Aedirn

## Coat of Arms

**The Kingdom of Aedirn** is the largest kingdom of the four Northern Kingdoms, as well as the oldest Human kingdom on the continent. The North's vast heartland, framed by the Iron and Tretogor Mountains, contains miles and miles of rolling hills, tall grass prairies, sky-blue rivers, and fertile farmlands. Within these plains, the hardworking people of the realm tend to their fields and businesses while the armed protectors of civilization battle back the wild beasts and wandering bandits looking to prey on these points of enduring society. The Golden Road meanders across the endless plains, connecting the coasts and bringing caravans between with fresh trade and intrigue to the industrious pioneers of the plains. It is governed from the ancient city of Barrowton, and includes the settlements of Fairmarket, Goldengrove, Duskendale and Kingsgrave.

## History

### Dawn Age

Aedirn was the first region of Albion to be settled by humans after the Calamity, formerly only being populated by small communities of gnomes. Humans originating from the Andal wastes began to establish small farming communities across the Golden Hills, building countless barrows in which to ritually entomb their dead. The first city of Albion, Barrowton, was built at the foot of the Dragonspire, beginning as a small community of both farmers and miners and steadily growing into the largest settlement in the region, thus assuming control of the region and its resources. A loose confederation of farming communities was formed, with Barrowton governing them all. The first King of the Dragonspire, Daeron the Oak, originated from a tiny farming village named Oakvale.

He was selected on account of his incredible, almost supernatural, abilities, and was thus known as the First Hero. Since then, the King of the Barrows was selected not on the basis of heritage, but on the basis of martial and magical prowess. It was in the early years of rule that the Hero's Guild was formed, an organisation consisting of those talented in magic and melee that sought to defend the growing human population from the wild monsters to which Albion is home.

### Age of Heroes

The Heroes Guild, built on the banks of Lake Haldrim, was an organisation that adopted and trained so-called 'Heroes', or those unnaturally proficient in magic and melee, with the aim of protecting and leading the people of Albion. Early in its existence the Guild produced two heroes that would shape the future of Albion- the warrior Vex'ahlia and the mage Vax'ildan. The two were bitter rivals, and it was the intensity of their rivalry that saw them both exiled from the Guild. Nevertheless both seeking to make their mark on history they set out to explore further west, beyond the foothills of the Iron Mountains. The two were commissioned by the King of the Dragonspire to forge routes west through the mountains, with Vex to follow the Redwater Rush in the north and Vax to trace the River Rohan in the South. The two rivers, however, created a conflux, and it was there the two heroes were reunited after their treacherous journeys. Together they established the settlement of Bridgetown, which they ruled together. In time the heroes had a son, Edmund, who would go on to become the First Lion, founder of Lionsgate. Also from the guild emerged Durran Godsgrief, the founder of Westcliffe, and Arlan the Brightlord, founder of Bowerstone.

### The Great Sorrows

In the years that followed, the entirety of Albion experienced the longest winter in known history, devastating agriculture throughout Aedirn. Much of the rural population subsequently sought refuge in the urban centres of Albion, especially Barrowton and Fairmarket. Likely a result of this dramatic and vast relocation, a devastating plague that came to be known as the 'Great Sorrow' swept across Aedirn, wiping out over a quarter of the population. Grief and despair, however, soon turned to rage and action as the populace of Aedirn sought an explanation for the tragedy that had befallen every family. One night, claiming that the Gods were enraged at the defiling of magic that was taking place there, a huge mass of armed peasants stormed the Hero's Guild and razed it to the ground, murdering or expelling the heroes that resided there.

### Recent History

In the century that followed Aedirn slowly recovered from devastation, becoming once again the agricultural powerhouse of the west. Barrowton grew exponentially, fed by the prosperous harvests reaped by the many villages and hamlets throughout the region. The Hero's Guild, however, was never rebuilt, and no organisation of heroes ever arose in it's place. As a result, monsters increased in numbers unchecked throughout Aedirn, as did subsequent attacks. The wilds became wilder, and with banditry and marauding on the rise without the protection of soldiers, all off fighting in on the frontier of the kingdom against the Dwendalian Empire, the roads have become increasingly dangerous to travel. However the current King of the Dragonspire is, by most accounts, an honest and fair ruler, and under his rule the kingdom has continued to grow and prosper, spurred by recent bountiful harvests.