Author Site for Chris Solaas

From the desk of Lavik

A Brief History

The country of Lynvia has a long and rich history involving wars, dragons, despotic rulers, evil magicians, renegade barons and more. There have been many dark times in this green and golden land, but in all of them there have been some who fought hard for it. These people exhibited profound measures of courage, faith, and perseverance, and they are the heroes worth learning about, as a stirring example to the rest of us.

Scroll down for a Timeline of history in Lynvia.

-170 BL	kikar bet free 170 years before Lynvia became a country, Red Dragon Kikar Bet Free ('Made to Fly' in Kraxorian) assumed the throne of the dragon kingdom. This dragon saw the migration of humans into his domain as a threat, especially after they started killing off his citizens. At the time, Kraxorians could only speak rudimentary gutteral sounds with their mouths, and communicated mostly via telepathy. As time progressed, and the conflict developed into war, they learned to harness magic to communicate, among other things.
-70 BL	Marath Migration Seventy years before the formal formation of the country of Lynvia, the region was very sparsely populated by humans, due to the large number of dragons that lived across the plains and foothills. But the land was very fertile, and more and more settlers migrated in, crossing the Green Mountains and settling in the south. As their numbers increased, so did their boldness, and they began attacking dragons that foraged in their flocks, stealing sheep. None of these encounters ended well for the settlers, and the southern region became hotly contested.
0 BL	King Streff Nearly a thousand years ago, Lynvia formally became a country, with Streff, a knight who had migrated north with his family, only to see his farm and family destroyed while he was in the fields with his eldest son plowing. Streff vowed to gather all the people together and wreak vengeance for the loss of families across the region. The villagers along the coast and westward to the Ziff River gathered to a small coastal town and offered their support in naming Streff king of the entire land, From the Green Mountains to the Ziff and Red River.
1 BL	War in Lynvia King Streff occupied those who could not fight to gather crops and come to the coastal town, which he renamed Streff after himself. Those who could not work the fields he set to work building a castle. It is now known he had conscripted a small team of miners to tunnel under the ocean to the cliffs where the castle was to be built, and establish several secret escape routes - one by way of an ocean cave, and another by way of a tunnel to the Temple of Kep. Meanwhile, the king led any valiant man to drive the dragons by any means at their disposal out of Lynvia. Their efforts, however, were laughable, as the dragons could freeze, poison, drown, burn or vaporize a soldier with only their breath. Their scales were impervious to any weapon. They could see in the dark. It was like attacking a stone wall with a bare fist. However, during their forays, a knight named Sir Draken managed to take down a red dragon by firing an iron arrow down its throat. The soldiers discovered that when their arrows were dipped in the blood of that dragon, they could pierce the armor of the dragons, and after this, they were able to drive the dragons completely out of Lynvia's borders.
3 BL	Returning heroes King Streff returned to Streff with his conquering army, to find the castle he had commissioned nearly built, due to the abilities of several magic users and the hard work of the teams he had left behind. To reward Sir Draken, he promoted him to the rank of Baron, and gave him the region north of Streff, which he named Daedal Inel, Banner Land. The southern region he made a barony which he assigned to his son, the future king of Lynvia. Streff Castle would be the capitol for both the country and the barony. This southern barony he named Daedal Wrenet, or Land of Future Good. Looking back on the misfortune this knight-turned-king had experienced, this was a promising naming.
5 BL	Growing Pains Baron Draken, however, was not content to just be a baron during a time of peace. He missed the adventure of fighting the dragons, and from his barony in Coppa, he looked across the Red and Ziff Rivers to lands rich and fertile. There were many dragons there, to be sure, but now he had the weapons needed to take them down, and with the bodies of those kills, he could make many more powerful magic weapons and armor, that would make his soldiers invincible, both against the dragons, and against the king. He began taking forays into the northern regions, crossing the Red River by night, and attacking nests of dragons, decimating them. Many of his soldiers were killed in the process, but the fruits of his labor made returning troops equal in power to the armor and claws of their opponents. With proper shielding, or magical spells, they could even protect themselves from the dragon breath. That same year they were able to attack a central dragon city, at what is now known as Tarth. The dragons retreated into the mountains, bearing what dead they could gather, and surrendered all the lands from the Red to the Baz River to the Lynvians. This left only those lands West of the Red and Ziff Rivers.
7 BL	A bloody turn King Streff congratulated Baron Draken on his success, and sent forth the order to offer lands to anyone who wished to settle in the new lands. They set up a capitol in Tarth, with a clear view of Lake Claw. The dragons had range of the mountains, and the humans settled in the town below. Streff named another general, Karlev, as baron, and entitled the new barony Daedal Vrakev, or The Land that Was Won. The victory, however, was short-lived. Kikar Bet Free was wroth over the death of so many of his charges, and began devising ways to destroy the soldiers from above. From heights further than any magic arrow could reach, the dragons began carrying boulders and rocks and dropping them with deadly accuracy on the soldiers in Coppa and even on the homes in Lynvia. First, Tarth was destroyed, and then, Coppa. The Land that was Won soon began being called Daedal Petchev, or the Land that Was Lost. Refugees streamed across the Red River at the Ford of Dirin, and Draken barely escaped with his life. Karlev was not so lucky, as Tarth was destroyed under cover of night, and only a messenger who fled on a fast horse managed to bring word to Coppa and prevent a similar disaster. When the dragons came the following night to destroy Coppa, they discovered a town abandoned by the common populace, and a rain of deadly flaming arrows preventedthem from doing any but the most minimal damage with what boulders they could find in the hills around. The brave soldiers held the city overnight, but in the morning several blue dragons rose up out of the river and destroyed the town.
8 BL	Defeat and Retreat That winter and the following year, Draken fought hard to take down the enemy beasts. forays into the northern territory always ended in disaster. Bitter winter cold put his forces into hiding, not only from the dragons flying high above the reach of arrows, but from the merciless weather. Though they fought valiantly, and were able to kill many dragons, these new tactics the dragons were using kept Draken's diminishing forces on the run. Wounded and discouraged, they managed to reach the Capitol King Streff welcomed the refugees into Streff Castle, and vowed to send his army out to fight the invading dragon horde. But peace had made Streff soft, and his vows turned into empty promises.
9 BL	A Startling Revelation While working in his fields in Daedal Wrenet not far from Streff, a young farmer named Kest sighted a badly wounded soldier staggering into his beanfield. Quickly, he ran and assisted him in getting into his hut, where he and his wife ministered to the soldier's massive wounds. When the man could talk, he told them that his name was Clordras (duck) and he thanked them for their kindnesses, but informed them that his visit would be certain to get them killed. When asked why, he explained that it was because of what he knew. When pressed, Clordras admitted that he was one of Draken's elite soldiers, who had crossed the Red River years previously to attack the dragons and conquer the northern lands. Duck explained that on that first foray, he was one of the soldiers snatched up by a dragon and hauled into the sky. He had been carried to Tarth, where the dragons plied him for information, using magic to discover why they had been attacked, unprovoked, in a time of relative peace. Why, the dragons wondered, when they had surrendered the southern lands, were the humans not happy with the land they had conquered? Why was it that they felt the need to invade, again? Duck had admitted that he was surprised to find the dragons had intelligence at all, much less the ability to talk, even magically. At first, he had remained with the dragons as an enemy captive. But as he learned of their ways, their faith, and their peaceful intentions, he decided to remain as a friend and advisor. However, Duck knew the plans Draken had, to invade the north, kill all the dragons, and arm his soldiers for a coup. He wanted no part of the baron's evil plans, but was forced into it. So he did what he could to give the dragons some advance warning of the danger to come. In return, they made him one of their own, and he learned something of their language, and their noble hearts. He taught Kest several hundred words in their spoken language, a language that leaves your throat raw. They asked how he had come to be so badly wounded, and he explained that he had a change of heart, and wanted to warn the king. The dragons were not willing to get involved in the affairs of human politics, but were willing to release him and give him safe travel at least to Coppa. He managed to catch a horse and ride it towards Streff. But he ran afoul of Draken's men and barely escaped with his life. Duck's wounds were too severe to allow him travel to Streff. Kest discussed it with his wife, and leaving his two sons to guard over Duck, he rode on to Streff alone.
9 BL	Sudden Betrayal But Kest's warning came too late. He reached the castle just as the dragon horde did. While he was trying to obtain entrance to the castle and an audience with the king, Draken murdered Streff and his son in a daring coup, just as the dragon horde descended to destroy the castle. The magic weapons, armor, and fireballs and ice shards cast by the wizards managed to keep the dragons at bay for ten days, while internally, a battle raged for control of the crown. In that ten-days war, the young farmer named Kest picked up a magic sword and shield dropped by a soldier, and led a motley band of commoners to take the castle by force. Kest did not really want the crown, but he wanted justice for both the dragons and for King Streff and his son. However, his commoner band had managed to sieze the castle, and without his approval killed Draken and his son, leaving the throne open. Having control of the castle, they tried to make him king by force. But Kest refused to wear the crown or accept the throne until he had resolved the conflict with the dragons. However, he requested a cessation of hostilities until he could negotiate peace.
9 BL	Negotiations Kest climbed to the top of the tallest tower in Lynvia, alone, and unarmed. He carried a one-year-old male lamb, for Duck had informed him that the lamb was a symbol of peace among the dragons. He also carried a ram's horn, which he blew repeatedly, until he garnered the attention of the dragons. Upon seeing the lamb, they sent a delegation to him composed of Kass (thinker), a green dragon and advisor to the king, and KAK-GRETH (not beautiful), a black dragon and chief general to their late king. For Kikar Bet Free had been mortally wounded by arrows dipped in dragon's blood and dragon poison, and had fallen into the moat. Even with the phenomenal healing power of a dragon, water is death to a red dragon, and his spark had gone out. Kass took a leadership role in the negotiations, and Kak-Greth only provided security for him. Kest revealed (in Kraxorian) to Kass that the attacks north of the Red River were the doing of Baron Draken, and solely his decision. That the same man had murdered their king and named himself king of this country. Kass was enraged, and demanded they turn Draken over to the dragons, to be tried, and pay for his crimes. He wanted to know how Kest knew all this, and especially where he had learned to speak Kraxorian. Kest explained that Clordras had given him lessons in it, and that he was a quick pupil. He explained that Clordras was at his farm, wounded while trying to carry news of Draken's betrayal to the King. He also told him that Draken and his son had already been executed during the battle for the castle, but that the dragons could have their bodies as proof. Kass sent Kak-Greth to retrieve Duck, and then continued to ply Kest for information, demanding to see the bodies there on the battlements. After Kest had soldiers bring the bodies to the tower top, Kass explained that the dragons were going to demand a life. Kest offered his life for the lives of his people, if only there could be peace between dragons and humans. Kass was most moved by this gesture of self-sacrifice, and instead offered an alternative. Peace between their peoples, and an agreement to not violate their borders again.
9 BL	The Treaty According to the treaty, the dragons would have all the lands of the mountains to the West and North of Lynvia, and Lynvia would acquire all the plains between the mountains and the sea. Any human crossing the foothills into the mountains would be considered taking their own life in their hands, and would be executed by the dragons at their discretion. Any dragon leaving the mountains was to be allowed safe passage, unless they caused harm, in which case, they were at the mercy of the humans.
9 BL	The Signet Ring Kak-Greth returned with Duck, somehow completely healed of his wounds. Kass sent Kask-Greth to retrieve SETHA (Winter), a female white dragon, to aid in the construction by magic of a new signet ring. He required a nugget of gold and a primer on the Lynvian written language, which took time. For five days, Kass and Kest hammered out the details of the treaty, and then the three dragons combined their breaths with the nugget of gold, and out came a signet ring, revealing the new Lynvian royal crest, two dragons with their tails entwined, signifying the joining of the wills of their two peoples, and their breaths combining, signifying the joining of their spirits in unity for this purpose of peace. So it was the dragons, not Kest, that designed and created the official royal Lynvian crest, and the dragons who inscribed the signet ring with Lynvian runes both outside and in, which could ONLY be revealed by dragon-fire. This ring would be worn by each successive generation of King, as a physical reminder and representation of the treaty with Kraxoria, and would require a delegation of dragons to attend and reveal these runes by fire to prove the treaty was still in effect.
10 BL	A Double Coronation Kest invited Kass to attend his coronation, along with whatever dragons would fit in the throne room. He had the corridors to the throne room, and its doors, expanded to allow for the massive bulk of a dragon to enter. The previous standard involving a knight slaying a dragon was struck across the country, to be replaced by the double-dragon. He had a stained glass window of the double-dragon to be installed behind and above the throne, and a stained glass window in the high ceiling to be made of Streff. At the coronation, it was revealed that Kass also would be crowned king to succeed KIKAR BET FREE as king of Kraxoria, and that ceremony was also performed there. At the end of the ceremony, the dragons sang a song in Kraxorian, which the audience listened to politely, as they did not know the language, but which broke King Kest down in tears. His first act as King of Lynvia was to commission a troubador to translate, with the aid of Duck, this anthem into Lynvian, and you can find it on this site under Media/Book Songs.
60 BL	King Goden Kest's eldest son Goden ascended the throne on the death of his father Kest, after 50 years of a peaceful reign. Goden reigned 17 years.
77 BL	King Dawren Goden's second son Dawren became king when his father passed away suddenly after a stroke. Goden's eldest had died in a tournament. Dawren reigned 37 years and was a good king.
114 BL	King Fennon Dawren's son Fennon ascended the throne when his father died of old age. Fennon reigned 40 years during a time of profound peace.
154 BL	King D'Tyn Fennon's eldest D'Tyn became king when his father passed away of old age.
192 BL	Daedal Korar in 192 Batet Lynvia, Iron was discovered in the Baz and Zallem Rivers. These rivers flowed from the mountains to the north, which were part of the Kingdom of Kraxoria. Upon this discovery, the region between these two rivers, which was considered outlying territory and an open hunting ground, was annexed by the crown and declared a new Daedal, named Korar (Land of Lions). While this land did contain some mountain lions, it earned the name by being hotly contested later. The mines were dangerous, because the area was loosely held, according to the treaty with Kraxoria, as territory of the dragons. But the mines were accessed by tunnels in Lynvia, and as the shafts were inaccessible from the mountains themselves, they considered themselves safe.
199 BL	King Alyn D'Tyn's eldest son Alyn ascended the throne when his father stepped down due to advanced age and some dementia. D'Tyn had reigned for 45 years, and lived only a few years longer.
207 BL	Invasion for Iron Daedal Korar was invaded by an army of Xarnan warriors. This peaceful region was caught off guard, and while the men fought bravely to protect their homes, the families fled into Daedal Vrakev across the Baz River. The warriors had invaded to sieze the iron mines for armament and weapons.
209 BL	War of Korar King Alyn gathered four thousand men armed with swords and bows, with several hundred knights in chain mail, to defend the borders of Lynvia and protect the vital iron mines. The army crossed the Baz River in several hundred boats under cover of night, and engaged the enemy in their camps. The Xarnans fought bravely but were caught off guard and escaped in the dark into the forests of Daedal Korar. With most of their number dead or dying, the raiding parties fled in the dark back across the Zallem River, and returned less than a month later with an army of several thousand. Thus began the War of Korar, which lasted from April 209 to November 209, when it became so bitterly cold the Zallem and Baz Rivers froze over, and an army of ten thousand women marched across and overwhelmed the defenders at the city of Chelith. The Lynvian army fought bravely in the streets, but the Xarnan archers were uncanny in their accuracy and the army was decimated. King Alyn was pierced with many arrows and died of his wounds on the battlefield, having accounted for himself well with more than thirty Xarnans slain around him.
209 BL	King Synress His son Synress became king as soon as the word was brought to him, at the age of fifteen. This teen king mustered every man in Lynvia and marched from Streff Castle to the River Baz, himself on foot as was his men. Farmers with sickles, blacksmiths with hammers, all bent on one purpose - to avenge the death of their beloved king and drive the invaders off Lynvian soil. When they arrived at Chelith, they found the city burned, the population fled or slaughtered. No Xarnan was found on Lynvian soil, not even their dead. Synress purposed to cross the Zallem, but a rain of deadly flaming arrows set the forest around them on fire, and they were forced to retreat into the Korar Forest. Synress was wounded, and against his wishes he was transported back to Streff to recover. His father's brother Kodan stayed behind as general, to defend the borders. Because of his valiant efforts, he was able to keep Xarnan at bay for the entirety of Synress' reign. To assist in protecting the borders, Kodan built a massive fortress against the mountain beside the Zallem River. He placed a permanent guard there, and it became the capital of the Daedal Korar. Unfortunately during Synress' reign, Xarnan raiding parties would cross the Zallem River to attack villages, carrying away supplies, or sometimes slaves. Occasionally they would attack boats coming down the river to steal the iron ore.
243 BL	King Karvath Synress's third son Karvath ascended the throne on the death of his father, after 34 years of reign. Synress's eldest and second son were both killed in the War of Korar.
244 BL	Treaty with Xarnan When Synress died, his son Karvath took over. The week after his coronation, he went with a detail of twenty knights to seek peace with Xarnan. The Treaty of Karvath ended the fighting, and prompted the Xarnans to trade with Lynvia peaceably.
311 BL	King Von Karvath's eldest son became king when his father Karvath died in bed after 68 long years of reign. The year after he ascended the throne, Von renamed a city in the far north after his father. This city was where the iron from the mines was smelted into bars for transport, and delivered to smithies to be formed into weapons, armor, plows, and sickles, pans and cooking utensils.
351 BL	Dragon King Martaz During the reign of King Von, the Kraxorian King Kass stepped down from the throne, wishing to take on other pursuits in relation to science and faith, and his son, Martaz, a Blue Dragon, took the throne. Kass remained an advisor to all kings after this point. Dragons live for over a thousand years, and Kass was only in the prime of life. But his goal in accepting the role of king was to stabilize his country and ensure that the treaty with Lynvia was honored from both sides.
368 BL	King Lan Von had no children, for his wife was barren, and as he considered this the will of Kep, he never sought another wife to sire an heir. At the end of his life, he gave the crown to his brother's eldest son, Lan, after 57 years of reign. Lan reigned 69 years.
437 BL	King Koder Lan's grandson Koder took the throne on the death of his grandfather. Koder's father had a penchant for adventure, and had been climbing in the Green mountains, when he slipped and fell to his death. Koder had been only two at the time.
473 BL	King Kess Koder's eldest son Kess ascended the throne on the death of his father, after 39 years of a peaceful reign. Kess was known as a good king. During his reign, there were rumors of an uprising in Daedal Korar because that province felt cut off from the rest of the country, both physically, by the Baz River, and financially, as most of the king's gold in prior reigns had gone to bolstering sea trade by building Hieth and Skein, or building up Temgen, which smelted ore from the newly discovered Iron Mines in the Green Mountains. He spent many visits and much gold soothing ruffled feathers in the Northeast, and building up the keep at the headwaters of the Zallem. Because of his efforts, the Keep there was renamed Kess Keep.
476 BL	Dragon King Gartik After 125 years of reign, the Dragon King Martaz was killed in single combat with GARTIK (Good Cover), a Yellow Dragon, who managed to electrocute the king with bolts of lightning while the dragon attempted to submerge. Though a blue dragon can heal in water, Gartik plucked him out of the water and dropped his unconscious body from an altitude of several miles onto the rocks above Lake Claw. Per Dragon Law, a dragon can win a throne by single combat, when the challenge is formally given and accepted.
553 BL	King Tarth Named after the city to the North by Lake Claw, Tarth took the throne after his grandfather, Kess, died of natural causes. Kess had reigned for 80 years. Tarth's father, the only son of Kess, died of a stroke only a few years previously.
580 BL	King Cappa King Tarth was killed after only 27 years of reign, the shortest reign to date. He fell from the battlements while gazing out over the ocean with the queen. His death remains a mystery, but circumstances surrounding his death make it likely his own wife pushed him for his indiscretion with a servant.
632 BL	King Heth Heth took the throne at the age of thirty, and ruled with an iron fist. He increased taxes in order to build a fleet of ships for the crown, commissioning captains to conscript crews and carry the country's products overseas to Marath, Gurant, Tervit, and Chautein. This increase in trade inspired the coastal towns of Skein and Zid to build their own fleets of trading ships. When they began to run afoul of pirates from Tervit, Heth commissioned a fleet of ten gunships as escorts for the trade routes, which required him to raise taxes yet again. This fleet was doubled inside of five years. The king had a summer house built in northern Chelith, and would take his family there on holiday, or send them with an escort when the pressures of state prevented him from accompanying them.
637 BL	Dragon King Grrathnak
650 BL	A Tragic Accident In 650 BL, His wife the queen and his three sons, including the crown prince, went on holiday to their summer home, and were killed in a tragic fire when a horse knocked over a lantern in the hay, in the middle of the night. The royal horses were killed in the fire, along with the stablehand, who was killed trying to rescue them. Cinders from the stable ignited the home, setting all ablaze during that very dry winter. The family was asleep upstairs and did not make it out, nor did the cook. The captain of the guard died trying to rescue the prince. It is said the king's hair turned white upon hearing the news, but certainly it was recorded that it happened over a period of days. Heth was never the same after. He launched an investigation into the fire, but no foul play was indicated. He married again several years later, and had a son which he named Maket, which means Will Repair. The hope implied in the name was insufficient to pull the king out of his depression, however. As Heth grew older, his mind and memory began slipping, wandering. He would take many walks in the cool of the evening along the battlements, and often referred to his new wife by his old wife's name. As he grew more senile, the Baron of Wrenet took a more active hand as the king's advisor, making decisions for the king, with his approval, and even sealing documents with the royal signet, when the king was indisposed. The Baron could have used this ploy to take the crown, but his intentions were motivated by love for country and his king, not a desire for power.
673 BL	King Maket King Maket was a good king, acquiring the throne at the young age of twenty. His father, Heth, had born him late in life, and to a second wife; though his older brothers were before him in line for the throne, as discussed earlier they all died in a tragic fire while they were visiting the king's summer house in Chelith.
710 BL	The Pirate War In BL 710 the City of Skein called for aid from the crown to protect them from the Pirate Armada that was bombing their fleet. Eight of the ten gunships were escorting trading vessels, and the pirates attacked with a fleet of eight ships while the bulk of the navy was away. The two remaining ships were cut to ribbons and sunk. King Maket
712 BL	King Kilpar
767 BL	King Vedas