Fact Box for Grest

Here is the fact box for the newly-mapped region known as Grest - my first nation map made for the continent of Bror.

This will be the focus of the next high-res and textless atlas map that will be published next week, exclusively for Acolyte patrons and higher followed by the normal version the week after that.

The Encyclopaedia Elyden is already updated with all the relevant entries related to the regions and their history, so you can check them out there!

Thanks all for your support :)

As always, feel free to point out typos in the comments :)

Also, sorry for the history on this one. I went a bit overboard (again!), so it's quite long... though it does include a general history of the continent of Bror, and not just the region of Grest. Let me know what you think!  

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A General Timeline of the Island-continent of Bror

Before the Fifth Age:

? RM - It is believed that Bror was once far more distant than today and that the landmass has slowly ‘drifted’ north from a far more southerly direction. It is likely that this movement was once more pronounced than it is today and that it has solved down considerably in the Fifth Age.

? RM - not all the mortal races made it to Bror due to its relative distance from the rest of Elyden’s continents, and those that did only did so in limited numbers. It is unknown if Bror was originally populated by other beings, possibly directly created by the Demiurges and their scions, and if there were, any record of them is now long gone.

These mortals eventually mingled at a rate far more pronounced than elsewhere, leading to a homogenisation of the mortal peoples quite unlike what happened in the ‘Far World’, as these people came to refer to the rest of Elyden. Though many still called themselves human or keratin or shie or whatever, in appearance and demeanour they had become far different from their predecessors and, following thousands of years of isolation, a human visiting them from the Far World would not recognise their descendants. It is also believed that many scions travelled to Bror in their exploration of Elyden following the wane of the Demiurges. They too would have sired strange offspring with the immigrants to that land.

In the millennia following their migration from the Far World, the mortals of Bror established their own cultures and nations, with certain traits and blends of mortal bloodlines stabilising, so a ‘human’ from one nation would look considerably different from a ‘human’ from another nation, due to the different unions taken by their ancestors.

To this day the mortals of the far south of Bror (the extant Tiamoldoran City-states) are far taller than any other humans in Elyden, standing an average of 7-ft. tall, and they also display a wide range of skin colours - similar to those of giganri, with which their ancestors are believed to have mingled. Another example is the Iannid people who are most common in parts of Ghrond and Mostue, who are known for their dark russet, almost violet, skin, and their completely black eyes.

the Fifth Age: Dalliamoraa

c. -200 - c. 50 RM - the rise of the Dalliamoraan empire in what is now the nation of Toahn. It slowly spreads across the rest of Bror over the next quarter century under the impetus of the scion Orias Yetzirah, whose will is made manifest, making him the most powerful figure of the early fifth Age.

c. -100 - 100 RM - all forms of mysticism and religion are quelled, with their practitioners and families publicly executed and any objects related to their faith destroyed, particularly any written records and art. This period is troublesome and many minority peoples and religious groups are systematically eradicated in this time. Instead, a cult of personality surrounding Orias Yetsirah is established. Already prevalent in many regions, particularly his homeland and regions that have been under his yoke the longest, this cult grows into one of the major defining features of the empire, and its people become blindly indoctrinated, worshipping him above all else and devoting their very existence to him. Other scionic beings are vilified during this time, as are otherworlders and their halfblood progeny.

c. 700 - 950 - Fanatics of Orias Yetzirah pen the He’elan Writings, which are rapidly condemned by the followers of Orias as heretical

1247 RM - Dalliamoraan empire collapses, leaving the region in a state of chaos.

c. 1252 - 1275 RM - though some regions continue to degenerate into barbarism, in Surissia (present-day eastern Iseseth) a former Coadjutor of Orias known as Mira Kol Saard rises, bringing stability to the environs of the old capital in Traazur. She forges alliances with her closest neighbours, bringing stability to the immediate region within a few decades.

c. 1275 - 1310 RM - Mira Kol Saard becomes a figurehead for the state of Surissia, whose rangers and trade subsidies allowed other regions to stabilise.

c. 1300 - 1400 RM - this century is characterised by a slow rebuilding of law and order, though some regions of Bror, notably the southeast, remain unstable. The Coalition of Surissia emerges in 1317 RM, with Mira Kol Saard as a figurehead. Through the actions of various charismatic and influential leaders, and political missionaries, the coalition solidifies itself as the sole major power in the continent. Other regions outside its sphere of influence are divided, suffering from tumultuous politics that often escalate into conflict if not outright wars. The most chaotic of these regions are the Orogen Highlands, and the various lagoons and winding coastlines of eastern Bror, out of which emerge the Barbarian States of the Tian Maldaraan people and the Seafarer Cities of Shaewa, respectively.

the Coalition of Surissia

1317 RM - the Coalition of Surissia is officially formed, and envoys are sent out to non-coalition territories with word of their mission, hoping to win more states to their cause. Some do join, though others double down, refusing to be shackled by a foreign controlling body (examples?)

c. 1320 - c. 1380 RM - the Coalition of Surissia fortifies its borders against the southern barbarians and foreign intrusion alike, and amasses a formidable navy that patrols its waters deep into the Mirovean Ocean hunting for vessels from the so-called ‘Far World’, as the rest of Elyden becomes known. Massive coastal colossi-bunkers are erected during this time, facing across the sea, ready to unleash long-ranged cannonades against any unidentified vessels. This served to keep most prying eyes away from Bror for centuries, though some explorers from the ‘Far World’ did make landfall, documenting life in Bror at this time.

Most notable are Vregl, who explored the northern coast in the early 14th century; Bohmius, who explored the northeast in the 16th century; and Suhrsip much later, in the 29th century, who explored the southeast, bringing word to the Near Hemisphere of hordes of warring technologically-advanced barbarians, possibly stymying any thoughts of colonising the island-continent.

c. 1350 - 1600 RM - for many years the Coalition attempts to win more states and territories to its cause and it steadily spreads, and by c. 1600 RM it has come to encompass all of Bror north of the Lahaed Mountains, as far west as extant Grest, and all lands north of extant Ghrond.

c. 1450 RM - the state of Ahaggad emerges in the southwest of Surissia

c. 1500 RM - the state of Afainasay emerges in the west of Surissia

c. 1600 RM - the state of Egrat emerges in the west of Surissia

c. 1800 RM - the city-state of Crepiscula emerges in the west of the Barbarian States, serving as a bulwark against their advance to the northwest.

c. 1900 RM - Tiamoldor emerges as a major power in the southeast of Bror, even as the Coalition of Surissia begins to wane.

2132 RM - Much like the collapse of the Dalliamoraan empire a millennium earlier, the Coalition of Surissia crumbles following years of troubles and the inability of the Coalition to set aside its growing differences.

the Dark Ages

2132 - c. 2200 RM - Unlike the chaos that followed in the wake of the Dalliamoraan empire’s collapse, the decentralised structure of the Coalition’s government allows its constituent regions to maintain a degree of control despite various supply and transportation issues across the continent. The City of Traazur, until now home to the representative council of the Coalition becomes a hotbed of ambitious generals and lords intent on forging their own new empire. As contact between the states wanes the capital is left a shadow of its former self.

This period is characterised by a decrease in travel between these newly-independent states and an increase in insularity and unease.

2132 - c. 2200 RM - the north of Bror wanes in power and influence as disparate areas struggle to survive amid the collapse of the coalition. Some areas coalesce quickly, forming alliances and establishing new nations, while others struggle for much longer. This period is characterised by brutal sieges as some states attempt to subjugate their neighbours. Banditry, chaos and pyrrhic wars are common, many of which are remembered bitterly, forming the basis of enmities and rivalries that persist to this day. Remnants of these ancient wars and battlefields still dot the hinterlands between cities. Farmers often till fields that were the sites of pitched battles, figging up old corpses and equipment from this time. They are so common that the rusted remnants of weapons and bones are often incorporated into fences and other structures.

The population of the former Coalition dwindles during this time, a victim of the government’s collapse. What remains is forced into insularity by the increase of militocratic cultures, though this does have the continued effect of guarding against foreign intrusion, at least for some time...

c. 2200 - 2400 RM - the culture of Ahaggad spreads across neighbouring Egrat

c.2230 - c. 2250 RM - it takes some time for foreign powers to learn of the fall of the coalition, and many empires and large kingdoms soon take the opportunity to move against the island-continent. Colonists and industrialists make their way to Bror to take advantage of what the foreign powers believe will be a land in turmoil. Instead, many of these invaders are defeated by powerful navies before they even make landfall. Those that do land find harsh resistance, and inadvertently cause the natives to put aside their differences in defence of their home. To make matters worse, many of the invaders begin succumbing to native illnesses to which they are not inured.

This effectively stymies most efforts at colonisation and, outside a few outlier examples, by c. 2250 RM the Far World has abandoned Bror, deeming it an unconquerable land of savage warriors and primal diseases. This allows the various cultures of a post-Coalition Bror to develop in relative isolation.

c. 2220 - c.2400 RM - with foreign attentions waning, most Brori nations are now able to concentrate on their own people and industries. Conflicts between states decline and trade between them increases, propagating travel and contact

c. 2300 RM - the wane of Traazur continues and it is now largely uninhabited, with those choosing to live there being opportunists and outlaws who have turned it into a haven of crime. By c. 2300 RM it is largely abandoned, its once-grand palaces and halls dilapidated and collapsing.

Afainasay absorbs the state of Egrat.

c. 2430 RM - the state of Egrat is absorbed by Ahaggad.

c. 2480 - 2600 RM - Crepiscula advances against the Barbarian states in a period of bloody warfare that sees the borders of Crepiscula advance to the east, leading to the barbarian stronghold of Ataxia being taken and converted to its capital in c. 2580 RM.

c. 2580 RM - Ataxia becomes the capital of Crepiscula following its advance east into former Barbarian State territories.

c. 2820 RM - Geshghell forms in the northeast of Bror. its people are descended from scattered sylvan people who formed only a loose part of the Surissian Coalition.

c. 2900 RM - the Barbarian States begin to expand north and east from their homelands in the southeast.

C. 3050 RM - in the northeast, Geshghell begins trading north with Meniscea, being the first Brori state to do so on a large scale. This begins a new age of contact with the Far World, though on the whole most Brori continue to remain isolated from the world at large though they trade with each other.

c. 3000 - 3100 RM - the Barbarian States begin a series of attacks against (Emenrist - CHANGE NAME, make this the predecessor state of Emenrist), leading to the latter retreating within its territories and fortifying them, becoming isolationist.

C. 3150 - 3200 RM  - the Iunitat merchant house rises to prominence in the city of Sceld

c. 3200 RM - Emenrist first becomes isolationist, beginning an 8-century trend that has only grown more extreme with time.

3234 - 3263 RM - civil war in Ahaggad as the power centre shifts from the capital Neyem to Sceld. The war ends with the sacking of Neyam and the founding of a new capital in Sceld.

3263 RM - the monarchy of Grest is founded in the city of Scaled, replacing the state of Ahaggad.

c. 3300 - 3500 RM -  Jurasama Yetzirah, a distant descendant of the legendary scion Orias Yetzirah, forms the He’elan Archdukes in the city of Neyem in Grest, intent on rebuilding her ancestor’s empire.

c. 3400 RM - the He’elan Cults are established in Grest. Their members study ancient condemned Dalliamoraan texts and they first begin to contact the spirits of the otherworld, which they refer to as daimons.

3419 RM - the collapse of Geshghell in the northeast of Bror.

c. 3420 - 3500 RM - the period now known as the Red Century in the northeast of Bror, that emerged in the wake of the collapse of Geshghell. The period is characterised by various struggling states and powers, ranging from independent cities to coalitions and small states, rising and falling, fighting over the ruin of the Geshghell. By the end of this period, these states have coalesced into the so-called Geshghell States. Though they fluctuate over time, absorbing one another and dividing as the political tides change, they eventually stabilise as the states of Abha, Epititiokh, Esor, Hochma, Kashaal, Moakkibet, and Viermaa.

3555 RM - the royal house of Nulum rises to power in Grest.

3781 RM - the monarchy of Grest is supplanted by Jurasama Yetzirah and her He’elan cults, which have been working for centuries in the shadows, manipulating events in the nation. The house of Nulum is ended in a single night as the palace is stormed by cultists.

c. 3790 - 3810 RM - Colonists from Laod land on the northeastern coast of Bror, in the sparsely populated Geshghellan territories of Esor and Abha, mistaking them for Kashaal. They are quick to seek out alliances with the natives, with whom their ancestors have been trading for some time, and they begin importing goods from the Meniscean mainland trading them at a subsidy to the locals in return for the right to settle on and work certain territories. These colonies become known as Mekelaod and quickly establish themselves as a major power in the region.

c. 3830 RM - in Grest the He’elan Writings become a major part of everyday life - all adults carry an annotated personalised version of the scriptures on their person, which serve as a passport or licence of sorts, and they use them in prayers to their daimon.

3832 RM - Discovery of Firmatite by Laodan colonists in Mekelaod makes them wealthy, leading to a homogenisation of culture as their merchants proliferate across the Geshghell States, establishing powerful and influential trade houses. This in turn leads to the formation of the large nation of Kasihaal, which absorbs most of the descendants of the Geshghell States

c. 3867 - 3873 RM - Mekelaod secedes from Laod, though this is not taken lightly by the homeland in Meniscea, which declares war in 3868 RM. Supported by its allies across the Geshghell States Mekelaod is able to repel the Laodan attacks and after 5 years of fighting, the war ends with the acknowledgement of the claim of independence of Mekelaod, which is renamed Kasihaal.

3873 - c. 3922 RM - Kasihaal continues expanding, absorbing neighbouring states. By c. 3922 RM it has assimilated all of Esor, Epititokh, Viermaa, and Moakkibet, expanding as far west as the eastern-most reaches of the Lahaed Mountains and as far south as the coast of Ghayattan.

c. 3920 RM - Abha is devastated by a great Firmamental calamity that sees the nation crumble over the ensuing years. Its territories would become absorbed by Kasihaal and Rastan.