History of Sydonia

Old Sydonia and the Mythic Age

unknown - 0 AD

It was on the island of Dragon's end that Woden and his pantheon first encountered Bahamut and her sister Tiamat (first of the dragons). Bahamut approached Woden in a form she thought he would find pleasing, but Woden (possessing the wisdom of the well of mimir) saw through her form and attacked the dragon. For 1000 years the gods and first dragons battled, until the island was reduced to a barren wasteland. Bahamut was first to see reason, and proposed a truce. Tiamat refused and hid herself and her brood in caves beneath the island. The gods accepted and returned to their homes in the branches of the world tree Eormensȳl, save for the goddess Ing who stayed behind to make the Island whole and lush with life once more. Before leaving, she warned Bahamut that the island had been made anew for the coming of the children of Woden.
In the days following the awakening of man (in roughly 800 BD), the goddess and broodmother of all metallic dragons Bahamut liked to walk the island of Dragon's end in the form of a crone. As the children of woden found their way in the world, she watched with immense curiosity. She used her magic to hide her brood from them, and protected them from her sister Tiamat's evil brood. As their civilization grew, the Sydonians eventually encountered evil dragons (which the first men of Sydonia called Eoten) who became the subjects of many tales and legends. When it became apparent that the pantheon of Woden would not interfere, Bahamut approached the tribes of man. She taught the first mage (a man named Sydonus) arcane magic, and he in turn taught the art to others. He would later use the art to proclaim himself king of Sydonia (naming the first kingdom after himself).
Some time later, Woden and his pantheon presented themselves to the people of Sydonia through visions. Woden claimed credit for the gift of magic, and the church of Woden was formed. Practitioners of magic were thought to be holy (though the first actual clerics were deemed witches and executed), and were afforded privileges above all others save the king. The Sydonians continued to develop their arcane art, using it to gain an upper hand against the dragons. But the brood was eternal and patient. And the humans were not. Dragon attacks continued to hinder Sydonian expansion for centuries.
Bahamut foresaw the doom of Sydonia, and fled Dragon's end along with her brood. Some believe it was her who warned the prophet Ekoros of impending doom. 50 years before the event, the prophet fled the island with his followers and sailed east, eventually settling on the Marble Isle and naming their first city after the prophet. They would not be seen again by the Sydonians for over 600 years.
When at their most desperate, the last king of Old Sydonia Agwellan the Fool (as he is known today) pleaded with the gods for a weapon against the dragons. His prayers were answered, but not by Woden god of magic but by Lopt the god of mischief, trickery and illusion. In a vision, Agwellan learned of a ritual that would slay every living dragon on Dragon's end. He climbed to the top of Banepeak, battling red dragons along the way. There, he sacrificed 9 powerful mages to the gods and called upon them to smite the dragons. The incantation split the mountain apart, sending a torrent of magma and hot ash across the island. One of the king's guardians (an ancestor of house Dunkeld) managed to flee the destruction and told the Sydonians of what had happened. As the island was turned into a wasteland of fire and death, the surviving Sydonians abandoned their kingdom and fled across the sea to the mainland of Arlyss.
While the red dragons favored their new environment, the remaining dragons of Dragon's end fled across the world in search of fairer homes. The green dragons found a perfect home in the forests of central arlyss, with the blacks settling in the swamps of eastern Arlyss. The white dragons found the northern mountains pleasant while the blue dragons came to be a rare sight in Arlyss. Some believe they may have fled east across the badlands, but some can be found on desert islands across the sapphire sea.
Years after the doom of Sydonia, strange serpentine creatures crawled out from the ruins of the old kingdom. Some believe they may have been the result of magical experiments freed by the destruction of the kingdom. They possess powerful magical ability themselves, and frequently clash with the red dragons of Dragon's end and their kobold minions.

Sydonian Exodus and the Age of Legend

1 - 700 AD

The remnants of the Sydonian kingdom fled across the sea of ruin to central Arlyss, where they founded several coastal villages and lived in isolation for 15 years before encountering the elves. The elves watched the humans with great interest, and when it was deemed safe they made themselves apparent. Having been plagued by dragons for the last 15 years, the elves wished to ally themselves with the humans of Sydonia. The elves were quick to learn the humans' language, and offered to teach them how to bend the energies of nature to their will. But the humans found druidic magic primitive and beneath them, and instead taught a few elves arcane magic.
Thus the Sydonians and Elves of Arlyss allied against the invading horde of chromatic dragons. While the long-lived elves reproduced slowly and expanded little, the human population quickly recovered within a few generations. They expanded from their coastal villages, setting up outposts and settlements throughout the great forest of central Arlyss. The elves guided them through the wood and granted them safe passage. As they traveled, they encountered other sentient beings like halflings, gnomes and dwarves (and began trading with the Dwarves of Kal'Ein for weapons and armor). In the northern reaches of the great wood, they encountered tribes of primitive humans who proved hostile to them. They chose to leave these tribesmen alone (as the elves had done for centuries) and did not settle near the mountains.
In the last decade of the war (which raged for over 100 years), the alliance of men and elves were met with metallic dragons returning from exile to battle their chromatic kin. They allied with these dragons, and after a final desperate battle on the fields of central Arlyss the last of the dragon armies was defeated. The head of their leader (a black dragon named Anakseravak) was mounted atop the gates of castle Dragonwatch. Though chromatic dragons remained hidden in the far reaches of Arlyss, they never again rose up united as they did in those days of legend.
For over 100 years, the Sydonians had been without a king. Villages and settlements elected mayors or councils of elders, while the fighting forces were made up of whoever took up the sword and often led by whoever took charge. But in the final days of the dragon war, the people of Sydonia were led by a general named Arvald Reeve. When the dragons were defeated in 130 AD, he was crowned king of the newly reformed Kingdom of Sydonia. Castle Dragonwatch became his court, and a city was built around it. They dubbed the nearby lake "Dragonmere" and the river "Avron" for a fallen Sydonian captain who had slain many dragons.
As the fledgling kingdom of New Sydonia grew, the elven mages also grew in power. With their extended lifespan, they were able to achieve things the short-lived humans never could. Eventually, a schism occured in Elven society. The mages wished to put the past behind them and abandon druidic magic. In 540 AD, They performed a ritual that withered away the Great Tree of Central Arlyss, severing the elves’ connection to nature. Civil war erupted between the druids and mages. Sydonia sided with the mages, and pushed the druids west as they grew their kingdom. The druids were able to save a single seedpod from the great tree, and planted it anew in the western forest.
After 30 years of war (and the expansion of Sydonia), the humans grew tired of the conflict. As the elven mages gathered for a war council, assassins from Sydonia poisoned their leaders and set fire to their woodland homes. The war ended with Sydonia having conquered most of central Arlyss, save for the Great Wood in the west. The elves remained in their forests, and the humans strayed far from the woods. Thus would the peace be maintained.
In 600 AD, ships from the Marble Isle arrived on the southern coast of Arlyss bearing the men of Ekoros. Reuinted with their ancient kin, the two people established trade routes and founded the city of Southport as the primary port to the Sapphire sea.
In 640 AD, The port city of Arlenport was founded by Arlen Lorens, a fur trader who discovered iron and gold mines in the northwest and established trade with the Dwarves of the north. Ships from Arlenport carried goods to the city of Seawatch rather than cross the entire kingdom by land, and supplied the garrisons of seawatch who guard Sydonia from elvish incursions.

Sydonian Supremacy and the Age of Heroes

700 - 1300 AD

The Kingdom of Sydonia continued to grow, eventually encompassing all of Central Arlyss except for the Great Wood and the Dwarven kingdoms of the north. During this time, great warriors and mages battled orcs, dragons and other fearsome enemies in the wildlands of Arlyss. Halflings, gnomes, and other sentient beings were integrated into Sydonian society. Trade with the Dwarves of Kal’ein and the northern kingdoms kept the Sydonian military well-armed, and villages began to sprout across the kingdom as the ancient forests of the elves were cut down to pave way for progress. During this time, most of the noble houses of Sydonia were established by tracing lineage back to Old Sydonia or the early days after the exodus (with the oldest families naturally being the wealthiest and most powerful already).
In 861 AD, The Great Below (a massive series of caves and tunnels beneath Arlyss) was discovered to stretch as far as The Great Wood. Adventurers returned with tales of strange creatures and bizarre flora. Tales of the dark elves began to surface, as well as eldritch beings and psychic monsters. Miners across the realm made sure not to delve too deep, lest they venture into this realm of darkness.
In 930 AD, war with the orcs of the Badlands united the Dwarves of Kal-Kadred and Sydonians against a common enemy after the orcs invaded Saltmire and sacked the town of Blighthaven. The orcs bred half-orcs as slaves through necromantic rituals, but the Sydonian army organized a rebellion that led to half-orcs overthrowing their orc masters and gaining their freedom. Some settled in Saltmire, while others became adventurers and mercenaries. At the end of the 20 year war, the orcs were pushed back into the badlands and Sydonia constructed Orcwatch Keep on its borders with the help of the Dwarves. The keep is still manned by a mixture of Sydonian and Dwarven sentries.
In 1074 AD, the archmages of Sydonia officially documented the first alternate plane of existence—the outlands. A seperate expedition to the nine hells was abandoned after the mages returned with a nest of hellwasps that slew everyone in their tower. The tower subsequently disappeared and was never seen again.
In 1201 AD, orcs from the badlands invaded the northern mountains in force. A group of adventurers rallied allies from the half-orcs of saltmire, the dwarves of kal-kadred and the tribesmen of the north to repel the invasion force led by an orcish death knight astride a black dragon.
in 1206 AD, a death cult hoping to revive a long dead mad wizard was stopped by adventurers in the sewers beneath the city of Southport.
In 1236 AD, portals from the plane of Mechanus opened and the great modron march began. Adventurers repeled the invasion and saved Dragonwatch from destruction. It is believed that the first artificers were able to reverse-engineer the clockwork of the modrons to create the first inventions of artifice.
In 1256 AD, a group of adventurers known as the forsaken company saved lakeside from an aboleth living deep beneath the town, then went on to explore the great below and encounter dark elves, duergar and other fearsome creatures. In 1257 AD, when Arlenport disappeared for 3 months they were thought to have saved the city and returned it from the nine hells. They briefly reappeared in 1259 AD (now known as the hellraisers) outside Dragonwatch and were recruited in a quest to slay an orc lich in the badlands preparing to lead a host against Sydonia. Among the survivors were an aasimar paladin of the order of the mark (an early unsanctioned knightly order tasked with eradicating undead) named Dorn and a dwarf cleric of Alviss named Kathra Fireforge. Dorn would go on to lead his order from orcwatch keep, while Kathra opened her own forges in Sydonia (producing some of the finest metalwork to this day). The fates of the remaining members of the hellraisers is unknown.

Progress and the Modern Age

1300 AD - The Present

In the dawn of this age, clerics and other divine spellcasters became more common and spontaneous magical ability (sorcery) was first reported. The High Wizards of Dragonwatch deemed sorcery “unnatural” and the king commanded all sorcerers be executed on sight. Demand for falsified documentation of wizardly education suddenly boomed. Meanwhile, adventuring companies became popular as troubles with bandits and orcs in the country increased.
In 1430 AD, Sydonia tried to annex the Marble Isle, but was repelled by a massive storm conjured by their clerics. A peace treaty officially ended the war less than 6 months after its start, and peaceful interactions between the two nations resumed. In response to this (though some 30 years later), The church of Woden officially recognized clerics and paladins as divine arbiters of justice and sanctioned their training. The church of Sithel established the first knightly order of paladins, The Order of the Sun. The order of Bældæg soon followed.
In 1480 AD, elven exiles were integrated into Sydonian society, but granted secondary citizenship status. They flocked to a life of adventure and crime, joining the dregs of Sydonian society.
In 1520 AD, arcane magic gave way to artifice as black powder was discovered. Commoners could be trained with the arquebus in months, while the wizard population dwindled. By 1560 AD, wizards in the army of Sydonia were rare—replaced by musketmen and cannons. The arcanatorium continued to train war wizards for the military, though in much smaller numbers.
In 1580 AD, the first airship—powered by a combination of artifice and magic—was invented but deemed too costly for the Sydonian army. Airship travel remains extremely rare.
In 1620 AD, sorcery was ordered no longer punishable by death, but all sorcerers must register with the Dragonwatch registrar of deviance.
In 1680 AD, the Church of the One mind was established, preaching that the world was thought into existence by an entity known as “the overmind.” Their clerics practiced psionics.
In 1700 AD, skirmishes between elven radicals and Sydonian forces near seawatch risked all-out war with the woodland kingdom. Violence against elven exiles and half-elves in Sydonia became more common. Fear of elven raids drove many from the countryside, settling in the cities instead. Dragonwatch quickly became overrun with refugees.
Between 1720 and 1750 AD, the house of nobles was established, bringing a semblance of democracy to the kingdom of Sydonia. The working class was under-represented and led to a worker’s rights movement. A missive on the rights of man formed the Sydonian Party of the People.
In 1760 AD, a fire engulfed the half-orc slums in Dragonwatch, and racially-motivated arson was found to be the cause. All-out gang war between the gangs of Dragonwatch followed.
In 1770 AD, steam power was invented, and the first locomotive was tested on a stretch of road between Dragonwatch and Brookstone.
The year is 1779. King Edmund IV rules in Dragonwatch, while Elder Greenseer Alariel Kythorn rules over Caer Ellylon and Ekoros is ruled by a council of merchant lords. Khazad-Nogaak is ruled by King Meradin Fireforge, Kal’Kadred by King Duma Longbeard, and Kal’ein by King Thorgrimm Darkhammer. No single chieftain leads the northern tribes. The orcs are led by Utrek Fleshpeeler and his high necromancer Gorak Blightcaller.