History of Zul Kiras

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Origins of Zul Kiras

Origins of Fenris Bonebreaker

Any discussion of the history of the United Clans must necessarily begin with Fenris Bonebreaker, the first War-King. In those days, the Steel Raven Clan was like any of hundreds of small orc raiding bands that are found in the uninhabited regions of the world, with a few dozen warriors supporting a small village. Born Ruaughkh Bonebreaker around the year 60, he grew up in his clan's stronghold in the Xaad mountains. When he was old enough to take up arms, he won a place among his clan's warriors and participated in armed raids against the Kingdom of Beren's southern frontiers. Alternately cooperating with other clans or competing against them, the Steel Raven scratched out a living in the orcs' traditional way, plundering all they could before being chased back into the mountains by the Berenite army.

Occasionally leaders came along who were charismatic or bloodthirsty enough to unite the local clans into a an army, but they were inevitably defeated by the armies of Beren. Just such a warlord had come along in the year 76 in the person of Gharm Thunderfist, Chieftain of the Steel Raven Clan. The defeat of Thunderfist's horde left young Bonebreaker deeply dissatisfied and frustrated, and he spent many hours trying to figure out how the human armies had turned aside the might of the ferocious orcish assault.

One night the following year during a night of feasting and drinking in Thunderfist's hall, Ruaughkh got into an argument with Thunderfist's brother Wurogh. The young warrior asked why the orcs should continue to live as dogs, half-starved and stealing scraps from the humans' refuse heaps. When Wurogh mocked Bonebreaker's inexperience and asked the young warrior what he would do differently, Ruaughkh was forced to admit that he didn't know. He still persisted in his argument, however, and in anger, declared that their traditional ways had failed, just as Thunderfist had failed. This was an intolerable insult to the chieftain, and Ruaughkh fled into the night when Thunderfist ordered his death. For twenty years, if he was mentioned at all among his Clan, it was to curse him as a coward.

During the following two decades, Ruaughkh travelled far and wide, selling his services as a mercenary and bodyguard in many different lands, including some that would eventually be conquered by the nation he would forge. In Dremiel, he acquired the nickname Fenris after a mythical monstrous wolf from an employer who couldn't pronounce his given name. He liked the new appellation so much that he used it as his name ever afterward, shedding his disgraced birth name.

There are many tales about his exploits in foreign lands, and it is difficult to separate his actual travels from later bardic inventions. His personal writings contain large gaps, since it wasn't always possible for him to obtain writing supplies. From what is written in his journals, it is certain that he had a brief stint as a bodyguard in Secca, boarded a ship to Ethcabar, and helped to fight off a pirate attack off the coast of Arangoth en route. He spent time guarding river barges on the Nie and the Grand Canal, and also spent a stint in Aslar's army. He also seems to have joined a company of adventurers for a time from passing references made some years later. He clearly had amassed considerable wealth from some source by the time he returned to his ancestral home.

His employers found him remarkably patient for an orc, and eager to learn. He absorbed all he could during his years of mercenary work, always observing and weighing how useful some knowledge might be to him. He naturally concerned himself with the ways human generals conducted their armies, how they were trained and how they were organized. But he also learned how to read and write in common. Having no written orcish language, he attempted to create one with the Berenite alphabet, which was derived from an Elvish script. Though the Firestorm Clan's writing system was eventually adopted instead, Bonebreaker continued to use this script for his personal writings until his death.

He endured the inevitable insults, mistreatment, and occasional violence to be expected of an orc in human lands, keeping his anger in check with visions of being a general who would sweep away everything in his path, and remake it to his liking as King. In his travels, he encountered other groups of orcs and goblinoids, some of which would eventually join the United Clans themselves. His notes on where to find the groups of orcs who'd impressed him, and notes about their ways proved to be very useful to future orcish generals during Zul Kiras' long and blood-soaked expansion. Some speculate that the roots of the enmity between Bahr and Zul Kiras stem from Bonebreaker's time in Aslar, as his journals contain numerous disparaging remarks about a group of Bahrians he served with. During a visit to the Howling Wind, he convinced his great-grandfather's spirit to accept a binding through one the Medicine Men's tattooing ritual. Now stronger and fleeter of foot than he'd ever been in his life, he returned home to the Xaad mountains and the home he'd been driven out of many years ago.

Return and Preparations for War

He was not recognized at first, so different in manner and appearance was he than when he had left. He was welcomed in the manner customary for a strange warrior, invited to eat with the Clan's warriors and share his tales of his deeds and his people. After revealing his identity, he wasted no time in challenging the Chieftain to a trial by combat for control of the Clan. Laulogh Thunderfist, the son of Wurogh, had supplanted his uncle as Chieftain, and declared that he was all too happy to give Bonebreaker the death he'd run away from twenty years ago.

Of all the thrilling episodes in the many stories of Bonebreaker's life, his combat with Laulogh doesn't feature prominently in any of them. Most songs and tales recount this event in the briefest of mentions. One popular epic contains a tense build-up toward the fight, with lengthy descriptions of both combatants as they faced each other, and then abruptly closes the episode by noting that the meal was still hot when Bonebreaker sat down in the Chieftain's place to eat. Similar scenes were repeated in the next few months as Bonebreaker began consolidating the local mountain clans under the Steel Raven banner. His combination of foreign knowledge and magical enhancement made him seem all but invincible. After several chieftains fell to his blade, others found it wiser to join with him and become his lieutenants. He gained a reputation for being generous to his allies, and merciless to his enemies.

In the mountain pastures where the orcs kept their flocks, Bonebreaker began to reforge the orcs of the mountains from bands of warriors into soldiers in a single, disciplined army. This was in effect upending the orcs' cherished warrior culture, and emphasizing unity of action rather than individual prowess. This was far from easy, even for a leader who appeared to be more than mortal to his fellow orcs. But he prevailed by force of will, and soundly defeated any challenges to his rule.

While his forces were training in secret, he continued to send raiding parties down into Beren to feed and supply his people. He gave specific orders on what was to be taken, and commanded the raiders to set fire to the villages behind them to conceal the focus of these raids. When some orcs grumbled over the new strictures placed upon yet another ancient orcish tradition, Bonebreaker responded, "Let the one who can eat gold take it with him. Do not waste your strength carrying trinkets up the mountain when it will all be ours soon enough."

Even as the training of his army progressed, Bonebreaker still had a number of obstacles to overcome. Properly equipping his new army proved to be one of the greatest challenges. Attempts to teach his forces to act as units rather than individuals was hampered by his inability to furnish them with uniform armament, and forced him to deal with weaponry less than ideally suited for fighting in disciplined ranks. He improvised as best he could, while working on a more permanent solution.

Alliances

The orcs who would become the Fading Sun Clan were well known to the mountain clans, and roundly despised by them. The mountain orcs thought them too weak and humanlike, and their bizarre religious views only compounded their mistrust. They had been conquered by the Berenite duchy of Adrilan and reduced to a state of bondage, much to the disgust of other orc clans. But in this state of affairs, Fenris Bonebreaker saw a golden opportunity. Were he to secure their loyalty, they would continue to work the farms and mines of Adrilan, and ensure that his forces were well-fed and well-equipped. Having orcs skilled in farming, masonry, and metalcraft would be easily as valuable as more trained soldiers to his cause.

While he might simply have claimed dominion over them when his army invaded Adrilan, he opted for a lighter approach that would give them a reason to be more loyal to him than the Berenite masters he'd be supplanting. So, he concluded a secret alliance with the enslaved orcs of Adrilan through trusted lieutenants leading the raids, offering them an equal place beside his warriors. Bonebreaker's penchant for doing the unthinkable was creating dissent among those who were not yet convinced of his grand vision, and to his doubters he replied, "Do not disdain that which is useful." This arrangement bore fruit even before Bonebreaker's army marched, which helped him to silence the grumblings without further bloodshed: raiders now knew exactly where to find food and other necessary supplies to carry back to the mountains.

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place when Bonebreaker sought out the fearsome sorcerers who called themselves the Firestorm. Other orcs greatly feared this cabal of wizards, attributing the most vile of acts to them in the tales of their strange ways. With neither cavalry nor engines of war, Bonebreaker knew that his army was doomed without the support of the Firestorm's magic. But he knew well that he must persuade them with his words, for he could not persuade them with the edge of his sword as he had so many other mountain clans.

Servants of the ancient dragon Arpharizaud, they had learned their fell arts from the Scourge of the West and spread terror in his name for centuries. But the great beast's shadow had not been seen in the sky in years, for he had become obsessed with his studies of the arcane. Finding little appeal in the gleam of gold and the sparkle of gems any more, he had little need for his servants to extract tribute for him. Except for the occasional order to go forth and retrieve some artifact or tome for their master, the Firestorm were left at loose ends, and had not agreed among themselves what they should do.

And thus, Bonebreaker was fortunate that he found the Firestorm in a mood to listen when he sought them out in their stronghold of Orkarag, called Orchome in the common tongue. In days gone by, they might have simply killed any uninvited guests who presumed to intrude upon their lands, or used them as test subjects in experiments too horrible to contemplate. The novelty of a lone orc approaching their abode in the shadow of Arpharizaud's lair was sufficient that he was invited inside and given an audience before the Firestorm's leaders. There, before wizards both living and undead, Bonebreaker outlined his plans and explained his preparations, and then offered the Firestorm a place of prominence within his new kingdom. The wizards were surprised and intrigued by Bonebreaker's innovation and daring, but wished to see his forces firsthand before committing to his cause.

The Firestorm's leaders sent Nazad Frostknives back with Bonebreaker to the Steel Raven's lands, and he was so impressed that he committed the Firestorm's aid to Bonebreaker's cause before the end of his first day among them. Some have wondered why the Firestorm orcs agreed to an alliance rather than kill Bonebreaker and take command of his army, which would have been more in character with their usual behavior toward other mountain clans. This very subject was indeed debated among the sorcerers deep within Orkarag, but they realized that they could not replace Bonebreaker's unique knowledge, and that his army would never be as loyal to them as they were to him. They saw the value of such a charismatic leader, and thought that they would easily be able to manipulate him from behind the scenes. They would later find that they had severely underestimated him.

Bonebreaker and Frostknives decided that the invasion of Adrilan would be launched from Orchome to maximize the surprise of their first strike. Bonebreaker left a small force behind to continue the raids and create a distraction, while his forces massed at Orkarag and prepared to launch an invasion from a completely different direction. It also gave them the opportunity to capture important mines in the foothills with their initial assault, so the newly liberated orcs could begin producing new, standardized arms for the forces immediately. In the spring of the year 102, Bonebreaker's army marched.

Invasion of Adrilan

The first strike caught the Berenites so completely by surprise that the Duke of Adrilan was unaware of the magnitude of the problem for almost three weeks. The force initially sent to deal with the orcs was unprepared to confront a disciplined army supported by powerful magic and undead, and was wiped out almost to the last man on the banks of the river Sindjis. Hearing the news of the defeat, the Duke retreated with the remainder of his forces in the castle of Phorstel and dispatched messengers to Berendan requesting help. Bonebreaker could not capture Phorstel without siege engines, so he attempted to lure them out to give battle by ravaging the countryside with his forces and putting every human he could find to the sword. The Duke's forces did not take the bait, and the Firestorm wizards raised the victims of this great slaughter as undead and sent them shambling north to serve as a first line of resistance against the reinforcements that were certain to be arriving shortly.

The news was greeted in Berendan by shock and incredulity, and was not believed until the king's court wizards tried to scry on the area and found that something was interfering with their attempts. Thus, Prince Teliran, called the Sword Prince because of his prowess in warfare, raised an army to relieve the besieged Duke and drive the orcs out of Adrilan. Bonebreaker, meanwhile, used the intervening time to consolidate his hold over Adrilan, and fortify his position with the help of the newly organized Fading Sun Clan. He found the aid of Silik, also called Grey-Beard, invaluable in this endeavor. The old orc was a master of organization, and a veritable treasure trove of knowledge when it came to construction. In return, Bonebreaker's respect and trust in him was instrumental in his election as Chieftain of the newly constituted clan.

Frostknives wanted to summon earth elementals to rip the walls of Phorstel to pieces and reduce it before reinforcements arrived, but doing so would have required more magical power than even the Firestorm could muster at the time. Bonebreaker thought it more important to maintain the wards against divination so that Berenite wizards could not spy on them, as well as to keep the horde of undead animated to inflict as many casualties on the relief force as possible before they met the orcish army. Bonebreaker was still worried about his lack of cavalry, and was willing to let the troops bottled up inside of Phorstel use up their stores and deal with them later.

Bonebreaker was successful in preventing Teliran's army from reaching Phorstel to relieve the besieged forces, and defeated the Sword Prince soundly in Last Seed of the year 102. Teliran was able to escape with his cavalry nearly intact, however, and the defeat was not as decisive as Bonebreaker had hoped. He consented to Nazad Frostknives' plan now that the undead horde had served their purpose, and destroyed Phorstel with summoned elementals. They discovered broken catapults and ballistae in the ruins, and turned them over to Silik to figure out how to repair them and construct new ones.

With Adrilan securely under orcish control, Bonebreaker brought the women and children down from the mountains to help the Fading Sun bring in the harvest and prepare for the winter. While some commanders would have been content with the victories won and the territory seized, Bonebreaker was already planning ahead for future campaigns and a rematch with Teliran. He knew that the Berenites would not be content to surrender Adrilan to the invading orcs, and if his victories were to be more than temporary, the total defeat of Beren was necessary. The Fading Sun kept their forges hot all winter, producing new weapons and armor for the Steel Ravens. The spring brought a flurry of activity, as Bonebreaker began to drill his forces with their new equipment. He could finally implement his ideas fully now that his army was properly outfitted, but doing so required some re-training for his forces. The Fading Sun continued to tinker with the new artillery pieces to perfect them for battle, and practiced incessantly to learn how to use them effectively.

Cat and Mouse with Teliran

Teliran was not idle either, reorganizing his forces and recruiting more troops in the wake of such a disastrous campaign. The loss of Adrilan's resources and men were a blow to his war effort, which compelled him to seek aid from foreign allies. The Triple Kingdom proved to be the greatest obstacle, and prevented any help from arriving from the east. The advisors to the Thrice-Crowned Monarch did not seriously believe that this orcish invasion could topple the mighty Berenite kingdom, but saw this as an opportunity to seize the upper hand against their rival in the balance of power in the region. The dwarves of Azagud saw no reason to leave their mountain halls, and in the end, only Dremiel came to Beren's aid, though they did not provide Teliran with the numbers he had hoped for. He managed to compel the petty principalities in the north to provide troops for his army, though this only exacerbated relations with the northern principalities.

The following spring, in the year 104, Bonebreaker crossed the River Ostva into Beren with his newly refitted army. He left behind a small force on the far side of the river to discourage the Berenite army from crossing into Adrilan, and train some late arriving orcs who had sworn fealty to Fenris Bonebreaker after hearing of his victories. It was a risky strategy, but no one knew the true strength of his army, or what was hiding inside the fortified camps near the banks of the Ostva thanks to the deceptive magics of the Firestorm Clan.

Teliran decided to adopt a new tactic to deal with Bonebreaker, and exploit the orcish temperment. He would shadow Bonebreaker's army to prevent them from burning and looting indiscriminately, but refuse to give battle. He would wait for the orcs to exhaust their supplies and their newfound discipline to break down, and then crush them once and for all. Throughout that campaign season and the next, the two generals played a game of cat and mouse with each other, contending against their own troops' restlessness as they did against each other. Teliran did not want to spring his trap prematurely, despite the mounting costs of the campaign and the belief among his command staff that their numerical superiority could easily overwhelm the orcish invaders.

Bonebreaker, meanwhile, had to maintain discipline among his troops at all costs, and avoid giving Teliran the opportunity he was waiting for. Even though his troops were eager for a battle, his victories in the initial assault had proven his radical ideas to his troops. Some had begun to believe that Bonebreaker was the chosen champion of the gods, and he was not afraid to use this growing cult of personality to his advantage. Fenris could afford to play a waiting game with Teliran, though he still had to keep a tight rein on his soldiers' restlessness.

The Battle of Berendan

Bonebreaker broke the stalemate in 106, taking advantage of the melting snow that made the River Thunder impassable in the spring, and delayed the arrivals of reinforcements from Dremiel. Sending word to the remainder of his forces in Adrlian by way of the Firestorm's magic, he ordered them to march toward Berendan with their artillery and other surprises he had in store. Despite their greater numbers, his army would be able to travel more quickly to meet up with the force from Adrilan, since they had a much smaller baggage train. Bonebreaker waited for his opportunity, and slipped away from Teliran under cover of fog. The orcs had a substantial head start by the time that the Berenite watchmen realized that the orcish camp was empty, and Teliran quickly put his army into marching order.

Rather than pursue the orcs, he sent his army south toward Adrilan, hoping to draw Bonebreaker back with the threatened annihilation of the orcish women and children, believing that the invaders lacked the capability to take a city as well fortified as Berendan. He was taken quite by surprise when his father's court wizards sent him an urgent summons to return to the capital with all possible speed.

As his column approached the mighty capital of the Berenite kingdom, he found Bonebreaker's camp waiting for him. While some of his lieutenants thought that the orcs were beseiging the city, Teliran realized that the true purpose of his fortifications was to cut him off from the city. It did not prevent the city's defenders from sallying forth to attack the orcish flank, however, and it left the orcs with their backs to the River Thunder. He arrived too late in the day to give battle immediately, so put his troops into camp and drew up his battle plans for the next day.

Teliran's battle plans were designed to capitalize on the orcs' lack of cavalry, using his lighter cavalry to roll up the orcish right flank, while his heavy cavalry would break the lines of the orcish center. Combined with the attack from the city's defenders on the orcs' left flank, the orcs would be swept into the river and be annihilated.

When the battle of Berendan began, the Berenite cavalry charge came to a halt as Firestorm elemental magic turned the battlefield into a knee-deep mud. The mired cavalry found themselves the victims of Bonebreaker's second surprise: the late-arriving clans of orcs had trained as archers in Adrilan, and showered the Berenite forces with hails of arrows. Fading Sun orcs operating the artillery pieces added catapult stones and ballista bolts to the fray, and decimated the Berenite cavalry.

As the orcish infantry joined the battle and slogged through the mud, the archers turned on the attack coming from the city, forcing them to retreat back behind the safety of Berendan's walls. Rumors of Teliran's death caused the Berenite lines to rapidly dissolved into chaos. The frightful magical duels between the Firestorm and the Berenite wizards turned this disorder into outright panic, and the battle became a rout. Despite being outnumbered more than two to one, Bonebreaker's army sustained only one tenth the casualties that Teliran's did. The Sword Prince himself was among the Berenite dead, smothered in the muck of the battlefield when he was thrown from his horse.

The orcs next turned their attention on Berendan itself and the tattered remains of its garrison. The great city fell less than a month later, and as Bonebreaker stood upon the white marble stairs of the royal palace, Silik offered him a steel crown. It had been fashioned from the breastplate of Teliran's armor, and set with a great sapphire from the King of Beren's crown. Placing it upon his head, the new War-King made a sweeping gesture with his arm and declared, "Rip it all down! Tear it down until not one stone stands atop another! We will build anew."

Timeline of Zul Kiras

(Dates Given in Arangothian Years)

60: (Approximate date) Fenris Bonebreaker born.

97: Fenris Bonebreaker becomes Chieftain of the Steel Raven Clan.

98-100: Fenris Bonebreaker consolidates the orcish clans of the Xaad mountains under his rule, and sends emissaries to more distant clans; begins training his growing forces in secret.

101: Bonebreaker seals alliances with the Fading Sun and Firestorm Clans; begins final preparations for his invasion.

102: Orcish forces pour down out of the Xaad mountains from Orchome and invade Kingdom of Beren; Begininning of Berenite Wars.

106: Kingdom of Beren overthrown; Capital city of Berendan is razed and new orcish Capital of Blood River is founded on the ruins; Bonebreaker proclaimed first War-King; Chieftain Silik the Grey-Bearded of the Fading Sun personally forges the War-King's steel crown; Refugees pour into Elvendeep, the Triple Kingdom and Phrysilia; Remnants of Beren in the north join with petty principalities in the area to found the League of Princes for mutual protection.

109: Conquered areas of Beren fully under orcish control. Land divided among the clans; Fading Sun settlements in place.

111: Stormrider and Razortooth clans join the United Clans.

113: Son of the executed King of Beren convinces the Triple Kingdom to attack new orcish kingdom of Zul Kiras and reclaim the lost lands

115: Kingdom of Brastant overrun; Fenris Bonebreaker gives Razortooth clan orders to pillage at will in punishment for insults received from the Triple Kingdom's envoys; Plucked Eye clan joins United Clans.

121: Kingdom of Malvir destroyed; Razortooth continue burning towns and slaughtering the population of the Triple Kingdom in large numbers; Dark Avenger Clan joins the United Clans


123: Triple Kingdom officially ceases to exist when the Silverbluff, the capitol of Dunbold is conquered; Monarchs executed.

125: Last remnants of the Triple Kingdom cease to exist; Remaining members of Triple Kingdom's Royal House executed; Orcish frontiers extend north to the River Deepwater, and east to the Khalar border; An estimated 75% of the inhabitants of the Triple Kingdom dead, the majority of the rest have fled for other lands.

128: Death of Fenris Bonebreaker; Tarkhad Burning-Blade crowned as second War-King. Burning-Blade faces immediate challenges in succeeding the already legendary leader.

129: Rebellion of Doomblade and Black Sky clans due to the dominance of the Founding Clans. Burning-Blade personally leads the army to crush the uprising.

130: Rebellious clans exterminated; lands confiscated and redistributed; Fall of the House of Silad in Arangoth; Arangothian Kings gain power to appoint provincial rulers.

137: Onyx Viper Clan Joins the United Clans; Skull Bridge built across the River Thunder.

138: Combined forces of the United Clans drive the Sylvan Elves from the Great Woods and they retreat into Elvendeep.

140: Beginning of First Elven War.

142: Orcish Army halted twenty miles from Elfspire.

159: End of First Elven War; province of Mistwood becomes an orcish possession; covert elvish resistance springs up almost immediately.

184: Combined forces of the League of Princes, the Dwarven Kingdom of Azagud, Kingdom of Thara, and Dremiel attack Zul Kiras.

194: Remaining elves in the province of Mistwood successfully revolt and declare it a part of Elvendeep again.

195: The Grand Alliance occupies Zul Kiras and station troops throughout the kingdom to suppress the clans and prevent them from uniting again. Maintaining the occupation proves to be extremely expensive and causes dissent among the Allied nations.

197: Several clans rise up and attack the occupying forces on the anniversary of Fenris Bonebreaker's ascendance to the Chieftainship of the Steel Raven Clan.

199: Last of the Allied occupying forces driven out; Iron Fist and Howling Wind Clans raised to Major Clan status for their efforts in expelling the occupying forces.

212: Mistwood once again subjugated to Orcish rule

217: Kingdom of Thara conquered; Orcish frontier extended to the edge of the Ferluxebi (The Great Desert).

239: Dwarven Kingdom of Azagud conquered; City of Ra'Kuul founded in the place of the Dwarven capital; United Clans inherit the dwarves' former troubles with Dark Elves underneath the Korthos Mountains.

252: League of Princes surrenders when the Firestorm clan summons a host of monsters from Lake Shining to attack the city of Crystalbright; Lake Shining renamed Lake of Serpents due to this event; United Clans refuse to accept the surrender and the residents of the city-states that comprised the League of Princes flee northward by the thousands.

253: Tezzat established on the ruins of Crystalbright

264: Dremiel conquered; Frontiers extended to the mouth of the Nez Valley

278:Ongoing difficulties with the Dark Elves lead to beginning of the First Dark Elf War

285: End of First Dark Elf War; several important tomes of magic captured by the Firestorm Clan; building of improved subterranean defenses for Ra'Kuul begun.

304-305: Outer Arangoth taken from Elvendeep.

316: Beginning of Second Elven War.

317: Ware the Great's attempt to conquer Ethcabar ends in disaster.

322: Beginning of Second Dark Elf War.

329: Province of Mistwood re-conquered by Elvendeep.

331: Orcish city of Kadran captured; used as a staging ground for a planned assault on Blood River.

333: End of Second Elven War; Kadran remains in Elven hands and is renamed Thunderwood; Guerilla raids between elven and Onyx Viper forces continue in the Great Woods until Third Elven War.

335: End of Second Dark Elf War.

364: Nez Valley invaded.

369: Nez Valley in Orcish hands, City-State of Rindona still independent

370: Rindona besieged; many residents of the city flee by sea to the island kingdoms of the Inland Sea; Rindona taken after six months and renamed Vorschk; Clans have access to the sea for the first time.

377: First experiments in navigation end in disaster with the destruction of the entire fleet of 24 vessels in a storm.

380: Beginning of Third Elven War

384: Beginning of Khalar War in Arangoth.

385: Kadran re-captured by the United Clans

387: End of Third Elven War; boundaries restored to original positions

397: Kingdom of Phrysilia invaded

398: Kingdom of Phrysilia conquerered; city of Mokila founded; Wind Rift Pass gives Zul Kiras access to Outer Arangoth; Order of the Beady Eye begins construction of Hornath-ul-Dinthoss; Zul Kiras reaches greatest size to date.

400: Hornath-ul-Dinthoss completed two weeks before first raids from Mokila occur.

413: Rebellion of the Beady Eye in Arangoth.

415: Fall of the Old Kingdom in Arangoth.

423: Hornath-ul-Dinthoss destroyed; United Clans invade Outer Arangoth.

424: Outbreak of Khtarpan Fever forces the Clans to abandon the siege of Kamhorna and withdraw.

441: Second major invasion of Outer Arangoth; Kamhorna Captured; Clans begin preparing for invasion of Caern Rhia; Elvendeep declares war and invades Zul Kiras, start of Fourth Elven War

459: End of Fourth Elven War; Zul Kiras does not attempt to retain control of Outer Arangoth.

465: AngelSin restores Monarchy to Arangoth.

470: Zul Kiras admitted to IGA.

471: War-King Vazhak Bloodhammer seals an alliance with Prince Tarion of Caern Rhia; Zul Kiras invades Outer Arangoth and destroys the Black City; Caern Rhia liberated from the Knights of Takhisis; Zul Kirans seize the western half of Outer Arangoth and begin to settle the region.