An overview of Alannis: Recent History

(The following is a text from the Great Library at the High Seat of Mar-Bor in Alannis City. It is of recent origin and quite current. The author is credited as Drobbenson of Veld, but since he is the High Priest it is much more likely that it was compiled by several different writers and amassed under Drobbenson's signature.)

The subcontinent, once home only to Humanity, was changed forever during the Time of the Dead as whole populations of other Men (and some that were not Men at all) were forced over the Ring of Dunamis and scattered throughout the land. The Age of Winter in some ways increased the spread of racial diversity, as the various clans and tribes and peoples searched for ways to survive the changing climate, and each other, trekking hundreds of miles seeking warmth, water, food, and safety.

The Age of Winter

For three hundred years the Ice ruled Alannis without mercy or compassion. There remained pockets of warmth, but few and far between. More common were areas that remained clear of Ice due to their geography - but not free of cold. Settlements of differing races survived in several places, too many to list, but among the most important were Chaldee, deep in the Swamp and close by the warmth of White Plume Mountain, the northern port of NoHaven where the sea was kept free of ice by a warm current, the domed city of Faswah in the heart of the Abollah desert, and the city of Alannis in the east where Winter was kept at bay by the strength of a hereditary line of archons wielding the Orb of Humanity.

So too did smaller numbers of Men huddle about harsher but still habitable, if barely, settlements in Goings, and in Pendor, particularly Uppendor where the Ice for some reason withheld its tide, and in the Deepwood and along the lower banks of the Cintadja which never completely froze over.

Even in the surviving villages and towns and cities, life was harsh and death was common. There were many dangers, for the creatures and Peoples that live underground, or that are built for cold weather, were unaffected by the Ice and flourished in the new order of things, frequently raiding the surviving settlements for food and slaves. The cold itself became an enemy, and no one could count the number of Men and Beasts that succumbed to its voracious appetite. Worst of all was famine, for few crops would grow in the Winter and there was little forage for the herds.

The Coming of Spring

It is now fifty years since the first signs of thaw were observed in Alannis City. The spread of the thaw has been slow but unstopping. Seasons have returned, including the growing season, and the seas along the southern half of the subcontinent have cleared (although the large number of icebergs continues to make shipping hazardous).

Nature, as if making up for lost time, has renewed itself with great vigor. In the short time that forage land became available again the herds have become numerous. Crops grow with abundance, unusual in both size and quantity.

In short, across much of Alannis, life became easy, and the population of Men swelled. But this growth is occurring in chaos. Where once ruled the order of Humanity now stands a scattering of many differing beings, some who exist in harmony and others who do not. Travel is now possible, but dangerous, for even the Wastern peoples are now in Alannis and have strength and numbers to compete with Humans and the more enlightened Men.

Trade is re-established, but not yet universal: some of the closer cities and towns have established regular trade routes with each other. The main East-West road was reopened (see the Great Expedition, below) and is traversable, but most safely done in large, armed caravans. Sea travel is again possible, but remains hazardous, and deepwater sea travel even more so. But bandits, pirates and other hazards are everywhere and only a few areas have regained any degree of safety and civilization.