A Brief Summary of Megalos and Caithness

Hyrnan, West Megalos

The great city of Megalos, the capital of the New Christian Kingdom of man, was founded in the year 1200 by the first king of Yrth, Simon Menelaus.

The Kingdom of Megalos and it’s lust for conquest and imperial control was able to utilize a common catalyst to drive men to war, and that was religion. In 1350, a Megalan warlord named Octavius Magnus turned the conquest of the land into a holy war.

There were a total of four Ytarrian Crusades, occurring between the mid 14th and 16th century. Mirroring the crusades of Earth, Man’s capacity for violence, in the name of faith and piety, followed him to the New World of Yrth.

Over the years, the un-unified Muslim people of the south transformed into three Islamic nations to better defend against continued aggression from the North.

Following the last fruitless crusade of 1525, Megalos and the Islamic Nations settled into a wary truce.

When the dust had settled, the Kingdom of Megalos was by far the largest and most powerful. Two of the Islamic nations remain, al-Haz and al-Wazif, of the three originally formed. The third of those nations was a prize for Megalos and it’s name was changed from al-Kard to Cardiel and converted to Christianity.

The spread of Megalos eventually led to a more-or-less unified Christian church. By 1400, virtually all Yrth’s Christians were subjects of the Megalan Empire. Soon this unity would be expressed by the five most prominent clergymen of Yrth forming the first Conclave of Archbishops, later called the Curia. This organization would develop immense power and political influence in the coming centuries.

Megalans settled the nation now known as Caithness at around 1800. The region was ideal for colonization, except for two factors, very little mana and too many orcs.

In 1826, after many years of bloody conflict with the orcs, King Conall I declared independence from Megalos and the Curia. This led to war but Caithness was able to push back the armies of Megalos and the Templars of the Curia. Perhaps it was battle hardened troops from fighting the Orcs for 25 years, perhaps it was the low mana which made the mighty battle mages of Megalos ineffective against the rebels, but Caithness had won their independence.

Necessity has forced the Empire of Megalos to accept Caithness’ sovereignty. Eventually, Caithness realigned itself with the powerful Curia, but for the past 180 years it has remained politically independent of Megalos.

Perhaps kingdom in name alone, Caithness is sparesly populated, underdeveloped and currently in the midst of a brutal civil war.

Because they live so far apart, Caithness’ nobles have enjoyed great autonomy. Historically, their loyalties have been held by a series of strong leaders of the Conall line. That has changed of late as the current king came to the thrown at such a young age that he never found the loyalty of all his lords. In the early years of his reign, the Barons paid little attention to matters outside their own lands, enjoying the lack of oversight. In 1995, this disgregard grew into unrest and then outright rebellion.

Today in the year 2005, and at the age of 35, King Conall the VI is fighting to reunite his kingdom.

Carrick, Caithness