The Twin Continents - A Brief History of Amarant

This document deals only with events occurring in eastern and central Amarant. The elven kingdoms and the Territories of Ruj'vak are generally thought of as being so disconnected from the other nations as to warrant seperate treatment.

Little is known, of course, of the civilizations that preceded the Rending - or even those that came immediately afterward. What is sure is that as the petty squabbles of the new gods began to die down, the area along the southern coast was settled largely by devotees of the gods Solen and Matejh. Over time, these populations merged and migrated northward.

For several centuries, the tribes of the Sole'a and Mate'ha co-existed in relative peace. As their dispersal into the heart of the continent continued, however, myths and legends became distorted, old traditions were abandoned and new ones adopted, and disputes over habitable land laid down the first framework of territorial borders.

By the middle of the 6th Century (AR, After Rending), eastern Amarant was divided between three main powers: The kingdom of Solenda occupied the southeast. Immediately westward, the growing Brynnyl Empire stretched from the coast into the heart of the continent. Nestled between the two was the tiny nation of Cour de Mata. While numerous other powers rose and fell over the next few hundred years, none left a lasting impression on the region.

In 913 AR, the High Family of Brynn fell to internal politics. What had been a flourishing empire collapsed into chaos and poverty. The forces of its bordering nations swept in, eager to profit from its misfortune. The struggle for control of the region continued for some sixty years. Toward the end, Eadric Llewellyn, a soldier of Cour de Mata, was dishonourably discharged from service for conducting an affair with the wife of a high-ranking officer and banished from the kingdom.

The war came to a close with a series of uneasy truces, and roughly a century passed in similar peace. The kingdom of Solenda now stretched along the eastern coast of Amarant, with a much-expanded Cour de Mata as its primary neighbour. To the west of Cour de Mata, the newly-defined kingdom of Vairne tested the borders of the elven territories. What was left of the Brynnyl Empire was ruled not by a single monarch, but by the holders of whatever title accompanied a given parcel of land. Some were descendants of the original peers, while others had wrested - or purchased - their names. The region was rife with distrust, however; ready to re-erupt into war at any moment and ripe for the taking. Using a pseudonym, Laric Llewellyn - a descendant of Eadric - signed on as a mercenary of Cour de Mata. Over the next twenty years, Laric gathered his allies, launched a series of surprise attacks from within, and seized control of not only the kingdom he viewed as being responsible for his family's loss of power and prestige, but a number of the weaker duchies of Brynn.

His thirst for revenge was sated at last, but his thirst for power was not. Charismatic, seemingly concerned with the welfare of the conquered, and wealthy, he was easily able to earn the affection and loyalty of not only his subjects, but many a foreign mercenary, who flocked to his court in hopes of being granted a place in the ranks. The expansion of his influence continued, eventually encompassing the original Cour de Mata, Brynn, and parts of Solenda. Meanwhile, Vairne established a permanent military presence along its borders, expecting that Laric would turn his eye to their lands next.

Decades passed, during which Cour de Mata - or, in the new vernacular, Cormande - continued to flourish. Over the years, it became evident that Laric had at some point performed and reaped the benefits of the Rite of Transubstantiation, as he failed either to age or fall to disease. Known for his lascivious exploits, it was rumoured that he had sired numerous children, though few were ever acknowledged - let alone indicated as a potential heir. Disgusted by the open displays of sin that ran rampant through the kingdoms of the east, the 'Good Men' - a religious sect made up of pious men and women alike - gathered and made their way north; demanding they be granted land on which to live free of the corrupting influence of Laric, his subjects, and the philosophers of Solenda. When their request was repeatedly denied, they turned not to war by military force, but by manipulation; employing hunger strikes, numerous forms of self-mutilation, and in a few instances, mass suicide. Better to be in the kingdom of their god, it was said, than to suffer the ways of man's. Only when public outcry rose over the deaths of so many women and children did Laric relent. A portion of his northwestern conquests was set aside for occupation by the Good Men and eventually recognized as the Holy Republic of Tesma.

Though the Brynnyl Empire appeared to have fallen swiftly, in truth, it had been crumbling from within for years and its demise was not wholly unexpected. For Laric, the opposite was true. Uprisings were common throughout his reign, and many said he would never be able to maintain control of such an expansive empire - but each time, the rebellion was crushed. Life at court continued to grow ever-more lascivious and lavish, and by all rights, it should have rotted from its own richness. So far as eyes could see, it never did. When corruption at last began to eat away at the foundation of Caer Ynyll, the warning signs were, if not ignored, at least never connected to the larger view. One by one, the pillars fell - first to an assassin's bow, then to open war. And still, the great king held his throne.

The ultimate fate of Laric Llewellyn is unknown. Most scholars agree that he, too, likely succumbed to an assassin and was buried in secret. Others maintain that, knowing the end was near, he fled Caer Ynyll rather than face defeat. Either way, the truth was withheld in hopes of holding the kingdom together. It failed. When the day did come that Laric disappeared from the public eye, he was replaced not by the expected eldest son, but by a barely-known daughter. Little more than a child, she was unable to exert enough influence over her uneasy subjects to prevent panic and economic downfall, and committed suicide shortly after taking the throne.

Those given more to belief in supernatural causes suggest that Laric had entered into a pact with a god - probably Seramin, the lady of luck - and failed to stand up to his end of the bargain. The most romantic cling to the hope that their ageless king waits at the ends of the world, and that when the time is right, he will return to lead them once more. Whatever the cause, the result was the same: As at the end of the Brynn, the hawks on the borders swooped in.

Western Amarant was occupied with its own disputes. The rulers of Solenda, on the other hand, having run out of land in which to continue advancing north, turned their eye to regaining what had once been theirs - and, like Cormande's last great sovereign, taking whatever else might fall beneath their push. Gradually, the borders of Cormande began to shrink - and when the time came for a new monarch to ascend the throne, he did so not as the heir of a king, but as the first emperor of Soledi.

The stage of modern history was set. Soledian expansion ceased in favour of tending to the needs of its people - both the physical and philosophical. The old universities were reopened, and scholars and sorcerers alike descended in droves on the capital city. Public programs were put into place to aid those in dire need of assistance, be it with food, shelter, or employment. The goal was to renew the familial benevolence of the old tribes while continuing to progress toward enlightenment. Periodically, forces from Cormande did advance on the border, but most were repelled swiftly. Today, the two nations hold an unofficial truce - Cormande has its own affairs to attend to, and Soledi simply has no further interest in harassing its neighbour without just cause.

Just as eastern Amarant began to settle, however, troubles that had been brewing for a century or more erupted at last to the west. No longer able to tolerate the oppressive rule of Tesma's Holy Court and its Righteous Hands - the special forces that carry out inquisitions of those accused of witchcraft or other criminal behaviour - the Republic's northern reaches seceded to form the sovereign nations of Dalsh'ma and Dangrei. Rather than acknowledge the right of the nations to rule themselves, Tesma sent out its forces to reclaim the heretic lands.

So it stands.

Asunder - The Twin Continents