Difference between revisions of "History of Gendara"

Revision as of 02:13, 8 May 2005

Much of Gendara's history is incredibly dull - less a study of names and dates as it is an inventory of production and reams worth of efficiency statistics. As such, history is rarely taught to the young.

There are some crucial moments which occurred in Gendaran history which are considered important, however, and these are taught to children as young as six - the most important of these is the Wars of Ascendancy and the Unification of the Empire.

The Wars of Ascendancy

The earliest history of the region now known as Gendara is lost to the mists of prehistory and oral tradition, but the first acknowledged stories begin during a time known as the Wars of Ascendancy.

A number of petty kingdoms warred with each other, each vying to control the plentiful resources of the land. Kingdoms rose, kingdoms fell, borders shifted day-to-day, and the rivers ran red with blood.

To the north, the kingdom of Värja expanded outward, conquering the neighboring kingdom of Cerion. In the mountains, border disputes kept the tribal nations of Brisus and Sa'ar in a constant state of war. Farther south, Firiel warred against M'narra, and Asteria utterly conquered its neighbor, Malann. Farther still, the nation of Nara moved against their northern neighbor, Sonière.

It was in this time of strife that a man named Adrian appeared, claiming to be of the House of Blackburn. Many scoffed at this, as there WAS no House Blackburn - when asked, he merely smiled and suggested that even the greatest of legends must begin somewhere.

Adrian carried a strange silvery blade, which he claimed was a gift from his mother, named Celanteinn. It was not his only weapon - he also possessed unmatched tactical genius, and a charisma that drew people to his side. Where he led, others followed.

With but a handful of followers (including Tarine d'Aquitaine and Julien Andreana), they conquered the city of Alaris (then located just within the western border of Firiel), and Adrian declared the new city-state Gendara.

Over the next few years, he recruited warriors and slowly gathered allies. Firiel was too busy warring with M'narra - they could not afford to fight a war on two fronts. Gendara took advantage of this distraction, striking west instead of east - the weaker nation of Tírane was easily absorbed into the burgeoning kingdom.

Realizing they could no longer ignore the threat to their west, Firiel began to send troops towards Gendara - but it was too late. Too weak to defend two fronts, Firiel collapsed. The west went to strengthen Gendara, while M'narra claimed the southern reaches. Shortly after, Värja conquered its western neighbor Pharen.

The balance of power was completely changed - Asteria, flush from its victory over Malann, now saw potential enemies on all sides. To the south, Gendara and M'narra consolidated their gains, while to the north, Värja showed no sign of stopping their outward expansion. Even so, few could have predicted what happened next.

Värja marched south, to assault Asteria, even as M'narra moved northwest to attack Gendara, seeking to finish what had begun with Firiel. But M'narra was soon horrified to discover their southern borders under attack - Adrian had secretly struck a deal with Nara. Once Sonière was overcome, the Naran war machine continued up the coast into M'narra. Assaulted on two sides, the kingdom was divided among the two conquering nations.

Soon after, this alliance turned south, quickly overcoming the theocracy of Ochren while Asteria and Värja were still occupied to the north. After this, the two growing kingdoms parted ways on the field of battle, but remained allies - Nara moved southwest against the republic of Cymersen, while Gendara struck northwest into Jetrel.

Two more of Adrian's secret alliances bore fruit at this time, in the northern mountains, and in the southern wastes. Secret allies were sent to Brisus, which allowed them to conquer the neighboring Sa'ar. Meanwhile, to the south, the nation of Melia was encouraged to move north, into the scrublands of Argetnel.

Värja eventually completed its conquest of Asteria, even as Gendara conquered Jetrel. Neoma, a nation dead-center between the two powers, saw which way the wind was blowing, Sandarace and voluntarily relinquished sovereignty to Gendara.

In less than years, kingdoms had become

Damalis

The Wars of Ascendancy

Unification of the empire