Athania

Ahh! It pains me to write this account in so few words. The history of Athania is a vibrant story -- full of both glory and treachery -- romance and intrigue -- murder and mystery. It has been my life's pursuit, and I feel it has been a worthy one. But I digress. I understand this is supposed to be an "excerpt" -- a "summary", if you will, of Athania's past. So for the sake of this manuscript (and of the scribe's sanity), I will attempt to keep it, in fact, brief. And remember.. the man whom does not know his past.. is doomed to repeat it. -- Tholaris

It is said that the first human settlers to arrive on the shores of Athania were the last remnants of a dying race. Legend has it that a mysterious, incurable plague had wiped out whatever land the humans had come from, and that the sole remnants of humanity that had not yet caught the plague boarded a convoy of ships and fled their homes, looking for a new land in uncharted waters.

It has been suggested by some that the first human settlers should not be referred to as colonists, but refugees. Be that as it may, in this text I will refer them as colonists. -- Tholaris.

Whether there was an actual plague or not is subject to debate. However, what is known is that in the spring of one year, five ships bearing two hundred colonists arrived off the coast of Athania, and put ashore. In tellurian calendars this is recorded as the year 1372, but human calendars would begin their role of years with this date, calling it year 1 ad. (arrival date). The leader of the colonists was a man named Athan Torm, and it is from him that the continent takes its name.

The humans arrived off the northwest coast of what is today Calor, and found a lush, green land rich with forests and teeming with game. They established the colony of Wheaton, and immediately began going about making a home for themselves. For the next forty years the humans pushed their way inland east and south. It was during this time that the humans made their first contact with the tellurians (See Races). They were surprised to learn that deep within the forests their was a race of creatures that had already developed a fairly complex civilization. The tellurians had developed whole cities of wood and stone within the forests, and traveled amongst them using an intricate series of paths and roads. At first the humans traded freely with the tellurians, and benefited greatly because of it. It is said that human medicine advanced greatly during this time, as well as many other crafts such as woodworking, tanning, and metallurgy. But the human expansionist push did not stop when they reached the tellurians, and more and more the tellurians found their homeland forests being encroached upon and even destroyed by the growing human population.

It was about this time that the first tellurian raids began. Small farms and isolated villages were attacked and burned, the villagers killed. The humans saw their livelihood threatened, and within the space of a few years the tellurians went from being friends and allies to "hated savages" that would "carry off babies", if given a chance. In 57 ad, Kolreft Devride led a force of 300 settlers from the inland town of Hapsburg against the tellurian city of Na'Ktaar, and won. The city was destroyed, the tellurians beaten back, and the 200 Year War had begun -- though no one knew it at the time.

It is interesting to note that tellurian history records this event much differently. There is no record of any raids on human settlements, and the "Victory of Na'Ktaar" is recorded as a an unprovoked attack on an undefended city, resulting in the slaughter of hundreds of tellurians. History is in the eyes of the teller, no? -- Tholaris

For the next 200 years the humans pushed east and south, driving back the tellurians. In 137 ad the Kingdom of Nevar was established, and during the war it grew until it spanned from the western shores of Athania to Dead Man's Marsh, and south to the Stonefist Mountains. The first king of Nevar was Tannon Devride, a descendant of the man whom had led the colonists to their first victory at Na'Ktaar.

These years are the bloodiest in human history, and the chronicling of the 200 Year War is a subject worthy of an entire tome within itself. I will simply state here that there were many battles, at many different locales, and it was a hard war. For as driven and ambitious as the humans were, so were the tellurians deadly and cunning, and throughout the history of the war less than a dozen battles were considered complete victories by either side.

However, over the course of the years, the humans slowly gained control of the land. The tellurians were eventually split into two large groups, separated by the natural barrier of the Stonefist Mountains. The tellurians east of the mountains were known as the Onuklan, and they mostly made their home in the Ethrin Wood. The last, largest battle was fought at the base of Stormwatch Hill, against the Onuklan. The tellurians army had been reduced to approximately 400 warriors, and at the base of Stormwatch they made their last stand against a human force of 2000 archers and foot soldiers. For five days the battle raged, until finally the overwhelming numbers of the humans surrounded the tellurian army, and annhilated them to a man. There were no tellurian survivors -- no prisoners taken.

The tellurians west of the mountains, known as the Na'tehr, retreated into the Nightmist Forest. The humans attempted to advance into the forest, but the Na'tehr held, and at the narrow strip of land between the innermost point of Whiteblood Bay and the Stonefist Mountains, the tellurians drove the humans back. Unable to advance further, but unwilling to leave the ground unguarded, the humans built an immense castle at that location, called Tornham's Hold. Tornham's Hold still stands today, serving as a reminder of older times when it served as the defender to the human held territories.

Once the tellurians were defeated, and had all but disappeared from the land, the Kingdom of Nevar expanded even faster. By 320 ad, it spanned the entire northern half of the continent. These years were the height of the Devride Monarchy. Forests were cleared, cities were built, and roads were layed. The port cities of Andiner, Port Kaleer, and Temera were established, and a thriving sea trade grew.

In 407 ad, King Geoffrey Devride, whom would be the last Devride monarch, decided that he would build a lasting monument to himself and his family. King Geoffrey was a small man with an immense ego, and he had already come to be known as Black King Geoff from years of hard taxes and oppression.

The capital city of Tanilon had been established years ago, and situated at the juncture of three rivers, it became a natural meeting place for merchants and traders from across the continent. Thus, it had quickly grown to the largest city in the world, and it was here that King Geoffrey decided he would build his monument. It would be a palace -- a palace the likes of which the world had never seen. For it be would be built entirely out of the rare green marble that could only be found within the rock quarries of the Shadow Hills, hundreds of miles to the west. The great stone blocks would be cut from the cliffs in the Shadow Hills, loaded on barges on the Delvani River, and ferried hundreds of miles downriver to Tanilon.

The cost, in terms of both money and human resources, was staggering. The people of Nevar were taxed harder and harder to cover the costs, and those that couldn't pay were pressed into service building the palace. For 75 years King Geoffrey worked on his palace, and so caught up was he in the building of his castle that he failed to notice that his kingdom was crumbling at its edges.

In 485 ad, Bhelam Nightriver led a peasant revolt in the western half of the continent. Nightriver's army started small, but as he moved throughout the farmlands of the west, it grew in strength. They laid seige to Brighton's Keep, at the base of the Stonefist Mountains, and after 2 weeks the castle gates fell and the peasants took the castle. King Geoffrey attempt to put down the insurrection, and discovered to his horror that he had all but stripped his army of manpower to build his palace. Nevertheless, he marshalled what forces he had, and sent them west to destroy this peasant uprising.

Unfornately for King Geoffrey though, over the years the port cities of Temera, Fanelle, and Trakesh had grown fat and properous off the sea trade they enjoyed, and it was at this time that they decided to throw off the oppresive yoke of the Black King Geoff's taxes. The militias from the three cities combined, and marched east to attack the capital city. Suddenly, King Geoff found himself fighting a war on two fronts, with nothing but the remnants of an army grown soft with after years of no action save the threatening of peasants.

And so it was that the Nevar Kingdom collapsed. What followed is a black time in Athania's history -- a time of lawlessness and anarchy. Small provinces and city-states rose and fell almost overnight. Baronies were established, warred with their neighbors, fell, and were re-established. Throughout it all, the major cities remained mostly intact, but became increasingly isolated as bands of brigands and outlaws controlled the countryside and made travelling all but impossible. The seaways were no better, as pirates all but dominated the northern and eastern coasts, pillaging the seaside towns and capturing and sinking merchant ships. This age of lawlessness lasted for over 150 years -- and is referred to today as the Barren Age.

It should be noted that the Barren Age did give rise to an extremely important aspect of our civilization. For it was during this time that the practice of magic was discovered. I will not go into a long dissertation on magic and its properties here, but suffice it to say that out of this black period of mankind's history three forms of magic came to be used, and practiced -- albiet only sparingly, and with great difficulty. These forms of magic are Sorcery, Conjuring, and Wizardry. I will discuss magic in some detail later in this text, though I will admit my knowledge of the matter is only general in nature, for I am not a practictioner of any of the arts.

Eventually, out of this time of lawlessness, three countries rose to power -- under the hands of three very different kinds of leaders. These countries are the same we know today -- The Duchy of Calor, the Kindom of Atharia, and the Kingdom of Danoria. Over the last hundred years or so little has changed in the political landscape -- save that these countries have become more prosperous with the restoration of some sort of peace and law.

Which brings us pretty much to present day -- 722, ad.