Drakhara
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Capital: Erôn-Gothmar
Human Population: 1,674,000 (96% Adari, 3% Üthrari, 1% Gauth)
Demi-humans: 7,000 (72% dwarves, 2% elves, 26% halflings)
Humanoids: very common (mostly orcs)
Government: tyrannical Mageocracy
Current Leader: Sorimmar the Necromancer
Coat of Arms: a white horned-skull on a gray field
Exports: slaves, weapons, armor, mercenaries, iron


Drakhara; which means ‘Land of Necromancy’ in the ancient Gauth tongue, is a nation located in the East. This fearful place of dread and despair is often referred to the "Darklands" or the "Savage Lands."


From his impenetrable fortress of Erôn-Gothmar, a powerful wizard named Sorimmar the Necromancer rules Drakhara with an iron fist. At one time, the realm comprised seven independent strongholds: Gorthaur, Kurath, Olgara, Orulath, Süroth, and Zha'Drünne.

The realm of Drakhara contains many fortresses and towers to house its vast military forces. Some of the most well-known fortifications are: Erôn-Gothmar. Erôn-Mored. Ghostfang Tower, Gol-Gathad, the Salkröth, Sol-Arkalad, Sol-Merazad, and Sol-Oltharë.

The realm of Drakhara is essentially an armed camp, bent on war and destruction. Sorimmar commands a standing army of over 10,000 human and 40,000 humanoid troops, but in time of war, through conscription, can field an enormous army of 40,000 human and 250,000 humanoid troops including orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, and stone giants.

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In addition to its numerous military forces, the very climate and terrain of Drakhara is hostile. The western third of the realm is known as the Mortai Valley, a desolate plateau of rock and sand. Below this arid region is the Khûrloth Marshes, an impenetrable swampland inhabited by foul lizard creatures loyal to Sorimmar. However, in the southeastern region of Drakhara, near the Üthrari border, there is usable farmland.

Drakhara’s northern border with the Khorlann Steppes is the Olgara River. Its southern borders with the Realm of Gwynne are the Frostcrown Mountains, and further east its southern borders with Üthrar are the endless Vakara Grasslands. Drakhara’s eastern borders with Kurand are the Grafenmyr and the curve of the Olgara River. Its western borders with the Borderlands and the realms of the West are the enormous Saugreth-Muir Mountains.

Life & Society


Life in Drakhara is grim and hard. The human population lives in constant fear of their oppressive rulers and a lack of resources mean that their meager existence is poor and wretched. The humans here are mostly Adari descent, and their culture is similar in basic ways to that of the West. There are only two major human cities, and both are poor and filthy. The orcish population lives much worse, eking out a basic survival in dark caves and pits. Most folk of this region wish they dwelt elsewhere, but by no means are all humans living in this region evil.

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Most people live in ignorance, fear, and mistrust. Strangers are shied away from, and sometimes arrested to gain favor with local authorities. As for social classes, on the top are the Gauth nobility, arrogant and powerful, these rare humans are a distinct race from the Adari majority, and fill almost all positions of authority in the realm of Drakhara. Below them are the Adari folk, who are the soldiers, craftsmen, and peasants of the realm; finally there are the humanoids that are considered worse than slaves.

GEOGRAPHY


Grôn Chasm: enormous hole in the surface, caused by a magical explosion during the War of Wrath.

Khûrloth Marshes: Treacherous swamp region, located south of the city of Kuldhûr.

Mortai Valley: Desolate region of Drakhara, located near the Khûrloth Marshes. The Valley is home to many Ashanti tribes.

IMPORTANT SITES


Adar Road: this road leads south from the city of Khorlanis to the city of Sirilath.

Ruins of Adarond: (City of the Dead) Once the capital of the lost realm of Adar, now haunted ruins located hing in the Saugreth-Muir. Mts.

Bridge of Bones: large bridge over the northern tip of the Grôn Chasm, made from the gigantic skull and bones of a dragon named Calegorax,

East Road: (Sorcerer’s Road) this road runs east from the City of Alenthas to the Salkröth.

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Erôn-Gothmar: ‘castle of necromancy.’ (Svt) formerly known as Erôn-Mystarë, this fortress is the citadel of Sorimmar the Necromancer.

Erôn-Mored: ‘castle of dread.’ (Svt) originally built in the late Second Age by the Dark elves; this castle is located on a small island in the center of the Sür It is currently a blackened and charred ruin, inhabited only by the Zûl and an army of orcs and undead creatures.

Ghostfang Tower: abandoned dark-elf fortress outpost, located deep inside the Grôn chasm.

Gol-Gathad: ‘Tower of the Crossroads’ strong and crucial strategic outpost.

Kuldhûr: (population: 28,000) major city, located in southern Drakhara.

Merizath: site of a battle which ended the War of Dragons.

Mount Orendren: large volcano and the magical epicenter of Corwyn, which overlooks Erôn-Gothmar.

Orgorod: Site of a fierce battle in 252/3, when the armies of Alokkair attempted to capture Erôn-Mystarë.

Sirilath: (population: 65,000) largest city in Drakhara.

Sol-Arkalad: ‘Tower of the Watch.’ (Svt) this castle was once a stronghold of the Dark-Elves.

Sol-Merazad: ‘Tower of Might.’ (Svt) this castle was once a stronghold of the Dark-Elves.

Sol-Oltharë: ‘Tower of the Moon.’ (Svt) this castle was once a stronghold of the Dark-Elves.

Zorath Valley: site of a battle in 286/4, between the armies of Adar and Kurand.

Local History


The history of this region can be broken into three periods; first, the period of the elvish rule and the rise and fall of the Dark-Elves. Second, the period of early human development, the rise and fall of Adar, and the rule of Alokkair the Witch-King. Third, the rise of the seven kingdoms, and their eventual domination by Sorimmar and the rise of modern-day Drakhara.

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The Era of Ectharë


Before the realm of Drakhara was called by that name, it was the eastern region of the elvish realm of Ectharë. As the Silvar-Elves settled the east, they soon encountered the hostile race of dragons, which dwelt in eastern Corwyn. Soon after, a devastating war broke out between the Elves and Dragons. After the terrible War of the Dragons ended at the Battle of Merizath in 5028/1, the evil Dragon Lord Calegorax was slain and the Silvar-Elves became the sole masters of the entire continent.

The elves soon learned through the Synfari; their council of mages, that the magical epicenter of the continent was the volcanic mountain called Orendren. Realizing the power of this mountain, the elves soon built a great castle call Erôn-Mystarë, into its base to harness its energies for their own uses. By the Second Age, the Elf-realm of Ectharë was thriving and all seemed well.

But a powerful Elf-maiden named Lorynäe Anarivon, who was a member of the Synfari and an influential elvish noble, yearned to conquer Ectharë and rule the realm herself. She and her elvish followers rebelled against Elf-King Starion, and in 537/2, she murdered the Elf-king and tried to steal his throne. Thus began the War of Wrath, or the Elvish Civil War, that lasted over 1,000 years. Early in the conflict, the followers of Lorynäe, soon known as the "Drow" or Dark-Elves, conquered all of eastern Corwyn, and drove the loyalists elves west of the Saugreth-Muir.

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The Synfari who held out in Erôn-Mystarë were lost when the castle fell, and soon the volcano’s magical powers were in the hands of the Dark-Elves. Lorynäe and the Dark-Elves named the eastern realm Drotharë, and for nearly millennia it was their stronghold against Ectharë in the West. The Dark-Elves made the elvish city of Saravôsh their citadel, and it became a place of fear and dread. During that time, the region called Drotharë was a terrible place of evil. The Dark-Elves corrupted the lands using dark magic and sorcery, so that nothing good or natural would ever grow or thrive there again.

The Drotharum created a race of half-breed men in their own likeness, called the Gauth, to fight in their wars and be their servants, and created a foul race of goblin-men called Tarks (orcs) to be their slaves. Many of these foul magical experiments were undertaken at a Dark-Elf stronghold in far eastern Drotharë, called Erôn-Mored. At this castle, the first Rukh and Gauth half-breeds were created, and many other foul creatures were designed. The very waters around the castle became so polluted that the lake could not ever be used again. For centuries, the elves of East and West warred against each other, until 920/2, when Elf-King Ismelian united all seven fledgling tribes of men in the West, and along with a great elvish host, launched a great campaign to finally defeat the Dark-Elves.

By 1011/2, Ismelian and his armies had driven back the armies of Dark-Elves, Gauth, and orcs and besieged the Drotharum capitol of Saravôsh. In a final act of malice and desperation, the Dark-Elves unleashed a terrible magical explosion that destroyed the city of Saravôsh and both the embattled armies encamped in its vicinity. This explosion was so terrible that the entire region was permanently altered and the Grôn chasm created. After this time, the Dark-Elves could no longer abide sunlight. They began to alter their physical appearance and their skin color began to darken and their hair turned white. Soon after the battle, many Dark-Elves left the surface to found a new realm deep below ground, leaving their Gauth and orc slaves behind on the surface.

The Dark-Elves also planned to destroy the race of surface elves out of revenge for their earlier defeat, so even as they made plans to migrate underground, a huge host of Dark-Elves, Gauth, and orcs was assembled to make a final assault on Ectharë. The final Elf-King of Ectharë, Talarion Brightstar, fought against this host for more than 500 years. He finally defeated them at the Battle of Grôn in 1541/2, and the last of the Dark-Elves were finally slain or driven underground. But during the battle, Talarion himself was slain. With the final defeat of the Dark-Elves, the Second Age ended, and a new era came to the lands of the East.

The Era of Alokkair


After the Dark-Elves were defeated, the lands of the East fell into anarchy and there was relative peace in the West. The Dark-Elves were gone forever, but many of their evil servants were left behind. The greatest of these servants was Alokkair, a powerful Gauth sorcerer who had served the Dark-Elves for many years during the War of Wrath and bitterly hated the peoples of the West for defeating his elvish masters.

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Alokkair first appeared in about 150/3, when he rebuilt the shattered ruins of Erôn-Mored and began to dominate nearby local tribes of orcs and Üthrari barbarians. Alokkair had used his mastery of magic to sustain his life-force for many years beyond a normal human lifespan, and even by this time was a very powerful mage. He slowly expanded his power beyond the walls of his castle and looked upon the fortress of Erôn-Mystarë with much envy. Alokkair strongly desired to learn the vast magical secrets of the Synfari and the Council of Sorcerë, who had by this time had taken up residence there after the castle was rebuilt following the War of Wrath.

By 252/3, Alokkair had amassed an army of 20,000 orcs and a large number of Üthrari barbarians, and marched on Erôn-Mystarë. The Council of Sorcerë asked the races of men, elves, and dwarves for help, and all came to their aid. In the Battle of Orgorod, Alokkair’s army was defeated and for many centuries he was believed slain. But Alokkair was not dead; he secretly crept back to Erôn-Mored, went into hiding, and was not heard from again for many centuries, while he plotted his next move.

Although Alokkair did not openly declare himself, his dark powers were felt indirectly throughout the age. In 397/3, Alokkair sent the first of many orc invasions over the Saugreth-Muir and attacked the Silvarwood, home to the Wood-Elves of Thekarë. In 409/3, Alokkair stirred up old hatreds against the dwarves among the goblin races and provoked the long and terrible War of Sorrows that lasted until 655/3.

It wasn’t until 942/3 that the Council of Sorcerë finally discovered that Alokkair was indeed alive and behind the troubles of the past centuries. By this time, it was too late for the Council of Sorcerë or their Wood-Elf allies to stop him alone, for Alokkair had amassed great hordes of orcs and barbarian men from across the East, including thousands of Gauth warriors.

In 1163/3, Alokkair began his greatest campaign against the West. He ordered a series of bloody orcs raids against Krone Feyr, Thekarë, and the fledgling human civilizations of the West. Although these attacks were defeated, the Council of Sorcerë saw the growing danger and created seven great magical swords to unite the races of men in the West.

The swords were given out to the seven champions of the orc raids, and united six of the seven human tribes in 1174/3. The following year, Alokkair invaded the West with all his strength, beginning the War of the Elanthir. His armies of orcs, Gauth, and Üthrari besieged both Erôn-Mystarë and Krone Feyr, and pushed deep into the West near the Amador River, where they were met by an alliance of elves, dwarves and men. The climax of the war was the terrible Battle of Thürdrum in 1179/3, which raged for many days. Ultimately Alokkair’s armies were defeated and he was captured by the Rynnish Prince Eradan Myrnäe. With the capture of Alokkair and the destruction of his armies, the Third Age came to an end. This was the last time that the Gauth were seen in large numbers, for most were slain in that war and never grew to great numbers afterward.

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The Fourth Age


In the beginning of the Fourth Age, things looked bright for the future of this region. Evil had been cleansed in the East, Alokkair was in a dungeon below Castle Myrdon, the Gauth were scattered, the orcs were driven into dank caves and pits, and the Üthrari had fled far to the south and east. In the West, the seven champions soon formed independent kingdoms and grew in wealth and power. One of these seven kingdoms was Amar, whose king Osric had become jealous of the expansion of the Thannish kingdom of Eldara. In 221/4, the king sent a great expedition of men into the East to colonize the lands in his name. These Amari settlers soon conquered the remaining Gauth, the local orc tribes, and many of the Üthrari barbarian tribes.

They then founded the great eastern realm of Adar in 232/4. For many centuries, Adar became the shining star in the East, bringing western culture, learning, and wealth to the eastern regions. But it was not to last. In 236/4, King Elmar of Alveron foolishly released Alokkair from his dungeons, and soon-after, he fled into the East. By 276/4, Alokkair the Pretender appeared at the royal court of Adar, in the guise of a wise and kindly old man who wanted nothing more than to aid the royal court. Alokkair soon became a close advisor and friend to the Adari Kings. His advice seemed sound at the time; and with his help, the Adari kings defeated their Kurandian enemies in 286/4. By this time, Alokkair was in almost complete control of the Adari royal court, and although he played the role of advisor, was secretly using his powers to completely dominate the kings of Adar. Alokkair knew that through the realm of Adar, he could finally achieve his vengeance on the West; for the kingdom had wealth, power, and resources far beyond any mere orc-horde Alokkair had previously commanded.

Over the centuries, Alokkair gained more and more power and influence at the Adari royal court, until he became the real ‘behind the scenes’ ruler of the country. Adar also had a new capitol, ordered built by Alokkair, and called Adarond. The city was built into a high mountain valley in the eastern ridges of the Saugreth-Muir, and was completed in 399/4. By 440/4, Alokkair had transformed the realm of Adar into an evil nation bent on conquest and greed. It then became known in the West as the ‘Realm of the Wolf.’ By 579/4, Alokkair began to once again breed orcs and expand the power of Adar, and began his long-term plan to destroy the West.

In 730/4, Alokkair backed an aspiring Vilzari warlord named Z’Kar Z’Runne to conquer and unite the Vilzari tribes of the desert, and bring them into an alliance with Adar. Within a few years, the Vilzari were aggressively raiding the Heartlands from the South, and weakening their defenses. In 785/4, Alokkair and his Dark-Elf allies began a campaign to defeat the northern kingdom of Thalar, which eventually fell in 825/4. In 976/4, Alokkair unleashed a terrible plague that killed much of the human population of the West, severely weakening the human kingdoms.

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In 1068/4, Alokkair’s agents poisoned King Ilcanar of Iskandar, and began the terrible civil war in that region which lasted for twenty years and cost tens of thousands of lives. Alokkair then turned to his oldest enemies; the races of elves and dwarves. In 1079/4, Alokkair’s huge army of orcs invaded and conquered the Dwarf-Realm of Kronar and destroyed its capitol city of Krone Feyr. In 1233/4, Alokkair’s orcs invaded and destroyed the Wood-Elf realm of Thekarë, and destroyed its capitol city of Therakan. After this defeat, the orc-hordes began moving west in the conflicts known as the First and Second Wars of the Pale, which took place between 1243-1248/4. By this time, Alokkair had reached the peak of his power. His Vilzari allies had launched a deadly series of invasions of the Heartlands, the kingdoms of Eldara and Rhodara were destroyed, and his elvish and dwarvish foes had been defeated.

In 1293/4, Alokkair sent his huge army of orcs and his Üthrari and Kurandian allies over the Saugreth-Muir Mountains and invaded the West, beginning the War of the Pretender. For four long, bloody years the nations of the West battled Alokkair, until the final showdown at the Battle of The Dawn in 1297/4. At this climactic battle the Rynnish King Eromir Myrnäe III slew Alokkair in personal combat and captured the Sword of Akhmahra. Upon his death, Alokkair’s armies soon scattered and fled into the East. The kingdom of Adar was completely destroyed and the West achieved its greatest victory. With this victory, the Fourth Age and the era of Alokkair were over.

The Fifth Age


After the fall of Alokkair and the destruction of the realm of Adar, the eastern lands soon fell into anarchy. Adar broke into seven smaller kingdoms ruled by petty despots and cruel knights bent on carnage and greed. These seven realms were: Drakhara, Zorath, Kurath, Olgara, Orulath, Süroth, and Urgoth. The rulers of these kingdoms constantly fought with each other over territory and wealth, and the Darklands were rife with death and misery for over a century. That is until 111/5, Sorimmar the Necromancer arrived in exile from the West and his post in the Ravinian Empire.

Through cunning and treachery, Sorimmar united all seven eastern kingdoms under his control, and eventually secured the loyalty of the seven eastern kings by giving each one a Zûlenthir; a magical black gem set into an ornate two-handed sword. These were to be the ‘Heirlooms’ of the seven kingdoms, but only ensnared their owners and turned them into terrible beings utterly loyal to Sorimmar and having a bitter malevolent hatred of all living things. These seven Zûl or ‘Shadows’ would carry out Sorimmar’s will for the next two ages. By 236/5, Sorimmar united the seven eastern kingdoms together into Drakhara, his own personal stronghold. From then on, the lands have been plagued by terror, suspicion, and tyrannical rule by dark magic and undead creatures. Sorimmar, like his predecessor Alokkair, began breeding orc by the thousands, and melding them into large trained military organizations under his command.

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Beginning in 410/5, Sorimmar began his ultimate campaign to destroy the Ravinian Empire. A devastating series of seven bloody raids were launched by his orc legions between 410-497/5. The ultimate result of these raids was that the Imperial armies were weakened, and large amounts of money were spent to build the Salkröth gate across the central pass in the Saugreth-Muir. At the same time, Sorimmar’s Vilzari allies launched a series of wars from the South, weakening the empire further. The four Vilzari wars were very costly, and lasted from 422-583/5. Sorimmar then launched a northern campaign against the Empire in 521/5. This was called the Arctic War and weakened the northern provinces of Marundi and Amar. In 610/5, Sorimmar sent yet another orc raid across the mountain, but this time it was only to allow it to be destroyed by a Ravinian host led by Malachar Vilmartine, secretly in league with Sorimmar.

Finally, Sorimmar launched the War of the Cataclysm, which destroyed the Ravinian Empire, eleven royal bloodlines, and ravaged the West. Drakhara waged the war from 621-625/5, and hundreds of thousands were slain, and the West was laid waste. Sorimmar briefly gained possession of the Orenthir, but it was cut from his hand by King Elrovar Myrnäe at the Battle of Harkalad in 625/5. Sorimmar fled the field, but ordered his Zûl to kill the young king of Alveron and recover the Orenthir. Rather than see it captured, Elrovar cast the orb into the great Falls of Herthmar, and was then slain by the Zûl. Thus the Fifth Age ended, and Sorimmar was defeated. He had achieved his goal of destroying the Ravinian Empire, and ravaging the West, but he also had been weakened and sorely wounded. Sorimmar withdrew behind the Saugreth-Muir Mountains, and a long period of peace ensued.

Recent Events


As the Sixth Age began, the West began to recover from the Cataclysm, but this time without the Orenthir, the Ravinian Empire, or any real unity. Luckily, there were no real threats from the land of Drakhara, which remained a dangerous place, but with no real leader, or unified ruler. But things were not what they seemed. Sorimmar had not died in the Cataclysm, but was only weakened. He waited patiently in his stronghold of Erôn-Gothmar and watched the West weaken and decay, beset with numerous wars and foreign invasions.

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By 652/6, the West was weakened enough that Sorimmar decided to attack again. In 665/6, he sent the Zûl over the Saugreth-Muir with an orc army and captured the Salkröth, slaying King Thelodren Alomir and his son. In 670/6, Sorimmar again invaded the West, using his Zûl and orc hordes to reap carnage and destruction. This terrible conflict was known as the War of Crows. By 674/6, the hordes of Drakhara were defeated at the Battle of Krell, and soon withdrew back into the East, but at a terrible price. Nine royal bloodlines were ended during the War of Crows. This time, the West was not strong enough to defeat Drakhara and Sorimmar endured once again. Over the last 600 years, Drakhara has remained relatively quiet, but the last few decades have seen numerous orc raids into the Borderlands, and it appears the Dark Lord Sorimmar is preparing for another great invasion of the West.