We're now well and truly into Hârnic history. The Elves are ensconced in Evael, the Khuzdul are in their mountains, and all's right with the world. Well, sort of.
The island of Melderyn off the southeast coast of Hârn is unified under Erebir Pendragon in year 0 of the Hârnic calendar (in fact the unification is when the Hârnic calendar begins). "Pendragon", by the way, is (according to the HârnDex):
Generally, a name given to any king elected to office by his chief subjects.And we're told that the Kings of Melderyn and, occasionally, Kings of Orbaal, are titled "Pendragon". The Arthurian tone, of course, is inescapable and if you look at the Melderyn Kingdom Module, that's probably on purpose; Melderyn is relatively peaceful, has a council of wizards, mysterious stonehenges, and various other things that make it the nearest thing to Camelot on Hârn. HârnWorld tells us that Melderyn doesn't overtly interfere much on the main island, but suggests that people with "strange powers" from Melderyn sometimes travel Hârn, giving Melderyn the name "Wizard's Isle".
Meanwhile, in the West...
Lothrim the Foulspawner
Around 120 TR - 600 years BP - Lothrim, who ruled a "semi-civilized tribe" in western Hârn, delved into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. (It's possible Lothrim was a renegade wizard from Melderyn.) He forged an empire that stretched from modern-day Tharda to modern-day Kaldor, but decided that just wasn't good enough. So, he created or imported the Gargun. Because what's the worst that could happen?
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| "You know, I really object to the "foul" epithet. I mean, have you smelled the Khuzdul?" |
Lothrim conquered and sacked the Dwarven city of Kiraz, slaughtering the inhabitants. (Kiraz, by the way, is a decent, if somewhat short, module and not a bad template for an abandoned dwarfhold.) The Khuzdul retaliated, defeated Lothrim's army as it marched home, and sealed Lothrim into an underground chamber with twelve starving Gargun. Om nom nom.
The Khuzdul have never revealed where Lothrim's Tomb is. The suriving Khuzdul relocated to Azadmere. We're also told that the Khuzdul hold a grudge against the Sindarin for not helping against Lothrim. So, that's...another grudge, I guess?
Lothrim's empire fell, his capital was abandoned. All's well that ends well!...Or is it?
Migration Wars and the East
The Eastern portion of Lothrim's empire was "culturally advanced". But following Lothrim's fall, the barbarian nations in the East became extremely aggressive. This was called the "Migration Wars" which, after about 60 years of warfare and chaos, led to the founding of Kaldor.
(We get a picture of a cross-shaped sculpture, looking very much like a Celtic cross, but are told this is a stone sword carved to honour Larani, goddess of chivalry and honourable war.)
The Corani Empires and the West
Pages 43 to 49 give us extensive history of the West and events that lead up to the foundings of Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday, and why Morgath is totally cool in the City of Golotha. I won't go through this in huge detail.
Basically, the "Corani Empire" arises out of the remnants of Lothrim's empire. It's the forerunner of the Thardic Republic, though we're not really given any indication of why the unique non-monarchist governance of Tharda arose. But we are told that an early emperor organized a civil service, which suggests a different structure than the other feudal systems.
The Empire falls into decline, and the "Morgathian heresy" arises. Balsha the Prophet - kind of like Jesus, if Jesus had preached undeath, misery, and violence - promotes Morgathianism but is executed by the Corani government. This, it turns out, was a bad move. Morgathian fanatics rebel against the Empire and take the city of Merethos - which they rename "Golotha" which apparently means "dark victory" in the secret language of the Morgathian Church. I'm sure the resemblance to "Golgotha" is entirely coincidental...The Balshans/Morgathians proceed to take over the Empire.
(Crossby clearly drew influence from a whole bunch of places and jammed 'em all into Hârn. The gods have a variety of influences; the Corani Empire/Balsha scenario seems pretty clearly inspired by the Crucifixion; Melderyn is Camelot; Midgaad is Middle-Earth; and so on. I think it's kind of a shame that so much of Hârn - Crossby's writing included - dwells on the "medieval realism" aspects of Hârn rather than the rather bizarre combination of inspirations that went into the setting.)
Right, so. What do you do when you're an apocalyptic death-cult and have overthow an empire? You become an even worse empire, of course. (Like I said last time - if you look at ISIS/ISIL, the Morgathian Theocracy might not be as far-fetched as it might first seem.)
The City of Aleath is sacked; prior to that, a few hundred Aleatheans sail east along the coast. They end up on the east coast of Hârn, and found the City of Thay. Back in the West, the Theocracy falls apart. Kanday is founded by the House of Kand, who had been exiled by the Theocracy.
(As an aside, I remember a review of Hârn in DRAGON magazine suggested that Kanday was perhaps a tongue-in-cheek reference to "Canada". Given Crossby's various in-jokes, references, and wordplay, I wouldn't be surprised...)
Arlun, a barbarian chieftan, conquers what is to become Rethem. Two Republics form in the 620's, each with a Senate ruled by wealthy families, and join together in the Thardic League. This becomes the Thardic Republic. Rethem, meanwhile, soldiers on to become the crapsack kingdom it is today, and Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday to become the least popular set of neighbours on Hârn.
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| Like this, except not popular, they all want to kill each other, and Melderyn stands in for Mr. Furley. |
We learn about the founding of tiny Chybisa, that Kaldor has a history of civil war and rebellion with powerful barons at odds with the crown, and that Kaldor's been at war with both Tharda and Chybisa within the last 50 years.
The North
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| Not that one. |
(Monasteries in Hârn aren't as vulnerable as in England - Laranian monastaries, at least, will have some military prowess. So, best raid a Peonian one, if you can!)
Epilogue
We get a chronology of Hârn listing many of the events we've read about (from 20,000 years ago to present) and a very brief Epilogue.
In the West, we are told that an uneasy peace exists among Rethem, Tharda, and Kanday. Rethem is rebellious and is likely to attack Kanday. A Laranian fighting order skirmishes with an Agrikian fighting order on the Rethem/Kanday border. Tharda is consumed with infighting and won't be a threat until a strong leader arises. Within and around all three, barbarians lurk.
In the East, the old and sickly King of Kaldor has never married, meaning there's no legitimate heir and the kingdom is ready for a succession crisis and civil war. Melderyn and Kaldor both claim dominion over Chybisa, who is quite happy to remain independent, thank you very much.
In the North, the Ivinian clans fight amongst themselves. The Jarin are on the brink of another rebellion. Kings from back in Ivinia (i.e. Scandinavia) might invade. And there's plenty of Gargun to go around.
Frankly, this stuff should not have been left to the end. The present, after all, is, by default, where the PC's adventures will take place. So give us these hooks quickly. The full history can wait.
Birthplaces, Weather, Terrain
Page 55 provides a system-neutral character background generator, which allow you to, if you wish, randomize species, gender, birthdate, and birthplace.
The last few pages provide a description of the types of terrain and topography that show up on the main Hârn map. There's also a page on movement and "watch routines" on the main map (basically, some basic rules for if you're hexcrawling across Hârn) and a page with random weather generation.
And that's it!
(Well, not quite. I'll give some closing thoughts in my next post.)
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