Ardan

Ardan is a country in the west. Its terrain ranges from coast, marshes, plains, forests, and mountains. The capital of Ardan is Dun Carreg.

## **Geography**

Ardan's terrain is diverse, ranging from forests and hills to mountains and marshes. A large river, Tarin, serves as its northern border with Narvon and Cambren. A range of mountains separate it from Carnutan to the south and the east. A number of rivers flow through the country before emptying into the sea. The interior terrain of Ardan is mostly wooded, with The Darkwood and Baglun Forest being the two largest forests in the kingdom.

## **Settlements**

-Dun Carreg - the capital

-Havan

-Badun

-Dun Crin

## The Warriors of Ardan

They are identified by their grey cloaks, with a snarling wolf crest on a leather cuirass.

## Notable Characters

-Anwarth

-Bethan

-Brenin

-Brina

-Camlin

-Conall

-Corban

-Crain

-Cywen

-Dath

-Dylan

-Edana

-Evnis

-Farrell

-Gar

-Gwenith

-Halion

-Heb

-Helfach

-Marrock

-Mordwyr

-Pendathran

-Rafe

-Ronan

-Thannon

-Vonn

## History

As told by Heb:

'Our ancestors came to this land in a great fleet; the Exiles, they called themselves, banished from the Isle of Summer after a long and bloody war. They were washed ashore far south and east of here, and called this new world the Banished Lands. Sokar was our king.

It was not long before our ancestors discovered they were not alone, that the land was filled with giants, survivors of Elyon’s Scourging. Old hatreds run deep, and the enmity between mankind and giants had not lessened, for all the generations that had passed since the Scourging, when Elyon’s wrath had brought both men and giants close to extinction. And so the Giant Wars began, of which the tales of victory and of sadness are too great and too many to tell this night.

During this great war Sokar sent out his warlords. To the west he sent Cambros, the Bull, with his sons Cadlas and Ard, to fight the Benothi, those giants that dwelt even here, that built Dun Carreg.’

The giants were defeated, pushed back, Cadlas and his warriors following them . . .

Then the giants rallied for one last battle, on the slopes of Dun Vaner. The Benothi, in their pride – which was ever the giants’ downfall – marched out of their stronghold of stone to meet Cambros the Bull and his warband. The battle raged for two days. The battlefield was stained black with blood, the sky darkened with the gathering crows come to glut on the dead.

At the end of the second day, as the sky grew red with the fading sun, Cambros and his shieldmen broke the lines of the Benothi and he came face to face with Ruad, their king. Alone they faced each other, their shieldmen dead and strewn on the ground around them, and alone they fought. Ruad smote Cambros with his great war-axe and rent his shield. Three times Cambros drew the blood of Ruad, but eventually his blade was shattered and he was beaten down.

In desperation, Cambros grabbed a branch fallen from a tree. As Ruad raised his axe Cambros gave his last strength and hammered the giant’s knee a mighty blow, smashing bone and sinew. Roaring, Ruad fell. Cambros crawled upon the giant’s chest and drove his broken sword deep into Ruad’s heart. Seeing their king’s death, the will went out of the Benothi, and the battle ended.

And so it was that the Benothi were broken, and fled to the north, where they dwell still. And Cambros divided the conquered lands between himself and his two sons, Ard and Cadlas, and lived in peace.'