's fight but on this second day fortune and skill favored the humans sharply.  The Hive Queen's position was overrun by the Annvar Jaegers.  It cost the lives of both First Councillor Pataniax and Councillor Meconiax, but the har'keen line was broken and the Hive Queen was forced to flee for her life back to the sheltering walls of Kal Secundus. 

The victory was hard-won in terms of the rank and file, too.  Nearly sixty percent of the human soldiers were dead or wounded.  Both armies tried to regroup over the next three months, eventually recovering part of their strength.  In the waning summer of 2884, the humans turned to the problem of Kal Secundus.  Realizing that it could hold out against a passive siege for many months, Gauros and the surviving Annvarite commander, Sariax, decided to actively besiege the city, building siege engines and digging entrenchments around the city.  In early 2885, Ascar sappers caused the western wall to collapse and the humans poured into the city, slaughtering har'keen indiscriminately. Another third of both the Ascar and Annvarite forces had been consumed in the awful fighting around the breaches.

With the city taken, the Annvarites turned their attention to systematically destroying it and its walls, while the Ascars returned to the plains of Airnim, hunting down and killing any and all har'keen they could find.  Kal Secundus was no more.

The Forest Realm of Meledrian -
Ruler - King Eldareth Hammerhand
Capital - Laurelindë
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Dor Emmen [F]

The elves of Dor Emmen labored in the woods of Belaira to produce fruitful meadows.  They summoned dark dryads to put forth their powers of fertility in Sarion, Nimbreth and Lossarhir. Missionaries of the Dark Court seduced large crowds of elves in Nimbreth, though the Lords of the Grail were still strong there. King Eldareth consolidated the army under his own command at Laurelindë and concentrated his merchant forces on internal trade. A diplomatic corps led by Aelavel Tyrnealyth and consisting of Rhias of Tirielinan, Voronhad of Finrothel and Bishop Killkrantor traveled to Dor Emmen, a feudal vassal, and made arrangements to bring that province fully into the authority of the Forest Realm.

The Duskwood Reavers of Azhran -
Ruler - Grand Master Nath-Imperator Melenchlaenith the Archdisrupter
Order Fortress - Silithos
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Varthane [OH], The Underhalls [-], Dalariadh [OH], Imlarond [OH]

As the fame of the Duskwood Reavers grew, more warriors sought out its ranks, seeking the glory of the Dark Court or feeling the fury of Caravok upon them.  Eight hundred elite elven archers joined the ranks of the nascent order. Grand Master Nath-Imperator Melenchlaenith the Archdisrupter traveled to the Underhalls in Tiringol, but was unable to interest the halflings in his brand of fanatical religion.  He had more success among the powerful elven clans of Dalariadh, and established an order house in their midst. Archon Carbonelar was a soldier, not a politician, but with patient care he established a training post among the river-elves of Imlarond, where his fine figure and intimidating bodyguard caught the imaginations of elves of both sexes.

The Kingdom of Tiringol -
Ruler - King Keriadoc Stormwing
Capital - The Underhalls
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Tirondalas [F]

King Borlath died at the age of forty-nine in 2881.  His queen, Appolonia, died a year later of a broken heart.  Their son, Keriadoc Stormwing, was crowned king of the Underhalls the same year. Tobias Bullroarer and the necromancer William Shroud negotiated the marriage of Keriadoc's older sister Lotus to the son of a lord of the Tirondalas hills, bringing that region fully into the kingdom.

The Conorrian Heartland -

The Conorrian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Kaius Capital - Echoriath Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Medensus [+14YfC], Zela [NT]

The Conorrians continued to make the western empire the wealthiest place in Theeurth.  They built roads, temples, theaters and libraries in Adoria and Anicium.  The Emperor sent craftsmen to increase the wealth and beauty of the holy city of Conorr, which drew yet more crowds of landless peasants to the promise of jobs and food. The young Emperor took a wife from one of the oldest and most respected families in the Empire, the Faloricii.  Despite his own youth and vigor, he named his younger brother Petrius Arcalas as his heir. He also sent his youngest brother, Henrikos, to be a prince of the Grail Primacy. While doling out this largesse, he did not forget his allies, and sent wagon trains laden with treasure to both Brythnia and the Order of the Dawn. The province of Autricum, at the mouth of the Esharias river, was recultivated (having been razed by the armies of Accolon decades before). After warily watching the northern approaches for signs of a hobgoblin army, Prince Vargus dispersed his army back to its regular stations.  Vargus himself returned to Adoria with twelve thousand troops, while Bishop Furius marched south down the Esharias to Sexaginta with eight thousand. Furius died en route at the age of fifty-two and his command was taken over by young senator Apionikos. The eldest member of the royal family, eighty-year-old princess Sophia, daughter of Emperor Constantikos, died in 2882. Princess Eva, daughter of Saxonius the Usurper, died the same

year at the age of thirty-nine.Theovikus, Dux per Acaris, died in 2884 at the age of sixty-four.

Senators Solon and Maecinus continued to inveigh with the nobility of Medensus, assuaging the wounded pride caused by the conquest of that region.  The elvish mercenary diplomat Melial traveled to the dwarven hills of Zela and convinced the dwarves to accept the Emperor as their overlord, at least in name.

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 [CH], Laedrus [-], Calodunum [-]

The Patriarch's Standard

The Great Church bent most of its power towards saving the Neldorean elves.  Patriarch Galetus abandoned his position in comfortable Eleucria and moved to Conorr, where his aides had recruited ten thousand soldiers for the cause.  He then sailed to Elenuil at the head of an enormous fleet consisting of  forty warships and as many transports, and carrying twenty thousand Grail troops, including six thousand Paladins of the Grail.  These met up with hired mercenaries to form an army thirty-three thousand strong at Elenuil.  These were joined by thirty-five hundred troops from the Valesian Empire sent to defend Elenuil. Unfortunately, the Patriarch expected cooperation from the Grail nations, but none were prepared to seek out the army of the Stoneheart giants, and so the his huge army sat encamped on the outskirts of Elenuil watching for an invasion that never came. Elsewhere, prince Henrikos of the Conorrian Empire joined the church and was invested as a bishop at Conorr. Bishops Photius and Altair moved the congregation of Adoria into the city of Eleucria, while Bishop Adrastos marched home from Harkoria, stopping in Calodunum to try to establish an abbey.  Adrastos was more warrior than administrator, however. The human mercenary Sir Haden joined was hired by the Primacy to lead troops from Elenuil in 2885. The distant church at Mediovalum ceased its communion with the Primacy, as did the church at Maenadia.  The authority of the abbeys at Regaldros and Pontezium decayed to  mere churches.

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

King Thorin continued his city-building program by founding the port of Koros on the upper headwaters of the Phaedon river.  There, the dwarves could receive the trade of the Valesian sea, though their lack of good navigational charts kept them from sailing yet to those fabled southern ports. While Thorin sat in bored audience at Khelem Vala, his entire court traveled south down the via crisias to the hills of Oeres.  There, led by Turok the Wise, the assembled dwarven nobles (including Princess Thorinna, Lord Balin, Garag Bloody-Axe and Darak Iron-Helm of Khuruk Tor) invoked the ancient dwarven loyalties in a ceremony centered around the fabled Crystal Brazier.  The Prince of Oeres agreed to become the ally of the Kingdom and to send his many troops at need.

The men of Pelendur recruited a thousand troops.  These joined King Gregor's army at Vigilum and remained there, guarding the capital. King Gregor fathered twins, a boy and a girl, in 2881, but his wife, Queen Victoria, died in childbirth the following year. Lord Argent traveled to the elven province of Veromito and proposed that the elves join the Warded Realm.  They saw little profit in this and so spurned Argent's advances. Lord Cuthbert and Prince Ulfast marched into Othona, the last lair of the Lederata hobgoblins in 2882 with a mere two thousand troops. The army of Lederata was an even match for them in numbers but was more heavily armed and far better lead.  General Naudrath was a professional soldier, whereas Prince Ulfast was an indifferent, if charismatic tactician.  The hobgoblins received the charge of the humans and drove in both flanks with their superior weight of cavalry over the course of the late morning.  By early afternoon, the Pelendur army was in retreat, though Ulfast managed to keep it orderly.  The hobgoblin cavalry harassed the retreat, picking off stragglers and the wounded until the humans had reached the Vindobala border.  Even after four months of recovery, Ulfast could only muster one thousand troops. Princess Grace, Gregor's older sister, died in 2882 at the age of forty-five.  Sir Zander of Draconium died the following year at the age of forty-three.  His region continued its support of Pelendur, but no longer sent troops to its wars.

VALES -

North-Western Vales -

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

The Llyrans completed the cultivation of Oiothon, and crowned that achievement with a port fortress in the region named Fortress Ildorini.  They immediately put the outlying islands of Maidhan, Ryoril and Coelis under cultivation. Constans Pip returned to Tarrentica from the battlefields of Neldorea, and immediately commissioned ten cogs to increase his nation's sealift capacity. En route, he picked up the Llyran navy at Halianis and returned its vast warship complement to Tarrentica. Meanwhile, Strategos Tarsa and Reid Bolusova put to sea with twenty-five warships and three skyships to patrol the waters around the Republic, flying the red pennants of the Red Pact of Vales. Melqart Gamay traveled to Maidhan with the intention of including the rustics in the full citizenship of the Republic, but his ship was dashed against the rocks during the passage and he never arrived. Bishop Karys helped administer the Republic until his death following a long illness in 2885.

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran -  Ruler - Queen Joyce Thistledown Capital - Sedeskan Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Maddari Diplomacy - Naidhan [EA], Sandrettos [T]
The Ahurans continued to indulge their passion for city building by dragging to the northernmost point in Sendorin a vast number of logs and establishing the city of Northport on Roldein's Gate. Queen Joyce also indulged her passion for shipbuilding.  Merchant vessels were laid down in every port of the nation, their small hulls soon ferrying goods around the island like bees buzzing about a hive. Queen Joyce and her lieutenant Katelyn Sparhawk visited Siri, the Landress of Naidhan and concluded a treaty of economic alliance with the elves. Meanwhile, the heir Jesse Holy and Lady Jessica Dawnflower traveled to the island of Sandrettos.  There, Princess Jesse won the hand of a young nobleman in marriage and convinced his mother to pay tribute to the queen. The new city of Southscape became the site of religious frenzy when three young women (shepherdesses named Elsbeth, Morgail and Veronica) swore that they had been visited by the twin sons of the Mother, Jehail and Enjil, and that each had been impregnated by one of the gods.  When the priestesses arrived to interview the young women, they were astonished by the detailed knowledge each displayed of the twin gods. Shortly thereafter, as crowds began to gather to gawk at the three women

(they whispered the name "holy vessels" when the priestesses were not  around to hear), thousands witnessed the prodigy of the moon grazing the surface of the sun, just as in the holy symbols of the Mother.  Hundreds spoke in strange, angelic voices and declared that this spot was holy to Maddari.

The three women have now given birth to five children (Elsbeth and Morgail each a son and daughter, Veronica a daughter), all of whom are regarded as holy by the great mass of Maddari worshipers.  The city of Southscape is now regarded as the holy city of Maddari, and pilgrimages to the site are becoming increasingly popular.

Har'akir - Ruler - Sultan Qadir Alouda Capital - Mar Awas Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Dikhil [NT], Khars [NT]
	The growing economic power of the Guarded Realm caused its chief port, Agazier, to grow ever larger.  The great metropolis was the second city of the Valesian Sea, after Echoriath, and rivalled the great cities of Callistus, Thedelos and Merwal. Sultan Qadir continued his policy of support for his coreligionists in the north by sending ships laden with supplies to war-torn Neldorea. The Akirs also vigorously patrolled the nearby seas in the name of the Red Pact of Vales.	Sultan Qadir
	Lord Haseeb and Prince Isaam led expeditions to the eastern provinces of Dikhil and Khars, respectively, each negotiating agreements with the Hadoori tribesmen that allowed Akir armies and goods to transit the wilderness. Overseeing this pact put strain on the Akir government that had previously been compact and homogenous. Tragedy befell the royal house in 2881 when sultana Allyana died in childbirth.  Prince Isaam died at the age of sixty-two in 2884. The sultan was quick to fill the vacancy in his court with Sidwah of Har Jadme, to whom he married his sister Rukan, thus elevating Sidwah to the royal family.  Sidwah died the following year, leaving Rukan a grieving but very eligible widow. Lord Kiley Groucutt, a noted sorcerer, was closeted in his domed palace at Mar Awas under heavy guard as he tinkered with something that had been brought back from the

unknown south. Rumor had it that all of Kiley's plants had died within days of the object's arrival. Soon after, his pet macaques had also perished, according to the stories popular in the capital.

The Valesian Empire - Ruler - Primarch Valerius Capital - Centauris Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Phalces [-], Laedos [T]

The Valesians saved their manpower, not calling on the young men of the nation to do much at all, but spending an large sum on the study of the eldritch arts of conjuration. Primarch Valerius fathered a daughter in 2881, then traveled to allied Phalces to treat with the stiff-necked ally Phalcien of Phalces.  Though warm and welcoming to the Primarch, Phalcien refused to consider giving up the reins of power in his ancestral lands. Ancient lord Tallius was more successful in Laedos, where he imposed a tribute prior to his death in 2883. Admiral Theolus built twelve new cogs, added them to some smaller transports and gathered together a fleet of thirty warships at Centauris.  With thirty-five hundred men (including twenty five hundred valesian hoplites) embarked, he sailed to Elenuil in the Neldorean Wood to aid in the defense of the capital. (See The Coming of the Giants, above.) The holy man of the Kherouf desert, Ionnes, continued to preach the coming of a dark age dominated by the dread god Drauluin.  Crowds have gathered to listen to him at the desert's edge.

Luxur - Ruler - General Vuluk Capital - Thedelos Dominant Race - Sathla Dominant Religion - Autumna

The cultured sathla of Luxur labored to make Naqada a center of beauty, art and trade, pouring thousands of talents of gold into its public works. About five hundred miles to the east, the lands of Keferis were being cleared of forests and put under cultivation. Luxurite missionaries spread their passionate and fanatical brand of Autumna throughout the uplands between the Artaxes and Ulailai rivers.  In Erlet and Narvan, they overawed the superstitious locals, but in Ardaxin they had much slower going against the sophisticated priests of the Lords of the Grail. Captain Ophidius died in Sekhem in 2881 at the age of sixty-five.  He left much of the navy and army there on the banks of the Artaxes. Captain Boronyx marched into Thedelos at the head of four thousand men and began stomping about, searching for signs of disloyalty.  Captain Vuluk was more successful in the countryside, where he and his troops discovered and uprooted an elaborate temple of the Fleshweavers cult.  Many of the troopers died of terrible diseases and fungus thereafter. General Haasta tinkered with the nation's shipping routes through much of 2881.  He then traveled upriver to Merwal, where in 2884, he died at the age of sixty-one. Vuluk proved to have the most votes on the Council and so was elected to preside over it.  It was said that Captain Boronyx was angered at this decision, but in any case he accepted the result.

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

The Holy See continued to build up the beauty and majesty of its holy city at Merwal with public squares, artwork and baths. The church sends a large caravan of gold to the queen of Drormt. Missionaries in Egu continue their slow campaign to win over the humans to Autumna. Harking back to a great speech given on the River Atraxes by the first Pysus, Pysus Holziltz calls again for the conversion of the lesser races. Applauding the work conducted in Drormt and the growing faith in that country. He commands the Faithful to turn their eyes further south and concentrate on the Heathen Humans whose souls need saving. As Udjo has commanded it the entire world should embrace the One True Faith, and all items are ours including the Nightwings in Mekebele, which he demands as his right. The priests of the Holy See enter into a flurry of research seeking to know more of the ancient Beltene nation. Bishop Zonrez traveled to the new Luxurite city of Coilus and there established a church.

Bishop Slidumez traveled to Breeka and amid much religious fervor, extracted a tithe from the sauruses of Drormt.

The Serpentine of Mykele -
Ruler - Sauressh Isskor II
Capital - Oroyon
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Vaaltoh [FA], Kuzsu [EA], Ursurrnam [C]

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 [-]

The halflings of Thariyya began a great project of earth moving in the forests of Shood.  They built terraces and sluices, canals and villages in general preparation for the cultivation of the region.  Too, they built a line of defensive forts and towers along the Hassar border. King Shadazar continued his reign from Uls Fakhar while his uncle Bezyr marched into Shood to take up command of the army.  Unfortunately, Bezyr was quite old and the strain of the march was too much for him,  He died in Shood in 2884. So too the forests of the south proved too much for Wallastrae Zendowin, faithful friend of the throne, who passed away in 2881. They say deaths come in threes.  The final member of the triad was Admiral Yryons, who died on patrol of the Gulf of Thariyya, flying the pennants of the Red Pact of Vales at the age of fifty-five.  His fleet buried him with honors upon its return to port. Princess Leila Vahdin and Lord Lycidas Heliozend traveled to Al Muhd, hoping to include the local halflings in the general citizenship of the kingdom, but they wanted no more northern entanglements than their annual tribute already required of them.

The Warlocks of Accolon - Ruler - Emperor Jubal Cuu Capital - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Carru [FA]

Emperor Elijah Cuu arranged for the marriage of his daughter Kami to Akram of Arbath, making him a prince and bringing the that southern forest region into the realm.  The Emperor died in 2883 at the age of seventy-eight.  His son Razir was briefly the Emperor until the following spring, when he too dropped dead at the age of forty-one, paving the way for the accession of his brother Jubal.  It was a popular rumor that Jubal was complicit in the deaths of both his father and brother, helping them off the throne through the use of poison.  Both Lady Cuu and her husband Akram died in 2884 during a virulent outbreak of influenza. Erikur Even-Handed traveled to the region of Carru and reestablished Accolon's control and access to the port of Nuradeem.  Emperor Jubal sent scholars and priests into Eumana spreading the use of the Valesian language, ordering that no official business be carried out in the native Nurad. Finally, Jubal established a guild of adventurers in Agharra named the Order of the Scorpion.

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 - Hatti [-], Riatus [CH], Esagal [-]

Gezz Half-Shadow emerged briefly from his long isolation to address the guards at Fortress Ravenheart in Akin, and to summon demons of fertility to possess and make fecund the soil of the homeland. Bishops Elian and Lessa (aided by Prince Drel Dorath) both spent the years in moving great congregations.  The followers of the cathedral of Akin were moved to the city of Gateway in Mitan, while the cathedral of Haburah was moved into the city of Unaagh.  Other cathedrals, unfortunately, faded away to monasteries in Bis and Ham. Both Elian and Lessa were exhausted by the tasks set them; both died in 2884. Bishop Dar els Azelku traversed the Kherouf desert until he came upon Ionnes, the wandering holy man, and offered him the bishopric of Korrek.  Ever the ascetic, Ionnes demurred, but warned Azelku of a coming dark age of warfare and oppression for which all true believers should prepare themselves. In 2882 the head of Prince Jalak was found in the sewers of Keystone.  After being delivered to the High Priest, it was interred beneath the cathedral of Dammarask. General Armandus, a garrison commander in Unaagh, developed a new and bold doctrine for the use of spearman arranged in a line of wedges, like a saw blade.  This resulted in a revolution in the quality of infantry fielded by the Primacy.

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

Lords Alvar Brookseeker and Thingold of Gaja sought out hidden enemies in Lantar and Hecaladon. Maradorian missionaries traveled north the steppes of Nin and vied with the stern priests of the Dark Court for the minds of the plains dwellers.  There were some who heard the call of the Lords of the Grail, but most remained firmly committed to their dark and bloody gods.

South-Western Vales -

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
Ruler - Regent Mudorpt
Capital - Breeka
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Arran [EA]

The industrious sauruses built a small port city on a squat hill set amidst the riotous greenery of Oiohutu and overlooking the stormy Nekinet sea.  From there, they could trade with the dour dwarves of Dürn and occasionally receive fruits and textiles from distant Zikuyu. Nor was that all the construction in Drormt.  The trackless fens of Patu were dredged, the rich and stinking mud piled into large and fertile artificial islands on which grew mangoes and breadfruit. Queen Xochilti oversaw the kingdom from Breeka and gave birth two a daughter, Aaaka, and a son, Ordro. She gratefully received a large caravan of goods, gifts from the Pysus of the Holy See of Udjo. Meanwhile, her court traveled en masse to the northern forests of Arran.  There, Lords Mudorpt and Kadoorp and Prince Yramt convinced the locals to acknowledge the overlordship of Breeka and to send taxes and tribute. Prince Yramt died in 2884. Queen Xochilti died in 2885 at the age of fifty-two, leaving her infant children behind.  Lord Mudorpt, a crafty and ambitious creature, raced back to Breeka to claim the regency

 on their behalf, citing his close kinship with the queen.

Sathla and saurus priests of the Holy See of Udjo held rallies in Breeka and throughout the great swamp, calling the faithful to prayer and increasing the faith of the nation significantly. Bishop Slidumez used this as the perfect opportunity to exact a tithe from the Steaming Kingdom.

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

The Sendahlese minded their own darned business, thank you very much!

The Grand Empire of Mekebele - Ruler - Emperor Selassie Capital - Awayal Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Prorte [A], Abaste [A]

The men of Mekebele labored in the fields of Eza to make it a productive and fertile oasis amidst the encroaching jungle. Lord T'nute traveled to Prorte and made an alliance with the lord of that northwestern province in the name of the Empire.  T'nute died in Prorte in 2883 at the age of fifty-seven. Lord Danso traveled east to conduct diplomacy with the jungle tribes of Abaste, also bringing them into alliance with the Empire. To secure this happy accord, he negotiated the wedding of the emperor's daughter to a chieftain's son of Abaste. Ekundayo of Eura died in 2880 at the age of forty. Wang'ombe of Foru died in 2884 at the age of fifty.  His heirs sent tribute, but no more troops to the support the Empire. Li'Kwaro of Itu died in 2885 at the age of thirty-nine.  His heirs renewed their oaths of alliance. Emperor W'tanabe ruled the empire from Awayal until his death in 2885 at the age of forty-seven.  He died of a raging fever and was replaced by his eldest son, Selassie, later that year. In 2883, the leatherwing pens were infiltrated by a group of persons later determined to be the Company of the Silver Axe adventuring group.  They failed to steal any leatherwings or eggs, which was their apparent mission.

South-Eastern Vales -

The Dwarven Realm of Aurdrukar - Ruler - King Dorin Capital - The Brass Tower Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Shtekkten [NT], Zhutetl [-]

Banner of Aurdrukar

Banner of Khor-Naland

The dwarves of Aurdrukar were intent largely on hoarding their reserves of manpower and on increasing their realm through diplomacy.  Lords Dhokir and Rignus convinced the dwarves of the northern hills of Shtekkten to recognize the suzerainty of the Brass Tower...in theory.   Dhokir died in Shtekkten in 2885 at the age of one hundred forty seven. Lord Blorin had even less luck in the orcish realm of Zhutetl, where the orcs refused to recognize any dwarven authority whatsoever. King Thulnor died in 2885 at the age of one hundred forty-three.  His son Dorin was crowned king of Aurdrukar and swore by the gods and his ancestors to protect the realm.

The elves looked to the defense of their realm, building castles all along the coast in Mita, Phinte, Gothambauk, Vanua and Ozhayar. Emperor Valoril sponsored a powerful adventurer's guild in Jarende which was then named in his honor: "The Spear of Valoril." Prince Namaril traveled to Kyelepe and with strong and stirring words brought the allies fully into the realm of Sengkar. Princess Shariel tried the same in Gothambauk, but the elves of the havens desired to retain some measure of independence, and refused her overtures. Lord Gahaliel, eldest of the Emperor's servants and one of the most feared, sought out evildoers in the province of Gothambauk, but pronounced it cleansed of the Shadowmasters. So too did Lord Thorondil in Mita.

Lord Talan, on the other hand, revealed a nest of vipers, a Shadowmaster lodge that lay hidden in the breast of Vanua, disguised as a guild of performing acrobats.  Talan surrounded their theater with hundreds of picked elvish warriors and stormed the place before the cultists were aware of him. Their vile crimes and veneration of the shadows was revealed and the offenders thrown from high sea cliffs in execution.

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

It's good to have goals. But sometimes, it's better just to let the rigors of sanity and reality slip away.  Then the goals don't seem to matter quite so much. Such were the thoughts of King Terbish, Red-Feathered Lord of all Weshtayo when he airily canceled all of the kingdom's plans and instead decreed that his loving people would build him the most magnificent and monumental tomb that had ever existed.  A stone colossus that would rise as tall as a mountain so that the Wesht people could always look up and know that the mighty spirit of Terbish stood watch over them.  And so the Tomb of Terbish (also know as the Colossus of Khulank) began its slow and laborious journey towards completion.  Also, prince Gan died in Bedraku before he could convince the savages to better themselves by association and Lord Qorchi brought some more loving peasants under the sway of the mighty Terbish out in Gaim.

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

The Zikuyans continued to rest on their laurels.  Lady Xolani, the Emperor's triplet, died in 2882. Both the Emperor Bhekikizwe and Empress Nombuso died in 2884 of enteric fever, which plagued many in Ivallkyu.  Lord Wandile died of the same malady the following year.

The Valraj -
Ruler - Sultan Azaad
Capital - Muddakir
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

Long had the agents of the Dark Court labored in secret to prepare the way for this day, this great and dark day.  In Northhale, 2883, Sultan Azaad announced that he had converted to the worship of the Dark Court and offered a human sacrifice to his new masters. He also announced that henceforth the state religion of the Valraj was that of the Dark Court and all who failed to convert would be outlaws. This conversion was arranged to come on the same day that King Nijon of Threns made his announcement of conversion. There was opposition, of course, though surprisingly none of his court objected in the least...publicly.  The rural south objected violently, however.  Abtak, Jadjas, Sartus and Tanoxus all revered the ancient

gods of the woods and streams and refused to convert to this northern worship of demons.

Hajaxtus, too, had risen in revolt, but the Sultan had been prepared for this.  Swiftly his inquisitors arrested the ringleaders and executed them in terrible, colorful and instructive ways.  The crowds quickly melted away from the lanes and markets and relative calm returned.

Lord Fakhr died in Shenthalass in 2884 at the age of fifty-seven.

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

The Grand Duchy continued to build its navy into a respectable force, strongest in the southern seas. Admiral Feantë patrolled the waters of the Jaundor Sea and the Gates of Arthys with fifteen warships. Grand Duke Salene promoted his wife Emmyn to a position of authority in the realm, allowing him to concentrate on ruling his dispersed peoples. Salene, Feantë and Lord Habnar, all sorcerers, continued to invoke the spirits of earth and sea to shape their homeland to be a fitting home for the elves of Meneen. Lord Habnar traveled to Zevan, southernmost province of the Kerendan sub-continent and home of the friendly Oullende elven tribes.  Like their brethren in Urvupal and Ivralit, the Oullendes of Zevan agreed to recognize the Grand Duke as their nominal sovereign, so long as nothing further was required of them.

The Kingdom of Ukanve -
Ruler - Queen Edova
Capital - Ukanve
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Acclimea [-], Rhundal [FA]

Queen Edova continued to improve upon her capital, adding neighborhoods to the outskirts and incorporating a small offshore island into the municipal area of Ukanve.  She ordered improvements to the city of Torquas, including smithies, armories and a large market for livestock. The queen gave birth to a daughter in 2881 and to a twin son and daughter in 2884.  Unfortunately, her husband, Gene Of Kiriyelru, died in that same year, when the twins were only a few weeks old. Lords Retzak and Norwalk traveled to the southern islands to woo the elves of Acclimea and Rhundal.  Retzak had no luck at all in swaying Acclimea, but before his untimely death in 2884, Norwalk concluded an alliance with the elves of Rhundal.

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

The hardy warriors of Nikitya built a new city on the ice-rimed coast of Kachka, where the water was frozen seven months of the year and the great ice bears prowled just beyond arrow range. The brothers Ragnar and Loki Olafson traveled together to Koltlus and Veestelule on the continental shore.  Ragnar worked as a diplomat while Loki uncovered the workings of local politics to aid his brother's efforts.  The men of Koltlus agreed to pay tribute to Vikitana after Ragnar offered up his sister's hand in marriage, while the hobgoblins of Veestelule became their allies. Wuldan the Fierce loaded up four sleek warships and explored the far-distant Denyema Sea and Sea of Katalya.  In that eastern sea he found the wealthy region of Haga in Amantai.  It was well-protected by castles, but with no local army, Wulfdan decided to sample its goods.  His crews stormed the villages of the coast and ranged far inland, staying just out of reach of the castle garrisons.  Under Wulfdan's leadership, they carted away shiploads of yaks, cattle, goats, precious stones and golden grain.

The Principalities of Korondor -
Ruler - King Vorin
Capital - Nikkildûn
Dominant Race - Dwarf
Dominant Religion - The Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Aniatak [-], Orodask [FA]

The Korondor dwarves recognized the importance of their new human allies (and especially their port!) to the future of the Principalities.  To this end, they built several small castles to garrison Kyuinachka and a single fortress overlooking the port.  Squat and massive, it guarded against attack from both sea and land. In gratitude, the men of Orodask agreed to become the vassals of Nikkildûn, supporting troops and supplying garrisons to watch the sea approaches. King Vorin traveled west to the hills of Aniatak and spent a leisurely state visit among his kinsmen.  They, however fondly they regarded him, had little interest in giving up their independence and becoming his liegemen.

The Shanatar Empire -
Ruler - God-Emperor Talena
Capital - Feroe
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The God-Emperor
Diplomacy - An'Hirz [F], Fakkhrem [T]

The men of Shanatar flooded back into Rachif, subdued by the horror they found there in the aftermath of the ghoul army's invasion.  Ghouls continued to plague small settlements ever after in Rachif. Far to the west, along the Argabazos river, the cultivation of Sourinn continued.  Plans to cultivate Fakkhrem were delayed by certain political realities, chief of which was that Shanatar did not control Fakkrhem. This was soon rectified as Prince Migdala spoke common sense to the men of Fakkhrem, and these soon began to send tribute to Feroe in the manner of their forefathers. The God Emperor elevated her son Maarius to the position of heir and gave him command of fifteen hundred infantry to begin his training. Meanwhile, she traveled to An'Hirz where she summoned spirits of rain and fertility, causing growth

and plenty in the land.  She gave the hand of her seventeen year old daughter to forty-four year old Yurin of An'Hirz.  The dowry price she demanded for her daughter was An'Hirz's complete submission to her divine will.

The Farmuz Emirates - Ruler - Sultan Iskander al Zahmer Capital - Azhkatûm Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Navilok [T], Azmani [-]

Najya the Usurper worked hard to gain the trust of the Emirates for the house of Zahmer.  She continued to rebuild the burned city of Mukatir and founded the walled city of Kazbeki on the coast of her native Zahmer. She had her generals train their armies hard in cavalry and siege tactics.  When she died in 2885, she was not loved, but she was both feared and respected. Her son, Iskander, was crowned in 2885 to the muted approval of the few remaining powerful emirs.  His first act was to name his wife, Alia, as a princess of the realm. Throughout this five-year period, Grailite priests attempted to whip up religious fervor for their benificent gods.  But the people, surrounded as they were by more powerful empires, saw little hope in the gods of the west.  Instead, many began to listen to the priests of the God-Emperor.  The folk of Farmuz were, after all, ethnic Shanats and spoke the same language as the large eastern empire on their frontier.  There were many who longed for the protection of a present, real and worldly god. There were, on the other hand, a large number of scholars in the universities who advocated that Farmuz should instead embrace the powerful gods of the Dark Court, as did their neighbors in Accolon and Kerendis. Lord Darmok worked for five years to create a new census of the Emirates, succeeding at last in delivering to sultan Iskander what his mother had commissioned years earlier. Lord Oken Fanmeer convinced the northern region of Navilok to pay tribute to Azhkatûm, but the similar efforts of Rabin ben Shiraz in Azmani proved fruitless.  The men of those central plains found that they rather enjoyed their independence and chose not to give it up.

 

The Kingdom of Vaudan - Ruler - King Afshar Capital - Chegamum Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia Diplomacy - Yezdarna [A]

The men of Vaudan were defense-minded, building castles in Jadh, Parkora, Tokumande and Vaklatos. King Afshar ruled in Chegamum and fathered a son in 2884.  He appointed his eldest son Rostam as his heir and successor. Meanewhile, his court traveled all together to the hills of Yezdarna where, led by Lord Terehn, they concluded an alliance with the lord of those hills. Meshiya, Castellan of Nrinayri died in 2884 at the age of fifty.  In the wake of his death, the city fathers decided to place themselves under the direct rule of the king. The kingdom continued to funnel funds to the mysterious Doomriders, who were said to be far afield in the distant northwest on a mission of critical importance.

The United Clans of Mainos -
Ruler - King Kaedhrol Greyfeather
Capital - Badmira
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Airsarn [T]

The ancient elves of Mainos ceased their peaceful contemplation and exploded onto the world stage as conquerors. First, they established a port on the Lower Kheleni river at Secampi.  Calling it Erekosh, or eastern door, they traded into the Lake of Dreams with Kasadir, Uheju and Mogodor. Next, Prince Auvo traveled to the saurus-inhabited forests of Airsarn and extracted from the primitives there a promise of tribute. Finally, King Khaedrol Greyfeather divided his armies between Lords Tarja Elsila and Aila Torni.  Tarja, aided by Viivi Svard of Secampi and Valis of Krinra, marched north with six thousand elves.  Alongside them was Aila, aided by Kyosti Ryti of Prukos and Impi Siilasvuo of Stokumuk with a further six thousand. Aila's army stopped in the hobgoblin forests of Pozellce, where they hunted down and slew every hobgoblin they could find.  These slaughters were later followed by elvish settlers who took up residence in the now-empty Pozellce woods. Tarja and his army had the harder job, confronting two thousand hobgoblin light cavalry on the steppes of Sineyap.  This they did with difficulty, but in the end the hobgoblins were subdued and agreed to pay tribute to the elves.

The Dragon's Reach -

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

Peace reigned in Uheju. Hobgoblin warlord King Gansukh married the daughter of a powerful merchant family from Shkoyemri.  She gave him a single daughter in 2884 and died in childbirth in 2885. The king added five hundred Kardaur Elite guardsmen to his retinue. Lord Kaidan and Lord Tudun governed the two cities of Shkoyemri and Kaletor. In 2882, merchants from Mainos came up the Dragon's Reach to establish permanent trade relations at Shkoyemri.

 

The Kingdom of Kasadir - Ruler - King Maejith Capital - Tamiyot Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia

The government of Kasadir was overstretched, unable to administer all the territory it had aspired to control.  The steppes of Bakan was no longer controlled directly from Tamiyot, but continued to send an annual tribute.  There were rumblings among the tribes of the forest of Ilerim about ending their alliance, but troublemakers were quickly arrested and rebellion avoided. To further reduce the strain on the central government, the forests of Kotutan and Laina were given limited autonomy to control their own people. Having failed to promote his eldest daughter to the position of heir, King Maejith tried again with his youngest, Kimissa.  The nobility found the younger girl more acceptable and acknowledged her accession.

 

The Kingdom of Ahandu - Ruler - King Quetza Capital - Zathurrin Dominant Race - Saurus Dominant Religion - Orithia

King Quetza ruled his nation from the palace at Zathurrin.  The powerful sathla lord fathered two daughters and two sons between council meetings, audiences and the occasional state dinner. Lord Conqua-adohi audited the accounts of Ahandu, slithering from treasury to audience hall, meeting with scribes, local wise men and magistrates to account for every place and thing of worth within the kingdom. Missionaries from Zathurrin trekked south overland to the forest of Kur where the bloody Serikku spirit cult was strong.  By preaching, faith and argument, they converted the pagans to the worship of Orithia.

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

The men of Mogodor continued to toil in the cold and misty fields of Kolempmun, dragging a living out of the soil by main force. Regent Torek took command of the Aone garrison and ruled in the name of young queen Lisistrana. Lord Mesak continued to defy all expectations of his hardihood by traveling to the forests of Soldu and confronting a nest of harpies who had long bedeviled the poor woodsmen of the region.  He not only drove them off, but plundered their not inconsiderable hoard, making him a wealthy man.

The Kingdom of Suhanir -
Ruler - King Valiel Sunlord
Capital - Kaonayu
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Kimmaktu [NT], Anbarako [FA]

Ancient beyond measure, King Valiel at last stirred himself from contemplation of the pine forests beyond his palace to put forth his power into the land.  The wealth of Suhanir, long accumulated, was released to pay for a burst of construction in and around Sunahm, where exquisite gardens were built as well as irrigation systems, farms and several small but beautiful villages. Prince Marahal journeyed long through ancient copses of beech and alder until he arrived at the forest of Kimmaktu.  There, he spoke in the elder tongue words of awakening, of rebirth, of power, duty and honor.  The elves of Kimmaktu reaffirmed their ancient allegiance to Marahal's father, though none had been to Kaonayu in centuries. Similar was the stay of Lady Halath in the forests of Anbarako, though she was aided by a subtle sorcery that gave her foreknowledge of what her listeners most wished to hear.  She summoned the archers of Anbarako to serve the high king once again.  Summoned, they came. Lord Cerelindor traveled to the port city of Miyotla, most cosmopolitan in all of Suhanir, and took command of the garrison.  It wouldn't do to have one of the lesser races catch the elves at unawares!

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

Bowing the anger of the nobility, King Mardule agreed not to make his troublesome daughter Pavery his heir.  Instead, he named Pavery's younger sister Sara heir.  Sara is a legendary beauty, her hand sought in marriage by men of high station all across the Dragon Reach.  Moreover, she is considered one of the fastest runners in all of Amantai. Having secured his dynasty, Mardule marched east with four thousand soldiers, across the wild forests of Seklebatu and invaded the home of the demon-worshipers of Distiar.  His attack was sudden and unforeseen, while the native response was a panicked appeal to their bloodthirsty but uncaring deities. Mardule's veterans cut a swath through the two thousand rabble that appeared to oppose them and crushed a series of local rebellions that rose up when they enslaved the entire despicable lot of cannibals and pagans.  He marched the folk of the entire district back to Haga in chains, there to expiate their sins in honest, agonizing sweat.

Always a strict Orithian, Mardule also presided over a renaissance in traditional culture and the expansion of the power of the priesthoods.  Laws were passed banning public immorality and those who gave way to their more licentious impulses were taxed or imprisoned and could lose any high-profile positions at court.

Mardule's new lieutenant, Gerald the Chaste, traveled to Keama and with fiery oratory convinced the master of Keama to swear oaths of allegiance to the king.

The gods smiled on Amantai's piety.  In 2882, woodsmen found nuggets of gold in the streams of Jutuh.  Soon thousands of slaves and hundreds of prospectors had descended on the area, each trying to make a fortune for themselves or their masters.  The increased trade swelled the nearby city of Mahlish until its ancient walls were lost within a muddle of huts, shantytowns and bazaars.

The 2885 raid on Haga by Wulfdan of Nikitya devastated that region's economy (See Nikitya, above).

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

The whole strength of Nuitai was bent towards the war with the lich Kuan Li Jiang.  King Arpald hired the Order of Havirj adventuring company to seek out a way to destroy the lich.  They never returned from Erdiyek. Arpald sent two thousand mercenaries to Basirzos and had four castles built there to resist the approach of the lich's evil minions.  The ships of the Nuitai fleet were battered by a powerful storm of magical origin in the Sea of Frozen Stars.  One of them foundered and was sunk, along with three hundred embarked mercenaries. Arpald fathered a sixth daughter in 2884 and died of a fever within a few days.  As the only nobleman with any national stature, Lord Ranit became regent for Arpald's eight year-old son Chakri.  By the end of the year, Chakri had suffered a suspiciously convenient accident when he fell from the high and narrow window of the royal castle's tower.  Ranit became king amid speeches of sorrow over the tragedy. However, Ranit himself would not remain king long.  the adventurer Ghevrit, now lord of all of Nuitai's armies, slew Ranit during a visit to Basirzos and declared himself king, daring any of the nobility to oppose him.  There was talk of revolt in Yumumkantu, but in the end no one had the courage to oppose this usurper and so it became popular to

 view him not as Ranit's murderer but as Chakri's avenger and rightful successor.

The Lichdom of Erdiyek -
Ruler - Kuan Li Jiang
Capital - The Necropolis
Dominant Race - The Undead
Dominant Religion - None

No news of what transpired within the ghastly lichdom escaped to trouble the outside world.  However, it was widely believed that the sudden unseasonable gales that beset the Sea of Frozen Stars was the work of Kuan Li Jiang and its servants.

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

The kingdom of Choran vastly increased the number of vessels it sent to distant Wayahapta, bringing back the spices and hides of those exotic southern ports. Lord Shakiru pressured Anduhilm of Munh to subordinate his city's administration to the high council at Choran.  Certain rumors about the...exotic...relationships of Anduhilm's mother were instrumental in effecting the change of leadership. Lord Lan died at Yukamoc in 2883. Lord Sinsay embarked at Choran as the admiral of fleet of eight warships.  He then traveled east, entering the Midorin Gulf in the summer of 2881, where he encountered a fleet of six giantish ships (including five warships) under the command of An-Grothek of Taikime, a Tekume ally.  Sinsay and his warships had the wind at their backs and easily rode down the swells to attack the smaller fleet. Giants, or least the giants of Tekume, are excellent

sailors and An-Grothek's fleet put up a valiant fight.  But in the end it was Choran's numbers that won the day.  Sinsay and his fleet had sunk one Tekume ship and taken another during a desperate boarding action.  An-Grothek's tiny command scattered and the survivors made their way back to the Godfall Deep and Zayitun as best they could.

Admiral Sinsay was not finished there, however.  With his fleet now increased to nine ships, he sailed into the Godfall Deep in search of more prizes and got more than he had bargained for.  Tekume's seventy-two year-old Emperor Vo-Laareth had put to sea to avenge the attack, and with him sailed both An-Grothek and Bo-Vulduk of Tauntaum.  The combined giantish fleet numbered twenty-three ships.  Vo-Laareth was a legendary admiral before taking the throne of Tekume and his fleet sliced through the smaller human fleet like a harpoon through blubber.  In the initial clash, the king led a boarding party that seized Sinsay's flagship, killing the admiral himself.  Two giantish ships were sunk in the encounter, but two human ships were captured in return.  The rest of the Choran fleet went to the bottom of the Godfall Deep.

In 2885, Admiral Phelan the Proud, now emaciated and with a long beard, stumbled off a merchant packet on the quays of Choran.  The giants had let him go the previous year in what they termed an "expression of goodwill."

The Empire of Tekume -
Ruler - Emperor Vo-Laareth
Capital - Suru'or
Dominant Race - Giants
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The giants continued to improve their homeland of Olere with farms, villages and wells.  But their brush with the naval power of Choran caused King Vo-Laareth to order a fleet of warships to be built at Suru'or and divided between his own command and that of his allies.  This proved to be invaluable later that same year. Lord Na-Tarnak spent five years proselytizing for the Dark Court in the human region of Chobo, with very little to show for the effort.  The men of Chobo were committed spirit cultists.  They showed the proper respect for a representative of the Empire, but continued their worship unhindered. Na-Tarnak died in Chobo in 2883 at the age of thirty-five. He had gotten himself so worked up over a sermon that he collapsed and never recovered. In 2881, An-Grothek of Taikime set out with a small fleet to explore the southern seas, but in the Midorin Gulf, it ran into an expeditionary fleet from Choran. (See The Kingdom of Choran, above). After the battle of the Godfall Deep, An-Grothek resumed his voyage of exploration, managing to chart the Ryori Sea and the Azure Sea.  He lost a ship to storms along the Hamna Coast in 2884 and finally returned to Suru'or with his expanded rutters in 2885. He died within weeks of returning to land.

For that matter, every single Tekume leader other than the Emperor expired in the years 2882-85, most of old age.

The Kolyut Isthmus -

The Sylvan Realm of Hecadia -
Ruler - Regent Jasil
Capital - Belgramma
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Amoka [-]

The city of Lepreum continued to expand as landless men and halflings traveled inland from the poor forest hamlets looking for work or patronage.  Seeing its growing importance, King Avedis agreed to let the city residents of Lepreum build a stone wall around the city. A similar wall was built around the small port of Golotha on the Hecadian Straits. The narrow coach road from Belgramma to Tetomo was expanded and cobbled.  Soon it became a broad and much-used street linking the two cities. Brenning, Mayor of Salman, died in in 2881 and the city fathers offered control of the city to the king, who graciously accepted. In the spring of 2883, adventurers uncovered the tomb of the legendary general Nionolkas in Maviran, but were unable to penetrate its elaborate defenses.  Scholars are excited about this find because Nionolkas was supposed to have been buried with the artifact that made his fame, the large gem known as the Seeing Stone of Nionolkas. King Avedis died in a few weeks later at the age of forty-one.  His heir, twenty year old Agatha sadly prepared to bury her father and take up his throne, when Lord Sepp, military governor of Verifar surrounded the palace with his troops and demanded that Agatha marry him and turn over power.  Refusing, she shut herself up in the palace, ordering the servants to bar the door and resist the invaders.  Few obeyed her and thousands of halfling troops soon stormed the palace.  In the confusion, Agatha was slain. Sepp declared himself military dictator and called for calm, but another challenger soon emerged in the form of Lord Tamett, governor of Tetomo,

who rode out with a thousand cavalry to challenge Sepp's new dictatorship. Soon, the countryside was in arms and many of the provinces rebelled, including Apubosh, Embulum, Fiereya, Kebe, Maviran and Siot. All of the cities remained loyal.

As it happened, Tamett was enormously popular in the army, and Sepp, though he commanded an army eight times the size of Tamett's, saw his forces melting away to join Tamett as the latter approached the capital. Sepp sent word to Tamett that he would be willing to share power as dyarchs, and Tamett agreed, negotiating control of the army and capital for himself despite Sepp's greater fame and ability as a commander.

This situation lasted for another four months until the arrival of General Jasil from the Shanatar border. Jasil, a loyal follower of Avedis, marched at the head of six thousand troops determined to meet Tamett and Sepp in the field. And at the town of Hoell in Verifar, that is just what the did. The Dyarchs had assembled an army of nine thousand to meet Jasil's six thousand, and their line outstretched his on both flanks. But Tamett's incompetent leadership ( he never left his tent, writing furious notes to commanders at what he supposed to be the front) was no match for Jasil's decisive and sure command. The army of the dyarchy was tragically brave, forcing the attackers to kill far more of their brethren than was necessary. But victory was at last achieved.

Jasil found Avedis's three-year-old son Marco alive in Belgramma and declared him to be the true king. He himself became regent for the infant monarch.
 

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

The Kerendans moved enormous numbers of landless peasants out of the cities and farmsteads and sent them to Chemada to complete its cultivation.  Simultaneously with that effort, Domnall of Chemada was in meetings with Lord Búadachán and Bishop Shaeloth the Shadowed, negotiating his transfer of power over the province to the king. King Lochilann and his queen Siobhan tried to continued their dynasty, but the queen died in childbirth in 2881. Prince Cormac gathered several of the smaller garrisons together at the port of Argus, and gathered the Kerendan fleet under his own command there.

The Kingdom of Threns -
Ruler - Regent Marietta
Capital - Vaayil
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

King Nijon ordered the draining of swampland to the southwest of the capital, and gave license to many merchants, such as tanners, undertakers, liverymen and fullers to build within that quarter as they wished.  He also ordered a new wall built around the metropolis, and a wall built also around the second city of Threns, Siruvargal. But Nijon's most momentous action was his conversion in 2883 to the worship of the Dark Court, announced on the same day as the conversion of Sultan Azaad of the Valraj.  Nijon sacrificed several slaves on the new altar he set up in Vaayil's public forum and ordered the immediate conversion of all Threns's nobility. There were, of course, rebellions.  Lord Papichulk tried to murder the king in the name of the ancient gods, but was arrested and promptly sacrificed. Regions in the rural south and east rose up and refused to accept the conversion.  Artisva, Madarah, Inrikor and Patsuma all refused to convert and ended their recognition of Nijon's sovereignty.  But the most dangerous rebellion came from within his own newly-expanded capital, where the population expressed a surprisingly powerful resistance to the new religion.  But Nijon had prepared for this eventuality and his inquisitors silenced the ringleaders while his troops killed several rioters in the streets.  Vaayil settled into a bloody silence which grew into a sullen acceptance of the status quo. Nijon died in 2884 at the age of fifty-six.  His eldest son, Arcanon, was then only twelve years old.  His sister Marietta took command of the kingdom as regent in the name of her nephew Arcanon.

The Kolyut Hegemony -
Ruler - Hegemon Mordo
Capital - Ketarid
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Nistha [A]

The organized hobgoblins built a new city on the shores of the Mai Ren Sea named Maibum.  In Iratush they recruited some three thousand light cavalry.  The new troopers included a thousand former light infantry now trained in cavalry tactics and mounted on shaggy steppe ponies. Lord Dinguw the Shrewd traveled to the free city of Nistha and with forceful directness told the natives that their period of independence was at an end; the Hegemony demanded their allegiance. Bowing the inevitable, the Nisthans placed their troops at the disposal of Ketarid. Lord Rowl Thrump rode north with five thousand cavalry and in a hard-fought campaign enslaved the human tribes of Inemper and Kodalcan, driving the survivors back to work the slave-farms of Iratush.  The humans did not go easily, especially the men of Inemper, who fought two separate campaigns for their freedom and cost the Kolyuts some two thousand casualties.

The Free Cities continued to improve the land around Fashanru with numerous small villages. Admiral Markand guarded the seas around the Free Cities from the deck of his flagship.  He commanded a fleet of fifteen Ruanach Blacksails, some of the best ships in the world. Lord Vasil and allied lord Kimon of Sankama traveled to Sudrhis and enforced a tithe on the local hillmen. King Histro, meanwhile, traveled to the forests of Arundim and Asatul and claimed the lordship to the Vallende elves.

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

Wiseman Silverring and Baris Dustybrook rode north to Panka, where they cajoled the Hathan humans into an alliance with the halflings of Saumya. Meanwhile, Turuk Daggermaker continued to preach the religion of Nuree to the sathla of Sauryas, where his speeches continued to draw large crowds of the curious and the faithful. Princess Poppy Artfulspark and Lord James Ronald converted so many sathla in Amovish that it became the majority religion in the region. King Tolman died in 2884, after fathering two more sons and a daughter.  His eldest son, Daven Silentpad, was as yet only nine years old, so Tolman's sister Princess Poppy Artfulspark assumed the regency in her nephew's name.

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

Things were pretty quiet in the Raj. The orcs of Virityal built a new and spacious arena in the city of Chharit, where thousands could watch bloody spectacles of battle and glory, or bet on chariot races or watch mock battles. The crowds adored it and the arena soon became the best-known building in all Chharit. More quietly, an association of orcish merchants began to drive out the competition and bring in goods more cheaply from across the Sudaran Sea and the Sea-Devil Reach. General Porg raided the jungles of Amsurma and Uttaya with eight hundred light cavalry.  The Uttayans ambushed the raiders, killing and injuring hundreds.

The Empire of Rajahdan-
Ruler - Emperor Zlathex of the Jungles
Capital - Jalahl
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Ammanit [T]

The Sathla of Rajahdan expanded opportunities for capable young males of the middle castes to become clerks, couriers, scribes and lower-level magistrates.  The priesthood and any magistracy of real power remained the sole purview of the upper caste, of course. Amidst a number of other building projects in the homeland of Rajahdan, Emperor Zlathex dedicated a temple to the fertility aspects of Udjo, the Great Mother. A band of enterprising merchants financed the construction of a new port on the rocky coast of Ammanit, where the waves of the Grand Shoals crashed against the weathered rocks.  They named the small city Mhu Thulan and began small-scale trading to the east as far as Diditan in Wayahapta. Disgusted with the constant orcish raiding of their brethren in the jungles of the northeast, Zlathex ordered General Oatlchicc north with eight thousand troops to the jungles of Amsurma to put a stop to

the Virityal raids.  But by the time Oatlchicc's army arrived, General Porg's raids had already come and gone.  After watching the orcs for three years, Oatlchicc marched his army back to Jalahl.

Anku Elevya -
Ruler - Emperor Vesileth V
Capital - Jinguir
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Umalatida [FA], Dakselenda [FA], Jarimat [FA], Imak [FA], Haruang [FA].

The sauruses of Anku Elevya built a third great religious monument, this one in Menoltar, called the Wyrm's Tail.  A rolling highway of stoneworks, mosaics, sculptures and carvings that run through the lands of Menoltar. Many stone benches and statuaries allow pilgrims to rest and contemplate along its path. It ends in a black-granite temple room half-submerged in the waters of the Nhodras River. Here, the Co-Emperors are cleansed and washed before their coronation ceremonies. Speaking of Co-Emperors, Vesileth V came of age and assumed the throne.  Regent Ishtak received the imperial thanks for his service, then returned home to grow rice and barley.  Vesileth's first act as Emperor was to declare his Egg-Brother Ghorik as his heir and co-Emperor. The highly effective Anku diplomatic corps, consisting of Lords Oliund Arzol, Korjon Rruuch, Hursson Trak and Wano of Pekesedun, all led by the elven mercenary diplomat Alandeth, convinced most

of the lower Maharimi River Valley to swear oaths of allegiance to Anku Elevya, effectively uniting the sauruses of the region under one banner.

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

Emperor Lou Tan continued to do nothing as his empire slowly declined around him.  Absent sufficient support from the central government, the regions of Baoyu, Shi, Xiluan and Xue all slowly began to recede from its control.

The Lulipayat Empire -
Ruler - Khathros X
Capital - Kelakuan
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Tasarwi [-], Mukarma [T], Tanu [C]

King Khathros IX set out for Banyak with his younger son Venkali.  But ancient Khathros finally gave up the ghost in 2883 at the age of eighty-one.  The sathla of Banyak sent his body home in state. Khathros's eldest son, Khathros X, took command of the Empire in a stirring ceremony at Kelakuan during which the body of the old emperor was immolated and his ashes spread on the wind. Lord Thesk, a supremely execrable diplomat nonetheless tried to talk the men of Tasarwi into becoming more closely allied with the Empire.  Disgusted, the Tasarwans were glad to see him go in the summer of 2884. Lord Chan Tao had more success among the humans of Mukarma and Tanu, where he convinced the former to pay tribute and got the city fathers of the latter to pay some vague lip service to the ideals of the Empire.

The Serenity of Wayahapta -
Ruler - King Alycor
Capital - Keluan
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Tandosh [NT], Hawhu [NT]

In its continuing bid to control the southeastern coast of Changshai, Wayahapta created a system of magistrates that would help to oversee the both the administration of the provinces and the rapid dissemination of orders from the king in Keluan. Speaking of which, after a several-year stay in the eastern province of Omasune, King Alycor returned to the capital to resume direct control of the home provinces. Lord Mendrassu traveled across the Ryori Sea to the island chain of Tandosh, where the diminutive halfling so impressed the natives that they agreed to recognize the sovereignty of Keluan, if only in principle. Similarly, Lord Kindo cajoled the humans of Hawhu to allow the transit of soldiers and material goods across their lands.

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

King Kodor put great stock in commerce, and had several small ships built at Ikoro to trade downriver to the orcs of Virityal and the sathla of Lulipayat.  While the king ruled from Nodo-Xan, his son Xang assembled a census of the Khudukan clans, properly apportioning the taxes and tributes due from each. Meanwhile, things went poorly for the dwarves on the diplomatic front.  Sirom Stiffbeard failed to convince Kilor Blacklock of Hikanoy to become part of the realm, while Garf Ironfist failed to entice the forest dwarves of Kimakaw to so much as associate with their brethren across the Oji river.

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

The Emperor had had enough of its upstart neighbor, and it was time to end the charade.  Emperor Shimane summoned four thousand new recruits to his army and ordered his generals to march on Akagekku with twenty-two thousand immediately. Summoning spells of protection, courage and command, the combined armies of the Pearl advanced on the region of Kumidor flying the banners of Princess Saito Kaoku and daimyo Sakurako Hideyoshi in overall command, followed by the banners of Wanari, Tsuko and Chimiwa. In the vanguard marched five thousand elven archers and three thousand elite elven infantry, while the rest were a mixed force of cavalry, light infantry and siege engineers. (See The Battle of Kumidor, below).

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

The Jade Republic made no preparations, but by sheer chance, the bulk of the Akagekku army was in Kumidor when the Pearl armies struck.  (See The Battle of Kumidor, below).

THE BATTLE OF KUMIDOR
(Cleon, 2881)

Sakurako Hideyoshi led his army of twenty-two thousand Pearl Empire elves into the fabulously fertile fields of Kumidor, a province of Akagekku.  In residence at the city of Komotsu was Khoram IV, master of the Jade Republic of Akagekku.  Khoram had eighty-five hundred troops under his command, both in the city and in the field, and also a strong array of castles all around the city.  Seeing that the enemy outnumbered him nearly three to one, those castles were an advantage that Khoram decided he could not give up without a fight and so he determined to meet the Pearl armies in the fields of Kumidor rather than wait upon the inevitable siege bottled up in Komotsu.

Hideyoshi deployed his troops in a strong line on a ridge about four miles from Komotsu and surveyed the defended position around the city.  After an hour of contemplation in the early morning hours, he signaled the advance, his voice magically rolling out across his entire army. The ponderous forced moved in on Khoram's defenses, raining down a storm of arrows while the siege engineers advanced on the first fort under the protective cover of mantlets over which were stretched soaking wet rawhide shields.

Both sides fought bravely, but the weight of Hideyoshi's numbers simply was more than the smaller Akagekku force could bear.  One by one the castles fell and prepared positions were abandoned for those further back.  Slowly the ring of Pearl troops gathered ever closer to the lowering walls of Komotsu, and Khoram was forced into a terrible choice.  His armies had suffered terribly and had inflicted only a moderate amount of casualties on the Pearl army.  If he fell back into the city, it was almost certain that it would eventually fall to the huge Pearl army, losing him city, army and crown.  So he ordered a retreat to Karinoy, abandoning the city to its fate and cursing the evil blow his fellow elves had inflicted on the Jade Republic.

The Emerald Realm of Lekandi -
Ruler - King Galens Eagleheart
Capital - Suwelho
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Ukele Spirit Cult

The elves expanded the large town of Langshai by adding a market and a small wooded glade where ceremonies and theater were performed.  The also built a hedge wall of thick vines about the confines of New Gyanlay. Lord Juelans took to sea, traveling north the Galderi Coast.  His ships never returned.  In a similar tragedy, Lord Kelen Farstrider sailed west to the Bura Coast.  He, too, never returned from the dangerous voyage of exploration.

Page Completed 11 January 2008