|
I
Itis Foundation
– MD 0 – Meteor Drop
A meteor fell from the sky, creating a hole (currently this place is called Ludum, n. 29).
– MD 1 – Itis Foundation
Queen Itis of Algeron sent a group of miners and scholars to study the place. The envoy established a camp near an old ruin (a manor destroyed in past wars, the position was near Foundation Pillar, n. 2). The name of the camp was Itis, to honour the Queen.
– MD 2 – Initial studies
The envoy discovered that the meteor transformed some of the rocks, creating a new type of mineral.
– MD 7 – Extraction project quit
After years of research the experts found no special properties on the mineral. So scholars went home with teleport and other supernatural transportation. Alas there wasn’t enough magic for everyone, so the miners found themselves stuck there.
The surroundings were too dangerous: Itis, placed in the middle of Algeron, was surrounded by bandits and quarrelsome nobles.
– MD 7 to 63 – Reallocation
The miners decided to build a manor and start to farm. The nearby land was fertile, but was often used as battleground. Itis became an unwillingly shelter for nobles; meanwhile starving soldiers used to pillage city storages and farm fields.
– MD 64 to 115 – The Age of Travelling Merchants
A peaceful span of time.
Commerce became a rich business in Algeron, and Itis was on two main routes.
Nobles struggled to acquire the city for tactical advantage, and to collect road fees. Itis, supported by merchants, succeeded in remaining neutral; and it flourished for some decades.
People of Itis decided to sell the mineral created by the meteor: they called it Itian. It wasn’t a rich business, but it granted some income to the poor city.
– MD 115 to 118 – Itis Captivity
Lord Rodder, a descendant of Queen Itis, held the city with a group of knights and proclaimed himself ruler of Itis.
The other nobles, the merchants, and even the Crown saw this event as a bad omen, and threatened to seize the city if Lord Rodder wouldn’t retire.
Lord Rodder gave up only when an army, composed by a coalition of nobles, was spot near Itis.
II
Itis independence
– MD 118 – The Channel, the Old Walls and the first Podestà
After the captivity Itis citizens realized that their independence was at stake.
They dug a canal to create an artificial island (currently the Administration quarter and Velvet quarter), and dismantled the old manor, and used the stone to build walls (currently the inner walls, surrounding the island).
Astergius election: the richest families chose a podestà. Astergius, a renown lawyer, who studied in the schools of Arral Church.
– MD 120 – The Hospital of the People (currently used as The Last Blocard, n. 31)
Astergius ordered to build a Hospital out of the city walls, to cure any soldier asking for aid, no matter his loyalties. The primary goal of the hospital was to exhibit an implicit declaration of neutrality. The secondary goal was to gain soldiers sympathy and recruit veterans.
The hospital solved another issue: the Statuto of the city bound Itis to receive and cure nobles along with their men at arms. The hospital was a shelter to heal them; safely, outside of the city walls.
– MD 124 – The First Refusal
On the spring of 120 MD King Leorand I reached Itis with a pack of knights.
Astergius refused to grant him access, and, when threatened, explained two things.
First, the Hospital of the People was crowded of the soldiers under the banner of Lord Ammashin IV: a former ally of the crown, since Lord Ammashin III died covering the escape of King Leorand in the last war.
Secondly, on the other side of the river Alepp was camped Lord Rodder: the former ruler of Itis (MD 115 to 118: the Captivity) was also a pretender of the Throne in the past.
Astergius, when informed of the coming of the King, summoned Lord Rodder, offering him to become the Protector of Itis. Lord Ammashin disbanded army was already on the way to seek aid.
Alas nobles had their rules, and Astergius thought they could find an agreement to split Itis wealth, within a week. But at first they were only surprised to meet each other, and they grew nervous.
As said, the nobles had their rules. Astergius not.
Itis citizen, disguised as soldiers of each of the three sides, started skirmishes. Lord Ammashin was the first to react, followed by King Leorand, lastly Lord Rodder joined the fight.
King Leorand won the day, but he supported many casualties. Lord Ammashin was captured, and Lord Rodder was killed in battle.
– MD 125 – The Ban and the Triam Church
The winter after the battle passed, but the nobles didn’t forgive Astergius machinations. King Leorand put a bounty on the city and formally banned their citizens.
All nobles of Algeron were summoned to wage war against Itis to avoid that its example would be followed by others.
Nobles spent all the year to gather armies and sign treaties. So, at the end of the year they sent an ambassador to Itis.
The city had a new palisade, new walls, and a granary full of provisions. And the ambassador saw also a new rich building: the Triam Church (currently Triam Church n. 13).
In the past the faiths of Arral, Erathul and Lysinia tried to gather in one unique church, but nobles prevented this union. Astergius helped the clerics to find an agreement, and he granted them the rights to build their main temple in Itis. This spot was outside inner walls: Astergius needed the priests, but he didn’t trust them so much.
After this some of nobles decided to stand back and avoid the war.
Astergius summoned also bandits and other outlaws to defend the city, granting them freedom and forgiveness.
– MD 125 to 130 – Maelus and the Kleg
With the outlaws there was a man, known as Maelus. A former noble, who studied jurisprudence in Nevaria and then returned to Algeron finding his home razed.
Maelus found revenge, and became an outlaw for his wicked acts. He gained the respect and joined a band called the Kleg: a sort of vigilantes who roamed Algeron since decades.
Astergius offered Maelus, not only forgiveness, but also a place in the city, money and social status.
Maelus accepted, and started to act. He destroyed evidences of Itis betrayal and spread false rumours against enemy nobles. Lastly, Lord Ammashin died, poisoned while he was held as hostage under the protection of King Leorand.
This started new wars between nobles, and they forgot Itis.
– MD 130 to 140 – First golden age
Thanks to Astergius diplomacy and Maelus espionage Itis increased his power and richness.
– MD 141 – Astergius death
Astergius died for an heart attack. Triam church accused Maelus, but with no proof.
– MD 142 – The Commune and Maelus Ascension
Itis citizen swore to defend each other and claimed their independence: the city became a Commune.
There were two candidates to become Podestà (ruler of the city): Maelus and a priest of the Triam Church.
Maelus barely succeeded; and, at the end, he was nominated podestà of Itis.
III
Triam Church, the Short Age
– MD 143 to 147 The age of sticks and daggers
At first there was only preaching of Triam Church against Maelus.
Soon the struggled moved in the street. The battles were quick and brutal: the rioters used sticks while Kleg used daggers.
– MD 148 to 150 – Voltan dynasty and Triam War
Triam Church searched for help against the prosecution, and they chose to ally with the former enemies: the nobles.
Nobles accepted, and took some precaution against Kleg tactics.
First King Leorand’s son married Lord Rodder’s daughter, opening the Voltan dynasty, with King Daer Voltan.
Then all knights were summoned under Voltan’s banner. The unified army was revolutionized, especially the chain of commands.
Lastly the King asked the Triam partisans, experienced in fighting the Kleg, to train special troops for counter espionage. Agents were sent in the city to help the resistance.
Kleg, as reaction, seized every person connected to Triam: especially wives and children of the partisans. Maelus started also to recruit witches, the natural enemy of Triam Church.
– MD 151 – The Privileges and the Scisma
Maelus found some displeased priests.
He offered them richness, privileges (such as inherit properties in the name of the Church), and the promise to be declared State religion. Maelus granted one other thing: the recognition of Itis Church as the Leading Triam Church of all Algeron.
They accepted, and Triam Church had the Scisma: dissidents were called heretics.
One last clause: witches banishment. The witches were imprisoned, burnt at the stake or banned from the city.
IV
Itis Capital of Algeron
– MD 152 – MAJOR EVENT – Itis Ascension
Historians don’t concord about this. Someone said nobles were desperate, others said that Maelus exasperated them intentionally.
Voltan’s army attacked: 38000 trained soldiers against a city with 2000 armed men.
No compromise. Voltans thought a compromise would lead to another compromise, and another, and another, and at the end they would become old history. Noble sons would soon be mocked by miners sons.
No delay. Since Kleg could spread diffidence, revolts, and even killing family members of distant cities.
No mercy. Itis was an example of freedom, and too many revolts were rising in the rest of Algeron. The plan was to raze the city to the ground.
Maelus had only one option: to follow Itis common strategy and ally with a useful minority.
No one really knows how Maelus persuaded the witches to help him, again. Maybe it was part of a big plan and the banishment at 151 MD was a fake, or maybe witches had no choice.
The head of the witches was O’Eh. Maelus met her in the prisons, where someone said she trained witches for Itis, secretly.
They call themselves O’Eh sisterhood. Their expertise, obviously, was forbidden magic. And they were all women.
– The night of Blood and Ropes
Spies told Maelus that the attack would come on dawn. But he didn’t share the report with soldiers.
Instead Maelus freed O’Eh from the jail and gathered the witches in the old meteor mines. Out of the city, but hidden and opposite from the attackers main camps.
They weren’t the only ones exiting from the jails.
All criminals, all the old rebel priest, all prisoner of war… everyone was brought in the abandoned mines, but the prisoners were tied with ropes and chains.
O’Eh told Maelus they weren’t enough. They needed one thousand more, preferably children or good men and women.
It was a high amount, but Kleg agents were experts.
They kidnapped citizens, priest and anyone they found. The streets were full of people still in their night clothes, dragged on the stones.
Bards tell it was a nice day with clear sky when Voltans started marching.
The sacrifice began just after dawn.
O’Eh and other ten witches gathered in a circle while the apprentices ran around, and cut throats. One victim after the other.
Maelus spent all drug reserves to mitigate pain of the victims, but it wasn’t enough for everyone. Prisoners were screaming.
Blood and corpses covered the place, and the floor started glowing.
Some of the O’Eh apprentices cuddled up on their legs, lying in the blood, panicked. The other apprentices sacrificed these shocked colleagues as common victims.
O’Eh and the ten witches were chanting.
When the majority of apprentices became too tired to cut throats Maleus ordered Kleg agents to continue the work. Maelus himself was covered with blood.
At last the tonality of the chant grew up.
Magic light flowed from the ground to O’Eh and the other witches, embracing them in a cocoon of red energy. The circle floated above the ground.
Within a minute they were all bawling in agony. Some of them started before, others afterwards. O’Eh was the last.
The ground trembled: a little shake. Itis citizen thought it was the marching army.
Then the land tore up. Red flaming hands clutched Voltan’s soldiers, at least the ones who didn’t fell in the rifts. Giant made by blood, three meters high, ran in the battle shattering enemy rear lines, ripping, crushing, breaking.
Maybe Voltan’s army could resist, but they panicked. Someone said the revised chain of commands was too recent, others said that it was the only thing that made someone survive.
Algeron attacked and, as the survivors said, it fell in the bloody arms of Itis.
King Daer Voltan, badly injured, survived… and he was decleared king of Algeron unified kingdom.
Everyone was surprised when Maelus sent a Kleg team to save King Voltan from the slaughter, and then appointed him as official ruler, with his capital: Itis.
King Daer Voltan monarchy endured for decades, alas many said he was a puppet.
O’Eh Sisterhood became an official institution, to balance Triam Church.
Itis citizens built a mausoleum to remember the victim of the sacrifice (currently Mausoleum at n. 3).
– MD 156 – The last rope
The war left deep scars.
Maelus was changed (someone built because he loved O’Eh). He became less vigilant, less cruel, or maybe only old.
One of the sacrificed victim was a good and beloved man, as many others. But this one had a son: Sir Lir Bracchi, who never forgot the event.
Triam Church wanted revenge for the sacrificed priest; witches didn’t forgive Maulus for the banishment, and nobles asked for compensation.
Sir Lir Bracchi wanted only justice. And it was him who captured Maelus and set him on trial.
Maelus was hanged at the end of year 149.
Itis tried to erase him from the records. On the other hand, they built a statue for Astergius (currently Statue of Astergius at n. 5).
Kleg was reorganized and became an official institution. The organization was divided in two sections: one for intelligence, and one for assassination. Shadows and Daggers. In this way Itis powers intended to prevent the formation of another Maelus.
Sir Lir Bracchi and his family gained the privilege to manage city guards. All members of House Bracchi swore to remain neutral in politics, never to support any faction.
In the centuries, they almost respected this oath (their house is currently at n. 12).
– MD 162 The Itian commerce
Itian mineral became a symbol of Itis power, but it was limited.
A merchant, name Ludum, gained the privilege to reopen the mines for the extraction. Alas the place changed after the night of Blood and Ropes (MD 145).
– MD 168 – Walls on the mine
The mines of Itian were attracting raw magic. Creatures started to come out from the tunnels.
The city built a wall to contain them.
– MD 175 – Ludum vanishing
Ludum continued the extraction of Itian; but the income was decreasing since he needed to hire Bracchi’s guards to defend the miners.
After the disappearance of an entire miner team, Itis government decided to retire Ludum privilege of extraction. The merchant contested, so the rulers challenged Ludum to enter himself in the tunnels.
No one expected he would do that, but he was in bankrupt and had too many creditors, so he did.
And never came back. Since then the place is called Ludum.
– MD 180 – Closing the Runes
The mines were closed; but some creature started to exit, despite the walls.
O’Eh Sisterhood and Triam Church cooperate to craft a spell to contain anything going out from there. They chiselled a large circle of runes.
After that Ludum was used as a prison. People who were sent there never came back.
– MD 211 – The Constitution of Algeron
King Daer Voltan died, at very old age. He called Itis: the city of beauty and nightmares.
Before his death King Daer wrote a Constitution for Algeron, and solved the binding situation of his succession. No one wanted another war, and the few dissidents died in the usual “Kleg” incidents.
The monarchy became an elective monarchy, and the ruler of Itis gained the rights of a prince elector.
V
The Wars with Nevaria
– MD 266 – Daer Bank
Itis rich market was the setting of the first banks. Daer bank, managed by the third grandson of King Daer, was the only one who persisted through the years.
– MD 315 to 319 – The war of Purple Fire
First war with Nevaria
Caused by religious contrast between Achanites (Nevaria) and Triamites (Algeron).
Vargar the Enlightened, devoted to Achan, invaded Algeron from the north, leading an army of crusaders who outnumbered Algeron militia. Against all odds Vargar lost the main battle against the force led by Siver Ironshield, a knight of Algeron, devoted to Lysinia. Although Siver died near the end of the battle, in a duel against Vargar.
The place of the battle, now called planes of the Tragedy, is cursed, cause of the high amount of magic cast there.
Algeronians called it “War of Purple Fire” since the mages of both armies used this weapon. Both nations agreed that purple fire was a “wicked weapon” and they both accused the other side to start with it.
Nevarians called it “War of the Lost Visions”, and afterwardsVargar was reminded as “the Blinded”. Someone added that Kandahul, a nevarian mage, betrayed him.
The war ended when O’Eh Sisterhood found a way to counterspell .
Algeron won.
– MD 354 – Castal Bank
Castal bank foundation.
– MD 373 to 397 – The war of the lost chalice
Second war with Nevaria
Official cause of the war: right of succession.
Real cause: the Kleg financed revolts in Nevaria.
Nevaria won the war and Kleg was officially closed. Unofficially it became a secret society.
The war was called “of the lost chalice” since Nevaria and Algeron both claimed to be right rulers of a region whose liege, who died without direct heirs, had a chalice as badge.
VI
Fall and Rise of Itis
– MD 422 – Emeral competition
The islanders opened new commercial routes, by sea, and competed with Algeron merchants.
– MD 451 – Economic depression
Algeron merchants couldn’t stand against the competitors. Algeron economy became poor.
Kleg was officially reopened, but it was adopted only for internal matters.
– MD 453 – Famine
After the economic depression societies went bankrupt, and the people were starving.
– MD 465 to 535 – Magic commerce, second Golden Age
Itis’ merchants settled an alliance with O’Eh Sisterhood and Triam Church.
Resources of merchants supported by power of magic granted an economical boom.
VII
The Black Age
– MD 536 – The big melt
Daer bank acquired Castal bank, they became the Castal & Daer.
– MD 544 – Magic Plague
Commerce and production were every day more automated by magic.
So many spells broke the Nebula, and all Algeron contracted the magic plague.
– MD 546 – Magic laws
The plague ended; and spellcasting was now restricted by special laws.
O’Eh Sisterhood moved their base outside the city palisade (currently O’Eh Tower at n. 34).
Itis had a new economic depression.
– MD 551
Clarion was recruited in the Kleg. (Short stories: Kleg)
– MD 562 – War of the Last Glow
Algeron secretely summoned an undead army and sent it against Nevaria. (Book: Invisible Plot, currently retired from print)
– MD 564 – Isles War
Book: Shadow of the Enchantress.
|
