shaitsan:

Day 4: History

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‘An Introduction to Gladian History’, From ‘The Masheen Chronicles of Gladia, 384th Edition’, written by Doras Masheen of Reb’ka in the year 258 P.K.
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Gladia’s history is traditionally held to begin 7,119 years ago, starting the Kingdom Era (K.E.), with the founding of the Kingdom of Kown-Dam. This great nation, at its peak, stretched across the mainland and had established contact with all the peoples of the Swirling Sea. The Kingdom even entered diplomatic relations with parties from other continents; of particular note is their military support of the Kingdom of Rawras in Koll and their generous reception to a Frunsimite dragonship from Vedzeva. The Kingdom’s center of power was the great temple-city of Zlat-Akre, located atop Mt. Gromm, the highest peak in Gladia. The Kingdom extended its reach across the mainland before taking to the seas in the 3,800s K.E. The success of the Kingdom of Kown-Dam is usually attributed to its military might, managing to combine magical prowess with martial tactics into a singularly effective combination. Tradition also holds that the Kingdom was blessed by Yennba, God of Stones; according to legend, it was this god who called the First King to ascend Mt. Gromm and found Zlat-Akre.
Even before the Kingdom set sail, the Swirling Sea was full of vibrant cultures. The dwarves of Ownwem took to sail almost 1,000 years before the Kingdom did, making contact with many other cultures of the Swirling Sea. They supplied arms to House Isera of Egdwen, while the rival Houses forged similar arrangements with the t’nalli in Dwas’kin. The island of Munab was virtually split by the Jet-Spear Clan of stone giants, who have blocked off the Sredis mountains for over 4,000 years to protect their smaller neighbors from a subterranean menace.
But once the Kingdom of Kown-Dam began sending ships to sea, they left an indelible mark on the peoples of the Swirling Sea. Their brief war with the city-states of Munab united the latter into a single federation, a state that continued through the Kingdom’s occupation. The larids, under the Kingdom’s direction, transitioned from an insular existence in the Isles of Blessed Skies to a people fully integrated with the rest of the Swirling Sea. The Kingdom quarantined the main island of Egdwen, putting a stop to the natural degradation perpetrated by the ruling Houses. The Kingdom aided the hunngaf of Waster in 4,276 K.E. by helping stop a plague that targeted the llamas native to the island. They were first to establish diplomatic relations with the azkat, pledging agricultural trade in exchange for military support from the powerful insectoids, which would provide a template for the azkat’s interactions with most of the rest of the Swirling Sea’s peoples. After landing and making contact with Reb’ka’s farmers, they founded multiple schools of learning, including the twin Schools of Soaring Skies and Sinking Stones on our neighbor islands of Fikklin and Fibbnim. They fought to drive the wicked black dragons from the Black Holds, in a protracted conflict that was only partially sucessful.  
Unfortunately, though the Kingdom prospered under Yennba’s favor, it fell under his wrath in 6,861 K.E., beginning the Post-Kingdom (P.K.) period. It is usually held that the Kingdom committed an offense against the god, who blighted their cities with storms and cursed them so that ‘none born of land would live’. The period following this collapse was initially tumultuous, but within short order the Kingdom’s former subjects and partners began to collect themselves. Reb’ka and Munab, the two nations arguably the most entrenched in the Kingdom’s power structure, began to assert themselves as leaders in the politics of the Swirling Sea. The Houses of Egdwen, free from the Kingdom’s quarantine edict, began to re-explore the mysterious island. The Black Holds remain under the claws of 5 powerful black dragons, who have begun to extend their reach into Gladia via their minions; mercifully, the 5 are endlessly competitive among themselves, and frequently sabotage each other. One of the greatest tragedies of the period is the collapse of Ownwem, which occured in 221 P.K. A mysterious plague of undeath began in one of the deeper mines, spreading swiftly to the surface and overcoming the dwarves’ meager defenses, prompting a mass evacuation of the island. The survivors have integrated themselves well into many cultures throughout the Sea, though the former leaders still seek military aid to reclaim their island. With the fall of the dwarven forges, the t’nalli have eclipsed them in prominence as the main metallurgists throughout the Sea.
The fall of the Kingdom left behind an entire continent largely unexplored by islanders, who never penetrated deeply into the continent. Many answered the challenge and took up a life of adventure, delving into the jungles of Gladia in search of history, fortune, and mysteries left unsolved. My own clan, the Masheens, have produced several notable adventurers, including my famous mother, now lost. But that is the subject of another author’s work; you’re here for the excitements of the past, not the present.