The origins of Lacour and Kalousa are partly
shrouded in legend and are largely thanks to two brothers. Their father, Myrnus,
passed soon after conquering the ancient kingdom of Lacour, which was believed
to be one homogenous nation – the first in the world. The Myrnans, a
neighbouring tribal people, rapidly organised themselves under the Horse clans
and Canoe clans and seized the whole kingdom. Instability followed as various
tribal nations invaded from all sides. Myrnus managed to hold them back but
ordered his followers to spread abroad via the canoes, which were ocean-worthy.
This was largely to save the Kingdom of Lacour and Myrna for his three sons and
to prevent his fellow warlords from fighting their claim. Myrnus died and his
son Laddac decided to ally with some of his uncles and keep Lacour for himself,
while Callad and the sickly Myrnac were to receive nothing. Callad mobilised
the West and fought his brother successfully but the sheer numbers of his foes
pushed him into a defensive position in the Heaven Steps, along the Halycon
river and sea. The Laddac faction suffered innumerable casualties along this
line especially against the Calladian phalanx. Going against the advice of his
allies, Callad decided to abandon the fight and left for Kalousa. The rump
state he left behind fought on but the War of Brother’s was over.
Kalousa was a huge coastal fortress built by the Fork
Dwarves as a toehold in their gradual conquest of the coastal provinces and as
a defence against the waves of canoe raiders. The 500 Dwarf defenders were not
prepared for tens of thousands of Calladian troops, refugees and their families
on fast canoes. Despite destroying many of them, it would be the first and last
time the fortress fell and it became the capital of his new country. Thousands
of Myrnans and Lacrenes had settled the coast east of Kalousa prior to Callad,
prompting him to seek their allegiance or be destroyed. He managed to secure
the neighbouring province but faced resistance further on with neutral settlers
and Berm, as well as Slate. Slate was the most powerful of these and a warlord
dwelt there that demanded Callad to leave, as it was his land to conquer or so
Myrnus had decreed. The Slate Empire was declared and posed a serious threat to
Callad as his three nieces who now ruled Lacour decided to ally with Slate and
landed troops in Berm. The Berm war was vicious and reminiscent of the
Brother’s War, with phalanxes fighting off masses of Myrnan cavalry and Lacrene
infantry charges. It was a victory for Kalousa as Berm was to remain neutral
along with the middle state; Lacour was ejected while Kalousa controlled the
three eastern provinces. Slate expanded overseas to Terra Nova instead, while
Kalousa began to develop after centuries of war.
Under the rule of the Three Queens, Lacour had
high hopes but was far from utopia. They decided to divide the land in three
against their father’s wishes and rule them separately, only to coordinate
external relations like defence and trade. The tribal problem was immense and
the worst was yet to come. A period of Reconstruction allowed the construction
of the Highroad and its defences and a series of alliances were created with
the settled tribal kingdoms from the time of Myrnus to preserve the status quo.
Peace with Kalousa and Slate stimulated trade across the Channel and greatly
helped the Three Queens acquire capital to pay for their defensive arrangements.
The Orangii and the Terrible Triad Tribes began to attack the North East of the
continent, forcing hundreds and thousands of desert and plateau tribes to move
south to escape the slaughter. They came crashing up against the Highroad and
despite holding well they managed to burst through in the west (dual pressure
from the Proto-Oases and Ranjeeq from Laccai). The East held easily enough
despite desperate attempts to break through while the Centre was much more
flexible and Lacrene Cavalry were hugely effective on the plains. The body
count was immense but more than half of Lacour was saved. The West had largely
fallen with the exception of the capital; Laccai was occupied by the Ranjeeq
and others while plague broke out in the East. The cities were rife with
disease as troops returned from the front. Word of another wave almost broke
the morale of the Lacrenes – Chaos had emerged in the NW in place of the hostile
tribes!
The Chaos ripple effect was even worse than the
Tribal one as it was more concentrated and struck a nation affected by plague.
Chaos armies appeared along the Highroad and fought a number of pitched battles
against Lacour and the tribes that had occupied portions of the line. Lacour
was defeated in the field but the tribal bands managed to hold their own. A
last desperate attempt to save Lacour was made north of Three Ports, with the
help of Kalousa, Myrna and the Western patchwork countries Chaos was checked
and retreated to the Highroad. An Orangii army wiped out a much large Chaos host
far to the north of the Earth Mountains. Chaos forces held onto swathes of
Viridian lowlands, valleys and Storm Mount in the NW. The Ranjeeq defeated the
Chaos at Masoud but were sufficiently weakened to allow the native Laccai to
rise up from Soukh and reclaim their country. After all the invasions, Lacour
was in terrible shape and had many new minorities within its borders and a host
of new neighbours in the W, N, NE and E. Vassalage was key to controlling what
the Queens had left – a host of lords sprung up who rented their land to
natives and tribals alike. They in turn owed their allegiance to the Queens
ultimately, allowing for decentralisation and the emergence of an enriched
noble class. High tariffs were risen up to protect Lacour from foreign competition.
In direct contrast to Lacour, Kalousa avoided war
and developed itself internally. Agriculture was very difficult in Kalousa and
a very delicate system of irrigated farming along the few viable waterways
managed to feed the labourers, who supplemented their crop with grapes, which
enriched them greatly. Kalousa City had huge amounts of room and people lived
in relative comfort in what were munitions stores for the Dwarves. Fishing
allowed for a surplus and a centralised bureaucracy emerged, mainly to manage
the farms further east. The Golden Phalanx emerged to handle law and order, the
border with Mid-Berm and supervise tax collection. The Red Cloaks were created
later to train Kalousa’s burgeoning mage population, collect and create
materials for the library and to defend the rights of the individual,
especially women. These two organisations would later come to dominate the
country and would have profound influence on the policies of the Kallad
(Warlord-King). Trading with Lacour was important but farther contacts were
constantly sought and links cultivated – Ankhara became an important early
trade partner as well as Omera and the recently liberated Laccai Kingdom. Slate
and Fork and other neighbours on land were treated with caution.
