Kingdom of Daygar

The Kingdom of Daygar is a relatively small nation to the northeast of the Eximietas Kingdom. Their closest ally throughout history has been the mages, especially Iokastos Astraios, who ensured Ionian, and later Aiolian, alliance with Daygar. With rocky, steep land and dense pine forest, Daygar has little room to farm, and less to build cities. Most of its industry comes from hunting and craftsmanship, as well as mining and stone quarries. However, as the Halida Industis grows stronger, the Daygari economy has been faltering more and more.

## History

### Ancient History

It is unknown how long ago the Dayric people travelled south from Auroria, though they undoubtedly came, travelling over the King's Pass, due to the stories told of the Mages to the south. When they arrived, they found a wooded highland that, while cooler than the snows of Auroria, was still rather inhospitable. Regardless, the Dayres took it as their home, naming it Daydrith, land of the Dayres. For a time, the Dayres lived there with little contact with the outside world. Due to the oral tradition of this time period, before the Dayres had writing, much of this went down as legend and myth. There were six legendary kings, which were buried in each of the six mountains around the capital Daygar. Though their order is unknown, they are Khard Domh, Khard Tara, Khard Ghrian, Khard Taranis, Khard Kamulus, and Khard Voes. It is said that the Kingdom of Daygar, or, as it was known then, High Drith, was founded and flourished under these kings, and they were immortalized as the Richari, the God Kings. The king of Daygar strives their whole life to mirror the actions and values of the Richari.

The seventh king, who is not known in name, is said to have been lazy and bored, disregarding his duties. As a consequence, High Drith was fractured politically and the king lost all power. The seventh king died childless and a disgrace, and the line of the Richari had ended.

### Dark Drith

For several centuries, warlords and chieftains held small dominions across High Drith. One of these warlords, Murn, ruled over the southern part of High Drith, on the northern shore of the Ierann. Unlike the other rulers at the time, he believed in the Richari, and wanted to reunify Daygar and put his family line on the throne. Determined to do this, he knew that he would have to grow. Yet his military was weak, and there were no other Dayric leaders that would ally with him. For a solution, he looked south across the Ierann, to the land they called Low Drith, an as-yet unclaimed sea of forest. Here he would gain land to farm and establish his power.

### Murn's Conquests

Murn quickly took Low Drith for his own, and immediately began to establish colonies and settlements throughout the land, until his dominion bordered the na Fola. There was almost no resistance from the few Aurorians that lived there, and they soon became fully integrated into Murn's lands. Now, with a kingdom the same size as all of High Drith put together, Murn looked for a way to take all of Daydrith. The answer came from the Archmagedom of Ionia.

Up until this point, the Archmagedom had cared little about the exploits of the northern men. The petty wars between chieftains and the lack of any writing system among Aurorians led the mages to see them as small and insignificant. However, when Murn sent a diplomat to Lipari in Aiolia in 969 I.R, Iokastos Astraios took interest to Murn's plight. After presenting the case to the rest of the Archmages, Iokastos set out to help Murn capture Daygar. He supplied his army with mages from the south and weapons of steel, then taught the Dayres how to mine iron in Low Drith, where there is plenty. For twenty years, Murn built up his army and prepared for attacking the various factions of High Drith. During this time, his small holding north of the river was captured and looted by Erl, a chieftain of Exim decent.

In 991 I.R, Murn took his army, six hundred dedicated Dayric soldiers armed with iron and ninety southern mages given by Iokastos. They crossed the Ierann where Daygar was visible from the southern shore, assaulting the walls by night. The city was currently held by an elderly warlord, weary of life, who did very little to defend his holding. Within two days the city was Murn's. Soon the other chieftains of High Drith saw Murn's threat and turned against him. One fell after another. Erl put up a strong defense, but his rag-tag army was swept away by the superior weaponry of Murn's forces. By 1000 I.R, Murn had conquered all of High and Low Drith, and, sitting upon a stone throne carved by Dayric masons, declared himself the first king of the Kingdom of Daygar.