Vodin

Kingdom in the middle east of Astara

#### Age of Discovery (523 B.C. - 300 B.C)

In the year 523 Before Cataclysm, the solumnians on their conquest of the new continent named Astara first landed in the Morning Hills, lands that now reside in the country Vodin. There they found many a danger, however, they fought their way through it and established the first city, Arvantannar. Over time the city's name was simplified to Arvan. It was only in the year 494 B.C. that the Vodinians first met the locals of Astara in the jungle to the west of their home teritory. The locals of Astara had an established and distinct form of government, culture and language. Differences in these field led to multiple small - scale conflicts. In the year 305 B.C., a new nation was established, the Kingdom of Otior, named after the one who united the separate towns, the 1st King of Otior, a mage, Otior The Magnificent. The following heirs of Otior took on the surname Otior, establishing a royal bloodline. The unification resulted in the start of the Age of Conquest for the Kingdom of Otior.

#### Age of Conquest (300 B.C. - 51 B.C.)

During this age, the conflicts between the natives and the subjects of the kingdom Otior grew in size and frequency. Much blood was shed. The natives of Astara were skilled fighters, however their understanding of the arcane and divine magics was nowhere near to that of the Otiorians. To add on to that, the native people of Astara lived in small independant tribes which meant that their war endeavours were fruitless against the commanded army of Otiorians. During the 250 years that this age continued the Kingdom of Otior grew not only in lands, but also in power and population. The Age of Conquest ended in 51 B.C. when the natives united under one banner and established the monarchy of Spioya. After the uniting of Spioya, the war became much more brutal as the two sides, now both having united forces, clashed in the battlefield. The Spioyans, during the age of conquest had achieved great progress in the field of the arcane, discovering a new class of magic, where rather than the wizard earning his power through study, the wizard is born with runes on his body that act as spells in a spellbook. These runes are said to be imbued into the body of a baby as it is born through a series of rituals performed by multiple spellcasters. Having faced resistance the Otiorians halted their war effort, which resulted in a relative peace among the kingdoms for the 19 years to come. The peace was broken when the Spioyan monarch changed and Gulnar Turrik emerged as ruler. He realised that the Kingdom of Otior was not nearly as strong as they seemed throughout the Age of Conquest, and thus in the spring of the year 32 B.C. a new war effort was launched.

#### Age of Carnage (32 B.C. - 0 B.C.)

During this age, the war between the Kingdom of Otior and Spioya reached it's apex. The Kingdom of Otior no longer had the advantage of unity and combat tactics. This meant that during the following years the battles would become much larger in scale, whole armies taking on one another. The countryside was ravaged both by the enemy troops marching through the lands of Otior, pillaging every village along the way, and by the ally troops, as they required more and more supplies to feed the war effort. Even after 30 years of constant conflict, there was no clear victor, as both of the sides suffered great losses but made little progress. Through the chaos of this war, the weak were culled, and only the strongest ones remained. During the later years of this age is when some of the strongest Otiorian and Spioyan spellcasters and warriors walked the earth. This age ended with the Cataclysm, which started a new age for the whole of Astara.

#### Age of Rebuilding (12 A.C. - 104 A.C)

After the cataclysm, the commonfolk of Otior assigned the blame of the wrath of the gods to the brutality of the King at the time Michalis Otior and his predecessors . It was Phoebe from the house Vodinia that managed to seize the favour of the commonfolk and many of the nobility. The Age of Rebuilding started in the year 12 A.C. as the ruler of the Kingdom of Otior, king Michalis Otior, was overthrown, his whole family killed in a coup organised by Phoebe Vodinia on his Castle in the city of Arvan. After this a vote was held by the nobility of Otior on who would be the next monarch, although the victor was obvious even before the votes had been counted. On September 1st of the year 12 A.C., Phoebe Vodinia came into power as the queen of Otior. On the same day, she ordered to change the name of the kingdom to the Kingdom of Vodin, in order to show that the country is turning a new leaf and will no longer follow the repressive ways of the previous rulers, the Otiors. Phoebe also moved the capital of Vodin to Vidonpolis, a city, which her family ruled. These 92 years are known for Vodin focusing on their domestic policy, rebuilding the countryside, and creating a stable and prosperous infrastructure. During these 92 years Vodin rarely entered wars and aimed to deal with foreign policy issues in diplomatic ways. Although many allies were made this way (Nation of Daskaria to the North of Vodin and Nation in the very South of Astara - Gustria), Vodin was losing land bit by bit, as more and more preposturous claims of land titles arrised from the people of Spioya living on the shores to the west and the newly united desert monarchy of Aclana in the south. It was in the year 104 A.C. that Vodin entered a first new war with the Monarchy of Aclana, and then, a little later, with shore state cities of Spioya. Thus began the Age of Growth.

#### Age of Growth (104 A.C. - 783 A.C.)

During the Age of Growth Vodin slowly grew in power and land to that of the Age of Conquest, and then a bit more. With the help of Daskaria the the Shore states of Spioya were conquered, the villages and cities raised or claimed for their own. With the help of Gustria the onslaught of Aclana was held back, as the desert monarchy was attacked from both the north and the south. Much importance was put into the infrstructure, The modern day Merchant's, King's and Queen's roads were first established during this age. CIties grew and new towns were being established. This era is considered to be ended as the Kingdom of Vodin and the Monarchy of Daskaria united under the Vodin banner and Vodin entered the golden age.

#### Age of Prosperity (783 A.C. - 1224 A.C.)

During this age, the Vodin reached the apex of it's power. Vodin conquered the dwarf kingdom in the northwest of Astara and some teritory of Aclana, the southern desert monarchy. With these additions, the Kingdom of Vodin became the largest power in the whole of Astara, it's influence in trade and diplomacy coverted the whole of the continent. However, as the years went by and relative peach in the kingdom was achieved, protest arose about the freeing of Daskaria as a Kingdom.

#### Modern Vodin (1224 A.C. -present day)

in the year 1224, King Falad decided to split the country to be ruled for his only two offspring, his sons, Alastair and Royce. Before King Falad retired from his position as King, and split the country, he made his two sons sign a treaty of alliance, known as the Alastair-Royce treaty. The Kingdom was split into Vodin (ruled by Alastair) and Daskaria (ruled by Royce). The two brothers, and their offspring, worked together as monarchs and aided each other in any way they could. However as generations changed, the offsprings of Alastair and Royce became more and more distant, and now, in the year 1435, Daskaria and Vodin are, while they share old blood, 2 independant countries.

### The 5 Counties of Vodin

 Capital
 Hills
 Forest
 Midlands
 Cliff