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County of Maldan - Renoga

Renoga is an old city. It was built over a thousand years ago as a Huan/An’orheen outpost to protect settlers and to trade with the Duatha and northern peoples. The Huan were good builders the An’orheen were very inventive and monomaniacal. Over the years the original hill fort would have grown to a fortress complex dominating the town’s central hill. The hill itself became riddled with passages, underground galleries, cisterns, and storage facilities. A current wall was integrated into the hill defenses. As the folk of the Sard valley came to rely on Renoga more and more, and travel between these lands and the Huan lands further south became more perilous; city walls would have been erected as well as an elaborate sewer and aqueduct system. Prompted by the continual raiding of the Skoja the harbor would have been fortified and defensive signal posts erected along the estuary to warn of seaborne raiders. A desire to remain within the fortified portions of Renoga would have probably led to an increase in building heights as well as further tunneling and delving into the earth to provide space for the population. At this point I see the development of terraced roof-top gardens coupled with underground greenhouses where sun-light is piped in via mirrors. As the city was pretty much under siege by the Skoja—they would endeavor to become as self supporting as possible.

In -78PC, King Svornor Iron Helm lured the “army” of Renoga out of the city into a pitched battle at Camverst Ford. Svornor annihilated the Renogan forces. I’m not sure how Svornor lured the Renogans out. That might make for an interesting story. The late arrival of Haggorym mercenaries to the battle saw to the destruction of the Skojum and the death of King Svornor—so the Skoja were never able to capitalize on the destruction of Renoga’s army. This sort of thing might have led to some interesting developments in the city’s political make-up. Maybe with the loss of so much man-power the city would have become a more egalitarian place—less dominated by patriarchs.

In -52PC, the Mordathi swarmed out of Three Daggers Pass on their way south to throw themselves against the waning might of the Rhy-Kanna Empire. Renoga would have been pretty isolated from this incursion but the folk of the Sard valley would have bourn the brunt of it. The Mordathi were not known for having kind and gentle natures and regarded most humans and something on-par with beasts or soulless demons. There return trip six years later following the fall of the Empire would have been worse; as they brought with them the Great Plague (a series of nasty arcane ailments and agues cooked up by the Rhy-Kanna). It would have been all Renoga could have done to cope with such depredations. Even so probably at least 60% of the populace perished.

The intervening years are somewhat quiet in the north. Presumably most of the fervor of nation-building and destroying going on in Pendar failed to have much of an impact on Renoga and the Sard valley. During this time Leronist missionaries made their way northward and began establishing themselves among the Huan. The early missions were probably Orthodox Leronist; but later the Pendarin Church would have worked to save the souls of the heathen northmen.

In 151PC, 239 years after the Battle of Camverst Ford, the inhabitants of Renoga chose to pay tribute rather than fight the Orodradi. Renoga, while secure was probably not as self sufficient as it had been when faced by the Skoja—hence rather than see all of the petty freeholders it relied upon put to the sword; surrender was probably a better option. The Orodradi were not much of a civilizing force in the north. While some would have been drawn to the antiquity and aged splendor of Renoga; most were content to drink, fornicate, and brutalize each other in their quaint barbaric (and mostly rural) fashion. The Rhaides (chiefs) supported Renoga as a marketplace to sell the produce of their flocks and herds in exchange for Skoja-iron, southern wine, and dye (or whatever). I don’t think there would have been any organized settlement within Renoga by the Orodradi—however younger sons (and perhaps daughters) would probably have been drawn to the opportunities it offered. Certainly at this point in the city’s history the office of the Majestar has been established. I’m not really certain what it would entail but I sort of envision it being an elected position by the city’s oligarchy or mercantile elite.

In 314PC the Kingdom of Pendar began its campaign to annex the Northern Marches. The defeat of the Orodradi during Duke Stenor’s War would have probably prompted them to reexamine the way they fought and conducted themselves at war. Any effort on their part to adapt and change would have probably been too little too late. (There weren’t any William Wallace’s among the Orodradi.) Gathering up the women, children, and herds and putting them behind good stone walls would have probably been the extent of their preparations for the upcoming conflict. Sharing their city with a bunch of smelly, uncouth clansmen was probably not exactly pleasant for the inhabitants of Renoga, many might have welcomed the arrival of the armies of Pendar. The Azuri, as (more-or-less) co-religionists, would have been doubly welcome.

In 321PC, Adom Ketha, Captain of the Company of the Righteous Voice defeated Rhaide Dorgus Slain (Mioc) at the Siege of Renoga, finally breaking the hold of the Orodrad Clans over the north. There can be little doubt that the defeat of the Orodradi was accelerated by the assistance of the Huan. They had little love for the barbaric clansmen to whom they had paid tribute for over 170 years. The fortifications at Renoga had withstood the assaults of the Skoja some 400 years previous—but these were of good stout Huan-An’orheen construction and while they may have suffered over time and disuse; they were far from absent. The siege of Renoga went swiftly and the Orodradi defenders were quickly surrounded and overwhelmed. Many believe the good citizens of Renoga assisted the Pendarins; or at least showed them the ways through the cities defenses.

The Company of the Righteous Voice used Renoga as there base of operations as they moved to secure the Embelyon March. They worked to stabilize the region and enforce a rule of law not seen under the stewardship of the Orodradi. In 323PC, King Dârsax gifted Captain Adom Ketha with the Embelyon March and installed him as the Count of Maldan. Count Adom made Renoga his capital and went about installing Pendarin (Azuri) authority over the whole of the region.

In 326PC, Count Adom sailed out of Renoga in force to complete the Pendarin conquest of the north and wrest the Inner Lothings from the confederation of Skoja jarls and chieftains. Though the Skoja greatly resisted the might of the southerners; with the capable assistance of the Pendarin navy and volunteers from among the folk the Sard valley and the coastlands (who had long suffered the depredations of the island raiders) the outcome was inevitable. In 327PC Count Adom assailed the castle at Vulpsteg and threw down Jarl Hegfer (the Fat) seizing control of the isle of Loth-Marduk and with it the means of dominating the whole of the Inner Lothings.

In the spring of 340PC Count Adom held court in Renoga and installed Lord Bedewren Brangull as Baron of Loth-Maldan and Lord Ercan Blone as Baron of Eornost. Baron Ercan was placed in charge of the construction of Castle Eornost at the mouth of Three Daggers Pass which would guard the County from those savage tribes that dwelled beyond the Greywall Mountains.

In 342PC, Count Adom Ketha died; King Ubaros (of Pendar) installed Lord Agravane Kern, an Almery nobleman of his court, as the new Count of Maldan. Widespread objection and consternation in the Northern Marches followed this appointment.

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