02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

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18 Iron Kingdoms
hunting grounds of the Molgur and the wastes of the
Bloodstone Marches to the east. The settlements,
towns, cities, and various temples and outposts that
riddled the area near modern Caspia unified in voice
and purpose under the lawful decree of the warriorpriest
Valent of Thrace around 2,800 BR. The united
towns quickly amalgamated defenses and resources,
and under Thrace’s rule they formed the Hold of
Calacia numbering over 50,000 men, women, and
children united in purpose to weather the assaults of
the Molgur together.
Over time, Calacia grew. Thrace’s legacy, a
lineage of warrior-priests now known as priestkings,
eventually came to rule over roughly 300,000
human souls. The forces of the Calacian Priest-King
patrolled not only the stone walls known as the
Shield of Thrace, but also the edges of the Wyrmwall
combating the Molgur and tracking their raids back
to the source. Despite the Time of the Burning Sky,
the Menites had endured.
The shield of Thrace
The low-lying wall once known as The shield of Thrace sPans
The disTance beTween The forTress of easTwall and salT vale
lake. during The Time of The molgur, The wall iTself sTood
18 feeT high wiTh a 30-fooT Tall Tower roughly every mile and
a heavily guarded gaTe every five miles. casPians scavenged The
wall hundreds of years laTer for building suPPlies, since The
ThreaT of The molgur no longer exisTed and The need for
sTones and building maTerial increased. sTill, some secTions
of The wall exisT sPecifically near The rail lines ThaT bring
Trains from sTeelwaTer flaTs To casPia.
during iTs Time, The shield of Thrace formed The final line
of defense beTween The molgur and The riPe lands of calacia
and was PaTrolled by 3,000 men and warrior-PriesTs Trained To
defend The Towers and raise alarms aT all cosT. beyond The
shield were seTTlemenTs and walled villages ThaT exTended
ouT from The wall To The fooThills of The wyrmwall. These
were The swordlands and each one was under The jurisdicTion
of a sPecific warrior-PriesT and his cohorT of TrooPs.
The advancement of weaponry also aided Calacia.
With long iron blades from their forges and the use of
the recurved longbow, the warrior-priests and soldiers
no longer had to rely on simple short spears and
swords to fight the Molgur. They could now employ
superior tactics, weaponry, and ranged combat. The
warrior-priests were also taught prayers of fire and
protection that, “scaythed the eyrth, and grant’d thym the
stryngth of strong boughs und thee flyghty spyd of mörcats,”
or so state the Songs of Calarth penned by an epic
lyricist of the same name. The Calacians, it seemed,
had learned to make the Molgur truly bleed.
Near 2,230 BR, the Priest-King Golivant was born.
Under his rule, the kingdom of Calacia began to repay
the Molgur for millennia of bloody conflict. The tribes
of Molgur in the remaining wilds found themselves
quickly hunted down and exterminated, and Golivant
himself decimated the Gor-Murdrom Molgur with the
aid of a legion of warrior-priests and a massive army
that numbered 40,000 strong. With the last dying
breath of the shamans of the Gor-Murdrom, the
Molgur were driven northward from the Wyrmwall.
Some survivors fled to deeper valleys and chasms
in the upper Wyrmwall where they could lick their
wounds, while others left the mainland completely
and settled in the Scharde Islands.
Golivant died roughly 25 years after driving the
Molgur out. With his death, Calacia fractured under
a struggle between factions attempting to seize control
of the throne. Rivals assassinated Golivant’s son as he
attempted to take the throne, and it was not until 2051
BR that Golivant’s grandson, Golivant III, united the
kingdom again and eventually renamed it Caspia.
Khard: The Stirring of the Wolf
As Golivant lay dying in Calacia (circa 2,175-2,170
BR), a fierce warrior-priest named Khardovic was
attempting to unite his people in the north. Khardovic
was a giant of a man, fierce and proud and given
to paroxysms of prayer. With Menoth’s blessing, he
unified the northlands through blood and iron—it is
said the crossroads in those days were decorated with
pikes suspending the skulls of his enemies. Within five
years Khardovic had forged his kingdom, whereupon
he soon assembled an immense host with the purpose
to assault all Devourer-worshipers in or near his realm.
The priest-king’s attack was brutal and efficient.
He had no time for a protracted war, and following
the commandments he heard from Menoth, he took
the war straight to the shamans of the mighty Molgur
tribes. Oddly, once they were conquered many of the
Molgur simply acquiesced to the rule of Menoth. With
their shamans killed, the tribes laid down their arms
and adopted the new religion; after all, Menoth did
not ask them to sacrifice their second sons or virgin
daughters to the beasts of the wild. By the time of his