The Book of Rhone

Led by Aoife, Segavar is introduced to a small group of warlords in the (rounded area) who have their own designs of power-seeking on the land. To secure his cooperation, they promise him a crown and land of his own if only he would slay Rhuon. But they agree that first Rhuon be allowed to finish off the TYRANT of Muspairhel.

Segavar agrees to their offer.

The would-be Queen fights several smaller battles with her forces. Aided by Garaed Calaleos, her forces win some, lose some. Her female followers are still with her as well as a smattering of nobles and still the commoners.

As the opportunistic former allies of her father turned on them, the Queen is forced on the defensive.

Having retreated almost to the far west of the peninsula and backed up against the shores of Vael Lake, the First Queen's forces are attacked by several warbands led by local warlords. A large battle plays out that she just barely manages to force a stalemate. During the Holding of the Teeth, Queen Arosaine's forces manage to hold off their enemies for over a day.

As a sign that the power and reach of the kingdom was growing beyond local control, the Queen created and awarded the first Eorldoms in the Kingdom of Rhone. In recognition for his service, the Queen bestowed the title on Garaed Calaleos.

Insulted by her refusal or just accepting that she recognized his goal all along, Ondran leads Cualar in an invasion of the south. This is the first war where the entire country comes together against an outside enemy.

Artath, the firstborn son of Queen Arosaine and Osus Kinear, is born.

The dominion of Raonull grows more oppressive and the people of the Fingers suffer a long, hard winter. Secretly, several prominent tribesmen meet and agree to send a request for aid from Queen Arosaine.

As the Queen lay in her tent, recovering from her wounds that kept her from traveling, she is visited by the tribal chiefs who express gratitude and amazement at her feat. Having agreed amongst themselves and wary of future raiding, the chiefs swear fealty and enter the Kingdom of Rhone.

Moving quickly to reward her supporters and establish control over the entire Western Peninsula, Queen Arosaine established the Eorldom of Stone-and-Sea on the southern coast. She bestowed this title on Culel Aralana, a mature and loyal Rhuani warrior who had served her faithfully since the Holding of the Teeth. He had been gravely injured at the 1st Battle of Queensford and she sought to harness his sharp mind to the task of controlling the entire peninsula.

Learning of Garovin Brynagar's whereabouts, Ondran sends threatening messengers to Queen Arosaine. The Queen receives the messages and shaves the messengers bald for their temerity and tone when addressing a Queen.

Queen Arosaine leads her troops north into Cualar. She seizes a small holding called Galehost and settles in to wait for Ondran.

The Rhonish forces move up the coastline of Cualar taking hold after hold. Ondran rallies enough forces to surprise Queen Arosaine's forces south of the Cleave. The battle still goes in Rhone's favor but delays the Queen and her people. Ondran flees back to Brynhold in an attempt at a last stand. Several of the communities taken by Rhone offer volunteers for service against Cualar.

With no sign of Ondran, Queen Arosaine places Garovin back on the seat of Brynhold. She rewards a number of her followers with control of Sword Coast holds to protect the border from the northern warlords. Once that is done, she returns home. Garovin manages to put down several small rebellions through his personal lineage and, when that failed, his axe.

Raids from mountain folk have been increasing for several years. Artath is sent to put an end to it. In doing so, he pushes further into the foothills and establishes small watchposts of which some develop into holdings. After hunting down several of the more prominent raider chiefs and executing them the raids taper off.

A difficult pregnancy led to the young Princess and her stillborn child's death on the birthing bed. Prince Artath is devastated and flees Rhuvael to hide his misery after the funeral.

In the height of the cold, wet winter months, former King Naeras arrived on the shores of the Finger Coast. In this he was aided by the owner of a cog willing to sail into the winter storms towards Rhone for one of the Eight Companions of Rhuanon. When Queen Arosaine learned of his presence she immediately sent for him. Arriving in Rhuvael, Naeras was a pitiful sight. Dressed in worn and salt-stained once-fine robes and accompanied by only a single armsmen he was penniless and in grey state of shock.

From Rhone, the word went out to all those who plied the Sea of Winds of coin for their service. The Queen dug deep into the mountain hoards they had taken in the Sword Coast to pay good silver to every leaky vessel that came to answer that call. And many did.

The lords and warriors of the kingdom returned to their lands and gathered their followers. But the call went out to so many more and not just the landless but those of other lands as well. Even from Aenar, there were sellswords and warriors serving that abandoned their duties and traveled to Rhone for the Queen had promised glory and plunder for all. To travel to the greatest kingdom in the Western Lands! To win the eye of the Queen of Rhone and serve under the future King. Such an opportunity was not to be simply passed by.

And so, all across the Peninsula, swords were sharpened, mail was cleaned, and shields made ready; and then they returned to Rhuvael where the Queen held a great feast in honor of all who came to Naeras' cause. There she charged them with their duty unto the great Hero who had given all to break their chains and banish the Dark from these lands.

And again, Naeras wept with joy at the resounding cheer that followed it.

With Naeras blessing, Prince Artath and Princess Celoise, his love, are seen off at the shores of the Sea of Winds to return to Rhone. The chaos in Aenar is too great to risk the overland journey. They are received upon their return with great joy and celebration.

With Artath come those warriors and followers who served him diligently throughout the campaign. The ones who rose in his eyes through valor and skill as well as those whose steadfastness and loyalty saw them through the SIEGE and more. Upon their return, these warriors are rewarded by the Queen and the Prince with many of them granted lands for their service.

The Prince also brought back his newfound respect for the horse and its use in war. He immediately set to gathering horse experts and lines and set to breeding his own horses. He made all of his personal retinue begin to train diligently while mounted on a horse. The cost and time kept all but the wealthy and noble from this activity. So, when he rode to battles along the northern border in later years, his demand that all be mounted on swift horses and know this warcraft it was such that his followers were always warrior-nobles.

Little more than four months of sitting on the throne of the Petty Kingdom of Diara, Sran set the throneroom on fire and strode out of the city gates amidst the screams of its remaining people.

The city burned for a week and by then Sran and his men had already swept through the Solyr Petty Kingdom like a scythe.

Around this time, the lands of the Aenari disintegrated into chaos that would last over half a century. The Wasting of Aenar is a decades-long catalyst for instability and war throughout the Western Lands as swords travel to Aenar for personal gain and flee from it only to fall upon the neighbors of this once green and glorious land.

Many of the vendettas still sung and sworn against today originated during this time as men and women from every corner of the continent seemed to descend onto the Aenar lands and proceed to lose themselves in the ever-present violence.

Around this time, the young woman who would come to be known as Saint Ishanor traveled the breadth of Aenar. During her years there, she demonstrated her faith and evoked wonders. Her work garnered the first true converts to the High Church from Aenar and would only continue after her passing.

King Rhuaman is crowned at twenty-four years old.

Neither mother nor child survive.

A full-blooded member of the line of Rhuanon, Moralei is Thyaras' half-sister.

King Rhuaman falls ill earlier in the year. The affliction weakens him for several months before finally taking his life.

The King of Rhone, Thyaras, marries the daughter of a lord from the Western Peninsula; Dayana.

After several years of tension, High Princess Dayana gives birth to a wheezing baby boy named Uranon.

Despite defensive measures in place, the Finger continues to be harried by Cuth raiders.

Again with difficulty, High Princess Dayana gives birth to a second boy child named Adaul.

Frustrated by the constant raids, Thyaras declares his intent to cross the Dawn Strait for a punitive action against the Cuth tribes in Cuthaer.

Encouraged by the Eorl Masen Aralana, who sought riches and revenge for the death of his brother. As volunteers start approaching the King regarding a seat on the journey.

When she attempts to dissuade him of the campaign, the King forbids Moralei from accompanying him and charges her with the protection of his family and Rhone.

Upon learning of King Thyaras' death and his last wishes, Moralei declares herself guardian of the heir. The lord of Thyr, on the Sword Coast, declared his independence upon news reaching his lands. Moralei traveled north with a small force and put the short-lived insurrection down and executed the lord personally.

One of the first actions of the new Queen was to name a new Eorl of Stone-and-Sea. While there was much malingering about the removal no one raised any concern over the action. This was due to the actions of the old Eorl, Masen Aralana, being seen as partially responsible for the death of the King. While Queen Moralei made no statement supporting this motive neither was it denied. It helped that the Aralana heir was of a cadet branch and was barely old enough to hold the title.

Citing a need for strong Eorls at this time, the Queen named the Lord Inaline to the lands and title of the Eorl of Sea-and-Stone.

After the decades of wars in Aenar, even the Sword-Lords of the Upper Coast were tottering from exhaustion. Each week brought marauders and destruction to their lands, fields and people. The shortages and constant grind had even sparked several small wars between the Sword-Lords as tempers and food stocks grew shorter by the day.

It was these days that motivated the Sword-Lord Certhyr Inlyrian to gamble his lands, his life and the life of everyone that he loved on a betrayal. Desperate for a solution, he began secretly corresponding and meeting with the Rhonish Eorl of Swords. It was his hope and mad gamble in the hopes of gaining support for a Rhonish invasion, led by the warrior-queen Moralei herself, to save the Upper Sword Coast.

By conquering it.

The heir of Rhone, Uranon, is taken swimming by his mother, Dayana, and her attendants. Uranon falls into the lake and drowns before he can be rescued by anyone. Dayana falls into a deep depression and begins to neglect Adaul.

The Resolute Banner, formed of vengeful Sword Coasters and some local warlords, band together and begin a campaign of murder and atrocities against wide swathes of people in the Upper Sword Coast. Led by Dugallan Vantyr, the group is relentless against their former neighbors, subjects and the newly-arriving Rhonish.

They wage their campaign from the cursed and feared Elder fortification known as the Corpse-Hall.

His bride chosen by his aunt, the Queen, Adaul marries the daughter of a prominent Rhuani family. This marriage is doomed to tragedy as neither she nor her first child survive the birth.

King Adaul meets Inenya Araeris, a beauty at 19 years old, and takes her as his bride by the end of the year. The Araeris family is overjoyed to have found such favor with the Throne.

After significant pressure and repeated requests from the Rhuani nobles in Aenar, the King establishes the Eorldom of Swans. It encompasses the lands from the southern coast of Lower Aenar to Cinderbane Keep in a narrow swath. For any number of reasons, including lobbying from his wife, the King appoints his father-in-law, Cerdan Araeris, as the 1st Eorl of Swans.

The GIANTSWAR was fought between Rhone and surrounding lands against an incursion of Giants from the mountains. Leading the most barbaric of mountain clans against the lands of men, the devastation was nearly overwhelming. The War finally ended at the Battle of Turgas Rock wherein the Giant-King was slain.

The Giantswar ends at the Battle of TURGAS ROCK where the KRAL of the Giants is slain. The great warleader is slain by Medevir Varandus, a Companion of the Crown, who sought vengeance for the death of King Adaul.

Midwinter, EORL DALOVAL of SWANS is found slain in his bedchambers by assassins unknown. Most presume that an Aenari clan-vendetta had finally succeeded against him. But there are those who suggest caution and look to the Throne for answers. DALOVAL is the last ARAERIS to rule the Eorldom.

Prior to doing so though, the King carved out a new Eorldom from portions of SWANS and virgin land to ensure that the northern border would have enough protectors: the Eorldom Between-The-Waters. This honor was given to the Aenari clan that had shown such honor in the struggle to end the War: Areia Kathaer.

After nearly eight years of marriage, King Tharyion and the High Princess NAME have failed to produce an heir. After over a year of pressure by other lords, Tharyion sets her aside to satisfy those clamoring for an heir.

Years are spent reallocating fiefs and ensuring that no one person grows too strong. Many new knights are granted lands but made subordinate to other nobles in order to place individuals with loyalty to kingdom first in the ranks.

Upon the death of her father, ELLAVAINE-the heir to the Throne-and the Kingdom of Rhone is placed under the watchful eye of Regent Silar Valagos. He holds the peace until she comes of age.

In Aenar, the Eorl of Swans begins to encroach on the lands of Dacamis. The Lord of Dacamis protests these moves and asks for aid.

Elsewhere in Rhone, the tempo of raids from Cuth across the waters and overland brigands from the mountains and the east put pressure on many of the fiefs of Rhone.

In Aenar, the Eorl of Swans begins to encroach on the lands of Dacamis. The Lord of Dacamis protests these moves and asks for aid.

Elsewhere in Rhone, the tempo of raids from Cuth across the waters and overland brigands from the mountains and the east put pressure on many of the fiefs of Rhone.

After sending messages without success to the nobles and Eorls in Aenar, the Regent issues a Royal Decree that orders all loyal subjects to Rhone lay down their weapons and seek their homes in peace. The decree is specific as to the Eorl of Swans. The strength of the edict and the punishment for its violation is enough to shut down aggressive actions in Aenar. While a few sporadic and minor raids still take place there is no open fighting amongst the different families.

In blatant defiance of the Regent's proclamation, the fighting breaks out again in Aenar. This time the numbers involved trigger an overflow effect as the forces clashing take no heed of their conflicts spilling over the border of other lands.

Even if the outrage were justified, there was simply no time to ward off or placate the followers of one faction or the other. The distinction was clear between the smaller lordships and Swans. Either way, they reasoned, the end would come.

The constant warfare drives many northern families south to get away from the chaos and blood in Aenar. Unlike the years before, with the Regent gone and the Queen's absence now an undeniable fact; the whole of the Kingdom is threated by full-scale military action. Much of it, driven by the on-going hostilities between Swans and Dacama, takes place in Lower Aenar.

The Eorl of Swords is approached by the Eorl of Eventide and the EORL BETWEEN-THE-WATERS as well as northern Freelords.

The Eorl of Swords agrees to meet with the Eorl of Eventide and SHIELDS regarding the growing instability and tempo of fighting which does not seem to be slowing. He travels about the coastal nobles and into the south but no action is taken due to the increased raiding.

The raiders and brigands doing this are deserters and mercenaries driven west for work, leisure or enjoyment; much like the nobility that preceded them. It was not just these broken swords but also the overwater raids of the Cuth that had drastically sped up their usual operating pattern. These raids and the brigandage kept the forces of Swords and others from riding out for peace. It kept them home, no doubt sharpening pitchforks while there.

Several power-hungry Families near the Capital decide to seize power in Rhuvael. They invade the capital city and claim control over the Royal Domain and its attendant vassals.

In blatant defiance of the Regent's proclamation, the fighting breaks out again in Aenar. This time the numbers involved trigger an overflow effect as the forces clashing take no heed of their conflicts spilling over the border of other lands.

Even if the outrage were justified, there was simply no time to ward off or placate the followers of one faction or the other. The distinction was clear between the smaller lordships and Swans. Either way, they reasoned, the end would come.

The constant warfare drives many northern families south to get away from the chaos and blood in Aenar. Unlike the years before, with the Regent gone and the Queen's absence now an undeniable fact; the whole of the Kingdom is threated by full-scale military action. Much of it, driven by the on-going hostilities between Swans and Dacama, takes place in Lower Aenar.

The Eorl of Swords is approached by the Eorl of Eventide and the EORL BETWEEN-THE-WATERS as well as northern Freelords.

The Eorl of Swords agrees to meet with the Eorl of Eventide and SHIELDS regarding the growing instability and tempo of fighting which does not seem to be slowing. He travels about the coastal nobles and into the south but no action is taken due to the increased raiding.

The raiders and brigands doing this are deserters and mercenaries driven west for work, leisure or enjoyment; much like the nobility that preceded them. It was not just these broken swords but also the overwater raids of the Cuth that had drastically sped up their usual operating pattern. These raids and the brigandage kept the forces of Swords and others from riding out for peace. It kept them home, no doubt sharpening pitchforks while there.

Several power-hungry Families near the Capital decide to seize power in Rhuvael. They invade the capital city and claim control over the Royal Domain and its attendant vassals.

Upset over the Treaty of Widowhall, the young Eorl of Thorns renounces Rhone and declares the independence of the Thornlands. In the Midland fashion, he titles himself the Prince of Thorns.