The Birth of the World and the Coming of the Gods

The Creation
The world was created. How long ago no one truly knows. In the beginning the world was a great expanse of water.
The creator who came to be known as Lastaria was unhappy with his creation and spent many years pondering on what should be done to improve upon it. He finally decided to create land and brought forth a great Isle yet despite his
contentment with this Isle he decided to create more land spending many long centuries  on his work each time moving further out in circles until at last he felt his work was done. Yet he could not see his work as all was dark. He then decided to create the stars so that light would fall upon creation and amongst them he created the moon whom he named Lunar whose face was bright yet her back was dark. And it was she who brought the most light upon his creation yet she was playful and spun herself around so that her light would wane and then when he got angry she turned back yet his anger was not doused and he decreed that she would forever turn and so she has even until this day. Yet despite the light the stars and Lunar made still great shadows covered the lands and the waters were still dark he then created Sol
known also as the sun whose light was great, so great was it that it hid the moon and the stars and Lunar complained for she was jealous that her brother should be dominant in the sky and she argued long with her brother until Lastaria had enough and he decreed that they should share the sky and each day Sol would rule the sky and at night he would lower himself and hide so that Lunar could be seen.
For a while Lastaria slept and he was content. Yet soon his dreams became troubled and he awoke. Long was his thoughts,  lonely he became and tired of decision making.

The Arrival of the Gods
It is not known whether they came themselves or were created by Lastaria, but the arrival of the gods heralded a new age.
They soon began to argue among themselves and battles started to erupt. They formed many different factions and the battles formed into wars which raged for many centuries. Eventually Lastaria grew angry and decreed that the factions should be parted. He gave them each areas in which they could control and ordered that they refrain contact with the other factions.  As things settled the gods withdrew from the land to realms they had created themselves. It was from these realms that they governed the areas.
As things settled a new force arrived. This force was chaos which took on many forms, yet it favoured that of a fiery woman. She travelled throughout the world and where she went paradox occurred. The gods sought to capture her and bind her yet were unsuccessful. Yet as they began to give up hope that she could be tamed something new occurred that made her withdraw (although not altogether) and that was the emergence of life.

The Emergence of Life
Lastaria was now content to let things develop under the guidance of the gods, yet he decided that he would perform one more act before he did so. He gently breathed upon the world and where his breath passed life began to emerge.
Plants blossomed, fish swam the seas and lakes, birds flew in the skies and animals roamed the lands.
Amongst all of these walked humankind. The humans were unlike the other creatures, primitive yet starting to show signs of intelligence. In these the gods took interest and wished to influence their development.
Once life had settled Chaos arose once more seeking to cause mischief. She walked the planet and where she met life she changed it, creating new life and new strange creatures.
Certain gods took advantage of this and decided to make changes of their own. In the lands that were to become Garaleyer one of the Gods known as Balor came down. He changed the forms of many men and women, warping them and making them grow. And as he did this their hearts twisted also becoming evil. A new race emerged and that race were the Formorions.

The Era of Myth and Legend

Much happened during this period. Too much to be fully detailed here and are further detailed in the tomes on myth and legend.
During this time in the Garaleyern lands Balor rose too power splitting away from the rest of the Gods he had been associated with and his Formorions ruled the four countries. The humans were slaves to the Formorions yet as the years grew on their ability to reason grew and they knew in their hearts that one day they would overthrow their masters. Eventually Celtic gods grew angry and decided it was time for Balor to go. Yet they had not known how strong he had grown and soon found war upon their hands. Eventually one of the younger gods, Lugh met Balor in combat and sent a spear through his eye. Balor was defeated and banished from the realm. The humans took advantage of this and overthrew the Formorions and started to set up new civilisations of their own.
The humans in all the lands started to worship the gods and the gods rewarded them for doing so. Humanity prospered and many great heroes emerged. Time went on for many centuries and all seemed well until the great cataclysm hit.
Unknown to many. Even the Gods up until now their were two other great realms. One of these contained powerful beings which came to be known as Demons and Devils. These beings came aware of the mortal realm and started to invade it. The gods feared the consequences of these incursions and for the first time in centuries the different factions came together to try and combat the threat. They combined their power and sent a great destructive force into the demon realm. The Demons and Devils were forced back and closed of their realm yet the backlash was greater than the Gods had expected and it flooded into the mortal realm. This caused a great cataclysm which devastated civilisations and killed many people.
Humankind had lost much of their knowledge and found themselves having to rebuild their civilisations. They found themselves alone in doing so for the Gods had departed to build up their power once more.

The Era of Mortals

The Age of Awakening
0-100 Human kind started to make advances and progressed from stone tools to metal ones and they began to make metal weapons.
101-252 The fairy folk emerged and made contact with human kind. At first all meetings went well but soon due to human jealousy and fairy ideas of superiority there was a great racial fall out and minor scuffles began.
253-358  The war began between the humans and the fairies. Humans started to loose all battles fought, their copper and bronze weapons being no match for fairy magic.
259  Iron was discovered and humans began experimenting with it.
260-290  Humans discovered fairies’ vulnerability to iron and started forging iron weapons. With their new weapons they started driving the fairies back and the most bloody period of the war began.
291  The fairies finally grew weary of battle and death and withdrew from Lastaria vowing never to return.
292-485  After the war the humans start to go back to the lives that they once had. There is much progress and people first started to  travel the waves discovering other lands. Contact was made with other nations and other cultures and languages were discovered.
486  The first signs of the Gods reemergence occurs and religion finds a footing in the lives of men and women once more. In Erland a great oak grows from a sapling to a full ancient tree in a matter of months. The tree bears many gold and silver leaves. In Ronayer a huge stone emerges from the ground. The stone is nothing that has ever been found before and is of a blood red colour. Engraved in it are many strange black runes. In other lands there are other strange things emerging yet none of which are as immense as what happened in Erland and Ronayer. The peoples of these lands and the surrounding lands start to worship these artifacts and soon holy men appear speaking of how the Gods that have placed these artifacts here as a centre of worship.
487-736  In many lands the holy men (now known as priests) call for a champion of their religion. In Erland, Weneth Isle, Sarek Isle and Irenand these champions are sought and when suitable men are found they are given great wealth and power and each is given a title for which the populace should call them, the title of King. The Royalty and then the nobility is established.  The most devout priests in all the nations suddenly gain the ability to perform miracles in the year 550.
 In 610 the first war between human nations erupts. The war is between Irenayer and Erland over the Isle of Carragar.
 Each nation claiming it to belong to themselves. In 612 Irenayer surrenders due to their not being able to perform their yearly holy ceremony at the great oak.
 In 650 the Ronics start to travel the oceans great distances and bring back details of strange lands and there peoples. These are not investigated again for many centuries.
 In 695 in the continent of Saradown a mysterious cataclysm struck sending it technologically back to before the use of bronze.
 In 733 the Arlof people attempted to invade Ronayer but were easily driven back.
 In 734 the Ronics retaliated taking the borders of Aladaer within a matter of months and soon started to spread throughout the land.
 In 736 the Ronics had completely defeated the Arlof armies and taken over the land. In Erland a mysterious man visited the King (King Aldin the First) claiming to be able to do miracles without the aid of the gods. The King
 automatically accused the stranger of blasphemy and had him arrested on the spot and to be executed at the first light of the new morning. When it came to the time of his execution the jailers found he had disappeared and the was a message scraped in the wall saying “Now is the Age of Magic”.

The Age of Magic    737-791
In 737 the Ronics with their new lust to conquer invaded the Sarek Isles taking over half of it only to find fierce resistance in the highlands.
 In 739 the Sarek King signed a treaty with the King of Erland stating that the two nations would not at any time go to war with each other and aid each other if war ever broke out with other nations. The next day Erland mobilised some of its forces to send off to the Sarek Isles to help against the Ronics.
 In 740 the Ronics still held out against the combined forces of Erland and the Sareks. Later on in the year there was a historic meeting as a Rune Priest and a cleric from the Order of the Oak made a brief meeting to discuss the current battle in the Sarek Isles. It was the first contact that the two religions had made.
 In 745 the social structure of Ronayer collapsed when many of its rulers started arguing on the control of the land. The peoples reverted into tribes and immediately started warring with each other. The country is still like this to this day.
 The Sareks and the Earlish took hold of this opportunity to smash the forces within the Sarek borders and massacred most of the Ronics there.
 Within Aladaer it was a different story, the Arlof took back their land peacefully and the Ronics that were left there were absorbed into the society.
 In 747 a group of Ronics landed on Earlish soil seeking revenge for what had happened to their people on the Sarek Isles. While the King was out hunting with his men the Ronics, of which there were seven, ambushed him and his men killing him and all his men, of which there were fourteen, without a single loss to their own. Many of the Earlish army were dispatched to hunt down and kill these men only to find them already dead with hideous burn marks all over them.
 The King’s son Aldin the Second took up the role of King and there were many cries for him to send his armies into Ronayer to seek revenge yet Aldin, who unlike his father was a good man, refused, not wanting another war on his hands.
 Between 747 and 791 was a time of peace.
791 Sightings of the almost forgotten fairies appeared in Garleyern lands.
 Scholars in the Isle of Caragar discovered a library hidden beneath the ground in a vast labyrinth of caves and discovered writings on the arts of magic. After many years researching the first mages would appear upon the lands.

The Age of Twilight    792-960
In 792 King Aldin the Second married off one of his granddaughters to King Vermont of Irenayers’s eldest son. This made a great bond between the two nations.
 In 793 King Aldin the Second started writing a book on what he perceived to be the true ways of how a warrior should act and behave.
 In 801 King Aldin the Second, who was by now a very ill man, called a meeting between the Kings of the Weneth Isle, The Isles of Sarek and Irenayer. After several days a treaty had been signed between all of the Kings to unite the Kingdoms as a small continent which was to be called the Garaleyern Isles.
 The year 802 saw the loss of one of Erland’s greatest kings. In the late evening of a early spring day King Aldin the Second, having written the last page of his book, died at the age of 86. It is said that when he died two
warriors dressed in strange armour, one all in black the other all in white, appeared next to the bed and after gently lifting him from his bed disappeared in the strange way that they had appeared.
 In between the year 803 and 959 nothing of import happened.
 960 saw the product of a union between man and fairy and before long the Elven race was born. And soon after other’s followed although they weren't all quite as fair as the Elven kind.

The Age of Night (The Dark Ages)    961-1254
During this age there is little known due to the destruction of many papers soon after this era.
What is known is that many of the demi human races emerged. First the Elves fair and kind while mysterious and radiant. Second were the dwarfs small and thin, cunning and dexterous. Third were the Goblins a ugly and malign race which soon split into many other’s and soon proved to be the bane of all other races. Also during this age a great castle was discovered in the mountains in the south west of Erland. Yet when men went back again to discover what lied within they found that it was no longer there.

The Age of War    1255-1399
In the year 1255 the first Holy War started between Erland and Aladaer. No one knows who or what started the war yet soon Irenand,the Weneth Isles and the Sarek Isles were pulled into the
 war on the side of Erland and many of the tribes of Ronayer united in war on the side of Aladaer.
 By 1261 the war raged on and both sides showed little sign of falter. By now the Ronics turned to Rune magic in hope of winning the war but no sooner had they done this had Erland  turned to the Mages on the Isle of Caragar to counter this new attack.
 Between 1262 and 1355 the war raged on both forces proving to be the equal of the other and each side ever learning and mastering the arts of war.
 In 1356 a strange event saw the end of the war. In the late Autumn an emissary of a unknown country called Kalsidier was sent to both Erland and Aladaer offering to aid each in the war against their opponents. Both alliances pondered upon this and it was soon discovered that this offer had been made to both and the emissary’s were soon turned down. In early winter a great mass of ships landed on the continent of Irdinia (Ronayer and Aladaer) and the armies were soon attacking with a force that neither alliances could believe. Although the Ronics and Arlof were good fighters they were exhausted by the war between the Garaleyern lands and soon found that they were getting driven back and losing their lands. After many discussions the Garaleyern alliance decided that they would give aid. But they didn't want to leave themselves vulnerable so they sent some of their forces to Aladaer to help against the Kalsidien armies while they sent their fleets to the Sarek coasts to help against the Ronics should they  still consider attacking the Garaleyern lands. With the combined armies of the Arlof, Earlish, Irenayern, Sarek and Weneth the Kalsidien’s soon found themselves on the retreat for the first time.
 By 1357 the Kalsidien was almost completely defeated but as it seemed that the war was about to end when a new enemy arose for the great mages of Kalsidier had summoned forth an army of supernatural beings to their aid and yet again the tides turned in the favour of the Kalsidien’s. All would have been lost if it had not been for the actions of the Ronics who decided to rejoin
 the battle and sent their armies into Aladaer which forced both armies into a mutual stand and also the actions of the Head of the Isle of Carragar (Garnar Theros) who was a great mage and soon he travelled up to the battle fields and used the forces of the elements against the Kalsidien’s and there great servants.
 The Kalsidien’s in their last attempt to conquer sent their whole forces against the new alliance yet Garnar interceded himself between the advancing army and brought forth a magic that had never been imagined to be possible and one great mass of energy he destroyed half the army sending the rest retreating back to their ships and to their country. When Garnar was looked for all they found was a blackened husk for Garnar had sacrificed himself for the alliance calling upon magic that he could not take the strain of. Garner was succeeded by Alastar Gellenduin that very year and brought the school to be a formidable power and a great place of learning. Under his school many new Mages appeared and over the coming years just about every county in Erland came to have at least one Mage.
 In 1397 a second holy war occurred between Erland and Aladaer but the by 1399 the Earlish had won due to their more advanced naval tactics.

The Golden Age    1400-Now
The Reign of Virtue     1400-1600
This is the age where new hopes have started and great advances are made.
In 1487 King Aldin II book is found on the Isle of Caragar and soon many lords admire the ethics it preaches and soon it fell into the King of Erland’s hands and he decreed that a order of warriors should be formed who follow the books strictures and defend the crown. And soon the Order of Knights is formed and set example to all warriors how the virtuous ways should be followed.
The Reign of Heroes
1601-1689 The year 1659 is a year of great significance. King Urath 1st died due to a heart attack though many believed foul play. His son Prince Aldin was kidnapped but a young Knight by the name of Sir Hagor Barrafield managed to rescue him. Many heroes and villains rose after this period and great rivalries occurred. Baron Carathway Verningdale and Corack Fellings a pirate of ill repute waged many battles but the elusive pirate escaped him every time. A great evil which had grown over the last few centuries known as the Necromancer began his plans to seize a great hold on power but was confronted by a hardy group of adventurers which included Baron Verningdale, Lady Lucinda Conway cousin to the King a powerful Enchantress and Feadin Gaodarin a strange ambassador from Ireneyer and some believe to be an Elf. After a great and bloody battle the Necromancer lay dead but so to did several members of the adventuring party. During the battle the Necromancer’s apprentice Allister the Black managed to escape and would one day rise up to be a great power himself.
 During this time Sir Hagor Barrafield overcame some evils of
 his own, first of all taking on the Demon Knight Akrial from which he gained a great injury and then days later whilst still injured he had to take on a fairy Knight Luthian. He overcame the foe but his injuries were great and he lapsed into a coma.
 The year 1660 saw Sir Hagor come out of his coma and once again take up his duties as protector of Erland.
 1663 saw a minor war. Erlands southern coasts were raided on several occasions by unknown enemies. (Now known to be the Navy of the country of Varaer). Erland, when it discovered the cause of the raids and Varaer’s greater navy waiting to make a full attack declared war and sent out its considerable fleet to engage the enemy fleets. During the many skirmishes the Admiral of the Earlish fleets Simon Reece Werningdale was slain and the responsibility for the fleet fell upon the shoulders of his second Baron Verningdale. Baron Verningdale’s instinct for battle soon turned the tides and
 the enemy retreated. The Baron was elevated to the title of Duke for his great services.
 In 1664 Sir Hagor Barrafield defeated a raiding party from Ronayer which had been attacking many villages in his Dukedom. What is notable is that he did it alone.
 In 1667 a vampire known as Zeglar who was a member of the Dark Circle of Seven used a great ritual and brought under his control the county of Sendavar. All of the people of Sendavar became fiercely loyal to him and the King did not want to send his armies against them as he did not want innocent blood spilt. Sir Hagor and Lady Lucinda agreed to attempt to overthrow Zeglar and after finding a way into his castle they fought through many minions of the Unlife before eventually defeating Zeglar. Zeglar however managed to turn to mist form and escape. He was not seen again after that.
 Duke Verningdale joined up once again with his old ally Feadin in 1671 and together they brought to justice the master thief known as the Black Rose.
 In 1673 Sir Conrad managed to cause a revolution in Weneth uniting seven clans against the King. Sir Hagor travelled to Weneth and with the aid of Bryn Llwellin he defeated Sir Conrad and six of of his Knights. Without Sir Conrad's leadership the clans soon fell to bickering among themselves and the country was saved from civil war.
 In 1674 Sir Hagor retired from his service to the land after his wife died in childbirth.
 1678 saw the death of the great witch Ness. She was the last of the true Witches but before she died she predicted that in the future another girl would arise and learn once more the ways of Witchcraft.
 A scholar in Irenayer claimed to find the tomb of CuChulain the legendary hero from the age before history began in 1681. He however refused to reveal the exact whereabouts.
 The King called Sir Hagor back to service in 1682 to help bring order to some of the Knights in the Kings court. That same year he finally managed to confront Sir Conrad fully after he realised that it was Sir Conrad who had caused the unrest with the Knights. The two Knights duelled for three days neither giving ground before Sir Hagor eventually managed to gain the upper ground and forced Sir Conrad to yield and on his honour swear never to cause mischief ever again.
 In 1685 Feadin Gaodarin who had been recalled to Ireneyer five years back volunteered to travel to the fairy lands after a powerful conjurer had discovered a way to open a portal to the realm. Feadin has not yet returned.
 Duke Verningdale took up battle once again in 1688 with his old enemy Captain Corack Fellings who’s fleet has grown considerably in size. The battles were fierce and the Duke managed to to destroy many of the Crimson Tides ships sending the pirate King and his fleet into hiding. 1688 also saw a new wave of heroes and villains to the lands. A group formed during this year known as Jacob and His Hooded Men which was founded by Jacob the Pathfinder, Lady Brionne of Farrel Keep and Rhudolph Keane. They formed to oppose the tyrannical Baron Mervin Bowers and the Head of his Forces Sir Stephen of Shallowdale. Another group that came to fame in 1688 was a group known as the Wraiths an outlaw band known as Ben Durn and Nessan Harvey who came to be known as two of the most famous rogues ever along side the likes of Jason Cruelhart who also came to fame that year and the Black Rose of years past.
 Baron Mervin Bowers was finally overcome by Jacob and his Hooded Men in 1689 and he died by Eltar Fireblade (a member of the Hooded Men) sword after attacking Jacob. That same year Lady Brionne married the now Baron of Shallowdale and former enemy Sir Stephen and after the disbanding of the Hooded Men (who had been pardoned) she set up her own group  of adventurers known as the Shields of Shallowdale. The Shields did many great deeds over their short span such as defeating a Wyrm, overcoming an attempt by a Demon to forge a portal into this realm from its own and having a part in the capturing of the Wraiths. All this came to an end later in the year when they confronted a band of mysterious Knights known simply as the Black Knights. All of the Shields were slain in that encounter bar Brionne herself who barely escaped with her life. The year also saw the come back of Sir Conrad the Red who gathered together many Knights in an attempt to slay Sir Hagor. Sir Hagor however with the aid of Sir Christopher Darkmoor, Sir Edward Peers and a group of passing adventurers managed to defeat the rogue Knight. Sir Conrad like times of old managed to escape. Alastar Gellenduin passed away this year being the longest serving Head of the School since its founding. At the time it was believed that he was murdered by Allister the Black but in later years it was realised that this was not the case. The murderer was never found.
 
The Reign of Shadow    1690-1715
In the year 1690 Kalsidier with its allies from the Continent of Saradown attacked Garaleyer. The war came to be known as the Tempest.
 The first major war in over 90 years had begun of the north-east coast of Erland in the late evening hours on the 38th of Oak. It happened suddenly with many ships coming out of a fog bank and bearing down upon the Earlish patrol ships. It is said that when Admiral Verningdale who was currently playing darts with Admiral Canning was told the news he merely replied ‘Come back to me in 15 minutes so that I may finish my game, then I shall deal with the problem.’ A promise that the Duke fulfilled. Once he finished all the ships were launched led by the Admirals ship the Blackbird and proceeded to engage the enemies ships. After many hours of naval battles the enemy retreated all though the victory was a shallow one for many Earlish men lost their lives that night. When Admiral Verningdale was asked how he accomplished such a victory he made this report.
 “We knew that the enemy  would expect us to use  are great fleet to attempt to overpower their forces with our sheer numbers and powerful warships. This however is not the way we did things. We sent several of our big ships to engage theirs and act as a distraction whilst we brought in several of our smaller boats loaded with gunpowder along side their vessels and blew them sky high. It was only then that we brought in the rest of the fleet to battle the rest of their ships.”
 The Irenayern, Weneth and the Sareks soon came to the aid of the Earlish and the war seemed to be going very much in the Allies favour then disaster struck. A new enemy attacked. The Sparesions, Istonions and Farene soon joined the fray attacking Weneth first. Weneth was soon overrun as the attack was completely unexpected and most of their warriors were fighting with the Earlish against the Kalsidiens. Now using the Weneth Isle as a base of operations they soon invaded Irenayern before it could bring too many of its soldiers back to defend it. They would have no doubt  swept over the entire country had it not been for the actions of one man. Colm Murphy a retired army Captain managed to gather together a ragtag army made up of retired soldiers, mercenaries, warriors and peasants and with this unlikely army they halted the combined Saradown forces from the advance. By the time the Saradown forces managed to prepare a full and proper strike on Colms army the proper Irenayern had returned and after much fighting both armies remained in their original positions neither giving ground.
Sir Hagor Barrafield had been made the Field Marshal of the Earlish armies and been working closely with his old friend and Admiral of the Earlish fleets Duke Verningdale to try and find answers to the Kalsidien problem.Sir Stephen of Shallowdale has proved himself a great hero of the war. Many Kalsidien’s managed to finally break through the Earlish fleets and and land on Earlish soil. When the reports of the landings came through Sir Stephen and his army were the only troops nearby. He quickly acted and engaged the Kalsidien armies and although greatly outnumbered by ten to one he managed to turn the tides and send the Kalsidiens on their way although the loss to his army was great and he personally gained some serious wounds. When asked how he managed to gain such a great victory he made this reply. “I learned a great deal when I had been combating Jacob and his Hooded Men. I used the terrain against them using the nearby forest to full advantage and setting up many traps and ambushes. I hope Brionne and Jacob are proud.” This battle soon came to be known as the Battle of Muldayer Woods.
 Not all was good news to Sir Stephen how ever. Many of Saradown forces landed on Earlish shores about a week later and quickly took the counties of Kern and Thurnington. This meant that if they intend to advance further that Shallowdale will be next in line. Sir Hagor quickly sent Sir Stephen and his army back to Shallowdale to prepare its defences. Sir Hagor also sent another two armies under Sir Stephens command to help with the defence.
 With the pressure now quite heavily on Irenayer it was looking as if their armies may soon be overcome. King James III of the Sarek Isles brought his armies out of the Earlish front line and transferred them to Irenayer to help them with their struggle leaving the Earlish in a precarious state.
 The Earlish who were now fighting a war on two fronts with very little in the way of allies since the fall of Weneth and with the Sarek and Irenayern caught up in their struggle to repel the Saradown invaders from Irenayer decided to turn to the Continent of Irdinia in asking for aid though it was not forthcoming. Ronayer was too factionalised and Aladaer was on the verge of having a small war break out within its Baronies. It was in these dark times that the countries celebrated the new year.
 In early Autumn 1691 the war finally ended after a long bloody year of battles. The the loss was great. Erland mourned the loss of their King who died valiantly in battle against the Kalsidiens. The mourning for the loss of the King was great. But it was even greater for the great hero of Erland, Sir Hagor Barrafield.
 Irenayer had fell. The rag tag army left to defend it finally wavered and fell despite the reinforcements from many of the Sarek Clans. The Saradown forces having now secured the Western lands turned their attention to Erland. Their forces started to advance through Farrel Forest until they eventually came to the County of Salloway, home of Sir Stephen and Lady Brionne. Sir Stephen, who had returned to his County with reinforcements had built up three defences around his castle in the forms of great walls. Soon the armies reached these walls and demanded Sir Stephen’s surrender. He refused and battle ensued. It took the Saradown forces only several hours to breach the first wall sending the Earlish armies back to the secondary defences. It was there that Sir Stephen’s forces made their stand and very little progress was made by either side. And so it remained for several days. On the third day the enemy  made their push once again and broke through the second defence and the push was so great that no doubt it would have broken through the last line of defence had it not been for several factors. There are reports of may Elven Archers taking their place on the battlements and with great speed and aim they slew many of the enemy. Also many of Erlands renowned heroes  aided the armies. Eltar Fireblade led one of the divisions and gained several victories. Their was also a dark robed priest who channelled the powers of the gods to bring great misfortune upon the enemy, he unfortunately fell in the battle facing a powerful Mage. Soon the battle had come to a stand still and a parley was made. The enemy withdrew knowing that reinforcements had been
 sent to Sir Stephens aid and a beacon of hope shone for Erland.
 It was several weeks later as summer became Autumn that the Earlish fleets exhausted had to retreat from the Kalsidiens and it was now up to the armies to bring victory.  The Kalsidiens landed on the Earlish shore on the 6th of Rowen, Morrigan’s day and both sides prepared for the bloody battle that lay ahead. At three o’clock in the morning their forces attacked sweeping across the battlefields only to be met by the adamant Earlish armies. The battles took place on three sights, on the first sight the Earlish armies were led by Sir Hagor Barrafield, the second sight by King Aldin III and the third by Sir Edward Peers. The first battle went well with many of the mages from the School of Magic being brought forth to counter the magics of the Kalsidiens. Later on after the battle the bodies of the Mages who had fell were found  grotesque, twisted and burnt beyond recognition.
 The second battle took place later at one in the afternoon. Things did not go at all well and Erland suffered many losses. Sir Edwards army suffered the most and had to retire from the field.  The remainder of his army joined Sir Hagor’s which now had to spread out in order to counter two attacking forces.  As night drew in and the battles quieted down there was a sense of dread about the Earlish camp.  A new morning saw the battles start afresh.  For a while Sir Hagor's forces felt victory was at hand when they pushed the Kalsidiens back.  Too late however did they realise that the enemies were joining the second battle, where our king fought.  Before Sir Hagor's army could give aid a new enemy arose.  A black mist flowed in from the sea and onto the battlefield.  And from this mist came many dark forms.  These were no ordinary mortals.  They were demons and undead summoned up by the Kalsidiens dark wizards.  While Sir Hagor's army was kept at bay, the Kalsidiens made a huge push against the King.  The King ordered the retreat but soon found himself surrounded.  His personal guard fought bravely but were soon overwhelmed.  The King lost his life that day, having slain many of the enemy.  As the menacing new army advanced, three figures stood in its way. Each of them raised a sword and a bright white fire leapt from each blade, pummelling into the dark armies and destroying many.  The enemy retreated back to the beaches, leaving the Earlish to regroup.  It was later discovered that these swords were the swords of flame, last used together during the first Kalsidien war. Two of the swordsmen were Sir Stephen of Shallowdale and Eltar Fireblade. The third swordsman is unknown. Three hours of quiet followed. The Earlish armies were ready for a counter strike when Sir Hagor ordered a delay. He put Sir Edward in command of the armies and travelled off on his warhorse, giving no explanation. No sooner had he left when the ground began to shake. The sea began to froth and boil and great waves hit land and it was at that point that a great and terrible beast arose from the sea.  It was hundreds of feet tall, a black flaming humanoid figure with large horns protruding from his head and long sharp talons. The Demon started to wade towards land sending a wash of fear through all that laid eyes on it. Suddenly a huge white creature appeared before it .The creature was out of legends.  It was what no-one believed truly existed. It was a creature that represented all hopes and dreams. It was a great White Dragon. Many Balrog's appeared around the Demon as the two great figures engaged. The battle lasted for over an hour, with each landing many blows. When the Demon would send forth its black flames, the Dragon would respond with its white flames. Towards the end of the battle the Demon brought both of his claws down into the back of the Dragon, causing a mortal wound. The Dragon responded, biting deep into the Demons body, and simultaneously summoning up its white flames, consuming the Demon utterly.  The Dragon then gathered up the last remnants of its strength and took to the sky where it hovered for a minute before slowly fading away.
 The war was finally over. The Kalsidiens were retreating. Later, Sir Hagor's body was found on the beach, surrounded by several Balrog corpses. Erlands greatest son was dead. Yet he had died as he had lived, a hero.
 Later on it came to be known that Sir Hagor was in fact the Earlish Dragon and therefore Erland itself having taken on human form.
 The year 1690 also saw the Wiccam Wanderers come to fame and they undertook many great deeds in the name of a good cause.
 In 1691 over all reported areas of the core clerics and priests started losing their granted miracles and powers. The churches quickly stamped down on rumours that the Gods were abandoning the people. The only church’s to escape this were the church’s of Math Mathonwy and Herne.
 1691 also saw more troubled times. civil war broke out in three countries.
 In Aladaer several of the Baronies waged war upon each other. It first flared up in 1689 between Dunloon, Benerm and Undarn. This year saw it flaring up once more with several more Baronies getting involved.
 In Erland perhaps the biggest unrest of the three countries erupted. A country that had been stable and united since the Age of Night now found many of its Nobility rebelling against the King.
 The King had gained a strange advisor known as Galin the Arcane, an Elf of which very little was known.
 King Urath who had only recently been crowned imposed heavy taxes upon the counties in an attempt to recover the economy after the Tempest War. This invoked great anger among many county rulers who demanded the King reduce the taxes. The King however refused. The Earl Werningdale backed by several other county rulers made a final demand for the taxes to be reduced and for fair play to be imposed. This rejected they declared war.
 What was most strange in the war was the allegiance of Duke Arthur Barrafield. Both the King’s and Arthur Barrafield’s fathers were the closest of friends and the Barrafield family has been allied with the Royal family for many generations. The power of Barrafield made the war a dangerous one indeed.
 The civil war was a new shock to a country that was still recovering from an attempted invasion.
 Also in 1691 the School of Magic cracked down on users of Magic that are not within the school. They invoked ancient laws to back them in these matters and they raided several of  both Erland’s and Irenayer’s Bard Guilds confiscating magical tomes, scrolls and components.
 And the Church of Math Mathonwy declared itself independent from the Holy Order of the Oak to the great surprise and astonishment of the other churches within it.
 In 1692 the war in Erland raged on with little hope of ending any time soon. More counties joined the fray on both the Kings and Werningdale’s side. Battles raged on many borders. One of the most important borders was that of the Kenth and Barrafield border where where Sir Edward Peers fought to hold of Barrafield's mighty army. It would have all been quickly over if Sir Stephen had interceded on Barrafield's behalf but he refused to do so and Sir Edward held his ground.
 The Sarek Isles saw its own troubles as several of the clans made war against the King. The main contention was between the Royal line and the McGovern Clan but soon other clans were joining the fray.
 Later that year in Erland it was discovered that Werningdale had backing from the country of Varaer and they had several hundred of their own men stationed in his county. It was after a gallant espionage mission performed by the Wiccam Wanderers that this information was found.
 With this backing Werningdale decided to make his move sending his army into Marsa which had recently joined the King. The King sent several platoon’s to aid Marsa but it soon fell with only a very amateur local militia to
 fend off an army.Werningdale continued his march into Tempshire where he met greater resistance. By now Werningdale's war machines had caught up and the King knew that Tempshire would not last long. The King send to the capital for the black powder reserves to be brought town to his castle.
 Meanwhile in the North the war gathered momentum. Shallowdale was now openly at war with Kenth while Barrafield had taken Merrydown and was moving down to Darkmoor. Darkmoor and Barrafield’s forces met with a fury not often seen and although Barrafield had the greater forces Darkmoor had the greater experience and stalemate was met. Sir Christopher Darkmoor and Arthur Barrafield met on the battlefield and engaged in combat. They battled long but in the end Sir Christopher won forcing Sir Arthur to concede the battle and withdraw back to Merrydown. Finally Werningdale broke through to the King’s Castle and laid siege. The battle was long and bloody with great damage done to the castle from Werningdale’s siege engines. During the battle news came through that Sir Stephen had switched sides and this drove the Kings side on with new hope. Eventually the King made a risky decision and decided to ride out to battle rather than be besieged. The battle was bloody and could have gone either way at any time. Eventually the King spotted Werningdale and forced his way over. The fought each other with a mix of skill and rage but eventually the King took Werningdale’s head with a swoosh of his sword and raised it up in the air for all to see.
 Werningdale’s side retreated, with this and Barrafield being kept at bay in Merrydown the rest of the rebellion conceded defeat and all hostilities halted.
 The foreigners were expelled from Earlish shores and the combined armies of Darkmoor, Kenth and Shallowdale took back Merrydown and forced Barrafield to sign a peace treaty.
 1693 seemed like it would be a good year for Erland. The King of Erland had married and his Queen was soon pregnant with his child. The Earlish economy was recovering and the King was meeting his promise to the Nobility to lower the taxes.
 In Sarek the civil war was resolved. The Sarek King was defeated but the clans would not tolerate his removal from power. Instead he was forced to grant more powers to the separate clans.
 In Autumn Erland was struck another terrible blow. The Queen had given birth to a son and great celebrations were held throughout the country. Only a month later whilst hunting the King and Queen were ambushed by men who had been loyal to Werningdale and slain without mercy. At the same time their Son went missing from the castle and it was feared he too had been killed. Galin also was no-where to be found.
 The Earlish council took the reigns of power and appointed a Steward as no other heir could be found.
 The country was in mourning. They had lost two Kings in as many years.
 Later that year saw the reemergence of Rhudolph Keane leading to speculation that either he had returned from the dead, or he had never actually been dead and either on a spiritual mission or on a mission for his country.
 The loss of Priestly powers stopped late in the year leaving only around a tenth of their number still with power. In a unprecedented move members of all four of the major religions of the core met up in Varaer to discuss the events. After a month of deliberations they made a joint statement.
 “After many days spent in discussion and through contacting our Gods we now acknowledge that none of the four religions are responsibly for the loss of powers of the others. The need for each and every Cleric, Druid, Godi and Priest to have access to miracles is a vacant need and thus we believe the Gods have chosen to allow only those of high station within the religions and of specific need to have access to these powers.”
 This was the first time high ranking members of all four churches met in one location.
 In 1694 Kalabane was found. Kalabane went missing when the King was murdered and it was now found embedded in a strange anvil in the same forest where the King had died. The anvil bore ancient ogham writings that marked it as the anvil of Goibhniu. Any attempt to move the anvil failed. Likewise any attempt to remove the sword from the anvil was in vain.
 Later in the year a new religion emerged in Garaleyer. The worship of Brennon was soon taken up by many Knights and warriors. After consulting many of the ancient tomes Clerics of the Oak discovered Brennon was a ancient God believed to have been killed whilst single handedly combating Balor during the great war against the Formorions thousands of years ago. It now seemed Brennon had not been slain and had been recovering from his wounds all this time. A now stronger more powerful deity announced himself to the world and those that followed him spoke of him standing for Justice, Chivalry and Honour. After long discussions the growing church of Brennon was invited to join the Pantheon of the Oak and they agreed to do so.
 The Black Rose came to fame once again in 1695. It had been thought that he had died ten year earlier rescuing Princess Maya of Irenayer from a fire but rumours that he was now active again were confirmed when he stole one of Lady Lucinda Conway’s Tiara’a whilst she was at the theatre.
 In 1697 an entire church of Arawn was destroyed and all of its Priests slain by the being known as the Shadow Rider. In the next few weeks he attacked and killed several other members of the Church of Arawn throughout Garaleyer. The church declared a one hundred thousand common bounty for the capture of the Shadow Rider.
 In 1688 the Crimson Tides made raids with renewed vigour. They robbed many merchant and transport vessels and devastated many harbours. Their attacks were made all throughout Garaleyer and even spread to Irdinia. In the Autumn they made a fierce attack against the city of Salloway catching the Earlish fleet in port. They captured many warships and stole from the Earlish Navy gold worth an estimated one million commons. As they left they used black powder cannons to bombard the military port causing incredible damage.
 In 1699 Duke Verningdale stepped up his campaign against the Crimson Tides. After enlisting the help of the School of Magic all magical aid the Crimson Tides had was cut off. Duke Verningdale negotiated with Irenayer, Weneth and Sarek for one eighth of each of their Navy to be put at his disposal whilst he undertook the task of hunting down the Crimson Tides. This added to the one quarter of the Earlish Navy he had already allocated to the task, the Crimson Tides soon found themselves on the retreat.
 Within a few months most of the Crimson Tides bases had been destroyed and Duke Verningdale had located their main base of operations. It was a warm sunny day when the Navy made their attack. They sent thirty warships to attack the Crimson Tides at their Island base off the western coast of Erland. But Corack Fellings was ready having been informed of the attack. Having recalled all of his ships they laid in wait for the Navy.
 The battle which followed was intense. Both sides engaged with savage ferocity and using a combination of ballistic, fire and magic many ships were sunk in the first twenty minutes. Duke Verningdale spotted Corack Fellings ship and moved to engage. Pulling along side both ships used their considerable cannons and great damage was inflicted to both vessels. The Duke and his men boarded Coracks ship and melee ensued. Carathway Verningdale met Corack Fellings in battle and they fought each other with incredible hatred and skill. They fought with scimitar for over fifteen minutes before both managed to disarm each other. They locked their hands around each other throats and the last that was seen of either men were of them toppling over board in each other’s grasp.
 The Crimson Tides lazed defeated but both sides had great losses. The Crimson Tides had been the largest pirate fleet ever seen and it was doubtful a pirate fleet of that size would be seen again.
 The civil war which had lazed dormant in Aladaer for several years once again flared up in 1700. Many more Baronies got involved this year and a great movement for reform in the country was called for. Warlock Waric Dunloon who had returned to rule his Barony two years hence was set upon by several Knights whilst patrolling his borders but he managed to fend off all of the attackers. Later that week several baronies declared war upon Dunloon. This act forced the King to step in declaring the acts of war as illegal. In defending Dunloon the King soon found himself under attack and civil war broke out throughout the country.
 The King called upon his alliance with Ronayer and asked for them to send troops on his behalf. Ronayer agreed only to ten platoons.
 In 1701 the King of Aladaer found most of the Baronies now against him. In a last ditch attempt he attacked Benerm but was killed in the battle. The war had ended and after several months debate among the Baronies rulers they decided to allow the former Kings son to Rule the country as long as new Baronies were created and greater power given to the Rulers.
 In 1704 Ronayer and Aladaer both fund a joint charter to explore the entire core. The specially commissioned ships to do so travelled the whole length and breadth of the core over the next few years and created many new more accurate maps.
 Inspired by the successful voyage five years earlier in 1709 Ronayer seeked to explore beyond the core. Aladaer however were uninterested so the Ronayer approached Erland. Erland agreed to back the expedition and later that year five ships crewed by both Earlish and Ronic sailors set off. They were last seen on the edge of the known world.
 In 1710 a attack on Farrel castle was made by Formorions. great damage was done in the surprise attack and Lady Brionne disappeared after fending off several Formorion warriors. The attack was eventually repelled.
 After the attack Sir Stephen of Shallowdale investigated the attack and discovered the imminent return of Balor and his attempt to weaken the country. Gathering together Jacob the Pathfinder, Eltar Fireblade and a mysterious Redcloack they discovered one of Balor's stronghold and that it contained within it a sacred artifact which would be used to destroy Kalabane. The four men fought valiantly killing many of Balor's minions but fell when they met the avatar of Balor himself. They did not lose their lives in vain however disrupting Balor's ritual long enough for it to fail and ensuring the safety of Kalabane.
 In 1713 Balor fully returned to power and became a greater danger to Garaleyer. Many of his worshippers found themselves with granted powers and secret churches sprang up among the lands.
 A group of heroes fronted by a young warrior known as Sir Erlmarc vowed to destroy Vampirism in 1714. Sir Erlmarc, Lady Evina and later in the year Lady Teleri, the daughter of Sir Stephen and Lady Brionne were the main three fighting against the Vampire plague but other members came and went..
 In 1715 Sir Conrad who had by now greatly reformed his character fell in battle. He single handidly fought the Avatar of Balor and thirteen Formorion Warriors. After killing all of the Formorions he eventually fell against Balor, but not before sending the Avatar back from whence he came.
The summer of that year was a great one for Erland. A young man called Aynon drew the sword Kalabane from the anvil and claimed the Kingship of Erland. He also claimed to be the son of Urath and rightful heir. Most rulers accepted his claim but a small faction in the council and Duke Arthur Barrafield disputed it and lazed siege to Duke Christopher Darkmoor’s castle where Aynon was staying under the Duke’s protection.
 For a second time Sir Christopher met Sir Arthur in a long and bloody single combat and once again bested him forcing him to retreat from the field.
 Aynon’s claim was accepted and he was crowned in Castle Tarey the following week.
 One of his first acts as King was to Knight Sir Erlmarc who had actively spoken on Aynon’s behalf.
 In winter of 1715 a powerful Vampire known as the Patriarch returned. Sir Erlmarc, Lady Evina and Lady Teleri who had succeeded in destroying over a hundred Vampires prepared to battle the Patriarch.
 The Patriarch dominated the city of Vordurn casting it into a deep mist and he personally destroyed all the members of the School of Magic within Vordurn. The three heroes, Rackume Deepshadow, the Shadowrider and and strange magician-warrior all entered Vordurn and battled their way to the School of magic. Once inside it is said they were backed by the magic of Allister the Black who suppressed the Patriarch’s powers. When they met up with him they battled long and hard and many of their number fell. Eventually he was defeated and the remaining Vampires cast into chaos.

The Reign of Hope    1716-Now
The young Knight Sir Richard Hawkings came to fame in 1716 and performed many great deed that year. The greatest deed he performed was to Single handidly slay a Wyrm which had awoken and terrorised local villages in the North-East of the country.
 In 1717 King Aynon journeyed to Saradown in a attempt to improve diplomatic ties with the northern countries there. His meeting with their rulers was considered a success and new trade routes were agreed upon.
 Also in 1717 the church of Math Mathonwy rejoined the Holy Order of the Oak after leaving twenty six years earlier. It was a surprise move and it was still unclear as to why they left the Oak in the first place.
 1719 saw the School of magic expanding the influence. After talks with countries in Saradown and Ronayer and Aladaer it was agreed to allow them to have a small School in each of the countries on a trial basis. If successful the school could expand throughout each of the countries.