History of Deverenia

A short history as told by the Honorable Gus Griswold, Magistrate of Igros

Ah Deverenia, my sweet home. A land of blood and treachery where the weak perish but the strong thrive. Long ago, before anyone thought to write these things down in books, there was the Mercenary King, Valarus Vortigern. With legions of hardened killers at his back, he dominated the lands of the north as the kingdoms of old had foolishly tied their lot to the Lords of Thunder. Without their divine protection, the old kingdoms were shattered, and the land, its history and its people, were subjugated by the Mercenary King.
Declaring himself greater than all other sovereigns, Vortigern granted himself the title The High King, and from his seat of power in the city of Igros rose the Black Sun; a massive orb of darkness that the High King apparently created using a blood-soaked ritual that erased the old kings from existence. As I said, no one wrote anything down at this time so this is mostly conjecture along with the gospel of the Church of the Storm, but we’ll get to that.
Under the High King’s rule, Deverenia spread across the northern lands. Unable to trust even his closest friends and allies; the High King murdered his ambitious retainers and gifted his 12 children with equal parts of the land. They would be the Princes of the Realm, and their bloodlines would go on to found the noble houses of the land. However, the High King also instituted one rule, perhaps the only rule in Deverenia, which is that the right to rule would always be claimed by the one who killed its owner. There were no pre-determined heirs. There was no line of succession. Anyone with noble blood could claim the title for themselves with sufficient strength.
You have to understand that this was done to sow distrust and infighting amongst the princes. It was impossible for any one Prince to gain too much power due to the constant watching eyes needed at home. When the High King finally did pass, he shocked all by simply reincarnating himself, taking upon a new moniker but retaining his name of Vortigern and claiming the Highest seat for himself. So that’s the thing, after all these years, Deverenia is still controlled by its original conqueror. Rumors have it, though, that the High King hasn’t made a public appearance as of late, and no signs of a rebirth have occurred. Curious, given the current situation.
Deverenia never had any political allies, and the most shrewd of strategists realized that Deverenia, with its self-inflicted chaos, would be in a poor situation if Valadir could ever agree to invade, but secret agreements and bribes ensured that Deverenia always had enough voices in the Valadirian Senate to persuade the people to stick to itself…
200 years ago, Three of the High Princes, Lancelot, Guinevere, and Lot, formed a pact and declared that their lands were free of the High King’s fetters. Aided by the mysterious remnants of the Fey, the Lady Elphame, the forces of Deverenia were repulsed and the might of the Black Sun and the High King were unable to bring the three wayward Princes back into the fold. Thus the nation of Tamalir was formed, a source of constant embarrassment, indignation, and rage by the nobility of Deverenia.