Chapter 10, The Reign of Mikar: Part 1

Mikar the Founder, also called The Fair, 1^st Grand Prince of the Kingdom of Aerdy

Born -255 CY, Died -206 CY
Reigned -217 to -206 CY

Iron Crown of the Bladelands
Leo G. Carroll as King Duncan in the Philco
Television Playhouse production of MacBeth, 1949

The first thing that needs to be understood about the Kingdom of Aerdy was its nature. Though the Celestial Houses(1) were the primary powers in the Kingdom they were not the only one. There were a number of other minor clans who were signatories of the Rel Astra Compact, although only the Montesseri of Medegia were of great consequence and enter this history. Tradition placed great value on the independence of the individual clans that made up an Oeridian tribe. They existed as a confederation of semi-autonomous clans banded together for their mutual benefit, though this shifted into more cohesive structures for some tribes during the Migrations. As has been seen the confederation of the migratory Aerdi Tribe fell apart upon their reaching the lands in the east, with each clan focusing on their own interests.

The Thellar clan was the first to reject the traditional model, gathering a number of minor clans around it and shifting to a tribal structure centered on them, transforming into the first true Oeridian kingdom in the east with a hereditary monarch. The Medegi, in their formation of the Bladelands returned to the confederation model, though one more centralized, gathering smaller clans around themselves under the leadership of an elected dictator. For almost its entire history, the dictator of the Bladelands was of the Medegi clan, but other clans could and occasionally did attain that title. The independence of the component clans were also respected and codified; unlike in Thalland, no oath of fealty was sworn to the dictator. Loyalty was instead owed to the concept of the Bladelands and to the Iron Crown. The Crown itself was considered the ruler and bestowed power on the dictator as a matter of divine right from their patron, Hextor. As a later historian put it, “the Bladelands dictator ruled in the name of the crown.”(2)

One curious aspect of the Kingdom of Aerdy that some foreigners have remarked is that it was a kingdom without a king, being instead ruled by a grand prince. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the case however. In a manner similar to the Bladelands, the Kingdom of Aerdy as a legal entity was considered the actual ruler; it was the grand prince as a first among equal princes who ruled in the name of the Kingdom. Unlike the Bladelands, the Kingdom of Aerdy made the position of grand prince hereditary, though with the approval of a council, called the Diet of the Six Houses, composed of the heads of the Celestial Houses. Thus the story of the reign of Mikar is that of a man carefully nursing the improbable alliance he had forged and attempting to fulfill the promises he had made to the other Celestial Houses, balancing their individual interests against the needs of the Kingdom and his own ambitions.

The Rax as the weakest of the Celestial Houses had already been rewarded with the marriages Mikar had negotiated for them in Medegia with the powerful Montesseri clan, who were rivals of the Naelax. The latter house had been mollified by a bond of marriage between their prince’s heir, Hatha the Younger and Mikar’s eldest daughter, Lorana. This gave them influence in the new royal court at Rel Astra and also held out the possibility of bettering their state if Mikar failed to produce a male heir and the Naelax eventually did. Those hopes were dashed in -216 CY when Mikar’s queen, Hildora gave birth to a healthy baby boy who they named Beros. A year later Hildora gave birth to another boy who they named Gilbra.

Before this though, Mikar took up the task of repaying the Cranden and Darmen houses for their vital aid in carrying out his plans of unification. The civil war in Thalland known as the War of the Three Brothers that had started in -238 CY had been simplified in -227 CY when Bandos, the oldest of Alamnos II’s sons was ambushed and killed by his youngest brother, Theros. As the fighting continued with neither of the remaining sides gaining advantage over the other, the war settled into a stalemate and Thalland split into two rival kingdoms though each claimed to be the true heir and maintained their claims on the entire nation. Theros held the south, including the cities of Nulbish, Kalstrand, and Rel Deven, the latter from which he ruled. His elder brother Beltram held Chathold and ruled the north from Jalpa, having poured much of his wealth into expanding that town and turning it into a center of trade. Much sea trade from the west already flowed through Chathold and from thence through Jalpa into the lands of the Celestial Houses, as well as trade by land from the Urnst and others through Nehron to the northwest.

Siege of Kalstrand, -214 CY
Scene from History Channel series, Vikings

A move against Beltram would significantly complicate matters for the Darmen, who conducted and relied on much of this trade. The Cranden for their part were still very intent on regaining the lands in the north of Thalland they had been driven from over a century before. As a compromise, less than a month after his crowning in -217 CY Mikar launched his armies into the southern Thellari kingdom. The Cranden and Rax quickly took the lands now constituting the western half of the Principality of Torrich. Mikar and his Garasteth army, united with the Darmen host, crossed the Flanmi and advanced southwest into what is now the Principality of Nulbish, while the Naelax and Montesseri crossed the lower Flanmi, taking the great fortress of Pardue. At Bluelode they were met by Mikar and the Darmen. There the Naelax were directed to cross the Thelly and take the lands formerly belonging to Thalland south of that river, between it and the Glorioles and Hestmark Highlands. Those had been held by various highland chiefs since nearly the beginning of the War of the Three Brothers and proved to be tough fighting for the Naelax. The rest of the houses continued to press westward into Nulbish and toward Rel Deven and Kalstrand, though the war would rage for another four years. Nulbish fell in -215 and Kalstrand in -214.

Theros held out in Rel Deven through the end of -213 when that city fell. He is said to have died fighting in the defense of the palace, his last words were said to have been,

“Woe that the Queen of Cities has fallen and yet I still live.”

The fate of his young son, who would have reigned as Alamnos III is unknown. Some rumors say that he escaped to a foreign court – Nehron, Urnst, Onnwal, and Ehlisa are named – though no written record of those nations mentions such a thing. More likely is the rumor that he was murdered at the order of the Darmen prince, Rogeros, and his corpse was thrown into the Thelly. The rest of the lords of southern Thalland immediately surrendered. Instead of attempting to claim the crown of Thalland as some might have done, Mikar declared the dissolution of that state, so that the title would not be a temptation to any of his rivals. Theros’s daughter, the Princess Naldina was given in marriage to Mikar’s youngest brother, Kervos, who had been recently widowed.

Given this triumph, the future of Mikar and the Kingdom of Aerdy looked bright on the surface. But underneath the kingdom was divided by dissension among the princes of the Celestial Houses. During the five years the conquest of southern Thalland took, Prince Hatha of the Naelax never ceased to complain at what he saw as a diversion, since it delayed his conquest of the rival Naelax house of Cina who still held Pontylver and the southwestern coast of Medegia. Soon after the war ended the Cranden also complained in their eagerness to regain their long-lost lands in northern Thalland. Mikar feared both clans becoming rivals and sought some means to prevent this. Again he showed his great political skill in doing so. By granting the lands of Nulbish to the Cranden he propitiated them somewhat while at the same time making them a neighboring threat to the Naelax. If the Naelax threatened to break away from the Kingdom or threaten Mikar, it was now more in the interest of the Cranden to attack them to preserve their new lands. With that done, Mikar was now free to grant the Naelax their wish and support a campaign against the Cina that would not add too greatly to their power but would placate them. With the help of Mikar’s army the Naelax swiftly overwhelmed the Cina in -212 CY and took Pontylver. To further diminish the threat of the Crandens, Mikar granted the western half of what would become Torrich to the Rax, creating a contiguous Rax Principality as a buffer between the Cranden lands in the north and their new lands in Nulbish. To the Darmen he granted the majority of what would become the Principality of Kalstrand. To the Torquann was given the city of Rel Deven but what that house desired most of all was to expand into the lands to the north of their principality, inhabited by a patchwork of Flan tribes.

Queen Savina of Thalland,
-210 CY
Art by Arman Akopian

Having kept the Kingdom of Aerdy together and fended off threats to his power, Mikar turned to his next goal, the conquest of the rump Kingdom of Thalland. Unfortunately, to do so would pit him against a ruler who is considered by some one of the most dynamic monarchs in history, though she has largely been written out of it. Unlike the Suloise and Flan, and despite the reverence of women such as Stern Alia, and Johydee whom legend says was a queen in her own right, in a tradition that has continued to modern times and dominated most of the Flanaess, Oeridian tribes overwhelmingly chose male rulers. So it was that many of Thalland’s tradition-minded nobles expected that King Beltram’s nephew, Helios would succeed him. Others however had paid close attention to the upbringing and attention Beltram had given his only child, a daughter named Savina(3). As a child, Savina chose Stern Alia as her patron, and strove to emulate the legend of the demigod’s youth, striving to be a warrior without peer. In this she succeeded, having no rival in the art of combat in the Thellari court by the time she was seventeen. Like Alia she swore an oath that she would be the wife of no man who could not best her(4). Her father also encouraged her in scholarly pursuits. Tutors came from Ehlissa and Urnst to teach her ancient sciences, and she learned to speak seven languages as if she had been born to them.

Soon after the death of his uncle Beltram in -212 CY, Helios entered the throne room in Jalpa with his supporters, where he found Savina sitting beside the empty throne, upon which rested the crown. Her hand rested on the pommel of her sheathed sword. Striding forward, as he raised his foot to step upon the dias, he was startled to hear Savina say,

“You have come to see me crowned, cousin. I thank you for your support.”

Helios laughed, strode up the steps to the throne and picked up the crown. Turning to the gathered court and raising it to place upon his head he did not see or hear as Savina, in one motion drew her sword and sliced through his neck. As his head tumbled down the steps so too did the crown, falling from his lifeless hands.

Turning to the gathered nobles and pointedly addressing her next closest cousins, she said,

“I trust no one else wishes to claim the throne?”

None did. The high priest of Hieroneous picked up the crown and placed it on her head, proclaiming her Savina, Queen of the Thellari.

Aside from her skill in learning and warfare, Savina was also a shrewd politician. As the Darmen were hesitant to support Mikar in attacking her kingdom, she reinforced this by granting them even more advantageous trade concessions. She secretly dangled the possibility of her hand in marriage to the ambitious Darmen prince, Rogeros, while also making sure word of the negotiations reached the ears of the Cranden and Mikar to sow distrust among the Celestial Houses.

Ovida the Seawolf, Szek of
Onnwal, -210 CY
Art by Vyacheslav Safronov

For the next phase of her rule, in -211 CY she moved her court to Chathold and set in motion plans to engage in conflict with Thalland’s northern neighbor, the Kingdom of Nehron. She began negotiations with the Szek of Onnwal, the notorious pirate chieftain, Ovida the Seawolf, again offering her hand in marriage. To show his good will he set raiders to ravaging the coast of Nehron, sacking Oldred and Mithat. With the forces of Nehron distracted, Savina led her army across the Harp River, raising the Lathu Flan tribes who had suffered under the vassalage of their Oeridian masters for almost fifty years. Bolstered by Flan tribesmen, her armies advanced in the west to near where the castle of Millenium would be erected in 107 CY by Overking Manshen(5). In the east the Lathu-Thalland alliance reached the point where the Flessern and Harp Rivers meet at what was already the fairly sizeable Nehron castle town of Narsel Mendred. There she offered peace with the Nehron if they would concede the independence of the Lathu. Fearing further loss of land, the Nehron king agreed. Acting as arbiter at an assembly of the Flan tribes she guided the election of her closest ally, Sin’che, the chieftess of the Sian’kaz tribe, as queen of the Lathu Confederation.

Mikar had not been idle during this time, healing the rift between the Cranden and Darmen, and campaigning with the Torquann against the Flan tribes north of the Nallid River. By -209 he was ready to finish the conquest of Thalland, and launched his army across the Flanmi River at the Cranden capital of Carnifand, entering the land between the Mikar and Little Mikar Rivers. At the same time another army, led by his middle brother, Erian, swept north from Rel Deven. Erian’s army was swiftly bogged down, meeting hard resistance, while Mikar found his foes retreating before him, leaving a drive toward Jalpa wide open. As his army advanced he found Cranden elements melting away from his army as factions within that clan spread to the north and south, intent on securing their traditional lands. The crossing of the Little Mikar was hard-fought but still did not slow the march on Jalpa by much. Within a week the siege of that city had begun. It was at this point that everything began to go wrong for the Aerdi.

Savina’s Lathu allies attacked from the Adri, pouring down the Errant River Valley in the northern part of the captured lands, destroying the spread out Cranden forces as they went. In a panic, those Cranden fled away from the direction of Mikar’s army, southeast toward Carnifand, leaving his supply train open to attack. But this was merely a feint by the main Lathu force which was personally led by Sin’che. It had passed all the way through the forest, gathering clans and tribes of non-Lathu Flan hostile to the Aerdi as they went. Issuing without warning from the eaves of the Adri on the eve of Midsummer’s Day, they fell upon the newly-founded Torquann town of Dustbridge. The entire town was burnt to the ground and almost all of the inhabitants massacred. The Flan then began burning and pillaging the Torquann heartland. When word reached the Torquann prince at the siege of Jalpa, he decamped with his entire force to go defend their homes and families. With his forces reduced, Mikar and his allied forces settled into the siege.

As the siege of Jalpa entered its third month more disastrous news came. Ovida the Seawolf had sailed his fleet south and east, passing through the Tilva Strait and gathered allies in the Duxchan Isles. Sailing north they had attacked Pontylver by surprise, sacking the city. Turning east they ravaged the southern coast of Medegia. Again elements of Mikar’s armies melted away as the Naelax, Montesseri and their Rax kinsmen in the southern army commanded by Erian left to defend their lands. Drawing reinforcements from her southern army, now facing a weaker foe, Savina began marching to relieve Jalpa. With supplies running low and one more month left before harvest and autumn began, Mikar reluctantly retreated across the Little Flanmi to secure his gains there and shore up his alliance.

 Next Chapter -- The Reign of Mikar, Part 2

Art Notes:

Iron Crown of the Bladelands Legend says that the Iron Crown was gifted to the founder of the Bladelands, Orsos I of the Medegi by Hextor himself. Hextor in turn had received it from the archdevil smith, Tymphal, servant of the Archduke Belial, the ruler of Phlegethos, the Third Hell. The Iron Crown remained an heirloom of the Medegi even after the dissolution of the Bladelands in -242, passing to the Naelax when that house exterminated the Medegi, and thence to the Grand Princes of Aerdy and then the Overkings of the Great Kingdom. It was lost in the 449 CY during the Turmoil Between Crowns. Rumors say a mercenary captain in that war carried it off the the Bandit Kingdoms. The only mention of it since was in Tales of the Company of Seven, written by Heward. According to that book, in 318 CY, when the members of the titular Company broached the lair of the undead dragon, Dragotha, Heward glimpsed the crown in the dracolich's treasure hoard. This was just before they were discovered and had to flee for their lives. This is believed to be the source of the fairly popular song, The Claws of Dragotha, which also makes brief mention of the Crown.

Siege of Kalstrand, -214 CY This siege is mainly notable for having been broken by a morning surprise attack on the walls of the city from the river side, which was believed to be impregnable. The main part of the Aerdy army launched a massive attack on the landward north-facing main gates of the city, drawing what few defenders the river-facing south wall had defending it. This allowed the small flotilla of boats guiding floating siege towers to approach the walls under cover of a conjured fog bank. With few defenders facing them the Aerdy forces were able to swarm the walls and capture the north gate of the Greystrand Bridge and soon the south gatehouse. With the bridge secured a large force entered the city and it fell by nightfall. Legend says that the idea for the floating siege towers came from a young Daern, who later ascended to godhood as the patron of defenses and fortification. This is doubtful as it would make Daern well over a century old at the time of her death sometime after the Battle of a Fortnight's Length in -110 CY. It is not impossible however, as history knows of other wizards who lived to such extreme ages.

The Great Pantheon of Kalstrand, seen dominating the city was one of the largest and most beautiful temples of that time.

Queen Savina of Thalland, -210 CY This depiction of Savina shows her during her campaign against the Nehron. Despite her Oeridian ancestry she was described as being very fair-skinned, which contrasted strongly with her black hair. Her large hazel eyes were said to be almost hypnotic and rumors say that she was one of the legendary Johydee's Children, able to move people with her words as if wielding an enchantment.
The sun-wheel motif seen on the medallions on her headdress and the center of the cross-guard of her famed sword, Talon are another variation of the Aerdi sunburst that would be later adopted as a symbol of the Kingdom of Aerdy and the Great Kingdom.

Ovida the Seawolf, Szek of Onnwal, -210 CY Ovida, as well as being a daring sea captain and pirate chieftain was a notable explorer whose ventures carried him all over the Azure Sea, and down the coasts of Hepmonland, the Amedio Jungle, and even into the Pearl Sea where he is said to have discovered the so-called Isle of Dread shortly before dying on its monster-haunted shores.

The title szek is believed to have been derived from the native language of the Flan tribes of Onnwal's Headlands which was an Eastern Flan language, and is a distant relative of the Flan tongue spoken in Tenh today. One scholar has noted the name of the Rurszek River in the land of the Ice Barbarians as being possibly related, as it is said to have been the name the local Flan called it when the Cruski conquered them. It was used by the Suloise of Onnwal to designate an elected leader from among the heads of its frequently feuding clans when there was need or when one became strong enough to force his or her way into that position. It became defunct after Onnwal's conquest by Aerdy but has since been renewed as the title for the leader of the Free State. The only other place it has appeared is as the title of the ruler of the heretical Pholtan Theocracy of Dimre, whose founder was a defrocked cleric of Pholtus who turned to banditry. It is said that he was of Onnwalish origin and was raised on the folktales of his homeland's piratical heroes.

The ships seen in this image are typical of Suloise naval architecture of this period and their relation is obvious to the longships of the Rhizian Suloise sea raiders who would make that design famous centuries later. The clinker-built hull design such as seen here would be abandoned later by the ship-builders of the Azure Sea in favor of the carvel-planking method that has come to dominate that region and beyond.

End Notes:

1. The six major houses of Garasteth, Torquann, Naelax, Cranden, Rax, and Darmen would not be referred to by that name until after the founding of the Great Kingdom and scholars began to write the histories of the Kingdom of Aerdy.

2. This is based on the Doctrine of the Holy Crown in Hungarian kingship. 

3. After the birth of Savina during the latter stages of the War of the Three Brothers, Beltram had received an unfortunate wound in battle, rendering him unable to sire more children.

4. See my article on Canonfire!, “The Paternity of Heironeous and Hextor”, for more on Stern Alia’s legendary life. 

5. Marklands, p. 88 “Originally built by the Overking in 107 CY, the castle was named for the thousand years the Aerdi overlord believed his great kingdom would endure.” It can be extrapolated that Manshen was Overking in 107 CY since he held that title in 108-109 CY during the conquest of Bone March and the Battle of the Shamblefield, Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, p. 36 “In the spring of 108 CY, Aerdi forces massed in the frontier town of Knurl. With Knight Protectors of the Great Kingdom in the vanguard, the force swept northeast, between the Rakers and the Blemu Hills, in a march to the sea. . . With the defeat of the Fruztii at Johnsport, the call went out that winter, and thousands of their kinsmen poured south along the Timberway the next year. Marching through passes in the Rakers, they assembled and attacked the works underway at Spinecastle. . . A young Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom, Caldni Vir, a Heironean cavalier from Edgefield, commanded a large cavalry force patrolling the hills when the barbarian force struck. . . Overking Manshen recognized the courage of the young knight Vir, and raised him as the first marquis of Bone March.”