Halingard

**Halingard** is a town located in the northern reaches of Yuvaria. The town is currently in ruins after being near totally destroyed by the Prydyn, with the only survive structures being the base of the fortress, the dock, and remnants of the wheat fields.

### History

Before Halingard, the land was occupied by a tribal people called the Halin. They largely subsisted off of hunting, fishing, and farming, and did not build any large structures. It was during this time that the religion of Halinism was formed, but with Xigath being the primary god worshipped. It was from here that it would begin to radiate out throughout the rest of Yuvaria.

After a great deal of time, ships began to come to Eldham from Rathnir, and soon enough the tribe of Halin would have its first encounter with civilized society, in the form of the Ellysian Empire. However, the tribe of Halin would remain relatively wild during this time, ignoring much of the outside world. It was not until the Avarians took over when they had their first real glimpse of civilization, with the Avarians briefly building part of a castle on their land, but ultimately never finishing it.

After this, the tribe of Halin would move from a tribe to a more civilized society, constructing their own castle nearby where the Avarians had attempted to build theirs, but making sure to honor the land and their gods. And thus, with the completion of their fortress, Halingard was born. However, many of the people still chose to live in the surrounding forest, clinging to their wild roots. The fortress of Halingard would stand for a long time as the mightiest fortress within Yuvaria.

One day, however, the Halin people would abandon this land, and embark on a great expedition. During this time, Halingard sat abandoned until others began to settle there. Ultimately, however, the Prydyn would move in. Not being natives to the lands of Yuvaria, they had no respect for the gods of Halinism, and defiled them. Halingard was largely covered up, the forest was destroyed, the ground was rendered infertile, and the river itself was tarnished. Under these conditions, the first incarnation of Halingard would have almost certainly been destroyed, had it not been for one sneaky part of Halingard’s engineering. For when Halingard had been built, the people of Halin had laid a great layer of obsidian below the fortress. When the Prydyn encountered it and realized its scope, they simply covered it up, and left it untouched. Therefore, Halingard survived. Ultimately, the Prydyn would fall into disarray, wasting a great deal of time and energy paving the way for their “great city” which ultimately would not come to pass.

Eventually, the Halin would return, and reclaim Halingard for themselves. However, the destruction of the land by Prydyn was extreme, and to many, the task of restoring the land seemed impossible. However, to the Halin, nothing was impossible. They quickly set to work, first tearing down the fortifications and other structures left behind by the Prydyn. Next, by the hands of Drafnel, the land was restored back to its former shape. Then, by Artemesia, the wilds returned, and Halingard was once again blessed with food, fish, game, and forest. Then, the people set to work rebuilding, and rebuilt all that had been there before, but soon they stopped, stuck on how to proceed. Then, a breakthrough came. Amongst the brighest of the Halin shown one man, ILostMyMarbles, who would help transform Halingard into a rural community, into a larger settlement. With his ideas of architecture, organization, and more, he would lay the foundations for Halingard, and construct a church truly worthy of Etia. With this, came the people, and Halingard swelled. It did not take long, but soon enough, Halingard had grown to become the largest town within Yuvaria.