A History of the Men of Medion

A Story by Captain Rex

A detailed history about the men that live upon Medion, will soon include pages on the other races.

The Arrival of Humanity

It was the 100th year of the First Age when humankind arrived on the shores of Medion. They had come from a great southern land, a land which is now lost. They settled along the plains of Rhineland, it was a fertile place and a paradise.

The first humans to arrive were the swarthy Nardions; they weren’t content with life on the plains, they were originally from harsher and warmer climes near to the sea. They ranged further afield, heading north into the sub-tropical center of the continent. There they met the Elves, who called the land the Elder Land. As it was here they originated, they were curious when they first laid eyes on these people. The Nardions learned much from the Elves, but they weren’t satisfied with the Elder Land.

So some two hundred years after their first arrival in Medion, the Nardions found a land different than Rhineland as well as the Elder Land. It was arid, not much plant or animal life was found there. Only what could survive thrived in this place, the Nardions fell in love with the place. And so the realm of Narda was founded.

The Nardions quickly explored the land in and around Narda; they discovered Dragon Bay and their love of the sea was rekindled. They learned to avoid the volcanoes to the north and the great eastern mountain chain. They were content with their new home and slowly over time they forgot their original home.

It was during the reign of the third king of Narda that another southern fleet landed at the verdant Rhineland. These groups of people were the ancestors of the modern Rhinelanders and Centurions, their own name long forgotten.

They were lovers of the open plains; they yearned to call another place home. So these groups settled Rhineland and were content. It wasn’t long until they came across the natives of Rhineland, the Centaurs. The two races were cautious of each other, and a few years later the two races fought. The humans climbed out as the victors, the Centaurs went into the farthest corners of Rhineland, even to the borders of the great wood itself Dalivene.

A couple of centuries later a great rift split the people apart into two groups: the Rhinelanders and the Centurions.

The Rhinelanders remained in Rhineland while the Centurions traveled north into the Elder Land. They were determined to make it their own, and by the year 678 of the First Age the realm of Centuria was born. At around this time the Elves were all but gone from the land, only the Wood Elves of Dalivene remained and only a handful of High Elven strongholds remained. To the East the Dwarves retreated back into Thardul, but still having a stronghold in Black Stone Pass as well as Az-Rag deep in the mountains of Centuria.

To solidify their hold on this land the Imperials built a massive white city on a large island found in the center of the land, Centuria City was built and a new age had begun.

The Shadow of the North

Before even the Nardions landed on Medion, a great evil had stirred in the land of Grinding Ice. None knew what or who it was, but it desired to rule over all the free-races. The Second War began as the Elves and Dwarves sought to beat back hordes of dark creatures that issued forth from this cold land. Many evils things came into being; many elves were captured and transformed into twisted and deformed beasts: the orcs. Trolls and were-creatures wreaked havoc in the lands of the free-races; the Elves had to abandon the land of Narda. A great earthquake sundered northern Thardul from the mainland, as well as other evil events that plagued Medion.

But on the 99th year of the First Age it all stopped, and the free-races relaxed thinking it was over, but they were wrong.

Sometime during the middle of the Second Age the last of the human fleets landed in the Horseshoe Bay. They were a war-like people, clad in bronze armour; they had no love for other humans and soon proved to be a threat. It took a combined army of Imperials and Nardions to drive them off. They were the Varangians.

They fled into the land of shadow and were set upon by the evil denizens of the land. The Varangians at the time were led by a mighty warlord named Wulf Kin-Slayer, with Wulf leading them they cleaved their way through the mass of dark creatures.

They had gained the notice of the Great Shadow, and then sometime later the Varangians were now under the sway of the Shadow. They were given a new land, the Isle of Vorog; they had to of course wipe it clear of the dwarves. It took them a decade but it was worth it. Ever since they’ve been raiding Medion; pillaging and killing all in their path.

The Slaughter of Deepwood

During the reign of the tenth king of Centuria the elves were dwindling, only three of their strongholds still stood. The great forest that once covered all of Centuria was much smaller, two pockets were left, one in the north and the other in the east. It was deep inside the northern forest that the elf stronghold of Deepwood stood; it was hidden from the Centurions . The humans were steadily pushing outward felling the forests as they came across them, which is why the war started. Humans and elves had always just been neighbours, neither enemies nor friends.

The war lasted for three years, the glittering hosts of the elves stood strong against the humans. The war went back and forth, until one day by means still unknown the Imperials found Deepwood. Those that defended its walls died and those that managed to escape were chased down by Centurion knights. Many died in the forest, and it was renamed the Dark Forest as many believed the spirits of the dead still lingered there, Deepwood was no more in its place stood Darkwood.

The elves of Deepwood sent word to the stronghold of Villiandria, hidden amongst the mountains of the Vale, the Lord of the Vale sent a battalion off to try and distract the Imperials, and the battalion never came back. The Lord never sent anymore soldiers and the Hidden City was forever closed off.