Difference between revisions of "Hârn Kingdom of Réthem"

From ShieldKings Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
m (→‎Kingdom of Réthem COL5740)
m
Line 69: Line 69:
 
== [[Hârn_Kingdom_of_Réthem|Kingdom of Réthem]] '''<span style="color:#008000">COL5740</span>''' ==
 
== [[Hârn_Kingdom_of_Réthem|Kingdom of Réthem]] '''<span style="color:#008000">COL5740</span>''' ==
 
'''Note:''' '''<span style="color:#FF0000">ADD</span>''' the contents of Réthem just as Kandáy Contents
 
'''Note:''' '''<span style="color:#FF0000">ADD</span>''' the contents of Réthem just as Kandáy Contents
 +
 +
Replace “ ” with "
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
Rethem is a feudal kingdom in western Hârn. Founded in 635, the
 +
Kingdom of Rethem is the latest stage in a bloody evolution
 +
that started with Corani imperial conquest and passed through
 +
Morgathian revolt, barbarian conquest, Agrikan ascendancy, and
 +
a brutal attempt at feudalism by force. The political situation is
 +
still far from settled and the threat of civil war looms over the
 +
kingdom.
 +
 +
Rethem is bounded by the Kingdom of Kanday to the south, the
 +
Kuboran tribal lands to the north, and the Thardic Republic to the east. With
 +
its long history of violence, a rulership built on cunning and strength, and
 +
its shaky political structure, Rethem is viewed warily by its neighbors.
 +
 +
The Peran wilderness to Rethem’s north is home to the Kubora, one of
 +
the fiercest and most numerous tribal peoples on Hârn. The Kingdom of
 +
Rethem was created by the conquests of a Kuboran chieftain, something
 +
that neither the tribesmen nor the Rethemi are likely to forget. The Kuboran
 +
influence is still significant in Rethem and most Rethemi nobility are of
 +
Kuboran descent, although it is not currently fashionable to admit to it.
 +
 +
Rethem’s northern forests are rich in timber and furs and the abundant
 +
minerals of the lowlands have been extensively mined since Corani times.
 +
The fertile Thard Valley has long been one of the most densely populated
 +
regions of Hârn and boasts the strongest economy in the west.
 +
 +
Rethem’s eighth and current ruler, King Chafin III, is not the product
 +
of a long and respected dynasty, his clan having seized the throne a mere
 +
40 years ago. Chafin III has constructed a network of allegiances that relies
 +
upon the careful placement of kin and the manipulation of competing
 +
loyalties that he himself may not fully command. Chafin often uses the
 +
threat of invasion from the kingdom’s neighbors to keep his rivals off guard.
 +
 +
Chafin III keeps his seat at Shostim and prefers to spend little time at
 +
the royal castle in Golotha where his wife lives. Chafin is aware that five
 +
of Rethem’s seven monarchs have died violently. Few expect the current
 +
uneasy bout of peace in Rethem to last long. If he can live long enough and
 +
unite his chronically rebellious kingdom, it is likely he will again attack
 +
hated Kanday. Chafin is more secure and shrewd than his predecessors
 +
but suspicion of his many rivals may cripple his state-building efforts. It is
 +
certain that both internal strife and external wars will reshape the kingdom
 +
in the coming years.
 +
 +
 +
'''Location:''' Western Hârn
 +
 +
'''Atlas Maps:''' C6, D6, E6, D7, E7
 +
 +
'''Government:''' Monarchy
 +
 +
'''King:''' Chafin III
 +
 +
'''Culture:''' Feudal
 +
 +
'''Population:''' 95,000
 +
 +
'''Royal Seat:''' Shostim
 +
 +
'''Largest City:''' Golotha (free city)
 +
 +
 +
CREDITS
 +
 +
'''Writers:''' N. Robin Crossby, Tom Dalgliesh, Rebecca Downey, Edwin King, Kerry Mould, Richard Porter, John Sgammato
 +
 +
'''Contributors:''' Joe Adams, Brent Bailey, Rob Barnes, Daniel Bell, Jonathan Davidson, Alun Rees, Matt Roegner
 +
 +
'''Art Director:''' Richard Luschek
 +
 +
'''Maps and Heraldry:''' C. I. Kocher, Matt Roegner
 +
 +
'''Editors:''' Brent Bailey, Grant Dalgliesh, Tom Dalgliesh, John Sgammato
 +
 +
'''Layout:''' Brent Bailey
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
 +
Chronology
 +
 +
BT 900 Atani Wars (900–683).
 +
 +
683 The Battle of Sorrows.
 +
 +
500 Lythian raiders push Jarin tribes into western Hârn.
 +
 +
TR 100 Lothrim the Foulspawner rules central Hârn (100–120).
 +
 +
301 Corthir unites the Corani tribes.
 +
 +
347 The Merdi Federation is established.
 +
 +
366 The Battle of Klondis: Raelan killed, Coranan threatened.
 +
 +
377 Battle of Hereg: Merdi Federation defeated by Arosta.
 +
 +
388 Merethos founded (later renamed Golotha).
 +
 +
392 The Corani Empire is proclaimed by Malian.
 +
 +
398 Jenath tribes assimilated into Corani Empire.
 +
 +
414 Fort Kustan established, limit of empire in Peran.
 +
 +
453 Aleathia joins Corani Empire under Mejenes.
 +
 +
471 Corani Empire adopts Tuzyn Reckoning.
 +
 +
474 Peran tribes unite under Nebran Bondbreaker.
 +
 +
477 Nebran leads massacre at Kustan but dies in battle.
 +
 +
491 Unification Writ outlaws all faiths but Agrikanism.
 +
 +
521 Thard River floods, half of Merethos destroyed.
 +
 +
556 Thard River floods again, three-year famine follows.
 +
 +
558 The Balshan Jihad (558–567).
 +
 +
559 The Red Death plague kills thousands (559–561).
 +
 +
562 Balshans take Merethos, rename it Golotha.
 +
 +
565 Coranan captured; end of the Corani Empire.
 +
 +
568 Theocracy of Tekhos (568–588, until 635 in Golotha).
 +
 +
625 Kubora unified by Arlun the Barbarian.
 +
 +
629 Arlun and the united Kubora take Shostim.
 +
 +
635 Golotha falls, Arlun founds Rethem.
 +
 +
650 Arlun restores religious freedom.
 +
 +
656 Arlun dies. His son, Obras, takes the throne. Alliance with the Kubora collapses.
 +
 +
681 King Nemiran is murdered. Puril proclaims himself regent, then takes throne at end of year.
 +
 +
682 Ezar’s War (682–697).
 +
 +
688 Rethem captures Sarkum and Hebon.
 +
 +
689 King Puril dies in Sarkum, Kabe takes the throne.
 +
 +
690 Andasin III of Kanday liberates Hebon but dies in assault.
 +
 +
692 Sarkum besieged by Queen Eriel of Kanday. King Kabe dies and Sarkum surrenders to Eriel.
 +
 +
694 The Order of the Crimson Dancer assassinates Queen Eriel of Kanday.
 +
 +
697 The Peace of Selvos ends Ezar’s War.
 +
 +
703 Chafin I dies; his younger brother Larril is crowned Chafin II.
 +
 +
707 Thard floods again, Golotha damaged severely.
 +
 +
708 The Order of the Red Shadows of Herpa seize Themeson Keep.
 +
 +
711 Earl of Tormau builds Weseda Keep without license.
 +
 +
713 Earl of Tormau wrests Ithius from the Earl of Ithiko.
 +
 +
714 Order of the Eight Demons and the Cohorts of Gashang split from their parent orders, take Themeson Keep and the surrounding lands.
 +
 +
715 Chafin II dies, his cousin Arech is crowned Chafin III. Most of Chafin II’s Royal Guard is disbanded by Chafin III and almost immediately hired by the rebellious Earl of Tormau.
 +
 +
720 Present day.
 +
 +
 +
History
 +
 +
The Thard River valley has supported human
 +
settlements since before 1000 BT. The original human
 +
inhabitants were Jarin tribes migrating from the
 +
increasingly crowded Lythian mainland. The population
 +
of this fertile region swelled after the Battle of Sorrows
 +
(683 BT) as an influx of eastern Jarin and Lythians
 +
fled the aftermath of the war and dissolution of the
 +
Codominium.
 +
 +
By 100 TR, when Lothrim the Foulspawner
 +
conquered central Hârn, there were dozens of tribal
 +
peoples in current-day Rethem, collectively known as
 +
the Merdi in the lower Thard River valley, the Jenath
 +
along the northern coast of the Gulf of Andurien, and
 +
the Kubora throughout Peran. The Merdi traded with
 +
Lothrim’s empire but were never a part of it. When
 +
Lothrim’s empire disintegrated after the Battle of Sirion,
 +
the tribes’ simple economies were affected less than
 +
those of the civilized states to the east.
 +
 +
Several petty states and federations rose and fell in
 +
the wake of Lothrim’s empire. None achieved any degree
 +
of permanence until 301, when Corthir united the Corani
 +
tribal nation. The Corani empire came to dominate all
 +
of western Hârn before collapsing to the Balshan Jihad
 +
in 565. It was the largest human state in Hârnic history,
 +
stretching from Lake Benath to the Gulf of Andurien and
 +
from the Pemetta River in the north to Cape Gemal in
 +
the south. Seemingly destined to rule all of Hârn, it was
 +
brought down by corruption, too many weak emperors,
 +
and a series of floods, plagues, and famines. Many
 +
settlements in the Thard River valley had their roots in
 +
the empire and most of the region’s roads and ports were
 +
constructed during this period.
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
Western Expansion
 +
 +
The Merdi tribes in the Thard River valley formed
 +
a federation in 347 to counter the growing Corani
 +
threat. The Merdi Federation was a loose alliance with
 +
an elected leadership but it managed to stop westward
 +
Corani expansion for 30 years.
 +
 +
In 377, Arosta the Conqueror defeated the combined
 +
Merdi forces at the Battle of Hereg, north of present-day
 +
Techen. Following the slaughter, the Merdi Federation
 +
collapsed and the various tribes were gradually
 +
assimilated into the empire. Techen Keep was built in 379
 +
and a governor was installed that same year in a wooden
 +
fortification at the traditional Merdi moot site on Orman
 +
Island. Trade was fostered with every Merdi village
 +
that paid a voluntary tax to the governor. This was the
 +
birth of a bureaucracy that integrated the Merdi into the
 +
Corani Empire.
 +
 +
When Arosta died in 380, the Merdi threatened
 +
rebellion. Arosta’s heir, Malian, averted the insurrection
 +
by personally traveling to the Merdi Moot and appealing
 +
to the Merdi leaders for peace through mutual trade.
 +
 +
During Malian’s reign, trade and communications
 +
improved and the royal bureaucracy was strengthened.
 +
The governor’s fort on Orman Island and the ancient
 +
Merdi trading post there prospered as well. In 388,
 +
Malian improved the fortifications and founded the city
 +
of Merethos, now known as Golotha. The city enjoyed
 +
prosperity as a port and trading center, handling much of
 +
the empire’s trade.
 +
 +
As the unwieldy kingdom slowly became orderly and
 +
prosperous, Malian applied his successes at Merethos
 +
to other areas of the empire. By the end of his reign,
 +
Malian had divided the empire into provinces to ease
 +
administration and created a complex and sophisticated
 +
civil service.
 +
 +
In the fifth century, Merethos benefited from the
 +
attention of two long-ruling, competent, expansionminded
 +
emperors. Under
 +
Kobar and Mejenes,
 +
Merethos became a
 +
base for imperial
 +
expansion into
 +
the north.
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
Northern Expansion
 +
 +
The Jenath, a collection of agrarian and fishing
 +
tribes, welcomed the Corani as allies against their
 +
aggressive northern neighbors, the Kubora. In 390, the
 +
Corani legions, led by Malian’s 19-year-old son Kobar,
 +
subdued the region and placed it under Corani control.
 +
Upon succeeding his father in 394, Kobar continued his
 +
policies of expansion. Caer Shostim was built to guard
 +
the northern approaches to Merethos and the Jenath, like
 +
the Merdi before them, were assimilated into the empire.
 +
 +
At the start of the fifth century, the Corani legions
 +
expanded into the northern river valleys occupied by the
 +
Kubora. Between 401 and 405, keeps were constructed
 +
at Ithiko, Zaza, and Tormau to secure the western coast
 +
and function as supply bases for northern expansion. The
 +
Kubora resisted this incursion but their frenzied attacks
 +
were no match for the trained legions of Emperor Kobar.
 +
 +
By 414, imperial troops had constructed the Hohnam
 +
Road and a fortress at Kustan. From there, the legions
 +
plundered the enormous natural wealth of Peran and built
 +
outposts throughout the region. The Kubora refused to be
 +
subjugated and Corani control of Peran remained tenuous
 +
except within a day’s march of Kustan. The Kubora rose
 +
in revolt 12 times between 414 and 477.
 +
 +
Sixty years of attempts to subdue the northern
 +
Kubora were a severe drain on the imperial treasury.
 +
Despite this, economic development of the Coranicontrolled
 +
areas was dramatic; paved roads were built
 +
and trade prospered. When Kobar died, the lower Thard
 +
Valley and the north coast of Boka Bay were prosperous
 +
and at peace but for limited skirmishing from the Kubora.
 +
 +
When Kobar’s son Laketta died heirless in 443,
 +
the Kingdom of Aleathia tried to take advantage of a
 +
succession crisis by seizing Heroth Keep south of the
 +
Thard River. This invasion was the catalyst that put
 +
Mejenes, a military leader, on the throne.
 +
 +
With the expansion efforts of Mejenes the Great,
 +
the empire extended as far as it ever would. Emperor
 +
Mejenes defeated the Aleathian forces under King
 +
Xuaka. When Xuaka died in 453, Aleathia was peacefully
 +
absorbed into the Corani Empire as Aleathia province,
 +
removing the southern threat to the empire.
 +
 +
Mejenes began a comprehensive assault on Peran.
 +
He built Mejetus at the far reach of Corani power but
 +
died of a fever while in the northern wilderness of
 +
Equeth. His death in 465 marked the beginning of the
 +
end of the Corani Empire. By 474, the Kubora tribes had
 +
begun to unify under the chieftain Nebran Bondbreaker,
 +
who made peace with the neighboring Equani and Urdu
 +
tribes and vowed to drive out the Corani invaders once
 +
and for all.
 +
 +
The End of Imperial Control in the West
 +
 +
Sylud “the Scholar,” Mejenes’ son, neglected the
 +
legions in favor of cultural and academic pursuits. In
 +
477, an archaeological expedition was sent to Kustan
 +
to excavate the sacred grave of Kemlar the Guide, a
 +
Kuboran deity. This sparked a revolt that annihilated the
 +
imperial fort at Kustan. After Nebran Bondbreaker was
 +
slain in the battle, his fragile alliances died with him.
 +
 +
After years of neglect, the legions had few resources.
 +
The Kubora attacked the weakened settlements, burning
 +
them to the ground and leaving no survivors. The legions
 +
were driven from Peran and the region was left to the
 +
Kubora. The western provinces never again saw the level
 +
of imperial investment that had settled and built the area.
 +
 +
Saurach, Sylud’s successor, was a religious fanatic
 +
who attempted to create an Agrikan theocracy. In 491,
 +
he banned all other religions within the empire but was
 +
assassinated within hours by a female assailant. The
 +
Church of Agrik went into a two-century decline.
 +
 +
Several succeeding emperors were incompetent,
 +
their reigns marked by tyranny and a series of natural
 +
disasters. Emperor Korad “the Fool,” unable to respond
 +
to the crises, abandoned the west to a succession of
 +
incompetent governors and spent most of his reign
 +
issuing juvenile edicts that were promptly forgotten.
 +
 +
Medak, the last emperor, took the throne in 555
 +
and worked to reverse the corruption in the provinces.
 +
His ruthless purges fell heavily on the governors of the
 +
western provinces, but the corruption ran deep.
 +
 +
The Balshan Jihad
 +
 +
During Medak’s reign, a local Morgathian demagogue
 +
named Balsha of Ozrada came to prominence. Little is
 +
known of his early life, other than he was born the son
 +
of a common soldier at Ithiko in 520. Balsha preached an
 +
unorthodox, activist view of Morgathianism, stating that
 +
the misery of mortal life could be mitigated by serving
 +
Morgath while alive and that those who pleased the god
 +
had the best chance of eternal reward.
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
By 552, Balsha’s uncannily accurate predictions of a
 +
destructive series of plagues and famines that ravaged the
 +
provinces won him a massive following. In 558, Medak
 +
deemed it wise to be rid of the “petty troublemaker” and
 +
had Balsha dragged to the impaling stake.
 +
 +
The prophet’s martyrdom sparked the rebellion now
 +
known as the Balshan Jihad. Corani legions, crippled by
 +
the purges of Medak, were helpless against the growing
 +
revolt. The Balshans took advantage of the ravages of
 +
the Red Death and by 560 controlled Rethem province.
 +
Merethos fell in 562 and was renamed Golotha, meaning
 +
“dark victory” or “last victory” in the Morgathian temple
 +
tongue. In 565, Coranan fell after a two-year siege. Medak
 +
and his family, captured while fleeing to Aleath, were
 +
impaled outside of Coranan.
 +
 +
The Theocracy of Tekhos
 +
 +
Horahnam of Tekhos, former governor of Shiran
 +
province, was the victor of a savage power struggle
 +
among the Jihadists. In 568, he founded the Theocracy of
 +
Tekhos, one of Hârn’s most infamous and brutal regimes.
 +
 +
For 20 years, the religious tribunals of Tekhos
 +
crushed opposition and thousands were executed or
 +
forced into outlawry. In the settlements where the
 +
tribunals were based, public torture and execution
 +
became commonplace.
 +
 +
Horahnam was assassinated in 588 in Coranan.
 +
Within days, rebellions erupted throughout the
 +
Theocracy. Only Golotha resisted the revolt that swept
 +
Horahnam’s rule away in two months.
 +
 +
The Interregnum
 +
 +
The downfall of the Theocracy of Tekhos was
 +
followed by the Interregnum, a period during which
 +
western Hârn was beset by chaos as dozens of petty
 +
states vied with each other. There was little distinction
 +
between bandits, mercenaries, raiding tribesmen, and
 +
legitimate armies. Many mercenary companies that
 +
formed during the Interregnum have descendant units
 +
operating in Rethem today.
 +
 +
During the Interregnum, Golotha remained a
 +
lonely relic of the Morgathian theocracy. This “Second
 +
Theocracy” or “Golothan Theocracy” was the dominant
 +
political force among the diverse states of Rethem,
 +
most of which paid it tribute and looked to it
 +
for support. The Golothan Theocracy did
 +
not spread farther than a day’s ride in all
 +
directions from the city and its borders
 +
were ever tested by those seeking revenge.
 +
Revolts within the city were quickly
 +
quelled. As the population dwindled, the
 +
Golothan Theocracy grew weaker.
 +
 +
The Kuboran Dynasty
 +
 +
Arlun the Barbarian (635–656)
 +
 +
Arlun was a charismatic and highly skilled warrior
 +
of the Obodu Kubora. Arlun served as a mercenary at
 +
Tormau before becoming the warchief of the Obodu
 +
in 621. Inspired by a vision of Kemlar, Arlun unified
 +
90 Kuboran tribes by 625. Convinced of his destiny,
 +
Arlun trained the tribes in military strategies that he had
 +
learned at Tormau.
 +
 +
In 629, Arlun and his warriors swept south,
 +
destroying the settlements in what are now Kelesa,
 +
Quarien, and Fesenor hundreds and taking the fortress
 +
at Shostim. The resources he captured made his united
 +
Kubora a formidable force. Arlun’s conquest was aided by
 +
southern elites who had suffered under Morgathianism.
 +
 +
Arlun brilliantly defended Shostim against the
 +
forces of the Golothan Theocracy. When the weakened
 +
besiegers retired, he marched half of his army north.
 +
Clan Lynnaeus, which had not allied with the Golothan
 +
Theocracy, surrendered Tormau to Arlun after a brief
 +
siege. In the two years that followed, Arlun conquered
 +
all of northern Rethem. He
 +
secured his conquest by
 +
allying with the Companions
 +
of Roving Doom, an Agrikan
 +
fighting order, and by
 +
marrying the daughter of
 +
Henail Lynnaeus, whose
 +
descendants hold Tormau to
 +
this day.
 +
 +
In 635, Arlun renewed
 +
his southward expansion. A
 +
third of his army attacked
 +
Quste while he led the
 +
remainder across the Thard
 +
to seize Thiri. The Golothans,
 +
unaware of his presence at
 +
Thiri, gathered a large army
 +
and took the bait at Quste.
 +
The Kuborans retreated
 +
to Shostim as planned,
 +
pursued by the Golothans.
 +
The Theocracy’s disastrously
 +
incompetent generals once
 +
again wasted men against
 +
the walls of Shostim while
 +
Arlun marched on a lightly
 +
defended Golotha. He took it
 +
with ease in the late summer
 +
of 635. The Golothan army
 +
besieging Shostim raced
 +
south to retake the city but Arlun had prepared a solid
 +
defense. The outmaneuvered Golothans came to terms.
 +
Arlun proclaimed the Kingdom of Rethem in the autumn.
 +
 +
The Agrikan orders that had allied with Arlun
 +
encouraged his attempts to exterminate the remaining
 +
Morgathian theocrats, but this effort succeeded only in
 +
driving them underground. By 650, however, Arlun had
 +
restored religious freedom throughout the kingdom. Some
 +
believe his wife, whose clan had Morgathian roots, was
 +
behind this move, while others believe Arlun acted to
 +
offset the rising dominance of the Agrikans.
 +
 +
Arlun spent his reign consolidating and expanding his
 +
domain against resistance from Kanday and the Thardic
 +
League, taking Menekai and Senun from the Thardic
 +
League in 639 and pushing his southern border to Dunir
 +
and Menekod by 654. Upon his death in 656, his kingdom
 +
was the largest since the Corani Empire, extending from
 +
the Gomisen River to Cape Vikod, and from the Ternu
 +
Heath to the Pemetta River.
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''The Campaigns of Arlun'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
Obras the Southron (656–672)
 +
 +
Although some Kuborans had assimilated into
 +
southern culture during Arlun’s reign, many tribesmen
 +
spurned the soft life of civilization, maintained their
 +
traditional ways, and grew increasingly discontented.
 +
 +
Much of their displeasure centered on Arlun’s heir,
 +
Obras, whose mother was Sysene Lynnaeus, daughter of
 +
Earl Henail Lynnaeus of Tormau. Many Kuboran leaders
 +
were alarmed at the possibility at being ruled by someone
 +
of mixed blood. Arlun’s attempts to mollify the growing
 +
discord only delayed the inevitable. Upon Arlun’s death
 +
in 656, the Peran region was lost to the kingdom when
 +
almost all the Kubora renounced their loyalty to Obras,
 +
who they saw as a “weakling southron.” Even the fierce
 +
Obodu Kubora, Arlun’s original power base and the most
 +
trusted warriors in the kingdom, rejected Obras.
 +
 +
A series of poorly organized revolts broke out in
 +
Rethem in 657 and distracted the new king from trying to
 +
regain Peran. Obras lacked his father’s abilities and could
 +
not win the firm loyalty of anyone. He continued to be
 +
beleaguered by rebellion throughout his reign. He was
 +
killed in a skirmish near Tormau while suppressing yet
 +
another revolt.
 +
 +
Nemiran the Zealot (672–681)
 +
 +
Obras’ son, Nemiran, inherited a weak and chaotic
 +
kingdom and was forced to deal with several more
 +
revolts. He was a skillful politician who saw the folly of
 +
attempting to rule alone as his father had done. Using
 +
Kandian feudalism as a model, Nemiran assigned land
 +
and offices to trusted retainers in exchange for fealty and
 +
severely punished those who resisted his actions.
 +
 +
Nemiran is remembered as a brutal Agrikan zealot.
 +
Shortly after his conversion, Nemiran sponsored the
 +
Order of the Octagonal Pit and the Order of Demon
 +
Pameshlu the Insatiable, granting them charters to operate
 +
Pamesani games in Golotha and Shostim. He also
 +
financed the construction of their temple in Golotha. As
 +
“assistance” to his barons faced with revolts, Nemiran
 +
granted extensive lands within their baronies to the
 +
Agrikan orders, primarily the Order of the Red Shadows of
 +
Herpa and the Order of the Company of the Copper Hook.
 +
 +
Nemiran met the challenges of his day and created
 +
an ordered society from a failing tribal structure. Through
 +
murder and reward, he managed to unify the kingdom
 +
within four years of ascending to the throne.
 +
 +
Nemiran built the Palace of Perehyne in Golotha and
 +
the court moved there in 678. He was assassinated on its
 +
steps on midsummer’s day in 681. Nemiran was the last
 +
king of the Kuboran dynasty.
 +
 +
The House of Araku
 +
 +
Puril (681–689)
 +
 +
Puril, the commander of Nemiran’s bodyguard,
 +
probably ordered the king’s murder. After the
 +
assassination, Puril proclaimed himself regent and
 +
publicly vowed to find a proper successor. There were
 +
several possible claimants to the throne and Puril
 +
mercilessly destroyed all of these he could find. Within
 +
six months, the Kuboran dynasty was extinct and Puril
 +
took the throne in the last month of 681.
 +
 +
Ezar’s War (682–697)
 +
 +
In 682, the forces of the Copper Hook, under the
 +
direction of Akarata (fighting order grandmaster) Ezar
 +
Zhirdoka, attacked the Kandian keep of Imiden. The
 +
Laranian Order of the Checkered Shield quickly sent a relief
 +
force, forcing the Agrikans to withdraw. Ezar appealed
 +
to Puril for aid. The new king eagerly supported what
 +
became known as Ezar’s War.
 +
 +
For six years, the rival armies clashed along the
 +
border with little effect, neither side able to gain a
 +
decisive advantage. In 688, Puril sailed with an army from
 +
Golotha and landed near Sarkum, then an independent
 +
ally of Kanday. Puril’s plan was to take Sarkum and
 +
march east on Aleath. Achieving surprise, the Rethemi
 +
army overwhelmed Sarkum and Hebon, but Puril suffered
 +
a mortal wound in the campaign and died in Sarkum
 +
early in 689.
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Ezar’s War (682–697)'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
Kabe (689–692)
 +
 +
The transfer of power to Puril’s son Kabe gave
 +
Kanday time to unify. The surviving petty states west
 +
of Aleath swore fealty to King Andasin III and, when
 +
Kabe arrived to take command of his forces in Sarkum,
 +
he found himself besieged by a reinforced enemy army.
 +
In 690, Kandian troops recaptured Hebon, an assault
 +
that cost Andasin III his life. Kabe was still besieged in
 +
Sarkum and stubbornly refused to abandon his army. His
 +
hope that the Kandians would lose heart with Andasin’s
 +
death was dashed when they rallied to the young Queen
 +
Eriel. In 692, a fire broke out in Sarkum, killing Kabe. His
 +
supporters believed he was murdered. With his death, the
 +
castle surrendered, but the war continued in the north.
 +
 +
Chafin I, Winner By Any Means (692–703)
 +
 +
Chafin, the eldest son of Kabe, was a competent
 +
strategist. Ezar’s War dragged on but Chafin was able to
 +
maintain the stalemate along the Kandian border except
 +
for the loss of Dunir in 693.
 +
 +
Determined to win the war by any means, in 694
 +
Chafin ordered the Agrikan Order of the Crimson Dancer to
 +
assassinate Queen Eriel of Kanday. Although successful,
 +
the assassin was captured and confessed under
 +
interrogation. In the lightning campaign of 695, vengeful
 +
Kandian armies seized Selvos and Menekod, crushing the
 +
resistance of the Copper Hook. Fearing the loss of further
 +
lands, Chafin sued for peace.
 +
 +
In 697, the Peace of Selvos ended the bitter 15-year
 +
conflict and established the present Rethem-Kanday
 +
border. The debacle of Ezar’s War left Rethem on the
 +
verge on civil war. Looking for scapegoats, Chafin had
 +
Ezar executed in 698. The Order of the Crimson Dancer
 +
found itself in such disfavor with the king that they left
 +
Rethem for Orbaal in 701.
 +
 +
In 703, Chafin I died while hunting in the forests
 +
east of Shostim. His supporters found the circumstances
 +
questionable. Clan Lynnaeus was publicly accused of the
 +
assassination but no investigation was ordered by the
 +
new king, Chafin I’s younger brother, Larril. Chafin I’s
 +
mistress and two bastard children disappeared soon after
 +
his death. As Chafin I had many enemies, the truth of his
 +
death is likely to remain hidden.
 +
 +
Chafin II, the Timorous (703–715)
 +
 +
Larril, who took the name Chafin II, was a timorous
 +
monarch who spent most of his reign confined inside
 +
Caer Shostim protected by a large (and expensive)
 +
bodyguard of 300 men. Private wars and feuds replaced
 +
law and order throughout the kingdom.
 +
 +
In 708, the Red Shadows of Herpa crossed the
 +
Gomisen River and took Themeson Keep. The king took
 +
neither notice nor responsibility for the event, thwarting
 +
the Thardic Republic’s demands for remunerations and
 +
narrowly avoiding armed conflict with the Republic.
 +
 +
In 711, the Earl of Tormau built Weseda Keep
 +
without royal approval near his southern holding of
 +
Henwe on the disputed Kandian border. Weseda’s access
 +
to salt, stone, and iron greatly increased the autonomy of
 +
the earl. When the earl seized Ithius Keep from the Earl
 +
of Ithiko in 713, Chafin II again failed to intervene.
 +
 +
Although Chafin II issued a number of decrees
 +
intended to protect his kingdom in the event of invasion,
 +
many went unenforced. Powerful nobles, notably the Earl
 +
of Tormau, did what they wished, as did many of the
 +
fighting orders.
 +
 +
Chafin II died peacefully in his bed in 715. He left no
 +
heir, a shaky border, and a rebellious and emboldened
 +
earl at Tormau. A bloody power struggle ensued.
 +
 +
Current Events
 +
 +
A maelstrom of murder and intrigue followed the
 +
death of Chafin II. Arech Araku, cousin to Chafin II,
 +
emerged victorious, aided by a band of thugs that assists
 +
him to this day. This ruthless and amoral man was
 +
responsible for the murders of his uncle Mykkel and his
 +
female cousin Wyrede, both of whom had better claims
 +
to the throne. Only Wyrede’s children, Saval and Hesela,
 +
survived, having been taken to sanctuary with their uncle,
 +
Earl Denyl Lynnaeus of Tormau.
 +
 +
Taking the name Chafin III, Arech consolidated his
 +
position by placing his cronies in key offices. He has
 +
managed to reaffirm the fealty (or at least the neutrality)
 +
of the earls of Ithiko and Techen and three Agrikan
 +
fighting orders: the Warriors of Mameka, the Red Shadows
 +
of Herpa, and the Companions of Roving Doom. The Earl
 +
of Tormau gained power under the weak Chafin II and
 +
has yet to swear fealty or pay any taxes to the crown.
 +
 +
Unlike his predecessor, Chafin III is bold and capable.
 +
Many believe his skill and ambition will unite Rethem
 +
(probably by destroying or neutralizing Tormau) and
 +
redress the kingdom’s losses to hated Kanday.
 +
 +
Relations with the Agrikan Church
 +
 +
Chafin III is under pressure from factions within the
 +
Agrikan Church to lead a holy crusade to spread their
 +
domain across the west by the sword. The Warriors
 +
of Mameka wish to re-take Kustan and conquer all of
 +
Peran; the Red Shadows of Herpa want to achieve the
 +
same objective from Menekai. The clerical sponsors
 +
of these orders, the Apalankh (Agrikan primate) and
 +
Kemelras Royal (bishop of Rethem), see all this through a
 +
political lens. They both feel that the wealth of the Peran
 +
wilderness would enable an Agrikan empire to consume
 +
Kanday and the Thardic Republic. They differ over
 +
which of them would achieve greatness as a result. Their
 +
support of Chafin III is based on their hope that he will
 +
stabilize Rethem and lead the crusade they favor.
 +
 +
Relations with the Morgathian Church
 +
 +
The Morgathian Church is wealthy and powerful in
 +
Golotha but elsewhere its numbers are much diminished
 +
since the days of the Theocracy of Tekhos. Some nobles
 +
and common folk in remote Hohnamshire cling to old
 +
Morgathian traditions. Between a rebellious earl and the
 +
questionable loyalty of his sheriff, Chafin has enough
 +
problems with Hohnamshire. His wife and son in Golotha
 +
are close to the Morgathian center of power. Chafin’s
 +
tolerance of the Morgathians is practical, not benevolent.
 +
 +
Relations with Kanday
 +
 +
The Order of the Copper Hook has never recognized
 +
the Peace of Selvos, and for 23 years has skirmished
 +
with the Order of the Checkered Shield. This ongoing
 +
conflict is not officially recognized by either Chafin III or
 +
King Andasin IV of Kanday, neither of whom wishes to
 +
provoke a recurrence of Ezar’s War. Although both kings
 +
officially regard the skirmishing as a religious dispute, if
 +
either fighting order makes substantive gains, it is likely
 +
that the governments would become involved.
 +
 +
The Earl of Tormau views the struggle as a beneficial
 +
distraction to Chafin III. The earl has been giving covert
 +
aid in the form of money and arms to both orders
 +
through intermediaries. The earl wishes to reignite the
 +
war between Kanday and Rethem, which would allow him
 +
to make a separate peace with the Kandians and either
 +
destroy Chafin III, establish an independent kingdom, or
 +
make Tormau a major power in an expanded Kanday.
 +
 +
Relations with Tharda
 +
 +
Another problem for Chafin is the relationship
 +
between Rethem and the Thardic Republic. The seizure
 +
of Themeson Keep in 708 by the Red Shadows of Herpa
 +
has resulted in considerable strain between the two
 +
nations for the last 12 years. War was averted initially
 +
because the Republic was struggling to recover from
 +
the Thard flood of 707. Although the intrigue between
 +
the marshal and the magistrate of Gerium province
 +
(bordering Parachshire) prevents any effective action
 +
by the Thardians, the return of Themeson is a constant
 +
demand of the Thardic Senate. Chafin III has always
 +
answered these demands by claiming that, as the attack
 +
was carried out by an independent religious order during
 +
his predecessor’s reign, it has nothing to do with him.
 +
 +
There is a powerful expansionist faction in the
 +
Republic’s Senate. Chafin uses the constant threat of
 +
invasion to justify the brutal acts carried out by his forces
 +
in lands near the border with the Republic.
 +
 +
In 714, a schism in the Order of Herpa the Mace led
 +
to the creation of a new clerical order, the Order of Eight
 +
Demons. The fighting order forces holding Themeson
 +
came under the sponsorship of this new order and split
 +
from the Red Shadows to become the Cohorts of Gashang.
 +
The enmity between these two factions is considerable.
 +
Chafin’s inclination, if forced to make a choice, would be
 +
to return Themeson to the Thardic Republic in exchange
 +
for an alliance against Kanday, simultaneously ridding
 +
himself of the Agrikans there and further ingratiating
 +
himself with the Red Shadows of Herpa, one of his
 +
strongest supporters. However, he is not likely to initiate
 +
such an agreement before dealing with the internal threat
 +
posed by the Earl of Tormau.
 +
 +
Relations with the Earl of Tormau
 +
 +
The loyalty of one of the most powerful men in
 +
Rethem, Earl Denyl Lynnaeus of Tormau, is in doubt.
 +
This may lead to civil war, although neither side has yet
 +
gathered enough military force to be assured of victory.
 +
The earl detests Chafin III, accusing him of plotting
 +
to seize some of his lands. Chafin suspects the earl of
 +
conspiring with Kanday.
 +
 +
Earl Denyl has not sworn fealty to Chafin III and
 +
neither he nor his holdings have paid taxes since Chafin’s
 +
reign began. If the earl does not swear fealty soon, the
 +
king may be forced to declare him a traitor, strip him of
 +
all titles, lands, and offices, and even sentence him to
 +
death.
 +
 +
Upon ascending to the throne, Chafin III dismissed
 +
180 of the 300 troops who had protected the paranoid
 +
Chafin II. The Earl of Tormau promptly recruited many
 +
of these well-trained men. Some serve him at Tormau
 +
while others are landholders in Weseda and Henwe.
 +
 +
The earl is actively building his private army. He
 +
has exploited his clan’s historical links to the Kubora to
 +
recruit widely among the tribes. His emissaries to Orbaal
 +
and Ivinia have brought many northmen to the earl’s
 +
service. He recently granted permission for a clerical
 +
clan to build a temple to Sarajin on the ruins of the old
 +
Morgathian temple in Tormau. The earl has a policy of
 +
pardoning brigands apprehended on his lands in return
 +
for service in his army or as irregular raiders to weaken
 +
Chafin’s loyalists in the north.
 +
 +
Earl Denyl’s nephew and niece, Saval and Hesela
 +
Lynnaeus, survived the murder of their mother and have
 +
a stronger blood claim to the throne than does Chafin III.
 +
Most nobles of Rethem are willing to ignore this fact as
 +
long as Chafin can maintain a degree of prosperity for his
 +
vassals. If Chafin’s enemies gain strength, many nobles
 +
may opt to recognize one of these legitimate claimants to
 +
avoid a costly civil war. Earl Denyl would be regent until
 +
his royal ward comes of age.
 +
 +
Clan Lynnaeus has a history of garnering power
 +
through intelligence, planning, and bold action. The
 +
isolated location of their main holdings has permitted
 +
the clan to avoid many of the conflicts that have shaken
 +
Rethem since 681. Earl Denyl benefits from the counsel
 +
of his trusted chamberlain, Nykkal of Claswith, but is
 +
unaware that Claswith is a covert agent of the Kingdom
 +
of Melderyn’s mysterious Council of Eleven.
 +
 +
The impasse between the king and the earl has not
 +
yet deteriorated into civil war only because neither is
 +
certain of victory. Soon, however, one of them is likely
 +
to decide that they must strike before the other becomes
 +
even more powerful.
 +
 +
Relations with the Earl of Techen
 +
 +
The relationship between Chafin and Revi Lenesque,
 +
Earl of Techen, can best be described as an alliance of
 +
neutrality. The earl has agreed not to involve himself in a
 +
civil war between the king and the Earl of Tormau. Earl
 +
Revi desires stability, an unusual trait in a Rethemi noble,
 +
and it seems likely that he will honor this agreement.
 +
Because Earl Revi is potentially the most powerful noble
 +
in Rethem, maintaining his neutrality is crucial to Chafin’s
 +
plans. The earl seethes at the raids and arrests made on
 +
his lands by the king’s men, but so far has done nothing.
 +
 +
Earl Revi wants the Themeson situation to be
 +
resolved to stabilize trade relations with the Thardic
 +
Republic. He is well aware that if the problems posed by
 +
Themeson result in war with the Republic, his lands and
 +
wealth will suffer heavily. The earl despises the Cohorts
 +
of Gashang and has urged the king to resolve the matter
 +
by driving them out and returning Themeson to the
 +
Republic.
 +
 +
Revi Lenesque has sent agents to Coranan to
 +
investigate commercial and political opportunities. Since
 +
he came into his inheritance, which the king delayed for
 +
as long as he could, his earldom has continued to be the
 +
weaponcrafter for the kingdom, supplying all sides for
 +
now. At the same time, the earl has begun to stockpile
 +
weapons and supplies of ore and charcoal.
 +
 +
Earl Revi has made half-hearted attempts to convince
 +
the Earl of Tormau to make peace with the king. He
 +
regards Lynnaeus as a clever but intractable man whose
 +
ambition is dangerous to the kingdom. Earl Revi is not
 +
willing to join with the king in a direct attack on Tormau,
 +
believing the expense and risk to himself and his lands
 +
far outweigh any potential gain from such a campaign.
 +
The Earl of Tormau regards Techen as “too timid for his
 +
own hall” and privately scorns him for his unwillingness
 +
to take a firm position.
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
Relations with Queen Erela
 +
 +
Erela Lenesque became queen of Rethem at the
 +
age of 28. She helped her husband loot the Earldom of
 +
Techen during her nephew’s minority. Although Revi is
 +
now Earl, Erela continues to treat him with ill-concealed
 +
contempt. Her marriage is equally strained. The king’s
 +
principal seat is in Shostim, while Erela and their infant
 +
son reside in Golotha. Two companies of Chafin’s
 +
personal guard protect the queen and the heir according
 +
to the king’s wishes.
 +
 +
The queen demands luxury for herself and obedience
 +
from all others. She dreams up grandiose projects but
 +
cares little for planning how they are accomplished.
 +
Most of the castle staff have been inconvenienced or
 +
even endangered by the queen’s endeavors. Only the
 +
king’s mother has the power to disagree with Erela. The
 +
frequent, vindictive spats between the two women cause
 +
numerous headaches for Caer Chaftar’s Seneschal of the
 +
Chamber, Lady Aleta Borganau.
 +
 +
The queen spends much of her time in consultation
 +
with the Gurim (Hârnic primate of Morgath). A devoted
 +
follower of Balsha, Erela looks to his teachings for means
 +
to preserve her fading beauty. The city’s Morgathian
 +
temple provides guidance and subjects for her
 +
experiments. Erela directs a small power base of loyalists
 +
and paid informants throughout the kingdom.
 +
 +
The queen avoids conflict with the squabbling
 +
Agrikans, trusting her husband to maintain those
 +
relationships. The Agrikan Apalankh has worked hard
 +
to establish more cordial relations with the queen but
 +
the friction between the Warriors of Mameka and the
 +
Queen’s Guard in Golotha remains a barrier.
 +
 +
Succession Threats
 +
 +
Chafin knows he is subject to two serious succession
 +
threats. His rival in Tormau has the resources to break
 +
Hohnamshire away from Rethem but lacks the political
 +
support to keep Chafin’s loyalists out of a civil war. The
 +
loyalty of some of Chafin’s supporters is not reliable. The
 +
burden of a struggling economy, pressures from outside
 +
the kingdom, and Chafin’s own difficult personality
 +
all make it possible that one or more key allies might
 +
abandon him if the right political cover were to emerge.
 +
 +
The Missing Children of Chafin I
 +
 +
Chafin I’s mistress, Penethe Amagar, bore him a
 +
daughter, Pilnia, in 699 and a son, Kalab, in 701. Penethe
 +
and the children disappeared immediately after Chafin I’s
 +
assassination in 703. Months of searching by Chafin II’s
 +
Royal Guard failed to find them among clan Amagar’s
 +
holdings, which were subsequently confiscated.
 +
 +
The three are presumed dead by most Rethemi
 +
nobility and recorded as dead by the Sanguine Saltire.
 +
If they still live, Penethe would be 41 and the children
 +
would be young adults of 20 and 18.
 +
 +
Two Known Heirs to a Disputed Throne
 +
 +
In 708, during the reign of Chafin II, Vavryse
 +
Lynnaeus married Wyrede Araku, niece of Kabe, and
 +
fathered two children, Saval and Hesela Lynnaeus.
 +
 +
Wyrede was murdered in the bloodbath that
 +
followed Chafin II’s death, when Chafin III engineered
 +
the extermination of all rivals. By a twist of fate, Saval
 +
and Hesela escaped and were taken to their uncle, Earl
 +
Denyl Lynnaeus of Tormau. The earl blames Chafin III
 +
personally for the murder of his sister-in-law. Her
 +
children, now aged ten and five, still reside in safety at
 +
Tormau with their father, Vavryse.
 +
 +
Earl Denyl is working to seat one of the children
 +
on the throne. Their stronger claim to the throne has,
 +
thus far, been ignored by the Sanguine Saltire, Rethem’s
 +
college of heralds, and by most of the nobles of Rethem.
 +
 +
The Book of Lost Names
 +
 +
The power struggles in Rethem’s history have led
 +
to many disappearances with its ruling clans. Clan
 +
Araku and the clans of the Kuboran dynasty have many
 +
members whose fates are unknown.
 +
 +
The Sanguine Saltire maintains a Book of Lost Names
 +
that lists all known information about these missing
 +
people, including the date and place of last confirmed
 +
sighting, known aliases and alliances, and who is believed
 +
to have been responsible for their disappearance or
 +
death. The existence of this tome is known only to select
 +
members of the college.
 +
 +
Religion
 +
 +
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
 +
 +
<center>
 +
{|
 +
|+ style="caption-side:bottom; color:#000000;"|'''Kandáy Political Map'''
 +
| [[File:Kandáy_Political_Map.png|900px|center|link= ]]
 +
|}
 +
</center>
 +
  
 
P19
 
P19

Revision as of 20:43, 16 June 2018

Making a comprehensive list of Hârn Kingdoms, Shires, Hundreds, and Manors. All listed from the Kingdom Modules.


Note: ADD proper names and cross-internal links.

Note: ADD list of "special" details to add the various details for extras, ie. saltmarshes of Vashel, under Tamsen Forest.

Note: Text Highlight and Background Colour: Káldôr

Note: Green = I Have, Red = Don't Have, Orange = Old Scan, Blue = Misc, Black = ALL Base (Template)

Note: Colour Highlights: Yellow

Colour LINK Text: Possible Link NAME

Note: Hidden comments <!-- TEXT HERE WILL NOT BE DISPLAYED -->

Note: Anchor Points - Section linking WITHIN pages USE [[Help:Section#Section_linking|Section linking]] or To link to a section in the same page you can use [[#section name|displayed text]], and to link to a section in another page [[page name#section name|displayed text]].

Note: Section linking with arbitrary id USE <span id="anchor_name"></span>. Be sure to use a name that is not likely to be duplicated. One way to do this is to incorporate the titles of the higher-level sections, at least in abbreviated form, e.g., Ontario-Natural_features for the "Natural features" subsection of the "Ontario" section of an article about the provinces of Canada.

ADD inside Table Caption/Heaer Text


Kingdom of Réthem COL5740

Contents List

  • Cover
  • Political Map
  • Poetic Map
  • Introduction
  • Credits
    • Chronology Table
  • History
      • Western Expansion
      • Northern Expansion
      • The End of Imperial Control in the West
      • The Balshan Jihad
      • The Theocracy of Tekhos
      • The Interregnum
    • The Kuboran Dynasty
      • Arlun the Barbarian (635–656)
      • Obras the Southron (656–672)
      • Nemiran the Zealot (672–681)
    • The House of Araku
      • Puril (681–689)
      • Ezar’s War (682–697)
      • Kabe (689–692)
      • Chafin I, Winner By Any Means (692–703)
      • Chafin II, the Timorous (703–715)
  • Current Events


  • A
    • A
      • A
        • A
          • A
            • A

Kingdom of Réthem COL5740

Note: ADD the contents of Réthem just as Kandáy Contents

Replace “ ” with "

Kandáy Political Map
900px

Rethem is a feudal kingdom in western Hârn. Founded in 635, the Kingdom of Rethem is the latest stage in a bloody evolution that started with Corani imperial conquest and passed through Morgathian revolt, barbarian conquest, Agrikan ascendancy, and a brutal attempt at feudalism by force. The political situation is still far from settled and the threat of civil war looms over the kingdom.

Rethem is bounded by the Kingdom of Kanday to the south, the Kuboran tribal lands to the north, and the Thardic Republic to the east. With its long history of violence, a rulership built on cunning and strength, and its shaky political structure, Rethem is viewed warily by its neighbors.

The Peran wilderness to Rethem’s north is home to the Kubora, one of the fiercest and most numerous tribal peoples on Hârn. The Kingdom of Rethem was created by the conquests of a Kuboran chieftain, something that neither the tribesmen nor the Rethemi are likely to forget. The Kuboran influence is still significant in Rethem and most Rethemi nobility are of Kuboran descent, although it is not currently fashionable to admit to it.

Rethem’s northern forests are rich in timber and furs and the abundant minerals of the lowlands have been extensively mined since Corani times. The fertile Thard Valley has long been one of the most densely populated regions of Hârn and boasts the strongest economy in the west.

Rethem’s eighth and current ruler, King Chafin III, is not the product of a long and respected dynasty, his clan having seized the throne a mere 40 years ago. Chafin III has constructed a network of allegiances that relies upon the careful placement of kin and the manipulation of competing loyalties that he himself may not fully command. Chafin often uses the threat of invasion from the kingdom’s neighbors to keep his rivals off guard.

Chafin III keeps his seat at Shostim and prefers to spend little time at the royal castle in Golotha where his wife lives. Chafin is aware that five of Rethem’s seven monarchs have died violently. Few expect the current uneasy bout of peace in Rethem to last long. If he can live long enough and unite his chronically rebellious kingdom, it is likely he will again attack hated Kanday. Chafin is more secure and shrewd than his predecessors but suspicion of his many rivals may cripple his state-building efforts. It is certain that both internal strife and external wars will reshape the kingdom in the coming years.


Location: Western Hârn

Atlas Maps: C6, D6, E6, D7, E7

Government: Monarchy

King: Chafin III

Culture: Feudal

Population: 95,000

Royal Seat: Shostim

Largest City: Golotha (free city)


CREDITS

Writers: N. Robin Crossby, Tom Dalgliesh, Rebecca Downey, Edwin King, Kerry Mould, Richard Porter, John Sgammato

Contributors: Joe Adams, Brent Bailey, Rob Barnes, Daniel Bell, Jonathan Davidson, Alun Rees, Matt Roegner

Art Director: Richard Luschek

Maps and Heraldry: C. I. Kocher, Matt Roegner

Editors: Brent Bailey, Grant Dalgliesh, Tom Dalgliesh, John Sgammato

Layout: Brent Bailey

Kandáy Political Map
900px


Chronology

BT 900 Atani Wars (900–683).

683 The Battle of Sorrows.

500 Lythian raiders push Jarin tribes into western Hârn.

TR 100 Lothrim the Foulspawner rules central Hârn (100–120).

301 Corthir unites the Corani tribes.

347 The Merdi Federation is established.

366 The Battle of Klondis: Raelan killed, Coranan threatened.

377 Battle of Hereg: Merdi Federation defeated by Arosta.

388 Merethos founded (later renamed Golotha).

392 The Corani Empire is proclaimed by Malian.

398 Jenath tribes assimilated into Corani Empire.

414 Fort Kustan established, limit of empire in Peran.

453 Aleathia joins Corani Empire under Mejenes.

471 Corani Empire adopts Tuzyn Reckoning.

474 Peran tribes unite under Nebran Bondbreaker.

477 Nebran leads massacre at Kustan but dies in battle.

491 Unification Writ outlaws all faiths but Agrikanism.

521 Thard River floods, half of Merethos destroyed.

556 Thard River floods again, three-year famine follows.

558 The Balshan Jihad (558–567).

559 The Red Death plague kills thousands (559–561).

562 Balshans take Merethos, rename it Golotha.

565 Coranan captured; end of the Corani Empire.

568 Theocracy of Tekhos (568–588, until 635 in Golotha).

625 Kubora unified by Arlun the Barbarian.

629 Arlun and the united Kubora take Shostim.

635 Golotha falls, Arlun founds Rethem.

650 Arlun restores religious freedom.

656 Arlun dies. His son, Obras, takes the throne. Alliance with the Kubora collapses.

681 King Nemiran is murdered. Puril proclaims himself regent, then takes throne at end of year.

682 Ezar’s War (682–697).

688 Rethem captures Sarkum and Hebon.

689 King Puril dies in Sarkum, Kabe takes the throne.

690 Andasin III of Kanday liberates Hebon but dies in assault.

692 Sarkum besieged by Queen Eriel of Kanday. King Kabe dies and Sarkum surrenders to Eriel.

694 The Order of the Crimson Dancer assassinates Queen Eriel of Kanday.

697 The Peace of Selvos ends Ezar’s War.

703 Chafin I dies; his younger brother Larril is crowned Chafin II.

707 Thard floods again, Golotha damaged severely.

708 The Order of the Red Shadows of Herpa seize Themeson Keep.

711 Earl of Tormau builds Weseda Keep without license.

713 Earl of Tormau wrests Ithius from the Earl of Ithiko.

714 Order of the Eight Demons and the Cohorts of Gashang split from their parent orders, take Themeson Keep and the surrounding lands.

715 Chafin II dies, his cousin Arech is crowned Chafin III. Most of Chafin II’s Royal Guard is disbanded by Chafin III and almost immediately hired by the rebellious Earl of Tormau.

720 Present day.


History

The Thard River valley has supported human settlements since before 1000 BT. The original human inhabitants were Jarin tribes migrating from the increasingly crowded Lythian mainland. The population of this fertile region swelled after the Battle of Sorrows (683 BT) as an influx of eastern Jarin and Lythians fled the aftermath of the war and dissolution of the Codominium.

By 100 TR, when Lothrim the Foulspawner conquered central Hârn, there were dozens of tribal peoples in current-day Rethem, collectively known as the Merdi in the lower Thard River valley, the Jenath along the northern coast of the Gulf of Andurien, and the Kubora throughout Peran. The Merdi traded with Lothrim’s empire but were never a part of it. When Lothrim’s empire disintegrated after the Battle of Sirion, the tribes’ simple economies were affected less than those of the civilized states to the east.

Several petty states and federations rose and fell in the wake of Lothrim’s empire. None achieved any degree of permanence until 301, when Corthir united the Corani tribal nation. The Corani empire came to dominate all of western Hârn before collapsing to the Balshan Jihad in 565. It was the largest human state in Hârnic history, stretching from Lake Benath to the Gulf of Andurien and from the Pemetta River in the north to Cape Gemal in the south. Seemingly destined to rule all of Hârn, it was brought down by corruption, too many weak emperors, and a series of floods, plagues, and famines. Many settlements in the Thard River valley had their roots in the empire and most of the region’s roads and ports were constructed during this period.

Kandáy Political Map
900px

Western Expansion

The Merdi tribes in the Thard River valley formed a federation in 347 to counter the growing Corani threat. The Merdi Federation was a loose alliance with an elected leadership but it managed to stop westward Corani expansion for 30 years.

In 377, Arosta the Conqueror defeated the combined Merdi forces at the Battle of Hereg, north of present-day Techen. Following the slaughter, the Merdi Federation collapsed and the various tribes were gradually assimilated into the empire. Techen Keep was built in 379 and a governor was installed that same year in a wooden fortification at the traditional Merdi moot site on Orman Island. Trade was fostered with every Merdi village that paid a voluntary tax to the governor. This was the birth of a bureaucracy that integrated the Merdi into the Corani Empire.

When Arosta died in 380, the Merdi threatened rebellion. Arosta’s heir, Malian, averted the insurrection by personally traveling to the Merdi Moot and appealing to the Merdi leaders for peace through mutual trade.

During Malian’s reign, trade and communications improved and the royal bureaucracy was strengthened. The governor’s fort on Orman Island and the ancient Merdi trading post there prospered as well. In 388, Malian improved the fortifications and founded the city of Merethos, now known as Golotha. The city enjoyed prosperity as a port and trading center, handling much of the empire’s trade.

As the unwieldy kingdom slowly became orderly and prosperous, Malian applied his successes at Merethos to other areas of the empire. By the end of his reign, Malian had divided the empire into provinces to ease administration and created a complex and sophisticated civil service.

In the fifth century, Merethos benefited from the attention of two long-ruling, competent, expansionminded emperors. Under Kobar and Mejenes, Merethos became a base for imperial expansion into the north.

Kandáy Political Map
900px

Northern Expansion

The Jenath, a collection of agrarian and fishing tribes, welcomed the Corani as allies against their aggressive northern neighbors, the Kubora. In 390, the Corani legions, led by Malian’s 19-year-old son Kobar, subdued the region and placed it under Corani control. Upon succeeding his father in 394, Kobar continued his policies of expansion. Caer Shostim was built to guard the northern approaches to Merethos and the Jenath, like the Merdi before them, were assimilated into the empire.

At the start of the fifth century, the Corani legions expanded into the northern river valleys occupied by the Kubora. Between 401 and 405, keeps were constructed at Ithiko, Zaza, and Tormau to secure the western coast and function as supply bases for northern expansion. The Kubora resisted this incursion but their frenzied attacks were no match for the trained legions of Emperor Kobar.

By 414, imperial troops had constructed the Hohnam Road and a fortress at Kustan. From there, the legions plundered the enormous natural wealth of Peran and built outposts throughout the region. The Kubora refused to be subjugated and Corani control of Peran remained tenuous except within a day’s march of Kustan. The Kubora rose in revolt 12 times between 414 and 477.

Sixty years of attempts to subdue the northern Kubora were a severe drain on the imperial treasury. Despite this, economic development of the Coranicontrolled areas was dramatic; paved roads were built and trade prospered. When Kobar died, the lower Thard Valley and the north coast of Boka Bay were prosperous and at peace but for limited skirmishing from the Kubora.

When Kobar’s son Laketta died heirless in 443, the Kingdom of Aleathia tried to take advantage of a succession crisis by seizing Heroth Keep south of the Thard River. This invasion was the catalyst that put Mejenes, a military leader, on the throne.

With the expansion efforts of Mejenes the Great, the empire extended as far as it ever would. Emperor Mejenes defeated the Aleathian forces under King Xuaka. When Xuaka died in 453, Aleathia was peacefully absorbed into the Corani Empire as Aleathia province, removing the southern threat to the empire.

Mejenes began a comprehensive assault on Peran. He built Mejetus at the far reach of Corani power but died of a fever while in the northern wilderness of Equeth. His death in 465 marked the beginning of the end of the Corani Empire. By 474, the Kubora tribes had begun to unify under the chieftain Nebran Bondbreaker, who made peace with the neighboring Equani and Urdu tribes and vowed to drive out the Corani invaders once and for all.

The End of Imperial Control in the West

Sylud “the Scholar,” Mejenes’ son, neglected the legions in favor of cultural and academic pursuits. In 477, an archaeological expedition was sent to Kustan to excavate the sacred grave of Kemlar the Guide, a Kuboran deity. This sparked a revolt that annihilated the imperial fort at Kustan. After Nebran Bondbreaker was slain in the battle, his fragile alliances died with him.

After years of neglect, the legions had few resources. The Kubora attacked the weakened settlements, burning them to the ground and leaving no survivors. The legions were driven from Peran and the region was left to the Kubora. The western provinces never again saw the level of imperial investment that had settled and built the area.

Saurach, Sylud’s successor, was a religious fanatic who attempted to create an Agrikan theocracy. In 491, he banned all other religions within the empire but was assassinated within hours by a female assailant. The Church of Agrik went into a two-century decline.

Several succeeding emperors were incompetent, their reigns marked by tyranny and a series of natural disasters. Emperor Korad “the Fool,” unable to respond to the crises, abandoned the west to a succession of incompetent governors and spent most of his reign issuing juvenile edicts that were promptly forgotten.

Medak, the last emperor, took the throne in 555 and worked to reverse the corruption in the provinces. His ruthless purges fell heavily on the governors of the western provinces, but the corruption ran deep.

The Balshan Jihad

During Medak’s reign, a local Morgathian demagogue named Balsha of Ozrada came to prominence. Little is known of his early life, other than he was born the son of a common soldier at Ithiko in 520. Balsha preached an unorthodox, activist view of Morgathianism, stating that the misery of mortal life could be mitigated by serving Morgath while alive and that those who pleased the god had the best chance of eternal reward.

Kandáy Political Map
900px

By 552, Balsha’s uncannily accurate predictions of a destructive series of plagues and famines that ravaged the provinces won him a massive following. In 558, Medak deemed it wise to be rid of the “petty troublemaker” and had Balsha dragged to the impaling stake.

The prophet’s martyrdom sparked the rebellion now known as the Balshan Jihad. Corani legions, crippled by the purges of Medak, were helpless against the growing revolt. The Balshans took advantage of the ravages of the Red Death and by 560 controlled Rethem province. Merethos fell in 562 and was renamed Golotha, meaning “dark victory” or “last victory” in the Morgathian temple tongue. In 565, Coranan fell after a two-year siege. Medak and his family, captured while fleeing to Aleath, were impaled outside of Coranan.

The Theocracy of Tekhos

Horahnam of Tekhos, former governor of Shiran province, was the victor of a savage power struggle among the Jihadists. In 568, he founded the Theocracy of Tekhos, one of Hârn’s most infamous and brutal regimes.

For 20 years, the religious tribunals of Tekhos crushed opposition and thousands were executed or forced into outlawry. In the settlements where the tribunals were based, public torture and execution became commonplace.

Horahnam was assassinated in 588 in Coranan. Within days, rebellions erupted throughout the Theocracy. Only Golotha resisted the revolt that swept Horahnam’s rule away in two months.

The Interregnum

The downfall of the Theocracy of Tekhos was followed by the Interregnum, a period during which western Hârn was beset by chaos as dozens of petty states vied with each other. There was little distinction between bandits, mercenaries, raiding tribesmen, and legitimate armies. Many mercenary companies that formed during the Interregnum have descendant units operating in Rethem today.

During the Interregnum, Golotha remained a lonely relic of the Morgathian theocracy. This “Second Theocracy” or “Golothan Theocracy” was the dominant political force among the diverse states of Rethem, most of which paid it tribute and looked to it for support. The Golothan Theocracy did not spread farther than a day’s ride in all directions from the city and its borders were ever tested by those seeking revenge. Revolts within the city were quickly quelled. As the population dwindled, the Golothan Theocracy grew weaker.

The Kuboran Dynasty

Arlun the Barbarian (635–656)

Arlun was a charismatic and highly skilled warrior of the Obodu Kubora. Arlun served as a mercenary at Tormau before becoming the warchief of the Obodu in 621. Inspired by a vision of Kemlar, Arlun unified 90 Kuboran tribes by 625. Convinced of his destiny, Arlun trained the tribes in military strategies that he had learned at Tormau.

In 629, Arlun and his warriors swept south, destroying the settlements in what are now Kelesa, Quarien, and Fesenor hundreds and taking the fortress at Shostim. The resources he captured made his united Kubora a formidable force. Arlun’s conquest was aided by southern elites who had suffered under Morgathianism.

Arlun brilliantly defended Shostim against the forces of the Golothan Theocracy. When the weakened besiegers retired, he marched half of his army north. Clan Lynnaeus, which had not allied with the Golothan Theocracy, surrendered Tormau to Arlun after a brief siege. In the two years that followed, Arlun conquered all of northern Rethem. He secured his conquest by allying with the Companions of Roving Doom, an Agrikan fighting order, and by marrying the daughter of Henail Lynnaeus, whose descendants hold Tormau to this day.

In 635, Arlun renewed his southward expansion. A third of his army attacked Quste while he led the remainder across the Thard to seize Thiri. The Golothans, unaware of his presence at Thiri, gathered a large army and took the bait at Quste. The Kuborans retreated to Shostim as planned, pursued by the Golothans. The Theocracy’s disastrously incompetent generals once again wasted men against the walls of Shostim while Arlun marched on a lightly defended Golotha. He took it with ease in the late summer of 635. The Golothan army besieging Shostim raced south to retake the city but Arlun had prepared a solid defense. The outmaneuvered Golothans came to terms. Arlun proclaimed the Kingdom of Rethem in the autumn.

The Agrikan orders that had allied with Arlun encouraged his attempts to exterminate the remaining Morgathian theocrats, but this effort succeeded only in driving them underground. By 650, however, Arlun had restored religious freedom throughout the kingdom. Some believe his wife, whose clan had Morgathian roots, was behind this move, while others believe Arlun acted to offset the rising dominance of the Agrikans.

Arlun spent his reign consolidating and expanding his domain against resistance from Kanday and the Thardic League, taking Menekai and Senun from the Thardic League in 639 and pushing his southern border to Dunir and Menekod by 654. Upon his death in 656, his kingdom was the largest since the Corani Empire, extending from the Gomisen River to Cape Vikod, and from the Ternu Heath to the Pemetta River.

The Campaigns of Arlun
900px

Obras the Southron (656–672)

Although some Kuborans had assimilated into southern culture during Arlun’s reign, many tribesmen spurned the soft life of civilization, maintained their traditional ways, and grew increasingly discontented.

Much of their displeasure centered on Arlun’s heir, Obras, whose mother was Sysene Lynnaeus, daughter of Earl Henail Lynnaeus of Tormau. Many Kuboran leaders were alarmed at the possibility at being ruled by someone of mixed blood. Arlun’s attempts to mollify the growing discord only delayed the inevitable. Upon Arlun’s death in 656, the Peran region was lost to the kingdom when almost all the Kubora renounced their loyalty to Obras, who they saw as a “weakling southron.” Even the fierce Obodu Kubora, Arlun’s original power base and the most trusted warriors in the kingdom, rejected Obras.

A series of poorly organized revolts broke out in Rethem in 657 and distracted the new king from trying to regain Peran. Obras lacked his father’s abilities and could not win the firm loyalty of anyone. He continued to be beleaguered by rebellion throughout his reign. He was killed in a skirmish near Tormau while suppressing yet another revolt.

Nemiran the Zealot (672–681)

Obras’ son, Nemiran, inherited a weak and chaotic kingdom and was forced to deal with several more revolts. He was a skillful politician who saw the folly of attempting to rule alone as his father had done. Using Kandian feudalism as a model, Nemiran assigned land and offices to trusted retainers in exchange for fealty and severely punished those who resisted his actions.

Nemiran is remembered as a brutal Agrikan zealot. Shortly after his conversion, Nemiran sponsored the Order of the Octagonal Pit and the Order of Demon Pameshlu the Insatiable, granting them charters to operate Pamesani games in Golotha and Shostim. He also financed the construction of their temple in Golotha. As “assistance” to his barons faced with revolts, Nemiran granted extensive lands within their baronies to the Agrikan orders, primarily the Order of the Red Shadows of Herpa and the Order of the Company of the Copper Hook.

Nemiran met the challenges of his day and created an ordered society from a failing tribal structure. Through murder and reward, he managed to unify the kingdom within four years of ascending to the throne.

Nemiran built the Palace of Perehyne in Golotha and the court moved there in 678. He was assassinated on its steps on midsummer’s day in 681. Nemiran was the last king of the Kuboran dynasty.

The House of Araku

Puril (681–689)

Puril, the commander of Nemiran’s bodyguard, probably ordered the king’s murder. After the assassination, Puril proclaimed himself regent and publicly vowed to find a proper successor. There were several possible claimants to the throne and Puril mercilessly destroyed all of these he could find. Within six months, the Kuboran dynasty was extinct and Puril took the throne in the last month of 681.

Ezar’s War (682–697)

In 682, the forces of the Copper Hook, under the direction of Akarata (fighting order grandmaster) Ezar Zhirdoka, attacked the Kandian keep of Imiden. The Laranian Order of the Checkered Shield quickly sent a relief force, forcing the Agrikans to withdraw. Ezar appealed to Puril for aid. The new king eagerly supported what became known as Ezar’s War.

For six years, the rival armies clashed along the border with little effect, neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. In 688, Puril sailed with an army from Golotha and landed near Sarkum, then an independent ally of Kanday. Puril’s plan was to take Sarkum and march east on Aleath. Achieving surprise, the Rethemi army overwhelmed Sarkum and Hebon, but Puril suffered a mortal wound in the campaign and died in Sarkum early in 689.

Ezar’s War (682–697)
900px
Kandáy Political Map
900px

Kabe (689–692)

The transfer of power to Puril’s son Kabe gave Kanday time to unify. The surviving petty states west of Aleath swore fealty to King Andasin III and, when Kabe arrived to take command of his forces in Sarkum, he found himself besieged by a reinforced enemy army. In 690, Kandian troops recaptured Hebon, an assault that cost Andasin III his life. Kabe was still besieged in Sarkum and stubbornly refused to abandon his army. His hope that the Kandians would lose heart with Andasin’s death was dashed when they rallied to the young Queen Eriel. In 692, a fire broke out in Sarkum, killing Kabe. His supporters believed he was murdered. With his death, the castle surrendered, but the war continued in the north.

Chafin I, Winner By Any Means (692–703)

Chafin, the eldest son of Kabe, was a competent strategist. Ezar’s War dragged on but Chafin was able to maintain the stalemate along the Kandian border except for the loss of Dunir in 693.

Determined to win the war by any means, in 694 Chafin ordered the Agrikan Order of the Crimson Dancer to assassinate Queen Eriel of Kanday. Although successful, the assassin was captured and confessed under interrogation. In the lightning campaign of 695, vengeful Kandian armies seized Selvos and Menekod, crushing the resistance of the Copper Hook. Fearing the loss of further lands, Chafin sued for peace.

In 697, the Peace of Selvos ended the bitter 15-year conflict and established the present Rethem-Kanday border. The debacle of Ezar’s War left Rethem on the verge on civil war. Looking for scapegoats, Chafin had Ezar executed in 698. The Order of the Crimson Dancer found itself in such disfavor with the king that they left Rethem for Orbaal in 701.

In 703, Chafin I died while hunting in the forests east of Shostim. His supporters found the circumstances questionable. Clan Lynnaeus was publicly accused of the assassination but no investigation was ordered by the new king, Chafin I’s younger brother, Larril. Chafin I’s mistress and two bastard children disappeared soon after his death. As Chafin I had many enemies, the truth of his death is likely to remain hidden.

Chafin II, the Timorous (703–715)

Larril, who took the name Chafin II, was a timorous monarch who spent most of his reign confined inside Caer Shostim protected by a large (and expensive) bodyguard of 300 men. Private wars and feuds replaced law and order throughout the kingdom.

In 708, the Red Shadows of Herpa crossed the Gomisen River and took Themeson Keep. The king took neither notice nor responsibility for the event, thwarting the Thardic Republic’s demands for remunerations and narrowly avoiding armed conflict with the Republic.

In 711, the Earl of Tormau built Weseda Keep without royal approval near his southern holding of Henwe on the disputed Kandian border. Weseda’s access to salt, stone, and iron greatly increased the autonomy of the earl. When the earl seized Ithius Keep from the Earl of Ithiko in 713, Chafin II again failed to intervene.

Although Chafin II issued a number of decrees intended to protect his kingdom in the event of invasion, many went unenforced. Powerful nobles, notably the Earl of Tormau, did what they wished, as did many of the fighting orders.

Chafin II died peacefully in his bed in 715. He left no heir, a shaky border, and a rebellious and emboldened earl at Tormau. A bloody power struggle ensued.

Current Events

A maelstrom of murder and intrigue followed the death of Chafin II. Arech Araku, cousin to Chafin II, emerged victorious, aided by a band of thugs that assists him to this day. This ruthless and amoral man was responsible for the murders of his uncle Mykkel and his female cousin Wyrede, both of whom had better claims to the throne. Only Wyrede’s children, Saval and Hesela, survived, having been taken to sanctuary with their uncle, Earl Denyl Lynnaeus of Tormau.

Taking the name Chafin III, Arech consolidated his position by placing his cronies in key offices. He has managed to reaffirm the fealty (or at least the neutrality) of the earls of Ithiko and Techen and three Agrikan fighting orders: the Warriors of Mameka, the Red Shadows of Herpa, and the Companions of Roving Doom. The Earl of Tormau gained power under the weak Chafin II and has yet to swear fealty or pay any taxes to the crown.

Unlike his predecessor, Chafin III is bold and capable. Many believe his skill and ambition will unite Rethem (probably by destroying or neutralizing Tormau) and redress the kingdom’s losses to hated Kanday.

Relations with the Agrikan Church

Chafin III is under pressure from factions within the Agrikan Church to lead a holy crusade to spread their domain across the west by the sword. The Warriors of Mameka wish to re-take Kustan and conquer all of Peran; the Red Shadows of Herpa want to achieve the same objective from Menekai. The clerical sponsors of these orders, the Apalankh (Agrikan primate) and Kemelras Royal (bishop of Rethem), see all this through a political lens. They both feel that the wealth of the Peran wilderness would enable an Agrikan empire to consume Kanday and the Thardic Republic. They differ over which of them would achieve greatness as a result. Their support of Chafin III is based on their hope that he will stabilize Rethem and lead the crusade they favor.

Relations with the Morgathian Church

The Morgathian Church is wealthy and powerful in Golotha but elsewhere its numbers are much diminished since the days of the Theocracy of Tekhos. Some nobles and common folk in remote Hohnamshire cling to old Morgathian traditions. Between a rebellious earl and the questionable loyalty of his sheriff, Chafin has enough problems with Hohnamshire. His wife and son in Golotha are close to the Morgathian center of power. Chafin’s tolerance of the Morgathians is practical, not benevolent.

Relations with Kanday

The Order of the Copper Hook has never recognized the Peace of Selvos, and for 23 years has skirmished with the Order of the Checkered Shield. This ongoing conflict is not officially recognized by either Chafin III or King Andasin IV of Kanday, neither of whom wishes to provoke a recurrence of Ezar’s War. Although both kings officially regard the skirmishing as a religious dispute, if either fighting order makes substantive gains, it is likely that the governments would become involved.

The Earl of Tormau views the struggle as a beneficial distraction to Chafin III. The earl has been giving covert aid in the form of money and arms to both orders through intermediaries. The earl wishes to reignite the war between Kanday and Rethem, which would allow him to make a separate peace with the Kandians and either destroy Chafin III, establish an independent kingdom, or make Tormau a major power in an expanded Kanday.

Relations with Tharda

Another problem for Chafin is the relationship between Rethem and the Thardic Republic. The seizure of Themeson Keep in 708 by the Red Shadows of Herpa has resulted in considerable strain between the two nations for the last 12 years. War was averted initially because the Republic was struggling to recover from the Thard flood of 707. Although the intrigue between the marshal and the magistrate of Gerium province (bordering Parachshire) prevents any effective action by the Thardians, the return of Themeson is a constant demand of the Thardic Senate. Chafin III has always answered these demands by claiming that, as the attack was carried out by an independent religious order during his predecessor’s reign, it has nothing to do with him.

There is a powerful expansionist faction in the Republic’s Senate. Chafin uses the constant threat of invasion to justify the brutal acts carried out by his forces in lands near the border with the Republic.

In 714, a schism in the Order of Herpa the Mace led to the creation of a new clerical order, the Order of Eight Demons. The fighting order forces holding Themeson came under the sponsorship of this new order and split from the Red Shadows to become the Cohorts of Gashang. The enmity between these two factions is considerable. Chafin’s inclination, if forced to make a choice, would be to return Themeson to the Thardic Republic in exchange for an alliance against Kanday, simultaneously ridding himself of the Agrikans there and further ingratiating himself with the Red Shadows of Herpa, one of his strongest supporters. However, he is not likely to initiate such an agreement before dealing with the internal threat posed by the Earl of Tormau.

Relations with the Earl of Tormau

The loyalty of one of the most powerful men in Rethem, Earl Denyl Lynnaeus of Tormau, is in doubt. This may lead to civil war, although neither side has yet gathered enough military force to be assured of victory. The earl detests Chafin III, accusing him of plotting to seize some of his lands. Chafin suspects the earl of conspiring with Kanday.

Earl Denyl has not sworn fealty to Chafin III and neither he nor his holdings have paid taxes since Chafin’s reign began. If the earl does not swear fealty soon, the king may be forced to declare him a traitor, strip him of all titles, lands, and offices, and even sentence him to death.

Upon ascending to the throne, Chafin III dismissed 180 of the 300 troops who had protected the paranoid Chafin II. The Earl of Tormau promptly recruited many of these well-trained men. Some serve him at Tormau while others are landholders in Weseda and Henwe.

The earl is actively building his private army. He has exploited his clan’s historical links to the Kubora to recruit widely among the tribes. His emissaries to Orbaal and Ivinia have brought many northmen to the earl’s service. He recently granted permission for a clerical clan to build a temple to Sarajin on the ruins of the old Morgathian temple in Tormau. The earl has a policy of pardoning brigands apprehended on his lands in return for service in his army or as irregular raiders to weaken Chafin’s loyalists in the north.

Earl Denyl’s nephew and niece, Saval and Hesela Lynnaeus, survived the murder of their mother and have a stronger blood claim to the throne than does Chafin III. Most nobles of Rethem are willing to ignore this fact as long as Chafin can maintain a degree of prosperity for his vassals. If Chafin’s enemies gain strength, many nobles may opt to recognize one of these legitimate claimants to avoid a costly civil war. Earl Denyl would be regent until his royal ward comes of age.

Clan Lynnaeus has a history of garnering power through intelligence, planning, and bold action. The isolated location of their main holdings has permitted the clan to avoid many of the conflicts that have shaken Rethem since 681. Earl Denyl benefits from the counsel of his trusted chamberlain, Nykkal of Claswith, but is unaware that Claswith is a covert agent of the Kingdom of Melderyn’s mysterious Council of Eleven.

The impasse between the king and the earl has not yet deteriorated into civil war only because neither is certain of victory. Soon, however, one of them is likely to decide that they must strike before the other becomes even more powerful.

Relations with the Earl of Techen

The relationship between Chafin and Revi Lenesque, Earl of Techen, can best be described as an alliance of neutrality. The earl has agreed not to involve himself in a civil war between the king and the Earl of Tormau. Earl Revi desires stability, an unusual trait in a Rethemi noble, and it seems likely that he will honor this agreement. Because Earl Revi is potentially the most powerful noble in Rethem, maintaining his neutrality is crucial to Chafin’s plans. The earl seethes at the raids and arrests made on his lands by the king’s men, but so far has done nothing.

Earl Revi wants the Themeson situation to be resolved to stabilize trade relations with the Thardic Republic. He is well aware that if the problems posed by Themeson result in war with the Republic, his lands and wealth will suffer heavily. The earl despises the Cohorts of Gashang and has urged the king to resolve the matter by driving them out and returning Themeson to the Republic.

Revi Lenesque has sent agents to Coranan to investigate commercial and political opportunities. Since he came into his inheritance, which the king delayed for as long as he could, his earldom has continued to be the weaponcrafter for the kingdom, supplying all sides for now. At the same time, the earl has begun to stockpile weapons and supplies of ore and charcoal.

Earl Revi has made half-hearted attempts to convince the Earl of Tormau to make peace with the king. He regards Lynnaeus as a clever but intractable man whose ambition is dangerous to the kingdom. Earl Revi is not willing to join with the king in a direct attack on Tormau, believing the expense and risk to himself and his lands far outweigh any potential gain from such a campaign. The Earl of Tormau regards Techen as “too timid for his own hall” and privately scorns him for his unwillingness to take a firm position.

Kandáy Political Map
900px
Kandáy Political Map
900px

Relations with Queen Erela

Erela Lenesque became queen of Rethem at the age of 28. She helped her husband loot the Earldom of Techen during her nephew’s minority. Although Revi is now Earl, Erela continues to treat him with ill-concealed contempt. Her marriage is equally strained. The king’s principal seat is in Shostim, while Erela and their infant son reside in Golotha. Two companies of Chafin’s personal guard protect the queen and the heir according to the king’s wishes.

The queen demands luxury for herself and obedience from all others. She dreams up grandiose projects but cares little for planning how they are accomplished. Most of the castle staff have been inconvenienced or even endangered by the queen’s endeavors. Only the king’s mother has the power to disagree with Erela. The frequent, vindictive spats between the two women cause numerous headaches for Caer Chaftar’s Seneschal of the Chamber, Lady Aleta Borganau.

The queen spends much of her time in consultation with the Gurim (Hârnic primate of Morgath). A devoted follower of Balsha, Erela looks to his teachings for means to preserve her fading beauty. The city’s Morgathian temple provides guidance and subjects for her experiments. Erela directs a small power base of loyalists and paid informants throughout the kingdom.

The queen avoids conflict with the squabbling Agrikans, trusting her husband to maintain those relationships. The Agrikan Apalankh has worked hard to establish more cordial relations with the queen but the friction between the Warriors of Mameka and the Queen’s Guard in Golotha remains a barrier.

Succession Threats

Chafin knows he is subject to two serious succession threats. His rival in Tormau has the resources to break Hohnamshire away from Rethem but lacks the political support to keep Chafin’s loyalists out of a civil war. The loyalty of some of Chafin’s supporters is not reliable. The burden of a struggling economy, pressures from outside the kingdom, and Chafin’s own difficult personality all make it possible that one or more key allies might abandon him if the right political cover were to emerge.

The Missing Children of Chafin I

Chafin I’s mistress, Penethe Amagar, bore him a daughter, Pilnia, in 699 and a son, Kalab, in 701. Penethe and the children disappeared immediately after Chafin I’s assassination in 703. Months of searching by Chafin II’s Royal Guard failed to find them among clan Amagar’s holdings, which were subsequently confiscated.

The three are presumed dead by most Rethemi nobility and recorded as dead by the Sanguine Saltire. If they still live, Penethe would be 41 and the children would be young adults of 20 and 18.

Two Known Heirs to a Disputed Throne

In 708, during the reign of Chafin II, Vavryse Lynnaeus married Wyrede Araku, niece of Kabe, and fathered two children, Saval and Hesela Lynnaeus.

Wyrede was murdered in the bloodbath that followed Chafin II’s death, when Chafin III engineered the extermination of all rivals. By a twist of fate, Saval and Hesela escaped and were taken to their uncle, Earl Denyl Lynnaeus of Tormau. The earl blames Chafin III personally for the murder of his sister-in-law. Her children, now aged ten and five, still reside in safety at Tormau with their father, Vavryse.

Earl Denyl is working to seat one of the children on the throne. Their stronger claim to the throne has, thus far, been ignored by the Sanguine Saltire, Rethem’s college of heralds, and by most of the nobles of Rethem.

The Book of Lost Names

The power struggles in Rethem’s history have led to many disappearances with its ruling clans. Clan Araku and the clans of the Kuboran dynasty have many members whose fates are unknown.

The Sanguine Saltire maintains a Book of Lost Names that lists all known information about these missing people, including the date and place of last confirmed sighting, known aliases and alliances, and who is believed to have been responsible for their disappearance or death. The existence of this tome is known only to select members of the college.

Religion


Kandáy Political Map
900px


Kandáy Political Map
900px


Kandáy Political Map
900px


Kandáy Political Map
900px


Kandáy Political Map
900px


Kandáy Political Map
900px


P19

Culture

Arcitecture

Rethemi architecture has seen four powerful and very different influences. The first durable structures were built by the Corani Empire; those remaining resemble their domed counterparts in Coranan and Shiran and are best seen in Techen and Menekai.

Many buildings destroyed or damaged during the Balshan Jihad were rebuilt by the Theocracy of Tekhos. Grim and windowless, the Theocracy’s massive structures look like they were built more for the dead than the living. Golotha shows much of this architecture. Temples and fortifications built during this period often have serious structural flaws due to their rushed construction.

Since Arlun established the Kingdom of Rethem, the region has developed a political identity of its own. Structures from this period, built by those accustomed to violent upheaval, are designed for defense and the ability to withstand siege.

The final and overriding influence on all Rethemi architecture is the pervasive sameness of the Masons’ Guild. All castles and public structures are built by guilded masons and innovation is largely confined to ornamentation.

Prevalent along the stormy western coast, the domedeven is a small, sturdy house with a thatched roof that goes nearly to the ground on all sides except at the door. They are often round, but are found in many other shapes as well. The walls are much like any other wattle and-daub home but the low roof gives the home huge eave spaces where livestock gather and firewood is kept dry during the severe coastal storms of late winter.

Kandáy Political Map
900px


Kandáy Player Map
900px


Introduction

Monarchs

History

Timeline Chronology

Present Situation

King Andasin IV

Natural Resources

Ternu Heath

Exposure

Economic Data

Markets and Fairs

Religion

Social Customs

Clothing and Dress

Food & Drink

Music

Heraldry

Great Clans of Kandáy

Genealogoy

Government

Shires and Hundreds

Forest Hundreds

Military Resources

The Feudal Levy

Subinfeudation

  • a
    • a

Intro

Royal Domain

Freetown

Earl

Baron

Fighting Order

Church Estates

Settlement Index

  • a
    • a

A

  • A
    • A


A

  • A
    • A


Notes

  • A
    • A
Retrieved from ‘http://wiki.shieldkings.com/index.php?title=Hârn_Kingdom_of_Réthem&oldid=6187’