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Chapter I. Foundations
Chapter II. The Horde and the Siege of Kaezar
Chapter III. The Wyrd Overthrows the Monarchy
Chapter IV. Beginning of the New Age
Chapter V. The Sieges
Chapter VI. Modern Times
Kaezarian National Anthem — Kaezar, Jewel of Peregorne

Kaezar

Chapter I. Foundations

After the cataclysm smashed civilization back almost to the Stone Age, the survivors' troubles were just beginning. All structures, save those built of rock were incinerated, underground cities became collapsed tombs, and the few "lucky" individuals left found themselves homeless. Ashes and decay fouled water supplies, croplands were smoking barren wastes and all semblances of pre-cataclysm government were wiped out. Families were often separated or lost. Long years of famine continued to decimate the surviving populations, and disease quickly followed on the heels of hunger.

The scorched stone temples and palaces of the Old City, whose name is lost to memory, became a gathering point for desperate refugees of all races. A freshwater spring on the site made the ruins an attractive place to rebuild, and soon lean-to's, shacks and makeshift cabins sprang up amongst the rubble.

Two centuries later, the land's scars began to heal and fade. Very few original survivors from that time remained alive, and those few were only children when the cataclysm occurred. Shacks had been replaced by sturdy stone houses and local forests, once again, supplied lumber in plenty. It was during this period of reconstruction that several deeply buried books and scrolls were excavated from old foundations and cellars. They were scribed in Kenzian, which was now a dead language, but they were nonetheless treated as treasures. Of particular importance was the discovery of a shipwright's logbooks, which included clearly illustrated designs for building triremes. In the years that followed, the village grew to become a prosperous seaport, with thriving fishing and shipbuilding industries.

Somewhere around 1145 AoC, Barthelgrimm the Conqueror was crowned as the first of a long line of imperial rulers of the city and surrounding land holds. Detailed records of this time period are sparse, and it remains unclear exactly how he came to power, but his first piece of business was to begin construction on the enormous outer walls that would later protect the city's citizenry in the darker times to come. Naming himself Kaezar I, the king used thousands of vulfen slaves to move great quantities of stone and earth to the city's perimeter, where it was used in raising the stone barrier. The excavation sites also left four distinct terraced areas, which are still evident today. The outer walls and battlements of Kaezar were completed around 1177 AoC, shortly before the King's death.

Not to be outdone, Kaezar's oldest son Marestahl I ordered construction of an elaborate Imperial Palace in 1235 AoC. He chose the topmost terrace as the building site, so that he might look down upon the entire city and the harbor beyond. On a clear day, lookouts upon the Palace's uppermost spires can observe, with the naked eye, a ship's approach over twelve hours before its landfall. No doubt the Rulers of Kaezar have used this advance knowledge to their political advantage through the centuries.

King Marestahl's choice of building sites was clever indeed; he chose to erect the palace directly over the sparkling freshwater springs. Enclosed in the inner courtyard, the spring gave the King complete control over the only source of fresh water for leagues around, and thusly his power over his subjects was all but assured. If necessary, the King could enforce his edicts with an iron fist, withholding fresh water to quell dissenters and encourage timely tax collection. The palace's construction was completed in the year 1393 many years after Marestahl's death; it was a beautiful structure crafted of semiel stone and marble by skilled Dwarven artisans, yet was an excellent defensive stronghold in its own right. Marestahl III, the old king's grandson was responsible for designing and ordering construction of the city's aqueducts and drainage systems, providing clean water and indoor plumbing for most of Kaezar's citizens.


Chapter II. The Horde and the Siege of Kaezar

In 1358 AoC, King Marestahl IV married the sylvan princess, Ailyania, forging an alliance between surviving sylvan royals and Kaezar. Elven reinforcements and their families moved to the city, allowing it to continue resistance against the Hordes. Their eldest son, Nund I was of Half-Elven and sylvan ancestry, which forever after was part of the Royal bloodline. Marestahl died when his son was adventuring around Thrael, leaving Stanislar I, son of Archduke Raymmer Meurigvan, the king's brother, to rule. When word of the attack on Helasfume by the Horde reached Kaezar, Stanislar I chose to do nothing, complacent within the city's fortified walls. A fleet of war galleys in the harbor made him feel safe and prosperity filled his coffers to bursting.

In the spring of 1400 AoC, the King discovered just how foolish he had been. The Horde quickly surrounded Kaezar, cutting the city off from its farmlands and orchards. Under cover of darkness, gharkin archers fired volley after volley of flaming arrows into the harbor, setting the war fleet ablaze. Some alert ship captains attempted to escape the deathtrap, only to burn and sink in the harbor's mouth, blocking all traffic in and out. Kaezar was now isolated from the outside world.

Although hopelessly outnumbered, and unable to break the siege, Kaezar's city militia had sufficient strength to keep the Horde at bay. Boiling oils and sharp-shooting archers turned back a frontal assault on the city gates. When the wooden boardwalks and piers of the harbor were burned, access to the city from the beach was prevented, so the city's rear defenses also held. The Horde's main army remained encamped around Kaezar for over a year; and while fresh water was plentiful, food stores began to run low. Only the warehouses in the merchants' district, stocked with grain for export prevented total starvation.

In the end, the Horde failed to take Kaezar; perhaps if their aging commander had not been assassinated by one of his own generals, history might have been different. Bored with the siege, and anxious to claim more spoils and cities, the Hordes' new Warboss took his troops and marched off to pillage elsewhere. As a last spiteful gesture, the trolls burned surrounding fields and forests to the ground as they retreated.


Chapter III. The Wyrd Overthrows the Monarchy

During this time of chaos, the Wyrd infiltrated the city; capturing the king and imprisoning his family for over a decade, save for the King's younger brother Nedry, who managed to save the Imperial Library's collection of ancient texts. Soon captured himself, he was tortured and executed, but never divulged the books' whereabouts to his persecutors. Endless inquisitions were held, scribes were hanged and paranoia ran high. Neighbors would inform on neighbors, and it was not unusual for someone to simply disappear without a trace. After a while, the people learned to not inquire about the missing.

Oddly enough, the imprisoned royal family wasn't tortured or put to death by their Wyrd captors. In fact, they were given freedom to move about the palace and were not mistreated in any way. Yet they were prisoners, for they were not allowed to leave, and guards followed them wherever they went. Some historians theorize that Father Orrl wanted to convert young Nund to his doctrines. If he could be converted, Nund could be made King later, and this would give the Wyrd a legitimate monarch under their control. It is thought that Father Orrl left the former Queen and the royal family alive, if only to keep from alienating young Nund.

The Wyrd's plan failed utterly. In a bloody revolt, the loyal citizens of Kaezar turned on the Wyrd's zealots. The mastermind of the rebellion was none other than Marcus Yb'Kagnost, cousin to the royal family and former Captain of the Guard. He was thought dead by the Wyrd, and in fact he had been gravely injured, but slowly recovered and rehabilitated in hiding over the years. The story of his iron will, brilliant planning, and finally his hard-won victory is the stuff of legends.

It would seem that young Nund's conversion also failed, for upon taking the throne his first act was to have the Wyrdsmen hanged. The king was understandably opposed to the Wyrd and began a long campaign of search and destroy throughout the city and surrounding lands. His long reign is best remembered as a time of bloodshed, and however many Wyrd zealots were killed, it was never enough to satisfy the need for revenge. In his own way, Nund's bloodlust caused nearly as much mistrust and paranoia in Kaezar as the Wyrd, for anyone suspected of sympathizing was tried and usually beheaded.

The century to follow saw the defeat of the Horde by Lord Kenton MacVahl, who delivered the Kenton Address at Feusalhide as his army repelled the Horde in 1398. Young Jikel MacVahl took up his father's banner, pushing the scattered groups of trolls, orcs, and kobolds back to the far regions of Laurdia from whence they came. At the same time, the Wyrd movement began to lose its popularity, and eventually died out altogether. Thus the imperial city of Kaezar began to recover from centuries of struggle and warfare. The Age of Chaos was over.


Chapter IV. Beginning of the New Age

Prince Nund was crowned King Ione Nund I and fathered two children, Prince Ione Nund II, and Princess Iselanya Nund. King Ione Nund dies at the age of 120. King Nund II's begins his reign, however his health deteriorates and 10 years before his death, he abdicates the throne to his sister. The newly crowned Queen Iselanya married Lord Jikel MacVahl, son of Lord Kenton. The Queen retained rulership of her kingdom (a condition she insisted upon) until their son, Nund III became king in 33 AoD. Queen Iselanya died in 1428 AoC, and King Nund III never married, died childless and bitter in the year 108 AoD, thus ending the line of the first Kings. Before his death, he made provisions for the MacVahl line to assume the monarchy of Kaezar. It was at this time that Lord Erech MacVahl, son of Jikel MacVahl, was crowned King of Kaezar at 106 years of age. He and his descendants have continued to rule the city and the surrounding republics justly to this day.

The introduction of Modern magic in the year 110 AoD brought about a new time of growth and prosperity for Kaezar. New ideas took root in the arts and sciences, and it was a time regaled as the Renaissance of all of Peregorne. This remarkable period was halted in 226 AoD when an enormous sea wave obliterated the waterfront, shipyards and the merchant's district. The wave's crest was so high that it threw the fishing boat Kestrel onto the third terrace of the city. The entire crew survived, though thousands of others drowned, and the Kestrel is now a monument to both the tragedy and the lucky few who escaped. One of the victims of this disaster was Armyre, daughter of King Tybin I, who was much loved by the populace for her gentle ways as well as the great charity work she did. Her fiancé at that time, Lord Thadeus Yb'Kagnost, a descendant of Marcus, had a monument constructed to his love on the exact spot where she lost her life. Yb'Kagnost took over the reconstruction of a new and wonderfully advanced shipyard and waterfront district, complete with cranes to offload heavy cargoes, and a dry dock for ship repair, allowing Kaezar to become the busiest, largest, most sophisticated city in the known northern world.


Chapter V. The Sieges

During the next two centuries, Kaezar grew to be a great seaport, where exotic goods were imported from distant kingdoms, and throngs from the surrounding lands traveled there to make their fortunes. Even when the orcish Horde began making raids in neighboring lands, trade continued and even grew, for weaponry and wartime materiel are immensely profitable. But life was not to continue to be peaceful. A warlord named Morgus DeNaur had established himself in a keep on the impenetrable island of Surt, pirating off the coast of Kaezar and menacing all merchant ships going in and out of port. In 234 AoD, Tybin I launched a failed siege of DeNaur's Keep on Surt and was killed by an assassin's crossbow bolt during his army's retreat. His son, Prince Tybin II was crowned king of Kaezar at the age of 8 years old and his Chancellor Murchard Croellam assumed the official duties of the crown until the young prince was fit for leadership. Luckily for the populace, General Jandur Keyne was able to defeat the miscreant forces and Surt, and the renamed Port Keyne became a Kaezarian stronghold.

After the ruinous siege ended, the following century held only hard times for Kaezar, since Tybin II never proved himself the kind of king his father had been. To further complicate matters, displaced elven and haefdin refugees poured into Kaezar from the surrounding countryside and tried to find shelter in a city that was not prepared to house so many homeless. When Tybin II died, it was considered a blessing to the city. His son, Tybin III took over and was left the impossible job of trying to reclaim the glory that was Kaezar. By far the biggest tribulation was to come when Haigi orc forces were narrowly defeated by Tybin III's army at the Battle of Glamercarrick near ruins of old Roshanon and it was discovered that the Vashan Empire had been outfitting aggressive Haigi warlords with superior Vashan steel weaponry in an effort to weaken Kaezar's strong military presence along the Kivian Sea. On 436 AoD, the Vashan Imperial forces launched an assault to seize Kaezarian colonial settlements on Sajoi Island. Tybin III aged quickly and although just 46, he looked as though he were 100. It was at this time that the Kaezarian royal family decided to ally themselves with the emperor in Penthras, Traesilium the Bold. Offering his protection to the Kaezarians and forming the Imperial Guard, he strengthened his hold on the rest of the city-states in Peregorne and created what was formally called the Kivian Imperium. In 374 AoD, King Tybin III imposed heavy import/export taxes on Vashan merchant trade with the Imperial Kingdom of Kaezar and its holdings. He further banned the import of Vashan steel weaponry and Vashan diplomats were deported to Nagosan and Koje, thus ending the terror of the Vash.


Chapter VI. Modern Times

Recently, King Vek, son of Cedric II, who was mysteriously poisoned and died in 635 AoD, has set up diplomatic relations again with the Vash, under the watchful eye of Anthemian the Just, emperor of the Kivian Imperium. Crowned on the 16th of Morte, 641 in Penthras by the emperor, the King was coronated in front of his people at the Bastion of the Sun on the 22nd of that month by Pontiff Uber Klemst III.

Kaezar has undergone recent spurts in building and merchants have flocked to the city from all over, bringing trade back. The seaports are busy once again as traffic between Never-upon-Vinre and Keyne, as well as foreign cities has multiplied. Orcs continue to raid but the attacks are sporadic, short and not well planned. The Imperial Guard's 8th Regiment patrols the city, reporting to the Emperor first and the King second, and peace seems to have descended upon the city once more.


Kaezarian National Anthem — Kaezar, Jewel of Peregorne

by Royal Bard Melodiel Forestsong

Kaezar, jewel of Peregorne,
Our fine new day is born!
Warm winds of change, blow sweet today!
Let not but Good hold sway.
From the landhold to the city street,
Prosperity complete.

Just wisdom's hand rules this land!
Stand we now and sing —
Of Honour bright,
Of Strength and Might
And Fealty to our King!

Should wicked foe come here to stand,
Against this blessed land,
Let those who love Kaezar and King
Their war cry loudly ring!
With spell and staff, axe, blade and bow,
Into the fray we'll go!

Pledge we now life, limb and love,
Witness, ye Gods above!
We cast our fate with Kaezar's lot,
'Til ev'ry foe is fought.
For if we stand or if we fall,
Pledge we now our all!

Just wisdom's hand rules this land!
Stand we now and sing —
Of Honour bright,
Of Strength and Might
And Fealty to our King!

And to our King, long may You reign!
Secure stand Your Domain.
Of noble heart and noble line,
The Right Your life define.
May Your rule with shining Glory blaze,
And history sing Your praise!

Just wisdom's hand rules this land!
Stand we now and sing —
Of Honour bright,
Of Strength and Might
And Fealty to our King!
...And Fealty to our King!