Khuland

## Difficult Beginnings

Many ships leaving the old continent found themselves lost or blown off course. The planet itself seemed to keep the human explorers and later refugees from returning to their old homes. A relatively large fleet managed to survive the voyage only to find themselves shipwrecked on an unknown coast, trapped by fjords. Their expedition inland saw them beset by expansionist Shekami and native creatures, both created and natural. After many attempts of settlement failed because of climate or natives, the settlers found themselves in the fertile Khu valley.

The Kingdom of Khuland found its place in the northern valley. Desolation stretched for miles around their new home in all directions, tundra and unforgiving forest bordered the warm and inviting valley. With roots firmly planted, newly built stone walls awaited their Shekamish pursuers. Only months after the nascent city of Khu established itself, their enemies arrived in force. After weeks of skirmishes, the war hosts trapped themselves in the mouth of the valley. Utilizing crude armor and arms from recently uncovered iron deposits, the newly established Khuland fell upon the Shekami. The battle of the Valley saw victory by the young king Kreon surrounding and destroying their large but primitive force on the slopes of the imposing Solitary Peak.

## A Broken Destiny

The Shekami were defeated but their Broodmother warned against burial. Even on her execution day she begged for cremation. Kreon refused, spurning the Shekami ancestral taboo against burial on the slopes of Solitary Peak out of spite. As a fervent sect of Duralians, the Khulanders believed that returning energy to the world machine was a sacred duty. The slopes saw many more dead enemies added to the soil. Kreon eventually passed away in his sleep. Nightmares had followed him for years, rest eluded him until his weakened body gave in to a common cough.

Their king was dead but Khuland prospered. Khu valley was abundant in arable soil, metal, and minerals. Kreon’s son expanded their reach past the desolated ring to expand the young kingdom. They prospered for generations, artisans traveled to rent out services to Shekamish domains, their unique cyclopean architecture and looping but stiff necked robes spread their culture from the cradle of Khu. Khuland’s borders expanded and contracted over the years with some towns and cities falling into disuse and being revived over generations.

Shekami taboos are not often without reason. During a routine spite burial, the undertakers found a cavern beneath Solitary Peak. Following the opening lead to an entire underground city buried beneath the valley. Harsh angles and eye-aching geometry greeted the confused explorers. The city itself seemed to terminate at odd crossroads which added and subtracted pathways seemingly at whim. Fervor swept the Khulanders to explore their new curiosity. Artifacts retrieved from the empty city were brought into museums and treated with wonder. Ever moving and vibrating stones became valuable commodities. Curiosity turned to fanaticism. Their religion demanded an explanation which they could not find.

## Degradation

Though already stained by these reality defying technologies, the nature of Khulanders seemed unchanged for a time. They used the impossible objects for their own advancement. Vast systems of railways and powered lights sprang up within a generation, connecting the kingdom and expanding Khuland’s reach. The kingdom’s armies and culture absorbed even more of the neighboring peoples.

The golden age ended when an entire town sunk into the ground, bringing a piece of the city into daylight many miles from the initial excavation. It stretched beneath much of the kingdom. Voices echoed from the city. Soon, the people and royals of Khuland saw inhabitants of the city behind their eyelids. They heard whispers in their dreams.

Khuland was lost. Every holdout against the tide of insanity sweeping the country was purged. In their fervor for their newly adopted patrons, Khuland gave up territory and relevance. Generations dedicated themselves to excavation of the bizarre city. The human population dwindled even as ever greater numbers of strange beings flickered in and out of existence. Remaining humans sacrificed each other to the unreal beings that walked among them, calling them “the awaited”, as their once advanced civilization crumbled around them.

Maybe their "awaited" never came. Maybe they are here already. The line between what is and is not can be difficult to find when dealing with the vile kingdom.

Nine men consumed ten, who were then devoured by eight and so on until there was one as Khu ran with the blood of celebrants whipping themselves into a frenzy. The Distorted King sat upon his throne in Solitary Peak. His own tampering with foul sorceries netted the solution to Khuland’s dwindling population. The four queens, pseudo-Broodmothers twisted from his loyal human concubines (including a spitting image of Cadea, now massive and bloated like the other Broodmothers) began producing the new Khulanders, a mixture of human, Shekami, and the abstract beings of the ruins.

Exiles from the deluge made their way from the ASH northwards. What would later be known as the Oblivionites have been in constant conflict with Khuland since they were found, handing them a terrible defeat. Though their ritual had not brought what they wanted thanks to the precursors to the Oblivionites, the Distorted King and his consorts are resurgent in the far north.

## Resurgence

The Distorted King, the twisted remains of the final ruler of Khuland waited in the shadows of history, presiding over his maddened people. Over generations, tampering with Cursed abilities gave him the solution to his kingdom's population. His four queens were remade into pseudo-Broodmothers to produce the new Khulanders: a mixture of human, Shekami, and abstract beings of the impossible city. They have waited in the shadows for long enough.

Elegantly drilled and constantly growing in numbers, Khulanders are called such as there is no other name to give them. Heavy infantry, creatures, Deviants, and beings not fully bound to the world make Khuland a frightening force to be reckoned with. Though they are small and few for now, some of their recent victories against the militantly nihilistic Oblivionites along with two Frontier Legions have shown they are ready to take on the mantle of a true power in their own right.