Caldonian Society — DAN LUTTS

The fierce, generations-long war between the city states of Euloria and Atland resulted in Euloria's defeat and the destruction of the entire continent. The war also was one between two technologies: the Eulorians' ability to access magic using charms and staffs to offset their lack of legions and the Atlanders' use of mechanical flying “dragons” that breathed fire to assist their vast armies.

The Eulorians razed Atland's allied cities and cast curses on them to prevent them from ever being rebuilt and the lands surrounding them from ever being farmed again. At the same time, the Atlanders razed Euloria's allied cities and ritually ploughed and salted rings around their ruins to keep them and the surrounding farmlands barren of life. In the end, only Euloria and Aland were left standing amidst a desolate landscape pockmarked with ruined towns and cities, burnt-out farms, and the sun-bleached bones of slaughtered livestock.

Finally, the Atlanders laid siege to Euloria itself. Despite the Eulorians' magic, the Atlanders finally broke through the city walls. Knowing they were defeated, the Eulorians refused to surrender, preferring death to execution. The Eulorians put up a savage resistance, forcing the Atlanders to methodically capture the city neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street, and house by

house. The Fraternal Twins, Ulbra and Ulbridge Thane, led the Eulorian defenders. But finally the opposition collapsed and the Atlanders sacked the city, killing every adult and child.

During the chaos, Ulbra and Ulbridge gathered the remaining survivors and led them in a vast fleet of ships and boats ninety miles across the treacherous Rocky Strait to the shores of a nearby continent. Before leaving, Ulbra and Ulbridge raided the Charm Repository and gathered countless sackfuls of charms and bundles of staffs to take with them. “Our magic knows no geographical boundaries,” Ulbra said. “As long as it keeps working. And we've made provisions that it will.”

The Great Destruction took place during the reign of Rasa Gaetani, who had taken the throne name of Queen Caldonna III. She was killed during the evacuation, insisting on being the last Eulorian to flee. Her last command was that the Fraternal Twins take her young daughter, Lisanna Gaetani, who became the first queen of Caldon.

Present-day Caldonians don't remember the name of the continent on which that disastrous war raged so long ago. They simply call it the Forbidden Lands.

Founding and Expansion of Caldon

After a grueling ninety-mile voyage across the Rocky Strait, the Eulorian refugees made landfall near a river that originated in the nearby Fresco Mountains. They built a settlement a short distance upriver, on the crest of the tallest of five hills that dominated a level plains.

Over the years, as the population grew and more refugees flowed in, the refugees built a walled city that encompassed the hills while the noblesse built their homes on the highest hill, which they called The Citadel. The refugees named the city Caldon, after Queen Caldonna III and their new land Caldonia. Lisanna was crowned Queen Caldonna I on 1 AFC (After the Founding of Caldon) and, fulfilling her mother's dying request, Ulbra and Ulbridge Thane were named her regents. As the generations passed and the population grew, Caldon kept expanding until it reached its present size.

1. End of the Queendom

The Queendom ended during the reign of Queen Caldonna IV (111-117 AFC) when her brother Toran assassinated her, seized the throne, and declared himself King Toran I. His reign was brief because the Caldonians rose up against him. Toran fled overseas with his followers, taking with him a huge stash of charms and staffs, and established the city state of Gaetan, which he named after Rasa Gaetani (Queen Caldonna III). He crowned himself King Toran I and passed the kingship down his male line of heirs.

3. Revolt of the Commoners (AFC 359)

As the years passed, the commoners realized the magestrates were more interested in the welfare of the noblesse than of the commoners. So the commoners agitated for commoner mages to be admitted to the Magesterium. Their demands caused a lot of violence between the two classes but in the end the noblesse agreed. So they created a new social class: commoner noblesse. Any commoner mage could run in the magesterial elections. If he won, he could start his own commoner noblesse family. Gradually, though, the commoner noblesse families joined forces with the noblesse families to prevent upstart commoners from joining their ranks. Now few commoner mages are able to become commoner noblesse.

5. Expansion

Over the years Caldon grew as commoner families left the city to build farms in the surrounding territory. The expansion threatened the lands claimed by Caldon's neighbors. In AFC 539, the neighboring city states formed an alliance and attacked Caldon, destroying Caldonians' farms and putting the families to the sword. The Magesterium responded quickly by sending out legions composed of foot soldiers, cavalry, and mages. The native legions proved no match for Caldon's legions containing mages. After a vicious thirty-seven years of fighting, the defeated city states signed peace treaties with Caldon. The treaties recognized Caldon's hegemony and allowed the ruling class in the now-allied cities to use a limited number of charms and staffs to keep their people in order.

Brimming with confidence after their victory, in AFC 578 Caldon sent its legions through the Saw Teeth Mountains into Annatol to take over the entire continent. But the Annatolians were vicious fighters and stopped the Caldonians cold by attacking them in the mountain passes and wiping out the few legions that did make it through. The defeats marked the beginning of a centuries-long stalemate between Caldon and Annatol. Over the centuries, the Annatolians strengthened their armies by receiving Caldonian deserters and their families, who set up their own communities. Many Caldonian mages brought their charms and staffs with them, which they used to defend their newfound homes.

2. The Caldonian Republic (AFC 117)

Toran had also murdered his other sister, leaving no female successor to the throne. Because the last two queens had ruled so poorly, both noblesse and commoners demanded that Caldon become a republic. "Let us decide who should administer the state," they said. They settled on a system in which commoners and noblesse elected noblesse mages to serve in the Magesterium presided over by two chief mages serving one-year terms. To prevent the Magesterium from obtaining too much power, they also established Defenders of the People – commoners who could nullify decisions made by the Magesterium. The system worked well at first but over time became corrupt as candidates for public office bribed voters to get elected. Of course, the real power laid with the noblesse matriarchs. After all, "the men receive the honors but the women rule."

4. War with Gaetan

Toran and his successors expanded their own kingdom, conquering their neighbors Ostica, Fraedia, and Mittan and making the vanquished countries clients of Gaetan. In 593, a Gaetanian army composed of Gaetanian, Mittanian, Fraedian, and Ostican legions invaded Caldon through the tip of land, called The Marches, that connected the Mittan with Caldonia. The Caldonian legions stopped them cold and has been defending The Marches from invasion ever since.