Update Zero
The Dawn
It was a beautiful dawn in the far North; at last a sign that the darkness of winter is over. It was a crisp, cold morning with a covering of virgin snow on the ground and a clear sky. Yet despite the beauty of this morning, this dawn no-one was outside for the far North is the playground of evil, of chaos, death and despair. Only fools walk outside the high city walls of Danleon or the sheltered forests of the Segvaar dwarves. Danleon is, as always, the subject of large scale raids and attacks by the orc tribes in the far North but as always the Path Guards, who are guardians of the mountain passes, repulsed the onslaught. The Kingdom seems stable for now and her people are not happy but rather filled with a grim determination to destroy every last orc tribe in the North. Now let us turn our attention to a far more interesting nation. The Segvaar dwarves. These dwarves have only just been encountered on the mainland as they set up several colonies to produce the timber required for their mighty warships. These colonies are guarded by 100 stout dwarves skilled with axe and bow while the home isles are guarded by a navy that is second to none. So far the Segvaar have remained undetected by any major orc tribes and avoided too many major raids on their colonies. The Segvaar people are happy with King Valazger and are pleased by the fact that their ships are best in the known world (not that there are many other navies that they know of to compare against). The colonies are not quite up and running yet though so no shipments of wood or food have arrived from the mainland. Reports indicate that the colonies will be up and running next spring but they grow fearful as winter sets in and the daylight fades. They can only pray to Dana Gaia and Dana Fiora and hope that they survive the night.
As we move down south the weather moves away from the pleasant if lethally cold weather of the north to vicious thunderstorms and constant rain. Even as summer rolls by the storms continue on a regular basis and only let up with the arrival of autumn. This has wiped out the roads of many kingdoms and ruined crops causing large scale famines in the south that affected every kingdom except for the fey folk of Uint. The fey folk are a strange bunch divided into three races; normally these three races live in harmony with nature and each other looking after the natural world in their own way. This way of life, and their small population, does not lend itself to villages yet along an actually unified nation under one leader. Yet this is what has happened in Uint, part of the Great Forest that dominates eastern Altor. Here the fey folk have formed their first nation and fey have flocked from far and wide to become part of it. The most numerous part of the population is the Daylan and they are the worker/soldiers of Uint, the nymphs, in all of their magical glory, as the aristocracy and the pixies as a sort of merchant middle class that balance the two. This kingdom has huge potential with a determined people and a strong government ready to prove to the world that the fey folk have stepped out of the storybooks and are ready to become a major force in shaping this world. The next nation we encounter as we head westward is the Men of the Wilderness a hardy folk who have only just better than orcs. Master horsemen these people live a semi-nomadic lifestyle moving whenever it looks like orc tribes are going to overwhelm them or they are running out of food in their current location. They appear to be divided up into tribes and have no real central government. The famine did hit them hard but not as hard as other more developed kingdoms to the west of them. For the Men of the Wilderness still remember the days when they were nothing more than barbaric hunter-gatherers and they are still able to live off the land.
The last two nations in our journey are some of the most developed and some of the most hungry. The kingdom Alvalon has a dense urban population that has suffered hugely due to famine and disease that followed. Their suffering was only increased when the river burst its banks flooding the capital city of Hal (the king was named after the city not the other way round) and the isolation of many other cities due to flooded roads. Their military forces were also affected badly and as a result Alvalon lost land to barbarians and orc tribes. The people now look to their King to guide Alvalon through this difficult time. Larthorn wept as they watched their allies and friends starve but they could spare no food for the citizens of Alvalon for their own crops had failed as well. Larthorn did, however, fare much better than Alvalon did this year mainly due to its small population and the shelter its forests provided to its people and agriculture.
Mod notes:
LJ you must confirm you are still in this by posting on the thread or sending orders otherwise you will be NPCed. Overall a good start for all your nations, not so good for my NPCs, At the moment Uint is in the strongest position and the Men of the Wilderness the weakest but it is all very close between you guys. With any luck I will be able to attract some more players with this update. I will expect orders done by Friday, Saturday at the lastest so I have the weekend to update.
@ Any lurkers that maybe listening; for pitys sake stop lurking and start playing I need more players!
NPC diplomatic messages
From:
King Hal
To:
The Men of the Wilderness
I am willing to begin trading with your tribes. Alvalon needs your mighty horses to mount our knights and in return we will give you fine iron tools and weapons. I also personally beg you to help us deal with the current crisis by providing food or military support for us if you can.
From:
Danleon
To:
The Segvaar dwarves
Welcome little friends! We seek to trade our iron weapons for well anything really. What do you make of our offer?
sorry for being so late!)
