LORDS OF THE EARTH CAMPAIGN 54
"LORDS OF THEEURTH"

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At the words the worm came once again,
murderous monster mad with rage,
with fire-billows flaming, its foes to seek,
the hated men. In heat-waves burned
that board to the boss, and the breastplate failed
to shelter at all the spear-thane young.
Yet quickly under his kinsman's shield
went eager the earl, since his own was now
all burned by the blaze. The bold king again
had mind of his glory: with might his glaive
was driven into the dragon's head, --
blow nerved by hate. But Naegling was shivered,
broken in battle was Beowulf's sword,
old and gray. 'Twas granted him not
that ever the edge of iron at all
could help him at strife: too strong was his hand,
so the tale is told, and he tried too far
with strength of stroke all swords he wielded,
though sturdy their steel: they steaded him nought.
Then for the third time thought on its feud
that folk-destroyer, fire-dread dragon,
and rushed on the hero, where room allowed,
battle-grim, burning; its bitter teeth
closed on his neck, and covered him
with waves of blood from his breast that welled.

      - Beowulf, Anglo-Saxon Poem

1) If one of your leaders is arranging a diplomatic marriage for the king (or heir), and that marriage isn't arranged until the end of the turn, then the marriage doesn't occur until the end of the turn.  If the marriage doesn't occur until the end of the turn, your king (or heir) can't have legitimate children this turn.  Capice?

2) Previous to this turn, the GM had never noticed that failing a Missionaries op can cause the opposite of what's intended.  Many of you will note that your MW percentages have gone down.  Better check your Religious Strength before trying to spread it to others!

MEDARHOS -

North-Western Medarhos -

The Skane Jarldoms -  Ruler - Queen Astrid Capital - Vanaheim Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Medahros Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Antiphia [F]

The Empire of Edgemoor -
Ruler - King Kraank
Capital - Zaramaka
Dominant Race - Orcs
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Nivaan [NT]

Lang the Mystic lead four thousand orc cavalry and infantry through Bekanai territory and into the steppes of Annahar.  There, he summoned fell spirits of the air to frighten the nomadic tribes that opposed him and pursued them in their panicked flight and cut them down from behind.  Lang and his troops swiftly conquered and enslaved the region and marched north into the forests of Mordaen.  There, they fell upon the human woodsmen and defeated them in a series of short, brutal raids, burning their steadings and villages and driving the captives into slavery. A thousand miles to the southwest, Prince Gree and Taulk the Handsome traveled to the land of Nivaan, formerly controlled by Daerond, and convinced the men of that region to acknowledge the sovereignty of the orcs. Closer to home, the labor of nearly a half-century finally resulted in the cultivation (ugly and haphazard as may be) of the Iron Hills.  With this stroke, the orcs of Edgemoor left behind their barbaric past and entered into a new future as civilized folk. Missionaries in the Eastern March converted thousands of woodsmen to the worship of the Dark Court. King Tallo died peacefully (!) in his sleep in 2910, leaving the Empire to his son, Kraank. In those days there appeared among the orcs a great captain.  No one knew his origin, though he claimed to be of noble blood, and the son of a Lord of Azhran, one of the great Infernals of Malbor.  Calling himself Vazog the Half-Devil, he offered his services to the king.

. 

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

King Gares promoted his talented and warlike nephew Athansios to the post of Prince of Harkoria, while the king himself married a noblewoman of Cadares and fathered an heir.  Gares lavished attention and lands on his lieutenant Errikos, then sent Errikos out to command the entirety of the kingdom's twenty thousand troops (including three thousand newly-recruited light cavalry). Lord Tychon traveled to Maxis to conduct diplomacy, but the kingdom's old allies were not in a receptive mood and gave little heed to Tychon's promises. The Chimera Knot, Harkoria's adventuring company, traveled to Saranthus, following clues to a troll's hoard and returned laden with treasure. More shipments of Aelissian grain arrived across the Golden Sea. There were reports of elven armies moving by night beyond the eastern borders of the realm.

South-Western Medarhos -

The Brythnian Confederation -  Ruler - King Brangus Clovenhoof Capital - Tauropolis Dominant Race - Taurid Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Riandos [A]

In the wake of the Ascar/Edgemoor incursions of 2903-4, King Brangus raised a further four thousand centaur cavalry, moving to personally command the army in the Great Meadow.  However, by the time he arrived, things had gone seriously wrong for the army.  Immilia Clovenhoof, who had been sent orders to travel to Echoriath and accept gifts of gold, instead received orders to march the army to the Brythnian hills and be on the lookout for marauding orcs. Immilia Clovenhoof was a clever and resourceful agent, but her extremely high-pitched voice and the personality of a rabid badger made her one of the least competent taurids ever to command an army.  This screeching banshee marched north into the hills with twelve thousand troops, nearly all of them centaur cavalry.  When king Brangus arrived in the Great Meadow just weeks later, he was faced with the choice of remaining in the capital with his remaining forces (soon to grow to ten thousand).  He assembled these forces, along with several of his commanders, and followed Immilia to the Brythnian Hills. When he arrived in the Brythnian Hills, the furious Brangus ordered the startled Immilia arrested on suspicion of treason.  One day later, scouts reported that a large army of humans was marching southeast from the Cendarinne mountains.  It was the army of Ascarlon, nineteen thousand strong.  Brangus realized that a trap had been sprung.  However, that trap had intended to seize only that part of his army commanded by Immilia.  The Ascars now faced twenty-four thousand angry taurids. Although caught up in a fury, Brangus was objective enough to grant command of the army to his general, Hellenas Springbuck, who had arrived in the Great Meadow just as Brangus set forth. Baron Gauros was a great general, and was supported by excellent

generals, whereas Hellenas Springbuck was merely adequate and supported by those likely to stab themselves with cutlery.  The Baron was also a great sorcerer and his troops benefited from magically-enhanced weapons and the element of surprise.  On the other hand, the Ascars were a long way from home, fighting in territory friendly to the taurids.  They were also facing a taurid army in the hills, one that had the advantage in both cavalry and scouts. 

The Ascar army struck into the poorly-led Brythnians like a thunderbolt, instantly scattering the centaur archers and driving back the lancers.  The direct assaults of the Brythnians played into the ruses laid by the devious Baron Gauros and the bolts of arcane energy he unleashed terrified those who came close enough to see the shadow-shrouded figure on his skeletal mount.  Panic set in among the Taurids and fear worked more destruction than the Ascar weapons.  A great mass of centaurs routed towards the open steppes to the south, leaving stragglers to be picked off with abandon by the gleefully deadly humans.  This was a signal victory for Ascarlon.  More than twelve thousand taurid troops were dead, captured or scattered to the four winds, while the humans lost only a thousand.

By the time Brangus had led his battered army back to the Great Meadow, it was joined by the entire army of the Order of the Dawn, sixteen thousand soldiers, half of whom were Knights of the Golden Dawn, marched into the Great Meadow.  The Brythnian Hills were beyond the scouting range of the Order, however, and no one disturbed the Ascars as they systematically slew every resident of the province, then marched back north.  In 2908, the Ascars reappered in Orosel and began the same process.  Once again, the knights of the Order did not rouse themselves and Brangus refused to march his army out to face the Ascars a second time.  When they had slaughtered all the residents of Orosel, the Ascars departed.

Priests and monks of the Order of the Dawn traveled throughout the tribes of Brythnia, fanning the flames of religious orthodoxy.

Centaur matron Klytie Tallplain traveled across the Lyodan river to Riandos and arranged a marriage between the king and the daughter of Hera Tworivers, cementing an alliance between Brythnia and Riandos.

In 2907, Immilia Clovenhoof traveled to the Conorrian capital of Echoriath where both the Conorrian Emperor and the Great Church of the Grail gifted her with more gold than any previous transfer of wealth in the last several centuries of Theeurth history. Luckily for Brythnia, she remained loyal and brought home the gold.

In 2910, three thousand Neldorean elves marched into the Confederation under the command of Lord Lossëhelin and joined up with Brangus's army at the Great Meadow. The total forces at the Great Meadow now amounted to thirty-one thousand human, elvish and taurid troops.

Doros Crowfoot of the Dacian Hills, outraged by the weak showing of the Brythnians at the battle of the Brythnian Hills, refused to muster at the king's order and paid mere lip service to the authority of Tauropolis.

In 2909, a shepherd boy in the Dacian Hills followed his sheep into one of the innumerable caves that dot the limestone cliffs.  Seeing something shiny in the light of his torch of rushes, he moved further into the cave and discovered a strangely glowing portal.  The intrepid minotaur youth stepped through the portal and found himself in a castle on a high cliff in some frozen part of the world.  In the castle, he found many books which he could not read, but which he nonetheless carted out and showed to the village hetman.  These proved to be priceless relics of the Miletian Empire, at least seven hundred years old.  The books were sent to the university at Tauropolis.

King Brangus hired the Company of the Lance adventuring company.  Which mission he set before them is not known.

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

The halflings of Aelissia raised two thousand Aelissian slingers and twelve hundred light infantry at Greensward, under the command of Mon Brandobaris. Aelissian merchants ferried some of the vast surplus of beef, grain, mutton, vegetables, beer, wine and other assorted foodstuffs by sea to Harkoria and the Neldorean elves. There was scandal in the Gate of Bells when many of the city's wells and cisterns were found to be in terrible disrepair. Kat Farfling, the governor, claimed that unscrupulous workers and underlings were to blame for the missing government funds and poorly maintained public works.

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

Concerned for the stability of his dynasty, forty-nine year old King Bertrand married a woman of the local nobility to replace his departed queen and with her fathered a son and a daughter. As with the halflings of Aelissia, the great agricultural might of Corland was put into the service of its Grail allies.  Corland sent a veritable armada of grain ships to Neldorea, receiving gold in return, and also sent a goodly supply of grain to impoverished Lorraine gratis, in memory of the heroic service done to Corland by that nation in the H'rethek wars. The fever pox was rampant in Corland in 2909 and 2910, killing many.  Among the dead were Princess Clare, the king's sister.  Also killed were lord Francoise and Horace of the Cavadhe.  The sauruses of the Cavadhe remained the economic allies of Corland, but sent no more troops in support of the king.

 

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

King Arthur sent forth colonists and gold to repopulate the forests of Andred.  They became the most heavily-populated woods in all of Theeurth. The king likewise ordered a few small warships built at Andred and a few hundred marines recruited to man them. Ships from Corland arrived bearing casks of oil, beef, salt, pork, corn, wheat, wine, pitch, and barley in large quantities, which the Corish government sent to the Sea Empire free of charge. Sir Bran, military governor of Cassivelaunus, died in 2906 during a sudden fit of madness in which he declared himself to be the god Fargalann. Sir Congal led a diplomatic mission to the windswept Bruenor peninsula and secured an oath of allegiance to the High King.

Sir Hagen went north instead, leading a delegation to the orcs of Persant.  They, too, begrudgingly swore the oath of fealty to Arthur. Hagen died in Persant.  It is widely believed that orcish cooking killed him.

Sir Duncan of Lothian, a close ally of Arthur's, died in 2909 of a long and debilitating fever.  His son swore allegiance to the High King, but was not so close an ally as had been his father.

Sir Martin of Meliodas died of a ill choleric humor in 2906.

The elves of the Whisper Wood sought strenuously for their missing queen, swearing bloody vengeance on any who dared to lay hands on her royal person. Certain merchants in Lyodase claimed to have seen someone hustled aboard a ship bound downriver in 2904, and that sailors aboard the ship were speaking with an Accolon accent. Two thousand elven archers volunteered to serve in the army, while engineers raised up stone walls around the city of Lyodase. However, in 2908 the earth roared and rumbled, shaking the entire Woods.  The city of Lyodase was shaken to its foundations and the Lyodan river shifted course to cover the ill-fated city entirely.  In less than three hours, the small trading city in Ferrense was gone.

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

Queen Nereil ruled from the throne of Elenuil and in 2909 gave birth to twins, a son and a daughter.  There was great rejoicing over the rare event, for now Neldorea had an heir again for the first time since the annihilation of the capital. Almost as if to celebrate this blessed occasion, the queen's warders reported that greenery had been sighted on the fringes of the forbidden zone of Neldorea. Halfling ships from Aelissia arrived bearing a convoy of fruits, nuts, grains, meats, salt, pitch, copper and tin. Lord Súrionlath Tiriya oversaw the construction of seven cogs, and recruited three thousand light cavalry and three flights of Neldorean Griffon Riders. He spent years ferrying these troops between Elenuil, Har'akir and Harkoria. Lord Lossëhelin sailed with him into the forest expanses east of Harkoria and addressed the elves of Malcian, Viator and Vaanes, saying:
Good Elves of Vaanes, Viator and Malcian, It is dark times that brings my emissaries from the Neldorean Wood to your lands. Upon my urging Lossehelin of clan Leosse has traveled far to bring you this missive and I beg that you it fair hearing. The north has fallen into shadow, the minions and demons of the Dark Court move amongst your borders unhindered. Harokoria sits idle and isolated. The Via Brythnia is cut. Tirgonia is destroyed and Brythnia teeters on the edge of collapse. Celendor itself, the home of all elves, is abandoned,
the King has fled south with his people to Connoria. The north is ruined. Little stands in the way of the Edgemor Orcs or Ascarlon from reaching out their evil limbs, seizing your lands and sending you into slavery. the danger that lurks on your borders and to take action now before it is too late. The Neldorean Wood offers you their protection and guarentees that every elf who wishs to migrate to Neldorea will be granted their own land in the weathy border regions of Riftmarch and Crystal Shores. In addition, all Neldorean deserters who return now are granted amnesty as well, providing they swear fealty to the throne. Boats are ready now to take you all to safety away from the war that will soon sweep into your lands. Neriel Queen of the Neldorean Wood.

The elves of Malcian heard these words with dismay and gratitude and agreed to leave their homes for the chance of a better life in Neldorea.  But the elves of Vaanes rejected the call, for there were many among them that were fey and wild at heart and acknowledged no lord or law.  Still others were those whom long ago had mutinied against the service of the queen and feared to return. But it was in Viator that the herald of the queen met with the most surprising rejection.  For the elves of Viator were wroth at the suggestion that they were helpless or that one of the Firstborn would choose retreat.  They rose up in arms against Lossëhelin and his men, who withdrew rather than offer them violence, by the order of the queen.

Far to the south, Lady Alarielle commanded a thousand elven archers and five flights of Neldorean Griffon Riders into battle in Har'akir (See The Har'Akir Civil War, below).

The Exarchate of the Great Crusade - Ruler - Sir Waylan, Regent Capital - Pontezium Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy -

The Exarchate built more fortifications in Querenia, and replaced many of the villages and farms burned and destroyed by the monstrous invasions of the past. Sir Unger of the Pomarche added a thousand light troops to his entourage, while Sir Kurtis recruited fifteen hundred for the national army. Sir Kurtis and Sir James then marched from Querenia into Barrandia at the head of eight thousand troops, most of them cavalry, and many of them the fabled Crusader Knights. It was well that they did so, for at the border they met an equally large yet infinitely more diverse army of monsters slithering, hopping, flying, and burrowing towards Querenia. The monsters were of every kind imaginable, from tiny goblins and mites to ogres and quivering oozes to immense, unnamable things a thousand mouths, all screaming and gibbering with the insane energies of raw chaos. The two armies met on a plain just inside of

Querenia, and the monsters fell upon the men of the Crusade with an awful glee.  But though they were mighty in strength, the monsters had little direction and no leadership.  Sir Kurtis and Sir James managed to encircle the horrors and drive them back upon each other, creating panic and confusion among the children of the dark goddess.  The massed charge of the Crusader Knights was as the lightning of Thandor in the morning of the world, and wherever their flashing lances went, so to rode death.  The monsters died by the thousands, but a great many of the Crusaders were also slain.  When at last the men of the Exarchate had driven back and destroyed the great tide of monsters, a full two thousand of their companions lay dead or dying upon the field.

Sir Kurtis and Sir James drove on into Carrandis and found a nightmarish realm where savage fiends strove for dominance and all traces of the human inhabitants had been erased save for the bones. So many bones...  The number of monstrous foes was immense, but here within Carrandis they did not even have the goal of the army that entered Querenia.  They simply roamed at will and marauded or fled at the sight of others.  The Crusader army hunted these vile monstrosities for years, seeking their source in the fabled but unknown Pit of Gelorum.  All this was to one purpose - to give cover to the heroic adventurers known as the Brotherhood of the Blade to seek out and seal the Pit.  But by the time the Crusaders marched back to Querenia, leaving another thousand men dead in Carrandis, no word had come back from the adventurers.  And the monsters kept coming...

In 2907, masked men fell upon the feudal ally Douglas of Carrandis, killing two old retainers with the nobleman and seeking seemingly to capture him.  But Lord Douglas was a fine swordsman and a dangerous man to attack.  He killed one attacker and wounded the other.  The wounded man got away into the forests and hunters sent after him could not find him. 

The Holy Order of the Dawn - Ruler - Grand Master Fidelius Capital - The Akasian Hills Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Bodhria [OH], Valdori [OH], Tauropolis [OH], Eatris [-], Lauriacum [OP]

The Holy Order recruited two thousand soldiers, fifteen hundred of whom were heavily armored Knights of the Golden Dawn.  Nearly the entire army of the Order was sent to Brythnia under the command of Grand Master Fidelius and Master Gladius.  Sixteen thousand strong (and half of those mounted knights), they reinforced the Taurid army, but no attack ever came. In 2908, an attempt was made on the life of Grand Master Fidelius.  Two of his own knights attempted to stab him in his nightshirt, and were only stopped by his personal guard.  The knights were later found to be imposters, possibly from Harkoria. Mistress Veneficus, as uncharismatic a harpy as as ever wore the tabard of the Order, attempted to improve the holdings of the Order at Eatris and merely annoyed the local gentry and started several long-running feuds.  Her small guard of light cavalry kept local farmers from pelting her with rotten cabbages.

Meanwhile, Master Pilum successfully founded an order perceptory at the Conorrian border province of Lauriacum.  This important link allowed the perceptory at Callistus in Anicium to become a trade hub for the Order, thus permitting trade to the dwarves of Dhûnazhar.

The Crusader States transferred a large quantity of gold and foodstuffs to the Order of the Dawn.

In 2908, several thousand prognosticants of the Order revolted against the extreme, stifling orthodoxy of the traditional doctrine.  They demanded that a popular underground tract called The Order of Might be distributed to the common, hardworking soldier so that he might know the truth of his destiny.  The Order of Might is a evangelical pamphlet espousing the beliefs of the Way of the Sword, an heretical belief in Artorius as the true Father of the Gods.  Two thousand armed but poorly trained students currently occupy the citadel and disrupt Order business.  The three thousand troops stationed in the fortress hesitated to use force and await the Grand Master's orders.

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

Lord Mishkas transferred his elite cavalry to the Baron and was heard of no more.  Reports of his funeral at the Firefields in 2910 reached the outside world. The feudal allies Jerath of the Firefields and Bellos of the Black Forest led two thousand soldiers into the hobgoblin province of Khrundu and subdued the tribes, enslaving them and returning them to Orodea. But the great events of the realm centered around Baron Gauros, Count Bezhral and General Xandriag Kalmentarek.  Together, they led an army of nineteen thousand mixed troops over the Rimehorn and Cendarinne mountains to invade the Brythnian provinces of the Brythnian Hills and Orosel.  The sorcerers of Ascarlon had caused the army's weapons to drip with arcane energies. In the Brythnian Hills, the Baron's army ran directly into the main army of the taurids, commanded by General Hellenas Springbuck and generally obstructed by King Brangus and Immilia Clovenhoof.  The Ascars won a great victory over the taurids there (See The Brythnian Confederation, above) and took many slaves.  Ascar scouts reported the presence of a large body of troops in the Great Meadow, and so the Baron ordered the army to return north across the mountains.

TWhen they arrived back in Ascarlon, the army put the slaves to work on farms in Galati and Tirgu. General Xandriag Kalmentarek died in Tirgu in 2910.

As they had for more than a century, Ascar ships arrived at the Meledrian port of Narbyndahl and took onboard grain shipments which were then laboriously delivered back up the Wolf River and across the Hammersea to Denavine, to be transhipped to the orcs of the Edgemoors and the Worldspines.

The Worldspine Orcs -
Ruler - King Orkgoth
Capital - Gargath
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

Because of the chaos in the Worldspine government, the mountains of the Rimehorns and the Forst of Memory ceased even their nominal acknowledgement of Worldspine supremacy.  The Cendarinnes tribes ceased their close cooperation and sent only tribute to acknowledge Gargath's supremacy. King Wargard and a small army of two thousand elite troops  snuck silently out of the Worldspine and through secret ways arrived in the wilderness of the Blue Peaks, where they watched for signs of the return of the Conorrians.  Sure enough, at the end of 2906, the Conorrians  and Dhûnazhar dwarves returned with thirty-four thousand troops commanded by the Emperor Kaius Varantius himself. Wargard sent word to his brother Orkgoth, who ruled in his name in the Worldspine. When the Emperor Kaius died, his heir Petrius Arcalas assumed command of the Conorrian army and overall command of the allied force fell to Dwarven Princess Valandra.

Early in the spring, when the Conorrian/Dhûnazhar  army stormed into the Blue Peaks, it was not long before they detected Wargard's band creeping about amidst the flnty, cloudcapped peaks and overran them in a week of fighting.  The orcs that escaped were inconsequential as a fighting force.  King Wargard was killed, fighting to the last like a true orc.

Meanwhile, Orkgoth had received orders to evacuate the region, and the Emperor's delay in the Blue Peaks to destroy Wargard's force gave him the time to just barely accomplish that.  Stripping the region bare required six months of hard labor and Orkgoth and his small army marched out of the Worldspines just a month before Kaius and his army marched in. Nothing was left to the humans and dwarves but snow and rocks and the ruins of Mount Kauroth. A human assassin attempted to shoot Orkgoth in the wild passes north of Mount Kauroth, but was himself slain by the new king's guards. 

Meanwhile, far to the west, Wargard's sister Moonclaw wed Mulgauth of Waertag, making him a prince of the realm and bringing the city to her brother's realm as dowry.  By 2908, Mulgauth was dead (worn out, it was joked, by the passions of Moonclaw) and the princess was a widow with a city to her name.

The Emperor ruled from the Vulture throne in in Carcaroth, and sent forth his legions to slay and conquer.  He also sent forth the Order of the Vulture to explore the ruins in Hullumak.  They never returned. The army was under the command of General Ak'kratush, who was assisted by the Imperial heir Maugroth V and the Emperor's brother Reor.  Nineteen thousand strong, they marched into the small elvish enclave of Orodel.  The elves of Orodel had refused to heed the call of Regent Voromë and steadfastly defended their woodland homes.  Steadfast or not, they were outnumber eight to one and the hobgoblins overwhelmed their small bands with a brutal ferocity.  After conquering Ordel, the hobgoblins looted it and enslaved the elves, sending them back to Elsend to work as laborers and slave farmers. Prince Reor died at the end of the campaign at the age of forty-eight. The large army then marched south, beating a path towards the Esharias river and the Conorrian province of Lederata.  Two thousand Conorrian soldiers garrisoned the province.  Isolated from any help (the nearest Conorrian army was eight hundred miles away in Autricum), the garrison retreated behind the thick walls of Colanum, the provincial capital.  Reinforced by the local garrison, the thirty-five hundred Conorrians vowed to sell their lives dearly and wait for relief from the Emperor. It was at this point that Maugroth V asserted his right as heir to command the Imperial army.  He overruled the protests of General  Ak'kratush and reminded all present that he would soon be emperor.  Maugorth was militarily competent, but he was no Ak'kratush.  Far worse for Carhallas was the fact that while its troops were competent at siegecraft, the Conorrians were superb at it. Maugroth's workmanlike siege was routinely foiled by the moderately-well

led, but extremely well-trained Conorrian defenders.  As the hobgoblinsbuilt great engines to hurl stones at the walls and dug a series of trenches to approach the walls, the human defenders rained down fire and shot on them, killing five hobgoblins for every human killed. General Ak'kratush was wounded during an assault on Colanum's eastern gate.  As of winter, 2910, the siege continues. Nearly six thousand hobgoblin had become casualties in the bloody assaults.

The Great Kingdom of Annvar - Ruler - Empress-Regent Estilda Capital - Varthane Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy -

The Standard of Annvar

The Emperor kept his lieutenants close to Varthane, but dispatched his many feudal allies to ride into the elven lands and despoil them.  The Annvarite feudal lords of Rukai, Medinavai, Gurvolynas and Rastye rode out with six thousand troops, mostly lightly armed nomadic archers, and invaded the lands of the Thuidhel elves.  As the humans entered the woods of Linhirin, the elves of Minhir marched forth to aid their brethren, but the elves of Andras and Ithancelos remained at home.  Still, thirty-five hundred elven archers met the six thousand human cavalry and dealt them great harm.  But the humans of Annvar had several excellent generals and the elves had no leaders of note.  Though nearly a thousand men lay dead in the lush forests, Linhirin was conquered and its people marched away as slaves.  Next, the humans rode on into sparsely-inhabited Andras and battled the wood-elves, this time with greater success.  Once the Andras militia was scattered, the men of Annvar hunted the elves for sport, and turned the once-verdant forest into a silent wilderness. The lord of Gurvolynas was slain in Andras, and his orcish soldiers marched home, refusing to send another lord to replace him. In 2906,the Emperor Truchoniax gave the hand of his daughter Ballina in marriage to his lieutenant Perejiliax, elevating him to the rank of Prince. The Emperor died in 2909 after a long and debilitating illness.  His three-year old son Palestroniax was crowned Emperor of Annvar and most observers expected that Perejiliax would be named regent.  But the Empress Estilda proved to be a most resilient and forceful woman, gathering support among the nobility for her own regency.  She had never trusted Perejiliax and was determined to reign in her son's name until his majority. And so it came to pass.

The Forest Realm of Meledrian -
Ruler - King Eldareth Hammerhand
Capital - Dalariadh
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Nimbreth [+11 YfC], Rainas [+14 YfC]

The dark elves of Meledrian (for so they were becoming known) recruited three thousand elven archers to join the allied armies of Tirielinan and Finrothel.  As they had for over a century, the elves transferred grain to Ascar ships at Narbyndahl for transshipment to the orcs of the Edgemoors and Worldspines. King Eldareth Hammerhand, along with many in his court traveled to the pacified lands of Nimbreth and Rainas to smooth relations.  In Nimbreth, Eldareth arranged the marriage of his son Namardil to the daughter of the most powerful noble house in the forest.  The presence of the king, as well as the flight of their Celendori brethren did much to convince the subject elves to ease their anger against the Meledrian elves. Missionaries spread the faith of the Dark Court throughout Rainas, nearly supplanting the Lords of the Grail. Prince Namardil governed the city of Dalariadh, governing brilliantly.  Queen Desirella, newly freed from bondage, had little time for her lord and husband but instead traveled to the western frontier and became the governor of Minnuin.  That city, far beyond the reach of Dalariadh's bureaucracy, rebelled against Meledrian's control in a brief but violent uprising.  Eldareth's agents quickly moved in to arrest and hang the ringleaders, and a sullen peace fell over the city like a funeral shroud. No such alert reaction was present to stifle the rebellion in the hills of Vethosas, where the wild elves held little love for their lowland cousins.  Moreover, as no orders reached the garrison in the empty wilds of Fallmallinar, its small garrison sailed across the Wolf river and returned to Silithos. In 2909, representatives of Celendor and Meledrian met in the elven city of Veromito.  Each warily eyed the other, ready for treachery.  But none occured.  Bishop Killcrantor the Remonstrator released the Celendori lord Enetholas and in turn received the Meledrian lord Aelavel Tyrnealyth.

The Duskwood Reavers of Azhran -
Ruler - Grand Master Nath-Imperator Melenchlaenith the Archdisrupter
Order Fortress - None
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Asep [OH], Celegost [OH], Varthane [OP], Nimbreth [OH], Imlarond [-], Mithelan [OH]

The fledgling religious order concentrated on expanding its holdings, using both leaders and agents to establish new Order Houses in Asep, Celegost, Nimbreth and Mithelan, as well as a new Perceptory in Varthane. The Great Kingdom of Annvar transferred several chests of gold to the Duskwood Reavers.

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

The halflings of Tiringol continued to improve their homeland with farms and small villages. King Keriadoc fathered another son (Rashem) and a daughter (Rose).  The queen died in childbirth in 2910. Prince William Shroud had not been seen or heard of in Tiringol since 2900.

The Conorrian Heartland -

The Conorrian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Thandoros Capital - Echoriath Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The mighty Conorrian Empire continued its cycle of building and conquest. The legions recruited four thousand troops (mostly light cavalry in the southeastern region of Autricum). Twenty light transports and ten light warships were laid down in the ways of Echoriath. Other companies of engineers constructed field forts in Autricum and Sabratha. A thousand miles away in the northwest, engineers built a new city in Lenicum on the banks of the Phaedon river.  Called "Port Infernum", it crowds around the base of mighty Fortress Hell's Gate.  Port Infernum's primary feature is its immense defensive wall, many times larger than that of any other city its size. General Atanius was allowed to wed Omarianna, daughter of the Emperor, a move that would have dire consequences for the empire in a few years. The largesse of the Empire knew few bounds.  Treasures as vast as the wealth of most nations were gifted by the Emperor to the realms of Brythnia and the Exarchate of Edledhas (formerly Celendor).

In the east, Senator Draximus conquered the desert province of Kildaruensis in the name of the Emperor.  Senator Lysandros took command of a small naval force and sailed to Uls Fakhar to lend support to the halflings of Thariyya. Bishop Sangraal traveled to Sexaginta to conduct diplomacy and return the province to full citizenship.  All of these efforts would soon prove to be in vain.

To the northeast, nineteen thousand hobgoblins invaded Lederata.  Their general, Prince Maugroth V, expressed surprise that the Conorrians resisted this "peaceful exchange" of territory.  Unexpectedly, the Conorrian garrison retreated to the city of Colanum and although the populace of the city held no love for the Conorrians, the troops held out against a heavy Carhallas siege, appealing for aid from the Emperor.

The Emperor Kaius Varantius and his son Petrius Arcalas marched northwest from Faloricum at the head of twenty-eight thousand troops.  Crossing the Phaedon, they entered Lenicum and met up with a dwarven army from Dhûnazhar under the command of Princess Valandra.  The two planned to once again invade the Worldspine Mountains, this time to slaughter all the orcs they could find and cleanse the mountains of the stain of evil.  As soon as the army entered into Lenicum, three separate assassination teams tried to take the life of the Emperor.  All were foiled by the extremely alert guards and fanatic elite mountain rangers.  One of the assassins was orcish, but the second was human.  The third was never actually caught or seen.

Despite all this caution, the Conorrian emperor died suddenly in the fall of 2906 in Lenicum at the age of forty-four.  His physicians determined that the causes were natural - the mighty Emperor's fiery spirit had burned hotter than others, killing him the sooner. Taking counsel, Petrius Arcalas (now nominally the Emperor, raised up on the shields of his father's troops) and Princess Valandra decided to proceed with the invasion, with the dwarven princess in the lead.

In the Blue Peaks, Conorrian rangers discovered evidence of a hidden orcish force and at Valandra's orders flushed them out into the open. It turned out to be two thousand orc rangers led by none other than the orcish king of the Worldspines, Wargard.  The combined allied army easily defeated the orcs and slaughtered their foul king.  They left his head rotting on a pike amidst the wreckage of his army and marched on north after the brief delay.

When the allies marched into the Worldspine North, they found that the orcs had recently evacuated.  There was nothing to destroy, nothing to loot, nothing to do.  Disappointed, the allies prepared to return home.  A few orcs remained hidden, however, and one of these managed to slip past the Conorrian guards and poison the new Emperor's wine.  Arcalas died in twisted agony in the Worldspine North. Leaderless, his army became mutinous.  Its officers pacified the troops by spreading around some of the wealth the Emperors had carried to bribe mercenaries.  The army then marched south under the command of one Decimus Brutus, who returned the army to Acaris.

Peace eluded the rest of the Empire.  The death of the two emperors led to a crushing lack of faith in the Imperial line.  Kaius's only remaining son, Thandoros, had himself declared emperor and took command of the twenty-thousand troops in Echoriath. 

Citizens around the empire openly questioned the dynasty that had taken the throne by force, and saw the deaths as proof of divine displeasure.  The senators Atanius and Lysandros, who had long hated the emperor, quickly sprang to the fore, claiming to represent the will and spirit of the Empire and demanded that the line of the Usurper be extinguished, for the good of the Empire. Atanius commanded the fourteen thousand men of the Adoria garrison and Lysandros commanded the small Conorrian navy.

Once Atanius (Kaius's son-in-law since his marriage to Omarianna in 2906) declared himself to be the true emperor, other potential claimants rushed to the fore.  In Autricum, Senator Draximus declared himself "Emperor of the East" and marched up the Esharias river towards Adamos with eight thousand soldiers.  Decimus Brutus, the popular commander of the Imperial army declared himself "Protector of the West' and enforced his claim with the largest of all the armies, Kaius's twenty-eight thousand.  Thus it was that 2910 was remembered as the "Year of the Four Emperors."

Only Atanius and Lysandros took swift action.  Atanius marched his army into Medensus almost before Thandoros knew there was a war on.  By the time Atanius had reached Faloricum, Lysandros had taken up station off the coast, cutting off Echoriath from supplies or reinforcements.  Still, Thandoros had little reason to fear.  He had the immense walls of Echoriath on his side, larger than anything that could be built by modern man. Atanius's army encamped in Faloricum, unable to come to grips with his enemy.

Meanwhile, Decimus Brutus and his army moved south into Boenia and Anicium, and threatened Callistus with destruction if it did not open its gates to him.  The city submitted meekly. In the east, Draximus siezed Adamos after a brief siege and then marched back to Kylades to set up defenses.

And thus it was the Conorrian Empire broke apart into four warring factions.

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 - Tarrentica [MN], Muzir [AB]

The Patriarch's Standard

The wealthy Great Church recruited three thousand soldiers, bound for the Har'akir civil war, and laid down the keels of twenty ships. An enormous sum of gold and gems was handed over to Immilia Clovenhoof of Brythnia, who had to cart it back to the Taurid homeland in a monstrous train of wagons...unprotected.  Grail bishops delivered smaller amounts to the governments of Har'akir and the Llyran Republic. The Great Church hired four thousand Grail mercenaries at Muzir and ten mercenary warships at Conorr. Missionaries sent to Vahdin in Thariyya vied with those of the Dark Court for supremacy.  The sentiments of the halflings continued to tilt toward the Gods of Woe. Other missionaries vied with those of the Dark Court in Akir and in Nova Valis.

Agents of the Great Church identified the location where the Akir Rebels were holding the Patriarch.  A ragtag band of adventurers and misfits infiltrated the sultan's palace and freed Henrikos, the Patriarch of the Grail, spiriting him back behind friendly lines to Muzir.

Bishop Kheldar spent five years canonizing a monastery in Tarrentica, while Bishop Darisus founded an abbey in Muzir.  Darisus died in Muzir in 2910.

Prince-Bishop Karas defended Muzir during 2906.  Once relief arrived, he sailed north towards the Conorrian Empire with a fleet of twenty-seven warships and thirty-five transports.  In the Gulf of Thariyya, Karak's fleet ran into the main battle fleet of Accolon, out for blood. Admiral Kragar Darkfist, commanding seventeen immense Accolon Battle Galleys and ten traditional warships attacked  on a fine afternoon in the late spring of 2907.  Kragar's battle tactics were impeccable, and his Battle Galleys unanswerable.  He swept the Grail fleet before him, sinking and damaging ships by the dozen.  With much of the Grail fleet sunk or captured, Kragar pursued the remnants north into the Sea of Serpents, capturing more and driving others onto the treacherous rocks of the Liburnum coast before Karas and his survivors found shelter in the harbor of Conorr.  Ships limped into harbor by ones and twos for months.  The final butcher's bill was sixteen Grail ships sunk and fifteen captured.  The Accolonites lost only two warships, one sunk and one dashed on the rocks.

After this disaster, Prince-Bishop Karas foreswore the sea and marched north.  He took command of the Grail army stationed in Adoria and then marched into his native Dhûnazhar with ten thousand troops, ready to defend Kiril Zelen.

Bishops Sarpedon and Arkelos, meanwhile, assembled an army fourteen thousand strong at Muzir and pushed south with the allies (See The Har'akir Civil War, below.)

The Dwarven Realm of Dhûnazhar -  Ruler - King Valand II Capital - Khelem Vala Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

The dwarves recruited a thousand soldiers and improved the defenses of Kiril Zelen and Oeres.  They also started a road towards the Conorrian province of Adoria. Valand II sat the throne in Khelem Vala in command of seven thousand dwarvish troops.  He dispatched Princess Valandra and Garag Blood axe to support the Conorrian assault on the Worldspines with a further six thousand dwarvish troops (See The Worldspine Orcs, above). Before ever she marched out of Dhûnazhar, foreign agents attempted to kidnap Princess Valandra. Men in black cloaks were seen dropping into her apartments on ropes of black silk.  Vigilant dwarven soldiers burst into the Princess's rooms just in time to thwart the villains. Upon their capture and interrogation, they admitted that they were Ascar agents sent on orders of Baron Gauros of Ascarlon. Other agents were more successful against Dhûnazhar.  His servants found Turok the Wise dead in an alley behind the inn where he had taken up residence.  His head had been bashed in by a large and solid object. His rooms were also ransacked and the Crystal Brazier was missing.  Princess Thorinna was simply missing from Orod Dhorn.  Even Darak Iron-Helm, lord of Khuruk Tor, was missing, his loyal companions were found dead, poisoned. In 2908, Prince-Bishop Karas of the Grail Primacy marched into the mountains at the head of ten thousand Grail troops and took up a supporting position at Kiril Zelen.

The Exarchate of Edledhas -
Ruler - Exarch Voromë 
Capital - None
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - The Lords of the Grail
Diplomacy - Sissicus [-HS]

The Exarch sighed.  His choices were few.  If his people were to have a homeland, they must have land. And in the densely-inhabited Conorrian heartlands, all useful land was occupied by someone.  And so it was with a heavy heart that he ordered the Exiles (for so they now named themselves) to settle in the lands of the Mirinii, a human tribe on the northwestern border of the Empire. The elves offered no violence to the humans, but announced their intention to settle the forests of the Mirinii, which roused the humans to violence to protect their homes.  They would not lose their lands without a fight. The elves of Celendor, now calling themselves Edledhas, the Exiles, fielded seven thousand of the best forest soldiers in the world, and although the Mirinii Confederation fielded approximately equal numbers, they had no ancient battle-tested generals like Voromë, nor the ability to appear and disappear into the greenery.  And so it was that the Mirinii were conquered, destined to become a second class within the suddenly caste-based culture of the elves.

After the battle of Heircomita, Voromë quickly established a new Edledhas homeland in Hydastes, and settled his refugees in the lands of the Mirinii.  The elves lost nearly half their force in conquering their new realm.

During all this time, Lords Forendhil and Eantaressë travelled to the elven woods of Sissicus to discuss an alliance.  The Sissicans were angered by the attacks on their longstanding friends the Mirinii, and rejected the overtures with hostility.

King Gregor appointed his younger brother Ulfast to be his heir, and his cousin Dunhurst to be a prince of the realm. He then gathered thirteen thousand soldiers at Veromito, along with Longshanks, August of Draconium, Erick of Edhel Gorthas and Malco of Veromito.  Together, they launched an assault against the hobgoblins of Othona.  Gregor's excellence as a commander and his huge advantage in numbers spelled the doom of the Lederata rebels.  The men of Pelendur stormed through Othona with no resistance to speak of and laid siege to the walled city of Magrod. Magrod lasted for four months before surrendering to the men of Pelendur.  Malco of Veromito was slain in the action, and his realm seceded from the Warded Realm. Elsewhere, Lord Urikson traveled to Keldior and arranged a marriage for the newly-appointed heir, thereby extracting tribute from the men of Keldior.

ELIMINATED.

VALES -

North-Western Vales -

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

The Llyran Republic used its isolated location to prepare for war.  It recruited two thousand mixed troops in Bella and Tarrentica, and then launched a two-pronged invasion of Rebel-held Ha'Akir. Constans Ganoes Paran led fifty warships and four thousand troops towards the Kedit Wall, while Strategos Kalam Marova led twenty warships and five thousand men towards the city of Mica. (See The Har'Akir Civil War, below). Back home, Lord Herboric Marova attempted unsuccessfully to sway the nobles of Nova Valis to return to their traditional faith in the Lords of the Grail. Meanwhile, Dark Court missionaries kept the peasant population firmly dedicated to the gods of Woe. The Republic received a shipment of gold from the Great Church of the Grail. Military innovations in Vastium led to a reorganization of the army into smaller units, giving the initiative to on-scene commanders, making the infantry more flexible and powerful.

The Holy Matriarchy of Ahuran -  Ruler - Queen Mary Sommerville Capital - Sedeskan Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Maddari

The warrior-women of Ahuran prepared to go to war.  Queen Jenny ordered the recruitment of four thousand mixed troops (including fifteen hundred Knights of the Ring of Gold) at Sedeskan.  She also ordered a competition to be held at the Court of the Royal Consort, wherein the noblewomen of the court would vie for the position of heir to the throne.  The theme of the competition was oration and rhetoric.  Maga Mary Sommerville and Maga Siobhan McKenzie were the crowd favorites.  Declaring a tie, the queen turned to the priestesses for a ruling, and these chose Maga Mary Sommerville as the new heir. This choice was soon put into effect, for Queen Jenny died in 2906 during childbirth.  The new queen, Mary, sailed to Galim in Har'Akir at the head of the newly-recruited army.  Once there, the sorceresses of Ahuran summoned a horde of one thousand hairy, brutish soldiers from the dimension known as Ecretha, who marched at the side of her soldiers. (See The Har'akir Civil War, below).

Maga Siobhan McKenzie accompanied her former rival, providing battle intelligence and attempting without success to convert the nobility of Mar Awas to the worship of the goddess.

Yolande of Haalthor hired the "Daughters of the Second Spire" adventuring group, who traveled to an ancient ruin in Veij said to be haunted.  They never returned.

Har'akir - Ruler - Sultan Ahmed ibn Qadir Capital - Muzir Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail
	Har'akir sent a tiny token force along with the mighty Grail army that marched south in the fall of 2907.  Her real contribution to that effort was magical.  Her sorcerers summoned genies who flew invisibly among the rebel army, sowing confusion and despair. (See The Har'akir Civil War, below). Har'akir borrowed heavily to finance its cash-strapped government and received a large shipment of gold from the Grail Primacy. The rebel sultan Haseeb died in prison in 2907.

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

Regent Vazim recruited thirty-five hundred soldiers and retired to Har Mekelle in hopes of peace.  That peace would last him less than a year.(See The Har'akir Civil War, below).

In 2907, agents of the Grail Primacy struck at Har Mekelle, killing his guards and spiriting away Patriarch Henrikos, who had been imprisoned in fine quarters in the sultan's palace.

ELIMINATED

THE HAR'AKIR CIVIL WAR
(2893-2910)

Regent Vazim assembled an army of ten thousand soldiers in Har Mekelle, and kept a watch on the borders. Meanwhile, the armed forces of five nations plotted to invade his kingdom.  In the west, Ahuran queen Mary Sommerville landed in Galim with four thousand soldiers in Daarlem of 2907.  A month earlier, Bishops Sarpedon and Arkelos landed at Muzir with more than fourteen thousand soldiers, including three thousand Paladins of the Grail and four thousand mercenaries.

By spring of 2908, a thousand Neldorean elven archers and five flights of Neldorean Eagle Riders, as well as fourteen hundred loyal Akirs had joined the Grail army.  This army moved south across the Adramagdus mountains and into Damo, marching into Husen in Cleon of 2908.  About the same time, Queen Mary of Ahuran was summoning a thousand hairy club-wielding warriors from another plane of existence. 

Grimly, Vazim marched north to meet the Grail army, and battle occurred in the plains of Husen in Daarlem of 2908.  More than eighteen thousand Grail, Neldorean and Har'akir troops faced more than ten thousand Har'akir rebels.  Unexpectedly, a major demon strode at the head of the Rebel army.  It was a mass of chitinous plates and multiple faces, leaking sulfurous fumes and the screams of damned souls.  Wherever it stood, all plant life withered away, and wherever its gaze fell, men cowered and animals panicked.

This otherworldly behemoth might very well have presented a fatal foe to the Grail army, if the Rebel army did begin to disintegrate at this time. Vazim's army had fallen into confusion and bickering on the march and thousand now abandoned the army or milled aimlessly in the no-man's land between the two forces. This magical confusion, launched by the wizards of Har'akir, overcame a mysterious resistance that protected the rebel army.

At about the same time, confusion of a lesser sort spread throughout the ranks of the Grail army as Bishop Sarpedon began to issue confused and sometimes contradictory battle orders.  Despite all this, the Grail armies held many advantages: numbers, elite soldiers, more cavalry, more scouts, all the aerial troops and more commanders.  The battle, such as it was, was a complete and total rout.  Although the demonic champion slew hundreds, the rebels fled into the hills and woods, pursued by the elated Grail forces.  Wily Vazim slipped away and escaped capture. The Grail army liberated Husen and Entelle and marched on Har Mekelle.

Meanwhile, the Ahurans stormed unopposed into Mar Awas and liberated the region in the name of the Sultan of Har'akir.

The Ahurans marched into Har Mekelle in Daarlem of 2909 and liberated it after a brief battle.  Two months later, the Grail army arrived and Queen Mary was able to formally turn over control of the land to general Al Zed and subordinate her army to that of Bishop Sarpedon.  Much to Queen Mary's dismay, Sarpedon declined to assault the city of Mar Awas, but instead encamped the joint armies in the plains of Har Mekelle.

About this time, two armies of the Llyran Republic landed in Har'akir.  The first, under Constans Ganoes Paran, consisted of fifty warships and four thousand troops who landed on the shores of the Kedit Wall.  The second, under the command of Strategos Kalam Marova, consisted of twenty warships and five thousand men who stormed ashore at Dikhil and took that rebel land under their control. Ganoes marched south into Akir, seizing the district and its unwalled city of Agazier.  Kalam seized Dikhil and its small city of Mica, then marched through Khars, ending 2910 in Agazier.  Although the Llyrans tried to return the lands under their military control to Har'akir, they found that these lands were loyal to the rebels and had no interest in bowing to the Sultan against whom they'd rebelled.

With the rebel army shattered, the rebel territory gone and the rebel leaders dead or in hiding, the rebellion collapsed.  Most of northern Har'akir was back in the hands of Sultan Ahmed, but much of southern and eastern Har'akir was recalcitrant.  As for the former capital, Mar Awas, that still held out, defiant, but no longer part of Haseeb's rebellion.

The Valesian Empire - Ruler - Emperor Dioges Capital - Centauris Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Laedos [F], Phalces NT]

The Emperor Dioges transferred command of the bulk of his land forces to General Lysander at Ventas.  Dioges then engaged the Laedans in a lengthy round of diplomatic discourse, resulting in their full accession to the Empire. Lords Gildorn and Silvain traveled to Phalces and after five years of bribery, backslapping and endless speeches, garnered a vague commitment to the unity of the Valesian people.

Luxur - Ruler - General Tanari Capital - Thedelos Dominant Race - Sathla Dominant Religion - Autumna Diplomacy - Badar [-], Shenth [+2YfC]

The Empire of Luxur built transport ships and warships at its naval yards at Thedelos. It spent huge sums on training a first generation of leatherwing riders, and on the university at Thedelos. Missionaries in Thedlos, Badar and Shenth met with limited success in their attempts to restore the ancient and now unpopular faith of Autumna. Success in Badar was assisted by the priests of the Primacy, but hampered by the unpopular priests of Mykele, whom many viewed as foreign interlopers. Lieutenant Tanari and five thousand soldiers marched up the right bank of the Artaxes to Keferis with the intention of co-opting the local garrison and using force to convert the Keferins back to Autumna.  Instead, the local garrison of two thousand soldiers holed up in Keferis's castles and defied the Thedelos government.  Unwilling to admit failure to General Vuluk, Lieutenant Tanari ordered his troops to storm the defenses and put to the sword all who resisted him.  The resulting battle was bloody for both sides, with the loyalist troops suffering nearly fifty percent dead, wounded or mutinied over the several months of the campaign. Speaker Shozon took clutches of Leatherwing eggs to Luxur's allies: Mykele, Drormt, Weshtayo and the Holy See of Udjo. This was the first public acknowledgement that Luxur had indeed acquired several Mekebele Leatherwings. Speaker Nealos attempted to soothe the angry crowds of Badar, but was booed wherever he went.  He had a tiny bit more luck in Shenth. Luxurite and Holy See missionaries managed to convert the formerly pious mobs in Thedelos back to the worship of Autumna. General Vuluk died at the age of fifty-four in 2909.  The Council of Oligarchs met to elect his replacement and settled on Lieutenant Tanari. Speaker Shozon was far more popular, particularly in Thedelos, but Tanari was an Autumnan, and his election was seen to be important for continued good relations with the Holy See of Udjo and the city of Merwal.

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

2906 started hopefully for the Holy See.  The great wave of Dark Court conversions had at last slowed to a trickle, and the Holy See had survived.  Intent on expanding its power to the southwest, the Primacy built a great temple complex in the city of Coilus, and sent High Priest Ara Vata to that ocean port to oversee the consecration of a new cathedral. Missionaries of the Holy See preached in Badar and Thedelos. In Thedelos, they managed to convert a majority of the population back to the faith of Autumna, but had limited success in Badar.  This limited success was diminished by the well-meaning assistance of Mykelean missionaries, whom the Badarians regarded as foreign agents. But Pysus Zonrez railed against the evils of the Dark Court and the displeasure of Udjo at the faithlessness of his worshipers. He demanded that the faithful rise up and take a new crusade to the unbelievers, that they be driven out with fire and sword and poison.

This call to arms was deeply and unexpectedly divisive among the sathla of the Artaxes Valley because they feared the violence that would follow and among the jungle tribes because such considerations seemed small and far away. 

In the end, the Pysus's Crusade died when he did, falling victim to a wracking cough in 2907.  But the crisis of faith it engendered survived him.  For many, the Pysus's death was seen as a judgment upon his policies, while to others it symbolized that, having delivered the message, he was called back to the Nest with Udjo.  So acrimonious did this debate become that a minor schism arose within the Primacy.  No major leader supported the schismatics, but many lesser leaders led their churches, abbeys and monasteries out of the Primacy.  Existing mostly in the far south, the schism spelled the end of Merwal's religious domination over Arran, Girudar, Patu, Oroyon, Ursurrnam and Ibkurru. The Primacy lost prestige and influence in many lands as a result.

The various great priests hastened back to Merwal to consult on a leader to follow Zonrez.  Many supported Azuliyuz, who had returned from Weshtayo with her troops, but she died in Merwal in 2907.  The remaining priests elected the brilliant speaker Ara Vata as the new Pysus and prayed that he could lead them to a more prosperous future.

In 2907, the Empire of Luxur made a gift to the Primacy of a clutch of leatherwing eggs, so that the Primacy might one day create its own units of aerial beast riders. 

The Holy See hired the Company of the Silver Axe to adventure on its behalf.  They were later seen in the region of The Valraj.

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

point of many Mykelean lances.  Then, at the point of victory, Saaropiene and his remaining forces marched back out of Lidia, leaving neither garrison nor government to enforce their hard-won edicts.  Within months, the Lidians went back to their preferred form of worship - sacrificing living sathla to the gods of the Dark Court.

Mykelean missionaries sent to Badar in Luxur attempted to aid the Holy See in converting the Luxurites back to Autumna, but were instead seen as agents provocateurs and the mood of the Badarites turned even more firmly against Autumna.

Sleeth the Conjurer, governor of Mikkulizim, hired the Snake Pit adventurers to look around his city for disloyal elements.  Sleeth died in 2908.

In 2907, the Empire of Luxur made a gift to the Serpentine of a clutch of leatherwing eggs, so that the Mykeleans might one day create their own units of aerial beast riders. 

Lords Breen and Carresh of Naszgiri traveled to Diumevet and Vaasilos, respectively, and preached the values of Autumna to the nobles of those regions.

Majid al Muzir, the mercenary diplomat, traveled to Kuzsu and arranged a marriage between the Sauressh and a noblewoman of the region, cementing Mykele's control over Kuzsu.

North-Eastern Vales -

The Kingdom of Thariyya - Ruler - Regent Zuiya Zendowan Capital - Uls Fakhar Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Shai [FA]

The halflings of Thariyya reacted swiftly to the threat of the Dark Court conversions.  They trained many agents in the arts of infiltration, subterfuge and scouting. Walls were strengthened in Uls Fakhar and in Fort Tuscynaya. The assembled lords named Prince Thandoris regent in King Iolas's absence. Ten months later, the royal palace received a report that while walking in the market of Uls Fakhar, armed men suddenly slew the regent's retinue and bundled him into a cart which they quickly drove away. With some trepidation, the nobles named Zuiya Zendowan as their new regent. Miratur Vahdin and the feudal allies of Bari and Meheskar defended the Thariyyan wall at Shood against invaders. On a foggy night in 2907, Miratur disappeared from his post never to be seen in Thariyya again (See The Warlocks of Accolon).

Zuiya Zendowan and two hundred cavalry burned down the Dark Court church in Madegap and hung the priests from tall gibbets. Meanwhile, the preachings of the Dark Court Primacy lowered the halfling nation's overall dedication to the Lords of the Grail.

Carmina Vahdin successfully convinced the desert halflings of Shai to swear a feudal allegiance to Uls Fakhar.

Conorrian and Grail Primacy missionaries arrived in Vahdin and cooperated with the efforts of the local halflings to return the Thariyyan homeland to the worship of the Grail.  But these priests contested directly with missionaries from Accolon and the Shadowed Primacy, and it was the evil lure of pride, anger, hatred and greed that spoke the louder. Accolon's missionaries in Iqbazir fared far worse, however, and the loyal farmers of the region paid no heed to the dour southerners.

Conorrian admiral Lysandros sailed a fleet of thirty warships to Uls Fakhar, but he spent his time in port. What protection the Conorrians offered vanished in 2908 when the Conorrian Civil War broke out.

Azimandas Vahdin put to sea with eighteen warships proudly flying the scarlet pennons of the Red Pact of Vales.  Unfortunately for him, Accolon's admiral Kragar Darkfist also put out to sea to patrol the Gulf of Thariyya. Early in 2907 the Accolon battle fleet engaged the Thariyyans in a full-scale naval battle.  The immense floating behemoths known as Accolon Battle Galleys quickly proved their worth.  Kragar's fleet comprised seventeen Accolon Battle Galleys and ten warships.  The Accolonites were by far the superior sailors, and Kragar himself was a brilliant strategist. The Accolon fleet crashed through that of the halflings, scattering Azimandas's command and staving in the sides of halfling ships.  Although hotly contested, the battle was a foregone conclusion.  Half the Thariyyan ships were sunk or captured, and Azimandas was killed when his burning ship foundered and went down.  Accolon lost a single ship sunk in the action.

The Warlocks of Accolon - Ruler - Emperor Jubal Cuu Capital - Dammarask Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Esagal [-], Hatti [-C], Anur-Da [FA]

After so long on the defensive, the Warlocks of Accolon went to war.  They laid down the keels of sixteen huge Accolon Battle Galleys and eight regular warships. While the Emperor consolidated nine thousand troops under his command at Dammarask, his heir Tormak Cuu assembled a further six thousand in the province of Bis. Sinjal E'Toli assisted Tormak until his death in 2907. Kragar Darkfist put to sea with seventeen elite Accolon Battle Galleys and ten regular warships in 2907.  He soon encountered and defeated the fleet of the Grail Primacy off the coast of Danum (See The Great Church of the Lords of the Grail, above). In that battle, Kragar captured fifteen of the Primacy's ships, putting some of his crews into the warships and sending home the transports to a prize court in Agharra.  Six months later, he encountered the battle fleet of Thariyya, commanded by Azimandas Vahdin.  Kragar likewise sunk and scattered that  fleet, capturing four ships. (See The Kingdom of Thariyya). Throughout the two battles, Kragar lost only three ships.

Enok Dunestalker traveled to Esagal to propose a diplomatic marriage to the Emperor Jubal.  The nomads of Esagal politely but firmly turned down the offer, preferring their freedom to entangling alliances. Nozz “the Dark” Cuu traveled to Hatti and Anur-Da on diplomatic missions.  In the latter, he managed to secure an feudal alliance, but in the former, his haughty attitude caused the Hattins to reject even the titular control of the Warlocks.

Accolon's missionaries cooperated with those of the Shadowed Primacy in advancing the worship of the Dark Court in Vahdin, despite the best efforts of the Grail Primacy, Conorria and Thariyya itself.  Accolonite missionaries were flatly rejected by the halflings of Iqbazir.

In 2907, Accolon's agents in Thariyya kidnapped halfling Prince Miratur Vahdin right out of his military encampment at Shood.  Bringing him back to Agharra, he was sentenced to death.  In an offering to Malbor, god of Tyranny and Power, Miratur was staked out in the surf below Agharra and allowed to drown when the tide came in.  The Accolonite priests left his drowned and bloated corpse as food for the crabs.

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 - Carres [-], Euristi [CH], Khafour [CH], Pylus [-], Centauris [AB], Ventas [-], Annuminas [-], Ginch [AB], Dursarc [-], Nuradeem [-],

The Shadowed Primacy sent forth missionaries to many parts of the world.  The Llyran Republic, Hecadia and Thariyya all rang to the rousing words of smartly-clad priests of darkness. The Thariyyans in particular heeded these words and lessened their old allegiances to the Lords of the Grail. Such proselytization was not without risk, however.  A halfling army burned the church at Madegap and murdered its priests. The Warlocks of Accolon sent the Church two of its royal daughters, Rusalka and Kamali, nieces of the present emperor. Anastasia of the Icy Stare traveled throughout the Valesian Empire, establishing churches and founding abbeys. Gerendal the Cruel did likewise until his death in 2908. Bishop Leandronio, a Prince of Threns, traveled around the Ymarian littoral, attempting to establish sites in Accolon and Marador.

The feudal armies of Ishi and Teush occupied Port Hellmaw on behalf of Kerendis.

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

Queen Madariel	The elves of Marador built a mighty port fortress to protect their capital of Lantar.  Another, smaller port fortress rose on the banks of the Mulgaunt at Hecaladon. Alitcean Searider spent years in consultation with the nobles of Oromardi, who were very nearly ready to
recommit to the Lords of the Grail, but feared the wrath of the commoners in that city. Alvar Brookseeker continued his sojourn in Kalrondo beyond the Mulgaunt, seeking also to sway the nobility back to the worship of the gods of Light. Evarear Darkblow entered Dimbe with two hundred cavalry, seeking for any missionaries or priests of the Dark Court whom he might arrest. Thingold, Prince of Gaja and Sielvean, Prince of Daio both worked with the nobility of Jebelam to reverse the trend of Dark Court conversions.

South-Western Vales -

The Steaming Kingdom of Drormt -
Ruler - King Vraaka
Capital - Breeka
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Autumna
Diplomacy - Oiohutu [C]

The sauruses of Drormt used the wealth given them by the Holy See of Udjo to invest in the quality of their troops and scouts.  They also finished the long-awaited cultivation of Arran on the Lethes river. They recruited a thousand soldiers in Ululor and built five small forts around the homeland. Lord Mazkal arranged a marriage between King Vraaka and a maiden of Oiohutu.  This arrangment mollified the hostile Oiohutans a very small amount. In 2909, the Empire of Luxur made a gift to the Steaming Kingdom of a clutch of leatherwing eggs, so that the sauruses might one day create their own units of aerial beast riders.

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

With the cultivation of Mbarre, the men of Sendahl experienced an economic boom. Towns and villages grew up in Durudin and Desiket, and the taverns and farms to support them.  The cities of Nyange and Bwayo grew beyond their ancient walls. Lords Vawhee*ta, Bo*ko and Esto*lo traveled to Mbarre and arranged full citizenship for the people of the province. King V*ko named his son Olo*go as his heir and successor.

The Grand Empire of Mekebele - Ruler - King Fuloku Capital - Awayal Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Valesian Spirit Cult

In 2908 an immense orc horde boiled out of the western jungles to overrun the defenses of Menrat and loot the territory. Prince Regent Shaka (now simply Prince Shaka) led his four thousand highly trained jungle warriors into the cultivated fields of Menrat only to learn that the orc horde was fourteen thousand strong!  Shaka's elite troops faced down the orcs and killed thousands.  Five thousand, to be exact, but the numbers of the orcs were too great to stop, and Shaka's army eventually retreated from the province, leaving a thousand of their own dead or captured.

South-Eastern Vales -

The Dwarven Realm of Aurdrukar - Ruler - King Dorin Capital - The Brass Tower Dominant Race - Dwarf Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail

Banner of Aurdrukar

Banner of Khor-Naland

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

The elves of Sengkar recruited a thousand elven archers to attend Lord Gahaliel. The built a fortress guarding the port of Jarende, calling it "Corinaar".  Elven engineers beat a royal road from Mita into Sengkar, calling it "The Pallurien".

The Kingdom of Weshtayo - Ruler - King Cuitláhuac , Red-Feathered Lord Capital - Khulank Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Autumna Diplomacy - Khulank [+5Yfc], Tresalet [+7YfC]

The Weshts put their slaves to work tilling the fields of Ssru and Tresalet. They continued the slow work of cultivating the forests of Tresalet. Queen Fatima traveled to the capital and conducted diplomacy with the disaffected Khulankites until her death in 2908.  At that time, Lord Qorchi was made king. Lord Burilgi lead twenty-five hundred troops into the northern province of Chne and attacked.  A native army of equal numbers rose up to fight back.  The battle was closely matched, but it was the elite nature of Burilgi's forces that won the day.  He enslaved the Chne, at the cost of six hundred of his own men dead or severely wounded.  The slaves were put to work in Osaru. Burilgi died in Ssru in 2909.

Qorchi worked to soothe the pacified region of Tresalet.  In 2908, he was named Red-Feathered Lord (King) after the death of Fatima, but died himself in 2909. No nobles remained alive at the very top of the Weshtayo social pyramid and Queen Fatima had never married.  It was a dangerous time for the kingdom.  But a distant relative of the dynasty was found living in Rendulha. The young man's name was Cuitláhuac, and he was quickly crowned Red-Feathered Lord, and brought two of his companions to Khulank with him.

In 2909, the Empire of Luxur made a gift to the Kingdom of Weshtayo of a clutch of leatherwing eggs, so that the Weshts might one day create their own units of aerial beast riders. 

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

The Zikuyans improved the size of their capital, now becoming a truly large city.  Emperor Maseed lavished resources on the capital, building theaters, forums, temples and processionals. Elsewhere, Lord Giila arranged the marriage of Emperor Maseed to the daughter of a chieftain of Chru, so that the nomadic tribes of that grassland came to trust the Empire and to rely on its markets for trade. In 2907 and 2908, heavy rains in the Aurdrukar highlands caused flooding all along the Mogalla valley.  The inundations were particularly bad in Qash, where crops were destroyed and many small villages were completely wiped out.

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

The men of the Valraj founded a city, Hissar, on the shores of the Shadow Coast, shortening the sea route to Sengkar, Marador and Accolon, and creating routes to Farmuz and Shanatar. Sultan Ayoob named his younger son Nurudeen a prince of the realm. The sultan also fathered another son and daughter. Lord Jalalud continued to preach the worship of the Dark Court to the elvish nobility of Sartus.

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

The elves of Meneen built four new warships and added them to Admiral Feantë's fleet, which patrolled the seas around Yaz Meneen. Lord Habnar sailed north to Bapanda and convinced the elves of that region to become the vassals of Grand Duke Salene in exchange for his protection. Missionaries in Indrata, not overly schooled in the mysteries of the Spirit Cults themselves, angered the local population and sparked a strong backlash.  The Indratans came to worship Nuree as firmly as ever. Locusts overran much of the home islands in 2908 and 2909, eating great quantities of the fruit, grain and grasses grown by the elves.

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

The men of Ukanve created a large transport fleet at Ukanve, building fourteen light transports and recruiting six hundred elite light infantry to aid in the assault on Aclimea.  Princess Emma and Lord Schmitzohne commanded the assault force, which numbered six warships, twenty transports and four thousand troops.  An amphibious assault on a jungle beach is a dangerous thing, and that his precisely what Emma led her troops into.  The elves of Aclimea hurled back the amphibious assault, causing twenty percent casualties in the Ukanve force.  Princess Emma cancelled the invasion and sailed back to Ukanve.

The Kingdom of Nikitya -
Ruler - King Ragnar
Capital - Vikitana
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serriku Spirit Cult

The Nikityans spent their days in watchful peace. Nikityan missionaries in Tuanani have convinced a large percentage of the population to embrace the fierce and bloody ways of the Serikku spirit cult.

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

The dwarves of Korondor continued their defensive campaign by building a fortress in Tyakukta, and several field forts. They also built several small villages throughout the region. King Vorin, Lord Bolan and Lord Talon traveled together to Tyakukta, and convinced the prince of that province to become a close ally of the kingdom.

The Saa'vend Confederation -
Ruler - King Nassessh
Capital - Envekal
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court

The Saa'vesh tribes living around the sources of the Argabazos river banded together for mutual protection, founding a small enclave at Eumela.

Azidakaha -
Ruler - Azidakaha
Capital - Naifir

The mighty dragon Azidakaha, terror of the ancient world, has arisen from his desert lair to shake the foundations of Serikku's mightiest empire.

The Shanatar Empire -
Ruler - God-Emperor Migdala
Capital - Feroe
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The God-Emperor
Diplomacy - Javneh [F]

The men of mighty Shanatar lavished vast wealth and care upon the newly-cultivated region of Leilan, and to a lesser extent, upon Balasir in the north.  They built roadside taverns, hay markets, irrigation systems and towns by the dozen. They finished the royal road linking the northern city of Naifir all the way to the southern capital of Feroe. They even began the cultivation of Javneh on the great plains. Missionaries to the distant hills of Ul'il in Vaudan annoyed the locals, reducing the influence of the God Emperor's faith.  But in northern Eumela, they convinced thousands more to worship the God-Emperor. God-Emperor Maarius died in 2907, his body burning out like a torch.  Many of those connected to him also died within days, particularly Amir Driaz and Prince Yurin of An'Hirz. Prince Migdala was named the new God-Emperor, and assumed that holy title in 2907. In the next year, disaster struck  in the north.  An

ancient foe of mankind arose in the Shattered Lands and landed in Zeynif amidst fire and smoke.  The great old dragon Azidahaka thundered into the rich northern province, killing all who opposed her, and driving forth tens of thousands from the city of Naifir, which she claimed as her own.  Lord Tulah rode north from Chamir with thirteen thousand cavalry to face the dread worm.  Shanatar's finest charged and charged again, dealing injury to the beast, but suffering terrible casualties themselves.  Faced with the destruction of his force, Tulah retreated from the field, leaving Zeynif in the enemy's hands.  After regrouping his army for four months, Tulah had some six thousand five hundred cavalry left in his army.

The Farmuz Emirates - Ruler - Sultan Kazad Capital - Azhkatûm Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Lords of the Grail Diplomacy - Azmani [C], Navilok [-]

The Emirates poured their vast wealth into recruiting four thousand heavy cavalry at Azhkatûm, and creating temples, irrigation and roads in Balemel, Forecen and Mukatir.  Engineers erected a large fortress in Balemel. In 2907, Prince Kazad was named heir of the realm, and in the same year his mother the sultana died in childbirth.  The Emirates seemed cursed with issues surrounding royal inheritance.  As soon as Kazad took the throne, religious dissidents rose up in the neutral province of Azmani espousing the doctrine that all the Lords of the Grail were merely reflections of one greater god, and that they should not be worshiped independently.  This heretical doctrine, known as Tokraism or the Tokran Heresy, spread like wildfire to most of the surrounding regions.  Only in Jahali and Balemel did the faith of the Grail remain strong, and even there it waned perceptibly.  The control of the government receded in power throughout the provinces. The Emirates formally claimed Azmani as part of the realm, but efforts to include Naviolk failed miserably.

 

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

The men of Vaudan built a strong fortress in the region of Noor'im, calling it Fortress Vachim.  While King Kavan ruled from Chegamum and fathered a second son, most of the court traveled to the region of Vaklatos and convinced its lords to ally with the kingdom. Many of the lords of Vaudan are sorcerers and these (King Kavan, Lords Khosrow and Orland) summoned the spirits of the earth and sky to shape the land in many regions into more pleasing and useful shapes, digging irrigation ditches and beating paths through the hills.

The United Clans of Mainos -
Ruler - King Kaedhrol Greyfeather
Capital - Badmira
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Aydu [-], Okumiye [EA]

The elves of Mainos built a new city on the shores of the Gardagos river in Okumiye.  Although the elves could not yet reach distant ports, traders from the Kolyut Hegemony, Choran and Shen'xi were soon plying the waters north to the small elven outpost to purchase rare herbs and perfumed wines. King Kaedhrol Greyfeather and Lord Tarja Elsila traveled to Aydu to improve relations.  The elves that region were grateful for the visit but preferred their autonomy.  Lords Raimo Kaavi and Kyosti Ryti of Prukos traveled to Okumiye and arranged economic matters so that the human nomads were content to allow Badmira to control the flow of goods across their lands provided they received a small percentage of the trade.

The Dragon's Reach -

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

Worn out from past years, the Uhejans took a breather.

 

The Heavenly Kingdom of Kasadir - Ruler -Queen Zlawa Capital - Tamiyot Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Falesian (Heretical Orithia)

King Dal-Kos the Heretic gathered his army together under his command at Tamiyot, six thousand strong.  His navy he entrusted to his mother-in-law Princess-Consort Zlawa. Dal-Kos plotted to eliminate all rivals who cleaved to the orthodox ideas of Orithia, and so he sent them forth on suicide missions.  Nan Olizha he sent north to the lands of the Sunlars with a demand for submission.  His various feudal lords he sent off on mad attacks.  Dal-Kos then declared the Falesian Heresy to be the one true religion of Kasadir, and himself as the head of both Church and State. Dal-Kos was utterly without power to effect such a sweeping mandate and the powerful Orithian clergy declared him to be anathema. The regions of Bakan, Sekpata and Laina immediately revolted from Kasadir's dominance, and religious war broke out in Ilerim, Fisanine, Tanuan and Kotutan.  Dal-Kos's own army erupted into violence against itself as many loyal Orithians abandoned their positions and others made war on the remaining troops loyal to Dal-Kos. The king was killed in this violence during a foray to put down an uprising in the barracks at Tamiyot.  The nation itself might have fractured into bits had not Princess-Consort Zlawa arrived from Tanuan and taken control of the loyalist forces. She had asserted the dominance of Falesian thought in Tanuan and now asserted it with force throughout the capital and homeland.  It flourished as well in Fisanine, but was overcome in Ilerim and Kotutan. At this moment, Nan Olizha returned from the Sunlar lands and rallied the orthodox armies to his call at Bakan, declaring that Dal-Kos and Zlawa were unclean heretics in the eyes of the gods and that they must be

cleansed from the land. He commanded some two thousand eight hundred troops, compared to Zlawa's three thousand four hundred.

During all this chaos, rumors spread that an ancient relic known as the Orb of Law had been spotted in Tanuan!

 

The Kasadir Rebels - Ruler - General Olizha Capital - None (Homeland - Bakan) Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - Orithia

 

The Kingdom of Ahandu - Ruler - King Tzahex Capital - Zathurrin Dominant Race - Saurus Dominant Religion - Orithia Diplomacy - Chojde [FA], Pondu [A]

The sauruses of Ahandu attempted to slowly bring Diangam back to the orthodoxy of Orithia.  Princess Tzazless led the effort to sway the nobility into more correct modes of philosophy. Meanwhile, most of the Ahandu court was in the south, conducting diplomacy with the humans of the Pondu hills and the Chojde forests.  Both agreed to swear fealty to Zathurrin.

The Empire of Mogodor -
Ruler - Queen Lysistrana
Capital - Aone
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia

The Mogodorians remained quiescent.  Eldritch tempests continued to whip Januaan and Venil, damaging buildings and destroying crops.  In the Sea of Frozen Stars, terrible storms raged unceasingly.

The Kingdom of Suhanir -
Ruler - King Valiel Sunlord
Capital - Kaonayu
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Sunatosuk [NT], Kaste [F]

The elves of Sunahir continued their isolated and prosperous lives.  King Valiel decommissioned forts in Sunahm and Menmanga and put the former soldiers to work tending groves in Galahant. A new royal road stretched from the capital nearly to the port of Miyotla. The King and Queen put forth the power of the elvish lords in Sunahm and Menmanga, blessing the fields and woods with health and longevity.  Meanwhile Prince Marahel and Lady Haleth took counsel with the folk of Sunatosuk and Kaste.  The former agreed to the overlordship of King Valiel, while the latter became full citizens under the power of the king. In 2909 and 2910, near-constant rain (related, some said, to the terrible storms over Mogodor and the Sea of Fallen Stars) caused flooding in Menmanga and Miyotla, destroying crops and washing away buildings and even whole villages.

The Kingdom of Amantai -
Ruler - Queen Sara
Capital - Mahlish
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Menperakas [NT]

Queen Sara named her son Mardule the Younger as her heir and her son Bastian the Bold as a prince of Amantai.  She married Mardule off to the daughter of a lord of Menperakas in exchange for the region's recognition of her sovereignty. Missionaries in Menperakas were less successful, and the vile worship of demons went on unabated. Concerned about heresy on the western border, the queen hired four thousand mercenary light cavalry and assigned them to her ally Ferral Denbrook of Keama.  Denbrook drove the mercenaries into Takanka and quickly routed the natives.  The Keamans enslaved the Takankans, driving the serviceable women and men into the fields of Haga as slaves, and keeping the loot from the region for themselves. The Kingdom hired the Brass Banner adventuring company to head east into the lands of the Sendyls...from whence they never returned!

The Kingdom of Nuitai -
Ruler - King Ghevrit
Capital - Temanom
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Nymun [EA]

Nuitai continued to reap the benefits of peace.  Its homeland of Menerha saw the growth of towns and farms, while King Ghevrit sat peacefully upon the throne of Temanom. Princess Mai and Lord Rhee traveled to Nymun and arranged a new bride for the king, also securing the close economic cooperation of the foresters. Military innovations in Menerha led to an improved Nuitai cavalry force.

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

The Master of the World wreaked windy revenge upon the Empire of Mogodor.

The Kingdom of Choran -
Ruler -  King Chausian
Capital - Choran
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - Serikku Spirit Cult

Lord Daxai took two thousand heavy elite soldiers and marched them west into Arkhoro to destroy the slave army encamped there.  The heavy armor of his soldiers badly hampered their effectiveness in Arkhoro's dense woods, and the slaves were far more mobile.  But Daxai had not come to engage in a war of maneuver but rather one of extermination.  He slew the rebel slaves wherever they stood to meet him, and drove them into the woods, leaderless.  The region might suffer minor bandit raids, but the rebel army was finished as a threat. Lord Shakiru and Whaung patrolled the Xiangyun Sea with twenty-five warships. An investigation among palace eunuchs in Choran revealed widespread corruption and graft which resulted in roads and ships not being maintained.  Many of the eunuchs fled, while others took their own lives.

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

Emperor Go-Bitron married a woman of the local aristocracy and fathered two sons while seeing to the business of his realm. Lord Zu-Rolth ferried colonists south to Kenomus where they founded the small city of Ar-Kugol. Ships from Ar-Kurgol soon began trading at the dwarven city of Ungin and the halfling port of Kun Dao. Missionaries to Chobo fared so poorly as to stiffen the human resistance to the Dark Court there.  But Lords Zu-Rolth and Sa-Vowin won over many of the elvish nobility of Kenomus to their ways.

The Kolyut Isthmus -

The Sylvan Realm of Hecadia -
Ruler - King Mardeis
Capital - Belgramma
Dominant Race - Halfling
Dominant Religion - Orithia
Diplomacy - Ateside [-], Amoka [A]

The halflings have begun the cultivation of elven Amoka. Lord H'rak convinced the elves that they were better off as allies of Hecadia than as slaves of Shanatar. King Rhett conducted a census of his realm before his death in Kebe in 2807.  Although he had failed to name a successor, his nephew Mardeis was recognized as the rightful king. Lord Aiden, an irascible and nearly unintelligible halfling, tried to conduct diplomacy with the men of Ateside, but his boorish and gluttonous ways caused them to turn a deaf ear to his importunings. Missionaries of the Shadowed Primacy were abroad in Chothor, and convinced many of the halflings to take up worship of the dark gods.

The Kingdom of Kerendis - Ruler - King Laoghaire Capital - Orbelain Dominant Race - Human Dominant Religion - The Dark Court Diplomacy - Iganchi [NT]

The men of Kerendis trained in siegecraft and built a great number of fortifications, from walls around Port Hellmaw to field forts in Kibe and Chemada. King Laoghaire ordered many of his cogs into service as merchant ships, and directed that most of the merchant ships currently on foreign service be moved to serving internal trade routes out of Orbelain and Methedras.  Laoghaire also tutored his son and heir Alstan in the tasks of administration. The king found time to father a second son and a daughter. Lord Tirechan forced the men of Iganchi to acknowledge the power and supremacy of Orbelain. The elderly Gordon Topknot of Anshuyo died in the saddle in 2906.  Bishop Hector Draess also died in that year, at the age of only thirty-nine. Lord Oengus patrolled the seas around Orbelain with forty-five ships, including ten Kerend Battle Galleys. The Kerendans exchanged Ymarian Sea rutters to the Threnish for rutters to the Ruan Straits.

The Kingdom of Threns -
Ruler - King Arcanon
Capital - Vaayil
Dominant Race - Human
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Patsuma [A]

As the Threnish homeland of Sukan continued to become more affluent and powerful, the Court of Threns began to buy and sell sea charts from its allies.  The Threnish navy exchanged charts of the Ruan Straits to Kerendis for charts to the Ymarian Sea and sold charts of the Hecadian Straits to the Kolyut Hegemony for cold, hard cash. Speaking of cash, the nation of Ruanach continued to pay gold to Threns as purchase price for the regions of Bendraj and Sepapan. The Threnish royal exchequer was always in funds. Lord Indigator died in 2907 while engaged on some private matter in Sukan.  The royal governor of Vaayil, Lord Cromotium, died in 2906 at the age of forty-seven. King Arcanon's brother Prince Roberton continued to have success convincing the nobility of Madarah to convert to the powerful worship of the Dark Court.

Threnish priests of the Dark Court had no success, however, in expanding the power of that religion amongst the largely apathetic population, even when they paid for lavish spectacles and bribes.

Students at the University of Vaayil began to protest the poor quality of the university's education, the general mistreatment of the poor and the large sums spent on the military.  Several thousand students occupied the university and demanded general reform.  They are led by a charismatic scholar named Vaeglin and threaten to bring Vaayil to a standstill if their demands are not met.

The Kolyut Hegemony -
Ruler - Hegemon Moodor Sharptooth
Capital - Ketarid
Dominant Race - Hobgoblin
Dominant Religion - The Dark Court
Diplomacy - Komirut [+6 YfC]

The hobgoblins of the Hegemony trained intensively in cavalry tactics.  Meanwhile, Kolyut engineers built a small port on the shores of the Hecadian Straits at Inda.  Kolyut sailors acquired charts to the Straits from Threns and opened trade with Hecadia and Ruanach.  But ships from many nations began to call at the tiny port, their only direct link to the fabulous treasures of the east. Unfortunatley, troubles along the trade route to Ketarid would prevent that trade from reaching Sharpreef. The Hegemony and the Empire of Shen'xi have ended their war and concluded a Trade and Non-Aggression Pact. Dinguw the Shrewd conducted diplomacy in Komirut until his death in 2906.  Even during such a short period, he arranged a marriage for King Moodor. Lord Gload Duncan assembled an army of five thousand light cavalry and proceeded to the plains of Kodalcan, where he watched for trouble from the north. Lord Marj Ku of Kumajr guided the men and materials needed to Inda to found the city of

Sharpreef.  He died in Sharpreef in 2907.  His son maintained Marj Ku's allegiance, but was not as close to the Hegemon as was his father.

Lord Vaklund of Muktikan hired two thousand mercenary light cavalry and marched east into the human regions of Kegi and Terupan, defeating and enslaving the locals and returning them in chains to work the fields of Aya.

The long, long road to Sharpreef passes through eight hundred miles of trackless forest populated by sullen human foresters ill-pleased at th yoke of the Hegemony and absent of any garrisons.  So it was that the men of Irnatra and Makuwai rose up and slew the local tax-collectors and drove out the priests of the Dark Court, declaring themselves once again free men.  The men of Inda, mindful of the large garrison encamped in their midst, refrained from such rashness. These rebellions cut off Sharpreef and its new trade from the capital at Ketarid.

The men of Ruanach continued to send gold to the men of Threns in payment for Bendraj and Sepapan.  They also spent most of their treasury on expanding their bureaucracy and infrastructure. Two new Ruanach Blacksails were built in the ways of Fashanru and put to sea along with the rest of the fleet under Lord Maskand. Princess Neva organized the army into a defensive posture at Fashanru.

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

The halflings completed royal roads in Atruvai and Athapiy, and began the intensive cultivation of Satulki. King Daven fathered two sets of twin girls before his wife died in childbirth in 2908. Prince Karelak Roguewillow and Stonehill Rabbitjumper of Dhal convinced the Estellende elves of Pulkit to become full members of the delves.   Sathla missionaries from Rajahdan preached the power of the Scaled god in Ankamal, without success.

The Orcish Raj of Virityal -
Ruler - Raj Algoz
Capital - Chharit
Dominant Race - Orc
Dominant Religion - Nuree
Diplomacy - Prirama [A]

Ancient Raj Algoz continued to rule over his people.  He was by now truly showing signs of age (well into his nineties!), but no orc had ever lived so long.  Algoz's son Prince Taurog the Bold was now in his seventies and also beginning to show his age. The orcish court moved to Prirama as a group and convinced the forest orcs to ally with Chharit. Sea Serpents in the Sapphire sound cause some losses to Virityal shipping.

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

The sathla of Rajahdan trained obsessively in infantry tactics and built an impressive apparatus to support the nation's wizards and shaman. Through prodigious investments in time and sweat, the region of Rajahdan achieved a pinnacle of cultivation.  Complex irrigation schemes and cyclical rotation of crops meant that the region supported three harvests per year. The Emperor divided his army, keeping twenty-four thousand troops under his personal command at Rajahdan and sending eleven thousand under Lord Zzohichii to protect the capital at Jalahl. Lord Norz convinced the nobility of Virunir to ally with the Empire, while Prince Hexotta sailed away east from the port of Mhu Thulan. Sea Serpents in the Sapphire sound cause some losses to Rajahdan shipping.

Anku Elevya -
Ruler - Emperor Zao Yin
Capital - Jinguir
Dominant Race - Saurus
Dominant Religion - Zaoism
Diplomacy - Puntama [EA], Imak [FA]

The Emperor used his days to reopen the ports to trade and to order the building of a vast flotilla of riverine craft to carry the Empire's trade between its cities. The Liang family of Bao Din has long been in the mercantile trade, building its wealth as textile traders. They gained control of the open market in Bao Din over fifty years ago mostly through the sales of their rare and expensive crimson dye, a favorite among Anku nobility. After running out all their competitors, the Liangs slowly allowed other merchants into the Bao Din market under their careful control. Each merchant is of course required to pay tribute to the Liang family in the form of purchasing a crimson banner to use at their stand or shop. Now, a sea of red banners, signs, and flags greets each customer seeking to use the market square, thus it has become known as the Crimson Bazaar. Economic agents of the Co-Emperors approach the Liang family, interested in turning their trading network into a more formalized national guild. Sea Serpents rose to the surface in the Sapphire Sound and began attacking ships.  As Anku Elevya was sending no ships abroad, this had no direct effect on the empire, but many others lost ships. A large delegation of Anku nobles traveled to the lands of Imak and Puntama, with whom they made common cause.  Some of the Puntama nobles converted to the new religion of Zaoism, but this philosophical dedication held no fascination for the bloody-minded peasantry.

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

The Celestial Empire ended its war with the Kolyut Hegemony, though it remained technically at war with Tekume. Large sums of gold and equally large numbers of peasants were put to work improving the regions of Erjie, Yuanchun, Xiluan and Tanchun. Mei Shu ascended the throne as the new Shen'xi emperor, granting Regent Feng Huan a place in his court as Prince of the Realm.  But the nobility was not prepared to grant the stripling emperor the right to name his sister as his heir.  They demanded that the Emperor marry and produce an heir in the traditional way. The Emperor orderd his ally, Meilin of Kofang, to take his twelve hundred troops south into the elven woods and raid the peaceful elves of Guang'ti.  The raid was largely successful, but the Guang'ti elves lived simple lives free of material concerns, and there was very little loot to be had in the sunny upland woods.  There were plenty of incoming arrows, however.  Meilin was shot through the eye and killed.  His was not so close an ally as his father.

The Lulipayat Empire -
Ruler - Empress Naddya
Capital - Kelakuan
Dominant Race - Sathla
Dominant Religion - Autumna

Emperor Kathros X died in 2906.  He had no sons and his eldest daughter was only fourteen. Although crowned Empress, Naddya was not allowed to rule immediately and the regency was given to her uncle Prince Venkal who himself died in 2909.  Naddya was then given the reins of power as the Empress of Lulipayat. 2906 was a deadly year for Lulipayat nobility. Lord Siji also died in that year, on his way to conduct diplomacy in Dentu. Lord Vaanak of Tasarwi passed away in that year, on his way to Mukarma to convert the heathens.  He had no heirs and the province of Tasarwi became the property of the Emperor. Lord Reke traveled in Vaanek's stead to Mukarma and had some small success in converting Mukarma's nobility to the worship of the Scaled god, but the missionaries who accompanied him caused a backlash among the peasantry, and a revival of interest in Nuree. Sea Serpents in the Sapphire sound cause some losses to Lulipayat shipping.

 

The Serenity of Wayahapta - Ruler - Queen Alvya Capital - Keluan Dominant Race - Halfling Dominant Religion - Changshai Spirit Cult Diplomacy - Hachawi [-]

The Serenity of Wayahapta publicly endorsed the non-aggression treaty with Lulipayat, and sent the Emperor a basket of muffins. The halflings built a royal road into Haykuwa from Kumpawi, and completed a postal road running from the capital to the Tappta border. Queen Alvya left the boring old throne of Keluan and traveled east to Hachawi to convince the men of the region to ally with Wayahapta.  They had little interest in such a proposal and went back to sunning themselves beneath palm trees and sacrificing to the spirits. With the queen gone from the throne and no one ruling in her stead, the far-flung government of the Serenity began to crumble.  The men of Hachwan, Tandosh and Beranud all ejected the Wayahaptan governors and returned to a simpler life.

The Dwarven Realm of Khudukan -
Ruler - King Sirom Stiffbeard
Capital - Nodo-Xan
Dominant Race - Dwarf
Dominant Religion - Kifan
Diplomacy - Imonoe [A], Mikogo [F]

The dwarves of Khudukan labored greatly to improve their nation's bureaucracy. King Siron Stiffbeard traveled to Imonoe and made an ally of the of that northern province.  Lord Boril convinced the Prince of Mikogo to unite his land with that of the king and accept an honored retirement.

The Empire of the Pearl -
Ruler - Emperor Sakurako Hideyoshi
Capital - Kuemas
Dominant Race - Elf
Dominant Religion - Kifan
Diplomacy - Karikom [-], Masuko [NT]

The elves of the Pearl recruited fifteen hundred elven archers and enriched the western forests of Sayasae. Emperor Sakurako Hideyoshi traveled to Karikom and conducted diplomacy with his former enemies, but they turned a deaf ear to his proposals. Lord Takahiro Yori had slightly more success in the forests of Masuko, where at least the elves acknowledged the Emperor's sovereignty. The Emperor named Empress Airi to his counsel as Princess of the Realm.

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

The elves of Lekandi recruited a thousand elven archers to their armies and spent nearly their entire treasury in beautifying and improving King Galens convinced the elves of Kiakamba to pay him tribute, which they did gladly, given all the gold and labor he expended in their province. Prince Elath Bloodspear took his brother Valandil and Lord Dallen Strongbow across the Mogrys river and began raiding the sathla jungles.  There was little to acquire in the wild jungles save bananas and vicious flies, but the elves went nonetheless.  The sathla of Nzi rose up to fight the elves, and attacked out of hiding.  Dallen Strongbow was killed and both Elath and Valandil were taken prisoner by the savages.  The army fought off the attacks and recrossed the river into Arumbom.

Page Completed 22 September 2008