Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius
Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius
Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius
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The History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Karameikos</strong>sages. Eventually, under the leadership <strong>of</strong>the Hutaaka, the new bronze-age Traldarculture emerged, characterized by city-states,warrior-kings, and hero-worship.Thus began the Golden Age <strong>of</strong> the Traldars(BC 1300-1000), which saw a rapid growth <strong>of</strong>the population. The region became apatchwork <strong>of</strong> wilderness areas, Hutaakaruledand Traldar-ruled but Hutaaka-adviseddominions 18 . With the passing <strong>of</strong> decades,some southern cities even managed tobecome entirely independent fromHutaakan guardianship 19 ; they were mostlythe coastal settlements, which alsodeveloped a seafaring tradition that allowedthem to send colonizing expeditions to thesouthern archipelagos (modern Ierendi andMinrothad), to the coasts <strong>of</strong> modern Thyatis,and even to the western coast beyond theHins’ land (where they founded the city <strong>of</strong>Athenos 20 ). (Meanwhile, the older Ptahr-al-Dar colonies in modern Darokin had been18Of the Traldar settlements featured on the accompanying map,only Hlas (Lavv), Krakatos, and Mirlenos (Marilenev) have somebasis in canon sources; the others were created by me (some <strong>of</strong> thenames or locations were borrowed from F. Defferrari’s map <strong>of</strong>Traladara in BC 1200, even if Oyllenos can be linked with Halav’spast (see note 24, below), while Dymos could be the site <strong>of</strong> theancient tomb found in the dungeon featured in DDA4: The DymrakDread. Regarding the Hutaaka, besides the Temple <strong>of</strong> Pflarr onlyXitaqa (from B10) is mentioned in canon sources; Koxaqa shouldbe the Hutaakan settlement mentioned in GAZ1 under Threshold’sdescription (and found on the site <strong>of</strong> the subsequent CastleMistamere), while Achelos is described in G. Agosta’s Lords <strong>of</strong> theCruth Lowlands.19The Hollow World Traldars don’t have Hutaakan masters – quitethe contrary, the Hollow World Hutaaka live far away from theTraldar kingdoms. This means that the Hutaaka did not havecomplete control over all the Traldar kingdoms, otherwise theImmortals would have chosen to preserve their cultures in closecontact in the Hollow World – in other words, in my opinion thismeans that there was at least a part <strong>of</strong> the Traldar culture for whichthe Hutaakan culture was no longer instrumental.20Athenos could well have been founded during the Ptahr-al-Darage; I chose to have it founded during the Traldar age as part <strong>of</strong> theexploration and colonization effort undertaken by some Traldarkingdoms in this period. After all, the Hollow World Traldars arequite adept seafarers and sea raiders (Hollow World campaignsetting says that “Their war-galleys […] once dominated the region<strong>of</strong> the Sea <strong>of</strong> Dread”), and their expansion in the southernarchipelagos is meant to underline this trait <strong>of</strong> them.wiped out by humanoid invasions comingfrom the Atruaghin lands; Akorros, forexample, was burned to the ground in BC1254. 21 )In the rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>Karameikos</strong>, Hutaakaninfluence was much stronger, in particularin the west, where the powerful Hutaakandominion centered on the city <strong>of</strong> Acheloswas founded 22 . Over the centuries tensiondeveloped between the Hutaaka and theTraldars, even leading to an open rebellionagainst the Hutaakan influence, enacted bya King Tahrek ‘the Bright’ around BC 1280.Tahrek was the ruler <strong>of</strong> a dominion incentral <strong>Karameikos</strong> who managed to winsome victories against the Hutaaka beforebeing abandoned by his allies andcrushed 23 . This was a singular episode <strong>of</strong>conflict between the Hutaaka and theTraldars; aside from this, the Hutaakacontinued to advise and protect theTraldars, teaching them what technologyand magic they deemed wise, in exchangefor servile labor.Near the end <strong>of</strong> this age the Nithian Empireagain began to turn its greedy eyes on theSea <strong>of</strong> Dread, conquering the modernMinrothad and Ierendi archipelagos (BC1100-1000), and thus subjugating and21The burning <strong>of</strong> Akorros is mentioned in GAZ10. It’s quitepossible that what the GAZ calls “Akorros” had a Nithian name atthis time, or that a Nithian-named city had later changed its nameinto Traldar-sounding “Akorros” due to Traldar influence(brought there through trade along the Streel River from Athenos,for example).22The history <strong>of</strong> the Hutaakan dominion <strong>of</strong> Achelos is describedin greater detail G. Agosta’s Lords <strong>of</strong> the Cruth Lowlands.23The magic item card “Diadem <strong>of</strong> the Sun”, whose descriptionfeatures King Tahrek, is found in the Dungeon Master’s SurvivalKit supplement. According to it, “Centuries before Halav’s mortalreign, central Traladara was ruled by King Tahrek the Bright. […]The ballad ‘The Tragedy <strong>of</strong> Dymrak’ says that Tahrek annihilatedhis beast-man foes with the diadem.” Obviously there were nobeastmen before Halav’s reign in Traladara, so I supposed that thebeastmen <strong>of</strong> the ballad were actually Hutaaka; just like for the rest<strong>of</strong> Traladara’s history, the passage <strong>of</strong> time blurred the differencebetween the jackal-headed humanoids and the gnolls.43THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1