Kingdom of Saksia

The Kingdom of Saksia was a fiefdom which separated itself from the Empire, but was later lost to the aggressive expansion of its neighbours.

History

With the Arameian Empire decaying all around him the ambitious noble Golmen of Saksia saw an opportunity to enhance his own power. Gathering his knights, he formed the pact of the Firebrand, a knightly order dedicated to the creation of an independent kingdom. With his allies the former Duke took the city of Leman and in 3717 declared the Kingdom of Saksia as independent from the Arameian Empire.

The Firebrand knights were sworn to him personally and received important posts in his new kingdom for their services and fealty. As it was a time of upheaval the new kingdom grew rapidly, encompassing much that Nevros had claimed but could not hold onto. The River Sault, that the new capital Leman lay on, found itself as the primary vein of communication for the new kingdom and it spread with the river roughly as its central hub.

The heavy cavalry of the Firebrand knights served the King well, managing to hold off the majority of the other fiefdoms that now attempted to invade his land. The king got trapped in a nasty stalemate in the north, however, there were few who had an interest or the power to assault his southern holdings but both Starkwater and Nevros were interested in his northern holdings and the king lacked the manpower to field an assault on either, as the costly northern war slowly ate away at the king's treasury, a certain malaise among his nobles could be seen to form.

In 3898 King Andre II was killed by assassins in the back alleys of Leman, by the time his son was on the throne much of the kingdom's northern holdings were lost to Starkwater's armies, most notably the city of Grey Lake, which was a great financial loss to the king of Saksia. The loyalty of the Firebrand knights had eroded to the point where the king no longer trusted any of them and tried to declare the Firebrand pact void. A last, desperate attempt to retake his northern holdings involved taking 400 of his city's merchants and artisans, decking them out in armour and declaring the Firebrand knights as having been reborn. The untrained and untested army was routed by Starkwater regulars.

After this, the king's authority rarely extended beyond the city limits of Leman. When the Archduke's army came to Leman in 3944 the king's castle was set ablaze before they could take it. According to the legends at the time, this was done to keep them from capturing the king, or to keep Starkwater from getting their hands on the treasure hoards the king had garnered over the years, or it was done to make sure the king could escape unseen through a hidden escape route. Regardless of the truth, the king of Saksia was never captured, though his two brothers and a sister were taken to Spire City where they had the pleasure of being in the Archduke's company till their untimely death.

The fire in the king's castle was allowed to continue unchecked and when the entire city had burnt down, there was no one left with the funds to rebuild it. Some half-hearted efforts were made, but half a century later the city was abandoned, little but ruins left of it.

Geographical Location

At the height of its power Saksia stretched all the to Grey Lake in the north, stopping just short of the mountain ranges that belonged to Nevros then, it stretched to Fort Resolve in the west and took a good deal of good farmland from the weaker Longmoorians. To the south, the Old Woods served as a natural boundary for Saksia.

The ruins of Leman, which was located roughly at the centre of Saksia can be found along the Sault River to this day, some distance into Starkwater. It is occasionally used as a place for boats plying the river trade to moor, though sees little other use these days.

Historical Impact

Saksia has overall had little impact on the history of Adylheim. It had little lasting impact on the fiefdoms around it, the stronger fiefdoms swallowing it up to expand their own territories. It lacked the wealth of resources that the larger fiefdoms could call upon and never managed to obtain the funds necessary to keep up in the increasingly competitive atmosphere. Saksia remains largely a footnote in the annals of history.

Legends

While Saksia has done little to remain in the consciousness of the people, legends still speak of the ghosts of the Firebrand knights who are bound to wander the lands without rest till they are redeemed by the new king of Saksia. That is the cost they must pay for breaking their oaths of fealty.

Another legend says that the king of Saksia was consorting with unclean spirits for power when Starkwater invaded Leman and that it was only an accidentally knocked over brazier which prevented the land from being covered in a terrible demonic plague conjured up by the court magus.

The Kingdom of Nikol and the Canton of Mud Gate

The Kingdom of Nikol and the Canton of Mud Gate

History

News of the crumbling of the Empire reached beyond the Ribs, to the ears of one Brennus of the Nicean tribe. Claiming the title of King of the North, he marched south with a massive horde, to within three days’ march of the Spire. Archduke Andrik, preparing for a new campaign against the Empire, didn’t have the luxury to deal with a threat to his borders. He allowed the barbarians passage through his kingdom and guided them to more prosperous lands of the Empire.

The Emperor, Theodrian III, had little intention of warring with Brennus either. He invited him and his chiefs to the city of Aram, where he impressed them with the size and culture of the city. Theodrian allowed them to settle in the northern border of his nation, hoping to establish a buffer state between the Archduchy, and Brennus agreed to adapt the Arameian language and style of worship. Thus, in 3734, the Kingdom of Nikol was born.

Old habits die hard, and Nikol was not so ready to abandon its barbarian practices as it was its culture. The Niceans made regular raids into both Arameian and Starkwater lands for food before winter, and this spurred on the secession of Teslan. The Teslanders of the mainland, lead by the indomitable Princes of Lionport, would eventually swallow the kingdom whole, conquering the cantons that weren’t wooed by his promises of titles. The seat where Brennus put his throne, Crown Gate, fell on 3875, extinguishing the kingdom.

Geographic Location

The Kingdom of Nikol was made up of the modern day region of Nikol in Teslan, with the exception of the Dragonfang peninsula. It is a rocky land, bountiful for the Rib-raised men of Brennus, but of little significance to either Arameia or Starkwater, which is why they were both content to cede it. Lionport conquered it only to subjugate the Niceans and to exercise his power.

Political Order

The barbarians, even converted, didn’t care to adapt the agricultural practises south of the Ribs. They made up a military aristocracy that collected grain and taxes over the subjugated natives from their fortified hilltops called Gates by the natives because they lay on lines of trade. The kingdom was organized into twelve cantons, each with a chief and Gate. The King, ruling from Crown Gate, was a military leader and nothing more, allowing the chiefs autonomy over their own canton. This lead to many of the chiefs being won over by the Prince of Lionport by promises of titles and riches from the city.

Historical Significance

Nikol had a profound effect on the formation of Teslan. With an immediate enemy before its gates, Lionport had no choice but to ally with Salen to create Teslan and were willing to cede political control to assure aid in their campaigns. The conquered Niceans now form the backbone of Lionport’s military strength and protect Teslan’s borders.

The Canton of Mud Gate

The last of the Cantons of Nikol, the chief (now styling himself ‘tetrarch’ after Arameian fashion) is a sovereign ruler between Teslan and Starkwater, some hundred miles north of the Peak. Mud Gate stays independent because of its isolation. It refuses to play a part in the diplomatic dance between the three states of the Peak, and thus no one interferes with it because of its strategic insignificance.

The Sunrise Rebellion

The Sunrise Rebellion

Overview

A war waged between the two nascent powers in Arameia, the feudal lords and the Prelate, over control of the vestige empire. With their defeat died any realistic ambitions of the lords beyond a regional level.

Outbreak

With the Great Fire of 3896, the emperor of Aram slipped away from public sight, and the administration of Aram fell on the shoulders of the Priesthood of Luxor. While the Prelate succeeded in rebuilding and asserting its control over the capital, vast swaths of the realm remained in the hands of feudal robber barons, of which the most powerful were Calvin Dagon of Dagonet and Daryl Valdred of Cape Verdet. With the feudal lords not sworn to the Priesthood, this dual-rule could only be temporary.

The catalyst was the Golden Proclamation three years later. The then Prelate Adrian II announced that the emperor had agreed to cede imperial authority to Luxor, and his mortal representative. Disbelieving, the lords Dagon and Valdred demanded audience with the emperor which was promptly denied them. The two declared that the Prelate was holding the imperial line hostage, and with the coming of the new century, marched against Aram.

Respective Strength

Since the Snake Wars, the citizen armies of the Empire had been gradually dismantled and substituted with feudal knights and their levies. This meant that the only forces sworn directly to the Prelacy was the one remaining legion stationed on the border of ogre lands and the handful of knights who had sworn their services to the Prelate out of personal faith or hopes of securing ties between the rising Prelacy and their families. The most notable of them was Ector Brightblade, the man who would rise to be the first of the Prelate’s paladins.

Because of the hesitance of some lords to march against their own sons in service at Aram, Dagon and Valdred weren’t able to marshal as many men as he expected, but their forces still outnumbered the legion tenfold. And unlike the ill-equipped legionaries, these men were the cream of Arameian chivalry, battle tested and well supplied. Famed knights included ser William Breakstorm, bastard son of Calvin, and Anton Viktor.

Victory

The legion was called back from the frontier, but by the time they arrived, the rebels had already crossed the Coldwater. The battle of Coldwater Rush devolved into a rout the moment Breakstorm’s vanguard crashed with the opposing side. The legion avoided decimation only because of Calvin’s insistence that they give up pursuit to besiege Aram. Despite a brave defense by a hastily formed city militia, Aram fell within a month and Adrian was forced to flee with his followers and seek asylum in Capport. The sack of the city is still told in the stories, and the fires are said to have lasted longer than that of the Winter Fire itself. Victory was theirs… provided they could find the emperor.

Turning of the Tide

A month of searching turned up naught but imposters. Meanwhile, the intensive looting brought the fierce resistance of the cityfolk. Morale within the rebel camp plummeted, and many knights took to taking their share of the loot and deserting. Daryl wanted to pursue the Prelate and force him to reveal the location of the emperor, while Calvin thought to establish himself as a monarch. Breakstorm was forced to slay his father to stop him in his madness, but by the time the army marched out of Aram heavy seasonal rain had flooded the Coldwater to the extent that it was impossible to ford.

Adrian was not idle while the rebels diddled. By summer he had persuaded half the lords of the realm to take up his cause and taken Dagonet. When the rebels crossed the river, they found a fresh host before them and the legion behind. The ensuing Battle of Ashdown would be one of the bloodiest in the Prelacy’s history. The rebel Valdred was cut down by Ser Ector. Breakstorm rallied his knights for final charge that broke through enemy ranks, at the cost of thousands of lives on both sides.

Conclusion and Consequences

The Prelate wasted no time in putting Dagonet and Cape Verdet, effectively half of what was then Arameia, under the direct control of the Priesthood. Anton, who had remained in Aram with a strong garrison, sought to make a stand only to be betrayed by his subordinate Andre Gaudin, who fled the city with its navy and set himself up as a pirate in the Slivers. Breakstorm fled with his men to the borderlands, where he believed—rightfully—that the Arameians would be unwilling to pursue with a large host and provoke Starkwater. They endure to this day as the Knights Alexian.

The greatest consequence of the war is the establishment of the Prelacy as the undisputed power of Arameia. Though feudalism persists on a local level and knights remain the backbone of the army, the decimation of the noble leaders left the nobility with no choice but homage to the Prelate. While in exile, the Prelate blessed ser Ector and pledged him to a lifetime of service to Luxor, dubbing the first paladin.

Timeline of Adylheim

The world is made from the bodies of dead gods destroyed in a giant battle which brought the current gods to the forefront. (Dragonkin lore says the only reason the Gods won was because the Dragons chose their side to help.)

The Gods populate the world while the Dragons find their place. The first Dragon War is an immense cataclysm rending the world to pieces causing continents to shift and tear. The Gods understand the true burden of their power as they look on the world around them. They help rebuild the world, but have since stopped directly manifesting as it may tear the webs of reality itself. Items from before the first Dragon War are generally referred to as Prelapsarian.

The second Dragon War is much more of a cold war than the first one and is defined by short, intense clashes, often causing mountain chains to rise and similar. Following the second Dragon War the dragons mainly leave the world.

The humans on the continent of Adylheim start banding together, creating the Arameian Empire, the culmination of which is found in the crowning of Alexandrios in the capitol city. This is considered to be Year 0. Despite repeated attempts, Alexandrios’ armies never manage to penetrate the Eastern Wetlands nor the Northern Mountains.

2109. Emperor Symon IX is throned in Aram.

2112. Emperor Symon IX commands the construction of the city of Kaldheim, intended to be a gathering ground for the more experimental of his court mages and alchemists.

2120. Construction on Kaldheim reaches its conclusion and the first mages move in there. Symon IX gives its inhabitants the tough task of reinventing magic to make it serve the Empire.

2123. The city of Kaldheim disappears, Symon IX never again tries to pursue his dream of an Empire run on magic.

2947. The Boy Emperor Arion II is throned Emperor at nine years of age. His mother and the mistress of the former Emperor, Anna the Coarse is considered to be the true power behind the throne and is greatly disliked.

2948. In opposition to the Boy Emperor Arion II, the dread Wizard Robin the Black and a sizeable amount of wizards following her declare themselves in rebellion and attempt to topple the Empire to create for themselves a Mageocracy. Supporters of the Empire and loyal mages rally to her cause.

2949. Hostilities break out and the mage wars officially begin.

2952. Anna the Coarse is assassinated in her sleep, history books blame Robin the Black, but evidence favours imperial loyalists who could no longer stomach her presence.

2953. After four years of fighting Robin the Black now commands a third of the Imperial lands, in desperation Arion II "the Short" commands the creation of the Imperial Witchfinders who are trained specifically to deal with and kill traitorous wizards.

2955. The Mage Wars end as the much feared Robin the Black is struck down in the Eiderdown Campaign. With her followers dissipating into the midst of other mages the powerful Witchfinders kill a great deal of the Empire's wizards in order to get their hands on the traitors.

3349. The Eastern campaign fails to create any permanent settlements in the Eastern Wetlands, but does manage to decimate the ogre settlements there. The Eastern Campaign is forever after called the Time of the Harrowing by the Ogres and is displayed as a text book military campaign by the Empire.

3517. The Great Snake War. Naga from an alternate reality attempt to annex the world as part of their cosmarchy. The Emperor halts their assault at great cost to the Empire. With the coffers of the Empire emptied he must turn to the nobles for increased funds.

The Empire starts to decay as positions slowly become hereditary and the power of the Emperor begins to crumble. The army moves from a conscription system to a feudal system.

As the last Emperors watch helplessly from their luxurious castles, the nobles start declaring their independence.

3689. In the early months of the year, the Archduchy of Starkwater separates itself the Empire after a disagreement over taxes almost turns to open warfare.

3689. Four months after the Archduchy, the Principality of Nevros declares its independence.

3689. As the year draws to a close, the efforts of Emperor Armand VI to raise an army to bring the separatist nobles to heel fails. The Kingdom of Nerin and the Kingdom of Andragoria both separate and cut off a large part of the Imperial bankroll. Faced with imminent bankruptcy, the Emperor locks himself in his castle with his best courtesans and is not heard from again.

3703. Word from the imperial palace has it that Emperor Armand VI is dead and his nephew, Alexandrios, is crowned emperor.

3705. Alexandrios XIV’s attempts at bringing the separatist nobles back to the Empire through negotiation fails utterly. War begins.

3712. As the war drags on the Empire is betrayed by the Principality of Nevros, who has made an alliance with the Archduchy of Starkwater. The Imperial army is ambushed and the Emperor killed. In the wake of the defeat, the Barony of Longmoor also separates from an Empire it feels can no longer protect its boundaries.

3713. The nine year old Theodorian III is made Emperor.

3751. With its soldiers sent to protect what is now considered Arameian interests and leaving them no protection from the Archduchy of Starkwater, the Grand Barony of Teslan separates from the Empire, leaving it with only half of what is now the Arameian Heartlands.

3896. The Great Winter Fire rages through Aram, many buildings are forever destroyed. The Great Winter Fire is considered the last, dying gasp of the Empire as the final vestiges of its administration died with it. Following the Great Winter Fire, the Priesthood of Luxor takes control of Aram and slowly spreads its influence out to the surrounding areas and its nobles, forming the basis for the current Arameia. By 3970 Arameia covered what is the Arameian Heartlands today.

3899. The Golden Proclamation is issued, officially transferring power from the Emperor to the Prelate of Luxor. As a result of which the Sunrise Rebellion begins the same autumn as the nobles try to wrest power from the priests.

3900. The Battle of Coldwater Rush as the nobility rout the legions of the prelacy. The nobiliy then marched on Aram and sacked it within a month of the battle. The army in Aram spends months searching the city of Aram for the Emperor, until summer and the battle of Ashdown where the nobles are slaughtered by the Prelate's forces.

4031. Arameia seizes what becomes known as the Arameian Highlands from the Duchy of Starkwater in what is known as the Highlands Acquisition in Arameia and the Silver Theft in the Archduchy of Starkwater.

4220. The Flight of the Falcons. The Skylords stage a rebellion in Starkwater over a taxation dispute. The Archduke retaliates by all but wiping out the line of the Skylords and distributing their lands between his allies.