History of Diemed


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Even before the arrival of humans on Cerilia, the area that comprises modern-day Diemed was populated. In those ancient times, the elven kingdoms centred in the Erebannien reigned over this region in a golden era of culture, magic, and learning. Though elven scouts venturing across the Deismaar land bridge reported large tribes of humans far to the south in Aduria, the elves considered them of little threat, instead focusing on the immediate danger posed by the goblins. For it was these goblins, particularly the ones following the sorcerous Spider Lords, that waged a constant and brutal war with the elves. For a thousand years these wars raged, producing little result for either side.
With the arrival of the humans on Cerilia in -515 HC, things began to change. One of the first Andu tribes to set foot in Cerilia was the Deretha, the Fifth House. A particularly warlike folk, the Deretha were quick to ally with the elves in exchange for open lands to the south of the Spiderfell. Within three generations, the Deretha broke the stalemate in the region by defeating the goblins and then began to settle in earnest, founding several kingdoms on the Southern Coast, building towns, villages, and clearing away forests for farmland - leading to war with the elves.
Though the elves possessed superior skills at the sword and the arcane arts, the human?s bred far more quickly and were able to call upon their gods for aid. Slowly and inexorably, the elves were pushed back, though they did not go without a fight.
The knights of the Gheallie Sidhe slaughtered humans by the tens of thousands, reducing many Deretha settlements to ash. Finally, around -200 HC, the Deretha defeated Gwyngalyth, a powerful elven leader whose base of power was in modern-day Roesone. With the defeat of one of their greatest generals, the elves succumbed to defeat and abandoned the Erebannien, fleeing for the relative safety of the Aelvinnwode farther to the north.
Victory against the elves, however, did not bring about peace. While the elves and humans were distracted with one another, the goblins of the Spiderfell, defeated but not destroyed, rebuilt their numbers and under the leadership of the fell sorcerer Tal-Qazar, surged out from the woods and laid waste to numerous Deretha villages and towns, forcing the Deretha into a genocidal war. Though Tal-Qazar?s initial invasions were repulsed, the goblins were always able to breed a new wave within a few short years.
When Azrai began his campaign to enslave the peoples of Cerilia, the Deretha were on their last legs. Their resources and populations depleted from two centuries of war with the goblins, the Fifth House of the Andu collapsed. The last of the Deretha kings died in battle against the Spiderlord and the Deretha lands lapsed into civil war.
During this time, Diem, last prince of the Deretha kingdoms, came to prominence. Fighting alongside Haelyn and Roele, Diem was a trusted ally and lieutenant of the brothers. Employing his tactical genius, Diem is said of have led men in hundreds of engagements, most of them victories. When the Deismaar cataclysm occurred, the Deretha were hit hard. Most of their armies were wiped out, their southern farmlands suddenly became nothing more than ocean, and their lands descended into further anarchy. Dozens of petty warlords, empowered by the cataclysm, made war upon each other; newly manifested awnsheghlien roamed the land, killing at will; and scattered goblin armies pillaged at their leisure.
Meanwhile, great events took place west of the River Maesil. Gathering a host of allies, Roele rallied his house and prepared to create an empire. Diem, still at Roele?s side and now possessing one of the greatest of the new bloodlines, pledged his loyalty to the new empire. Wishing to first secure the lands closest to his own family?s ancestral hold, Roele led an army, with Diem serving as one of his generals, onto the Southern Coast in 1 HC. After pacifying the Coast and bringing order to the Deretha?s old lands, Roele left Diem in charge of the region, founding the Anuirean Empire?s first duchy. Naming it Diemed, after himself, Diem and his progeny would rule the duchy in unbroken succession to this very day.
Enthusiastically following Haelyn, the new god of law and order, Diem funded the construction of the god?s first temples. Less than a year later, Haelyn?s divine Book of Laws appeared on an altar within the first of those temples. Rallying around the credo of the Book, Haelyn?s priests and paladins organized themselves into a temple allied with Roele?s vision of empire.
With peace and stability finally achieved, the Dieman lands began to settle down. Cities grew up along the River Maesil and the Straits of Aerele. Even in those bygone years, the Dieman people concentrated mostly around the villages of Aerele, Moerel, Ilien, and Roele?s new imperial capital, while the lands to the east, in present day Roesone and Medoere, functioned mainly as agricultural lands, feeding the growing cities. Though the rural farmers somewhat resented their city dwelling cousins, that resentment never escalated into rebellion.
Diemed thrived under the Anuirean Empire and its dukes and armies loyally supported the Emperors. The lands of House Diem were always at peace, save for the occasional war with the Spider or trouble with the rough and tumble adventurers on the eastern frontier. In fact, the situation was so stable that most of Diemed?s armies were in the Imperial legions stationed throughout Anuire or deployed abroad helping the Emperor to pacify conquered lands. More members of House Diem were appointed as governors and overlords than any other house, a point that Diemans remain proud of today.
This long period of stability reached its end, like so many other things, during the reign of Michael Roele. Though initially slow to join Michael?s cause during the War of Succession, the duke, Harth Diem, eventually sided with the Emperor and loyally provided troops to his cause. Though none of its lands were on the front lines in the war between Michael Roele and Arwyn Boeruine, Diemed suffered nonetheless. Abroad, Dieman troops took heavy casualties while the Spider raided and destroyed farms and towns at home.

[top]Post Imperial Chaos


Further disaster struck when the Emperor was slain in the Gorgon?s Crown. All of the dukes had close and direct kinship with the Imperial line, and some of them sought to claim the Iron Throne for themselves as the Empire's rightful heir. None has succeeded so far. The struggle to acquire the Irone Throne proved especially costly for Diemed, which saw a series of nearly constant wars that weakened the Duchy of Diemed, and saw the eastern provinces laid waste time and again. This period came to a close when Richard Endier started a period of civil wars which resulted in the dismemberment of Diemed into the four realms that are known today as Diemed, Endier, Roesone, Medoere, and Ilien.
The duchy actively participated in the post-Imperial civil wars, but for the first few decades it husbanded its strength and followed a strategy of caution, ensuring that while other realms exhausted themselves, so that Diemed remained strong. Diemed finally made its own bid, and pursued a much more agressive strategy in 94 MR, when the Duke, Havriel Diem, great-grandson of Harth Diem, felt confident enough to begin making a play for the Iron Throne itself. Havriel began amassing large numbers of troops in eastern Diemed (modern day Roesone) along with its long time ally Aerenwe in order to remove his rival to the Iron Throne, the Duke of Bhalaene.
In 94 MR, Duke Havriel Diem of Diemed along with his ally, Aerenwe, invaded hoping to eliminate the claims of Duke Eriene Bhalaene and compel them to support his bid for the Iron Throne. Duke Eriene was able to rely on friendly relations with Ghieste and Osoerde. Ghieste provided subsidies and diplomatic support while Osoerde provided auxiliary troops, eventually joining the war directly and invading Aerenwe. In 98, the army of Osoerde invaded Bellam and pushed forward while Bhalaene's army laid siege to Highcastle. In the early winter months of 99 MR, Diemed accepted peace terms, paid a subsidy, and Osoerde occupied Bellam for a period of five years.

[top]the Civil Wars

[top]Endier


In MR 289 a noble by the name of Richard Endier managed to clear-cut a section of the Spiderfell. Fearing that the Mercenary and his Orog companion would encourage the awnshegh to attack Moere, Prince Vandiel Diem (elder) sent Daedric Volarae to the new province to govern it properly. Diemed?s fears were to be realized the following when Richard Endier returned to the Spiderfell and convinced the creature to attack Diemed with the full force of its armies. Diemed would have been destroyed by the awnshegh had Vandiel not given the province to Endier forever.

[top]Ilien


The collapse continued when in 305 MR, Ilien declared its independence. This left Diemed without a court wizard, a situation it has never been able to rectify. Still exhausted and on the brink of collapse, Diemed was forced to recognize Ilien?s independence.
The Imperial Temple of Haelyn, from which Diemed had derived so much of its prestige, had splintered, furthering the collapse of Diemed?s fortunes. Ilien, was home to a rival sect of Haelyn, the Impregnable Heart of Haelyn.
Further struggle erupted along Diemed?s frontier with the new realm of Ghoere. The Barons of Ghoere had long looked at the weakened Dieman state as a perfect place for expansion, leading to many wars. The most notable was in 431 MR, in which Ghoere invaded eastern Diemed and attempted to take control of Ilien. The Countess Axlea Aglondier of Ilien was able to preserve her realm by harassing the invasion force with her realm magic.

[top]Roesone


In 458 MR, Vandiel Diem (younger) assumed the throne of Diemed. Though Dieman histories record him as a great man, he was involved in many costly failures. One of the greatest failures of Vandiel?s reign was the loss of nearly half his duchy to Daen Roesone. By 420 MR, eastern Diemed had begun to recover from the long years of warfare and become a frontier zone with freesteads, bandits, and almost no law. In 470 MR, Daen Roesone, a mercenary lord with considerable power in eastern Diemed, seized control of Caercas and in 474 MR petitioned Vandiel to rule the province as a vassal. Making the same mistake as his ancestor Vandiel Diem (elder), Vandiel refused and instead named his cousin Uchaene Shaeme the Count of Caercas. Daen flew into a rage upon hearing this and promptly defeated the small army that Uchaene had brought with him to Caercas. This incident precipitated a full-scale war.
Over the next three years, Daen Roesone took control of the whole of eastern Diemed and repeatedly defeated the armies of the Diemans and their Aerenwean allies. In 477 MR, the war formally ended and the state of Roesone was born.
This loss was extremely humiliating for Vandiel, who almost lost his throne to a cabal of mutineers as a result. However, Vandiel, ever the consummate politician, was able to weather the difficulties and initiate a crackdown on the disloyal elements of his realm. By 483, Vandiel was even ready to wage war elsewhere in Anuire, aiding Mhoried against a Ghoerean invasion. Still, the loss of Roesone rankled Vandiel to no end and it was not until his death in 505 that Diemed finally recognized Roesone. Further trouble was to fall upon the duchy in the form of sectarian strife.

[top]Medoere


In 500 MR, Mourten Enlien succeeded as count of Braeme. The Baron, Vandiel Diem (younger), was eager not to disturb his subjects of Ruornil's faith so that he might turn his attentions elsewhere. Mourten ruled wisely and well, respecting the Ruornilites despite his strong faith in Haelyn.
However, in 520 MR, Mourten died and was replaced by his tyrannical son Dalien Enlien, who crushed the Ruornilites beneath his boot. Despite Dalien?s efforts, the worship of Ruornil continued to thrive and in 543 MR, he petitioned the Baron, Heirl Diem, to dispatch an army to crush the Ruornilites. Heirl, a devout Haelynite, readily agreed and sent two thousand men at arms to the Count. The people of the provinces rose up and under the leadership of Suris Enlien, Dalien?s daughter, slew the tyrannical Count, and defeated the invading Dieman army. The realm of Medoere was born.
Heirl Diem, Diemed?s previous Baron, ascended the throne in 525 MR and spent the first few years of his reign consolidating power. The once recalcitrant nobles were forced to toe the line, the army was reformed and increased in size, corruption was purged from the court, and Diemed?s diplomatic standing vastly improved. Before the events of 543 MR, Heirl had given little attention to the problems in Medoere, so consumed was he with consolidating his own internal position. After the events at Tiernen keep, Heirl became focused on reclaiming his lost lands to the point of obsession. His top general, Jarod Enlien stepson of Dalien, has trained the army for eight long years in preparation for of an invasion of the realm.

Created by , 10-11-2008 at 07:46 AM
Last edited by , 10-23-2011 at 02:16 PM
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