**Rethwellan** Rethwellan is directly South from Valdemar. To it's West lies the mysterious Pelagir Hills, to it's East, Karse.
Rethwellan's ruling family are the Jadrevalyns. Prince Karathanelan, Karath for short, was power-hungry. He was not born first so he could not gain the throne unless Prince Faram should die. There weren't very many possibilities open to him because there weren't very many bordering countries that had royal daughters in his age group or in availability. There was one, however, Queen Selenay of Valdemar. She was very young having acquired the throne after her father's death and she was also under a lot of pressure from her council to marry. Karath set out to win her believing he could have the Crown. Little did he know (or even want to believe) that according to the laws of Valdemar, a ruling Monarch must also be a Herald. He thought he could just convince Selenay to make him one, not believing that these white "horses" could have the intelligence to Choose a monarch. To make this a little shorter, after they were married and conceived a daughter, Elspeth, he set out to kill Selenay so he could get the throne that way. He was found out and killed.
Later, Prince-Lord Marshall Daren met Selenay and they became lifebonded. He also, that very same day, became Chosen by a Companion. So he became the co-consort to Valdemar. He fathered two children with Selenay, twins in fact, Prince Kris & Princess Lyra. These two became the Heir-presumptives after Elspeth renounced her position as Heir. They would not remain presumptives for very long because the Companions let it be known that they would be Chosen when they came of age.
There is also a tradition in Rethwellan, that of the Singing Sword.
This is a legendary sword that little is known about; this sword was used to choose the rightful King of Rethwellan. Over the years it became lost, or maybe it was stolen. Tarma and Kethry discovered it when they were fleeing from Raschar in Rethwellan. From there, they were rescued by a Herald and taken to a cabin. It just-so-happens that that cabin is where Prince Stefansen and his newly wed bride Mertis were hidding out, also from Raschar.
The blade, when it came into Stef's contact, started Singing. It was this more than anything that convinced Stefansen to go back to Rethwellan and overthrow his brother.
**Karse** Karse lies right beyond the Southern borders of Valdemar. It is difficult to pass into the border of Karse from Valdemar because most of the border is protected by mountains; this came in handy when Karse and Valdemar were at War with each other.
For a long time, evil Sun-Priests claimed that they were the "True rulers of Karse," known as the Sons of the Sun; Vkandis being the Sun. These False rulers would create "miracles" by way of mage gift to fool the onlookers in the crowd into believing them. They then made a new tradition, that of the annual Feast of the Children. This was when parents were ordered to take their children to the Temples and there they would be inspected by Sun-Priests. This began when a child was five and ended when he/she was thirteen. Some of these children who were "chosen" by the Priests were thrown into the Fires; others were taken for service to the SunLord. Regardless, the children who were taken were never permitted to see their parents again. The children that were taken were either extremely intelligent, or had the God-granted ability to use magic. If one of the children had witch-powers (like Mind-Magic) they were sacrificed. The others were taken to be trained as Black-Robed Priests; Or, the Demon-Summoners. The intelligent children would grow and study in places known as Children Cloisters until they were either chosen to be novices or were given duties as a servant. Now before the evil Priests had taken over, there was such a thing as Cleansing and the Feast of Children, but it was only meant as a Rite of Passage, not a feared place of sacrifice and abduction.
The long-time enemy of Karse was Valdemar. Valdemar was a supposedly a land full of DemonSpawn that rode on their White HellHorses (Heralds and Companions). Everyone in Karse believed this land and its people to be evil and they fought with the False rulers and the Demons that they summoned. This continued on for years until Vkandis Himself decided that it was enough. The False Son was struck down by lightning on a cloudless day during one of his fake rituals, with a lot of witnesses. Vkandis then possessed a golden statue that was a likeliness of Him and stepped towards the other Priests. He then took the large crown of prophecy off His head (which was quite impossible seeing that the crown was part of the statue), and the crown began to shrink. Once it shrunk to the size of a human's head, He placed it upon, not a man's, but a womans' head, declaring her for all to see as the True Son of the Sun and new ruler of Karse. Her name was Solaris. To further prove her worth, she was visited by a Firecat shortly thereafter. Solaris then declared all Fires to be extinguished forever and that Karse would be at peace with Valdemar.
**Hardorn** Straight East from Valdemar's South-Eastern border and directly South of the land of Iftel.
The past Kings of Hardorn all partook in a traditional ritual known as Earth-binding. This ritual literally makes the ruler physically and spiritually bound to the land. The only requirement is that the leader in question have the Gift of Earth-sense. When something bad would happen to the land, the leader would know, and know how to fix it. This ritual also ensures that he/she will be a good ruler, for if the land was sick or mistreated it would have a direct effect on the ruler. Being so bound to the land also renders the ruler incapable of leaving it for very long, so there is no way a ruler can escape the responsibilities of land and people. King Alessandar took oath to this ritual, his son, however, did not. Ancar betrayed and murdered his father and took the throne for himself. He tried to pin the murder on two ambassadors from Valdemar, Queen's Own Herald Talia and Herald Kris. Ancar was eventually overthrown, but not before depleting the land to sickness and reducing the population by more than half.
Then Grand Duke Tremane came from the mysterious and powerful Eastern Empire, intending to take Hardorn and make it part of the Empire. Due to certain circumstances, he failed this. Eventually, feeling betrayed by the Empire and alone, he came to care for the citizens around him and soon they came to respect him. The people saw that he was a good man and had him partake in the earth-binding ritual, in so doing they also gave him the crone of Hardorn.
**The Eastern Empire** Located East of Hardorn, Iftel and Karse and West of the Salten Sea.
The Eastern Empire, also known as the Aurinalean Empire, was founded by stranded mercenaries. Not very many people know that those mercenaries were once part of Urtho's Army. When Urtho knew he was dying, he told his peoples to flee, for when he died a self-destruction spell would go off and destroy everything for leagues. This all-human faction was trying to Gate to the East somewhere when the Cataclysm that occurred during Urtho's death sent their Gate to a place much further away than they expected.
King Valdemar, the founder of Valdemar, was actually from the Eastern Empire. He was a Baron there and wished to escape from the tyranny of the Empire so he packed up his household and friends and fled into the West. He was not pursued because the Empire knew very little about the Western lands. They had only been conquering lands to the North, East and South.
**Locations of Import Pt. 2**
Rethwellan is directly South from Valdemar. To it's West lies the mysterious Pelagir Hills, to it's East, Karse.
Rethwellan's ruling family are the Jadrevalyns. Prince Karathanelan, Karath for short, was power-hungry. He was not born first so he could not gain the throne unless Prince Faram should die. There weren't very many possibilities open to him because there weren't very many bordering countries that had royal daughters in his age group or in availability. There was one, however, Queen Selenay of Valdemar. She was very young having acquired the throne after her father's death and she was also under a lot of pressure from her council to marry. Karath set out to win her believing he could have the Crown. Little did he know (or even want to believe) that according to the laws of Valdemar, a ruling Monarch must also be a Herald. He thought he could just convince Selenay to make him one, not believing that these white "horses" could have the intelligence to Choose a monarch. To make this a little shorter, after they were married and conceived a daughter, Elspeth, he set out to kill Selenay so he could get the throne that way. He was found out and killed.
Later, Prince-Lord Marshall Daren met Selenay and they became lifebonded. He also, that very same day, became Chosen by a Companion. So he became the co-consort to Valdemar. He fathered two children with Selenay, twins in fact, Prince Kris & Princess Lyra. These two became the Heir-presumptives after Elspeth renounced her position as Heir. They would not remain presumptives for very long because the Companions let it be known that they would be Chosen when they came of age.
There is also a tradition in Rethwellan, that of the Singing Sword.
This is a legendary sword that little is known about; this sword was used to choose the rightful King of Rethwellan. Over the years it became lost, or maybe it was stolen. Tarma and Kethry discovered it when they were fleeing from Raschar in Rethwellan. From there, they were rescued by a Herald and taken to a cabin. It just-so-happens that that cabin is where Prince Stefansen and his newly wed bride Mertis were hidding out, also from Raschar.
The blade, when it came into Stef's contact, started Singing. It was this more than anything that convinced Stefansen to go back to Rethwellan and overthrow his brother.
**Karse**
Karse lies right beyond the Southern borders of Valdemar. It is difficult to pass into the border of Karse from Valdemar because most of the border is protected by mountains; this came in handy when Karse and Valdemar were at War with each other.
For a long time, evil Sun-Priests claimed that they were the "True rulers of Karse," known as the Sons of the Sun; Vkandis being the Sun. These False rulers would create "miracles" by way of mage gift to fool the onlookers in the crowd into believing them. They then made a new tradition, that of the annual Feast of the Children. This was when parents were ordered to take their children to the Temples and there they would be inspected by Sun-Priests. This began when a child was five and ended when he/she was thirteen. Some of these children who were "chosen" by the Priests were thrown into the Fires; others were taken for service to the SunLord. Regardless, the children who were taken were never permitted to see their parents again. The children that were taken were either extremely intelligent, or had the God-granted ability to use magic. If one of the children had witch-powers (like Mind-Magic) they were sacrificed. The others were taken to be trained as Black-Robed Priests; Or, the Demon-Summoners. The intelligent children would grow and study in places known as Children Cloisters until they were either chosen to be novices or were given duties as a servant. Now before the evil Priests had taken over, there was such a thing as Cleansing and the Feast of Children, but it was only meant as a Rite of Passage, not a feared place of sacrifice and abduction.
The long-time enemy of Karse was Valdemar. Valdemar was a supposedly a land full of DemonSpawn that rode on their White HellHorses (Heralds and Companions). Everyone in Karse believed this land and its people to be evil and they fought with the False rulers and the Demons that they summoned. This continued on for years until Vkandis Himself decided that it was enough. The False Son was struck down by lightning on a cloudless day during one of his fake rituals, with a lot of witnesses. Vkandis then possessed a golden statue that was a likeliness of Him and stepped towards the other Priests. He then took the large crown of prophecy off His head (which was quite impossible seeing that the crown was part of the statue), and the crown began to shrink. Once it shrunk to the size of a human's head, He placed it upon, not a man's, but a womans' head, declaring her for all to see as the True Son of the Sun and new ruler of Karse. Her name was Solaris. To further prove her worth, she was visited by a Firecat shortly thereafter. Solaris then declared all Fires to be extinguished forever and that Karse would be at peace with Valdemar.
**Hardorn**
Straight East from Valdemar's South-Eastern border and directly South of the land of Iftel.
The past Kings of Hardorn all partook in a traditional ritual known as Earth-binding. This ritual literally makes the ruler physically and spiritually bound to the land. The only requirement is that the leader in question have the Gift of Earth-sense. When something bad would happen to the land, the leader would know, and know how to fix it. This ritual also ensures that he/she will be a good ruler, for if the land was sick or mistreated it would have a direct effect on the ruler. Being so bound to the land also renders the ruler incapable of leaving it for very long, so there is no way a ruler can escape the responsibilities of land and people. King Alessandar took oath to this ritual, his son, however, did not. Ancar betrayed and murdered his father
and took the throne for himself. He tried to pin the murder on two ambassadors from Valdemar, Queen's Own Herald Talia and Herald Kris. Ancar was eventually overthrown, but not before depleting the land to sickness and reducing the population by more than half.
Then Grand Duke Tremane came from the mysterious and powerful Eastern Empire, intending to take Hardorn and make it part of the Empire. Due to certain circumstances, he failed this. Eventually, feeling betrayed by the Empire and alone, he came to care for the citizens around him and soon they came to respect him. The people saw that he was a good man and had him partake in the earth-binding ritual, in so doing they also gave him the crone of Hardorn.
**The Eastern Empire**
Located East of Hardorn, Iftel and Karse and West of the Salten Sea.
The Eastern Empire, also known as the Aurinalean Empire, was founded by stranded mercenaries. Not very many people know that those mercenaries were once part of Urtho's Army. When Urtho knew he was dying, he told his peoples to flee, for when he died a self-destruction spell would go off and destroy everything for leagues. This all-human faction was trying to Gate to the East somewhere when the Cataclysm that occurred during Urtho's death sent their Gate to a place much further away than they expected.
King Valdemar, the founder of Valdemar, was actually from the Eastern Empire. He was a Baron there and wished to escape from the tyranny of the Empire so he packed up his household and friends and fled into the West. He was not pursued because the Empire knew very little about the Western lands. They had only been conquering lands to the North, East and South.
**MAPS**
http://www.fileden.com/files/2011/1/28/3069297//Velgarth.png