The Unmasking: Recent History
The Nemrozan Invasion - 3769 AS
In the 3,769th year of the Age of Steel, the people from the deep south, known as the
Nemrozan invaded the
Empire of Varadaban. The Nemrozan (whom the
Mitradaevaka viewed as primitives) had lived peacefully alongside the Mitradaevaka for centuries and the invasion came as something of a surprise.
The young
General Vahumisa, was sent to confront the Nemrozan and raised the Southern levies. Despite realising he was outnumbered 30,000 to 20,000, Vahumisa was confident of victory, assembling his forces on the Artavara plains South of
the Casm-Dahyu. In the opening phases of the battle, Vahumisa ordered his cataphracts to charge the Nemrozan light cavalry (who formed the largest part of their forces), which they did, though the Nemrozans refused to stand and led Vahumisan’s forces back and forth across the plains until, heavily armoured and riding under the heat of the Southern Sun, they were, exhausted, parched with thirst, scattered and disorganised. Then, and only then, did the Nemrozan turn to attack. Vahumisa’s cavalry was destroyed in the ensuing fighting. Witnessing the unfolding chaos, many of the levies turned and fled, only to be cut down by Nemrozan horsemen. Vahumisa was slain by an arrow while trying to rally his men.
As the Nemrozan force marched North, looting and pillaging as they went, terror gripped the Mitadaevaka people, many of whom fled to their Capital of Ap-Vio. Emperor Dahyusah, whom history would remember as ‘the Wise’, commissioned
General Zaranaka to call together the Northern levy and also sent word to King Calion of the
Sidfir, pleading for his aid.
The Sidfir were not generally given to interfering in the ways of the Steel Age peoples, but given their long friendship with the Mitradaevaka, Calion decided to send 2,000 of his finest soldiers to support Zaranaka’s army. The news of the Sidfir’s support gave hope to the Mitradaevaka army who continued their preparations for battle with renewed zeal. Traveling with the Sidfir host (led by King Calion) was the
Valindorian mage,
Calanthor, who at 427, had been studying magic amongst the Sidfir for the best part of a century.
Zaranaka assembled his host South of Ap-Vio in the place known as Navavasta, to await their Sidfir allies. Few Cataphracts had survived the Battle of Artavara and Zaranaka’s force was mostly made up of levy soldiers and a few horse archers.
Perhaps, sensing the danger the Sidfir force presented (it was commonly thought that one Sidfir warrior was equivalent to a score of humans), the Nemrozan rode hard to strike Zaranaka’s army before the Sidfir could arrive. Realising the danger, Emperor Dahyusah personally led forth his Royal Guard - the finest spearmen of the Empire, helmets wrapped in purple cloth against the heat. Upon reaching the field and realising the Sidfir were still some way off, Emperor Dahyusah yielded command to the experienced Zaranaka, who placed the guard on the right flank of his host of infantry.
As evening fell the night before the battle, Dahyusah and Zaranaka received word that the Sidfir expected to reach them by the next evening. Zaranaka’s army numbered no more than 10,000 men, yet they chose to take their stand on the field with prayers to Eruherion for the deliverance of their people.
Shortly after dawn, the Nemrozan attacked. And through the morning, under a withering hail of arrows and javelins, Zaranaka’s army stood firm. Sensing his men would not break, the Nemrozan charged, engaging the Mitradaevaka in vicious hand to hand fighting.
For several more hours the Mitradaevaka held until finally, in the late afternoon, the Sidfir were sighted in the West: rank upon rank of riders on white horses with armour that gleamed like the sun.
Many of the Nemrozan fled at that point and the Sidfir came upon them with an unstoppable force, sweeping those that had not fled from the field amidst great slaughter. The Battle of Navavasta has since gone down in History as the battle that saved the Empire of Varadaban and marks the last time the Sidfir took the field.
Thousands of prisoners were taken that day and after oaths never to make war upon the Mitradaevaka again, were released to return home. The Mitradaevaka guard their southern border to this day, but the Nemrozan have never since proved to be so dangerous.
Before their release, Calanthor spoke to many of the prisoners, hoping to discern the reason for the seemingly unprovoked Nemrozan aggression. Quickly, Calanthor began to realise that Vaurinth had been moving amongst the Nemrozan, spreading Envy of the wealth of the Mitradaevaka people and Contempt for their peaceful society. Darkness, it seemed, was spreading across the lands once again. Seeking further wisdom, Calanthor rode back with King Calion to consult with the Sidfir mages.
The Prophecy of Ilmareon - 3790 AS
Calanthor’s message was received gravely by the Sidfir mages. For many years they pondered what Calanthor had observed and messages were sent to the Kings of the Age of Steel warning of the coming of a Second Cycle War. Yet few heeded the messages for the threat seemed far off and the thoughts of the peoples of the Age of Steel are fixed in the present.
21 years after the defeat of the Newrozan at Artavara, the ancient seer,
Ilmaereon received words of prophecy which he relayed to the other Sidfir mages;
When the seventh dawn shall rise
Upon the golden hills of Arventia,
And the seventh daughter draws her first breath
Beneath the whispering elm of twilight,
An unborn son shall open his eyes to the unseen.
He shall bear the Sight,
A vision unclouded,
And in his gaze shall shine the path
To the Eternal Light,
Who shall wade through shadow and flame
To break the darkness that lies upon the world.
The daughter shall not dwell in marble halls nor in gilded keep,
But where the river bends thrice, and the moonlight kisses the reeds.
Seek her where the night flowers bloom,
And the owl calls thrice before the dawn.
The mages set about the task of deciphering Ilmaereon’s words concluding that at some point in the future a leader known as
‘the Eternal Light’ would be born to unite the peoples against the coming darkness. But to find that leader they would need to find the
‘Son who bears the Sight’, who was yet unborn, with the prophecy lending information as to the location of his mother.
The exact location she was to be found, or indeed when, remained obscure in the words, yet it would be somewhere in the
Regnum Arventia. Equipped with missives from King Calion, Calanthor rode to the Regnum in search of the woman.
The Division of the Regnum Arventia and War of Arventian Succession - 3791-3803 AS
At that time the Regnum Arventia was ruled over by Rex Sebastianus V Camillus, though he was in his 81st year and his health was waning. While Sebastianus received the missives of King Calion graciously, he gave little aid to Calanthor save allowing him access to the
Royal Library.
Sebastianus had two sons who still lived (having originally had five and three daughters). Isidorus, who at that point was already 58 years of age, was the first-born and due to inherit the throne. Isidorus Camillus was a wise and just Prince who was a skilled diplomat and administrator. His younger brother, the youngest of Sebastianus’ sons, Quintus Camillus, was 30 years of age, a skilled and brilliant military commander, handsome and friend of many in the military. Quintus harboured a deep resentment towards his brother, seeing him as a decadent wastrel, unfit to rule the Regnum and had begun to speak openly to this effect as his father’s health waned.
Knowing the risk of civil war, Rex Sebastianus decreed that upon his death the Regnum would be split between the Northern Coast (the lands now known as ‘Skeroparalia’), which Quintus Camillus would rule, and the Southern Arventian heartland, which would go to Isidorus.
In 3792 AS, Rex Sebastianus died, Rex Isidorus II was crowned, Quintus rode north to take possession of his dominion and for two years peace reigned.
In 3794 AS, Calanthor’s studies were disturbed by the news from the
Kingdom of Elarion that
Gurzat warbands had been sighted in the
Tuarethil Forest. Suspecting that
Vaurinth was at work once again, Calanthor temporarily abandoned his quest for the ‘seventh daughter’, riding north to meet King Oronhir of Elarion and provide what counsel he could.
King Oronhir welcomed Calanthor as one who had studied with the Sidfir mages, hoping that Calanthor could help in driving the darkness out of Tuarethil. Calanthor tracked the Gurzat back to the caves under the
Windy Mountains. Realising that the Gurzat from these mountains could raid as easily into the domain of Quintus Camillus as they could into Elarion, he road South, around the coastal road with the hopes of uniting Quintus Camillus and Oronhir in a common cause.
To Calanthor’s dismay, however, upon reaching Skeroparalia it became clear that driven by hatred and Envy, Quintus Camillus had chosen to serve Vaurinth, allowing the Gurzat and other foul beings of darkness to establish themselves in the Windy Mountains. In exchange they would join forces with his own people in conquering the Regnum Arventia.
Narrowly escaping capture and death, Calanthor fled South to warn Rex Isidorus, at his capital city of Segestia. He was joined here by emissaries from
Nimrithil,
Calenoril,
Stormfjellheim and
Binn Nechtain, whom King Oronhir had also sent messengers to, warning of the impending darkness.
In 3795 AS, the Grand Alliance of Segestia was formed to oppose Quintus Camillus and the coming darkness. It was the first and, thus far, only Alliance formed between humans, Firindor, Gundrukan and Sylpharim.
Theoretically, Quintus Camillus ought to have been easily defeated but a number of factors played to his favour. The first was the slowness of the Gundrukan armies to mobilise. The second was disagreement over the right course of action; the humans and Sylpharim favoured forcing the
Sea Pass and driving North into Skeroparalia to dethrone Quintus. The Firindor, however, favoured prioritising the defense of their woodland realms. The Gundrukan sat on the fence. Finally, the Sea Pass itself provided a narrow avenue of assault on Skeroparalia which promised to be costly for the Alliance.
Finally though, in 3802 AS, the Alliance forced the Pass in the
Fourth Battle of the Sea Pass and the following year Quintus Camillus took his own life as Alliance forces marched up the coast.
To this day, there are still Gurzat in the Windy Mountains though they do not pose the same threat they once did.
The Segestia Conclave and War of Gallus Nasica 3803 AS
Sadly the Grand Alliance did not last long. As the tired soldiers returned home, Calanthor held a conclave of mages in Segestia to decide on the next course of action as it was becoming increasingly clear that Vaurinth’s influence on the Nemrozan was not an isolated incident, but part of a larger strategy.
Relying on the memory of the Gwylfinn and Sidfir, it was decided that an expedition should be mounted to the
Frozen North where Vaurinth had fled after the
First Cycle War and where Gurzat raids had been a problem since the second millenia of the Age of Steel. Vaurinth, it was feared, was building up his forces once again.
This mission, however, was temporarily delayed by the outbreak of the War of Gallus Nascia which shattered the Grand Alliance.
In the aftermath of the war, Rex Isidorus had settled many retiring soldiers on the border with the Kingdom of Elarion. Traditionally this land had been more-or-less deserted due to the danger of clashes between humans and Firindor. Rex Isidorus assumed that his veterans, having fought alongside the Firindor for several years, would be able to avoid confrontation. However, this was not to be. Veterans began logging on the edges of the Tuarethil Forest which concerned the Elarions who regarded the forest as the walls of their Kingdom. Arguments broke out, threats were levelled and on one inauspicious morning, the body of a man named ‘Gallus Nasica’ was found on the edges of the forest, killed by a Firindor arrow.
Passions were inflamed on both sides and war broke out. Skirmishes on the edge of the Tuarethil Forest went the way of the Elarions. Isidorus’ General in the North, Galerius Vocula, realised the only way to defeat the Elarions was to push through the forest. Vocula led a force of 7,000 men through the fringes of the Tuarethil, into the Kingdom’s sheltered farmland, to confront King Oronhir’s army of 5,000 at the
Battle of the Valinel Fields. The battle was bloody and inconclusive, with around 1,000 Arvenses killed or wounded and 500 Elarions. The Arvenses retreated to their camp, while the Elarions withdrew to their city.
In the aftermath of the Battle, diplomats were able to negotiate an end to the war and the Arvenses withdrew from the Kingdom though mistrust between the peoples remains to this day, particularly amongst the long-lived Firindor, where many veterans of the Battle still live.
The Council of Sovetnyj Monastery (3806 AS) and the Bran Eruherion (3807 AS)
Amongst the Segestia Conclave was a mage from the Kingdom of Ledosever by the name of
Velimir Volkhiv. Following on from the Conclave, Volkhiv was dispatched to return home to organise the expedition to the Frozen North, stopping in
Caryandor on the way, where he picked up an escort of several Valindorian knights.
King Bogoslav received Volkhiv graciously and lent him the services of several fine knights to journey Eastwards to discern if Vaurinth was raising the Host of Darkness in the Frozen North.
In the spring of 3805 AS they set out, returning six months later with the dreadful news that Vaurinth was, indeed, forming an Army to the East.
Alarmed, Bogoslav called for a council of nobles, monks and mages, and in the spring of 3806 AS, they came together in at the
Sovetnyj Monastery to decide on a course of action. Volkhiv called for a ‘Bran’ (the Ledoseveran word for a Holy War) and though the delegation from Caryandor cautioned them to wait, insisting that Ledosever alone was not enough to defeat Vaurinth, their words were lost in the enthusiasm to drive the corruption from the land.
In 3807, King Bogoslav set forth with a host of 17,000 men, intent on destroying Vaurinth. Of that host only one man returned to inform the world of the Battle of the Zurbathul Pass where King Bogoslav had been cut off, surrounded, and his men slaughtered, with just the one man allowed to return to tell of the disaster. Both Bogoslav and Volkhiv were numbered among the dead on that day.
The messenger returned with promises of peace from Vaurinth provided he was left undisturbed. While Gurzat raids have continued in the North, the Host of Darkness has not spilled forth and, while it is known Vaurinth is active, there has been no appetite for further warfare in the North. The threat seems far off and the thoughts of the peoples of the Age of Steel are fixed in the present.
The Prophecy of Ilmareon Fulfilled - 3977 AS
In Segestia, Calanthor stayed on to advise Isidorus and his descendants. Many fine men and women took up the title of Rex or Regina, ruling the land with wisdom and the Arvenses continued to flourish though in the North, the shadow of Vaurinth remained. Through his years as an advisor, Calanthor never forgot his original mission, to find the ‘Seventh Daughter’ prophesied by Ilmareon all those years before. He studied hard in the libraries, yet it was by pure chance that, 170 years after the death of King Bogoslav, that he happened to be staying at an inn in the village of Ripae Floriferae.
Ripae Floriferae is a small village in the crook of a riverbank that is shown on no maps. It was, however, to the eye of the ancient Valindorian mage, a place of incredible beauty with banks covered in wildflowers, attended by a lazy court of bees rising from slow, reed filled waters. Feeling the place was a respite for his weary soul, Calanthor decided to stay a week. It was on his final day, walking amongst the moonflowers at night, the seventh night, that he heard the owl call, then again and on the third call he met a young maiden walking the other way, and he understood who she was.
The young maiden’s name was Atronia Arius. She was tall, with golden hair, which was uncommon amongst the Arvenses and Calanthor decided to befriend her to ensure she remained safe from Vaurinth's minions, not telling her why he was doing so or who she was.
Yet within weeks of coming to Ripae Floriferae, Calanthor realised that a dark presence was lurking in the nearby woods - a Fomorian - a being of terrible, dark power, well beyond his own, was here. Without needing to be told why, Calanthor instantly knew it had come for Atronia.
With the sun at its highest, a time when the Fomorian would hide away, Calanthor took Atronia and fled Ripae Floriferae, spiriting her away into hiding in the West, in
Eaham, where she would not stand out amongst the tall, fair, Western folk.
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