Each Thursday this year, I focus on a different aspect of the world I\u2019ve created and played D&D in for over 20 years, in the hopes of honing the ideas and cementing enough in place to settle the world in my own mind. I\u2019m fleshing out the history of the continent. This time, its the history of the Thraxian Clans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
There\nwas no Thrax prior to the sundering, and the Thraxians keep little information\nregarding their origins beyond oral traditions passed down from clan shaman to\nclan shaman. Their tales say that they were a great and prosperous people\nliving upon the plains at the center of the world. They had great leaders, they\nexecuted great wars, and they were feared by their neighbors for the battle\nprowess and raiding expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nsundering, they say, destroyed it all. Their lands were where the final battles\nof the Demongate wars were fought, and where the Demon queen rent the world.\nTheir lands were blasted into oblivion and their people all but destroyed. It\ntook decades, but eventually, their people started to find each other and\njoined together. They made crude ships and sailed them into the great unknown\nfor lands that weren\u2019t completely devastated by the Demon Queens Touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their\ncrude fleet landed on the shores of Tysis, just south of the Ironarm Mountains.\nThe forest here was lush, and teeming with wildlife. It was a pleasant place.\nTheir leader, a wise warrior named Thrax and his wife, a shaman named Zaraill,\nlead their people into creating settlements down the coast, and then, shortly\nthereafter, into the woods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thrax\nled the first of these expeditions personally. They discovered woods were\nreplete with towering Marble Maples and Whisper Pines, flooded with game, and\nriddled with burbling books and streams. It was a peaceful and undisturbed\nplace, one that felt like it could be home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They founded\nthe town of Ugarith a few days south of the other settlements and well within\nreach of the coastal towns. Here, they decided, they would build a great city\nthat would shine in glory and power. It is around this time that they begin\ncalling themselves Thraxians, those who follow Thrax, and the different tribes\nbegan to settle into a single, unified culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the\nfollowing months, they lived a peaceful, if tough, life. Thrax returned to the\ncoast to begin preparation for a large caravan to help populate Ugarith, and\nthose left behind awaiting his return. Their life, however, was forever changed\nwhen they learned that their suppositions about the forest being an uninhabited\nwilderness were upended at nearly the same time in two different locations. To\nthe south, at Ugarith, Forest Goblins attacked a Thraxian hunting party and\nleft no survivors, while to the north, one of the coastal towns was attacked by\na tribe of giants. Within weeks, the Thraxians were being raided from both\ndirections. Quickly showing their skill and mettle, they met both challenges\nhead on. Clans were directed to address either the giants or the goblins,\nsending hundreds of warriors to support each front. The Thraxians were shrewd,\nand when, within the first campaign season the goblins were defeated, Thrax\nimpressed by the courage, cunning, and tactical acumen of these forest goblins,\noffered them a place within his people. Since that day the goblins have been\nstaunch allies, integrating with the Thraxians into a single culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To the\nnorth, the situation was very different. The giants were brutal, strong and\ncompletely fearless. Hearty and powerful, they felt it their right to take what\nthey wanted and leave nothing for others. Many tribes and clans, on both sides,\nwere destroyed over the course of the years of conflict and raids. Eventually,\nthe Thraxians were able to persuade a few rogue and hungry individuals that\nworking together was worth restraining from crushing and eating a few people.\nThis was a turning point, as giants started to notice that the little people\nnot only weren\u2019t going to kill them on site, but that they would also get arms,\narmor, and food. Soon each Thraxian clan had made alliances and partnerships\nwith the nearby giant tribes, and today the giants can be found in every Thraxian\ncity and town as a vital and important part of its culture. They are strong\ndefenders, powerful workers, and mighty builders, though a bit on the dim side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having\nintegrated the goblins and the giant, the Thraxians learned that there were\neven greater threats further into the woods. The Fey creatures of Levisha were\npushing east into the forest looming close to the coast. They considered it\ntheir own territory and called it the Kiyanni meaning \u201cLand of the Tall Trees.\u201d\nThey had ruthlessly exterminated many goblin Tribes, pushing ever eastward.\nNow, with the Thraxians on their side, they thought it was possible to defeat\nthe Levishans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nfirst Thraxian encounter with the Levishans was brutal. The Levishans, much\nlike the goblins before, ambushed a group of Thraxians and slaughtered them\nall. They then sent an emissary to the nearby town and demanded that the\nThraxians move out, or be slaughtered like their scouts. The Thraxians refused\nand the Levishans made their move to attack the town with a dozen rangers and a\nfew mages, thinking this would be an easy victory. They were not prepared for\nthe stiff resistance and powerful warriors of Thrax. What they assumed would be\na quick extermination of a defenseless town turned into a complete elimination\nof the attacking force. Each man and woman in the town fought against the\nintruders with a ferocity unmatched by the Levishans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war\nthat ensued was long and bloody, but the Thraxians were prepared for the\nconflict, and the Levishans continued to underestimate their enemy. The\nThraxians were able to withstand ambushes, bring to bear more numerous forces,\nand meet the Levishans on battlefields time and again, with Thrax leading them\nto glorious victory after glorious victory, pushing the Levishans back at every\npossible moment. Finally, the elves knew they were defeated and, in a great\nbattle at the edge of the Ironarm Mountains, the Elven Nature Mages rent a huge\nrift that separated the once continuous forest in two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nThraxians had enough. Their forest was forever separated from that of the\nLevishans, and the two would never bother each other again. They withdrew from\nthe Rift and returned to the settling of the forest of Thrax, building cities\nand towns and creating a civilization that, for the most part, stands to this\nday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nages, the Thraxians settled the great forest, but there were always those who\nwere gripped with a powerful wanderlust, who needed to move about and see more\nthan what they had. These people and tribes first began spreading south and\nencountered the Alorans, whom they raided mercilessly, taking what they could\nand destroying what they could not. Nomadic and tribal, the Aloran military\nstructure was unable to properly address the problem until they decided to\nbuild a massive wall across the northern border to attempt to halt their\nincursions, from the Prahsh Hills to the Albremak wood, the wall ran, and for\nthe most part, kept out raiders, though no barrier is infallible and there were\nstill some raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nThraxians then, meeting resistance to the south, pushed westward and\nencountered the rotting and collapsing Morresti, who were ripe for the picking.\nWaves of Thraxian raiders crashed into the falling Kingdom, who was unable to\nput up any real defense. The Thrxians were the final blow, and though they\ndidn\u2019t know it, they buried the remains of a thousand-year-old empire beneath\nthe blood and bodies of its last inhabitants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally,\nthe Thraxians came to the lands of the Jeslith, smallfolk who lived in the\npleasant and rolling hills along the coast. They too were ripe for plunder and\nwere quickly pillaged, putting a number of villages to the axe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\nover the course of a winter, when the Thraxians settled down in their houses to\nsurvive the cold, Jeslith went to work. In the cold and darkness, they prepared\nfor the next year of the Thraxians invasion, and when the first raiders\napproached the bountiful hills they had raided the year prior they encountered\na wall of briars and brambles some 30 feet high and unknowably deep, with vines\nas thick as a tree trunk and thorns as long and sharp as daggers. Facing this\nbarrier, the Thraxians turned back. To the north, the Levishans stoutly\ndefended their lands, prepared now for the Thraxian fury, and to the south, the\nHrondring fought them to a standstill, their power, and ferocity matching that\nof their foes. For some time, the Thraxians were masters of northern Tysis,\nstretching nearly from coast to coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And,\nfor ages, this was how it stood. Thraxians separating the Levishans from the\nrest of the world while raiding the southern lands of Alora, Killbar, and other\nindependent cities. Then came the fierce and powerful Mekeraang the Conqueror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Little\nis known about his younger years, however, by the age of 19 he had united a\nnumber of clans beneath his banner, and with his brother Grathang, commanded\nthousands of Thraxians. With this power, he did the only thing he could, he\ninvaded the south. He split his force into two, with his brother commanding the\nforces against the Alorans and leading himself the forces against the\nKillbarans. Neither Kingdom was prepared for an invasion of such an\nunprecedented scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nAloran wall was breached, and Alora was overrun, its people panicking and\nfleeing south, where many descendants remain to this day. Grathangs forces\nlooted cities like Yanhelim, Hilea, Barchrus and the Golden city of Carithus.\nEven the Capital city of Alora, Yalis, was not safe. The Thraxians offered two\noptions: Tithe, or be completely destroyed. Those who capitulated paid a heavy\nprice but were left alone once the tribute was paid. Those who resisted were\nslaughtered, and the massive horde rolled southward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nKillbarans, on the opposite side of the Toldiri hills, put up a much greater\nfight but were unable to resist both the might of the Thraxians and the raw\npower of the giants. Legions were put in the path of the horde to stop it and\nnot one of them survived the encounter. Years into the Terror, Mekeraang did\nlose a few battles when the Killbarans developed improved tactics, but he\nquickly recovered and countered in ways that were never conceived of in\nKillbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over\nthe span of nearly 20 years, Mekeraang crushed Alora, conquered significant\nparts of Tyndaria, crushed and occupied nearly all of Killbar, save the Imerian\nPeninsula, and even forced the Hrondring to capitulate across most of the\nToldiri hills, until finally the forced of Killbar and Tyndaria joined together\nto fight the menace, with the few Hrondring resistance fighters. Each nation\nhas a different notion as to what happened at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Killbarans\nbelieve that Mekeraang was defeated after slaying the Arch Magus by the Captain\nof the Praetorian Guard in single combat. The Tyndarians say that Mekeraang\ndied of Scarlet Fester in his camp, being surrounded and cut off from all food\nand water for weeks by a Tyndarian Force, and the Thraxians themselves relay\ntales of Mekeraang facing down an entire company of charging Aloran Cavalry\nwith his hand-picked Companions, going down fighting to the last warrior. No\none knows the truth, but his death and the subsequent collapse of the\nConquering Horde ended the Age of Kings and ushered in the current dating system\nof AR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\nthe dissolution of the Conquering horde, the Thraxians eventually fell back to\ntheir northern territories as the Killbarans, Tyndarians, and their allies\nhunted as many of them down as they could. They finally withdrew into the forest\nof Thrax where they seem content, and eventually even lost connections to the\nwild tribes of the north outside of the forest itself. There, the Thraxians\nlived as warring tribes and raiding clans, leaving the worries of the world\noutside their lands to others who had better use for it, and there they stayed\nuntil they were approached by a Thraxian who had allied with Moduru and swore\nto lead them to glory unending. Quickly, many who sought that exact glory and\npower joined and a great host marched on Tyndaria and, eventually, occupied the\ncity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though\nModuru was eventually defeated and the occupation broke, many of the Thraxians\nstayed in Tyndaria, creating a large population that exists to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s\nall for the history of Thrax. There is, of course, more beyond but this gets us\ncaught up to the 4th age!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until\nnext time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week for my Coldforged article, its part 6 of a series on the History of Tysis. This time, a condensed history of Thrax. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,50,30,32,9,12,22],"tags":[159,186,257,272,549,630,754,807,808,814],"class_list":["post-5479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5th-edition","category-coldforged","category-dd","category-dmxp","category-other","category-rpg","category-world-building","tag-campaign-setting","tag-coldforged","tag-dming","tag-dungeons-and-dragons","tag-other-games","tag-rpg","tag-tysis","tag-world-building","tag-world-building-5e","tag-wotc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6930,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5479\/revisions\/6930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seethingginger.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}