LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
"LORDS OF THEEURTH"

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"Much my heart misgives me, sister," Lakshman hesitated still,
"Tis some deep deceitful Raksha wearing every shape at will,

Monarchs wand'ring in this forest, hunting in this lonely glen,
Oft waylaid by artful Rakshas are by deep devices slain,

Bright as day-god or Gandharva, woodland scenes they love to stray,
Till they fall upon the heedless, quick to slaughter and to slay,

Trust me, not in jewelled lustre forest creatures haunt the green,
'Tis some maya and illusion, trust not what thy eyes have seen!"

 - Ramayana, VI:III

1) A huge minority of you steadfastly refuse to write diplomacy orders as requested. Please read Hint #3 at the end of Newsfax #3 in the Archives. Sheesh!

2) Don't give me prose. Write "10c" in the builds section and "Rome" in the area column, not "Build ten cavalry in Rome".

3) If you're going to give built troops to a leader, just say that in the builds section. It's a real pain to put them in the garrison, then erase them, and re-write them in the leader's army.

4) Write your troop numbers in lower case ("10xi, 15xc", not "10XI, 15XC"). That way I can cut and paste and my time is saved.

5) Existing projects go in the..."Existing Projects" portion of the orders.

6) Please, for my sanity, STOP raiding barely-inhabited wildernesses (not talking to the orcs, here). Guess what's in them? Nothing! Guess how long ago I stopped actually doing the math on raids of barely-inhabited wildernesses? Turn 2. If you're too timid to raid cultivated regions...keep the troops at home! I must write this bit of advice thirty times per turn.

7) Raids do not produce slaves. Especially raids of barely-inhabited wilderness.

8) You cannot spend partial NFP (e.g., 3.5 NFP) on projects.

9) If your project is finished, say that in the project notes. Help a brother out, here!

10) You can't have new kids if you don't name all the old ones.

11) You can't give orders to leaders you won't name.

12) CF ops without a good cover story are doomed to failure.
 

MEDARHOS -

North-Western Medarhos -

The Skane Jarldoms -  Ruler - Queen Ayn Capital - Vanaheim Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Tigelion [C]

The Edgemoor Orcs -
Ruler - King Tallo
Capital - Zaramaka
Dominant Race - Orcs
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Gaudhon [NT]

King Tallo named his sons Kraank and Gree as heir and prince, respectively.  He then obsessively spied on Kraank to ensure the boy's loyalty. Dak the Handsome traveled northeast into the Rhanalorian plains of Lidalya with four hundred light cavalry, where he raided the region of Thone.  Unfortunately for him and his orcs, the men of Thone bore down on them with more than a thousand cavalry, obliterating them utterly. Ragnar the Eloquent marched from the Southern Edgemoors to the hills of Gaudhon, where he convinced the orcs to acknowledge Tallo as their nominal overlord.  He then marched north into the former Tirgonian land of Sothwall and garrisoned it with eight hundred light infantry. Orcish shamans traveled across the Eastern March, spreading their dire religion to the hillmen. Given the reversals of the last century, there were many in the Eastern March willing to listen to their promises of dark glory.

. 

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

King Mikos ruled from Cadares, fathering a daughter in 2899.  He hired many court scribes and priests to help run his weakened government, but with no noticeable improvements. In 2897, Mikos ordered that anyone who settled in the empty regions of Lycia across the Narglaurith river should receive of the crown a hide of land, a cow and a pig.  This costly move encouraged a great many landless or poor young families to cross the river despite the proximity of the Hills of Terror.  Mikos also ordered that a single small castle be built to protect the eastward marches of the region. Lord Aeneas spent years fruitlessly searching for Halen, the king's vanished brother and heir.  Eventually, Halen was declared dead.  The king's other triplet, Gares, was made heir and his cousin Aurora made a princess of the realm. Aurora's father Agathokles had briefly been king before Mikos's father had taken the throne.

South-Western Medarhos -

The Brythnian Confederation -  Ruler - King Ankole Clovenhoof Capital - Tauropolis Dominant Race - Taurid Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Great events were afoot in the Brythnian Confederation.  Princess Immilia Clovenhoof spent the entire five-year period, as well as a vast sum of gold, to move the entire Brythnian government from Carrenthium in Tathlann to Tauropolis in the Great Meadow.  The entire court had to be moved, along with scribes, cooks, armorers, butchers, bakers, sages, mages, jesters, councilors, servants, agents and ambassadors. Meanwhile, Gyr Fourhorn continued his rampage against Brythnia's neighbors.  He crossed the Lyodan with seven thousand cavalry and crushed the puny resistance in Riandos, where two thousand tribesmen turned out to give battle, then run away. Resistance was stiffer in human-inhabited Gistares, but the result was the same.  Both provinces were subdued and their leaders dragged before king Ankole in chains. King Ankole awarded these provinces to his faithful lieutenants Vlasis Dustprance and Eutropios Greymere, respectively.  They became his liegemen, but ceased acting as his lieutenants, as they had now to govern their restive provinces. Before this award, Vlasis Dustprance acted as the king's agent and traveled

to Echoriath in the Conorrian Empire, where he loaned the fabled Tablets of Varanthissa to the Emperor.

Warrior-priests of the Holy Order of the Dawn preached a fiery gospel to the war-loving taurids and began to garner interest among the tribes in their nominal religion.

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

The halflings of Aelissia built farms and villages across the now-mature province of Seafarthing, and built wells and a public square in Greensaddle.  Six new ships rode at anchor in the harbor of the Great Delve. As for the last several decades, Aelissia sent large quantities of grain, beer, fruits and vegetables to the harbors of Harkoria and the Neldorean Wood. A royal road, long in coming, at last connected Greensward and Seafarthing, but not yet either of the cities in those provinces. King Kestrel Tallroof died in 2896 at the age of thirty-three, very young for a halfling.  He caught cold in the rain one spring morning and died six weeks later.  Irving Plowhorse died in the autumn of that year, asleep in his hole in Greensaddle. The Moot elected newcomer Grin Puddlejumper, who already away in the Stonehearts.  The only other candidate, Crowley Ratcatcher, was "getting long in the tooth" as they say in Aelissia. Puddlejumper had donned his cloak and taken up his walking stick and struck out for the Stoneheart mountains, where he took up command of the halfling army there, just under six thousand soldiers. He ordered his diminutive but well-trained force to dig in and defend the mountains.

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

King Bertrand transferred command of his army to general Phillipe.  Though Bertrand was a great war leader, he was forced to look to his duty at home, and so he retired to Khairais to rule his nation.  He fathered twin daughters in 2897 and a son in 2899.  He oversaw the shipment of grain, wine and lamb to starving Lorraine. General Phillipe took up a position outside the capital in case of a strike by the giants, while General Francoise and Princess Giselle encamped with three thousand troops in the lush fields of Couronnais and probed the giant positions in Larcogne.

 

The Sea Empire of Lorraine - Ruler - King Arthur Capital - Armorica Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Howel [FA], Lynet [FA]

The starving Sea Empire received aid in the form of food from Corland.  Ravenous crowds had to be pushed back from the docks of Armorica and Cassivelaunus so that the desperately-needed foodstuffs could be unloaded.  There were riots anyway, and tax collectors were stoned in every village byway, even shot at from the eaves of the forests. Amidst this turmoil, young King Arthur came of age, assuming the throne from his trusty regent, Sir Peredur. Peredur retired to a well-deserved life of ease in rural Andred. Sir Bryce and Sir Hagen traveled north to Howel and Lynet, lands once lost to the Dines horde, and convinced the impoverished dukes of those lightly-populated lands to renew their oaths to the line of Artorius.  Sir Bryce died in Howel in 2900, leaving

behind twenty-five hundred troops and many ships.

Sir Mandan and Sir Duncan of Lothian attempted to sail far into the south with many ships, beyond the knowledge of any sailor of the Sea Empire.  Terrible storms, hidden rocks and impish selkies dogged the many leagues they ventured beyond the ken of civilized men, until at last several ships foundered in unknown seas and Mandan and many of his men were lost.  Sir Duncan and the remaining fleet limped back into Cassivelaunus port in 2900.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz......

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

Queen Nereil returned her attention to the governance of her battered nation.  Lords Lossëhelin and Allarielle marched at the head of eight thousand elves.  They joined their force to human allies from the Llyran Republic and the Order of the Dawn, and marched to confront the Stoneheart Giants. See The Battle of the Stoneheart Mountains, below. Rumil Ancalimë, a might adventurer, but at best a tepid diplomat, garrisoned the former Ianthan provinces of the Riftmarch and the Crystal Shore with a few hundred elven archers apiece, and then continued a desultory diplomacy upon the troubled folk of the Tarwood.  These much-abused elves were in no mood for demands from Elenuil, much less to have Lord Rumil intimate (as he did) that they might have offered a stiffer resistance to the giants, had their hearts but been in the fight.  Indeed, at this suggestion, the lords of Tarwood rioted, ejecting the astonished nobleman and cursing his name.

Somewhere in the woods, on his walk back to the troops he commanded, a lone arrow flew from some unseen break and took the arrogant prince in the spine.  He bled to death before his troops could find him.  The angry elves of Tarwood continued to send their annual tribute to the queen, but were less cooperative than before.

Sir Haden, a human mercenary in the employ of the Great Church, moved his five thousand mixed troops to defend the capital at Elenuil.  The elves were uncomfortable with so many humans occupying their streets and trampling their gardens.

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

The Crusader States built up the walls of Laedrus and Regaldros, making them strong redoubts against the Exarchate's enemies. Castles, too, they built in the Salt Shore and along the wilds of Pomarche. In Pontezium and in allied Pomarche, more than thirty-five hundred soldiers were raised. The Crusaders went not to war, but provided much of the stuff of war (save blood and sinew) to their allies the Order of the Dawn.  To the paladins of the Grail they gave gold and provender aplenty. In Regaldros, the Exarchate established an all-female adventuring company named Daria's Valkyries, and sent them forth to investigate the continuing influx of monsters.  After months of absence, they returned from Barrandia with wild tales of caverns full of monsters and of mysterious men garbed all in black. Queen Victoria died in childbirth in 2896, leaving the Exarch devastated.

The Holy Order of the Dawn - Ruler - Grand Master Magnus Capital - The Akasian Hills Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Tathlann [OH], Bodhria [OH]The Great Meadow [OP], Lauriacum [OH]

The Order sent its missionaries into Brythnia, arousing those warlike tribes to a greater love of the Lords of the Grail.  With them went Grand Mistress Praeclaria, who worked to found a Perceptory in the Great Meadow right up until her death in 2897. Mistress Veneficus traveled the other direction, establishing an Order House in Lauriacum. Master Magnus joined his seventeen thousand troops to those of Neldorea and the Llyran Republic and drove the Stoneheart Giants into near-extinction. See The Battle of the Stoneheart Mountains, below. They received gold and material support in this from the Crusader States. Upon the death of Grand Mistress Praeclaria, Master Magnus was elected Grand Master, but the election was fraught with dissension.  Many of the chapters of the Order of the Dawn expressed a desire for more indedependence and less direct control from the Order Fortress at the Akasian Hills.

Though this conflict never rose to actual blows, many of the Order's chapters chose to take a less direct role in its hierarchy.  This reduced the Order's control over many sites and in some cases they lost control altogether.

The great Estates at Maenadia were reduced to an Oratory.  The Oratory at Calodunum was reduced to a Perceptory.  The Perceptory at Faloricum was reduced to mere Order House, and the Order Houses at Isurium, Eleucria, Bregor and the Ring of Kharduk vanished altogether.

THE BATTLE OF THE STONEHEART MOUNTAINS

Eight thousand Neldorean elves and seventeen thousand soldiers of the Order of the Dawn met beneath the glossy leaves of the Tarwood to form one army under the command of the Order's Master Magnus.  Above the trees floated the magical skyships of the Llyran Republic, while roundabout flitted elves mounted upon winged griffons.  This considerable force moved smartly out, ascending the steep and winding paths into the Greater Stoneheart mountains, where lay in wait the remnants of the giant army that had once terrorized half the Successor States.

Hræsvelgr Corpse-Swallower and his Stoneheart giants knew that their tiny tormentors must come for them at last, and knew in the way of their kind that they would lose the fight.  Yet giants born of iron and hate were they, and they resolved to make such a price of their deaths as the skalds would sing of in later years, in wonder and in fear. There was no valley, no pass, no village or cot they did not fortify and make deadly to man and elf.  They ambushed the invaders from caves and mountaintops and within such dank woods as clung to the rocky sides of their mountain homes.  Boulders they rolled down on the allied armies, and burning logs of pitch and sulfur they careened into the midst of their foes.

But the griffon-riders and skyships spied out the ways, while elves and men doggedly pursued first the giantish allies and then the lords of the mountains themselves, bringing each behemoth down in ways both methodical and pitiless.  The heads of giants they affixed upon the heights so that in later years the creatures of the mountains would look upon their vacant skulls and fear to tempt the wrath of the lowlands.

Every giant and every servant of giants was slain in a campaign that spanned years.  But as the giants foresaw, the cost to their slayers was steep.  Fully half the twenty-five thousand men and elves who marched out of the Tarwood failed to return thither at campaign's end.  Their corpses, too, served as a warning on the price of war.

The Shadowed Realm of Ascarlon - Ruler - Baron Gauros the Arisen Capital - Denavine Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - The Blood Mire [EA], Ardast [FA]

The Shadowed Realm paid off old debts and improved its impoverished cities with public works. Summoned daemons continued to slog through the mud of Orodea and Lorricar, steadily improving those regions for human habitation. The Baron had quit of war for awhile, and ruled his realm from Denavine, consolidating much of his army and navy there.  Lords Bezhral and Calagos traveled to the plains along the western limb of the Hammersea and created alliances with the Bekanai-speaking tribesmen there.  Calagos died in 2898 in Ardast. General Xandriag Kalmentarek returned to Ascarlon from his trip westward into Daerond, bringing with him the many willing refugees from that land (the unwilling had already been sold as slaves). These he settled in Thessol and Lorricar and then took up station in Galati with the western army. As they had for nearly a century, The Ascars sailed downriver to Narbyndahl in Meledrian, then ferried dark elvish resources back to Denavine and onward to the orcs of the Worldspines and the Edgemoors.

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

King Wargest hired a further five hundred ogres into his service at Mount Kauroth.  He may or may not have sired some children with, well, someone.  But he knew none of their names, nor cared. Turath the Vile died in the Northern Worldspines in 2897. Azhnarg remained in Napoca, where the loathesome being tried to complete the integration of the province into the orcish kingdom.  But, being humans, they refused to do more than ally with the Worldspines. Blatharg set out across the western mountains for an unknown destination.

Prince Reor, with six thousand hobgoblins, crossed the upper Esharias river in the spring of 2896 and invaded the former Conorrian province of Lascuta.  He defeated the local militia, enslaved the humans of the region, left his flag and a small garrison, then returned across the Esharias to Lauroth with his slaves. General Ak'Kratush, with a further six thousand troops, guarded the eastern approaches against any elvish mischief. G'shar of Jezul led a raid into the Celendor interior, striking deep into Mirithor with fifteen hundred cavalry.  When he found his thugs unopposed, they looted the entire region, then returned to Jezul. Likewise, Begoth of Andrath raided into Lethinan when its elvish defenders were away in the east.  They also looted the region, then withdrew. Emperor Maugroth IV elevated his son, inevitably also named Maugroth, to the position of heir.  He directed his adventurers, the Order of the Vulture, to investigate the lost city of Hullumak. Under the command of the vile and black-hearted Ahkhazz Na'Beretha, they went.

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

The Standard of Annvar

Emperor Truchoniax retired to Varthane to rule over his frigid, windswept empire.  His loveless marriage produced no children. The Emperor hired four thousand mercenary light cavalry.  These he gave into the command of General Puchoniax, along with four thousand Annvar jaegers.  With this combined force, Puchoniax moved out to the plains of Baroch.  From there, his force infiltrated the woods of Minhir, then struck at the unprotected homeland of Celendor.  Puchoniax's eight thousand light cavalry were opposed only by a thousand elvish infantry and a few small castles.  Although the elves fought very well in their home woods, it was not enough to overcome Puchoniax's strength in numbers.  The elves were driven off and their land despoiled.  The cost to the humans was great, however.  More than a third of their force was slain. Puchoniax then rode northward to Tusainiai, which had already been liberated by the allied armies of Medinavai and Rukai.  Those allies then went on to raid Linhirin, Minhir and Pinnas.  Only in Linhirin were they driven off by defending forces. Lord Panchotoniax rode to the southern city of Bellias and levied a tribute on the city fathers.

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

Regent Voronwë and certain retainers marched eastward on a desperate gamble with eleven thousand elves and two thousand summoned sprytes. See The War of the Northern Woods, below. Lord Forendhil defended the homeland, but when the Annvarite troops arrived, he marched his small force of a thousand elves behind the protective walls of Ennilas and mourned over the destruction of his homeland. Lord Eantaressë administered the realm from Ennilas and also cast a spell of command on the regent. Lord Enetholas of Lethinan crossed into Bregil with twelve hundred elves and was defeated by the larger army of Meledrian's King Eldareth.  Enetholas was captured. See The War of the Northern Woods, below. Earnath of Linhirin defended his northern realm from Annvar's raids. Orofarne of Tirondonan led a thousand elves east through the hills to raid Tirielinan and Nathlondeg.

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

The elves of Meledrian committed to a program of castle building.  They erected strong fortifications in Dor Emmen, Rainas, Imlarond, and Nimbreth.  Especially Nimbreth! The Circle of Dusk summoned the Darkwood Ents again, and sent them to aid the king.  Eldareth Hammerhand marched across the Celethil into Bregil with seven thousand elves and a thousand ents, where he stormed Bregil and slaughtered priests of the Grail.  All who would not convert to the Dark Court were put to the sword. See The War of the Northern Woods, below. Simultaneously, Meledrian's agents aroused the anger of Nimbreth's Dark Court worshipers, who rose up in a violent pogrom, killing or driving into exile their Grail worshiping neighbors. Meanwhile, Prince Namardil ruled from Dalariadh. Admiral Taetransiss put to sea with ten ships and raided up and down the length of the Wolf River and the Celethil.  Raiding the steppes gained him little, and Taetransiss himself was slain in Ahghol. Nonetheless, many regions  of Celendor were made into half-empty wildernesses.

The destruction of the capital and the loss of much of its bureaucracy and infrastructure nearly caused the collapse of the Meledrian government. See The War of the Northern Woods, below.

THE WAR OF THE NORTHERN WOODS

Agaleon, 2896 -  Regent Voromë of Celendor Turgil of Andras and Ondorel of Arthuial march east from Thuidhel with eleven thousand elves a horde of two thousand sprytes, summoned by Celendor's wizards. King Eldareth of Meledrian, seven thousand elves and a thousand dark ents strike southeast across the River Celethil. Taetransiss of Meledrian puts into the lower Wolf river with ten ships and a thousand elves.

Strynod, 2896 - Eldareth's army runs into the much smaller Celendori force of twelve hundred elves under the command of Enetholas of Lethinan.  The Meledrians win easily and capture Enetholas.

Maravis, 2896 - Voromë's army enters Imlarond, where they are opposed by twenty-six hundred dark elves under the command of Aelavel Tyrnealyth.  Voromë tries to evade the smaller army, but to no avail. The invasion triggers the reaction of Meledrian's general Voronhad in Nimbreth, who quickly marches north with a thousand elves. Eldareth's army begins the military conversion of Bregil.

Cleon, 2896 - Battle of Imlarond. Although the Meledrian forces met the Celendori at the river's edge and forced them to fight their way out of the water, there was little that they could do against more than three times their number.  The Meledrian elves were wiped out and Aelavel Tyrnealyth was captured in the process.  General Voronhad is wounded. Fewer than five hundred Celendori elves are slain in the crossing.

Later in that same month, the forces of Taetransiss entered the river Celethil, but they were intent on raiding.  In any case, Voromë's forces had already passed the river.

Northhale, 2896 - Voromë's army enters Daerui.

Agaleon, 2897 - Voromë's army enters Celebdilas.

Maravis, 2897 - Eldareth's army completes the military conversion of Bregil.  Reaction starts. 

Cleon, 2897 - Voromë's army marches into Celegost.  Eldareth's army is too far to the west to react.  No other Meledrian army is within reaction range.

Berlas, 2897 - Voromë's army marches into Silithos, the Meledrian homeland.  It is opposed only by five castles.  Queen Desirella Vaelarn, governor of Laurelindë, and Archon Vortek of the Duskwood Reavers, elect not to face the overwhelming Celendori force.  Instead, they defend the walls of Laurelindë.

Voromë reduces the castles with little difficulty. He also destroys the Order Fortress of the Duskwood Reavers of Azhran.

Agaleon, 2898 - Voromë's army completes the pacification of Silithos.  Meledrian's armies, all in the west, do nothing. In the west, the army of Annvar begins the pacification of Thuidhel.

Strynod, 2898 - Voromë's army begins to loot Silithos.

Maravis, 2898 - The Annvarite army of Puchoniax begins to loot Thuidhel.

Cleon, 2898 - Voromë's army storms the walls of Laurelindë, taking the city in a single month.  Celendori forces capture Queen Desirella and kill Archon Vortek.

Daarlem, 2898 - Voromë's army begins the destruction of Laurelindë. A quarter of Meldrian's bureaucracy and infrastructure, half of its university and that half of the agricultural reserve stored at Laurelindë is taken by the Celendori. Puchoniax withdraws his Annvarites from Thuidhel.

Berlas, 2898 - Voromë's army begins its march homeward.

Berlas, 2899 -  Voromë's army reenters Imlarond.  This triggers a reaction from Eldareth's army sitting in Bregil, but the Celendori are across the river before the Meledrian army can reach them. 

Maravis, 2900 - Voromë's army returns home to a looted homeland, which they immediately liberate.

The Duskwood Reavers of Azhran -
Ruler - Grand Master Nath-Imperator Melenchlaenith the Archdisrupter
Order Fortress - None
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Duskwood Reavers lost their Order Fortress at Silithos.  See The War of the Northern Woods, above.

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

King Keriadoc gave the command of the armies to his brother-in-law, William Shroud.  Six thousand strong, they stormed into the hills of Asje and fought a bloody battle with the native hobgoblins for control.  Having subdued the hobgoblins, they then marched north to do the same in the plains of Uhtidme.  This battle was easier, for the halflings had learned skill in cavalry.  Still, Shroud marched home with a thousand fewer soldiers than he had ridden out with.

The Conorrian Heartland -

The Conorrian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Kaius Capital - Echoriath Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Olicana [-]

The Empire recruited over twenty thousand infantry between 2896 and 2900.  The Empire sent a large shipment of grain and livestock to the Great Church in Conorr and received the Tablets of Varanthissa from a Brythnian envoy. Petrius Arcalas, the heir to the Phoenix Throne, ruled while the Emperor himself trained with the army at the capital.  Petrius married a young noblewoman named Leannae of Autricum, but she died in childbirth in 2897. Prince Sagramakes moved six thousand troops to Adoria and stayed there in command until his death in 2898. General Atanius led a small force of eagle riders into the Worldspine Mountains, arriving at last in the Blue Peaks.  After just a month, he returned to Faloricum. Lord Draximus moved to Autricum to become the governor and local commander.  He had with him the Emeperor's son Thandoros. Lord Apionokos sailed to the Exarchate of the Great Crusade and entered the hellish, monster-ridden lands of Barrandia.  He never returned. Prince Vargus traveled to Olicana and notified the elvish inhabitants that they were now tributaries to the Conorrian Empire, like it or not. Unfortunately, Princess Valandra of

Dhûnazhar did precisely the same.  The elves pretended not to notice either.

Bishop Sangraal, with four thousand troops, marched into Lenicum and took up residence in Fortress Hell's Gate. There, he met a further four thousand Grail Primacy light infantry under the command of Bishop Sarpedon.

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 [AB], Tarrentica [MN]

The Patriarch's Standard

The Grail Primacy recruited six thousand light infantry and twenty light transports for fast river travel. Conorrian Emperor Kaius sent the primacy a large shipment of grain and foodstuffs at Conorr. The Patriarch's usual blessing of the rich region of Adoria failed.  Many blamed an improper sacrifice to Calandra. Patriarch Henrikos withdrew his forces from the Vales region of Hypylus.  That region immediately revolted and restored its faith in the Dark gods.  The Grail priests were driven into the city of Sirtis, still controlled by the primacy and guarded by the Patriarch's paladins. Henrikos sailed west to assist the Akirs in their civil war (See The Akir Rebels, below). Bishop Aldarion accompanied men and materials from Mynos to Sirtis, where the walls were built up to provide a secure shelter against the hatred of the Dark Court mob. Aldarion died in Siritis in 2899. Bishop Adrastos continued to command the four thousand Grail troops (including two thousand Paladins of the Grail) in that city. Bishop Darisus founded an abbey in the Llyran region of Oiothon, then moved on to the Llyran homeland of Nova Valis. Meanwhile, dwarven bishop Karas (son of the king of Dhûnazhar) traveled to the Llyran capital of Tarrentica and established a monastery in that city. Bishop Sarpedon set sail with four thousand light elite infantry from the holy city of Conorr and sailed up the Phaedon river to Lenicum where he met the four thousand Conorrian troops under the command of Bishop Sangraal.  Together, they took up command of Fortress Hell's Gate. Mercenary captain Sir Haden moved his five thousand troops from the

Stoneheart Mountains and stationed them in the Neldorean capital of Elenuil. He then sailed to Conorr, took yet more ships from the vast Grail fleet and ferried three thousand light cavalry to Adoria.  There, he took up command of the twelve-thousand man Grail army in Adoria until his retirement in 2900.

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

The dwarves recruited another two thousand Dhûnazhar King's Elite, the super-heavy dwarven infantry, bringing the king's total to nearly nine thousand of the best mountain troops in the world (as well as thousands of support troops). The defense of Jaelitus were stiffened with several more hill forts. Princess Thorinna and Darak Iron-Helm of Khuruk Tor aided Turok the Wise, who carried the Crystal Brazier to Valinestes and forged close bonds with the dwarves of those hills. Karak, also called the Wise (and not to be confused with Prince Kerak), watched all the ways into and out of the province of Dhûnazhar.  The Kingdom Under the Mountain would not be taken unawares by some stroke of the orcs or their shadowy northern allies. Princess Valandra went to Olicana to demand the

 right of passage from the elves.  She found herself contending with Prince Vargas of the Conorrian Empire and neither accomplished their goal.

Queen Hermione added fifteen hundred new troops to her army, tending towards cavalry. She then ruled from the throne of Vigilum and raised her younger brother Gregor to the position of heir over her own young son Dunhurst. There was much whispering about this in court, but no outright opposition. Lord Longshanks rode to the woods of Edhel Gorthas and with a few well-greased palms, convinced the local nobility to tie their financial fortunes to those of the nation. Lord Argent traveled to Draconium, proposing marriage between the new heir and a daughter of the elves.  This the elves rejected as both improper and slightly insulting.  They nonetheless agreed to become the allies of Pelendur. The queen's mother-in-law Drusilla passed away in 2899.

VALES -

North-Western Vales -

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

Constans Vicente Marova died in 2796 of complications after injuring himself during a vigorous game of aerial polo from atop his floating steed. The Senate soon confirmed Reid Bolusova as the new Constans. The dashing naval commander brought his ships into port and moved to Tarrentica to take up his new duties. Bishop Amonte rode his skyships into battle with the Grail forces attacking the Stoneheart giants (See The Battle of the Stoneheart Mountains, above.) The Senate was shocked when Dark Court preachers from Har'akir actually started an uprising in Nova Vallis, convincing the commoners to convert to the worship of the Dark Court and lessening the Senate's control there. Reid Bolusova and Vaclav Amanuse both rode their fleets through the Crimson Coast when monstrous sea serpents arose from the bottom (as they will from century to century) and destroyed more than a dozen ships and hundreds of infantry and cavalry.

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran -  Ruler - Queen Margaret Sommerville Capital - Sedeskan Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Maddari Diplomacy - Haalthor [A]
Queen Margaret ordered that the noblewomen of the realm should compete for the position of Heir to the throne, with a theme of "Leadership and the Spirit of Paarmadan."  Jenny Catspaw won the contest with her oration to the crowds in the Court of the Royal Consorts.  She then went on to conclude an alliance with the elves of Haalthor. Although the queen invested in her realm's infrastructure, she could not keep up with the rampant corruption and outright greed displayed by the many palace functionaries and regional magistrates.  The nation's ability to relay communication and effect plans was actually worsened during this period. A royal road was begun from Sedeskan leading toward Ilduskan on the coast. Lady Frances Nightowl commanded the garrison of Ilduskan to seize all ships of the Valesian Empire in the harbor.  The guards boarded and commandeered a single small coaster. Many other Valesian ships just outside the harbor escaped unscathed.

Har'akir - Ruler - Regent Phal Capital - Muzir Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Gon Bahar [EA]
	Har'akir gathered its small forces at Muzir, while Regent Saahir set out on his own to rescue the rightful Sultan from Mar Awas. Saahir was intercepted by vigilant guards and wounded in a struggle on the parapets of the palace.  Pierced through the side, he plunged from the wall into the moat.  Rumors of his miraculous survival spread like wildfire through the city. A week later, however, the shambling body of Regent Saahir was seen eating the corpse of a goat in the caravanserai and had to be destroyed by traders from the Llyran Republic.  An excellent Akir doctor later determined that the undead body had been originally slain by ritual mean and then violated with the curse of undeath.  The followers of the dread god Drauluin, now to be found everywhere in Vales, were blamed. Despite the horror and revulsion over the death of the Regent, the remaining Akir nobility remained loyal and refused to revolt.  They named Lord Phal as the new regent. This was the first time a non-royal had held the reigns of power in Har'Akir for centuries. Lord Phal proceeded to Gon Bahar to make common cause with the elves against the rising tide of darkness. Speaking of which, Awas Fahan, Har Mekelle, the city of Mar Awas, Alzar, Har Jadme, Husen, Dua'lim and Qadras all converted to the worship of the Dark Court before the fanatic wave of conversions spawned by the dead Prophet Ionnes finally abated. Attendant upon the vast numbers of conversions was the general lessening of religious conviction among the faithful. Just when things looked darkest, a great hero joined the ranks of the Akir loyalists.  Mardukar of Durudin, a wandering adventurer from Sendahl presented himself to the makeshift court of Regent Phal, seeking opportunities for glory!

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

Sultan Haseeb's guards were dumbfounded when they discovered him missing from a locked bedchamber.  In his place was the following note: "Ahmed alive or Haseeb dead."

Meanwhile, Lord Vazim took the main Akir army, some seventeen thousand strong and simply marched into the mighty, but unwalled city of Agazier.  Their possession of the city was challenged by the strong port fortress that brooded over the harbor.  The fortress even had a competent commander, one Masaam.  Nonetheless, the fortress's fate was written, and Haseeb's forces overthrew it at the cost of a thousand lives.

When the Grail Patriarch arrived a year later to defend the city, he found it already in the hands of the rebels.  Convinced of the superiority of his paladins and secure in his own military genius, Henrikos stormed ashore, eager to drive out the rebels.  He had fewer than eight thousand men, but he did have the backing of nearly fifty warships to support his amphibious landing. Unfortunately for Henrikos and the Grail army, Vazim was by this time dug in deeply at Agazier with most of the rebel army (the rest having returned to Mar Awas.)  The rebels fought the Grail army throughout the city's harbor and along its marshy edges. For reasons unknown, many of Henrikos's orders were not relayed to his troops or were garbled in transmission. The rebel numbers and prepared defenses were more than the Patriarch had bargained for, and his army broke and ran for the ships.  But these were already on fire and many a noble paladin was slain because he was forced to swim for other ships in his heavy armor. Less than one third of the Grail army survived that terrible rout and came safely to Tarrentica, in the Llyran Republic.

Mighty sea serpents arose in the seas along the Crimson Coast, destroying vast quantities of shipping between the rebel port at Agazier and trade partners around the Valesian Sea.

In 2897, guards at Mar Awas found evidence of a strange combat.  Strewn about the approaches to a previously hidden chamber in the depths of the Akir royal palace, they found the bodies of humans and sathla. Clearly, two or more forces had met and fought over whatever was contained in the room.  Guards theorized that the sathla won the fight, for there were many more human bodies than sathla, and the faces of the sathla had been hastily disfigured after death, as if to avoid identification.  The humans were a mixture of northerners and Akirs, all slain with sathla bows or magic spells.  The room itself had been ransacked, but some large object had once rested there and had fused the rock beneath it as if very hot or laden with arcane energies. Rumors persist that one human was taken alive and questioned.

The Valesian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Dioges Capital - Centauris Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Laedos [FA]

The Emperor spent 2896 attempting to create a census of his war-ravaged people, but the time spent was wholly insufficient and the effort failed. Lords Klytus and Lucien traveled to Laedos and managed to convince the ancient homeland to ally itself once again with the Empire. Mighty sea serpents arose in the seas along the Crimson Coast, destroying vast quantities of shipping between the port at Centauris and trade partners around the Valesian Sea.  In addition, reports reached the ears of the Emperor that the witches of Ahuran had dared to storm aboard and seize one of his vessels in the harbor at Ilduskan.

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

General Vuluk sent his army north under the command of Captains Byrek and Eviresk, where they conquered the region of Khent and forced the natives to accept the holy truths of Autumna, slaughtering the faithful of Drauluin who resisted.  But this was to no avail, for when they marched out again, new missionaries simply reconverted the entire region.  Worse, the belief in the Gods of Woe spread like wildfire, nearly as fast as they had in human realms.  Shenth, Badar Keferis and Hawat all converted to the worship of the Dark Court, as did the capital at Thedelos.  Resentful of the virulent hate with which their new gods were regarded by their leaders, the people of these regions revolted. With great difficulty, the regions were forcibly returned to the administration of General Vuluk, but only as captives against their will. So prevalent had the new religions become, when Captains Selaz and Lossyn died in the line of duty, General Vuluk was forced to replace them with worshipers of the Dark Court. A small fleet of Mekebelean warships and transports explored their way down the Artaxes and along the Luxur coasts.

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

The Holy See sent missionaries into the the Artaxes Valley, at Keferis and Egu, but they were simply overwhelmed by the fanatical wave of faith in the Gods of Woe. In fact, Priestess Azuliyuz, who bore the Censer of the Void into Keferis was reminded that it was an evil artifact by the nearly hysterical press of Drauluin worshipers who died trying to take it from her.  Only the three thousand light infantry that surrounded her kept the artifact from being torn from her grasp and spirited away to dark altars and unwholesome rites. Slidumez traveled south to the more tranquil Lethes valley and established an abbey in the sweltering meres of Patu, near the confluence of the Lethes and Ulailai rivers.  He did not mind the mosquitoes, but the crocodiles were another matter entirely. He amused the saurus locals by demanding that the creatures be driven away from the abbey at all costs!

The Serpentine of Mykele -
Ruler - Sauressh Isskor II
Capital - Oroyon
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Vaaltoth [F], Naszgiri [EA], Kilni [-]

North-Eastern Vales -

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

The halflings of Thariyya continued to cultivate the forests of Hassar. Although only in his forties, King Shadazar was in poor health and almost his last act was to name his son Iolas to be his successor.  Shadazar died in 2897 of pneumonia. Upon his ascension to the throne, Iolas named his brother Miratur and his sister Carmina to be ministers in his government. Admiral Kasad Vahdin tried to conduct diplomacy with the Fezhir of Hassar, but that worthy was not at home.  Kasad then took command of the Thariyyan navy and patrolled the Gulf of Thariyya until his death in 2900. There was much national alarm and controversy as the adoration of the Gods of Woe swept over the lands of southeastern Thariyya, engulfing Shood, Naushqa, Madegap and Abin, lessening the control of Uls Fakhar.

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

Emperor Jubal ordained that a new walled city should be laid out on the muddy banks of the Mulgaunt river in Dursarc.  This city the locals named "Ginch". Meanwhile, nearly four thousand troops were mustered out of the army in Ham on the condition that they settle in the rich delta of the Mulgaunt and farm the land.  In Dammarask, the Emperor recruited a thousand cavalry. Emperor Jubal himself continued to rule from the Spider Throne and spent much time training his young son Tormak in the arts of ruling an empire. Bloody Lady Leora traveled east to the desert of Almiri with three thousand troops and raided the Bersager lands of Habel and Hustaz, and the Madwazi lands of Shaban and Asirugh.  She took the Emperor's daughter Zayl with her for instruction.  Unfortunately for her, the Bersagers of Habel were more than ready for her.  The desert horsemen and hidden hill forts were murderously effective against Leora's raiders and she left six hundred of her own dead in the dry desert hills.  Worse, young Zayl had been killed by an Bersager arrow through the throat, and Leora wounded by a scimitar to the thigh. Fearing the Emperor's revenge for the death of his daughter, Leora and her surviving troops bolted from the Empire, becoming mercenaries. Erikur Even-Handed traveled to the city of Unaagh and arranged the marriage of the Emperor to Masirae, the widow of an important local prince. Erikur died at the age of sixty-two in 2899. Quarto One-Eye helped reorganize the Accolon military prior to his death in 2900.

Meanwhile, the policies of education continue the ponderous change from Nurad to the Valesian language in Eumana and Nuradeem.

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 - Harrud [NT], Riatus [AB], Gateway [-]. Ventas [CH], Centauris [CH], Phalces [-] Maelon [CH]

The Dark Court Primacy began sea trade with both the Valesian Empire and the elves of Marador, up the muddy Mulgaunt. Missionaries sent into the Valesian Empire could do little to increase its religious fervor above that of the adoration of the Prophet Ionnes.  However, missionaries sent into the Kerendis heartlands gained some headway against the Cult of Evaless in Emparar. Bishop Anastasia of the Icy Stare took Noz "the Dark" Cuu, son of the Accolon emperor with her when she went to negotiate with the Zubayid tribesmen of Harrud.  She succeeded in negotiating rights to transit their territory. Bishop Gerendal the Cruel founded an abbey in Riatus, while Bishop Marietta of Threns arrived in the city of Gateway to discover that the Primacy already had a thriving cathedral there. Bishop Drel Dorath of Ascarlon founded churches in the Valesian Empire, at Ventas, Centauris and Maelon.  At Phalces, however, he angered many of the locals by insisting on the primacy of Malbor over their favored Drauluin, and he was attacked by a mob, barely surviving.  This was becoming a theme for the Ascar prince.

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

Queen Madariel	The elves of Marador established castles in Dimbe and Nastaldo along the Mulgaunt river.  They upgraded many forest paths to royal roads in the same provinces. Missionaries, led by Thingold of Gaja and Sielvean of Daio, traveled to Jebelam to return it to the proper worship of the Grail, but found themselves unable to stand against the wanton
and wicked lusts of the people of that land, and were forced to retreat. Evarear Darkblow took a more practical approach and traveled to the lands of Adnoailin to convince the elves of those dreary hills to ally themselves with the bright power of Lantar. They hated him for his beauty and haughtiness, and sent him packing. Meanwhile, several more regions along the Mulgaunt river converted to the worship of the Gods of Woe, including Dimbe and the city of Oromardi, Kalrondo and Hecaladon. Because of Marador's strong religious stance, these regions and cities ceased their close association with the central authority. Local authorities report that the waves of fanatical conversion seem to have abated at last.

South-Western Vales -

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
Ruler - King Vraaka
Capital - Breeka
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Autumna

Calling it a crusade against the Dark Court, King Mudorpt launched three separate armies against the Ninesi tribes beyond the Artaxes river.  Mudorpt and his lieutenant Gadampt led six thousand sauruses across the river and into the forests of Alcinor.  Simultaneously, General Hookai of Munampt led half that number into the forests of Oenelos.  The Ninesi tribes came down upon the two armies in their thousands, but were poorly led. As the battles raged in the forests, General Vraaka led a third force of twenty-five hundred through Sthepol and into the hills of Protos, striking at the Ninesi rear.  Though the battles cost Drormt more than half of their total soldiers, they broke the back of the Ninesi resistance and swept over Alcinor, Protos, Oenelos and the Nineser Hills, enslaving their people.  King Mudorpt was killed storming a powerful fortress in the Nineser Hills.  All three armies reorganized at Oenelos and proclaimed Vraaka to be their new king. Saurus missionaries sent into Darets and Weshtayo proved wholly unable to stem the tide of conversions.

However, Lord Khazz was able to convince Queen Gal of Weshtayo that the power of Autumna could stop the storm of Dark Court conversions in her lands, and Queen Gal swore faith to the worship of Udjo.

Sendahl - Ruler - King V*ko Capital - Nyange Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Mbarre [A]

The Sendahlese finally completed the cultivation of Mbarre, and Prince Gomo*ko negotiated a treaty of alliance with the newly cultivated region. A wave of cholera swept the land, taking the weak and aged.  King V*ko, Lord Orta*ka, Prince Mekend, Makobo of Syniken and Areth-an of Aret all succumbed to the plague.  Prince Gomo*ko was crowned king in 2898.

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

The Emperor dispatched settlers into the coastal jungles of Aurrte, and ordered the completion of the first part of his massive road network, from Foru to Jokari. Lords Ulumtossi, Magore and Enkase of Itu traveled to Foru to encourage its lords to integrate with the Grand Empire.  Ulumtossi and Enkase both succumbed to yellow fever in the jungles, but Lord Magore was able to complete the negotiations.  Itu did not send more troops to replace those that marched home with Enkase's body. Prince Chaka explored the Lower Artaxes River, the Luxur Coast and the Straits of Sandrettos, seeking a route to bring his ships around to Jaidar on the Galderi Coast. He ended the year 2900 on the island of Socphares, where he learned of the strange northern Grail religion. Prince Shaka reorganized the army with the heavy troops under the Emperor and four thousand elite light troops under his own command at Eusobre.

South-Eastern Vales -

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

Banner of Aurdrukar

Banner of Khor-Naland

King Dorin recruited five thousand dwarvish infantry.  Attaching this auxiliary to his mighty army of seven thousand Aurdrukar Burûndur Guards, he marched north to assail the evil orcs of the Gaimal hills.  The orcs fielded only a third of the dwarves number, but were wary and cunning.  The orcs fought only from a distance, relying on their recurved bows and wickedly barbed and poisoned arrows to whittle away at the strength of the dwarves. Dorin responded by ordering the deaths of every orc in the province.  His troops systematically burned every village and fired every cave, cottage or bolt-hole they could find.  In the end, the orcs were killed or driven into the remotest caves and valleys.  The conquest had cost the dwarves more than a thousand dead.  To prevent the return of the orcs, King Dorin garrisoned the empty region with more than two thousand dwarves. Meanwhile, the newest Aurdrukar mercenaries, the Brass Monkeys, traveled to Shtekkten to look for

the missing dwarf-lord Durn of Lrandirla.  Neither they nor Dorin's scouts found the dwarven nobleman, but they were able to discover his guards, slain by orcish arrows in a narrow ravine. 

Lord Blorin concluded a treaty with the hill-dwarves to bring Shtekkten into the Aurdrukar fold.

Meanwhile, the wave of Dark Court conversions came even to the dwarves of Aurdrukar.  Shtekkten, Lrandirla and Hruma'ru all turned to the adoration of the Gods of Woe and loosened their ties to the crown.

The mighty elven empire continued to cultivate its forests, turning Kirenda Rashaz and Lauregalada into farmland. Lord Talan of Mita set sail into the Blood Sea with sixty warships, dominating the northern Ymarian Sea and bottling up the lesser fleets of Accolon and Kerendis in their ports. Prince Namardil went hunting and hawking with Astarios of Jarende, and convinced that lord to swear fealty to the Emperor. Lady Elvadriadnë moved ten thousand elvish soldiers into the twilit forests of Sengkar and stormed a temple of the Shadowmaster hidden in a secret vale on the Vanua border.  There were only a few dozen cultists on hand, but hundreds were arrested and condemned as agents of the vile cult within days after the destruction of the temple.

The Kingdom of Weshtayo - Ruler - Queen Gal, Red-Feathered Lord Capital - Khulank Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Autumna

At the urgings of the sauruses of Drormt, Queen Gal declared that the spirits of the ancient world were weak, and that she and her realm would henceforth worship the Scaled God, Ujdo.  She and her court converted to the worship of Autumna and set about enforcing that creed on all others. There was outrage across the kingdom at this perceived betrayal, and the lords of Gaim, Chom, Siruvay, Zaghah and Osaru all declared themselves to be independent of the queen. But Queen Gal was not one to accept such insubordination.  Her generals remained loyal (though more than a thousand of their troops did not.)  She set about eliminating enemies in short order. Queen Gal herself, with nearly six thousand troops, enforced the worship of Autumna within the capital of Khulank.  She then rode into the outlying region of Ulparahya and did the same, killing all who opposed her or refused to swear their loyalty to the Scaled God.  General Burilgi, with a similarly-sized army, set out to reconquer Siruvay and Chom, and enforce the worship of Udjo. The orcs of Chom proved to be organized and well-led and killed more than a thousand of general's troops. General Qorchi marched north with only four thousand troops, and put the Dark Court worshipers in Tresalet to the sword. This operation went well, but the reconquest of Osaru proved bloody in the extreme.  Lord Arslan, a former liegeman of the queen's, stood in Qorchi's way with a much smaller army, but fought like a devil, only surrendering to the Autumna forces at the cost of his own life.

Now the kingdom of Weshtayo is brimming with sectarian hatreds, divided between the Dark Court, Valesian Spirit Cultists and Autumnans. Only the might of the army keeps a lid on this furiously boiling pot...

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

The city of Ivallkyu continued to grow, outstripping the recently-built walls and spreading onto the fertile plains of Qash. Lord Sakhile explored beyond the western sea, making contact with an elvish folk in a far-off land called Lekandi.  Sakhile himself died on the return voyage when his ship foundered in heavy seas. Lord Giila crossed the Mogollyu and once again laid claim to the lands of Chru.

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

While Sultan Ayoob ruled from the peaceful palaces of Muddakir, his brilliant generals Amr Ghass, Jemhadar the Beautiful and Hamza of Durjas, recruited three thousand light infantry and prepared for war on the elves of the north. Marching into Sola with nine thousand light troops, they crushed the Morelai armies (Hajus had sent troops to aid Sola) with the loss of only a few hundred and forced them to swear loyalty to the Gods of Woe at swordpoint.  They did the same with the sparsely-settled Sorion, and then marched back to Durjas. Missionaries in Tanoxus spread the faith more peacefully.

The Grand Duchy of Meneen -
Ruler - Grand Duke Salene
Capital - Yaz Meneen
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Ivralit [A], Gandar Shab [C]

The port of Yaz Meneen continues to grow, sprawling into the fens and meres of Dreta.  The Grand Duke ordered a wooden pallisade erected all around the small city for its protection. Lord Feantë continued to patrol the seas around the homeland with a fleet of nearly a score of warships. Lord Habnar made an alliance with the Oullende elves of Ivralit, while Prince Emmyn ended the hostilities with Gandar Shab.

The Kingdom of Ukanve -
Ruler - King Gene II
Capital - Ukanve
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

The Ukanvans sent a colony to the steamy eastern province of Deja, where cola nuts and leather formed the staples of the economy. The boy king, Gene II, was crowned king and he allowed regent Ergon to retire to his beloved Kim Taba.  Gene also granted the men of Kim Taba full citizenship in the kingdom.

The Kingdom of Nikitya -
Ruler - King Ragnar
Capital - Vikitana
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serriku Spirit Cult
Diplomacy - Tuanani [A]

A second mighty Nikitya dragonship was built in the wooden ways of Vikitana and placed under the command of Wuldan the Fierce, who guarded the seas until his death in 2898. Queen Dowager Olga died in 2899 at the age of seventy-one. She had spent the previous four years summoning spirits of wood and stone to clear Piunani's fields of stones and stumps. Princes Ragnar and Loki worked to turn Ulgwilf of Tuanani from a feudal ally to a true ally in fact. Ragnar returned to Vikitana in 2899 to assume the crown of Nikitya.

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

The dwarves built up their defensive forts throughouth the kingdom, and constructed a strong fortress in the region of Achkain. King Vorin, aided by Lords Bolan and Talon, traveled to Aniatak to visit their Korond brethren and arrange the annexation of the province into the kingdom.

The Shanatar Empire -
Ruler - God-Emperor Maarius
Capital - Feroe
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The God-Emperor

The roads from Rachif through Soqand and Chamir through Malil were completed, leaving only the postal road to Zeynif incomplete.  Shanatarian engineers also drove a new road from Huzzein in An'hirz to the Arbazos river, and by agreement with Farmuz they finished the Argabazos bridge and took over responsibility for its upkeep. General Tulah recruited and took command of three thousand new cavalry at Feroe. Several smaller armies converged on the provinces of An'hirz and Sourinn. Missionaries sent north to Eumela and northeast to Ul'il failed to impress the locals with the power of the God Emperor.

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

Sultan Baroun recruited a few hundred troops at the capital.  He sent Darmok al Azhkatum to offer the hand of his sister Majia in marriage to the warlock Mahir al Navilok.  They cemented this bargain by making Mahir a Prince of the realm. Azzizi ben Amakhar traveled to the plains of Razir and convinced the horsemen to ally themselves once again with the power of Azhkatûm.

 

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

Young king Kavan ruled from the throne of Chegamum.  He hired the Doomriders of Ul'il to seek whatever they could find in the deep deserts of Kiwarna.  They came back and presented their findings to the king in closed counsel. Because of poor omens, King Kavan was unable to summon elementals to aid the land as he had in years past.  The Vaudan diplomatic corps, consisting of Lords Fereydoon, Orland and Ghanuman, as well as Prince Danush, spent a brief time among the elves of Parkora, then traveled to the heartland.  There, with wise words and subtle gifts, they arranged the marriage of King Kavan to Sedra, the daughter of Jodhan of Jadh.  This brought Jadh and Vaudan closer together in a firm alliance. Prior to setting out with the diplomatic corps, Lord Orland planted an apple orchard in Vaklatos and summoned a forest sprite to watch over the growth and health of the grove. Prince Afshin oversaw the building of ten more warships on the quays of Chegamum, and then looked to the defense of the kingdom, in command of both the naval and land forces.

The United Clans of Mainos -
Ruler - King Kaedhrol Greyfeather
Capital - Badmira
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Seumbut [FA], Sisdu [-], Parkora [NT]

King Khaedrol enhanced his own powers of persuasion with sorcery and traveled to the northern forests of Seumbut to arrange a feudal alliance with the elves of that region. Tarja Elsila sailed downriver and then north to the Uhejan port of Shkoyemri, where she attempted to learn the truth of the Falesian Heresy spreading in Uheju.  She returned to Mainos years later. Lord Raimo Kaavi visited the elves of Sisdu and Parkora, convincing the latter to allow the United Clans to place troops in their woods. Kyosti Ryti spent years among the southern tribes, cataloging rumors and legends.

The Dragon's Reach -

The Kingdom of Uheju -
Ruler - King Gansukh
Capital - Shkomyemri
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Berat [-]

King Gansukh issued the Edict of Toleration, announcing that every hobgoblin was free to follow his own heart in matters of religion, and specifically tolerating the growth of the Falesian heresy, much to the dismay of the Orithian clerics in his realm who thundered against "the apostasy of the king." Meanwhile, the followers of the Falesian doctrine hailed the king as far-sighted, blessed and pious. Gansukh elevated his young daugter Miyu to his council of advisors.  A powerful sorceress, Miyu is also startlingly beautiful (to hobgoblin eyes). Lord Tudun's bid to restore the allegiance of Berat came to an end when Tudun drowned in a Berat fishpond while entertaining his grandchildren.

 

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

The Falesian doctrine erupted into popularity in Tamiyot and Kasadir.  Perhaps it arrived on a ship from Shkoyemri, or perhaps the gods themselves inspired it in the hearts of the Kasads.  But either way it spread like wildfire through Fisanine, Fivari, Ilerim, Kotutan and Sekpata, and even south into Ahandu. Princess-Consort Zlawa converted to the new faith, and consistent with its teachings, barred the Orithian king from her bedchamber.  He grew so tired of her attempts to convert him that he commissioned her admiral of the navy and sent her away. Months after being named heir, Eddard's son Dal-Kos also converted to the Falesian faith. Eddard's agents moved to crush the new faith as it spread through the alleys of Tamiyot, but with as little effect as trying to hold back the tides.

 

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

While settlers continued to improve the fertile fields of Menetah, south of the Kheleni River, great changes were occurring to the north.  The worship of the Falesian doctrine had spread south from Kasadir and the ideas took fire also in the heartlands of Jembahuan and Diangam, as well as in the capital of Zathurrin.  The deeply-held religious beliefs of the Ahandu sauruses meant that this religious schism almost immediately became bloody, and riots spread throughout the city and smaller towns.  Orithian priests were burned in effigy in the streets of Zathurrin, and a Falesian priest was burned in fact in the city of Mihagga. Diplomats sent south to Pondu were rebuffed without being allowed to meet with the local noblemen.

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

Queen Lysistrana added fifteen hundred elite light infantry to her army at Aone and continued to rule her country.  Lord Ystris cajoled, inspired, intrigued with and liberally bribed the nobles of Januaan, increasing their attachment to the Empire. Meanwhile, Llamas of Berpeku died of a stroke in 2896.  Upon his death, the last obstacle to full accession ended and his sons swore fealty to the queen in exchange for lucrative positions at court. The spread of the Falesian heresy seemed to go only south and west, for now.  An extraordinary event occured in 2898, when a ship of bone sailed into the harbor of Venil.  It's ghostly master was wrapped tightly in burial shrouds and it flew the banner of Kuan Li Jiang. The ship's master delivered the following demands to the mayor of Venil:  "Thus says the Master of the World to

Lysistrana, his vassal: You are to pay a levy of 3 Agro every five years, delivered by a lone cargo ship to the Necropolis.  Failure will mean your certain doom."

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

With a deep understanding of the earth, the Lords of Suhanir put forth their power into the land, refreshing it and bringing forth all manner of good and wholesome green things. Elves labored long on the shores of the Dragon Reach to extend the stranded city of Miyotla once more to the sea.  Long piers and winding stairs connected the uplifted city to the lifeblood of trade. Prince Marahel rode through the southern woods until he reached the region of Anakhor, hard by the realm of Ahandu, and convinced the forest elves to swear oaths of fealty to his father, King Valiel. So too did Lord Haleth, riding north to the eaves of the wood where ran the power of Mogodor and offered protection to the elves of Menytu, which they gratefully accepted.

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

Queen Sara traveled to the center of the Falesian Heresy in Berat and attempted to "talk some sense" into the Uhejan leaders.  Any such talks were hampered by her own armies attempts to slaughter their Falesian brothers in Takanka. Lord Gerald, known as "the Chaste", marched into Takanka with thirty-five hundred light infantry, intent on the total subjugation of the province.  He was startled to find his army opposed by a clever and well-trained opponent leading twenty-five hundred mixed troops.  Troops that knew the ground far better than did the Amantai general.  Over the course of 2897, the Takankan militia repeatedly bloodied the Amantai army until at last Gerald was wounded and his troops fled for home in a full route.  It was 2898 before Gerald had collected all the stragglers. Prince Barlo of Jutuh guarded the realm with the army's heavier elements until his early death in 2898.

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

Mighty king Ghevrit married Aspara, daughter of old king Arpald and got her with a single son before she died in childbirth the following year.  He named his sister-in-law Princess Mai to his council of advisors. Lord Jin-Mei wanted to land  mercenaries on the islands controlled by Kuan Li Jiang, but Nuitai could not afford such expensive luxuries. Jin-Mei  went to command the garrison and Basirzos and was present when Kuan Li Jiang overran the province.  He returned the following year, a shambling undead thing that appeared in the court of King Ghevrit.  The guards fell back before him in fear. Jin-Mei approached the king and croaked out "Thus says the Master of the World to Ghevrit the Usurper: You are to pay a levy of 3 Agro every five years, delivered by a lone cargo ship to the Necropolis.  Failure will mean your certain doom.  You will join me in my damnation!" The undead creature then fell to pieces on the palace floor.

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

The legions of Kuan Li Jiang, both living and dead, overran the Nuitai defenders of Basirzos.  The self-styled Master of the World sent out demands to nearby "vassals".

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

The Kingdom worked hard to train its sailors and engineers. Lord Shakiru negotiated a full alliance with the orcs of Entemal. Lord Phopheng, on the other hand, angered the men of Narvalos with his haughty dismissal of the Waithan culture. Nagurii of the Green Pang concentrated all of Choran's naval strength in thirty-ship fleet and patrolled the Gulf of Huru'chi until his death in 2898. A slave rebellion erupted in Prettit.  A former public slave by the name of Korob incited Prettit's slaves to rise up and cast off the chains of oppression. And this the slaves did in huge numbers.  By 2898, Korob's army numbered more than three thousand ill-trained and ill-armed slaves.  They nonetheless managed to overwhelm the garrisons of five small castles in the region at the cost of several hundred of their numbers.  Perhaps a third of the slave army is now battle hardened.

The Empire of Tekume -
Ruler - Emperor Go-Bitron
Capital - Suru'or
Dominant Race - Giants
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Kenomus [T]

With little choice in the matter, Emperor Go-Bitron paid the tribute demanded by the giants of Kitike.  Those barbarians then retreated into the hills with their loot, allowing their civilized cousins to begin rebuilding in Karisdu. Lords Ko-Korhekkus and Sa-Vowin sailed far to the south and landed at the Akagekku homeland of Kenomus, demanding and receiving tribute from those war-weary elves. Ko-Korhekkus expired in that distant land and was buried on elvish soil. In 2897, ships arrived from the hobgoblins of the Kolyut Hegemony, bearing gifts of gold. The allied lord of Taikime died in 2900, and his son continued to aid the emperor, but without his father's avidity.

The Kolyut Isthmus -

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

King Marco married the exotic Princess Estella from far-off Tiringol, cementing an infrequent alliance between the widely separated royal houses.  He then traveled to the forests of Apubosh and attempted to exert some control over the humans there.  They rejected his offers of alliance, however. The halflings had better luck with Zane of Kebe, who eagerly accepted the hand in marriage of Princess Muriel, sister of the king.  He and Marco became close allies. Lords Lorne and Hesril both died untimely deaths in 2900.  Lorne choked to death on a fishbone, while Hesril drank himself to death.

The Kingdom of Kerendis - Ruler - King Eóganán Makkure Capital - Orbelain Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Ishku [T]

The Kingdom of Kerendis looked to its defenses and found them lacking.  King Eóganán ordered fortresses built in Kibe, Ambalas and Chemada.  Engineers strengthened the walls of Orbelain, Argus and Methedras. The king himself concentrated ruling his kingdom and ordering its trade priorities to his liking.  He dispatched Lords Laoghaire and Ainmire to the steppes of Ishku, north of the Ymarian Sea.  There, they arranged a bride and tribute for the king. To celebrate his ascendance to the throne and mourn his father, Eóganán held a solemn ceremony in the Orbelain harbor. Ten healthy young slaves were thrown to a giant cuttlefish to seek the blessings of Evaless, She who Births Monsters. Prince Cormac Makkure, Eóganán's uncle, patrolled the seas around Orbelain with his fleet of forty warships and Kerend Battle Galleys until his death in 2899. Bishop Haess traveled to Emparar in order to convert the heretics back to orthodoxy, but found them to be a strong-headed and determined lot.

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

The city of Vaayil is a teeming metropolis, a sweltering bustle of traders, philosophers, mystics and vagabonds.  Other than its location at the terminus of the road across the Kolyut isthmus, there is very little to recommend this flea-bitten, dust-caked collection of teeming humanity.  King Arcanon was trying to change that.  He built a public baths, the first in the region, and created granaries in each of the city's six districts. He also paid well for information, knowing that treachery was ever a monarch's worst enemy. Arcanon dispatched his pet adventuring group, the "Seekers after Truth and Power", to the east, where they spent years struggling through the dusty Kolyut hills and into the pestilential swamps of Anku Elevya. Lord Indigator died of a brain hemorrhage in 2900. Lord Perejilium arranged for direct transfer to the capital of the silver ore from the mines of Madarah. Meanwhile, Lord Roberton convinced Maranjuez of Siruvargal to accept retirement and give over his city to the direct control of the crown. Princess Cariotta failed in her bid to annex Patsuma, as the locals were unwilling to even consider such a surrender of their rights.

The Kolyut Hegemony -
Ruler - Hegemon Moodor Sharptongue
Capital - Ketarid
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Kajivas [NT], Tiyim [C]

The Kolyut hobgoblins became suddenly cautious.  Though the main force of the Kolyut army remained with the Hegemon, Lord Rowl Thrump stood ready for trouble in Aya with eight thousand light troops. Meanwhile, feudal lord Zeakuc Groundbreak of Muktikan hired three thousand light mercenaries to join his forces in the woods of Muktikan, ready against any stroke from the east. The young hegemon married a girl of Ketarid, who unfortunately died during childbirth less than a year later. Dinguw the Shrewd traveled along the Hegemony's western border, arranging the marriage of the hegemon's sister Keeya to the lord of Kajivas and laying claim to the sandy woods of Tiyim. Rowl Thrump died in 2897 of a sudden heart attack, leaving his troops without a national leader. Lord Greybar of Nistha traveled east, exploring the seas beyond Choran, and brought caskets of gold to the giants of Tekume as a present from the Hegemon. Marj Ku of Kumajr traveled into the southern mountains, seeking adventures. In 2898, the wells of Maibum began to run dry.  By 2899, the city's people were dying of thirst and leaving in droves.  Long wagon trains and tiny coastal boats left the city, leaving it a dry ruin on the shores of the Mai Ren.

The Free Cities managed to finally cultivate the region of Angkon.  Delighted farmers began to flood in from the surrounding regions. The Council of Captains continued to pay the nation of Threns for the purchase of Sepapan and Bendraj. Lord Markand patrolled the Ruan straits with his fleet of Ruanach blacksails.  Meanwhile, Prince Kolyu guarded the landward approaches with his ten-thousand-man army at Fashanru. King Histro led a team of diplomats including Princess Neva and Lord Vasil on a tour of the nation's fringes, concluding economic treaties with the northern province of Sepapan and the eastern provinces of Sudhris and Viramar.

The Delves of Ahum - Ruler - King Daven Silentpad Capital - Saumya Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Nuree Diplomacy - Sukurem [F]

King Daven named his two brothers Karelak Roguewillow and Borrowold Youngstick as princes of the realm.  Both were sickly lads, but while Borrowold was universally disliked, Karelak was a handsome, popular fellow who knew many stories and told them well. Daven got married to a young lass of Saumya.  None of that diplomatic marriage nonsense for him!  He married the prettiest girl in town!  Such a luxury was not afforded to his younger sister Nickred.  Daven dispatched lords Wiseman Silverring and Stonehill Rabbitjumper of Dhal to marry her off to Laughlight of Sukurem to secure his realm as dowry. Turuk Daggermaker died during a hunting accident in 2899.

The Orcish Raj of Virityal -
Ruler - Raj Algoz
Capital - Chharit
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - Nuree
Diplomacy - Aballak [F], Amanjit [T]

The ancient Raj Algoz, now well into his eighties, is still vital and wise.  In fact, though many of his sons are long dead of old age, the ancient Raj has just fathered another (although many whisper that the true father of his latter children is his bodyguard, Garhuzh.)  Others whisper that the Raj is immortal, incapable of being killed!  For his part, in addition to general randiness, the Raj contented himself with adding more ships to the nation's trade fleets. Lord Taurog the Bold and Prince Lurg traveled to Aballak and "convinced" the orcs of that region to confer control to the Raj. Lords Garsk and Garkog traveled to Amanjit.  Garsk was killed by a local during a tavern brawl over the attentions of a luscious and bawdy serving wench, but Garkog went on to extract tribute from the chieftains of Amanjit. Prince Jausor and Lord Tulak once again raided the hapless orcs of the Amudeya hills.

The Empire of Rajahdan-
Ruler - Emperor Gortoc the Cold-Blooded
Capital - Jalahl
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Sudeshu [A], Virunir [-]

Emperor Zlathex of the Jungles gave his daughter Inzi-otta to Ecmundi of Ammanit, securing that eastern province for the crown.  Zlathex died in 2896 from a a surfeit of wine and other sathla's wives.  He was succeeded without incident by his chosen successor, Gortoc the Cold-Blooded. Gortoc earned this honor while concluding an alliance with the hillfolk of Sudeshu. Meanwhile, Rajahdan's twin military geniuses, Adohichii and Oatlchicc retreived their troops from the garrisons of Amovish and Sauryas.  Now, with more than sixteen thousand troops, they extorted every last item of worth from the jungles of Amovish, Sauryas and Amovish, then departed.  Against such force, there was nothing the shocked and disappointed sathla of the Ahum border could do. Adohichii died on the march back to civilization, but Oatlchicc continued the march into the jungles of Tulkish, where he similarly looted the impoverished jungle of every clay pot and scrawny goat.

Lord Zorn attempted diplomacy in the eastern region of Virunir, but the Virunis were disinterested in anything more binding than the economic alliance they already owed to Jalahl.

Anku Elevya -
Ruler - Emperor Zao Yin
Capital - Jinguir
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Zaoism

The plans of the mighty Emperor Vesileth V had come to fruition at last.  The Dragons spoke to him in his sleep more and more until he heard their voices even in his waking mind.  For such a saurus, there was no doubt, no hesitation, and indeed very little choice.  Obedience was all. At last the five great dragon temples were complete, and all of Anku Elevya seemed to hold its breath, awaiting what many sensed must come next.  In the largest ceremony ever seen in Changshai for more than a millennium, Vesileth formally organized the Changshai Spirit Cult under a single doctrine.  This new religion he called Zaoism, meaning The Illusion or The Dreaming. Vesileth and his co-Emperor, Ghorik took on the formal names of Zao Yin and Zao Yang.  During the dedication ceremony, the two co-emperors invoked the blessings of the Dragons and...miraculously changed into two dragons!  Black and white, they rose into the sky, wrestled with each other and flew low over the stunned multitudes gathered in Jinguir.

In a five-year long ceremony of dedication and purification, every major leader of the dynasty worked to ensure orthodoxy among Anku Elevya's many priests. There was surprisingly little protest and no reported revolts.  Those priests who refused to join the ranks of the newly orthodox and recognize the supremacy of the Dragons were quietly forced to retire or exiled, but in truth there were few enough of these, as Vesileth/Zao Yin had carefully prepared the way for his new religion for most of his life.

THE TENETS OF ZAOISM

The Celestial Empire of Shen'xi -
Ruler - Regent Feng Huan
Capital - Wu Lan
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Kifan
Diplomacy - Baoquin [EA]

The emperor Mei Wo put his forces on full alert, fully expecting more raids, as there had been for the last ten years. Shen'xi sorcerers called powerful storms to erupt in the Sea of Shen'xi.  But no raiders came. Mei Wo died in 2896, leaving as his only heir his nine year old son Mei Shui.  His trusted lieutenant Han Ao Ri became regent. Han spent his years concluding an economic treaty with the region of Baoquin. Han died in 2899, leaving Lord Feng Huan as regent for the still too young Mei Shui.

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

Emperor Khathros returned to the capital and took up the rule of his empire.  He named his brother Prince Venkal to his council of advisors and fathered twin daughters. Lord Siji took command of the army and moved it to the Maharimi River at Banyak and put his engineers to work building fortifications along the river. Meanwhile, Darlek of Mersemb, a Lulipayat ally, seized the empty region of Keganga for himself and also reinforced it with several small forts. Zhao Si sailed to the city of Tanu and preached the religion of the Scaled God to the slightly bemused humans therein.

 

The Serenity of Wayahapta - Ruler - King Alycor Capital - Keluan Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Waychaw [C], Imp'angqa [-HS]

The halflings of Wayahapta built a series of communal grain storage silos and water reservoirs in Kumpawi.  Every halfling contributed one day every two weeks, and the whole thing was considered a pretty good excuse for a party afterwars. In 2896, King Alycor named his sister Alvya as his heir.  This was fortunate, for Alycor was childless, and died young (for a halfling) in 2900 at the age of fifty-five.  Alvya was not regarded as a particularly strong candidate for queen, but not for nothing was Wayahapta known as the Serenity.  It abided by the king's choice of successor with equanimity. Mendrassu, the king's longtime friend, traveled north to heal the rift with the Big Folk of Waychaw.  His cheerful attitude and reasonable offers seemed to patch things over, at least a bit. Then there was Kindo, whom everyone in Keluan simply called "Mr. Kindo", but who insisted on "Lord Kindo" when speaking with the Big Folk.  He traveled north to deal with those nasty Big Folk of Imp'angqa, them with their devil-worshipping ways.  He wasn't going to take any of their nonsense, and he made sure they knew it.  He made so sure that he came home with a broken nose and a warning that if he or any other halfling were to return, they'd be offered up to Caravok the Destroyer as a sacrifice.

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

King Xang Glitterdelve recruited all the mercenaries he could.  Kifan, Spirit Cult, Nuree and  Autumna. Ultimately, he hired more than four thousand mercenaries to supplement his tiny army while rebel leader Sirom Stiffbeard hired two thousand to supplement his larger and better armed forces. Xang marched his forces, some six thousand strong, into Gondosh, the region between the Makomoe homeland and the rebel stronghold of Tomarom.  There, his forces built powerful defenses facing Tomarom.  Unfortunately, Xang was a military hack.  More likely to direct a battle from far behind the lines and completely incapable of grasping the subtler approaches to conflict, he kept his men in their inflexible positions until it was far too late. Sirom Stiffbeard, in contrast, was a great hero of the dwarven people and a very capable general.  He did not approach Gondosh at all.  Instead, realizing the Makomoe and Nodo-Xan were the prizes that mattered, his army abandoned Tomarom and forded the Oji river into elvish Akimoma.  The Akimo elves protested the incursion, but chose not to fight against ten thousand heavily-armored dwarves.  The dwarves were aware of an elven army to their north in the woods of Akimoma, but as this army did not move to engage them, the dwarves were content to leave both land and elves undisturbed. However, during this passage, Sirom was attacked by elvish assassins.  His guards strangled the elves with their own bowcords and Sirom had these sent to the new Emperor of the Pearl in a lacquered box set with precious gems. The rebel army marched up the right bank of the Oji until they reached Kazon, and then crossed over into Imonoe.  Now well behind enemy lines, they marched into Makomoe and quickly reduced the paltry defenses left behind by the inexperienced Xang.

The capital was harder to crack, however.  Its mighty walls were a formidable obstacle and Sirom was loathe to waste his energies storming them, or to destroy his own prize by using siege engines against the walls.  Instead, he settled his army into a ring of steel around the Khudukan capital and proceeded to starve the city into submission.

It is hard to determine how long Nodo-Xan might have held out, but it was ultimately spared the agony of finding out.  Hearing at last from his scouts that Xang was in Gondosh, Sirom immediately marched east to catch the hapless Xang in the rear.  Their directed defenses worse than useless against an army approaching from the west, and their leadership vastly inferior to that of the rebels, Xang's army was devastated by the assault of the rebel Khudukan Bear Guards. 

To his credit, Xang fought to the end and was mortally wounded by elvish archer in the employ of the rebels.  Taken to Sirom's own surgeon for aid, he nonetheless died on the table of a small Gondoshi inn known as the King's Arms.  Sirom Stiffbeard accepted the allegiance of many of Xang's troops and dismissed the mercenaries of both sides, with pay.

Sirom then marched back to Nodo-Xan where the city continued to defy him.  Sirom resumed his encirclement and by the end of 2898, the city defenders, reduced by disease and starvation, were compelled to submit to the new king. The nation's bureaucracy and infrastructure suffered badly in the siege, as did Nodo-Xan's university.  Most of the regions of Khudukan reluctantly agreed to acknowledge Sirom as their overlord. 

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

The chaos of the late war meant that many of the Pearl Empire's magistrates had been killed, driven off or drafted into service with the armies.  As a result, some of the less organized provincial governments became even less efficient.  The folk of Chimiwa stopped sending troops to the Emperor's armies, while the folk of Rikomus failed to do more than give lip service to the idea of imperial citizenship. This was one of the Emperor's highest priorities, and within a few years, the empire's schools of civil service were once again producing scribes and scholars.  Effective provincial magistrates were still few and far between. Another important priority was justice.  Emperor Hideyoshi held Edorel, former king of Akagekku, in his dungeons.  He sentenced Edorel to public ridicule, having him tarred and feathered, then dragged through the streets of Kuemas to his execution by beheading. Shinsen Henzo Kaori, daimyo of Wanari, led three thousand lightly-armed elves into the woods of Akimoma along the Oji river, about the same time that Sirom Stiffbeard's army marched through.  Kaori wisely avoided contact with the ten thousand heavily-armed dwarves and watched them march upstream on the hither bank.

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

King Galens granted Kupenda autonomy, reserving only that they must acknowledge the sovereignty of the kingdom with symbolic tribute of salt and earth every year. The army continued to increase in size, with a thousand elite elven archers taking up service in Suwelho. In 2897, traders from another far-off land arrived on Lekandi's shores.  Also human, but speaking a different language than the Mekebeleans, they claimed to come from the far east, from a land called "Zikuyu".  King Galens welcomed them and resupplied their ships with all manner of wholesome fruits, roast boar and fresh water.

Page Completed 17 June 2008