Insulae de Libertatem

## Overview

Insulae de Libertatem is a continent that borders Manata and Abberon very closely while being distanced from the White Wastes. It is host to two primary empires; The Calbanian Empire and the Cold Iron Hegemony. Several dozen minor factions also reside on Insulae de Libertatem; namely lordships and scattered tribes which vie for control over small pockets of land and isolated settlements. While there are active criminal organizations, namely the Assassin's Guild and Thieves' Guild, their influence is extremely limited and their reach is not generally widespread. Greater than them, at least in scope, are the various lesser criminal organizations which operate in secrecy. While individually any one of these organizations may be too small as a collective whole their reach and influence is far greater than even the mightiest of organized crime rings.

The majority of trade from other continents flows through Calaban City Harbor which is also where the majority of immigrants enter the continent. As the epicenter of the continent's most numerous and often best craftsmen the city has firmly emplaced itself as the capital of the Calbanian Empire. Cold Iron and New Harbor collectively make as much trade revenue as Calaban City but their anti-mammalian policies make it difficult for outsiders to do business there; stiffling their economic growth and bringing it to a halt.

Insulae de Libertatem ('the Isles of Liberty') is still recovering after the onslaught of the Deathmarch armies that tore the land asunder and destroyed many of its former cities. Nations rose and fell during that time as they buckled and strained against the terrors and horrors of warfare on a scale which they had never known before. Wild beasts now roam the countrysides and wander almost unchecked and rampant; decimating small villages and settlements as the rest of the world tries to rebuild.

Calaban City is the arrival point for most adventurers seeking to claim their fame and fortune in this still untamed land. Its shores bustle with boats both large and small as they jostle one another to find safe harbor and offload their passengers and cargo. Many come simply seeking a better life as land claims can be had fairly cheap on Insulae de Libertatem. Few, however, can hold such claims and most lose everything in their quest to achieve dominance over these lands.

The winters of the continent are harsh. The summers are mild. Spring is relatively cold and autumn as well. Snow storms are common during the winter months while rain dominates the majority of the spring, summer and autumn. Most adventurers from other parts of the world find themselves chilly in these lands.

The soils of Libertatem are harsh and rocky even in areas where grass is common. Food is not easy to find in the wilderness. Diseases run amok in rivers; forcing adventurers to be cautious and purify their water if they want to survive for very long.

## Notable Civilizations

The Calbanian Empire: **Year 901 - Present**

The Cold Iron Hegemony: **Year 880 - Present**

The Holy League: **Year 901 - 930**

## Culture

It is common culture for the male citizens of both empires to carry a sword even when not going to battle or expecting battle. It is typically seen as a weakness not to carry one. Typically speaking, even those who prefer to use their hands as weapons (monks) will be frowned upon for not 'being ready for battle'. Females are generally expected to carry a dagger. Exceptions are made only for the elderly and for children who generally still carry daggers. Conversely, it is considered extremely rude to enter someone's home or a business while wearing armor under normal circumstances as it gives the impression that the wearer either expects harm from the occupants and does not trust them or intends to do them harm and is wearing protection.

Corpses of both friend and foe alike in Libertatem are always buried or burned if burial is either impractical or impossible. Specific funeral rites are granted even to people whom are considered vile enemies. Naturally, funerals differ depending on the importance of the deceased and a more wealthy individual will have far more decadent funerals. Universal funeral procedures and rites are:

1. The body of the deceased is wrapped in a death shroud; typically a white sheet.
2. The corpse is lowered into a coffin and carried to the grave site.
3. The coffin is opened and the body is doused in salt, incense and oils to stave off bad spirits.
4. The holy symbol of Pelor, Torm or Tyr is carved from granite or limestone and carried to the grave.
5. The body of the deceased is lowered, in their now closed coffin, into the grave.
6. Prayers are said over the deceased.
7. The coffin is buried. The gravestone is stricken into the dirt.

These funeral rites are said to keep the dead from returning as a spirit to haunt the world of the living.

## Timeline

**Year 901:** Libertatem was discovered

**Year 923:** Libertatem was settled by people from all the over. Calaban City was founded. Latimer's Rest was founded after retaking the abandoned castle from undead hordes. A friendly Lich was slain due to misunderstanding. Wolfsbane Respite was founded. Cold Iron was founded along with the Cold Iron Hegemony.

**Year 924:** Aisenberg was founded. Frothese was founded. Eville was founded. Ethernos (abandoned at the time) was reclaimed by reuniting the tribes of the desert to retake it.

**Year 925:** The first colony of Libertatem was destroyed by the Deathmarch; beginning the war. The siege of Ethernos began and ended in a Deathmarch victory. Latimer's Rest was sieged, ending in a victory for the resistance. Dunwich was founded. Fort Irohaven began construction.

**Year 926:** Fort Irohaven was finished. Fort Irohaven was sieged ending in a stalemate as both sides awaited reinforcements. The siege lasted almost the entirety of the war with the siege going back and forth; keeping the occupants supplied but only barely. Emperor Calaban expanded his influence; taking Aisenberg, Fort Irohaven, Frothese, and beginning construction on Fort Horn.

**Year 927:** Fort Horn was sacked by Deathmarch. It was later rebuilt after being reconquered. Lauderdale was founded and added to the Calbanian Empire.

**Year 928:** Lauderdale was sacked by fiends after being unable to reinforce the guardsmen. Aisenberg ended the siege and 5th Army was able to route the Deathmarch to the edge of the Ashlands. Latimer's Rest was added to the Calbanian Empire. Wolfsbane Respite was added to the Calbanian Empire. Ethernos refugees strained logistic networks after fleeing into the Calbanian Empire but bolstered their military forces with exceptionally well-trained shock troops and guerrilla fighters. New Harbor was founded and added to the Hegemony. First Haven was established and added to the Hegemony. First Hold was established and added to the Hegemony. First Hold was sacked and destroyed. First Hold was rebuilt by new settlers.

**Year 929:** A Deathmarch stronghold was assaulted; claiming victory for the Calbanian Empire. The Deathmarch retaliated by sacking Frothese which was later repopulated and fortified.

**Year 930:** Calaban City reached a major expansion point and became the center of trade for the Calbanian Empire; usurping Aisenberg in this role. Calaban City passed laws regulating Magi and requiring them to become registered magic users.

**Year 931:** the Deathmarch fort at the Throat of the World was assaulted. It stopped three sieges and ended in total annihilation of the 17th Army of Fort Horn and the 2nd Army of Eville. Eville was sacked in retaliation. 5th Army was forced to flee the siege and skirmished with the Deathmarch along the Ashlands and the border of the Ashlands. The Holy League (paladins and clerics from Latimer's Rest) got invested into the war and turned the tide after 5th Army became surrounded and outnumbered almost 30 to 1. 5th Army held out for 17 days before relief found them.

**Year 932:** the 12th Army of Calaban City was routed from the Ashlands and forced to flee while making a fighting retreat all the way back to Calaban City. 5th Army received a message via carrier pigeon to send aid but were locked in a siege again at Aisenberg. The Holy League was decimated during a few skirmishes with the Deathmarch and were almost entirely destroyed. Holy League fled back to Latimer's Rest to settle in for a second siege. Calaban City fell under siege; prompting the evacuation of the city on a massive scale. 12th Army remained behind to fight to the bitter end; refusing to evacuate even while the Deathmarch stormed the city during evacuation. Aisenberg managed to lift their siege in a counter offensive via the use of primarily near-suicidal cavalry charges. Their targets were namely the Deathmarch artillery. Once those were destroyed the 5th Army immediately fled to Calaban City and likewise lifted their siege by destroying the artillery of the Deathmarch. This prompted the battle for Calaban City to turn from evacuation to a counter offensive. During the counter offensive many citizens attached themselves to fight for their homes with little more than pitchforks, scythes and even kitchen knives. The siege ended a few weeks later with casualties (both sides combined) reaching into the hundreds of thousands. Calaban City is still recovering from so many unburied bodies which prompted the rise of many types of ghosts who haunt the city.

**Year 933:** 12th Army and 5th Army as well as the survivors of the Holy League combined their efforts and took the fortress at the Throat of the World by storm. Their victory was pyrrhic at best. Cold Iron was put under seige by Deathmarch ships in its harbor; later prompting a beach assault which Cold Iron repelled at significant cost to their own forces. First Hold was sacked and rebuilt within the year. New Harbor reached a population bloom and contested Calaban City for the center of trade.

**Year 934:** The Deathmarch war escalated after General Sa'Ran Diksly, General Fox and General Fjord were assassinated before a major assault on the 6th Army of Cold Iron. Jim Crowley was named Lord of Aisenberg officially after his parents (Lord John Crowley and Lady Marianne Crowley) were also assassinated. Lady Kou Akiyama was named Lady of Eville before her eventual assassination. Eville was annexed into the jurisdiction of Calaban City afterwards.

**Still Year 934:** Lord James Crowley and Lady Iroha Nightscorn were wed. As a result Fort Irohaven officially fell under the jurisdiction of Aisenberg as well as Frothese. Fort Horn named Lord Oppa Schmidt as their leader. He later died in battle and left his realm to Lady Rose Thorn. Lady Rose Thorn later fled when Fort Horn was sacked again and became the mayor for Wolfsbane Respite.

**Year 935:** The combined surviving armies launched a secondary assault into the Throat of the World after it was retaken by the Deathmarch. This time they found a hidden passage in the bottom which led to a portal into the Nine Hells. After entering the portal they confronted a daemon whom they eventually slayed. Most of the survivors remained trapped in the Nine Hells and eventually perished after the portal closed unexpectedly. This prompted the end of the Deathmarch War. Scattered Deathmarch units still skirmished with military forces and adventurers for many months afterward.

**Year 939:** After recovering from the Deathmarch campaign Emperor Calaban sought to expand his influence again. He set his sights on the Cold Iron Hegemony and sought to unite the continent under his rule. The resulting conflict almost destroyed both nations and nearly caused an uprising in the Calbanian Empire; coming mere steps from escalating into all out civil war. Emperor Calaban was forced to offer white peace and settle for the status quo; leaving a stain on his military career as Emperor. Calaban City became the center of trade again as during the war many Hegemony ships were destroyed to include merchant vessels and the port was blockaded. It was also during this year that Emperor Calaban also imposed harsher restrictions on Magi; specifically outlawing the returning of the dead in an official capacity rather than just a cultural one. He did also establish the Magi Academy which taught them how to use their power responsibly but more importantly allowed him and his loyalists to keep an eye out for any Magi that could potentially become a threat which they could nullify before it was too late.

**Year 941:** The Calbanian Inquisition was founded primarily from members of the Reichsguard who had unwavering loyalty to Emperor Calaban after an assassination attempt on him. The Inquisition sought out and ruthlessly decimated any followers of religious orders other than Pelor, Tyr, Torm and a handful of other deities. Small pockets of worshippers managed to survive and evade the Inquisition to practice their religion in secrecy.

**Still 941:** Due to the consolidation of power in the respective churches and temples of the nation Emperor Calaban began to use the church to preach that his rule as sovereign was absolute and mandated by Pelor himself. Many Paladins and Clerics refuted this in secrecy but none dared challenge him directly for fear of retribution. Many fled the continent as a result to practice their faith elsewhere and to deny the Emperor access to their power, resources and influence. Additional laws were passed in their absence but Emperor Calaban was forced to acquiesce after many peasant uprisings; particularly in isolated areas where simply sending the military to oppose them was difficult. The worship of other religions was made legal again. However the churches of Pelor, Tyr, Torm and the other deities had already made their mark and convinced the majority of the masses that their doctrine was correct with Emperor Calaban as the rightful sovereign.

**Year 945:** Libertatem began to reopen its borders after two years of shutting them to outsiders. Both the Calbanian Empire and Cold Iron Hegemony signed a trade agreement that allowed vessels from their nations to pass freely through one another's ports.

**Year 956:** The Calbanian Empire sent travelers to explore the new continent of Abberron. The Lady of the Lake began her genocidal campaign against the Empire; declaring war directly after skirmishing near the ashlands. Her forces included demons, orcs and goblins whom were charmed by ancient magics to remain under her command without directly needing to influence them with magic herself.