The Ogre Kingdoms

The **Ogre Kingdoms** were a series of realms that occupied the bogs and swamps of Central Giantstep between 2.228 ABE and 2.426 ABE. It was ruled by rebelled swamp ogres that successfully managed to free themselves from the dark authority that seemingly ruled over them, later identified as the Bog Witch. During the existence of the Ogre Kingdoms, they were notorious for their raids and attacks to the neighboring nations, as well as forming the cultural basis for the following Gnoll Empire.

## History

It is difficult to study with any exactitude what entails within the bogs and swamps of Central Giantstep, the infamous “Dominion of the Bog Witch”. They encompass a great portion of the northern-central area of Giantstep, and it is, alongside the Ogabo Desert, the Kinga Badlands and the Suritas Range, one of the great elements dividing the continent in two great areas. These swamps are said to be, by the scant explorers who have travelled outside of some of the “secure” areas of the dominion, as hellish as the real world can be. The bogs and swamps themselves are deadly, filled with thousands of natural traps that will kill those foolish enough to enter, and some others will make the same fools wish they had killed them. The fauna and flora is horrific to the extreme, and every single creature is a threat to any civilized race, from the great giants slumbering beneath the waters to the small critters that sneak around the vegetation. The sentient beings that make the region their home are no less terrible, many of them surviving there from unknown, ancient times. The surrounding nations are always weary from whatever spawn could come out, civilized or wild, and attack the borders. And yet, rumors spread around the lands about a primeval, eldritch force that used the bogs and swamps as its playgrounds.

However, around the year 2.228 ABE, the countries limiting the bogs began receiving an increase in attacks from many of the lesser beings from the region: boglings, froglings, kikimorians, and even barbaric humans from the depths. Even the powerful Witchelven had to turn northwards to defense their borders with the swamps, so dangerous the numbers of the invaders reaching the border were. And yet, to the surprise of the neighbors, it turns out most of them were not out as conquerors, but as refugees. Communication with the escapees was difficult, seeing that so many of them immediately dedicated their efforts outside of the bogs to raiding and pillaging as much as possible, so very few were captured alive. With uncertain responses, many scouts and explorers were sent to the bogs to see what was happening. No one came back in one piece and with their sanity in one piece.

Around the year 2.238 ABE, the fights in the borders reduced to near zero, so the countries began sending scouts once again, to try and estimate what exactly had happened. They were received by strange figures in what seemed to be regal clothes. They presented themselves as emissaries from the Freeing Kings of the Dark Bogs, declaring them as the rulers of the lands. They told that the swamp ogres of the land used to be the slaves of the “Dark Witch”. But they have managed to successfully fight off her demons and aberrations, gaining independence and beginning to form great kingdoms around each of the bogs. None could say the fate of the witch, but all believed that the accursed being had been banished. Immediately after telling their story, they demanded tribute from their neighbors, as it was only right and proper. The rulers of the neighboring nations refused outright, and were responded by wave after wave of ogre attack. These raids were much more dangerous than the previous instances, since they were all organized, and despite their low intelligence, they could learn from experience.

The Ogre Kingdoms became a terrible source of war and violence to all nearby nations. Much bigger, stronger and organized than the previous invaders, the ogres went out to sow panic and destruction within the borders of the neighbors. And from every raid, they stole something that their society apparently lacked: agriculture, herding, metal crafting and even some form of writing, which imitates the ancient khenomeric scripture and other central Giantstep’s languages. ~~Rumors about the Orcinian ancient scripture being the original way of writing are spread, but false, mostly coming from the confusion with the Gnoll Scripture being a deformed version of the Orcinian~~. Slaves were also caught in great quantities, which terrified the neighbors’ inhabitants from leaving in the borders. War ravaged the borders of the Ogre Kingdoms, seeing as the ogres were safe in the knowledge that no one would ever dare to send a full-scale retaliation force against the unknown bogs and swamps. This made the witch-elven create great fortresses in their domains, and the Bhakkari had to ask for great reinforcements from the Khenomeric Empire, who then accepted despite the long settled independence of the Bhakkarilands. This period also marked the Automata Kingdom, who fought the ogres in a war for its own survival, knowing full well that whatever came from the bogs and swamps, it would end up destroying them all into scraps if they took control of them.

However, it all fell crumbling down for the ogres. Almost at lighting speed in historical terms, the Ogre Kingdoms fell one by one. In 2.424 ABE, the Ogre Kingdoms’ raids stopped immediately, and the ogres themselves began escaping the region. Having learned about the devastation caused, the neighboring kingdoms retaliated with a vengeance. Many of them fought to the death, but some also mentioned the infamous “Dark Witch” having returned from the shadows. Remembering the days of slaughter and brutal slavery of their hand at the hands of the “Dark Witch”, they ran away into every direction they could. By 2.426 ABE, the numbers of ogre refugees exploded, many telling that the last of the Ogre Kingdoms had fallen, and they had no wish to ever face the Witch ever again. This marked the end of the Ogre Kingdoms.

This would not end here. The aftermath of the runaway ogres scattering throughout Giantstep would be them entering into contact with the Khenomeric Empire, somehow surpassing the mysterious enchantments of the Forest of Getting Lost, and meeting the gnolls. This unholy union would result into the death of the ancient Khenomeric Empire, and the birth of the current Gnoll Empire.