Fall of Varleria

The fate of Varleria seems to be the stuff of legends all around peoples that live on the coasts of the Azure Circle, the Sea of Sorrows and the Sharion Sea.

The, not so mysterious descent of Varleria from a prosperous, civilized and densely populated island, separated into several mighty kingdoms, empires and domains, to what it is today, a horrifying, hostile, dangerous place. All this is because of wars, invasions and political upheavals.

Today Varleria is a place where lives might be precious but easy to end and the people are constantly waging a war of survival against not only the forces of nature but horribly deformed beings.

" ... monsters they are. Dogs with a poisonous bite, former cattle now feeding of human flesh and whatever your nightmares might contain, Varleria is the place where you can find it.

"Everybody knows this as you might see from the following quotes of traders who lost much or even all during their voyages there...!

"Even the smallest hamlet is fortified and the towns do all have walls or at least palisades which are maned at all times."

"Nobody travels alone, for the forest is as likely to attack you as are its inhabitants, big cats, bears, wild wolves the size of horses and many a horror from hell. ...
and if that were not bad enough the roads, once proud and well maintained by the Lords of the land, have become unsafe as well. Brigands, human and not, will you encounter almost as frequently as a traders caravan."

"If not for the "Poststationen", the coaching inns of old, travel and trade might as well be impossible. They have become safe havens, most often fortified and with a palisade have they become more of a small town than a bare inn. You might very well find a tradesman there and a farrier or blacksmith is most common."

"Almost all Lords of the land keep some men and women under arms at every station."

Historical Basis

During the wars of The Wave Varleria suffered extensively. Almost all Kingdoms and Empires experienced upheaval, major crises and economic decline.
Plagues ravaged the subcontinent and death claimed 8 out of 10. Men, women and children fell to the sword, spear, disease and later to hunger. Whole cities were depopulated, abandoned and of course raised and burned to the ground.
The worst however was the awakening of many powers and beasts, natural and not so much natural that had been put down, encaged or banished during the Demon War.

While the peoples of Telasinia, Söe, Alver and Mitarin finally were able to repel the enemy, Varleria suffered raids and some occupations for the first three hundred cycles after those events.

The wars resulted in a massive power vacuum that has, to this day, not been filled. Today Varleria's peoples, have started to slowly reclaim what was lost, besieged by the natural and unnatural nature of their lands.