Category:Dwarden History

Time and Calendar in Dwarden

Before Mandador

801 BM: Apotheosis of Strakor

6th cent. BM: the adventures of Kambold

259 BM: Kelbold sacks Neskor and defeats the Arkonnen duergar dwarves

After Mandador

503 AM: Thagdion is crowned King of Dwarden by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Pro-Praetoria.

512 AM: The duergar city of Neskor is refounded.

524 AM: The Battle of Brandas Fields. An orcish army supplemented by gray dwarves and fire giants defeat the royal army of Tresia, killing King Branathold. The wizard Therikor, commander of this army and master of Manifold, becomes the vassal king of Tresia, loyal to Thagdion.

524 AM: The clerics and knights of Drathantor attempt to march on the orcs, and are defeated. Karant is made an abbot, and saves the Monastic Sword, and the paladin Ladron the Diaconate Shield.

526 AM: The Battle of Thellentor. An orc army sent by Therikor attempts to invade Thousiers, but is rebuffed.

537 AM: Karant leads karden warriors and his companions to support Mastenor retaking Atherak. The red dragon scion of Emberstorm is slain.

542 AM: Korentius, the metropolitan archbishop of Pro-Praetoria, is murdered by knights during his unholy services. The evil clergy of golden priests are slain as the city is cleansed. They elect a war-karden named Retharane, but the Council of Kantorum is reformed and rules the city.

543 AM: The Black Coast, loyal to King Thagdion, march on Pro-Praetoria, but the men of the Lower Kald hills harass and attack their army, frustrating any possible siege on Pro-Praetoria.

549 AM: Baldon Giant-Slayer, a sun dwarf, rises an independent stronghold in the Marlamarkan.

553 AM: Thagdion sends the War-King Brezan to enforce his will on the Orekon.

555 AM: Jealous knights attempt to siege Baldon at his castle in the Marlamarkan, but are rebuffed.

556 AM: The siege of Elentor by Brezan begins.

557 AM: Grandolin burns Elentor. Its high king dies.

559 AM: Therikor, evil wizard king of Tresia, is defeated by Tresian and Thousiersian heroes.

559 AM: The adventurer Masterane the Great, King of Thrantine, rebuilds Castle Thrantine in the Marlamarkan. Surviving humans flock to his safety.

566 AM: King Kerkel of the orcs of Tresia assault the Marlamarkan, with many monsters. Masterane fights them, killing many monsters, but never enough.

569 AM: Alderane is sieged at Thrantine. The Summer Sword reappears and relieves the siege, wielded by Trethian.

571 AM: The gray dwarves of Neskor come with siege weapons to supplement the siege of Thrantine, and the orc king Kerkel appears in person. Baldon and the king of Lasterak appear and fight the orcs and duergar. Baldon slays the duergar leaders, and King Thrasold of Lasterak slays the green dragon of the siege. The orcs flee with their king. The Markan Pact is made, and the remaining lords pledge to aid one another.

572 AM: The great battle of Atherkald, where the orcs were thrown down and destroyed by the earthquake caused by the Diaconate Shield, and the Diaconate Shield at the hands of St. Karant banished Thagdion the Golden and sent the Abomination to the Abyss. In the aftermath, the karden warriors could not agree on a War-King, and the opportunities provided were largely squandered.

572 AM: Masterane sneaks into Neskor and slays the duergar king.

573 AM: Masterane sneaks into the Kambold and beholds horrors. He slays golden priests and slays a demon.

573 AM: The paladin Averane and other heroes fight the scattered orcs in the Marlamarkan...

575 AM: Averane becomes karden-lord of Thalone.

579 AM: The orcs suffer a major defeat in the Erlokt, with the help of knights of the Kald and the gold dragon Striastamacius the Mandadorian, who had heretofore feared Grandolin, who no longer flies the skies.

579 AM: The gnome Kasterlak appeals to Averane for help, for the dragon of Sky Lake has been wounded by Grandolin. Averane heals the dragon. They learn that Grandolin is once again wounded, and might be vulnerable. Striastamacius implores them to attack, for he will help them. Heroes gather quickly, with Averane declared the battle leader to Alderane's chagrin. The heroes assault Grandolin's mountain, with the aid of the great wizard Marikor. Karant is otherwise busy in prayer, enchanting relics for the future. Marikor and lesser heroes guard the flight escape of Grandolin, hoping to slay him there, but the main party come from dungeons beneath the earth and attack Grandolin while he attempts to recover from his wounds. The attack is successful, but the great dragon flees to a lower chamber, near death. Masterane demands the death blow, but Averane declares it does not matter. When Averane attempts to enforce this command, Masterane calls upon the Markan Pact to not interfere. Masterane fights Averane, declaring that the paladin wishes to be High King after the death of the dragon. The gold dragon Striastamacius, in human form, attempts to intervene, but Alderane strikes him, and the gold dragon leaves. Averane insults Masterane's leadership abilities, and so Masterane pushes the paladin off the ledge and into a pit, killing him. The clerics and minions of Averane fight the minions of Masterane, and many die, including Trethian, the lord of Malenmar. But in this moment the dragon returned and burned almost all of them to death, triggering Marikor's magic to save himself. All who remained was Kargal, the apprentice knight-paladin from Kandor, and Masterane himself. Kargal struck Grandolin in the snout with the Summer Sword, but the thunder of the dragon split the two apart. Masterane faced the red dragon in the darkness alone with his magic blade, and was never seen again.

579 AM: Kargal returns the Summer Sword to its rightful family, then returns to Thalone, but finds that lesser karden have seized the keep. Unable to garner unity, in anger and returns to the Gallaradok, only to find that St. Karant has ascended to the heavens after climbing into the mountains. Finding disunity there, Kargal rides to the keep of Galdren, a young karden declared the Paladin-Defender of Drathantor, bringing along with him the Archdeacon Galderok. Kargal reveals to him a new holy avenger taken from Grandolin's treasure, and offers it to him in perpetuity if he would bring his lesser knights with him in order to bridge unity. Galdren gives back the Monastic Blade to a younger knight.

580 AM: Kargal, Galderok and Galdren adventure in the Kald, defeating evils, and convince the powerful karden Everane and Kellebard, both paladins, to join them to bring forces to aid the north.

581: Kargal, Galderok, Galdren, Everane and Kellebard, and all their henchmen, come to Pro-Praetoria, adventuring in the mountains thereabouts, and felling evils. The son of Retherane, Tretherane, is made a paladin by Galderok, who orders the small fleet there to sail to Orekon, and relieve Lasterak from a siege of the orcs. The siege is broken with the help of the sea dwarves, while the rest of the heroes ride northward.

582-3: The paladin-alliance of Dwarden fights the orcs of the Erlokt, siege by siege. King Thrasold, King Tretherane and the son of Trethian named Talnar raid the Kambold before they are chased back, wielding the Summer Sword.

584: King Kerkel of the orcs returns from raiding in Thousiers, bringing considerable forces, and the Black Knights of the Kambold issue forth. The paladins of Dwarden and monks of St. Karant gather their forces. The paladin Badrian, of great might, joins their forces from the Erlokt.

585: After a series of prelude battles and sieges, the paladins, with Badrian elected their leader, siege Neskor, and with the help of the great wizard Marikor drive them from the city, although the wizard himself is severely wounded. They then become trapped at the duergar city when the Black Knights of the Kambold siege them, until Kargal relieves the siege later that year, wielding the Diaconate Shield, along with the son of Drastamar, Kardren, yet another paladin knighted by Galderok, who wielded the Monastic Blade. Turning quickly to avoid another siege by Kerkel, faced the orc and monster army at the Battle of the Red Sun, for the orcs burned all the forests they could to provide them the cover the Black Crown usually provided them. Fighting against giants and sorcerers, the holy avengers prevailed with the Diaconate Shield, and Kerkel was killed, the high priest of the golden priests was slain. The paladins who died were raised, for their need was so great. The victors rode to the Kambold Gate, but Thagdion himself was there to greet them with a wall of devilish magic and bones, and when the paladin Kalian of Kasteran charged, he was slain. They turned to fight another day.

585 AM: The paladins and their followers gathered at Manifold to elect a War-King as in ancient days. Kargal however suggested that this was not good enough, and that only the true faith protected by paladins of Mandador could guide the fate of Dwarden, and that they might elect their own paladin-commander. Galderok suggested they follow the religious principles of the Rule of St. Karant, and elect a Grand Master, as Galderok had been elected. They agreed, but before they elected their leader, Kargal made them swear a powerful oath by Mandador to keep their unity and obey the Master of the Order of Paladins of Dwarden until the Black Crown was defeated and destroyed forever. So they swore, and Galdren was elected Grand Master of the Order, with Badrian Master of Foot, and Kellebard Master of Horse, and King Thrasold as the Seneschal.

The Early Order

1-3 OBS: Galdren leads the Order in cleansing the Vale of Drendor of monsters.

1-4 OBS: Thagdion faces the rebellion of the Kambold, fomented by his long absence. He is nearly defeated by his rivals, and upon their defeat, his forces are nearly completed. Distracted with other conflicts, the fledgling Order does not take advantage of his weakness.

4-7 OBS: Tretherane's war in the south. Kellebard becomes Grand Master of Pro-Praetoria and all the south upon Tretherane's death.

5-6 OBS: Galdren sieges Kandrian Falls.

7 OBS: Thagdion attempts to seize Sky Lake, provoking the dragon of the lake. The Year of the Roar of the Dragon, whose roar could be heard even in the furthest reaches of Dwarden.

-Badrian is commanded to adventure to the Kambold, and see the state of affairs there, hoping that Thagdion has been destroyed, while Galdren adventures west into Thorania in the hopes of preventing another invasion of monsters from those lands, and gaining soldiers and allies. Badrian takes with him Galderok, Idrian the Arch-Deacon, the monk-wizard Reldian, the Danian paladin Kalando and his retainers, the rogues Thorian and Destredar, and Malcuin the Half-Orc, a monk-turned-warrior and defender of Idrian.

2X OBS:

650/65 OBS: Mastrum, grandson of Galdren, elected Master-General of the OBS.

664/74 OBS: Kargal, the last of the founding Knights of the Order, dies in peace at Mastelion Lake, where he is buried.

672: The death of Mastrum at the hands of the Black Bard

725: The death of Mandor at the hands of a Westrel Vampire

The Order in the Last Century

The Post-Neutralian War Era

Having destroyed Grandolin permanently, yet destroying himself in the process, the death of the Abbot of Manifold, Tharbane the Hammer of Neutralis, brought an end to the wave of Neutralianism that had spread throughout Dwarden and was threatening to unseat the authority of the Order. The destruction wrought by the return of Gondolin had however been extreme, and leading the faith of many knights both secular and regular, Lenthar, the General of the Archfold, marched against Thagdion. The undead armies in the Kambold would not face his forces, and so he laid siege to Thagdion at the Kernej.

But in this time, two of the three liches at Kaleskayn, the brothers Relkin and Kendor, rose again from the ashes of their castle, stealing from Thagdion with new spells his own undead forces from lands in the Archfold and Kald. The Order mustered an army from Kantorum against the black flag at Kaleskayn, but they were defeated by the liches' general named Astenkor the Traitor, a skeletal warrior of considerable power and the former Marshal of Kaleskayn. Captain-General Armast Armagon, in command at Kantorum, was forced to pay a humiliating tax to the liches.

Thagdion's other armies still continued to harrass various lands, with considerable success, causing large swaths of northwestern Dwarden to become part of the undead empire. Chief among these undead armies was that of the rook-lich called the Crown of Fire, who ruled the Nygrom Valley upon the defeat of the Neutralian citadel there belonging to the crusader Alcrion, who had left with most of his forces for the Siege at Kernej. The Crown of Fire attempted to take Manifold, but the Neutralian monks there were mighty, and delayed the undead long enough for Armast to come with a strong force and destroy the Fire Crown's fire giants, relieving the stress therein. This allowed Armast to send the Magister Magnus Rendor further troops, supplies and heroes.

In the ensuing months, Thagdion instead sought to corrupt the High White Necromancer of Elentor, the sagely Olymion, and bent him to lichdom so as to better serve the Church and Order. And so Elentor at last fell to Thagdion, and Olymion slew its Grand Prior and his knights, for he was now under the command of Thagdion. Olymion slew his own army, and raised them as undead soldiers, but his magic was so great that they were thinking warriors, karex, and led by thul-knights. The Sentinel-Paladin Mastandor stood against Olymion, and was nearly slain in doing so. However, he survived, was healed, and worked in Elentor against the lich-king.

The undead army of Elentor came so quickly and unexpected that the Order's rearguard at the Gates of the Kambold were overwhelmed. Without supplies, the army of the Neutralians and the Order was forced to abandon the years' long siege and fight their way out of the Kambold. Thagdion utilized his spells of mist and travel. The Grand Master was slain and the Dragon Blade was lost and taken to Kernej, but the Neutralian generals Lenthar and Alcrion escaped with some of their forces (841).

The undead pursued the surviving army, which marched back to Kantorum, and was itself in short order besieged. Armast was elected Grand Master, and he appointed Kadren, the marshal of High Kalmantane, as Captain-General. Kadren took advantage of the war between the lich brothers and Thagdion, and managed to destroy their physical forms and take Kaleskayn. This however only brought more undead forces under Thagdion's overall control. The siege at Kantorum intensified, and although Armast called for aid from abroad, only a little came from Thousiers and Dania. The Crown of Fire at last led his forces through a breach in the walls of the great city. Many thousands were slain, and it became a place of the undead.

Unable to gather a quorum for the Council Perilous, Kadren remained Captain-General, and led a careful war of sieges and endless small battles to defeat the undead. The Geneal of Elentor, Macriax, a monstrous undead construct devised by Olymion, quickly became the Black Crown's chief general, but Kadren would never dare to move his army against this main force. The war waged for years until Macriax attempted to take Noria, upon which the Gallaradok then relied for food and supplies. Kadren won this battle, but Lenthar was destroyed at he hands of multiple liches (849).

The Rule of Kadren and the Baulastarg

Exhausted of paladins and soldiery, Kadren gave serjeantry to more karden lords, utilizing their knights and men to fight the undead. Although over the years Kadren managed to take back most of the Gallaradok, the Marlamarkan was almost completely lost, and became a place of monsters and wandering undead.

After several years, Kadren was once again able to form a quorum of the Council Perilous, and was elected Grand Master (853). Conservative with his goals, Kadren consolidated what was left of the Orekon and the islands, blocking off the advance of Elentor, and harrassing Pro-Praetoria.

Among Kadren's chief reforms was his relocation of the headquarters of the Order at Drastamane, which he made all but impregnable to physical force and magic. Kadren also gave uncontested lands at Manifold, and gave independence to Mastanorum and to the Black Fortress in Nygrom to Alcrion. The Grand Draper refused however to allow the position of Captain-General to be once again filled, and so lower-level positions became the actual field commanders, which proved useful.

Although early on much power went to Talminar of Masteria as Lord-Draconarius, as the years passed the Grand Master's Guard increased in importance, as did its commander, Hykratian, who had returned from adventures abroad in the Pompiersian military in order to promote the Order. Now a skilled tactician, Hykratian made major inroads. In 869, Hykratian was given command of the Siege of Kantorum. In 873, as Kadren lay dying of natural causes, Hykratian took back Kantorum from the undead, destroying the lich there.

Hykratian was by then the logical and almost required choice as the next Grand Master. His chief enemy became the Black Rook, the most powerful rook-lich in the Marlamarkan, and Hykratian was eager to root him out. Slowly taking back the Erlokt and the Markan Hills, the Black Rook eventually showed his power and attempted to siege High Gate. Forced to draw upon a large number of the Order's forces, Hykratian marched to protect the Grand Priory there, and although this was successful and the Black Rook's large army was almost completely destroyed, Hykratian himself and his Seneschal were killed (881).

From 881 until his destruction, Thagdion increased the aggression of his undead. Personally raising powerful and thinking undead, the Baulastarg of the last several decades quickly became the Archening. The new Grand Master, Thasius, was killed in 886, causing the election of Macrox

The Archening (881-887)

Epochs in the History of the Order of the Beleaguered Shield

Mandor

The great reformer, and the first Grand Master of the Order. Served by Simont, who upon his death initiated the Ethrayan Donation, bequesting Simont's duchy directly to the royal house of Thousiers.

Current Timeline

302 OBS: Start of Campaign

...

833 AM: A tiny band of Neutralian fanatics, led by the radical cleric Talmian and seconded by the crusaders Darren and Kelenar, arrive in the Erlokt.

World Timeline

296 AM: Fall of the Council of Ranriel to St. Astivus Elf-Slayer

512 AM: The last Emperor of Mandadoria, Kians Sillitol II, trapped at Corrid, iss killed by the green dragon Westernotte at Castle Monscavius when the emperor was seeking rest from adventure in those lands. The great factions of the disintegrating empire move for their own agendas.

517 AM: Prince Thillis of Corrid, descended from Thousiersian royalty, defeats the imperial claimant Marashee, who is subsequently killed by his own troops. Thillis reorders much of the old imperial heartlands, based upon feudal customs, and what will become the Kingdom of Pompiers is born as the Princedom of Corrid.

562 AM: First major Thousiersian imperialistic incursions into Encyclon.

592 AM: the Third Ecumenical Council of Thousiers.

601 AM: Prince-King Vanian III moves the seat of the Princedom from Corrid to Pompiers.

654 AM: The institution of the Encyclonian First Lord, or Prince, is established.

698 AM: Most of the final extent of the kingdom has been annexed by the Kingdom of Pompiers, even Dantareth by 712.

705 AM: Encyclonian war with Thousiers begins.

712 AM: Dantareth is annexed by Pompiers.

724 AM: The King of Thousiers is taken hostage by Encyclon.

725 AM: Alasiel, Prince of Encyclon, is crowned Emperor. End of the Enyclonian war with Thousiers.

771 AM: Birth of Hiarzin, heir-apparent to the Dukedom of Polydidus.

773 AM: General Troremonns of Sword Stand is de facto lord of Quadrain. The height of Sword Stand’s success.

775 AM: Encyclonian War of the Sub-Kings with Pompiers begins.

-Baron Macron Corguth, ally of General Troremonns of Sword Stand, is killed outside of Castle Dantareth. Royal authority in the region is restored with installation of Macron’s brother Martin as Baron.

787 AM: Death of the Encyclonian Emperor Alasiel the Grand of natural causes.

776-777 AM: Sword Stand weakens, thus losing Quadrain.

781 AM: Fall of Troremonns and Sword Stand. Sword Stand reverts to Calipsian control.

813 AM: Count-Bishop Vomer of Thousiers becomes Patriarch of Alinopholis.

816 AM: King Astamane III is assassinated. Quiglemaine I, the Prince of Corrid, staying with the half-elves of Thousiers, is summoned by the bishops of Pompiers and crowned King.

817 AM: Birth of Kurial Remzar.

829 AM: The five unnamed prophets of the Unnamed God and their followers rise like a sudden tidal wave in the County of Hollapse, in the Kingdom of Pompiers. Neutralianism is born

834 AM: Birth of Vanhalen, son of Hiarzin the Wise, Archduke of Polydidus.

836 AM: Assius the Successor is elected Bishop of Dania with the approval of the Neutralians.

838 AM: the Prophets of Neutralis disappear, signaling the end of the Neutralian Wars.

841 AM: Ascension Wars: Bishop (princeling) Jaggerdam “the Hammer” of Polydidus challenges King Quiglemaine I.

849 AM: Prince Anaratan Kamanshar of Encyclon invades the Kingdom of Thousiers.

858 AM: Quiglemaine II is born in the city of Pompiers.

862 AM: Remzar confronts the Thanians under Shah Madragdah.

862 AM: Treaty of Viernerté between Pompiers, Encyclon and Thousiers. The treaty includes the betrothal of Quiglemaine II to Princess Shiatú.

862 AM: Death of Quiglemaine I

862 AM: Archbishop of Evania, Donald Wynsphere, attempts to seat his son Adrian upon the throne of Pompiers. The Pompiersian regent, Bishop Fotsfuro, purchases the loyalty of Wynsphere’s oncoming army, and has the archbishop arrested.

866 AM: Death of Hiarzin the Wise, Archduke of Polydidus, and accession of his son Vanhalen.

869 AM: The return of Thezorus Kamanshar

878 AM: Quiglemaine II marries Shiatú of Encyclon

886 AM: Princess Catherine of Pompiers is born

833 AM: A tiny band of Neutralian fanatics, led by the radical cleric Talmian and seconded by the crusaders Darren and Kelenar, arrive in the Erlokt.

Rulers of Dwarden

Magister Militum of the Order

St. Galdren

Bl. Everane

Bl. Mastrum

Bl. Thalend

Ven. Strathian

Ballard

Grand Seneschal with Master General Powers

Bl. Simont

Grand Masters of the Order

Selendeaux

Beregard

Thileon

St. Mandor

Mercelan

Grand Masters and Captain Generals of the Order

Mercelan and Malkadren

... and Karmandor

Porlean and Thelemark

Korsteran and Cereaux

Ven. Chelonier and Thergon

... and Thalion

Porlean and Korsteren

St. Kalmantane

Bl. Yathalian

[unfinished history]

(-842) Rendor

(