Third Age

The period from the Rise of the Mists through to the current day is called 'The Third Age', and is often described as the Age of Man. While Men and Halflings did make their appearance in this time, it is not yet certain whether they, or the other races, will truly have a more lasting effect upon the Age.

((NOTE: This historical account is still being expanded upon.))

In the Shadow of the Mists
For long years after the ending of the Second Age, much of what passed upon Arol was lost unto darkness as the children of the gods strove to overcome their hardships. The Great Delve of the Fallen Star was lost, taken and twisted by Sslira the Shadowqueen into a place of dread and dark sorcery, and shunned even by those of dark and covetous heart. But not less than the loss of the dwarves was that of the elves, for Vansiriel the Beautiful was utterly destroyed, and the very bedrock of its foundations rent and torn asunder, melted to slag in the fires of Korinthar.

And the world itself seemed changed, for each land seemed almost to be alone, swaddled in the Mists, through which none could pass, and wherein, it was said, even the new goddess Skadia was forever trapped. And so for long years was land estranged from land, and kindred from kindred.

But not all was laid waste, and when a thousand years had passed, the largest group of refugees from the Elven Empire of ancient times established a new realm in a great sheltered swath of the woodlands of their new home, and they called it Laurelin, that is the Wild Refuge. And there did they nurse their strength anew, Elaidar, Sildar, and Lumidar, each according to the ways of that people, for in the long years of the Second Age, the three kindreds of the Istadar had grown apart, and were no longer so close as they had been.

The dwarves, too, were again divided, as the Kathar locked themselves away once more within the deeps, but the Nithar remained in the remnants of their own cities, and as they grew again in number began to trade with the Gnomes and the scattered elves again. But the Akthar, the survivors of doomed Duhricktharn, wandered long as exiles.

New Blood
And when fifteen centuries had passed since the ending of the Mistwar, as the battles of the end of the Second Age had come to be called, then did elven rangers from Laurelin discover a thing new and strange: A people like unto them, but heavier of build and rougher of face, in some ways like the Nithar. Fearing that this might be a new and unknown scourge of Varjo, the elves remained unseen, and kept a watch upon the roaming bands of these new creatures, and saw that they were true and fair of purpose, but brief, and fleeting, living only rarely even a century ere time laid low their works.

And so, great conference was taken within Laurelin, and the elves sent emissaries to the nearest camp, and made peace with them, and called them Taldar, the Children of The Moment, and learned that they called themselves ‘Men’. And in that place, in a sheltered valley through which ran the river Tarathai, was established a trading post, and it was here the secrets of agriculture first passed into the hands of Men.

But Men were not the only new creatures encountered in those years, and at first, the elves and Gnomes thought that many of the children of Men were wandering alone, and sought to herd them back unto their people. But quickly enough, they learned that though they stood shorter even than the Puutasadi, this was yet another new people. Skaltings, they called themselves, and many of their people learned the ways of Elain and Skogen, and befriended the great wolves of Elain, and these came to be known as Ulvskaltings. But as Men spread, and encountered the Skaltings, they too judged them at first as children, and though they learned the truth of it, ever after have the Skalting race been called ‘Halflings’ by Men, and their cousins ‘Wolfkin’.

But even into the midst of these peaceful and relatively happy meetings came dark tidings, as rumors of marauders and savages from the northlands reached Laurelin. And soon the rumors proved all too true: A new threat was brewing in the north, strong and fell warriors of greenish skin and ravenous hungers were sighted in bands, similar to the nomadic bands of Men, or Elaidar, but more feral, like the rapacious gnolls or goblin tribes. Almost like small oghru they seemed, and perhaps in token of such did Men first call them ‘orcs’. But it was soon learned that they called themselves The Restless, and in the tongue of their people were the Mishan’Ka.

The Battle of Taldara
For long years did the scourge of orc raiders and brigands seem remote, a distant trouble on the edges of the hinterlands. But in the century before the 3000th year of the Third Age, the troubles began to intensify, and now and again, a name was added to the tales: ‘Rothgar’.

With terrifying quickness the scattered bands of orcs were brought together under his banner, and other savage races flocked to join the forming horde. Within three years, almost before the shocked elves and men were aware of Rothgar’s feats of leadership, the Horde began its relentless advance south, toward the city of Men that had grown up around the Tarathai River trading post, called Taldara.

But in this, the single-minded focus of the horde proved its undoing. For as the monstrous army pressed onward, it scattered villages and settlements to the winds, like unto waves cresting across the bow of a great ship on the ocean. And the scattered peoples brought warning of the rampaging orcs, far in advance of the vanguard of the horde, and wider than that army’s immediate path. And those who learned of this great force were dismayed, the humans hearing the footsteps of Doom, while the elves remembered the ancient battles against the ghul’bim.

Counsel then they took, and messengers dispatched to all those with whom they had relations. And so it was, that when the approaching horde finally reached the Tarathai valley, they found there a mighty host of men, elves, gnomes, dwarves, and halflings, gathered from surrounding villages, from the forest realm of Laurelin and nearby Meloria, and from Morgardoth, stronghold of the Nithar.

But the fury and the lust for battle of the orcs and their allies would not be so easily deterred. Gathering their strength, the horde surged forth, and in that first press many promising warriors of the gods’ children were slain. But the defenses held, and the onslaught was blunted, though still the armies of Rothgar’s forces raged and threw themselves into the fray.

Slowly, the defenders gave ground, as the savage fury and greater numbers of their foes forced the lines back, the bones of the fallen ground into the dust under the boots of Rothgar’s warriors. Doughty though the forces of Men and their allies were, they were nonetheless driven back to the walls of Taldara, and were hard-put to withdraw their remaining strength through the gates before the ring of their enemies closed about them.

For three months as the old year waned, the armies of Rothgar laid siege to the city, waylaying caravans laden with supplies and cutting off the trade from the river. Feral and used to long hardship, the orcs and savage humanoids endured the hardships of hunger, winter and disease, even as their rangers hunted and foraged for enough provender to supplement those captured from the human settlements. Many were lost, and many others fell ill and weakened, but so too had many of the defenders succumbed to the same dangers of the siege, and still the besiegers remained a mighty host, many times the number of their beleaguered foes within the walls.

And so it was that with the coming of spring, Rothgar made ready to renew his onslaught. But as the engines of war were brought to bear, word came of a company of Men, giving challenge upon the army’s flanks. Angered at the impertinence of what he deemed must be those who escaped the slaughter of the autumn bloodshed, the great general resolved to end the annoyance before word could lift the courage of the besieged. Setting a watch on the walls and gate, Rothgar left his strongest, minotaurs, and oghru, ettins and trolls to keep the greater strength of the City’s defenders pinned within and turned the rest of his force to hunt the upstarts down, moving back into the northern mouth of the valley.

And so it was that his armies sundered, and light and fast though his hunters were, their human prey seemed always able to slip away, firing arrows from ambush and escaping swiftly before their pursuers could even catch a clear view of them. But slowly northward they drew the orcs and savage humanoids, and Rothgar became wary, fearing a trap.

Gathering his forces again, save those maintaining the siege, he abandoned the immediate hunt, and surged north, retracing the steps of his horde’s advance of the year before. But wary as he was, he was unprepared for the bloodletting to come.

To the west of the Great Wastes of the Ghul’bim March, and yet still far to the north of Taldara rises a broad plain, bounded by mountains to the south and east, hills and seacoast fens to the north, and the Mists to the west. And in that land dwelt then the Wandering Clans, the Kostayas of the Berezani Plain. Nomadic and proud, they arose as a fiercely independent people, exulting in feats of arms and the breeding of horses, upon which their people depended.

To the plains had come word of the gathering storm, and even as the orcish hordes marched south, their passage went not unwatched. Knowing that such a force, if unchecked, would not be sated with the sack of one city, their headmen came together, and dispatched riders across the Plain to gather all of that people to the yearly wintering grounds at Berez, a sheltered vale in the southern mountains. Leaving a bare company of guards to keep safe the young and the meager holdings of each Kostaya, the able-bodied had gathered their strength, and with the first melting of the winter snows, had set out to track the horde, dispatching a handful of those skilled at stealth and speed ahead as scouts.

Thus did Rothgar, Chieftain of the Mishan’ka and leader of the savage horde, behold upon the broad grasslands, the encampments of the Berezani, and judged that still his force was the greater. Arraying his battle-hardened forces, he sought to sweep these foes from the field, even as he had done all those within in the valley before them.

But Rothgar’s forces, and their general both, hailed from the broken wastes, and though long hardships had they withstood upon their march, yet still had they advanced and fought afoot, and so now with a great hue and cry charged toward the camps of Men, in disarray and unwary as they thought. But the warriors of Bereza travel light, and of their ways it is said that a man owns but three things: his horse, his mail, and his sword; all else belongs to his wife. In this, they were well-served, for though the orcs had fought many battles, never yet had they faced the fury and onslaught of mounted warriors. And now they faced skilled riders, long-used to inter-clan squabbling and lighting raids, who had over generations mastered the arts of fighting from horseback, and of striking and withdrawing unanswered.

Rothgar’s oghru could have faced such an assault, their long arms and massive frames well-suited for breaking an attacker’s charge. His trolls could have borne the brunt of the onslaught and rose up again to continue the fight. His minotaurs might have met strength with strength, goring the horses as they drew near. But those and others that might have turned the tide, he left to hold the siege-lines firm, and the terror of the wrath of the Berezani rippled through his forces, as deadly as the blades and arrows of the plainsmen as groups found themselves cut away from the main force, as a wolf pack cuts a single deer from the herd, and scattered or killed. No count was ever made, nor burial attempted, for the savage humanoids that fell in that hour, but of those that survived, many retreated back toward the besieged city and their allies, but many more fled heedless, flying back into the North. But Rothgar was not among them, for in the waning light of the dying day, the orcish general had seized the mount of a fallen Man, and sought to strive with the riders from the saddle. But scarcely had he mounted when the horse bucked, and threw him, and as he struggled to his feet, turned and stove in his head with its hooves. And thus ended the greatest threat the Men of Taldara have ever known, unmarked and unnoticed, at the blows of one he saw as little threat.

But the Berezani rested only a day, to tend their injured and bury their dead, ere they pursued their quarry, and as battle was joined with the giantkin left behind, the defenders of Taldara issued forth, and a great valor of the dwarves of Morgardoth did spearhead the sortie, long accustomed to doing battle against the larger foes, and so the remnants of the horde were caught between the hammer and the anvil, and as the few survivors fled into the wild, the Warleader of the Berezani, Atman Khurya Pruschev, was welcomed into the city by Robert Eisengard, Captain of the City, and so ended at last what is called together the Battle of Taldara.

The Return of Empire
In the months following the victory over Rothgar and his savage horde, many of those who had united against him remained close in league with one another. In time, Robert Eisengard, having been made Lord of the people of Taldara by popular accord, sought the hand of the druid Salena, daughter of Khurya Pruschev, who was called ‘Wolfrider’ by some after arriving borne on the back the great dire wolf Ghrazk, her companion and guardian. Their wedding sealed the bonds of friendship between their two nations, and coming soon after the signing of a permanent alliance between the Taldaran people of the Tarathai valley and the coastal territories of Meloria, laid the groundwork for the emergence of a new, powerful nation. With the ascension of Lord Eisengard to the joint rule of his homeland and Meloria, and the assured loyalty of the Berezani tribes, many found good reason to believe that peace and prosperity would spread beneath the benevolent watch of what many already named the Taldaran Empire.