Return to Mistland and the Southern Isles

Comaria: 12,750,000 population. 350,000 square miles. This monarchy is an old one, by Mistlander standards. The kingdom has fought several border wars with Hadraith to the north, and with the Grey kingdom to the south. They are wary of pushing further into the mountains, having been badly beaten back by the dwarves 150 years ago. 

Comaria has many jungle plantations along the northern coast and into the mountain valleys, where tobacco, cotton, rice, coffee, cocoa, corn and sugar cane are grown. Some cattle, sheep and hogs are also raised. Silver, gold, coal and emeralds are mined. Platinum, iron and salt are also mined in localized or lesser amounts. In coastal waters off the isthmus are pearls and shrimp. There is considerable dispute over rights to these resources between Comaria and Daintallia. Comaria’s population is mostly human, with some half-elves and a few dwarves. A small number of half-orcs are tolerated, and a few hobyts live in coastal areas. A small population of Szathair (lizardfolk) have settled not far from Shevarr in the swamps to the east. Few people really are aware of them. Catfolk are very rare indeed in Mistland, and none are known to reside in Comaria. Grippli are fairly rare in Mistland, but there are some small clans in the rainforests.

Comaria’s capital is called Shevarr the Shining. It is on the north coast of Comaria. The city rests on a long narrow island, separated from the coast by branching fingers of the river Sharr as it flows to the sea. The city has three rings of walls and a moat between two rings. The walled portion of the city is solid stone, as are all the buildings within. This is the wealthy district. The very center of the city is the royal palace. Here Queen Ameshela a’Esca rules. Ameshela has been queen for the last forty years, since she was about 12. Her mother, Queen Atandro was famed for her strong leadership and cleverness, but Ameshela is known for her beauty, her pride and her coldness. She rules well, but with an iron hand. All know that to disobey the laws of the kingdom is to risk death. 

Queen Ameshala’s army is composed of mostly male troops with mixed male and female officers. Elite units of female archers and scouts do exist. There is also an elite messenger unit composed only of women, known as the Queen’s Heralds. These riders are stationed in every major city and town, and have way-stops on the roads, which are forbidden for anyone else to use. It is also said that Queen Ameshala’s Heralds act as her spies and assassins, but most people scoff at this rumor. It is known, however, that the Queen has ways of knowing much of what happens in even far-off regions of her kingdom.

Comaria is a matriarchy. Only women actually rule here. The kingdom is divided into a dozen Shires. The Shires are (1) Aratrith, (2) Brecanith, (3) Kemejia, (4) Shennith, (5) Odishia, (6) Narch, (7) Sovarith, (8)Teshizia, (9) Zekhazia, (10) Votrith, (11) Nyindo, (12) Barrium. Only the queen may have a standing military, and the Matriarchs may have a guard of no more than 100. Within each shire are many plantations and estates of the nobility and gentry of Comaria. Each noble family is headed by a Matriarch who in turn must pledge her family’s loyalty to the Queen. Queen Ameshala has a large court made up of the younger daughters of many of Comaria’s most powerful families. It is considered a great honor to serve at her court, but it is also a handy way for the Queen to keep her nobles under control. Many of these young women come to have careers in the army or as Queen’s Heralds. 

The Shires are administrative regions, useful for taxation, border control and the courts, but the most important fact of life in Comaria is the matriarchal family or Line. Each person is a member of a line, whether Great or Lesser. There are eleven Great lines, and hundreds of Lesser ones. Most lesser lines can claim a Great Line as protector. Power and authority stem from which Line a person belongs to. Each of the eleven lines controls one or more shires, for tax and law purposes. The eleven Great Lines of Comaria and their shires of control are: Marhane (1), Lungary (2), Lazonier (3), Esca (4;Shennith), Silmar (5), Nidhory (6), Pendel (7), Anniman (8), Kemstry (9), Thavon (10; Votrith& 11; Nyindo), Zarwynn (12). Note that most lines will have a presence in every or nearly every shire, but the shire(s) they control are where they are most prevalent. The Thavonn line controls both Votrith and Nyindo, but Nyindo is mostly disputed land with the Grey Kingdom. The Esca Line of Shennithshire is the Royal Line of Queen Ameshala.

Comaria has a reputation for being a very traditional and rigid society. Change comes slowly here, or not at all. Magic is still looked upon with suspicion by many, though others see it as a tool of the gods. In general, sorcery is less frowned upon, as being “natural”, than wizardry, which requires deliberate study and scholarship. The Shalan empire, with its reliance on magic and shunning of the Gods, is remembered and feared here. 

Favored Gods and Goddesses in Comaria are Elanora, Goddess of birth and agriculture, Satree, the God of the Forest, and Zathunar, Goddess of the Ocean. The river God, On-Shevarr is also popular, and the god of Merchants, Dentharus. Of course, the other Gods and Goddesses are worshipped in their appropriate holidays, but are not usually found as major elements of the culture. Open worship of Aragh or Mikar is strictly forbidden. However, there are cults to both the god of Death and the God of tricksters to be found underground in many cities and in hidden places elswhere. Kol, worshipped in Miraboria as the Father of all Gods, Emperor of the Heavens and Ruler of the Sun, is seen here as no more than the spouse of Elanora, guided by her in his daily ride across the sky, subservient to her needs in each season.

Comaria’s relations with nearby nations are not particularly good. Although trade goes on with all three neighbors, only with Hadraith are there real political treaties creating strong economic ties.

Comaria feuds endlessly with Daintalia over the coastal waters. Privateers in the pay of both nations raid shipping and pirates have sprung up in their wake. Queen Ameshala seems to find this amusing. She dislikes the unlawful nature of the pirates, but they work too often in her favor for her to spend too much effort wiping them out. In the past 20 years, these wars have broken out into open sea-warfare numerous times, and seem likely to do so again at any point in time.

To the south, the Grey Kingdom is constantly involved in border disputes with Comaria. A large section of NyindoShire is claimed by both nations. This area, the elves claim, was given by them into the hands of a human Baron, but remained a part of the elven kingdom. The Comarians claim that shortly after his death, the elves refused to recognize his proper heir, who was a Comarian citizen. She was forced to take the land by sword, and ever since the lands have belonged to Comaria. What makes the dispute more involved is that in this land there is a very important pilgrimage site. A town has grown up around a large carved stone obelisk. The carvings on this obelisk show in great detail the rise, fall and final destruction of the Shalan Empire. While no one remembers where the Shalan capital lies, this site is said to be one where Elanora came herself down to Vishteer to warn the foolish and proud Shalani that they were far astray. To this day the followers of Elanora come here to pledge their continued faith and loyalty to the Goddess.

The elves and half-elves of the Grey Kingdom do not greatly dislike the worship of Elanora, but prefer Satree on the whole. They do highly dislike the fact that many Elanoran worshippers have tried to create large formal gardens around the site, destroying the native tropical forest and replacing it with what they see as foreign and unnatural plantings and structures. They also are dismayed by the tent city that has grown up almost permanently there. 

Some scholars claim that the obelisk now worshipped as a sign of Elanora’s power was originally carved by the Shalani themselves, showing off their great power and pride, and that they buried their most powerful dead here. They say that it was only when Elanora touched the obelisk that it was changed and the carvings altered to reveal the downfall of the Shalani. Whether this is true, and what it means today or for the future, is unclear.

Notes: 945,000 urban with 151,000 in Shevarr the Shining. Other cities: 78,000, then 54,000, then 31,000; 28,000; Nimicar (in Narch) with 26,500, 9 more cities in the 25,000 size range, then 10 cities in the up to 20,000 range, then abut 15 towns in the up to 12,000 range, then 21 towns in the 1,000 to 2,000 size range, with 131,000 people residing in villages between 50 and 1000 population dotting the countryside.

Mistlander History as it affects Comaria:

Ages ago, there arose an empire on Miraboria. It was led by powerful wizardly rulers and survived more than 800 years. Man-history dates from the supposed founding of this empire, called the First Miraborian. At its height, all of Miraboria, Mistland and Narbada were claimed as part of its domain. Even the legendary Cloudlands were ruled by the First Empire. But the cloudlands were not populated by humans, but rather the races of dragons, giants, and other beings who preferred to dwell in the sky. Eventually war broke out, and the Cloudlands were destroyed. The blow to the empire was great, and may have contributed to the empire’s later collapse. 

When the Empire collapsed after its 800 year sway, chaos ruled. The giantish peoples who had been so much a part of the first empire were destroyed.  Few were able to escape the Rock Plague that killed over ninety percent of their population. Those few giants in Mistland became barbarous fragments of a once-great people. Dwarves too were affected by the ‘Rock Plague’ to a lesser degree. Where the “Rock Plague” originated, no one could say for certain, but some blamed the terrible magics that were used during the war with the Cloudlands a hundred fifty years earlier. With the decimation of the dwarves, and the near-total elimination of giants, Mistland was forgotten by the empire, left to fend for itself. The magics that powered the great canal soon failed, and trade withered. Narbadan ships came no more to the western coasts; and the Miraborians no longer arrived in the east, since neither could easily reach the other ocean any more.

It was at this time that the city of Shaleshun, once merely a provincial capital, became the new center of leadership for a lesser Empire. It rose to control much of Mistland, and the Southern Isles, which were once part of the Mirabori Empire. 400 years passed (until about year 1,400). The people of Shaleshun became arrogant, particularly their ruling Mages. Finally they began to disdain the very gods, deeming them petty and powerless. The gods cursed Shaleshun, and fifty years later (year 1453), the city was dust. Today, only legends tell of the secret location of this lost capital; somewhere on the banks of a vast and broad river, there still may lie the outworks and cellars of this vast and magical realm’s capital. Magic became anathema, the work of evil. Another hundred years passed (year 1550) in turmoil.

Southern Islands were nearly abandoned, and wild. Mistland sunk back into near barbarity. This time it was on Miraboria, the ancient heart of Empire, that civilization began to rebuild. During the time of the Shalan Empire, Miraboria was a land of petty kingdoms and demi-human holdings.

But in the year 1463, a new emperor arose. Within 30 years, Miraboria was nominally under one rule. The second empire was hostile to most non--Humans. In Mistland non-humans fared better, and lived more openly, even when the empire came and conquered. By 1580 Mistland was part of the Empire. Haven, located on the fertile peninsular isthmus, a prime trading location, was settled and grew rapidly.  Soon the petty kingdoms of Mistland were conquered, or surrendered in the face of odds too great to fight. Comaria at this time was a trio of kingdoms which had no strong alliances but were related in custom and the bloodlines of their kings. Another 100 years saw Southern Isle reclaimed. 300 years passed in near peace as the Second Mirabori Empire grew settled, then old (St Luana 1750-1806).

By the year 1931, the Empire had again begun to collapse (St Crotofiros 1803-1931). Orcs from the Opel and Thaaluni mountains began raiding Mistland and Miraboria. Over the course of nearly 60 years Mirabori Emperors slowly withdrew their troops from Mistland, to support their foundering home rule. Mistland was left to its own fate. By 1992 civil unrest and massive problems with its own evils had caused complete withdrawal of Imperial troops. 

In Mistland 300 years passed in turmoil. Various Kingdoms rose and fell. Times became very hard. The details of the past became confused. Many people came to believe that the Shalan empire’s fall had caused their current desperate state. Magic began to be blamed, feared, and eventually forbidden. The church of Elanora especially came to be a major foe of all things magical. At this time the Shalani were first noted in historical chronicles. Some scholars now believe that these nomadic, sorcerous people may have their origins in the fall of the Shalan Empire. Indeed, perhaps they are direct descendants of the proud and secretive ruling clan of that era. How they survived unnoticed through the time of the Second Empire remains unclear.

In the year 2219 orc raiders from the Opel Mountains descended on the Havenplain. The cleric Ellemarha of Elanora, also a proscribed magic user, led a small band of priests and warriors against them. She nearly single-handedly defeated more than 150 orcs, and her troop stopped an army of over 1,000. She died in 2220 at the hands of the church, who twisted her acts to evil and distorted events to reflect their hatred of magic. They refused to accept her sainthood until 2531, over 300 years later. She became known as St Ellemarha the Martyr. For that 300 year period the church of Elanora was severely fractured in Mistland, and there were several factions of the order, some who opposed and some who supported Ellemarha’s sainthood. The people generally but quietly did support and follow her. Acceptance of magic began to resurge.

In the years between 1992 and 2324 the R’kassan Horseplains, the Saffrin forest and other lands which are now part of Vanhark and Telomar came under the rule of the Golden Sword Kings. In the north of Mistland (Haven, Daintallia, Comaria and Hadraith) the Kings of the Hills ruled the Kingdom of Hillimarain. Southern Isle was ruled by the Kings of Eor, and on the western flanks of the  rainforested mountains of Mistland a tiny elvish land called Mirkheim was established. On the coast to the west of Mirkheim several small independent baronies, mostly human but with much intermingling of men and elves, grew up. One was known as Murile.

In 2324 disaster struck. Aelor, king of the Hills, was struck down by magic and laid to rest in Evlen Aelor, ‘the tomb of Aelor’ , and in the same year the King of the Golden Sword, Elfearic, was also slain. Aelor had no son, and was thus succeeded by a distant cousin, the Duke of Haven. King Elfearic, however, had an infant son, Leefric. Leefric returned home from Southern in 2345 where he had been raised (his mother was a Princess of the Southern Isles folk). With the help of Lord Godwin he regained his throne from usurping nobles. He claimed only those lands now part of Vanhark, along the east coast of Mistland. In 2374, some 29 years later, Leefric died. By treachery his younger son rather than his elder followed him on the throne. Within 10 years the line of the Golden Kings failed, and the rule passed to the present Princes of Vanhark.

In 2342, before Leefric regained his throne, another great event occurred. Orcs from the ? Mountains descended into Mirkheim. They at once wiped out a small village. Fleeing from it was a youthful human priest of Kethrin named Gwydion. He sought out a rare temple to Kethrin in an elvish village and as the orcs advanced on the unsuspecting cities of Mirkheim and Murile, began to recruit an army of elves and men. This unusual alliance defeated the orcs resoundingly, and the Grey Kingdom was formed. It is ruled equally by two humans, two elves and a half elf, each with the title of Prince. The human princes are still descendants of St Gwydion the Savior.

In 2376 Throgar, a priest of Aragh, was born, somewhere in Mistland’s northern reaches. Before he died in 2410 he slew 5 good dragons, including Induhira the Silver, mate of Duranda, a vastly old and powerful being. For this act in particular, Throgar was Sainted. He is called St Throgar the Dragonslayer, and good dragons are ever his and Aragh’s foes.

Most recently, Justin, a priest of Elanora was sainted, as he became the companion of Duranda. They performed many acts of Valor, in Elanora’s name and as revenge for the death of Induhira. In 2475 Justin died and became St Justin of Dragon’sisle.

When the last Hill-King, Aelor, died in 2324 (or as legend sometimes hints, was trapped in magical sleep), his kingdom dissolved into four fragments, which have formed the present-day Free Duchy of Haven, the nation of Hadraith, and the Principality of Daintallia. Comaria broke away and declared itself an independent kingdom at this time. Comaria had always held that it was an independent entity, a part of the Kingdom of Hillimarain purely at its own discretion. When the Hill-kings died, the Duchy reasserted its independence and became the Kingdom of Comaria again.

The Havenite faction centered on Aelor’s cousin, his closest male kinsman, the Duke of Haven. He claimed rulership under that title. Reasons for claiming this title rather than that of King hint at Aelor’s possible ‘undeath’.

The Daintali faction centered on his queen and daughter. His wife, a princess of Eor (part of Southern Isle), claimed her daughter as Queen of the Hills, but political realities reduced her to claiming the cities of Daintall and T’balu, plus the lands between.

Finally, Hadraith, long a semi-independent dwarven nation, ruled by Hadraith Hammerfist as warlord, declared itself separate. He became Prince Hadraith I. Each ruler of Hadraith has traditionally sworn allegiance to “the King of the Hills, may he arise in our hour of need”. Aelor’s legendary sleep is commonly known here, used as a motif in many folk-tales and legends.

Key dates:

1,000 Shale-Chun arises on Mistland

1,453 Shale-Chun falls to dust 

1490’s Miraboria under one rule, 2nd empire thriving and growing. Romani appear in Mistland.

1580’s Mistland has become part of 2nd Empire

1680’s Southern Isles reclaimed for M. Empire

1900’s 2nd Empire has reached its pinnacle and begins to cross into unrecognized internal decline

1992 withdrawal of Miraborian troops from Mistland complete

2000-2020 the kingdom of Hillimarain comes into existence.

2100’S The kingdom of Comar is taken by treaty into Hillimarain.

2219 St. Ellemarha’s defeat of the orc army on Mistland

2220 St. Ellemarha is martyred by the church

2324 King Aelor dies?, King Elfearic slain

2342 St Gwydion the Savior unites men and elves, founds the Grey Kingdom

2345 Leefric returns to claim throne of the Golden Sword kings

2374 King Leefric dies, younger son succeeds

2376 St Throgar of Aragh born

2385 Princes of Vanhark succeed to the Golden Sword throne

2410 St Throgar the Dragonslayer dies

2475 St Justin of Dragon’sisle dies

2482-3 Most recent war between Hadraith and Comaria ends with Comarian loss

2531 St. Ellemarha’s sainthood is accepted by the church which killed her

2599 Queen Ameshala inherits the throne after her mother’s unexpected death.

2629 The current year.