Raiders and plunderers from distant lands alight on the Seaward coast and begin a brutal invasion. By the time it is complete, Banteave is forever changed.
Raiders from Norvalled arrive on the shores of what would one day become Banteave. The Untamed Clans fight valiantly, but are pushed back. Among the raiders arriving on the shores of the Seaward Coast is Alaric Bantevar , he who would one day be crowned the first King of Banteave.
The Norvalled finish construction of their first Shrine to the Six Saints on Banteavan shores. In time, the site of this first shrine will become the Abbey of Painted Glass.
The Untamed Clans stand their ground as one at the bow of the Cynford River. The druids call down curses upon the Norvalled invaders as they approach, but even then it is not enough. The battle ends in a massacre that shatters clan allegiances. The Untamed Clans will not be united again.
At Crag Ayl, Alaric places his foot upon the sacred crowning stone and declares himself King of Banteave and all the peoples within it. Many of the conquered Clans show deference or support. Those beyond their reach in the highlands do not attend the crowning, insisting on fighting to the bitter end. Shortly after his crowning, Alaric leaves to oversee the final battles to bring the highlands to heel.
Having seized much of the Banteavan Heartlands and the Seaward Coast, the Norvalled invasion grinds to a bloody standstill in the northern highlands. A treaty is signed allowing the surviving Untamed Clans to take the highlands as their own. One Clan among them is to be elevated to Banteavan nobility and act as wardens to their northern kin, ensuring they will never attempt to retake the Heartlands. Clan Antyre accepts this bargain and becomes one of the first noble houses of Banteave.
Seeking funds to replenish their coffers after several bad years of harvests leave the Banteavan throne depleted, the ruling House Sandoreale looks to the rich lands of their neighbour Ostamber
King Robern of House Sandoreale, facing financial ruin after a series of droughts, has his stewards concoct a falsified series of documents that provide a claim on the neighbouring farmlands in Ostamber to the west. Negotations with Ostamber naturally fall apart under Roberns incessant demands, and he commands his armies to seize his de jure territory.
The war against Ostamber is already off to a rocky start as their armies fight tooth and nail amidst the passes in the Backbone, denying the King the easy victory he dearly desired.
Forced to hold a mountain pass during the first harsh winter of the Ostamber campaign, knights of House Oake successfully ward off Ostamber reprisals attempting to seize the vital chokepoint. For their valour, House Oake is promised additional lands and titles by Sandoreale.
With Ostamber delivering one punishing victory after another, House Sandoreale is forced to sign a treaty to end the war. Their forces march back from Ostamber bloodied and demoralized, and Banteave now faces further financial ruination as the true costs of the King Robern's foolish war begin to make themselves known. House Sandoreale is rapidly running out of options, and resentment among the other noble houses threatens to bubble over into outright civil war. Growing more paranoid by the day and blaming his generals for betraying him, King Robern retreats deeper into isolation. It is clear that Banteave cannot suffer the likes of King Robern much longer. The only question now is who will strike first?
House Dillestone rises through the noble houses and, with the backing of House Oake, makes a successful play for the Throne of Banteave, wresting it away from Sandoreale
The flames of civil war are fanned into a conflagration when House Dillestone refuses a harsh increase in taxes that Sandoreale attempts to extract over their "failures" in Ostamber. The armies of Sandoreale are dispatched to put Dillestone in its place and bring back the head of their house, but the rebellious Dillestone house receives unexpected backing from House Oake, turning the tide of battle at the eleventh hour.
Defiant to the end, King Robern makes promises of wealth and power to foreign mercenaries from Dunefalle to bolster his ranks. They do not, however, arrive in time to save him from his own family, who decide amongst themselves that he cannot be allowed to continue his futile reign. They demand that he abdicate the throne immediately so his heir can carry on the Banteavan crown in his stead, signing a peace that would keep Sandoreale in control of the kingdom. It is not known whether King Robern became so distraught that he threw himself from the battlements of Holthen Keep... or if his own family pushed him to his death. House Sandoreale insists on the former telling of events.
After a short but brutal campaign, House Dillestone wrestles the Banteavan crown away from House Sandoreale, ending their reign. The terms of the treaty cost Sandoreale dearly, and they will spend generations recovering from the harsh levies and reparations.
House Dillestone inherited a country on the brink of ruin, but help came from an unlikely place; the Dunefallen mercenaries, lead by minor nobles from the distant kingdom, who arrived on the shores of Banteave without a war to fight. When they came to Redehall Castle to collect what was owed, they struck a bargain with House Dillestone; in exchange for land and titles, they would forego their owed compensation and arrange profitable trade routes between their two nations to help Banteave rebuild after Robern's catastrophic reign. House Dillestone agreed, and House Luneste was given several holdings that had previously belonged to Sandoreale, including Enstane, Siarque and The Gannets.
Incited by firebrand peasants chafing under the weight of church tithes and funded by Ostamber agitators, pockets of rebellion broke out in the Heartland of Banteave calling for the lessening of taxes and more rights for commonfolk. House Dillestone and House Oake bore the brunt of the casualties as they quashed the rebellion.
Tithe collectors for the Six Saints are beaten, robbed and killed by bands of peasantfolk who refuse to pay the Church their prescribed due. Agitators fueled by Ostamber-inspired rhetoric take to the streets of Risevar and Tatcher's Pass, declaring the Church corrupt and indolent. In response, Dillestone dispatches its army to break up the mob, leading to an all-out melee. The rebels put up a surprising amount of fight and barricade themselves within an entire district of Risevar Town. The match is lit. The flame spreads.
Lowenna Benett Oake , the Lioness of Ninetaver, was about to seize a crucial victory to snuff out the peasant rebellion when her coterie was cut off from the main Oake battle line and beset on all sides by attackers. While she fought valiantly, her sister Tavina Oake struggled to break through the enemy ranks to reach her, but could not do so in time. Though the battle was won and the rebellion stamped out, Lowena died from her injuries, fighting at the behest of House Dillestone .
Our Chronicle Begins on the last day of Eadvard III, King of Banteave.
