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A Timeline of the History of the
Lunar Empire
The Gloranthan
Calendar: Lunar Time
source: The West Reaches ballad cycles
The west reaches of the new Lunar Empire erupted into war almost
immediatly following the ascent of the Goddess into the sky. Heirs to
Carmania, true and false, launched a furious war in the misguided
hope that the Empire would be weaker without their Goddess present.
The Red Emperor led his army to meet the invaders and gained the
first of many victories. He left Vakthan, one of his sons, in charge
of securing peace upon the West Reaches, and returned home with most
of his army.
The Vakthan-ilart clan ruled the Oronin Sultanate at the time, and waged a private war against the foes afterwards by maintaining an aggressive position. Forts were established in the Brass Mountains and were used as bases for war.
The entire Wane was spotted by war in this sector as the Empire and the Sweet Sea Confederation raided, prodded allies to war, and attempted to seize land. The area was more of a place for skill and adventure than large-scale invasions, although the latter did occur. We have no dates or names except for the opening fight, mentioned above. This long struggle was a triumph for the Vakthan-ilart clan. It officially ended in the next wane (2/12) when the Joker Prince of Worian threw his children into the raging Assail river and beheaded himself atop his fortress.
The Tripolis of Dara Happa had been liberated from the Carmanians in the Zero Wane by the Goddess, but although bound by treaty and oath, the Tripolis was not a portion of the Empire. Additionally the god Alkoth had never sworn to a treaty with the Goddess.
When the Emperor forbade Dara Happan river boats passage north of Elzast, the Tripolis ejected Lunar government officials from their cities. Lunar agents incited some Kostaddi tribes to revolt, but failed to bribe the Sable High Queen. The Tripolis seized all the property of Lunar citizens and sent them into exile, then began searching for allies.
Jannisor the Hero, a native of the Imther region, was one of the allies. He had gained his great fame and Herodom for the feat performed in 1/15 called "Jannisor's Triumph," wherein he imprisoned the Crazed Tribe. This tribe of mad people were the survivors, and descendants, of the (first) Battle of Chaos fought in 0/12. They had been wandering south through Jarst and Garsting wreaking havoc upon land and spirits, and defeated several terrible armies which attempted to fight ohm. Jannisor made new magics, depending on the local earth nymphs to imprison the mad people with the nets which the Hero had made. The act was successful, and the first of the Mad Sultanates was formed in Tork. From this Jannisor gained the name Chaos-Binder.
In 1/24 Jannisor answered a Dara Happan plea and raised an army of Laramite and Wilktar tribal warriors and magicians to accompany him. Two successive battles were fought at Einar's Farm (1/24) and Vashpolis (1/25) where Jannisor led the Dara Happan army and allies to crushing victories. In 1/26 the Red Emperor was maimed and his spirit bound within his body after a personal duel with the enemy Hero.
In 1/28 Jannisor led a volunteer army against the city of Glamour. The Outer City fell easily to his eager and skilled troops. The Great Bridge was assaulted and carried, and the cheering army entered the sacred city upon the wake of a Sable war band. Jannisor was aware that the Sable Folk were immune to the Lunar influences outside of the Inner walls, but he seemed ignorant of the deeper contacts between the "Lunar Deer" people and the Red goddess. This proved his undoing, and the Hero was killed by the Elder Star Twin, while the Sable People received the secrets of inspiration from the Younger Star Twin. The army of Glamour drove the rest of the invading army mad, to death or to slavery.
There followed ten years of sieges to conquer the Dara Happans. The cost was great, but the Dara Happan river allies were bought off and their mighty fire deities were dimmed by the growing Lunar Glow. By 1/38 the city of Alkoth, always the most powerful, surrendered, and their deity humbled before the Goddess, and accepted the pantheon.
source: Char-Un legends, especially the "Daka Panishi", or
Chores of Panishi
The reason for the deterioration in Lunar and Char-Un friendship is
not known at this time. It may have been longstanding, as hinted by
their non-appearance among the troop lists at the first victory
against the Blood Kings mentioned above. A famous Lunar
vase illustration shows a mounted warrior assaulting Glamour, but
we do not know if this was Char-Un.
The Char-Un legends state that their Kahn, Panishi, was cheated in a game by the Red Emperor, and robbed of his inheritance. When Panishi complained, the Emperor calmed him with a promise of "more land than you came from, more richness than your spirits could count." The Hero accepted, then learned that the Emperor had given hirn the realm of Erigia (the Emperor later used this method to rid himself of Ethilrist).
Erigia was, at that time, a dense conifer forest whose northern reaches were unknown to men, and whose Aldryami population had swollen after the overthrow of the elvish kingdoms of the Second Age. The prospect of nomadic cavalry overthrowing elves in their own woods looked dim, except that Panishi stirred his own magics and created a fearsome weapon.
The ritual was begun in 1/30, and maintained by refugee priests from the cities of Yuthuppa who had taken refuge with the Char-Un Kahn. It ended in 1/32 with the spell and event called Sky burn.
Skyburn began at dawn,"pale fire dripping from boughtips," and increased in intensity until at noon "Hellfire pouring from the sky, burning stone and soul." By dusk the entire land was naught but glowing embers, which still smoked the next day as the Kahn led his tribe to explore their new lands.
A large number of Aldryami survived, preserved by the most ancient magics of the inner forest. They assembled and met Char-Un in a battle called Elf Hate Won, fought in 1/32.
Afterwards the Aldryami turned westward, and moved over the Greystone Mountains into Fronela. Panishi then set upon his final Quest. He accomplished this by performing three tasks for Erigia's goddess, Mother of the Forest, whom had been badly offended by his actions. The successful completion of these heroic labors earned him his Herodom, and later immortalization as Founder of the Tribe. The land suffered cleansing winter until Panishi completed his task, but afterwards burst into renewed splendor for his people.
The southern lands of Peloria had maintained an uneasy peace with the Empire since their aiding Jannisor. They were fearful of the Empire, which erupted into a war in 1/4 when the Butterfly Princess was killed. Despite foreign intervention the land fell to the Emperor within two years.
Dara-ni, a previous subject state of Alkoth, provided refuge for the River People and Dara Happan refugees, and held a firm alliance with the elves of Rist, and maintained powerful allies among the barbarians of Sylila.
In 1/44 the Emperor ordered a Moonburn begun, modelled on the earlier Char-Un event. The different forms of Lunar magic required five years to complete the spell, and allowed the defenders to prepare some countermagics as well, which dampened the final effect in comparison to the original Skyburn. Many portions of the land were untouched.
The Elves, caught without allies and in open ground by the Lunar Army, were killed or forced to leave their native land. They kept their old Centers which survived, but most of the race abandoned their roots and moved into haunted Dorastor.
Colonies were planted at Rist, and warfare against Dara-ni continued. No decisive battles were recorded between 1/49 and the end of the Wane.
This drawing is taken from a Lunar vase from the period about 1/49 (1276 S.T.) and was created by the much reknowned, and much copied, artist Tattis Clayshaper. Upon the left is a mountain, actually the Crater itself, which far overshadows the city of Glamour in this representation. Other vases of the same period show the barbarian attacks upon the city (which took place in 1275 ST.) and show the capital city rather than the Crater. I interpret this to indicate that Jannisor's attempt was a much more serious threat than the later invasions, reaching to the Crater itself rather than being halted at the city gates.
Upon
the mountain are the Lunar Star Twins who converted the Sable people
and slew Jannisor. They were popular among the Sable people
afterwards. The Ringing Bridge connects the Crater with the Outer
City and is crowded with attackers. Jannisor himself leads the
assault. Note his magical shield, named Brighteye in the legends. His
most important daemon familiar, Karash'arll follows. (This creature
later appears as a Lunar slave of the dead.) Third comes an elf,
representing the host from Rist who fought, says a tale, "to avenge
themselves against the stars before Fate burnt their chances." Fourth
is the Queen of the Sable people, whose betrayal of the Hero has been
exalted in Lunar annals as the Grand Sable Conversion, and marks a
holy day in their calendar. Fifth is a cavalryman, possibly a Char-Un
warrior. Sixth is a representative of the Dara Happan Tripolis,
notable for the extraordinary spear spear being wielded. Last is a
representative of the barbarians who followed Jannisor, possibly the
champion named Onstheus of Imther legend.
Beneath the bridge, waiting to take the casualties, are three deities from the Lunar Underworld:
The naked woman is the "Holder," whose jar can imprison any soul for up to seven earth years. This deity was a real terror to non-Lunar magicians.
Jajagapa is a borrowed/adopted deity from the Dara Happan pantheon. He is the armed psychopomp of the Underworld. He has the ability to go and fight the souls of the powerful dead, and drag even great magicians to Death. His net is crowded with less powerful souls.
Finally, Annara Gor is called "Terror and Eater" in non-Lunar texts, while the Red Goddess called her the "Guardian of Secrets."
return to Dara Happan Rebellion and Jannisor's
War
return to The Char-un and Skyburn