THE ORIGINS OF Gallantria
lie in the final days of the Empire of Nerath. During that time, in
the year of 1983 A.C., Nerath was ruled by the young Julianos IV, a
vain and foolish man, infamous for the volatile blend of his short
temper and limited intelligence. Against the advise of his lords, he
began a campaign of rapid expansion, pushing the empire deep into
Turmish. So began a summer of defeat. With the Nerathi forces spread
thin and unfit for the heat of the south, the Turmishmen massacred
whole armies, but Emperor Julianos in his arrogance pushed on the
attack. With the coffers drained back home in the heartlands of the
empire, and many provinces rebelling with little resistance, the
lords of Nerath grew impatient of the Emperor's folly. While most
were content to grumble in their estates, there was one lord who
decided to take action. Lord Farengar Gaunt, a great fighter and
close friend to Julianos' father, marched on the capital. He amassed
his most loyal knights, among which were four of his fellow
conspirators: Morgana Huntsilver, Rhen Tavinter, Tristen Lachance and
Castegen Lhal. With little resistance they pushed their way into the
throneroom of Crownkeep, the ancient high seat of Nerathi royalty,
where they encountered eight members of the royal family gathered
aroud the throne.
It is unknown who
fired the bolt into the infant prince's forehead, but ballads claim
it was either Tristen Lachance or Morgana Huntsilver who pierced the
lad to the back of the great throne. With that act of bloodshed all
the hells broke loose, and before long all eight members of the royal
house lay massacred on the stone floors, and Farengar Gaunt took his
seat as the new ruler of Nerath. In the following days they built up
an army to prepare for the coming civil war, but it was not to be.
News soon came to the keep that Emperor Julianos had been killed by
Turmish outriders, and province by province of the Nerathi empire
began to fell. Farengar used his new army to hold back a myriad of
invaders from the heartlands in a nine year war that came to be known
as the War of the Bloodied King. With the empire collapsed into ruin,
Farengar consolidated his power by giving each of his friends a
corner of the heartlands each, naming them Dukes. With the very crown
of Nerath liberated from the Crownkeep throneroom, he named himself
king, officially announcing the destruction of Nerath and the birth
of a new kingdom within the borders of the heartlands: a kingdom he
named Gallantria.
For fourteen more
years King Farengar ruled, until succombing to sickness in his
seventy-third year of life. His son Orthan was crowned soon after,
known by history as Orthan the Builder, due to his great work
constructing the city of Royal Lendle around Crownkeep. He also
raised much gold and funded the building of magnificant cities for
his Dukes, and Brugge, Hustings, Suzail and Gilleon were built. He
also built the watchtowers of Arn Ferrig and Mac Tyr to protect the
borders. His last work, well into his halycon days, was the huge
castle of Nilfheim in the northeast of the kingdom.
Nilfheim was a
castle to match Crownkeep itself in grandeur. Orthan's son, King
Parsifal, garrisoned many troops there in order to extend Gallantria
deep into the Pagan Plains. But Parsifal was doomed to follow Emperor
Julianos in his folly. The Gallantrian army met a huge orc force in
the Dawnforge mountains, and was routed back to Nilfheim itself.
Within a week of hard siege, the orcish horde has taken the castle.
To this day no Gallantrian force has ever taken back Nilfhiem, and
over the decades many fell powers have made it their lair. The castle
now is a deadly dungeon, a grim reminder of the horrors that lie just
over the Gallantrian border.
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