The history of the Protectorate of Plort, Konti-Nyuum is a tale of grandeur, tragedy, and glory. It has been told and retold many times, and continues to be written as the years pass. It is traditionally divided into several ages.
The Golden Age (2002-2003)[]
The reign of Xing, Emperor of Fanvik-Neht, was a harsh time. Many of his subjects, starving and oppressed, struck out into the unknown, founding their own petty kingdoms and nations. History speaks of the savage Drake Rebellion, and the flight of the Lady Cassandra to the dense forests of Fixionarly. Other names are spoken of more softly.
Among those who fled Xing’s persecutions were two valiant knights called Jay and Acacia. They fought bravely in the Emperor’s wars against the barbarian hordes known only as the Marizu, but on their return, Jay and Acacia found no triumphant welcome. The castle Harpwire was in ruins, and guards lurked to seize their property and persons. Despite their great victories, Xing had signed a treaty with the Marizu, and had vowed to deliver up those leaders of Fanvik-Neht’s armies who had wrought the most destruction on their lands.
The road to Konti-Nyuum
Jay and Acacia were forced to flee, with little more than their armour, weapons, and steeds. In the wastelands to the north, they chanced upon a roving philosopher, who undertook to guide the fugitives to a fair land: the uninhabited island of Konti-Nyuum.
Konti-Nyuum, ringed with reefs and faced with sheer cliffs, presented an imposing spectacle to the exiles. The philosopher guided them unerringly to the island’s one true harbour, where Jay and Acacia beheld the lush grasslands, and the vast forest beyond. Stepping as one from the boat, they declared with ringing voices: “This shall be the end of our wanderings, and should any seek to do us harm, our wrath shall fall upon them! On this day we found a new city, and a new realm: the Protectorate of Plort! Let Fanvik-Neht and Marizu alike tremble at the name.” Standing tall and proud on the shingle beach, they drew forth pen and parchment and inscribed a glorious Constitution, inaugurating their new domain in word and in fact.
Many soon gathered to the Protectorate: soldiers and knights who had served alongside Jay and Acacia, and followers of their exploits from afar. As the city Borrd grew, so too did the naval might of Plort. The coastal lands of the Marizu soon burned, assaulted by black ships that vanished into the night.
In the centre of Borrd, standing high on unassailable rock, Jay and Acacia dwelt in the castle Otik. They gathered to the castle a brave circle of knights, whose names are told in song to this day: the fair Kaitlyn, the twin warriors Andy and Saphie, the stealthy Architeuthis, commander of Plort’s spies.
Chief among the knights of Otik were the three mighty paladins: Cam the Ruthless, Thalia the Weaver, and Bast the Grey Lady. Cam, chief trainer for Plort’s armies, taught them all the skills which Jay and Acacia espoused; Thalia, the war-leader, sailed in the black ships, bringing ruin upon the Marizu at the head of her famed Knights Who Go ^-^; Bast, the high priestess, ordered the worship of the twin gods of Plort, Kanun and Spelin. Guided by these luminaries, the people spread across the land.
The first settlements of the Protectorate of Plort
Many tales are told of those golden years: how a quest was ordained to seek the sacred idol of Emestee, and undertaken by a mere servant, and how said servant now rides in azure armour as a noble knight, still bearing the name of the man he once served; or how the roving philosopher journeyed in disguise to the Marizu realm of Lotor, waging her war of words on the great enemy, and returned with many treasures to found the city Odolotos.
When disaster came, it came swiftly. Without giving reason, Jay and Acacia barred the doors of Castle Otik, allowing access to none, not even their loyal paladins. When at last Architeuthis crept inside, she found the halls and chambers abandoned, thick with dust: Jay and Acacia had departed, their destination unknown.
Other Tales of the Golden Age[]
- The Rise and Fall of the Scholars' Empire takes place before the founding of the Protectorate.
The Elder Age (2003-2006)[]
The three paladins now shouldered the burden of rule, but Konti-Nyuum under the Triumvirate was a troubled island. Each reigned in her separate citadel: Cam from the military camp at Ofum, Bast from the Temple of Spelin, Thalia from the fortress Fanvik. Each sought to rule in her own way, and while each held sway in the lands around her own castle, the borderlands were unruly, troubled by bandits and feuds.
With the three Protectors distracted by the tensions between them, the eastern regions of Konti-Nyuum chose that moment to declare their independence. The lands of Thalia's dominion broke away as the Kingdom of Chaett, led by one of the very Knights Who Go ^-^ that she had created. Here the strictures of Jay and Acacia’s laws were relaxed, and in the cities and towns of Plort, Chaett was held up as a model both of the dangers of lax rule, and the allure of freedom. The Oracle of Chaett declared that, in times to come, all of Konti-Nyuum would know the release which Chaett represented.
Despite the troubles which had already struck, the worst was yet to come: in a fell winter, it came to light that Thalia, the weaver and Protector, had betrayed all of Plort. Seeking to enlarge her own status as war-leader, she had passed intelligence to the hated Marizu, bringing crushing defeat on an army led by Cam. Worse, she had claimed that her own forces had been similarly destroyed, when in truth, they had never existed. The revelations shook the foundations of Plort.
Cam and Bast, united by their horror of what had come to pass, but still recalling the nobility and honour which had made Thalia a true Paladin under Jay and Acacia, sought to limit the damage: Thalia would be stripped of her titles, but allowed to live on in the castle Fanvik. It was to no avail: Thalia forsook Plort and Konti-Nyuum, setting out into the unknown, never to return.
The armies of Chaett advanced once more, claiming all the lands Thalia had left behind. Even the great castle Fanvik fell to the Oracle's forces, but the people of the Weaver's city fled ere they could be overwhelmed. Cam reclaimed the fortress and named Huinesoron as its master; Nathonea, heir to the Weaver, raised her standard in the very heart of Plort, founding the new nation of El-Jheycom.
The divisions of Plort after the Weaver's treachery.
The lands of Konti-Nyuum fell into despair. Ruthless Cam withdrew from society, appearing less and less frequently in the cities, until at last she announced her own departure. Rather than handing sole rule over to the increasingly bitter Bast, she appointed barons to govern the regions of Plort in her stead.
Slowly, life on Konti-Nyuum returned to normal. To take the population’s minds off their troubles, festivals were ordained: the great Shipfest, when the harbours became thronged with lovers; the Games of Batveg, with prizes for achievements in song and storytelling; the Gatherings, when citizens gathered from far and wide in the capital of Borrd to celebrate their island home.
Bast soon followed the examples of Jay, Acacia, and Cam: she withdrew into her castle, and finally chose to depart. Rumours abounded as to her reasons: some claimed she had been shunned by those she saw as her inferiors, others that she had fallen away from the true worship of Kanun, while yet others declared that she had simply seen that the lands had grown beyond her tending. Under the barons she left in her place - Leto and BeautyID, Bjam and Nenya, Araeph, Rohirric Monkey, and Tough Cookie - life continued as usual.
Other Tales of the Elder Age[]
The Age of Revolution (2006-2008)[]
After long negotiation, the council of barons finally reached an agreement with the splinter Kingdom of Chaett: the two nations would reunite, with the authority of the barons extending to the former Chaett. However, the authority of the barons, now at several removes from the founders, had to be tempered with the freedom of Chaett: from henceforth, barons would no longer appoint their own replacements, but would be elected by a free and fair vote of the people.
On a bright day in midsummer, the border between Plort and Chaett was torn down, and an election held. To rule over the lands that had once been Chaett, two new barons were appointed to the council: Huinesoron the historian, and Dann, whom rumour identified as a powerful mage. With the surrender of El-Jheycom and the flight of its people south of the Larninkurvs, Plort was whole once again.
The baronies of the reunited Protectorate of Plort.
In these new enlightened times, the war against the Marizu quickened. The ships and knights of the reunited Plort struck at new lands: Roe Lin, the Magedom of Yung Wi-Sods, the vast Confederation of An-Emay. In each they were vastly outnumbered, able only to engage in swift raids and flying assaults: even in the Kingdom of Lotor, where Jay and Acacia had first fought, the grip of the Marizu was still strong.
But the renewed onslaught was noticed - and brought retaliation. Vast armies of hideous trolls crossed the sea, swimming through the reefs, leading their gargantuan ypur mounts through the water. When they made landfall, they brought ruin upon whatever they found. Only the combined forces of the barons was able to bring them down - and those which escaped swore, in their vile tongue, that they would return.
Fortifications were built, in preparation for the next assault, but the next enemy Plort would face was not the Marizu. Distrustful of the barons, the lands that had once been Chaett rebelled anew, forming the Republic of Iric. Huinesoron fled to Plort; Dann remained in Iric, a leader of the revolution.
Iric claimed a new form of government: true democracy, with elected officials, not absolute rulers. The people of Plort were skeptical - but some took the idea to heart. The Librarians’ War was swift and bloody. When the fighting died down, the south coast of Konti-Nyuum had become the Commonwealth of Wechi, buoyed by the libraries of fallen El-Jheycom. Here, all were truly equal: though the baron Neshomeh still held her castle, and her opinion was sought in time of dispute, Wechi was not her domain.
The Age of Union (2008-2013)[]
The splintering of Konti-Nyuum might have continued indefinitely, had it not been for a further assault by the Marizu. Driven from their homes, the people of Plort fled to the western city of Ozerbord - and found the citizens of Wechi there before them. Even the folk of Iric soon joined them, and as their united armies drove away the trolls, the three nations took conference.
The outcome was perfect for none, but acceptable to all. The nations would once more reunite into a Union of Plort, but would not thereby become a single realm. Instead, it would be a union of four countries. Over each would be placed barons, to lead the common war effort - but beyond matters military, the nations would be independent. The Protectorate of Borrd, comprising the north and central areas, would continue to be ruled by its barons. The Republic of Iric would continue to elect its own leaders, known for no apparent reason as ‘Ops’ and ‘Dars’. The Commonwealth of Wechi renewed its commitment to absolute democracy, while granting its barons the power to exile inhabitants at need. Finally, in the west, Ozerbord and its hinterland were created the new Refuge of Ozerbord: a monument to the unity of Plort, a bastion in time of need, a place of celebration. Over this barely-populated realm, the exiled baron Huinesoron was placed as Lord Protector.
The boundaries of the Union of Plort.
In the years which followed, the population of Plort grew and grew. Many migrants arrived from the distant land of Tivit, often with strange and erroneous ideas of what life in Plort entailed. New barons were appointed, and the borders of the baronies shifted with time: the baron July commanded large domains in both Iric and Wechi, but when she suddenly departed, her successor Cassie chose to dwell elsewhere. There were conflicts - a series of brief but savage border disputes between Borrd and Iric - and surprises - the sudden and unexpected return of the fabled blue knight, after years of wandering - but all in all, life in Plort was good. Many harked back to the days of Jay and Acacia - but the dominant feeling was that life in the Union had reached its apex, and that nothing need change ever again.
The Age of Change (2013-Present)[]
Yet change is inevitable. It began with the election of four new barons; for by the Edict of Bast, three of them took their lands in the western regions of Konti-Nyuum. In the annual baronial council of Plort, eight nobles vied for control of the increasingly crowded Borrd and Ozerbord - while in Wechi, Neshomeh alone held dominion. Of the barons of Iric, Juliette and VixenMage, who each watched over vast swathes of land, almost nothing was heard. Tensions grew ever higher.
Another invasion drove the first wedge between the patterns of past and future. The vile Green Ads, bandits and masters of stealth, swarmed across Borrd, rendering travel between its cities and towns perilous even for the best-armed among its people. All effort was made to banish them, led by two key figures: Huinesoron, who beseeched the gods Spelin Tam-Ara and Kanun Syorn for relief, and Tomash, mayor of the town Teebor, who sought to cast great wards about the whole of Plort.
The confrontation between the two was brought to a head by the arrival of the Inter'Nelerors, savage flying beasts from beyond the Mistwall that swarmed across Borrd and Ozerbord alike. With their refuge shattered, the people fled to Wechi, turning in fear to the gods of distant Wechi-Ah; yet it was not gods who brought salvation. By the power of Programm'an, Tomash spread his protection across the skies of Ozerbord, creating the Refuge anew. In doing so he laid claim to the title of Lord Protector, ousting Baron Huinesoron from the position.
Confined to Borrd, the Inter'Nelerors were swiftly dispatched, but there was another crisis to come: Ofum, long the fortress and training ground of Plort, was burned to the ground by hands unknown. The knights of Plort wavered, unable to press their attacks against the Marizu.
The Baronial Council convened in an atmosphere of despair, yet from it sprang hope anew. Forts were raised in Ozerbord and Wechi, to take up the burden of Ofum's loss. A new city was inaugrated at Critta-Kalthin, to trade with distant lands. And a new nation was created: the Riding of Sittorese between Borrd and Iric, taking the fertile lands that were once Thalia's and using them to feed the armies of Plort.
Iric did not protest the appropriation of its lands. In fact, very little news was had out of the far eastern lands, and over the months that followed the council, utter silence fell. None travelled down the untended roads between Tumblar and La Wunj; no ships sailed the sea routes between them. The land of Iric was deserted, and when Baron Huinesoron in his wanderings brought its tattered banner to Borrd, the nation was declared lost.
The Union of Plort as it presently stands.
Over time the people drifted back, from Borrd, the Riding, and lands overseas, drawn by the lure of empty fields ripe for the taking. They had no leaders, no laws or structures of politics; discord reigned among the rivers between the mountains. But out of it something new arose, a nation of factions and divisions, unlike anything that had been seen on Konti-Nyuum.
The war was so subtle that it might not even be called a war. Overnight, the lands of southern Ozerbord changed their alliegence, and in harmony with the eastern regions, raised the flag of the Confederation of Diskord. Their Mords immediately sought the blessing of the Baronial Council, and in a turn of events that surprised many, Baron Huinesoron himself supported their statehood. The baron stood before the council and proposed a great change: that the Council become a true Council of Plort, allowing the rulers of all its nations to be heard.
The map of Plort had been redrawn, and its political landscape shifted, but the legacy of Jay and Acacia continued...