(population: 33,000) Located along the western banks of the Eldir Vaas River, Karthis is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Elyria.
Karthis is situated north of the Purple Mountains, and is the largest southern Elyrian city. Only the oldest part of this city is walled; its ancient fortifications hearkening back to a time of the wars between the Iskari and the Vaas.
Today, the city is primarily an agricultural and mercantile trading center, and earns much of its wealth from the river trade along the Eldir Vaas. Inside the city is the large fortress of Castle Ironheart. The city of Karthis is accessible via the Axeway, which connects it to the capital of Rilsavar to the northwest and to Castle Celadon to the southeast.
The city is currently governed by Duke Loris Caswell.
Local History
In the distant years of the Third Age, this city was nothing more than a small settlement called "Korthos," inhabited by the Mazareen people. Eventually, invading Varda tribes drove them out and they re-settled south of Purple Mountains, in the present-day city of the same name.
The Varda's pronunciation of "Korthos" is "Karthis" so the name stuck. Under Vardan rule, the settlement grew into a large city-state, which controlled much of what is, today, the Kingdom of Elyria.
After the establishment of the Kingdom of Iskandar on Westvale Island; the Iskari began to cross the Iron Sea and raid Vaas coastal settlements. These raids escalated into the Karthic Wars; of a series of conflicts fought between the City of Karthis and Iskandar.
In the year 597/4, the Iskari King Ilnavel IV captured the city after a long siege. The fall of Karthis was a historical turning point, which marked the end of Karthis as a regional power, the end of the House of Madrigal, and the beginning of the War of Terror.
For nearly two centuries, the Iskari held the city, until a series of Vaas counter-attacks forced them to withdraw back across the Iron Sea. Afterward, the city remained an ethnic mixture of both cultures and remains so even today.
Rule by the House of Gildayne
In the year 853/4, the Iskari king Irovar II was killed at the epic battle of Vickers, and his army defeated. This battle resulted in the Treaty of Gildayne, which formally ended the War of Terror, and led to a period of resurgence and prosperity for the city. The defeat of the Iskari was largely credited to a Vaas champion named Magnus Gildayne, who was later anointed King of the newly-independent city-state of Karthis. The House of Gildayne continued to rule the city for many years.
Sadly, King Willem Gildayne and his three sons were slain in the War of the Pretender, leaving only the 17-year old Queen Rowena to rule in their stead. She soon submitted to Erin Fremantle, lost her crown, and her family was reduced to vassals of the Kingdom of Erindar.
Rule by the House of Caswell
The Gildaynes were extinguished after the bloody Wars of Destiny and replaced by the House of Caswell; who were loyal vassals of King Erin Fremantle
