Ildûn

Old Empire, The Kingdom of the Dead

Ælyra and Ildûn, ca. 654 DR

Ælyra and Ildûn, ca. 654 DR

Ildûn (Nor Kàlas Ildûn) bears the unfortunate epithet “Land of the Dead”. In fact, the natives of Ælyra (i.e., the Ēōyn) have never approved of the Dekàli Cult of Drāūn. The death Cult was imported from the mainland during the early expansion of the Old Empire. The tenets of the Dekàli faith did not recognize “spirit-worship” as a legitimate religion and so established temples to Drāūn throughout the main island. The Cult was instrumental in conquering the native peoples but never succeeded in converting the Northern reaches of the isle. That region remains a bastion of the old “spirit-worship” faith to this day.

Government

People

  • Population – Ildûnyr (650 DR) 743,220
  • Races – Yrūn 88%, Feyr 3%, Gnor 3%, Ōéle 2%, other 4%
  • Ethnicities – …, Ēōyn
  • Languages – Ildûnic, Eōynic, Trade
  • Religions – Drāūn (Ælyra)

Trade

  • Currency – Dūán (0.075d), Auran (0.75d), Talan (180d), Nor Talan (540d), Nuran (5400d)
  • Imports – Gold, ore, raw minerals
  • Exports – Ale, cheese, horses, produce, silver, textiles, wine

Regions, Geographic

Ildûn

Ildûn

  • Crescent Desert. Once a prosperous swath of farmland and prairie, the Crescent Desert is now a lifeless plain riddled with deep chasms and fractured land. The catastrophe that drained the life from this region is the same event that brought ruin to the City of Ildûn almost 700 years ago. Today, the cracks, fissures, and canyons that mar this desolate landscape all converge on the ruins of the ancient city. The region contains the entirety of theIlûwyr province.

Regions, Political

Ælyra was once the name given to the entire island of Ildûn, Ælyra now refers only to the northern highlands where the influences of Ēōyn culture and language are strongest. In recent centuries, Ælyra has become a stronghold of indigenous resistance, having unsuccessfully tried to expel the Dekàlyr descendants from their southern ancestral homelands. Old Empire forces have no sway in Ælyra, which holds all lands north of Kirít Nalam.

People

  • Ēōyn. The Ēōyn are a proud people, having maintained a cultural identity despite more than a millennium of suppression. Following the fall of the Old Empire, the Ēōyn were one of the first native peoples to successfully reestablish a foothold within the borders of a fallen city-state. This was accomplished by a systematic program of banishings that targeted all those with less than one quarter Ēōyn blood. Those who refused to leave were dragged from their towns and farmsteads, and slowly and repeatedly impaled with heated iron barbs (i.e., spitting).

History

The history of Ildûn is the story of death. Ildûn’s history begins long before the arrival of Dekàli warships. Previously, the island was host to several warring tribes who called themselves the Ēōyn (EE oh EHN). The Ēōyn called the island Ælyra, a name shared by the high spirit of the isle. The Ēōyn prayed to the spirits at dolrum shrines scattered across the island. “Securing” the land around a dolrum brought blessing upon the victorious tribe, so warfare was frequent and dolrums switched hands often. The Ēōyn were skilled horsemen and expert archers. It was this style of warfare that drove the Dekàlyr back into the sea during the first century of the High King.

When Ðard Guruf landed near Dyswæ on Ælyra’s southern coast he found thatched coastal fishing villages, with no swords or shields in sight. A messenger was dispatched to Lanàdus within the day announcing the “The Isle is Thine”. The next morning the encamped but undefended Dekàli armies were devastated by horsemen raids. The soldiers wrestled with their armor, shields, and swords, surprised by the sudden attacks, but the horsemen refused to draw near, instead stopping at a distance and releasing volley after volley of arrows. The Dekàlyr had seen the ponies of Teréðor, but had never seen horses as the Ēōyn possessed. The Dekàlyr returned to their ships.

Ðard Guruf was summoned before the High King, where he told the High King that the Isle could not be taken. The knight also explained how troops were left on the beaches as the ships pulled away. This displeased the High King. Ðard Guruf was escorted to the gate and killed. The seeds for the eventual fall of the Ēōyn had been sown however, for over the course of the battles across Ælyra, many horses had been captured. The next time the Ēōyn would meet the Dekàli forces, they’d be facing heavy cavalry.

The Ummòni Guard landed at Falswyr around the Fall of 98 HK. Three battalions of heavy infantry seized the town and began fortification. To the east, Savàrin the White landed at Savar’Dirm (Savarin’s Landing) with heavy cavalry. The stage was set for a protracted Second Ildûni War. The Ummòni soldiers and priests had never known defeat before Rûn’s ascent on Wyrthyr Tor the decade before. They were bound by their faith to succeed and in a custom that would prevail to the Empire’s end, would fight until none remained.

Savàrin’s forces marched to Gyrdon Pass where they were engaged in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Gyrdon, the ancestral home of the Hedrym had received word of the landfall and was prepared for siege. Savàrin’s heavy cavalry charged the resistance, followed closely by battalions of infantry. Capturing Gordyn proved easy; maintaining control was impossible. After three days, Savàrin commanded his forces to withdraw from the city, torching all they left behind. When the Dekàli forces exited Gyrdon, the Hedrym cavalries bore down upon them. Taking serious casualties from these attacks, Savàrin’s forces retreated toward the Plains of Vyr. The horse-clan followed Savàrin eagerly into the Nul Drūar, knowing there would be nowhere for Savàrin to hide once they reached the plains. In the forest however, Savàrin was joined by the Merdùn Fer (Red Fist) who had marched from Falswyr. The Hedrym were outflanked and crushed. In the Ēōyn tradition when defeat was realized the Hedrym put down their weapons in surrender. Despite Savàrin’s wishes, the Ummòni priests ordered each prisoner killed. The few surviving Hedrym spread word of this throughout Ælyra, the news of which contributed most to the uniting of the Ēōyn against Savàrin the Butcher.

Savàrin joined forces with the Merdun Fer and followed them to Dolrum Dayr where they found the ancient Ēōyn meeting place in smoldering ruins. The plains were littered with the bodies of Hedrym families, soldiers, and horses. Savàrin, appalled by the carnage called forward the Merdun Fer priests who responded “Īrul is strong within us.” From Dolrum Dāyr the swath of destruction turned eastward to the coastal city of Essèrwyl. Savàrin found the Ummòni troops engaged in a siege of the city. The Ummòni armies had encircled the city by land and sea. Flaming arrows were rained upon the rooftops. Fleeing townspeople pleaded for mercy at the feet of the surrounding infantry only to be cut down in the high plains grasses. Savàrin put a stop to this practice despite the protests of the priests. Savàrin accepted the surrender of Essèrwyl.

Progress slowed as Aðwyr and Nadryn strikes drove deeper south from their homelands. Savàrin realized the danger to the campaign should the Ēōyn join forces. The Ummòni armies struck the northern towns of Carràdyr, Maavayr, and Ðaráwyl. These towns exchanged hands many times. In the Spring of 100 HK, realizing that the land was too vast for his armies to conquer and control, Savàrin ordered the construction of an earthen and stone wall from the mountains to the sea. Built to repel light cavalry raids, the wall carved a physical niche from Ælyra, a foothold for the growing Dekàli presence. In 104 HK, orders arrived from the High King that Savàrin was to release his reins on the Ummòni armies and allow them to do their god-given tasks as best they could. Jubilant at the chance to prove themselves, the Ummòni armies marched north from Gyrdon, descending from the mountains onto the town of Nyrrm Nalam. A Nadryn town, Nyrrm Nalam had become a headquarters for Nadryn raiding parties. After two years of inaction from the Dekàli forces, an attack this deep into their homeland was not expected. Nyrrm Nalam was reduced to ruins in a day. Īrul history claims there were no survivors. The Ēōyn united under Alfard the Hedrym soon after the fall of Nyrrm Nalam, ratcheting the war to a level of ferocity that the Dekàli armies had never known.

When the Ummòni battalions reached Kirít Nalam six towns lay in ruins behind them. They entered the town from the west, having traveled through the northern foothills for cover. Charging into the town they soon discovered that the town was empty, though fires still burned in the fireplaces. Realizing the trap they retreated back toward the foothills only to be swarmed by a united force of Nadryn, Tirwyn, and Widrym. The Ummòni forces were pushed from the town into the Inùnda Kirit. Unprepared for such a large battle force, the Ummòni forces retreated south through the swamp, and in time back to Savàrin’s Wall. The war continued for another 11 years without the Wall falling to Ēōyn forces.

In the Summer of 116 HK, the Ummòni forces made a final thrust north along the western coast of Ælyra. Dekàli warships traveled north to a place identified by priests of Drāūn and dispatched a thousand men near the Ilwyryn town of Ildûn. Ildûn was chosen for the Ēōyni temple to Ælyra that existed there, the most important of the Ēōyn faiths. Dolrum Ælyra stood upon an off-shore rock which the Ēōyn believed was a gateway to the spirit realms. Alfard’s tribal armies raced across Ælyra to defend the sacred site only to be met by the Ummòni armies arriving from the south. Faster than the heavy cavalry, the horse-clan armies out-maneuvered the invaders and made for Ildûn. Reaching Ildûn they found Dekàli infantry waiting in ambush. The heavy cavalry and Ummòni infantry soon pressed from behind. Alfard ordered that this would be where the Ēōyn would make their stand. The Ēōyn fought bravely for one day and one night, attacked from all sides with the sea to their backs. Ēōyni archers delivered a deadly toll on the circling Dekàli forces, but in the end nothing could save them from their inevitable fate. Alfard was captured and tied to a stake on the shore. The surviving clansmen were brought before Savàrin and given the choice of accepting the Dekàli High King or perishing. No converts were made, endearing the noble clansmen to the Pryr Īrul. The Pryr Drāūn arrived from their anchored ships to fulfill their fortunes in this new and spiritual place. The bodies of Dekàli and Ēōyni soldiers were dragged into the sea, their bodies forming the foundation of the newest of the Dekàli city-states, Ildûn. Dulrum Ælyra was razed and in the years to come the Temple of Drāūn would be built around the Black Stone of Ælyra.

In 120 HK, Alfard the First was brought before the High King at Kryr Trèmendūm. In the ceremony accepting Ildûn as the newest city-state of Nor Terras De’Kalas, Alfard was sacrificed to consummate the Old Empire’s newest addition. With the death of Alfard, the Temple of Īrul elected Alfard as Vdr. Alfard of Ælyra; for his prowess and command in the face of the Dekàli-Ummoni might.

The Old Empire perished with Yrygarmàndralyð. No one remains to tell what happened to the old city when the Dragul died, but the ruins of Old Ildûn speak volumes of the apocalypse that was released on the place. Where once beautiful walkways skirted lush parks and streams trickled through elegant gardens, sandy dunes now stand. Where once polished stone buildings and shimmering towers once rose, crumbling skeletons of stone now stand, stones that would topple if wind’s hand ever brushed by them. All that was, was now gone.

Time Line

(All) The Fourth Age

  • 283 AR, 4/275 ER; (Ild) Ardoorites contact the Ēōyn, are refused

(Dek) Time of Empire, 1-720 HK

  • 26 HK, 4/584 ER; (Ild) First Ildûni War; Ðard Guruf lands at Dyswæ
  • 26 HK, 4/584 ER; (Ild) Dekàli forces routed by horsemen
  • 26 HK, 4/584 ER; (Dek) Ðard Guruf presented before High King, executed
  • 98 HK, 4/656 ER; (Ild) Second Ildûni War begins
  • 98 HK, 4/656 ER; (Ild) Ummòni Guard lands at Falswyr, fortify town
  • 98 HK, 4/656 ER; (Ild) Savàrin the White lands at Savar’Dirm
  • 98 HK, 4/656 ER; (Ild) Battle of Gyrdon Pass (De); Battle of Gyrdon (De); Gyrdon Falls
  • 98 HK; 4/656 ER; (Ild) Burning of Gyrdon, Savàrin withdraws
  • 98 HK; 4/656 ER; (Ild) Battle of the Vyr (De); Horseclans united (Athwyn, Hedrym, Nadryn, Tirwyn, Widrym…)
  • 99 HK; 4/657 ER; (Ild) Battle of Dolrum Dayr (De)
  • 99 HK; 4/657 ER; (Ild) Siege of Essèrwyl (De); Savarin accepts surrender of city
  • 99 HK; 4/657 ER; (Ild) Battle of Carradyr (De); Battle of Maavayr (De); Battle of Ðarawyl (De)
  • 100 HK; 4/658 ER; (Ild) Construction of Savarin’s Wall
  • 104 HK; 4/662 ER; (Dek) High King ordered Savarin to give Ummònyr free rein
  • 104 HK; 4/662 ER; (Ild) Battle of Nyrrm Nalam (De)
  • 104 HK; 4/662 ER; (Ild) Battle of Kirít Nalam (Eo)
  • 104 HK; 4/662 ER; (Ild) Battle of Inùnda Kirit (Eo)

(Dek) The Azali-Jædð War, 113-194 HK

  • 116 HK, 4/674 ER; (Ild) The Western Campaign begins
  • 116 HK, 4/674 ER; (Ild) Battle of Dolrum Ildûn (De)
  • 116 HK, 4/674 ER; (Ild) Cult of Drāūn arrives in Ildûn, razes the Dulrum Aylyrea
  • 119 HK, 4/677 ER; (Ild) Cult of Drāūn granted regional powers
  • 120 HK, 4/678 ER; (Ild) Ildûn becomes city-state of Dekàlas
  • 124 HK, 4/682 ER; (Ild) Savàrin is crowned King of Ildûn
  • 564 HK, 4/1022 ER; (Ild) The Second Temple, Kyrm Orydràun is completed
  • 837 HK, 4/1395 ER; (Ild) Caphàri army lands at Serdûn, Ildûn with ninety ships
  • 837 HK, 4/1395 ER; (Ild) Queen Ealyma of Hedrewyr receives lurdùrun of Drāūn
  • 837 HK, 4/1395 ER; (Ild) Caphàri amry is divided and defeated

(Dek) The Tasseri Campaigns, 840-1026 HK

(Dek) The Second Acèntyra-Dekàli War, 1244-1246 HK

  • 1246 HK, 4/1804 ER; (Ild) Kyrm Orydrāūn and the Great Circle are destroyed

(Dek) Time of Plagues, 368-390 DR

  • 386 DR, 4/2190 ER; (Ild) Plague of Flies emerges in Ildûn, spreads to Vulmùra

Dynasties

Dekàlan

Post-Dekàlan

  • Ælyri – Athewyr
  • Ælyri – Hedrèwyr
  • Ælyri – Layrdàwyr
  • Ælyri – Nadrèwyr
  • Ælyri – Tiréwyr
  • Ælyri – Widrèwyr
  • Ildûni

Nomenclature: Ilduun Dekàlic: Ildûn (place), Ildûni (pertaining to), Ildûnyn (resident), Ildûnyr (people), Ildûnic (sublanguage of Dekàlic)