1.) Gurum

This realm originated in the time of the Migration of the Elder Peoples, around seventy years before the Darian tribe -- from which later evolved Eald -- settled between the Grey Hills, the Darus and Lia, Lugas and what was to become Gura (the first Darian city founded around 140 b.GF. ).

With its foundation Gurum achieved to fill in a vacuum of power . Their advanced military technique (heavy war chariots and fast, light cavalry) allowed them to divert the pressure of the Migration of the Elder Peoples in an eastern direction.

A power struggle between two royal families allowed the small tribe of the Darians to break through at the eastern fringe, passing the eastern Inner Sea.

During the following one hundred to one hundred and fifty years of the Darians' development towards a kingdom (after 150 b.GF.), the kingdom of Gurum broke up into twenty segmented realms (later called the Twenty Provincial Realms).

Up to the final conquest of Gurum by the Ealdian Kingdom the Gurians of the twenty small countries lived together relative peacefully . These realms were often governed by rulers which were not much more than cities' kings. Disregarding smaller wars and quarrels about borders there were no serious changes in the power-structure. Solely in the time between 65 and 82 a.GF. the Grunian royal family succeeded in reigning over half a dozen of the Provincial Realms by using marriage and family alliances without that a merging of realms occured.

From 130 a.GF. onwards the Ealdian Kingdom advanced into Gurum. At first the Gurian border realms Dolon, Anda and Rygas could withstand this advance, but Dorigos an Peranas' victory over the allied armies of these border realms at the confluence of Nagon and Darus sealed their downfall.

Because of the brilliant commanders Lidor Garenor and Caeron Posaios the legions of Eald conquered the Provincial Realms in fourteen years (148 - 162).

In the subsequent time Gurian blood mixed with that of the conquerors. Gurian parts of the army (mainly light cavalry) even made possible the rise of Acrhimanos Parablata in 235.

With the frailty of the Ealdian Empire Gurum was also finished and the Vosals occupied the land.

2.) Nyral

At the time when Eald was still a kingdom Nyral also was ruled by kings. The relations between the nations (Nyral ruled from the Nyralian Mountains in the West up toParon - later called Pardum - and from the Salem to the Western Sea in the south) were always good. Marriages between the two realms were no rarity. And therefore it is not astonishing that king Arel II. set the path to the admission of his realm into the Ealdian Empire. Maybe not without ulterior motives, because as a reward the descendants of the royal family of Nyral were allowed to administer their part of the Empire from Blodum and Pardum for the Ealdian Emperor. Only when their desendants had died out in 580 the administration went over to Eald.

As the frailty of the Empire grew, Nyral was overrun by the Aranians.

3.) Myrddien

The part of Myrddia which belonged to the Ealdian Empire is situated on a great island in the Western Sea and was inhabited by dozens of small tribes and peoples.

As the soldiers of the Empire set foot on the island for once a greater kingdom reigned over the eastern part of the island up to the Tegarden. During around about one hundred and fifty years the legions of the Empire, which were superior in military and technical matters, were able to conquer the kingdom and push back hostile minded powers behind the Tegarden. This situation lastet up to the reign of emperor Saros III. (362 - 366). The kingdom Gruardi had indeed fallen, but the assault of several wild tribes beset the Ealdian legions dearly. Therefore Saros gave the order to build a wall in order to protect the part of Myrddia which was ruled by Eald. The wall was finished before the emperor died at the age of twentyfive. Covering a length of 506 miles (ca. 800km) around fifty larger and a goodly one hundred of smaller towers, six gates and fifteen castels existed.

Five legions were quite enough to resist the following assault of eight Barbarian Tribes (366 – 379). Afterwards Eald succeeded in forming a protective zone of five friendly tribes between the wall and the Tegarden.

When the Ealdian Empire dissolved, the wall also lost its importance. Even the re-structuring of Myrddia by Legemanos the Great (736 - 753) could give no support against the unpacified barbarians. The Myrddians which were formerly governed by Eald proved to be unable to create a new structure in place of the old. Apart from some parts of the Wall which remained undestroyed and a few Ealdian manors and farms the traces of Ealdian rule vanished as fast as snow in spring.

4.) Confederation of Lychango-Mountaintribes

In the year 420 a.GF. the Lychango-Mountaintribes drew attention to themselves for the first time by being subjugated in a battle by the Ealdian legions under Negaron I. Already one hundred and fifty years after the foundation of Eald they had appeared in their area of settlement northwest of the Inner Sea.

There were around about fifteen different peoples which lived together in small, lose tribal societies. Being of a small and stocky build they were fighters feared by their ferocity. At that time, long tribal feuds were the norm.

But all that ended, when the Ealdian kingdom reached with greedy fingers for the Lychango-Mountaintribes. Under the excellent chieftain of the Curach-tribe the peoples of this stretch of land between the Ap-Salom and the Gyron united.

When the legions of the kingdom approached, the warriors of the confederation formed in 220 blocked the accesses to their mountainous home by cunningly laid ambushes.

The legions of the kingdom under the leadership of Archimanos Parablata – later the so called "Three-Years'-Emperor" - tried to break the resistance of the Lchango-Mountaintribes by way of the Ealdian Inner Sea. In a brilliantly executed guerilla-warfare (sudden attack and fast retreat) Archimanos' forces were utterly distructed in the Battle at the Gates (235). Between the openings of the mountain ridges the legions had no chance to use their superior military might and tactics. A short time afterwards Archimanos was sentenced by king Ragoras II. for just those intentions of overthrowing the government which would lead to the end of the kingdom and the origin of the empire.

With this victory the Lychango-Mountaintribes were left alone by the Ealdian kingdom for nearly twohundred years, although they were at least formally annected. Only through the Battle at the Ap-Salom under Negaron I. the region of the Confederation could be incorporated into the Ealdian Empire. By the help of the troops stationed in the cities of Abdum-Ra and Nashem, which had developed earlier, and by the legions which had been stationed in the cities Gordum and Aradum founded after the victory of Negaron, the Lychango could be pacified. Despite the tributes paid once a year the mountaintribes could mostly preserve their independence (especially in cultural respects).

As the decadence began to hold sway in Eald, the Lychango-Mountaintribes once again became a center of agitaion. While under the reign of Fyramon, it could still be controlled for a short time after the victory of the emperor's friend Rutus an Daruga at Abdum-Ra (at that time he was Legionos of the XII. Legion). But then it exploded. Like a tidal wave the Lychango under Kchunar the Great (678 - 723) broke through towards the east. They advanced deep into Gurum and there founded the Kchunian Kingdom (708 - 767).

After the main dynasty died out, they became integrated into the tribe of the Vosals.

5.) The Vassal Kingdoms

The kingdoms Alloran, Dioganon and Yngwa developed at around the same time as the realm of Eald; that means around the years 0 and 25 of Ealdian reckoning. Being not very war-minded peoples the realms got on rather well with each other.

At around about 270 a.GF. a new people approached, the Galdians. In a war lasting only two years they pushed the Yngwans about 300 miles westwards and founded the Galdian Principality. Despite the violent conquest an animated trade between the principality and the three kingdoms began.

When it became evident since around about 540 that the Ealdian Empire also reached out his hands for their realms, the three kings built a defensive alliance. In the month of the Diadem (sixth month of the Ealdian year) of 579 the Ealdian attack under their Army Commander Ludaion an Gala began. Used to many centuries of peace and prosperity, the kindoms still defended themselves doggedly. And although the fight ,which was carried out in a fierce manner full of obstinate love of peace, lasted for twelve years, the defensive alliance lost to the militarily and logistically superior enemy. Because of their courage emperor Ludaion I. granted the defeated their territorial souveranity. Thus the second break with the Principle of Administration took place, which had been introduced by Balaiur I. in the year 280.

Ludaion appointed regents by the grace of Eald which were mostly imperial relations. The three realms were known as "Vassal Kingdoms" in Eald's official language. After the collapse of the Ealdian Eastern Realm the Vassal Kingdoms soon fell to the Migration of Peoples. Only the Galdian Principality could (again, one could say) hold out longer and thus it blended with the Great-Danian Realm nosooner than 943.

6.) The Terian Nomads

About 426 years after the legendary foundation of the city and the realm by Grynn (resp. Grunos I.) the greatest danger to the Ealdian Empire descended from the north: the Terian Nomads.

These equestrian tribes came from the plains at the North Sea, which was ca. 800 miles distant from Gurum. They actually were built up from three different people of two language framilies: the Liteges and the Spordads. In the centuries since the bronze age there developed a mixed culture and language, which united these peoples - although the main structure of the three peoples remained (Northern and Southern Liteges and Mysiemes) . The name "Terian Nomads" came from the name of the original area of settlement of these equestrian tribes. Their migration to the south (shich is still seen as a part of the Migration of the elder Peoples) was induced by the penetration of the Arians in Terien, who founded a kingdom and went on the hike again during the Migration of the Peoples (ca. 600 - 800 a.GF.), to finally invade the western Eald in 785.

Like an elemental force they descended upon the northern, mostly unfortified border of Eald and advanced until 426 to Erdum. There they were defeated by an Ealdian army of three legions which was lead by emperor Negaron II. from the Lyndian Dynasty. After the Battle of Erdum Negaron forced a treaty upon the nomadic peoples and allowed them to settle north of Aradum and Syrdum. Furthermore he committed the three war chieftains of the equestrian tribes to a peace of a hundred years, which was to be secured by taxes and hostages.

But after this treaty had run out, with Narduk the Strong again a ruler full of lust for conquest appeared amongst the noblemen of the three peoples. Between 532 and 537 Narduk worked his way up to become the sovereign and disposed of his co-rulers Kurban and Lamrok by way of paid assassins. He united the warriors of the three tribes and formed them to a force of well above five thousand warriors of Ealdian mould, although the main focus lay decidedly on cavalry.

In 539 he lead his army westwards and in the spring of 540 he crossed the Ap-Salom north of the Ealdian border. In the Month of the Crown (the fifth month by Ealdian reckoning) he overran Buras and advanced on Blodum. Shortly after crossing the Ap-Salom anew he was attacked north-east of Blodum by an Ealdian legion. In a brilliantly fought battle he defeated the Ealdians but could not conquer Blodum. Because Eald advanced with four legions on him, Narduk withdrew. He and his successors could hold the region between Salem and Ap-Salom until 676.

In 653 the attempt of the Terian Nomads to expand in a south-easterly direction failed in the Battle of Gordum. Already partly sublimated by the nearness to Eald, Fyramon the Great was able to drive the equestrian peoples behind the borders of the empire after the Battle of Buras in 676. Afterwards the Terian Nomads perished in the migration of the peoples. They left only the circular layout of their settlements.

7.) Smaller Conquered territories:

a)Tribal Principalities of the Blugo

The Blugo-tribe belonged to the Pre-Arian language family and was a bronze-age culture. There were more than a dozen smaller tribes which had settled in the area between the Darus and the Middle Chain of Hills resp. the Warren-Wood. The foundation of this primitive civilization were cattle breeding and fishing. In times of war a chieftain was chosen, who had no other authorities than leadership of the tribes in wartime. Since the Blugo fought mostly incoherently they were in no way a match against the Darians, which were fighting with iron weapons and were well organized. From 30 b.GF. onwards the Darians drove them from their area of settlement. What happened with the Blugo afterwards is not known. But it is probable that they merged with the Rygians and that Blugo who were enslaved by the Darians mixed with them or were destroyed.

 b) Vuria

Little is known about this kingdom safe from findings of houses and graves. We can be only sure that the Vurians already founded city-like settlements and that they inhabited the region between the Seos and the Druna-Hills. The burial objects which one can find every now and again point to knowledge about the processing of iron ore and the manufacturing of jewellery from gold and bones. That one can find burial objects at all furthermore points to the belief in some kind of resurrection.

If the Vurians had a kingdom in the technical sense at all or if the Ealdians gave that title to their social system because of false assumptions is also not clear. The Ealdian sources ("History of the Fathers" by Leandamon) only tell us that Noras was a city of the Vurians and that it could be captured by Alfon I. in 42 a.GF.

It is also possible that Eald was a Vurian town resp. that a Vurian city stood there before the Battle of the Wolves. It is further assumed that the battle had taken place between Darians and Vurians. Setting out from this hypothesis it would become clear why the nucleus of Eald is approximately equal to the area of settlement of the Vurians.

Most probably the Vurians merged with the Ealdians the same way as the Gurians and the Nyrals did.

c) Rygia

Rygia was definetly a kingdom. This follows from the literary records of this people (there is, for example, a list of taxes from the first Pre-Ealdian century, which a certain Optilat, a kyrian merchant, had to pay to the rygian king). We even know that these kings were de iure priest-kings and could demand human sacrifices ("History of the Fathers", Leandamon, third chapter). But from the findings of gravesites we can verify this only for the beginnings of the realm (380 - 275 b.GF.). Later on this practice would have been superseded by sacrifice from animals and fruits.

From the Ealdian records (especially Maros an Palan, 5. century) we know that Eald could defeat the kingdom of Rygia until 280 a.GF. and that it advanced to the Neglus. Before that, so Maros tells us, there had been a limited trade with the Rygian border towns of Narda and Rygas until 239. Also from Maros we learn that Rygia reached from the Middle Chain of Hills to the Kyrian Border Mountains and from the Darus up to the Neglus.

An earlier historian who remains anonymous reports of four bigger battles which took place between 276 and 279.

In the Rygian records the following is told about the culture of the kingdom: The families and the state were organized along patriarchal lines. They traded with Myrddia over the Western Sea and over land with the nucleus of the Kyrian Realm. Rygia was founded around 300 b.GF. and developed from peoples of the first wave of the Elder Migration of peoples (beginning around about 420 b.GF). Furthermore the name of kings, the system of government and the customs regulation are handed down to us. Judging by the language the Rygians belonged to the peoples of the Advaced Eastern Civilizations (e.g. Atatrok). A closer relations with the Regians is not yet proven.

In the following period the Rygians blended with the Ealdians. Already at the time of the Migration of Peoples there is no longer a sign of Rygian independence (if we disregard assimilated names). Newer excavations from the region between Neglus and Nagon (Rygian names) point to a disappearance of Rygian culture in the second half of the fourth century.

d) Lanem

Lanem was a small realm of the Lanes which were related to the Darians; it lay north of Buras and to the west of the Salem. The Lanes had left their home Broana (to the north-east of Gurum) together with the Darians, but had seperated from them by around about 360 b.GF. From excavations at Tirdea, an early town of the Vosals founded in 410 b.GF., we know that the Lanes had settled here until ca. 100 b.GF. Tirdea lies ca. 560 miles north of Gurum.

It was probably the invasion of a tribe belonging to the Aranian language family which forced the Lanes to move westwards. Sometime around 210 the Lanes seem to have turned to the south. Anyway, since ca. 280 there are the first signs of a Lanian settlement west of the Salem.

In the following centuries Lanem developed to a peaceful small kingdom. With the sea in the west the modest wealth of the Lanes was based on the sea trade. From the fifth century onwards they traded also with the Empire. Especially families of a Nyralian descent exported iron and pottery and received amber, cloth and jewels from the continent to the west.

From 525 onwards the conquest of Lanem under Apatus the Great started. Why Eald suddenly reached for Lanem remains unknown. But it was probably the growing wealth of the Lanes from 500 onwards which was the decisive factor.

Since the Lanes were not very belligerent they had to rely on mercenaries. Except for some hundred Terians it were especially warriors from the city-states of Frugia to the west of the Ealdian Empire which fought for Lanem. Especially the mercenary leader Tugor of Gsaard caused a lot of trouble for the Ealdian legions. Only after the Battle of Rahla in 527, in which Tugor himself died, was the fate of Lanem decided. Little by little the mercenaries left their contractor and thus Apatus found little resistance.

After the second Terian Invasion (540) Trakos VI. gave the order to build Radum, Nodum, Libradum and Argdum west of the Salem in order to secure the region. (called the "Salem-Forts" by Leandamon). Libradum became the capital of the province Lanem which was placed under the Principle of Administration.

It was not until 780 that the Western Ealdian Realm lost Lanem to the Aranians. In 804 it became part of the Aranian-Ealdian Kingdom and in 940 of the Great Danian Realm. Only then did the Laners lose their cultural identity.

8.) Neighbouring States

a) Kyrian Kingdom

The Kyrian Kingdom was the largest state which adjoined Eald. When the Darian tribe moved through the region of Gurum there was already a core realm east of the Lion's Pit between Glery and Dyro.

When the reign of the Olakoids began in Eald, Kyria had expanded to the north and in 162 a.GF. Yxan was built, the northernmost border town to Eald.

358 the First War began, which was instigated by king Lymard II. The Kyrians advanced into the Lion's Pit but were beaten there in 360 by Saros II.

Afterwards relations between the two realms remained peaceful for about a hundred years. In the border territories a flourishing trade developed and Eald endeavoured for the preservation of peace. An invasion of the Kyrian Kingdom would have been full of risk for Eald because of the natural borders (Kyrian Border Mountains) so that its emperors were content with the construction of the strong border fortresses of Veradum and Dum-Sara.

But in 490 the Kyrian king Amaldon I. dared to invade Gurum. At that time the Empire was busy securing the province of Arbdum which had been conquered by emperor Boras V. (466 - 469). The emperor, who was 40 years of age at the time, confronted the army and died in the Battle of Teradias. In the following period Amaldon expanded the conquered territory up to Sardum. Under Boras VI. (490 - 498) there were several smaller battles between Eald and Kyria, but they brought no real advantage to either side.

It was only the Army Commandes of the East, Apatus an Darayn, who could defeat Kyria decisively at the Battle of Sardum in 500. In the following two years he could push back the Kyrians and sealed the Peace Treaty of Veradum in 502.

In the following period relations between the Eald and Kyria were determined primarily by trade. Dum-Sara developed into a chief trading-center and advanced in status from an important border fortress into a rich city of trade. Especially the import of wood and grain was completed in this city. From Eald pottery and marble were exported via Dum-Sara.

In 660/1 again a military concflict broke out when the Kyrian king Warrados invaded Eald by its northern border. But the Army Commander of the east, Lyndon Parablata, who later on was killed in favour of Fyramon the Great, stopped the Kyrians at Veradum. But all this did no harm to trade.

Between 730 and 814 Kyria suffered much by the Migration of Peoples. The northern third of the realm fell to the Vosals while the rest was severely plagued by the tribe; it could withstand the enemy, however, until the Battle of Jander in 813. In 814 Kyria became part of the Harschanian Kingdom.

 b) Isle of Mages

In the immediate neighbourhood of Eald, to the north and east of Myrddia in the Western Sea as well as in the Inner Sea, there lie small island states which managed to keep their territorial independence. In the east this is the Isle of Mages.

Sometimes around the seventh century b.GF the tribes of Myrddia began to venture out to sea. Because of that, the tribe of the Rycha settled on the Isle of Mages in the sixth pre-Ealdian century. In the relative seclusion these men and women began to occupy themselves with the healing power of plants which exclusively grew on this island. In the following centuries a profound medical knowledge developed out of out of this occupation.

When the Ealdian Empire began to expand into Myrddia the Ealdians also came into contact with the Rycha. Emperor Saros II. was so much impressed with thew medical knowledge and abilities of this tribe that he imposed a ban on the conquest of the Isle of Mages (as he called it then).

The Rycha used their medicine (also) for the benefit of Eald and became the preferred doctors of the Ealdian Empire.

Even after the ruin of Eald the Rycha could keep their independence in their capital Rychdana (founded in 111 b.GF). Only 1210 they became part of the kingdom Tamyr (which had developed in the south of Myrddia in 1190).

c) The Free Isles

Only five of the dozen islands east of Myrddia were inhabited. The greatest and most fertile of this group had been colonized by people from Myrddia since around about 550 b.GF.

It is not until Leandamon that we have the next reports about the Free Isles. In his work "History of the Empire" (625 - 627) he tells us:

"When the emperor (he means Lygamon the Lion) crossed the Western Sea, on the eigth day, after a terrifying storm, he came to a great isle. After he had set foot on land there, he was accosted by five men in white clothing. When he asked for the name of this strand, they answered: "This is the Isle of the Merchants. We are the city councillors of Nylo. You are welcome so the damages to your ships be mended."

The emperor was so pleased by the friendliness of this people that he stayed on the isle for three days."

After the conquest of Myrddia up to the Tegarden, close trade relations between the Ealdian part of Myrddia and the Free Isles arose. Especially Nardum profited by this trade.

But also a steady exchange of goods via Arbdum developed. Especially the glassware of the main isle were much valued in Eald. It is probably the importance of the Free Isles for the Ealdian part of Myrddia and the circumstance that the Ealdians were no seafaring people which were responsible for the independance of the Isles.

It was not until 1195 that the Free isles became part of Tamyr.

d) Nyraiah

A short time before the tribe of the Darians, another tribe emigrated from its area of origin because of the pressure of the Migration of the Elder Peoples: the Nyrans. They came from the west and were subsequently driven from there by the Frugians.

They reached the Inner Sea at around 220 b.GF. The Nyrans were a seafaring people and had already discovered the western continent in the fourth Pre-Ealdian century. And thus they built ships at the edge of the Inner Sea and from ca. 180 b.GF. they set over to Nyraiah ("Land of the Nyrans").

When the Ealdian Kingdom began to spread north across the Inner Sea under the Olakoids, they also came into contact with the small kingdom in the sea. In 142 a.GF. a delegation of king Olakoos arrived at the capital Nyrah. The members of the delegation were such impressed with the achievements of the Nyrans in ship-building that they made a treaty with them. With it the Nyrans were granted independance in exchange for the supply of ships.

In the following time period Nyraiah was often an intermediary port for ships sailing to and from the north. The seaport Belay developed into a popular trade centre for goods from Gurum. All in all, however, it was the ship-building which remained the important reason for the independance of Nyraiah, which was only ended by the Great-Danian Empire (948 - 1225).

e) The Frugian City States

In the second Pre-Eladian century the Frugians migrated into the area between the northern Western Sea and the Nyralian Border Mountains. They belonged to the Pre-Aranian Language Family and pushed the Nyrans to the south-east (as part of the Migration of the Elder Peoples).

They founded a kingdom around 160 b.GF. which disintegrated into several city states however. After several wars the city Tirka gained a certain supremacy (from around 402 a.GF onwards).

As of 525 Frugian mercenaries fought for the Lanes. Especially the mercenary captain Tugor of Gsaard distinguished himself until he died in 527 in the Battle of Rahla.

Despite their fighting activities for the Lanes, the Frugian City States were left alone by the Ealdian Empire. The reason for that would have been the rather difficult accessibility of their territories since the Nyralian Border Mountains occupied the greatest part of the border between the Frugians and Eald. And since the Frugians themselves made no moves to invade Eald, peace was preserved.

The Aranians on the other hand had no difficulties to conquer the Frugian City States

Imperium Ealdum