Merkgard

Largest of the The Petty Realms, the Kingdom of Merkgard was originally the West-March of The Great Kingdom .
It is unusual in that it is a human kingdom, ruled by humans almost entirely, and with virtually no elven population.
The Kingdom of Merkgard was founded as a result of campaigns by Iuz into the northern steppes, where the Reavers were being squeezed east and south by the Wolf-tail nomads. This southward move caused Iuz to send armies into the north to reinforce their borderlands. The Reavers were crushed in a pair of great battles, and a large part of the horde, rather than falling back towards the Wolf-tails, went south-east instead. Bypassing The Land of the Ten, they fell upon the West-March like a thunderbolt. The army of the West-March, already tied down by border wars with The High Kingdom and pacification in Dorlath, was completely destroyed in the Battle of the Longorian Plain. The Reavers besieged Mor-Dorion and captured it two years later, while continuing to raid into the central provinces of the Great Kingdom. Initial raids were devastatingly successful, laying waste to much of the western half of the Great Kingdom and resulting in huge tribute payments, but gradually the Great Kingdom succeeded in fortifying the border and reducing the impact of the raids. The Reavers also gradually settled down to a more settled lifestyle, and their Khan accepted the title of King of Merkgard (meaning the Kingdom of the March) and sovereignty over the lands of the West-March.

Founding Date

5382

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Parent Organization

The Great Kingdom

Related Ethnicities

• Steppe Nomads