Lux Tenebris: The Southlands

            If you were to ask someone from Darkwater or Mountgate where the Southlands begin, they would probably describe the region south of the New Road and west of the Palatine Peninsula.  Ask the same question of someone from Alindor or Alindrast and they would laugh and say that they were the South.  Southlanders, however, would not include the Palatine Peninsula in the region, and would scoff at any part of Nur further north than Alorn's Wall or east of Dorem's Keep as being southern. Pretty much everyone agrees that the Southlands end at the banks of the Narnola River in the west.

            Culturally, the Southlands share a common history and heritage that dates back to the time of the Phoenix Kingdom, when the Kings of the South ruled from Goldcastle and the Northlands were nothing but wild frontier.  The Phoenix Kingdom collapsed over four hundred years ago, at the Battle of Grey Hill, but Southlanders still talk of the event as if it were recent history.  They curse Athen Blackmantle's name to this day, burning him in effigy every winter, while Rochard, the last king's name, remains a popular choice for boys among humans and halflings.

            Halflings are more prevalent in the Southlands than in any other part of Nur. They live quietly, in small villages or hamlets, farming the fertile valleys. Some halfling communities exist along the southern coast, but not many. Human communities dominate the Southshore and the northern and eastern regions, especially along the ruins of Alorn's Wall.

            There are no proper cities in the Southland, and few towns of any prominence.  Fairhill is, perhaps, the best known community outside the region.  Although it is a prominent trade and social hub, Fairhill is best known as the headquarters of the Knights of the Phoenix Crown.

            The Knights of the Phoenix Crown trace their history back to the Phoenix Kingdom. They were hand-picked by the King himself and charged with defending the kingdom from all threats, foreign and domestic.  The order served loyally and well for centuries, but was unable to prevent Athen Blackmantle's rebellion. Indeed, the order was betrayed by two of its most respected members, Sir Tellorol Leanleaf and Sir Ormero the Doomed, who chose to ally with their elven kin against King Rochard.  Although King Rochard died and the Phoenix Kingdom ended, the Knights of the Phoenix Crown remain, continuing to defend the South and its peoples from all manner of threats.

            Elves are neither liked nor welcome in the Southlands. Many historians agree that if the elves had not betrayed King Rochard and allied with the Blackmantle that the Phoenix Kingdom could have survived. To this day, however, debate continues as to why the elves betrayed the king. The most widely accepted theory, at least in the South, is that they allied with the Blackmantle because he was a half-elf. Blackmantle's mother was from a powerful elvish family, and it is widely agreed that they engineered his birth to give them a road to the throne.

            Whatever their reasons, when the rebellion failed the elves found themselves driven from the South. They fled north, establishing the cities of Goldsun and then Moonhome.  Even the wood elves fled the region, claiming that the traitorous acts of their cousins had poisoned the very land and water against the race. 

            There seemed to be some truth to the wood elves claim that the Southlands had been tainted by the rebellion.  Droughts, forest fires and pestilence seemed to fall upon the land. The Southshore was beset by storms and hurricanes.  Communities that had survived and thrived for centuries were wiped out, some in the space of a few days, others more slowly.

            With no central authority, lawlessness swept the land. Banditry became common, almost expected, and the surviving coastal communities turned to piracy and shipwrecking to survive.

            Eventually, the leaders of the larger communities, as well as the heads of various temples and the Knights of the Phoenix Crown came together and hammered out an agreement, known formally as the Compact of Three Rivers. The compact established a unified legal code across the Southlands, based heavily upon the old legal code of the Phoenix Kingdom. It also established a series of conditions and treaties wherein the individual members would agree to suspend any disagreements if the region was threatened by hostile forces, foreign or domestic. The compact would be evaluated every ten years, although it could be evaluated earlier if a majority of signatories desired.

            Although the compact had no immediate affects, it laid the groundwork for greater cooperation and planning among the various Southern factions.  The mutual defense aspects of the compact would not need to be invoked for almost seventy years after the initial signing, when a plague of undeath would sweep the region.

            The Gray Wardens appeared at this time, and, working with the Knights of the Phoenix Crown, ended the situation by tracking down and executing the Carrion Court, a group of evil necromancers.  Afterwards, the Grey Wardens would remain, declaring themselves guardians of the region's graveyards, ruins and haunted places.  And although many would find their presence, and their nature, unnerving, no one could deny that they kept the dead quiet and in their graves.

            The compact would be invoked again, ten years later, when the Kraken Brotherhood tried to seize control of the Southshore, to turn it back into a haven for piracy. The Pirates War, as it became known, would drag on for almost three years before the Brotherhood would admit defeat and retreat.

            In general, however, the Southlands have remained largely at peace.  Considered somewhat backwards by others, there is little trade between the Southland and the other regions of Nur. Insular and close-knit, the region's communities look after themselves and each other, preferring to ignore events happenings beyond their borders.

            Unfortunately, the Southland has not been able to ignore the Draconic Invasion.  General Akor Korkiri led over 10,000 dragonborn legionnaires from Calhorne, in the east, to Moontree, in the west. Korkiri chose the most direct route, leading his army through the Southland. What little resistance they encountered, the dragonborns responded to with lethal ferocity.  Whole communities were laid waist to, while others were stripped of anything of value or use. The Draconic Legions moved quickly, leaving death and hardship in their wake.

            However, after laying siege to Moontree and burning the coastal city to the ground, Korkiri chose to return to Calhorne along the same route. This would prove to be a fatal mistake, as the compact had been invoked and the South prepared a lethal greeting for the dragonborn invaders.  Knowing they could never field a proper army against the legions, the Southlanders adapted guerilla tactics.  They harangued the draconic legions with arcane spells and divine curses, assassinated key commanders and destroyed supplies. They prevented them from foraging by adopting scorched earth tactics, destroying anything in the legions' route that could be of use.  Southlander casualties were light, while draconic losses went from a trickle to a flood.

            It was roughly 1500 miles from the banks of the Narnola River to Calhorne. Before they were even half way across the Southland, even after abandoning their spoils from Moontree, the Draconic Legions had been decimated by the Southern tactics. At the end, the Knights of the Phoenix Crown led a frontal assault upon the dispirited remnants of the draconic forces, decimating them. No quarter was given or asked for and the dragonborn dead were left where they fell, to replenish the land they had invaded.