History of Aerenwe

History of Aerenwe

The following material where mostly found at the Internet but where compiled and edited from the original work in order to suit our campaign story and match our timeline events. We are thankful to the original composer of the ancient story of Aerenwe; our campaign storyline starts where the original campaign time of Birthright stops  and carries out till the presernt year of 1582 HC, our campaigns are ongoing and history is still written by players and we are very proud of that.

When humans first settled in Anuire, the Erebannien stretched all the way to the Adele River in Ilien and was the centre of an ancient elven kingdom.  The elves here built innumerable towers and strongholds, designed to hold out the goblin menace of that long ago era.  Though the humans of the Andu tribe originally allied with them to fight against the humanoids, the elves eventually made war upon the newcomers as they began to settle under the eaves of their beloved forest and cut down its trees to build civilization.  The Andu tribes that warred with the elves over the Erebannien were the Deretha, and they were fierce warriors.  The Deretha, with the help of the priests of Anduiras, eventually defeated the Sidhelien, who then fled north to live with their cousins in the Aelvinnwode.

 

Though the Deretha Wars are commonly looked upon as a typical example of the bloodstained and tragic relationship between man and elf, there existed an Andu tribe who enjoyed a more civil relationship with the Sidhelien: the Aeren, Sixth Tribe of the Andu.

The Aeren migrated alongside the Deretha and helped to settle the southern coast of present-day Anuire; albeit a more remote part of it.  The Aeren were the first humans that the elves of the Erebannien encountered and a treaty was quickly formalized between the two, which allowed the Aeren to live in the area between the Berendor River and the Erebannien, under the watchful gaze of elven protectors.  The Aeren cooperated closely with the elves to suppress the humanoid presence in the area, but did not attempt to build any cities, towns, or farms, content instead to herd cattle and sheep.  It was not until well after the Deretha Wars, when Roele formed the Anuirean Empire after Deismaar that the Aeren began to settle down.

In those days, Aerenwe, as the Aeren lands came to be called, was much larger, claiming the eastern half of present-day Roesone.  Aerenwe’s history as a part of the Empire was a quiet one.  The ruling Aeren family ruled peaceably and well, staying out of Anuirean politics and only slowly building up the realm’s population.  The Erebannien came to be looked upon with some reverence and by ducal decree; habitation of the forest was prohibited.

 Though it was one of the twelve duchies of Anuire, precious little attention was paid to Aerenwe.  The dukes were content to live in isolation, collecting little in taxes and allowing their people to live quietly.  Unfortunately, Aerenwe’s long vacation from history was to come to a sudden and disastrous end with the reign of Emperor Michael Roele.

When the War of Succession erupted, Aerenwe dutifully supported its Emperor, contributing the required number of soldiers and knights to Michael’s cause.  Following the end of that war, Michael set about looking for a wife so that he could beget an heir.  Though the Emperor regarded the entire matter as little more than a duty to be fulfilled, he did not expect to meet Faelina Aeren, the daughter of Aerenwe’s duke.  Before long, Michael and Faelina fell in love and married.  Their short marriage would come to an end in 973 HC, when according to the stories; a terrible curse fell upon Faelina causing an awnshegh child to quicken in her womb within minutes.  Faelina died in horrible anguish as the abomination tore its way from her womb.  Though the monstrosity was slain, Michael was consumed by grief and fury and once he learned that the Gorgon had been behind the plot, he summoned his armies and marched upon the Gorgon’s Crown, where he died upon the Gorgon’s blade.

Following Michael’s death, the Empire shattered as its component fiefs made war upon one another in order to settle old scores and claim the Iron Throne.  Initially, Aerenwe sought to remain out of these squabbles.  However, this attempt to remain uninvolved backfired.

 In 90 MR (1053 HC), the duke of Aerenwe, Vaesil Aeren, declared himself a king.  By taking a sovereign title, Vaesil effectively removed Aerenwe from the Empire.  Citing its traditional isolationism, the marriage of a member of House Aeren to the last Emperor, and the incessant in-fighting of the Anuirean factions, Vaesil declared that Aerenwe would no longer be beholden to the idea of the Empire until a suitable candidate arrived to claim the Iron Throne.

This initially provoked outrage all across Anuire, and Havriel Diem, duke of Diemed, declared that his armies would soon march to put Aerenwe in its place.  Of course this was little more than an excuse; it was well known that Havriel sought the Iron Throne for himself and looked for any opportunity to make war upon his rivals.  In 94 MR (1057HC), Havriel began a massive troop build up in eastern Diemed (modern-day Roesone) in order to compel his neighbors into supporting him.  Duke Aeren refused to be bullied and matched Diemed’s troop build-up.  Eventually, the tensions escalated into war.  The Dieman Wars, as they were called, were a disaster for all concerned.  Lasting nearly two hundred years, the wars nearly bankrupted Bhalaene, Aerenwe’s ally (now a part of Ghoere), and left the frontiers of Diemed and Aerenwe desolated and abandoned.

In 281 MR (1244HC), shortly after the end of the Dieman Wars, the last scion of the Aeren line, Oervel Aeren, died.  Exhausted from the long wars, Aerenwe turned its back on Anuire once again.  A succession of kings ruled over Aerenwe after that, but none of them were particularly notable.

For nearly a hundred years, Aerenwe seemingly disappeared from history.  Little of importance ever happened there and the rest of Anuire seemed more concerned with its squabbling than the goings on in isolated Aerenwe.

In 470 MR (1433HC), Daen Roesone, a notable mercenary leader, began carving out a new domain in eastern Diemed and western Aerenwe.  When war finally came between Daen’s men and Diemed, the Dieman duke appealed to Aerenwe for help.  The king of the time, Agelmore Halried, agreed to assist Diem in putting down the rebellion, but committed only a few paltry troops to the cause.  At the time, Aerenwe’s famous militias were in disarray, the treasury was low, and there seemed little interest among the Aerenwean nobility in engaging in foreign affairs, even in neighboring realms.  That state of affairs came back to bite the king and his nobles when in 477 MR (1440HC)Daen Roesone achieved victory over the Diemans and proclaimed a new realm: Roesone.  The Black Baron, as Daen was often called, soon turned his attention on Aerenwe.  He threatened to turn his veteran army of mercenaries, former bandits, and rugged frontiersmen loose upon Aerenwe unless it submitted.  And submit King Agelmore did.  Aerenwe had already lost the province of Abbatuor to Roesone and was now forced to cede Bellam.  In return, Aerenwe was guaranteed peace.

The humiliating loss of two provinces to rebels and mercenaries shocked the Aerenweans.  Before long, King Agelmore was overthrown in a rebellion lead by the ambitious noble lord from the army named Reynard Gavril.  After seizing the throne, Reynard declared a state of martial law and went about establishing a police state.  Nobles and priests who opposed Reynard were executed by the hundreds.  Informants and secret police roamed the country side, keeping the commoners in line.  King Reynard was obsessed with maintaining perfect order and conformity and would order the ultimate penalty to be administered for simple cases of vagrancy or theft.

Finally, in 503 MR (1466HC), a saviour arrived.  Liliene Swordwraith, then a young woman, emerged from a small town in the Erebannien with a small cadre of loyal rangers and adventurers.  Claiming to be the last scion of the Aeren line and indirectly related to Roele, the founder of the Empire, the desperate people of the realm joined her side and after a long and arduous campaign, overthrew Reynard Gavril.  The joyous people of Aerenwe then proclaimed her queen. Liliene Swordwraith has ruled Aerenwe for nearly fifty years now.  Though elderly, she has lost none of her wit and guides Aerenwe along a course of neutrality in Anuire’s shifting political currents.

In 550 MR (1513 HC) Ariostriel Swordwraith, son of Liliene is being crowned the heir and King of Aerenwe. The realm faces economic recess under heavy blockade from Roesone and Osoerde. The new King of Aerenwe more of a economist rather than a warrior strives to utilize the natural resources of his domain and brings prosper to his people. The realms shows signs of economical leaps and wealth starts to amass within the coffers of the realm. The creation of an Aerenwenean controlled guild house (Spider River Traders )and the banning of all external guild control from the realm of Aerenwe was a huge innovation that costed the young politician friends from all around Anuire but still safe guarded his grounds. An expedition to the isle of Caelcowyrm took place at 557 MR (1520 HC ) expanded the closed Aerenwenean borders but still people were not seemed persuaded to migrate to the island. Pearls and more sea natural treasures where found and exploited and up till 559 MR (1520 HC ) the isle was making up the 25% of the domains treasury. A couple of years later the Baron of Roesone died out of unknown circumstances, Ariostriel started to officially court the young Baroness in another political manoeuvre of growth. Ariostriel courted with Roesone for quite some time but to no avail, at some later year he was forced to produce heirs and thus he married the daughter of Count Haele from Dhoenel. The marriage of the Aeren with the Haele family took place at 560 MR (1521 HC). At the next year to come their son Curian was born. With the nobility support Ariostriel and his queen ruled with justice and a firm grip on their people. Law was strict and taxation hard, but the people were enjoying a high living standard and everyone was happy. External guilds and political powers tried to make a foothold in Aerenwe but that seemed hard. Twenty years passed in his rule and the prosperity of Aerenwe was sturdy while the quick attained peace at 565 MR (1526 HC) with Roesone made sure that the military expansionist urges of Ghoere wouldn’t not be savoured at the south. All this lasted up until 581 MR (1542 HC ). The aged King passed away in his bed. His iron grip loosened and now the burden of rulership fell in the hands of his heir and son Curial “Swordwraith” Aeren. Two years later Curian “Swordwraith” Aeren proclaims he is a true descendant of the Roele line and Faelina Aeren. Supported by the priesthood of Nesirie, Roesone, Medoere, Ilien, Diemed and Elinie he gathers a vast army of supporters and followers to the southern borders of Mhoried. The first battle of his crusade takes place at Haes. Armies of Avanil and Boeruine mobilize on different sides to stop the newly proclaimed “Emperor”. The campaign of the Aerenwenean King held for two years. He managed to assault the Imperial City but to no avail since his army was caught in the midst of a united front of Avanese and Boeruinean force. The young King got caught in the chaos of the Siege and his armies disbanded. It was clear to most of the nobles now that the young boy was played at. Even in this day no one knows who and why and above all how he managed to sway the mind of the young King. Aerenwe was heirless and dangerously exposed to external threats. The nobles did their best to overthrow and execute the Queen and mother of young Curian and all chaos broke loose in the wake of an invasion from Raesene at 585 MR (1546 HC) . A civil war took place for the next 15 years in Aerenwe up until the year of 600 MR (1561HC ). The death toll was great and the economic growth of the once powerful realm of southern Anuire collapsed. Nobles warring each other trying to make a strong foothold on the realm ravaged the land. External guilds and powers intruded Aerenwe striving to control the natural resources of the realm. The clergy of Nesirie fell from power and retreated to secluded monasteries. All chaos was loose in Aerenwe. Those years are still called as the “Dark Days” from the nobles today. At 600 MR (1561 HC) the nobles made a truce. At the capital of Calrie they agreed in non aggression and the re-organization of the state. The bloodlines of ; Pernal and Ghoried of Calrie; Haele of Dhoenel; Stiere of Halried; and Count Richard Laestrel who was unblooded declared that a Senate of Nobles would rule the domain and declared a non aggression over the lords of the realm. Political powerplay and surely economic intrigues ravage the former duchy up to this day. All sorts of power players have found either openly or secretly their way in Aerenwe and its nobility, but this is not something uncommon for Anuire. The people are expecting after so many years a new King to rise and take control of their fortunes. With high debts and many favours owned to the surrounding guildiers the domain is slowly recuperating from the wounds of its civil war, while Anuire is in flames from another civil war.