Historical maps of Giantstep

Here is a list of maps and lore talking about the great empires and their expansion throughout history.

## Historical maps Part 1. World at the birth of the Azanese Empire. Circa 1.720 BBE

Here we have an aproximation of the world's great powers at the time of the birth of the Azan Empire. Right after defeating the Ancient Evil, Azan unified most peoples from the west and southwest of Giantstep, and the empire would only grow for many centuries.

At Scimitarian, we can see the many scattered faerie lords, disunited, but expanding northwards after Etera's influences disappeared.

Right beside Azan, we can find Qadash and the Men of Bronze, within the mountains of the Handprint. At this point in time, their doom was clear for all to see, falling more and more to the predations of the Lardlardu, but still seemingly holding on.

In the east, the Khenomeric Empire was on its way to greatness. Magic was discovered just a couple of decades before the founding of Azan, and as such, their expansion will quickly overtake that of Azan. Right beside the Khenomeri we can find the Ketlovian Kingdom, just as ancient as the khenomeri, but due to its geographical position (blocked by the Vodyanik Lands and the Mountains of Ooze), have little room to expand. This will eventually force them to abandon the Ivory Peninsula and take a secondary role in the region.

Finally, the Merfolk Empire was already at its height, which it would keep until its sudden doom after their god, Uum, got bored with their protegees and cursed their lands.

## Historical maps Part 2. World at the beginning of the First Azanese-Drow War. 1401 BBE

Here we have an aproximation of the world's great powers at the time the first war between the Azan Empire and the recently created Western Elven Empire.

Azan has expanded consistently, creating an administration solid and stable enough to control most of the lands of the southern coast of Giantstep. Their expansion through the Brumgulls Steppe is slow due to the orcs and the ogres putting up a fight, but the land will eventually be under azanese influence.

In their expansion through the north and the west, the azanese began causing more and more worry throughout the faerie lands. In the Terusia Isthmus and the Scabbard Range, news of the azanese expansion makes the human communities living there seek help from the scimitarian lords, and in the Hedge Plains, the peaceful gnomes, hobbits and brownies also see the writing on the wall, and send messages of help to the west. In the Council of Bruin'Ioi, thousands of faerie lords swore a pact of mutual defense and assistance to counter the possible threat of Azan, setting the bases for the creation of the Western Elven Empire. The threat of this massive empire born seemingly overnight quickly led to the azanese authorities to try and counter its influence, thus sparking the war. And while the Western Elven Empire seemingly could fight Azan on equal footing, the disunion of the drow and internal strife between the many faerie lords eventually led to defeats in the field of battle. Azan would expand northwards and westwards, though it would never fully absorb the Western Elven Empire.

In the East, the Khenomeric Empire continues its meteoric rise. With the Ketlovian Kingdom defeated and turned into a vassal state, and with the Merfolk Empire seemingly contented with its borders, the Khenomeri could expand at their hearts' content. Their increasing use of magic allowed a quick territorial expansion, which most of the time outsped their actual administrative capabilities to control the land. In those cases, fear of the magical prowess of the khenomeri kept the territories loyal in one way or another, something that would continue for centuries.

In the Handprint, Qadash was on its way to oblivion. We have little records of their doom, since the mountains, the desert and the underground caverns make finding the truth of what happened difficult.

Finally, the Merfolk were still isolated within their territories, happy and enjoying the blessings of Uun.

## Historical maps Part 3. World at the beginning of the first purge of demon tieflings. 715 BBE

Here we have an aproximation of the world's great powers at the time Azan ordered the first great purge of demon tieflings.

After more than half a millennia of intermitent wars between Azan and the Western Elven Empire, the Azan Empire is close to its maximum territorial size. However, this doesn't mean they are at the height of their power. The constant expansion and warfare, alongside social, economical and political unstability, is making the empire difficult to handle. Azan will focus its efforts into creating the necessary infrastructure to keep the realm organised, which won't be easy, considering the brutal persecution of the demon tieflings. After the retaking of Siuverland from tiefling rebels, thousands of tieflings will be persecuted and executed, something that would last decades. Many areas pf the empire will not be directly under Azan, but will be nominal vassals, like the new territories in Hereby, Wanaidheain, Belsiriya and Calcabria. They will only show just enough loyalty to Azan to keep their independence and azanese support against the faeie in the south. Azan also dedicates some efforts into trying to control the southern sea routes, with stuff like the construction of the Nekiz fortress in the Three Sisters' archipelago.

Meanwhile, the Western Elven Empire has lost a lot of its power. The constant infighting between the faeie, the elves, the humans and the dwarves meant that keeping a long campaign near impossible, suffering territorial losses in all fronts. The cracks of the empire were clear for all to see, but Azan's internal problems kept them from totally overtaking the Western Elven Empire, prefering to use diplomacy once azanese military superiority had been established.

Lastly in the west, Qadash is no more. The few explorers Azan sends to the desert at this point discover no population left, at least in the surface. Azan won't even bother to conquer the desert, since there is little of value there.

The Khenomeric Empire continues its expansion to the north and the west, and unlike Azan, it still has enough strength to move forward. Their expansion will be bottlenecked to the west, since the Ogabo Desert and the Kinga Badlands make for poor conquests. This will make the khenomeri to move through the edges of the central bogs and swamps, closing in more and more with the borders of Azan...

Finally, the Merfolk were still isolated within their territories, happy and enjoying the blessings of Uun.

## Historical maps Part 4. World right before the Battle of Empires. 1 BBE

Here we have an aproximation of the world's great powers right before the fight that would culminate in the legendary Battle of Empires, the clash of the three biggest empires at the time.

A throne can only be occupied by one man, and likewise, the world is only big enough for one world-ruling empire. Azan and the Khenomeric Empire had been kept separated by sheer distance, but after the rise of the Magoclergy in the Khenomeric Empire in 440 BBE, the paths of both empires began moving into a collision course.

Neither empire was in the best internal situation. The Magoclergy was not popular within the empire, and their abuse of power and cohersion of the local populations through magical force was brewing discontent. Adding to that, the Magoclergy was not particularly successful administrators, and rampant corruption was exhausting the khenomeri economy. A great, external victory against a great power was thought as the one thing that could focus the country into the right track. The magical studies of the Magoclergy about creating great armies of automata and golems was thought as the key to subdue even the mighty empire of the dragons from the west.

Likewise, Azan had realised the threat that the eastern empire could be a cause of concern. The rumours spread quickly about the powers they could unleash against their enemies, and if even half of them were true, even with support of the dragons, Azan would meet a match it might not be able to beat. Because of this, Azan limited its expansion and focused on rebuilding its economy and its military might. They signed a series of treaties with the Western Elven Empire, allowing them to recover a lot of their lost influence in Hereby and in northern Scimitarian, though some of the territories kept their independence. This allowed Azan to keep their forces to the east, where the possible khenomeri expansion might move towards.

Fortunately, for decades the two great empires were mostly isolated from each other, knowing of the other's existance through travellers and some isolated diplomats. The Ogabo Desert, the Kinga Badlands and the central swamps and bogs kept both empires at bay, as a seemingly impassable barrier divided west and east.

But it wouldn't be until the discovery of the last divine dragon egg when things went out of control.

The Magoclergy, using unknown means, figured out that the last divine dragon egg was in the area of the Cardammon Plateau. Racing towards it, the Magoclergu created a pathway through the southern and western borders of the swamp to make way to an army that could secure the magical prize. Azan and the last divine dragons quickly responded to that, and moved their armies to stop the khenomeri from finding the egg. They also called for the help from the Western Elven Empire, to use their mystical knowledge to stop whatever sorcery the khenomeri could unleash. Many faeie lords went to defend their territories, especially those located in the northern and northwestern Giantstep, fearing that if the khenomeri got their hands on the egg, they would fall under the boot of the Magoclergy.

Meanwhile, the Merfolk Empire prepared their armies in case that the Khenomeri would invade their lands, but in the end did not commit to the battle.

The results of the battle would be the ruination of the military armies of the three empires involved. However, the clear loser was the Khenomeric Empire, losing some of its most knowledgeable wizards as well as millions of soldiers, automata and magical constructs. Unrest and rebellion brewed in all three empires, but it shook the fundaments of the khenomeri the hardest.

## Historical maps Part 5. Start of the Khenomeric Decay 125 ABE

Here we have an aproximation of the world's great powers right at the year 125 ABE.

Historians debate when empires begin their rise and fall. Many search for moments of great significance that brought glory or shame to their nations, but most of the time, the many small changes that affect the world are enough to make the mightiest crumble, bit by bit, over many years. However, many historians have put the date of the start of the decay of the Khenomeric Empire around 125 ABE, though to explain why it'd need some backstory.

Immediately after the Battle of Empires, all three participants suffered a serious crisis. The land where the battle took place became nearly uninhabitable, and both the azanese and khenomeri communities that had been established there either died or had to flee. Thousands of khenomeri and hundreds of thousands of azanese went back to their respective empire. In Azan, the blow of having to abandon such a massive portion of their empire was taken as a great defeat and shame to the nation, even if they had technically won the battle. Unrest became common in the northern provinces, and that, added to the loss of so many fighting men in the war, generated quite a crisis. The solution some proposed was expanding around the Handprint, alongside the northern side of the Onyx Mountains, though they did it mostly through blustering the much smaller nations there. That, and by presenting themselves as the protectors from Khenomeri, which had been expanding their influence over that area for decades now, and they weren't particularly beloved rulers.

Though that was the reason azanese authorities gave to the locals, in reality the Khenomeric Empire was in a much worse shape than Azan. Having staked a lot in the capture of the dragon egg and failed miserably, the Magoclergy had broken their image of strength in the empire. They weren't beloved rulers in the first place, keeping their authority through fear of magical reprisal, but now that a lot of the power of the magoclergy had burned in the Cardammon Plateau, the only thing that remained was hatred. Even the khenomeri monarchy, having been a puppet of the wizards for centuries, began scheeming to free themselves from the magoclergy. The Khenomeric Empire was not that impacted in terms of demographics as Azan was, but the loss of so many powerful wizards, fighting men and magical equipment resulted in immediate unrest in the territories furthest of the empire. The colonies in Littlestep and the few city ports they had managed to create in Zemyland entered in revolt and managed to free themselves from khenomeric influence. However, many of those regions entered in a state of crisis as well, since they weren't defended by the khenomeri armies, and the locals had a lot of grudges to settle. The lands to the east were abandoned, especially those around the bogs of central Giantstep. While this was not a big blow for the empire, since these territories were sparcely populated and had little to no strategic or economic value, they did cause a lot of shame within the empire. More and more the oposition against the ruling body of the nation. This culminated in a coup by the king himself, Pharahkhan Kleo II, against the Magoclergy. Gathering all the allies he could, during the night, he rallied his forces and murdered two thirds of the magoclergy within their chambers. The remaining members of the magoclergy fled and tried to organise a resistance, but they were surrounded, outnumbered and without allies.

The "War of Supper" (because the coup was done when the wizards were dining) was short of a year long, that was the immense popular support Pharahkhan Kleo II managed to gather around him. He began reforming the Schools of Magic to more closely bound them to the Empire, but in a way that never again allowed them to rule. However, Pharahkhan Kleo II knew he couldn't simply disband the wizards without losing his main tool to keep the empire together and to defend it should Azan ever threaten their borders. The great project of reforms Pharahkhan Kleo II did involved making the nation entirely independent from magic, so that even if they still had the biggest grasp of the wizarding arts in all the world, they would never come to threaten the empire again. However, these reforms were meant to last for generations, as changing the legacy of the Magoclergy and the millennia of wizard influence in the workings of the nation was not something undone in a day. And that is where the arrival of Pharahkhan Kyle I signified one of the changes that would mark the empire forever.

Pharahkhan Kyle I, son of Kleo II, was not a particularly great leader. By most accounts, he appeared to be a sincere, well meaning and hard working man, but those traits are not necessarily tied to talent. He failed to see the necessary patience and long term planning that his father proposed, and went for sweeping changes instead. In 87 ABE, Kyle I banned all magics from the empire, and ordered the execution of all great mages.This persecution was difficult, since the wizards were still numerous and influential, but eventually were driven away. Some of them, to avoid persecutions, began the enchantments to the forests at the center of the empire, which would eventually grow up and join together in what is currently known as the Forest of Getting Lost. In here, many of them hid away, but even more fled elsewhere. The members of the remaining Schools of Magic scattered throughout the world.

The public banning of magics was celebrated all around, but some wizard were kept around, kept in maximum secret and only for very specific tasks, like keeping an eye on the tomb of Phorsiussarx. Still, after this, the empire was essentially out of mages to do most of their day to day activities needed to keep the country afloat. And that immediately emboldened the different provinces to gain more independences for themselves. Unrest and revolts began popping up all around, demanding more independence and self governance within the empire. In 125 ABE, an elderly Kyle I signed a series of reforms that gave part of the royal power to the local governors, to keep a better control of the provinces. While this was lauded at the time, historians have pointed out this moment as the start of the decay of the empire, since from here on now, the local nobility will pull and pull from the empire's seams, ripping appart the fabric of the Khenomeric Empire slowly but surely.

Meanwhile, the Western Elven Empire began a small golden age. With Azan weakened and faeie losses in the war being much smaller than the other two, they could began reclaiming some influence within Scimitarian. However, the internal bickering within the empire meant that this golden age was more in economic and political terms, rather than a significant expansion of their territory. This, alongisde a very overconfident position of not reinforcing their armies to take advantage to their neighbour's weakness, meant that it would begin losing ground against Azan once the empire of dragons would recover their strength and stability.

## Historical maps Part 6. End of the Wars of the Blind Hawk 822 ABE

Here we have an aproximation of the world's great powers right at the year 822 ABE.

The centuries after the Battle of Empires are witness to slow growth, stagnation and even chaos in the most important areas of the world. This diminished pressure over the borders of the great empires did allow the growth and development of other areas of the step. In particular, the centuries after the Battle of Empires saw the rise of the civilizations near the center of the continent of Giantstep. Many exiled wizards and soldiers from both sides ended up moving to the regions away from the empires, bringing their knowledge and wisdom to areas that were historically underdeveloped. Historians know this process as the “Central Giantstep Awakening”, where areas previously dominated by tribal societies began developing urban worlds, mostly in the shape of individual city-states. Without a particular need to expand their power beyond the borders of the cities, and relatively isolated from the big empires, these city-states managed to create their own individual lifestyle without the need to form a unified state. In particular, we can differentiate three areas of growth: the city-states of the Urgun Plateau, the twin cities of Aquilea and Caprea and the cities of the Red Land Steppes. During many centuries, trade between these areas managed to create a microcosm of civilization, with very little contact with the empires of the east and the west, but enough to advance fairly quickly. In particular, the population of the Red Land Steppes would end up contacting frequently with the azanese explorers moving eastwards through the strip of land between the Great Salt Lake and the Onyx Mountains. This relation was not peaceful, and the population of the steppes saw the expansion of the westerners as a threat to their burgeoning nation. Without the power to push them back, as well as due to the inner tensions within the gökmavi themselves, this would mean a slowly growing tensions between Azan and the gökmavi tribes, exploding many centuries later.

However, this growth did not last forever. In particular, the tribes of the gökmavi quickly entered in a strange duality. On the one hand, many of the territories near the Urgun Plateau and near the Salt River began creating their own city-states, abandoning their nomadic ways and grouping together in tribal confederations. On the other hand, the introduction of the horse turned the nomads from the steppes an exponentially more powerful force in the land, reinforcing the nomadic way of life, moving through the steppes and the desert to take care of the cattle. While at first there was little tension due to the mutual service they provided to each other, over time the traditional tribal tensions and rivalries morphed into a fight for the spirit of the gökmavi. With each side wanting to impose their way of life on the other, and with growing ambitions of empire building, the gökmavi tribes began a series of wars in the Red Land Steppes, the different nations and tribes fighting for dominance. The Wars of the Blind Hawk, as they were known afterwards, lasted between 701 ABE to 822 ABE, and expanded to a great portion of the Red Land Steppes. Many records tell that the war became a particularly brutal affair, with the nomadic raiders cutting off the cities from any supply, poisoning wells during the night and burning down the cities that fell. The gökmavi cities tried to retaliate, but the city armies were not able to mobilize as well as the nomadic raiders, which were capable of just moving around the territory without a central capital to decapitate. In desperation, the gökmavi cities asked for help to the cities of the Urgun Plateau, which saw the threat of the gökmavi raiders as something to defeat before they could reach their homeland. This would backfire for the urgun cities, since the gökmavi raiders launched their hit and run attacks against the region, ravaging the fields near the rivers and burning down whatever they couldn’t take.

However, the Urgun were able to put up a fight against the gökmavi raiders, even long after most of the gökmavi cities had been razed and burned to the ground. In the end, the Wars of the Blind Hawk ended by the inner fights of the gökmavi hordes. Now that the gökmavi raiders had proven their superiority over their city dwelling compatriots, they started to fight each other for the growing influence in the territory, which allowed the Urgun cities a reprieve from the fighting. And thus, with the hordes fighting each other more and more, the war just petered out, and by the year 822 ABE, the exhaustion of decades of war meant that the hordes began settling in an uneasy peace. This peace allowed the cities from the Urgun Plateau to rebuild, but they would never really achieve their power and influence from their peak, since many of the cities would be abandoned, starting the process of power consolidation within Ghülam and Bashur.

In the west, Azan had to deal with a period of recovery and instability. After the Battle of Empires, Azan saw their territories around the Cardammon Plateau shrink, retreating to near the coast. The decades afterwards saw many azanese efforts to recover the lands of the plateau, but due to the corruption of the land, there were very few volunteers, and it became too difficult and costly to defend the lands. Thus, they eventually gave up in occupying the land, waiting for a solution to the darkness from the Cursed Battlefield to disappear. Their expansion to the south was also very slow, due to the internal conflicts and tensions within Azan, like the Scholar’s Revolution during the 6th azanese dynasty.

In the east, the Khenomeric Empire had to deal with the effects of the appearance of the Forest of Getting Lost. The enchanted woods neatly divided the empire into two halves, as well as losing massive portions of the empire, swallowed by the forest. After many attempts to keep administrative normalcy in both sides of the empire, in 155 ABE Pharakhan Klion the IIIrd decreed the formation of a special administrative division, the Northern Khenomeric Empire. However, the wish for independence and the fights around the presence of wizards meant the Northern Khenomeric Empire was a very unstable entity, with provinces becoming independent and rejoining over and over, as well as fighting with each other and with the government of Khoraqualumum.

## Historical maps Part 7. Birth of the Orange Kingdom, 1.119 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 1.119 ABE.

The period of time that follows the beginning of the Khenomeric Decay is marked by a surprising amount of stability for most of the world. The Khenomeric Empire was too focused on solving its internal strife after the banning of magic and the growth of the Forest of Getting Lost to try to expand further. The creation of the Northern Khenomeric Empire special administrative division was the only real possible way to keep the northern half of the territories of the nation, but the region was rife with self-interest and internal power struggles, which made it harder and harder to control, going through many periods of self-government, independence and reunification with the government of Khoraqualumum. The Merfolk Empire, as was typical throughout its history, was content with just keeping their status quo, although they did started to take countermeasures to avoid the growth of the Forest of Getting Lost throughout their territory, in the area that would eventually become the Frozen Lake.

The Western Elven Empire was focused on their golden age, enjoying a resurgence of arts, culture and economic prosperity, leaving military expansion aside. This period is marked by an astonishing economic growth, and many of the great fey provinces and principalities did build their castles and palaces during this period. Without the threat of a war with their human neighbors, and Azan focused elsewhere from Scimitarian, the Wester Elven Empire started a veritable race to push fey architecture and art to its limits. Buildings, paintings, sculpture, music… fey culture saw a renaissance that propelled it further beyond the natural borders of the fey. However, this economic and cultural growth came at the cost of ignoring their military strength, which only kept its original strength in the navy, always checking the waters of the continent against the occasional pirate, as well as a show of force just in case their neighbor tried something unexpected.

This left the Azan Empire as the one great power in the world with the resources and the interest to keep a constant expansion. After ending its period of instability by reinforcing the central power of the emperor, they were once again ready to expand their territory. However, the decision to where they should expand was a difficult one, since the options weren’t that alluring. Expanding towards the areas influenced by the Western Elven Empire would immediately start a war, something they wanted to avoid since the last great war with another empire. The lands between the Malagrite and Widow’s Lakes were swampy marshes with little of interest, difficult to maintain and too close to the Cursed Battlefield to be of comfort. Conquering the lands around the Handprint was an interesting proposition, since it would guarantee the control of some of the most important rivers in this side of the step, but the presence of the up-and-coming nomad warriors of the Gökmavi made a permanent presence difficult, due to the distances involved and the difficulty to defend it. Expanding down the Zulutaur Steppes was not a good option, their fame as strong warriors would make this choice a costly one, and many in the azanese court had put in motion plans to expand their commercial influence in the area through trade instead.

And so, the government of Nananikor decided to expand following the strip of land between the Onyx Mountains and the Meiel U’ush and the Great Salt Lakes. It was difficult due to the many hurdles (distance from the capital, low immediate profits, lack of people willing to settle in…) but it the rumors and stories of the locals were true, continuing ahead would give Azan access to the eastern seas, granting them an immense amount of wealth. The road to the east was long and slow, but azanese forces eventually reached the Strait of the Dead Emperor, called that because legends tell that the emperor who ruled at the time died of happiness once he heard the news. However, it would not be until around 1.300 ABE reached the Aruanda region.

In the lands of Central Giantstep, the end of the Wars of the Blind Hawk allowed the different hordes to recover. The many decades of war together against the city dwellers had managed to compose a more unified culture, and this allowed a more consistent expansion throughout the Red Land Steppes. The nomadic tribes expanded slowly but steadily throughout the territory, pushing always for the expansion of the nomadic way of life against the building of cities, though due to the need for agricultural produce, many areas near the Salt River and the Great Salt Lake were left to agricultural purposes. Even if the salinity levels of the two were higher for most agriculture, the Gökmavi developed many forms of filtering water, both boiling the water and using clay filters to separate the water from the salt. This allowed a growing trade in the area for the Gökmavi, as salt was very appreciated by the nearby empires. The abundance of this product began the establishment of some trade routes throughout gökmavi territory, which necessitated the creation of small towns in which make the dealings. This helped normalize the sedentary way of life within the gökmavi again, though this also worsened the relations with Azan, also in the area of the Great Salt Lake for the business of salt. The Salt Feud between Azan and the Gökmavi were quite bloody affairs, despite the general public barely knowing anything about them. Mostly fought in the Great Salt Lake using small ships made out of the local palm trees, this conflict would cement the antagonism of the gökmavi against Azan, and would use it for future choices against the empire of dragons.

The most important event of this time was the sudden appearance of the Orange Kingdom. Gunther the IIIrd, also known as Gunther the Fat, rose to the throne of his homeland, and throughout the rest of his life, kept expanding his holdings in the lands west of the Great Peaks of Littlestep. By the end of Gunther’s life, it seemed as there would be another great power in the brewing, maybe one capable of expanding into the Green Oak Forest and further into Littlestep. However, this was not to be, as his many heirs began fighting for power and influence in the kingdom immediately after the Conqueror’s death. This would result in the eventual “Fracturing” of the Orange Kingdom, which would result in the birth of the Orange Marquissates.

## Historical maps Part 8. Azanese Annexation of Nosso Lar, 1.321 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 1.321 ABE.

The decades after the birth of the Orange Kingdom were a period of recovery for the great empires in the world. With the damming effects of the Battle of Empires long gone, and the structural crisis in both Azan and the Khenomeric Empire solved, the two empires managed to recover and began reclaiming their old prosperity. For the Azanese Empire, the political stability after the Scholar’s Revolution meant a recovery of the national economy, which caused a considerable increase of the population. The growing populace was more than the administration could deal as is, and thus they organized a series of census to try to calculate the population, and more importantly, give the fiscal agents of the empire the information needed to do their job. In 1.287 ABE, the “Batelian Census”, named in honor of the man who organized the project, became the biggest single census ever done in Giantstep, unsurpassed in numbers calculated at once to this day. The growing population, however, was causing a lot of tension in the cities of the empire, and the government began seeing how to reroute the growing population to other areas of the empire. This saw the birth of many new cities, and the ploughing of many miles of agricultural soil. This was particularly noteworthy near the Hiuan Tsi and the Princess Yi-Nii rivers, which increased the weight of the changrilese provinces within the empire. This also caused a lot of population movement to the strip of “Onyx Strip”, even with the nearby presence of the gökmavi raiders, whose power was on the rise. Many towns and cities in the area were born out of military outposts, set up to protect the trade routes that connected the salt caravans to the rest of the empire, as well as the expansion to the east.

The azanese expansion to the east was a project long in the making by the azanese government. The emperors had invested a lot of time, money and effort to reach the other side of the world, trying to create a trade route to the eastern seas that didn’t involve sailing the entire continent of Giantstep. By the time the azanese explorers reached the seas of the Strait of the Dead Emperor, Azan had realized that controlling the region was going to be a daunting task. The presence of the Kingdom of Gilgemash in the area was a serious thorn at the azanese expansion. While Gilgemash was dwarfed by the Empire of Dragons, the sheer amount of distance and the following logistical problems between the two meant that, in case of a conflict, Azan would be able to only send a fraction of its actual strength, probably not enough to keep it in check. Luckily for Azan, the gilgemashi government was notoriously corrupt, and they were coerced through bribery and subterfuge to gain a small strip of land through Gilgemash. This caused immense tension between the two nations, but Azan managed to secure it for a couple of centuries. The next step was to actually reach the eastern seas, since not only they were still pretty far due to the region’s geography, but Gilgemash’s fleet controlled the Sea of Fog and the U’ritass Inner Sea, something they wished to change. Their solution was the creation of a full-on azanese province in the Great Norossor Peninsula, but trying to do that without starting a war with the local populations was a daunting task. The herculean project fell in the hands of Nareses Batelios, the azanese administrator who had managed the “Batelian Census” many decades ago. Sent to deal with the Gilgemashi and the Araundans to turn the region into an azanese province without declaring war, pretty much everyone expected the old man to fail.

And yet, by the year 1.321 ABE, he had managed to turn the region of “Nosso Lar” into a puppet state of Azan, which would function as a de facto province. To this day, the story of Nareses Batelios is remembered as one of the finest moments of Azan, and Batelios himself is acclaimed as one of the greatest azanese heroes. The annexation of a Nosso Lar meant the peak of territorial expansion of the Azan Empire. Keeping the territory connected would be difficult, however, since Gilgemash would demand control of the azanese lands that cut gilgemashi territory in half, which they would be able to do after much diplomatic discussion.

To the east, the Khenomeric Empire was having in a strange situation. The Northern Khenomeric Empire experienced a period of economic growth and consolidation, having finally set up enough of an internal structure to self-govern and administrate. However, that independence also reinforced the wish for actual independence in the region, only slowed down by the internal divisions of the semi-state. To try to combat this, the anti-wizard faction decided to spend great amounts of time and resources expanding their territory, hoping that, with the creation of new anti-magic provinces, they would gain the upper hand in the politics of the nation. Their objective were the lands south of Littlestep that used to belong to the Khenomeric Empire. The old province of Prokoyroxa was not in a state to repel the invasion from the Northern Khenomeric Empire, and a new province was established. However, due to the infighting and the political tensions, keeping the territory became much harder than the northern khenomeri authorities expected. Thus, the need for more men forced many territories to organize unpopular levies to guard the new province from pirates, bandits, rebels and the wizards who had left the empire to find refuge in Littlestep. This drain of men was so severe that it allowed the lands of Faarowt, tired of the fights in the Northern Khenomeric Empire and full of druids and other remnants of the Green Order, to declare their secession from the empire, the biggest secession from the empire up to that point. Tied between losing the two territories by dividing their forces or choosing to keep one of them, the northern khenomeri authorities decided that the control of the Labyrinth Bay was much more important and profitable than the problematic lands of the Faarowt druids, and thus they allowed the independence. For the most part, they considered the trade as a positive one, since they gained an anti-wizard faction and lost a pro-wizard faction, and so the rulers of the Northern Khenomeric Empire didn’t mind, despite the heavy protests of the government of Khoraqualumum.

However, the south of the empire was not in a position to complain about losing territory. The government of Khoraqualumum had had to deal with a series of plagues to the southeast of the empire. While not particularly virulent, the bad administration of the government pretty much left the regions to their own devices, which fostered many feelings for independence. In the case of areas whose control was more nominal due to difficulties to control, like the volcanic deserts of the Runaan Ashlands or the poor lands of the Vodyanic, were straight up abandoned by the few populations in the area. The instability in the region allowed the ketlovians, under the heel of the empire for centuries now, to push for their full independence from Khoraqualumum. At the same time, the city-states of Voita and Malagsh were able to expand their influence northwards, their fighting growing virulent enough to make many in the khenomeric army vomit due to the carnage between the cities and their vassals. The Battle of Yusvaras was a particularly humiliating hit for the khenomeri army: a battle between the voitans and malagshians, the Khenomeric Empire appeared by surprise with an army bigger than the other two combined, and ended up suffering catastrophic losses while trying to subdue both armies at once. This allowed the voitans and malagshians to push their luck and expand northwards, starting independence movements in areas occupied by the Otamlar. The failure of the battle showed to many khenomeri provinces the weakness of the central government and the army. The Pharahkhans began reforming the army so that the humilliation of Yusvaras never happened again, reinforcing the presence of the army in many of the suspected provinces, slowly but steadily arising more animosity towards the empire.

At the same time, the southwestern provinces began suffering an increase of gnoll attacks. The gnolls had been sighted ever since the 3rd Century ABE, but due to the military crisis to the east had let the guarding of the western provinces to other groups, like local guards, hunters and nobles. However, there was very little oversight when it came to gnoll control, seeing the gnolls as a minor pest, less important than even the goblin raiders. However, during the year, 1.312 ABE, there was a demographic explosion of gnolls in the western provinces. However, these gnolls were a far cry from those that would appear many centuries later. They were but animals, ravaging the land without any direction or coordination, and were more a threat to themselves than the hunting parties were. After the humiliation of Yusvaras, the army gladly went to the west to recuperate their image, savaging the gnolls and driving them back to the forests and mountains. The purge was so effective that the fears that the gnoll would become a threat in the future dissipated from the minds of the government of Khoraqualumum, even if this scenario repeated itself every couple of centuries.

In the Red Land Steppes, the growth of the influence of the hordes began causing tension between the different clans. While at first the clans were unified in their defense of the nomadic lifestyle, time had been slowly healing the wounds of that war, making the city dwellers less of an affront in the eyes of the nomads. On the contrary, the expansion of the gökmavi hordes were clashing with each other for land and influence. This began the first of the horde wars, something that would repeat every century or two. The fights between the nomad clans would, oddly enough, led to a resurgence of the city lifestyle, since the nomads were too busy against each other, leaving the cities alone to grow and prosper. The influence of Azan, near the “Onyx strip” that crossed the Red Land Steppes, also influenced the growth of the cities, competing in the profitable business of salt. This time, it was the cities who managed to stop the conflict between the hordes, helping to set up rules of engagement and honor codes to minimize the damage the hordes did to each other in their fights for dominance. In exchange, the cities would still be part of the burgeoning nation, but they would keep to themselves, only really giving tribute to the nomads when in times of need, like war, disease or disaster. The nomad hordes accepted on the grounds that the national power would never be in the hands of the cities, and thus their nation would never have a capital. The “Conclave of Tsa'agan” would be the first step for the creation of what we know nowadays as the Gökmavi Khaganate.

In the Orange Kingdom, the rule of Gunther the VIIth was becoming more and more unstable, with his vassal nobles becoming less obedient by the day. Sensing weakness in the monarch, in 3.323 ABE a conspiracy carried out by the biggest and most powerful nobles took down Gunther the VIIth, to put their own puppet king in the throne. However, the infighting between the members of the conspiracy eventually blew up into a full on civil war, starting what is now known as the “Fracturing” of the Orange Kingdom. This event would kill whatever remaining chance of the Orange Kingdom to become a power in the world, with the fighting lasting for near a century until the “Isolation Edict” was signed, effectively killing the kingdom and creating the Orange Marquisates.

## Historical maps Part 9. Fall of the Merfolk Empire, 1.660 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 1.660 ABE.

While the west of the world entered a period of moderate growth, Azan seemingly content with their level of prosperity, the east entered in a turbulent turmoil unseen since many centuries ago. The economic prosperity the Northern Khenomeric Empire had enjoyed began stagnating, due to a series of bad harvests and poor administration, more and more focused on the wizard question than actual administration. In particular, the region of Nitarisha was hit particularly badly. In 1.555 ABE, a heavy drought joined the poor harvest, and it suffered a severe famine, as well as multiple plagues due to the weakened population. Despite the attempts of the other regions to help, the help seemingly was not enough, since the harvests were poor all around, and the price of food was quickly rising all throughout the Northern Khenomeric Empire. And while a year after it seemed that the suffering had ended, with a veritable deluge of healing rain, the discovery of the Nitarishan authorities consorting with wizards to end the drought became catastrophic. The discovery of the “Nitarishan Betrayal”, the use of wizards in one of the sternest anti-wizard provinces, quickly led to a bloody civil war that tore the already damaged region apart. The authorities of the Northern Khenomeric Empire did not see this coming, and the violence that involved the region became too much for both sides of the aisle. By 1.558 ABE, the Northern Khenomeric authorities, having failed on their attempts to pacify the region, abandoned the province of Nitarisha to its luck.

This issue heightened the tensions between the provinces of the Northern Khenomeric Empire. The anti-wizard side accused the wizards of being behind the drought and the violence in Nitarisha, whereas the pro-wizards argued that they had been the ones to end the drought, and were being unfairly persecuted by their opposition. The attempts from Khoraqualumum to stop the tensions and mediate were seen as unwanted intervention, and both sides saw their chance to reach their independence from the empire. The populous became more and more radicalized, with both nobles and peasants siding to one of the three sides. Inevitably, this led to a civil war, the “First North Khenomeric Civil War”, which lasted between 1.560 to 1.566 ABE. The war was extremely damaging to the land due to the sheer chaos of the three-way conflict, and it saw the razing of many cities to the ground. By the end of the conflict, the Northern Khenomeric Empire had lost near a third of its territory, with many of the pro-wizards provinces obtaining their freedom. The remaining provinces were quite vulnerable and in need of reorganizing, help which came from Khoraqualumum, desperately trying to hold on to its influence in the north. To the south, the tremendous effort to save the Northern Khenomeric Empire allowed the more unstable provinces to begin their own independence movements. The populations within the Great End Peaks were able to use their geographical location to push back the few khenomeri garrisons within the territory, and the land was quickly freed from khenomeri soldiers.

A particularly humiliating event during this period was the independence of the Duchy of the Twin Wolves, around the lands of the Lake of Wolves. Taking advantage of the stagnation of the war to the north, the Duke of the Twin Wolves organized in the shadows a complot with other province leaders to secede from the empire. They waited until the bulk of the khenomeric forces were busy in the north to declare their secession, getting plenty of time to fortify their positions. This state of war throughout the Khenomeric Empire was causing tensions all around, with local forces so drained from the effort they were having problems taking care of the gobbling raids and gnoll attacks. Seeing as paramount to recover the lands that had rebelled, once the peace was established in the north, the khenomeric armies went in force to defeat the uprisings, something they managed to do relatively easily, but not without having to negotiate with the Duke of the Twin Wolves himself. In exchange of abandoning the war and betraying his co-conspirators, he would gain the independence of his domain, something he accepted. Thus, the rebellion was crushed, but not without a humiliating loss of territory on the part of the Khenomeric Empire.

Azan, meanwhile, enjoyed its prosperity. With the trade with the eastern seas well established, the azanese could enjoy a period of relative peace. There were some inner woes, but the strength of Azan managed to keep them under control. The first one was an attempt of secession by some rogue Nasr nobles, who were enthralled by a cult and sought to become independent from Azan. This attempt, known as the “Coup of Farok”, took place in 1.401, and it was successfully neutralized by the local authorities before it could even pose a threat. The satrapies loyal to Azan took wind of the situation and informed the azanese authorities, and together they managed to stop the plot. This helped the region keep its standing within the empire, making the coup look like the actions of some madmen. The heads of the cult were never discovered or identified, though, and many historians still wonder who they were or what became of them. The second great woe of Azan during that period was a great hurricane that ravaged the coast south of the Terusia Isthmus and the Pommel Mountains, all the way to the Yamantai Cape. This was catastrophic to the azanese navy, since most of the ships of the azanese fleet south of the Scabbard Range were docked in ports affected by the typhoon. The government of Nanakinor quickly ordered the reconstruction of the fleet in areas safer from the elements. In particular, the docks that were chosen to guard the azanese fleet south of the Scabbard Range were all near the Gulf of Nailing and the Huan Ho-Sei Sea. This made the city ports in the region grow quite a lot in weight, continuing with the increasing importance of the changrilese provinces within the empire.

The third one was the negotiations with Gilgemash about the control of the Onyx Strip. Since part of the strip connecting Azan with Nosso Lar divided the Kingdom of Gilgemash into two territories, Gilgemash began threatening to cut the connection using their fleet unless the territory was given back. Azan managed to negotiate giving the strip back in exchange for a free-movement deal, allowing azanese traders to cross gilgemashi territories freely in exchange for a fee. This was seen as a regrettable but necessary decision, since war with Gilgemash would be a very difficult affair due to the logistical challenges it would entail. Meanwhile, Gilgemash was glad to have avoided a war with Azan, since at the time, they were embroiled in a war against the Gökmavi. The gökmavi expansion to the east clashed with the interests of the gilgemashi to participate in the salt trade, expanding to the west. And while Gilgemash had fought other wars with singular gökmavi hordes and tribes, now the gökmavi were more unified and organized than ever, and were a much bigger threat than Gilgemash had initially imagined.  The initial advances against the Gökmavi were considerable, reaching all the way to the Salt Flats, but Gilgemash overextended greatly to achieve it, and was severely punished by the nomad raiders cutting their supply lines and forcing them to a hasty retreat back to Gilgemash. However, once back to the Gilgemash border, the nomads realized their tactics weren’t that effective against the gilgemashi fortifications, well defended and supplied. The war ended in a draw, with no side gaining anything more than what they initially had, and exhausting the resources of both.

However, all of these situations pale in comparisons to the crisis that would start in 1.660 ABE in the east. The Merfolk Empire was an oddity in the world, one of the four great empires, and by far the most stable of them all. While it paled in size or economic power with their neighbors, the lands of the Merfolk Empire had long ago been blessed by the god Uun, who had granted the population with peace and wealth. With little to toil against and enough resources to live comfortably, the people from the empire had dedicated their lives to build wonders and art, all in thanks to their benevolent deity. Trade with the other empires was plentiful, since the Merfolk Empire was a rock of stability in the world: no matter the chaos that would engulf the rest of the world, the Merfolk Empire was there to trade with and to seek refuge in. However, during the year 1.660 ABE, all contact with the Merfolk Empire ceased. All trade and movement of people from the empire ceased overnight, causing great concern in all eastern Giantstep. The people near the borders of the empire went to explore the lands, curious about what might have happened. To their utter horror, they found a land ravaged by chaos and curses, the previous inhabitants mutated and twisted into parodies of themselves, and all the wonders built in honor of Uun shattered, statues and paintings bleeding from their eyes. The few survivors who were still unaffected enough by the curses had their mind shattered, shouting to the heavens asking for an explanation for their woes, and begging everyone else to leave.

The horror stories that reached the rest of the world stunned everyone who heard them, not knowing what exactly had happened. The Khenomeric Empire, Azan and the Western Elven Empire organized a joined investigation to find out exactly what had happened, and if there was a risk of spread. After years of investigation, they found the extent of the decay and destruction that had befallen the Merfolk Empire: palaces of white marble and ivory sinking in a sea of filth and waste, libraries keeping esoteric knowledge and irreplaceable poetry used as kindle for the deathly cold, the people twisting into horrific forms, losing their mind and soul in the process, with sometimes not even death being a reprieve for the suffering… The records that reached the courts of the other nations and the lack of an apparent reason were making the world terrified.

Finally, after many years of investigation, a khenomeric exploratory party found in the depths of the ruined Merfolk Empire a monstrous creature, tumbling over its own weight and screaming in sorrow and pain. Tentacles of all shapes and sizes grew from every inch of its body, making it unable to move, its body swollen to disgusting proportions. However, unlike many of the creatures found in the area, this one was still capable of speech. It turned out that it was a priest of the Church of Uun, the patron god of the empire. While the creature attacked the party, both maddened by pain and seeking to die, it screamed that the fall of the empire was the fault of Uun. After the party came back to the Khenomeric Empire, this clue was used to investigate more closely, and sure enough, the remnants of the cult of Uun had been defiled and destroyed all throughout the land. It was when they entered the Great Temple of Uun, within the capital of the old Kingdom of Akuwamaden, when they found the message of Uun Himself. Written in dark gold, in liquid form despite the cold, a single word, staining the still preserved mural works could be seen:

“Bored”

The conclusion the many experts, wizards, historians and priests from all around the world, is that the god Uun, in a fit of boredom, had turned against His followers, cursing and twisting them for their own amusement. The moment that theory became the leading hypothesis, all throughout the world the cult of Uun was forbidden. Never again would a kingdom risk its soul to a creature that would selfishly turn on its devotees. Whatever temples, shrines, sanctuaries, icons, or prayer books of Uun outside of the Merfolk Empire were burned to cinders, and their ashes thrown into the depths of the sea, the heart of volcanoes or into the Nothing itself for good measure. The great empires of the world agreed to never occupy the now abandoned lands of the Merfolk Empire, to avoid the risk of its demise spreading to their lands.

Meanwhile, the fall of the Merfolk Empire began a worldwide crisis not seen since the Battle of Empires. Suddenly, all the commercial, intellectual, diplomatic and military weight of one of the biggest empires of the world disappeared overnight. Despite its relative isolationism, the Merfolk Empire was still one of the most influential nations of the world, and its sudden fall created chaos unseen until now. The Merfolk Navy was the main power keeping the eastern seas safe, and without it, a new age of piracy began, spreading all throughout the eastern seas and burning down many cities in the coast, using the ruins of the old Merfolk Empire as new hideouts for their operations. Many businesses that depended on the goods traded with the Merfolk Empire suddenly sank, without the needed products to continue their operations. This began a massive economic crisis in eastern Giantstep, reaching all the way to Azan. The Khenomeric Empire, already badly wounded by the wars during the previous decades, was hit particularly badly, and this economic downfall accelerated the crumbling of the old empire.

## Historical maps Part 10. Founding of the Witchelven Empire, 1.909 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 1.909 ABE.

The decades preceding the formation of the Witchelven Empire were of crushing economic crisis, at least where high trade was concerned. The fall of the Merfolk Empire, literally disappearing overnight, shot down a significant portion of the world’s trade, too fast to adapt quickly. In the west, this blow was important, but it really only affected the upper echelons of society. Since the distances involved were too great for the technology at the time, the trade between the west and the Merfolk was limited to high quality luxury goods, or magical products. This caused an important crisis in the biggest trade routes to the west, both through sea and land, but the stability and prosperity of both Azan and the Western Elven Empire managed to take the blow, with many cities of the west not noticing that much. The east, however, already immerse in a considerable turmoil due to the slow disintegration of the Khenomeric Empire, suffered tremendously. Both sides of the Khenomeric Empire had deep economic ties with the Merfolk, from luxury goods to more modest products like crafts or foodstuffs. The disappearance of the Merfolk let a hole that caused a lot of instability: many businesses and cities fell into ruin due to the lack of product to buy or markets to bring their products to sell. The uncertainty that many cities suffered made crime skyrocket, burdening the khenomeri authorities even more. This hit particularly hard the coastal cities of the east, much more dependent on trade.

There was also the problem if the power vacuum left in the region: the Merfolk Empire was the biggest naval power in the region, and the main force that kept order and guaranteed safe trade throughout the sea routes of the eastern waters. With the sudden loss of the Merfolk Navy, the task of patrolling the seas fell to the Khenomeric Empire, and while it had historically been a formidable land power, its navy had never been near the same strength. What was worse, with the disappearance of the Merfolk, their port cities (at least those that hadn’t been destroyed or overrun by monsters) had been abandoned, with hundreds of ships of the utmost quality left for the taking. The khenomeri authorities decided to sink as many vessels as possible from a distance, believing at the time that the curse of Uun would spread to them if they pilfered the remnants of the empire (something proven untrue with time). However, they were not fast enough to stop the waves of pirates seeking free pickings. Ruffians, villains, criminals and other scum, caring not for any potential curse, got their hands on invaluable amounts of treasure: the abandoned navy ships of the Merfolk. Hundreds of cutting-edge ships were put to work as raiders and as plunderers, and even if many ships ended up sinking due to the poor quality of the crew, enough of them survived to force the Khenomeric Navy to spread thin trying to protect the waters of the east.

This gave birth to what is now known as “the Golden Age of Piracy”. The Khenomeric Empire, already divided in two halves and with shrinking control of the coasts, and needing to prioritize its inner stability over protecting the seas, simply couldn’t effectively take charge and put a swift end to the pirates and raiders. Instead, it became a decades-long war, with the Khenomeric Empire launching futile campaigns against any warlord whose lair was identified, but even if one pirate king fell, many others would take his place. The pirates began also launching campaigns against each other, fighting to carve out their sea fiefdoms and hunting waters. This period of piracy would eventually subdue, but piracy stayed a problem in the waters of the east until many centuries later, with powers such as Nogar, Drunigzar, Elanxa or Avangar bringing back stable naval power.
The woes of the Khenomeric Empire did not stop there. The need to reinforce their naval power led to rising taxes, as well as an attempt to colonize the region of the Leng archipelago. The control of the islands would allow the khenomeric fleet to safeguard the local waters better, keeping the trade routes safe, plus save face from the perpetual loss of territory. While the project was technically sound, many people were fearful that the curse of Uun would befall to anyone who went there. Thus, the empire needed to invest a considerable amount of time and effort to colonize the islands, and during the years the empire ruled the archipelago, only a token force stayed in the territory, mostly navy personnel. In the year 1.801 ABE, a rebellion in the Northern Khenomeric Empire, protesting about the increased taxes to reinforce the khenomeric navy, began gaining momentum all throughout the NKE. For once, the regions didn’t fight for the controversy over wizard’s rights, but instead the region rose up in arms for the increased taxation.
The khenomeric armies had to help the northern khenomeric authorities to deal with the uprisings, which helped uprisings spread throughout the south as well, especially in the landlocked areas. Having to fight in two fronts to pacify the regions, they were forced to accept the deal of the Mataandura Haishü. The cowmen had secretly fed the flames of discontent in the nearby regions, trying to push for a rebellion, while at the same time dealing with the khenomeric authorities to legalize their independence peacefully. The government of Khoraqualumum, seeing the chance of ending the rebellions in the south of the empire in one fell swoop in exchange for a territory barely profitable in the first place, accepted the deal. The Mataandura Haishü helped then identify the rebel leaders pushing for the rebellion, and thus the crisis in the south was done by 1.802 ABE, at the cost of the loss of the Cowmen Grasslands. The few human populations who had settled there were allowed to stay, but most went back to the empire or to other regions in peace.

To the west, in the underground lands of the Seguerials, the constant wars between the hives reached a peak with the rise of the Alegnawiga hive to the most powerful place in the underground. The Alegnawigan Dominion became the most powerful hive that ever existed in the Seguerial Hordes, and their underground empire spread for a massive area. The power of the alegnawigans is difficult to calculate by surface dwellers, since the true depths of the dominion, and all the resources from the underground, are not really knowable. Many argue that the Alegnawigan Dominion even managed to extend to territories under control of the Gökmavi and the Khenomeri, neither of them truly knowing they had an empire beneath their feet. However, as it was an underground empire, the rest of the world pretty much ignored its existence, with only the trade through the Tiyali Brum River, selling underground resources as well as alchemical creations, to show for it. The surface, meanwhile, saw many different towns pop up, functioning as hubs for trade with the underground, ruled independently from the empire underneath.

In the west, the lands of the Hedge began a period of slight turmoil. The peaceful region had been, for a long time, a point of contention between Azan and the Western Elven Empire. While neither power wanted to forcefully increase their influence in the region, wanting to avoid a needless conflict, there was quite a lot pf politicking to try and bring the many communities from the Hedge to their side. This situation was shared with the island of Wanaidheain, which was territory under fey influence, but now was under the azanese sphere. This political competition actually made the two regions quite profitable and stable, since the race to gain influence there ended up showering their populations in trade and political boons. This influenced the creation of a series of trade routes from the Hedge to the north of Scimitarian, backed by artisan guilds from Hereby, Thereby and Whereby. During the 17th Century ABE, these migrations were particularly active, which resulted in the creation of many colonies of Hobbits, Gnomes, and Brownies in Wanaidheain, as well as in the Calcabrian Mountains.

In the Western Elven Empire, many of the most powerful faerie lords, and with the passage of time, they slowly lost interest in the rule of their empire. While the Western Elven Empire was a more fractioned power than a centralized state, the authority of the wise and powerful lords was essential to keep the empire together. However, many of these began thinking that the ruling of the empire was counter to nature, binding the world to mortal laws and rules instead of letting it flourish. Other faerie lords also tired about the administration work needed, especially after the economic crisis caused by the fall of the Merfolk. This meant that the Western Elven Empire began fracturing without strong leadership. The tensions between the many fey principalities, human provinces and dwarven kingdoms that formed the Western Elven Empire began drifting from each other, without a cohesive vision of what the empire should be. Many of these began approaching Azan as a way to increase their influence, something that wouldn’t have been possible if the watchful eyes of the faerie lords were still around. Azan saw this with caution, since they did not want to look like they were encroaching upon fey territory. Many azanese did not want a war to start, since a conflict with the Western Elven Empire would mean doubling down on the navy, something especially expensive since their naval power had not yet recovered their full strength after the typhoons. Also, while not in critical condition, the economic crisis caused by the fall of the Merfolk Empire was still felt in many areas, and many thought a war would worsen this situation. On the other hand, rejecting the offers of the human lords could be seen as weakness, or at least irritate the humans within Scimitarian, something Azan had worked hard to avoid. Thus, slowly, Azan began encroaching into Scimitarian lands, and the more they advance, they more they saw the response from the fey lords was one of indifference.

The lack of government greatly infuriated many of the constituent territories of the Western Elven Empire. In particular, the many underground dwarven kingdoms became fed up with the faerie lords, seeing them as irresponsible leaders that were not taking their duties of government seriously. What’s more, the underground lifestyle of the dwarves allowed them to begin sensing something was amiss. Dwarven prospectors began sensing instabilities in many areas, not explainable by mere volcanic activity. Dwarven oracles also began sensing premonitions about an impending doom, visions of the Scimitarian continent cracking and bursting with black fire. The dwarven kings tried to warn the faerie lords, but the fey never took dwarven magic seriously, considering it inferior to their own. After many years of affronts and indifference, the dwarven kingdoms began approaching Azan, seeing it as the only alternative that could protect Scimitarian from the unknown danger they were sensing. And while Azan didn’t really trust the dwarven prediction either, they saw the change of allegiance of the dwarves as a great way to inject some life into the azanese economy. Access to the underground riches of Scimitarian would help reactivate the economy after the fall of the Merfolk Empire, and thus they began investing in them. However, outright annexing them would cause a war, even with the growing apathy of the faerie lords, so the dwarven kingdoms continued technically being part of the Western Elven Empire. Slowly, subtly, they began ignoring more and more fey law and began reducing the taxes paid to the WEE, instead going to Azan. In exchange, Azan promised military help in case the threat predicted could be combated by force of arms. Azan also sent many dwarves from Azan to reinforce the undergrounds, mostly expecting the calamity predicted by the oracles to be of geological nature.

Meanwhile, in the lands of the Bone Lakes, changes were brewing that would break the stability of the west completely. The Bone Lakes had always been a border land, seen by Azan as not worth the expansion there, due to the violence of the local population. The Bone Lakes concentrated many small nations of witchelven, the twisted branch of the elves. A race with unknown origins, the witchelven had been a thorn on the side of the azanese authorities in the border, with frequent raids to the trade routes and frontier farmlands. The azanese troops, from time to time, had launched campaigns of punishment against the witchelven lands to dissuade them from attacking, to no avail. However, these attempts were not that serious due to the fact that the witchelven were a bigger threat to themselves than to Azan. The dark culture of the witchelven was highly self-destructive, glorifying violence and hedonism in all forms, and it kept the different witchelven nations against each other, raiding one another in search of thrills and slaves. However, around the year 1.853 ABE, the witchelven began congregating around the Bone Lakes. The reason for this was the advent of Morwenna, Prophet of the Succubus Queen. This mysterious figure began doing something that had not been ever before, and began uniting the different nations of witchelven. Many in Azan saw this with interest, thinking this process of unification would pacify the unruly witchelven of the borders. But those authorities in the frontiers knew that this was not what was happening: the faith of the witchelven was not becoming more peaceful, on the contrary. The witchelvens’ beliefs became darker and more grim, with many rituals of sacrifice, torture and humiliation of the weak appeared day by day. All while unifying the land under the rulership of Morwenna. The pleas for action by the border troops were ignored in Nanakinor, having grown overconfident on their capacity of dealing with the threat.

## Historical maps Part 11. Start of the Drow Uprisings in Scimitarian, 1.935 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 1.935 ABE.

The 20th Century ABE was witness to upheaval not seen since the Battle of Empires. The sudden and cataclysmic events that went down during this period crippled the three great empires of the time, heavily damaging the Azanese Empire and the Khenomeric Empire, and ripping the Western Elven Empire apart, after years of mismanagement. It is difficult to quantify the damages the world suffered throughout the century, but most would agree that the bulk of the damage happened in the west.

After the founding of the Witchelven Empire in 1.909 ABE, the territories of the young nation grew exponentially. By converting all witchelven nations and tribes to her version of the witchelven faith, her forces swelled in size, expanding throughout many lands in Central Giantstep. Under both her magnetic oratory and the threat of torturous death, the Prophet of the Succubus Queen became the most powerful person in the entire region. Under her power, the witchelven began building great cities from barren solid rock, and began perfecting their magic to levels never seen in witchelven society before. Still, the growth of the empire could not go on by itself: the Succubus Queen demanded proper sacrifices to continue offering her boons, as well as slaves to fuel the growth of the empire. Many human tribes and cities began suffering raids at a never before seen rate, threatening to exterminate the human population in the area. The slaves were put to work in the fields, in the construction of the cities and temples and on the ritual fields, where they would later be tortured and sacrificed.

By 1.912, Morwenna’s armies were ready to take on Azan, starting encroaching into azanese territory. The fortresses and strongholds at the border, mostly dedicated to watch over for slaver raids, were not enough to stop the witchelven forces, and were quickly overrun. The situation worsened by the many refugees trying to run away from the witchelven, collapsing the supplies of many border towns and causing many tensions and fights wherever they went. Azan was used to repelling the witchelven raids, but the numbers and the organization they were showing now worried many in the army. The crown was not particularly worried, as even with the economic crisis and the many centuries of mostly peace, Azan was by far the biggest military power in the world. The upstart witchelven, no matter how numerous and organized they were, could not really prevail against the azanese legions. However, the long times of peace had left the legions understrength and undertrained. The azanese armies were slower than the witchelven forces, which simply raided every town and city they could find, steal whatever and whoever they could, and kill and burn whatever they couldn’t, and just keep going. Seeing as chasing down the witchelven was seen as pointless, the crown ordered an assault to the witchelven capital, a decapitating strike that may solve the problem from its roots. Three legions of Azan marched deep within the empire, trying to find the throne of witchelven leader, all the while being harassed by the witchelven. The first true battle of the First Witchelven War was the Battle of the Western Bone Lakes, where the azanese legions besieged the city of Meren, where they believed Morwenna resided.

The battle resulted in an azanese victory, claiming the city and freeing all the slaves, but the fight and later siege had taken too much time, and the legions’ supply chain had been severely weakened by raids. What was worse, Morwenna had left the city before the azanese forces arrived, and now found herself in a nearby city. Realizing what her plan was, eroding the azanese legions through a series of battles that led nowhere, the magisters ordered to turn back home, to protect the azanese borders. While the battle proved to be a victory, and a shot of morale for the Azanese populous, the higher echelons knew that the war was looking like a long and bloody affair.

However, the front was too wide, and the witchelven advancing too quickly for the azanese forces to launch a straight up fight. The crown decided that Azan needed to compensate for this with more men, and as such, the emperor ordered a general conscription order. Massive levies bloated the azanese army, which now had enough numbers to slow down the witchelven. However, these levies were not popular, especially in the areas furthest from the border, with many still seeing Azan as a power that could beat the witchelven with little effort. Plus, the efforts of the war meant that taxes were risen considerably, hitting the economy hard. In particular, the azanese territories in Scimitarian and Wanaidheain were outraged. They were not technically part of Azan, merely vassal states, but many of them were forced to not only increase their tribute and offer their young men for their effort, but also receive the refugees and rescued slaves, which caused tensions in the territories. This created a breach of trust between Azan and its vassals, something that would prove critical later down the line.

Meanwhile, the Witchelven were also expanding to the east. While the lands of the Snoloths were harsh enough that pretty much defended themselves, and the lands near the Cursed Battlefield were still too far, the witchelven advance towards the Urgun Plateau. Sensing a mortal threat, the city-states of the Urgun Plateau allied themselves with the Gökmavi, in an effort to push back the fiends. The Gökmavi, on their part, accepted to defend the Urgun cities to avoid having to fight on their own territory. The war between these two groups became one of hit and run tactics, with both sides being master skirmishers. However, this war proved a disaster for the Urgun cities, many of which burned down and destroyed utterly.

In the lands of the Hedge, a mix between panic and indignation began spreading around. The witchelven threat was seen as something dangerous, especially after Azan couldn’t really end it straightaway, and the lack of care of many faerie lords meant that the forces loyal to the Western Elven Empire in Giantstep were less than prepared. Other than a few voluntary forces, especially from the human population, the lands of the Hedge were quite vulnerable, and many felt it. Many groups accelerated their migration to Wanaidheain and the Calcabrian Mountains, something that would have deep consequences later down the line. This also began breaking the bonds of trust in the faerie lords, seeing their passivity in turbulent times as a bad omen.

In the east, while the lands were safe from the growing witchelven by the harsh terrain of Central Giantstep, the Khenomeric Empire was having its own problems. Around 1.930, another wave of gnolls exploded in the south and southwest of the empire, overrunning local authorities and needing to mobilize the army to save the countryside from the feral gnolls. This, alongside a series of epidemics, required a series of tax increases to solve, something badly received. It was particularly poorly received in the province of Nogar. Nogar had grown in power and influence in the last couple of centuries, becoming the main point of contact between the Northern Khenomeric Empire and the mainland. It also held most of the navy, which had grown considerably to deal with the pirate threat. This economic and political growth, however, did not reflect the situation of the nogarese nobility, who felt left out of the prosperity of their own lands. Worse still, the increased taxes were particularly high in Nogar, since it was one of the most prosperous territories of the empire. This led to a revolt by the nogarese house of Doroseck, who demanded the end of the increased taxation and the recovery many privileges the nogarese nobility had lost at the hands of the khenomeric administration. While the rebellion itself was of a small scale, a series of surprising victories led the nogarese nobility to ally themselves to the Doroseck House, eventually claiming full independence from the Khenomeric Empire.

The independence of Nogar was a huge blow to the empire. The loss of one of the most important provinces was bad enough, but the loss of the remaining ports in the South West Sea meant that trade and communications between the two halves of the empire were severely disrupted. Nogar also kept many warships as war prizes, and soon enough they became the main force keeping the seas safe from pirates. The immediate reaction to this was the loss of the colonies in the Leng Archipelago, which were simply unsustainable without nearby ports. The deeper implications of the loss of Nogar was the loss of control over the territories of the Northern Khenomeric Empire. This would take years to fully show its effects, since at this time, the NKE was too busy with their usual fights about the rights of wizards.

The year 1.935 ABE saw another of the great cataclysms of the 20th Century. The lands of Scimitarian had been growing more and more unstable, mostly due to the apathy of the faerie lords and growing dissidence within the Western Elven Empire. While the fey empire had survived the economic crisis better than most, since the fall of the Merfolk Empire the nation had crumbled slowly but consistently. Historians still argue how a powerful empire like the Western Elven Empire could lose its footing in relatively little time, and during mostly peaceful times. However, this division planted the seeds of discord and rebellion in one of the component members of the empire: the drow. Mostly underground dwellers, the drow had been a numerous, yet relatively minor part of the Western Elven Empire. They mostly lived underground, deep in the volcanic caverns of Central Scimitarian, always on the move to find areas safe from magma and the seismic activity. They had little power and prestige, and had to live very dangerous lives, either as foot soldiers, scouts or explorers of the depths, mostly working for the dwarven kingdoms. Their situation had worsened, and their demands for a bigger say in the politics of the empire had been ignored outright by the faerie lords.

With the increasing detachment of the faerie lords, the drow leaders saw this as a chance, pushing for more and more independence of their domains. However, instead of getting the political power they sought after, they instead fell into the sphere of influence of the dwarven kingdoms. What little freedoms their lands held were smothered by the dwarven administrations, much more organized than most fey holdings. The growing paranoia of the dwarven, mostly due to the prophecies their seers had been getting, made them reinforce their halls and kingdoms, using the drow to build fortresses and strongholds underground, as well as walls of orichalcum to protect their cities from magma flows. The rate of work the drow were put under was immense, and many drows rose in protests, but unorganized and with no real help from the remains of the empire, they were left to rot at the depths of Scimitarian. Not even the petitions of help to the azanese court worked, since Azan was in a very profitable partnership with the dwarven kingdoms, as well as a lot of influence from the dwarven in Azan.

This devolved into a lot of infighting, with the leadership of the different drow nations constantly fighting one another for whatever scrap of power they could get. And yet, at the beginning of the 20th Century ABE, a figure would appear to change the situation entirely. Shellica Owign, known in Azan as Celia “the Grim”, was the heiress of a minor drow nation, near the coast of Giantstep, in what nowadays is part of the Terusia Isthmus. A very skilled politician, she was disgusted by the weakness she saw on her people, in both Scimitarian and Giantstep. She also greatly distrusted the faerie lords, seeing them as leeches that had sucked all vitality to the empire and now left it dry and empty. She swore to reconstruct the Western Elven Empire, putting the drow in their rightful place as rulers and expelling once and for all the influence of the faerie lords from the empire. However, she knew full well that, at their current state, the drow had not chance to gain any significant victory against Azan and the dwarven empire. Using her connections and a great deal of political skill, she managed to convince the different drow nations to partake in a great conspiracy against the dwarven kingdoms. The details of this plot are not well known, but we do know that the plans and goals of Celia spread out throughout the drow nobility, and soon enough she had more than enough support in both continents to begin her schemes (and enough support to dispose silently of all her opponents).

Soon, the dwarves began seeing that the usually squabbling drow were working more obediently now, protesting less and less against the dwarven abuses. Feeling confident but still worried about the prophecy, the dwarves lowered their guard, and decreased the watch over the drow. Many dwarves, as well as human and fey, even began accepting drow as domestic personnel, something that became a sign of prestige between the nobility. In Azan, the number of drow living in human cities began to grow as well, mostly in sanitation and domestic work. What was more, the drow had discovered a great vein of gold and aether deep inside one of the deepest caverns of Scimitarian, near an active volcano, and the dwarves soon began arguing for which hold could claim ownership of this great prize, taking their watchful eyes off the drow. This sensation of safety blinded the dwarven kingdoms, who, at the recommendation of their drow serfs, organized a great celebration to their gods by the end of the year. At the same time in Azan, a series of attacks at the border forced a particularly important movement of troops, with the threat to the border cities being quite real. And it would be during these celebrations, when all dwarves were busy drinking and eating, that the trap would sprung, and the first of the many Drow Uprisings would take place.

The drow were planning for rebellion, but knew that a direct confrontation against the dwarves and their azanese allies would not guarantee victory. Thus, Celia decided to use subterfuge. She maneuvered her trusted personnel into the protection and guarding of the dwarven fortresses either already built or still in construction, guaranteeing a considerable presence of drow there. Armed with anything they could hide in plain sight, they acted as domestic personnel in every place they could be of use, especially in noble households. In the streets and the underway roads, many gangs of drow began hiding, waiting for a signal to strike. There are even rumors that Celia even managed to enter in contact with the witchelven, entering a pact to coincide the rebellion with a witchelven attack to the border.

At the new year celebrations, many dwarves, humans and fey began puking blood and bile, the water and food they were drinking having been poisoned. When chaos and confusion began spreading in the festivities, a magical signal was given, and everywhere at once, the drow jumped to take down the poisoned dwarves, fey and human. In a couple of hours, the crème of the crop of the Western Elven Empire and the dwarven kingdoms were dead, their throats slit and their bodies impaled on the streets. Outside, the chaos ensued, with tens of thousands of drow appearing from the shadows and taking down thousands of soldiers and civilians alike. This happened all throughout central and southern Scimitarian, the underground suddenly becoming a bloodbath. The fey and dwarven armies were taken completely by surprise, and in many cases they had been surrounded and backstabbed as well, and were in no position to counter the efforts of the drow. After that, they let chaos and confusion do the rest. By dawn, the Western Elven Empire in Scimitarian had been practically annihilated, with the drow launching an ultimatum: submit to the Shellica Owign and the new Drow Empire (later renamed the Second Elven Empire) or die.

In Azan, however, the situation was not as positive. The azanese nobility was more prepared than she expected, and while the drow managed to take down a couple of important politicians, nobles and priests, the rebellion was stopped right in its tracks. The rebellion had happened too soon, and there were not enough drow infiltrated in high society to represent a serious threat to azanese rule. What was worse, the state of war and the extra levies meant that the cities were not as poorly defended as she hoped. The attack caused a great deal of outrage, and the azan crown immediately ordered a purge of all drow involved in the uprising, with an order to capture Celia alive to face trial and execution. And while many historians praise Celia as a great stateswoman and schemer, her knowledge of the battlefield was not as great. Seeing that her goals in Azan had failed, Celia took as many of her men as she could and sailed to Scimitarian in stolen azanese ships. Many drow also took to the sea, fearing the retribution of the azanese, moving to Scimitarian and Wanaidheain, and this state of confusion allowed Celia to escape.The azanese emperor immediately declared war upon Celia and her strongholds in Scimitarian, beginning the First Azanese-Drow War.

## Historical maps Part 12. Breaking of the Second Elven Empire, 1.957 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 1.957 ABE.

By the dawn of the first day of 1.935 ABE, a good part of the world as was known was in flames. The Drow Uprisings had succeeded in the majority of areas of the Western Elven Empire, effectively deleting the ancient empire overnight. The dwarven kingdoms had prepared for decades for an eventuality such as this, but betrayed, their fortifications infiltrated by the enemy and with most of their leadership poisoned, they were on the back foot from the beginning. Still, the dwarves were the only group within Scimitarian that put up a fight from the start, but they realized that their situation was grim and asked their azanese allies for help. It would later turned out that they did not need to ask, since Azanese forces were on their way before the dwarven messengers arrived to Giantstep. After the failure of the drow uprisings in Giantstep, thousands of drow had tried to run away from azanese authorities, the first days after the events being highly chaotic, something taken advantage by the witchelven. Between the hundreds of ships that sailed to the west was Celia “the Grim”, seeking refuge between her scimitarian followers, with the azanese navy following her.

Her arrival to Scimitarian caused a wave of public enthusiasm between the drow, and many came to join her forces at the news of her arrival. However, many drow nobles were less happy to see Celia arriving at Scimitarian. True, she had been the one to orchestrate the entire movement, but all the sweat and blood spilt in Scimitarian had been done by the scimitarian drow, and she had failed to achieve her goals in Azan, having to run away to save her life. Many argue that the only reason she was not immediately ousted from power was due to the popularity of her character. She appeared to the masses as the lost descendent of the mythical Chenzira Chalia, the mythical drow matriarch back in the long lost past of drow history. This granted her quite a lot of manpower, turning her forces into the biggest drow army in Scimitarian. Still, she needed to reassure her power and status in the uprising before trying to get the nobles into line. The first task she needed to accomplish was to take down the azanese forces arriving from the sea and the north. Azan had sent a considerable contingent to Scimitarian, both to capture the drow leader Celia and to help the azanese allies and vassals in the continent. However, Azanese forces were deeply enmeshed against the witchelven in the eastern provinces, and as such, the relief force was considerably smaller than what it could have been otherwise. Still, at this point in time, the drow was not yet used to fight open battles against a professional enemy, and that combined with the azanese domination of the seas, there was a very real possibility of azan taking down the drow forces one by one.

Needing to find reinforcements, Celia moved to the west, trying to force the azanese forces to chase them. Azanese forces began moving towards Celia’s forces, liberating many human, fey and dwarven settlements they found. And while this motivated the azanese forces, and allowed them some needed relief and resupply, it also allowed the drow forces to converge at the west side of the Teergua River. The azanese armies managed to establish dominance in the eastern side of the river and began advancing quickly towards the bulk of Celia’s forces. However, the azanese general at the time did not take into account the possibility of an attack from underground as seriously as he should have, and led the rear of his armies somewhat unprotected. While tangled against the drow forces and with many units still crossing the river, the drow came from hidden burrows and tunnels, dismantling the supply lines and dividing the army in two. Despite the drow reinforcements being lesser in number than the azanese troops, the fey and dwarven auxiliaries at the back folded quickly, and the mostly green troops entered in a state of panic, quickly clustering at the shores of the river. In disarray and without a chance to escape, they became easy prey to the ambushers, and many azanese soldiers drowned in the river. At the other side of the river, panic began spreading as well, and with growing pressure at the front and no way to retreat to the other side of the river, the azanese general surrendered to Celia.

The Battle of the Teergua River was a decisive blow to the azanese war effort. The bulk of the azanese troops who had sailed to Scimitarian had been captured, and would not be liberated until the end of the war. This allowed Celia the political prestige with the drow nobility that she needed, and her popularity with the people skyrocketed. Taking advantage of this, in 1.936 ABE she officially declared the founding of the Second Elven Empire (known by her enemies as the Drow Empire), crowning herself as Celia II. This led the remaining drow nobles to fall in line to her war efforts, increasing the hold the drow were gaining over the continent. On the other hand, Azan was horrified at the loss. They desperately needed manpower to the east, and losing the main forces sent to aid the scimitarian vassals was something that took a toll on the azanese army. Sensing that continuing the fight in Scimitarian would led to nothing but a slow bleed, the azanese emperor ordered a withdrawal from the continent. All loyal forces in Scimitarian were to take a ship and come to Wanaidheain or to Giantstep to regroup. This caused plenty of chaos in the human and dwarven settlements in Scimitarian, who began falling quickly to Celia’s forces. By 1.957 ABE, the drow had subdued the last independent dwarven kingdoms, beginning to advance north and east. In the Battle of the Calcabrian Fields, Celia’s forces managed to beat the azanese remnants in Calcabria. It is said that this battle was when Celia II managed to capture the legendary Firebrand sword from the hands of Pleusides Faber, governor of the region and the last member of the azanese army of any importance in Scimitarian. The azanese strategy change to one of containment, since the drow navy was poorly manned and trained, and the azanese had burned many ships that might have fallen to the enemy before leaving shores. Nevertheless, in 1.958 ABE a drow fleet managed to slip from the azanese grip and landed in Wanaidheain. Unprotected as it was, it fell to the drow in less than a year, giving a massive blow to Azan, which now had the drow much closer to its own borders, though it would prove very difficult to maintain.

To the east, the situation was ever grimmer. The witchelven were accelerating their advance, learning the weaknesses of the azanese and using them to their fullest: they would actively raid the countryside to starve the cities until hunger and starvation would weaken their population significantly. Once this happened, a quick attack would try to force their way into the city. After a couple of attempts, always moving fast so as to not enter into a direct fight with the azanese army, they would enter into the cities and take prisoners of all men. They would then sacrifice them to their wicked gods, burning down the cities and leaving the women and children to run away further into the empire. This would guarantee the tales of fear and brutality to spread further throughout the empire, as well as keeping as many resources into maintaining refugees as possible. If applied correctly, this allowed increasingly faster results, especially in those areas where azanese cavalry was not available in higher numbers. And every time the azanese went deep into witchelven territory, the few victories they achieved in the field weren’t enough to justify the slow grind caused by guerrilla and enemy action. After the Battle of the Teergua River in Scimitarian, the focus of Azan moved once again to the east, preparing a massive push to try to capture or kill Morwenna, hoping to end a war that was ruining the empire to levels never before seen.

After many years of fight, the azanese forces managed to apparently surround Morwenna in the Broken Horn Fortress, a massive dwarven fortress captured by the witchelven, and now used as a logistic center. The emperor sent three entire legions to end the war once and for all. The siege would last for more than a year, and during all this time, they caused more witchelven losses than the previous years combined, many witchelven troops trying to break the siege from the outside. This encouraged the azanese commanders, who saw this battle as a way to bleed the witchelven forces white, for once stuck on a single battlefield instead of having to chase them down up and down the continent. However, this apparent positive outcome made the azanese commanders blind to the heavy losses their forces were taking, and with growing rainstorms turning the nearby lands into a sea of mud. Disease began plaguing the soldiers, debilitating their push considerably. Still, during the last push to breach the fortress, Morwenna’s plan went into effect: using the sacrifices accumulated for years and the death all around her, she started a ritual that would thin the veil of reality around the fortress, invoking the first legion of succubi that Giantstep ever saw. Not expecting this, and with little experience into taking down this foes, the azanese wizards responded ineffectively late to the wave of succubi and witchelven pouring through. Ignoring the muddy terrain and the heavy rain, they were swarmed while trying to run, the azanese resolved having evaporated due to the sheer fear of this new enemy. Thousands fell in the swamps at the hands of the succubi and the witchelven raiders. Even when the energies dissipated and the succubi evaporated, the rout could not be stopped, with the azanese remnants surrounded, captured and sacrificed in honor of the Succubus Queen.

The defeat of Broken Horn Fortress was the single biggest defeat in Azanese history. From the three legions that had started the siege, only two hundred soldiers had been able to escape the battle alive. This massive loss, as well as the rituals to summon succubi meant that azanese losses began speeding up fast. Many cities were burned down, and tens of thousands were captured and sent to the heart of the Witchelven Empire. The azanese emperor declared a state of emergency: the current levies weren’t enough to stop the witchelven. All men of fighting age had to be recruited into the army, trying to fill the gap left in Broken Horn. The number of cavalry units grew so fast that there were whispers that some in court began to worry Azan was going to run out of horses. The economy was sinking at an alarming rate, with the azanese treasury running the risk of ending up empty if the war continued like that. The rate of taxation was ruinous, and many areas began threatening with secession if everything continued, and only the threat of the witchelven kept many under control.

Fortunately, a series of events to the west would allow Azan to recover their initiative in the war. The Second Elven Empire was showing signs of having grown too big, too fast. While its armies had evolved into a terrifying force, its ruling bodies were not particularly effective. With laws and administrative bodies not accepted between all drow, much less all vassals from other species, the infighting began ramping up. And while the order was well established during the rule of Celia II, in 1.948 ABE, Celia II was murdered during a public show. She was shot in the heart with an enchanted arrow, launched from an unknown position. To this day, nobody knows who ordered the hit or why, but the death of the drow leader sent shockwaves throughout the empire. The crown was inherited by a series of weak emperors, all while the drow generals and nobles gained more and more power for themselves. With this, the war strategy became more and more erratic, with the most notable incident being the abandonment of the troops in Wanaidheain. Isolated at the other side of the sea and without reinforcements, the drow troops were slowly pushed back by guerrilla forces, with a growing weight of rogue wizards. By 1.950 ABE, the drow troops left Wanaidheain to its fate. The same thing happened to the human lands to the north, where many human lords had resisted the drow and were pushing back the drow to the south. Fights began breaking up between drow nobles, and it quickly became obvious that the empire was crumbling. To avoid the fall of the drow and to keep as many gains as possible, after the murder of the seventh emperor, the drow nobility reunited and decided to officially dissolve the empire. In 1.957 ABE, the Second Elven Empire was officially done. At the same time, the drow nobles organized a pact with Azan to allow them to focus on stabilizing their domains.

At the end of 1.957 ABE, the Treaty of Terusia between Azan and the Drow Confederacy was signed, with Azan accepting the existence of the Drow Confederacy and recognizing their territorial losses in Scimitarian in exchange for peace. While this was a deal that highly benefited the Drow Confederacy, the simple fact was that Azan needed to focus all their efforts to the east desperately, and thus had no choice but to accept this deal.

In the other side of Giantstep, things were only slightly better. For many decades, the decaying Khenomeric Empire had struggled to keep its northern half under control, inexorably losing territory. However, after the independence of Nogar, the lack of direct ports between the two halves left a massive weakpoint in khenomeric politics. At first, this didn’t affect the north that much, since they were busy dealing with their usual debates about the rights of the wizards. However, the growing tensions between north and south and the lack of effective power from Khoraqualumum meant that the number of people arguing for independence grew faster and faster. In 1.940 ABE, the Great Rebellion took place after a series of cases of corruption from Khoraqualumum representatives in the north were discovered. The lack of response made the protests grow and grow, which finally ended with a formal declaration of independence. The Khenomeric Empire, exhausted by centuries of dealing with their northern territories, and focused on keeping their own lands in one piece, quietly accepted the declaration, meaning that the Northern Khenomeric Empire became its own state, even if, in the end, didn’t last long.

## Historical maps Part 13. Start of the Azanese Civil War, 2.027 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.027 ABE.

By the year 1.957 ABE, the Treaty of Terusia guaranteed the much needed peace to the east for Azan, allowing them to pursue their war with the witchelven free of threats from the west. This, alongside a series of military reforms, saw the nation finally gaining some ground against the witchelven. Decades of war had hardened the resolve of the nation, and tens of thousands of refugees were conscripted, hungry for vengeance against the witchelven that butchered their friends and family. The azanese army, having become lethargic before the war, had become an experienced fighting force once again, at the expense of many lives. Using techniques similar to the Gökmavi, the azanese army began training mounted units capable of quick responses. Using hit and run attacks, the azanese armies baited the witchelven armies to pursue, wherein the heavy troops would surround the witchelven, gaining ground and blocking the retreat of the witchelven. This was a slow tactic, since the witchelven were a difficult foe to catch, but slowly but surely the azanese armies began gaining ground. This strategy was also helped by the fact that decades of war had left the witchelven short of manpower. Despite their deprave form of life and high birth rate, the truth was that the witchelven nobles did not particularly care for the lives of their soldiers. They would have no problem sacrificing them to the enemy if it allow them to obtain a victory through attrition, or to escape a trap. And while the numbers of the witchelven were high at first, carelessness for the lives of their soldiers made them take more losses that they could replenish. Combined with the beginnings of fights between nobles (which ended with Morwenna ordering the execution of some of her generals), and the war began turning in Azan’s favor.

However, this strategy meant a slow grind for Azan, instead of the decisive victory the population desperately needed. After decades of war in two different continents, the population was exhausted, with all families having lost at least a son to the war. The economy was in ruins, and many fields were abandoned due to the lack of manpower, becoming recovered by nature. Many cities laid in ruins, burned and pillaged by the witchelven. Other had turned from beautiful centers of arts and sciences to grim fortresses of rock and stone. The slums of all cities of the empire were filled with beggars, cripples and orphans of war. Crime skyrocketed, and law became brutal and strict to account for that. The armies were exhausted, and only the constant arrival of new recruits stopped a collapse of the front. Needless to say, this situation was extraordinarily hated by all subjects of the crown, and this slowly grew dissatisfaction. Many areas felt that they were paying a disproportionate price for the defense of the empire, while others believed that the accolades of war were falling on the wrong people, leaving the more deserved heroes dead and unsung. Many are simply tired and need to let time heal the many wounds, and feel the long fights have nothing to do with themselves. And a great amount of this frustration fell upon the azanese emperor.

The figure of the azanese emperor had been a figure of awe and adoration for centuries. Continuing the duty of the legendary hero Azan, and ruling a massive extension of the world, from west to east, he had been adored by the populous, with the different dynasties maintaining the magnificence of the empire, not only defeating the other great empires of the world, but also bringing civilization and prosperity to all lands of the empire. However, this image was only for the common folk. The nobility, the high ranking officials and the general elites of the empire do not share this vision, knowing the more human flaws the emperors and their families can hide to the rest of the populi. And for the entirety of the 20th Century, a lot of discontent had been growing wit the azanese emperors. The lack of readiness for a war, with the armies being untrained and unprepared, had been bad enough, but ignoring the warnings of the troops at the borders had allowed a potentially easy to solve problem to fester into an existential threat. Not only that, but the investments on Scimitarian, many of which had been opposed by most of the nobility, had ended up in ruins after the drow uprisings. Not only the emperor had failed to take down Celia and avenge the dead nobles during the drow uprisings, they had managed to turn the tables and expel Azan from Scimitarian and Wanaidheain, having to accept a costly treaty favorably to the drow. And most damning of all, many saw the emperor’s leadership during the war against the witchelven as incompetent, having allowed the witchelven to drag Azan to a decades long war against an enemy that previously limited themselves to raiding the borderlands. While noble borders, those more affected by the witchelven, weren’t particularly threatening, the depth to which the witchelven got into the empire meant that even high nobility got their power and property threatened.

In particular, the provinces of the Changrila region were the ones that showed the highest amount of protest against the crown. The lands of Changrila had been traditionally the most densely populated in all the empire, with the great Hiuan Tsi River feeding millions of people, thanks to the massive crop yields in the area. It had also grown to be a center of craftsmanship and trade, essential to the growing weight of trade with the east. This allowed them to be instrumental to the azanese economy, with the city of Fenqui rivalling Nanakinor in power and prestige. However, the southern part of the empire had been suffering a progressive loss of power at the hands of the imperial administration. Since the rise of the 6th Dynasty, the local powers and privileges had begun to concentrate in the capital, canalizing a lot of the benefits of that to the north at the cost of the south. The attempts of centralization weren’t limited to law and administration: things such as language and culture were also used to homogenize the empire. This generated quite a lot of dissatisfaction within the region, and was countered by a push to distinguish changrilese culture from the mainline azanese one. And while the reaction in Nanakinor was one of indifference to this, they failed to see the frustration this reaction was proving.

The situation didn’t improve over time. The increasing weight of the changrilese economy in the overall economy was growing, yet their privileges and local laws and government bodies weren’t respected by the capital. The Southern Rebellion that managed to establish the 7th dynasty did not change the balance of power. Even when Changrila had to take on the task of the repairing and rebuilding of most of the azanese fleet by Changrila throughout the 15th century ABE, they did not see the admiralties positions in changrilese hands until much later. This naturally caused quite a lot of tensions between the changrilese nobility, seeing their chances of advancement cut short over and over. However, while the nobility was growing frustrated by the behavior of the imperial administration, the common folk still saw the emperor as a figure of awe. This began changing with the war against the witchelven. From very early on, the witchelven began threatening the lands near the Hiuan Tsi River and the Handprint Mountains, filled to the brim with agricultural towns and small cities. The changrilese dedicated enormous efforts to push back the witchelven, suffering tremendous losses both in battle and during raids to the civilian populations. The population of Changrila pushed back hard against the witchelven at any chance they had, beginning the construction of the Great Wall of Changrila after the Treaty of Terusia allowed them to focus their troops to the east. Many troops died defending the walls during their construction, and it is said that the dead were so plentiful that the dead were used as mortar. However, throughout the war, more and more men were moved to the north, with the argument that defending the capital was essential to the war effort. Thus, the Great Wall project would not be finished until after more than a century later. This made the population feel that the capital was prioritizing their own personal safety over theirs, causing feelings of betrayal to flourish. The longer the war lasted, the more many people saw the emperor as incompetent, and wished to be replaced by a capable leader that could put an end to the witchelven once and for all.

This state of turmoil and discontent inevitably brought people into action. In particular, the House of Fenhu Xianhiao became the main force opposing the azanese emperor. The House of Fenhu Xianhiao was one of the biggest noble houses in Changrila, but over the course of the centuries, they had been losing fortune and prestige to the other noble houses. The war with the witchelven gave the house a chance to recover their lost glory, with many of their number leading successful campaigns against the witchelven, and even participated in some raids in witchelven territory that managed to capture some witchelven nobles, greatly boosting morale throughout the troops. However, this came at a great cost to the House of Fenhu Xianhiao, losing many of their members in the war. After a petition to the Imperial Court to ask for reinforcements to defend the southeast for the construction of the Great Wall was denied, even after a couple of bloody battles had battered the defenders significantly, the Patriarch of the House, Xuoyang Xi Fenhu Xianhiao, decided that the current emperor was not fit to lead the war effort. Thus, he began to secretly search for support to pressure the emperor into abdicating. He began organizing reunions with fellow changrilese nobles, scouting the opinions of his fellow compatriots to see their support. He was quickly able to reunite many supporters from the highest echelons of changrilese nobility, as well as from the army, since the resentment against the emperor had become pretty common among them.

He took a couple of years to organize his movement, getting support and funding. His goal was to stage a bloodless coup that would take from power the imperial court and the emperor’s inner circle, replacing them with experienced military personnel. This would be done under the curtains, and in the eyes of the public, the emperor would abdicate due to health problems. Many historians still claim that Fenhu Xianhiao was still loyal to the azanese crown, and his goal was to make the emperor abdicate in one of his sons, which would be guided by council established by Fenhu Xianhiao until total victory was achieved. However, many in his council believed this was the chance to finally right the many wrongs Changrila had received from Nanakinor, as well as to obtain more power and prestige for themselves. Thus, at the eve of the Celebration of the Founding of the Nation, the coup that was planned failed tremendously, with more than half of the changrilese generals abandoning Fenhu Xianhiao. This meant that the coup failed, with little information coming out to the public about what happened that day in the imperial palace. All perpetrators were captured, publicly deemed as traitors and beheaded, with all honors and commendations stripped from them. The changrilese conspirators who had turned their backs on Fenhu Xianhiao then turned around and denounced the emperor, presenting Fenhu Xianhiao as a martyr who had been unjustly accused and executed, despite his efforts for the defense of the empire. They used the execution of Fenhu Xianhiao as the final pretext to declare that the emperor did not deserve to rule, declaring open revolt against the crown, and demanding a new emperor to be put in his place. This began the Azanese Civil War, which would last between 2.027 to 2.181 ABE.

To the east, after the independence of the Northern Khenomeric Empire, the lands enjoyed a brief period of recovery. With the shrinking Khenomeric Empire not having to deal with the rowdy northern provinces, they instead dedicated their resources to reactivate their economy, with moderate success. The kingdoms to the east of the Khenomeric Empire also consolidated their territory, with the Ketlovian Kingdom recovering most of the lands they used to have back in ancient times, and the Kingdom of Nogar expanding to the north to push back against piracy, occupying the barren lands of the Izar Peninsula. The combined efforts of Ketlovia, Nogar and the Northern Khenomeric Empire began having an effect on piracy, though it would still take a long time to reduce it to manageable levels.

## Historical maps Part 14. Treaty of Nefkin. End of the Azanese Civil War, 2.181 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.181 ABE.

The history of the 21st and 22nd century are heavily marked by the Azanese Civil War, one of the longest wars ever fought in the entire step, which saw the great empire of Azan split and shrink, completely changing the status quo of the world. The development of the war was a complicated thing, and many historians still debate how could this conflict go on for nearly two centuries after the decades of brutal fighting against the drow and the witchelven. Of course, it was not a continuous conflict, there multiple periods of truces or low level warfare, and even moments where both sides enjoyed a slight recovery, but the truth was that the level of continued warfare at that level was unseen until that point, and has not happened since, at least to that scale.

The initial start of the war was marked by considerable outrage from both sides. The azanese loyalists saw the Fenhu Xianhiao rebellion and his allies as traitors, seeing as they had tried a coup to dethrone the current emperor during a war. The changrilese rebels, on the other hand, managed to present Fenhu Xianhiao as a martyr, a just man trying to do the best for his people and being executed by a tyrannical overlord. This argumentation was based on the old grudges the changrilanese provinces, and as such, the provinces outside of the changrilese influence did not fall under this rhetoric, seing the rebellion as a power grab. This led Changrila surrounded by three sides, but Changrila was the most populated area of the empire by quite a lot, so it could afford to divide its forces in three different fronts. Once the initial attempts of neutralizing each other failed, both sides attempted to end the war by the use of the navy. Changrila had gained a lot of influence within the navy, and many of the admirals and captains swore loyalty to the rebellion, giving an initial advantage to Changrila. In 2.029 ABE, the changrilese fleet managed to begin the First Siege of Nanakinor, sieging the capital of Azan from the sea. However, the distances involved and the fortification of the capital meant that the fleet was driven back to changrilese ports. The azanese fleet tried to counter this by blocking the changrilese vessels from exiting the Gun-Po Sea, which did have a certain degree of success, but the ports to the south meant that changrilese naval power was a considerable danger throughout the duration of the conflict.

With a quick victory through land or sea gone, the conflict devolved into a long period of attritional warfare, with certain levels of intensity as time went on, and even certain truces to fight the encroaching witchelven. With both forces evenly matched, both sides tried to find allies from the outside. The witchelven were out of the question, they were the one entity that both sides unequivocally hated, and an alliance with them would mean the loss of their local support. The drow weren’t interested in the war either. While there was quite a lot of debate between the different city-states about whether to fight or not, or who to support, in the end all drow saw more profitable to just play both sides to their interests. This allowed the drow to train their navy to defend their interests at sea, something they had never had to do since they were mostly underground dwellers. The wizards from Wanaidheain declared neutrality from the get go, but the war definitively allowed them to organize their rule over the island without azanese influence, who had declared in the past to desire to recover their territories in Wanaidheain. The Fey Lords in the Hedge and beyond were not interested at all in the affairs of the humans, having completely severed ties to anything outside feydom. The Khenomeric Empire was too far away to offer anything but token support, and it was too far away from even that. The one power that did participate in the war was the Gökmavi Khanagate, which saw an opportunity to fully control the salt trade by expelling azanese influence from the Onyx Strip. Allying with Changrila, they promised to support their efforts in exchange for control of the Onyx Strip and ports to the Sea of the Dead Pirates. In 2.050 ABE, the Gökmavi quickly overwhelmed the azanese forces, isolating Azan from the riches of Nosso Lar and the salt trade, and giving the advantage to Changrila once again.

Looking to press their advantage, Changrila went to take over the Great Peninsula of Cemak I. Changrilese leaders thought that azanese control of this area was tenuous, with trolls and orcs occupying most of the central areas, and the human populations concentrated in the coast. If Changrila could take over the ports of the peninsula, it could free the azanese grip over the Gulf of Nailing and the Huan Ho-Sei Sea, giving Changrila’s fleet trapped within free range to go on the offensive. Taking the azanese ports would also mean the azanese reinforcements to the Dsrvysthians, which were bogging down changrilese forces to the south, allowing them to close an entire front and focus their forces to the north. The invasion started with a stroke of good fortune: The provinces of Nasr in the Pi Xiuon Cape had initially swore loyalty to Azan, but this support was tenuous at best, with many nobles and high officials secretly wishing to free themselves from the empire’s influence. In 2.051 ABE, a rebellion did quick work of the few nobles loyal to Nanakinor, and the entire province declared for Changrila. The Changrilese army was on its way to reinforce the Nasrians, as well as moving another force to the south.

The azanese authorities sent their forces by sea, successfully taking over the lands near the Xi-Hin Sun Strait, and guaranteeing a beachhead for further reinforcements. The rebellious Nasrians couldn’t manage to resist before the changrilese armies arrived, and the territory was swiftly taken over. The azanese quickly began a series of fortifications in the province of Limonaint, which had stayed loyal, to try to funnel the changrilese armies advancing. Meanwhile, another azanese fleet was sent to prepare against the army to the south, but a storm forced the fleet to move southern to the Trolltooth Peninsula, causing them to move much slower than anticipated. This allowed the changrilese forces to take over most of the area east of the Trumgull River. However, the azanese forces managed to destroy the main bridges connecting the two sides of the river, stalling the changrilese army enough to mount a proper defense. All the while this was going on, the province of Lorient had been at turmoil for a long time since the start of the civil war. While there were many proponents that argued for Azan or Changrila, the truth was the vast majority of the nobility saw the war as extremely pointless. Azan had taken many powers and privileges from the region, sure, but they were still tied to Nanakinor by bonds of loyalty. On the other hand, while Changrila promised more independence to the provinces of the empire, the lorient nobles had somehow heard about the treason of the changrilese generals to Fenhu Xianhiao, and did not trust their word at all. Without a way to prove the betrayal against Fenhu Xianhiao and with the armies of both sides nearing the border, the lorient nobles publicly declared that Lorient would stay neutral for the entirety of the conflict, and that any attack or territory violation against it would invariably mean that they would side with the other.

The declaration of neutrality of Lorient put both sides at a crossroad. Both battlefields in the Great Peninsula of Cemak I were separated by Lorient, since it was the easiest area to traverse. Crossing the inland would mean disturbing the inland orc tribes and troll clans, which could pose a severe danger to the armies. If Azan tried to make Lorient submit, it would open two new fronts, dividing the azanese forces by half. If Changrila tried to make Lorient submit, the azanese would gain a great deal of ports, not to mention easy travel between the northern and the southern fronts, allowing Azan to move their forces at their leisure. The azanese troops in the region were able to move away from the region peacefully, in exchange of medical supplies and receiving the sick and wounded. This worried azanese authorities that the example of Lorient would inspire other regions, but at the time, they simply couldn’t risk the entire campaign for a chance others might rebel.

In 2.055 ABE, Azan managed to push back against the changrilese troops in the south by sending part of their army behind the changrilese fortifications near the Trumgull River. The changrilese general, thinking that the azanese forces were more numerous than what they actually were, and fearing to end up trapped between the enemy and the river, decided to move south. This allowed the azanese troops to open up the bridges once again, and began pushing the changrilese forces further and further inland. All the while, the changrilese forces began being harassed by the ogres and trolls of the inside of the Great Peninsula, weakening them constantly. Surrounded by raiders, cut off from most lines of supplies and afflicted by an epidemic of dysentery, the changrilese forces surrended to the azanese forces. This allowed the azanese forces to the south to push further and further, recovering in a couple of months all the land that changrila had captured , and threatening to cut the changrilese army to the north from the continent. Seeing this, the changrilese began retreating from the region, on a mad dash to avoid being surrounded by all sides, while the azanese army pursued. And while the changrilese army managed to go back, the fights and skirmishes between the two sides left the region of Limonaint highly damaged.

With the war in the Great Peninsula marking a victory for Azan, both armies began once again for a push against each other. Changrila’s luck, who had the initiative until now, began souring faster and faster. The dsrvythian loyalists managed to push back the gökmavi, who began retreating from the front and fortifying their gains, since they had gotten what they wanted from the campaign. This meant that the azanese troops south of Changrila were able to once again push against the changrilese border, forcing Changrila to divert more troops to the south. Surrounded by three fronts in the north, the south and the east, Changrila began losing ground steadily. In particular, the Siege of Honshu became the bloodiest battle of the war, with hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded during the six years that the battle lasted. To the south, changrilese forces managed to contain the azanese advance to the Yi-Nii River, but the retreating forces of Changrila were not in shape to stand their ground against the azanese forces coming from the Great Peninsula of Cemak I, though both forces were weakened by having to confront different troll clans. Changrila was quickly losing steam in the war, and tensions began brewing within the changrilese generals. Fortunately for them, in 2.077 ABE, the witchelven launched a massive attack against the borders of both Azan and Changrila. Needing to protect their rear, Azan agreed to a ceasefire with Changrila, which would last until 2.088 ABE.

Changrila profited enormously from this ceasefire, since their fortifications in the Great Wall of Changrila, which had continued throughout the war, were solid enough to repel the brunt of the damage. They used the time to rebuild the fortifications in the Yi-Nii River, as well as the fortresses in the Din-Milong Plains. Changrilese officials knew well that the plains were extremely difficult to defend, since the vast expanses of flat land were easy to traverse, and had little major population centers. Even if Changrila fortified the roads that connected the towns and cities, the azanese could still find ways to bypass them. Thus, they began fortifying their western and southern borders to organize a massive push northwards. In 2.089 ABE, the changrilese launched a massive offensive against Azan, reaching so far as the Golden Hills. However, the response of Azan managed to slowly weaken the offensive, and Changrila ended up abandoning the offensive, moving instead to reinforce the conquered lands.

This led to the next stage of the war, a long period of stagnation that would drain the resources of both sides. With the war slowing to a crawl, with decades and decades of barely any progress, and with whatever advance one did swiftly countered by the other, their provinces began thinking that the war had ran out its course, and was not really worth fighting anymore. The first area that saw their chance of separating was Lorient. Their successful neutrality had made it very popular between traders, refugee nobles and any group that was running away from the war. This allowed the province to refuse paying their taxes, since they argued that taxation money would be used to fund the war, breaking the terms of their neutrality. The growing prosperity in the region allowed governor Charloi Charolus to begin conspiring with the nearby territories to mount up a successful independence. In 2.030 ABE, he managed to coordinate the different provinces within the influence of Lorient, as well as the Nasr territories and the lands of Limonaint to rise up in rebellion, declaring their independence from Azan and Changrila. This rebellion was highly successful, mostly due to the element of surprise, freeing the majority of the territories within the Great Peninsula of Cemak I with the exception of the lands of the Nasr (the azanese strategy of keeping the changrilese fleet bottled up needed the control of the Pi-Xiuon Cape to function). And while this rebellion could have been stopped by the azanese forces with relative ease, another rebellion to the south allowed Lorient to successfully separate from the empire.

The lands of Dsrvysth had been an azanese province for centuries, being the main beneficiary of the azanese trade with the eastern seas. Thus, their loyalty for Azan at the beginning of the conflict was quite high, allowing them to near singlehandedly keep the entire southern front by themselves. However, decades of war and the loss of the eastern trade with Nosso lar at the hands of the Gökmavi had led the previously rich province in a dire situation. The multitude of princedoms within Dsrvysth agreed that the war was simply not winnable in its current course, and that a peace treaty needed to be signed. However, the emperor was not interested in conceding against the rebels, and the same was true about the changrilese officials. During secret meetings, the dsrvysthian leaders agreed that the war was no longer in their interests, and they managed to get in contact with the rebels from Lorient. They agreed that secession would either end the war or free the dsrvysthians from it, and thus they rebelled alongside the lorientains. Thus, the princes rose up in rebellion in 2.081 ABE, taking longer to do so since the higher presence of azanese troops in the area made matters difficult. However, once preparations were complete, the armies of Azan became surrounded by dsrvysthian rebels, their generals captured and their ships taken in port. Dsrvysthian authorities allowed the azanese troops to return back home, under the condition they left all their weaponry in the region, so as to not be an immediate threat to the province, and to allow the dsrvysthians to prepare for a possible counterattack from Azan, or a changrilese assault.

This sudden change of fortune made Changrila believe that they had a chance to finally end the war once and for all. With Azan struggling to reorganize their armies and rearm their fleeing forces, Changrila threw caution to the wind and launched a massive offensive to take as much land as possible. After signing a non-agression pact with Lorient and Dsrvysth, they pushed with a massive army along the coast, in a straight line to divide the remaining territory of azan in two, and if they were successful, to take over the capital itself. While they advanced quickly into azanese territory, the armies quickly spread further than their supply lines, and they ended up losing steam just as fast. The battles of Ionnina and Narses severely broke the changrilese armies, quickly turning the tides once again. However, this time, Azan had little steam to push back all the way into Fenqui, even though many historians argue it could have been possible in better circumstances. Thus, the front stagnated once again around the Golden Hills, back to the defensive line Changrila had built decades ago.

At this point, the war just meandered. With both sides having been fighting for centuries at this point, neither one was in any condition to launch massive assaults, least the witchelven to the east would attack the undefended territories. Thus the final decades of the war were spend in mostly skirmishes, with both sides needing to recuperate as much as possible. In the end, after more than a century of civil war, and with the leadership of both sides having completely changed, they saw that there was no way to end this conflict as they initially had. Azan could not retake Changrila and hope to keep it, and the same could be said about Changrila. In 2.181 ABE, during a ceasefire between the two sides, the two sides managed to start peace talks that would led to the Treaty of Nankin. Azan agreed to recognize the independence of Changrila in exchange of the leaders of Changrila swearing to never again claim the azanese throne, or to ever become involved in the workings of Azan. The sudden peace caught everyone by surprise, and for decades afterwards, both sides would have problems adapting to peace once again.

The Azanese Civil War was the longest conflict in the history of Giantstep. Many historians discussed the level of destruction caused by the war, since even though both sides fought until exhaustion, they stayed within the bounds of civilized war. Azan saw the war as a punishment campaign as a wayward province, and Changrila saw the azanese provinces as future vassals. Neither one wanted to cause a lasting impact on the other, seeing them as part of the empire. As such, despite the long duration of the war, the material destruction was lower than the wars against the witchelven, or the Great War of the Gnoll centuries later. The human losses, however, cannot be overstated. The long duration of the war meant that entire generations knew nothing but war, with many areas withering due to the loss of people inheriting the skills to continuing the trade. Many areas also became practically uninhabited, with crime running rampant due to the lack of manpower to stop it. Entire fields were retaken by nature, since no one was there to work them. During the most violent moments of the war, both sides had to deal with peasant revolts, demanding better conditions for their servitude. In Azan, the emperor allowed increased rights for the peasants, which allowed them to begin owning part of the land they worked. In Changrila, however, these revolts were punished hard, and in many cases their conditions worsened, something that would come to bite Changrila during their own civil war many decades later.

At the beginning of the 20th Century ABE, it looked like Azan had become the unquestionable power in the world. With the Khenomeric Empire slowly crumbling and the Western Elven Empire dissipating due to poor leadership, many saw Azan as the one singular power in the world, the one establishing the international order. Two centuries later, and Azan had become the shadow of its former self, being thoroughly humbled by enemies from within and without, and having lost more than two thirds of their territory. The world after the Treaty of Nefkin looked like a multipolar world, with Azan not being the singular human power in the west anymore.

The true winners of the Azanese Civil War were the other powers. While the drow had sworn not to intervene in the war, they used the void left by the conflict in the seas to become a sea power. Each of the drow cities with access of docks managed to build a competent fleet, and unlike other fey, the drow had no compunctions in cutting down trees to make warships. They quickly became apt sailors, something they had never done before, being underground dwellers.

To the east, the witchelven were being pushed back hard after Azan finally focused their war machine against them, and were suffering catastrophic losses, and many thought that the Witchelven Empire would collapse in time. The civil war not only gave the witchelven enough time to recover their numbers, but they also increased their territory, something that would become critical once the Succubus Breaches began appearing.

The Gökmavi were able to expand southwards at the cost of Azan. The conquest of the Onyx Strip became instrumental for the gökmavi economy, gaining not only full control of the salt trade, but also a port to connect the Gökmavi Khaganate with the rest of the world. The city of Opole became the most important port of the nation, though it lost quite a lot of population, since a good portion of them decided to flee back to Dsrvysth. The Gökmavi never became great sailors, though, and most of the trade within the gökmavi ports is ran by foreign merchants.

The world did change quite a lot outside of the Azanese Civil War. To the north, the island of Wanaidheain had been left abandoned by Azan due to the drow advances. However, the coalition of local populations, greatly helped by the many wizards living in the island, managed to push back the drow to the sea, eventually freeing Wanaidheain from drow rule. With their newly discovered freedom, the island became divided in many different regions. With the central administration broken, there was a great need of an unifying entity that could resolve the different problems that would appear between the different groups living in the island, as well as to organize the reconstruction after the war. This role fell to the wizards, seeing as them were more interested in their own arcane studies than in local politics, and that their decisions particularly impartial and trustworthy. Over time, this dependence in wizards grew, until they became the de facto rulers of the land. This did not mean a unified rule of the island, since at the time, the wizards were divided into their own mystical schools, with different ideas about the workings of the world and how it should be treated, visions that affected how they chose to organize local politics. This process finally ended in 2.100 ABE, when the wizard Celin Magtow finally managed to organize the different wizards of Wanaidheain into a single entity, the Order of Most Practical Wizards. This also became the birth of the Island of Wizards as a nation, since part of the tasks of the Order was the ruling of Wanaidheain.

This entity immediately set to launch diplomatic missions to the nearby nations, promising that the goals and means of the Island of Wizards and the Order of Most Practical Wizards were peaceful, dedicated only to the study of arcane knowledge, and that it did not wish to become an empire. Many historians believe that the fear of another situation like the Khenomeric Magoclergy would have made the empires of its day to lash out against the Island of Wizards as a precaution, but the absolute chaos during the period ensured the wizards could organize their nation in peace.

In Scimitarian, the fall of the Second Elven Empire and the fall of the Drow Confederacy weakened drow hold of the northern parts of the continent. This gave the northern areas, occupied in most part by humans (both independent and previous azanese vassals), sea elves and migrated hobbits from the Hedge. During the war, however, these groups had to pull together to face the drow armies, especially after Azan abandoned the continent. While the drow advance was switft, their initiative dissipated just as fast. This allowed the local alliance to push back until the borders of the old Western Elven Empire. After a peace settlement with the different drow cities at the borders, and without any azanese influence to hold them back, they began forming their own princedoms and fiefdoms. The first of the nations to form in the area was the Grand Duchy of Calcabria in 2.150 ABE. The duchy had been coalescing through political marriages, alliances and other non-violent means, always on guard of the drow to the south. The marriage of the Duke of Calcabria and the Baroness of Milibaria in 2.150 ABE merged the two biggest nations in the territory, with the smaller counties and princedoms falling in line swiftly. To the north of the Grand Duchy of Calcabria, it would still take some time until the Kingdom of Belsirya became unified once again.

To the east, the Northern Khenomeric Empire finally broke down. Its existence as an independent nation was short lived, as internal struggles between its component regions meant that it was peacefully dissolved in 2.094 ABE. The biggest piece of the empire became Greater Elanxa, still an important power in the region, with a decent political influence over its neighbors. However, the growing alliances between the kingdoms that would eventually become the Kingdom of Tarot meant that Greater Elanxa needed to establish their dominance, which started the plans for expansion northwards.

To the east of the Khenomeric Empire, the Kingdom of Nogar was enjoying a period of considerable growth and prosperity, expanding their lands to the west, and establishing trade relations with the other nations separated from the Khenomeric Empire. The piracy in the region was still a problem, however. The lands of Izar were particularly problematic, since their low value and sparse population meant that they had become in dens of pirates and bandits. The efforts of the nogarese knights were having no effect, since mobilizing the armies to fight brigands was more expensive than what it was worth. As such, the nogarese king Firedian the Third decreed in 2.111 ABE that the lands of Izar would become their own kingdom, vassal of Nogar, with the hopes a closer administration would have more of an effect against the pirates. This led to the founding of the Kingdom of Drunigzar, with Menelao the First as the first monarch of the kingdom.

## Historical maps Part 15. Death of the Ogre Kingdoms at the hands of the Bog Witch, 2.426 ABE

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.426 ABE.

With the Azanese Civil War ended at last, it began a period of growth and recovery. After more than a century of war, the news of peace were received happily, though it also posed new problems. Both Azan and Changrila had dedicated many resources to the war, and entire generations had only known the profession of soldier, and with the end of the war, not as many soldiers were needed. Azan put in motion a series of reforms that would allow the older soldiers to settle down in rural areas, granting them a piece of land they would be able to work. This also helped the rural areas to recover, since many fields had been retaken by nature and needed a lot of work to put into work. Many veteran soldiers were also given lands in territories bordering the witchelven, seeing as their assaults had never really ended. However, the emperor couldn’t just find enough empty and abandoned land to give to the soldiery, and the government had to spend a lot of money and resources buying land, especially taking into account the growing rights of the peasants. While this caused quite a lot of debt for the country, there was a general sense of hope throughout the population, which quickly grew in number. This peace and growth allowed the economy to prosper, reestablishing their economic ties to Scimitarian and Changrila, now in peace.

Not all was well for Azan, though. The convulsions of war, especially those of a war as long as the Azanese Civil War, were very noticeable. Fights between the different social groups became more and more common, especially once the different groups began asking for their rewards and payments for fighting in the war. Crime was still considerable, and poverty was rampant, only really manageable due to the loss of population and the availability of land. Tensions reached a breaking point in 2.199 ABE, when tensions and accusations against the tiefling population, who had already under a lot of pressure during the war (and the mysterious events having place in Siuverland involving the Cult of Althazar), skyrocketed. An apparent murder of a noblewoman in the streets of Nanakinor left to accusations to a tiefling bandit, though proof of this was never brought forward. The hysteria extended from the capital to the rest of the nation, leading to the Second Great Purge of azanese tieflings, which lasted the entire year, with sporadic repetitions happening from time to time. Tensions and violence began slowly building up again in Azan, threatening to a breaking of the empire. This would finally be solved by Alarna Hiranu. Born in the city of Kurkuas, she was a religious figure in the local church. Sensing the growing violence in the nation was of the opinion that the Second Tiefling Purge was a symptom of a major problem, that was beginning to threaten the very fabric of the empire. She began writing a series of religious works, proposing reforms that would center about a more harmonic and peaceful way of living, using and reinterpreting old theological texts to justify the changes. While her texts were spread locally during her life, they exploded in popularity after her death. This led to the reformation of the Church of Azan, giving birth to the Azanese New Faith. A wave of religious enthusiasm swept the country, especially after the emperor himself converted in 2.250 ABE. While this allowed the nation to avoid another civil war, it began causing tensions with the provinces that resisted the new faith, such as the case of Siuverland, which ended up seceding in 2.308 ABE.

In Changrila, however, things didn’t go as smoothly. While the problems of Changrila were the same as those in Azan, the changrilese government pushed to reinforce their authority even further. The emperor of Changrila followed a policy of trying to reinforce central government at all costs, seeing it as the only way to go forwards. This alienated many local nobles, who had been promised more freedoms under the original terms of the changrilese rebellion. However, there was little they could do to oppose the changrilese emperor now, since he controlled a vast army. However, the need to reduce the military spending after the war had left many soldiers with no other option but banditry, and that meant that trade suffered. While the government attended to this problem, the local lords began gaining more power and authority in the shadows, slowly taking over the local administrations. Poverty and hunger were threaten to collapse some of the border provinces, much more damaged and empty after the long war, worsening the crime there. And while the recovery of arable land somewhat soothed the country’s economic woes, the population exploded much faster than in Azan, worsening the problems in areas where the economy couldn’t grow as fast as the population.

Things would worsen when in 2.191 ABE, a witchelven offensive managed to find a weakness within the Great Wall of Changrila, using some foul magic and captured reserves of changrilese gunpowder to blow up a small portion of the wall. Immediately, the witchelven raids in the area laid waste of the nearby provinces, taking thousands of unsuspecting civilians to the sacrificial pits. The changrilese armies reacted quickly, but the dark magics of the witchelven managed to open a massive succubus breach in the area, with numbers of succubi hitherto unknown. Both azanese and changrilese forces dispatched forces to the border, pushing the tide of witchelven and succubi back. After a year, the azanese front was pretty much secure, but it took many years for Changrila to push back the witchelven, finally repairing and reinforcing the Great Wall of Changrila, and even created a second wall in case of a future rupture. However, both Azan and Changrila discovered that this succubus breach, unlike the previous succubi summonings, was not dissipating. A petition was sent to the Ancient Order of Most Practical Wizards to investigate the phenomenon. After a year of study, the Order recommended both sides to evacuate the region, since the foul energies that had made possible the opening were not only not disappearing, but had become stagnated in the area, making the veil of reality very thin and easy to breach by succubi and demons. This would be the first of the Succubus Breaches, named the Gomorrah Breach, which would become a perpetual danger to the nearby populations, with the investigations on how to close it continuing to present day.

After this invasion, the turmoil in Changrila was reaching dangerous levels once again, and many feared the start of rebellions within the nation. To stop this, the emperor of Changrila decided to concentrate all the power of the state into his figure, getting rid of many of the theoretical restrictions of his power. To do so, he anointed himself with both the political and religious powers of the nation, codifying this into a new religion, the Faith of the Divine Light, which considered the emperor as a god. This God-Emperor power allowed him to use the armies to persuade anyone that attempting a rebellion would be an unwise move. At the same time, the renewal of most of the administrative structure with professionals and specialists was able to fix many of the immediate problems of the nation, while keeping the country on the right track. The population accepted the Faith of the Divine Light without much issue, though more traditional areas, like the Golden Hills, would stay faithful to the Azanese Faith, which would plant the seeds of secession in the area.

To the east, the lands of Greater Elanxa would enjoy a period of prosperity and growth. Without the need to fight for political control with the Khenomeric Empire over their own lands, the nation enjoyed a period of economic expansion. However, the growing competition with the kingdoms that would eventually form the Kingdom of Tarot made the leaders of the nation feel uneasy. The safest move against a possible threat from the east was to improve their already powerful control of the nearby seas. Greater Elanxa had inherited most of the Northern Khenomeric Empire’s fleet, and as such, they were the ones responsible of keeping the seas free of pirates. However, the Elanxan Senate had ambitious plans for the future of the nation. The control of the Labyrinth Bay and the Sea of Innocence granted Greater Elanxa a great position for expansion, especially towards the lands of Littlestep. The region of Littlestep had been colonized by the Khenomeric Empire millennia ago, but the empire never really dedicated many efforts in controlling the land, especially once they reached east of the Red Lake. Many small cities in the southeastern coast of Littlestep began increasing their ties to Greater Elanxa, and this inevitably led to their annexation. This increased the nation’s control of the strait, being able to tax the trade routes going through the Labyrinth Bay and the Sea of Innocence.

The push of the elanxans to the north eventually managed to surpass the lands that had historical ties to Greater Elanxa’s past. This opened up an interesting possibility: the expansion had mostly focused around Littlestep and the Sitrai Martöflu Archipelago, but some of the more ambitious senators planned to go even further. The continent to the far north had been explored in ancient times by the Khenomeric Empire, but they barely established a couple of beachheads before they retreated from the lands. And the populations there reported having to fight “barbarians”, being able to exit from their fortified outposts without a considerable military aid. However, many centuries had passed from those days, and the possibilities that expansion brought were too good to pass up. The population in Greater Elanxa was growing fast as well, and the cities were beginning to have problems maintaining their inhabitants. Sending them to the realms under the protection of the Goddess of Harmony was not a possibility, angering a deity never by sending unbelievers would be a bad move. However, using the promise of a new land to colonize the new lands could be used as a great incentive to mobilize the population. Thus, the plans to explore and expand through the content to the north was a go.

The beginning was simple enough, especially now that Greater Elanxa was gaining ground along the eastern and northern coast of Littlestep. This allowed the scout ships to establish contact with the locals there. To the surprise of many, the news that came from the explorers was surprisingly positive to the Senate’s plans. The land was sparsely populated when compared to the lands to the south, and the two great powers, the hyperborean humans and the snow elves, were in constant conflict with each other. Seeing this, the elanxans began establishing trading ties with the coastal cities of both sides, as well as occupying certain areas that were uninhabited until then. By 2.144 ABE, the elanxans had established their first major outpost, the city of Pilatina, which became their center of operations in the continent. Showering the local authorities with presents and pushing them against each other, the elanxans managed to slowly gain a foothold in the continent, though it would not be long until the growing numbers of southerners began worrying the hyperborians and the snow-elves.

In 2.188 ABE, an incident between traders ended up in spilt blood, and the violence spread throughout the city of Mathair na Cathraca, the capital of the Kingdom of the Aine Saevherne. The snow elves declared that the southerners captured in the city were to be put to death, and despite the diplomatic efforts of the elanxans, they could not stop the executions. This began the first war between the Snow Elves and Greater Elanxa. The snow elves quickly launched a series of assaults to the outposts of the elanxans, thinking they could be quickly expelled from the continent. However, the snow elves relied on a quick push to drive the southerners back to the sea, and they quickly found out that their outposts and cities were much better fortified than initially thought. After the original attack, the elanxans quickly gained the upper hand. However, the Elanxan Senate worried that a long war would end up in favor of the snow elves, seeing as moving troops to the far north was quite an undertaking, and fighting a war outside of their territory gave the numeric advantage to the locals. Thus, the Elanxan Senate brought forth the Zemylander Decree. This decree would guarantee a piece of land in the faraway continent to all volunteers that would fight against the Snow elves. This decree was not just limited to elanxans, but for all outsiders that would want to earn the rewards, though they would have to swear fealty to Greater Elanxa and become a citizen first. The success of this measure was immediate: It brought a swarm of volunteers and mercenaries from Giantstep and Littlestep, with even the elanxan fleet having trouble to keep up with the growing number of privateers.

The snow elves fought bravely, but they were grinded down by the numbers of the southerners. The ships of the snow elves were considerably smaller and less prepared for war than those of Greater Elanxa, and as such, the elanxans had full control of the seas, moving enormous amount of mercenary troops all around the coast. The number of mercenaries skyrocketed when silver deposits were discovered in what would be later called the Silver Peninsula. While many mercenaries were already happy with a portion of land in exchange for their service, the chances of becoming rich brought a deluge of mercenaries, all desperate for a change of gaining a piece of land that would contain precious metals. By 2.194 ABE, the Snow Elves sued for peace, unable to continue to confront the southerners. The Kingdom of the Aine Saevherne lost more than a third of their territory, including the Golden Peninsula. The defeat of the snow elves greatly perturbed the hyperboreans. At the time, the hyperboreans stayed neutral due to the antipathy they harbored against the snow elves, but their apprehension against the expansion of the southerners worried them enough that they chose full neutrality. However, they secretly began preparing for war against the elanxans, since war seemed to be inevitable.

War ended up coming in 2.202 ABE, after territorial disputes between the Kingdom of Hyperborea and Greater Elanxa ended up in blood. Once again, the Zemylander Decree was established, attracting even more mercenaries to the elanxan cause than during the previous war. However, the hyperboreans were proud warriors, and had had enough time to prepare for the conflict, having planned for a long war. It would take a long time and plenty of mercenaries to push the hyperborieans back, but in 2.212 ABE, the forces of Greater Elanxa managed a great victory near the Sorokozonka River, with peace swiftly following. The Kingdom of Hyperborea resisted the war much better than the snow elves, however, and thus the peace terms were more lenient for them. With that said, the elanxan victory against the two great local powers granted Greater Elanxa control over most of the south of the continent of Zemyland.

The lands were swiftly populated. Most areas of the south were cold and difficult to develop agriculture in, but the Zemylander Decree meant that they were occupied and protected nevertheless. The elanxan populations in Zemyland grew fast, mostly organized in small rural towns instead of big cities, which mostly were located around the coast or near the rivers. The lands near the borders were protected by many fortresses, in case that the hyperboreans or the snow elves would become a problem once again. However, both kingdoms had been mauled pretty badly, and the constant expansion of the southerners had robbed them from their numeric superiority. This did not mean that the elanxan growth was without problems: the arrival of many mercenaries from outside Greater Elanxa caused that pockets of land had a culture and language distinctly different from the rest, which led to tensions and problems. The sharing of the lands was also problematic: while the military had priority for the sharing of the land, many of the portions of land given to mercenaries and volunteers were of little quality, and many ended up selling them for little just not to starve. This allowed the elanxan nobility, especially low nobility or individuals without chance of inheriting titles or lands, to accumulate vast swathes of land, gaining enough power to be mini-states within themselves. This was in many cases incentivized by the Elanxan Senate, since many of their members were interested in making fortunes in the lands to the north.

This led to a problem. In 2.227 ABE, a series of storms in the Crimson Strait blocked a lot of the contact between Greater Elanxa and the zemylander territories. Knowing full well the risks of lack of communication between parts of the empire, they decided that they needed to fulfill their conquest of Littlestep, so as to reinforce the contact between the mainland and the north. However, this campaign did not have the results they predicted. The inner lands of Littlestep were filled with swamps and marshes, difficult to traverse and full of diseases. Despite the efforts of the Elanxan Army, the small swamp nations and tribes resisted the attacks of the elanxans, though many had to abandon their lands due to the pressure from the south. One of the tribes pushed to the deeper areas of the continent were the elyrians, who began having to fight against the elanxans and the other tribes to survive the growing violence. The lack of meaningful advances in the area led to reduced interest, and by the beginning of the 24th century ABE, the Elanxan Senate had pretty much stopped their efforts in Littlestep to focus on their zemylander holdings.

The beginning of the 24th century also brought the Grey Plague. The epidemic of the Grey Plague expanded moderately quickly through the human nations of Eastern Giantstep, Littlestep and Zemyland. However, the damages to human populations was reduced due to the speed at which humans developed an immunity to the disease. This, however, spelled disaster to the seguerials. In 2.303 ABE, the Grey Plague arrived to the Alegnawigan Dominion, many saying it came through the fleas carried by human cats, and it caused massive mortality with the seguerials. The rate of death was disastrous for the Dominion, who could not react quickly and decisively enough to contain the disease. The attempts to isolate the different underhives ended up creating pockets of resistance against the Alegnawigans, and soon enough the empire crumbled and ended up divided into hundreds of different hives, always fighting each other.

However, many of these changes would pale in comparison to the ripple effects that the destruction of the Ogre Kingdoms brought. The history of the swamps near northern and central Giantstep is difficult to study, since the darkness of the bogs makes all but the most mad and suicidal of individuals want to traverse it (or even be near it). Around 2.228 ABE, it is believed that a series of ogre tribes managed to establish dominion over the inhabitants of the swamps, creating what was called at the time the Ogre Kingdoms. These nations were a constant threat to the nearby lands, raiding and pillaging in great numbers, with the swamps turning into an impenetrable defense that blocked all attempts of retaliation. However, around 2.2426 ABE, a massive exodus of ogres came out of the bogs, running away as fast and as far away as they could against the entity that had seemingly ruled over them in the past. It is believed that, the enigmatic Bog Witch, in a couple of years, managed to reconquer her domains in the swamps and marshes of Giantstep. And while the Bog Witch would prove to be more interested in her own domain that in the rest of the world, the effects of the great exodus of ogres would have a immense effect in the history of the world.

## Historical Maps part 16. “Day of the End”. Fall of Khoraqualumum and the Khenomeric Empire (2.476 ABE)

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.476 ABE.

The events known as The Great War of the Gnoll are scattered and difficult to interpret, especially the longer the war goes on. The sheer speed and scale of the destruction of one of the mightiest empires in history in but a mere decades utterly shocked the world, who had gotten used to the gradual fracturing of the empire. To see the Khenomeric Empire not only fall in a singular campaign, much less one against an opponent mostly thought of as feral animals, was inconceivable at the time, and for many decades, the sheer skepticism about it still was enough to allow the gnoll to invade many of the lands of eastern Giantstep. What we do know about the war comes from archives and chronicles from the survivors of the war, all those khenomeri who ran from the monsters once it was clear nothing could be done to save the empire.

The Khenomeric Empire was a shadow of its former self. While it was still a considerably rich nation, it was far from its heyday, as powers such as Nogar and Greater Elanxa were becoming more and more prominent in the world’s politics, where the Khenomeric Empire was content with keeping what it already had. Still, the shrinking of the empire and the loss of the northern territories allowed them to shave off a lot of the sources of instability, and while politically weak, the empire was growing prosperous once again. It even maintained good relations with the nations that had broken down from them, especially those south of the Forest of Getting Lost. This even led to many to speculate a possible confederation between the khenomeri and their old vassals, but this was not to be.

The breaking of the Ogre Kingdoms at the hands of the Bog Witch caused a massive migration of swamp ogres, the biggest ogre migration the world had ever seen. The lands near the bogs and swamps from northern Giantstep teemed with ogres, desperate to run away from the dark presence now ruling the region. All regions around them received a lot of damage due to the rampaging ogres. The Khenomeric Empire, however, felt safe from this. With the Forest of Getting Lost protecting their lands from the swarm due to its mystical nature, the only front they needed to focus on was the forests of the Bhakkari. Old allies of the khenomeri, their forests were in direct contact with the bogs and swamps from the north, and they had a long history of fighting the monstrous creatures spawned by that horrible realm. In this, however, the sheer numbers of ogres, combined with their toughness, was more than they could handle on their own, and they asked for help to the empire. The empire sent troops to fight the ogres, as well as refurbished the old fortresses (and build new ones) near the borders of the forest. The khenomeric armies were able to gather in a central point and effectively block the ogres from spreading throughout the empire, though many did manage to cross the containment line. The death and destruction caused by the conflict attracted the gnolls, always on the hunt for meat, and more plentiful in the western areas of the empire than anywhere else.

The numbers of ogres still required a lot of forces to contain, an quickly the majority of the khenomeric army went to the northwest to aid the bhakkari and to protect the border provinces. This effort to slow down the ogres meant that all eyes ended up focused on the region. This would prove catastrophic, as the empire’s authorities were too focused on that spot of the border to notice the ogres’ arrival at other points. The Forest of Getting Lost was well known for its mystical properties, as all those who enter the forest did not come back. But despite this, hundreds of ogres were managing to cross it. The reasons for this anomaly are not well understood, and due to the events that happened afterwards, it is doubtful that we will ever know the true. Regardless of this, ogres began appearing all throughout the northern borders, though not in the numbers of the northwest. The army began scrambling resources to stop them, but they mostly left them as a problem to the local authorities, and many ogres ended up escaping, hiding in the wilderness. It is believed that this moment was when the swamp ogres entered contact with the gnolls.

Since the moment of their discovery, the humans of the Khenomeric Empire had seen the gnoll as mere beasts, creatures of thoughtless rage and instinct, only posing a threat to the countryside and that the khenomeric forces would easily be able to dispatch the outbreaks. They had reached the conclusion that the gnoll had no intelligence of worth, and not the slightest sense of sentience. Because of this perceived lack of thought and their violent behavior, there are no registered attempt to tame gnoll before the start of the war. The contact between the ogres and the gnoll would prove the notion of the gnolls’ lack of intelligence and sentience utterly wrong. Seemingly all at once, independent groups of ogres managed to fight the gnoll, probably attracted by the dead meat, into submission. The brutal strength of the ogres and their sheer resilience meant that the ogres, in their wild state, had little hope to beat them, even in big numbers. The ogres ended up adopting the gnoll, first as pets, and then as pupils, when they realized they were able to be taught complex concepts. Tool use, crafting, social cohesion, hierarchy, complex language… The ogres did not stop to think that the beasts were probably incapable of learning such things, but unfortunately for the world, they were. It also helped that the fights were causing plenty of deaths, plus the countryside was left abandoned, allowing raids against cattle and the townspeople themselves. So the population of gnolls skyrocketed, with the maggotgnolls moving all around the battlefields feasting upon the carcasses.

It would take years before the khenomeric authorities began noticing the signs of something being wrong. The growing calls for aid from the northern provinces was beginning to look like something besides the ogres was attacking the countryside and the roads. Witnesses tell of seeing gnoll behaving in ways never before seen, such as ambushing travelers, feigning to flee before turning around when the chasers are too tired, using primitive tools… Obviously, the capital paid little attention to this, but the trickle of population moving to the south was scaring the civilians. Thinking that these attacks were not the gnoll, but just ogre attacks that people were mistaking due to the panic, the emperor sent more and more forces to the north. But when these forces began suffering unusual levels of losses, then the capital realized something was amiss. However, the court was hoping to buy great swathes of land from the escaping farmers, to increase their already massive holdings, so the forces needed to really quell this situation were either delayed or reduced in scale. This would prove to be catastrophic, giving the ogres and the gnoll enough time to grow their numbers.

By 2.450 ABE, the empire began losing contact with many northern towns and watch outposts. The scouts that were sent to investigate this were witnesses to utter destruction: villages and towns burnt and razed to the ground, with the carcasses of humans stripped bare from flesh. Most worrying of all, this phenomenon looked like it was moving in the direction of the forest of the Bhakkari, at a growing speed. Realizing too late that this was not just happenstance, the emperor sent further reinforcements to the north, too late. By the time they arrived to the province of Bahkkaridan, they found a massive force of gnolls and ogres, having pillaged the weapons and armor of the dead forces stopping the ogres from crossing into the empire. The Battles of the Bahkkaridan in 2.451 were the first time were the Khenomeric Empire discovered the horror of what was going on, that the gnoll not only were sentient and intelligent, but they had joined the ogres in their invasion of the land.

From this moment on, the Khenomeric Empire was on war footing. While the capital ordered the full movilization of the nation, the loss of a great portion of the army had hit the Khenomeric Empire hard, and without the army slowing down the ogres from the northwest, more and more of them arrived. This began a chain reaction: the more ogres arrived, the more gnoll could be civilized. The more civilized gnoll there were, more death and destruction would bring to the land. And with that death and destruction, more gnoll would be born, joining the already massive hordes pushing down to the south. And with the growing numbers of people running from certain death, the control of the empire over the land lessened day by day amidst the chaos. By 2.460 ABE, the tales had spread from the Khenomeric Empire to the neighboring nations, and the first foreign troops arrived to help the khenomeric armies, to no avail. The spread of the gnoll followed an explosive rate, depopulating entire areas of the empire in the span of years. Nothing could survive the hordes: directed by ogre priests and hungry for human flesh, they would lose thousands on each battle, without a care in the world. The tales of those who had ran caused an exodus from the empire became commonplace, causing further chaos and madness within the empire. Tens of thousands seeking refuge overseas, as they thought the sea would protect them from the monsters.

By 2.475 ABE, the gnoll hordes had reached the capital of Khoraqualumum. The “*Chronicles of the End*”, a work of multiple historians to compile the stories of the surviving witnesses of the battle, describe the battle as such:

> *“A sea of bodies surrounded the city walls. Red eyes and fanged mouths as far as one could see. The monsters at our gates had cut the imperial capital from any help, and the devils kept coming from all corners of the land. The gnoll had surrounded the lake too, so no one could find release by swimming across. The ancient walls of Khoraqualumum, made of the finest stone and orichalcum […] were made useless, with the gnoll piling up their dead into grotesque pyramids to jump across. […] Yet unable to break the walls, the fight lasted for months […] Hunger, starvation and the rampant howling of the beasts made many take their own lives, thinking the gods had abandoned. Many mothers killed their own children to spare them from the horrors at the other side of the gates. Some killed them to quench their own hunger, becoming in their madness no better than the gnoll. […] The eventual fall of the gates left the city open to the gnoll, accursed monsters, who swarmed the city as hungry demons. […] The emperor and his royal guard, dressed in the regalia of their ancestors, charged against the swarm. Hundreds of gnolls and ogres fell under their shinning blades, but they too were felled. However, they did not slaughter them on the spot […]. The few survivors of that day, prisoners of the horrors that had ended our world, were reunited in the plaza in front of the Great Pyramid. In there, we were witness to the last debauchery the gnoll had left for us: the crucified emperor and his guard at the top of the pyramid[…] an apparent tribute to their dark god […] their screams muffled by the maggotgnolls that had been pushed on them, eating them from the inside, as well as from the outside. […] After His Majesty died, they cut our arms and fed them to the dirty maggots […] and then they let us go, apparently under the protection of the ogres to the nearest free port. Why was this cruel mercy done, I still do not know.”*
>
>

The “*Day of the End*” became the end of the ancient Khenomeric Empire. A nation that had lasted for millennia had been devoured from within in less than three decades. The remnants of the empire, still free from the gnoll, quickly fell into disarray and chaos. The neighboring kingdoms were swarmed by refugees, tens of thousands trying to flee from their lives anywhere far from the gnoll. Many fell into the hands of the vicious creatures, becoming food or slaves. After the fall of Khoraqualumum in 2.476 ABE, the gnolls only took seven years to occupy the last remnants of the Khenomeric Empire still free, with the last khenomeric province to fall being Micoshtep in 2.483 ABE. The full consequences of this event would make themselves known to the rest of eastern Giantstep soon enough, as once the Khenomeric Empire had been devoured, the gnoll began moving beyond its borders.

## Historical Maps part 17. Great Quake of Elanxa. Collapse of Greater Elanxa (2.607 ABE)

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.607 ABE.

After the horrible events that had befallen the Khenomeric Empire, the world was in a state of shock. The threat of the gnoll was thought to be well understood by the denizens of Eastern Giantstep, but now, in a few years, all that they thought was correct was turned upside down. The gnoll were not just a mere pest, but a mortal danger that threatened to engulf the entirety of the region. After the fall of Khoraqualumum, millions of khenomeri flooded the lands near the empire, trying to find a way to outrun the monsters, causing untold chaos in the neighboring countries. To the east, the old nations that had become independent from the Khenomeric Empire tried to find a way to make sense of what was going on, and measure if they were at risk. Nations such as New Herej, the Kingdom of Nogar, the Kingdom of Ketlovia, the lands of Mataandura Haishü… were flooded by refugees, causing problems to sustain the sudden spike of population, as well as to keep the people in order. Many ended up on the Chill Steppes, as many of these nations simply threw them there to avoid problems of overpopulation. To the south, the Kingdom of Nosso Lar and Gilgemash had to mobilize their fleet to control the flood of people coming towards their lands, though they allowed the arrival of the khenomeric fleet, seeking refuge and a new flag to serve under. A few even tried to run to the south, where they found a terrible luck, dying on the swamps of the Crimson Plateau or the desert lands of Ogabo or the Kinga Badlands. Luckily for the survivors, however, the gnolls’ expansion throughout the empire threatened to collapse under its own weight. The gnoll had expanded too fast and too far, and since the civilizing projects of the ogres could only do so much, infighting began threatening to collapse the gnoll. This allowed the nations bordering the empire to organize a counter assault, mobilizing their troops to invade the remnants of the empire and exterminate the gnolls once and for all.

The gnoll began expanding outside of the territories of the Khenomeric Empire around 2.484 ABE, with assaults to the lands of the Bhakkari and the lands bordering the Forest of Getting Lost. Their expansion was slow, as the gnoll were still quite disorganized, and the neighboring nations now knew (or so they believed) what they were fighting against, and they mobilized their forces to meet the gnoll. With the migration of ogres through the Forest of Getting Lost subsiding, however, the ogres began having more and more problems controlling the now exploding gnoll population. The amount of gnoll in the occupied territories was growing exponentially, and infighting began appearing between different gnoll groups, threatening to collapse the entire region into another bloodbath.

It’s at this point when many believe the denizens of Okhost intervened. The Okhostian archipelago had been inhabited by the undead led by the infamous Vandervax the Vile. A figure of dread and fear, he had taken possession of the uninhabitable volcanic islands, since no one really wanted to oppose the one true lich in the world, a being who had lived for millennia now, and had mastered the arts of necromancy (and besides, the islands were uninhabitable anyway, so nothing of value was lost). His crusade against vampirism was a well known fact, and many believed that the existence of the Necrocracy of Okhost was a worthy trade if the plague of vampirism was kept in check by the undead lord. However, the rise of the gnoll had opened a door for opportunity. Vandervax was well aware of the gnoll for centuries, and like the rest of the world, he had believed them to be but mindless animals. However, his experiments on them had shown that the creatures were immensely affine to dark magic, especially necromancy, needing very little magic to be resurrected in comparison to other beings. They were also immune to vampirism: when a gnoll was infected, they would die a painful death instead of turning into another vampire. And now, not only they had proven they were sapient and sentient, but they were a powerful weapon of war. Such a tool could be indispensable in a war against the vampires. As such, Vandervax and many of his undead priests to the empire, just as the gnoll were taking over the coastal cities of the empire. What happened next is not well known, but for many years, the gnolls’ expansion seemingly slowed down to a crawl. Many even believed the gnoll had fallen into infighting, but all scouts and explorers sent to investigate into their territory ended up disappearing.

The answer of what was going on would in 2.546 ABE. Throughout that year, messengers from the land would suddenly arrive to the borders of many nearby nations. Hidden in heavy cloaks, they would turn out to be gnoll, but these gnoll were different. Calm, collected, with cold light blue eyes of undeath, they were there to bring a message to the nations. They were there to announce the anointment by the Great Maw of the first Gnoll Emperor, Grabagrorr the Great. Under his all mighty command, he ordered the nearby regions to surrender to the gnoll, so the Great Maw could receive its just tribute. If any nation decided to deny this holy mandate, they would drown in a sea of bodies, and their gods would tremble at the death the Gnoll Empire would lay upon them.

Whatever dealings the gnolls and the okhostian had done, it was clear the gnoll now had the keys to necromancy, but this went beyond that. Suddenly, the nearby nations began falling one after another. Previously, the gnoll had been a nightmare to contain, but their infighting and lack of proper military organization had helped the nearby nations to stem the tide. Now, the gnoll marched together, not only led by the ogre priests, but by undead gnoll, capable of keeping their aggression in check to command their brethren into battle. While their tactics were still simplistic, due to the gnolls’ naturally violent tendencies, now they presented a completely new challenge. Armed with the weapons of the khenomeri, led by competent generals and zealously following the commands of the emperor, the eastern nations fell one by one, threatening to engulf the entire eastern half of the continent. The more victories they won, the more death and destruction would bring, which in turn would cause more gnoll to spawn. This expansion met the first great challenge to the gnolls: the sleeping dragongod Phorsiussarx.

After the conquest of the Duchy of the Twin Wolves by the gnoll, they set their eyes upon the great fortification at the center of the Lake of Wolves. The mysterious structure promised the gnoll with yet another opportunity for slaughter, and thus, they decided to assault the mighty Fehrum Edzulair. Reaching it took some time, however, as they began cutting down the nearby forests to build ramshackle rafts and boats. Many gnoll did not reach the center island, but those who reached it found the ancient fortress a tough nut to crack. Not only they had to climb the titanic chains that kept the floating fortress in place, but the cult of Phorsiussarx fought tooth and nail, lasting from 2.563 to 2.576 ABE, resisting against the besieging gnoll. However, after years of exhaustion, the gnoll managed to grind down the scant members of the cult, killing the warriors and eating the singers keeping the dragongod in check. Thus, after the gnoll found the great chamber and began biting the gnoll, trying to eat him, the feared Phorsiussarx woke up. And in a single wrathful day, he killed more gnoll than the entire cult did in years, wiping the lands around the lake clean of sentient life, and then went back to sleep, now unburdened by the singers’ magic. The sheer destruction made the gnoll stop attempting to take over the flying castle… for a couple of years. The “Wars of Heaven” between the Gnoll Empire and Phorsiussarx repeated around every 50-60 years, always with the same result, since at the time, nothing the Gnoll Empire had could come close to damage, much less defeating, the ancient dragongod.

While this was happening, Greater Elanxa was still in the ascendant. Though they were having problems organizing the colonization of Zemyland and Littlestep, it was nothing the effective administration of Elanxa could handle. Prioritizing the land awarding to the loyal soldiery and those mercenaries who showed the greatest prowess and dedication, they managed to solidify their holdings while spending a relatively small amount of manpower to control the south of the continent. The same could be said about Littlestep, but the swamps and the local resistance were harder challenges to overcome. Nevertheless, the news of the expansion of the gnoll to the south were received with mixed reactions. Pretty much everyone in the nation was horrified at the events that had happened to the Khenomeric Empire. After all, they were the precursors of the elanxans, and there were still plenty of ties between the two powers even if the Northern Khenomeric Empire had long dissolved. The stories of the horrors happening in the south from the thousands of refugees that were arriving to their shores became commonplace in the markets and town centers of every corner of Greater Elanxa. Behind the curtains, however, another kind of discussion began. Greater Elanxa was safe from the gnoll menace thanks to the Forest of Getting Lost, and the powerful elanxan fleet would keep their waters safe if the gnoll ever became sailors. With their homefront safe from the monsters, many questioned what should they do about it. A growing number proposed a great crusade, allying themselves with the remaining nations south of the forest to push against these “Gnoll Empire”. With the Khenomeric Empire wiped out, the sheer amount of land available made many drool with anticipation, and a few even dared to dream about reunifying the Khenomeric Empire under the flag of Greater Elanxa, once the gnoll had been disposed of.

These dreams would never come to pass. In 2.578 ABE, a massive earthquake took place in the Labyrinth Bay, ravaging the capital city of Elanxa. The city had been built from scratch once the Northern Khenomeric Empire had dissolved, and had quickly grown to become one of the biggest and more advanced cities in the world. The small island near the coast had become too small to sustain its growth, and many bridges connected the capital buildings with most of the suburbs, located in the continent. The Great Quake of Elanxa hit the city with ferocity, causing the entire island to sink into the ocean, and the aftershocks turned the half of the city in the continent into ruins. Whatever had survived was wiped away by the sea, with multiple giant waves sweeping the remnants of the once great capital. The scant survivors were forced to intern themselves into the Realm of the Goddess of Harmony, where they would eventually form part of the many populations within.

The nation did not see it coming. Suddenly, and without warning, Greater Elanxa had been decapitated. Whatever aid they could give to their southern allies dissipated overnight, extinguishing the last military power that could threaten the gnoll in the east. Greater Elanxa was ruled by a council of aristocrats, the wisest and most powerful families in the realm. Many of these had their holdings in the capital, and with the leaders of Greater Elanxa under the sea, the nation was left without direction. What was worse, it was the Elanxan Council who decided the sharing of the conquered lands, and now no one knew which plot of land belonged to who. While the surviving members of the aristocratic families tried in vain to regain control of the nation, there was no one who would recognize their power now. Many local lords began trying to take over, presenting themselves as the leaders of the nation, and the situation grew even worse in Zemyland and Littlestep. The infighting between the governors of the northern provinces allowed Old Hyperborea and the Snow Elves to expand their borders against the now unprotected colonies. Many wars were fought at this point, culminating in the victory of the so called Magpie Emperors. Uniting most of the lands around the Saint Pitcasasti Sea, they proclaimed themselves to be the ultimate rulers of Elanxa, declaring the birth of the Elanxan Empire in 2.607 ABE. The remnants of Greater Elanxan administration in Zemyland declared the Magpie Emperors as unworthy rulers, and declared their ties to Elanxa null and void, creating the Zemylander Kingdom the same year. This union would last around a century, until the internal pressure and infighting caused the beginning of the fracture of the Zemylander Kingdom into the Arkadiya Empire and the Kingdom of Gold in 2.783 ABE.

In the regions near the Witchelven Empire, the continuous debauchery of the witchelven kept affecting the veil of reality around their nations. The Ancient Order of Most Practical Wizards had long predicted, since the opening of the Gomorrah Breach back in 2.191 ABE, that a second tear in reality would happen at any moment if the witchelven kept their ways of depravity and sin. This prediction was proven correct in 2.552 ABE, when a second breach started appearing south of the Cursed Battlefield. And it did so with great strength, being able to do so despite the magic nullifying knowledge of the city of Caprea, swarming it with demons, and condemning it to its destruction. However, many wizards who studied the phenomenon later realized that, despite the breach seemingly feeding off the energies of the Cursed Battlefield, the succubae and other assorted demons themselves cannot cross through that realm, causing quite a lot of debate about the true nature of the Cursed Battlefield. Nevertheless, the opening of the now called Sodomia Breach had much less of an impact compared to the first one, as its location was much more remote, affecting only the Automata Republic and the witchelven themselves.

## Historical Maps part 18. Fracturing of the Zemylander Kingdom (2.783 ABE)

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.783 ABE.

With the sudden fall of Greater Elanxa, the singular hope for keeping the Gnoll Empire’s rise in check was swept under the waves. The news coming from the north caused growing unrest in the surviving nations south of the Forest of Getting lost, and thus the migrations to run away from the gnoll increased. The massive population movements affected nearly all aspects of Eastern Giantstep’s politics at this time. In the north, many desperate southerners ended up in the chaotic aftermath of Greater Elanxa’s fall, increasing the tensions and the infighting. This was particularly bad in the zemylander territories, which not only had to contend with the growing fights about who owned the land, the fighting between the elanxan nobles and administrators and the pressure from the native populations, but also the arrival of even more people from Giantstep. This event is known as the “Great Migration”, with many experts proposing the population of the growing zemylander nations grew by 1/5th of their total before the Great Quake of Elanxa. This was particularly important as the Magpie emperors took control of the remnants of Elanxa, creating the Empire of Elanxa, and demanding all former territories to surrender to their power. While they had their differences and fights, the zemylander leaders and warlords agreed to not succumb to the threats from the Magpies. Thus, they rejected the authority of the emperors of Picaea in 2.607 ABE, declaring the creation of the Zemylander Kingdom.

And yet, the Zemylander Kingdom was never as much a solid state as it was a confederation of warlords, with all the problems that implies. Trying to imitate the political model of Greater Elanxa, the Great Council of Zemyland barely had any power to organize and take care of the problems of the nation, much less organize an actual kingdom. In fact, despite claiming having a kingdom, the throne was never occupied, as the members of the council agreed there could be no emperor until the problems were done. However, the council fell into disarray, and unable to control the infighting between the different factions of the kingdom, its role fell into the hands of local warlords. And all this happened while the native populations, the hyperboreans and the snow elves, began slowly regaining control over their former territories. In particular, the Kingdom of the Aine Saevherne had managed to peacefully reclaim most of their territories in the coast after intimidating their inhabitants into fleeing either south or north, months before the proclamation of the Zemylander Kingdom. This would turn out to be more important than what many imagined, since it isolated the Golden Peninsula from the rest of the kingdom. Without any land contact and with the navy too busy keeping pirates in their place, the warlords in the region were free to do what they wanted, without any pretense of obeying the council. Fortunately for them, the discovery of plenty gold mines at the edges of the realm attracted plenty of voyagers and settlers to the realm. The solution to this gold fever was simple: they were put to fight the snow elves and expand the warlords’ territories. Despite the strength and better knowledge of the territory, the snow elves’ numbers were much smaller in the north, and when compared with the teeming masses of peasants opening their way through the tundra and the glaciers in search of gold, they were overrun, allowing the human grasp of the region to expand.

To the south, the rest of the Zemylander Kingdom saw this with worry, but couldn’t do anything to the same degree. Expansion did come, though through the poorer lands of the west of the continent, mostly allowing settlers to try to make use to the poor lands north of the Copper Peninsula. Still, after the initial decades of turmoil, a family rose to power to put an end of the infighting, getting the local warlords back in line and driving the hyperboreans back to the north. Led by Zefalovich Arkadiya, the House of Arkadiya managed to beat the feuding warlords into obeying them, eventually overthrowing the council and establishing the Arkadiya as the future ruler of the kingdom. And yet, the Arkadiya had no means to counter the growing power of the people in the north. After a series of dealings, the Zemylander Kingdom was dissolved into two nations, the Arkadiya Empire and the Kingdom of Gold, in 2.783 ABE. While the Kingdom of Gold managed to organize their holdings and build a government of their own, building the capital of Slitok, the sudden sickness of Zefalovich Arkadiya caused tensions between his sons, waiting to see who would inherit it all. Before a civil war could ravage the nation, they decided to divide their inheritance equally between them: The eldest brother received what would become the Kingdom of Silver, the middle daughter received the Kingdom of Amber and the youngest got the Princedom of Platinum. Thus, the Treaty of the Three Brothers was signed in 2.796 ABE, and went into effect the year after, once Zefalovich died of natural causes.

Meanwhile, the gnoll continued their expansion towards all fronts. To the west, the gnoll quickly took over the overlands of the Seguerial Hordes, and began infiltrating the tunnels below. While resistance was fierce at first, the gnolls simply continued marching forward, and letting their numbers and the maggotgnolls and hyenagnolls grind the ratmen down. The labyrinthine complex of the seguerials guaranteed the gnoll advance was slow and they couldn’t really take over the underground, but the infighting between the seguerial colonies meant that a coordinated defense was impossible. The gnoll also continued their advance towards the Kinga Badlands, but there was nothing for them to take, save for the first great pilgrimage to the Great Maw, with thousands of gnoll dying during the trip before reaching the Holy City of Tents, swarming it with gnoll in pilgrimage. The Bhakkari, having spent decades fighting the ogres and the gnoll at this point, had become adept gnoll hunters, but the gnolls’ numbers were too much to counter head on, and began retreating to the north, slowly but steadily ceding ground to the invaders. The gnoll also began advancing towards the Crimson Plateau and its swamps, meeting another of the great hurdles for Gnoll expansion: the Ra. While the frogmen were not a particular threatening foe to the gnoll, and had basically begun their own evacuation efforts, the ra were a force to be reckoned with. Near the size of ogres, but stronger and with a heavy carapace protecting their bodies, the Ra tore down gnolls at every chance, and when the Ra had to retreat back into the swamp, the gnolls’ advance was stalled by the monsters of the swamp.

To the east, the gnoll continued their advance, quickly reaching the lands of the Cowmen and Nogar, one of the last big kingdoms in the region. The Cowmen fought hard against the invaders, but the sweeping prairies of the Mataandura Haishü offered plenty of advantages to the hordes of the gnoll. Still, the resistance of the cowmen forced many of their leaders to the south, in the direction of Nogar. The rulers of Nogar had been hoping for the Gnoll Empire to crumble under its own weight until now, so seeing it not only strengthening but also on their doorstep caused a great panic. The constant losses against the gnoll in the field quickly convinced the leaders of Nogar to begin the construction of the Bastion of Eternal Harmony, a great wall connecting from the Kwogan Coast and the Sirena Cape. He then ordered a mass exodus to take place behind the walls, all those who could move were ordered to come east, running as the gnoll’s forces were barely slowed down by the nogarese forces. The gnoll also advanced towards the Tenzin Mountains, but the snowy passes were treacherous, and the lack of plentiful food to keep the hordes going made any advances slower.

And that’s when the gnolls’ advances stalled. Having more or less conquered all the territories south of the Forest of Getting Lost, the received attrition began fracturing the forces of the gnoll. The slow advance of the gnoll allowed them less and less to consume and create more gnolls, at least not at the rate they needed to continue their grinding advance. This was especially true against the Dragongod and the Ra. The Dragongod’s campaign was seemingly fueled by the grudge of Grabagrorr having lost the first War of Heaven. Sending wave after wave to no effect at all, all their efforts were futile, as Phorsiussarx could wipe out all life around the Lake of Wolves with little effort. The Ra were mortal, but every crabman could take on dozens on gnoll at once, since their massive size and strong carapace was more than enough to crack the crude weaponry of the gnoll. And if that wasn’t enough, the treacherous swamps and the monstrous fauna was certainly an ever-present danger. Combining that with their failed attempts to cross the Tenzin Mountains and to subjugate the Mataandura Haishü, and the seemingly inexhaustible hordes of the Gnoll Empire were beginning to run dry. It was at this point where the balanced turned in favor of the Ra, with the arrival of the mysterious thuleans. A strange people with unknown origins, they began aiding the Ra, helping them organize their raids and strategies more effectively, causing an even greater toll in the gnoll armies. This culminated in the Battle of Oirant in 2.735 ABE, breaking the invading armies and forcing them a hasty retreat through the swamp.

It is unknown what exactly happened after the Battle of Oirant, since information from within the Gnoll Empire is scarce and seldom reliable. However, in 2.737 ABE, many gnoll armies began retreating from the battlefield. Suddenly, it seemed that the war against the gnoll had stopped and the creatures were going back to the depths of their empire. Celebrations were short, as exhaustion and confusion quickly took over many of the survivors. The cowmen had lost near a third of their population, Nogar had had to abandon most of its territory to the gnoll, and to this day Old Nogar is an abandoned and lawless wasteland. The Ra, despite their success against the gnoll, had lost tens of thousands of their kin. The seguerials had lost so many colonies that some argued they were near extinction, and the feral gnolls and hyenagnolls still lurked around the tunnels. The Tenzin and the Otamlar had received little damage overall, but they weren’t to pursue the retreating gnoll. With the powers north of the Forest of Getting Lost focused on their own affairs, there was no way to organize a counter-attack. However, messengers began arriving to the court of the surviving nations, announcing the arrival of a new gnoll emperor. Mentioning no name, he was known as the Nameless by both the gnoll and their enemies, and he was apparently the individual who had ordered the retreat. The news of the dethroning of Grabagorr and the rise of this new individual left many wondering what was going to happen now. Confusion led to terror once the news of the humbling of the Dragongod Phorsiussarx.

According to enslaved chroniclers who accompanied the new Gnoll Emperor, the Nameless flew over the floating castles, and sent thousands of undead eagles and falcons to rain maggotgnolls upon the dragon. While his rage became great and the undead creatures were quickly disposed of, the Nameless continued to do it again and again for weeks, without any invasion of gnoll in sight. Seeing as the maggotgnolls were insignificant in comparison to the great Phorsiussarx, he eventually stop bothering with the eagles, just swatting them up like one would swat a fly. And yet, after an entire year of campaign, the mighty dragongod began suffering great pains within him. It was at this point that the Nameless personally appeared in front of him. He explained that some of the maggotgnolls he had launched against the dragongod had been enchanted with necromantic magic, capable of eating even through the powerful body of a dragongod. The nameless calmly explained to him that if Phorsiussarx did not submit to him, the maggots would rip him apart from within, killing the mighty dragon and taking years and years in doing so. So confident was the Nameless that he put no effort in defending himself, since if he died, he enchanted maggotgnolls would never stop until Phorsiussarx’ death. Seeing no other option, he surrendered to the Nameless in exchange for stopping the magical maggots’ insidious effects on him. Shackled by bonds of life and death, the mighty dragongod had fallen victim to the powers of the mysterious Gnoll Emperor. While at first, many did not believe this story, the appeareance of the first dragonspawn gnolls after 2.751 ABE, flying abominations that gave credibility to the rumors.

The chaos and mayhem south of the Forest of Getting Lost were not universal. In the Southwest Sea, in the Peninsula of Izar, the small Kingdom of Drunigzar had been enjoying a period of prosperity for a while now. The lands of the drunig were universally known to be some of the poorest in the entire region, allowing scant agriculture, and people mostly lived as either herders or pirates. The land had been mostly unclaimed, serving as a buffer space between the Merfolk and the Khenomeric Empire. With the explosion of pirates in the eastern seas after the Merfolk Empire’s demise, many bandits and outlaws had made these lands their home, taking advantage of the lawlessness of the territory. The Kingdom of Nogar, during their ascendance, had tried to colonize the region, mostly as a way to keep the pirates under control, but the scant benefits obtained by controlling the land made them abandon the project. Instead, the nogarese decided to create the Kingdom of Drunigzar as a vassal, hoping it would solve the problem of its own. The kingdom had suffered many ups and downs, but had more or less survived under the shadow of Nogar. It had only been recently, under the rulership of Paolos II “the Shipbuilder”, when the fortunes of the drunig had begun to change. Sinking under the threat of economic collapse and piratic raids, the king organized an ambitious project to strengthen the nation’s economy. He pushed to outset the debt of the kingdom through mercantile action, producing and selling anything that could be bought and sold. He also pushed for many exploration trips for any unearthed treasure, which mostly centered on the ruins of the Merfolk Empire. This was met with heavy criticism by the neighboring nations, since the lands had been left abandoned for centuries, and many believed it was bad luck looting the merfolk. The drunig, however, knew that many pirates had made their nests in that accursed land, and thus saw no issue with their expeditions.

The quick success of the project was not all that it seemed, as its growth was too being quickly checked by the neighbors, and the growth of the drunig fleet was causing once again debt, not to mention their lack of capable personnel for business, trade and sailing. Many were suggesting that Drunigzar was going to collapse sooner than later, with Paolos’ projects being the cause of the small kingdom’s demise. That all changed with the advent of the gnoll. With Nogar crumbling under the threat of the gnoll and the nearby nations embroiled in their own crisis, suddenly Drunigzar appeared as the safest and most stable choice. The massive migrations from Nogar, seeking refuge in the faraway lands of the drunig, not only the riches needed to continue their growth, but also a great amount of capable workers, developing their banking and their shipbuilding capabilities. Many nogarese ships even swore fealty to the drunig monarchy in exchange for protection, something that enraged Nogar, but they couldn’t do anything about it, as they needed their forces in the west to keep the gnoll from overrunning them. Thus, the small Kingdom of Drunigzar became one of the most powerful nations in the region, having come out of the gnoll expansion stronger than before. This would be compounded by the colonization projects throughout the southern coasts and the eventual “partnership” with the Gnoll Empire, something that baffled and horrified all nations around.

While the turmoil in the east was brewing, the west was enjoying a relative period of sorely needed peace. After so many years of fighting, the years after the birth of the Azanese New Faith saw very little chaos. The spread of the new religion throughout the empire had been quite successful, and most importantly, peaceful. To keep this peace going, they even allowed the more problematic province of Siuverland, as they saw it as a threat for internal stability. There were problems, but they were resolved peacefully through diplomatic means. The political tension that had been brewing within the lands of Furlaniya at the hands of the warlord Lanzio of Glemone, who began clamoring for independence in the already tumultuous southern provinces, resulted in a rebellion against azanese authority. Knowing that the region was already quite unstable, the azanese government decided to allow the secession, seeking to create a vassal Kingdom of the South in 2661 ABE. The logic behind this choice was that the region had simply become too costly and too unruly to control directly, and that it was a much more efficient and profitable deal control it through indirect means, tying the lands through vassalage rather than direct political control. The scheme quickly unravel as the souther nation of the Nasr tried to take advantage of the chaos and invaded the southlands. However, it could only take very small portions of the lands, and at great costs, since they needed a great deal of forces needed to keep the unruly furlaniyans in check. Within this context, Lanzio of Glemore began fighting against the nasr, but before he could drive them back into the sea, he was assassinated. While the nasr ended up retreating back to their homeland, the regions of Furlaniya fell into disarray. This all allowed Azan to establish strong ties with the smaller provinces of Furlaniya, now dependant on Azan to continue their local feuds. In the Yamantai Cape, the nasrians managed to establish a foothold that would last around 200 years. The region would see constant turmoil, as the nasrian occupation was not popular at all between the azharese. It would culminate in the rising of Misrah tas-Sur, a noble seeking revenge against the nasrians for the murder of his family. Quickly organizing many alliances with local lords and with the funding of Azan, he quickly expelled the nasrians back to the south, eventually being crowned as King of Azhar Nar in 3.081 ABE.

The new faith did not have that the same luck outside of Azan, with many regions keeping the old faith both as a sign of independence from Azan and as to avoid religious disorders. And yet, there were problems brewing within the azanese priesthood. The new faith had forced many to reinterpret and recontextualize many of the ancient holy texts, which were causing a decent amount of discussion and debate within the theological circles of the capital. In particular, things such as the value or sinfulness of idolatry and the adoration of holy icons was becoming quite a tense debate in the catechetical school. Unbeknownst to the general populous, the different factions were becoming more and more restless and aggressive against each other, with the emperor seeing this as a mere religious debate of no important weight.

This would all culminate in 2.693 ABE, during an assembly in the Great Cathedral of Nanakinor. While these kinds of reunions were routine, the subject of iconoduly vs aniconism had become so bitter than a brawl started inside the place of worship. The different street factions that supported each side also began brawling, and it all culminated in a great fire that swallowed the entire cathedral whole. The emperor had to summon the army to get a hold of the situation, and by the time the armed forces had subdued the rabble, the temple had burned to cinders. Thus ended the Wars of the New Faith, as many historians mockingly named this event. The emperor forbade any further discussion about the subject, executing the suspects of the fire and sending some of the highest members of the church of the new faith into home arrest. To this day, people from Azan tend to avoid discussing about the value of icons within their faith.

Near the Handprint Mountains, a series of earthquake-like tremblings began causing concern within the populations around the Urgun Plateau, which coinciding with strange attacks to the nearby people, though this was attributed to wild animals at the time. It would turn out to not be the case, as in 2.777 ABE the last of the known Succubus Breaches opened. The Lustrus Breach was lodged on a seemingly remote area, between the Witchelven Empire, the mountains and the Urgun Plateau. While this meant that there was little cause of concern for the major nations, this effectively isolated the Urgun cities completely, blocking them from the only access to the rest of the world. The study of the breach by the Order of Most Practical Wizards concludes that a new breach could appear at any time, though nothing of the sort has seemingly happened yet.

## Historical Maps part 19. Founding of the Avangar Empire (2.957 ABE)

Here we have an approximation of the world's great powers right at the year 2.957 ABE.

After the Treaty of the Three Brothers went into effect in 2.797 ABE, the Arkadiya Empire ceased to be, divided between the three brothers. The founding of the Kingdom of Silver, Amber and the Princedom of Platinum managed to extinguish the risk of a civil war, something that was brewing within the empire. And it was a lucky thing that it did, since problems were brewing with Old Hyperborea. The hyperborean nation had been restless with the growing power of the zemylanders and their own respective loss of power in their own lands was causing great unrest in the ancient kingdom. The elder king of Old Hyperborea, Nivamos the 3rd, had been mustering his forces in secret, seeing the potential fall of the Arkadiya Empire as the opportunity he needed to drive the southerners back to the sea. As well as organizing and growing his armies, he had managed to establish ties to the old rivals of the hyperboreans, the snow elves, promising to recover their ancestral lands if they offered help. However, once the Treaty of the Three Brothers became public knowledge and the threat of civil war evaporated with it, King Nivamos thought his chances of success were too slim to bother, and slowly began dismantling his military efforts. This not only enraged the hyperborean nobility, but also his own son, Prince Moprovost. In 2.810 ABE, a series of border attacks by the Princedom of Platinum allowed the princedom to capture a series of town alongside the border. The poor response of King Nivamos against this attack left Prince Moprovost to organize an uprising against his father, seeing him as too weak to properly fight the outsiders and unworthy to lead the hyperboreans. By 2.811 ABE, Nivamos had been exiled from his kingdom, and Moprovost was crowned King of the Hyperboreans. He accelerated the readiness of the nation to war, increasing his public rhetoric against the southerners.

While Moprovost’s actions were successful within Old Hyperborea, they were absolutely counterproductive everywhere else. King Nivamos’ plan to rearm and prepare the nation for war had been a secret affair, subtle enough to keep it far from the eyes and ears of the zemylanders. Moprovost’s plans on the other hand were public and obvious, giving all zemylander nations enough reason to begin preparing for war. Seeing the obvious result of the war, the snow elves retracted their support to the hyperboreans, preferring to stay away from the conflict. This enraged Moprovost, who declared the snow elves no better than the zemylanders, which did not help matters for him. Finally, in 2.834 ABE, a series of surprise attacks launched from Old Hyperborea against the Platinum Kingdom began the Great Hyperborean War. And while many expected the conflict to be over in a couple of years, due to the difference in available forces, the war dragged on for forty-five years. The reasons for this were that, despite his failings as a politician and a diplomat, Moprovost the 1st was a gifted warrior and strategist, a brilliant commander that managed to motivate his forces even when they were at the brink of defeat. The hyperborean warriors themselves were also fiercely motivated, seeing their lands occupied by the strangers who kept driving them further and further north. The bulk of the war was fought between Platinum and the Hyperboreans, since the Kingdoms of Silver and Gold were far from the hyperboreans’ reach. The Kingdom of Amber was able to help, but since it was poorer and less populated, its contribution was secondary even when compared to the military aid of the Kingdoms of Gold and Silver. However, it was Platinum who paid the biggest price in blood for the war. The Platinum Princedom was not going to submit to the hyperboreans, and managed to keep their forces on a stalemate, despite the massive losses suffered during the first years of the conflict.

However, by 2.850 ABE, it was clear that the war’s conclusion was a foreseeable deal in favor of the zemylanders. Despite the prowess of the hyperboreans, their forces simply couldn’t take attrition like the zemylander nations, who could always rely on mercenaries from the south. Still, during the last couple of decades, the unusually strong winters stopped the fighting for most of the year, slowing down the conflict considerably. This allowed the hyperboreans, who had been driven out of their holdings to the south after an ambitious raid to the lands of the Kingdom of Amber had failed, to reinforce their strongholds in the north. The zemylander nations used this slowing down of the fighting to muster their forces for one great push to the north.

The last nine years of the war are known as “the bloody years”, due to the sheer escalation of violence. Up to that point, the hyperboreans had a hope to defeat their enemies in combat, or at the very least regain enough lands to justify the bloodshed. But with the growing losses mounting and Moprovost’s rage driving him to madness, the hyperboreans resigned themselves to oblivion in exchange of a warrior’s death. This caused a schism within the hyperboreans, with some seeing that the senseless war needed to come to a close. Accused of treason and hunted down by their brethren, these hyperboreans were driven even further north, who would eventually become the first of the Alltaf Tribes. The remainder of the hyperboreans fought to the death, unable to push back the enemy’s advances, they instead tried to bleed them as much as possible. The snow became red as each of the hyperborean cities was taken by storm, leaving none alive, since even the women and children were armed and thrown into the meat grinder. The fall of the last city took two years, with the capital of Hiroria finally falling in 2.879 ABE, with Moprovost himself falling in battle. After the defeat of the hyperboreans, the scant survivors abandoned the cities, seeking refuge in the wilderness.

The result of the Great Hyperborean War were truly dire for the hyperboreans. Their kingdom razed and exhausted, their cities were systematically burned to cinders to stop the hyperboreans from resisting further, leaving only charred ruins of once great cities. The hyperboreans were hunted down for a couple of years afterwards, until the kings of the zemylander nations decided they had been thorough enough, and stopped their campaign. Many of the survivors also went north to meet their cousins, joining the Alltaf. The territories of the hyperboreans were occupied by Platinum, but the sheer destruction caused by the war meant that there was little to gain from this occupation, so the land quickly became abandoned. The forests of Shelkvidur became overrun by zemylander wooly spiders, since the hyperboreans weren’t there to cull their numbers, and the land became quite a threat for human habitation. The damages sustained by the zemylander nations varied. The Kingdoms of Gold and Silver had contributed mostly by funding the war efforts and through mercenaries, but their distance towards the battlefront meant that their harm was only economical. The Kingdom of Amber was considerably damaged due to the frequent raids towards the region. However, the zemylander nation that came worse for wear was Platinum. With many cities and towns suffering great losses, the economy of the princedom was considerably damaged. However, it now controlled a considerably oversized army, a great deal of which were mercenaries, and it couldn’t simply disband them without repercussions.

Thus, the Princedom of Platinum quickly organized these forces to the south, as they sought to fully control the Platinum Strait and its trade to repay the costs of the war. In 2.902 ABE, they began taking territories from Northern Littlestep, citing their historical ties as part of Greater Elanxa as a justification. Presenting themselves as the defenders of the old elanxan cities against the swamp dwellers, they quickly managed to control most of the northeast of the continent. This would turn the economy of the Princedom right around, as it not only managed to obtain enough land to pay all the mercenaries, but the control of the coastal cities at both sides of the strait catapulted the economy of the Platinum Princedom, renaming itself as the Princedom of the Platinum Strait.

The cities of northern Littlestep welcomed the presence of the Platinum Princedom for the most part. Having suffered the constant raids from the swamp dwellers for many years since the disappearance of Greater Elanxa, the presence of a stable power that could defend them from the assaults was more than welcome. Many still lamented the loss of their independence, but the princedom skillfully managed to play with the powerful families ruling the cities, so there was little struggle with the reintegration. The platinum diplomats also established ties to the nearby woodcutter cities, guaranteeing them that they were in no way interested in taking them over, as well as to create profitable trade deals in exchange of access to their natural resources. Once this was established, the platinum forces began marching southwards towards the cold swamps. The advance was slow but steady, especially around the Red Lake. The central swamps, however, presented a considerable problem. For one, the swamps were difficult to traverse, full of disease and with little fauna to hunt along the way. The need to maintain supply lines clashed with the difficulty of actually doing so, especially with the hardy swamp dwellers. Many doubted whether it was wise to continue forward instead of focusing on controlling the coastal cities of eastern Littlestep, but many also agreed that the swamps needed to be tamed if these exact same cities were ever going to be safe from assaults from inland. Nevertheless, the platinum soldiers were able to push slowly back the local tribes, forcing them to fight each other in the ever-tighter space of the swamp. This would continue for years, until only the biggest tribe was left as a threat: the elyrians.

The elyrians were not an unknown threat. Having reached the swamps of Littlestep back during the 1st century ABE, they were an ancient culture that had fought and survived the Khenomeric Empire, Greater Elanxa, the Woodcutter Cities and the myriad of other swamp tribes that lived in that bog. They were a resilient people, accustomed to fight to the last and survive with very little, hence their resistance to outsiders. However, their numbers had been dwindling for decades now. The swamps had become colder and colder with time, which had made many of the hunting beasts the elyrians tended to hunt migrate to the other side of the river, where they couldn’t cross due to the prokoyroxans, with plenty of ties with the southern kingdoms and with strong fortifications all across the river to deter assaults from the swamps. The creeping cold was also killing plenty of the fish in the area, and with the shrinking amount of food available, tensions were brewing not only within elyrians, but with the other tribes as well. These problems combined made very difficult for them to resist the advance of the soldiers of platinum, though not was lost for them. A mysterious youth had arrived to the elyrian marshes mere years before the invasion of the Princedom of Platinum. Coming from the west, it joined one of the many elyrian tribes south of the Red Lake, and quickly became one with the natives. The man, now known as Avangar, became a powerful warrior, quite adept at magic, using his mystical talents and his skills at warfare to slow down the advance of the forces of Platinum. Soon, he began attracting other elyrian tribes to himself, and eventually he managed to organize a force that could fight the platinum forces on even ground.

The war took an unexpected turn for the forces of Platinum. After Avangar began organizing his growing armies, the advance stalled and reversed, especially in the areas of denser swamps and bogs, where the guerrillas could easily outmaneuver and trap the platinum forces. However, in the areas closer to the Red Lake, the Princedom kept its advantage, since the terrain was much more forgiving and the local populations allied themselves against the elyrians, plus they had the advantage of bringing ships of bigger tonnage to the lake, being able to disassemble and reassemble them from their docks to the lake. In the end, the war dragged for too long, and the nobility of Platinum decided it was simply not worth the effort anymore. The war was dragging on for too long, and while the coastal cities were safe from attacks, being heavily fortified during the conflict, most of the farmland around them was at risk of hit and run raids, something that could happen for as long as the elyrians controlled the swamps. Thus, in 2.929 ABE, the Princedom of Platinum offered a peace treaty to the elyrians. The war would end, with each side controlling the territories under their control. The Princedom of Platinum would hence guarantee its domain over the northern cities and lands, as well as most of the territories north of the Red Lake, while the elyrians could keep the eastern coastal cities and the central swamps. Both sides presented the end of this conflict as a great victory. Platinum had gained control of the strait, recovered the old elanxan cities in northern Littlestep and gained enough of a foothold on the continent to keep its holdings safe. For the elyrians, they had not only defended their homeland once again, but they had also gained control of the eastern ports, something they had never ruled over before.

Many celebrations were held by the elyrians, though they had lost many of their men, and their control over the eastern lands was tenuous at best. These cities were much poorer than their northern or southern neighbors, too far from the main trade lines and too close to the pirates from the Sitrai Martöflu Archipelago. Still, the fact they were sparsely populated helped immensely to the elyrians, as for the time being, they weren’t in any position to actually rule over them. Still, the elyrians may have obtained a victory over Platinum, but they were still dwindling, fighting with the other swamp tribes in a region slowly losing its resources. However, once again the man known as Avangar brought forth a proposition to the different elyrian clans. With his mystical knowledge, he assured they could build a contraption that would turn the swamps into fertile land, allowing for prosperity where once was only want and need. Most of the elyrian elders were skeptical of the claims of Avangar, as if there was such a magic, how come none of them had heard about it until now? But the popularity of Avangar between the people and his demonstrable prowess at wizardry left them no choice but to accept his proposal.

The preparation for the construction would take many years. Avangar researched many areas of the swamps to see where the mysterious edifice in his mind would work the best. He also began talking to the coastal cities, agreeing with them for help to obtain the required materials and seeking any wizards in them to come invited to the marshes, since even with his prowess, he needed help preparing the necessary incantations. Once the preparations were complete, he began building the Tower of the Eternal Fire. Its actual construction took less than a year, between 2.945 and 2.946 ABE. A structure of tremendous size and height, at the top of it a magical flame was summoned. Slowly but surely, over a period of a couple of years, the lands around it began drying up, with the marshes being replaced by lush and healthy forest. The dying fauna quickly recovered, and not only that, but the fire also managed to create the perfect conditions for agriculture, something that had rarely been tried before by the swamp tribes. Many elders feared that the magical heat would quickly unravel or spike out of control, drying the land into a scorching desert, but somehow the warmth was evenly distributed throughout the land, only really weakening during winter to allow for the needed rains. The success of the tower managed to convince the remaining non-elyrian swamp tribes to submit to the elyrians, seeking to enjoy the prosperity of the magic brought by Avangar. This would culminate in Avangar being chosen as the one true leader of the elyrians in 2.957 ABE, originating the Avangar Empire. He located his capital in the city of Alga, the population that had grown around the Tower of Eternal Fire.

Meanwhile, the growth of the Gnoll Empire was stabilizing. After the rise of the Nameless to the throne, the Gnoll Empire had begun to consolidate in their newly acquired territories, abandoning those that were considered difficult to control, and instead, began organizing their internal affairs. While very few outside the empire actually knew what that entailed, there was a sense of nervous relief all around Southeastern Giantstep. The apocalyptic threat that had nearly swallowed the region was still for now, and there was time to recover and plan for the future. Many even believed that the gnoll retreating inwards was a sign that their empire was crumbling, and hope that the horrid gnoll would eat each other to oblivion was beginning to grow in the region. However, not all was well. The borders had become frequent sites of raids and skirmishes between the locals and the gnoll. While nothing like the apocalyptic sea of violence of a true gnoll invasion, these attacks greatly worried all neighboring nations. This feeling was particularly strong in the only power left more or less intact in the region: the Ketlovian Kingdom. Ever since the ketlovians had managed to free themselves from servitude to the khenomeric, they had managed to grow their holdings back to the size of what they controlled in ancient times, and not even the curse of lycanthropy had managed to deter them from reclaiming their lost power. However, the growing rate of skirmishes at the border meant that there was a lot of uncertainty within the nation. Despite the fact that the gnoll had not attacked Ketlovia thus far, the ketlovians had received enough fleeing refugees to know the horrors caused by these monsters, and none but the most detached wanted to fight them.

The growing discourse about the threat of the gnolls was worrying the ketlovian king, Ivan XVII van Thraca. He knew how dangerous the gnoll truly were, since the few skirmishes with them at the border had proven they were not the mindless beast of yore, but an effective, if blunt, fighting force. Many of his advisors recommended reinforcing the border with massive walls and fortifications, as the nogarese had done. However, the king decided to try the diplomatic approach, to the surprise of many. King Ivan had seen the change within the gnoll after the rise of this new gnoll emperor. Unlike the previous emperor, the Nameless seemed to be more composed and collected, even “civilized”, as much as any gnoll can be anyway. Seeking to establish some way to stop the war, he managed to enter into direct contact with the Nameless, seeking to find a way to protect Ketlovia from what it seemed like an imminent invasion. King Ivan invited the Nameless to the capital of Corium, to open diplomatic relations and establish something akin to an alliance. Once in the capital, he acted in a civilized way, following to the letter all social customs of the ketlovians, surprising everyone in court. The discussions lasted for years, but eventually a compact was form. As a way to seal the treaty, the Nameless would marry the 112 daughters of King Ivan.

The wedding ceremony was set to happen during the end year celebrations of 2.863 ABE, in the capital of Corium. The city was decorated with as much luxury as possible for the occasion, with each street filled with the names of each of the brides and with the emblem of the ketlovian royal house. Each of the brides was wearing dresses confectioned by some of the most talented tailors in the world, who had been brought to Ketlovia specifically for the job, and were also displaying brilliant jewels and gemstones. The Nameless himself went accompanied by his most accomplished war commanders, wearing immaculate khenomeric regalia, which took many by surprise. The final celebration, as per ketlovian traditions, was in the Royal Dance Hall, a marvel of architecture within the capital of Ketlovia that was considered by many as one of the wonders of the world. Tensions were high for both parties, but both King Ivan and the Nameless seemed undisturbed, keeping an image of royalty for the entire duration of the night. It seemed like the ceremony would go without a hitch, and the hopes for peace between the two nations looked bright.

What happened next is open to speculation. Many historians discuss the events of the “Last Dance” to this day, as the testimonies of the few witnesses are murky and with many holes in the story. What many coincide with is that, after the initial dance, the Nameless requested a moment alone with his brides. After hours passed with no news about the events inside the ballroom, a young maiden tried to sneak in due to curiosity, only to scream horrifically after what she had seen there. When King Ivan and his retinue forced their way into the ballroom, they found a grizzly scene: All 112 brides had been ritualistically decapitated, their blood covering the entire ballroom. All over their bodies, shinning maggotgnolls were eating the remains of fresh flesh from the princesses, all while ogre priests and undead gnoll chanted litanies to the Maw. The Nameless justified this as the “duty of the empresses”, to bring forth the next generation of gnoll, in the same way a queen’s duty is to bring to the world the heirs to the throne. While he was accused of being a bloodthirsty monster, he said that their death had been painless, and that the sacrifice of his brides was necessary for the future, since thanks to them, the ketlovians would be safe and free to prosper. Losing any composure left, and mad with grief and rage, he flew into a bloodthirsty rage and jumped straight towards the Nameless. King Ivan XVII van Thraca was a hulking werewolf, taller than even the average troll, and with the strength to match, a size even more striking when compared to the Nameless, who many have described as slightly shorter than the average gnoll. However, the magical prowess of the Nameless meant that the werewolf king was but a nuisance to the Gnoll Emperor, who left it barely alive before his retinue rescued him and brought him to a safer place, all while the forces of the gnoll razed the capital to cinders. Once the king woke up, he was in a safe castle, far from the armies of the Nameless. Making a blood oath of eternal hatred against the gnoll and against the Nameless in particular, he swore that he would kill the gnoll emperor like the animal he was.

Thus began the gnoll invasion of the Kingdom of Ketlovia. The war lasted ten years, with some of the bloodiest fighting the world had seen fighting the gnoll. The werewolves were formidable opponents, and King Ivan was determined to make the gnolls pay. However, it would be all for naught, as the ketlovians were fighting alone against the entirety of the Gnoll Empire, with no other nation willing to start a fight against the empire. On their part, the gnoll were able to focus their full strength on a single front, sending hundreds of thousands of gnolls in waves against the ketlovians. And these were not the gnolls of yore, they were better trained, led and armed, capable of planning a complex military campaign. It is a testament to the werewolves’ strength and resolved they managed to last a decade against such an enemy, but the outcome of the war was clear from the start. After the gnoll conquered the entirety of the Ivory Peninsula, many expected a final confrontation in the now heavily fortified capital of Corium, to the east of the peninsula. However, before the werewolf king could have his final battle against his hated foe, the Nameless publicly declared that he wanted the war to end. The Gnoll Emperor declared that he forgave the ignominies committed against his person, having mercy on the old werewolf king, and allowing the remaining ketlovians to live freely, as it would be what his beloved brides would have wanted. This ended the Kingdom of Ketlovia. Consumed by rage but unable to oppose the Gnoll Emperor any further, King Ivan accepted the peace, ending up as a vassal to the Nameless, becoming mad in the process. Many ketlovians decided to accept the deal, forming what is now known as the Ketlovian Slavestate, whereas many ketlovians who did not want to serve the gnoll took refuge in the eastern province of Setlovia. The tensions between Ketlovia and Setlovia caused the latter to secede, forming the Setlovian Freestate, a center of resistance against the gnoll, protected by the Runaan Ashlands and the barren lands of the Vodyanik.

While the rest of the Southeastern Giantstep was still in shock, the Kingdom of Drunigzar continued its economic growth. Due to the huge gap left in the southeast, drunig traders managed to quickly take advantage of the situation, easily growing in power and influence. The growing rate of the merchant fleet attracted more attention from pirates, and thus the crown invested greatly in a modern navy, to keep bandits at bay. Drunigzar quickly became the biggest power at sea in the southeast, rivalling even the nations to the north like Elanxa or Platinum. While these nations saw the rise of Drunigzar with distrust, in reality, they had bigger fish to fry, as the constant fights in Zemyland and Littlestep meant that they couldn’t really do anything about it. Plus, Drunigzar’s expansion was based on trade, instead of territorial conquest, so they didn’t see it as much of a threat to their interests. The growing masses of Drunigzar, however, were becoming a problem quickly. The lands of Drunigzar were well known to be very barren, not capable of producing the growing demand of foodstuffs needed. And importing growing amounts of food was a very unpalatable thing for the nation, as any interruption of their supply would mean immediate starvation. The attempts of Jus I to produce more food were set to bear fruit in the distant future, and they needed to find a solution as soon as possible.

It would be the king Paolos III who would find the apparent answer to this conundrum. Drunigzar needed to expand, but it would need to do so in a way that would not upset its neighbors and trading partners. The solution was colonial expansion to the south. Creating small trading outposts throughout the south, used both to settle population, to find new resources and to get in contact with new markets all at once. For this, they could use their massive navy to their advantage, though offensive war was out of the question. However, this project needed decades of preparation before even beginning. The crown needed to gather resources, capital, information, capable personnel, volunteers… as well as to create the different organizations that would manage these colonial projects. The protests from within were plenty, as many saw it as a project of self-aggrandizement, but the successful creation of the drunig colony of Novo Porto in 2.942 ABE silenced most of those. Even Nogar’s complaints were not enough to slow down the project, using an unclaimed strip of land to settle in Novo Porto so that they could not accuse Drunigzar of occupying foreign soil. The most controversial thing needed for this project, however, was the alliance between Drunigzar and the Gnoll Empire, something that shocked all the human nations of the east. Since Drunigzar’s efforts went towards the expansion overseas, the mainland was left relatively defenseless, and if the Gnoll Empire ever decided to end their conquest of the southeast, they would not be able to defend themselves. The alliance between Paolos III and the Nameless caused plenty of tensions, such as the incident with the Kingdom of Otamlar, though generally the drunig have profited greatly from this deal.

To the south, there were many changes brewing in the soothing meadows south of the Sea of the End. The lands had been occupied for millennia by the zidazzi, who live in independent colonies from one another, controlling and tending to the vast flower fields of the region, always in constant conflict with the badgassi. The land was prosperous, with a mild climate and fertile soils, but the zidazzi had never allowed expansion of trade through their lands for fear of damaging their flower fields, essential to produce zidazzi honey, their main source of nourishment. They even received diplomatic propositions from both Azan and Changrila, but they always turned them down. Due to their relative strength and the fact most trade routes to the east ended going either through the Onyx Strip or through the Sea of the End directly, the zidazzi managed to maintain their independence from the growing powers of the world, all while tending to their flower fields and fighting their natural enemies, the badgassi. The badgassi were outcasts in their own lands, since their way of life and the zidazzis’ was incompatible. They kept a nomadic life, raiding zidazzi holdings to steal their honey, a substance incredibly addicting to the badgassi, as well as serve as manpower for the growing number of pirates in the region, with many going to Ortuga and the pirate cities at both sides of the sea for mercenary work.

It was in this context where Hibila the Terrible was born. Hibila was the youngest son of the tribal chief Hibiuk, leader of one of the smaller tribes near the Zulutaur Steppe. Many legends about his youth exist, though many agree he lived his early years as a slave and a pirate, quickly gaining a name for himself between the many bandits near the shores. However, Hibila seemed to have plans beyond being a mere warlord, and in particular, saw the zidazzi as an enemy to be eradicated. The zidazzi had persecuted his people for millennia, and the effects of zidazzi honey on them made them become but mere drunks, and he thus sought to solve this, scheming for years to weaken and fracture the zidazzi while unifying the different badgassi tribes in the shadows. He also strengthen the bonds between the badgassi and the ortugan pirates, since they also had great interest in dethroning the zidazzi, as they had been enemies in the past. Over the years, Hibila faked serving as a loyal subject for different zidazzi hives, gaining their trust while using their resources to destroy any potential future competition. His campaigns of misdirection, sabotage and paranoia left many hives in a very weakened state, with the growing rumors of an invasion from the outside while the honey reserves were dangerously going down due to plagues on the flower fields.

It was at this point when Hibila began his final plan. Gathering a fleet of pirates from all over the Sea of the End, he made it look like it was an invading force from a far-away power coming to conquer the zidazzi fields. The zidazzi, having bought this ruse, sent their own fleet as a counter, manned by the crème of the crop of the zidazzi warriors from many hives. The zidazzi also sent Hibila and his fleet of mercenaries, since they still believed he was on their side. This was a grave mistake, as Hibila backstabbed the zidazzi, and between Hibila’s forces and the pirates, they sank the entire fleet of the zidazzi in the Battle of the Queen Xibianix’ Strait in 2.950 ABE. After this, the second phase of the plan began, with the many tribes allied to Hibila launching massive attacks of extermination against the weakened and unprotected hives, burning down all the fields of flowers they could find as fast as possible. After a decade of warfare, the badgassi had managed to push the zidazzi to the brink of extinction, having to seek refuge in the Ettin Range to survive. Though at first glance this seemed the birth of another major nation in the world, the death of Hibila in 2.961 ABE during his wedding led instead to the formation of the Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi, with each portion of the land divided between his generals.

## Historical Maps part 20. Current Year (3.161 ABE)

Here we have an approximation of the world at current year of 3.161 ABE.

The last few centuries before our current moment in history have been marked by the challenges to the status quo in both the east, west and the north of the world. The worries of the world have begun to move from the Gnoll Empire and towards these new threats to the peace and stability of the step. The rise of the Cult of the Red Lotus in Changrila and the Changrilese Civil War saw the Changrilese Empire at the brink of collapse, and if the cult had succeeded, it would have surely spread a wave of violence in the west of Giantstep not seen since the Azanese Civil War. To the east, the Wars of Sitrai Martöflu saw Avangar trully expand as a great power in the east, forcing many of the different nations of the region to move their attention from the Gnoll Empire to this new emergent empire. And to the north, the rise of the Vzdoruye necromancers and the founding of Mossovoy has created a powerful necromantic nation that could be a threat to the human and fey nations north of Giantstep.

The origins of the Vzdoruye are somewhat shrouded in mystery. The cults of the dark deity known as Zanzarah have always been hidden in the shadows, as the deeds of its practitioners are seldom seen with good eyes by the common folk. These necromancers have been around for many centuries, always prosecuted by the local authorities. However, at the beginning of the 30th century ABE, the vzdoruyan cults began proliferating in the underground of the Zapalovach Republic. As the mercantile republic is always in a constant turmoil due to infighting between the many noble factions, merchant families, fey tribes and other members of the republic, a series of vzdoruyan cult leaders arose that were able to hide their activities while also attracting new flesh to their organization. While keeping their names and identities unknown for all but to the closest members of their circle, they managed to grow their cult of necromancy despite it being forbidden for centuries, attracting many different people, from the disenfranchised and abandoned to some rich and powerful individuals seeking a thrill. This state of affairs lasted for a couple of decades, with the citizens of Zapalovach slowly noticing the gravity of what was unfolding in the hidden corners of the republic. Why the zapalovan authorities took so long to react is a matter of debate, though the general opinion is that the cult was used as a tool to attack their political rivals with, and that led them to not join together into action until much later. This action would take place in 2.961 ABE, when a series of murders of important members of zapalovian society were discovered to have been perpetuated by them. Seeing as the general population’s hatred and fear for them was skyrocketing quickly, the different families and factions decided to join together and expel the necromantic cults.

The raids against the Vzdoruye cult were surprisingly successful, as the combined efforts and resources of the different families and factions were able to reach deep, even into the underworld. However, once the initial purges were done, the rest of the necromantic cult took notice of this, and began planning its escape. Some members tried to fight back, but they were the exception, and were quickly taken down and executed anyway. In the end, it is believed that thousands of cultists ran from the republic, seeking refuge in the continent. After years of seeking a place where to practice their faith, they eventually found a strip of land seemingly abandoned by both Waldemaria and Zapalovach. However, while the area was far from the watchful eye of both the zapalovach and the waldemarian, the patrols against bandits and other criminals were threatening their location to be discovered before they could defend themselves. It is believed that the vzdoruyan cultists managed to find a series of caves connected with each other through a series of tunnels and caverns, serving as a great hiding spot. Over time, the vzdoruyans expanded these caverns, creating an authentic city underground. By the time the nearby nations realized what was going on, the city of Mossovoy had become a metropolis that attracted many necromancers, dark wizards and other mystics of unsavory repute and moral fiber. The influence of Mossovoy expanded to the surface, forcing the local populations to run away from the growing corruption and the increasing amount of zombies, skeletons and other undead monsters.

By the time the human kingdoms in the area realized the danger posed by the cultists, the mossovoians were able to defend their holdings through the use of undead armies and dark magic. The first war between the mossovoians and the human nations lasted between 2.989 and 3.013 ABE, fighting against the peoples from the Land of Windmills, and did little but to strengthen the necromancers, giving them plenty of bodies to work with at the expense of the windmillese. By the time the Kingdom of Waldemaria launched a great campaign against Mossovoy, the necromancers had grown in their mastery of the dark arts, and were not only capable of pushing the waldemarian armies back, but were able to deal a severe blow to the kingdom, though unholy constructions brought forth by dark magic. With Waldemaria defeated and Zapalovach unwilling to take direct action beyond its borders, it seemed like the vzdoruyans would grow unchecked. However, the growing weight of volunteers from Northern Giantstep and even places as far away as Littlestep and Zemyland began having an effect against the necromancers. In particular, the crusade organized by Lorentz Sugovotinn managed to retake a lot of land occupied by the necromancers, fortifying it through the building of great bulwarks and fortifications. The construction of the great fortress of Krasnogorye in 3.134 ABE cemented the role of the Laurentian Crusade as the order of knights that would bring the fighting to the vzdoruyans. However, after the death of Lorentz Sugovotinn in 3.160 ABE the Crusade finds itself at a crossroads about what to do, and the world wonders what is going to be Mossovoy’s reaction after the death of its main enemy.

In the western side of Giantstep, the Changilese Empire was struggling. Despite the power and magnificence Changrila managed to project outwards, the empire had been struggling for a very long time now. Even since the Treaty of Nefkin, the changrilese economy had been suffering a steady crisis. For centuries, there was a slowly growing turmoil caused by high taxation, corruption in the court, takeovers of agricultural land, fights between the different factions trying to gain the favor of the God-Emperor and the witchelven attacks, a phenomenon known as the “Changrilese Great Decay”. While this situation had its ups and downs, by the 30th century ABE, the situation had become untenable. In this situation, the figure of Dihong Xinjianng appeared. A son of small nobility, he abandoned his family and ended roaming the land. He began preaching about the “Great and Holy Celestial Father of All”, the one true god of the world that had chosen him as His representative on the step to clean the world from corruption and evil. His message of universal unity, brotherhood and to fight end of corruption and evil became incredibly popular between the poor and unfortunate, and the cult grew quickly, spreading all throughout Changrila, especially in the northwest and those areas more affected by the witchelven. The cult’s militias also began giving the followers of Xinjianng a growing military power, though this would only began worrying the authorities later, as it was useful against the witchelven raids.

Tensions between the changrilese government and the Xinjianng cult began due to taxation, with many members of the cult dealing in barter or in closed markets, not paying the local authorities their due taxes. The cult, now known as the Red Lotus Congregation, was functioning as a full-on alternative government, amassing a lot of power through volunteers and donations. The growth of this cult was a considerable threat to the divine authority of the God-Emperor of Changrila, especially considering that the Red Lotus was a monotheistic faith, and thus did not recognize any divine powers to the emperor of Changrila. Fearing the growing military power of the cult (especially due to its “unify all there is” rhetoric could cause wars with other powers), the government decided to take action against the cult. In 3.006 ABE, a violent incident between the imperial authorities and the Red Lotus in the city of Mixieng made Dihong Xinjianng proclaim that the Changrilese government and the God-Emperor were enemies of the vision of "Great and Holy Celestial Father of All", and thus needed to fall so that a “Kingdom of Heaven on Earth” could rise instead. After this, he publicly executed the imperial soldiers captured in Minxieng. This act is considered the beginning of what many historians have described as the Changrilese Civil War.

The Changrilese Civil War lasted between 3.006 ABE and 3.026 ABE, according to many historians, it was the most destructing conflict Changrila ever faced, much more so than the Azanese Civil War, despite its brevity compared to it. The level of violence and damage it caused all throughout the conflict is still visible to this day, especially in those poorer areas of Changrila where rebuilding operations are not a priority for the capital. Despite the initial successes of the Red Lotus Congregation, with thousands of revolts all around the empire, and the main forces of the cult advancing quickly throughout the north and moving southwards following the Hua-Tsi River, this did not last. The growingly oppressive and erratic decisions of Xinjianng and the cult’s failure to take the capital of Fenqui began weakening the cult’s grasp over the population, whereas the Imperial Army began recovering to focus their efforts to quash the Red Lotus. Slowly but surely, the Imperial Army took down each center of resistance and support of the Red Lotus, and the Red Lotus generals began searching for another way to win the war. Dihong Xinjianng announced that the Red Lotus Congregation would flee from Changrila and cross the sea in search of a new home, where they would reforge the “Kingdom of Heaven on Earth”. After this, the bulk of the Red Lotus marched to the southwest. Millions of followers marched through Changrila destroying everything on their path to the coast, all the while being harassed and attacked by the Imperial Army. Millions of the cultists died while they were marching through mountains, swamps, rivers and the Imperial Army blockades they had to push through to continue. The final battle of the war saw the remnants of the Red Lotus capturing the city of Veiaxi, taking all available ships and fleeing Changrila before the Imperial Army could catch up to them, abandoning the remaining members of the cult to their fates.

After the Red Lotus’ escape, many nations believed they were done fore, and that the threat the cult represented was gone forever. However, they managed to reach the Riririn Island, a small tropical spot south of Scimitarian, which used to be inhabited by small colonies of dwarves and drow. Information about when they exactly reached the island is scarce, but historians believe that the cult reached the island around 3.027 ABE, since that is when contact between the drow and dwarven settlements and the Drow Citystates was lost forever. The Red Lotus is believed to have destroyed these colonies completely, and from that point on, they began the reconstruction of their “Kingdom of Heaven on Earth”, becoming a threat for sailors all throughout the southern seas. To this day, the cult of the “Great and Holy Celestial Father of All" is forbidden all throughout the world, and both Changrila and the Drow Citystates work for a way to invade the treacherous Riririn Island to rid the world of the Red Lotus once and for all.

In the east, the fears of the Gnoll Empire began to subside. While pretty much everyone still believe they were a threat that needed to be erased as soon as possible, the impossibility of actually pulling it off without some major help made many nations seek alternative solutions. Plus, the successful treaties of Drunigzar and later Luden with the Gnoll Empire made many believed that, for now, the gnoll threat had been contained south of the Forest of Getting Lost, where it could be kept in check with relative ease. After all, the gnolls’ skills as sailors were below dreadful, and after Drunigzar had to publicly promise to not sell ships to the gnolls, the few vessels they managed to get their claws on were of such poor quality they were easy targets for any vessel with cannons. And even then, the gnoll raids can only reach so much, very rarely affecting any land beyond the Dem Helidden Peninsula, so if things stayed like that, the gnolls would be a nuisance for the powers north of the Forest of Getting Lost. The upsart Avangar, on the other hand, showed much more danger. A nation that appeared out the remote littlestepian swamps, the elyrians had embraced dark magic and witchcraft after the arrival of their mysterious leader, and had managed to fight the Platinum Princedom to a standstill, even capturing many cities of the east of the continent. Its use of dark arts was considerably feared, especially considering its success in transforming the swamps, with many wizards fearing the Tower of Eternal Fire’s mysterious workings would have unknown side-effects, but non-elyrian wizards were not allowed to study the construct, so no one but the most trustworthy elyrian wizards know its secrets.

The growth of Avangar was becoming worrying. The elyrians had fought pretty much every nation that had tried to set foot on Littlestep, and as such, their lists of grudges against the different nations were considerable. The growing population of the elyrians was causing problems, though, since they were absorbing all the different peoples from the swamps into their nation, which was causing a lot of inner tensions. The different tribes had their own grudges and resentments towards each other, and many weren’t that keen on joining the nation of Avangar. A series of tribes began rejecting the dominion of Avangar, attacking the growing towns and cities of the elyrians, fearful of the growth of the heretical magic in their swamps. While the elyrians were able to easily beat them, the rebel tribes took refuge in the Kingdom of Poker. Despite the demands of Avangar to bring them the fugitives to him so he could exact justice, the monarch of Poker refused, seeing Avangar as little more than a barbarian warlock, and his use of dark magic made him untrustworthy in his eyes. This began flaming the fires of war between Poker and Avangar. The Kingdom of Poker did not feel threatened by Avangar, since not only it had prepared plenty of fortifications alongside the southern side of the Iebrum River, but it also had the full backing of the Kingdom of Tarot, a much more powerful nation. Poker was serving Tarot for decades as a vassal, helping it keep a good hold of the Labyrinth Bay, and thus, they had no interest in losing control of the sea to a bunch of barbarians. Plus, both the Princedom of Platinum and the Empire of Elanxa had promised them material support (though not actual military aid) in case of a conflict starting.

The war finally started in 2.990 ABE, after the last ultimatum from Avangar himself was left unanswered. The elyrian invasion had little effect at first, not being able to cross many of the forts, and having to go back to their side of the river. Poker troops quickly follow them, confident they were chasing defeated and cowardly troops. Instead, most of the troops of Poker managed to get stuck in the swamps. In there, they were victim of the same traps and wizardry that Platinum suffered back in the day. The Poker troops, unable to lay siege to Alga, had to go back to their side of the river and wait for reinforcements from Tarot. The reinforcements from Tarot decided to invade the coastal cities, hoping that their inhabitants would receive them as liberators. And while this was indeed the case in many areas, especially in those ports where the elyrians were a decided minority, the sheer distance between the eastern side of the continent and Alga meant that their advance through there was not possible, especially taking into account the many areas that were still swamp. The war stalled for years, with the elyrians being unable to free the coastal cities or surpass the fortifications, while Poker and Tarot were unable to defeat the swamp. However, Tarot was beginning to grow frustrated with the war, as there was beginning to look like a stalemate. After many years of war, there was little advance, and negotiations began with Platinum and Elanxa to actually join the war, but they refused. In 3.005 ABE, a series of attacks against a particularly weak area of the defensive system managed to actually break through, moving the bulk of the elyrian army in a rush against the capital of Poker. While this breakthrough could have been used to isolate and surround the elyrian troops, the internal problems within the army and the infighting between the nobility had left the internal defenses poorly manned and prepared. This caused a massive rout of the forces of Poker, all while the lords manning the river fortifications, sensing where the war was going, turn their cloaks on the king of Poker.

By 3.006, the Kingdom of Poker had surrendered to Avangar. The king was announced dead after the fall of the capital of Poker, according with his heirs the vassalage of the kingdom to Avangar. This only left the towns to the east, still occupied by Tarot. Enraged by the defeat of Poker, but unable to continue further now that the bulk of the elyrian forces, as well Poker’s, were marching to the east. Enraged, Tarot decided to burn down the coastal towns to cinders, bringing anyone who had helped them back to Tarot and leaving the rest in the ruins of their cities. The last tarotian ship abandoned elyrian territory by 3.007 ABE, ending the war. The success of the war surprised many in the region, and a lot of tensions started searching for who was really responsible for the defeat of Poker and Tarot. Meanwhile, the elyrians tried to recover from the war. While their holdings north of the Iebrum River were pretty much intact, the cities and ports to the east had been razed and burned, leaving little of use. Tarot had made sure to destroy as many ships as possible, while taking any craftsman of value back to Tarot, and executing the rest. This left Avangar with little way of actually building a fleet to continue the war further, and thus peace negotiations were established. Avangar then ordered Tarot to offer them their best artisans and engineers for the making of a fleet, seeing as the empire would never be safe as long as enemies could attack with impunity from across the sea.

The building of the elyrian fleet took many years. Many people from Poker were still resentful of having been turned into vassals of Avangar after losing the war, but now they had little choice but to obey their new lords. The damages of the coastal cities meant that the reconstruction of ports and docks took priority, and only when there were enough docks in good enough shape was when the elyrians began working in their fleet. Which was something considerably easier said than done, since the swamp dwellers had little experience with ship building besides small boats to traverse the rivers and mots, much less seafaring vessels. And the devastation wrought by the coastal cities was also luring many pirates from the east, seeing a chance for easy prey. Many of these pirates were also corsairs paid by Elanxa, Tarot and Platinum to keep Avangar from growing a fleet of worth, since without it, it would have little chance to further threaten most of them. It would be this piracy what would give the relative weak elyrian fleet a chance to expand. Since the distance between Avangar and Stór Kartöflu was very short (crossing the Crimson Strait was quite easy even with small vessels), there was a chance of moving a great force to the island to pacify it and gain a bigger foothold in the sea, making a blockade much more difficult for Avangar’s rivals.

This was not as easy as it might sound. The island of Stór Kartöflu had been occupied for millennia by a myriad of pirate havens and orc tribes, the infamous fire zealot ogres. The island was renowned for its cannibalistic rituals, keeping most people away from the danger, preferring to follow travel routes far from the island. Attempts of colonizing the island had been tried in the past, most notably by the Khenomeric Empire and Greater Elanxa, but the fights with the natives and the lack of valuable resources meant that it was only useful for control of the sea routes to Zemyland, easily able to do by just controlling the western side of the Crimson Strait. There were plenty of abandoned fortifications in the area, now broken and torn apart due to the fights between the factions of the island. And the further east one went, it became more and more inhospitable for the civilized man. Nevertheless, Avangar himself was confident he would be able to tame the island.

However, during the years preparing for the campaign, a series of changes began brewing within the empire. The increasing innovation and development of dark magic, as well as just the general growth of the nation saw a lot of tensions begin to manifest. Many old traditions and beliefs were pushed aside quickly to leave room for the new. Many customs and rituals that had lasted millennia were lost in merely decades. The old gods of the elyrians were abandoned more and more, first with their temples losing their followers and finally the priests themselves actually turning against their old faith. This naturally angered and scared those that actually kept their loyalty to their old ways, seeing the path the elyrians were taking as a corruption and a betrayal to all they had stand for in the past. And there was not a bigger point of contention that Avangar himself: those who saw him as the man of the prophecies began elevating him to higher and higher status, with some even seeing him as a god in his own right. Those who didn’t believe he was the man of the old prophecies saw him as a power-hungry warlock, a dark mage trying to corrupt the spirit of the elyrians. Fights began brewing in the streets, with the anti-Avangar faction becoming more and more prosecuted and isolated, despite the demands from Avangar himself to not act against these people. It all culminated in [insert year here], when Avangar was wounded during an assassination attempt. The news of this attempt on the emperor’s life threw the population into a faith-fueled uproar. Hundreds were brought out of their homes and lynched for being part of the anti-Avangar faction, or for just suspecting any ties or even sympathies to it. Blinded by the coup, and seeing his empire turning into something much darker than what he had envisioned, and yet unable to change it due to his wounds and age, Avangar announced he would go back to the swamps, disappearing in there forever, to spend his last days in meditation.

The disappearance of Avangar was something many expected would cause a mortal blow to the elyrian nation. However, the opposite happened. The priestly class, having been worshipping Avangar for many years now, took this chance to truly elevate him into divine status. The Cult of Avangar had been going on for many years, but now there was no one stopping it. This unleashed a true religious frenzy in the empire, with dozens of temples and statues sprouting all around. The regency of Empress Tamara took advantage of this for the campaign to the east, dubbing it as a “crusade” in the name of her beloved husband. The preparations for the campaign accelerated, and soon enough, the Avangar Empire had amassed plenty forces for the conquest of Stór Kartöflu. The first fleet arrived in 3.012 ABE, and was met with little resistance. After all, the people living in the coast were not ready for an all-out invasion. Punitive raids, sure, but against a dedicated invading army, there was little they could do to blunt the initial landing. The elyrians began capturing areas at the east of the Crimson Strait, where they built further cities and docks for their armies, and soon enough, their beachhead was solid enough to receive the rest of their army. The lack of unity between the different factions within the island made them lose the opportunity of kicking them back to the sea when they were weak, something they would sorely regret later.

The elyrians marched eastwards, attacking any inhabited outpost they found. Imbued with a frenzied zealotry, they spared no one. If the Beliz, the local population of Stór Kartöflu, surrendered, they were immediately deported elsewhere or enslaved, moved to the littlestepian holdings in Avangar where they could pose no threat to the campaign. All while indoctrinating them and bringing elyrian settlers to repopulate the land. If they offer any sign of resistance, they were butchered to a man, and in many occasions, they were used as fuel for dark rituals, using them to summon demons and spirits to track down and locate centers of resistance hidden in the humid forests of the island, or to give their soldiers magically imbued bloodlust to fight the locals. The few surviving Beliz had to run away to other lands, or hide in the mountains. The rate of advance was such that the nations of Platinum, Elanxa and Tarot began aiding the pirates, giving their once enemies weapons and supplies to try to fight the elyrians, but to no avail. The advance reached a major bump when arriving at the center of the island, where most of the ogre tribes resided. Belicose and brutal, the ogres saw the writing on the wall when they received news from the western pirates that a new enemy was destroying everything in its wake. They organized a coalition to resist these elyrians, something they managed to do effectively when hidden in their forests, mountains and caves, as the horned ogres were naturally resilient to dark magic. This forced the elyrian leadership to try a new approach. At first, they tried to convert the ogres, but they just laughed and ate the elyrian missionaries, sacrificing them in the name of their ancestors.

Seeing that another approach was needed, the elyrian emissaries began offering them lands and tribute to open their minds about joining Avangar. Many of the lands and properties of the defeated Beliz were given to the horned ogres, and in some cases, captured beliz were given for the ogres’ sacrifices. This began opening up the ogres, who eventually managed to start a trade with the elyrians. And after that, they were offered to join the empire as a province with special privileges, as long as they followed the Cult of Avangar. This was taken with reticence, and the horned ogres only adopted the most superficial elements of the faith, but this was enough for the elyrians. After many other deals and treaties with the ogres, plenty of which remain a secret between the two parties to this days, the elyrians had not only pacified a massive area of the island, they had assured the loyalty of the ogres for their war machine. It only took months for them to conquer the rest of the island.

Their campaign did not end there, as by that point the momentum was too much to be stopped, and the rest of the islands were in the sights of the elyrian elite. Their next target was the Republic of Vilga, still reeling after the effects of a civil war that had taken place many decades earlier. Despite its small size and population in comparison to Avangar, the Republic of Vilga had a considerable fleet, built after having to fend off an attempt of annexation by the Empire of Elanxa, and the vilgan navy was much more adept and advanced that the recently formed elyrian navy. Plus, the general consensus in Vilga was that the elyrians were not to be trusted, not after the stories they had heard from some of the people running away from their advanced, so there was plenty of unity of purpose to resist these barbarians. However, the elyrians had been sending spies to the republic for years now, and they had managed to hatch a plan for a quick invasion. Acting as deserters or corrupt members of the elyrian army, they began feeding information to the vilgans that a massive fleet was gathering to attack Devon from the north, trying to disembark a great deal of troops to quickly take over the island. The growing number of elyrian ships in the area convinced the vilgans, who also began preparing their fleet to the north. And to make sure the elyrians were defeated in the sea, they asked the help of Elanxa, presenting this as a way to reestablish normal relations after the war. In 3.023 ABE, during a particularly stormy season, many news began arriving to Vilga that the elyrian fleet was on the move, and thus the vilgan fleet went to meet them. After a short battle, it seemed like the vilgans had managed to sink most of the elyrian vessels, but many captains felt something was not right. The fleet was much smaller than anticipated, with not nearly enough enemies to invade the island of Devon, so they smelled trickery. And indeed trickery it was, as the elyrians had decided to attack from the southeast. Using dark incantations to bring a massive fog around their fleet, they managed to travel undetected due to the storms all the way to the southeast. This misdirection worked, as the defenses left in the area were swept after a clash with the elyrian wizards and mages, paving the way for the ground forces to take the island.

The conquest took less than a year. The elyrian forces marched straight to the capital and stormed it by force, raiding and pillaging any nearby towns to obtain the supplies needed. Seeing the writing on the wall, the vilgan faction of the Owls secretly planned to intercede with the elyrian invaders, proposing them that the priesthood would open the gates of the capital and that afterwards, the republic would become a vassal to Avangar. In exchange, the priesthood would preserve their privileges in the new order and that the capital of Vilga would not be sacked and pillaged. The elyrians accepted the deal, and one night, the city doors were open during the night, allowing the elyrians to walk in before the defenders could have enough time to respond. This forced the local authorities to seal the deal, unbeknownst of the deal with the Owls, which is still a secret to this day. While the vilgan society quickly had to accept defeat, the Gryphons, the party representing the wizard faction of vilgan politics, denounced the cowardice of their fellow vilgans. In the eyes of the Gryphons, the dark wizardry of the elyrians would only bring them disaster, something that history had taught everyone back in ancient times with the fall of the khenomeric Magoclergy. And now, due to treachery the vilgans would suffer whatever twisted fate the elyrians would eventually suffer. The Vilgan Tribunal condemned the Gryphons, seeing them as a threat to the peace with the elyrians, and they were expelled and exiled from the archipelago. The elyrians used this to spread rumors that the Gryphons had been the ones who opened the doors of the city, and this caused the populous to revolt against them, branding them as traitors that had sided with the elyrians, when in reality there was nothing further from the truth.

With the conquests of Stór Kartöflu, Devon and Zeresh, there was seemingly little that could stop Avangar with their conquest. And yet, at this point of the campaign, the elyrians found the biggest hurdle thus far, the White Pirates of Ils Muslík. The White Pirates had been around for centuries, and had become a true army, threatening all seas of both north and east. However, the pressure from the different seafaring nations had managed to push them back to the Sitrai Martöflu archipelago. The elyrian advance towards the islands was the last straw, and the pirates decided to not let them advance one step further. To do so, they took over the island of Nerega, to avoid giving the elyrians any further foothold near Ils Muslík. Many rebel wizards from Vilga, now known as the Quamona Tong, offered their services to the pirates in exchange to fighting the hated elyrians. Then, the pirates launched a massive campaign of harassment against the elyrian fleet, with the funding of all other rival nations. Using their resources and informants, they managed to slowly destroy the elyrian fleet, both by capturing vessels and raiding towns, eroding the elyrian navy’s growth. Unlike the previous efforts, now all forces in the area were, in complete unison and with almost feverish fervor, coordinated to stop the expansion of the elyrians. The slow bleeding of their ships made the elyrian command to send a massive fleet towards Ils Muslík. This showed that, despite their repeated successes and seemingly unstoppable forces, the elyrian navy was still very green in regards to the waters of the Sitrai Martöflu archipelago.

There was a reason the White Pirates of Ils Muslík had been able to roam free for centuries now. The waters near the island were treacherous, both due to the currents and the rocky formations beneath the waves, hidden to all but the most experienced pirates, and capable of sinking even the biggest of vessels. The island had also been fortified over and over again by some of the fiercest pirate captains to ever sail the eastern seas, and with time, the island had become a fortress in the middle of the ocean. The entirety of the coast was covered in many fortifications, and the areas without clear manmade defenses were protected by nature, making landing a slow grind. During the night, the pirates were able to silently travel to sabotage whatever fleet was foolish enough to stay still, making night landings a very poor idea. And to top it all off, the island was a completely self-sufficient entity: with a population dedicated to maintain the pirate fleets and enough natural resources to survive on their own, a blockade would not be able to actually harm them in any meaningful way. Thus, the Battle of Ils Muslík in 3.024 ABE was the turning point of the campaign. The overconfident elyrian fleet was funneled into a killing ground in the western shores of the island. Once the elyrians tried and failed to disembark, the Red Pirates, plus any other corsairs hired by the allied nations against Avangar, managed to slowly defeat the elyrians. Once the Avangar Navy realized that there was no hope of landing on Ils Muslík, they organized a retreat, trying to hide themselves within a dense fog, but that only made them blind to the jagged bottom of the sea, losing many ships in the process. The remaining elyrian vessels were picked apart one by one by the pirate fleets.

The Battle of Ils Muslík was the end of the elyrian conquest of the Sitrai Martöflu archipelago. Having lost most of its experienced naval personnel for a navy that was already pretty green, the elyrians had no choice but to stop their expansion and focus on consolidating their holdings. The resources of the new conquests plus the tribute of the vassal states made Avangar grow, but the allied nations have labored greatly to keep Avangar from becoming a naval power, keeping them confined in their territory. This put an end to their expansionist tendencies for now, but they are heavily watched over by the allied nations just in case they will ever finished what they started. The White Pirates managed a massive victory against Avangar, but it was not won without sacrifices, and the losses suffered, plus the growing divisions within the pirates, would cause fissures within the group, eventually being defeated and replaced by the Red Pirates.

Meanwhile, the zemylander kingdoms enjoyed a period of prosperity. With the war with the natives long gone and trade routes connecting with the rest of the world, the kingdoms enjoyed a period of prosperity. This did not come without issues, however. In the Kingdom of Gold, inheritance problems in the court saw the Realm of Steel peacefully secede to avoid a major conflict, though under the condition of offering a percentage of the massive profits of the mining within the region. The value of the region saw a great deal of demographic growth, with many mining towns flourishing all around, though these were mostly composed of people with no intention of settling down, only gain enough fortune and then move southwards. The reason for this was the particularly harsh climate and the risk of attacks from snow goblins and snow elves, plus the innate difficulty of practicing any significant agriculture in the region. The discovery of “Arcanum”, a powerful mineral greatly valued by wizards for amplifying the effectiveness of their rituals, quickly became the region’s main exports. However, the rampant and uncontrolled exploitation of “Arcanum” was what brought the region’s doom. Arcanum’s extraction in great quantities needs heavy magical rituals, and these managed to damage the veil of reality in the region, quickly making it prone to demonic infestation, spontaneous magical mishaps, and other unnatural occurrences. This made all the mining population abandon the area, not wanting to deal with magical happenstances alongside the many other problems. Thus, the region ended up abandoned, with its nobility going back to the Kingdom of Gold, becoming some of the most powerful due to their accumulated wealth.

In Western Zemyland, the Kingdom of Amber was having problems. The Kingdom of Amber was the poorest of the zemylander nations, and combined with the major presence of hyperborean and fey communities living in the area, tensions were frequent. Adding to that, the court of Amber became a nest of corruption, debauchery and backstabbing. The many different factions vying for power made the region become a nest of crime and lawlessness, something that was particularly bad at the south. A good portion of the population from the southern provinces were of hyperborean descent, the result of marriages with hyperboreans who had decided to settle in zemylander territory before the war. Their participation in the war in favor of the zemylander side had been a contentious subject, and since many of the promises done to them by the monarchs of Amber were not fulfilled after many decades, tensions were high. This was used by many merchants within the Princedom of Platinum to begin planting the seeds of rebellion, which eventually happened in 3.059 ABE. The rebellion of the southern provinces managed to take the court of Amber by surprise, and before they could react, the infighting within Amber stopped any immediate response. By the time the king of Amber managed to organize the army to reconquer the southern provinces, the rebels had managed to gain the trust of the Princedom of Platinum. With Platinum supporting the south’s independence, the Kingdom of Copper war born, with nothing Amber could really do about it. This caused a great chaos within the Kingdom of Amber, with all factions now fighting for the scraps of power left. The eventual winner were the faerie lords, who managed to put their candidate to the throne. Wilhilma Grimm, also known as the “Great Hunter”, had managed to become highly popular between the peasantry due to her monster hunting skills, so she was chosen by the faerie lords to become the next queen of Amber, now known as the Kingdom of the Crimson Queen.

While the fights in the north were going on, in the southeast, the Kingdom of Drunigzar kept expanding. Their colonial project, which had begun with the founding of Novo Porto in 2.942, was seen more and more as a possible solution to the many problems the kingdom was suffering, plus a great avenue for economic growth. And yet, it actually took many years for the next colonial founding. Matters such as the diplomatic dealings with the Gnoll Empire, the crisis with the Otamlar, a series of epidemics and the organization and development of the navy meant that the colonial project was sidelined for decades. It wouldn’t be until the rule of Aeropo III when the drunig expeditions managed to establish a foothold in the Pinewood Peninsula, near the Forest of Bloody Vengeance. Despite the inherent risks of settling near the accursed forest, the region was free of major diplomatic powers, which would allow them to grab land without major fight. The nations of Voita and Malagsh, fighting desperately against the forest, were in dire need for the goods of the drunig, and even as poor as they had become, the drunig found ways to profit. Thus, the colonies of Cabakrotiro and Cabakapa were settled in 3.097 ABE, after proving that the forest was only aggressive towards the voitans and malagshians. The settlements in the Pinewood Peninsula opened the way to navigate further beyond, which would end up causing the biggest challenge to drunig expansion yet.

The third wave of colonization was quicker than the previous two. More prepared in terms of tools, resources and men, the colonization of the Pinewood Peninsula continued smoothly. The local population was friendly enough, seeing the drunig as a good chance to trade with their herds, and possibly a way out of the land if the Forest of Bloody Vengeance ever decided to turn its attention of someone beyond the voitans and malagshians. The colonies of Cabakritinnii, Cabakonninni, Bibile, Paolotera, Bibiferno and Crysanferno began growing fast, as it was in the kingdom’s best interests to settle the region to gain access to southern lands. However, the fall of the comet of the Lord Descended in 3.122 ABE turned the local population into crazed fanatics, launching the War of the Lord Descended. This conflict lasted between 3.123 and 3.129 ABE, and put into question the whole colonial project, with the loss of Bibiferno being a massive blow to the settlers. The threat it posed forced Drunigzar to fully mobilize against the cultists, this being the only time this has happened beyond Drunigzar’s main borders. The expansion beyond that became difficult, since there were very few appropriate areas to really occupy without issue, especially if the colony needed to be as self-sufficient as possible to not tax the metropolis’ resources. The long distances became less of a problem, though, as the drunig galleons were now available in enough numbers to keep contact with the faraway colonies. This allowed the founding of Thalasoverme in 3.124 ABE and Megarotera in 3.129 ABE.

The jump to the south of Giantstep was a difficult one. Even with the speed and tonnage of the drunig galleons, the distances were too great, often forcing the vessels to stop in the necropolis of Vukasin of Okhost to rest and repair the ships. The exploring of the south led the drunig ships to the Desert of the Weriest, which, though useless in matters of resources available, the information from the locals pointed them at a region to the south that might be of interest to them. This led to the drunig arrival to the Terrania Freeholds, which was all that the drunig were hoping to find: a lush land filled of exotic vegetation free of any other national claim, with friendly local populations that would help the settling efforts. They quickly set up colony cities around the coast, as well as sent researches and explorers to survey the jungle for anything of note. The drunig colonies in the Terrania Freehold, set up from 3.144 ABE, are by far the most successful of the colonial project, and encouraged the exploration teams to move forward south. This led to the founding of Kinalonga in 3.151 ABE, and the beginning of the exploration of the Eldritch Jungle, the consequences of which was the beginning of the Plague in the colony in 3.158 ABE. This led Kinalonga nearly totally isolated to protect the rest of the kingdom from the disease, with the emergency plans concluding at the end of 3.161 ABE.

In the west, Azan was prospering. After the chaos of the Changrilese Civil War, many merchants, nobles and other men of power had gone to safer places, with Azan being a prime destination. This allowed them to enjoy a long period of economic prosperity, though many were still fearful of the change of the Cult of the Red Lotus spreading to their own borders, and thus they realized many campaigns to hunt down remnants of the cult running away to their lands. This prosperity blinded the higher echelons of the empire of some of the problems that were brewing in the empire. In the province of Kalydon, a strong wind of religious puritanism had been gaining force, seeing Azan (and the neighboring province of Daligrad in particular) in a negative light, from not pious enough to outright sinful. The local elites used this growing religious fervor to try to gain more political power, which resulted in a revolt in 3.105 ABE. The quick response of the azanese forces to quell the uprising caused even more tensions, especially after the appearance of Archarom. As a wizard member of the local senate, Archarom pushed the growing religious zealotry to the breaking point, driving the population into deep puritanical fervor. By 3.108 ABE, the province had become so difficult to control that Azan just left it to its fate, granting it independence. The newly restored Republic of Kalydon’s normalcy lasted little. Archarom’s growing paranoia and zealotry were fed by obtaining a magical item, an obsidian candle used to connect his mind with the people of the nation. This turned the republic into a full dictatorship, watching over the minds of his subjects for any sign of sin or treachery.

Meanwhile, the emperor was seeking a way to solve one of the empire’s longest recurring problems. The mountains of the Scabbard Range had blocked sea travel from one half of the empire to another since ancient times, and having to move ships all around Scimitarian was a long and costly affair. Most of the time, the merchant ships disembarked and moved their goods through caravans to the other side, where they’d be loaded into other ships and continue their voyage. However, around the beginning of the 32nd century ABE, a project to connect both seas through the province of Terusia began growing in popularity, and the emperor began hiring architects and wizards to manage to open a route across the mountains to connect both seas. While initially the project was received with high enthusiasm in the province, the more the land was studied and analyzed, the less possible it seemed to become with the technology and knowledge available. The few plans with a bigger percentage of success included the demolishing of many towns and cities to create a massive canal. This set a wild range or rumors, which were picked up by the local authorities. Sensing their homes were in danger, they joined with the peoples dedicated to hauling goods across the mountains to protest against this project, but the plans seemingly continued forward. The rebellion who took place afterwards began in 3.108 ABE, and lasted three years. Unlike with Kalydon, Azan actually dedicated a great deal of resources to quell the rebellion, since the control of the Terusia Isthmus was very important for azanese naval power. Yet, the enormous difficulty of controlling the harsh mountains made this campaign pointless, letting the province become independent in 3.111 ABE. From that point on, Azan has been trying to reabsorb the region through diplomatic means and economic help. The fact that some of the local nobles of the Terusia Isthmus have been rumored to want to reinitiate the canal has given the azanese hopes of this being a possibility in the future.

In the eastern side of the world, the old azanese province of Nosso Lar was still under nominative control of Azan, even though it had been a self-ruling state for centuries now. Isolated due to the losses of the Azanese Civil War, Nosso Lar had evolved into its own entity, due to the different influences and the growing isolation from the rest of the empire. However, the creeping crisis of the region was apparent for everyone to see. The city of Moridan had been in outright rebellion with the rest of Nosso Lar for centuries now, having become a den of pirates and criminals, spreading chaos to the rest of the region. In 3.132 ABE, however, the situation of Nosso Lar would change drastically. The arrival of Renne, a mysterious woman calling herself “the heiress of Azan”, managed to disrupt the order of Moridan. At the head of a great army of mercenaries and pirates, her charisma and strength quickly took over the city, and within a couple of years she took over the entire Nosso Lar. The defeated araundans were enslaved, and the realm was therefore renamed the Blind Bastard’s Domain. It is unknown whether the claims of Renne of her being the rightful heiress of the Azanese Empire are true or false, but regardless of this, Azan declared her an “enemy of the empire”, and promised retribution against her. However, this is easier said than done, since the long distances meant that Azan can’t just send a force to the other side of the world to reclaim the territory. And even then, the region had been a zero sum for Azan for centuries now, so there was no hurry to retake it. The claim to the throne was the more severe threat, something that could not go unpunished or unchallenged, sending assassins and hitmen of many sorts to get her, but to this day it has not been successful. The founding of a new Nosso Lar by rebelled slaves in 3.154 ABE serves Azan as a possible foothold through which recover their lands in the Great Norossor Peninsula, though nothing has been done about it beyond economic and material help.