Mikar the Founder, also called The Fair, 1st Grand Prince of
the Kingdom of Aerdy
Born -255 CY, Died -198 CY
Reigned -217 to -198 CY
While -209 CY spelled the end of Mikar’s hopes of
immediately conquering the remnant of Thalland, for Ehlissa it saw the
unification once again of that state which had been split into eastern and
western halves since -254 CY. Ehlissa XIV of Western Ehlissa had died in -213 CY
without a clear heir other than her cousin, Ehlissa XIII of Eastern
Ehlissa. With Western Ehlissa ruled by a
Council of Elders which was known for being particularly corrupt, the mood of
the populace and lesser nobles of the nation soon turned sour. Into that
situation stepped Arnoult, Fasstal of the Zelrad and Protector of Eastern Ehlissa.
Through bribes and diplomacy he was able to secure an agreement whereby he and
the Council would rule a reunited queendom, with Ehlissa XIII of Eastern Ehlissa taking the reign
name and ordinal of Ehlissa XIV in acknowledgment of her cousin’s queenship as Ehlissa XV.
This solution was too much for the chiefs of the very conservative and traditional
Headland clans. They refused to swear fealty and asserted their independence, and
Arnoult and his co-rulers did not contest it, though without formally acknowledging it.
Arnoult for his part was more intent on the conquest of the Suloise principalities
of Okalasna and Idee. His situation became even better
in the spring of -208 CY when Ehlissa XV died suddenly, leaving her daughter, Ehlyra,
who was also Arnoult’s niece, to succeed her as Ehlissa XVI. The new young
queen found herself reigning over a court at Karnosa which was mired in archaic
custom, overseeing irrelevant ancient rituals while the real power of the
kingdom was wielded by her uncle in Hexpools.
Mikar spent the fall and winter of -209 and -208
consolidating the conquered lands between the Little Flanmi and Flanmi, and ineffectually
attempting to chase down Lathu raiding parties that continued to harass those
lands and the Torquann lands to the northeast. Fiefs were distributed to his
followers, with the bulk of them going to Cranden lords. The other part of
Mikar’s efforts were bent on garrisoning the coast of Medegia to counter the
raids and pillaging of the Onnwi and Duxchaner pirates led by Ovida the Seawolf.
To this Mikar saw personally, leaving his youngest brother, Kervos in charge of
the Thalland front. As Fasstal of Ountsy, Mikar had long had a good
relationship with the mixed Flan-Oeridian seafarers who were based in
Leastisle, not far off the coast from that city. So it was that in the early spring
of -208 CY when a merchant from there, trading in the Duxchan Islands, heard
rumors of a planned attack on Rel Astra, word came to the Grand Prince’s ears.
In those days Rel Astra was mainly composed of what is now called the Old City,
and docklands around the natural harbor then called Stannic’s Pool, although
now just called North Dock(1). Riding to Rel Astra from Mentry, Mikar planned a
welcome for Ovida and his allies. The first part of the plan involved moving
most of the cities siege engines to the heights overlooking the harbor. The
second part was the braiding of a long rope boom that could be laid underneath
the waters of the entrance to the harbor. The plan worked perfectly and just
before dawn on the 9th of Coldeven, when almost half the raider
fleet had passed through into the harbor, the boom was raised to block the rest. At the same
time the catapults on each side unleashed a devastating barrage of fire pots
and stones at the massed vessels. Most of the ships outside the harbor
retreated immediately, while Ovida and the vanguard rowed hard for the docks.
Once they reached them however, they found not sleepy fishermen and merchants,
but a large force of heavily armed and armored infantry. Ovida was mortally
wounded in the retreat back to the ships. After his crew having chopped through
the rope boom his flagship was one of the few to escape. The legends say that
he was hurriedly buried on the Isle of Serpents, southeast of the city, though
that tale has never been confirmed. Other tales say he survived eventually dying on the so-called Isle of Dread in the Sea of Pearls, although they are most likely confusing him with his bastard son, also named Ovida.
With the threat from the sea taken care of, Mikar turned his
attention back to Thalland. Those troops that had been diverted to Medegia were
now sent back northwest and additional soldiery drawn mainly from the Naelax
and Montesseri were sent west to reinforce the army of Mikar’s middle brother,
Erian, who began heavily raiding Thalland from the south and took Bar
Strannach. Rather than pressing on Jalpa, Mikar bent to the task of ending the
raids of the Lathu queen, Sin’che which continued to divert the main force of
the Torquann away from direct conflict with Thalland. The Lathu had proven
elusive, striking from the Adri as they chose and then melting back into the
forest like ghosts. Heeding the proverb, “Set a dog to catch a wolf” Mikar
turned to an unusual ally. The Adri and Grandwood had been one large forest
when the Aerdi first settled in the area around -350 CY. Clearing of land by
them had seen considerable thinning of the timberland in the Flanmi Valley in
the century and a half since, until now two forests stood distinct. Despite
this, the Garasteth had long cultivated friendship with the small bands of wood
elves in what was now the Grandwood, avoiding the clearing of timber from the
lands they claimed and respecting their wishes to live separate from humans and
be left alone. Mikar's father Pendri, as a young knight had been part of the force
that had been guided through the Grandwood by the elves to surprise and defeat Tuerny’s
northern army in -269 CY(2). Now, Mikar turned to the same elven chief who had
guided his father, the de-facto leader of the Grandwood’s elves, Mirilamin.
While the elves had no cause to love the rest of the Aerdi, they had an even
deeper-seated animosity toward the Lathu. Just as the Grandwood elves were the
descendants of wood elf clans who had been ruled by a nameless gray elf queen
in a wondrous city in what is now the Adri, the Lathu tribes contained descendants of many of the Ur-Flannae who were the cause of that city’s
destruction untold ages ago(3). Given that, Mirilamin agreed to help Mikar.
Through high summer and into the fall, the elf chief and his people guided Mikar’s
forces against the Lathu raiders, and soon the hunters became the hunted.
Utterly defeated and with her best war-chieftains killed, Sin’che came to terms,
agreeing to abandon her ally, the Thellari queen, Savina in return for peace
with the Aerdy.
Now without allies, Savina prepared as best she could for
the onslaught she knew the spring of -207 CY would bring, and on the first day
of Readying it came as Mikar and his army crossed the Little Flanmi and marched
on Jalpa. Though the defense was spirited, Jalpa fell by the end of the month.
The next three months saw a slow retreat by Savina’s forces. Oldridge fell on
the 12th of Planting. Mikar’s younger brother, Kervos fell during
that battle, leaving his bride, the former Thellari princess, Naldina, a widow
with two young children. By Wealsun, Chathold was under siege, the last remnant
of an independent Kingdom of Thalland. Supplied by sea, the city could have
held out for much longer, but Mikar negotiated an alliance with Savina’s recent
enemy, Nyrond. Though not a great naval power, Nyrond’s small fleet of ships
from Mithat and Oldred were sufficient to blockade the city. By the end of
Needfest in -206 CY everyone in Chathold was starving. Every dog, cat, pigeon, and
rat in the city had been eaten and its citizens were reduced to consuming
grass, leather and even the remains of the dead. Savina’s vast library of books
was cut up and the parchment and glue boiled to make soup to sooth the hunger
pangs of the city’s numerous starving orphans. Overseeing this sad scene,
Savina finally surrendered on the last day of Fireseek. Taken to Rel Astra in
chains, she was publically humiliated by being led behind Mikar in his
triumphal procession before being ritually strangled by the high priest of
Hextor on the altar stone of that god’s shrine. Though defeated, it was
noted by witnesses how proudly she bore herself in her last moments. Not least
among those was Mikar’s brother, Erian, who in tribute later had a statue carved of
her that still stands in the inner court of the Great Pantheon.
At this time the Suloise city-state of Roland, though allied
to the Garasteth Principality through the marriage of its fasstal’s sister, was
still an autonomous state within the Kingdom of Aerdy. Its position was
technically the same as the principalities of the Celestial Houses and the
various duchies that had existed at the signing of the Pact of Rel Astra, like the
Duchy of Montesseri in Medegia, and states that were created after the conquest
of Thalland, like the Duchies of Kalstrand, Nulbish, and Rel Deven. The
relations between Roland’s fasstal, Beremund with Mikar were very good and his only
child, Gisalic had served as Mikar’s armiger in the wars with Thalland, though he
had died at the siege of Chathold. This left Beremund’s sister, Hildora as the clear
heir as dictated by Suloise law, which made no distinction in inheritance based
on gender. Many Suloise purists among Roland’s nobility viewed this with alarm,
since this meant that unless Beremund produced another child, the half-Oeridian
daughter of Mikar, Lorana, who was married to the Prince of the Naelax, or
their child, would one day become fasstal of Roland. Growfest of -206 CY brought
worse for those Rolandi nobles when Beremund died. A royal procession consisting
of Mikar, Hildora, and their eldest son, Beros, accompanied by a bodyguard immediately
left Rel Astra and reached Roland on the 14th of Planting.
Everything seemingly proceeded as normal until the day of the coronation on the
4th of Flocktime. At the steps leading up to the Temple of Phaulkon where
Rolandi fasstals were traditionally crowned, a mob of nobles fell on the Garasteth
retinue. Mikar, the 10 year old Beros, and their guards were stabbed to death. The
pregnant Hildora, distraught at witnessing the massacre of her husband and son,
was taken hostage. One legend related to these happenings is worth relating. It
is said that when leaving Rel Astra, the Garasteth troupe was accompanied on the
first day by Gilbra, Mikar’s 9 year old son, with the intention that he would
turn back and oversee the city in name while the Grand Prince was absent, guided by his
uncle, Erian. Not far outside the walls, near the statue known as the Headless
Prince(4) they encountered a young man on the road, walking with a bindle over
his shoulder, accompanied only by a small dog. He was said to have been mad,
babbling nonsense, although one thing stood out in retrospect. He addressed
Mikar’s younger son, saying, “Hail Gilbra, Grand Prince of the Kingdom of Aerdy
and Prince of Garasteth!” This is the first documented appearance of the individual
known as The Walker(5).
Next Chapter -- The Reign of Gilbra
Art Notes:
Ehlissa XVI conducts
a ritual in the Court of Karnosa, c. -208 The young queen of Ehlissa, born
with the name of Ehlyra is here seen raising a vessel in praise of Rao, containing
a potion that was said to grant the consumer divinatory powers. The cult of
Rao, which had been a relatively minor one in Ehlissa became dominant in this
period. Some sages speculate that the peaceful nature of that god was elevated
to a dogma of pacifism in this case, which contributed to the Flan population
of Ehlissa being progressively dominated by the Suloise immigrants who had
become part of their nation. The increased mixing of Flan and Suloise
bloodlines in the Ehlissan population can be seen in the features of the three
priestesses attending her who are already in the throes of the potion’s
effects. Ehlissa XVI (Ehlyra) was of a much purer Flan bloodline, her mother, Ehlissa
XV (XIII) having been the first Ehlissan queen of mixed blood.
Ovida the Seawolf’s fleet
retreating from Rel Astra, -208 CY At this point the Suloise pirate ships
are in full retreat and outside the harbor, still being bombarded by Rel Astran
catapults. Ovida’s flagship, with its stag figurehead and emblem on its sail,
and upon which he lay dying, can be seen on the far right. The Duxchaner ships
are notable for their triangular lateen rigging, while the Onnwali ships are
square rigged. Seen in the background is Lerg’s Fang, which at 1,000’ tall,
dominates the coastal hills that are the southern part of the same range that
make up the Gull Cliffs.
Mirilamin, Chief of
the wood elves of the Grandwood, c. -208 CY In general wood elf communities
tend to be self-isolating and avoid humans and other races, but the wood elf
bands of the Grandwood seem to be an exception to that rule, having had
relations with the Aerdi since they came to those lands. Naturally they were
and are resentful of the encroachment of Aerdi who overhunt and cut timber indiscriminately,
but as the Grandwood has technically been a protected realm of the crown since
the days of the Kingdom of Aerdy, this has been less of a problem.
Once the Rax gained the throne more humans began residing in the Grandwood as a
means of avoiding the authorities and they found welcome from the wood elves for
whom they act as a buffer against the forces of the Great Kingdom. For the most
part the wood elves now reside within the deepest parts of the wood where other
sylvan creatures also are. They are masters of camouflage as can be seen from
depiction of Mirilamin, and their arms tend to appear crude although they are
of exceptional quality and effectiveness. They live lives few humans, even
those woodsmen closest to them, can imagine or comprehend.
Statue of Savina in
Chains, c. -175 CY Said to be a faithful representation of Queen
Savina, crafted by a sculptor over a quarter century after her death who worked
from first-hand descriptions and coins bearing her visage. If shows her as she
appeared on the day in which she was led through the streets of Rel Astra as
part of Mikar’s triumph, after which she was executed. Her crown is an accurate
depiction of Savina’s Crown which is still held in the treasury of the Great
Kingdom in Rauxes. Her dress however is of a style popular among court ladies
in the Kingdom of Aerdy during the period in which it was carved. After her
execution she was entombed in the crypt underneath the shrine of Heironeous in
the Great Pantheon, as is befitting of a monarch of the Thellari.
The Walker depicted
as The Fool on a taroccha card, 575 CY The inspiration for The Walker in Ivid
the Undying is obviously drawn from the most popular designs for the The Fool
card in a standard tarot deck. Here I have used the image from the Tarot of
Marseilles, the earliest examples of which date from around 1650. Traditionally
the Fool in this deck is titled as Le Mat from an archaic Latinate word meaning
madman or beggar. I wanted to make this illustration more in-world so I decided
to use a different alphabet to represent that used in the Flanaess. Plenty of
people have made up fantasy scripts but I decided to use an archaic Cyrillic
font. In previous work in this series I specified that the script used by the
Aerdi was derived from the Ancient Suloise script adapted to Old Oeridian, and had
the Old Oeridian character X equal the sound of ‘h’ in English, and P equal ‘r’,
used as a monogram for Hieroneous. Using the sounds represented by the Cyrillic
script according to my extremely rudimentary and very bad knowledge of Russian,
combined with a bad translation of The Walker into mangled Latin, which is a
stand-in for Old Oeridian in my version of Oerth, phonetically, the title of
the card reads as something like “El’ Spat-ee-at-or”.
End Notes:
1. The map of Rel Astra I am working from was created by Canonfire! member and cartographer extraordinaire, Jerold Lehman aka Boslok the Elder.
2. See Chapter 4, The Pre-Aerdy Period: The Rise and Fall of Tuerny the Merciless.
3. This is Queen Sharafere and the City of Summer Stars, of which Ivid the Undying, p. 74 says, “The demise of this race is a dreadful tragedy which few alive today know of. Those who know the tale do not speak of it. Mordenkainen, Philidor, Gywdiesin, Calendryen of the Vesve, Immonara, and the Silverbow Sages of the Lendore Isles are among that rare few, and perhaps one or two other mortals.” The writer of this unofficial history of the Aerdi not being among those mortals, I leave the description in much less precise terms.
4. See art notes for Chapter 7, Rise of the Celestial Houses: Garasteth and Torquann.
5. Ivid the Undying, p. 106 “Oeridian legends concerning The Walker have existed since before the Great Kingdom came into being. He is always described as a man who appears physically very young, perhaps but 15 or 16 years of age, though great age is attributed to him and a perceptive viewer can see that he has tiny lines on his forehead and around his eyes which belie the appearance of youth… He can be recognized by the small sack tied to a stick which he carries over his shoulder, and the small and nondescript dog which always accompanies him… He speaks very little and then always in riddles.”
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