A Brief History of KALLIDYR

Kallidyrs location, right in the center of the continent of Dorvett, has been both a

blessing and a curse to its peoples. Its blessing comes from the fact that the country is at a

 natural crossroads, which brings much trade through the country, both overland and by

rivers. In addition, Kallidyr is also rich in mineral deposits and possesses very productive

agricultural lands.

Such a bountiful land has obviously presented a valuable prize for invaders throughout

Dorvett , with the result that its peoples have had to adapt to regular conflict from races

wishing to occupy the land.

Until 4212, the unified country of Kallidyr did not exist. Parts of the country were, and still are, occupied by three distinct races, namely elves, dwarves and humans. These

 three races tolerated each other in the main, as they each chose to inhabit areas exclusive

 of each others. The elves chose to inhabit the lush forests, the dwarves the rugged

highlands and the humans the fertile lands of the Maura basin. However, relations

between the three races was never so strong as to enable any one of them to gain control

of the entire region, although one or another race tried, from time to time.

The elves had been living in the sylvan forests of Thumava since the dawn of time.

Dwarves had moved south to inhabit the North of Kallidyr between 1000-1500,

occupying the rugged northern terrain of the country, known to them as Sude. Humans

are the most recent arrival, originally nomads from the Eastern steppes who decided to

 settle in the Eastern and Central sections of the region from around 2200. These barbaric

 savages came to be educated by their encounters with the elves and dwarves and came to

prosper over the following 1000 years.

All three races had attempted to rule the others through force of arms since the arrival of the humans, but none had ever succeeded. However, as the humans prospered and their

 population grew fast, due to the higher fertility rate of humans compared to dwarves and

elves, it became obvious that, one day, the human race would gain power over the other

 two races. This was not, however, achieved through conquest, but rather by diplomatic

 means.

The father of the present day country of Kallidyr was Frombar I, whose father, Brett, had risen to the position of leader of the humans. Frombar I was an intelligent and

talented diplomat who, after several years of negotiation, was able to unite the three races

of  Kallidyr in return for establishing a senate including the most influential elven and

 dwarven nobles.

Despite occasional setbacks caused by the rule of less able successors to Frombar I, the economy of Kallidyr prospered, more so than any other country in Dorvett. On a

number of occasions, rival countries attempted to invade Kallidyr, but the combination of

elven bows, dwarven axes and human lances made Kallidyr more than a match for the

forces of any potential conqueror.

The golden age of Kallidyr started in 4346 following the coronation of Corl I, a cleric king of great intelligence and diplomacy and a devout worshiper of the God of

Knowledge. Corl I worked hard throughout his reign to bring unprecedented prosperity to

Kallidyr in general, and the capital, Nemtet, in particular. Among his most notable

achievements were the building of a new castle and walls around the capital, the first

bridge to cross the River latva, a huge cathedral dedicated to the God of Knowledge and

the first university in the center of Dorvett. Under his patronage, Nemtet became a

cultural Mecca and home to some of the finest artists, sculptors and artisans in Dorvett.

This idyllic period in Kallidyrs’s history ended abruptly upon the death of Corl I in 4378, leaving the crown to his young son Bort IV. Unlike his father, Bort was a fighter

but, sadly, not a very able one. He did little to improve the economy of the country, but

rather wasted the resources of the country by spending a vast proportion of the country’s

wealth on hiring mercenaries to participate in foreign wars, each of which proved to be

disastrous. In order to generate more revenue, Bort constantly increased tax rates (to the

particular indignation of the dwarves) and cleared land for agricultural use (to the

 annoyance of the elves).

In 4405, a young elven druid known as Yan from the elven town of Robat received a

vision from his Goddess,  The Goddess of Nature, telling him that the destruction of

forests was the ultimate sin against nature which should be stopped at all costs.

An excellent orator, Yan spread the word of his vision far and wide amongst the elves

of Thumava, with the result that it became accepted as part of the beliefs of all the

goddesses worshipers (who made up a vast proportion of the elves of Thumava). Yan

tried to convert the humans, who were busy deforesting as fast as they could in order to

 increase agricultural land, needed to feed the exploding human population. He tried to

impress upon them that what they were doing was a sin against nature. The human

 farmers, followers of the God of Agriculture at the time, however, were having none of it,

as their beliefs were that cultivating crops was an honor to their god.

By 4412, the situation was starting to become agitated and skirmishes were starting to

break out between elves and human landowners. In 4415, Bort IV was away campaigning,

 leaving his brother, Sigmund in control. Sigmund decided to act decisively in order to

 end the matter and promptly arrested Yan during one of his sermons to the human

farmers. After a short, biased trial, a human court found Yan guilty of agitation and he

was burned at the stake.

The elves of Thumava were incensed at Yans murder, and open warfare immediately

erupted between elves and humans. Seeing their chance, the Sude dwarves started to

march in support of their elven ‘brothers’ and in protest at what they saw as unacceptable

levels of taxation.

For a while, dwarves and elves were united, but this soon changed after the dwarves

besieged Nemtet and Luta Hor, an incredibly rich silver mining town controlled by the

 humans. Under attack from both elves and dwarves, the humans were soon routed from

 the center of Kallidyr and were willing to begin peace negotiations. The dwarves were

 having none of it, however, as they had been able to breach the walls of both Nemtet and

Luta Hor and were determined to get back the excess amounts that they had been taxed in

 order to pay for the humans’ follies. As there was little coinage left in the treasuries, the

dwarves took what they believed was rightfully theirs in any way they could, sacking

 both cities of fine art, sculptures, temple ornaments etc., and taking them back to the

Sude capital of Aubeg.

The elves realized that the dwarves had entered the conflict, not in support of the

 elves, but for their own gains, and were incensed with the dwarves disregard for objects

 of beauty. Because of this, they insisted upon the dwarves’ withdrawal. The dwarves

refused, leading to new warfare between dwarves and elves. Now all three races were

fighting amongst each other. The warfare raged for ten years, leaving the armies of each

 of the three armies to become decimated.

Watching the events in Kallidyr with great interest was King BriMat VI of the neighboring country of Levzetko, situated to the south and west of Kallidyr. For many

years, BriMat had been jealous of Kallidyr’s prosperity. Seeing his chance, he mobilized

his armies of orcs, goblins, kobolds, ogres, etc. which marched into the country from

south and west.

Despite the severely weakened state of Kallidyrs’s forces, they did put up some

decent resistance to the Levzetko forces. However, their animosity was such that the

 three races were unable to unite in defense of Kallidyr, and so their resistance was

insufficient. By 4437, the final Kallidyrian resistance was crushed, leaving Kallidyr as a

province totally controlled by an occupying force of Levzetko. Now it is 4460, and a

whole generation of  Kallidyrians has known nothing other than the yoke of Levzetko

 occupation. Today, another threat is looming. On the eastern borders of Maura, the

Draavmar are mustering their forces of hobgoblins and gnolls, their eyes fixed on the prize

of Kallidyr.

 NOW

The country's been taken over by the forces of evil and the troops preparing to

invade are even worse, the dwarves hate the elves and the elves hate the dwarves

 and everyone hates the humans, enemy troops roam the cities, bandits roam the

 roads and monsters roam everywhere else, Orthons mother was burned as a witch

and his father died of the plague, he had no money and no home, his best friend is a

goblin with brain damage and he narrowly avoided being killed by a cow.......

As of right now the FATE of Kallidyr rests in this young mans hands as leader of the

Rebellion,  the rest is unwritten and only all of YOU can decide the fates!!!

From the scrolls of the Founding One  4460“Year of the Dagger”