

           Recent History of the Westlands


After the fall of the Atani Empire and the destruction of
Nod's Tower by the Elves, a group of six wizards gathered
in the mountains and reclaimed the area around the former
stronghold. They were Nod, son of Nod, Corina and Isil, his
sisters, Senex and Romjibus, two mages from the East who
were his brothers by marraige, and Tharvantul, a Muzadi
warrior/mage from the South, who was his longtime friend
due to their common enemy in the Elves.

Using captured labor, they built a keep, named Stormcastle
due to the incessant rain which began there after its
construction, and then they began a campaign to reunite
the Westlands, driving the bandit lords north beyond Blue
Land the the Elfin host of Prince Demitar deep into the
Gloomwoods. After their struggles, a new era of peace had
dawned. However, the "Dark Six" as they were to become known,
slowly but steadily proved themselve to be despots beyond
anyone's imagination.

Senex and Corina took power in Seaton, creating a pirate
fleet and raiding the merchant lanes up and down the coast.
Tharvantul began a concentration camp for elves and various
political dissidents in Tallgrass. Romjibus and Isil, meanwhile,
took power in Portown and raised taxes to unreasonable levels,
and further decreed that people who were unable to pay would
face punishment by mutilation. Nod, meanwhile, ruled from
Stormcastle, and began excavations hoping to discover some
hidden magic which he was certain his father must have hidden
somewhere in the region.

Some say it was the great magic these mages wielded which drove
him to madness. Others say it was the ultimate power they commanded
over the affairs of their subjects which corrupted their respective
souls. All that is known for certain is that by the turn of the
century, the kingdom they had so skillfully forged had eroded from
within, and open rebellion was the result.

Senex and Corina were killed at Sea when their trusted Vice-
Admiral suddenly turned traitor. Tharvantul was roasted alive
in a great stew-pot which he had often used for torturing his
own victims. Romjibus and Isil were attacked in their sleep,
their mansion burnt to the ground. Nod was the last to perish.
He was dragged out of Stormcastle, hands and tongue sliced off,
chained to a wall, and left to rot.

As for the great fortress of StormCastle which was the kingdom's
capital, it was looted and vandalized, however, the citizens
decided to let it stand, remaining as a reminder to what the
Wizard's were, so that future generations would never forget
the lessons taught by history.

A new republic established itself along the lake-front in
Portown, however, a long, costly, and futile war with Seaton
has left the former kingdom depleted and weak. Now both
cities are independent, and only an uneasy truce exists
between them. Seaton is a dictatorship, Portown a democracy,
and Tallgrass is essentially somewhere between anarchy and
participatory democracy. Stormcastle, meanwhile, was abandoned
long ago, the land too rugged and weather too unrelenting to
provide a desirable haven for either man or beast.

