The First Expedition of Braddock of Conteign
Expedition
211
214
The Expeditions of Braddock of Conteign were a series of expeditions taking place between the years of 211 and 234. Much of the world outside of the realms of man were first learned about through Braddock's writings.
Departing out of his home city of Conteign, the First Expedition left southbound, first traveling through the region of Amandale, then through the Verraine Forests until the southern shores were reached. Turning north and following the coast, passing through the Verraine Grasslands they encountered the Aelven Civilization of Allve Alari. Passing north through the lowest parts of Illalon, before returning to Rudorei.
The First Expedition (211-215)
Having been granted charter rights to lead an expedition in the King's name, Braddock of Conteign set out with an expedition of twenty-four men, ten Scouts, two hunter-trappers, a cook, three camp-keepers, a fisherman, a carpeneter and his two assistants and the king's nephew and his two friends (A stipulation required for the charter to be granted).Amandale (211-212)
Departing south from Conteign early in 211, they reached Amandale with little trouble, writings from this period remark on the grace of the forest Giants which roamed among the towering trees that almost reached as high as the mountains that engulf the dale. Passing east, then south through the forests, the expedition encountered the rare sight of a village of Satyrs hidden amongst the trees. Sworn to the secrecy of it's location, the expedition were regaled with stories of times spent living in closeness with the Aman and great feats of magic were shown and magics were cast that refilled the provisions of their supply wagon. Braddock plead with the Satyrs for information of the lands ahead but the Satyrs could offer little beyond the immediate dense grassslands that filled the horizon as they had never left their small island of forest and had no interest in ventures beyond the borders of the lands they cultivated. A pass in the mountains that lead towards another forest, teeming with wildlife and other Satyric villages was spoken of, and towards this pass the expedition set out.Verraine Forests (212-213)
The first major setback of the expedition came in the winter of 211 and 212, while crossing the mountain pass the Satyr's had spoken of, two giants were seen wrestling among the tops of the a mountain top and in their combat, a rockslide was brought down upon the expedition, a carpenter's assistant and two of the scouts were crushed by rockfall and when the dust had settled, the defeated giant was tossed down as well and in the chaos of the falling giant Braddock suffered a broken arm that would haunt him throughout the journey.The Verraine Forest now lay before them. For two weeks, the expedition drove south through boreal forests, bogs and marshes recording the wildlife that roamed the land, striped stags that marched across across the forests, horned direbears & hill trolls. Hidden within a wide valley farther south, the expedition met a basin surrounded by two rivers, the southernly river being the greater of the two, was chosen as the location with which they would set up camp to explore the valley. As the carpeneter and his remaining assistant got to work constructing simple lodgings, one of the hunters would set about finding game, while the scouts and the rest of the able bodied crew would set about exploring the wilds. Along the eastern mountains, a clan of orcs were found amd proved to be hostile to the scouts that had attempted to make communication, pelting him with arrows and pursuing him back into the valley. South of the river, another expanse of forest blanketed the horizon for as far as they could see. Penetrating into these forests opened to ice shelves and the icy shores of the coastline. As winter approached in 213, the carpenteres completed the basecamp lodgings and the expedition took to camp for the unusually harsh Verraine winter. It was during this time that one of the scouts caught an illness of which they would not recover. A burial could not be had as the ground at this point had frozen over and so was wrapped in canvas, buried in snow and left until a thaw would take. During this winter, Braddock would pour over the maps and writings that had been accumulated over the year and determined that, without the equipement necessary to climb the mountains surrounding the valley, they would need to either next retrace their steps to go around, or proceed further into the forests to see how far to the coast they stretched. The decision was made to go south and find the southern end of the western mountain range.
Marching through the mountain wilds and meeting the coastline, it was here that the expedition came upon something they had not anticipated, an Aelven fishing boat moored just off shore and two of it's dinghy's disembarked upon the beach. Wary, but unconcerned, Braddock greeted these fishermen with what little Aelven he knew, they replied in kind and the rest of the expedition quickly came out to greet the first friendly faces they had seen since the Satyric village back in Amandale the year prior. Different from the nomadic Aelves of the Dorei or the Wastes, these Aelves were closer in spirit to the Aelves of the Hunoldurei, lighter in complexion and less hostile, though they still had the same Aelven sense of arrogance about them. Braddock negotiated a trade with the Aelves, offering them some of the highest quality steel that the forges of Old Rudora had crafted and sundry goods they had brought with them. In exchange, the Aelves offered maps of the coastal Verraine, and advice for the various flora they had passed by and how the Aelves used these. They were also pointed to two locations, Allve Alari, where they had come from, and Onfanora, from a place called Arcta, with the waters seperating them from Onfanora, the crew set about for the Aelven cities of Allve Alari.
Verraine Grasslands, Allve Alari & The Return to Conteign (213-214)
For almost two months the expedition hugged the coast of the forest with remarks writ of the near constant rough seas assaulting the cliffs. While on the march north, Braddock wrote of a period of intense weather where the sky grew dark in the day time, where the winds whipped like men posessed and where whole trees were uprooted and fell about them like soldiers struck by loosed arrows. When the storm broke and it seemed as though the storm was at a sudden end, Braddock recalled where, upon exiting their makeshift shelter, stormclouds circled around them like the carrion hunters of Illalon. Noticing the wall of the storm fast approaching, Braddock ordered the crew back to their shelter where they would wait out the rest of the storm. Turning westward where the Aelves had marked on their map, after two days time, the forests gave way to the Verraine Grasslands and they passed through grove, ravine, creek and copse. It was shortly after the first snowfall of the coming winter that they were found by a pair of Aelven hunters stalking the grasslands. They had reached the borders of Allve Alari. They were well received by the local lord whose name and allowed to spend the next few weeks among the Aelves as they waited out the worst of the winter.While waiting at court, Braddock asked of Onfanora and the land he had heard called Arcta and through the interpreter's translations was told of a landmass on the other side of the sea and how it was a place where the sands met snowfall, and how the earth loomed over the shore a mile high. He was told of distant city called Maqara, where Men lived beyond the Wastes alongside Aelves and worshipped different gods and lands where lakes of fire belched tar into the skies. Braddock listened intently to these tales. When the year passed to 214, and the expedition set out, they left Allve Alari in high spirits, well rested and resupplied by the Aelven lord. One of the last things Braddock had done before their departure, was to negotiate the leasing of an Aelven ship should they return to explore the lands beyond the sea of Amal Anore.
The Grasslands gave way to desert as they reached the southernmost borders of what they found to be the Wastes of Illalon and after weeks of travel, passing past nomad camps, sand dunes and miles of chapparal one of the stone towers that watch the Gap of Rudorei came into view. Riders set out from the garrison to meet the returning expeditionaries, they had made it back to Rudora. The surviving members would be hailed as heroes in the court of Old Rudora and for months they were hailed as heroes in the many royal halls that hosted them, all the while though, Braddock thought of the distant lands he had heard of in Allve Alari and so he planned for a new expedition, to even more distant lands.
