Glossary
Tanor
Country
Population: 2,050,000 (Est. 2981 YA)
Tanor. The cradle of humanity. The richest country next to Theon, the promised land of legend for a thousand years. But just as it the basis for legends of light, where Angels first walked, so it is also the focus of man’s darkest desires, where Apollyon does it’s greatest dealings. As the country enters the fourth millennium, it hopes to eradicate its dark past, yet it is a small hope that faces an entire history of mankind to overcome.
History.
Once the country extended down to the city of Fren, and was called simply "Mana" or "Home" in the High Tongue. Hear, humanity first grew, fishing on the Fren Fens, farming on the rich green plains of the north. Grand stone cities were built, pantheons of imagination sited near halls of learning for the lucky few. But, this history is short-lived, and well known. The War of Mages ravaged the land, tarring Fren and the surrounding lands with a dark touch, forcing humanity from its safe house into the barren lands of Barbaria. After the war, only the few, hidden in the Bast forest in the north, remained.
For more than a thousand years, the plains were left untouched. Fren rumbled silently, forgotten by all but Theoni scholars. The Bast slowly grew again in the Bast Forest (see the history of Bastet). Humanity would return, it had vowed, and so they did. Just as in the 800s did expansion force the creation of Ter’Ciel, so expansion forced the creation of Tanor. When the Second Prophet appeared in the southern lands, it sent waves of turmoil that allowed the much pressured people of Nori to flee to this promised land. Long had this been planned, inspired by the legends of Ter’Ciel and the bounty of the forgotten lands. Over the course of the late 1200s, three groups moved away from Nori. First fled the houses of Rossek and Cheston, traveling through the pastures of Theon and crossing the Myrian Ocean becoming known as the Myrian group. Landing in the far south of Tanor, they set up the new cities in the 1300s. Then, the Houses of Durian and Bathos fled in the opposite direction towards the nomad lands, crossing the coast around the mountains, becoming known as the Nomadic Group. At the same time, a smaller exodus of people crossed the Ter’Ciel mountain, arriving in the north of Tanor. Here, Teshire was formed, establishing a new order and hope for the settlers.
At first, the three groups were isolated, but in 1353 YA the three Lords of Durian, Rossek and Teshire met at the site of Tanor City. It was agreed that the three groups could still function as one nation, despite living in a country just as large as Theon was. The three formed the Triad, with one Lord acting as monarch, whilst the other two Lords advised and informed him. The first monarch was King Mandar Rossek, and it was he who began the association of Apollyon with Rossek. The people of Bast Forest (see Bastet) were employed across Tanor to build the new cities, families split up and the Bast towns left half-empty. Under the reign of the Rossek kings from 1300s to the 1600s, Tanor was formed into the country it is today. Yet he three groups that made up Tanor grew more distant and distinctive. The treatment of the Bast people worsened, their state unchecked. When the Bast Exodus occured in 1684 YA, it ripped the foundations of Tanor out from beneath the Rossek family.
With Corin Ashana leading the new people out of the country, projects and towns were left abandoned. A 100,000 strong force meant that the Lords of Tanor shied from a direct attack, and instead focused on employing their own people to build Tanor. The Rossek chain of monarchs was broken, with a Queen Sarinde Idillia II crowned in 1686 YA. This left the Apollyon members of the family reeling, and when they seized back power in 1882 YA, a variety of new laws to enforce their power were rejected by the Damner’s court and threw the country into civil war in 1982 YA, now known as the first Apollyon War (see Apollyon). King Julian Rossek IV had been exiled and fled to Fren, rallying a grand army of followers to him. Mages from across Barbaria were hired as generals. The War lasted for several years until the armies of Bastet crossed Fren once more to join forces with Durian and Teshire, and Apollyon was defeated in 1988 YA. A Grand Alliance was formed with their past antagonists, with badly needed raw materials trade for surplus food stocks.
From then on, no Rossek monarchs were appointed. The bloodlines were too weak, unrelated to the Durian and Teshire houses, devastated by the civil war. Marriages were rejected simply because of the surname in several cases. It was only until the recent Second Apollyon War that a Rossek monarch was appointed, King Raldor Rossek II. Even then, it was only because the Durian and Teshire houses had no heir present, as the houses had been devastated by Apollyon. Since then, King Raldor Rossek has ceased trade with Atlantis and Bastet, concentrating forces instead of eliminating Apollyon from the land. Insular, and paranoid, this is the final state of a country plagued by it’s dark past.
Geography.
The large mountain range Coramod (although dwarfed by Ter’Ciel and it’s ilk) lies at the center of Tanor, and acts as a rough border guide. Durian resides to the west of the Coramood, taking up nearly half the country, although Rossek holds some of the southern lands and Teshire holds some of the northern lands. Teshire stretches from the end of the mountain ranges of Ter’Ciel, down to the edges of Matlock Woods, holding the north-east territories. Rossek takes up the southern lands, and stretches round to Sheldon in the south-west. From the Durian and Rossek border, there is a 50-mile no mans land, as the land gets more harsh until the Fren Fens appear. North of Teshire lies Mt. Anglen, whilst Mt. Chiril lies north of Durian.