The Realm (Humans)

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The Realm refers to the collection of duchies which make up the Human kingdom situated along the continent's western coastline.

## Political Structure

The Realm is a kingdom ruled over from the capital city by the Queen but managed at a local level by the Dukes and Duchesses, who rule over the individual duchies and the regional lords who oversee the various towns and cities within those duchies on their behalf.

## History of the Realm

The Realm rose from the ashes of the barbarian wars which ravaged this part of the world following the collapse of the Netheril Empire over 500 years ago. It's history is divided up in to 'Ages' with each age representing a notable event or period of time. All years are given according to Realm Reckoning (RR) with 0 RR being the establishment of the Realm.

## History

### The Age of Antiquity

##### Unknown RR

Before the rise of the Realm as it is today, the ancient Netheril Empire spanned much of the continent. This is only known because the ruins of their once great cities scatter the landscape and their ancient tombs lie buried deep within the earth. This time is known in the Realm as the Age of Antiquity. The only knowledge of the Age of Antiquity has been gleaned from the scattered scraps of ancient texts, scrolls, murials and other items and artifacts that have been found within these ruined complexes. What knowledge is available suggest that the Netherim were a powerful people, capable of magical and scientific feats far beyond anything that even the most powerful mages, priests and scholars of today could accomplish.

What human tribes there were at this time were little more than uncivilized barbarians, subjugated by the superior scientific knowledge and arcane power of the Netherim and reduced to little more than servants at best, slaves at worse.

The exact fate of the Netheril Empire is unknown save that, at some point, a cataclysmic event occurred which decimated the Empire. What this cataclysmic event was is unclear, for most records from that time have been lost to the ravages of time and war. What is clear is that its effects were immediate and rapid, reducing the Netheril Empire from a continent/world spanning empire to virtual extinction in a matter of years.

### The Age of Strife

##### -100 to 0 RR

Following the collapse of the Netheril Empire, the barbarian tribes descended into anarchy, as the various chieftains fought each other for supremacy and to fill the power vacuum left by the destruction of the Netherim. The years of war decimated the land, the cities of the Netherim, whether out of vengeance, greed or simple bloodlust, were ransacked and looted and most of the Netherim's scientific and arcane knowledge, as well as most of their records, were destroyed. The once proud Empire of the Netherim was reduced to a ruinous shadow of it's former glory.

At this point, worship of Human gods, particularly Rykor, began to increase as the Barbarian tribes cast off the shackles of their old masters and celebrate their freedom to practice their own religions openly. The Human gods begin to take shape in the heavens but are still too weak to manifest themselves in the prime material plane or to affect the prime material plane to any great extent and their awareness of mortals is limited.

Late in this age, the founder of the Realm was born.

### The Age of Conquest

##### 0 to 50 RR

The Age of Conquest was a brief but glorious time of battle where the founder of the realm, now the chieftain of their tribe, lead them in numerous victories against their enemies. By the end of the Age of Conquest, all the barbarian tribes were united under one banner.

In the aftermath of their victory, they founded the Realm becoming the first monarch.

### The Age of Unity

##### 50 to 250 RR

Realising that they could not maintain a constant watch over all areas of their newly founded kingdom and partly to appease the chieftains whose tribes were conquered, the new ruler divided the realm up into territories. These became the Duchies of the Realm and still exist today, the ruling dukes and duchesses often descended from the barbarian warlords of old.

The Age of Unity represents something of a Golden era for the Realm, as unity brought greater prosperity through trade, sharing of knowledge and skills lead to advancements in crude technology and it was a time of peace the likes of which had not been known for centuries. The gods grew strong, particularly Torm, Ted, Gond and Levin as people sought their blessing in trade, craft and law, or simply sought their protection for their families.

### The Age of Discovery

##### 250 to 450 RR

During this time, having settled and constructed many permanent villages and towns, humans once more began to venture out into the wilds where they stumbled across the now crumbling and decrepit ruins of the Netherim Empire. From within these ruins came slivers of a time long lost. A time of wondrous feats of magic and science. These discoveries lead to humans being able to learn the ways of magic and the college of magi was founded during this time. Previously lost secrets of metallurgy, alchemy and medicine are discovered allowing the development of evermore potent elixirs and potions while smiths begin to create items of incredible craftsmanship. Later in this age humans learned how to bind metal and magic together to form weapons of incredible power. Yet all this is but a fraction of the true power of the Netheril Empire.

### The Age of Prosperity

##### 450 RR to Present Day, 527 RR

The current Age in the Realm is known as the Age of Prosperity and was declared some 50 years ago. At the end of A Stitch in Time the year is 527 RR.