Sceya
Sceya is a large imperial province located in the far south of Dain. It is a land dominated by great mountains, lush forests and deep valleys, alongside a long and rugged coastline, making the province excellent prospect for trading fur, timber, fish and valuable metals. The province is a productive one and is populated primarily by dwarves, humans, lightfoot halflings, aarakockra and giants. It is ruled over by king Hans Ari. Sceya is divided between east and west along the Giantheights, which has cultural, economic and historic ramifications. Sceya has produced many fine regiments for the Imperial Army, and is one of the most modern royal armies due to the great amount of firepowder in the Giantheights.
Geography
Sceya is a land of deep forests, tall mountains and wide valleys, with rugged woods and wilderness. It is a big province, with a central tall mountain-range, the Giantheights, bisecting it neatly into Duchy of East Sceya and West Sceya. These mountains are nearly impossible to cross during winter, meaning that difficult and dangerous Underways are the only paths that connect the two parts for nearly three months of icy storms. There are thus cultural and geographical distinctions between east and west.
Sceya
Geographically, West Sceya, often simply called Sceya, is the larger of the two and has more diverse terrain. To the south Sceya borders Akshus and to the north it borders the Godpeak Mountains and Whiesia, making it look like a crescent moon around East Sceya. From the rolling hills in the south to the majestic forests that dominate most of its landmass, to the bogs and wetlands of the west, Sceya is home to a variety of peoples and industries.
Culturally, Sceya has been integrated into the wider imperial sphere, with Dragon Churches dotting the land in villages and citizens respecting imperial law. Soldiering for the Sceyan Royal Army is seen as a prestigious occupation, and squiring for the legions is held in even higher esteem, and Sceya has the largest number of applicants to Legionhood per capita. Sceya also has far more cultural variety than the East, as a number of different peoples have immigrated following imperial conquest of the region:
In its westernmost portion lie the Wetlands, miles upon miles of low forest and bogs, broken only by the occasional river or hill. The Wetlands are home to many elemental spirits and historically druids of water held sway here, though this is no longer the case. Today the Wetlands is largely populated by the dwarves of For Vahn, the only city in the area, as well as several human fishing villages along the coast. Built on an artificial foundation of raised rock, For Vahn served as a last refuge for dwarvenkind in Sceya.
Many people seeking solitude and peace find their way to the Wetlands, living in the bayous and isolated rivers. The Wetlands main industry is fishing, shrimp-catching and some amber excavation.
The Duchy of the Marches
The rolling hills and farmlands of South Sceya, bordering with Akshus, hosts large populations of humans and orcs, with the highest population density in rural Sceya. The elemental powers never held much sway here, so it is one of the most faithful duchies in Sceya, with many local Dragon Churches as well as a large silver dragon cathedral.
The Duchy of Itn-Ari
The Northern Duchy of Itn-Ari consists of the old city of Itn-Ari, amidst fjords and cliffs allowing easier travel between east and west. Itn-Ari is the most cosmopolitan of the duchies in Sceya, with its old trading connections North and West.
Duchy of East Sceya
The Duchy of East Sceya seems like a different country compared to the West. Old, quiet forests marked by long periods of rain and fog rise amid ancient stones carved in honor of the first gods of Sceya. In the west the tall Giantheights rise forebodingly, casting darkness over much of the country in the afternoon. These mountains look like sleeping giants, crowned with glaciers and waterfalls. In the east, rocky beaches and small fishing towns lead out to the Mistsea Coast.
East-Sceya still has more of the old way in it, with most of its native human population living in ages-old settlements marked by great bautastones. These humans still worship the old gods and leave offerings for the spirits of the land, praying for good harvests and health. There are three broad groups of humans, although the geographical divisions between them are diffuse:
There have also been reports of wood elf sightings in East Sceya, but imperial authorities deny these reports, as the Wood Elves of Maeril have made no claim to the forest.
However, the Old Way is slowly being replaced as imperial settlers move into the northern half of East Sceya. This area was under the control of the Fire Giants for millennia and has seen the ravages of ignean industry. When it was liberated by the duke's campaign it became a popular site for the settlement of imperial veterans with its many mines and huge areas of empty farmland. Andreas Ari took the land and the rest of East Sceya for his personal land, making the conquered firegiant keep Irondeep, Jerndyb in giant, his own. For decades it has been the most popular destination for veterans of the Imperial Army, and it continues to enjoy a great deal of immigration from veterans of the Oilean war.
Much of East Sceya is thus now populated by imperial veterans and liberated souls from the fire giants, with the local-to-imperial ratio being about 1:2. Andreas Ari rules East Sceya in a mostly laid back manner, letting the veterans work what mines and land they will while protecting their rights.
East Sceya's coast is notoriously difficult to navigate due to sea monsters, unnatural fogs and dangerous tides, and the only stable harbor in the region is Saltø, one of East Sceya's larger cities located on a peninsula.
East Sceya's major settlements include:
Giantheights
Giantheights, Kempehøjderne in dwarven, the colossal mountainchain that bisects Sceya is a historic and monumental natural scenery, with its peaks rising virtually out of nothing. Many precious gems, metals and riches can be found in its depths, and the empire operates many mines. The most important resource however is Firestone, of which there are several mines in the west, but most high-quality firestone is mined in the east. Unlike many similar mountainchains, dwarves never got a strong foothold in Kempehøjderne except in the most western parts and to the far south, as fire giants and stone giants already had claimed these. Fire giants in particular, carving out massive fortresses and forges in the peaks. From these fortresses they ruled like kings over massive portions of the human populations, especially in the central parts of Sceya, and the Fire Giant barons in the region were the ones who stood against imperial conquest for the longest, from their holdfast Eldfjall Höfból, Volcano Manor. In addition to the Fire Giant fortresses, most of which are ruins now or shadows of their former selves as the Imperial warmachine has hollowed them out, there are also:
Stenhode is a holy site to the mountain tribes, and the dwarves maintain good relationships with their goliath neighbors. The mountain dwarf kingdom of Stenhodeis the only nation in Sceya that has not been conquered by the Gold Empire, due to the fact that Stenhode is so far south in East Sceya, making it inconvenient to conquer. However, the empire and the kingdom maintains diplomatic ties, and many mountain dwarves have moved into the forests of the lowlands to create new settlements, on the invitation of Prince Andreas.
Sceya
Geographically, West Sceya, often simply called Sceya, is the larger of the two and has more diverse terrain. To the south Sceya borders Akshus and to the north it borders the Godpeak Mountains and Whiesia, making it look like a crescent moon around East Sceya. From the rolling hills in the south to the majestic forests that dominate most of its landmass, to the bogs and wetlands of the west, Sceya is home to a variety of peoples and industries.
Culturally, Sceya has been integrated into the wider imperial sphere, with Dragon Churches dotting the land in villages and citizens respecting imperial law. Soldiering for the Sceyan Royal Army is seen as a prestigious occupation, and squiring for the legions is held in even higher esteem, and Sceya has the largest number of applicants to Legionhood per capita. Sceya also has far more cultural variety than the East, as a number of different peoples have immigrated following imperial conquest of the region:
- Dwarf inhabitants of For Vahn, indigenous dwarves who made their home in the Wetlands following the loss of Highammer to the Red Fiend. These dwarves have repopulated many of the old dwarven cities and forts in the region. There are also immigrant dwarves from many different provinces, who have aided the local dwarves in rebuilding. Today the dwarf population is quite neatly split between the Wetland dwarves and the immigrants from the northern province of Guldfeldt.
- Sea Elves make their home along the western coast, finding mercenary-work aplenty in the dangerous frontiers of Sceya. These also operate many of the ships transporting goods and raw materials from Sceya to Akshus, Whiesia and further north.
- Humans make up the bulk of the population, living both near the coast, on farms in the hills and in the woods and mountains. Most of these humans are locals, but some migrants have come south and some places are marked by immigration from veterans of Whiesia, Salantano and Tveiharr's armies that aided in the conqeust of Sceya, though these are a minority. Most of the Sceyan humans in the West are an admixed population of the northern Ari Sceyans and the original local sceyans, producing the West Sceyans.
- Aarakockra make their home in the mountains of Sceya, flying between their peak-cities on cyclical patterns of migration. They tend to stay in the tall mountains of the Giantheights, but during the winter they fly westwards and eastwards to lesser mountains near the coast.
- Orcs have, similarly to the humans from Whiesia, also made their homes in some parts of Sceya, particularly the southern hill-lands, as payment for their service during the conquest.
- Forrest gnomes are known to live in some of Sceya's forests, though they have lost a lot of their old lands since the Empire came to Sceya. The gnomes have a treaty with the Aris and are a free people under the empire. It is rare to meet them in imperial territories, though they do occasionally come to towns to trade or seek aid from mercenaries. The forest gnomes live in hidden enclaves within forests protected from human intervention by treaties with the Aris, though in return for this protection they are expected to supply the Gold Empire
- While rare, deep gnomes live in Sceya's mountains and underground. The deep gnomes were not conquered as violently as their fey cousins, but also live under the Empire as a free people. Rock gnomes are commonly recruited by mining expeditions, and their terran religious practices are tolerated.
- Firbolgs, much like forest gnomes, are known to live in some of Sceya's forests. These offered much more violent resistance than the gnomes during the Conquest and the Troubles that followed, so today most of them live in East Sceya, where they were forced to move. Still a few make their homes in the west, where they live as a free people under the empire. Firbolgs are a religious people, and are allowed to practice their religion in relative peace, provided that they do not spread it to other races. Firbolgs are a rare sight in the cities and villages of Sceya
In its westernmost portion lie the Wetlands, miles upon miles of low forest and bogs, broken only by the occasional river or hill. The Wetlands are home to many elemental spirits and historically druids of water held sway here, though this is no longer the case. Today the Wetlands is largely populated by the dwarves of For Vahn, the only city in the area, as well as several human fishing villages along the coast. Built on an artificial foundation of raised rock, For Vahn served as a last refuge for dwarvenkind in Sceya.
Many people seeking solitude and peace find their way to the Wetlands, living in the bayous and isolated rivers. The Wetlands main industry is fishing, shrimp-catching and some amber excavation.
The Duchy of the Marches
The rolling hills and farmlands of South Sceya, bordering with Akshus, hosts large populations of humans and orcs, with the highest population density in rural Sceya. The elemental powers never held much sway here, so it is one of the most faithful duchies in Sceya, with many local Dragon Churches as well as a large silver dragon cathedral.
The Duchy of Itn-Ari
The Northern Duchy of Itn-Ari consists of the old city of Itn-Ari, amidst fjords and cliffs allowing easier travel between east and west. Itn-Ari is the most cosmopolitan of the duchies in Sceya, with its old trading connections North and West.
Duchy of East Sceya
The Duchy of East Sceya seems like a different country compared to the West. Old, quiet forests marked by long periods of rain and fog rise amid ancient stones carved in honor of the first gods of Sceya. In the west the tall Giantheights rise forebodingly, casting darkness over much of the country in the afternoon. These mountains look like sleeping giants, crowned with glaciers and waterfalls. In the east, rocky beaches and small fishing towns lead out to the Mistsea Coast.
East-Sceya still has more of the old way in it, with most of its native human population living in ages-old settlements marked by great bautastones. These humans still worship the old gods and leave offerings for the spirits of the land, praying for good harvests and health. There are three broad groups of humans, although the geographical divisions between them are diffuse:
- The mountain tribes, who live in the tall peaks of the Giantheights and seek isolation from the Gold Empire. Once they were mighty warriors and giantslayers who ruled much of East Sceya, but they were humbled by the Gold Empire. They worship a god of war and creation simply called Sten, and pay tribute to the spirits of the mountains. With the enroaching imperial mining expeditions, the mountain tribes grow more and more angry, but after several defeats at the hands of duke Andreas, they know it is better to move south than to challenge the Gold Empire. The mountain tribes have giant blood in them, and most are considered Goliaths by the Gold Empire.
- The forest tribes, who live in most of East Sceya. This local pagan population has long lived in ancient villages in the forests, paying tribute to many different elemental spirits as needs suit them. Following the wars and purges in the west, many faithful pagans fled eastwards and became refugees among the forest tribes of the East. These refugees have been integrated into the local forest tribes, though many still revere western spirits. Many of the old villages paid tribute to the Mountain Tribes, but with the coming of the Empire many pay tribute to the Empire instead. In the southern portions of East Sceya, the locals live completely free of imperial infleunce, thoughthis may change as the People's Church has pursued a more proactive, and occasionally aggressive, conversion scheme to make them better integrated into the larger Empire. Many among the Forrest Tribes fear the empire and are ready to fight for their liberty, especially the western refugees, but some are cautiously optimistic seeing as the coming of the Empire has brought more stability to the region, along with economic development and new technology.
- The Grey Folk, the Damatír tribe. The Grey Folk are the humans who in ancient times served the Wolf King Altsehash and mated with the Wood Elves of the Sahash tribe. They were a nomadic hunter-warrior society who would move throughout Sceya and claim tribute for themselves from the other, less powerful forest tribes, in return for protecting them. When their Wolf Queen was defeated by the Ari Kingdom, many of them fled into East Sceya, where they fight for their self-determination and Free Sceya.
- The Mistborn, who live along the coast and make a living fishing in the dangerous waters of the grey sea. They worship the enigmatic god called Lebemneth, Wavebringer, and several among them receive visions from their god. The sea tribes are perhaps the most enigmatic of the three, their people pale and cold-skinned with strange swirling tattoos. They are not trusted by the imperial settlers, and several of the Sea tribe's settlements have been forced to move as they have come under pressure from the People's Church.
There have also been reports of wood elf sightings in East Sceya, but imperial authorities deny these reports, as the Wood Elves of Maeril have made no claim to the forest.
However, the Old Way is slowly being replaced as imperial settlers move into the northern half of East Sceya. This area was under the control of the Fire Giants for millennia and has seen the ravages of ignean industry. When it was liberated by the duke's campaign it became a popular site for the settlement of imperial veterans with its many mines and huge areas of empty farmland. Andreas Ari took the land and the rest of East Sceya for his personal land, making the conquered firegiant keep Irondeep, Jerndyb in giant, his own. For decades it has been the most popular destination for veterans of the Imperial Army, and it continues to enjoy a great deal of immigration from veterans of the Oilean war.
Much of East Sceya is thus now populated by imperial veterans and liberated souls from the fire giants, with the local-to-imperial ratio being about 1:2. Andreas Ari rules East Sceya in a mostly laid back manner, letting the veterans work what mines and land they will while protecting their rights.
East Sceya's coast is notoriously difficult to navigate due to sea monsters, unnatural fogs and dangerous tides, and the only stable harbor in the region is Saltø, one of East Sceya's larger cities located on a peninsula.
East Sceya's major settlements include:
- Jerndyb, a fortified northern city known for its sizeable mining and forging industry and famous Sceyan Royal Army regiments. This is the seat of Prince-Duke Andreas Ari, though it was once the center of power for the Fire Giants in the region. Many imperial dwarves have moved to Jerndyb, alongside human immigrants, and now work its mines and forges. Jerndyb produces most of the metal used by the local imperial populace, and also has a sizeable production of magical arms and armor for Knight Legions.
- The Army Towns, the largest of which is Goldtown, a closely-knitted set of villages and towns in the northern half of East Sceya. These are mostly populated by veterans from all over the Gold Empire, who have claimed a piece of the frontier for their own. Many of these are homesteaders and farmers, though millers, carpenters, lumberers and other trades also work among them. The Army Towns is also the center of power for the People's Church, and they can raise an impressive local militia to defend themselves from monsters and bandits.
- Saltisle is a relatively new city founded on old Sea tribe land by imperial merchants, particularly gnomes from Goldstadt and Dhuchai. Saltisle is the center of trade heading north from East Sceya to the rest of the Gold Empire, and is particularly busy in winter and autumn when the mountain passes are difficult to navigate. Saltisle's merchants have also made a fortune selling alcohol, tobacco and other recreational drugs to Sceyans, though this has created some tensions with the puritans of the People's Church. Sea tribe peoples originally tried pushing the colonizers away from their island, but the duke's forces put a stop to that. This conflict sparked the Sceyan Rebellion, which was eventually put down, and today the sea tribes still look with great anger towards the city of Saltisle, founded as it is on their holy land.
- Highwall is similarly a relatively new city and marks the middle of East Sceya, the line between imperial civilization and the more rugged tribal lands to the south. Highwall was built by Mountain Dwarves from the south invited north by the Duke-Prince, who has commisioned them to build a fortress-city to maintain an imperial presence in the south. Highwall has become a center of commerce and culture in East Sceya, and has a permanent garrison of Sceyan Rangers and Holy Knights to protect the local populace from monsters and bandits.
- Far to the south in East Sceya is Stenhode, the ancestral home of the local clan of Mountain Dwarves. These dwarves are relatively isolated, and do not allow foreigners within the sacred halls of Stenhode. The food and other wares they need to trade for, they most often send caravans to Highwall to barter for with weapons and raw materials such as iron or copper. Most of the metal used by the local Sceyans comes from Stenhode.
- Whitewall, a relatively small fortress-monastery of the Legion of Devotion. Whitewall is a squat fortress in the north-east of Sceya, being carved into the coastal mountainous landscape. Squires from all over the southern Imperium are trained in Whitewall, and they are often charged with hunting dangerous monstrosities that plague the rural towns of East Sceya. There is a small contingent of veteran Devotion Knights supervising the squires, many veterans from the wars that conquered East Sceya.
- Castle Black, a fortress-monastery of the Legion of Vengeance, stands on an isolated peninsula in the Eastern Sea, its high black towers defying the storms that plague the region. The Order of the Omen Black make their home in Castle Black, which they have used to hold giant prisoners of the Empire's wars in the region. Castle Black is a symbol of fear and oppression to those who would defy imperial authority, and there are stories of black-clad omen knights arriving at bandit hideouts and exterminating them. The Duke has held the Legion of Vengeance within Castle Black for twenty years, only sporadically permitting them to sally forth and hunt down the enemies of the Gold Empire, but knight-captain Meurik "the Ill Omen" Black knows that the Duke has no formal might over them, and has periodically sent knights in secret to the south, to make examples of would-be rebels and keep them in line. Such bloody examples are the stuff of local legends all over Sceya.
Giantheights
Giantheights, Kempehøjderne in dwarven, the colossal mountainchain that bisects Sceya is a historic and monumental natural scenery, with its peaks rising virtually out of nothing. Many precious gems, metals and riches can be found in its depths, and the empire operates many mines. The most important resource however is Firestone, of which there are several mines in the west, but most high-quality firestone is mined in the east. Unlike many similar mountainchains, dwarves never got a strong foothold in Kempehøjderne except in the most western parts and to the far south, as fire giants and stone giants already had claimed these. Fire giants in particular, carving out massive fortresses and forges in the peaks. From these fortresses they ruled like kings over massive portions of the human populations, especially in the central parts of Sceya, and the Fire Giant barons in the region were the ones who stood against imperial conquest for the longest, from their holdfast Eldfjall Höfból, Volcano Manor. In addition to the Fire Giant fortresses, most of which are ruins now or shadows of their former selves as the Imperial warmachine has hollowed them out, there are also:
- Aarakockra temple-villages
- Mountain Tribe holdfasts and temples to Sten
- Stone Giant villages
- Mountain Dwarf fortresses
Stenhode is a holy site to the mountain tribes, and the dwarves maintain good relationships with their goliath neighbors. The mountain dwarf kingdom of Stenhodeis the only nation in Sceya that has not been conquered by the Gold Empire, due to the fact that Stenhode is so far south in East Sceya, making it inconvenient to conquer. However, the empire and the kingdom maintains diplomatic ties, and many mountain dwarves have moved into the forests of the lowlands to create new settlements, on the invitation of Prince Andreas.
Natural Resources
Fur
West Sceya has a large fur industry, with many different towns and companies dedicated to hunting the different creatures of the forest. Of particular import is the Giant Beaver, whose fur is extremely useful to make waterproof clothes that keeps warm, a useful commodity in many provinces as well as in Ikseong.
Lumber
Much like fur, lumber is a central export from West Sceya. Especially near Highhammer and Itn-Ari, where it has been combined with amber-mining.
Firestone
Firestone is Sceya's most important export and commodity, which has sustained an industrial revolution in the Imperial Far South and is slowly changing all imperial industry. Firestone is divided into two qualities:
Amber
West Sceya has a large fur industry, with many different towns and companies dedicated to hunting the different creatures of the forest. Of particular import is the Giant Beaver, whose fur is extremely useful to make waterproof clothes that keeps warm, a useful commodity in many provinces as well as in Ikseong.
Lumber
Much like fur, lumber is a central export from West Sceya. Especially near Highhammer and Itn-Ari, where it has been combined with amber-mining.
Firestone
Firestone is Sceya's most important export and commodity, which has sustained an industrial revolution in the Imperial Far South and is slowly changing all imperial industry. Firestone is divided into two qualities:
- Firepowder, a grounded powder of low-quality ignean rock which is not warm or energy efficient enough to be used in ignean steam machines, but is generally used in explosives, guns and artillery, where their high explosive potential is utilized. There are several large firepowder quarries in the west.
- Firestone, chunks of high-quality ignean rock which burn slower but with a greater intensity. These are used in ignean steam machines, such as railcarriages. Most of the western veins have run dry, and volcano dwarves are trying to establish new mines in the Giantheights. However, East Sceya has several large and prosperous veins which are only starting to be fully utilized.
Amber
History
The First War - 9500 PIA
As with all other lands, Sceya was marked by the terrible conflict of the First War. Elemental lords waged terrible war on each other, using local humans as soldiers, slaves and servants in their never-ending conflicts. Sceya was the battleground for war between all the elements, but the greatest fighting was between the Worldtree, the Mountainwalker, the Everfire and the Deepcold.
In the mountains, Mountain Dwarves and Stone Giants fought in service to Hazat Ardia, warmaster of elemental earth. While they were not overly aggressive in the war, preferring to hold the center of Sceya, their successes created the colossal Giantheights, an offshot of the northern Godpeaks. Elemental Eearth mostly fought Elemental Fire in the north. Hazat Ardia, in a bid for power in the east, released a Titan in East Sceya against Fíaglasir. The titan was defeated by the king in green, and its gigantic corpse can still be seen protruding from the ground in the south of East Sceya, standing as a lone mountain in the southern island-chain.
The forests were under the protection of the Wild Lord Fíaglasir, one of the mightiest fey lords. Fíaglasir fought hard to protect the humans, gnomes and elves under his protection, creating the open city of Cathaír Ombra in the east to gather survivors of the First War. Cathaír Ombra came under attack many times, but it always held as one of the few places in the world of true peace and stability. In the west, the Wolf King Altsehash was free to run rampant. He brought the battle to the enemy with wood elves and werewolves at his side, preventing Hazat Ardia from spreading his influence to the west and keeping the Sea Elves at bay. Here too, peace was secured by the fey lords for their subjects, though Altsehash taught his followers a nomadic lifestyle not reliant on walls.
The Everfire's influence came from below, as Fire Giants and elementals attacked the mountains and northern areas of Sceya through the Underdark. Volcanoes burst from the ground as giants came forth with legions of ignean monsters and hobgoblins, claiming territories in the mountains and burning the northern reaches of the Sceyan forests, making sure that the Worldtree would never claim those lands. Both Altsehash and Fíaglasir fought the ignean host, which was led by the red dragon general Eodanth Shatterblade. Eodanth would likely have razed Cathaír Ombra were it not for the intervention of Tíaréag, lord of extinction, who held the Eodanth long enough for Altsehash and Fíaglasir to scatter its armies.
The Deepcold also played a role in the First War in Sceya. As already mentioned, Sea Elves raided the West Sceyan coast. However, the greater danger was in the east. In the east, the Deepcold attacked in force, as the dragon turtle Lebemneth led an armade on Cathaír Ombra. After years of fighting and siege, Lebemneth and Fíaglasir came to an understanding. They both secretly did not care for the First War, being old enough to remember a time before, and wished simply to live in peace. They thus agreed to a ceasefire, and humans from Lebemneth's armada settled the coastline, while its militaristic tritons returned to their underwater holdfasts.
Rule of Amber - 9500 PIA to 9000 PIA
The post-war era of Sceya was characterized by the ascendancy of two great fey lords: the Wolf King in the west and the Wild King in the east, and particularly by the central role of Fíaglasir's Cathaír Ombra, which stood as a center of peace and prosperity in Dain and the Feywild.
In the west, the grey folk of the Damatír tribe, which worshipped the Old Wolf, lived in peace and stability with the land, paying tribute to their lord while moving between their hunting grounds. In the east, Cathaír Ombra was an important center of Feywild trade, with many marvelous magic items being traded and wonderful magic being developed, all under the personal protection of Fíaglasir. This era would end, with the start of the Dreamwar.
Dreamwar
The Old Wolf provoked the wood elves of Chéad Cathair, resulting in the Dreamwar, a set of wars of conquest fought by the Wood Elves against all fey spirits and their subjects. The wood elves came to Sceya first, attacking the Damatír tribe, murdering thousands of them to punish the Wolf King for his transgressions.
Fíaglasir challenged the wood elves with a coalition of fey lords. The Wood Elves turned their attention to Cathaír Ombra, though they were unable to break through its walls while Fíaglasir stood. Time works strangely in the Feywild, and none know for sure how long the Dreamwar lasted.
However, it eventually came to an end. When the Eternal King became the vessel of Crann Domhanda's power, the fey lords were defeated one by one. Altsehash was cowed, mortally wounded by a spear of silver, and pledged his allegiance to the Eternal Throne. Fíaglasir was the last to stand against the Eternal King, seeing the evil and all-consuming hunger in his eyes. He stood as the last warrior, hurling amber spears of pure light from the great towers of Cathaír Ombra, but he was blinded to a greater threat.
From the ocean, a terrifying being of the Deepcold came, all black scales, icecold talons and bottomless hunger. A thousand eyes gazed upon Cathaír Ombra, and knew that the time had arrived to claim it. This monster brought with it the seas and tidal waves, and brought Cathaír Ombra down under the waves, intending to devour the whole city. Fíaglasir called upon Lebemneth for aid, as the monster was also killing their beloved humans, and together they defeated the beast, though they could not kill it. Fíaglasir pierced it with a great spear of primal power, and Lebemneth forced it underneath their great bulk, imprisoning the monster.
However the damage had been done, and much of East Sceya had been swallowed by the waves, including the whole of Cathaír Ombra. The wood elves of the Ombra clan that survived this devastation fled into the forests around Cathaír Ombra, and began retreating from the world. His power spent from the struggle with the monster, Fíaglasir left his people with instructions to never surrender, and travelled into the Feywild to either kill the Eternal King, or be killed himself.
This conflict marked the end of fey ascendancy in Sceya. While the humans of the Damatír tribe would continue to play an important role in West Sceya, and the influence of Altsehash never truly vanished from the province, Wood Elves would pass into myth, living in hidden enclaves in the Feywild to avoid the gaze of the Eternal King. The Sahash tribe of wood elves would come to serve the Eternal King, but the Ombra tribe would never surrender, though they were likely driven to exctinction by Chéad Cathair.
Rule of Fire and Stone - 9000 PIA to 4500 PIA
With the fey lords of Sceya having destroyed each other in the terrible Dreamwar, the stage was set for other elemental powers to play a greater role in the region. Fire giants expanded their operations in the Giantheights, claiming several more mountains for themselves and building forge-fortresses. They enslaved the defenceless humans of the forests and used the edges of the forests for fuel, their industry creating a permanent wound in the woods between the deep forests and the Giantheights.
Goliath tribes and mountain dwarves also sought to expand their influence, with the goliaths conquering several human forest tribes and making them pay tribute. The conflicts and dynamic of this era was largely between the goliath tribes and the fire giants, with both groups fighting for dominance of the mountains and overlordship of the weaker human tribes.
Around this time, a large and powerful expedition of Hill Dwarves came to Sceya through the underways, establishing a mighty holdfast in Highhammer and making their own mark on the mountains of Sceya. The Hill Dwarves of Highhammer were soon rivals of both the Fire Giants and the Goliaths, supported as they were by their network of alliances with northern dwarven kingdoms, who would lend them aid in times of war.
While the mountains were being fought over and colonized by these factions, another forcec ame to Sceya's west coast: the Amrikh Empire led by Sa'nakt. The Amrikh sent vessels north to make new settlements in Sceya, in order to trade with the locals for fur and game while using West Sceya's large natural resources of lumber for themselves. While there was some fighting between the Amrikhi and the local Sceyan people, such as the Wolf-worshiping tribe Damatír nomads and the firbolgs, the Amrikh mostly had peaceful relations with the locals, and promoted an official line of cultural and economic development in the region.
This policy brought the Amrikh empire into conflict with the mountain overlords, and several wars were fought with these. Due to geographic barriers, most of the Amrikh wars were fought against the hill dwarf High Kingdom of Highhammer, which resulted in a set of territorial and diplomatic concessions from the High King. When the Twilight Wars broke out, the High Kingdom was the first to bear the brunt of the attack, another weakening of their link. The Amrikh empire, led by Sa'nakt, acknowledged the threat of the Twilight Elves and alied themselves with the High Kingdom. Using the underways, this alliance of men and dwarves fought back against the darkness.
Following the Twilight Wars, Sceya was largely altered in the form of a weakened High Kingdom. As a token of gratitude from the Amrikh Empire, and to compensate for the lost dwarven cities and outposts, the Amrikh Empire permitted the dwarves to live within its borders, giving them the mountain range of Azerheim in Akshus to populate. The Amrikhi continued a policy of intermarriage with the local Sceyan tribes, largely blending the lines between conqueror and conquered to the point where the distinction was only meaningful int he deep forest, where the Sahash still stood strong.
However, the political landscape of Sceya was changed drastically virtually overnight in 4500 of the Pre-Imperial Era: when the Cataclysm and the Year of the Sword struck the Amrikh empire, and the ancient red dragon Zainnu came for the High Kingdom. The large amrikhi settlements were cut off from their homeland, and several of them were destroyed by the terrifying shadowcreatures that came forth from their mausoleum-complexes, while the dwarven capital of Highhammer was lost to the ancient red dragon and their other holdfasts were taken by the goliath or fire giant warlords of the regions. Thankfully, the Amrikhi cities were largely spared the self-genocidal year of the sword, and many dwarves fled west or north to these allied holdfasts. This alliance of men and dwarves would prove essential in the years to come, and the dwarves adapted to lives of exile, hoping one day to reclaim their ancestral home of Highhammer.
During this time, Zainnu the dragon king claimed overlordship of Sceya, extracting tribute from all the peoples of Sceya, and destroying dissidents in draconic hellfire. Ember elves and dread dragonborn served as enforcers for the dragon king, making sure none dared defy the will of their lord. However, Zainnu was largely a lazt tyrant, content to simply drain his vassals of wealth and resources rather than enforce full control over them.
Rise of the Ari kingdom - 4500 PIA to 440 IA
Following the cataclysm, several Amrikhi settlements survived and came to power and prosper as central trade routes along the coast. Most powerful of these cities was Itn-Ari, the largest city of the northern Amrikh empire which survived the Cataclysm largely unscathed. Itn-Ari, with its trade connections to the north of the Godpeaks, large professional army and high population density, soon became the center of power in Northern Sceya. It presented itself as the last refuge of Amrikh civilization, and its rulers, the Ari Dynasty were descendants of Sa'nakt and thus considered themselves directly descendant of the Amrikhi sun-god, Hesmash.
With the destruction of Highhammer and destabilization of many of the other Amrikhi settlements, Itn-Ari saw the chance to claim ascendancy in Sceyan politics. It established the Ari kingdom, which accepted and gave land to many dwarven refugees and took control over several failing Amrikhi city-states with its army. Over the milennia, the Ari kingdom became an economic powerhouse, trading north, west and south in furs, lumber, firepowder and amber. The Ari kingdom had several mines in the southern reaches of the Godpeaks and northern reaches of the Giantheights, but these were meagre exploits compared to the riches that could be found beneath the Giantheights.
The Ari kingdom pursued, over millennia, a policy of assimilation and integration of local Sceyan tribes, taking over more and more land and mixing the blood of Amrikhi descendants and local Sceyans. The kingdom made no direct move to defy the dragon king, rather seeking to assimilate local Sceyan tribes. As the kingdom established more and more stable trade-routes with its neighboring nations and expanded its industrial capacity, especially in the north, its military capacity became greater, to the point where the kingdom could simply claim what it desired from tribes that were unwilling to give up their land to foreigners. Several violent cullings in the Wetlands and southern hinterlands led to the mass emigration of local tribes, securing the area for loyal tribes, Ari-Sceyans and dwarves. This violence was eventually answered by the rise of the Wolf Queen and the Damatír tribe, which stood against the violence of the Aris and protected the local tribes and their peoples in the depths of the Sceyan forests.
This status quo lasted for centuries, as the Ari kingdom was unable to maintain their hold on the forest tribes without violent retaliation from the Damatír, led by the Wolf Queen. However, eventually this too was changed, with the arrival of golden ships in the northern harbor of Itn-Ari.
Imperial Conquest - 440 IA to 450 IA
The northern Gold Empire had long been an ally of the Ari kingdom, and its largest trading partner, and potential integration of Sceya into the Gold Empire had been discussed by several groups of diplomats and the Ari kings. It was on the 25th of Fire, 439 Imperial Age, that King Hans Ari, king of West Sceya and son of the sun, officially accepted the visit of The Gold Emperor, who rode into the city of Itn-Ari on the ancient gold dragon Kaerziros Lightbringer. Behind the Gold Emperor was three full brotherhoods of the Conquest Legion, his personal guard of the Dragon Legion, five brotherhoods of the Devotion Legion, and Noble armies drafted from all over the Gold Empire.
With imperial support, the Ari Kingdom officially became the province of Sceya, and Hans Ari swore his loyalty to the Gold Emperor as king of Sceya. The invasion had been planned years in advance, with dozens of secret meetings between imperial and Ari strategists and diplomats, to devastating effect. The primary goal of the Imperial Conquest was to secure the western Giantheights, with their massive supplies of coal, firepowder and metals. The chief opposition to this would be the dragon king, but the Wolf Queen too would have to be defeated, alongside the Damatír tribe.
The Imperial army marched south from Itn-Ari, focusing their attention on Highhammer. The Damatír wildwalkers, who would normally have harassed an Ari army, saw that they could not stand against the focused might of the Imperial army, and instead retreated into the deep forest to assemble their forces. The siege of Highhammer and the other nearby dwarf strongholds was brutal, with red dragons unleashing hell on the Imperial Army, while imperial magic and warcraft broke into the ancient dwarven holds. It took years to finally break, but the conquest of Highhammer ended in a climactic battle between Hans Ari riding Clenxir and the Gold Emperor riding Kaerziros on one side, versus the dragon king on the other. With the conquest of the Giantheights, the greatest goal of the Gold Empire was achieved. The western portions of the Giantheights were quickly liberated from fire giants and goliaths, though full imperial conquest of the Giantheights was postponed, as their enemies were too well-fortified, and more pressing concerns presented themselves in the forests of Sceya.
While the conquest of Highhammer had been underway, Hans Ari's son Abraham Ari had been charged with conquest of the forests. He took gunboats up the rivers of West Sceya, conquering land and subjugating the locals. In a cowardly display of tactics that would prove to be emblematic of the subsequent war, the Wolf Queen led an ambush on the gunboat that housed Abraham, killing him and several other high-ranking Ari court members, as well as imperial personnel. This loss was felt keenly by the king, who used his newfound imperial authority to finally turn the full might of the imperial warmachine against the Wolf Queen who had defeated his ancestors many times.
The war was gruelling and hard on the imperial invaders, as they moved into the haunted forests of West Sceya that had not been mapped by any source available to them. The wildwalkers used magic to ensnare, trick and defeat the imperials in several important engagements, with the Wolf Queen even close to killing Hans Ari. However, some imperial scholars point to the king's rash decisionmaking and general poor planning and logistics as an equal contender for the imperial underperformance in the conflict. No matter the cause, the Gold Empire secured a firm advantage, building several key forts in the region that allowed them to lock down the Wildwalkers and deny them important routes of retreat. The Wildwalkers were forced to split into smaller and smaller groups, which eventually lacked the momentum to do real damage to the imperial army.
Finally, a clever ploy by the Gold Emperor forced the Wolf Queen out in force, as she had one chance to cut off the head of the invading imperial army. This prover impossible, as her Wildwalkers came fully face to face with the determined imperial Dragon Knights, there could be no victory for Free Sceya. The Wolf Queen herself came close once again to killing king Hans and even wounded the Gold Emperor, but before she could strike the killing blow she was struck down by the Dragon Knights protecting them. According to the official account of events, she was captured by the Ari kingdom and brought to Itn-Ari, where she was executed for her crimes of treason and defiance, but records kept in the depths of the Imperial Palace show that she died fighting to the end, taking several dragon knights with her before succumbing to her wounds on the battlefield.
With the fall of the Wolf Queen, the only alternative to imperial authority, victory was secured in the west and expansion of Ari influence finally began into the Sceyan heartland. Mines began operating again as the king relocated his court to the quickly expanding city of Highhammer, and the Sceyan lumber industry grew quickly. Forts were established in the Giantheights to keep the fire giants and goliaths at bay. The king began drafting plans for an invasion of the East, and several expeditions were sent over the Giantheights to find stable mountain passes and map the East.
The Troubles - 450 to 475 Imperial Age
Peace had not truly come to East Sceya. When the Wolf Queen had been defeated in the battle of Redwood much of the Damatír tribe moved eastwards through the Feywild, but some remained to continue the struggle. Striking from the depths of the woods, aiding local rebels and ambushing imperial workers, soldiers and merchants. Sceya was considered a dangerous frontier for years, in large part due to the efforts of these resistance groups. However, eventually this too came to an end.
On king Hans' invitation, a contingent of Bronze Metal Church clerics came to Sceya with a large group of Witch Hunters. These began the process of investigating the land, finding locals with sympathies to the Wildwalkers and investigating magical disturbances. After a few years of investigation, the hunters and their priest masters had a detailed list of rebels and people who had sympathies for them, as well as a map of Sceyan pagan shrines and the locations of hundreds of druids and witches, all more or less associated with the rebels. The king looked over the list, and aproved of the hunt. What followed was the largest witch persecution in the history of the Gold Empire, with hundreds of witch hunters involved and thousands of ordinary Sceyan soldiers. The Witch Hunter captain Theowulf of Eilcíud was put in charge of the operation, and carried it out with lethal efficiency. Over a matter of days, hundreds of druids and witches were killed, most of them either hung or burned, and many rebel sympathizers were executed by the ordinary soldiery. The Wildwalkers were crippled in their ability to operate in the West, and in the weeks after the operation many of them were hunted down and killed by the Hunter Corps and Witch Hunters.
While the king hailed this operation as a supreme victory over seditious and pagan elements in his province, the move was widely criticized by nobles, clerics and alchemists, who regarded the campaign as brutal and a violation of humanoid rights. However, no censure came from the Gold Emperor, the Imperial Council or the Council Argentum, though the Council of Dragons was set to condemn the action before the Lord Executioner Goldbrand Cyne vetoed the move. The operation moved Sceya closer to the militant Blackflame faction, and cemented king Hans as an ally of the Lord Executioner. Whispers in the halls of the Silver Cathedral suggest that it was the Lord Executioner's support that made the whole operation possible.
Final Subjugation of the Fire Giants - 475 to 480 Imperial Age
While the west was conquered and fully integrated into the Gold Empire, the fire giants and goliaths still stood strong in the Giantheights, and the East was barely explored. The king prepared several expeditions to the east, but they were beaten back every time. Imperial triumph would finally come with prince Andreas "the Handsome" Ari, when he returned triumphant from Akshus.
Using his influence as a returning warhero to gather an army and taking it into the Giantheights, he brought the battle to the fire giants. This war, known as the Giantheight War, has been studied in the decades since as a masterclass in imperial wardoctrine. In a swift spring war, Andreas brought several important forge-fortresses low, destroying them completely. Andreas lured the proud fire giants out onto the battlefield, and dismantled them completely with the application of artillery, dragonfire and legion might. The battle of Blacksmoke was a terrible loss for the Fire Giants, and even in the decades since the Fire Giants were not permitted to retrieve their dead.
With the Fire Giants defeated and vassalized, Andreas defeated the goliaths and forced them to bend the knee, and then he moved into the eastern lowlands near the fire giant holdings of northern East Sceya, liberating the peoples enslaved by the Fire Giants.
However, Andreas did not finish the conquest. East Sceya was primarily populated by locals and Damatír wildwalkers who had fled east from the progroms under the king who were largely left alone by the conquering prince, though Andreas built several forts in middle East Sceya to facilitate trade, conquest and commerce in the region.
However, in the southern forests of East Sceya, the Sahash tribe remained, ready to fight against imperial aggression and carve out new territory for themselves.
The Great's Reign- 480 Imperial Age to the present day
With the major threats of the east finally defeated, Sceya entered an imperial golden age, ruled by king Hans "the Great" Ari from the mountain fortress-city of Highammer. With the secret power of firepowder and coal, and a large imperial investment, Sceya grew to become a lumber and industry powerhouse, becoming the center for the development of advanced ignean technologies allowing faster trade, such as trains, steamboats, rifles and machines for use in industry. The development of Sceya was second only to the developments of Kreit and Ashefell, though the technologies used here were largely ancestral technologies originally discovered by ember elves and fire giants, and their developments would spread to Akshus, Whiesia and Salantano, facilitating a modernization of agriculture and industries in these regions.
However, even to this day the Duchy of East Sceya remains a wild frontier, only rivalled by the jungles of Dhuchai in how little imperial influence is present. While the north is fully under control of the Duke, the south remains outside of imperial borders, as a coalition of free peoples led by the Sahash tribe remains unconquered. For the last ten years, a tense peace has been established beteween the duke and the Robber Prince Deidre.
As with all other lands, Sceya was marked by the terrible conflict of the First War. Elemental lords waged terrible war on each other, using local humans as soldiers, slaves and servants in their never-ending conflicts. Sceya was the battleground for war between all the elements, but the greatest fighting was between the Worldtree, the Mountainwalker, the Everfire and the Deepcold.
In the mountains, Mountain Dwarves and Stone Giants fought in service to Hazat Ardia, warmaster of elemental earth. While they were not overly aggressive in the war, preferring to hold the center of Sceya, their successes created the colossal Giantheights, an offshot of the northern Godpeaks. Elemental Eearth mostly fought Elemental Fire in the north. Hazat Ardia, in a bid for power in the east, released a Titan in East Sceya against Fíaglasir. The titan was defeated by the king in green, and its gigantic corpse can still be seen protruding from the ground in the south of East Sceya, standing as a lone mountain in the southern island-chain.
The forests were under the protection of the Wild Lord Fíaglasir, one of the mightiest fey lords. Fíaglasir fought hard to protect the humans, gnomes and elves under his protection, creating the open city of Cathaír Ombra in the east to gather survivors of the First War. Cathaír Ombra came under attack many times, but it always held as one of the few places in the world of true peace and stability. In the west, the Wolf King Altsehash was free to run rampant. He brought the battle to the enemy with wood elves and werewolves at his side, preventing Hazat Ardia from spreading his influence to the west and keeping the Sea Elves at bay. Here too, peace was secured by the fey lords for their subjects, though Altsehash taught his followers a nomadic lifestyle not reliant on walls.
The Everfire's influence came from below, as Fire Giants and elementals attacked the mountains and northern areas of Sceya through the Underdark. Volcanoes burst from the ground as giants came forth with legions of ignean monsters and hobgoblins, claiming territories in the mountains and burning the northern reaches of the Sceyan forests, making sure that the Worldtree would never claim those lands. Both Altsehash and Fíaglasir fought the ignean host, which was led by the red dragon general Eodanth Shatterblade. Eodanth would likely have razed Cathaír Ombra were it not for the intervention of Tíaréag, lord of extinction, who held the Eodanth long enough for Altsehash and Fíaglasir to scatter its armies.
The Deepcold also played a role in the First War in Sceya. As already mentioned, Sea Elves raided the West Sceyan coast. However, the greater danger was in the east. In the east, the Deepcold attacked in force, as the dragon turtle Lebemneth led an armade on Cathaír Ombra. After years of fighting and siege, Lebemneth and Fíaglasir came to an understanding. They both secretly did not care for the First War, being old enough to remember a time before, and wished simply to live in peace. They thus agreed to a ceasefire, and humans from Lebemneth's armada settled the coastline, while its militaristic tritons returned to their underwater holdfasts.
Rule of Amber - 9500 PIA to 9000 PIA
The post-war era of Sceya was characterized by the ascendancy of two great fey lords: the Wolf King in the west and the Wild King in the east, and particularly by the central role of Fíaglasir's Cathaír Ombra, which stood as a center of peace and prosperity in Dain and the Feywild.
In the west, the grey folk of the Damatír tribe, which worshipped the Old Wolf, lived in peace and stability with the land, paying tribute to their lord while moving between their hunting grounds. In the east, Cathaír Ombra was an important center of Feywild trade, with many marvelous magic items being traded and wonderful magic being developed, all under the personal protection of Fíaglasir. This era would end, with the start of the Dreamwar.
Dreamwar
The Old Wolf provoked the wood elves of Chéad Cathair, resulting in the Dreamwar, a set of wars of conquest fought by the Wood Elves against all fey spirits and their subjects. The wood elves came to Sceya first, attacking the Damatír tribe, murdering thousands of them to punish the Wolf King for his transgressions.
Fíaglasir challenged the wood elves with a coalition of fey lords. The Wood Elves turned their attention to Cathaír Ombra, though they were unable to break through its walls while Fíaglasir stood. Time works strangely in the Feywild, and none know for sure how long the Dreamwar lasted.
However, it eventually came to an end. When the Eternal King became the vessel of Crann Domhanda's power, the fey lords were defeated one by one. Altsehash was cowed, mortally wounded by a spear of silver, and pledged his allegiance to the Eternal Throne. Fíaglasir was the last to stand against the Eternal King, seeing the evil and all-consuming hunger in his eyes. He stood as the last warrior, hurling amber spears of pure light from the great towers of Cathaír Ombra, but he was blinded to a greater threat.
From the ocean, a terrifying being of the Deepcold came, all black scales, icecold talons and bottomless hunger. A thousand eyes gazed upon Cathaír Ombra, and knew that the time had arrived to claim it. This monster brought with it the seas and tidal waves, and brought Cathaír Ombra down under the waves, intending to devour the whole city. Fíaglasir called upon Lebemneth for aid, as the monster was also killing their beloved humans, and together they defeated the beast, though they could not kill it. Fíaglasir pierced it with a great spear of primal power, and Lebemneth forced it underneath their great bulk, imprisoning the monster.
However the damage had been done, and much of East Sceya had been swallowed by the waves, including the whole of Cathaír Ombra. The wood elves of the Ombra clan that survived this devastation fled into the forests around Cathaír Ombra, and began retreating from the world. His power spent from the struggle with the monster, Fíaglasir left his people with instructions to never surrender, and travelled into the Feywild to either kill the Eternal King, or be killed himself.
This conflict marked the end of fey ascendancy in Sceya. While the humans of the Damatír tribe would continue to play an important role in West Sceya, and the influence of Altsehash never truly vanished from the province, Wood Elves would pass into myth, living in hidden enclaves in the Feywild to avoid the gaze of the Eternal King. The Sahash tribe of wood elves would come to serve the Eternal King, but the Ombra tribe would never surrender, though they were likely driven to exctinction by Chéad Cathair.
Rule of Fire and Stone - 9000 PIA to 4500 PIA
With the fey lords of Sceya having destroyed each other in the terrible Dreamwar, the stage was set for other elemental powers to play a greater role in the region. Fire giants expanded their operations in the Giantheights, claiming several more mountains for themselves and building forge-fortresses. They enslaved the defenceless humans of the forests and used the edges of the forests for fuel, their industry creating a permanent wound in the woods between the deep forests and the Giantheights.
Goliath tribes and mountain dwarves also sought to expand their influence, with the goliaths conquering several human forest tribes and making them pay tribute. The conflicts and dynamic of this era was largely between the goliath tribes and the fire giants, with both groups fighting for dominance of the mountains and overlordship of the weaker human tribes.
Around this time, a large and powerful expedition of Hill Dwarves came to Sceya through the underways, establishing a mighty holdfast in Highhammer and making their own mark on the mountains of Sceya. The Hill Dwarves of Highhammer were soon rivals of both the Fire Giants and the Goliaths, supported as they were by their network of alliances with northern dwarven kingdoms, who would lend them aid in times of war.
While the mountains were being fought over and colonized by these factions, another forcec ame to Sceya's west coast: the Amrikh Empire led by Sa'nakt. The Amrikh sent vessels north to make new settlements in Sceya, in order to trade with the locals for fur and game while using West Sceya's large natural resources of lumber for themselves. While there was some fighting between the Amrikhi and the local Sceyan people, such as the Wolf-worshiping tribe Damatír nomads and the firbolgs, the Amrikh mostly had peaceful relations with the locals, and promoted an official line of cultural and economic development in the region.
This policy brought the Amrikh empire into conflict with the mountain overlords, and several wars were fought with these. Due to geographic barriers, most of the Amrikh wars were fought against the hill dwarf High Kingdom of Highhammer, which resulted in a set of territorial and diplomatic concessions from the High King. When the Twilight Wars broke out, the High Kingdom was the first to bear the brunt of the attack, another weakening of their link. The Amrikh empire, led by Sa'nakt, acknowledged the threat of the Twilight Elves and alied themselves with the High Kingdom. Using the underways, this alliance of men and dwarves fought back against the darkness.
Following the Twilight Wars, Sceya was largely altered in the form of a weakened High Kingdom. As a token of gratitude from the Amrikh Empire, and to compensate for the lost dwarven cities and outposts, the Amrikh Empire permitted the dwarves to live within its borders, giving them the mountain range of Azerheim in Akshus to populate. The Amrikhi continued a policy of intermarriage with the local Sceyan tribes, largely blending the lines between conqueror and conquered to the point where the distinction was only meaningful int he deep forest, where the Sahash still stood strong.
However, the political landscape of Sceya was changed drastically virtually overnight in 4500 of the Pre-Imperial Era: when the Cataclysm and the Year of the Sword struck the Amrikh empire, and the ancient red dragon Zainnu came for the High Kingdom. The large amrikhi settlements were cut off from their homeland, and several of them were destroyed by the terrifying shadowcreatures that came forth from their mausoleum-complexes, while the dwarven capital of Highhammer was lost to the ancient red dragon and their other holdfasts were taken by the goliath or fire giant warlords of the regions. Thankfully, the Amrikhi cities were largely spared the self-genocidal year of the sword, and many dwarves fled west or north to these allied holdfasts. This alliance of men and dwarves would prove essential in the years to come, and the dwarves adapted to lives of exile, hoping one day to reclaim their ancestral home of Highhammer.
During this time, Zainnu the dragon king claimed overlordship of Sceya, extracting tribute from all the peoples of Sceya, and destroying dissidents in draconic hellfire. Ember elves and dread dragonborn served as enforcers for the dragon king, making sure none dared defy the will of their lord. However, Zainnu was largely a lazt tyrant, content to simply drain his vassals of wealth and resources rather than enforce full control over them.
Rise of the Ari kingdom - 4500 PIA to 440 IA
Following the cataclysm, several Amrikhi settlements survived and came to power and prosper as central trade routes along the coast. Most powerful of these cities was Itn-Ari, the largest city of the northern Amrikh empire which survived the Cataclysm largely unscathed. Itn-Ari, with its trade connections to the north of the Godpeaks, large professional army and high population density, soon became the center of power in Northern Sceya. It presented itself as the last refuge of Amrikh civilization, and its rulers, the Ari Dynasty were descendants of Sa'nakt and thus considered themselves directly descendant of the Amrikhi sun-god, Hesmash.
With the destruction of Highhammer and destabilization of many of the other Amrikhi settlements, Itn-Ari saw the chance to claim ascendancy in Sceyan politics. It established the Ari kingdom, which accepted and gave land to many dwarven refugees and took control over several failing Amrikhi city-states with its army. Over the milennia, the Ari kingdom became an economic powerhouse, trading north, west and south in furs, lumber, firepowder and amber. The Ari kingdom had several mines in the southern reaches of the Godpeaks and northern reaches of the Giantheights, but these were meagre exploits compared to the riches that could be found beneath the Giantheights.
The Ari kingdom pursued, over millennia, a policy of assimilation and integration of local Sceyan tribes, taking over more and more land and mixing the blood of Amrikhi descendants and local Sceyans. The kingdom made no direct move to defy the dragon king, rather seeking to assimilate local Sceyan tribes. As the kingdom established more and more stable trade-routes with its neighboring nations and expanded its industrial capacity, especially in the north, its military capacity became greater, to the point where the kingdom could simply claim what it desired from tribes that were unwilling to give up their land to foreigners. Several violent cullings in the Wetlands and southern hinterlands led to the mass emigration of local tribes, securing the area for loyal tribes, Ari-Sceyans and dwarves. This violence was eventually answered by the rise of the Wolf Queen and the Damatír tribe, which stood against the violence of the Aris and protected the local tribes and their peoples in the depths of the Sceyan forests.
This status quo lasted for centuries, as the Ari kingdom was unable to maintain their hold on the forest tribes without violent retaliation from the Damatír, led by the Wolf Queen. However, eventually this too was changed, with the arrival of golden ships in the northern harbor of Itn-Ari.
Imperial Conquest - 440 IA to 450 IA
The northern Gold Empire had long been an ally of the Ari kingdom, and its largest trading partner, and potential integration of Sceya into the Gold Empire had been discussed by several groups of diplomats and the Ari kings. It was on the 25th of Fire, 439 Imperial Age, that King Hans Ari, king of West Sceya and son of the sun, officially accepted the visit of The Gold Emperor, who rode into the city of Itn-Ari on the ancient gold dragon Kaerziros Lightbringer. Behind the Gold Emperor was three full brotherhoods of the Conquest Legion, his personal guard of the Dragon Legion, five brotherhoods of the Devotion Legion, and Noble armies drafted from all over the Gold Empire.
With imperial support, the Ari Kingdom officially became the province of Sceya, and Hans Ari swore his loyalty to the Gold Emperor as king of Sceya. The invasion had been planned years in advance, with dozens of secret meetings between imperial and Ari strategists and diplomats, to devastating effect. The primary goal of the Imperial Conquest was to secure the western Giantheights, with their massive supplies of coal, firepowder and metals. The chief opposition to this would be the dragon king, but the Wolf Queen too would have to be defeated, alongside the Damatír tribe.
The Imperial army marched south from Itn-Ari, focusing their attention on Highhammer. The Damatír wildwalkers, who would normally have harassed an Ari army, saw that they could not stand against the focused might of the Imperial army, and instead retreated into the deep forest to assemble their forces. The siege of Highhammer and the other nearby dwarf strongholds was brutal, with red dragons unleashing hell on the Imperial Army, while imperial magic and warcraft broke into the ancient dwarven holds. It took years to finally break, but the conquest of Highhammer ended in a climactic battle between Hans Ari riding Clenxir and the Gold Emperor riding Kaerziros on one side, versus the dragon king on the other. With the conquest of the Giantheights, the greatest goal of the Gold Empire was achieved. The western portions of the Giantheights were quickly liberated from fire giants and goliaths, though full imperial conquest of the Giantheights was postponed, as their enemies were too well-fortified, and more pressing concerns presented themselves in the forests of Sceya.
While the conquest of Highhammer had been underway, Hans Ari's son Abraham Ari had been charged with conquest of the forests. He took gunboats up the rivers of West Sceya, conquering land and subjugating the locals. In a cowardly display of tactics that would prove to be emblematic of the subsequent war, the Wolf Queen led an ambush on the gunboat that housed Abraham, killing him and several other high-ranking Ari court members, as well as imperial personnel. This loss was felt keenly by the king, who used his newfound imperial authority to finally turn the full might of the imperial warmachine against the Wolf Queen who had defeated his ancestors many times.
The war was gruelling and hard on the imperial invaders, as they moved into the haunted forests of West Sceya that had not been mapped by any source available to them. The wildwalkers used magic to ensnare, trick and defeat the imperials in several important engagements, with the Wolf Queen even close to killing Hans Ari. However, some imperial scholars point to the king's rash decisionmaking and general poor planning and logistics as an equal contender for the imperial underperformance in the conflict. No matter the cause, the Gold Empire secured a firm advantage, building several key forts in the region that allowed them to lock down the Wildwalkers and deny them important routes of retreat. The Wildwalkers were forced to split into smaller and smaller groups, which eventually lacked the momentum to do real damage to the imperial army.
Finally, a clever ploy by the Gold Emperor forced the Wolf Queen out in force, as she had one chance to cut off the head of the invading imperial army. This prover impossible, as her Wildwalkers came fully face to face with the determined imperial Dragon Knights, there could be no victory for Free Sceya. The Wolf Queen herself came close once again to killing king Hans and even wounded the Gold Emperor, but before she could strike the killing blow she was struck down by the Dragon Knights protecting them. According to the official account of events, she was captured by the Ari kingdom and brought to Itn-Ari, where she was executed for her crimes of treason and defiance, but records kept in the depths of the Imperial Palace show that she died fighting to the end, taking several dragon knights with her before succumbing to her wounds on the battlefield.
With the fall of the Wolf Queen, the only alternative to imperial authority, victory was secured in the west and expansion of Ari influence finally began into the Sceyan heartland. Mines began operating again as the king relocated his court to the quickly expanding city of Highhammer, and the Sceyan lumber industry grew quickly. Forts were established in the Giantheights to keep the fire giants and goliaths at bay. The king began drafting plans for an invasion of the East, and several expeditions were sent over the Giantheights to find stable mountain passes and map the East.
The Troubles - 450 to 475 Imperial Age
Peace had not truly come to East Sceya. When the Wolf Queen had been defeated in the battle of Redwood much of the Damatír tribe moved eastwards through the Feywild, but some remained to continue the struggle. Striking from the depths of the woods, aiding local rebels and ambushing imperial workers, soldiers and merchants. Sceya was considered a dangerous frontier for years, in large part due to the efforts of these resistance groups. However, eventually this too came to an end.
On king Hans' invitation, a contingent of Bronze Metal Church clerics came to Sceya with a large group of Witch Hunters. These began the process of investigating the land, finding locals with sympathies to the Wildwalkers and investigating magical disturbances. After a few years of investigation, the hunters and their priest masters had a detailed list of rebels and people who had sympathies for them, as well as a map of Sceyan pagan shrines and the locations of hundreds of druids and witches, all more or less associated with the rebels. The king looked over the list, and aproved of the hunt. What followed was the largest witch persecution in the history of the Gold Empire, with hundreds of witch hunters involved and thousands of ordinary Sceyan soldiers. The Witch Hunter captain Theowulf of Eilcíud was put in charge of the operation, and carried it out with lethal efficiency. Over a matter of days, hundreds of druids and witches were killed, most of them either hung or burned, and many rebel sympathizers were executed by the ordinary soldiery. The Wildwalkers were crippled in their ability to operate in the West, and in the weeks after the operation many of them were hunted down and killed by the Hunter Corps and Witch Hunters.
While the king hailed this operation as a supreme victory over seditious and pagan elements in his province, the move was widely criticized by nobles, clerics and alchemists, who regarded the campaign as brutal and a violation of humanoid rights. However, no censure came from the Gold Emperor, the Imperial Council or the Council Argentum, though the Council of Dragons was set to condemn the action before the Lord Executioner Goldbrand Cyne vetoed the move. The operation moved Sceya closer to the militant Blackflame faction, and cemented king Hans as an ally of the Lord Executioner. Whispers in the halls of the Silver Cathedral suggest that it was the Lord Executioner's support that made the whole operation possible.
Final Subjugation of the Fire Giants - 475 to 480 Imperial Age
While the west was conquered and fully integrated into the Gold Empire, the fire giants and goliaths still stood strong in the Giantheights, and the East was barely explored. The king prepared several expeditions to the east, but they were beaten back every time. Imperial triumph would finally come with prince Andreas "the Handsome" Ari, when he returned triumphant from Akshus.
Using his influence as a returning warhero to gather an army and taking it into the Giantheights, he brought the battle to the fire giants. This war, known as the Giantheight War, has been studied in the decades since as a masterclass in imperial wardoctrine. In a swift spring war, Andreas brought several important forge-fortresses low, destroying them completely. Andreas lured the proud fire giants out onto the battlefield, and dismantled them completely with the application of artillery, dragonfire and legion might. The battle of Blacksmoke was a terrible loss for the Fire Giants, and even in the decades since the Fire Giants were not permitted to retrieve their dead.
With the Fire Giants defeated and vassalized, Andreas defeated the goliaths and forced them to bend the knee, and then he moved into the eastern lowlands near the fire giant holdings of northern East Sceya, liberating the peoples enslaved by the Fire Giants.
However, Andreas did not finish the conquest. East Sceya was primarily populated by locals and Damatír wildwalkers who had fled east from the progroms under the king who were largely left alone by the conquering prince, though Andreas built several forts in middle East Sceya to facilitate trade, conquest and commerce in the region.
However, in the southern forests of East Sceya, the Sahash tribe remained, ready to fight against imperial aggression and carve out new territory for themselves.
The Great's Reign- 480 Imperial Age to the present day
With the major threats of the east finally defeated, Sceya entered an imperial golden age, ruled by king Hans "the Great" Ari from the mountain fortress-city of Highammer. With the secret power of firepowder and coal, and a large imperial investment, Sceya grew to become a lumber and industry powerhouse, becoming the center for the development of advanced ignean technologies allowing faster trade, such as trains, steamboats, rifles and machines for use in industry. The development of Sceya was second only to the developments of Kreit and Ashefell, though the technologies used here were largely ancestral technologies originally discovered by ember elves and fire giants, and their developments would spread to Akshus, Whiesia and Salantano, facilitating a modernization of agriculture and industries in these regions.
However, even to this day the Duchy of East Sceya remains a wild frontier, only rivalled by the jungles of Dhuchai in how little imperial influence is present. While the north is fully under control of the Duke, the south remains outside of imperial borders, as a coalition of free peoples led by the Sahash tribe remains unconquered. For the last ten years, a tense peace has been established beteween the duke and the Robber Prince Deidre.
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Kingdom of Sceya
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