Concitrorea History

Phadria, before the story begins (2500-2000)
Phadria long ago was a unified land. In the beginning as with many of the virgin grounds of Caelos the gods made it their mission to create their new home; to truly make it theirs. What made Phadria special were its 4 Rivers, which met in the heart of the continent. These Rivers were named after the 4 founding houses of Phadrus:
• Occidensa (West to East) • Oriensa (East to West) • Austerensa (South to North) • Boreansa (North to South)
Some 2500 years ago the gods, Melora, Kord, Lolth and Corellon made their home in these lands. Corellon took to the west, Lolth to the North, Melora to the East, and Kord to the South. For 500 years there was peace, there was hope, life and love in the land of four rivers. It was to this place that Corellon brought his affectionate followers, the Eternal Elves, his Eladrin from his home of The Feywilds. He wanted them to embrace the beauty and difficulty of what it meant to make something of their own, and after having spent millennia in The Feywilds, he thought it time for them to make this wish a reality. Lolth being Corellon’s closest friend and lover, asked if she could take some of his children and have them do the same in the north, and of course he obliged her, trusting her intentions to be pure. This was the last decision Corellon made in the mortal realms that would reflect such love or desire to cooperate, as it nearly became his undoing.
While Kord and Merlora had brought their own followers, Half-Elves, Dwarves, Humans and the like, Corellon urged his children to move closer with them and to collaborate in the hopes that united they could fashion a world unlike that which has ever been. This, though initially tense, Kord and Melora urged their followers to accept the Eladrin despite their eccentricities. Unbeknownst to them all, Lolth had begun her machinations in the deep north of Phadria (Auron on the map) beyond the Traitor’s Expanse (The small bit of land separating Auron and Phadria). It was her plan all along to come with Corellon to this new land and to corrupt and break everything he sought out to create, for she was jealous. She was jealous of all the love and attention he poured on these “contemptable little things” and she referred to his Eladrin. And so it was her will and mission to take the segment of the population she did and to twist, torture, and mold them into her worshippers that they might one day break this new world and she could at last be all that was left for her lover to witness. Out of these generations of perversion and torture arose the first Drow of Caelos, truly a dark day for all.
Eventually, Corellon came to find out what his lover had been up to in the northern wilds of Phadria, but it was too late to stop what she had done. It was during a festival that was celebrated on the day of each solar cycle when the elves came from The Feywilds, that Lolth thought it most appropriate to make her treachery known. As Corellon began to speak and the crowds of his children crowded around the amphitheater to listen to their creator, from the ground rose great spiders, larger than even a horse and atop those spiders were a twisted visage of the Eladrin, their skin black as pitch and their eyes dark as the torture their souls endured under The Treacherous One. Blood was shed, curses hurled along with magic that devastated the land and its denizens. If not for Melora and Kord The Lady of Treason would have struck Corellon down and she’d have won. Through their combined efforts, the Drow were pushed north and Lolth was dragged back to the Astral Sea where she underwent judgement and sentencing to the Abyss where she resides still now.
This battle shattered parts of the world and caused such great misery and death that the 3 gods decided it best for them to leave this world freer of their influence, and they also returned to their domains. Many of the surviving Eladrin returned to their native home of the Feywilds but 4 families, those named after the 4 rivers, chose to remain. Though breeding between other races has essentially diminished their blood greatly, to this day the descendants of one of these 4 great families sit upon the throne of Phadria, and the Drow still oppose them, having made a “Dark Union” in the north at that very time, when they aren’t fighting amongst themselves.

Phadria, the Empire of 4 rivers (2000-1321)
For the next 900 years, the battles between these factions waged on, The Twilight Union building black fortresses across the sea and sending incursions both above ground and underground at their foes, The Sangquinas Corellas, the 4 royal families of Phadrus. As every one of these attempts was buffeted, a member of the Blood Court (The Twilight Union’s governing body) Sylvis Xiltria created a group that focused less on fighting and more on infiltration. Though initially rebuffed as a coward and weakling, an aspect of Lolth was in attendance and made herself known. The aspect claimed Sylvis as her new mortal form and in this new body, she reaffirmed Sylvis’ initial ideas as she reminded them of how she had nearly overthrown her previous lover in the ancient days. Thus began the downfall of the Empire of 4 rivers.
Through years of infighting caused by the deception and trickery of the Moré Kambâ (Black Hand in Undercommon), the 4 families found themselves having a tremendous amount of division about how to rule this empire of theirs:
• The Occidensa moved to the west annexing their lands, and eventually becoming what is today The Zosin Alliance (1397). • The Oriensa (1362) moved east annexing their lands and becoming the Kingdom of Acoria themselves. • The Austernesa (1348) took their people moving southwest and founding the Kingdom of Aestrux. • The peoples of Kord that still live mostly in these lands moved to the southern peninsula of Phadria and founded several city-states, governing by rule of The Council of Three, or the three leaders of the three city-states (1321).
The Rule of Three, A Rogue’s Tale (1321)
With the decline of the late Phadrian Empire there came a meeting of three individuals, who represented those of the followers of Kord that resided within the confines of the Empire. A dwarven lord named Kemdall Warfury famous for his valor in combat and his honor among his foes, gathered a great number of his dwarven brethren, leveraging his reputation and position to justify his being their leader. At that time there was a well-respected Verdant Elf by the name of Vesryn Olorel. He led the others among the Kord-born who didn’t see a future in the Empire any longer. These people were mostly the crafters and philosophers among them, and there was often great dissention between the two groups. For this reason, it took much longer than one would have imagined for them to make their way south as the other prime families began their own kingdoms around the continent. For nearly 80 years, their disagreements and arguments kept the people of Kord stationed unhappily within the borders of Phadria while the Empire slowly began to dissolve. It wasn’t until a third person, one more equipped to deal with a variety of differing personalities. A Half-Elf and adventurer/treasure hunter by trade, Avicia “The Hawk Eye” Oriven had made many friends (and enemies) in her travels about Phadria. Both Vesryn and Kemdall happened to owe her a great favor each, having saved Kemdall’s life in a skirmish with an orcish horde years back, and purchasing back Vesryn’s family properties when he made an ill-advised bet. She had one request and they would be even; let her take her people south with them, and between the three of them they would govern this new kingdom. She made her case to them in open court, among the other lords of Phadria:

Vesryn, you know me to be both true and reliable. I remember a time where you’d thought you’d outwitted your opponent and made what was to be a ‘sure bet’ by all accounts. I told you ‘Repetition serves as the handprint of our intent, my friend’, and you’d a habit of making ‘sure bets’ that didn’t work out. Kemdall, you know me to be stalwart and my aim to be unmatched. When your soldiers had ‘uncovered’ the encampment of Orc Lord Dular in the eastern plains. These same commanders had given you into the enemies hands once before and you barely made it out, and I told you of these men ‘Once is a mistake, but twice? Twice is music and this is the music of betrayal, my friend.’ What happened then Kemdall? Did Sergius save you or was it I and my men who pulled you out of that hold and delivered Dular’s head to you? I’ve never been one to speak of what I WOULD do if given the chance, only of what I’ve done when the chance was taken. The southern peninsula is ours by right of our forefathers. Will you both march with me?

After this display in court, both Kemdall and Vesryn were reportedly astounded and stricken silent. The very next day, the Baneslayer Legions, Cellarian College, and the Venandi all left the capital heading southward toward what would become Concitrorea, the Council of Three.
Iurisdem (1321-1000)
There was no doubt for Avicia that this new republic of theirs would be a prize hard fought for. Kemdall was brash, outspoken and rarely cared to hear an opinion that wasn’t his own, and Vesryn was often buried in a book or lost in some lofty ideal that couldn’t make it off the page into reality. The one thread they shared was a powerful one; their word was the law they kept. Both were men of honor and dignity and sought to take obtuse pieces and make them part of a greater construction, though the final product was often not the same shape as the other would have made. A woman doesn’t earn a name like The Hawk Eye for lacking a discerning soul however, and she was confident this union could be one that would last.
She proposed they each build their own city, and monthly they would meet to discuss matters of concern to the state, or more often if necessity required it. They’d be mostly allowed to govern as they saw fit, but the Iurisdem (Common Law in Elven) would bind they and their people so that trade and travel could behave accordingly. This law would be the common practices for each city and governing body to keep in the hopes that there would be no great dissention amongst them as time would pass and leaders would eventually step down or die. This was Avicia’s greatest hope in establishing a lasting society, with hopes of changing the world and becoming a player on so great a stage as Caelos.
The Baneslayer Legions were Kemdall’s personal army. Each of these soldiers were fierce, honorable, and truly artisans of the craft known as war. Even to this day, there is no greater military force for its size than the Baneslayer Legions as they practice the ancient art of Morēsur Tä’ss (More-a-sir Ta-sss), a closely guarded and protected secret style of battle kept amongst them. Kemdall himself lived another 275 years (1046) building up a city for followers of Kord and those who would seek out battle as the greatest ambition for their lives. Dhur Badir was the name of this great citadel and surrounding villages, named after Kemdall’s own father Dhur Warfury, the aging warlord had finally created something of permanence that would outlast him. Ironically enough, he lived out his elder years in a time of prosperous peace. Much to his own dismay, he died without a blade in hand and all surrounded by family and friends.
Vesryn and the people who chose to follow him were of a completely different philosophy on what is the most satisfying ambition to make one’s life about. He opened up the Cellarian College of Statecraft and Warfare, a prestigious school even now. Though many send their sons and daughters to learn to govern and understand the practices of what it means to lead and rule properly, there have been long standing rumors and whispers that this is a place where the continents greatest spies in the last thousand years have been trained for generations. Regardless of these rumors, the city of Valentia is home to many amenities and an impressive amphitheater, the Treviran Opera House, where many of the epics in the past millennium have been written and performed for the first time. Though this place holds no special resources or true tactical value, it has retained the reputation as being one of the most beautiful and unique places in all of Phadria. One has not truly lived until they’ve striven through the Argentus Gates, down the Emerald Path into the heart of Valentia.
The Hawk Eye made a name for herself as one of the greatest archers in the realm. She strode to break Korlesh’s blockade in 1513 when all other agents failed; she made the swim across the Traitor’s Expanse while their ships kept reinforcements coming across the bay, and slew the general in his command tent, causing their retreat and allowing Kemdall’s forces to break across their eastern flank. This was yet one of her many accomplishments and ways in which she was instrumental in keeping Phadria at their height of power for the century that she fought alongside and aided in their operations. Despite all her prowess, and the thousands that owed their lives to her, that wasn’t where she made her money or her trade truly. She wanted to build a place where she could finally home, and where she could be the one deciding who lives and who dies, instead of just being part of the calculation. The beginning of this plan was Kemdall and Vesryn as they had great followings, and shared some sense of her desire to break away from these politics and start over somewhere she could truly call her own. Essan would be the result of this conception, as Avicia had commonly come to referring to her decades of planning and work to unite her, Kemdall and Vesryn; this new place and its laws were truly her baby.
Located between Valentia and Dhur Badir, Essan was a more urban center, full of trade and truly a mixture of cultures and ideas from across the known world of Caelos. A place like this became the obvious choice for entrepreneurial folk looking to make their own fortunes. Colloquially called The City of Fortunes, a variety of guilds came about over the centuries in the time of its existence. Some notable examples are: • Avicia’s own Venandi little is known of them, other than their deadly nature and connection to the Warden of Essan whomever that may be. • The Eburnean Reliquary a group known for searching out ancient and powerful artifacts across the world, and paying a pretty penny for them. • The Crimson Shepherds a group of mercenaries who became very successful during the ensuing and long war with the Vogall Dominion. • Lastly the Silver Conclave a group of several merchant families that have come together to regulate and control the economy of the region.
A knot of three and a trial by fire (1000-500)
As if by some celestial command, on the dawn of the next age, war broke out unexpectedly across the eastern border of Phadria. With Kemdall’s death almost 50 years prior, the current Praeliate of Dhur Badir, Dhulgen Orcbane had ingratiated himself to his people and urged his fellows to join this war effort. His people were behind him as true warfare had been absent for centuries and their history, training, and culture demanded it. Valentia and Essan were both wary of entering this conflict and neither of their histories (aside from Avicia’s) really spoke to any sort of excellence or usefulness in an actual open war, especially against an enemy of unknown origin and ability. The Iurisdem demanded a vote however, and whichever way it went so would the people of Concitrorea. On the day of the vote, anticipating that it would turn against entering the war, Ai’duin an old friend and leader of Acoria to the northeast reached out to Avicia. He pled with her and convinced her that this conflict would be the end of all Phadria if there would not be a unified effort, and his people would be first. Expecting the vote to turn against him, Dhulgen was overjoyed when Avicia voted in favor of entering the war. Though surprised and disagreeing with this decision, Vesryn obeyed the Iurisdem and committed his monks and magi to the war effort. This was an opportunity that the Crimson Shepherds took to truly make a name for themselves as warriors across the continent. The combined military effort of the Concitroreans helped win the day over the Vogall Dominion though they took very few losses relative to the rest of their Phadrian cousins as they were very far away from where the majority of troops landed.
Nearing the end of the war, as the tide was turning a great evil broke its way into Acoria’s borders. A creature known only as Doombringer ( ..\Creatures\Doombringer.jpg ) had cut a swath of death across the small kingdom and made its way southward. Again, Ai’duin reached out to his friend and age-old ally Avicia to finish this fight once and for all. Uneased by the presence of the Masked Legion from Korsivol of Aestrux, Avicia led her own Venandi into the fray, hoping to break this creature with a hard and fast assault. Unfortunately, this was some devious trap set by the creature and the ground around the mine imploded killing most everyone in the vicinity as creatures rose from the ground, and dragged all they could down into the depths. She died how she lived, keeping one last promise to a friend of hers and doing what she could to keep the peace around Phadria. After this battle had concluded, one of the few surviving members of her Venandi Elidyr “The Black Wind” Valrona brought back what remained of their order and gained the following necessary to win the vote to become the new Warden of Essan. He still rules to this day, though he is an aged elf.
Looking Forward (500-present)
Little has changed in the time since the war with the Dominion. Elidyr has proven to be a worthy leader, though he made a few bad trade deals, namely with Korsivol who convinced him after the end of the war it would be best for a means of quick and immediate travel for his people in their city as well as creating an outpost “in case of the worst outcome”. This led to the construction of Duskwatch Tower where Chimera Elwin was posted to watch over the construction and maintenance of the Chimeris Enclave’s new tower there. Vesryn died under mysterious circumstances in 278, most speculate that he continued with his gambling and finally bit off more than he could chew, and without his friend Avicia and her Venandi to watch his back he fell to his greatest vice. He was succeeded by a half-elven woman, Iubaren (Guiding Light) Aderona Aranala who was voted into power because of her better understanding and self-control relative to her predecessor. The current Praeliate of Dhur Badir is Torev Nightbane, a renowned warrior and tactician.
Additional Character Options from this Region
• Baneslayer Legionnaire (Fighting Style): You fought for a time with the Baneslayer Legions of Dhur Badir. Many a strange beast have you conquered and narrowly escaped death from, and you keep a journal of each of these beasts. When fighting a Beast, Monstrosity, or Aberration which you’ve studied, once per turn when you hit them with a weapon attack, you deal additional damage equal to your level in this class. Studying a creature requires adequate research and time spent learning about them (determined by the DM).
• Venandian Slayer (Fighting Style): You’ve become an acolyte of the Venandi of Essan seeking to further their goals and you owe a debt to the Warden of the city there. As a member of this elite group, you’ve developed a particular style of battle and know how to take advantage of the moment. Your first attack each round critically hits on an 18-20, if you are not surprised.
The Inquisitor (Rogue Sub-Class)
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