Kingdom of Jalba

The Conquerors of Jalba

Far north of the land of Mora and the territory of the Vael sits the great mountains of Jalba. Long ago the Jalban were driven from their ancestral homeland in the far south where they lived a nomadic lifestyle. Back then, the Jalbans were separated into a vast array of small tribes and clans not unlike the Vaellic tribes. All this changed when two mysterious demons name Morkarius and Makainus came to conquer their homes which had been left untouched by the Green Sea. The people of Jalba could not fend off the demons and were driven further and further north, until one of the demons killed the other and left the Jalban to die atop the frozen peaks of what became the Jalban Mountains.
The mountains sit so far outside the fringes of civilization that their people are spoken of as mere legend, rather than fact. In truth, many peoples know nothing but the name Jalba, naught their stories nor their people. This has all changed in recent history, as the tribes of Jalba were finally united under the Haldrastr Tribe who founded the Kingdom of Jalba and began the great Migration to retake their homeland: The Asterpole Peninsula.

Adaptation and Legacy

Having lived in one of the harshest environments of Asterra, the Jalban had to grow exponentially just to survive. Up against the great tribes of Orcs and most threateningly, the Cloud Giants. At first the Jalban tried peaceful solutions with these different peoples but soon found that war was in the Orcs blood, and the Cloud Giants saw these mountains as their ancient homes. The Jalban had to adapt to their new home and grow stronger to compete against the might of the Orcs, and the Cloud Giant's magics. As the Cloud Giants saw the Jalban as a lesser threat than the Orcs, they paid them no mind for centuries. In this time, the Jalban slowly learned the ways of the Orcs, how they thought and lived, their favorite foods and habits. Like a predator would learn its prey. The Jalbans slowly began conquering the Orcs, enslaving or annexing them into their own tribes, growing in ferocity until there were no Orcs left not under their reign. With the Orcs out of the way, the Jalban soon turned their gaze to the Cloud Giants on the mountain peaks who's ire they had gained.
Having intermingled with Orcs for years, many Jalbans had taken on a small semblance of magical resistance. The Half-Orcs and Tieflings born into their tribes were especially dangerous to the Cloud Giants who's spells had little effect on them. The Cloud giants were still opponents of great strength and size, and taking one down still took ten Jalban, but over the next century the Jalban cleaned the Cloud Giants out of their mountain homes. The prude nature of the Giants making them terrible allies, the Jalban exiled them to northern lands save for the few that showed humility. Though allied with one another, the Jalban at this point had never been unified, nor did they want to unify. Because of their new way of life, the strongest had grown to lead each clan, and no clan would submit to another. Tribes began warring with one-another, having nowhere else to point their swords. Their legacy had been realized, they were no longer shepherds but warriors.

The Haldrastrian Wars

A great many tribes of Jalba had warred with their neighbors in the mountains, forgetting the knowledge of who they were in ages past. All but the Haldrastr forgot of their ancestral homeland that was taken from them by the great demons who chased them to these foreign mountains. This would all change with the leadership of Heireld Haldrastr, or the future King of all Jalban. Growing up, young Heireld was told the immortal tale of his people. Taught the old ways and the new, and educated on all matters of foreign politics. The one thing that remained in the young Heireld's mind was that their homeland had no pinpoint origin. Even through discreet trading and learning to read foreign maps, it was unclear what land was once theirs. That was until Heireld heard the legend of Mora's founders. Through years of research, surviving through numerous raids and tribulations on his tribe's homefront, Heireld was certain that the homeland of the Morans was ancient Jalba. Now, the young Heireld had a goal. He would make it his life's objective to retake the Jalban Ancestral Homeland from the Morans.
Heireld Haldrastr made his first move when marrying the Chieftess of a neighboring tribe, unifying tribe Haldrastr with tribe Skornir. His new wife was born a Tiefling, with snow white hair and red antler-like horns that scared off many suitors. Along with the worship of Anilvim, the Skornir tribe was not liked across the Jalban Mountains, though that mattered little to Haldrastr. Now that the two tribes were unified, he began sending emissaries to the other tribes of Jalba, seeking unity in his people and teaching them of their ancient homeland. Of course, the tribes cared little for his words and saw them as petty excuses. Many other Jalban tribes began to see the Haldrastr tribe as weak and inferior, raids were being organized but Haldrastr was not afraid. He rallied his men faster than any Jalban had seen and personally lead them into war with all the other tribes.
Early in the wars his wife gave birth to a young boy whom Haldrastr named Arik. Arik was born a normal human boy, save for the strange yellow cat-eyes he bore. At birth, he did not cry. The child showed very little emotion, caring naught for birthdays or holidays. The only thing that seemed to sway the boy into some matter of emotion were his father's stories of Jalba's Ancestral lands. To which the boy was moved to rage and frustration. In the Wars, Haldrastr had conquered nearly half of all Jalban tribes. There were few who still questioned his reign, and a most peculiar subject had come to him promising great powers if he were to accept the man into his court. The man claimed to be naught but a lowly pawn, but was capable of raising men from the dead to aid in his wars with the other half of the tribes who had allied together in an effort to stop Haldrastr. At the age of 37, Haldrastr saw little reason to interject. His men were more than willing, and so the Necromancer known only as The Pawn began terrorizing the other tribes with armies of the dead.
By this time, the young boy Arik had grown into a fine young man, though much more frail than his father who grew to be a man of towering stature. Arik focused more on perfecting his arcane talents and learning of the Patrons. Primarily of Anilvim, his mother's Patron of choice. Long into the night would Arik study the stories of Anilvim, all with the help of the Pawn. Soon Arik would have a new duty to uphold, however, when his mother bore another child: This time a girl. His mother decided her name would be Katla, and unlike Arik, Katla was the spitting image of her mother without the antlers. She had snow white hair, and pale light skin. For the next couple years, Arik would help take care of Katla and his mother, while his father was out at war.
The wars finally came to a close after thirty years of fighting, as Heireld Haldrastr finally united all of Jalba under one banner. The son of the last tribe Haldrastr had conquered was shockingly nowhere to be found, however. Haldrastr began searching for the child, offering him peace and forgiveness for the war. Haldrastr sought to unify Jalba, but now that the unification was over he no longer sought the destruction of the other clans. This would be his mistake, as the boy was found. Reynuld would be adopted by the Haldrastr tribe, though he was aged 19. Despite what had happened to Reynuld's family in the wars, he seemed to be perfectly happy with Haldrastr's reign. He was given a room in Haldrastr's home, as Haldrastr began his preparations to travel south with a new relic gifted to him from the pawn. It was said that this relic held the key to Jalba's future; The Black Finger.
Before Haldrastr's new plans could be set into motion, Reynuld betrayed the family. First killing Arik who was deep in study with a crooked axe, then killing his mother and nearly his sister before Haldrastr stopped Reynuld by slaying him himself. Distraught, Haldrastr did not know what to do. That was until the pawn came to him with a strange suggestion. Only one could be saved, his wife or his son, the Pawn told him. Fit the Black Finger upon one of their hands and they shall be reborn anew with power unheard of before. Reluctantly, Haldrastr did just as the Pawn suggested, and fit the Black Finger to Arik's corpse. At first, nothing happened. But slowly the finger began twisting and contorting to fit his son's hand, turning his entire arm black and transforming his appearance. No longer did Arik take on the appearance of a more frail Heireld, but that of his mother. He grew long, red, wicked antlers and red scales across his body. The whites in his eyes turned black and he reawakened a new man. While it was the body of Arik, it was obvious to Haldrastr that this was no longer simply his son any more. Arik rose from bed, and began preaching of the savior Anilvim, who had blessed him with extra life. In time, many a Jalban came to refer to him as The Prophet. Arik united Jalba even better than Haldrastr could have, even now at the ripe old age of 64. But now his plans could finally be set into motion, as he made a pact to help defend the Vaellic tribes to the south against Moran invasion years ago. Mora had begun its war with the Vael, and now Haldrastr could finally migrate his people from the treacherous mountains to the verdant hills of their old homeland.

Type

Geopolitical, Nomadic tribe

Demonym

Jalban