Habololy Main
HISTORY
NATIONS
The nations
described in this section are a part of history. They have long since
fallen apart and given up any claim on Habololy. Not all nations that no
longer exist are found listed here because they still have a notable nation
that represents the historic nation. For example, the Kingdom of the Ice
Gnomes is basically the nation of Gnarland, although the style of government
has changed.
The
Vinsaise Empire (c.2500-c.1870 BC):
Named so by the Orcs, as the orcish word for
“unknown or hidden”, the Vinsaise Empire was the realm of the Desert Elves.
Its existence was common knowledge in the early days of Habololy, and then
lost from memory with the fall of the Orcish Empire. It was not until the
Orcs once again marched across the main continent in the early third century
AC that knowledge of the once great realm surfaced again. Treasure hunters
and knowledge seekers have been ravenous ever since.
The realm of the Desert Elves is
said to have been a beautiful land that stretched from the great plateau to
the great forest to the jungles of the Dedestroytian Peninsula. Tales of
its magnificence are easy to dismiss, because that land today is the largest
desert in the world. The strongest evidence that it actually existed are
the desert elves themselves. They do not oft speak of the realm, but do not
deny the stories when pressed.
The little that is widely known
stems mainly from the orcish history, which is notoriously slanted. The
Vinsaise Empire, and the elves that lived there, were awesomely powerful
wizards. Their magic could not be defeated. According to the orcish
history, the elves defended their land, but feared to leave it. Orcish
accounts wrote of hordes of chariots, pyramids and ziggurats that dotted the
land, and strange creatures that resembled humanoid cats. The orcs also
write of an event they named “The Blazing West”, when the sky over the elven
land filled with fire for weeks. After that time, the land began to die,
and the orcs never entered again.
The Amatine Empire (1680-1111 BC):
Long before the existence of Amatom, the
gnomes, led by Amat, controlled most of what had been the great Orcish
Empire. Using everything that the orcs had put in place, the gnomes were
able to dominate the main continent for over five hundred years. Many
revolts and revolutions occurred. Eventually one succeeded and the gnomes
were driven into small pockets, the largest of which was directly to the
north of where the orcs has been forced to retreat when the gnomes had
originally overthrown them. Unlike the Orcish Empire, which left its mark
for millennia in some places, it is up to relic hunters and loremasters to
find even small traces of the Amatine Empire.
The Nation of Frostine (1610 BC – 388 AC):
When the continent of Icefia was
created by Frostine, he created with it, the perfect race, which became
known as the Chosen of Frostine. For nearly two thousand years, the chosen
dominated all of central Icefia, and at times other parts of the continent.
They held the Ice Gnomes as
slaves, and they held the humans of southern Icefia in fear. Little is
known of the workings of the nation, because few could survive a trip into
the dead cold of their cities and towns to report what they were like. It
is known that clerics and warriors of all sorts ruled the nation. Dictators
and tyrants were common.
The time of the chosen came to
an end with the arrival of first Gnarion, and then Stasis. As mortals, the
two now deities fought against the nation of frostine, an eventually
defeated it, driving the chosen and the wicked weather back to the extreme
north and west of the continent.
The Dedestroytian Empire (1296 BC – 250 AC):
The predecessor to the
Destroytian Republic and the nation of Thalmeret, the Dedestroytian Empire
had longevity of glory that is unmatched. For nearly the entirely of its
existence, it was one of the most powerful nations on Habololy. Its control
over the Dedestroytian Peninsula was unmatched. Location was its only flaw
and its great advantage. Having to go through the Gremliv jungles to reach
the heartland was no small task, and the easiest path through the jungle
lead to the fortress city of Cadullon, which still has never been breached.
These natural borders also made it difficult for the nation’s armies to wage
war against other nations. Its wars were hampered by long supply lines and
a lack of urgency. It was well known that even should an army lose, they
had a safe home to which they could return. In the end, it took the
resurgence of the Orcish Empire invading, the assassination of the emperor
by Kaldur Death, and the strongest empress the nation has ever known to
bring about change and the fall of the Dedestroytian Empire.
The Realm of the Lizard (c.1100-c.900 BC):
Before the Halflings ruled the
great forest, the lizardfolk had a turn. Fewer accounts exist of their
realm than possible any other nation. The years in which it existed were
after the great ancient empires of the orcs, gnomes, and elves, but before
the reign of the human and Grean nations. The lizrdfolk did little to
ensure the longevity of their realm. If not for the research of the relic
hunter Benjamin Hawklin in the 3rd century AC, their realm would
have remained a mystery forever.
The Kingdom of the Plateau (1083 BC-371 AC):
The Kingdom of the Plateau began
as a way to give gnomes a nation outside of the control of Amat. From its
inception, the kingdom never had a true base of power. Few believed that
the royal line would survive as long as it did. The kings were in their
position only by the luck of a draw, and the respect and authority they
possessed reflected that. It was only the fact that the monarchs did little
to interfere in the lives of their people and the other nations that allowed
them to linger for nearly fifteen hundred years. The only remnants of the
kingdom are the memories of its existence. It left almost no lasting
imprint on the people of the Plateau and Habololy.
Gomkrug (1045 BC-217 AC):
After the fall of the Gnomish Empire, any
Amatine gnomes that had not fled the plateau were forced into a forested
area north of the orcish lands. They were taken on a long march across the
main continent from the Great Plateau to those lands. Thousands died during
their forces march. Those that reached the land had little of anything. It
was fifty years before they organized into something that resemble a
nation. When they did, they named in Gomkrug.
Despite its long existence,
Gomkrug never became a powerful nation. Their endless strife with the orcs
on their southern border kept both nations busy. The best of Amat’s
followers had fled the main continent, and those that remained didn’t have
the skill and power that had marked the Amatine Empire. When Amat was
finally imprisoned, the Oricsh Empire was invigorated. They raised the
grandest army in a millennium and wiped the nation of Gomkrug out. Not a
building was left standing. Oricsh records tell that they purged over
250,000 gnomes from the land in the last days of Gomkrug.
The Halfling Kingdom
(c.850-130 BC):
The only attempt
made by the halflings of the Great Forest to rule themselves as one
nation. It began with good intentions, and in fact flourished as an honest
and noble nation for several centuries. During its peak, the kingdom
spanned over three quarters of the
Great Forest and included over three
million halflings as well as a million others. They had many dealings and
trade with the faerie folk, and had good relations with the Kingdom of
Yellowia.
Greed eventually began to creep its way into the hearts of the leaders of
the kingdom, the ten Woodukes, who served directly under the king. By the
time of the Doggeden War, little could be done to stop the kingdom’s
collapse. Three of the Woodukes were slain in the war, and the royal line
conceded to step down when they could not protect the kingdom from the
ravages of the war.
The Umanin Kingdom
(c.151 BC-402 AC): Before the
Umanin ruled over their own kingdom, they were a noble family of the Kingdom of Yellowia.
During the Doggeden War, their house replaced the Astar family as the ruling
family of the kingdom. It was then that the Umanin, at the time the name
was only a family name, showed their hatred for non-human races and
slaughtered thousands of elves. Their reign as the monarchs of the kingdom of Yellowia
did not last long. The other families, along with the elves, overthrew the
Umanin and installed the Harticutt family to power.
The Umanin still laid claim to
some of western Yellowia, including the great fortress built there. They
took their loyal followers and began their own kingdom. The kingdom
remained a thorn in the side of the other nations of the main continent for
centuries, but never rose to any great prominence. Their hatred eventually
destroyed the kingdom. The Kingdom of Yellowia
annexed their lands, but after the War of Technology the lands went
unclaimed. The remnants of the Umanin kingdom can still be found in those
lands, and the humans there still refer to themselves as Umanin. The city
of Kendall
is the only
remaining tribute to their kingdom.
The Tinkocracy (525-607 AC):
Arguably the most dominant nation ever to
exist, the Tinkocracy proved to have little staying power. They rose with
the power of technology and the ambition of a few tinkers who looked to
prove their power to the rest of the world. They conquered with
overwhelming force, laying waste to the armies and lands of their enemies
who would not submit. Only the death of the deity Highlander prevented
their reach from encompassing the entire world.
The Tinkocracy was based of the
Great Plateau. It was formed when the greatest tinkers of the day could not
decide upon a method of making decisions and the clerics of Highlander were
ordered to mediate the process. What they came up with was the counsel of
tinkers appointed by the clerics. The tinkers were appointed yearly, and
appointments were based on innovation, prestige, and often donation to the
religion of Highlander. When Highlander died, and his clerics lost their
standing in the nation, the tinkers fell back to their arguments, and the
Tinkocracy fell into anarchy.
