Third Age: The Great Peace

## The Great Peace?

After the end of The Great War, the nations and peoples of Eirethune breathed a brief sigh of relief. There was still rumors that the spirit of Thang-Gwr was taken and preserved somehow, but for the most part, people were ready to stop their warring ways. The armies of the various nations returned home, often with the help or supplies of other nations and other armies that had fought with them in the brutal war. No one was thinking of sacking cities on their way home, as could too often occur after a war, but now was a time of understanding.

### Rebuilding and Understanding

Year One. It sounded correct to anyone surviving the Great War.  Too many had died, too much had been destroyed.  It was now to be a time to look beyond what had been experienced, and what should exist for all to come.

Each nation gave quarter to the armies returning home, and with each army leaving, there was a promise of future help and communication.  Trade almost always immediately was joined between the nations.  Even in Teldor, for at least a while, trade was open and free with its neighbors.  There was exchange of ideas and a general belief for at least a few years that nothing could stop the cooperation and understanding and tolerance that each nation had for each other.  Where there was need to rebuild, the other nations helped, with trade that seemed more like gifts than even fair trades.

That being said, the Bryan Bridges were not rebuilt, but new docks and ships were constructed to help replace any lost trade between the north and south continents.  When the crucifixion dolmens were destroyed, the stone went to building new temples and town squares in places where the Ûr had torn everything down.  All across both continents, the cities and hamlets were being rebuilt with the hope that all could return to a belief that there would never be such devastation again. Why would any nation seek war after witnessing the destruction that was possible?

The nations did not change, however.  They felt closer to each other.  There was no animosity towards each other, yet whatever apprehension or distrust that the nations had for each other slowly came back. The difference between nations wasn’t based on acquisition, purposeful violence or hatred, but just the old sense of fear that could not be quashed.  Teldor re-imposed their tariffs. Udbotsi continued to fear everything west of them while looking east and northeast for something better.   Frostmark and West Isles felt alone in the world, and looked beyond the continents for places more wild to explore.  The building and help would continue, but more and more as places returned to stability, the relations between the nations returned to what they had been.

### Icereach Stirs

As much as the stories of Gogin Ray and Bodj killing and ending the existence of Thang-Gwr were pleasing to the people of Frostmark, they were, and are, people who look across the ice to wonder and fear.  They know the Night and Ice Giants and the beasts that survive in the deep and dark cold.  They know that winter will come and stretch across their land and seas, bringing the creatures south, looking for food and dominion.  And because of this, they venture into the north, on to the inhospitable ice, keeping back the threats that would come south to destroy what they have.  Frostmark, Rhorden and Calandiren all answer the call, seeking to make sure they will not be caught off-guard again.

Rumors have started in the far north, that there are Night Giant clans keeping something hidden from sight.  There appears to be some communication among the clans, but nothing concrete has been discovered as to what they are hiding, keeping so secret.  One raiding party, led by Thane Modgren of Black Dunn, fought back a small patrol of Night Giants and discovered runes of conjuring and transmutation present on prayer stones they carried.  Later, they encountered two night bears that had the same runes branded on their side.  An empty camp on some rocks sticking out of the ice had the same runes circling their totems.  They witnessed no evidence of some new conjured or mutated creature, but now the raids are alerted, looking out for something changing on the ice.  The runes are more frequently found in recent raids, but no one yet knows why they are there.

## Links

Chronology of Eirethune

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