Adanar

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Adanar
The Kingdom of Adanar
Geographic Info
Continent: Gallorea
Location: Eastern Central Gallorea
Government
Government Type: Limited Monarchy (King, Archduke, Duke, Count, Laird, Knight, Mayor)
Ruler: King Rudolf III Vercimanon (Ari 8, Ftr 3)
Arms: Five white swords on a blue field, stacked upon one another with a golden crown above
Coinage: 2 Ha’pennies = 1 Penny (1 cp); 20 Pennies = 1 Argent (1sp), 10 Argents = 1 Sword (1 ep); 2 Swords = 1 Crown (1 gp); 25 Crowns = 1 Dragon (1 Pp)
Capital: Falgrin (pop 45,750)
Alliances: Trade treaty with Nadera, weakening military alliance with Haleland.
Hostilities: Adanar is nominally hostile to Thet, but prefers to avoid direct conflict.
Society
Population: 4,015,250 (75% human, 12% hobbit, 8% dwarf, 5% other)
Languages: Adan
Important Persons: Various nobles of the Council of Lords, including Archduke Philip Maglen of Vimworth (No 10, Ex 5), Archduke Andron Remme of Remland (No 5, Ftr 9), and Duke Rupert Orivander of Kris (Nob 8, Mer 10). The Archbishop of Vortumnus, Gerald Shieldbearer (Cl 12). The Archbishop of Minar, Ignatius IV (Cle 11, Mer 10). Gideon the Wanderer (Wiz 18).
Religious Info
Pantheon: Aebasan
Patron: None


History

Adanar’s history begins in the waning days of the Empire of Balguran seven centuries ago, when a local hero named Falgran raised an army and defeated the Balguran army. According to most historians, Falgran was crowned the first King of the Adan 782 years ago, about 7058 according to the Aebasan calendar. Most of Falgran’s actual achievements are now lost to myth and legend, but it is known that he founded the city of Falgrin as his capital on the shores of the Betshaban Waters soon after being crowned.

The Falgric Dynasty lasted about two centuries and ended with the death of Bilgran “the Weak” at the Battle of Twin Crossings, where Vicgran Remme established the second dynasty as the Bastard King. Despite its tyrannical beginnings, the Remic Dynasty was known for its peaceful and just rulers for many years, during which time the Adan prospered. Eventually the Remmic Dynasty ended when its last King, Ilgran, died without a direct male heir. But the prosperity of the Adan continued.

By 7482 AC, the Adan had spread quietly into the Janos Mountains without facing any serious threats from outside. After trying to stay out of what was a small insurrection in the Kingdom of Dregnost to the north, Adanar was approached by a group of rebels calling themselves the Hale. The leader of the Hale, a man of legendary height known as Kel, impressed King Bregon Oriv with his honesty and sense of honor. King Bregon massed his armies and fought against the Dregnost on behalf of Kel and the Hale. For forty long years, Adanar struggled with Dregnost to secure the freedom of the Hale, weakening the Dregnosti and Adan armies alike. The Adan didn’t even participate in the Battle of Dun’s Mound, wherein the Hale finally won their independence from the Dregnosti, but the Hale didn’t easily forget the price that Adan paid for its freedom. Eventually, the Kingdom of Dregnost faded into history, but the alliance between the Hale and the Adan remained.

This alliance was proven when the Gray Lord rose against Adanar a century later. The Adan, who had lived peacefully in the foothills of the Janos Mountains and established an unrivaled trade empire in the Betshaban Waters, were unprepared when a great army suddenly appeared on its eastern border, capturing town after town and ravaging the countryside. After a year of victories, the Adan massed an army to defend the city of Redrust in their eastern territories. The Gray Lord, Kaergoth, met the forces of Adanar at Redrust and, in a battle that lasted ten days, decimated the defending army and made Redrust, which he renamed Bloodrust, his headquarters.

The Gray Lord continued to sweep across Adanar, pillaging the countryside and massacring anyone who stood in his way. As his armies began to close in on Falgrin, however, King Ilyard Breno of Haleland suddenly arrived at the Gray Lord’s rear flanks with scores of armored horsemen and ranks of hobbit slingers. The Gray Lord was forced to pull back to Bloodrust and, in 7606 AC, found himself besieged in a foreign land. The Siege of Bloodrust lasted for five long months, through one of the worst winters ever recorded in the history of the Adan. When the winter freeze finally broke, the Gray Lord and his troops made a surprise attack against the besieging forces. In the Battle of Bloodrust, the only battle in recorded history that saw hobbits play a major combative role, the Gray Lord was defeated, killed in single combat by King Ilyard himself. The celebration victory immediately began and, swept up in their fervor, they left the body of the Gray Lord on the battlefield to rot. The next morning, the victors were shocked to discover the body of the Gray Lord was missing, along with Alurung, the Sword of the Halic Kings, which was left protruding from his chest. The Gray Lord’s armies fled back to the east and quickly returned to the internecine strife under which they had apparently suffered before the coming of the Gray Lord.

Adanar began to rebuild, but they would never see another age as great a power as they had been. Their trade power had been broken during the War of Sorrows, to be replaced by Eeridia to the north. Pirates had begun riding the Betshaban Waters and Adanar no longer had the naval power to defend their dwindling merchant fleets. The Adanar were well on their way to rebuilding their nation, when, fifty years after the end of the War of Sorrows, a new and even more dire threat arose in the east.

Soon after the end of the War of Sorrows, the tribes of the East were secretly reunified as the nation of Thet. The Thesh savages began to stage minor raids against the towns in the eastern foothills of the Janos Mountains, but rarely were anything to concern the Crown. Then, in 7660 AC, the intent of the raids finally became known. This time led by the Black Lord, a small army of the Thesh appeared on the eastern border and prepared to attack the small town of Grimtar. Few know what happened in Grimtar, but the town was destroyed to a man. Only scattered reports of the Black Lord himself, resplendent in armor as black as pitch, came to the ears of the King.

The Black Lord continued a slow march into Adanar, destroying a few small settlements until a handful of Adan scouts finally returned with a report on the army and their leader: most of the Thesh army were already dead, as was their leader. Renamed the Fell King by bards, the undead tyrant was said to carry the Sword of the Halic Kings on his saddle.

Much more careful than his predecessor, the Fell King of Thet moved slowly into Adanar, his undead army growing with each victory and minor defeat. The Hale were much more quick to respond this time and the Halic King, Brogil, sent an army to assist his neighbors.

The Fell King finally met defeat at the Battle of Bloodrust. Met with the assembled armies of Adanar and Haleland, as well as the knighthoods that had sprung up during the War of Sorrows, he retreated from the battlefield, leaving his undead army to die again in his wake. This enemy, they found, was a much more patient enemy than the Gray Lord had been and was not opposed to a long war. The defenders of Adanar tried to follow the Fell King into Thet, but soon found that the formerly warring tribes were well-organized under the enemy’s whip. Unable to make any serious gains, the defenders settled into the foothills of the Janos Mountains, preparing for the Fell King’s return.

Beleaguered by periodic attacks from Thet, the spirit of the Adan was broken. While young Halic knights blooded themselves on Crusade against Thet, the Adan began to turn on themselves in the fear of eventual defeat. Thet rose in power, establishing vast cities to support their imperialistic ruler and even trading with the neighbors it sought to dominate. The Adan Kings became fearful and oppressive themselves as they tried to support the defenders on their eastern border. When King Galen Tolgran, a thoroughly disliked king, died without heir in 7735 AC, it sparked the bloody War of Eagles, wherein three different lines of nobility fought for the crown. After twenty years of fighting, King Valmaar Vercimanon finally secured the throne, but the respect of the Crown had vanished. As part of the treaty to end the wars, the Council of Lords was formed to oversee the regency. Originally meant to be a representative body who would decide on the legality of a claim to the throne, the Council quickly rose in power during the reign of several weak-minded Kings. They eventually gained the ability to pass laws and demand taxes and, though they officially still owed their allegiance to the King, they operated more like a governing body than a group of judges.

Adanar’s fortunes continued to wane over the next few decades. Unable to make any serious advances in the war with Thet and facing political strife within, even their alliance with Haleland began to become strained. It is said that King Rudolf III was considering surrender to Thet when dwarven envoys suddenly arrived in the eastern foothills from deep beneath the Janos Mountains. Dwarves were little more than legend in Adanar before their sudden arrival and translating their words was somewhat difficult, but most agree that the dwarves appeared to establish trade with Adanar. According to some accounts, some war that they had been fighting with humans for millennia had finally come to a conclusion and they were interested in re-establishing relations with the world above. King Rudolf was overjoyed to find what he initially considered dwarven subjects in his kingdom and quickly began to trade with them. The dwarves were somewhat bewildered at the political situation in Adanar, but they nevertheless settled on a trade agreement and began shipping steelgoods and precious metals into Adanar. The nobility and the royalty of Adanar profited greatly from trade with the dwarves and prosperity seemed to be returning to the land.

Soon after a few dwarven trading towns were established in the foothills of the Janos Mountains, the Fell King made another of his periodic attacks from the east. Unaware of the changing situation in Adanar, the Thesh attacked the dwarven settlement of Sonnenstadt and were soundly defeated by the people there. Seeing an opportunity to save his country and weaken the strength of the newly-powerful eastern nobles, King Rudolf traveled into the Janos Mountains to renegotiate the trade agreement with the Dwarven King, Skjalg. Skjalg agreed to a permanent trade agreement with Adanar and, in return, King Rudolf gave him dominion of the Archduchy of Waldean, which the dwarves renamed Valduran. The King was lauded by the western nobility for providing a buffer nation against Thet and even many of the eastern nobles, suddenly unlanded, decided to remain and continue to operate their burgeoning merchant empires. One man, however, swore vengeance on King Rudolf and the dwarves: the Voregin Drenal, former Archduke of Waldean. The Archduke quickly disappeared among his allies, but few think that they have seen the last of him.

The ten years since the creation of Valduran has seen Adanar become more and more insular. Claiming a lack of men willing to fight, King Rudolf rarely sends more than a regiment to the border castles in Valduran that are held jointly by Halic, Valduric an Adan soldiers. The merchants of Alduran have become a powerful force in the nation and there are rumors that they may petition for their own representative council to oppose the power of the Council of Lords. The Archbishop of Vortumnus, Gerald Shieldbearer, is a vocal voice for dealing with the Thesh once and for all, but the Archbishop of Minar, Ignatius IV, has come to oppose open warfare, preferring to rest on the laurels created through trade with the dwarves. In the meantime, the divide between the social classes has become sharper. The nobility and merchant class have become extremely wealthy, but the lower class has found that the wealth of the dwarves does not find its way to their pouches. Recently, the old concepts of serfdom were re-introduced to the Kingdom as a means to deal with those who cannot pay their debts and the numbers of serfs in the country are quickly growing. The Council of Lords and the merchant guilds seem to prefer this state of existence, as it insures a steady and sedentary work force to rely upon.

As the cynical Gideon the Wanderer has recognized, Adanar is on the wane and when the Fell King returns, he may not bother defeating a people he has already conquered from afar.

Economy

The Adan economy is based heavily on providing foodstuffs and textiles to Valdamar in return for metalgoods and precious metals. In the early years of dwarven-human trade, the metalgoods were mostly weapons and armor, but recent years has seen an influx of other worked goods as the need for weapons decreases. The Adan economy is strong, but the extreme wealth of the nobility and merchant class is driving prices higher and higher, which is throwing the lower classes ever deeper into poverty.

Religion

The Adan have no historical religion that has continually dominated the nation. Podalirius, known as Podal here, is significant as an agricultural deity, but his Church has become unpopular of late as it rails against the domination of the lower classes. Virtus, God of Courage, has a significant following along the northern border with Halgard, but most of the significant political figures in Adanar view Virtans as thick-skulled thugs. The worship of Britomaris has been growing in the larger cities as increased wealth has increased the power of the Thieves’ Guilds, though it draws much unwanted attention to open worship the God of Thieves. The worshippers of Vortumnus are trying to improve relations with Haleland by supporting an all-out Crusade against Thet, but few have paid them much heed in the past decade. The most significant rising force amongst the clergy of Andar is the Church of Minar (known elsewhere as Minos), God of Merchants, who has seen a vast upsurge in political power and wealth. Trade with the Dwarves has been very good to the priesthood of Minar and the King’s recent proclamation that Minar was his patron has insured that they will have a great deal of power in royal politics for years to come.

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