Humans and the coming of the Light.

 

Of all of the Great kings to cross the world ocean, King John was by far the strongest and the most capable.  From the burning of his ships to the last kings landing was no more than 12 years.  In that time, 11 Kings came out of the Seas and 11 Cities were built.  Today, the empires of Ptolemy, John and Tancred are all that remain.  Some of the peoples of all of the kings remain though the people of Vidugavia are all gone, having landed and fought for a place on the ashen White Planes among the horned peoples of that land, the Kords. 

There are still smaller cities, fortresses and Lords throughout the lands that do not serve one of the three Kings.  You could try to draw physical distinctions to identify the kindred’s but Men are proud and will shout the names of their fathers and the fealties they owe albeit even to dead kings.  Mostly though the Dialects and the rituals will tell before the warrior can. 

The Ptolegian Princes have so mingled their blood with the elves that all of their kinds are Half-Elvin.  The Men of John tend to be dark haired and tall.  The men of Tancred tend to be light-haired but are also tall.

The Cities that remain are Kias, Vicarsburg, Petra, Tarsus, Hardwall, Lydia, the City Isles, Tulnimoon and Galass.  Though Tulnimoon is now the City of the Last God, it was founded by Omrod Second King but eventually became a center of worship for Varmeylius and then his home in this sphere.  Petra and Tarsus were the Home of Duen the Old.  His King ship still runs at the bottom of the bay of Yifoon and can be seen on clam days.  Vicarsburg is ruled by the last of his house, and great great great great granddaughter Ilumrin, after the elves.  She is a Trader and a sorceress and is loved by her warrior caste.  Galas had three cities, Galas by the Sea, or Seaholm as the prices call it or the City of Glass as the men of John call it.  There was also Whitespire which lay between the Omrod’s City and the City Isles of the Ptolegies.  His third city was Rust and it was located south of the great red lake nearer to the Old Gates of Westfolden than Citycoast.  It thrived in its time but the dragons loved it more than men and still do to this day.  Bohemond’s Palewall and Hardwall stand to this day and are run by a warrior class, though his blood line remains.

With these great men came the Light that Pholtus began.  And ever will the light strive against darkness.  It is an arrogant human belief that that great god prepared a way for men, upturning and ruining the old dark places that began before the gods were lifted up.  Scholars believe than man occupied a niche left open at the passing of the light and though far inferior to the Ascendants, Men rushed into fill the void and expel darkness and continue the great work. 

It is said the Druids saw the coming of the end of their ways and thann Men would try to finish the work of old pholtus.  It is also said that their fears found traction in elves who saw the ways of men and turned back from their love of them.  It is said amongst the educated and elite that the Incursion War was the Elvin attempt at a first strike in a war that would come eventually.  Though no elf or man knows what agreements were made between John and the Druids that day 200 years ago, what is known is that man is still here and the Elves abandoned their siege of our kind.

It is men who brought ships and weapon-craft and steel to the lands (or so men think) they brought agriculture and masonry and medicine.  The elves lived on forest floors before men and ate food raw and their only weapons were bows and bone knives. 

King John had ruled his kingdom for 2000 years.