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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 503497" data-attributes="member: 5137">Brief History of Theralis600-500 years agoAccording to legend, Thera was a slave who led her people to freedom. In the legends, she led the fight to freedom, arranged a deal with a dragon for land to settle, defeated a horde of orc barbarians, invented the shield & spear fighting line, placed the first stone of the first tower of Theralis, and slew the morgantor (a fell creature of the infernal realms that had escaped and intended to destroy civilization).She died defeating the morgantor, dragging it back into the infernal pits from which it came, a little over 500 years ago.500-400 years agoThe end of Thera's reign was marked with a great deal of confusion and bitterness. Up until her death, she had simply led her people, and they had followed where she went. The structure was reasonably simple, almost tribal, and was based more on her wisdom than any common cultural foundation.Without Thera, factions sprang up around how things should be run, and outright fighting threatened.In the end, for better or worse, the militant faction of Urith prevailed - if it had come to fighting, they were the strongest, and so they managed to broker the needed alliances to forge a solid government. Urith was the strongest of Thera's generals, and the least liked for his hard ways (he was also possibly the true originator of the shield & spear line).Urith was a militant to the last. He believed that every citizen should fight for their nation, and instituted a system for ensuring that each individual spent time in Service (the original term was 5 years, plus random years spent training new soldiers; this reduced steadily over the generations). He also weakened the position of 'leader', and created a military council that made most of the major decisions. He lived for another decade after setting this up, his succession already assured in the form of the council.The remainder of this century refined this system. Only soldiers who had spent at least 1/2 of their lifespan in Service could become members of the Council; members of the Council selected their replacements by nomination and seconding; the Council consists of 10 council members and each of their cabinets. The population also swelled, and a number of small towns grew up in the shadow of the vine-covered mountains.In all, the towns managed reasonably well, and no major threats occurred. Civilization incubated, and the Council grew in strength.The beginnings of recorded historyThe beginning of this century, the historian and lore master Rajold began recording events. Urith's great grandson, Rajold first recorded the name 'Theralis' in referring to the valley region, and first began the practice of recording names at birth. The latter was done purely for purposes of history, but the military soon coopted the records for their own purposes - making sure everyone spent time in Service. Rajold also did a fairly credible job of recovering the names of the past several generations, although some have complained of his bias.Based on his best understanding of prior history, Rajold declared the year since the founding of the valleys to be 202 (it is now 608).Recorded History (major events)198  The first census202  Rajold declares the year.221  Rajold dies of chills in winter245  The first recorded war with orcs; a tribe of 600 is repelled240+ The hero Turin (defeats the orcs, re-routes a river)300  The Century Riot310  Council Member Mura declares centuries to be a celebration350+ Trade begins with the north366  Eastpass is carved out of the mountains398  Amalan the dragon attacks a village that encroached to far399  War with Amalan is avoided with northern tribute400  Century Celebration420+ The grape first starts noticeably dominating the valleys450+ The hero Athana ('the drunken spear maiden', many deeds)500  Century Celebration579  Urmrat the kobold warns Theralis to clean their water600  Century Celebration607  The First Battle of Eastpass</blockquote>

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