Campaign Setting

The campaign is going to rotate around the kingdom of Arrona, a major Altak power.

Ancient History

The historical record begins with the prevalence of the Olgad Empire - known primarily through the legends (and rather fanciful histories) of the Etter culture that succeeded it. Olgad conquered much of the known world - the exact extent is uncertain, but it definitely reached as far as Ettland and the Sharpwater. Heavily reliant on microgate communication, and unable to impose order on its vast territories, the strategic advantage of Olgad waned as the unobtainium ran out. Their decline was gradual, taking over three hundred years.

During this period, the Etter culture developed dissolution healing, refined their written script and spread beyond the Pale / Eel Sea littoral to dominate the coastlines as far as Troutfall. Never cohesively united - most of their wars were fought among themselves - they dominated by trade, emigration and cultural exports. At their peak, somewhere from a thousand to eight hundred years ago, they developed dissolution of craft. They periodically raided the inland regions, and sometimes set up short-lived inland kingdoms.

Middle Period History

The population explosion of the Etter took a heavy toll on their fish stocks and what little agricultural land existed. Meanwhile, their knowledge was filtering inland to the Altak peoples; their traditional lands were warmer and more fertile, and several leaders were able to unite squabbling clans into stable nations. They also expanded greatly on the Etter use of gunpowder. Altak powers - notably the emergent Ribeau - crushed many of the southern Etter cities.

Recent History

The principal powers for the last two hundred years have been Ribeau, Arrona and Catela; most conflicts in that time have been caused by their jostling for position. Arrona's most recent conflict, the Foundling War, began half a century ago and lasted forty years; originally a matter of Whitebay's succession, it spread into half a dozen other disputes. Although Arrona emerged mostly victorious, capturing a handful of Catelan tributaries, the real beneficiary was Ribeau; gangs of deserters and mercenaries are still causing trouble for everyone in the region, while Ribeau has accumulated wealth and territories in the interim. Catela and Arrona are now reluctantly patching up their differences in response to the ambitions of Ribeau.

Vague, Provisional Dodgy Timeline

Era (Years Ago)	Notable Events
Prehistory	Dissolution of Life Karmacy Malediction
12000 ~ 2000	Olgad culture build first cities
5000 ~ 1700	Olgad invent microgating Olgad conquer known world
1600	Unobtainium mines failing; Olgad culture in slow collapse
1500	Etter culture emerges Invention of healing by dissolution
1200	Etter culture dominant across its current range
1000-800	Golden age of Etter; many incursions into Altak territory dissolution of craft invented
752-726	Investigating the dissolution of optical devices, Andan Utning (Yellow) and Rhea Parnoi (Blue) lay foundations of heumonics in Etter state of Wriddish
726	Utning dies
712	Accused of various improprieties, Rhea Parnoi flees Wriddish with about twenty heumonicists
707	Heumonics University founded near independent Altak village of Surboir
700	Etter population peaks; fish stocks depleted Many internal Etter conflicts Altak tribes begin forming into nations
689	Small force of heumonicists and local allies defeat three of the Twenty Herds in a pitched battle outside Surboir
665	Gartand demands tribute from Heumonics University; the University responds with a document proclaiming sovereignty over Surboir and eight other villages
662-604	Ribeau leads a series of wars against Etter states, destroying many cities completely
630	Edri Thanad manifests as the first White Mage
626	Ribeaunais forces attack Institute, claiming it is an Etter colony; roundly defeated
611	Alu Thriban, first Black Mage, begins eight-day rampage across University; by the time she is defeated, three-quarters of the Institute are dead or permanently blind, including Thanad
600	Etter culture collapses under famine, internal conflict and Altak attacks
583	Heumonics Academy established to train heumonicists under 17
433	Arrona founded under Curvale-Broome dynasty
408	The First Ecumenical Gathering fails to reach consensus on several doctrinal points; Altak monotheism splits three ways, and many minor conflicts spring up
379	Marc Hunias, second Black Mage, assumes Regency (and effective control) of Cephron; localised Ribeau-Cephron war escalates rapidly.
354	Hunias, belaboured by Ribeau, the Twenty Herds, the Institute and Arrona, vanishes; Cephron's lands carved up between Ribeau and the Herds. Cause of disappearance never established
310	Covenant of the Hood founded
296	Second White Mage manifests; dedicates career to stamping out curses and ending conflicts spun off from the Cephronian Wars
~ 250	Shadow Guard founded by Lord Rothacaul, ostensibly to protect the Queen's person
235	Twenty Herds war-chief Abrudal mysteriously assassinated, leading to seventy years of Herds infighting; generally considered the end of the Herds' eastern dominance
200	Ribeau, Catela and Arrona now the dominant Altak nations Adant family replaces Curvale; Dunar-Adant dynasty begins rule over Arrona
150	(third White Mage in here somewhere)
100	Modern form of psychometry arises
60-15	Foundling War (Arrona-Catela plus tributaries)
32	Twenty-three Shadow Guards tried and executed for treason; Guard disbanded

Etter

The Etter used to rule the civilised world, and they haven't forgotten it. Ethnically diverse, politically fractured and impotent but united by culture and language, their influence can be seen throughout Altak society.

Etter respect all races, but are deeply contemptuous of 'barbarism' - anyone who can't handle a sea-going boat, read or fight is a barbarian. The Etter have very strong opinions on gender, too - women are chattels, and anyone who thinks otherwise is certainly a barbarian.

Etter city-states are generally composed of a central city and a scattering of dependent villages. Beyond these, the population is more scattered and social organisation goes no further than the village level. Rule takes various forms, although all share a strong distrust of anyone who is a politician first.
Literacy rates are lower than they used to be, but are still higher than anywhere but the great Altak cities. Etter typically worship a personal or family god, as well as gods responsible for individual city-states or bodies of water.

Altak

The Altak are more conscious of fine national distinctions than the Etter, but are not very ethnically diverse - apart from a little intermarriage at the edges of their range. They speak many languages; Etter remains the lingua franca.

The most common form of government is a monarchy, steered by strong aristocrats. The Altak peoples share a belief that men should rule in warfare, women in issues of peace; various political structures have evolved to try to implement this.

[This next highly provisional.] They have always been monotheistic, but there are many local disagreements about theology; most also worship a tribal hero (often an ancestor). The Altak god has been slowly changing from a highly sexualised figure (male in some regions, hermpaphroditic in others) to a genderless, abstract figure.

Drenge

The Drenge inhabit the southern mountains and the desert beyond them; they are sparsely populated nomads, and interact little with the Altak world. Were it not for the trade in exotic animals, the Altak would have little to do with them. They're not very well-understood; rumours abound about them, involving radically different types of magic. They're monotheistic, but not in a very comforting way; they're radically opposed to karmacy, believe they are already in the afterlife, and let their women fight. Drenge muskets are of very fine quality, rare and highly prized.

Technology Notes

Agriculture

Agriculture is emerging from a small-scale system into a more modern, large-scale approach capable of feeding the growing cities. Typically, villages are leased just enough land to sustain themselves, in exchange for work on larger fields owned by their lord. Specialised equipment is at a high level, with both windmills and watermills.

Transport

The major transport corridors are still rivers. With pack-animals in short supply, a standard punishment for criminals is a period of servitude as a packer.

Warfare

Altak war is quite formalised, often with prearranged grace periods before and after battles for dissolution sacrifice. Traditionally it relied heavily on massed light cavalry, but the ever-increasing cost of good pastureland has made this rarer and rarer; horses are rarely used except by couriers and officers. These days, the core of the typical Altak army is the professional musketman, well-equipped and trained; these are generally backed up with crude cannon, a great many poorly-armed conscripts and mercenaries of various types - Etter longbowmen still have the edge on muskets, given the right conditions.
Even in the standing armies, equipment is not standardised yet; professional soldiers have to supply their own gear.

The old Altak strategy used to involve a mad charge by warriors pumped up by dissolution of life; big nasty animals like bears were preferred. This routinely collapsed against Etter bowmen boosted by fast, accurate animals. Current strategy is a lot more varied, but still generally relies on the heavy infantry charge - though the sacrifice of faster animals predominates over big bruisers.

Fortified positions are fairly uncommon; before the collapse of the Etter, the Altak were too dispersed and disorganised to build large forts. An obvious fortification is easily circumvented with magical stratagems; stone castles are slow and costly to build, and too easy to knock down. Fortifications are generally put up as aids to a field battle; stakes, wooden walls, ditches, moats and traps are standard, but are usually kept light enough to avoid impeding the defender's manouvres; dense woods, hills and marshes are cultivated to control enemy movements and play to the locals' strengths. (Menageries are built of stone, usually at the central defensive point.

Naval warfare is still dominated by Etter technology, which hasn't advanced much in the past two hundred years.