Bjorn

Cimmerian Timeline Part 38

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: Cimmerian Timeline Part 37

Here’s the story of Kruk-Ma-Kali condensed into timeline entries! As well as the conclusion to Shortrastor’s royal line. Of course more happens to Kharad-khor after Kruk-Ma-Kali’s death, but that will be covered another time.

722BCE: Kona-Ranor gave birth to Kruk-Ma-Kali.

710BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali’s psionic powers emerged.

709BCE: Kona-Ranor noticed Kruk-Ma-Kali’s powers and sent him away to learn how to control them. Kruk-Ma-Kali joined the Shacklack School for Psions.

703BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali left the Shacklack School for Psions with a journeyman’s understanding of telepathic magic.

702BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali joined Lork-Bran-Dron’s army. He rose through the ranks quickly as Lork-Bran-Dron led the Goblinoids of Trung Town against Tomak’nax. During the Siege of Tomak’nax, Kruk-Ma-Kali found Kharad-khor. With the Sword of War in his hand, Kruk-Ma-Kali came up with a plan that enabled the capture of the city. At the victory parade, Kruk-Ma-Kali challenged Lork-Bran-Dron for control. He defeated his king and took the crown for himself. Kruk-Ma-Kali led his army on a conquering sweep of the Hobgoblin Lands.

701BCE: King Kruk-Ma-Kali used his secret telepathic powers to forge alliances. Kharad-khor provided the knowledge of how best to defeat those who would not be swayed. In two years of lightning campaigns, Kruk-Ma-Kali unified the Hobgoblin Lands under a single leader.

700BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali began a long campaign in Eastern Cimmeria. His hobgoblin army marched through the Orc Lands to gain allies. The combined army of goblinoids and orcs attacked Valor Forest, but couldn’t penetrate the interior. Kruk-Ma-Kali took captives, including the elven mage, Sahamathrian. Kruk-Ma-Kali set fire to the forest and left. His army sacked Fangaroot and, thanks to Kruk-Ma-Kali’s telepathic mind, walked away with more troops than they started with.

699BCE: Bjorn Skizofren tricked Kruk-Ma-Kali, allowing Dalleer to be evacuated. Kruk-Ma-Kali burned the empty city and vowed to return to do the same to its people. He sacked Bradel Fields and placed it under occupation. The people of Eastern Cimmeria unified against the goblinoids. The year’s campaign continued as Kruk-Ma-Kali fought battle after battle towards Nomingburg.

698BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali reached Nomingburg and placed it under siege. He defeated Nomingburg’s defenses by using portal magic to flood the city. Sahamathrian assisted with the portal ritual. Nomingburg was sacked and then abandoned to water and disease. Princess Alfeita died during the looting of Nomingburg.

697BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali assaulted Jipangu at great loss of life. The goblinoids pillaged the city and occupied it. Kruk-Ma-Kali ordered the execution of all dwarves at Jipangu due to the casualties they had inflicted on his army. Next, Kruk-Ma-Kali led his people into the tunnels beneath the Dominarie Mountains on a genocidal extermination of the dwarves there.

696BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali’s army ambushed and killed the remnants of the Dominarie army led by Queen Shortrastor. They continued on and reached Shortrastoria. The hobgoblins burned the capital. Princess Tandia entered labor during the fighting, but went missing shortly thereafter.

695BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali’s army completed their west to east circuit of the Dominarie Mountains, having slain every dwarf they could find. Satisfied with the destruction of Eastern Cimmeria, Kruk-Ma-Kali led his people home to celebrate in the empire’s new capital, Trung Town.

694BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali enacted many reforms to strengthen the Hobgoblin Empire and its capital, Trung Town.

693BCE: Kruk-Ma-Kali began planning a second long campaign in Eastern and Northern Cimmeria. Before the plans could be finalized, he was assassinated by a goblin servant wielding a poisoned dagger. The hobgoblin generals that Kruk-Ma-Kali had unified through his telepathic might split into warring factions. Overnight the Hobgoblin Empire became a set of squabbling states.

692BCE: Khuz-kukk-ghor and Vokh-jrozzhul began building a tomb for Kruk-Ma-Kali with the help of the elven wizard, Sahamathrian.

672BCE: General Graz-Khrodun emerged from the wars after Kruk-Ma-Kali’s death as the owner of the Trung Town capital.

670BCE: Work on the Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kal was completed. Sahamathrian turned Khuz-kukk-ghor and Vokh-jrozzhul into undead guardians of the tomb as his last act to earn his freedom.
The elf went to Crux to learn the secret of becoming a lich.

640BCE: Graz-Khrodun’s daughter, Graz-Lokbar, ascended to the throne of “Emperor of the Hobgoblins.” Her charismatic pull actually made it seem that she could reunite the Hobgoblin Lands. Many unaffiliated goblinoids flocked to her banner at Trung Town

639BCE: Graz-Lokbar led her legion of goblinoids on an invasion of Dalleer’s territory. The Bjorn took the city’s army out and waited to ambush the hobgoblins. The enemy entered the kill zone, but the Bjorn refused to give the command to attack. The hobgoblins walked past the Dalleer army and raided villages. The Bjorn’s commanders were infuriated. They took the army into their own hands and vanquished the hobgoblin threat.
When the generals returned they conferred with the other authorities in Dalleer. They agreed the new Bjorn couldn’t be allowed to make decisions. The position’s power was reduced to that of ceremony while the civil servants would run the city from the shadows.
Graz-Lokbar returned to Trung Town in disgrace. Her magnetic personality brought her followers, but she had no skill in battle. The former capital of the Hobgoblin Empire entered a steep decline.

Next: Cimmerian Timeline Part 39

Cimmerian Timeline Part 37

Mister Ed Dungeons and Dragons, Writing , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Previous: Cimmerian Timeline Part 36

In working on Kruk-Ma-Kali’s story I realized I hadn’t filled in the gaps for Shortrastor. Kruk-Ma-Kali provided the end of her life. I felt I’d already touched on her life in other ways that a full narrative post wasn’t really needed to finish out her life’s story. Instead I decided to cover it using a timeline post. While doing so I realized that she’d interacted with Bavastatner a little bit, so I pumped that up some more. And now we have the recipe for a dead civilization and their murdered royal line!

1110BCE: Shortrastor was born to a pair of common created dwarves.

980BCE: Shortrastor married a close friend, Tionthony, making him the Queen’s Consort.

974BCE: Queen Shortrastor gave birth to Princess Alfeita.

891BCE: Invigorated by their success at Phoenix the Heroes of the Dragon War moved upon Bavastatner’s kingdom in the Shacklack Desert. Seeing the writing on the wall, Queen Shortrastor pulled her dwarves back to the safety of the Dominarie Mountains. Bavastatner vowed vengeance as he organized to fight the mortal forces. Bavastatner’s children were the fiercest of all the dragons, trained to fight from their previous conflicts with the Heroes and Gorwinua’s orkin army. Surviving in the desert proved a challenge as well. Despite these impediments the Heroes managed to pierce Bavastatner’s defenses. They imprisoned his wife Renveshalhiarisv inside the Blue Dragon Orb and set Bavastatner to guard it.

883BCE: Queen Shortrastor and King Aeetes suffered a loss of prestige for allying with the dragons during the Dragon War. Many cities refused to trade directly with them for years afterwards. The nomadic halflings of Cimmeria stepped in and took over the exchange of goods for Colchis and the Dominarie Mountains.

854BCE: The wife of Toffoun’s eldest brother Jotuon, took ill and died within a few days. Jotuon controlled the influential Firebeard family. His matrimonial availability attracted many women, including Princess Alfeita of Dominarie. While Jotuon publically observed the appropriate mourning period, he began to see Alfeita in secret.

852BCE: Princess Alfeita married Toffoun’s eldest brother, Jotuon.

830BCE: Princess Alfeita gave birth to Princess Tandia.

811BCE: The githyanki ceased their attacks on Bavastatner and the blue dragons. The Draco-Gith War was over.

806BCE: Bavastatner turned his ire upon Queen Shortrastor who had betrayed him during the Dragon War. He sent his children into the Dominarie Mountains to slay dwarves.

805BCE: The Dominarie Dwarves retreated from the surface into the tunnels beneath the mountains. The blue dragons followed.

804BCE: Queen Shortrastor called for help, but none came. Cimmeria remembered which side she had chosen during the Dragon War.

803BCE: Queen Shortastor went personally to Bavastatner and unconditionally surrendered. The Blue Dragon Primach allowed her and the Dominarie Dwarves to live. In exchange they would vacate the surface of the mountains, provide Bavastatner with a large tribute every year, and all but one of Shortrastor’s children and grandchildren would be brought to Bavastatner. Any terms were better than the destruction of her kingdom, so Queen Shortrastor agreed. She sent her relatives to Bavastatner and never saw them again. The Dominarie Dwarves remained in the Underdark and began their yearly tribute to Bavastatner’s hoard.

770BCE: Princess Tandia married Stroso, the grandson of Lord Bjorn of Dalleer.

761BCE: Lord Bjorn of Dalleer died of old age. Bjorn’s son, Olofric, did not succeed him. Instead, Ballath, a wise, human friend of Bjorn’s, assumed the lordship. Bjorn’s family was outraged. Ballath took Bjorn’s name as a title in a failed attempt to keep the peace, but he refused to surrender control. Queen Shortrastor cut off trade to Dalleer and threatened war.

759BCE: Bjorn’s children moved to Jord. Most of Dalleer’s dwarven population followed to Jord or went to the Dominarie Mountains.

Next: Cimmerian Timeline Part 38

The Days of Kruk-Ma-Kali Part 7

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Previous: The Days of Kruk-Ma-Kali Part 6

After Valor Forest Kruk-Ma-Kali brought his army to bear on the settlements along the Black River. They crossed Talon’s Bed and struck at Fangaroot first. The dragon treasure of Kenderax still lay within the city after Shaelin’s strike. Kruk-Ma-Kali stormed the crumbling walls of Fangaroot and sacked the city. All the booty was dispersed among the assembled army or taken in cartloads back to Trung Town. Kruk-Ma-Kali used his telepathic talents to turn many of the weak-willed kobold defenders of Fangaroot to his side. As before in the Orc Lands, he left Fangaroot with an army larger than he started with.

Bjorn Skizofren rode with a small guard to meet Kruk-Ma-Kali for a peace discussion two days out from Dalleer. He brought with him a large supply of Crafterton alcohol. With the strong liquor flowing, a day of negotiations extended into three days of debauchery. As the liquid ran out, Kruk-Ma-Kali sobered up, and realized he had been duped. The peace talks were a diversion while the Bjorn enacted some other scheme. Enraged, Kruk-Ma-Kali imprisoned Bjorn Skizofren and marched on Dalleer.

Kruk-Ma-Kali reached Dalleer and found the city abandoned. He ordered Skizofren brought out, but the Bjorn had already escaped captivity and made it across the river in a small boat. The population of Dalleer had used their leader’s distraction to empty the city of people and valuables. Kruk-Ma-Kali flew into a rage and ordered Dalleer torched. The city went up in flames, but its people survived. Rather than attempt to cross the river on a wild goose chase, Kruk-Ma-Kali vowed to return. He led his army further south to Bradel Fields.

Kruk-Ma-Kali satisfied his bloodlust at Bradel Fields. The hobgoblins tore through the city and freed all the goblin slaves kept by the Humans of Bradel Fields. Not content with sacking the city, Kruk-Ma-Kali occupied it with a force of 10,000 goblinoids. As the humans had enslaved the goblins, the humans would now be enslaved in turn. The hobgoblin king left General Tahz-Lokun in control of the city before taking the majority of the army east towards Nomingburg in his conquering sweep of Eastern Cimmeria.

Next: The Days of Kruk-Ma-Kali Part 8

Cimmerian Timeline Part 31

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Previous: Cimmerian Timeline Part 30

761BCE: Lord Bjorn of Dalleer died of old age. Bjorn’s son did not succeed him. Instead, Ballath, a wise, human friend of Bjorn’s, assumed the lordship. Bjorn’s family was outraged. Ballath took Bjorn’s name as a title in a failed attempt to keep the peace, but he refused to surrender control.

759BCE: Bjorn’s children moved to Jord. Most of Dalleer’s dwarven population followed.

737BCE: Bjorn Ballath of Dalleer died of old age. Like his successor before him, Ballath overlooked his children in favor of an experienced friend, Skizofren.

736BCE: Bjorn Skizofren began to drink heavily after Ballath’s death. He started drafting insanely foolish laws while drunk and he was always drunk. Ballath’s heirs attempted to correct Skizofren’s decisions, but the Bjorn seemed unnaturally skilled at political manuevering.

735BCE: Bjorn Skizofren insulted Ballath’s family. Frustrated with the Bjorn, the children of Ballath left Dalleer. They traveled downriver and founded Bradel Fields near the mouth of the Black River.

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Kingdoms Sprouting Up Part 4

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Dalleer
Shaelin left Dalleer in the hands of his trusted friend, Bjorn, when he left to reclaim Fangaroot. Bjorn guided the city through the Dragon War and through the Dwarven Civil War. They emerged as a city-state that nominally owed their fealty to King Yentbern in Jord.
Bjorn ruled through a golden age for Dalleer as the metropolis grew and welcomed people of all races. Eventually Bjorn died as one of the most loved rulers in all Cimmeria. The lordship did not pass to his son. Instead , Bjorn willed his position to a wise human friend of his, Ballath. Ballath took the position gladly. Outraged, Bjorn’s living family moved to Jord. Many dwarves followed suit, not wishing to live under the rulership of a human. Ballath wished to keep a hold on the city’s past, so he took the name of Bjorn as a title in a failed attempt to keep the peace. He lead the city well, but it was not what it once was.
When it came time to choose a successor, Ballath also passed over his own children. While they were well trained and ready for leadership, Ballath wanted to follow in the footsteps of Shaelin and Bjorn. When Ballath passed, the scepter of Dalleer went to a philosopher and friend of Ballath’s named Skizofren. This man took up the title of Bjorn.
Skizofren seemed like a wise and just choice during Ballath’s life, but after his friend’s death he began drinking heavily. Some claimed that it was no longer blood that flowed through his veins, but red wine. Skizofren made foolish and insane laws while drunk and he was always drunk. Ballath’s family followed the path of the original Bjorn’s and quit Dalleer. They went downriver and formed a new settlement named Bradel Fields.
Many expected Dalleer to collapse under Skizofren’s rule, but the man proved them wrong. The populace plotted a revolt. Skizofren befriended key members of the revolution during his drunken escapades and stopped the revolt before it began. The actions of a reckless mage opened Dalleer up to interdimensional attack. Skizofren drunkenly led his people through the portal to find a means to close it. An army from the new city of Bradel Fields threatened Daller. Skizofren led the citizens in building catapults and trenches that warded off the attack. He organized crop planting and seemed to miraculously predict which crop’s would survive and where they would thrive. Skizofren’s tenure as the Bjorn seemed blessed by the gods despite his constant drunken state.
Skizofren ruled for close to one hundred years. When his time came he named a unknown young man as his successor. The people honored Skizofren’s request and made the young man the Bjorn. This Bjorn became stark mad when he took the throne. He blundered through problems for Dalleer, but never with the same style and flair as Skizofren. The people of Dalleer were too attached to the ways of Skizofren to remove the man from office. Instead they largely removed power from the Bjorn and gave his advisors discretion in how they led the city. The position of Bjorn became largely ceremonial.
The tradition of each Bjorn naming their successor remained. Every Bjorn since Skizofren has named an insane male human as his successor. The Bjorn is now a figurehead for an unstructured oligarchy that rules Dalleer from behind their puppet.

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