Krandryia

The highlands located just east of the Kingdom of Dakar are home to a diverse collection of family clans and tribes. While most of the inhabitants are human, there are several villages of dwarves, orcs and goblins. The northeast of the land is controlled by some rock trolls, but they rarely deal with their neighbors.

What brings them together as a nation is not only a fierce defense of the highlands, but binding oaths made to Alderok. Alderok, also called the Honor's Bite, is to have been the weapon wielded by Vayne when he slew the Chaos Lord Sanmmuhhphir to end the Dark Ages and trumpet the Return of the Gods. Alderok was given the men of these lands so they may stand against the darkness.

When Vayne passed the axe into the hands of men he created a beacon that drew many to its cause - the cause of honor and battle. These highlanders were fierce warriors who neither asked nor gave quarter to those who followed the lords of chaos. The reputation of these highland warriors spread throughout Miran as legend overtook reality.

It was the Dakarians and their magicians who finally defeated these untamed warriors. In the first few years of the their kingdom their knights and militia marched into the highland to conquer the people that lived there. The conquest was a failure, but during the battles Alderok disappeared. The highlanders tell tales of dark sorceries that stole the souls of their warriors and allowed the Dakarians to steal the axe. Dakarian history say that the Dominar surrendered to their knights and were given the axe as part of the surrender. No matter the truth, the end was that the axe left the highlands and disappeared.

It came to pass in the Kingdom of Dakar, upon the death of their father King Reiner I, that his twin sons were left to inherit the throne. King Reiner had died from an assassin’s dart with no time make the line of succession clear. Kran was strong-willed and was an excellent general during his years with the army. Most of the military and many of the younger nobles rallied behind his cause. Joshua was more like his father, thoughtful and politically savvy, most of the established nobility rallied around him.

The civil war was just beginning in the outer holdings when both princes met in secret and decided upon a solution. Kran abdicated the throne to his brother in exchange for release from oaths fo fealty for those that would follow him. He would leave the kingdom with his followers to forge a new nation. In just a few weeks the civil war was over and Kran, along with his followers, left their lands behind and traveled west.

The highlands had descended into a land inhabited by trolls, orcs, goblins, and all manner of tribal creatures. The few humans who still remained lived in clans under the guidence of the druids who once consuled the Dominar. The druid

<p>Kran forced his way through the highlands towards in search of the druids. His soldiers fought hard, but the winter was fast approaching and they were running low on supplies. The men wanted to settle into the nearby lowlands, but Kran continued to push them deeper in the highlands. It was just as the first snows began to fall that the druids appeared.</p>

<p>The druids took Kran and his most loyal followers to a secret place that only they could reach. There they told Kran of their history and the legend of the First King. The First King wielded an axe that no mortal hand crafted; instead Mother Earth gave the axe to the First King as a sign of his right to rule. He forged alliances with all people that lived in the highlands, forging them into the nation of Alderia, where he ruled for two hundreds years.</p>

<p>Before his disappearance he declared that “Alderok”, the axe of power, would remain on his throne until the next king arrived. Over the years after his disappearance many have tried to lift the axe, but it has never moved — only the true king can wield Alderok. The druids then took Kran and his followers along the secret paths to Halifan, the city where the First King ruled.</p>

<p>It was there, during the fool’s moon, that Kran lifted Alderok into the air and was proclaimed the new king. The druids spread the word and within months each of the clans had sent their leaders to take oath for the new king. In the spring Kran held a huge festival for all that had taken oath for him. He granted some unclaimed land to his loyal followers, and formed a council comprised for one representative from each clan.</p>

<p>The rulers that followed were not always from Kran’s bloodline — in fact, several were not human. However, such is the influence of the druids and the power of Alderok that any who can wield the axe is the declared ruler. There have been a few uprisings, but the vast majority of the clans follow the laws.</p>