Men have not always lived in the lands now known as Lassara. Centuries ago they have arrived on ships over the great sea, of where they originated nothing is known to this day, only that their lands lay far in the east and that to return there should never be desired.
They first landed on an island, and their Leader, Lord Cantus, called it Cantun, which later gave name to the surrounding Bay of Cantun. Two settlements they built and named them southern Cantun and northern Cantun, or, in their old language Nir Cantun and Tar Cantun.
The days were happy in the first time on this new land and quickly they populated the island and, after first settling on a nearby island, founding the town of Ova they decided to send a scouting party to the mainland.
Under the leadership of Cantus’ son, the prince Leon, they set foot onto solid land near the mouth of a river and there they set up and outpost called Birun. The first thing they did was to follow the river to a Lake, which they named after their outpost, Lake Birun and then continued on at the shores of the lake. It is then that a letter from Leon arrived at the court of his father, now crowned as King of Cantun.
Quote:
Dear Father,
We have set up a strong foothold and I gave it the name of my sister, which I love, Birun. Following the river we spotted when landing we reached a lake just a few days later and followed the shores northward and to the east, marching around the lake. It took us about a week to reach the westernmost point of the lake and we have not encountered a single soul until now.
[the letter contains many details and information on this land and is too long to be covered here so only what is relevant is copied into this historical document]
No man seems to live here, even though the land is rich and the animals are many. There is good soil for farming and we have found sources of clay and strong wood for our first settlement. Only yesterday have we encountered the first signs of civilization. A trail of smoke appeared to be emerging towards the sky from a position far to our west. We will follow this route now and you will hear from me again when we have met whomever is living there.
In love, your loyal son, Leon
The father received the news with joy. Not only had his son lived and prospered, he had also confirmed that the land was good and ready to be taken over, because the island of Cantun was getting smaller and smaller for the growing population of his kingdom. He was sure that Leon would be able to reason with those that were already living there. They didn’t seem to use much of the land and so they would surely allow Cantunese settlers to seek their fortune there. A few days later another letter arrived, but this time the parchment was stained by blood and seemed to be written hastily.
Quote:
Father,
The indigenous population we have encountered is not as we are. They seem to be human but they are not. I cannot go into more detail as time is short but they are hostile and I fear we have made them aware of us being here. When we first entered their city we were met with hospitality but it was only to lure us in and so we readily shared with them where our kingdom lay and who we are. Their Lord, Darganta, seemed to be an honorable man but he isn’t, in fact he is a creature of darkness, but I didn’t understand this until later. Please forgive me if this causes the people of Cantun to fall into danger as it was my mistake but I will seek to correct it. Our scouting party was too small to fight them when we learned that they only tried to get more information from us before we would be killed and so we led them to believe there was more to learn and one night made our escape. They followed us and some of us lost their lives to give the others time to escape. I myself have been hurt badly but I will get through. We are making our way back to Birun now, to set up defenses there and defeat their small host before they can set over to Cantun. Look to the north and pray to the gods that we are strong. But be watchful.
Leon
The news shook the father and the whole court with grief and fear. They set up guards in Tar Cantun, looking northward. They could not see the lands north but on the sixth night there was a red glimmer in the far north and they had to assume that fire had reached their outpost. The king decided to wait if there would be any more signs from his son but the following night he had a dream, where his goddess of Light, Lassa, visited him and told him that time was short. He had a vision and saw many strange creatures prepare primitive ships and boats, behind them he saw what looked like a human settlement burnt down and he knew for sure what had happened. He asked the gods for help but Lassa explained that they could not directly intervene, as these creatures had their own gods and a war between the divine beings was nothing they wanted or at least it was not Lassa’s to decide it. All she could do was to enchant the king’s sword, Neril, with a spell that would help him to prevail against the magic that Darganta was wielding and to speak a blessing over their host that would put fear into the enemy they had to face.
King Cantus, although of old age now, immediately ordered the preparation for departure and two days later the Cantunese army was ready to sail but the king hesitated. He waited for another week and only his closest advisors knew for what reason he did this. When they finally set sail they were not on the water for long before meeting black ships, or rather boats that were on their way south. The king knew he had waited for the right amount of time because the one advantage the Cantunese had was the sea. They were experienced sailors and warriors on ships, while their enemies had never set their eyes onto the sea before. With very few losses they were able to sink all the dark vessels and many strange creatures were feeding the fish that day.
Encouraged by this they quickly set foot onto the mainland, near Birun, where they discovered the burnt remains of a small town and after mourning the loss of good men they continued in the direction they assumed the enemy to live. Every night Lassa returned to the king in his sleep to guide them and let them know the way and only four days later they reached the black citadel city that Leon had told his father about.
The next day they engaged the enemy but of the heroic deeds of the battles in these early days no accounts have survived or at least, none that we know of. We know that after a long and fierce battle the Cantunese force finally prevailed, only Darganta himself was still fighting, believing that no man could kill him he slew hundreds of soldiers until Cantus himself faced him in battle. It was a fierce duel but in the end Cantus’ sword Neril found an opening in the black armor and pierced the skin of the dark Lord who fell, under the magic spell of Lassa.
The rest of the dark forces had retreated and after the defeat of their Lord they surrendered to the host of Cantus. It was decided that they should be spared but not allowed to live there anymore. Their leader, the right hand of Darganta, Lord Vayne, suggested they would be sent to an alternate dimension, they called it “the void”, from where they originally had come, as, so they said, they were only able to reproduce and rebuild their people there. Thinking of Lassa’s words, Cantus did not want to upset their dark gods any more than necessary and agreed, using the sword of Darganta, the only tool that could open a gateway to the void, to send them back.
As they entered the real of the void though, Cantus realized that he had, like his son, been betrayed by these evil people and they tried to move a large host of their creatures back through the Gate, led by Vayne. He was the first to step through and in that moment Cantus realized their betrayal and attacked Vayne, wounding him deeply across his chest before being slain by Vayne himself who was struggling to keep the gate open. It was then that Birun, who had snuck onto one of the ships, disguised as one of the wizards who accompanied the army, stormed forward, tears of anger and grief in her eyes, after losing her brother and father to these enemies, weaving a spell that wrestled Darganta’s sword from Vayne and pushed him and his host back into the void.
The gate closed but at what price? Birun had exhausted herself and without the will to go on, she could not recover and so, arm in arm, both father and daughter died that day, saving their people, who were now without a leader. No one knew of the fate of Leon and so it had to be assumed that he died, defending the outpost of Birun.
In the aftermath of the battle it was decided that Galan Undine, Cantus’ closest and most trusted advisor, should become king, as the old king had no other heir to take the throne. Galan knew of everything that Cantus had known, so he honored Lassa for the help she had given them, against the council of the other gods. He decided that the kingdom of Cantun was no longer and there should be a new one, named Lassara with a capitol built right there, at the site of their most tragic hour, as a sign of the power and will to overcome, that was in all men. The island of Cantun was to be part of the realm, reigned by a nephew of Cantus who did not want to leave the islands but agreed to set the house of his uncle up as governors of Cantun, subject to the kingdom of Lassara which was to be reigned by the House of Undine for all time, should the gods so will.
The sword Neril was deliberately broken and shards of it have been forged into seven weapons to disperse the vast divine power that was sealed within the blade. They were given to the greatest heroes of the realm, to be used as weapons to defend Lassara but six of them have since been lost and only one of them remains in the hands of the kings of Lassara. The sword of Darganta could not be destroyed, not by physical or magical means and so it was sealed in a chamber beneath the castle of Lassara’s capitol to never be used again. It is guarded by a special corps as it is rumored that the hosts of the void would still answer to the sword, should they be called.
In the following centuries the realm was strengthened and expanded. Soon the rebuilt town of Birun and the newly founded town of Leon were thriving and the kingdom expanded further. Right now, eight hundred and seventy years after the founding of Lassara, the realm reaches south to Epayl Nir, the spear point of the south, eastward to the peninsula of Avin and west unto the great western mountains, the Ayal Royad hyo. The southern peninsula was colonized along the shores as the southern desert, Mayandar nir, was almost impassable and so settlements were only built on the shore and on the islands of Quin and Ai. Later a group of settlers followed a river north of Quin and founded Yonal in the southern reaches of the western mountains. Beyond these lay Ayal Mayn hyo, the great western sands. Nomads live there and over the years past they sometimes have raided the countryside west of Leon, so the two watchtowers of Null and Varim were built, to safeguard the western borders of the kingdom. They have since been almost deserted as relatively stable peace with the nomads has been reached about two hundred years ago. They didn’t like Lassara nor did most Lassarans like them but goods from the kingdom were needed in the west and vice versa, so a lasting trade relationship has evolved between both people, replacing the wars of their early encounters. Still all trade goes through Null and Varim and the garrisons are ever watchful to what happens in the great sands. Tarania, the northern realm, is a hostile land, not because of civilizations living there but because of the harsh weather and dangerous animals. None of the two usually crosses the northern mountains, guarding the kingdom's northern borders, so the Lassarans are happy, not knowing much about these lands.
Through all this time the House of Undine has prevailed and a descendant of Galan was always ruling in Lassara. Until now… The old king, Ramin Undinde II has died in a hunting accident without leaving an heir of age, only his daughter was left behind but she was only six years old when her father left the realm of the living. The laws stated that she could rule from the day of her sixteenth birthday, until then, three consuls were to rule the kingdom as stewards. This day is today but the expected coronation of Queen Amalia Undine I was not going to happen the way everyone expected…
