The League of Ardun

1/25/11 4:38 PM

History:
The War of the Five Kingdoms:
The continent of Ardun consisted of 5 autonomous realms: Rampul, Trollgar, Bestor,
Windwell, and Trandorn. Some 180 years ago, these kingdoms undertook a bloody
battle for control of the land. The exact event or events that led to this sudden all out
war are still argued over, but after 30 years of bloody battle, the 5 nations were
unified under the rule of King Dasker from victorious Windwell. He took the new title
of Emir and formed the unified League of Ardun. The Emir rules over the League,
while each of the 5 States of Ardun are managed by Governors who are chosen by
the Emir. To read more about the creation of the League, you are encouraged to
read Korados the Sages text As Five Fingers Make One Fist: The Formation of the
League of Ardun.
Soon after the War of the 5 Kingdoms, however, Emir Dasker found himself the
leader of a bankrupt court. Hed used most of his kingdoms funds in winning the
waras the other four realms had spent theirs on the way to losing the war--and now
had no money to ensure the stability of his new empire. He turned to the largest
collection of wealth available to him: The Guild of Merchant Traders.
The Guild:
The Guild of Merchant Traders represented the wealthiest and most influential
Merchant Princes throughout the 5 Kingdoms and had been in existence for at least
120 years before the League began. Its primary aim was to establish and maintain
trading ties outside of Ardun and generally ensure that conditions within Ardun
remained as favorable as possible to trade and mercantilism generally. Over the
years, the members of the Guild and the Guild itself have become unimaginably
wealthy, much more so than any of the rulers of the original 5 Kingdoms. Now that
Emir Dasker had turned to them for money, they decided to formalize their power
and influence by negotiating an official role in the governing of Ardun.
The Guild as this arm of government was to be called consists of the 5 most successful
Merchant Princes and acts as a sort of Parliament, and actually makes most of the

governing decisions for the League. Gradually, these 5 highest Merchants took over
the role of Governor for each region. The Emir has become more and more of a
figurehead, although he has the very important role of being the Accountant of the
Guild. Every 6 years, any member of the Guild of Merchant Traders can submit his
books to see if he has done well enough to become a Guildmaster, the title held by
those 5 voting members of the Guild. This ensures that none of the governing
members of the Guild forget their commitment to the world of trade that helped create
the League of Ardun in the first place. Currently, in the year of 589 ADE (After the
Dwarven Exodus), the 5 Guildmasters are
Allepo from Rampul
Luminar from Trollgar
Tibalt from Bestor
Eathus from Windwell
Ossul from Trandorn.
The current Emir is Ken-Lo and has his main palace in Koros in Windwell.
The Great Dwarf Exodus:
A nation of dwarves had shared the continent of Ardun centuries ago, living in their
mountain keeps deep within the Mountainous Spine. With the exception of a few
skirmishes, the two peoples had no problems, maintaining trading ties with each
other over the centuries.
However, in the year 30 BDE (Before the Dwarven Exodus), a new religious fervor
swept through Arduns human population, a movement called The Cleansing. This
movement was primarily associated with NyRay, a Goddess of Water and Purity, but
the fervor and evangelicalism associated with it crossed through nearly all religions.
It manifested largely as a more fervent and focused religious worship and in the case
of the influential NyRayvians, it also included a belief that the humans were
undergoing a much needed spiritual cleansing that required humans to no longer
share their lands with other races.
In these years, the Dwarves were hounded and harassed until their homes even in the
deepest parts of the mountains were no sanctuary. Rather than fight a battle to stay
outnumbered in a land that apparently no longer welcomed them, they left to join
dwarves living elsewhere far away across the Ocean Black. This event was such a

huge cultural event, that Ardunians currently use it to keep track of the years. They
count backward and forward from the Great Dwarven Exodus, BDE and ADE.
Centuries later, soon after the formation of the League in 320 ADE, Dwarves returned
wanting to reopen trading ties. This time, they brought Elves with them, a people that
the humans of Ardun were completely unfamiliar with. Apparently, in their travels,
they found the island of the elves and were accepted and welcomed by them. They
have shared the Island of Ysprus ever since.
From that day until 596 ADE, the dwarves and elves had kept representatives in
many cities throughout Ardun as trading representatives and diplomats. No one
knows why, but in the middle of the night towards the end of that year, all the
dwarven and elven representatives left Ardun and there has been no further contact
with Ysprus. Their mission houses have just been left to gather dust.

Geography/Geology of Ardun:
Ardun is roughly divided in half by a huge mountain range called the Mountainous
Spine. There a few overland passes going through the mountains, but they are
poorly patrolled and overrun with dangerous creatures and the occasional bandit
band crazy enough to live in those rocks. North Ardun is a dry arid desert because it
is on the leeward side of the mountains and most of the moist ocean air leaves its
rains in southern Ardun. Other than a few oases found at natural springs, the north is
a rocky, sandy, hot place. There are two former realms in the north, Rampul in the
west and Trollgar to the east. The largest city in Rampul is Axinor, a major port city
and hub for fishing. It handles all trade with countries to the west of Ardun. Trollgar
is primarily a city state backed up to the Trollgar mountains in the middle of Trollgar
Lake. It is a center for mining and metallurgy. While it has the smallest population of
any of the realms, it is one of the richest.
Southern Ardun is a much lusher region, the mountains trapping most of the rain from
the ocean air. Much of region is rich farm lands, green subtropical forests, and
swamps. In the southeast corner of the continent is a small range called the Inky
Mountains, so named for their black and bluish color from the exposed, dark granite

rock. In this half of the continent, there are three former kingdoms: Bestor, Trandorn,
and Windwell. Bestor is the smallest of the kingdoms and is the home of Andronia on
the southern tip of Ardun. Trandorn skirts the Mountainous Spine and its biggest town
is Fellstonia. Its primarily the center of transcontinental trade and travel as it controls
the Stone Road, the only safe route through the Mountainous Spine. Most believe it
was built by the Dwarves before the Great Exodus. Fellstonias sister city on the
other side of the tunnel through the mountain is Stonephalia. They jointly control all
trade from North to South. Lastly is Windwell which was the realm that technically
won the War of the Five Kingdoms. It is the seat of the capital city of Koros. While it
is the seat of governmental powernot only the Emir but also the Guild are centered
hereit is also a very important port city, handling most trade to all continents and
islands to the East. It is far and away the largest and richest of all the cities of Ardun.
One feature of the Ocean Black is a long mountain range and reef system which
seems to connect up with the Mountain Spine on Ardun and almost complete circles
the globe, so sea travel from the east cant easily reach Axinor directly just as sailing
from the west cant really reach Koros. Needless to say this helps make Fellstonia
and Stonephalia vital to the circulation of goods and people through Ardun, indeed,
throughout the world.