Pre Race War Era
Making the Mountain
Roughly three thousand years before the Great Race War, between the two massive fey forests that would one day house great kingdoms of Falvindar and Verostuul stood a grassy field that swept across the land for miles. A Dwarf by the name of Lofruck Flintarm arrived in the region with a large band of followers. Some say he was the king of a lost Dwarven realm. Others claim he was nothing more than a mad little Dwarf with more ambition than his tiny frame could hold. He came to this new land from a place that lost to the annuls of history to create a kingdom of his own. Lofruck came to this untamed land between the two groups of Elves and began to dig the earth until he hit the bedrock. He ordered his men to do the same and they faithfully followed his example drawing up stone blocks from the earth to be hewn down to perfect dimensions.
One by one they laid the stone to together forming expanses of dwellings. Lofruck watched over the construction building his new kingdom every higher and wider. At some point he was no longer building for himself and started building out of pure obsession. It drove him daily down to the mines working his people harder and harder. He watched as his simple kingdom reached to the sky threatening to rip apart the the very clouds that made their home their. Lofruck looked at what he had built over the course of many hundred years with pride calling his new kingdom the Mountain. He then took the name Moundshaper claiming it was gifted to him by Demothoin himself.
Eventually his obsession became the peoples’ burden and they grew weary of their toil over the course of the centuries. Full houses of Dwarves fell to the Mountain, their bodies being used as the base for greater expansion. They had gone from a proud race to nothing more than slaves. Children in the streets began to sing the song of Mad King Lofruck though all were wary not to be caught with the lyrics on their lips. As resentment began to grow, there were those brazen enough to plot the fall of their mad king and the False Mountain he loved so much.
Eribaena Hillmane, the young daughter of a once proud house of Dwarves, lost her family to the mines and was sent to an orphanage. She blamed Lofruck for her loss and as she grew, her hot rage became tempered steel. She made it her life’s work to repay him in full for her loss. She trained in the ways of Dwarven royalty and worked her body to reach pinnacle levels of Dwarven beauty. Luckily the Gods had gifted her with the natural looks that drew the eyes of all the opposite sex. Working her way through the societal social ladder, she came into contact with her king making certain break his obsession long enough to notice her. Over several years she flaunted herself at him but made certain never to give away too much as to make him lose interest. Her ploy finally payed off as Lofruck came knocking on her door and gifted her his pickax, a Dwarven gift only given to those they intend to wed. She quickly accepted and they became as one house.
Eribaena’s rage was quiet and it was patient. She waited for the fanfare to die and for the world to become normal again and she set to work. He was already starting to grow weak with age his mind clouded by his precious project which he could never let go of. She used this to her advantage weaving tales of betrayal that she whispered into his ear. He grew distrustful of even his closest friends having many killed for false treasons that only he seemed to have any evidence for. When she had separated him from the outside world, she set to work on him. Slowly she poisoned his draught and his food waiting for the toxins to build up in his body. He grew weak fast unsuspecting of her work. Eventually her deeds were found out and another suitor hoping to gain the king’s favor gave the king the information. With a broken heart, he sent his wife to the gallows. She walked with pride and a smile on her face. She knew that she had done enough and while she may beat him to the grave, he would not be far behind her.
Just a few years after her death, Lofruck’s strength left him completely. The once mighty king was found cold in his bed with a sallow face, tear stricken. A note beside his bed spoke of the regret he had for never seeing his Mountain become complete.
Ulam and The First and Only Orc Kingdom
During the reign of Lofruck, the Dwarves that helped to build his dream began referring to this city as the False Mountain out of spite so it came as no surprise that after his death, many of the Dwarves moved on from this site because of their disdain. This left the city weak and open to attack. For many hundred years the Dwarves that remained tried to rebuild their lacking numbers all the while fending off ruffians from outside their walls. For the most part they were helped by Elves that would patrol near them in the forest however, as time went on, these Elves started to split into two separate groups leaving a gap between them that allowed for potential threats to the False Mountain to begin growing in numbers. These attacks were sparse at first only dealing blows to those that would leave the city gates to work outside its walls or go off for trade. These attacks started to grow in number and the invaders began showing up outside the gates becoming problems for the city guard. They were different tribes of Orcs that, while problematic, were still overcome-able by the raw strength and organization of the Dwarves.
These groups became more problematic around 2319 B.W. when an Orc by the name of Ulam after leading several failed attempts to take over the city with his tribe, decided to speak with the shamans of the surrounding Orc tribes and barter deals with them so they could work together. His attempt at peace within the Orcish ranks was quickly taken up and they made him the leader of this new group they referred to as the All Tribe. They told tales of how their combined forces were blessed with the strength of Kord and the savage vengeance of Gruumsh. As all the pacts were made, Ulam turned his focus toward the city walls of the False Mountain. Orcs are not known for their ability to craft great weaponry. They learn enough blacksmithing to craft their own war ax to signify that they have become grown and that is about the extent of their ability. Ulam however pushed his new group to create rudimentary siege weapons. Most Dwarves would find these attempts laughable, but over the course of almost a thousand years and lack of upkeep, the walls of their city had started to degrade. That with the lack of Dwarves to properly defend presented the Orcs with an easy opportunity to come in and take over. The Dwarves awoke one winter morning to find Ulam and his All Tribe coming out of the surrounding forests with these weapons. With one blast on their war horns, the Orcs let fly their weapons. They concentrated in one area of the wall felling it in a single blow. Once the city walls were breached, they swarmed inside hunting out every Dwarf they could find.
It was a massacre the likes of which had never been recorded in Dwarven culture. The Orcs slew all those that would stand against them. When the last one had fallen, Ulam commanded his followers to hunt out any and all Dwarves that were still hiding in the city and put them to the sword. Not a single one was spared. Men, women, and children were cut down where they were found. Very few managed to escape. After the city was destroyed, Ulam had the temples razed to the ground and all their valuables were brought to him. All effigies of Dwarven power were brought to the center of the city and burned while the corpses were stacked outside the city walls and left for the vultures to feast on. By the end of the day Ulam had placed himself on the Dwarven throne and proclaimed himself king among the Orcs and their All Tribe. He ruled with an iron fist the rest of his days on the throne as the first of his line in what became the only known kingdom of Orcs.
The Coming of the Humans
Ulam led his Orcs lining out what became the first and only Orc kingdom to this day but Orcs are not well organized creatures. Their culture is barbaric and one of outdoing each other which leads to much infighting. Within only the first 100 years of their ownership of the former False Mountain their influence could already be seen on the structures of the city. The buildings took on new damage daily from quarrels held in the city from old rivalries held between the clans. In time, the once great creation of Lofruck became nothing more than ruins. To keep their hold safe, the Orcs took to the forests to rebuild the crumbling towers. They cleared the areas around their home in a matter of years pushing deeper into Fey Wild. Their constant deforestation for resources started putting them in direct contact with the Elves of the two recently formed cities of Falvinda and Verostuul.
Initially these skirmishes were quickly ended with the Elves felling their foes quite easily because of their knowledge of the region. However Orcs breed with a great ferocity and what the Elves had in forest combat prowess, the Orcs matched with overwhelming forces. For several hundred years the fights raged back and forth with the Orcs chopping down more and more to replace what they had previously destroyed. The Elves of Verostuul moved further Eastward trying to avoid the Orcs while the Elves of Falvindar continued fighting but both could see that their beloved forests were dwindling.
Yoranis Phuut, the High King of Falvindar and Saida Therel, the Silver Queen of Verostuul began trying to force the Orcs out of their kingdom and shatter them back into their former clans but the battlefield had changed over the course of nearly 1100 years. They were no longer able to use their guerrilla tactics as they had in the forests. Their scouts and rangers no longer held the advantage on such an open battle field. The Orcs’ thirst for blood was easily sated and songs rang out over who took the most kills with each engagement. The Elves realized that if they did not turn to outside help, they would soon lose their home to these beasts. Yoranis sought to deal with the Dwarves for they had just cause to hate Orcs for the atrocities that were done to the former residents, but they remained in their mines in the North refusing to send the brethren to such fruitless battles. Saida sought out the Humans that were known as crafty fighters but also greedy and entitled. She and Yoranis spoke of this matter greatly deciding that they would offer the crumbling lands the Orcs occupied to the Humans upon the evacuation of the Orcs from the area. They hoped what was left would not be enough to sustain them and they would leave after the battles were fought as their had never been a Human settlement in the South before and they gambled on the decrepit remains not allowing for one going forward. After working out the details of the deal, Saida approached the greatest known hero of the Humans at the time, a man by the name of Maro Enoka from a small village known as Avendale which stands to this day.
Enoka agreed to the deal and asked for 5 years to gather forces from the North. Enoka himself never saw the battlefield to the South growing sick during his travels, but his son, Camorr Enoka never forgot the promise made to his father. He marched to the lands of the South with the men his father drew and readied himself for the battle. He had yet to prove himself on the battlefield prior and when the Elves had learned of the events, they feared the worst. Camorr however proved to be a valiant warrior whose spirit for battle was forged in the hottest flames of the Nine Hells. The skies in the area were black from smoke hanging in the air from the fires the Orcs maintained both day and night, the land was covered in the soot. Camorr ordered his men to gather ash for months before the first battle. When he was sure they had enough ash, he waited for the first moonless praying to Olidimora with each passing night that his trickery would cause a great blow to the Orcs. Olidimora answered his prayers and when the first moonless night came, he had his men cover themselves and their equipment in the ash they had collected until the only white that could be seen was their eyes. They used the cover of night and walked directly up to the door of the city without being seen by the guards that patrolled the walls. They waited for the doors to open the coming morning as the first watch of Orcs were leaving to remove more of the forest before the sun came up. When the doors opened, the first of many fierce battles commenced.
The Humans struck a deep blow that day but the Orcs far outnumbered their forces and pushed them back out of the city. Many died on both sides but neither were ready to admin defeat. For years Camorr led his men into battle. Eventually he set up a small village just north of a small mountain pass where one of the worst defeats the Orcs had took place. The Orcs marched North of the city when they got word of where the Humans were hiding out, however the Humans had also prepped that day to meet the Orcs in battle again not knowing of their approach. They met at the the mountain pass where the Humans fell back allowing the pass to bottleneck the Orcs so they could pick them off easier. It was said that only three Orcs passed through a group of large boulders on the other side while 3,000 waited their turn to die. After this battle the mountain pass became known as Three Orcs Pass.
Eventually the Orcs became wise to Camorr’s tactics and started to hunt his fighters down. In the process, one of the people they hunted down gave away Camorr’s location in hopes that his life would be spared. It wasn’t and neither were Camorr or the men that were camping with him. The Orcs descended upon his band before he had a chance to ready his men. Legend says he stood his ground fighting off wave after wave by himself giving the men that weren’t immediately slaughtered a chance to escape. When he was certain they had made it safetly, his strength left him. He no longer held the power of youth. He was run through by the blade of Abghat. For forty-seven years they had hunted him down and with this one fell strike, the Orcs believed their war over. Abghat thinking this to be the last fight went back to the city and proclaimed himself the new king of the All Tribe.
His fight was just beginning as Rakaht Enoka, Camorr’s daughter claimed her father’s blade and sought vengeance for what the Orcs had done. She had studied under her father and his most battle tested men. She knew his tactics by heart and saw where they failed. Over the course of the next twenty-five years, she pushed the Orcs back at every battle not even stopping her onslaught even when she was pregnant. She gave birth to her first child while leading her forces in battle. Her anger for the Orcs was hard as steel and she was unwavering at every encounter. Eventually the Orcs no longer left their city, hiding in their huts on top of Dwarven ruins. She held her men outside the city walls for months waiting for their resources to run dry. Eventually they did and she continued to wait listening to the pleads of the Orcs coming from behind the walls. They screamed for food, for mercy, for peace. Their cries were the sweetest music she had every heard.
After almost a year of siege, one afternoon the gates opened and a single Orc walked out begging for parlay. Though the Orc was wasting away from lack of food, his sunken features were still enough for Rakaht to recognize her father’s killer. Abghat begged for his people’s release as he could see they no longer could hold the land that she had so doggedly fought for. She consented his request and marched him back to the the town square to announce to their defeat, walking past blatant acts of cannibalism. Abghat addressed his people enough to get their attention before he felt the cold steel of her blade at the base of his skull. As he stood there he stated that he had fought many creatures in his time, but none were as savage as Man. With that his head flew into the crowd. Rakaht called out to the Orcs in their native tongue to be clear they understood her, “Leave!” she bellowed. “Scatter back to your tribes of old! This land is no longer your for we now claim it as we will your heads should we happen upon you ever again!” With that the Orc kingdom fell apart and the rubble that was once their home was passed to the Humans who the Elves saw with great disappointment had decided to stay and rebuild and rename in honor of the leader who had led them into battle.
The Elven Subterfuge
The Humans claimed Camorr in the year 980 B.W. and within a matter of two decades they managed to rebuild the rampant destruction that had been lain upon the land. After the city had been rebuilt, the people started to spread out clearing the land and setting up new settlements outside the walls of Camorr. Over the course of 460 years places like Treefold began to spring up throughout the area. The Elves, not happy with the Humans spreading in the region began to plot ways to subtly force them to move away from the South and back to the North where they had come from. They sought to raise tariffs on goods traveling through their domain and actively stopped any cargo traveling across land demanding a portion of their products for various political reasons. The Humans fought against this but their deal when taking the land was that they would have rights to the kingdom they overtook and not the roads leading to it. This continued over the next 130 years before the Elves ruled that those of non Elven decent would no longer be able to use these trade routes without Elven approval which cut off all trade to by land. Later the same would happen by sea as the Elves started setting up blockades stopping any trade ships from moving through the islands of Kyaht. This started new skirmishes among the Elves with the humans which helped to lead to the Great Race War which lasted from the years 412 B.W. to the start of 2 I.B.
Post Race War Era
275 I.B. The Tomb Eye plague was ravaging the world. It reached the border of Kalorr in 253 I.B. There were those that were dealing with it in small groups for some time outside the city. Anybody in the city walls who was even suspected to have the plague was exiled and was filled with arrows if they tried to return. This was keeping the city clean of the plague but it was causing people to grow afraid of the ones who ruled them as the lightest of connections with the disease could leave you homeless. Eventually a group of the infected showed up outside the city walls demanding justice for the people of Kalorr. They may not be allowed inside the city walls, but they would not be punished for matters outside of their control. The city responded by opening fire on the group. The infected took this as a declaration of war from Kalorr against her own people. The next time they returned, they did so with empty catapults declaring their would be reparations or there would be consequences. They were again met with a barrage of arrows. Instead of running, they collected the dead and began loading the catapults. When the guards saw this, they began firing wildly into the infected numbers. This only fueled them with more ammunition. They only had 3 catapults which were all destroyed during this encounter, but it managed to fire enough infected corpses into the city walls to bring the disease wholly within the city walls. It wasn’t until 384 that a powerful wave of light moved across Kalorr, magically wiping the land of the plague. During the 131 years between the encounter and the cure, nearly 35% of Kalorr was wiped out because of the plague. In an attempt to purge the city of the disease, large sections of the city were quarantined and burned down, in some cases with infected persons locked inside. This dark chapter in Kalorr’s history almost drove the city to ruin and took a king’s ransom to make repairs to the kingdom after the plague was lifted.
Over the next several centuries, the city saw a rise in population and wealth. As the capital city of the southern kingdoms, it was a draw for commerce and prestige. As wealth grew, those that were in charge of it made sure their pockets were lined more with each influx. It took nearly 200 years for this to cause such a rough split in the class structure but, by the early 800’s I.B., the divide was so great, the ruling class lost touch with the people who maintained the city. As the poor starved in the street, the rich hosted lavish parties in pure hedonistic celebration to their own glory. Eventually costs for even the most basic of foods skyrocketed due to a drought in the land in 877-880 I.B. Importing grain and other crops was an option, but it was costly, and those with wealth tended to purchase the better produce once it reached the city leaving the nearly rotting foods for the malnourished masses. This sparked huge riots in the city from the people’s frustrations. Rather than address the core issue, the king and queen chose instead to host city wide celebrations in an attempt to boost the morale of the city’s citizens. During one of these celebrations, a parade was scheduled to move through the city. One of the floats included the king and queen in full display. The city was tense and felt like a powder keg ready to ignite. As the parade wound its way through the city streets, the king and queen were pelted by the rotting vegetation that the city’s citizens were forced to eat. In retaliation, many of the offenders were rounded up by the city guard. In a show of force, the king held a public execution where he put each of the offenders to death by beheading. Instead of putting the people back in their place, it had an adverse effect. Over the next few months riots in the streets grew leaving the king and queen in hiding within their palace. By 887 I.B., the riots turned deadly as businesses owned by nobles started being set on fire. The citizens started calling for blood, pulling the nobles into the street and enacting their own executions. Kalorr sent for help from Oranthos and a platoon from Order’s Reach was sent to defend the city. Word reached the citizens of this detail before the army could make the trek to the city. In response, the city formed a militia that marched against the city’s army. Caught off guard, the militia managed to invade the palace taking the king and queen prisoner and setting the palace of fire. When the troop from Order’s Reach came to Kalorr they wrote back to Oranthos claiming “We have come to a city whose buildings are alight with the flames of vengeance and whose people are alight with the flames of revolution.”
The militia, in their triumph, marched the king to the city square and beheaded him in a similar fashion to how he had done those at the parade. They then set to defending themselves against the army of Order’s Reach. Though they were poorly organized, they had a better understanding of the land and won many of the initial battles. This round of victory didn’t last long and eventually the militia was held within the city walls as the Empire decided what to do. During this time, a defector from the royal army named Theobald Ryder, made a play for leadership of the militia and the city. This set the city to infighting again. Theobald managed to be victorious against any who tried to fight against him and several of the ones who originally set about trying to bring the city freedom from the tyrannical rule of the previous rulers were also sent to execution by beheading. Theobald then set himself on the insurmountable task of trying to save the city from itself. Very few fights against the troops of the empire happened after this point and eventually diplomatic solutions started to come together. Ryder was next of kin to one of the rich nobles who were killed early revolution and as such he inherited a massive sum of wealth. Agreements with the Empire brought in a vassal king who would rule as an outside force while Ryder brought the city back under control. During this time, Ryder fashioned several new laws for the city that brought down the nobles and raised the poorer class. Many heralded him a hero to the people and to the city. A significant sum of his wealth was used to rebuild the city out of his own pocket. The people began calling for their own leadership to replace the one put in place by the Empire. Ryder stepped up to make a deal for a peaceful transfer of power. By 904 I.B. the city was back in the hands of Kalorr rule. Initially Ryder claimed the city would be ruled by council and never headed by monarchy ever again but this claim wasn’t going to last. By 919 I.B., Ryder had gained so much love from the people, he was deemed infallible. His charm and generosity made any ruling he had more favorable than that done by the council. The people called for the council to disband and Ryder be allowed to lead the city instead. Ryder gladly accepted, and took up sole leadership of the city. When he died 12 years later in 921 I.B., question on who would replace him were quickly quited when his son replaced his seat and officially declared a new house of rulership, the house of Ryder. A new monarchy was established at this point that exists to this day. During this time his son moved their family out of the old part of the city and into a newly constructed palace set atop the ruins of the old palace of the previous monarchy.