Excerpted from A History of The Summorian Conflicts with the Kingdom of Falkaria, by Count Grevans of Ko-athan

  For decades after the defeat of Klaaverius’ armies by the combined might of the newly founded kingdoms of Falkaria and Summor, the fragments of the Atenlan Empire knew peace. The three descendant realms all turned inward for a time and focused their strength and resources on shoring up their holdings. Populations grew, although it would be a long time yet before they approached pre-Fall levels. In Falkaria and Summor peace brought investment in public works projects, and the foundations of many key buildings and cities still in use today were set in this time.

  As time passed, dynasties were established in these realms. Gaerdryn handed the crown of Falkaria down to his son, Kaerdryn, who in turn passed the reins of leadership to his own son, Gaerdryn II. Though named for his grandfather, Gaerdryn II was nothing like the first – he is known to history as being short of temper, ill-mannered and generally thought to be as foolish as a peasant. Gaerdryn II was known to be a man of great passions – for wine, women and fighting primarily.

  In Summor, Queen Summ proved to be extraordinarily long lived, outlasting her brother and his heir in her stewardship of the realm. If the extant chronicles of the time are to be believed, Queen Summ lived for nearly a century. When Summ finally passed her own children were all long dead themselves, and so the crown of Summor was passed to her granddaughter. Hiveria was the firstborn daughter of Summ’s own firstborn daughter, Tombera, and was known for her icy demeanor throughout the realm even before she ascended the throne.

  Exactly what brought about the rift between Hiveria and Gaerdryn II is a fact lost to the sands of time, but suffice to say there was a rift between them. Some historians posit this rift was the result of Gaerdryn’s behavior at his cousin’s crowning, where it is known that his outbursts and “feats of strength” during the banquet led to the newly crowned Queen requesting her guard remove the besotted King of Falkaria from the feast hall. While this certainly seems a likely root cause, this historian doubts it could have been enough to spark the First Summorian War entirely on its own.

  From a political perspective, Gaerdryn II’s allies positioned the invasion of the Ko valley that sparked the conflict as a matter of tariff enforcement. Smugglers had long plied their trade along the length of the Ko river, even as far back as the days of the Empire when the river marked the boundary between territories. There is no doubt that the smuggling that occurred there (and still does, if we’re being honest), was a real challenge for the administrators of Falkaria. Whether this challenge was sufficient to justify the invasion of sovereign territory remains an item of historical debate.

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  That notwithstanding, Gaerdryn invaded Ko and thus began the First Summorian War.

  The war itself was short and decisive. Summor’s superior numbers, superior military technology and more numerous and skilled magic users were able to quickly rout the Falkarian forces. Within months of the invasion Gaerdryn II found himself besieged in Falkaria Castle and his forces routed.

  If not for the bravery of Bargrath of Illheim, a common soldier from the Duchy of Fjaalgard, the war would no doubt have ended in a crushing defeat for Falkaria. Bargrath undermined the besieging forces in one night of mayhem and chaos, leading a small force of battle hardened northern berserkers in a midnight raid on the Summorian army besieging Falkaria Castle during the full dark of the new moon.

  Bargrath’s raid left the Summorian army headless, as his small party succeeded in assassinating most of the army’s leadership, and starving, as they were also able to burn or otherwise render useless the army’s food stores as well.

  Shortly thereafter Queen Hivernia conceded to send an embassy to negotiate a peace treaty with Gaerdryn II. Gaerdryn’s Dukes, however, had other plans for peace and negotiated behind his back with the Summorian ambassador, resulting in a peace treaty that saw Gaerdryn deposed and exiled in favor of his young son, Maerdryn I. In exchange, despite their position of weakness and what was essentially a loss for them in the conflict, the masterful Falkarian negotiators were somehow able to wrest control of the Ko valley from Summor.

  As Maerdryn had yet to reach his majority at the time of his crowning, his mother, the Queen Dowager, was installed as Regent and guided the realm through five years of prosperity until her son was of age to rule on his own. Though he had been young, and many years had passed, Maerdryn had not forgiven the Summorians for their role in his father’s exile – or his own Dukes for that matter, for negotiating behind his father’s back.

  Shortly after assuming control of Falkaria, Maerdryn called his Dukes to a council at his keep. With their heirs as witnesses, he tried them all as traitors to the Crown and Falkaria for their betrayal of Gaerdryn II. Maerdryn had the Duke’s executed publicly in the main market square of the Heights in Falkaria City, refusing them even the honor of death by blade. All three Dukes of Falkaria were hung, drawn and quartered before the clamoring crowds.

  That was only the beginning of Maerdryn’s quest for revenge. His bloodlust would soon incite the Second Summorian War.