Liber Chronologiae Veteris Mundi - Chronology of the Olde Worlde
|
- Markus Bibliothecarius |
Anno 433 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
 |
 |
of Iolokis |
Prince Gror was charged by Prince Tlepolemus of Iolokis to hold the Pass of Corolis "against wild men and Orcs coming down out of the North." And pursuant to this charge, Prince Gror and his followers established the Halls of Zirakhan.
And it came to pass that in the caves at the headwaters of the River Zergarl, Gror and his followers discovered a rich vein of silver. It is upon the wealth of this delving that the fortunes of Zirakhan were built, and with the support of Prince Tlepolemus of Iolokois, Gror became King.
Anno 755 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
 |
of Mantineia |
|
And it came to pass that Leosthenes, Archon of Gla, despaired of victory and sought peace with Mantineia.
An alliance was forged between these two old enemies and Persephone of Gla, daughter of the Archon Leosthenes, married Count Eumenes. Taking the title of King, Eumenes I, as he now styled himself, began a series of wars to unite the city-states of the Phillikos and Telemarchois Valleys into the Kingdom of Mantineia.
Anno 888 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
The Central region of the Olde Worlde
For nearly a century, settlers from the Kingdom of Mantineia had been pushing north through the Southern Attak and Nessain Mountains. The Corolis and Haddatin Passes and the Meutharn Gorge gave access to the grasslands of the Aeson Valley and the southern shores of Lake Aranorin.
Forbidden from the lands north of Aranorin by the power of the Elf King Deldrach of Ruvaen, Mantineian eyes were drawn towards the confluence of the Aeson and Gholug Rivers. It is here they first encountered raiding bands of Orcs out of Mazoga. Conflict between the two peoples escalated, even as Rotgob of Mazoga was consolidating his hold over the Orcs of the southern Agrob Basin.
In 883 war broke out. After initial successes, Prince Anaxandros of Mantineia founded the city of Jasphar to block the Gholug valley. Fighting continued as the Orcs attempted to break out southwards and the Mantineians attempted to hold the river lines.
Early in spring of 888, Rotgob lead a large army southwards and besieged Jasphar. The city was stormed and sacked after holding out for twenty days.
In the 888th Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the spring following the Sack of Jasphar and the death of Prince Anaxandros of Mantineia at the hands of Rotgob of Mazoga and the army of the Great Orc Alliance, in the month of the Harrier, King Eumenes V, his son Prince Lysander, the Noble Count Lysander of Skynarnos and his brothers Eumenes and Akron, marched north with the army of Mantineia against Rotgob.
On their march, King Eumenes and his army were joined by the Noble Lord Merellien Umeneiros, Questing Knight of Dassinis, and a force of Elves, both on Foot and on Horse, out of Dassinis in the fair Vale of Ossil.
Crossing the Nessain Mountains via the Haddatin Pass, they encountered the Army of the Great Orc Alliance on the high moorland beyond.
- Markus Bibliothecarius
Anno 891 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
 |
of Mantineia |
|
In the 891st Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the month of the Raven, King Eumenes V of Mantineia died of a poisoned wound he received at the Battle of Haddatin Pass, three years earlier. He was aged 59 and had been King of Mantineia for fifteen years.
During his reign, he waged war upon the Orcs of Mazoga, driving them out of the Aeson Valley. His eldest son, Anaxandros, founded the city of Jasphar to hold the Gholug Valley.
In the 12th year of Eumenes' reign, Rotgob of Mazoga led the Great Orc Alliance south against the Kingdom of Mantineia. After a siege of twenty days, the walls of Jasphar were stormed and the city was sacked. Prince Anaxandros fell in defence of his city.
At the Battle of Haddatin Pass, King Eumenes won the greatest victory of his reign when he and Lysander, his second son, utterly defeated Rotgob's army. Rotgob and Eumenes met in hand-to-hand combat on that stricken field, and Eumenes received a poisoned wound from Rotgob's fell sword, Adder's Tongue. With the breaking of the Great Orc Alliance, there was peace in the Aeson Valley for many years afterwards.
It is said that it was this wound from the fell sword, Adder's Tongue, that caused King Eumenes' death at such an early age three years later in Anno 891.
Anno 925 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
|
In the 925th Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, at the beginning of Autumn, in the month of the Kestral, Prince Brasidios, aged 32, eldest son of King Lysander III of Mantineia, was charged with treason and the brewing of malicious plots for the endangerment of the King.
Malichor the Magnificent, Royal Wizard to the Court of Mantineia, was instrumental in uncovering the conspiracy that Prince Brasidios had formed, and swiftly brought wind of it to King Lysander's ear.
It would seem that, impatient for power, Prince Brasidios had surrounded himself with various wastrals and drunkards and soldiers of fortune who flattered him and urged him on, even as they fed at his table and helped themselves to his purse.
In his cups, Brasidios boasted that the King, his father, was old and weak and that he, Brasidios, would make Mantineia great and glorious again, but he be given the chance and the throne.
When told of these, his son's words, King Lysander wept and cried out, "You viper!", and pulled his beard in fury. At Malichor's suggestion, Lysander dispatched a company of the Royal Guard to arrest his eldest son and heir.
A bitter fight broke out at the doors of the house of ill-repute wherein Brasidios dwelled in the lower city as the Guard of the King sought entry and the party of the Prince said them, nay. Brasidios and Hector of Gla and the mercenary Vel Mamarce of the Dodecapolis made their escape and fled the kingdom.
With great sorrow, King Lysander III decreed his son, Brasidios, disinherited and exiled from Mantineia upon pain of death.
Anno 931 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
|
|
In the 931st Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the month of the Falcon, King Lysander III of Mantineia died in mysterious circumstances. He was aged 67 and had been King of Mantineia for forty years.
Malichor the Magnificent, Royal Wizard to the Court of Mantineia, was accused of murderous treachery and imprisoned by Klerides, Lysander's second son and heir.
In the month of the Hawk, Malichor, now renamed Malichor the Malignant, escaped from Mantineia and fled into the Harrowed Waste.
Anno 941 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
The Western Edge of the Olde Worlde
Lying some 110 leagues south and west of Mantineia, the Harrowed Waste is an area of broken terrain, the haunt of bandits and goblinoid tribes.
In the 931st Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, Malichor the Malignant, ex-Royal Wizard to the Court of Mantineia, established a small hold in the Harrowed Waste following his escape from prison in Mantineia. Over the next decade, through alliance and coercion, he built his strength while plotting his revenge against King Klerides of Mantineia who had imprisoned him.
By the 941st Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the spring, in the Month of the Harrier, and with the allegiance of Black Orcs and Bugbears, Malichor's plans were full ripe.
- Markus Bibliothecarius
In due course, Malichor began to test the borders of Mantineia. After some preliminary raiding, Malichor lead a band of his supporters and allies across the border with the aim of attacking the town of Karporthia. Phormion, Count of Karporthia and Lord of the South March, received tidings that raiders were approaching and hastened south with such force as he can muster to guard the border at Temple Hill. 1st Battle of Temple Hill.
Anno 942 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
The North-West Corner of the Olde Worlde
The lands between the western and eastern arms of the Attak Mountains form the Lake Agrob basin. This is an area dominated by a number of hostile Orc clans centred around Mount Durfang, Mount Golag, and the fortress-city states of Shagol and Mazoga.
Internal divisions and inter-tribal warfare have thus far limited Orcish adventures beyond the Attaks to small scale raids. Periodically, an Orc Warlord arises who attempts to unite the tribes but, fortunately for their neighbors, such warlords seldom cling to power for long.
- Markus Bibliothecarius
In the 942nd Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the month of the Osprey, Grogmar Khan of the Orcians of Mt Durfang lead his clan out to war. With dreams of glory dancing in his head, he decided that an easy victory would set him on the road to power. Consequently, he headed south-westward against the Goblin Town of Uram.
As "news travels fast in the Attaks, and bad news doubly so", King Biark of Uram was aware of Grogmar Khan's movements. Summoning his nobles in their chariots, and raising his levies, Biark set off up the Durfang Road. Along the way, he recruited Orog Mossridge and his band of Ogres, and summoned a clutter of Giant Spiders from the deep woods north of Uram.
Deploying across the Durfang Road, Biark arrayed his forces and awaited Grogmar's approach. Battle of Uram.
Anno 943 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
The North-West Corner of the Olde Worlde
The Halls of Zirakhan were settled by dwarves of Fraegr's folk in the 433rd year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, as it is written in the Brevis Chronica of Iphikalus of Anteiminos.
It is said by Cleon of Aneiminos, in his Liber Ruber Aneimini, that Prince Tlepolemus of Iolokois invited Gror, son of Hror, King of the Halls of Tahargarun, to settle and fortify the Pass of Corolis and hold it "against wild men and Orcs coming down out of the North.".
In the caves around the headwaters of the River Zergarl, Gror and his followers discovered a rich vein of silver. It is upon the wealth of this delving that the fortunes of the Halls of Zirakhan were built, and with the support of Prince Tlepolemus of Iolokois, Gror became King.
While the House of Tlepolemus eventually failed, the descendants of King Gror are still Kings of Zirakhan and still bar the Pass of Corolis "against wild men and Orcs coming down out of the North." And they still remember their kinship with Tahargarun and Hror's lineage.
- Markus Bibliothecarius
In the 943rd Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the spring following the Battle of Uram and the death of Grogmar Khan of Mt Durfang, in the month of the Peregrin, Zulgore of the Mighty Arm, Warleader of Shagol, led a band of Orc marauders south over the Central Attak Mountains.
Making their way through the forested hill country of the northern Zergarl Valley, they picked up the Jasphar road some 20 miles west of that ruined town. Turning west, Zulgore's band made their way towards the Corolis Pass, aiming to raid the Dwarf mines of Fraegr's Folk at Zirakhan.
It so happened that Prince Grimbor of Fraegr's Folk was patrolling east along the Jasphar road with five banda of inexperienced and lightly equipped warriors when his scouts reported the advancing Orc band. Taking up a defensive position in the Corolis Vale where a bridge carried the road over a tributary of the River Zergarl, Grimbor prepared to bar the passage of the Orcs while a runner was dispatched to alert Zirakhan. Battle of Corolis Vale.
Anno 944 Deldrach regis Ruvaenensis
The Western Edge of the Olde Worlde
Rising in the glaciers north of Tahargarun, and fed by the deep waters of Lake Verish, the River Ossil runs south-eastward for 140 leagues before falling into Lake Neriseema.
Draining the southern slopes of the Werisphem Mountains, the River Ossil becomes wide and slow as it leaves the hill country south of the Elvish city of Dassinis and winds its way across the grasslands south of Karporthia.
Karporthia, capital of the South March, lies at the convergence of the Great South Road from Mantineia, and the South-Eastern Highway from Gla. As the combined roads head south from Karporthia, they pass the ancient ruined temple at Temple Hill, before crossing the lower Ossil at the Temple Ford.
- Markus Bibliothecarius
In the 944th Year of King Deldrach of Ruvaen, in the summer following the Battle of Corolis Vale and the death of Zulgore of the Mighty Arm, Warleader of Shagol, in the month of the Goshawk, Count Phormion of Karporthia, Lord of the South March, received word that Malichor the Malignant and the Black Orcs and Bugbears of the Harrowed Waste were marching again.
Gathering his levy, and calling up the Halfling Militia of Longbottel, and a bandon of Veigr's Folk, Dwarves of the Halls of Nerakghan, Count Phormion marched south to Temple Hill to meet the threat from the Harrowed Waste for a second time. 2nd Battle of Temple Hill