LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
"LORDS OF THEEURTH"

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Then on the bank stood a Viking messenger,
called out stoutly, spoke with words,
boastfully brought the seafarers' errand
to that land's earl where he stood on shore:
"Seamen sent me quickly to you,
ordered me tell you to send rings at once,
wealth for defense: better for all of you
that you with tribute this spear-rush forgo
than that we share so bitter a war.
Nor need we kill each other if you perform it;
for gold we will fasten a truce with you.
If you determine it, the mightiest here,
that you for your people ransom will pay--
give to the seamen at their own choosing
wealth for a truce and take peace from us--
we with that payment shall to our ships,
on ocean fare, hold peace with you."

Byrhtnoth spoke, lifted shield,
shook slender ash-spear, with words spoke,
angry and one-minded gave him answer:
"Hear you, seafarer, what this folk says?
Spears will they give you, ash-spears as tribute,
poisonous point, old sword--
an armor-tax useless to you in war.
Seamen's messenger, bear word back again;
tell your people much loathlier tale:
that here stands a good earl with his war-band,
who will defend this homeland,
Aethelred's land, land of my prince,
folk and fold.  At battle, now,
heathen must fall. Too shameful it seems
that you, unfought, should go to ship
bearing our wealth, now that thus far
you have come into our land.
Not so softly shall you carry off riches:
point must, and edge, reconcile us first,
grim battle-play, before we give tribute."

- The Battle of Maldon, The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems

E. Gary Gygax (1938-2008)
Now Moved On to a New Campaign

We all owe Gary Gygax a debt of gratitude.  From the concept of role-playing games itself to awesome adventures like Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and the still-great Tomb of Horrors, Gygax's unique style and love of mythology enriched the lives of every role-player and modern gamer.

I've heard every wry, loving comment from "failed his saving throw" to "finally ran out of hit points", but I like to think he's moved on to a new campaign, perhaps at epic levels.

I only met Gary Gygax once, at GenCon in 1980. I was sixteen. He was dressed in suit and tie and seemed to enjoy the attention he received from all the young kids (like me!). Even then, we were all telling him how he'd made a huge difference in our lives. He signed my Dungeon Master's Guide. I'm amused to think that in 1980 he was younger than I am now. He seemed so old to me then.

In Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, there is a mythical book called The Book of Gold. This book can only be found by children, and it marks them for life. After encountering it, they will forever belong in the world of books, never quite the same. For me, and for so many of us, The Book of Gold had Gary Gygax's name on the cover.

God Bless, Gary. Thanks for showing us something we'd never imagined. Or rather, how to get to all the places we had imagined.

I'm breaking out The Tomb of Horrors right now!

1. Extra time doesn't help on a raid.

2. The garrisons of a region and a city within that region are not interchangeable. They exist in two different places.

3. NEW RULE - It is significantly more difficult and dangerous to explore a sea zone beyond your trade range, and becomes more difficult and dangerous with distance.

4. NEW RULE - Prior to the Renaissance, ships may not safely proceed great distances from their home bases, regardless of rutters.  Maximum safe distance from a friendly (Tributary or better) port equals AP x Navigation Rating.   For these purposes, the Navigation ratings are: Seafarer - 0.5; Civilized - 0.4; Barbarian - 0.3; Nomadic - 0.2. Moving beyond this limit is likely to result in attrition.

MEDARHOS -

North-Western Medarhos -

The Skane Jarldoms -  Ruler - King Gustav Capital - Vanaheim Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult Diplomacy - The Skane March [FA], Crown Lands [+1YfC]

The Edgemoor Orcs -
Ruler - King Tallo
Capital - Zaramaka
Dominant Race - Orcs
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - The Purple Hills [+4YfC]

The orcs of the Edgemoors turned their energies to something new - building.  Several thousand orcs were sent east from Zaramaka to take up residence as farmers and traders in the newly-acquired realm of Dakhash.  Never the most efficient of farmers, the orcs employed slaves on vast plantations for most of their agriculture. In the north, a new trade route opened up to the Skane lands when the Skane created a land route from Vanaheim to the Crown Lands. Speaking of trade, Ascar merchants coming up the Raethalas river brought bargeloads of foodstuffs from the distant dark elves of Meledrian, three thousand miles away. Dak the Handsome led four hundred light cavalry on raids into the Bekanai lands of Buidhe Creag, Aonach and Bekanor as well as the Eastern March, killing dozens of humans and burning several small outposts. He was nearly killed by a well-turned pike in the Eastern March, and was saved only by his heavy iron hauberk.

Dak and Ragnar the Eloquent then traveled to the halfling realm of the Purple Hills to try to soothe the obstreperous pipsqueaks into producing more food. 

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

Distance and decay have forced the Great Church to withdraw their clerical support of the Harkorian government.  The anemic local bureaucracy was sufficient only for the most basic of functional governance, and so the burden fell upon the shoulders of young King Mikos.  Mikos, however, took to the work with a notable skill, administering his realm deftly.  He married a noblewoman of Cadares and fathered both a son and a daughter. General Aeneas defended the land with his twelve thousand cavalry, lest any should be so foolish as to attack the kingdom. In 2893, Prince Halen (Mikos's brother and heir) went missing.  He was last seen meeting with some foreign sailors in the less savory dockyards of Cadares.  He was never seen again.

South-Western Medarhos -

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

King Ankole remained in Vahdrian, under the delusion that there was an army under his command. His aides tried occasionally to point to the empty fields and barracks, but failed to get his attention. Luckily, General Gyr Fourhorn stood by in the Great Meadow with four thousand cavalry, just in case.  Just as luckily, the General remained loyal to the king. The mighty king ordered a new walled city to be built in the midst of the Great Meadow, intending it to be his future capital.  The city he named "Tauropolis" as a symbol of the power and wealth of the taurid races. Venerable Kallos Twospot traveled to the wilds of Hailh Endhor, where she managed to impose an economic alliance on the nomadic tribes. This she did by promising their chief the hand in marriage of Princess Immilia Clovenhoof. The Princess herself was off doing something mysterious in Carrenthium. Kallos died in 2893 at the age of seventy-two. Myron Redfoot, lord of Unialus, died of hoof-and-mouth disease in 2895.

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

In the southern port known as the Gate of Bells, there arose a flea market so energetic and so full of curious goods that it became a staple of trade for sailors and merchants on the Corish Straits.  Known as Trade Town, its merchants soon became wealthy enough to control a large amount of the trade flowing into Aelissia.  Ever eager to capitalize on a good thing, the Moot soon declared Trade Town to be an official guild of the realm. Now the breadbasket of the west, Aelissia sent a dozen grain ships annually to both Harkoria and Neldorea, laden with ripe wheat, barley and oats for hungry populations. King Clem Plowhorse and General Iva Blackkettle had other matters on their minds than trade.  They marched to Varbonne in Corland and combined their armies into a single force of eleven thousand lightly-armed but well trained soldiers and marched into the Northern Stoneheart mountains to subdue the giants. (See The Grail and the Giants, below) King Clem died peacefully in 2895 at the age of sixty-two. On hearing of his death, there was the usual bickering in the Moot over electing Clem's replacement.  In the end, the Moot settled on the youngest candidate, Kestrel Tallroof.

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

The Lords of Corland sat in their stony castles and brooded on the attacks of the giants. King Bertrand's sister Agnes died in a fire in 2890.  Her country villa burned to the ground during a thunderstorm and was presumed struck by lightning. Marsil of Mauredoc died in 2892 after a long and heavy bout of drinking. Lord Darras died in 2895 at the age of forty-five.

 

The Sea Empire of Lorraine - Ruler - Sir Peredur, Regent Capital - Armorica Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Lothian [A], Meliodas [FA]

The Sea Empire recruited more than a thousand elite foresters and seven large cogs to serve in the army under Sir Bryce. They then sailed with the allied troops of Malidisant to the Tarwood to meet up with the gathering Grail forces.  Sir Bryce commanded more than five thousand Lorraine troops. (See The Grail and the Giants, below). Sir Peredur traveled to the northern city of Lothian and through good fellowship and wise counsel convinced Sir Duncan to become an ally of the king's. Similarly, Sir Hagan traveled to the forests of Meliodas and called upon the nobility to renew their feudal obligations to the Boy King, Arthur. The Regent, Sir Anton, died in 2894.  King Arthur was still only twelve years old.  After much consultation by the Privy Council, it was decided that Sir Peredur should act as the king's Regent.

Long ages had the elves lain silent in their woods, a rumor only to mortal man.  And they had no problem doing it again.  Don't think they won't!

The Neldorean Wood - Ruler - Queen Nereil Capital - Elenuil Dominant Race - Elf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Tarwood [EA]

The elves of the Neldorean Wood recruited two thousand elite griffon riders to join the army of Lady Alarielle.  They marched into the Tarwood to join the gathering Grail armies. Alarielle commanded five thousand troops. (See The Grail and the Giants, below). Lord Lossëhelin spent two years in the Tarwood, continuing to reestablish Neldorean control over the region.

The Exarchate of the Great Crusade - Ruler - Exarch Rehme Capital - Pontezium Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Pomarche [A], Carrandis [FA]

The wealthy Exarchate invested in a great deal of training, particularly of its siege engineers and it's incipient force of hippogriff riders. Castles were raised across the Exarchate, from the Black Fields to the Salt Shore.  The walls of both Pontezium and its citadel the Acropolis were thickened and improved, making it perhaps the best-defended city in Theeurth. Then, too, a great deal of labor and treasure was spent in South Akasia, Saxetus and the Salt Shore to establish villages and towns, and the farms that fed the whole Exarchate. Nor was the largesse of the Exarch restricted merely to his subjects.  He dispatched considerable supply trains to the Order of the Dawn, to the Neldorean Elves and to the taurids in Brythnia.  The latter caravan was waylaid in the wilds.  All hands were slain or kidnapped and the gold stolen by persons unknown. The Exarch, concerned to start his legacy as early as possible, wooed a princess of the Pomarche, concluding an alliance with her father.  However, once safely back at Pontezium, the couple produced no children. Sir Lewis imposed feudal oaths on the men of Carrandis in the name of his lord. Sir Beau marched west with eight thousand troops to meet the gathering Grail armies. (See The Grail and the Giants, below).  In 2893, a manticore attacked a remote farm in Barrandia, killing all present.  Two months later, a flight of wyverns assaulted a hunting party in the Barrandia woods, killing five men.  Then fishermen reported seeing

strange and evil shapes lurking near the shores of Barrandia.  By 2894, the region had been overrun with monsters. The Exarch took his army, eight thousand cavalry, into Barrandia and wiped out every monster they could find.  But more kept coming, and coming...

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

The Order inducted another two thousand troops into its growing army, and indulged its wizards and priests. Missionaries in Brythnia failed to elicit much religious fervor amongst the warlike taurids, but the Order made further inroads into the dwarven hills with an Order House in Koros. Grand Mistress Praeclaria gave up command of her army to Master Turpis and instead traveled to the wilds of the eastern Firefall, where she managed to establish an Oratory. Masters Magnus and Turpis garrisoned most of their knights (eight thousand knights of the Golden Dawn) in the Akasian Hills and marched east to meet the Crusader army with eighteen thousand troops (roughly half of which were light cavalry).(See The Grail and the Giants, below).

THE GRAIL AND THE GIANTS
(The Stoneheart War)

Seven nations combined to face down Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower and his Stoneheart giants.  Aelissia, Lorraine, Neldorea, The Llyrans, the Crusaders, The Order of the Dawn and the Great Church of the Grail. The plan was for all seven to march into Stoneheart territory simultaneously.  This did not quite happen. 

There were three campaigns in the Stonehearts: those of the Aelissians in the northwest, those of the Crusader States and the Order of the Dawn in the northeast and those of the Lorrainers, Neldoreans, Llyrans and the Church in the south.

THE NORTHWEST

This attack was supposed to take place in coordination with other Grail nations, and indeed at that very hour forces from the Order of the Dawn and the Crusader States were marching into the giantish region of Mons Pilarum. However, unbeknownst to the Aelissians, the main Grail army in the Tarwood had been delayed.  This meant that Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower and his giants would attack north.  They chose the closer assailant: the halflings.

The giant army was only half as numerous as the halflings, but they were veteran warriors, huge orcs in black iron helms and a core of true giants towering over the battlefield.  Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower, King Clem and Iva Blackkettle were great military minds, all three. All in all, the giants had the advantage, but the outcome was by no means certain.

As the six thousand giantish warriors swarmed into the Northern Stonehearts, the halflings were well-prepared.  The abundance of cover and difficult terrain was well-suited to their traditional style of fighting and made perfect ground for the famed Aelissian Slingers who in the coming engagement would dominate the battlefield to an extent matched only by the true giants themselves, who hurled boulders with deadly accuracy and whose clubs could kill a score of halflings in a single blow.

Yet it was the actions of the simple halfling warrior, armed with a trusty bow and long knife, that won the battle in the end.  The sturdy soldiers gave ground grudgingly before the giantish assault, and made the foe pay dearly for it.  Stabbing from under shields or raining arrows on the enemy with uncanny accuracy, the halflings proved themselves to be, pound for pound, equal to the enemy.  By the early afternoon of the day of battle, the giant assault reached its high tide, when an assault led by the giant Angrsandr drove into the Aelissian command position and slew Iva Blackkettle.  But this assault did not overrun the position and with determined assaults, the halflings drove back the giants and reclaimed the body of their general. 

Exhausted and unable to cope with the sheer number of the halflings, the giants now began to give ground themselves.  By late afternoon, the retreat turned into a route, with bands of halfling soldiers chasing lone orcs across the high passes and leaving a trail of slaughter.  The battle had cost Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower more than two-thirds of his army dead or scattered, but it had been not much kinder to the Aelissians.  Nearly two-thirds of the army was lost.

In the years that followed, the halflings slowly regained some of their strength from the return of the wounded to their ranks, as they methodically burned every giantish farm and steading, and slew every giant or orc they could find. 

THE NORTHEAST

The forests of Leana were the gathering point for the armies of the Crusader States and the Knights of the Dawn.  Their combined army, under the unified command of Sir Beau of the Crusaders numbered twenty-six thousand.  In the summer of 2892, they marched westward into giant-held Mons Pilarum.  This was just days after the Aelissian army had marched into the neighboring Northern Stoneheart mountains. Finding no Stoneheart army to oppose them, and only local militias weakened by Hræsvelgr's conscriptions, the large Crusader/Order army crushed all resistance in Mons Pilarum and then put every giant, orc and allied human to the sword.  It was an horrific scene of merciless slaughter that turned the stomachs of civilized men, and made the depredations of the giants seem tame by comparison.

When this genocidal rampage was complete, Sir Beau's army pressed on south to the peaks and valleys of Navarye, overlooking the Neldorean forests.  There, they were met with the same light resistance they had met before.  However, assassins in the employ of the giants murdered Sir Beau and his bodyguards and escaped into the night.  Moreover, the Order's Sir Turpis was killed by the crushing blow of a giant's club during one of the many small battles that raged across the province when the Crusader/Order army began murdering all the inhabitants.  In the end, both Mons Pilarum and Navarye were left as bloody, empty wildernesses.

THE SOUTH

The armies of Neldorea, Lorraine, the Llyran Republic and the Great Church met at the Tarwood.  Their plan was a two-pronged assault on the Southern Stonehearts and the Great Stoneheart Mountains.  Bureaucratic delays and misplaced orders meant that their twenty-three thousand troops (including eight thousand mercenaries and several skyships) sat idly in the woods while the great battles of the north raged on, and Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower was fought to a bloody halt by rugged halflings two hundred miles away.

Nonetheless, the leaders of the southern Grail armies at last grew restless and as the summer of 2892 lengthened into the blazing hot days of early autumn, they marched west into the Southern Stoneheart armies. They marched in two columns.  The first was composed of ten thousand mixed human and elven troops of Neldorea and Lorraine, supported by Llyran Bishop Amonte and four skyships.  The second was an all-church force under the mercenary Sir Haden.  It was composed of five thousand primacy troops (including a thousand paladins of the grail) and eight thousand mercenaries hired by the Patriarch. While the Neldorean/Lorraine/Llyran force marched into the deep valleys themselves, Sir Haden marched for the northern border, looking to cut off any retreats. No armies worthy of the name opposed the large allied force, though ragged bands rose up to rain boulders and arrows down on the armies, strung out as they were on the winding mountain pass roads.

The presence of churchmen did not cause a variance in the plans of the alliance.  As in the north, they dragged the inhabitants of of the province out of their caves and their remote alpine farms and shot, hung, stabbed or hunted them into extinction.  In the village of Braemsthal, the entire populace was herded into a spirit temple and the edifice was set on fire.  The Church preached against such excesses, but did nothing to stop them. As in the north, no one was left alive in the Southern Stonehearts.

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

Baron Gauros summoned spirits of fire to inhabit his soldiers, that they might march tirelessly over rough terrain from sunup to sundown.  They marched swiftly to the mountains of Ghedrosia and thence down the vale of the Narglaurith river, where the Baron appeared to the people of Lycia and informed them that he had a home waiting for them in Ascarlon, far from the threat of the Harkorians and the terrible Grail Patriarch.  He ordered them to pack their bags and make ready to march. Though many Lycians saw the Baron as a savior sent by Malbor, most refused to abandon their homes.  Ascar inquisitors quickly rounded up the ringleaders and disposed of them.  After that, the Lycians marched meekly away east. Lord Xandriag Kalmentarek marched with the Baron until the two forces reached Ghedrosia.  There, he and two thousand light elite cavalry rode northward, then east to Hastaalm, where he made the same offer to the forest-dwellers that the Baron had made to the Lycians.  They received the same answer: The folk of Hastaalm would not go.  Not having the advantage of inquisitors, Lord Xandriag met the rebels in open battle, crushing their will to resist beneath the iron-shod heels of his coursers.  Once

he had rounded up the residents of Hastaalm, he made the same offer to the residents of Aluirek, promising to build them a new city on the Hammersea.  They gladly took up his offer and marched with him, the only free folk to do so.

The Baron was able to march the folk of Lycia to Lorricar, where he founded the new city of Lycia and populated it with the evacuees.  Xandriag, on the other hand, was unable to return to Ascarlon, marching the evacuees only as far as the safety of the Towers of the Sun.

Lord Bezhral, meanwhile, oversaw the establishment of a cultivation project in Lorricar and granted full citizenship to its citizens.

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

King Wargest summoned more ogres to join his growing army at Mount Kauroth.  He meanwhile ruled with an iron fist and fathered another son.  Yet another wife died in the rigors and filth of orcish childbirth. Azhnarg traveled to the human hills of Napoca and convinced the men of that formerly Ascar region to become his close allies, fielding a small force of infantry on his behalf. Blatharg the Obscene travele to the Cendarinne mountains and obtained an economic agreement before his death from open, running sores in 2893. The orcs of Auram, liking what they saw in King Wargest, voluntarily annexed themselves to the kingdom, swearing oaths of fealty to Mount Kauroth and Wargest personally. Ascar merchants arrived in Mount Kauroth bearing

shipments of foodstuffs from the distant dark elves of Meledrian.

The crisis in the Imperial bureaucracy caused by the Lederata defection had become so acute that few of the Emperor's orders were even received in the provinces.  To combat this, the Emperor inducted thousands of new functionaries to carry out his will. The hobgoblins of Carhallas and the slaves captured in recent years were put to work side by side on building a road through Lauroth to the Esharias river opposite Lascuta.  This road is still under construction. Emperor Maugroth III died in 2990 at the age of sixty-one.  His son Maugroth IV took over the nominal control of the Empire, though he was still in Lauroth with his army. An elven raid into Elsend managed to slip past the guardian castles and destroy several small villages.

The Great Kingdom of Annvar - Ruler - Emperor Truchoniax Capital - Varthane Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Bellias [NT]

The Standard of Annvar

Emperor Puchoniax recruited a thousand elite Annvar Jaegers and tried to father a family.  But in 2892 his guards heard a long wailing cry of terror coming from his bedroom.  They burst in just in time to see a horrid, vaguely manlike shape crouched over the body of their dead monarch.  It was wreathed in shadow and its eyes smoldered like noxious coals. Regaining their composure, the guards rushed forward to attack, but the shadowy figure leapt out of the window into the rain, cackling as it went.  Puchoniax was dead. The transfer of power in the new empire was surprisingly smooth and bloodless, with general Truchoniax taking over as the emperor.  Truchoniax had been away in the west, slaughtering har'keen in Kajd Tudun and Olos with two thousand mercenary cavalry when he received the call to return to the capital. There were other attacks on the government of Annvar.  Whispers spread through the army's ranks that Truchoniax had played a part in the murder of Puchoniax, and many spoke sedition against the new emperor, but the army's vigilant proctors ended such talk with swift punishments. Several of the nation's best spies were murdered in their homes or on the roadsides.  There were similar attacks on the assassins of Annvar, but those assassins for the most part got the better of their assailants, murdering many of them in return. In 2893, masked men entered the Grand Palace and attempted to set fire to government record.  They did manage to kill a few guards and clerks, but were driven back by the palace guards in a pitched battle.  Most were killed, but a few of the scalawags were captured.

Elsewhere,  Lord Pretoniax traveled to the southern city of Bellias and began to heal the rifts created by the failure of the old oligarchic system.

Almost unnoticed during  the chaos at the capital, the elves of Celendor slipped into Tusainiai and captured it, looting the region (See The Celendor Wars, below).

The Elven Realm of Celendor -
Ruler - Regent Voromë 
Capital - Ennilas
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Lords of the Grail

The elves of Celendor raised up a wall around their makeshift capital at Ennilas, and recruited twenty-five hundred troops for themselves and their allies. Regent Voromë remained in Ennilas defending the capital while a magical hedge of thorns sprang up across the border between Thuidhel and Ithancelos to the east. Most of the rest of the court engaged its neighbors in war.  (See The Celendor Wars, below).

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

The dark elves recruited four thousand archers and engineers in the deep woods, and also built castles along the Celethil river in Imlarond, Rainas and Nimbreth. In sheltered Sarion, new villages were established. In the shadow-haunted towers of Laurelindë, dark-elf sorcerers struggled to command the powers of conjuration. King Eldareth forced the Duskwood Reavers of Azhran to provide him with two thousand troops.  This was more than the Reavers actually had under arms, but at the king's insistence, they made up the rest from clerks and order functionaries. Elsewhere, it was war. (See The Celendor Wars, below).

THE CELENDOR WARS

While regent Voromë guarded the capital of Ennilas, his general spread out west, east and north.  Forendhil and Turgil of Andras marched north along the Wolf river into Annvar with three thousand troops, where they seized the region of Tusainiai and looted it.  They burned the oratory of the Duskwood Reavers to the ground. The armies then retreated to Andras.

Ondorel of Arthuial snuck across the river Celethil with a thousand elves and hid from the Meledrian army of General Anglyn. Despite the oppressive actions of the Deathseeker Assassins of Meledrian, Ondorel incited the folk of Nimbreth to rise up and attack their oppressors.  This they did, with Ondorel's help, pushing Anglyn back towards Dor Emmen.  Meanwhile, the great bulk of the Meledrian army (some seventeen thousand troops and a band of darkwood ents) had marched to Bregil under King Eldareth.  Eldareth, hearing of the rebellion in Nimbreth, marched back across the river and soon crushed the revolt, driving the tiny remnants of Ondorel's force into Arthuial.

Meledrian's general Taetransiss took to the Wolf and Celethil rivers with five light warships, five light transports and a thousand archers.  They raided the unprotected Celendor coasts from Andras to Tirondonan and sweeping up treasure and foodstuffs wherever they men could.  Only in Gilinhad did they meet with any trouble, as they were fired upon by the local citizens' militia and lost a few hundred men before they retreated back to the river.

Celendor also went a-raiding. Enetholas of Lethinan and a thousand elves launched a lightning raid into the hobgoblin province of Elsend, avoiding the border castles and burning several farms and villages.

Orofarne of Tirondonan, a Celendor ally, crossed the Celethil into Imlarond with a thousand elves.  Despite his best efforts, he ran directly into Meledrian's Aelavel Tyrnealyth in command of sixteen hundred archers and several small castles.  Orofarne's troops were badly beaten at the ford of the Celethil and beat a hasty retreat back to Ithancelos.

In 2893, several dark elf agents were discovered in Ennilas just as they were about to release wyvern tail toxin into the city's water supply.  They were apprehended and executed, but their leader escaped unharmed and unremarked.

Teams of missionaries from both Celendor and Meledrian strove for dominance in Nimbreth until the rebellion was crushed.  Neither accomplished much in the chaos. Meledrian missionaries in Rainas found few Grail devotees willing to hear their doctrines.

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

Forced to attend to the Celendor War, the Duskwood Reavers sent two thousand troops and Archon Carbonelor to join king Eldareth's army. They lost their oratory in Tusainiai when that region was looted by Celendor.

The Kingdom of Tiringol -
Ruler - King Keriadoc Stormwing
Capital - The Underhalls
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The halflings of Tiringol concentrated on the continued cultivation of Bethelas. King Keriadoc gathered the army to his personal command at the Underhalls, and ruled his small realm from there.  He fathered two daughters and a son. The halflings may not have impressed the plains tribes as warriors, but they astounded them as priests and thinkers.  Diminutive missionaries preaching among the humans of Igussus converted the entire region to the worship of the Dark Court. The sorcerer William Shroud remained ensconced in his tower in Tiringol every day (though he still enjoyed a pint and a smoke down at the Red Horse now and again). Prince Geraint led his niece Estella and nephew Edric to a meeting with representatives of the impossibly distant Dark Court primate.  They met in

The Conorrian Heartland -

The Conorrian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Kaius Capital - Echoriath Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Flavium [EA], Medensus [+9YfC], Lenicum [NT], Calodunum [A], Kildaruensis [-]

The Empire built up its network of vigiles (spies and secret police) and its defenses.  The citizens of Eleucria tore down its great but obsolete walls and built a new, much smaller wall beyond the newly-built precincts of the city.  The citizens of Benemartius at the tip of the Miletian peninsula did the same, but built no new wall to replace the old. To make up for this, a new fortress was built beside the city, rising above the sandy shore on a rocky promontory.  "Arx Roldiensus" it was named, in honor of the sea god. The most sweeping defensive works came in the region of Eatris, where ten new castles were built, along with a huge fortress right on the shore called "Arx Serpensus".  In addition to these works, canals were cut into the boggy foreshore, draining the fens that separated the rich province from the sea. In Echoriath, a new national library complex was erected just west of the Olantine hill.  An entire district of the metropolis, formerly known as the Avura, was cleared and large new blocks of apartments built to support the scribes and scholars of the library. Meanwhile, the large military transport fleet of Echoriath was seconded to the ship-hungry merchant guilds to carry yet more of the goods of Theeurth to the great capital. The Empire's legions remained stationary during this period. Senator Apionikos, a visitor to the desert province of Kildaruensis, sent missives to Echoriath outlining his extensive and vigorous efforts at diplomacy, but it was well known in Kildaruensis that the senator had yet to meet with anyone more influential than wine merchants and prostitutes.

The Emperor ordered both senators Solon and Maecinus to retire from public service.  This they both loyally did.  Neither lived more than two years longer, dying in their country estates of old age or poor health. 

Bishop Linden sailed south to the Valesian Empire to help stem the tide of conversion to the Dark Court currently sweeping that country.  The mobs in Ventas saw Linden as a foreign agitator and heretic and clubbed him to death, heaving his mangled body into a ditch where it was savaged by wild beasts.

The Great Church of the Lords of the Grail - Ruler - Patriarch Henrikos Holy City - Conorr Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Oiothon [-], Tarrentica [-]

The Patriarch's Standard

The Great Church added twelve warships and yet more transports to its already large fleet at Conorr.  It expanded the temple districts of Conorr and Uls Fakhar.  Prince Karas of Dhûnazhar joined the church as a bishop at the Brass Tower.  The Emperor of the Conorrians sent a large shipment of foodstuffs to feed the hungry multitudes of the Church's crusaders. Bishop Darsius traveled to Oiothon in the Llyran Republic and attempted to found an abbey, but had little luck amongst the magic-obsessed Llyrans. Bishop Altair traveled to the Llyran capital of Tarrentica, where he tried to canonize a monastery, but he died in 2893, leaving his work unfinished. Then, the Church went to war. The mercenary SIr Haden, already in command of five thousand Grail troops in Neldorea, took command of a further eight thousand mercenaries hired at Belfirth.  He then marched to the Tarwood to take part in the allied operations against the Stoneheart giants. (See The Grail and the Giants, above). Patriarch Henrikos and Bishop Adrastos formed an army they termed the "Expedition of Faith", consisting of ten thousand soldiers (including five thousand elite Paladins of the Grail) as well as fifty warships and nearly as many cogs. They sailed south across the Gulf of Thariyya into the Valesian Bight. Powerful storms in the Gulf of Thariyya forced dozens of ships to turn back to Benemartius, while two were sunk outright in the blowing gale.

They stormed ashore at Hypylus and quickly seized the small and poor province.  They then put to the sword every priest, preacher, mendicantand deacon for the Dark Court.  The Patriarch harldy noticed the few hundreds of his own crusaders he lost in that fight.  He then turned to the tiny town of Sirtis, an unwalled collection of shanties on the shores of the Bight and with ruthless abandon forced all its inhabitants to swear their allegiance to the Lords of the Grail, taking oaths in the name of Thandor and Agaleus.  Seeing that their own emperor had abandoned them to the violent ministrations of the Great Church, the Sirtis could do little but comply.

The backlash was considerable, however.  Throughout the lands of the Valesians, the church's monasteries and abbeys were torn down or converted to the worship of darker gods.

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

The news from the Kingdom Under the Mountain was the usual blend of new field forts (in Jaelitus) and new recruits (five hundred Dhûnazhar King's Elite).  But of far greater import was the cultivation of Phaedon, a new breadbasket for the dwarves where golden grains grew in well-ordered fields and long-haired goats wandered in neatly-fenced pastures. While King Thorin watched the borders from his throne in Khelem Vala, Lord Turok the Wise led a deputation of dwarven nobles to the hills of Valinestes.  After several years of exchanging finely-wrought gifts and singing songs of old glories, the Prince of Valinestes agreed to an alliance with the greater dwarven realm. Meanwhile, young and lovely princess Valandra was dispatched to the forests of Crisias to secure the rights to move Dhûnazhar's goods down the road to the Empire. Prince Karas was ordained a bishop in the Great Church of the Grail.

Queen Hermione took as husband an engaging young nobleman from Vigilum.  The court could see that their queen was very much in love with the handsome, if very slightly dim Royal Consort.  In any case, the queen was soon with child, giving birth to a son in 2891 and two daughters two and three years later.  Meanwhile, six hundred troops were added to the Vigilum army, including four hundred Wardens of the Hidden Gate. Lord Argent convinced the elves of Veromito to swear fealty to the queen, though their cousins in the city of Imirion remained aloof. Lord Brakus of Edhel Gorthas died in 2892, and had no sons to lead his region.  Edhel Gorthas continued to pay tribute to Pelendur, however. Two years later, in 2893, Lord Cuthbert died, having drowned when he fell through the too-thin ice of late winter while ice-fishing in Vindobala.

VALES -

North-Western Vales -

The Llyran Republic -
Ruler - Constans Vicente Marova
Capital - Tarrentica
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Coelis [NT]

Constans Pip commanded his naval cogs to strike the colors of the Red Pact of Vales and instead get to work on carrying the trade of the nation.  Pip died in 2893 while digging for treasure in the peaks of Mons Llyrae and was replaced by Vicente Marova, the suave sophisticate from Tarrentica.  Marova, meanwhile, was on the island of Coelis, negotiating a treaty recognizing the Republic's sovereignty over the island and its people. Lord Reid Bolusova used the navy to move large quantities of men and material to the mountains of Dura, where he constructed a thick-walled port fortress he named "Fort Grail." He then patrolled the seas with thirty warships on behalf of the Red Pact of Vales. Bishop Amonte comanded four skyships and a smaller skyskiff to aid the Grail efforts against the Stoneheart giants (See The Grail and the Giants, abpve).

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran -  Ruler - Queen Margaret Sommerville Capital - Sedeskan Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Maddari Diplomacy - Sandrettos [-FA]
Despite having too little infrastructure for such an extended realm, the iron will of Queen Margaret prevailed and no further regions were lost to insurrection, though restive Socphares was host to a number of small riots against the domineering foreign women. Queen Margaret gave birth to a daughter and two sons in 2891 and 2892, but in the fall of the latter year her beloved consort Frederick died of influenza. She announced that the Grounds of the Royal Consorts would hold a competition in rhetoric, poetry and dance, and that the winner would be named Margaret's heir and successor.  Graceful and elegant, Katelyn Sparhawk won this competition with ease and was duly crowned as Ahuran's heir. Katelyn led a mission to Sandrettos, but died en route of a seizure (to which she was prone).  Jessica Dawnflower endeavored to follow Katelyn's plan to charm the restive Sandrettans, but her abrasive and demanding nature infuriated them.  They rose up in anger and slaughtered her before her guards could rescue her from the incensed mob.  Once order had been reestablished, Sandrettos no longer paid tribute to the Matriarchy. Landress Tabitha of Haalthor, only thirty-eight, died in childbirth.  Her province was still closely tied to Sedeskan, but sent Queen Margaret no strong ally like Tabitha.

Har'akir - Ruler - Regent Saahir Ibn Shazanon Capital - None Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Khars [F], Dikhil [A]
	Sultan Qadir again ordered the expansion of mighty Agazier, now a rival in size to the largest cities in Theeurth, more than half the size of Echoriath or Conorr and far outstripping the small capital at Mar Awas.  It was, however, completely undefended by walls. The sultan also ordered many of Har'akir's military transports to be converted to merchant shipping, serving the internal routes between Galim, Muzir and Agazier. Admiral Bev Bevan died at sea in the year 2892.  He was returned to Muzir and buried with full honors.  Prince Saahir ibn Shazanon took over as admiral of the Akir fleet and continued to fly the flag of the Red Pact of Vales. The sultan died suddenly in 2893 at the age of forty nine. It was a catastrophe for the nation.  The disparate tribes of Har'akir, bound together only by loyalty to the person of the sultan, suddenly looked upon each other with suspicion and avarice.  The new sultan, Ahmed ib Qadir, was yet a year from his majority, so Prince Saahir ibn Shazanon was declared regent in his stead. Ridwa of Gon Bahar was the first to abandon the fragile arrangement, followed quickly by Qadir's lieutenants Haseeb and Naa'il, who were out east in Khars and Dikhil.  More seriously, the major cities of Agazier and Muzir joined in the rebellion.  Crowds surged into the streets waving banners and chanting their support for Haseeb or Naa'il. The sultan's agents managed to put down the dangerous rebellion in Agazier, abducting the ringleaders and moving the garrison to violence against the street protests.  In Muzir, it was Admiral Saahir and his sailors who relieved the governor, seized the gates of the city and systematically put down the rebellion, hanging the rebel leaders from the high walls of the governor's house. But the true danger lay in the east.  Lord Naa'il, with a thousand-man army, marched on Mar Awas.  Loyalist Prince Kiley Groucutt defended the city with ten thousand soldiers, but soon found that every force he sent out to defeat the wily Naa'il soon

wound up joining him.  By the spring of 2894, Kiley's own troops had killed him in his sleep and thrown open the gates of the capital to Naa'il.

Unfortunately for Naa'il, his trail ended there.  Lord Haseeb had arrived.  Back in Dikhil, Haseeb had revealed his true colors as a worshiper of the dark god Drauluin.  He convinced the newly-allied lord of the region to join his rebellion and with their own thousand-man army had followed Naa'il's trail.  The two confronted each other before the gates of Mar Awas and fought in single combat to determine who would enter the city as its new sultan.  Naa'il fell to Haseeb's flashing scimitar and the new commander of Har'akir's armies marched into the capital and took the name of sultan, imprisoning his predecessor's family, including young Ahmed ib Qadir. Wherever he marched, the banner of the dark lords marched with him (though for the moment, Har Mekelle and Mar Awas remain loyal to the Lords of the Grail).

Regent Saahir commands most of the urban populations, and all the naval forces, while Sultan Saheeb controls the homeland and most of the army.

Akir Rebels -
Ruler - Sultan Haseeb
Capital - Mar Awas
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Valesian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Dioges Capital - Centauris Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

Religious tensions, already extremely high throughout the Empire, burst into a blaze when Primarch Valerius ceded the region of Hypylus and the city of Sirtis to the Grail Primacy.  Mobs raged through Vales and Centauris, and the army, now with a great many worshipers of the Dark Court in its ranks, did little to stop them.  Preachers arose throughout the Empire, particularly in Euristi and Phalces. Lord Tyborg ordered his forces to kill rioters on sight, and this only escalated the violence.  The mobs howled for Valerius's blood, and the wily Primarch convinced the mobs to come to the great arena, where he promised to speak with them.  Instead, when he had assembled more than twenty thousand of Centauris's citizens therein, he sent in the army to slaughter them. It was a horrid massacre, with very few survivors.  The stink of the decaying bodies filled the streets. This was the spark of a strong resistance to the rule of the Primarch.  Mobs tore down the great statue to St. Valeria constructed a century ago by their grandfathers. Then, suddenly, palace guards found the Primarch's personal guards slain and the Primarch himself was simply gone.  Rumors spread that a pair of dark and sinister creatures were seen flying away from the balcony of the Emperor's high bedchamber. Seeing his moment, Crown Prince Dioges declared himself Emperor of Valesia and dedicated the country to the Dark Court, ordering the Grail churches shut and their priests arrested. A powerful sorcerer, and charismatic general, Dioges soon rallied the army to himself.  He had general Tyborg executed, and allowed Lord Goesen to disappear into the southern wilds.  Lord Phalcien of Phalces, disgusted with the League and the Empire, dissolved his allegiances and declared his province to be his own alone. Soon, an army of terrible creatures seemed to arise from nowhere in the midst of Thymene and make its shambling way towards Ventas.  An army of perhaps two thousand walking skeletons crossed over through Laedos and into Ventas, where they were met by the twenty-five hundred

soldiers under the command of General Lucien. A strange pall of fear shot through Lucien's ranks and many of his steadiest soldiers took to their heels and fled the battlefield.  The undead swarmed over those brave enough to stand their ground and hacked with rusted weapons or tore with cracked yellowed teeth.  Lucien managed to stand fast and defeat the horde, but it cost him half his garrison to do so.  In the meantime, local cultists were able to burn the local monastery to the ground. Certain reports identified seeing a warlock of Accolon leaving the scene of the battle.

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

The realm prospered, guided by the wise and ruthless rule of General Vuluk.  The shipwrights of Thedelos laid down the dark hardwood keels of twenty large cogs, assisted by an army of laborers, their scales glistening in the tropical heat. Villages all across Sekhem and Shenth received stout stone walls, irrigation and reliable protection from bandits and the creatures of the wild. On the banks of the sluggish Artaxes delta arose two twisted spires, akin to each other yet so far apart that the one could only be seen from the very summit of the other.  Northfang and Southfang they were, sentinel fortresses in Sekhem and Badar, guarding the entrance to the great river. Atop their jagged summits arose large crystals which could be unshuttered to signal across the great expanse of the delta, keeping the two garrisons in constant contact. While General Vuluk led the Council from Thedelos, he fathered three sons.  Captain Byrek trained a division of six thousand infantry to the rigorous standards of sathran archers.  He flushed out nearly half his troops in the process of training. General Vuluk ordered the marraige of his aging kinswoman Princess Hussinys to the sorcerer Captain Lossyn.  Hussinys, who had outlived several husbands was now discreetly mocked as the Green Widow (after the mate-eating marsh spider of the same name.)  However, this time it was she who did not long outlive the marriage.  Hussinys died in 2893 at the age of sixty-four.  Lossyn, now a prince of the realm, barely noticed. Great changes were planned for Merwal and Habu.  The governing families decreed that the Valesian language, a vestige of human

occupation, was to be eliminated in the great city.  Henceforth all official proclamations were to be in Mykelean, the language of the west.  Soon, all Merwali children would be taught to speak the tongue of Luxur so that they would not resent their rulers.  Symbolically, a luxurious and expensive project of intensive cultivation was begun in the countryside beyond the city.

There were also changes afoot not planned by the masters of Luxur.  A great northern wave of religious frenzy spread south to the Artaxes River, as human tribes and towns throughout the Valesian hinterlands embraced the teachings of the prophet of the Dark Court.  Thedelos ignored these occurrences as a human problem until the dark faith started to gain a following among the sathla of Keferis.  Soon it spread also to the port city of Kesydon.  Far to the west, other missionaries spread the fervor all the way to the shores of the sea at Khent.

The Holy See of Udjo - Ruler - Pysus Zonrez Holy City - Merwal Dominant Race - Sathla Dominant Religion - Autumna Diplomacy - Coilus [AB], Habu [MN]

After the end of the Holy Cycle of the egg which occurs once every 273 years in the common calendar, the church ordered the construction of massive PWB in cities under its influence as a blessing from Udjo himself. Mewal, Oroyon, Thedelos and Aysira all received large projects, including religious sites, temple squares and hospitals. The Holy See also constructed an academy of magic for its priests in Merwal named The Seven Sacred Scales. The Holy See sent a large shipment of gold down the Lethes river to aid the sauruses of Drormt and with them went many teaching brothers to bolster the religious strength of the Steaming Kingdom. Pysus Zonrez established an abbey in the new city of Coilus, the twin of the one beyond the city walls in Cassar.  Meanwhile, Bishop Slidumez returned to Habu and there canonized a monastery in the rich lands of the river confluences. Because it was beyond the control of the Holy See, the monastery of Sia faded in importance, becoming only an abbey.

In the east, the sathla of Keferis and Kesydon tore down the idols of Udjo and paraded through the streets with banners depicting Drauluin, lord of Bones.  The Holy See's church in Kesydon was swept away.

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

North-Eastern Vales -

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

The halflings of Thariyya began to cultivate their rich soil in Shood and Hassar around the base of the Great Wall. King Shadazar and Princess Leila both worked to rally the strength of the Grail religion in Thariyya.  The moderately-pious halflings saw little interest in more thumping of the holy books, however. Princess Leila died at the age of fifty-one in Hassar. Lord Kasad Vahdin guarded the Gulf of Thariyya with a score of warships flying the flag of the Red Pact of Vales.  The terrible storm sank one of his warships and forced the rest back into port at Uls Fakhar.  Kasad went on to convince the halflings of Hassar to renew their alliance with the nation. Azimandas Vahdin commanded the garrison of the Great Wall, some nine thousand mixed halfing troops. Many of the peninsular halflings were quite frightened when the regions of Al Muh, Bazadar and Ziyata all converted to the worship of the Dark Court.  The word of the dark gods was spreading in Thariyya as well and many rumors spread concerning secret worship of the Dark Court in the very midst of Thariyyan society. Both the allied lords of Bari and Meheskar died in 2893 during a typhoid epidemic.

The Warlocks of Accolon - Ruler - Emperor Jubal Cuu Capital - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Warlocks continued their long-term plan to teach all the residents of Carru and Eumana to speak the Valesian language used in Dammarask.  Teachers taught only in Valesian, and the Emperor's spies enforced the edict against speaking the Nurad language in commerce or the government. Meanwhile, the region of Akin continued to grow in wealth and prosperity as the Warlocks built their pleasure domes and slave farms across the breadth of the fertile plain. In the far west, a low sandstone wall was erected around the city of Korrek to keep back the bandits and jackals of the desert. In the northern city of Riatus, Emperor Jubal sponsored a merchant's guild.  Officially the Imperial Office of Excise, they swiftly became known to all as the Silverteeth because of their habit of biting coins to determine their authenticity. Emperor Jubal's wife queen Pefnar gave him one more child, a daughter, but died in childbirth. Bloody Lady Leora sought out and destroyed cultic locations across the Empire, including a Fleshweaver cell in Ham and a Shadowmaster lodge in Eumana.  A raid on a warehouse in Akin proved a false lead.  Prisoners of both cults were hauled away to the spider-filled dungeons of Dammarask.

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 - Teush [C], Ishi [NT], Harrud [-], Nin [-]

At the order of the High Priest, new temples were built at small towns and villages across Ham, and a fine temple library was added to the Arachneum at Dammarask. Priests of the Dark Court summoned up a powerful storm in the Gulf of Thariyya which resulted in driving back a part of the Grail fleet and sinking ships of both the Grail and Thariyyan fleets. Far to the south, Bishop Drel Dorath of Accolon preached tirelessly in Shenthalass, helping to raise the religious strength of the Valraj. In the southern plains, Lady Anastasia of the Icy Stare went among the Zubayid tribesmen, establishing a claim over the region of Teush and and forcing the Ishins to acknowledge the High Priest as their overlord. Bishop Dar els Azelku led a raid out of the Zab-Kin hills into the elvish hills of Adnoailin.  He was able to seize as slaves only a few elves too slow or sick to avoid him.  Dar els Azelku died in Adnoailin of an elvish arrow through the throat. His troops retreated north. Bishop Marietta, former princess-regent of Threns, traveled north to meet the halflings of Tiringol in the mountains of Imusarum south of Pelendur.  With Princess Estella and Prince Edric in tow, she then sailed south along the Esharias and then upriver along the Mulgaunt, traveling overland to the Ymarian sea and then delivered Princess Estella to the halflings of Hecadia at Salman.

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

Queen Madariel	The elves of Marador invested in walls.  They built up their defenses around the cities of Oromardi, Tintillo and Lothorion.  They also invested in roads.  A royal road now runs from Lothorion to the Balan border and the postal roads between Alako and Windan have been partially upgraded. The leaders of the Shadowguard have used their considerable
magical talents to improve the wealth and power of several Maradorian provinces. Queen Madariel continued to rule in Lantar, assisted by her son Alitcean, while her cousin Vaeril governed the capital itself. Alvar Brookseeker sought cults in Annuminas, while Thingold of Gaja did likewise in Oromardi. Evarear Darkblow traveled along the trans-Mulgaunt hills to the region of Indoglaurë, where the elves swore fealty to queen Madariel. Meanwhile, a grave threat lurked in the north.  The wave of Dark Court sentiment following the prophet Ioannes's death reached Marador.  Influenced by the orcs to the west and the humans to the north, the elves of Jebelam and Daio turned their faces from the gods the Grail and began to worship the seductive gods of the Dark Court.

South-Western Vales -

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
Ruler - King Mudorpt
Capital - Breeka
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Munampt [A]

The capital city of Breeka was decorated with art acquired from Drormt's conquests, and a grand Autumna temple was begun on the main concourse.  A shipment of bright Luxurite gold sent by the Holy See of Udjo arrived on the Ulailai river and refilled the king's coffers. It was accompanied by a cadre of Autumnan priests who continued to whip up the religious fervor of the Drormtish sauruses. Two thousand lightly-armed saurus warriors joined king Mudorpt's armies, only to be seconded shortly thereafter to Lord Kadoorp.  The two united their forces and marched north to the human forests of Jenlet, where Mudorpt and his four thousand soldiers launched a savage series of attacks, bringing the region under his control and then enslaving the natives.  Kadoorp, meanwhile, crossed the river with twenty-five hundred sauruses and conquered the peaceful region of Phalego, last of the Grail-worshiping regions on the great river.  Both Mudorpt and Kadoorp marched their slaves to the forests of Arran, where they were put to work clearing the trees for cultivation.

Lord Gadampt traveled to Munampt and concluded an alliance with Prince Hookai.

Sendahl - Ruler - King V*ko Capital - Nyange Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

The Sendahlese worked the lands of Durudin, establishing hay markets and farming villages.  The long cultivation of Mbarre continued, with much of the land cleared. Meanwhile both King V*ko and his son Crown Prince Gomo*ko took wives.  V*ko fathered a son and Gomo*ko a son and daughter. Prince Mekend the sorcerer aided in summoning spirits of earth and stream to break ground in Durudin. Lords Orta*ka and Boko governed the two cities of Bwayo and Nyange, each slowly improving their charges. The two small cities have both reached their maximum populations without expanding.

The Grand Empire of Mekebele - Ruler - Emperor Selassie Capital - Awayal Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Itubarratu [F], Eusobre [F]

Emperor Selassie returned with most of his army to Awayal, where he ruled and fathered three sons.  He also sent laborers to Eza to build an irrigation system.  Perhaps most importantly, he started a vast roads project designed to eventually link all the cities in the Empire.  His advisors estimated that it might be finished in the Emperor's lifetime. Selassie's brother Prince Shaka marched east with four thousand elite warriors and enslaved the last saurus enclave near the Empire.  Kurusu was conquered and its scaly people led into slavery, made to work on the road projects. Selassie's other brother Prince Chaka embarked into a fleet of five new warships at Jaidar and charted a course through the unknown southern waters, discovering the previously-unknown island-continent of Ukele.  Having made trading contact with the Lekandi elves, he returned to port at Jaidar. Lord Magore concluded the grant that gave full citizenship to the men of Eusobre, while Lords Ulumtossi and Yrasse of Prorte did the same in Itubarratu.  These pacts were sealed with the marriages to local lords of Selassie's eighteen year old sisters Morana and Perun. The Emperor's oldest sister, Funmilayo, wife of an Itubarratu noble, died in childbirth in 2893 at the age of forty-one.

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 - Yekrunale [C]

Banner of Aurdrukar

Banner of Khor-Naland

Dwarven work gangs continued to work slowly and part-time to carve out a road from Mikoru to Hikka.  More enthusiasm was shown for the start of a royal road leading from Dürn to the Zaghoqla border. King Dorin ruled from the Brass Tower and mourned his queen Marda, who died in childbirth in 2892. The baby did not survive. Lord Blorin traveled to the mountains of Yekrunale and claimed them for the crown of Aurdrukar, assisted by Rignus of Hikka. Lord Durn of Lrandirla traveled to the unnamed lost city in Shtekkten and never returned. Word at last came back to the Brass Tower that the Iron Hammer League had died to the last dwarf in a far foreign land, loyal to their king's command.

The elves decommissioned a large number of troops in order to allow those soldiers to build fortresses and work on other projects.  Seven thousand cavalry and one thousand infantry were taken off the Empire's rolls.  Lest anyone get the unfortunate impression that the Empire was unguarded, the Emperor made sure to put his own personal guard of ten thousand elite heavy cavalry on parade in Ezrand, and to use a further ten thousand infantry under General Talan to destroy a mere Shadowmaster cell in the capital. Two new fortresses arose in Kirenda Rashaz and Lauregalada, named Urluvar and Orduvar, they towered over the forests in graceful spires.  Speaking of forests, those two regions soon heard the startling sound of axes and saws as the elves began to clear them of wood to create cultivated lands. Former soldiers cut a postal road through the farmlands between Ezrand and Bathil.

Prince Namaril convinced good Prince Tamril of Gothambauk to join the Empire as a full member.  Lord Elvadriadnë did the same with Noldar of Baseshu.

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

Unable to stand by any longer and suffer the mania of Terbish the Builder, Lords Burilgi and Qorchi gathered the nation's troops together and arrested their monarch.  With Terbish under arrest, the two Black-Feathered Lords forced the priests to crown Terbish's aunt Gal as their queen. Terbish they locked within his unfinished tomb and shut its doors forever. During this period, the wave of conversions following the death of the prophet Ionnes swept the Dark Court into Weshtayo from the north, causing Osaru, Tresalet, Siruvay, Chom, Ssru, and Ulparahya to convert.

The Imperial Realm of Zikuyu -
Ruler - Emperor Yeeqon
Capital - Ivallkyu
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Triyara [F]

Emperor Kwame purchased magical ephemera from all across Vales and beyond to aid the magi and priests that served him. The capital city of Ivallkyu was expanded and its walls rebuilt around the new, larger city. Five hundred elite Xhosali Horse Archers were recruited into the Emperor's personal guard.  At New Mhynar, the shipwrights built ten cogs for Lord Sakhile's expeditionary force. Emperor Kwame divested himself of his army and with only his newly-commissioned Xhosali Horse Archers, rode to Triyara where he convinced Lord Umaltis to join the Empire. Lord Sakhile sailed into the Bay of Eels, and then explored across the open ocean towards the Aren Sea.

Emperor Kwame died at the age of thirty-nine in Triyara.  His eldest son, Komats, was a mere five years old, so the nobility allowed Prince Tabansi to serve as his guardian and regent.  Tabansi had no plans to serve a puling boy, however, and slew the lad on the marble steps of the palace, ordering his troops to likewise slaughter the rest of the royal family and seize the throne for him!  Lords Matsis and Yeeqon rose up to oppose the murderous usurper, though none of the provinces or cities revolted.  Tabansi had Matsis likewise murdered, but Yeeqon was popular with the troops and with an impassioned speech brought them over to his side.  He had Tabansi executed and his body thrown to wild dogs.  Yeeqon then took over the government of Zikuyu.

The Valraj -
Ruler - Sultan Ayoob
Capital - Muddakir
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Sartus [C], Durjas [FA]

The Valraji recruited a thousand new soldiers, including two hundred elite Ghandoor Foot Guards. Sultan Ayoob ruled from Muddakkir and got remarried.  He fathered a single daughter, but his new wife died during childbirth. Jamahdar the Beautiful, one of the greatest military minds of the age, trained troops in Luud and watched the borders. Prince Daruun traveled to the elvish woods of Sartus and claimed them for The Valraj.  Meanwhile, Amr Ghaas traveled to the northern woods of Durjas and enforced an oath of fealty to the crown.

Bishop Drel Dorath, Ascar prince of the Dark Court primacy, preached the word of the Dark Court from Shenthalass and increased the strength of the Dark Court in The Valraj.

Thara, Ayoob's mother, died at the age of fifty-seven in 2893.  Ylayen and Idreena, his two older sisters also died in that same year during a virulent influenza epidemic.

The Grand Duchy of Meneen -
Ruler - Grand Duke Salene
Capital - Yaz Meneen
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Zavan [FA], Khovas [C]

The elves of Meneen built two more warships and patrolled the waters of the Jaundor Sea and the Gates of Arthys. Grand Duke Salene and Admiral Feantë summoned spirits of wind and wave to help shape the province of Chodaru. Despite the recent unrest amongst the Khovars tribes, Meneen diplomats were hard at work.  In the uplands of Zavan, Lord Habnar assuaged hostility enough to gain a promise of fealty from the local chieftain.  In Khovas, the anger of the local elves was ameliorated by the wise words of Princess Emmyn. Attempts by Meneen spirit priests to sway the natives of Indrata from their worship of Nuree met with scorn and ridicule.

The Kingdom of Ukanve -
Ruler - Regent Ergon
Capital - Ukanve
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Kim Taba [F], Hydrsha [T]

Queen Edova married lord Ergon of Kim Taba, uniting their two realms.  The queen and her consort were also frequently united, producing two daughters before the queen's untimely death in childbirth in 2895.  Upon her death, Ergon was named regent for his step-son, Gene II. The nobility approved of the appointment. Meanwhile, large numbers of Ukanvan colonists were sent to settle in the jungles of Deja. Lord Retzak arranged the marriage of Princess Emma to the duke of Hydrsha, thus extracting payments of tribute from the subject region. Lord Karltone took over command of the four-thousand strong garrison of Nyelru and warily watched the borders.

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

The Nikityans built a single dragonship and patrolled the seas around Vikitana. Prince Ragnar and his brother Loki traveled to Tuanani, where they forced an oath of fealty on the Lyats tribesmen.  This created a land link to the Korondor dwarves. Yars of Veestelule died in 2892 of breathing difficulties.  His son Impri took over command of the wealthy province at the mouth of the Hekkilu river.

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

The dwarves, characteristically, concentrated on defense.  Small castles were built in Syuppit, Pupukta and Achkain, while the city walls of Orodask got wider and taller.  In Pupukta, the dwarves built a new fortress with stout walls. The entire court, from King Vorin on down, traveled to Aniatak to convince the western dwarves to ally with the Principalities.  They agreed and the alliance was settled with a marriage between Crown Prince Tolon and the chief's granddaughter.

The Shanatar Empire -
Ruler - God-Emperor Maarius
Capital - Feroe
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The God-Emperor
Diplomacy - Mukkatir [-]

The northwestern frontier province of Fakkhrem received a boundless host of laborers, farmers, peddlers, merchants, soldiers and dreamers culled from across the empire who settled its wide and fertile valleys and turned the formerly sleepy steppe into a vibrant and teeming center of culture. Elsewhere, laborers began to cut the beds for new royal roads, leading from An'Hirz to the Argabazos river and from Chamir to Malil. God-Emperor Talena dispatched her husband Migdala, her son Maarius and a host of other Shanatar diplomats to the Farmuzi city of Mukatir, along with Prince Yurin of An'Hiraz and his guard of sixteen hundred soldiers.  This extraordinary cadre of Shanatar nobility purposed nothing less than the wholesale seduction of the city away from the Emirates.  It didn't work out that way. Alert border sentries took word to Farmuzi heir Baroun ben Zahmer at Azhkatûm.  Baroun soon arrived at Mukatir with seven thousand cavalry and

issued an ultimatum to the Shanatarian party.  Prince Migdala wisely ordered his party to withdraw back across the Argabazos.

God-Emperor Talena's sister Uria died in 2891 of a wasting sickness.  The God-Emperor and her son Yarillian both died in 2895 during a dangerous fire that swept through much of the royal palace.  Saddened, the court recognized Maarius as their new lord.  After an elaborate ceremony in which he took on the divine mantle of his mother's position, Maarius became the new God-Emperor.

The Farmuz Emirates - Ruler - Sultan Baroun ben Zahmer Capital - Azhkatûm Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Azmani [F]

The Farmuzi concentrated on defense and cooperation.  They built castles and fortified hilltops across Balemel, Forecen and Jahali.  The walls of Mukatir were rebuilt, tall and broad. They built royal roads from Azhkatûm leading north to Forecen and east to the Argabazos River.  At the Argabazos, they expected to be met by a work force of Shanatarian laborers who would aid in the bridge building. Instead, the dismayed Farmuzi laborers saw an armed band of Shanatar nobles cross the river and head for Mukatir.  This was Prince Migdala and most of the Shanatarian court come to woo away one of the Emirates's cities. Swift messengers warned Farmuzi heir Baroun ben Zahmer at Azhkatûm.  Baroun soon arrived at Mukatir with seven thousand cavalry and issued an ultimatum to the Shanatarian party.  Prince Migdala wisely ordered his party to withdraw back across the Argabazos. Elsewhere, a violent purge of the national university was on its way.  Early one morning in 2893, armed soldiers roused sleepy academics out of their beds and dragged them shivering into the pre-dawn light in their bedclothes.  There, the scholars were forced to stand at spear-point for much of the morning, their pale skins beginning to redden and blister under the hot sun of the Farmuzi noon. Curious students and frightened university officials gathered at a distance to watch, wondering what crimes the unfortunate scholars might have committed.  As the afternoon wore on, several of the prisoners fainted from the heat; none were allowed to render them aid.  At last, as the sun lowered towards the western sky, swarthy archers from Dhadega and Pavila marched into the courtyard and without a word or apparent

command, shot every single one of the prisoners with heavy recurved warbows. Their bodies were dragged to a large pit behind the University and thrown in with little regard for decency.  The head of a geomancer was severed from his lifeless body and delivered in a lacquer box to the ambassador from Kerendis as a reminder of the fate of spies.

Azzizi ben Amakhar and Princess Majia convinced the emirs of Azmani to fully join the nation.

Queen Alia died of a sudden stroke in 2891.  The bereaved Sultan Iskander died later the same year, of a broken heart.  Their son, Baroun, was acclaimed as sultan.  Lord Rabin ben Shiraz also died, in 2893.

 

The Kingdom of Vaudan - Ruler - King Kavan Capital - Chegamum Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia Diplomacy - Jadh [FA], Vaklatos [EA]

Young King Kavan set about his tasks as monarch with a gusto that characterized his forebears.  He ordered that a new navy of ten light warships be built at Chegamum amidst the headwaters of the Chamir river, the better to combat river pirates.  He sent gold and laborers to Tokumande to settle new villages along the upper Kheleni river. Kavan himself worked quickly to establish himself as the 4th Vachimite King - Only the 2nd himself to command the powers of Sorcery. He traveled to Jadh, spending almost five years negotiating a quartet of royal marriages, placing his aunt and uncles into positions of power and opportunity (And smoothly removing their influence from the capital). Once emplaced, he approached the Khan of Jadh with the chance to rejoin the Kingdom - his family members already working to influence the Khan's decision from behind the scenes. To this the Khan gladly acceded, swearing an oath of fealty to the blood that flowed in the young monarch's veins. Kavan then stretched his sorcerous muscles, summoning elementals from the hills to carve new irrigation ditches across the fertile province. Lord Fereydoon led a delegation of Vaudan's nobility to convince the elves of Vaklatos that Kavan was the true Vachimite king.  This the elves knew well, and gladly agreed to an economic alliance with the nation.

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

The elves of Mainos recruited three thousand cavalry and constructed eight cogs and six warships.  Thus prepared, the United Clans continued to aggressively expand their territory. King Kaedhrol Greyfeather traveled north to Seumbut, where he laid out the historical Mainos claim over the forest's verge. Lady Tarja Elsila explored down the Kheleni River and up into the northern Lake of Dreams, extending the Clans' knowledge of the region. Lord Raimo Kaavi, assisted by allies Kyosti Ryti of Prukos and Impi Siilasvuo of Stokumuk, stormed into the plains of Vazdik with ten thousand infantry and cavalry.  They subdued the plains elves with only slight losses of their own and then drove forward to defeat the human horse tribes of Zamos.  Thus did the elves achieve a foothold on the Gardagos river. In Badmira, it was discovered that the Royal Mint had long been corrupt.  The coin-makers had been including impurities in the gold and silver and keeping the profit. This caused a crisis of confidence, both in the government and the value of Mainos coin.  Merchants began to refuse to accept any but coin from Shanatar, Shen'xi or the Empire of the Pearl.

The Dragon's Reach -

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

The Kingdom of Uheju fought for its own survival.  Eight thousand orcs in Amak came storming into Kannguheju, where the hobgoblins awaited them behind hastily-dug defensive lines and three smallish castles. The hobgoblins had nearly the number of the orcs, but were not so skilled in warfare, nor had they such a cunning general as the monstrous Angrdol. But they were hobgoblins, and they stood their ground against the reckless assaults of the orcs, screaming berserkers that swarmed over the bodies of their own dead to get at the enemy.  Hobgoblin discipline held as wave after wave of orcs slammed into their positions, slowly driving them back towards the defenses of Shkoyemri. At last, both armies tired of battle, and more by exhaustion than mutual consent, they parted.  The two armies separated by just a score of miles each regained their strength and regarded the other with hatred.  Late in that year, a fleet arrived from Ahandu, disgorging two thousand saurus allies, including more than a thousand elite Ahandu Kanka Riders.  This was a lucky stroke for Uheju, for the orcs now returned in the new year with renewed ferocity. Fortune was with the allies, for the hobgoblins not only stood they pushed the orcs back, and the swift Ahandu cavalry drove in on the orcs' flanks with an unexpected fury.  The orcs were put to flight, but there was no escape.  King Kaiden had sent his own smallish cavalry force far behind the lines and they now charged into the midst of the fleeing orcs and split them into small groups.  They and the kanka riders then pursued the fleeing orcs, killing them to the last soldier.  Kaiden and his allies stood in victory over the severed head of Angrdol and the heaps of his slain orcs. The fight had cost Kaiden more than a third of his army.

Not all the news from Uheju was good, however.  Preachers in Berat and Kaletor argued that this invasion was a sign from the gods that mortals had fallen from the true path of righteousness.  They preached a stringent life of contemplation and introspection, and naturally prohibited all forms of immodesty in clothing, action or speech.  This "Falesian Heresy" spread quickly, consuming the populations in Basok, Bennsaga and far-off Takanka.  Those regions lessened their allegiance to Uheju as a result.

 

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

The intensive cultivation of Kasadir continued unabated, as hillsides were terraced and wide canals dug. King Eddard received the emissaries of Uheju, asking for aid against the orcs, and it appeared to all that he agreed to send such aid, but gave no orders to any of his troops to move.  He hired two thousand mercenary cavalry at Tamiyot, and gathered all his vassals to him, amassing an army of eight thousand at the capital, but still he did not move. When the Uhejan ambassador pleaded with the king to march to the aid of his countrymen, Eddard simply shrugged and said "Things are as they are." Rumor had it that Eddard refused to march to aid a nation recently accused of killing his countrymen. What the king did instead was to marry Zlawa, the widow of the former king and mother of the children he may very well have murdered.  Whatever Zlawa's feelings for Eddard, he nonetheless made her a Princess Royal and fathered four children upon her.

 

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

The sauruses of Ahandu built eight new cogs and sped them north to aid the embattled hobgoblins of Ahandu.  The ships (under the command of admiral Pahuax) were laden with two thousand Ahandu and Pondu troops, including more than a thousand elite Kanka Riders under the command of General Mundi-aux. (See The Kingdom of Uheju, above). The Ahandans also set to rebuilding the the port city of Mihagga, victim of a widespread fire a few years ago. King Quetza ruled the realm, instructing his eldest daughter, Sulpheret, in the niceties of administration. Lord Conqua-adohi traveled to the southwestern province of Spanled and with cold, well-calculated lectures, converted the Spanled nobility to the worship of Orithia.  In this he instructed Tzahex, the king's son and heir. Missionaries into the wild prairies of Konu fared less well.  They were roundly ignored by the amused horsemen, who saw little use for such gods as were not in the wind and the rain and the sun. The Lord of Chojde died in 2893.  After his death, his heir fell to squabbling over their inheritances and war in the province caused all factions to ignore the relationship with Ahandu.

The Empire of Mogodor -
Ruler - Queen Lysistrana
Capital - Aone
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Januaan [FA]

The Empire of Mogodor recruited two thousand light elite infantry into its ranks, moving it once again towards a dominant military position among the Seven Kingdoms. Lord Ystris prevailed upon the proud Janute tribesmen of Januaan to swear an oath of fealty to the queen, thus bringing to her service not only the region but the considerable Januaan militia. Lord Mesak tried to sail to far western ports, but found it difficult to do without any rutters. Lord Oret, governor of Tekkur, died of a stroke in 2892.

The Kingdom of Suhanir -
Ruler - King Valiel Sunlord
Capital - Kaonayu
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Sunatosuk [C], Kimmaktu [EA]

The elves of Suhanir recruited a thousand elvish archers and filled the forests of Polonel and Rakinittuj with small villages and beautiful shrines. In the region of Kimmaktu, they built the port of Ki Maru, from whence they received the trade of Nuitai, Tekume, Choran, Shen'xi and the Empire of the Pearl. Prince Marahel traveled to Sunatosuk and laid out the claim of the Kingdom to the southern woods. Lady Halath traveled to the suddenly-important woods of Kimmaktu and made them an excellent bargain for their fealty. A sudden earthquake in Menmanga shattered the afternoon and brought many small villages to their knees.  So great was the power of the quake that the earth around Miyotla lifted up into the sky, separating the city from the water and suddenly stranding it inland!  Having no other port on the Dragon's Reach, Suhanir was cut off from the trade of many nations.

The Kingdom of Amantai -
Ruler - Queen Sara
Capital - Mahlish
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia

Queen proposed to Barlo of Jutuh that they unite their two realms with a marriage between them.  Stunned to be chosen by the radiant queen, Barlo quickly agreed and became her royal consort.  He got the legendary beauty with child three times over the next five years, fathering all sons.  His attention focused entirely on the queen, he proved to be a poor governor, starting several projects that were not finished. Lord Gerald the Chaste took over command of the national army at Haga. Queen Sara hired the Brass Banner adventuring company for an unknown purpose.

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

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

The hordes of undead in the service of Kuan Li Jiang overran the terrified defenders of Soldu.  Terrible storms raged throughout the Sea of Fallen Stars and the Ambad Straits.

The Kingdom of Choran -
Ruler -  King Kerian
Capital - Choran
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serikku Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Entemal [EA], Narvalos [-]

The Council of Choran ordered eight new warships to be built at the city's own dockyards.  Andishil received gold with which its built a system of flooded meadows in the uplands. The southern colony-city of Tolnek continued to grow in size and importance, and the Council was careful to see that its walls and harbor defenses grew with it. King Keiran saw to it that much of the shipping which had been serving the far south (Khudukan and Wayahapta) was diverted to fishing in local waters. Lord Shakiru continued to intrigue with the orcs of Entemal, convincing the Keddihr tribes that they were far better off allowing the wealthy human cities to establish their trade and coinage. Phalen the Proud, former captive of the giants, died in 2892 while on a diplomatic mission to the elves of Narvalos. Nagurii of the Green Pang was commander of th

Choran fleet, guarding the seaways from enemy raiders.

The great explorer Chausian continued to push the limit of Choran sea presence, charting the Hamna Coast and the far southern Peluruju Sea.

The Empire of Tekume -
Ruler - Emperor Go-Bitron
Capital - Suru'or
Dominant Race - Giants
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Kitike [-]

The giants of Tekume built another sixteen warships, bringing their total to well over fifty.  This huge and dangerous naval force put to sea under the command of Emperor Vo-Laareth The Tekume fleet took up station off the north coast of Shen'xi in the Soldu Sea, and linked up with their hobgoblin allies from the Kolyut Hegemony.  Hobgoblin admiral Rowl Thrump arrived in command of a further thirty warships.  The naval forces launched a desultory raid on Baoquin in an attempt to draw out the naval forces of Shen'xi that were sheltering in Shiyin Harbor.  But the Shen'xi commander, in possession of roughly one-quarter as many ships, refused to take the bait. In Elmindon of 2894. Vo-Laareth took his navy to the southeast and entered the Krathos Sea.  Here, powerful storms battered his fleet, driving back fully half of them and sinking five ships.  Undaunted, Vo-Laareth led a very successful raid on the forests of Xifeng, stripping the province.  Next, he launched a raid on the cultivated lands of Shi and met his match. Lord Jian Ti of Shi, with two thousand ready troops, surprised Vo-Laareth, tricked him into a deep raid and managed to burn nine ships on the beach.  The Emperor withdrew with nothing to show for his raid.  A later raid on the forests of Youshi was successful.

As his fleet sailed back towards Suru'or, Vo-Laareth suffered a heart attack and died.  His men brought his body home to discover that in their absence, the giants of the Tekume hills had risen up and caputred the Tekume homeland of Karisdu.  Eight thousand strong (including a majority of servitor races), the giants demanded tribute from Tekume or promised to seize the rest of the island.

The Kolyut Isthmus -

The Sylvan Realm of Hecadia -
Ruler - King Marco
Capital - Belgramma
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Kebe [FA], Maviran [EA]

The halflings of the Sylvan Realm recruited a further three thousand infantry and cavalry to maintain the peace. Villages and farms were improved with wells, silos, markets and walls in Kebe, Rumavat and Rundar. Regent Jasil hired the Night Lotus adventuring group to fight a powerful spirit in Maviran...but they never returned. The Regent himself traveled to the well-ordered burrows of Kebe and convinced the halfling farmers to swear an oath to the boy king Marco. Marco himself came of age in 2893 and assumed the throne.  The ceremony was attended by Princess Estella of Tiringol, the far-northern halfling nation, and by Princess Marietta of Threns, a bishop of the Dark Court Primacy. Jasil, now a prince of the realm, died in 2894 of pneumonia. Queen Serah, after whom the city of Serah Harbor was named, died in the same year, of a heart attack. Lord Lorne traveled to the elvish forests of Maviran and concluded a treaty that allowed Hecadia to set taxes over the province in exchange for its defense.

The Kingdom of Kerendis - Ruler - King Eóganán Makkure Capital - Orbelain Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The men of Kerendis built up their fortifications, more concerned by outward threats than those within.  Castles were built in Rabiate and Chemada, and an enormous effort put into building and populating the region of Chemada. Missionaries in Emparar had a small influence on the spread of the Shaelothian heresy, and those sent to Awibiat were ritually flung into fighting pits to be destroyed by monsters.  Bishop Hector Draess traveled to Awibiat to inveigh with the nobility against the heresy, but with extremely limited success. King Lochilann died in 2893 at the age of forty-six.  His fifteen year-old son was enthroned under the guidance of his mother the queen, and allowed to take the reigns of government the next year. The King's elderly advisor Kalros died in the same year at the age of eighty-two. Prince Cormac commanded the navy and watched the coasts...especially the western ones... closely from the harbor of Orbelain.

Lord Búadachán sailed south with five warships and charted the Gates of Arthys, allowing the flow of trade to run between Kerendis and the ancient empire of Rajahdan.

The Kingdom of Threns -
Ruler - King Arcanon
Capital - Vaayil
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Madarah [C], Siruvargal [-], Patsuma [NT]

King Arcanon assumed command of the main army, six thousand infantry at Vaayil.  He married a wisp of a lass from the best noble family in the city and set out to rule his kingdom as never before. Lord Perejilium traveled to Madarah, and laid out the Thrennish claim to the salt mines there. Prince Roberton spoke long with Lord Maranjuez of Siruvargal, but could not convince that worthy mayor to give up his city's independence. Lord Mulostrium and his four hundred men persisted in searching the mountains of Sanoon, and were never seen or heard of again. Princess Cariotta gave a caravan-load of gold, furs and aromatic wood to the Kolyut Hegemony in exchange for the return of Patsuma, over which she soon established Threns's exclusive claim. Speaking of tributary shipments, one arrived from Ruanach, almost twice the size the one sent to the hobgoblins.

The Kolyut Hegemony -
Ruler - Hegemon Moodor Sharptongue
Capital - Ketarid
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Kumajr [A], Kebeliha [-]

The hobgoblins of the Kolyut Hegemony prepared for a war at sea.  Unfortunately, naval warfare was not their specialty and  the Hegemon felt forced to invest most of his treasury in extensive training for his naval forces.  Fifteen new warships were laid down in the ways and slips of Komirut, and a further ten mercenary warships to aid in the upcoming assault on Shen'xi. Hegemon Moodor gathered to him the command of the main army, ten thousand trained soldiers at Iratush.  Then he marched to Aya, where he seized Shen'xi merchant ships in Komirut and watched the border for incursions. The mercenary general Yrchor One-Hand gathered together many garrisons to form an army of four thousand light infantry that guarded the capital at Ketarid. Rowl Thrump took command of the Kolyut navy: twenty warships and ten mercenary ships.  He sailed out of Komirut to meet up with his ally, the giants of Tekume and their enormous fleet.  Together, they patrolled the Soldu Sea for many years until they agreed to split up and raid the coasts of Shen'xi in 2894. Thrump and his thirty warships executed flawless, textbook raids against the Shen'xi provinces of Baoyu, Shian and Yuanchun, carting everything in the province, from sheep and cattle to precious idols and works of art. However, this extensive raiding allowed Lord Xan Chow of Shen'xi to catch up to Thrump with his own fleet out of Shiyin.  Twenty-three Shen'xi warships sailed out of a hazy sunlit sea to challenge thirty Kolyut ships.  Though large, neither fleet was particularly skilled, and the engagement was mostly one of raking fire with burning missiles and the occasional ramming (not all intentional).  Luck (or the Kifan gods) was with the humans, and they drove the hobgoblins back into the  waters of the Kame Wai.  Twelve Kolyut or mercenary ships were dismasted or hulled, and had to limp back to port, while a further nine were sunk or seized by the enemy.  Only nine were in fighting trim by the time they sailed into

Komirut harbor. By comparison, the humans suffered only moderate losses.  Six ships damaged and five sunk.  The men of Shen'xi managed to board and seize two Kolyut ships.

Lord Dinguw the Shrewd conducted diplomacy for the Hegemony.  The hobgoblins of Kebeliha paid little heed to the northerner, but those of Kumajr appreciated the promise of a royal marriage for their chieftain and agreed to ally with the Hegemon.

The humans of Threns sent a wagonload of gold in payment for the return of Patsuma province.

The Ruans summoned labor from across the Free Cities to till the soil and improve the land of Daal every summer.  Each Captain was required to send a number of laborers based upon his wealth and position. Most of the royal court traveled as one the regions of Aramite, Mairtho, Davashu and Bendraj, arranging a comprehensive economic alliance. King Histro spent 2895 haggling with the Captain's Council, moving ships from the Fashanru to Oprawa run and sending them farther afield, to Shanatar, Farmuz and Sengkar. Throughout it all, Admiral Markand patrolled the Ruan Straits and Prince Kolyu remained on watch with the army.

The Delves of Ahum - Ruler - King Daven Silentpad Capital - Saumya Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Nuree

The halflings of Ahum knew the jig was up in the sathla regions to their south, and tried to salvage something from the effort.  Fifteen thousand halfling warriors traveled to Amovish, where General Wiseman Silverring tried to convince the Amovish sathla to evacuate the region in advance of the coming of Rajahdan.  The sathla, amused, told Wiseman that they did not fear their southern brothers and no interest in leaving the jungle.  Disappointed, the Ahum army withdrew to the city of Marabin. Lord Turuk Daggermaker and a host of halfling missionaries completed the conversion of the Sauryas nobility to Nuree just months before the army of Rajahdan marched in and assumed command.  The peasantry, still loyal to Autumna, immediately reverted to the ancestral religion. Young Daven Silentpad assumed the kingship when Poppy Artfulspark died in 2893.  He attempted to name his brother Karelak as his heir.  "Maybe when you're older," assured his court as they quietly but effectively quashed that idea. Allied lord James Ronald of Dhal died in 2894.  Dhal continued its alliance with Ahum. In 2895, King Daven renounced control over Sauryas and Amovish.  However, those regions had been in the control of the Empire of Rajahdan for more than a year.

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

The orcs of Virityal, under the command of the ancient Raj Algoz, trained relentlessly in many areas of warfare, including siegecraft, cavalry tactics and sorcery. Algoz, who at nearly eighty continued to be hale and hearty, ruled over his kingdom and his army with an iron fist, appointing his grandson Lurg as a new prince of his court. Lurg's father Taurog, also old for an orc at nearly sixty, commanded the Virityal army at Chharit.  Like his father, Taurog showed no signs of slowing down despite his age. Princes Porg and Jausar led three thousand orcs on a blood raid into the hills of Rhudavi. Porg died when a slight wound he suffered festered and his leg had to be amputated.

Likewise, Drog the Destroyer, governor of Charrit, died of the pox in 2893.

The Empire of Rajahdan-
Ruler - Emperor Zlathex of the Jungles
Capital - Jalahl
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna

The Empire of Rajahdan recruited three thousand additional elite troops (roughly even numbers of heavy elite infantry and sathran archers) and the reorganized the Empire's armies into two great groupings. The Emperor commanded twenty-two thousand mixed troops and defended the capital. Lord Adohichii commanded the striking army, with fifteen thousand infantry. In addition, a postal road was driven into the jungles of Virunir, shortening the way to the port of Mhu Thulan.  Speaking of ports, traders from Mhu Thulan sailed east up the Nhodras river to establish trade with the dwarves of Khudukan, while in the west, trade from Kerendis began to pour into Oriab on the Gates of Arthys. Lord Adohichii marched his army northwest towards the Ahum frontier, crossing the Sudarsh river into the jungles of Assa.  They then turned east, rolling into Sauryas and Amovish and easily crushing the opposition in both provinces. Contrary to the expectation of the Amovish sathla, Adoichii had no intention of permitting them to retain their new Nuree religion. He

ordered the Nuree priests to be whipped out of the province and all their shrines burned and defiled.  It was death, he announced, for any sathla henceforth to worship any god but Udjo.  A few hundred Nuree martyrs served to make his point.

Sathla missionaries to the northwestern orcish province of Viraben had little success in capitalizing on earlier gains in the region.  It appeared that no more orcs were interested in worshiping the Scaled god.

A harsh series of typhoons damaged the crops in much of Rajahdan, straining the kingdom's usually plentiful reserves.

Anku Elevya -
Ruler - Emperor Vesileth V
Capital - Jinguir
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Macaran [FA], Juta [A], Judalsaya [FA], Munkump [FA], Mengkua [FA]

The great Anku Elevya love of religious building continued in the marshlands of Imak.  There, they constructed the fifth of the dragon temples. A series of curved obelisks are raised in the muck, worshippers and initiates swim along the sacred path, basking around the carved stonework in contemplation. The murky trail ends in an open-air temple which surrounds one of the more regular channels of swamp gas. Temple priest ritualize the expulsions of the gas, alighting the bursts into spectacular displays of flame and heat. All of this whipped the Saurus religious sentiment to a fever pitch.  Shouting crowds of muscular sauruses demanded a crusade to convert all the world to the worship of the dragon spirits! Priests continued to convert the Kifan sauruses of Macaran to the worship of the spirit cults, but had little further success in the south. Emperor Vesileth strongarmed the various merchant fleets that traded with foreigners down the Nhodras

River into serving his cities alone.  He also ruled from Jinguir and fathered another son.

Wano of Pekesedun died of scale rot in 2893.  His son continued the alliance with the Empire, but was not a close friend to the Emperor.

The entire court followed the elven mercenary diplomat Alandeth down the Maharimi River and swept into the Empire the regions of Macaran, Juta, Judalsaya, Munkump and Mengkua. This left Dipan and wealthy Puntama as the only independent saurus governments in Changshai.

The Celestial Empire of Shen'xi -
Ruler - Emperor Lou Tan
Capital - Wu Lan
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Kifan
Diplomacy - Kofang City [A]

The Celestial Empire built a mere three warships.  It would have need of a great many more. A vast fleet of more than eighty Tekume and Kolyut warships took up station in the Soldu Sea.  They raided Baoquin in a bid to draw out Admiral Xan Chow and his small fleet, but the wily Admiral did not rise to the bait.  Later, the two fleets would split up. Fifty Tekume warships sailed into the Krathos Sea, where they encountered the curiously powerful sorcerous squall summoned by Xan Chow himself (See The Empire of Tekume, above.)  The Tekume army nevertheless devastated Xifeng and Shi with powerful raids. The smaller Kolyut force sailed west to raid along the Sea of Shen'xi, which it did with breathtaking brutality and thoroughness.  However, Admiral Xan Chow saw his moment and caught up to the marauding hobgoblins before they could make good their escape.  He won a decisive victory over their fleet within sight of the towers of Kofang. (See The Kolyut Hegemony, above.)  The Admiral died peacefully the following year. In 2893, a raging fire erupted amidst the warehouses and docks of Kofang. It burned for days and destroyed hundreds of houses and public structures.  Investigating magistrates found a large and hastily-drawn image of a kraken at the site of the fire's origin.

Emperor Mei Wo married in 2891, but his bride died two years later in childbirth.  The Emperor placed an embargo on all trade to the Kolyut Hegemony and the Empire of Tekume after the attacks.

Lord Han Ao Ri traveled to the city of Kofang and signed a treaty of alliance.  The men of Kofang, eyeing the large hobgoblin armies in Aya and Iratush, were eager to have closer to ties to the Celestial Empire. Conversely, the lord of upland Jingqi distanced himself from the Empire when his father died, though he still placed his troops at the Emperor's command.

Lord Jian Ti, whose army fought so superbly against the giants at Shi, died in 2895.

The Lulipayat Empire -
Ruler - Khathros X
Capital - Kelakuan
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna

The great project of the era was a new sathla city rising beneath the palm fronds of lovely Tasarwi. Lord Thesk ferried the men and materials between Kelakuan and Tasarwi on four separate trips.  The long years at sea proved too much for him and he expired at the end of his fourth voyage. Emperor Khathros X ruled from Kelakuan and fathered a daughter upon his new bride. Lord Chan Tao and his cadre of sathla missionaries continued the conversion of the nobility and peasantry of Mukarma to the worship of the scaled god. Chan Tao died in Mukarma in 2895. Allied lord Darlek of Mersemb traveled to the city of Banyak, where he spread the fashion amongst the nobility of worshiping Udjo.  This soon became the dominant religion in the city, even though most of the city's commoners still frequently and casually worshiped the spirits.

 

The Serenity of Wayahapta - Ruler - King Alycor Capital - Keluan Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Waynauruta Islands [T]

Like the sathla to their west, the halflings of Wayahapta built a new city.  Named Kun Dao, it would one day serve as a conduit to the wealth of Omasune.  For now, it was simply a disorganized collection of huts on the rocky shore of Hawhu. Good King Alycor ruled from the throne in Keluan.  It was by his great energy alone that the more distant parts of the Serenity remained in contact with the central government.  Alycor met with tragedy in 2892, when his beloved wife Narees died in childbirth, leaving him without wife or heir. Lord Mendrassu sailed south to the human-inhabited Waynauruta Islands with three warships and imposed on the simple natives a tribute payable every five years. Much of the coinage used in Wayahapta is silver, mined in the hills of Ustchamn and Mat'apqa. It became known in 2893 that the humans of Ustchamn were substituting baser metals in the silver, causing a sudden drop in the value of Wayahaptan currency which caused a drop in taxes.

The Dwarven Realm of Khudukan -
Ruler - King Xang Glitterdelve
Capital - Nodo-Xan
Dominant Race - Dwarf
Dominant Religion - Kifan

The dwarves of Khudukan decided to intercede in the elvish war on behalf of the Empire of the Pearl.  King Kodor assembled his army at Tomarom, and after some sorcerous invocations, set out with ten thousand dwarven soldiers, most of them elite Khudukan Bear Guards, to cross the Oji river and enter elvish territory. (See The War of the Pearl, below). King Kodor was victorious in his battles, but old and frail.  The excitement of the storming of Akagekku was too much for him, and the old dwarf died in the night, even as his soldiers were looting the land of Kenomus. It was then that brilliant, treacherous Sirom Stiffbeard struck.  In sole command of the entire Khudukan army, he declared himself king and marched back towards the mountains, seizing Kimakaw and Tomarom along the way. Now did Xang, son and heir to Kodor, regret his father's rash decision to send the entire army forth to war, holding back nothing in reserve.

The Empire of the Pearl -
Ruler - Emperor Sakurako Hideyoshi
Capital - Kuemas
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Kifan

The weakness of the Pearl government in the wake of Hitotome's destruction began to take its toll.  Karikom and Masuko ceased to recognize the Empire's authority. The city of Tsushiru, meanwhile, began to trade independently of the Empire's missing magistrates, though it still sent tribute to the capital. The Pearl Empire sent all its own workforce off to the safety of the rear lines to study administration.  Since the fall of Hitotome, the Empire was operating on a bureaucratic shoestring. Sensible of the greater number of Akagekku forces, Regeng Hideyoshi hired all the Changhsai mercenaries he could, including those from the Kifan, Autumna and Spirit Cult regions.  In total, he hired more than twelve thousand mercenaries to supplement his own six thousand soldiers.  Hideyoshi then wasted no time in going to war (See The War of the Pearl, below). Meanwhile, he released the regions of Rikomus and Tsuko to govern themselves, acknowledging only the titular suzerainty of the Empire.

The Jade Republic of Akagekku -

ELIMINATED

 

The elves of Akagekku recruited two thousand archers and vied with the Pearl Empire for control of the Kifan mercenaries.  They managed to hire five thousand to their side. King Edorel forced Saito Kaoku, captive Empress of the Pearl, to marry him, and declared himself Emperor of both Akagekku and the Pearl. With fifteen thousand soldiers at his command, General Findarwin went to war. (See The War of the Pearl, below).

THE WAR OF THE PEARL

Agaleon, 2891 - Pearl Regent Sakurako Hideyoshi summons mystical protections about his own person.

Strynod, 2891 - The twelve thousand mercenaries hired by the Pearl march from Kuemas towards Komotsu. In Nodo-Xan, Khudukan King Kodor begins to cast an enchantment that will allow his voice to carry across the battlefield for many years. Akagekku's General Findarwin marches into Masugin.

Maravis-Cleon, 2891 - The Pearl army sacks and burns the city of Komotsu. Akagekku's General Findarwin marches into Karinoy.

Daarlem-Northhale, 2891 - The Pearl army loots the province of Kumidor.  Akagekku's General Findarwin marches into Kenomus.

Berlas, 2891 - On the move at last, King Kodor's dwarves arrive at Gondosh.

Agaleon, 2892 - The Pearl army marches into Karinoy.

Strynod-Cleon, 2892 - The Pearl army subjugates Karinoy. The Pearl mercenaries finally catch up to the smaller Pearl army. The Khudukan army marches into Tomarom.  The Akagekku army prepares defensive positions in Kenomus.

Daarlem, 2892 - The Khudukan army begins its crossing of the Oji River. The Pearl army marches towards Kenomus.  The Akagekku army marches towards Karinoy. The encounter each other in an apple orchard near the ill-defined border between the two.

The Battle of the Apple Orchard
(Daarlem, 2892)

Six thousand Pearl elves marched into the northern end of the broad orchard on a fine, hot day in late summer.  Their banners hung lifeless in the still air, but their panoply of war shone in the morning sun like a rippling fire of silver, and their horns sounded sweet and clear across the killing the ground.  Half of them were elite soldiers in cunningly-wrought elf mail, while the other half were highly trained siege engineers, unfamiliar with battle on the open plain. With them stood a motley, but highly organized host of every race and religion in Changshai. On the south end stood ten thousand Akagekku elves, mostly archers with a core of cavalry and elite foot guards.  Dressed in black and silver, they were motionless, unnerving and utterly silent.  To either flank stood Kifan mercenaries, a total of five thousand foot and horse.  Without any apparent signal, it began.

As the buzzing hail of Akagekku arrows rained down on the Pearl host, men and elves began to fall in bitter gatherings.  At a clarion from the Pearl command, the Pearl mercenaries returned fire while the center surged forward, eager to close the gap before the deadly elves of the south could feather any more of them than necessary.  A countercharge by the Akagekku mercenaries and Findarwin's elite guard resounded across the plain as elf rent the flesh of elf, and the blood of the Firstborn mingled in the thirsty soil with that of man, halfling, dwarf and sathla. The magically-sharpened blades and arrowheads of the Akagekku elves vied with the waves of sorcerous power that emanated from Sakurako Hideyoshi.  The Akagekku advantage in cavalry was pitted against the Pearl mastery of light troops.

Though both Hideyoshi and Findarwin were fine commanders, the day was won not by maneuver or sorcery, but by the sheer weight of numbers and the superior quality of the mercenary troops.  Bit by bit, the Pearl host pushed their Akagekku adversaries back from their position, leaving behind their dead and wounded until at last night fell, bringing a lull to the fighting. 

Findarwin used the cover of darkness to retreat, leading the bloody remnants of his beaten army back into Kenomus.  Hideyoshi, meanwhile, was hardly more eager for a renewed contest, and retired to Karinoy to rest and rally his troops.    The contest had cost Findarwin more than half his army, and Hideyoshi a third of his.

Northhale-Berlas, 2892 - The Pearl and Akagekku armies recovered from their battle in Karinoy and Kenomus.  The dwarves of Khudukan continued to cross the Oji River.

Strynod, 2893 - The Khudukan dwarves entered Kimakaw.

Maravis, 2893 - Fully recovered, the Pearl army now numbered fifteen thousand and began to march towards Kenomus.  The Akagekku army now numbered ten thousand.

Cleon, 2893 - The Khudukan dwarves and Pearl elves entered Kenomus, linking up in the western vales of the province.  Findarwin of Akagekku, seeing himself suddenly outnumbered by more than two to one, retreats his army behind the walls of Akagekku.

Daarlem-Northhale, 2893 -  The combined Khudukan/Pearl army subdues the region of Kenomus.

Berlas, 2893 - The long-awaited siege of Akagekku gets underway.  Unable to surround the city by sea, the allies use elvish siege engines and dwarven tunneling to undermine and overthrow the walls.

Maravis, 2894 - The siege, which has lasted through the winter, at last reduces the walls, and the allies pour into the breaches to attack the Akagekku elves.  General Findarwin is slain by an unknown spearman while defending the gates of Akagekku. Akagekku's governor, Lord Faressë, dies when his mansion collapses on him.  King Edorel of Akagekku is captured in his palace.  He is lame from childhood and cannot flee.  Empress Saito Kaoku is dead, killed by a flaming ball of pitch which shattered the palace's roof.  The Republic of Akagekku is no more.

Cleon-Daarlem, 2894 - The Pearl armies sack and burn Akagekku.  The dwarven army loots Kenomus.  Dwarven King Kodor dies in his tent, and General Stiffbeard declares himself king of Khudukan.

Northhale, 2894 - The dwarves depart for Khudukan. The Pearl army returns to Karinoy and seizes the unwalled city of Habuti. 

From there, the elves go on to reclaim Masugin and Hanaze, leaving only a smoking ruin where once the mighty Republic stood.

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

King Galens released Kiakamba from its feudal responsibilities.  He directed that the wealth of the nation be spent in pursuit of training officers to support the magistrates and chieftains, and also in support of the scholars of Suwelho. All thought of scholarly pursuits, however, were thrust from the elven mind by the startling arrival of visitors from beyond the great sea...whence legends spoke of a land of creatures with the powers of gods.  Like unto elves they were in form, yet full of ideas and thoughts unknown to the elves, and bearing gifts of cunningly wrought gold and silver. Yet these "men" were rude of face and speech, and seemingly indifferent to the spirits of the world that spoke so wisely to the elves. Their leader named himself Prince Chaka, and told of his father's mighty realm far to the north in a land named Mekebele, where men bestrode dragons and mated with them also! Thereafter, traders came ever and anon out of the sea, but in no wise would they speak of the sea-roads they had trodden, nor of the exact location of their distant home. Lassesul of Kupenda set sail into the north to chart the sea-roads, but he never returned to Lekandi, lost with all his men and ships.  His son continued to serve the King with troops, but was not the close ally his father had been.

Page Completed 25 March 2008