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Timeline of Sembaran History

The Drankorian Conquest

DR 300 - DR 431

Overview

In the aftermath of The Downfall the land that will become Sembara is lightly populated. The kestavo-worshipping Zimka live in the foothills of the Sentinel Range, and have spread amongst the highlands, and down the valleys of the great rivers: the Semb, the Volta, the Teft, and the Wistel. Along the coast, Skaer mariners raid, intermarry, and settle amongst the Zimka, and a Skaer-dominated mixed culture spreads from Tollen to the mouth of the Semb. The once mighty lizardfolk swamps have mostly disappeared, save for remnants: Ozabal, at the mouth of the Wistel and Latazaro, in the east, where a thriving lizardfolk communities remain. South of the Wistel is the mixed community of humans, clustered along the coast, united by the their shared allegiance to the Archfey Ethlenn, but otherwise the southern lands are largely empty of humans.

Over a series of start-and-start campaigns over 60 years, the Drankorian armies occupy large portions of this land.

The Drankorian Age

DR 431 - DR 1059

Overview

(By DR 431, when the Drankorian army retreated from Zimkova, the borders of Drankor in the east were established, and would not change for many generations).

Drankor ruled all the lands between the Sentinel Range and the Western Gulf south of the Semb, as well as the lowlands east of the Braebein and the lowland valleys of the Teft and Volta. (The borders of the modern duchies of Telham and Arnsbury still trace to the farthest extent of the Drankorian conquest, as does the borders of Ardlas.)

The Drankorians brought modern roads, improved agricultural techniques, and a new religion to the land. Farming and pastoralism was a way of life here, with little technology and little trade. Across the “Sembaran” provinces (which included the modern day Sembara, Ardlas, Maseau, Addermarch, and Tyrwingha), Mos Numena spread, and a common language and culture grew, and the old Kestavan traditions were largely forgotten.

In the highlands, the Zimka kept the old ways, although along the borders with Drankor Mos Numena and Drankorian culture spread.

The Plague Years

DR 1059 - DR 1250

Overview

In DR 1059, the First Plague came and the Drankorian Empire collapsed. Little information survives from these years, and it was a time of much hardship, especially amongst the more populous lowland regions, where famine struck repeatedly. This was a dark time.

The Six Duchies

DR 1250 - DR 1400

Overview

By DR 1250, a number of lords, mostly calling themselves dukes, had established themselves across the lands once ruled by Drankor. In the lowland coastal regions, the six duchies had been established: Sembara, Cheimen, Wisford, Seham, Telham, and Arnsbury. Further east and south, Tyrwingha had survived the dark years under the leadership of the Oracle of the Riven and Archfey Ethlenn. And to the west, sheltered in the eaves of the Sentinels by the great dwarven kingdom of Khatridun, three border duchies had emerged: Brovna, at the headwaters of the Wistel around Urlich Pass, Maseau, at the headwaters of the Enst, Ardlas, along the Bollin.

The Duchy of Sembara was the largest and richest demesne of any of the duchies, and had always controlled Embry, (the only surviving ancient seat of the Drankorian regional government,) and even by DR 1250, the Dukes of Sembara were styling themselves Kings (or Queens)(, and commanded the fealty of the duchies of Arnsbury, Cheimen, and Seham). Although the names of the earliest monarchs are lost, by the early 1300s, the House of Entranca rules Sembara.

The Unification

DR 1400 - DR 1462, 7 Dominick IV - 34 Derik I

Overview

By the 1400s, a number of regional powers had started to emerge on the borders of Sembara.

The Duchy of Telham, between the Teft and the Volta, had grown substantially, and commanded the loyalty of many of the small lords along the coast and the river, but was closely tied by culture and intermarriage to Sembara.

In the west, the Duchy of Brovna had grown into a significant presence along the mountains, trading eagerly with the powerful city of Chardon, and Ardlas was growing as well, trading with dwarves.

South of Sembara were two major powers: the Kingdom of Tyrwingha, which emerged from the fall of Drankor largely intact and still under the guardianship of the Archfey Ethlenn, and the Dominion of Avatus, a rising military autocracy exerting overlordship of a number of scattered baronies and small lordships in the Mostreve Hills, growing in power by taxing trade and recruiting mercenaries, largely Hobgoblins.

Into this moment, Derik I, of a cadet branch of the House of Entranca, establishes the modern Sembara after the defeat of the Dominion of Avatus.

By 1462, on Derik I’s death, the royal prerogatives of the monarch of Sembara are well established.

The Great War

DR 1462 - DR 1545; 1 Derik II - 26 Derik III

The reign of Derik II is relatively uneventful, and the traditions and formalities of the realm are established and propagated in this time. The borders to the south, with the Istabor Alliance, and the north, with the fractured fiefdoms of Vostok, are uneventful, and trading relationships with Cymea, Tollen, and the rest of the eastern Green Sea grow during this time. 

Tensions in the North

The only thing that mars the peace of this era is increasing tensions among the Zimka. Several small wars break out between Ardlas and Lavnoch, fighting over control of the headwaters of the Semb and Lake Derwent, and with it access to the lucrative Dwarven trade. Although the violence never spills over into Sembara, trade is disrupted and what to do about the highlands is a constant question during the reign of Derik II. Derik II, although a strong king and diplomat, is not the military leader his father was, and was reluctant to raise taxes for an invasion.  

Several times the dwarves send diplomatic missions to Sembara, asking the king to deal with the humans making trouble, and several times Derik II says there is nothing he can do. By the 1490s, it is clear the situation is untenable, as at this point both the halflings and dwarves are complaining to the king and telling him to get these unruly humans under control before they take it into their own hands, to ensure stability, but at this point Derik II is old, and uncertain, and so nothing is done.

Charlotte I, Derik II’s daughter, inherits the crisis. Unwilling to let relations with the dwarves deteriorate further, Charlotte rides with a large army up the River Semb, and in a relatively bloodless series of campaigns forces Ardlas and Lavnoch to the negotiating table, asserting suzerainty over the territory of these kingdoms. Soon after, in 1508 DR, rumors of something terrible in the north are growing. 

The Preamble to the Great War

After his defeat as the hidden puppet master of Dominion of Avatus, Cha’mutte has turned his attention north, where far across the Sentinel Range he is growing an empire. Still maintaining foo
tholds in the southern Sentinel Range where several loyal hobgoblin tribes attempt to prevent the consolidation of the Istabor Alliance into a united front, he has turned his attention to a move from the north, through the empty northern steppes. Still working through proxies, and not ready to show himself yet, he summoned one of his dragonspawn, the ancient white dragon Vimfrost, and set him to gather allies across the northern plains – orcs, monstrosities, ogres, and trolls – and set upon Vostok and Zimkova from the north. 

Derik III, 19 years old in 1508 DR, is sent to the north. Vostok at this point is ruled in the east by descendants of Skaer raiders, in the lakes region along the Volta increasingly by Zimkova, around Tollen largely as an oligarchy of rich merchants, and to the north as a loose confederation of semi-nomadic tribes. Derik III, channeling the charisma of his great-grandfather, cloaked in the blessing of the Gods, leads a grand alliance north to repair the ancient wall and defeat the dragon. In response, he is acknowledged as Prince of the North, and when he comes to the throne he is acknowledged as high king by the people of Vostok. Tollen retains its charter as a free city, but acknowledges the suzerainty of Derik III. 

By DR 1525, Derik III is at least nominally acknowledged as the overlord and high king of all the land from the southern highlands to the northern wall, from Sentinel Range to the Western Gulf.  In DR 1533, now several years a widower, Derik III marries Jane, the young daughter of an important merchant family in Tollen. 

Over the next 20 years, Sembara remains a strong and united kingdom as various conflicts spread along its borders, culminating in the Great War.

The Blood Years

DR 1545 - DR 1574; 26 Derik III - 7 Wissym I

Overview

The Hobgoblin Wars

DR 1574 - DR 1650; 7 Wissym I - 2 Cece I

The Peace of Cece

DR 1650 - DR 1713; 2 Cece I - 65 Cece 1

Overview

In the autumn of 1650, after three summers of campaigning, the Shattered Ice Clan has been cleansed from the land. Three years prior, a hobgoblin dominion stretched in the Enst valley, from the Sentinel Range to the headwaters of the Aure in Addermarch, and even northwards into the Barony of Varbonne. It is now gone, although people have only slowly started returning to the war-torn lands.

The reign of Cece I is a time of peace and prosperity. The borders are secure, trade is growing, and Sembara’s relations with its neighbors are friendly, and the hobgoblin threat, although not entirely gone, is isolated to the Western Marches.

Recent Events

Since DR 1713 (1 Robert I)

  • 1713 DR: Cece I dies. In Sembara, Robert I is crowned king, but the Oracle of the Riven elects his cousin, Elaine II the Queen of Tyrwingha
  • 1715 DR, spring: Rowena Chemare, Robert’s wife, is murdered by bandits in the Aine Hills while visiting her family holdings
  • 1715 DR, summer: Robert leads the Army of the North on a summer campaign against bandits in the Aine Hills and Sembaran Highlands
  • 1716 DR, spring: Robert’s eldest son, Robert is infected by a lycanthrope and disappears shortly afterward west of Enford
  • 1717 DR, fall: Robert’s daughter, Arabella of Sewick dies in childbirth, her son apparently possessed by a demon. Rumors spread that Cece’s ill luck with children as being passed down to her son.
  • 1717 DR, late winter: Robert’s younger son, Thaddeus is shipwrecked off the coast of Cymea, with his wife and young child, and is never heard from again
  • 1718 DR, early spring: The Royal Council meets over Robert’s objections and declares Elaine II the heir to the Sembaran throne. Robert I acquiesces, although he vows to remarry and produce a new heir from his body.