Varnhold Deprecated
Established in 4710 by Maegar Varn and the Varling Host at the behest of Jamandi Aldori, it occupies the region known as Dunsward. It is to the east of The Land of the Silver Star, separated by a mountain range. Most of its food is provided by fishing. The country is significantly less developed than the Silver Star, largely because of its early fights with the Nomen Centaur.
Maegar Varn declared to The Land of the Silver Star that he intends to fully support Rostland during the upcoming civil war, and had a celebration with the council members.
The Nomen Centaur
As part of securing the land for Varnhold, Maegar Varn was tasked with pacifying the Nomen Centaur in the adjacent territory. Some of the settlers assumed the Centaur to be stupid beasts who could be used as mounts. It took more than 2 years to reach a peaceful resolution, and as part of it, Varnhold agreed to not have walls on their cities, which the Nomen Centaur believe to signify that things are being hidden. While Maegar Varn himself is not racist towards the Centaur, and he doesn't approve of his people's actions, he's only able to do so much. Fortunately, tensions seem to have lessened after the Nomen Centaur provided aid to refugees from Varnhold following their escape from Vordakai. The tanner of Varnhold had been skinning centaurs for their hides, but fortunately he did not survive Vordakai's capture.The Disappearing of Varnhold
In Neth(?) 4712, Willas Gundarson discovered a jade bracelet on the banks of a local river and brought it back home. Maegar Varn reported the discovery to Maestro Pendrod, who came to Varnhold to study it while staying at the local inn. Pendrod determiend that the "bracelet" was made for Vordakai, the ruler of ancient Iobarian Cyclops thousands of years ago. Willas went on a mission to find where the ring came from, winding up in The Valley of the Dead, where he met an unfortunate end in Vordakai's Tomb at the hands of a zombie. Some time later, Vordakai likely used the Oculus of Abaddon to teleport the entire population of Varnhold into his tomb. 43 random people, ages 5 to 40, were magically Imprisoned in jars. 30 others were captured and lobotomized so their brains could be consumed for knowledge. In Kuthona 4712, Jamandi Aldori requested that Kiede / Samuel look into the abrupt vanishing of the people of Varnhold and discretely determine what happened, lest the Silver Star meet a similar fate. After a scout failed to return, most of the Silver Star leadership went to investigate. All the buildings were abandoned with animals tied up and left to starve, meals rotted on tables, and laundry half hung up to dry. The only signs of life were a pack of Deodans feasting dead boars and Chuul eating Spriggan corpses in a river. There were no traces of magic, save the occasional magical artifact, as if any magical effects from residents had dissipated. The Varnhold food supply appears to have gone bad, heavily infested with Sportlebore.The Spriggan
At some point after the population disappeared, a group of Spriggan entered Varnhold and looted the south side of the town. Some died while looting, and the rest of the Spriggan holed up in the Varnhold town hall with a pack of Giant Wolverine. When approached, the Spriggan attacked, feeling they were defending their new territory. Repeated attempts at diplomacy failed, and several were knocked out in the ensuing fight, though one was killed. Alain Orlovsky also lost control of himself, attacked Kiin and had to be restrained. After many deaths, the Spriggan leader ceased hostilities. The Silver Star said the Spriggan could stay until the original owners returned. A composite longbow was found after the Spriggan were dealt with. Named Skybolt, the longbow originally belonged to the Iobarian Centaur, and was stolen from the Nomen Centaur by the Spriggan. It was returned to the Nomen Centaur, who shared more information about The Valley of the Dead, where they believe some people of Varnhold may have gone.Vordakai's Tomb
The remainder of Varnhold's population was discovered in Vordakai's tomb. While most were safe in jars and could be saved, many were lobotomized. While the bodies were in good enough condition for a Resurrection spell, Pharasma only allowed Maegar Varn's soul to return to his body. His swords and his advisor's book of spells were missing from the bodies as if they had already been looted.The Rescue
The 43 survivors of Varnhold, as well as Maegar Varn himself, were safely extracted from Vordakai's tomb. Whilhe seeing the remains of their lobotimized friends and families was traumatic, the resurrection of Maegar Varn helped raise their spirits. After informing Aecora Silverfire of the situation and getting permissiont to stop by the camp with refugees, the Constellation and the survivors followed a river north through an unexplored valley. The villagers who were not up for the 3-day trip were mass-teleported there using the Cartograph of Carriage, accompanied by Xamanthe Silverfire and Keraak. Because of the incident with Vordakai, Maegar Varn doesn't feel fit to rule an entire country. He is entertaining the idea of remaining mayor of the town, but becoming a vassal of The Silver Star.
Type
Geopolitical, Country