Kingdoms of Arath

The **Kingdoms of Arath** are a country that consists of several united kingdoms, chief among these the one ruled by the Third Aithar Dynasty from the city of Adralorn. Arath has been one of the most powerful forces in the world almost since its inception, and their military and economic force are near unrivaled among the various countries and empires.

## Inception

Arath was first settled approximately in year 100, when Riyvan migrants from Haelirok crossed over into the southern continent. In the year 562, the area near what is now Adralorn was taken by the warchief Ivarys Thaire, who conquered the surrounding areas for forty years until his death at the hands of Irik Aithar.

## History

The First Aithar Dynasty, started by Irik, was the longest-lasting Arathian dynasty, and eventually ended in the year 1025, when Liorh Arator, the queen of a northeastern Arathian territory, ousted the Aithar rule and established a new doctrine in Arath, promoting a more militaristic approach to their acquisition of lands. The Arator dynasty lasted for one hundred and fifty years before Arath was again conquered by yet another distant lord in 1176, king Tyris Vindel, who previously owned nothing but a stretch of forested land along the southwestern coastline.

The Vindel dynasty is often considered to be the greatest one by Arathian scholars, as during this time the Arathians took over parts of Iliem- or what is now the western part of Sarn- along with parts of Haelirok and the island of Vaire, which would later be contested by the Haelir. It was as a result of this feud that the last Vindel ruler, Queen Iraya, was killed- with no children- by an Haelir task force in the year 1412, and Vaire was retaken by the Empire of Haelirok.

There was a brief period of civil war in Arath for seven years, as both a descendant of the First Aithar Dynasty, Erys Sairin, and a claimed cousin of Iraya, Mera Ar-kolin, laid claim to the Vindel stronghold of Adthras. Ultimately Mera was slain in battle and Erys took Adthras, and, fearing for her life, enforced a strict pacifist doctrine that allowed only people specially approved by her to own any sort of weapon within the capital, which she also moved to Adralorn once again. It stayed in the city until 1967.

The Sairin dynasty, however, lasted until 1646, when the Icarian Empire took over much of Haelirok, and the new Icarian lord launched a serious of vicious assaults on the northern Arathian shore, taking over the land that the Arators had once owned. The Sairin lord at the time was able to push the Icarians back, but at the cost of his life, in 1646. Before his death, he passed Arath along to his nephew, Irik Retrise, yet his rule only lasted for thirty-two years before he was assassinated.

The perpetrator was Liana Vayor, whose divisive rule and controversial means of taking Arath prompted a series of civil wars throughout Arath. Ultimately, Liana was ill-equipped to handle the fighting, and she fled to Vaire in 1715, where her ultimate fate was deemed unknown.

The civil wars that had been prompted by Liana's brief rule broke Arath apart for 118 years. During this feudal period, many kingdoms would rise to power and promptly be shot down mere months later, and nobody was able to take Adralorn, which was still owned by top Vayor aides. However, in 1833, King Entor Palair rose to power, backed by much of the northwestern area of Arath. He was able to take Adralorn seven years later, in 1840, and changed his name to Aithar, in honor of the First Aithar Dynasty which laid the groundwork for the Kingdoms of Arath.

Entor's son Relys inherited the throne of Arath in 1857, and rose to fame as the creator of the Worldveil, the enchantment barrier which surrounded the northern and southern continents, along with Vedrin, the eastern island nation that Relys wished to conquer. This was prompted by two factors: the appearance of Amholos in the south ilis, and the mass exodus of Anacerians from the outer continents and into Sarn. The creation of the Worldveil was one of the most divisive events in Arathian history, second only to the reign of Liana Vayor, and prompted the assassination of Relys Aithar in 1901.

Relys' son Ivrus launched a campaign which is now seen as one of the most vile events in Arathian history: he invaded Sarn and purged it of the Anacerians, causing their total extinction within veil-enclosed areas. The outrage over the doings of the Second Aithar Dynasty ultimately caused its downfall in 1967, when Sanora Sarlen, backed by much of eastern Arath, invaded Adralorn and murdered Ivrus Aithar, moving the capital to Indrond in the northern mountain ranges of the country.

In 2067, under the reign of Arlina Sarlen, the Vedrinians made an appearance in northeastern Arath, revolting against the Arathian rule. Arlina routed them and depleted much of their resources and money, sinking their country into a crippling debt and forcing them into hiding from Arath for nearly six hundred years. This, along with her conquering of Vaire, has caused Arlina Sarlen to be remembered as one of the greatest military strategists Arath has ever known.

The Sarlen dynasty lasted until 2255, when a group of religious extremists claiming to be the descendants of the Second Aithar Dynasty invaded Indrond and killed the current ruler of Arath, Liana Sarlen, as they were enraged about her progressive policies in comparison to past Sarlen rulers and her forsaking of the previous state religion. This caused a brief warring period, where the extremists were opposed by much of Arath. What would become the Third Aithar Dynasty ultimately defeated them and took back Adralorn as the capital, ruling from there until 2662, when the last Aithar king, Orys Aithar, was assassinated by Liana Kalanay.

Under Kalanay rule, the briefest in Arathian history, the kingdoms were effectively destroyed by the Riftcallers of Sarn and their horrors Amholos, Vhaerit, and Ephirros. Thousands fled from Arath out of the broken Worldveil to Haelirok and to the outer continents, where they remain. Liana Kalanay was killed by one of the horrors and Arath was left broken and without a leader.

## Geography

The Kingdoms of Arath have historically been contained within the western side of the southern continent of Varanor by the Ilis Mountains, although they have held the contested Ryth region throughout the Third Aithar Dynasty. The island of Vaire, and, in turn, the city of Vyr, have also been owned by the Arathian government during the Vindel dynasty, and since the Sarlen dynasty. Arath is geopolitically divided into eight provinces, which are listed below, along with their ruling family and province seat:

* Adralorn Province, House Aithar, Adralorn
* Adthras Province, House Varian, Adthras
* Vaire Province, House Vora, Vyr
* Ryth Province, House Kalanay, Ryth
* Indrond Province, House Ordair, Indrond
* Northeastern Province, House Vindel, Karena
* Ilis Province, House ar-Soranti, il Selith
* Varen Province, House Karlis, Varen