NEF2 Lore

"No single nation is eternal."
-Vixus, last Prince of Ancona, 454 First Era

TIMELINE: First Era

The beginning of this Era dates to the times when Huxar, Eternal Champion have broken the spine of Yazdardag and allowed humans to settle in the southern lands, far away from the godly combats and blasted landscape of the west.

First four centuries of this Era are filled with quarrels and skirmishes, kingdoms being created, merged and destroyed in political and military affairs, the big getting murdered and the small living their poor, short lives.

However, after Rivan Empire arrived at the horizon, things became a little more tense...

431-432 FE: King Mihdalis IX wages war against Ancona; backed by mysterious Rivan Empire, he manages to seize some territories.
432 FE: Mihdalis IX is slain during a visit of Rivan VI; the Rivan armies turn on their allies and conquer the Mihdalis Kingdom within two months.
433-435: War between Rivan and Ancona; Eferian king sends aid while Tavos and Cadus remain neutral.
435: First Peace at Boreath.
437: Sneak attack on Tavos by Rivan Empire; Ancona remains neutral which seals the fate of remote, mountain-locked kingdom.
437-440: Conquest of Tavos. In early 440, the last outpost of Tavosian loyalists in Blackpeaks is sieged and destroyed.
439-440: Third Ysmir-Ancona War.
440-443: Second Rivan-Ancona War.
442: Ancon VI is killed in combat, his son Ramon takes command of the army and manages to slowly repel Rivans from his kingdom. Later that year he is crowned Ancon VII.
443: Second Peace at Boreath.
446: 'Devil's Deal'; Cadus the Younger strikes a diplomatic and economic deal with the Rivan government. Local kingdoms shame Cadus for seeking personal gain; Ysmir goes as far as to expel Cadus merchants and diplomats from its borders.
447-454: Great Rivan War. Empowered by legions of battlemages and wyvern riders, Rivan Empire attacks; as both professional magicians and wyverns were rare in the southern kingdoms, Rivan forces quickly conquer entire regions.
449: Due to safety reasons, Eferian royal family moves from Ture to Eferia, the former capital of Eferia.
449-453: Numerous border skirmishes and raids, but no larger military action.
453: Battle of Rose Fields; Eferians and Ysmirians forge an alliance hours before Rivan army wages fight against the former; about 45.000 soldiers on both sides die in the bloodiest battle of the war.
454: Ancona falls; royal family killed. Immediatelly, the loyalist generals flee south and establish New Ancona in the southern cities, with their headquarters at Port of Kasst and 6-year old Asara, daughter of late Ancon VII, as their official leader.
454: Cease-fire between Ysmir, Eferia and Rivan signed at 2nd January... but mere three months later hostilies are resumed.
454-459: Second Rivan War.
456-459: Sea War; Rivans show obvious lack of skill in shiphandling, which allows Cadus Kingdom to maintain its borders without much problem.
458-now: Port of Kasst under siege; massive losses on Ysmir and Eferian borders in series of skirmishes, fortress of Ture under siege.
7th May 459: Cadus signs cease-fire with Rivan Empire, and breaks it after two weeks with series of surprise attacks and coastal bombardments, managing to further cripple Rivan's fleet.
24th May 459: Jewel of Wishing, a magical Ysmirian artifact, is delivered to Eferia under strange circumstances...

LORE: Stuff

Kingdoms of this region of the world are fairly agricultural, thanks to temperate climate, and rarely active politically. Occassional skirmishes saw movement of the borders, sometimes several times per decade.
Most of the Kingdoms were formed in the old times by Holy Leaders - paladins of Eternal Champion - or their children. Rivan Empire is a monarchy which arrived in this region of the world fairly recently, and seems to be hellbent on conquering the entire region.

Eternal Champion, also known as Conqueror of the Night, is basis of a religion that spread over the local nations. It is fairly moderate cult which preaches goodness and light over selfishness, greed and darkness.
The only other religion popular in the area is the worship of Nix; a golden lizard said to reward the cunning and shrewd with wealth. It is main religion of Cadus, and not many scholars can point when exactly the cult started.
Rivan Empire is known to be fairly atheist, albeit it does not interfere with beliefs of local, conquered population.