History of the Vanadians

Chapter 1:Aldland Long ago the Vanadians lived on the continent then known as Aldland, many cultures similar to the Vanadians lived and thrived on this continent. At the time it was mostly an agricultural society that lived off of grains and fish, the Aldlanders were great fishermen due to their ability to make great seafaring boats and the abundance of rivers, fjords and ocean around Aldland. In the year of the Rhumish calendar 134VG, Aldland was ruled over by a tyrannical Jarl known as Đuribhinn. Đuribhinn was a paranoid and fearful man, he had come to power after his father Theydn ‘the Forge’ died suddenly. Đuribhinn always believed that his father was poisoned by his Thegns, and that they had wanted to control him during his early years of rule. This led the young Jarl to have all of the old king’s Thegns executed in public. Đuribhinn established early what sort of ruler he was going to be. Đuribhinn grew to be a mean and oppressive Jarl who punished his subjects severely and rarely thought of their health. Famines were common and executions were regular, the people were unhappy. There was a great band of warriors on Aldland known as the Band of Ald, who saw the terrors going on within their realm. They were led by two great warriors, Faramir Icebreaker and a demi-god named Dearac Ehlsonn. Dearac was supposed to be the son of the chief Deity known as Ehl. It was said that he would return in times of crisis to the Vanadian people, it is unknown whether he is an immortal man or some form of spirit on earth. In response to the oppression of the Aldlanders, Faramir and Dearac led their band of warriors to confront Đuribhinn. Đuribhinn defied them and told them to leave or else they would face his wrath, the band refused for all they knew he was powerless. But Đuribhinn had something up his sleeve, a powerful artefact that sent lightning through the entire warband, they were all immediately subdued. Faramir attempted to fight back but he was gravely wounded by the tyrant Jarl. Đuribhinn promised not to kill them as long as they left Aldland and never came back. Faramir and Dearac agreed, as even they could not fight this power. However they had a plan, they hid many of the Aldlanders in their boats as they fled, taking nearly half of the population with them. Those that stayed behind either did not want to leave or were loyal to the Tyrant. They fled to greater lands early in the morning, under the shade of night. The journey was hard and they faced many storms, but they eventually landed in what we now know as Vanadia. Other groups split off and formed other towns and nations around the continent we now know as Maetalamh.

Chapter 2:Vanadia On arrival in this new land, the Vanadians established a settlement we now know as Elvmhor Anbhajn. They built it by hand and shaped the land to their whim, and they lived peacefully alongside those who fled Aldland. Faramir was restless though, he thought of what they had left behind, those who did not come and what if they came after them. With much protest from Dearac, Faramir went back to Aldland. Weeks went by and Dearac had heard nothing of Faramir, soon Dearac had to go after him. After a long journey Dearac arrive at Aldland only to find it a desolate wasteland. He walked through the ashen fields but he found no sign of life. He walked to the palace of the ancients where Đuribhinn lived, Dearac found it engulfed in flames. He ran over to see what was happening, and he found Faramir and Đuribhinn locked in a duel. Dearac moved in to attack, but Đuribhinn pushed them both away. Đuribhinn took this moment to enact a powerful spell that turned him into a dragon, the men fought the foul beast until Dearac managed to slice it through the neck killing Đuribhinn instantly. Unfortunately Faramir had been gravely wounded in the battle, and would go on to die of his wounds on the journey home. Dearac buried his friend in the center of Elvmhor, and a holy tree grew on his gravesite. Dearac also brought the skull of Đuribhinn back with him, a powerful artefact that is said to protect the natural world around it. The rest of the dragon's body decomposed into the soil of Aldland, restoring it to its past beauty before Đuribhinn destroyed it. Dearac Ehl went on to live a long life before dying at the age of 87 in the year 23VG, he died after his son Gunderic I murdered him in his sleep after he had visions about ruling Vanadia. Gunderic I had a short reign after the people revolted against him for killing Dearac. After Gunderic I died a Noble who was once a Thegn in Dearac’s council named Fenhal ‘the Iron’ An Aldis took over and ruled Vanadia. He was a strong man who led Vanadia for the rest of his life

Chapter 3:An Aldis Dynasty Fenhal started his reign fairly quietly, once his place was secured in the realm the people took to him well. He had Dearac deified as a saint and proclaimed him son of Ehl and child of mother earth. The rest of his reign was fairly quiet, a few small coastal raids but the Vanadian’s proficiency in naval matters left them well defended by sea. And there were not many other settlements on the continent that they could war with. This was until the invaders from Pyrrianor arrived, things were peaceful with them until after Fenhal’s death in 4NG. When Jacirn came to power the Rhumish took it as an opportunity to invade Vanadia, the war was fairly short and the Vanadians came close to losing at the battle of the Fjørd. But an avatar of Ehl came down from the heavens and gave Jacirn a powerful sword that he used to fight the Rhumish and push them back to the mountain. Victorious but unable to fight on, the Vanadians agreed to peace with the Rhumish. Things would remain peaceful with the Rhumish for the rest of the Aldis dynasty's reign, with Gunderic II even making many attempts at alliance and trade deals with the Rhumish. This would end with Gunderic II being assassinated by a supposed Rhumish spy.

Chapter 4:Return of the Ehlsyn Dynasty After Gunderic II’s death the realm of Vanadia was brought into strife, there was talk of war with the Rhumish and many were terrified for their homeland. This is when Dearac Ehl II, the supposed reincarnation of Dearac Ehl son of Ehl, returned to claim the crown of Vanadia. He brokered an alliance with the Rhumish and even adopted their religion of Agdarrism, forming a subsect of it that combined the Vanadian Religion of Ehltilbe and the Rhumish religion. Dearac said that Agnarr was just another form of Talamhor and Ehl was her Shepherd. To this day Vanadia and Rhumlaandt have remained good friends and the people of each nation consider themselves bràithrean. This has reached the point in which many aspects of each culture have mixed with the other, aspects of each language have entered into the others vernacular and the same has happened with the religion and culture. For example it is thought that the Rhumish love for drinking comes from Vanadia as well as their religions form of worship through the Bomaer tree. Whereas many aspects of modern Vanadian language and culture has been absorbed through Rhumish culture.