Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius
Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius
Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius
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The History <strong>of</strong> <strong>Karameikos</strong>further destruction in the already devastatedTraldar lands. The Vandars pushed deep intoTraldar territory, as more and more tribesmigrated there from the Five Shires (up toBC 910), but their cultural influence wasgreater in the western half <strong>of</strong> the country.Within a century, the Vandars adopted asedentary lifestyle, and settled as rulersamong many Traldar clans, even founding orre-founding some towns (like Achelos in BC900, and Halag in BC 800). During this timethe knowledge <strong>of</strong> iron smelting eventuallybecame widespread in the Traldar lands,which definitively entered the iron age. Onlyaround BC 800, when the worst effects <strong>of</strong>plagues, famines, and wars began to lessen,did the population begin a very slowrecovery. For many decades, the politicalsituation continued to be troubled by warsand fights between the Traldars and Vandars,with the latter slowly gaining the upper hand.After BC 700, when the worst years <strong>of</strong> theVandar invasion and dominion had passed,the conquerors began a process <strong>of</strong>intermarriage into Traldar clans, whichultimately brought about - around BC 500 -the blending <strong>of</strong> the two cultures into one.The culture <strong>of</strong> the Vandar masters imposeditself over the declining culture <strong>of</strong> the Traldarpeople, even as it adopted many traits <strong>of</strong> theTraldar culture. The most widely usedtongue <strong>of</strong> the country came to be a Vandardescendedtongue heavily influenced by theTraldar dialects. The merged peoplegradually became known as Traladarans, andtheir land as Traladara 27 . Although theTraladarans were divided into many villagesand communities, they were kept united byin fast and easy plunder but the dwarves and orcs were determinedto rule the land as their own.” Thus, before the determination <strong>of</strong>orcs and dwarves, the Vandars eventually left Hindon for the east,invading the beleaguered Traldar lands in BC 933.27At this point the old Mycenaean-like Traldar culture has givenway to the newer Slavic-like Vandar one.their faith in their Immortal patrons - Halav,Petra and Zirchev – whose stories were keptalive by the oral tradition <strong>of</strong> the Ballad <strong>of</strong>King Halav, which told the story <strong>of</strong> theirdeeds during the Great Beastmen Invasion;the veneration <strong>of</strong> Halav, Petra, and Zirchevbecame widespread across Traladara duringthis age, slowly replacing that <strong>of</strong> the oldTraldar and Vandar Immortals.This age also saw the arrival <strong>of</strong> the elves,who suddenly and mysteriously appearedin the lands to the east <strong>of</strong> the Traldars (BC800). They had abandoned their far-awayhomeland, the Sylvan Realm, through themagical Rainbow Bridge, under theleadership <strong>of</strong> Mealiden Starwatcher. Whilethe main body <strong>of</strong> the migration passedthrough Traladara to settle north <strong>of</strong> theBlack Peaks mountains (on the site <strong>of</strong> thefuture Canolbarth Forest), one <strong>of</strong> their clans- the Callarii wood elves - chose to split fromthe migration and to settle in the centralforests <strong>of</strong> modern <strong>Karameikos</strong> – theRadlebb Woods, parts <strong>of</strong> the Dymrak Forest,and the forested hill country between theHighreach and the Hillfollow Rivers. TheCallarii established friendly relations withthe more peaceful human clans and foughtagainst the more warlike ones 28 .Nevertheless, this age was troubled byrecurring humanoid invasions. Since BC650, the Hins’ successful struggle againsttheir orcish masters during the Time <strong>of</strong>28GAZ1 says that the Callarii migrate from Alfheim around theend <strong>of</strong> the 1 st century BC, and this take is followed by some fanworks, like G. Agosta’s A Karamikos Companion. However, latercanon sources, starting with GAZ5 and Hollow World campaignsetting, say that the Callarii clans split from Mealiden’s migrationtoward the future site <strong>of</strong> the Canolbarth Forest and chose to settlein the deep woods <strong>of</strong> Traladara while their brethen continuednorth in BC 800. I chose to adopt this second version, alsobecause I could not see why a number <strong>of</strong> elven clans should havemigrated from an idyllic fairy forest to a lands inhabited byhumans and threatened by scores <strong>of</strong> goblin hordes (like Traladarawas in the 1 st century BC).50THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1