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In the beginning, there was only Lylalel and Lyarlel, twin dragons of immeasurable power. Lyarlel, a creative force, challenged himself to produce things of beauty upon Aurii. First came water and mountains, after that came plants and animals. He prided himself in the natural order of all of his creations. The wolf ate the deer and the deer ate the grass.
He showed we had created to Lylalel, and she was impressed. She asked Lyarlel if she could add one element to the world he had created. He, loving his twin, agreed immediately. Lylalel explained then that the world he created adhered too strongly to the natural order, too much to the repeating cycle. She felt that what the world needed was a rogue element; something to pull the world from it’s order, and push it back on the path. Lyarlel was skeptical of this, but trusted his twin. It was with this, that Lylalel created mankind.
At first, the dragons saw more of the same. Humans fell into the natural order, being killed by the wolf and killing the deer. Lyarlel was amused, and teased his twin. Lylalel bid her time, waiting for humans to reach their potential. Soon, they did. Their intelligence gave them the ability to invent, learn, and adapt. They began to defeat the wolf, despite Lyarlel’s order to all things. Lyarlel admitted defeat to Lylalel in good faith. The humans inspired change in his work, and he found that beautiful as well. In concession, he consummated his twin’s addition to the world by creating the Laguz; man that were able to take the form of beasts, truly a mix of both dragon’s influence. He created four races, one in the north from the powerful wolves, one in the west from the unassuming rabbits, and two for the mainland who embody the felines that room it’s plains.
The dragons watched the world from on high, letting it evolve on it’s own thanks to the randomness of Humans. As man progressed though, it began to move around the natural order of things. With the invention of spear and fire, the wolf was no longer a threat to man. With stone walls, storms no longer displaced man from his home. Lyarlel grew frustrated. As Lylalel said, these humans pulled away from the natural order but they never returned to it. It changed and modified his world. Forests disappeared, mountains were disemboweled, and animals were permanently removed from Aurii.
Lyarlel approached his twin and told her of his frustrations. She beseeched him to be patient, to see the whole of Aurii come to it’s conclusion on it’s own. Lyarlel wasn’t willing to listen to her. Lyarlel’s art, his masterpiece was infected by these humans, and he wanted them struck from it. Lylalel stood her ground. The dragons took ethereal form, traveling the blooming kingdoms of the world. She showed Lyarlel how humans took after the two of them, how they create beauty like Lyarlel himself, and evolve and encourage change like Lylalel. Despite her show, Lyarlel was unconvinced. A new race could be created from their initial mistake, he told Lylalel, one that could evolve without taking control of the realm they dwell in. Lylalel stood her ground.
Already on the mortal plane, the argument between the two dragons came to a head. Shedding their incorporeal forms they appeared before their creations, before all of creation. Lyarlel took things which came under his domain, the land, sea, plants, and animals and brought them against the Humans. Lylalel’s creations, sorely outnumbered in what was truly Lyarlel’s realm, were given a sole gift to defend themselves with. Lylalel gave them understanding of the language of the gods, a runic language that produced magical effects powered by the twin dragons themselves. She told the humans that their understanding of this language would fade by the end of the generation; to protect man from it’s influence.
Humans, wielding true magic through both twin’s powers, faced off against Lyarlel’s creations. Lyarlel was enraged to see what Lylalel had give the humans. He knew the infection to his world would only use their dragon’s powers to further destroy his creation, and would not hear of Lylalel’s insurance it would fade from memory. Lyarlel challenged his twin, in the skies above the humans and animals. He swore that if Lylalel was so determined to corrupt his world, he would do so himself. Lyarlel placed a seed of his own power, fueled by rage and hate and an endless drive to return the world to the pristine state it once was, or dust trying, deep with in Aurii. The seed took root, pulling deeply from his power, creating leylines all across the realm. From these rivers of magical power came corrupting influences that ensnared the life on Aurii. Demonic, magical beings came to be from the animals and humans the leyline’s power touched. These beings attacked humanity, striving to fulfill Lyarlel’s one goal of cleansing his creation of the virus his twin created.
Lylalel and Lyarlel clashed above Aurii in a battle that would inspire religions around them. It over a year before the battle would be done. Below humans fought desperately against Demons and the rest of Lyarlel’s influence. Magic permeated the air; human’s spells powered beyond Lylalel’s expectation by Lyarlel’s leylines and demons moving about, bringing more living things under the influence of the leyline’s corruption. The battle lasted weeks, the dragons never stopping and the humans nearly destroyed. Seeing this, Lylalel decided there could be only one right way to end the conflict. She could not allow the enraged, wild dragon her brother had become to continue to create things in this world.
Lylalel created a seal of her own; one that encompassed all of Aurii. She tied all of the dragon’s power to the seal; such that both she and Lyarlel would be contained with in it, so long as it remained unbroken. The seal purified the leyline’s dark influences, preventing the corruption from coming through the leylines. The gods of the world were now sealed within it, preventing the corrupt leylines spawned from their infighting from destroying Aurii. Humanity was left on it’s own, the world returning to the order Lyarlel was once so proud of.
Somethings didn’t go as planned, however. Runic magic was to fade from the world after the generation Lylalel bestowed it to; removing magic from Aurii once and for all. The knowledge of the magic did fade, none could remember how to read or write in the language of the gods. Yet due to Lyarlel’s leylines seeping magic into the world (Lylalel’s Seal only cleansed the magic, it did not prevent it from reaching Aurii) the magic itself still existed. Not only that, some written records were retained in the world, due to the leyline magic protecting them from Lylalel’s planned erasure. Most things on in Aurii were destroyed during the fight between the dragon gods, but many of the ruins had clues or writings about the now forgotten language of the gods. All due to the leylines, magic stayed on Aurii, ready for humans to learn slowly over centuries of effort.
Lylalel a strange habit, in the days before her and her twin’s fall. She would disguise herself as human and walk among them, nudging them this way and that in their building of the world. She never told Lyarlel of these trips to his realm, time was meaningless to beings such as themselves so he never questioned where she went. Sometimes she spent years among man, other times only days. She loved to bond with the people on Aurii, to experience their lives with them.
Occasionally… she became too invested. Each time she spent time on Aurii she grew a little more so, until a night of passion in a south eastern settlement left her in an unusual predicament. She become pregnant. Unsure of what such a thing would mean for a goddess, she disappeared to the northeast peninsula of Aurii. She used her abilities to carve out the makings of a city, all while wonder what to do.
She didn’t have to wait long. Lylalel found herself in labor far sooner than a human woman would. She took on the birth alone in her city she dubbed Elbia. She was terribly surprised to find her child wasn’t a child at all; it was an egg. Somewhat relieved, she built a shrine for the egg in Elbia and moved on, leaving the strange side effect of her courtships behind.
Lylalel took a break from consorting with the people of Aurii after her egg laying fiasco. Ever the fickle goddess, she fell back into the habit before long. She took the form of a male this time, ensuring she couldn’t make the same mistake. This plan was unfortunately flawed in another way; those she consorted with could. It wasn’t long before Lylalel’s latest lover was with child. Lylalel spent the entire pregnancy waiting for the inevitable egg to be laid and to prevent her lover from panicking. Lylalel intended to knock her lover out and later tell her the child died during birth. It wasn’t the most noble of plans… but it at least covered the goddess’s tracks.
Surprised again was Lylalel when her wife was with child normally, the full term and all. Lylalel seemed to get away with her foolhardy, until the child’s wings sprouted. Lylalel’s lover, Illandria was a noble woman who swore up and down her child was hers, and she’d love it wings or not. Impressed by the humans dedication, Lylalel whisked her away to Elbia. Lylalel revealed herself to Illandria, who took the fact that she bore a dragon woman’s child as well as anyone could. It was a long and painful conversation, but the two reconciled after a few days.
Also encouraging the reconciliation was Lylalel’s discovery that her egg had hatched, while she was gone. Her child, a dragon winged child like her and Illandria’s, was living in Elbia for alone for a years before the two arrived. Illandria, after absolutely berating the goddess for her negligence, told Lylalel that she would keep the two children under her protection in Elbia. Illandria took the first child in as her own.
Lylalel stuck around for far longer than she ever had before. The Manaketes, a draconic term for blessed blood Lylalel dubbed the children, aged slower than humans. Illandria and Lylalel looked after children effectively their whole lives. They discovered that the manaketes could hide their wings, and showed an affinity to magic. Once the wings were hidden, the Manakete’s only difference from humans were the pointed ears which were easily explained away. Lylalel and Illandria also, being a loving couple with access to the powers of a goddess, had more manakete children together. By the time of Illandria’s passing, There were six Manakete on Aurii, all old enough to hide their wings.
Lylalel knew she must return to Lyarlel, back to her true role as a goddess. She encouraged people she had met running errands for Illandria in the past decade to move to Elbia, nudging them with her silver tongue. A small group of settlers came to fill out the city, and Lylalel set up the manakete as the royal family of the city. The settlers took to the manakete and Elbia was born. The city had every building and plaza the settlers could ever need. They set up trade with other settlements and the city thrived. Elbia became the largest city on Aurii before the twin gods came to blows.
As the eldest of the manakete finally grew to an appearance and maturity where courtship was acceptable, they began to take after their celestial mother. They stayed with humans, and mixed race manakete were born. Families that knew of Manakete’s existence began to crop up here and there, though only rumors left Elbia. Lylalel’s children were careful in their frivilousness. By the time the twin gods came to blows, The six pure blood manakete all had reached an appearance of 20 somethings, and were incredibly old and wise. They had children from different human generations, a few dozen half blood manakete wandered Elbia’s streets.
When the twin gods came to blows, Lylalel blessed all of humanity with magic. She came to Elbia specifically, beseeching her children to stay safe and hidden. The people of Elbia took to magic quickly, guided by the Manakete royals. Elbia had dozens of powerful mages before long, and the manakete found themselves with an additional ability. Lyarlel’s leylines and certain gemstones, those created by their mother when she built Elbia centuries ago, had combined to become dragonstones. The stones pulled on the power of the leylines and gave the manaketes the ability to take the form of a dragon. Between the mages, the revelation to Elbia proper that children of the goddesses lead them, and the dragonic forms they could now take Elbia felt assured they could repel Lyarlel.
Lyarlel, however, was merciless. Discovering the ‘abominations’ that Lylalel had brought onto his world, he directed as much of his power as he could against Elbia. The people of Elbia stood little chance against armies of daemons, constant rockslides from the mountain they were built into, and the seas themselves coming against them. Lyarlel sieged Elbia with everything he had, holding of Lylalel’s attempts to save her children.
The city fell, months before the battle between the twin gods ended. The manakete, strong enough to escape, scattered to the winds. They took to Lylalel’s request to stay safe and hidden and spread out, making sure Lyarlel could never target a place because of them again. The humans of Elbia, advanced mages had they had become, were crushed under the daemon hordes. Elbia was left as a ruin, empty as the day Lylalel built her from stone. Elbia still contains secrets of magic in it’s temple and walls, though much of the city was buried under the rockslides. The manakete vowed to never return… until it was their time to die.
Humanity, post the Intervention of Lylalel, was mostly gathered in the western portion of the mainland. Any prior civilizations, particularly Elbia, were lost to Lyarlel’s machinations, reclaimed or destroyed by nature. The humans left had survived a war between literal gods and were left in awe of the greater beings. They knew nothing of the dragons beforehand, and very little of them from the Intervention itself, mostly the names of the dragons and the terms of the magic Humanity had been granted. Most stood behind Lylalel; she had granted them magic and sacrificed herself to to protect them from Lyarlel, so she must be good.
Some however understood Lyarlel’s message; that humanity had gone too far and were losing respect for the earth beneath them. Those who felt this way were in the clear minority, and the followers of Lylalel weren’t receptive of the alternate view point. In fighting broke out in the fledging towns between those who condemned Lyarlel, and those who understood him. Eventually it came to a head; a woodcutter by the name of Beornn Frith rallied those who supported Lyarlel’s view behind him. Rather than combat the followers of Lylalel, he and the people he inspired packed up their lives and sailed north, far from the supporters of Lylalel. They curved around the mainland and found themselves on the northern island of Aurii.
The humans under Beornn laid claim to the southern shores of the island they called Gawic, finding the unsettled island to be a good home for them to build a nation which respected nature as it is, not a tool for man to control. They built the foundation for the nation Wynne under Beornn’s leadership. Soon the fledging town Coudell attracted the attention of the Naissankari (wolf laguz) native to the island. A handful of skirmishes broke out between the two races, the Wynnites unable to communicate with the Naissankari who refused to treat with the humans. Over time an unspoken peace was formed; the Naissankari had their own boundaries in the woods which Wynnites were to respect. So long as the Wynnites did not cross the boundaries of the Naissankari land, the Naissankari would tolerate the Wynnite presence on Gawic (ancestrally called Lumisade by the Naissankari).
Wynne, peace with the natives brokered, grew at a relaxed pace. They respected the land, as Lyarlel wished them to. Over time, the image of Lyarlel became replaced with that of those who fell to the harsh climate, and the animals who taught them how to survive in it. Rumor spread of a man who was lost in the woods in a snowstorm, only to have a spectral wolf guide him home. This was simply a Naissankari doing a good deed, but it helped Wynne shift to a belief system that was spiritual in nature. They came to believe in guardian animals who are reincarnations of their loved ones, guiding them to survive. They came to believe nature itself was the god, rather than a dragon that fought another over nature.
Wynnites respected strength, to survive in the cold climate they now call home. Along with their shift way from the dragon gods of old, they lost a sense of the divine. Instead the only powers that be are humans who had returned to nature. As there was no greater power in the world to compare themselves to, Wynnites found themselves ever challenging their ability to exceed human limits. Their leaders were the strongest among them, those who could lead and hunt and a rousing speech in the same day.
The relationship between the Naissankari and the Wynnites was stable all this time, and was well on it’s way to never changing. It did however change, when a young Wynnite man fell into a ravine during a powerful snowstorm. The man was in his late 20’s, on a challenge to prove he has what it takes to challenge the current chieftain to various people in the community. In the ravine Ror found himself face to face with an injured wolf. A boulder had fallen on her leg, pinning her in the ravine alone. He helped the wolf, and he was then met with a beautiful woman with snow white hair. She was Frostve, the chieftain of the Naissankari’s daughter. Neither spoke of their roles at home however.
They huddled together, talked of different worlds and what it was like in the other’s. The two fell in love over the day and a half they were stuck together, and only survived due to one another. The Naissankari came first, finding Frostve back in her wolf form. She told her people of how Ror saved her from a cold death and they helped him escape as well. They then left, leaving Ror only to wish to meet his love again. He returned to his own village, hailed a miracle for surviving the storm, and was given the blessing he wanted in challenging the chieftain. Before he did, he found his way back to the ravine… Only to meet Frostve, looking for him as well.
The two met frequently in the woods after that, bonding further. It came to a point where Frostve decided she would be with him, separate people’s or not. She brought him before the Naissankari that very day, much to his surprise. It was dramatic evening, but Ror’s passion for Frostve was apparent. He also was the first Wynnite to get the chance to explain their culture to the Naissankari, who found they had more in common than either had ever would have guessed. In addition to blessing the union of the two, Frostve’s father declared that it was perhaps time for the Naissankari to introduce themselves to Wynnites. This was an equally dramatic affair, but with Ror speaking for them the Wynnites quickly came to accept the Naissankari. After all, the Naissankari were the perfect marriage of nature and humanity, how could they not be fellows to the Wynnites?
From that day forward, Naissankari were welcome in the Wynnite lands and conflicts between the two ceased entirely. Wynnites, out of respect for Naissankari tradition, were only allowed to the Naissankari home Roren by invitation, though the chieftain of Wynne is always invited at least once to meet his peer.
With the entire island now shared between the two cultures dwelling on it, the Wynnites set themselves to a challenge no Wynnite had ever succeeded at before. The capture of a pegasus, winged horses that were native to the mountains of Gawic. The creatures were always able to escape to Naissankari lands before, and the Naissankari lacked the tools to climb the mountainsides themselves. The greatest hunters and athletes from each culture joined together, making a public show of their attempt. It took better part of months, but the group were able to capture the first pegasus.
The pegasus was wild, untameable and absolutely not ridable. All of Wynne was about to give up on the beasts before a young girl happened to pass the pegasus. Whatever magic was at foot, it connected the two. The girl was able to not only approach, but ride the pegasus in due time. Over the last decade it was determined more pegasus would be willing to take to a certain rider, but only that rider. However, when bred the resulting pegasi were far more amiable to humans. They’re still quite skittish of Naissankari, as they can smell the wolf on them, but bred pegasi are able to be ridden by more than just the one person wild pegasi happen to connect to. In the last few decades before the Eraian Crusades, Wynne put together a flying force of Pegasus Knights, a few squadrons of warriors riding upon pegasus back. It’s a small force, barely a dozen in number, but little can interfere with a pegasus knight’s mission.
Those who stayed behind on the western half of the mainland (Aeldun) were devoted to the worship of Lylalel, the dragon of light who saved them from the dark dragon Lyarlel. The first leader of the Church was actually a solider Aldwyn Threda, a man who lead his fellows in the blessed generation against Lyarlel’s daemons and servants. He stumbled into the role, to be entirely truthful. He was the man dedicated to making a new home for humanity, one that would properly honor Lylalel’s splendor. He lead the people in droves to the Ramure Bay to the south, establishing a city on the cove’s waters. This city would go on to be Lyall.
Alwyn’s own interests were in building monuments to preserve the story of Lylalel’s defeat of Lyarlel for all time. Others came in around him, encouraging oral and written tradition as the rumor mill filled new facts about Lylalel. The city attracted followers in droves, and the larger the population the more the original story of Lylalel’s coming warped into something larger and more complex due to different accounts, rumors, and in some cases even lies. Alwyn himself stayed on track, producing the first iteration of Lyall’s beautiful cathedral from Onyx stone, mined from the mountains to the east. The Onyx stone became a trademark of churches built in Lylalel’s honor.
Many of the new buildings cropping up in Lyall had paintings and murals of Lylalel on them. Each artist drew the goddess slightly differently, but one trend that took off was drawing Lylalel with feathered wings, rather than the draconic wings she had. It made her seem holier, somehow and more artists than not joined the trend. History took to this interpretation of Lylalel, and she is believed to have had feathered wings rather than her own.
As the religion solidified and the city built itself up around it, some were unhappy with the result. Those who stuck with the worshippers simply out of promise of a new home after the old world was destroyed by Lyarlel loved the city of Lyall but found the increasingly rigid rule of the church to be too much. This moderate faction kept to itself mostly, a quiet thing to discuss with other members of the group. Another faction was far more vocal than they were about the Church of Lylalel which kept the moderate faction out of the eyes of the church.
Those born after Lylalel’s coming, and therefore not part of the Blessed Generation, wanted to know the secrets of magic. The Blessed Generation explained time and time again that gift was temporary, and they would be the only generation to use such magics. The tension between the aging Blessed Generation and the pro magic faction rose slowly but surely. The infighting between the two grew harsher, until finally a leader Rida Winyeue rallied all those that found Lyall’s leadership to be corrupt and hording. With support from the more stable yet passive moderate faction, a rebellion was formed against the Church of Lylalel, Rida at the head.
The rebellion lead by Rida was a harsh, week long affair. The magic of the Lyall leadership helped them keep control of the city, yet they could do nothing as the rebels gained support. At the end of the week, the High Cardinal himself came before the rebellion, seeking terms. Rida was insistent on access to the magic the Church was hiding away, but the leader of the moderate faction Helmann Sige, the base of her rebellion, undermined her. Helmann took a promise of supplies and being left alone by the church in return for his faction leaving Lyall for the north. Rida, outraged by the betrayal, was forced to accept a similar deal. Without the supplies the moderate faction provided them, Rida’s rebellion would be easily squashed out.
Well over a third of the city left Lyall in the follow week. Over half of those people went north with Helmann, and the remainder took ships south with Rida, swearing to return for the secrets the church was keeping from them. The High Cardinal Gauwyn Folke came before the remaining two thirds of Lyall’s population. He spun a speech that would be remembered for generations, about how those loyal to the church are those truly blessed, and those who reject Lylalel’s light simply must be shown the light. The speech would later inspire the Eraian Crusades, though Gauwyn simply wishes to rebrand the fledging nation as just that. It was during this speech the Kingdom of Eraia got it’s name, coined by Gauwyn from some words in the language of the gods.
While much of his true motivations, keeping Lyall together, were lost to time, Gauwyn would go down in history as the first Cardinal to ‘bring Lylalel’s light to the people, casting out those who rejected her’ and ‘blessing those who followed her, accepting all who would accept her’. This mentality became a gold standard for the Eraian people. As Lyall expanded and new members joined the clergy, a fervor came over the city. Soon the city would accept that their role in Lylalel’s plan was to bring her light to all people, and if they resisted they simply had to be shown her glory. Eraia’s military expanded from a token force to fall under the church’s supervision, letting the church fund a force that could properly spread Lylalel’s message the word around them. Eraia built themselves up, the fervor reaching all the way back to Gauwyn’s speech driving them to become an impressive, powerful nation. Trisp and Estad were founded during this time.
Eraia never forgot about the Blessed Generation, though the details of their blessing from Lylalel were lost to time. Instead, the church focused on how they could achieve the magic that the Blessed Generation had access to (The irony of this being Rida’s reason from splitting from Eraia lost to time). Eraia had the largest collection of documentation from the Blessed Generation and scholars dedicated their lives to even find words from the language of the gods. It took centuries of study but Eraia was the first culture to access Light Magic, defining the category of spells as Renassiance Aurii does now.
Soon Eraia’s military strength was leagues beyond the young nations to the north, and the Kissaelain to the south. The fervor started long ago when Gauwyn unintentionally inspired the concept of a crusade, and now Eraia was ready to begin.
The moderate faction of the Eraia rebels traveled north. Unlike the people who would found Wynne, this group traveled by land. They made their way around the mountains, leaders such as Helmann Sige discussing what the massive of people were going to do with themselves. Some, true to the name, were quite moderate in opinion, just looking to live peacefully. Two other opinions formed as the rebels traveled. The first was from a woman by the name of Cilia Lyne, who felt rather than just separate themselves from the church they should do everything in their power to prevent some other theocracy from rising and taking power. She gained a fair amount of traction with the group. Rousek Bomir on the other hand took issue with any sense of order. He felt holding themselves to the traditional leadership roles was a major weakness, and fellow chaotically minded individuals joined him.
As the people discussed what they wanted in their new country, Helmann, Cilia, and Rousek all realized there was more than enough space and people to split up. See what worked, see what didn’t. They discussed in closed council, then proposed it to the collected people. The decision was unanimous, with everyone getting what they wanted. Cilia took those who agreed with her north west, to Aeldun Spire, the peninsula at the top of Aeldun. Rousek went east, nestling himself along the north side of the Penmyrth Mountain range, the eastern range standing opposite to the Llanfyll Mountains. Helmann’s people stayed right where they were, dead center in the northern half of Aeldun.
Helmann’s people built themselves up on many of the traditions once held by Eraia. Helmann served as ruler of the nation, though in his own era he was more akin to an overworked mayor. However the people were happy and the northern plains were prosperous to live on. The Northern sea provided fish, the plains were littered with deer and horses, and mining was plentiful from the Llanfyll Mountains. Horses became key to Callora’s economy, exporting the captured and tamed wild horses to the neighboring fledgling nations.
Helmann lived a long time, but eventually passeed peaceful. He died a bachelor, never marrying, and it left the fledgling nation with a deliemma of who was to take charge. Panic built up in the new town before a former con artist stepped up. He spoke with a silver tongue and woo’d the lost people into supporting him running the town. It was a cushy job for Aril Callora as the people of the town already knew what they were doing. He was a lazy leader, nothing compared to Helmann, but he kept things ‘normal’ for the people in town. Over time, Aril pushed that the kingdom would one day need a name, and he would be so humble as to give his own for such a grand purpose. It took, and Callora became the name of the nation.
Aril had many children, with many wives. His final speech to the town was to tell them Aril had trained his first born son with everything he knew, and he hoped his son would guide them as he had. The people, par for the course, accept this and the monarchy was born. Callora built up quickly, despite it’s dubious leadership. Some of the Callorian line were quite dedicated to their role. Others were as lazy as their ancestor Aril. In addition to the horses, Callora’s wide open plains lead well to farmland and Callora became the largest farming nation on Aeldun. Providing food and livestock set the nation up to be just as cuhsy as Aril would have liked.
The capital city Rosin grew large and impressive, full of people who enjoyed to rub shoulders with other well to do people. Those who followed Helmann’s original image for the town, those who wanted to be left alone in peace, branched out of the city towards smaller farming villages nearby. Callorian culture also created the concept of Knights on Aurii, warriors trained to serve a lord. (The Eraia counterparts were much too tied to the church to fit the role properly.) These knights were tasked with the defense of Callora and did so by building up cavalry units. Fox hunting was used as an exercise when training these new units, and is attributed to fox hunting’s popularity today.
Those who followed Cilia to the northwest found themselves wandering almost aimlessesly for months. Cilia informed them, time and time again, that the right place to settle would appear. They simply had to look closely. Finally, Cilia found her place. A ruin, left behind from before Lylalel’s Light era, was nestled in the northern most mountains of Aeldun, the Cahyrst Mountainss. This ruin contained remnants of the language of the gods, and Cilia declared this as the best place for her people to settle. Reading a random word from the ruins, she named the settlement Dwyr.
Dwyr built up slowly but steadly. Cilia oversaw every building, every farm that was built with a grand plan only she knew. She set up a council of founding families, and governed as a member of the council. While she had the support to do whatever she wished with the blessing of the Dwyr people, she insisted that all procedure go through the council, on which she held an equal vote to all other members. She knew setting the precedence would keep the people of Dwyr following the structure she was building for them.
Follow them they did. Cilia’s council and grand plan of building the Dwyr kingdom was a resounding success, even after her death. Dwyr was zoned for each family to expand with their own dukedom of sorts, with plenty of room for the resulting farms. There was little infighting as Dwyr expanded to a full fledged kingdom.
Dwyr quickly took to education in a two pronged fashion. Dwyr educated everyone as best they could, as the more intelligent the mind the better the decisions could be made. Additionally, Dwyr studied the ruin they built their kingdom around extensively. Linguistic study colleges (to become magical colleges, after the discovery of Anima Magic during the Eraian Crusades via the ruin) popped up in each nation in addition to the more standard colleges of thought.
Dwyr had limited land for hunting and farming and did quickly reach a maximum on farms. Dwyr’s people turned the ocean around them on the pennisula to suppliment their food supply. Dwyr diet frequently includes fish. Dwyr also produced a sizable fleet of ships to do this fishing, making Dwyr the owner of the first navy on Aurii.
Dwyr has little in the way of military at this time, instead relying on Callora’s in the case of Eraian pressure from the western coast. As Eraia grows bolder, Dwyr starts to build a meager ground forces.
Rousek lead his followers to the east, settling along the Penmyrth Mountains. The decision was entirely made as many of the people traveling with him were miners back in Eraia. Despite it’s impulsiveness, the mountains were firtile with ore and material. Camps sprung up around the mines, with large bonfires dominating the central square. Every night the people would meet, eating the day’s hunt around the bonfire while laughing and enjoying life. A handful of farms were formed, but hunting kept the village fed for the first few years. One night while drinking mead and enjoying the bonfire, a joke was bumbled and it came out as “Torshan”. Rousek was so utterly amused by the word, more so due to the mead than comedic potential, that he drunkly declared the nation they were building was to be called Torshan. The young man who uttered the phrase first was immortalized in a way he would never live down.
Torshan’s mines produced an excessive amount of stone. Stone building popped up all around the bonfires they called town square, first homes then refineries and workshops. Streets formed haphazardly and chaotically, and when no more building could be placed along the dirt roads, the dirt roads were torn up for cobble streets. The town seemed imposing, and potentially threatening to visitors from Callora and Dwyr, due to the harsh lines and constant firelight coming from every workshop, refinery, and bonfire. Once you’ve walked the streets however, visitors found them bustling with activity. Torshan has people working at all hours and some buildings such as forges have fires going every day. The people are busy, bustling, blunt, and pleasant, if rough around the exterior. They all seemed to take after Rousek, beings of hardwork and a fair doze of chaos.
Rousek was all but king in Torshan, every man woman and child saw him as a fine leader. In his old age he made no effort to pass down the leadership to anyone in particular. True to his chaotic nature, he said ‘whoever wants it can have it, so long as the guy who had it last is gone’. These words would live in infamy, twisted to Torshan’s particular brand of chaos. He passed not long after that, and his second in command took over for him.
Ardich Cowler wasn’t a bad leader, but he was no where near as charismatic as Rousek ever was. It proved to be his downfall. An upstart who felt Ardich was “too meek to stand the fires of Torshan”, staged a riot and coop. It was improvised, random, and completely unexpected. Still, people went along with it or defended Ardich, based on their own opinions. Campaigning was done mid street brawl, most of it boiling down to insults and repeating Rousek’s quote about whoever wants it can have it. No one was killed in the rioting, it was more akin to a city wide bar fight. In the end, Ardich surrendered the leadership of the city (not without a solid hit on his ursper, breaking a few ribs), and the next morning things were business as usual. No one seemed to mind the change of leadership, they kept working, and the new ‘king’, as he drunkly declared after the brawl, wasn’t in their way.
This was the beginning of Torshan’s incredible royal turnover rate. Torshan never came to form a true noblity. Whoever was king got a nicer home, and perks to go along with the job of dealing with nobles from other nations. Despite that, the Torshan king or Queen at the time was simply the latest person to think they could do the last guy’s job better. The longest tenure as king, excluding Rousek’s lifelong ‘rule’, was four and half years, held by Queen Lifhilda. Each coup was as peaceful as a coup could be, always carrying shades of the drunk bar brawl that the first one was at heart. People weren’t killed, and those who tried to kill during a coup were arrested. The coups and leadership changes were simply a Torshain tradition, a strange one that embraced the chaotic people who called it home.
Lifhilda was a beautiful woman, one who passed for a ‘proper’ noble like those from Callora. She was also one of the most foul mouthed, wild children Torshan had ever produced. She held her reign as long as she did for a chance action she took, sending a ship north to see what could be found. What the ship found was Wynne, and Lifhilda ended up sailing out herself to meet with Wynne’s chieftain. It was Lifhilda, wild child, who formed the first alliance with the Wynne people. Trade via sea boomed, though people rarely traveled between the two nations for leisure.
Torshan grew into a thriving capital, packed to the brim with people and buildings. A port city was built to facilitate trade, and a far amount of ships to go with it. Torshan became the primary exporter of stone, gems, and other mined materials for Callora and Dwyr both, cementing their role in what would be the The Honoril Alliance.
The Kissaelain territories is the only “nation” on the mainland to exist before and after the battle of the gods. Lyarlel created the Kissaelain, laguz who could turn into either a cat or tiger, on the savvanah of the southern Pennisula when he created all laguz. The Kissaelain lived half their lives in their animal forms, exploring the pennisula as one with nature, rather than building and changing Lyarlel’s world. For this reason Lyarlel did not direct attacks at the Kissaelain during his battle with Lylalel; daemons in the area attacked the Kissaelain, but only because they happened to be there. What little society the Kissaelain had survived the battle, and they were left to continue living on the plains as Lylalel placed her seal.
Ironically, Lyarlel’s even accidental attacks agaisnt the Kissaelain inspired them to form their first villages. Kissaelain gathered together in small groups with large swathes of territory in between groups, plenty of ground for hunting. Small huts of mostly sticks were the first buildings they had and most villages were more a meeting place than a home to any Kissaelain. Still, some Kissaelain endevoured to make their home more of a home, and they discovered how to create bricks from dried clay. These bricks contributed to handfuls of buildings in the villages of the Kissaelain. Most were comfortable to continue to their life style pre Light era, living out on the plains.
This attitude changed after the Eraian rebels landed on their pennisula. The western most Kissaelain village began to force the invaders from their lands, and as they drove the humans further and further southeast they joined up with the other Kissaelain villages. For the first time the Kissaelain were witness to the power they held as a group. Finally driving the rebels out to sea, the Kissaelain broke up their aggressive push and returned home.
The Kissaelain began to make more efforts in their communities, realizing what they could do when they put their mind to it. Their villages went from a handful of buildings to enough to actually hold all of the members of the village, and the villagers stayed in town themselves. The Kissaelain progressed slowly, limited by the savvanah’s resources. Wood was not easily obtained, and the bricks they had crafted took significant time to make. The homes of the Kissaelain were sturdy, if simple.
The Kissaelain had limited knowledge, having been isolated from all humanity but the rebels they drove off. They may have found the value in community and working with other villages, but they didn’t know concepts such as mining or many variations of crafting. It and the Kissaelain’s ability to sustain themselves with their animal forms left the Kissaelain behind the curve on advancement compared to nations such as Eraia. Kissaelain culture remained very close to nature, and overly reliant on their animal forms. During the coming Eraian Crusades this would serve as their downfall.
Rida Winyeue left Eraia with her rebels and a smattering of supplies. She and her people were angry over their loss in Eraia. They didn’t force the secrets of magic from the blessed generation as they hoped, and they had never expected their uprising would force them out of their homes. The former rebels sailed south on Ramure Bay, touching down on the southern pennisula of Aeldun. They wandered east, looking for a place they could settle and build themselves up before going back to Eraia to get the knowledge that was being withheld from them.
The rebels came across the Kissaelain, a laguz race that could turn into either a cat or a tiger form. Kissaelain had been living on the pennisula since Lyarlel created them in the pre light era. The naturalistic people met the newcomer humans with concern. Not only were the rebels different from them, the rebels were armed and angry. The Kissaelain people met perceived hostility with hosility. Their newly formed villages and smattering of buildings were used as staging points, tigers herding the rebels away from their villages and communities.
The rebels were unable to settle down after landing on the pennisula. Every other day Kissaelain would drive them from their camp site. They had no time to hunt, no time to gather. Kissaelain drove them further and further east in a snaking path through the various villages. As their supplies ran out, the rebels went as far south as they could, now on the east side of the pennisula. They’d lost many of their people and what little materials they had wouldn’t last them any longer. They fortified a position and attempted to weather the laguz attacks as the remaining craftsman in the group built new boats for them to sail south with. They had no guarantee they would find land, but at least they wouldn’t die as tiger food. The siege went on for over a week, but the boats came together in the nick of time. Less than half of the rebels who landed on the pennisula survived the trip across it, and those who remained sailed south as fast as they could.
The rebels had no food left after a day at sea. They suffered the hunger and exhaustion with thoughts of revenge, how they would return and conquer Eraia, murder the animal people that had driven them to such cruel conditions. The rebels got their first blessing however when their ship ran aground on the southern island Novier. Their ship was destroyed but they were alive and no longer being attacked. They named the nation they would form Dreca, and began to build with earnest.
Having the resources of the mountains and the woods easily accessible, and the sea filled with fish, Dreca had no problem booming. Their first city Locta built up frantically to match the pace of the citizens fervor to finally have a nation they could call their own. The reasons for the fervor, the Eraia explusion and Kissaelain assaults, faded with each generation. Dreca became a nation of nationalists, filling the island with people and proof that they were here and alive.
The rapid expansion Dreca went under caused issues, despite the good intentions. Locta was a haphazardly built city, one of random streets and towers. The limited space of the island quickly curtailed the Drecians ability to build outward, and the city became overcrowded. Conditions in the city worsened, becoming unclean and dangerous as older buildings fell into disrepair.
Rithard Antwic, a noteworthy architect with a lot of clout in Dreca made a power play. He moved his operations across the Winyeue bay and started planning. He built out a massive city plan that was designed for optimal space and comfort and invested heavily in building it. People with money in Locta quickly bought up land and homes in the new city, looking to escape the overcluttered city. Rithard died with a fortune despite his investments in the sister city he called Haland. He setup his family as the ruling council of Haland, with some of the other wealthy inhabitants taking seats as well. As all of the wealth had moved over to Haland, Locta ended up owned by people who don’t live there. Locta’s age and need for repair were obvious even without the overcrowding. The wealthy of Haland focus more on Haland than they do Locta, though they do enough to keep Locta only frustrated, never angry.
Drecians discovered a secret to the island as Haland construction began. In the mountains that split Novier a remanant of Lyarlel’s daemon race lay dormant. Wyverns, large psuedo dragon creatures were discovered in caves high in the mountains.
Unbenknowst to the the new residents of Novier, wyvern had been here since the begin of the Lyalel’s light era. The island was far enough from Lylalel’s seal that the daemonic beasts weren’t purified when she lay the seal. The presence of the humans woke the wyverns, who found themselves cut off from the magic that created them. In their long slumber their bodies had stablized, turned into beast rather than demon. Lyarlel intended for the daemons he created to fight Lylalel to join his natural world once the job was complete, and the wyverns were the only ones given the chance to evolve and do so.
Drecians awoke the wyverns when they discovered, finding the beasts wild yet fairly docile. The Drecian military kept them a secret as they tested the limits of their docility. Dreca founded the Wyvern Corps and began to train the wyverns to take riders, unlocking a new weapon for their military. While the Drecians quickly tried to breed more, they learned wyvern’s have an incredibly slow reproduction rate and by the time of the Drecian Invasion the Wyvern Corps had less than a hundred riders.
Dreca’s ruling class was the rich, but also included many of the high ranking military officals. When Dreca was formed being able to fight was a major asset to the ex-rebels, so military careers have always been well respected in Dreca. There was little need for military on the island, so the size the military could realisitically grow to was limited, but each officer and solider trained hard and assisted in other ways. Military officers supporting the civilians in building and hunting endeared them to the citizenry.
In the Southwest of Aurii lies a small island called Verrel dominated by two lakes, Hilia Lake in the north and Liane Lake in the south. It is home to the rabbit laguz who refer to themselves as Kouneli. Kouneli have existed on the island before Lylalel’s fall, being the last laguz Lyarlel created they escaped notice in the battle of the twin gods. Their civilization didn’t truly start until after the fall.
The Kouneli are a resourceful and intelligent race. Unlike their counterparts the Naissankari and Kissaelain, the Kouneli have little in the way of natural weaponry in their rabbit form. Their form isn’t like that of a rabbit, but it is still a lanky and weaker creature without claw or fang, though quite a powerful kick. They quickly took to building homes and a city to call home. Lithis was formed over multiple generations, the city’s beautiful brick work and and artistic layout spawned with careful, slightly chaotic planning. Due to their lack of reliance on their animal form, the Kouneli advanced in arts and technology more like the human nations, inventing tools to the jobs they couldn’t do before.
The Kouneli were starkly aware of their limited space to expand. They had chosen the location of Lithis well, giving them as much room to expand the city as they could, but they knew the island couldn’t support another city. Kouneli approached this issue by limiting the size of families in the community. preventing too much over population. Lithis is a packed city, but not to excess.
The Kouneli have a large docket of fishing ships, some located on Liane Lake and others at sea. They’re careful not to overfish as overhunting in the earlier years of Lithis caused a decline in wild animals on the island. Hunting protections were put in place and the Kouneli are very careful as to not eliminate any species from their limited ecosystem. Their animal forms made observation of nature significantly easier.
Eraia came to believe it had a purpose on Aurii, one given to them by Lylalel herself before she sacrificed herself for them. This believe would lead them to start a crusade, one to bring the teachings of Lylalel to all people on Aeldun. The Eraian Crusades, as they would be called, were the event that ended the Post Light and brought in the Theanovene Renassiance.
Eraia began by moving south. They knew of the southern nations, the Kissaelain territories and had sent a few scouts to get glimpses of Lithis. Seeing the Kissaelain just now forming even basic villages, Eraia chose to direct their first wave at Lithis. They loaded up their fleet with soldiers and sailed south, sending a single ship to the docks. Wisym Nichye, the current leader of the Kouneli people, met the envoy at the docks. Wisym had his people scrambling defenses while he spoke to the envoy, but Wisym came without weapons to the docks.
Eraia’s envoy, Ginri Avan approached Wisym with the scripture of Lylalel, compiled for his people. He spoke poetic words about Lylalel and all she had to offer, and how Eraia was the nation she protected. He offered them the chance to be one with Lylalel’s church, to fall under her protection themselves. Wisym was skepetical, but kept the conversation going for hours. He asked Ginri for two days to bring the news to his people, and Ginri left peacefully. The idea of joining the church was approached in council only for a mere half hour before it was shot down. The people of Lithis spent the rest of the time given to them by Ginri preparing their defenses.
When Ginri returned, he was once again met by Wisym directly. Wisym told him the Kouneli would not be interested in joining Lylalel’s church, and beseeched Eraia move on to other places. Ginri was disappointed, but said he understood and returned to his ship. The Kouneli were wise to prepare because all of the Eraia ships moved to the docks. As they landed an entire army of troops poured out onto the docks and beaches of Lithis, all in Eraian purple.
Kouneli forces were outnumbered, their weapons were outclasses, and their training paled in comparison to that of the Eraians. The battle took to the streets and every man who could fight used both beast and human form in attempt to keep Eraians from overtaking Lithis city districts. Unhelpful were the combat inventions only Eraia had, including ship based cannons and the first use of magic since the Blessed Generation passed. While it took minutes and hours to prepare them, Eraia had a handful of Light spells available which were used to blast towers and buildings. The streets were chaos, civilians were rounded up by Eraians, and the battle went well into the night. All the while, Ginri marched through the streets himself, proclaiming that this all was for their own protection; that those who don’t understand how important Lylalel is must be shown it, even via force.
The night would be remembered in Ferre history as the Night of Broken Burrows, burrows a common Kouneli term for homes. By sunrise, Eraia had completely occupied the city of Lithis and claimed in name of Eraia. A delegation of Church officials was sent to the island, to teach the people of Lylalel. Meanwhile the military hung around to maintain the martial law the city was no under and crush out any rebellions. The Kouneli’s resistance to accepting Eraia’s teachings was attributed to their half animal features by the church. It quickly formed an opinion that Laguz are less intelligent, are secondary to humans in the church leadership, one that would spread and be prevelant in Eraian culture as a whole.
The final nail in the coffin of Ferre was when their town hall, the first building to be completely in Lithis centuries ago, was torn down and a black onyx church of Lylalel was erected in it’s place. The Kouneli were outraged, but also broken from the loss. What resistance efforts still ran tapered off, and the Kouneli began to accept their fate of occupation by the Eraians. The Eraians were more than pleased that ‘the teachings of Lylalel are getting through to them’ and released restrictions. As the martial law lifted the Kouneli found Eraia wasn’t cruel in their occupation, the first break the former Ferrian people had recieved. Eraian laws and traditions were imposed on them, as was the religon of Lylalel, but beyond that the Eraians true ambitions were elsewhere. The Kouneli people leaned into this, and before long they were following Eraia tradition to the letter. Eraia, happy with the results of their occupation, moved the majority of their forces off of Verrel and to the east, heading for the Akacie Pennisula, home of the Kissaelain. A retinue of the Church and a military base remained in Lithis to further educate and police the Kouneli.
The Eraian military landed on the Akacie Pennisula and set up a base of operations. Scouts were sent out deeper into the Pennisula to begin mapping laguz locations in preparations for the advance while the fort that would become Ebonary was put together. Racial stigmas taken from the Crusade’s overtaking of Ferre had military and church leadership expecting this Kissaelain would be unwilling to cooperate with the Eraians. Battle plans were put into place even envoys were sent to the villages that made up the territories.
Ginri Avan lead the first pilgrammage himself, taking a small squadron of soldiers with him from Kissaelain village to village. Each village reacted much the same, driving Ginri off well before he had finished his speech about Lylalel. Upon returning to Ebonary Ginri had all of the troops prepare for combat. With in the month, the Eraian war machine was ready to occupy in the name of Lylalel.
By a twist of fate, in the time it took for Ginri to make his pilgrammage and prep the war machine, traders from the Callorian city Theanovene, a city between the Penmyrth and Llyanfall mountains, had made contact with the Kissaelain as well. Unlike the Eraians the traders came only with wares, and a curiousity about the feline people. The traders were the first people from the northern kingdoms to be welcomed by the Kissaealain. They were given a crash course in Kissaelain culture and visited most of the towns on the pennisula. They were also the first people to flee the territories, when seeing the Eraians beginning their crusade against the Kissaelain. The traders are the sole reason the northern kingdoms weren’t utterly blindsided by the crusades, something that has kept them in the history books and is the reasoning behind Trader’s Day, a Callorian Holiday.
The assault on each Kissaelain town was a relatively quick affair. The Eraians marched in quickly, with superior numbers and weapons. There was no answer to magic or siege weapons among the Kissaelain, even archers had the edge of the animal form reliant race. The Akacie Pennisula was captured entirely with in a month. Some Kissaelain, those with less attachment to home, fled to the north into Callora or east, across the Sovaka Bay. Eraia chose not to chase those who fled, instead focusing on the indocrination of the Kissaelain people still on the pennisula.
The Kissaelain fought tooth and nail constantly against the occupying Eraians. Eraia needed constant martial law to keep the Kissaelain from wrecking anything and everything the Eraians had. Superior numbers and arms kept the Eraians in charge, but nothing could break the Kissaelain’s will to rebel. It was decided that Eraia would need a prolonged presence in the territories to properly bring the Kissaelain into Lylalel’s light. The occupation did give the Eraians the chance to build a supply chain through the region in preparation for attacking the Callorian kingdom.
The traders who escaped the Kissaelain Territories traveled past Thenovene, straight to the Callorian captial Rosin. They brought the news straight to the Callorian king at the time, Hiram Callora. Hiram sent messengers to Dwyr and Torshan’s rulers and to each city in Callora. At the same time, Eraia, emboldened by their success in the south, began an advance north of Lyall, towards the border they share with Callora and Dwyr. Unlike the Kissaelain, Eraia knew the northern kingdoms would not join Lylalel without a show of force.
Dwyr took the brunt of the western attack, barely managing to deploy their own military in time to keep claim on Ninica. Dwyr was able to push the Eraians out of Cahyrst pass, and Callorian forces, thanks to the advance notice of the Traders, were able to mobilize to Anwood before Eraia could reach the town proper. Leaving General Ehart Auanser in charge of Dwyr’s defense, while Lindsaa Lyne of Aralil rode to the called council in Callora with representatives of Laera and Ninica.
Lindsaa met with Hiram and the Torshan king at the time, Naccio Pine (Tenure: 1 year, 8 months) in Callora. Eraia began to pressure up from the east around the same time, marching towards Theanovene. The council began with a full report of the fighting from Callorian officers who fought in Anwood, and from the Ninica representive who witnessed the attack on his home first hand. The account took a full day, and the council adjurned to process all of the damage Eraia had done. Upon reconvention, it was unanimously agreed that Eraia had magic, military assets, a cause to stand behind and well trained soliders and these things made Eraia a military power none of the nations could fight. Talk of surrender conditions and ways to mitigate damage claimed the morning. The council broke for recess and Hiram watched Naccio hold the door for Lindsaa. As the foreign monarches left the room he fell to his throne, thinking.
Hiram was waiting on the return of Lindsaa and Naccio in the council room. He gave a passionate speech that while separate, the experiment of Helmann, Cilia, and Rousek was a resounding success. The original group to leave Eraia split into three nations and yet they have always remained peaceful. He proposed that they take the experiement a step further, that they once again unite to combat a common foe while still respecting each others values. They could be the first nations to work together against another, without need of force to make such a union occur. The other leaders were moved by the speech, though the question on everyone’s lips was how can we make this a reality. The council took a week of constant work on a treaty between the nations that would allow them to help each other and stand tall against Eraian invaders while still being true to the ideas each country was founded on. Naccio jokingly credited it entirely to Hiram, which Lindsaa took a liking to. The treaty became called The Honoril Alliance, which was ratified and signed a week and a half after the nations had met. The word of the Alliance was sent all across Aeldun, even into Eraian camps. The Alliance wanted Eraia to know what they would be combatting.
As The Honoril Alliance was formed, Eraia was pushing on two fronts into the Alliance’s territory. First, the Eraians were marching straight up from their capital Lyall. Due to the direct land route it was easy for Eraia to come laiden with seige weapons and troops. Dwyr and Callorian forces combined against the western Eraia army, and the no man’s land was drawn a day and half’s ride south of Anwood.
Meanwhile, the East Eraia force that took over Ferre and the Kissaelain territories had dwindled some in order to occupy those conquered territories but had an established supply line through the Akacie Pennisula. Their push north was met by forces mostly hailing from Torshan. Torshan’s army was numerous but ragtag, given the nation’s constant state of flux training was hard to come by. The Torshan army stationed itself in Theanovene, the southern most Callorian city. At the same time, Naccio sent envoys to the Wynne people, explaining what was transpiring on the mainland.
Naccio’s envoy told the story of The Honoril Alliance like a hero’s legend and made a bid for Wynne to join the Alliance as well. The envoy’s storytelling was powerful, and the Wynnite chieftain Thalli Arkik promised to consider the request. He spoke with his own advisors and the Naissankari chieftain before coming back to the envoy late the next day. The island nation would not join the Alliance, but they would consider each member of the Alliance an ally with Wynne. Furthermore, they knew Eraia would come for them next if Alliance was to fall, and offered their warriors to Torshan’s army. While Wynne troops were gathered, the envoy returned to Alliance to give the good news.
Battles began to rage between the armies in the east and west. The western skirmishes pushed the the Alliance forces back slowly but surely, particularly due to the Eraian’s seige weapons. Meanwhile in the east, Torshan forces held back the Eraians due to superior numbers and the fortification that was Theanovene. Despite the consistent retreats, each conflict Eraian light mages would chip off more and more of Theanovene’s walls and defenses. The city would not hold forever.
Wynnite forces landed in Torshan nearly a month after they promised aid. The first squadron of pegasus knights accompanied the ship, 6 riders armed with bows and well practiced in firing at land targets. They marched to Theanovene just as the southern gate was destroyed by the constant light magic attacks. Eraians began to flood the city and conflict filled the Theanovene streets. Theanovenian citizens were left in the middle of a warzone. The southern and part of the eastern district were captured when the Wynnite reinforcements came in from the north. The Wynnites were a small force, but powerful, experienced, and coordinated. Their pegasus knight squadron specifically targeted the mages as they cast their slow ritual spells. Eraians were forced to fall back from Theanovene to the safety of their own lines, and Wynne was attributed for Theanovene being in mostly one piece by the end of the assault. The battle became know as the Seige of Theanovene.
Eastern forces were pushed all the way back to Anwood, and unlike Theanovene Anwood suffered greatly. Seige weapons and light magic nearly destroyed the town, and the Dwyr Callorian forces were barely hanging on. In the darkest hour, with Eraia pressing both past Anwood and towards Ninica, that a discover was made in Aralil. Dwyr researchers had discovered the ability to use anima magic, the first time anima magic was used on Aurii since the blessed generation. The discover quickly turned researchers into mages, everyone in the Alliance more than familiar with how powerful magic could be on the battlefield. Anima rituals were first put to use in the second defense of Ninica, and the fire spells burned an entire line of seige weapons.
The battles of the Crusades were becoming closer and closer every day, anima magic and the Wynnites countering Eraia’s military advantages. Anwood was retaken, and the Eraia army was forced to retreat yet again, pushing them south into Loecan Pass. In the East Theanovene continued to be fortified, making passage through Valley Myrth into Callora damn near impossible. Eraia was also suffering in the Akacie Pennisula from Kissaelain sabatoge whenever the oppressed laguz could manage something. All this being clear, Eraia made the hard choice to call for treaty with the Honoril Alliance.
Messengers were sent and it was decided that terms of the ceasefire would be discussed in Theanovene. The High Priest of the Church of Lylalel Rainaut Diase arrived from the south. From the north came each of the the Alliance leaders, Naccio, Lindsaa, and Hiram himself. Additionally, a Naissankari by the name of Sedna Mugte joined the discussion as a voice of Wynne. The accords were discussed in the center of the city. The Alliance were still afraid of Eraia, and came into the accords simply looking for peace. Eraia came in afraid as well, knowing they were now fighting four nations rather than one. The Wynnite representative was not afraid at all, in fact he felt the accords were a sham and the fighting should continue all the way to Lyall.
Each side fearful of the other without realizing it, the terms turned out to be easily agreed upon. Eraia would pay reperations for Anwood’s destruction and the damage to Theanovene, the hard border of Eraian territory in the west would be Loecan Pass, while in the east all of the Valley Myrth would be Alliance territory. The Alliance requested a day to discuss the terms but it was merely for show; the Alliance were more than happy with such an arrangement. Sedna made a fuss later in private council about the quick acceptance but Hiram’s opinion that further reperations from Eraia were not worth the risk of no peace being found between the nations was supported by Lindsaa and Naccio.
The lord of Theanovene itself, Folquin Rauda had been included on this private council as well. Like Sedna, he was against accepting the terms as proposed and demanded Eraia should pay more. At first glance one would think Folquin was speaking from greed, but he had been present for the entire Seige of Theanovene and knew just how much the Theanovenian people suffered so the Alliance could hold the line. He spoke passionately to the lords of the Kingdoms, people far above his station. Hiram offered aid, while Lindsaa and Naccio felt the man was being overdramatic; Anwood and Ninica both suffered during the war as well. Folquin was a driven man, and he was playing for keeps. When turned away by the Alliance council he left stating that if Alliance would not back Theanovene properly, they were not living up to their so called Alliance.
The next day, as the two sides gathered around to finalize the Auldun Accords, Folquin took the floor. All parties in attendence were confused, the man was already represented at the table by the Honoril Alliance. Folquin first addressed his, and his citizens joy in the peace being brokered with the Accords. He also expressed his citizens sorrows at the losses they suffered being in the middle of the war, innocents that had no place in a battlefield. He explained that Theanovene was in a unique place to see all sides of the conflict, from Eraia, the Alliance, and even Wynne and it gives them a unique opportunity. He offers an attendum to the Accords, that Theanovene shall become a neutral city, one where peace can be brokered at any time, one that all nationalities were welcomed in. The assembled leaders were shocked, all except one. Sedna Mugte laughed and applauded, accepting Theanovene as neutral party on behalf of Wynne. It took a recess for the other leaders to accept, but each accepted the neutral grounds with little push back.
The accords were signed a day later. Eraian troops retreated and pulled back as promised, and the Crusades finally met there end. Wynnite troops returned home, and Alliance decided that the Alliance was as much a success as their ancestors experiment in splitting apart.
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The following era of peace was coined the Theanovenian Renaissance as Theanovene’s new neutral ground status gave Aurii it’s first real chance for cultural blending. People flocked to the city of Theanovene, some for trade, some for a new life, some of sheer curiosity. The influx of people and trade partners helped Theanovene rebuild quickly.
Theanovene itself wrote the Theanovene Charter under the watchful eye of Folquin. The Charter relegated all ruling power of the city to the various merchant and craft guilds that filled the town, each guild contributing equally. The charter also set forth rules for the city to follow to eternally remain neutral. Folquin passed only 10 years after declaring Theanovene a neutral state, so the charter is the primary directive the city follows regarding the other nations.
Post war Wynne continued their friendly relations with the Alliance, expanding from just trade with Torshan to trade with Callora and Dwyr as well. The Alliance’s peace with Eraia allowed for tentative travel between the two Kingdoms, but very few were willing to do. The western border is heavily policed and all cultural exchange between the two nations has occured via Theanovene as a middle man.
The Renaissance is a time of discovery, both of other cultures and what things invented for the war can do. Dwyr’s resarch into magic continued following the war and made impressive headway now that they knew how to cast spells. Dwyr discovered the spell to embed other spells into tomes sixteen years after the Crusades ended, eliminating the need for slow ritual casts for basic spells. This innovation brought all magic study into a new age. New spells were discoverd both by Eraia and Dwyr in the anima and light fields respectively, and before long their research had crossed nations through Theanovene. Magic became more and more accessible to all nations, both anima and light. Dark magic was discovered in this same time frame. Dwyr was quick to end research on it, knowing that magic that required sacrifices could only cause turmoil down the line. Those who continued the research of Dark magic did so in secret studies across Aeldun, many in Theanovene.
The concept of cannons and ‘powered seige weapons’ was long discussed during the Crusades. Experiments had been made by Eraia in using light magic to propel boulders or cannonballs, but nothing came of it. An Eraian team years after the war, now capable of performing anima magic, was able to produce a spell that could be enscribed on a ball of iron. The spell was delayed reaction fire spell, but it’s engraving into the iron allowed for all of the fire’s force to push the iron through a barrel and towards a target. It took a few years for the spell to be made into a tome to make it practical for combat use, but now one could prepare a cannonball with the delayed fire spell, load it, and aim it before it fired off. Dwyr began work on a way to instead of delay the reaction, cause it to trip when some external condition was applied, though they have made limited progress. At the same time, Torshan has begun trying to use mined materials to emulate the effect.
The Kissaelain territories were not included in the Aeldun Accords, and were left under Eraian rule. The Kissaelain continued resisting the occupation of their lands, and the Eraians found the savvanah to be a difficult place to call home. Eraian troops holding the territories under control were beset with constant guerilla warfare from the laguz and brutal heat. Morale was low, and the laguz showed no signs of accepting Lylalel. Some laguz chose to leave their homes behind and go north, populating Theanovene and even some going as far north as Callora. The rest fought back tooth and nail to reclaim their homes from the Eraians.
Eraian military leadership feared their military deserting due to low moral and saw very little benefit to the continued occupation of the Territories. They made a public affair of returning the land to the Kissaelain in order to improve relations with the Alliance and Wynne, who had considered the occupation unecessary. Eraia pulled back from all villages the Kissaelain originally owned; Ebonary and Effera were Eraian made towns and remained part of Eraia, the core of the Eraian supply line to Theanovene.
The Kissaelain still harbor a grudge against Eraians for the occupation that lasted over a decade. Despite their hatred the Kissaelain had next to nothing to their name, small villages of terracotta buildings and whatever supplies were left over by the Eraians. Kissaelain chiefs asked for the Kissaelain to remember their rage, but focus it on becoming a true nation so they could stand against the next nation that tried to overwhelm them.