History – Nod (5) - MIT

[Pages:4]History ? Nod (5)

There have been four major events that delineate the history of this portion of the world. The first was the discovery of this continent by elvish explorers who crossed the Endless Ocean 500 years into the Third Age, the second was the discovery of massive mineral deposits by explorers from the Empire of Fnod one thousand years later, the third was the successful rebellion of the mining colony and subsequent formation of the Empire of Nod, and the last was the destruction of the Empire of Nod around one thousand years ago.

1 Calendars

A number of different calendar numbering schemes have been in use over the ages, but only a few survive. The dominant calendar in use by scholars and historians on the new continent dates from the initial, accidental discovery of that continent by Eldar explorers 500 years after the start of the Third Age.

The year is 364 days long, and is divided into 12 30-day months and four one-day holidays. The holidays fall on the winter solstice, spring equinox, summer solstice, and fall equinox, and are the first days of their respective seasons. All of the Children of Ilu?vatar celebrate these four holidays, each in their own fashions.

The lunar cycle is 30 days long, and is synchronized with the months ? the moon is always new on the 1st and 30th of the month, and full around the 15th. The moon is always full on the summer solstice, new on the winter solstice, and is reasonably unpredictable on the equinoxes.

Most elves tend to celebrate the winter solstice as a day of remembrance and celebration. The stars tend to appear unusually close and bright on the longest night of the year, and the sky is almost always crystal clear. An overcast on the night of the winter solstice is seen as a Bad Sign for the coming year, a sign of fire falling out of the skies, great plagues, earthquakes, and war. The rising of the Sun on the winter solstice marks the beginning of the new year in most elven calendars.

Many human cultures view the winter solstice as a night when the protection of the Sun is far away, and the forces of Darkness are strongest. It is often marked with blazing torches and watch-fires, and most of those who can leave lanterns burning all night.

Conversely, elves (especially the older elves) view the summer solstice, when the Sun is high all day and the Moon full all night, as a reminder of their fading strength under the bright light of the Sun, and the coming of the Time of Man.

Human cultures tend to view the summer solstice as a day of celebration and safety from the Darkness. The rising of the Sun on the day of the summer solstice is the start of the new year in most human calendars.

2 Discovery

Around six thousand years ago, a small faction of Eldar built a mighty fleet and crossed the Great Sea of the East in search of a new path to Valinor to replace the Straight Path

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that was denied to them by the Doom of the Noldor. Instead of Valinor, they discovered the continent on which this campaign is currently based. This event is now considered year zero (0 NC).

This new continent was apparently only populated by barbaric human tribesmen and two newly-awakened Houses of Dwarves in the mountain range to the north. The elves sent back word of their discovery to the Old Continent, gave up on their quest, and proceeded to settle in a great forest in the center of the continent, far from the overcrowding and strife of the land they departed.

As time passed, more of the Noldor and Sindar joined their kin here, and several of the realms of Men sent exploration teams as well. However, due to the vast distances involved and the high risk of losing entire convoys to the massive storms generated in the heart of the ocean, their numbers remained small.

3 Colonization and Rebellion

A thousand years passed. . . Human explorers from the Empire of Fnod, a major naval power in the Old Continent,

found rich metal deposits in the unoccupied mountains between the two dwarven kingdoms, and the massive colonization of this continent began. A port city grew up around the cove where the elven fleets and the first of the fleets of men landed, and was named after the first king of all the Noldor upon Middle-Earth.

Tens of thousands of lives were lost over the next hundred years as entire fleets of poorlyequipped ships sunk into the icy depths. Fewer than one ship in twenty survived the crossing until 1100 NC, when researchers in the Mages Guild started enchanting sealed barges with renewable air supplies and bound water elementals for locomotion. A massive "gold rush" begins. By 1150, the Empire of Fnod had secured and colonized the region surrounding the waterway from the mines to the ocean and had begun regular metal shipments back across the ocean.

Over the next 1400 years, the mines expanded deeper and deeper into the mountains, and the farming and manufacturing infrastructure to support the mines had grown into a heavily populated nation-state. Fnod waged a series of inconclusive wars over the course of hundreds of years against the Dwarven neighboring kingdoms in attempts to expand into their territories. The wars are unsuccessful in the long run, but highly taxing for both sides. A rift began to grow between the nobility in the Old Continent, who saw the colonies as nothing more than a source of revenue and the handful of Archdukes who had ruled over the new lands for more than a millennium and had watched the fruits of their labor sail away to the west and very little return.

In 2500 NC, the Archduke ruling over the Duchy of Nod signed a secret1 treaty with the Dwarven kingdoms to stop the wars and launched a rebellion against the Empire of Fnod. He blockaded the river flowing through the heart of his territory, proceeded to defeat or convert the local garrisons, and proclaimed himself to be the first King of Nod. Most of the other Dukes and Archdukes on the continent swore to him or were defeated by the combined efforts of his troops and his newfound dwarven allies. Once his campaigns were complete, he

1At the time, at least. . .

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proclaimed that the territories of his closest allies2 were now Kingdoms within his Empire. The largest and poorest Duchy, located closest to the elven wood and furthest from the

major trade routes, failed to support the Archduke's claims, but equally refused to oppose him. After a few strongly worded missives from the Eldar in the Great Wood declaring their interest in a weak buffer state, that duchy was left to its own devices.

In 2550 NC, the Magocracy formally acknowledged the legitimacy of the Empire of Nod, and most of the other Powers eventually followed suit.

Heavy taxes and tariffs were levied upon every stage of the metal trade, and the proceeds used to enchant or magically improve almost every aspect of life in the Empire. Animists and weather mages guaranteed record crop yields, a "teleport post" was established, and the transportation and refining of metals was facilitated by customized spells to transport heavy loads rapidly through treacherous mountain passes. The capital city became a marvel of the world, with massive city walls, houses that never needed rebuilding, streets that were magically paved to resist cracking and repel water, snow, and ice, and a population in the millions. The Emperor of Nod cracked down on metal smuggling by building wellguarded towers and small keeps along the southern edge of the mines and manning them with cavalry, elite cavalry mounted on Stearden, seers, and battle mages. The Empire grew fat and wealthy, and the wealth and power of the Mages Guild grew along with that of the Empire.

4 The Wars of Vengeance

The most critical event in "recent" history is the fall of the Empire of Nod. Accounts are unclear on exactly what happened, but early one morning around 5305 NC, the main Mages Guild compound in Nod, which was located in an Earthnode not far upstream from the capital city, was attacked and destroyed by a force using weapons of a previously unknown nature. All of the inhabitants of the complex were killed. Investigative teams from the Magocracy concluded that the force had been trained and equipped by a faction within the nobility of the Empire of Nod, who were preparing to launch an attack on the Magocracy itself.

The Magocracy declared war upon the Empire of Nod. The Emperor was frozen in conscious stasis and linked to the land, so that he could see the destruction of his realm. The involved ruling bloodlines and their kin, servants, minions, friends, and acquaintances were hunted down and exterminated; their palaces and castles were torn down and destroyed. A terrible curse was set upon the capitol city for one thousand and one years and a day, and the Imperial Palace was ravaged and twisted.

The Empire of Nod was declared Anathema by the Mages Guild, and countless Powers and madmen used her lands and people as a cross between a free-fire zone and an research laboratory. A flight of dragons spent five years scouring the capitol city, driving millions of survivors into the countryside. A force of sorcerers, magicians, and Earth mages spent ten years reducing the thousands of square miles of mines into rubble, and so the Shattered Lands were created. Terrible creations and monsters were bred, summoned, or enchanted, and set to guard the mines.

2Out of the other Archdukes

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Deliberately awakened Dragons laid waste to vast swaths of countryside and burnt countless towns and villages into charcoal, and one especially audacious Gas Drake took up residence in residence in the Earthnode that is believed to have been crippled during the destruction of the Guild Hall.

Tales and legends also exist of great mages or drakes who defended areas that were dear to them from the general devastation. The great Archmage Marek returned to the town in which he was born, had all of the nobility present executed and their heads placed on a stakes. The stakes were erected in a ring outside the town wall, and Marek declared that the guilty had been punished, and that the rest of the town was under his protection. After Marek's death, the town renamed itself after their most prominent son.

5 . . . and Beyond

Over the last thousand years, life in the former Empire of Nod has normalized significantly, despite the lack of any central leadership. Most of the current inhabitants are free but simple farmers and fisher-folk, who remember little of their history. City and tribal councils have become the most common form of government. . . strange mishaps tend to befall lone rulers and their people. Very few families with pure Numenorian blood survived the Wars of Vengeance, and those have generally remained in the more rural regions. Several different kingdoms vie for dominance of the continent, but none have made any significant progress into the lands once held by the Empire, despite a distinct lack of overt opposition. The dwarves have ceased all trade with the former Empire. The nearby kingdom of Fador has taken over most of the trade routes in the new continent, and trade with the old continent has become practically nonexistent. A simple "trade tongue" has become the primary language for most well educated people, and the "local" language as spoken and written today would be barely recognizable by a citizen of the old Empire.

In the city of Nod, small villages squat in the shells of dragon-scorched mansions, and in Isuir far to the north, miners and adventurers are starting to explore and re-open the mines on the edges of the Shattered Lands, as knowledge of the guardian beasts fades from fact into stories told around a flickering campfire.

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