Mérulad
The Er'silver Isle
Mythic History
During the Age of Mithril, Mérulad was ruled by a number of smallfolk chiefdoms. All were relatively small and localized polities, though they traded widely with one another as well as with the Érulad and Férulad. The majority of the chiefdoms were halfling in origin with dwarves and gnomes residing in the higher altitudes. Additionally, a number of hill giants and goliaths lived in this land and built several sacred sites such as the Carrigons—stone circles of ritual significance. Their purpose has been largely lost through time. According to Maddrell accounts, a great war broke out between the giants and the dwarves over control of the sacred Highmounts of southern Mérulad. The mythic hero Dagobert led the Maddrellans and defeated the giantkin and their leader, Mesiphalus. It is said that Dagobert fought Mesiphalus from the uphill from shores of the Emerald Straits all the way to the edge of the Highmounts. Before the death of Mesiphalus, the Braidbrooke and the Barkbrooke were two separate rivers, but the fighting was so fierce between Dagobert and Mesiphalus, that it carves a valley that then became the River Tam and the two tributaries changed course and flowed south in a single stream within the valley. It is for this reason that the confluence of the Barkbrooke and the Braidbrooke is called the Giant’s Fork. Mesiphalus could not truly be killed however for he was the son of Duris, the giant god of the sky. Thus, it is said that Dagobert blessed his axe with the essence of his father, the craftsman god Zwakhasis and turned the giant to stone. To this day, a massive roughly humanoid rock stands half-submerged at the confluence of the two brooks, and is believed by the locals to be Mesiphalus frozen in time. With the giants conquered and driven from all but the most inhospitable parts of Mérulad, the Méru chiefdoms existed with relative peace for many centuries, occasionally warring with one another but usually preferring to develop their island and their own cultures.Arrival of the Palladians
However, in 873 ACD, the Palladian general Gnaeus Dexion landed a party of 500 Radiant Dawn soldiers at the mouth of the River Tam and established fort of Cavalinium. For the next six years, Dexion made attempts to bring the local chieftains to heel, either through diplomacy or the sword. Many of the chieftains resisted colonization and formed a coalition known as the Ghosts of Méru. They nearly defeated Dexion’s army at the Battle of Gwynilyn but one of the members of the Ghosts, King Jaffré of Dungannon betrayed the others in exchange of a chest of silver. Jaffré was made a client king of the Palladian Empire and allowed to rule his new kingdom of Devonia. For the next one hundred years, the Palladians sent settlers of elfish and aasimari descent to Mérulad as colonists. Many of the island’s dwarves and gnomes were enslaved and the halflings hired for other work. As the power of the Palladians spread, word of the conquest reached the people of what is now known as Maddrell, prompting grave concern. The Maddrellans had witnessed the resistance of those in the northern valleys and hill country collapse because of betrayal of King Jaffré. Fearing that their own society would fall to the advancing elves, the dwarves consulted their with their monks and druids. They advised they ask Biana what to do. The Maddrellans believe that Biana, or the Hag of Bringhall Loch, is a powerful immortal spirit who controls the tides and winter. The five mormaers of Maddrell gathered at Bringhall Loch and Biana made them take an oath. From then until the Fangs of Wolf, the mormaers and their descendants would vow never to sell one another out for a foreign power. Should any mormaer fail in this duty, they and their kinsmen would die. With this pact sealed, the mormaers of Maddrell formed the Confederacy of Maddrell, and prepared to stand firm against the Palladian Empire. For the next two hundred years, the Maddrellans operated as though they were under a constant threat of siege. Their borders did come under attack in 898 AC, when the Palladian general Relias Vasscosis led a legion from the Radiant Dawn and attacked the towns of Yore and Wrachtalla. Vasscosis’ forces captured Yore can converted it into a small fortress, while Wrachtalla was destroyed in a duel between a Green Cleric of Calorba and a druid of Acien Tali. This is said to be the origin of the Witchwood’s sinister nature as over six hundred lives were lost fighting for the mouth of the River Ramsey. Yet the mormaers and their Ram Rider warriors managed to pester and kill enough of the Palladian soldiers and colonists. In 931 AC, Vasscosis’ successor, the governor of Cavalinium, Oppidum Tullas, struck a peace deal with the mormaers and agreed not to settle south of the Highmounts and the River Ramsey. In spite of this agreement, the mormaers persisted in their preparation for war, building vast strongholds deep within the hill country. Meanwhile in Devonia, Oppidum Tullas decided to try and redeem his failures in the Highmounts by annexing Devonia from the halflings kings. He killed Jaffré’s grandson, Gildas, and enslaved much of the halfling king’s family. Gildas’ wife, Soccorda escaped to freedom along with her daughters, Berthog and Eiriana. She rallied her people together and led the largest, pre-Sundering uprising in all of Palladian history. Soccorda did not lose a single engagement, and after the Battle of Proudshire, killed Governor Tullas. The Palladians sent another detachment of the Radiant Dawn and negotiated a truce with the Devonians. A border was established along the River Tam and Devonia was allowed to remain independent. With the Sundering Arcana, the Palladian’s attention to Tamory laxed allowing for the Devonians to press their advantage and wage small wars against the weakened Palladians. However, just a few years after the Sundering, a great number of small wooden boats lashed with seal skin suddenly appeared on the western shores of Mérulad. These were the Varskogans, who retained their original name when they colonized Varangia. In Tamory, these people were called the Seax, literally in their language “the Swords.” Initially, they arrived and asked only for land. However, their demands were not met by the Palladians or the Devonians. Over the next thirty years, more Seax arrived from across the Kanavoa or Silver Ocean and overran Mérulad. The Palladians in Cavalinium were quickly destroyed after enduring the attacks of both the Maddrellans and Devonians and the Devonians were not prepared to fight 200,000 desperate, hungry humans. The entire isle was consumed by flame and famine.The King that was Promised
For many years, Mérulad was consumed by war between a number of petty kingdoms many no larger than a few hectares in size. Humans, halflings, dwarves, gnomes and elves all competed for resources and profoundly changed the physical and political landscape. For the most part, it was the human Seax and the halfling Devonians that faired the best compared to the Palladian elves who were almost wholly eliminated. Cavalinium was renamed Cavalon by its new human inhabitants. Over the next two hundred and fifty years, the Seax slowly integrated into the Tamorese landscape, and due to their prolific breeding, soon came to dominate all of the isle south of the mountain passes. However in 279 PS, an exiled Seax-Tamorese mercenary and self-styled prince, Redaric Longseax, returned to Tamory with a small army and managed to capture the town of Whararbor. From there, he sailed south to the Isle of Lore where he is said to have communed with an archdryad name Ilsalipsa and journeyed to the Feywild. There, legend says he met with the goddess Elenea and was given an ancient magic sword. The goddess of love then had a vision. She uttered the following prophecy:THE LINE OF REDARIC SHALL NE’ER BE EXTINGUISHED SO LONG AS A LONGSEAX BEARS THE SONG DISTINGUISHED
Geography
Devonia; a semi-autonomous region of halflings. The towns of Wharvarbor and Dungannon are located here.
The River Tam—a forked river running from the Highmounts of Maddrell to the eastern shores of the Emerald Straits
- The capital of Cavalon sits at its mouth
- Two tributaries run into the River Tam: the Barkbrooke and the Braidbrooke.
- The fortress of Moat Ryley is near its source.
- The river runs through and along the Witchwood Forest
- The river meets the Braidbrooke to form the River Tam at the Giant’s Fork
- The river runs east of the Braided Carrigons.
- The river meets the Braidbrooke to form the River Tam at the Giant’s Fork
- At its mouth sits the town of Cyrnwick.
- Garborrow Tower watches the Garborrow Bend.
Maps
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Mérulad (map)
A map of the island of Mérulad, an island off the coast of Auloa.
Alternative Name(s)
The Er'silver Island
Type
Island
Location under
Included Organizations
Contested By
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