History of Meridia

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Our story starts in the year 1364; a small boy goes with his father on a treacherous adventure to find new land in the far west. His father was James Oldcroft who was a world renown trader and merchant who had a deal with the king. James had been found smuggling poisons and magical items into the city which were banned due to the weapon that was used to assassinate the previous Emperor. James was charged with treason and was to be hanged, but with suave words and a tiny about of begging he offered a proposition. He said that he would travel west to see if there was any land there and claim it for the king in exchange for his freedom. The Emperor pondered this for a moment then agreed to this as long as he came back. James grinned knowing that he would be able to escape and make a new life wherever his ship was to sail. The king then snapped at him saying where he wanted him to explore, James scratched the back of his neck and said yes. The Emperor folded his hands and said he would go to the west but go toward “The Everdark Sea” which was said to be a swirling pool to a dark abyss where no one would ever return. James pleaded to the king but he was firm on his word, the Emperor would also send a captured pirate crew that’s captain had been recently hanged. Without any hope James said yes and took the kings offer fearing the worst. That next day he packed his things and told his family goodbye then set off toward his death. His wife wept and his children frowned as he put on his captains hat and stepped onto the ship with red and black sails. Many crates and chests were loaded onto the ship that contained gold, weapons, clothes, and food. After tallying the member the crew count came to forty three; 30 crewmembers, 10 smugglers and 3 mages. The ship set sail when dawn hit the horizon, and James went off on an adventure. After a day or so a Tradoshian crewmate brought a sack of potatoes up and put it on James’ table. He pointed to the bag and walked out. A small hand reached out from the bag and unties the laces, as the figure crawls out James find out it is his son, he hid in the potato sack to be able to see his father. James looked at his son grimly saying, “Quinton, you shouldn’t have come here”. Quinton frowned then hugging his dad closely, James held the boy closer on the brink of tears until Quinton said in a soft voice that they would find land for the king. Those words inspired James, instead of trying to make quick coin he was going to do something different. That day they truly set sail to what was either death or a new life. The days were brutal; the oceans thrashed and rocked the boat back and forth for the longest time. Men were cold and wet; they needed a hot meal and a cup of mead. James yelled at them to work harder and pushed them till the storm cleared. An eerie mist begins to rest atop the water as the storm cleared. The boat continues on for a couple of hours until a crew member disappears, some men scatter around looking for him but find nothing, except the key to his room. A small group of crewmembers shuffle to his door with his small room, the door is slightly open when they reach it. As they open the door they see a hooded mage hunched over the crewmember. The hooded mage turns around and pulls down his hood. All the crewmembers shriek as they see the eyeless mage with blood all across his face, in his hands are the lungs of the dead crewmember who is lying there without any movement what so ever. The mage pounces at the small group of crewmembers; many pull out their weapons and charged at the mage but were thrown across the room. Up on deck James heard the noise and gathered his silver cutlass, after he barged downstairs and saw the mage about to feast upon his crewmates that were strewn across the halls. James unsheathed his blade and slipped into a room taking a candlestick holder and throwing it at the mage. It howled and began sniffing around for James. James was in the fifth room from the stairs to the rooms, James readied his weapon as the beast reached the forth room from the stairs, immediately he jumped out and swung at the beat cutting its left ear off. The mage then clawed at James trying to grab his leg, but James swiftly cut his arm and kicked him in the face. While the mage was down on the ground James stabbed it in the heart and twisted the blade for good measure. James wiped his brow of sweat and helped the crewmates up and told them to toss the bodies.

Rumors on the ship began to spread about the king wanting them dead. Many of the crewmembers became unsettled and disobedient. James soon became agitated and yelled at the men for thinking that this adventure was meant for death. Sometimes James did think about if he was going to die but he pushed it to the back of his head thinking about doing this for his son and his family. Months went by without trouble and they found a small island. James checked the map to see where they were and found that they are almost to their destination. The small island had some inhabitants on it but all of them were illiterate and spoke a different language. They believed in a god called Morah and made sacrifices to her. It was interesting to see a new culture to James; he had never been outside of Alaria and its waters. So James bought a book there and started writing about his adventures, if he were to go back to Alaria, alive. After a few short days they restocked and headed toward “The Everdark Sea”, the crewmembers were hostile once the ship set sail, many thinking that the two other mages were like the beast that devoured the crewmate in his bed. At one point a fight broke out between a Tradoshian and a mage. The Tradoshian accused the mage of being an evil demon that wanted to feast on the blood of those around him. A group formed around the two while they were arguing, some put their hand to the hilt of their sword while others got ready to kill the mage. James opened the doors from his office and told the men to quiet down, after he invited the mage into his office. The mage introduced himself as Alphonce Gregor, a Ceryalian mage who had recently graduated and was sent off on this mission by his superiors. James then went straight to the point; he wanted Alphonce to use a spell that would detect any of those beasts. Alphonce said he would need time to gather his components and cast the spell, and then he would know who or what is the beast. An hour or so later Alphonce came back and seemed to be chanting something while walking into James’ office. James didn’t interrupt him and waited for a response. Alphonce finished the chant and looked up at James with an odd look upon his face. He then told James that the beast was the Tradoshian who accused him earlier, James seemed weary about searching him, and he didn’t have his full trust in Alphonce. Later that night James lurked around the ship seeing if there was anything peculiar around the ship, after checking the top floor he went down to the third floor, where the Tradoshian was sleeping. As James walked down the stairs he noticed a peculiar smell, it was like rotten eggs combined with spoiled milk, James began to gag but followed the smell till he reached the room of the Tradoshian, and the smell seemed to be emanating from there. James pulled out his silver cutlass then opened the door, letting out a small creek, as he opened the door a small rat skittered out. Many thoughts ran through James’ mind until he saw it. A batch of eggs lay on a blanket to the left of the room while a beast was cracking open the shell of the Tradoshian crewmate. James swung at the beast cutting it in half, and swiftly threw it to the ground. Slowly he turned to the Trasoshian looking at her wounds, she was dead. James took the body of the beast and brought it up to the top deck. He called Alphonce to his office and told him what had happened. Alphonce deduced that the creature had hidden inside the cabin of the Tradoshian and left a smell on her, that he why he suspected it was her. James agreed that may have been the case and asked Alphonce if he had found anymore, Alphonce shook his head saying that should have been the last of them. The body was examined and thrown into the sea by the time the sun had risen, James checked on his son who had been learning carving from a gnome who was good friends with James’ son. A week past and there was no sign of any form of land. Many of the crewmembers had given up but James pushed them even harder. Then they all saw it, an island with a vast amount of land behind it, everyone cheered and sang. The journey ended well as it should have. James returned to the king and gained redemption. Sadly, his end was closer than you think, once he made the voyage back he got to see the rest of his family and tell the king of the new lands. That night a thief broke into his home and slaughtered James, his wife, and his daughter. All that was left was Quinton who was then sent off to the new lands to work day and night to build the kingdom… He died shortly after the city was built, and the legacy of his family was lost.

Timeline-

1360 :Meredia Established and Built, Opens to the populis and the migration toward Meredia starts.

1363: Isaac Theros is named King.

1364: Knights of the White Dawn established, Belard Gerntun named First Knight, Mages taken to the Island of Magic.

1366: Mechant's Guild established, Eclipse of the Druids.

1369: Plague of the Red Fever

1372: Diseased cured, Battle of the Blood Bezerkers.

1374: Alaria officially made into a kingdom and added to the empire.

1375: King Theros dethroned by Edar Darksteed and named king by and Alarian Prince.

1379: Island of Magic Fortified, Tree of the Druids discovered, The dungeons of the realm discovered.

1380: The Darksteed Masacre, Legend of the Reapers arises.

1383: Queen Darksteed Dies, Heir unknown.

1384: The heir to the throne is born.

1386: Castle Darksteed improved, Troll war.

1389: Golems become lower class citizens, Knights of the White Dawn disapates.

1393: Edar Darksteed passes.

1394: Matthias Darksteed takes the throne

1395: War against the Mages.

1398: War ends many die, Castle Darksteed rebuilt.

1400: Chivics made into the offical currency of Meridia.

1405: Alaria goes to war with Thress.

1410: Meridia losses a large some of money because they have to support the war.

1415: Gold is found near Black Husk Mountain, miners travel twoard the great city, and the city is added onto and walls are fortified.

History Extended:

Eclipse of the Druids: The Druids reviled themselves to the people of the land and granted them gifts from their gargantuan tree.

Plauge of the Red Fever: The Red Fever had the symptons of the the flu but made all of the vitims turn red. It caused many people to die till a cure was made by the Druids of Meridia.

Battle of the Blood Bezerkers: The battle between the Blood Bezerkers and the Meridian army was fearsome. All of the bezerkers were renown for their unrelentless war tactics and odd rituals. The battle was started when a group of men that were charting the land stumbled upon their land. Immediatley they attacked them and only one escaped. The man ran back to Meridia and told the king of an attack, once the king was told he launched an attack back which whiped out the entirety of the Blood Bezerkers. Many died during the battle but it was all worth it in the long run.

The Darksteed Masacre: Edar Darksteed heard that there were mages in town and took the suspects to his castle. There he cut them up and stuck their heads on stakes, leaving them infront of the castle.

Legend of the Reapers: A rumor brews that a secret organization of cultists that worship Terra and find human sacrifices.

Troll War: The Trolls come out of their caves and start attacking Meridia. They had many battles against each other until the trolls receeded to the dark depths of the earth.

War against the mages: Matthias Darksteed angry over his father's death brings 6 mages to his throne room and asks for them to be slaughtered, As the guards release their bonds the mages attack with flurries of magic bolts and explotions. Matthias pulls his sword and attacks the nearby mages cutting an arm off of one then flipping his sword over and butting the other mage in the head. He yelled for the guards as the other mages began to surround him, but they were slaughtered by the guards flooding in by the doors. This was a war because of the hatred between Matthias and the mages from then they hated each other grew and had many battles against each other until the mages were imprisoned on the island of mages.

Alaria goes to War with Thress: Alaria being the biggest empire within the world itself has many enemies. Thress is a growing empire that is having many join their cause, to take down Alaria. Alaria soon hearing of their plans called for war and they have been fighting ever since...