\section{History and Politics}

Generally, people know little history beyond what has
happened in their lifetime or the lifetime of their living
parents—which in the Wilderlands is rarely more than an
80 year span of time. People in the Wilderlands have
much more immediate concerns and most have not trav-
eled more than 40 miles from their place of birth.

Any knowledge of history or politics by the populace
centers around the major northern cities—Viridistan, the
City State of the Invincible Overlord, Tarantis and the
City State of Valon. The southern cities of Tula and Rallu
are legendary to most northerners and are the stuff of wild
speculation, as is the Kingdom of Karak and its capital of
Populva (or “Popul Vuh” as the Karakhans spell it). See
the Cities chapter for more on these locations.

The following history is a general overview of the
history of the Wilderlands since the founding of Viridistan.
This general history, while not commonly known to most
denizens of the Wilderlands, is at least available to be
learned. The information given here is from the point of
view of the scholars and scribes of the City State of the
Invincible Overlord.

History prior to the founding of Viridistan is detailed in
the Judge’s History, below, though some general details
are known to players and are detailed here. See the Judges
History section below and the Timeline section below for
more information.

\textbf{Note:} Portions of the history related below refer to cities
and geographic features that are not on the Player’s Map.

\subsection{The Uttermost War}

Few know what it entailed or when it was, but all know
that it existed. It is rumored to be a battle in great
antiquity in which the gods themselves participated.
Legends tell that a great race called the Markrabs as well
as great dragons fought against one another with races
that no longer exist.

\subsection{The Holy Citie}

The circle of the five above-ground villages and their
accompanying caverns are known as The Holy Cities, a
location sacred to the god Mycr. Legends tell that the
Holy Cities have existed since the creation and
were totally incinerated in the Uttermost War
aeons ago but have been since rebuilt.

\subsection{The Empire of Kelnore}

In ancient times, following the Uttermost War,
there arose a great kingdom called the Kingdom
of Kelnore. Its capital was known as the Ivory
City, and is believed to be near modern
Tarantis. It is said this great kingdom
covered most of the Wilderlands and
that many of the ruins that abound in
the lands are from that ancient king-
dom.

\subsection{Ghinoran Successor States}

Some time during the Empire of Kelnore, a great prince led
a number of states in succeeding from the empire, founding
what came to be known as the Ghinoran Successor States.
The remnants of these successor kingdoms can be found in the
south and west of the Wilderlands, in the cities of Lenap, Tlan
and Chim, as well as the northern kingdom of Damkina,
which reportedly were ancient capitals.

\subsection{The War of the Pious and Philosophers}

In ancient history, whether before or after the fall of
Kelnore it is not known, there was another great war again
involving the gods themselves, though this war was insti-
gated by the followers of the gods. There came in the lands
an essential rift between those who promoted the gods and
arcane powers (called the Pious) and those who sought to
abandon those forces and seek the ways of science and
learning (called the Philosophers). It is said that at that
time the Philosophers matched with machinery what many
priests and wizards could accomplish with magic and faith.
After much destruction and a near annihilation of the
existing civilizations, the gods intervened and the Pious
emerged successful, throwing away much learning and
scholarly study. The lands were thrown into a dark age.

\subsection{The Dragon Kings}

Though the time of their reign is not accurately known—
whether it was before or after the War of the Pious and
Philosophers—it is believed that a great kingdom once existed
where the City State is now built and that they were led by a
series of “Dragon Kings.” The Dragon Kings are believed to be
the ancient Orichalans, who have been hunted to near
extinction. The only remnant of this kingdom is the markings
on the Calendar Obelisk found in excavations done in the
City State. The Dragon Kings ruled the area, it is believed,
from 575 until 2927 BCCC, according to the Chronicles of
the Dragon Kings. Some believe their rule was actually far
older than the dates mentioned and that those dates are in
error. It is unknown how or why their kingdom came to an end.

\subsection{Viridistan Founded -- Known History Begins}

Most known history in the Wilderlands starts here,
with the founding of Viridistan and the creation of the
Viridian Empire.

Known as the City State of the World Emperor, the
Immortal City, the City of Vines and the City of Spices,
Viridistan was founded in 101 BCCC—predating the found-
ing of the City State by approximately 3000 years. Like the
City State would be, Viridistan, too, was founded on the ruins
of an ancient city that according to legend was destroyed ages
and ages ago in the Uttermost War. Its founders, the Viridians,
were a short, stocky people with green skin—rumored to be
the descendants of the union of gods themselves and merfolk.
The Viridians defeated and subjugated the mermen of Trident
Gulf and the Wild Men now known as Tharbrians at the
Battle of Freemen Fields and founded their great city, Viridistan.
So began their cruel empire and the subjugation of many races.
The rest of the Wilderlands at that time consisted of mostly
savage remnants of civilizations.

\subsection{Valon Founded}

In 120 BCCC Valon was founded to the south of the great
glacier by ice-wizard-priests of the god Aram Kor. Due to
their isolationist nature and relation with the mer-elves of
the Uther Pentwegern Sea, the eventual city state of Valon
remained aloof from the upcoming power struggles between
Viridistan, the Tharbrian wild men and the City State.

\subsection{Winged Apes}

According to the ancient legends or tomes, around 971
BCCC, just as civilization was beginning to take hold in
other parts of the Wilderlands, a horde of winged apes
flew into the region where the City State now stands.
They crossed the Plateau of Bendigroth, the Cloudwall
Mountains, and the Mermist Marshes (near what is now
the City State). They then turned south and wandered
throughout the lands of Barbarian Altanis for many
months before going back from whence they came.
Through their entire circuit, they left a broad swath of
death and destruction: burned fields and villages, massa-
cred armies, slaughtered herds, and fouled springs and
streams where once sweet water flowed.

\subsection{Tharbrian Migration}

For over a thousand years since the victory of the
Viridians over the Tharbrians (Wild Men) at Freemen
Fields in 101 BCCC, the Tharbrians gradually withdrew
from their ancient homelands of the Targnol and Zirzus
Plains and the hills between, leaving them to a patch-
work-quilt of succeeding races, human and otherwise. In
that time, the culture of the Tharbrians had gently adapted
to the life of the horse-nomad. Lesser hordes of Tharbrians
have periodically swept through the Lands of the City
States, grazing their vast herds of horses and avoiding any
contact with settlements. Such lesser migrations occur
about seven or eight times every hundred years and follow
predictable routes along lines of least resistance.

\subsection{The First Tharbrian Invasion}

The first of the invasions of Viridistan by the Northern
Horsemen came in 1333 BCCC. Since the northerners
were unfamiliar with the lay of the land, they were caught
in an awkward position on Bendigroth by two Imperial
Vasthosts from Viridistan and were slaughtered by the
thousands. These were the days of the strength of the
World Emperor, and, upon hearing word of the great
victory, he commanded a ten-day festival. The battle was
loudly heralded in many heroic songs, and legends grew of
the awesome might of the Vasthosts.

\subsection{The Second Tharbrian Invasion}

The Tharbrians returned in 1759 to 1760 BCCC but
followed a different path—on this journey, they followed
the north coast, burning one quiet fishing village after
another. They encountered a teeming port city on whose
ruins the Town of Warwik now stands and laid patient
siege to it. When supplies continued to come into the city
by sea, the Wild Men stormed the walls. The city was
taken at frightful cost due to the Tharbrians’ inexperience
in such matters, and it was destroyed so completely that,
when the horde trotted off to the south, not one stone lay
on top of another. Yet, the horde had lost too many men
to be much of a further threat, and, upon being found and
decimated by Dwarves from the Majestic Fastness, they
turned and withdrew down the ancient Emperor’s Way
through the Majestic Mountains.

\subsection{Tarantis Founded}

As the above events unfold on the Pazidan Peninsula
and to the east towards Viridistan, the city of Tarantis was
founded on Dahute Bay, very near to the ruins of the
legendary Ivory City—the capital of the ancient Empire
of Kelnore which fell to ruin over 5000 years ago. Tarantis
was founded in 1792 BCCC (2,541 years ago) by two
nomadic tribes, the Gishmesh Tribe and the Paldorian
Clan, whose ancestors participated in the sack of the
ancient capital of Kelnore in its final days. The Gishmesh
Tribe originated just south of the Lake of the Crown Beast
and followed the Azurerain River, finally selecting the
present location of Tarantis on which to settle and build
a permanent base for their raiding operations. The
Paldorian Clan, skilled sailors and fishermen, originally
lived southeast of Tarantis but moved up the river to find
better fishing. The merging of these two disparate clans
was the result of numerous raids upon the Paldorians by
the Gishmesh. Over the course of time, due to intermar-
riage and increasing familiarity to one another, peace was
declared, the raids ceased and members of the two tribes
became merged into one group, though the aggressive
Gishmesh were still the dominant force.

Originally only a cluster of dwellings and a few mercan-
tile and craft establishments protected by earthworks, the
growing city found an increased need for protection after
several raids by the ruthless Karzulun—a nomadic tribe east
of the area of Tarantis—between 1882 and 1885 BCCC
nearly obliterated the town. In 1885 BCCC, the city of
Tarantis was officially laid out, rebuilt, and fortified with
high stone walls for protection. In that year, also, the first
hereditary monarch came to power and began to organize
the existing government of Tarantis. However, the domi-
nant strain of the aggressive Gishmesh made total rule
impossible; the government only managed to restrain total
anarchy in this raucous city, not to control it.

\subsection{The Third Tharbrian Invasion}

In 2097 BCCC, the Wild Men came again in even
greater numbers. They encountered one Imperial Vasthost
in the Eleph Territories near Pac Cave and destroyed it,
pursuing and murdering the fleeing survivors all the way
south to Shimmertree Vale where they gave up the chase
and turned back. They found themselves caught in the
bight of the Sharryn River and a river which has since
been called Flee. There, in Glint Valley, they turned back
to find another way east and were converged upon by
three Imperial Vasthosts and entire Vastthrongs of crack
mercenaries, and the once-beautiful valley became a
killing ground. There are five great and ugly hills in that
valley now, each consisting of ten thousand charred
skeletons. The valley gained its name because a light-
cavalry scout from the Imperial forces first detected the
Tharbrian horde by spotting reflected sunlight from their
arrayed Helmets.

After that terrible slaughter, it was the Tharbrians’ turn
to flee before a vengeful, pursuing army. The greater portion
of the Wild Men fell back to the north; their pursuers broke
off at the Plain of Lethe. Another group of Tharbrians fled
south, harried at every turn by Vasthosts that seemed to
them to rise out of the ground: through Brotbuckle Briars,
along the eastern foothills of the Starrcrag Mountains,
through the Berserker Wilds and Bestial Barrens, through
the Haunting Range at the Pass of Dyta, and on into the
Blistering Dunes.

By this time, most scholars estimate, this faction of
Tharbrians numbered less than a thousand. They scattered
into the desert and, upon finding that they were no longer
pursued, turned back into the southern foothills of the
Haunting Range. In the narrow strip of grasslands between
mountain and desert, they formed a new tribe and became
peaceful and prosperous. They eventually adopted a matri-
archal hierarchy among local, sedentary communities.

\subsection{Skandiks Move North}

From 2200 to 2300 the warlike Skandiks migrated into
the region of the Pagan Coast. The Skandiks capture Ossyr
Lee and rename the city Ossary. In 2240 they begin their
struggles with the amazons of Sea Rune.

\subsection{Tarantine Merchants' Association}

Between the years 2266 and 2309 BCCC, Ryobl the Red of
Tarantis attempted to bring complete law and order to the city,
but his efforts were largely unsuccessful, and, after several
attempts were made on his life, he disappeared, never to be seen
again. His legacy to the city is evidenced by the highly
successful Tarantine Merchants' Association. After the disap-
pearance of Ryobl the Red, Grantadt, his successor, organized
the skillful pirating operations that ply the waters between the
City States to this day.

For a small fee, the Tarantine Merchants' Association
license and insure the passage of a ship. If it is unlicensed,
the pirates are free to seize the ship. The goods of the seized
ship are then sold to the Tarantine Merchants for consider-
ably less than value, enabling them to make a handsome
profit in the resale of the goods. In return, the pirates receive
some portion of the license fees, the proceeds from the sale
of pirated goods, and the protection of the government of
Tarantis. This has led to Tarantis being called, derisively,
the city state of pirates.

\subsection{League of the Altanians}

In the twenty-fourth century BCCC the first League of
Altanians was formed. Over the course of that century, a
common effort by the barbarian Altanian tribes to make
economical use of their grazing lands was noticed by the
City State of the World Emperor’s spies and duly recorded
by his scholars. In 2398 BCCC, one of the many tribes of
Altanians migrated north under the leadership of its young
Chieftain, Larsandrow. Since the barbarians keep no writ-
ten records, little is known of the career of Larsandrow
Longsword except through the legend lore of the tribes and
heroic songs of the bards. However, if half the legends told
of him are even half-truths, then he was the match of any
Warrior-Lord now living. His blade carved a legend that
echoes in many religions. For a time, much of the region
near what is now the City State was ruled by roving Altanians,
who also had expanded southward to slaughter the hated
Orichalans.

\subsection{Skandiks Drive Amazons from Sea Rune}

In 2398, while the rest of the region is dominated by the
Altanians, the Skandiks, in a year-long war, drove the
Amazons from the strange city of Sea Rune.

\subsection{The Great Plague of Viridistan}

In 2490 to 2503 BCCC, a great plague struck Viridistan,
slaying eight of every ten of its inhabitants. This was the
beginning of the decline of the Viridian race from its
position of world dominance because in addition to devas-
tating the Viridian race (which were exceptionally
vulnerable to the plague), it greatly weakened the fighting
strength of the Vasthosts.

\subsection{Tula Founded}

In 2495, Tula, the eventual City of Mages, was founded by
exiled wizards. Rumors say that some of the founders were
demonbrood exiled from the Demon Empires to the south.
Regardless, all agreed that the city would be a location for all
races to study the arcane arts. Tula is now home to people of all
races and to the many specialized schools of magic. It is also
home to the powerful chromatic wizards.

\subsection{The Fourth Tharbrian Invasion -- The Battle of Havocia}

In 2817 BCCC, the Tharbrian horde came south again,
gamer than ever before. It crossed the Sharryn River at Quiff,
skirted the Gigabolt Mountains to the north, and swept down
into the South Mantle of the Plateau of Bendigroth. There,
near the village of Havocia, they were met by five Imperial
Vasthosts, but it was near sunset, and the two armies set up
camp, preparing for a long fight the next day. The Vasthosts set
up camp in a great crescent with one Vasthost in the center and
somewhat isolated from the others. This proved to be their
undoing, for the crafty Tharbrians’ camp was only a ruse; they
deserted it at midnight and attacked the lone Vasthost in its
tents. The clamor of battle was heard in the other camps, but,
by the time help arrived, the Vasthost had already been
completely crushed. Rather than be converged upon from both
sides, the Tharbrians turned against one side of the crescent
and then the other, and the Imperial Army was destroyed. By
the time the sun rose, the Tharbrians were killing prisoners.

\subsection{Wild Roaming of the Tharbrians}

The defeat of the World Emperor at the Dark Battle of
Havocia had its roots in the earlier plague because the Vasthosts
were never again as well trained or equipped or of such high
morale as they were before the plague. After the battle, the
Wild Men roamed at will, burning, killing, and plundering;
there was no longer any army to meet them on the field of
battle; the Emperor had withdrawn what was left of his forces
to man the city walls. However, many formerly faithful tribu-
tary villages, having had their protector fail them, no longer
paid tribute or supplied recruits, even after they had been
rebuilt. Without recruits to rebuild a sufficient army to go out
and beat them into submission or money to equip recruits or
hire mercenaries, the World Emperor lost the greater portion
of his power base.

Viridistan itself had not fully recovered from the plague;
half the city’s buildings still stood empty. When a fire struck
later that year, the army was there to fight the blaze; still,
most of the city burned. It was said that a Tharbrian spy set
the fire, and a great purge of the guildsmen and commoners
began. At least two thousand died in the fire, and there were
1,420 executions for treason in the ensuing winter. Thus,
Viridistan itself had to rebuild as a result of a Tharbrian
invasion just as so many villages had to do so many times.
The decline of Viridistan, begun with the plague years
before continued in earnest now.

\subsection{Founding of the City State}

It is generally accepted that the City
State of the Invincible Overlord was
founded on the ruins of the
ancient capital city of the
Orichilan Dragon Empire
in 3075 BCCC. The dis-
covery of the Calendar
Obelisk and the record of
the Dragon Kings on the
obelisk confirm
that an ancient civilization did in fact occupy the site on
which the City State is built. Viridistan demanded tribute
from this new city, which the Overlord paid grudgingly.

\subsection{Founding of Warwik}

The ruling faction of Warwik had been an allied group of
noble families in the upper crust of the City State’s society
and possessed great power. In 3220 BCCC, when a coalition
of these families sought to gain partial control of the City
State through manipulation of the Senate, the Overlord
reacted in a most violent manner and sent assassins among
these families to weaken them while tightening the eco-
nomic stranglehold through the various Guilds and
mercantile shipping companies. Eventually, in 3227 BCCC,
the Overlord crushed his opposition through public hu-
miliation and then banished them.

They traveled north with their several hundred still-
faithful followers, found the ruins of the port that the
Tharbrians had razed years ago, and built there the
town of Warwik, vowing one day to wreak
vengeance upon the Overlord.

\subsection{The Demon Siege}

In 3227 BCCC, the same year he
banished the disloyal families that
went on to found Warwik, the Over-
lord set a great army against the
Emperor, joined by the wild
Tharbrians, the bitter
foes of Viridistan. The inner dissent in the Overlord’s
power structure seriously weakened his war efforts; though
a unified Overlord army may not have made a difference
in the Demon Siege, it might have resulted in the destruc-
tion of the World Emperor at an earlier opportunity, on
the field of Ukrak Morfut.

The Emperor, with a fury born of desperation, united all
the Vasthosts that remained to him at the Holy Mounds
twenty miles north of the city. The great Elsenwood
Forest blocked any direct approach from the north by an
army; the Overlord Vasthosts were then passing through
the Brigand Hills south of the Gigabolt range and would
probably skirt Elsenwood to the east by following the
coast of the Trident Gulf, and the Wild Men, at last
report, were crossing the Kendhras River and would most
likely go west of Elsenwood, seeking to approach Viridistan
through the old battlefield of Freeman Fields. The Em-
peror marched north with his entire army to meet the
Vasthosts of the Overlord.

This army differed from all others known up to that
time; it relied heavily upon the works of spell-casters who
worked both at long range and on the battle line to
protect the troops and wreak havoc among the enemy
ranks. Moreover, the Imperial archers were stocked with
special carbelium arrows made of a red metal which cuts
through iron as if it were butter, and, to provide a major
strategic advantage, the Emperor’s forces knew of many
trails that led through the heart of Elsenwood which
would provide quick passage through the forest.

The two armies met near the village of Ukrak Morfut
some eighty miles north of Viridistan. There, though
outnumbered three to one, the Imperial forces fought the
Overlord’s army to a standstill. The wizards’ specially-
researched spells caused great disarray among the throngs
of the Overlord, the baggage train, and other rear ech-
elons. The Emperor left a crack Vasthost to delay the
advance of the foe and sped south with his main army
through the depths of Elsenwood to the Uiscur Bogs
where the Tharbrians had forded the River Leander. The
Tharbrians, too, became entangled in the web of sorcery
woven by the Imperial Wizards, even though they were
stronger than the Overlord’s Vasthosts. The Emperor
then fell back to Viridistan, having shown himself to be
a master of strategy by staving off forces that totaled seven
times his own.

He had given a second coven of wizards, working day and
night in Viridistan, the time they needed. When at last his
many enemies converged upon his Immortal City, the
World Emperor had gained command of some reinforce-
ments. Sources disagree as to exactly how many there were,
but all agree that they were demons led by the Demon-
Prince Demogorgon himself!

The battle was long and furious; the Overlord’s generals
had brought enough magical aid to combat magical crea-
tures in the wilderness and so were not entirely unprepared.
However, the powers of the demon horde and their awful
Prince were great, and they proved to be greater than
those of mortal men. The siege was broken, and the two
armies fled in disorder to their homelands. Many specula-
tions have been made as to the exact nature of the bargain
struck with Demogorgon and what had been given him to
persuade him to summon such power. Perhaps it was the
final desperate step of an empire in decline.

The City State of the Invincible Overlord, though it
had halted its tribute to Viridistan for a time, resumed
payment of tribute, though at a decreased rate, and the
Tharbrians were apparently so filled with awe and terror
that they decided upon other lands as their goals, for the
great invasions ceased; only the more common, less war-
like, grazing tribes have passed through the lands since,
with the same frequency before.

\subsection{Skandiks Encountered}

Though the Skandiks long ago moved north into the
region of Ossary, it was not until 3227 that the Overlord’s
fleets encountered Skandik longships while on their way
to raid Viridistan. Over the following years, the Overlord
sent numerous forces against the Skandiks, failing to ever
drive them out of their strongholds.

\subsection{Rallu Founded}

In 3333, Rallu, the eventual City State of the Sea
Kings, was founded on the tropical southern tip of the Isle
of the Blest by Thellagon the Mariner and a group of
travelers from the north. The men of Rallu claim descent
from the ship captains of ancient Kelnore. Initially, the
location of the city was kept a secret, though it traded with
the outside world at their sea ports.

\subsection{Thor Fights Alongside the Skandiks}

In 3491, the Overlord sent a force overland—rather
than over sea, which had proved a disastrous mistake in
the past—to attack the Skandiks at Sea Rune. The men
of Sea Rune had drawn up a shield-wall upon a little hill,
prepared to die like warriors and earn their passage to
Valhalla, when the god Thor himself appeared, sum-
moned by the Skandik Jarl at Ossary in response to a
desperate plea for aid from his subjects at Sea Rune. The
men of the Overlord fled in terror, leaving their dead to
be plundered by the joyous men of Sea Rune. The Over-
lord resolved never to attack the Skandiks again.

\subsection{Failed Attack by Warwik}

In 3494 BCCC, the town of Warwik launched a cam-
paign to crush the Overlord, but this attack was rebuffed.
To this day, the citizens of Warwik plot and plan the
overthrow of the Overlord.

\subsection{Modrona Thriving City}

Founded some years ago when a group of wanderers
freed the imprisoned Goddess Modron, by 3780 BCCC,
the village of Modron had grown into a thriving port city
whose inhabitants worshipped Modron and Proteus, the
Shepherd of Neptune. Legends tell of huge merchant
vessels from far off Karak and incredible wealth brought
by traders from the Isles of the Blest for pearls and
dwarven artifacts. The city was renowned for its pearls
and underwater sponges, which it obtained from the
mermen of the nearby underwater kingdom of Crespar.

\subsection{The Bloodless Battle of Barrad}

In 3788, the Overlord dispatched three Vasthosts to
assault the Viridian Emperor. When the host neared the
village of Barrad, all three of the Vasthosts as well as the
entire population of the village of Barrad dropped dead in
their tracks due to unknown causes. Since that time, believ-
ing the remnant of the demon-magic from the prior battle
was still at work, the City State of the Invincible Overlord
resumed paying its yearly tribute to Viridistan in full.

\subsection{The Orc Migration}

Starting about 3900 BCCC and lasting for nearly 1000
years, orcs from Dearthwood migrated east, pillaging the
lands. By 3922 they had arrived in Lightelf and wreaked
much havoc. In 3930 they attacked the citadel of the Shield
Maidens and had attacked Sea Rune. Soon after they at-
tacked Modron, having already disrupted trade between the
dwarves of Thunderhold and the city of Modron.

\subsection{Balozkinar's Calendar Created}

In 3970, the Warrior-King Balozkinar, then Overlord
of the City State, finalized the revision of the modern
calendar (which, as detailed in other parts of this chapter,
is horribly inaccurate).

\subsection{Modron Abandoned and Falls to Ruin}

In 3983 BCCC, a huge migration of orcs stopped the
flow of dwarven merchandise once and for all and the far
travelers no longer docked at Modron. In less than 50
years, the once flourishing area lost most of its population
and the followers of the god Proteus and the goddess
Modron blamed each other’s deity for the loss. Civil strife
erupted and the temple of Proteus was submerged in the
holocaust. The final death blow for the city was delivered
by Skandik raiders in longships which carried off the few
remaining women and men into slavery. The survivors
fled when orc scavengers moved into the ruins for a final
pillage, hefting tons of marble. The Temple of Modron,
being underground and underwater, was left unscathed
and the mermen of the underwater kingdom of Crespar
renewed their vows to the Goddess of the Rivers.

\subsection{Province of Tarantis Formed}

In the year 4020, a protective province of Tarantis was
formed; close ties between the clans and tribes in this area
and the Paldorian Tribe brought the Province of Jarmeer
into existence especially to protect the villages of Tallulah,
Bastinadi, and Borsippa, which were the targets of fre-
quent raids by forces of the Overlord. A second protective
province was formed in 4145, called Ganzir-Galad and
located directly east of Tarantis. The area of Ganzir-
Galad has a long and bloody history of wars with the
Karzulun raiders, and the protection offered by associa-
tion with Tarantis has not been as effective as was hoped
when the province was formed.

\subsection{Blackheart Crag Reminder}

Further evidence of the Emperor's strength came again
in 4105 BCCC as a result of what has become known as the
Blackhart Crag Reminder, when a surprised Emperor ar-
cher Equithrong decimated an Overlord Vasthost with its
special carbellium arrows. Since the “Reminder,” the Over-
lord has continued minor testing of the Emperor's strength
and (at least until recently) had always been met with more
than adequate arrows or sorcery.

\subsection{The Gnoll Times}

Beginning in 4100 BCCC and lasting nearly 100 years,
the Gnoll Times refer to a great migration of gnolls from
the east into the lands of the City State. By 4149 BCCC,
the gnolls had invaded the lands around Grita Heath. In
4171 gnolls besieged Bryny, an important though small
village near the City State along the Rorystone Road. In
4187 a large gnoll army passes by Lightelf to the south. In
4187, the gnolls attacked the citadel of the Shield Maid-
ens as well as the city of Sea Rune.

\subsection{The alliance with Thunderhold and the City State Reaffirmed}

Though the two powers had grown apart and isolated in
the Gnoll Times, this great alliance was reaffirmed in
4200. Dwarves, many of whom had left the City State to
return to Thunderhold, returned to the City State in great
numbers. Trade increased between the two cities and the
Rorystone Road was again patrolled in the north by the
dwarves and in the south by the forces of the Overlord.

\subsection{Rallu Revealed}

In 4217, the location of the city of Rallu was revealed to
the outside world during the reign of Forgon the Foolish.
He was quickly assassinated and replaced for his efforts.

\subsection{Viridistan Ruled by Cneninadus the Mycretian}

In 4226, Cneninadus the Mycretian ascended to the throne
of Viridistan. This event is notable because in the thousands
of years of Viridian history, all but two of the Viridian emperors
of the Immortal City have been evil: Reddisorn the Golden,
Conqueror of the Great Wind and enemy of Kukalan, who
ruled from 2089 to 2272 BCCC, and Cneninadus the
Mycretian. Cneninadus’ reign approached the Golden Age of
Reddisorn in its encouragement of the arts, education and
civil rights but had not the peace and tranquility he sought. It
was unheard of for any Viridian to become a follower of the
god, Mycr; indeed, most had been Natchai, a religion that
entailed human sacrifice and blood-thirsty greed, was far
removed from the lawful and good principles of the Mycretian
god. The Mycretian distaste for human sacrifice and the
powers of the Dark exacerbated the enmity between
Cneninadus and the eleven other (then existing) Viridians
and so his reign was marked by bloodshed and attempted
assassinations. He was finally murdered by the current em-
peror, Hautulin Seheitt, and eight demons in 4283 BCCC.

\subsection{Hautulin Sehitt (The “Green Emperor”) Ascends to the Throne of Viridistan}

Using dark sorceries and summoned demons, Hautulin
Seheitt slaughtered Cneninadus the Mycretian in 4283
BCCC and ascended to the throne of Viridistan. Known
as the “Green Emperor,” Hautulin Seheitt, and his wife,
Murielle Eidn, are the last pure-blooded members of the
once haughty and powerful race of Viridians.

\subsection{The Great Slaughter of Pain}

The Green Emperor, a Mer Shunnan, was a high priest
of Armadad Bog at the time he took power. In the Great
Slaughter of Pain in 4284 BCCC—the year after he took
power—Seheitt decimated the Mycretians in Viridistan
and their sympathizers, even making raids into the cav-
erns of the Holy Cities to kill two of their Prophets. Some
contingents of the Imperial Army occupy several of the
above-ground Holy Cities today, using orc slave labor to
harvest and export the grapes grown there for use in
making wine in Viridistan.

\subsection{Modron Rebuilt}

In 4283 BCCC, the City State funded the rebuilding of
Modron on the ruins of the old city in order to protect the
Overlord’s merchant ships from river pirates. Rumors tell
that a giant sea snake named “Maelstron” swims in the
waters between Modron and the City State and that it has
an allegiance to the Overlord. The original name of the
city was retained because it equated with magnificent
warships and high-wizards in songs of the bards. The past
fifty years has seen the new port again filled with sailors,
buccaneers and traders.

\subsection{Edario I Rules Tarantis}

In 4340 BCCC, Edario I, formerly a captain of the
\textit{Nighthawk}, the finest ship in the Tarantine fleet, over-
threw the ruling monarch of Tarantis, a 12 year-old boy
named Greataust II, who suffered from a mysterious ill-
ness which kept him bedridden. The overthrow was
hailed by the pirates and people of Tarantis as a necessary
change because it was believed that the advisors of the
ailing king were siphoning large portions of the city
treasury into their own pockets. The young king was
banished with a small retinue of retainers and a nurse to
a lonely citadel far to the south of Tarantis. Several years
later, it became known that a raiding group of bandits had
burned the tower to the ground and murdered all within.

Edario I, the new monarch, established a secret spy group
known as the Blue Cobras to be his eyes and ears in every
level of society in order to crush any repeat of his successful
attempt to overthrow the government. Edario also passed
a law that all future rulers of Tarantis would be required to
serve in the naval branch of the service. As a result, his son,
Atar, born in 4363, became a cabinboy at the age of 9 on
the ship \textit{Gishmesh}, the sister ship of the \textit{Nighthawk}.

\subsection{Attack of the Gishmesh, Tale of Atar the Lion}

In 4373, when Atar was 12 years old, he had his first taste of
combat with the warships of the Invincible Overlord, which
attacked the Gishmesh while she was on a routine sea patrol.
During the bloody battle that followed. Atar, who was hiding in
a lifeboat nearby, lowered it into the water, escaping under cover
of the smoke created by the war fires and a mysterious blue fog
that rolled suddenly in from the west. After six days a t sea with
no water or rations, the boat drifted ashore just south of the town
of Bastinadi. Atar, although nearly dead from fatigue and
exposure, managed to drag himself to the village. Atar returned
to Tarantis and was given a heroes welcome, despite the death
of his captain and the sinking of the Gishmesh. Of the crew of the
Gishmesh, only Atar returned alive, and he was given the Medal
of Paldor for his supposed bravery. He was commissioned aboard
another ship and later proved to be an able leader and a fierce
fighter. When he was seventeen, he was given the command of
the Nighthawk II, the successor to his father's ship. As captain of
the Nighthawk, he conducted more successful raids than any
other captain in the long history of Tarantis.

\subsection{Atar Assumes the Throne of Tarantis}

In 4385, Edario's fears were realized when he was felled
by an Assassin's dagger, but Atar the Lion (as he had
become known) became his father's successor despite the
efforts of the group that had murdered Edario to overthrow
the government. At the age of 22, after mercilessly routing
and executing the aspirants to the throne, Atar the Lion
was crowned ruler of Tarantis. On the eve of his corona-
tion, Atar married his childhood sweetheart, Larrette
Lafaite, an act which infuriated many of the more influen-
tial nobles who had unmarried daughters they had hoped
to align with the ruler of Tarantis. His second official act
was to appoint his closest friend, Monach the Canny, as
Chief Advisor, following twelve days of riotous feasting,
drinking, and merrymaking.

Atar the Lion has ruled Tarantis ever since. His reign,
although marked by much violence and tyranny and
marred by political squabbles, payoffs, and scandal, has
resulted in a more ordered life among the people of
Tarantis and the provinces.

\subsection{Atar and the Seahawk Reach Agreement}

In 4423, in a brilliant political move, Atar the Lion reached
an agreement ten years ago with an individual known only as the
Seahawk to move the pirate operations away from Tarantis to a
nearby secret location. This move by Atar has done much to
diminish the squabbling within his cabinet over the operation of
pirate ships under the auspices of the city state.

\subsection{Viridistan Demands Increased Tribute}

Since the Blackheart Crag Reminder, the successive
Overlords of the City State have continued to test the
strength of the Viridian Emperor with minor forays,
seeing that the empire is in decline and believing that one
day forces of the City State can again attempt conquest of
Viridistan. Generally, these “testings” are resisted by
sufficient wizardry and arrows to drive off the forces of the
Overlord. Recently, however, some of these “testings”
have gone unresisted, with the forces of the Overlord
being able to move deep into the Targnol Plains without
spotting a single significant armed force. There seems to
be no logical pattern to which “testings” are resisted and
which are not, leading many to believe the emperor is
either mad or is losing power. Tales from Viridistan tell of
the emperor strangely building up the wall north of the
city that divides it from the Elesnwood to the north.
Rumors also say that it has been years since the emperor
himself has been seen in public and that when he is seen
he wears a strange magical veil. The Overlord grows eager
at the thought of plundering ancient Viridistan.

Despite this lack of resistance, the emperor has outra-
geously increased the tribute due from the City State. Spies
between the two cities are thick and talk of war is in the air.

\subsection{Today}

The Wilderlands stand thus on the brink. The Overlord
believes Viridistan may be ripe for the picking, which may bring
to an end the ages of Viridian rule. The king of Tarantis has
expanded his sea power. The Green Emperor is the last of a dying
race, seemingly losing both his mind and his authority. The
Successor States of Ghinor have climbed back to a semblance of
civilization. Merchants from Karak trade openly with the people
of Tarantis, providing them with magical products of wonder.
The horrific demon barges from the Demon Empires to the south
have not been seen in nearly one hundred years. The Skandiks
sail the seas in the warships as do an increasing number of pirates.

Into this volatile world step your characters. Who is to
say what chapters of history they may write!

