Formal Name: Kingdom of Vaolos.

Informal Name: Vaolos.

Government System: Absolute Monarchy.

Species: Homo Fortemus.

Population: 3.2m Homo Fortemus, 0.3 million Homo Sapiens and <0.1m minor species.

Nation Advantages:
- Vaolos has access to a number of strategic resources including coal, tin and salt.
- The predominant species, Homo Fortemus, all posses a natural hardiness and resistance to the environment to a much greater extent than the majority of their contemporary species.

Nation Weaknesses:
- The territories occupied by Vaolos lack plentiful water resources due to mineral contamination from the mountain sides making the water unsafe to drink.
- Vaolos is currently locked in a guerrilla civil war between the monarchists and the republicans.

Culture: Quite similar to the Ancient Romans but instead of classical villas and gladiatorial arenas dominating the landscape, Vaolos should be pictured instead with an European medieval architecture (see below).


Brief History: Founded roughly 450 years ago by the Aolosian kings, the Kingdom of Vaolos began as a monarchy established through brutal murder and consolidation.

The first recorded king (1000.CE), King Readre Aolosia, is depicted as a shrewd and capable king. Under threat from local natives and quarreling companions, he abolished the somewhat democratic system in place in favour of an absolute monarchy, achieved in large part through the underhanded killing of any potential rivals and the starting of a reign of fear. Such methods were hugely successful and have allowed the Aolosian family to prosper in spite of harsh environmental conditions.

However, such success can only last so long and after centuries of the family pushing their weight around, the tempers of the peasants and other nobles have finally snapped...

Name: Ragnest Starkweather.

Title: Sir Starkweather, Lord of Pharen and Member of The King's Council.

Species: Homo Fortemus.

Age: 28.

Gender: Male.

Orientation: Closeted Homosexual.



Personality: Often described as courageous and noble, Ragnest has a good heart and constantly strives to improve the conditions of the people of Vaolos; for this is he well known and loved among the peasantry. Taught by his father in history, astrology, philosophy and agriculture when young and further studied through the help of famous individuals, Ragnest is also considerably intelligent for his age largely explaining his presence on the King's Council. Last but not least, Ragnest is also an explorer at heart filled to the brim with wanderlust. He is rarely at home and more often than not exploring distant foreign cities and valleys, leaving his peasants in his stead to run his estate.

Short History:
Early life
Born and raised on his to-be estate with his father, Ragnest gained the best possible start in life with every manner of luxury available to him. His father, Sir Egriwn Starkweather, was a powerful man holding a respected place at the court of King Campania (the now current king). However, as luxurious as his life could have been, Ragnest was instead given an austere upbringing away from the fanciful events of nobles and fine dining; in fact, Ragnest and his father often ate with the peasants of their estate. This idea of peasant and noble equality easily found its way into Ragnest's thinking and is one of the main reasons for who his is today. At a young age, he was also subject to precise instruction by his father, a benefit not afforded to a great many other nobles of his status, and while his father was away on royal duty he was often taught by a peasant schoolteacher of the local village.

Adult life
After reaching adolescence, Ragnest's life took a new turn after the death of his father when he was only 17. As per the traditions of the land, Pharen was now his inherited estate with which he could do what he liked. His first action, which gained him the unquestioning loyalty of the local peasantry, was to upgrade the school where he was often taught and add on several extensions including an observatory, library, stables and dining court. Such luxuries that those peasant children now had was unparalleled elsewhere.

Later, Ragnest began to look to politics to pique his interests and applied for the court of the new king, to which, he was almost immediately accepted due to his father's unquestioning loyalty of the previous king. Here Ragnest's philosophy and history came as great boons to the king's reign and both Ragnest and King Campania shared a great bond of friendship. During this time, Ragnest also sought to further his learning. So, after returning from a long campaign in a neighboring province he set about searching the courts of the land, purchasing individuals who he believed he could learn from. One of the closest friends he made out of this endeavor was was Tyron, a reputable historian, who shared almost all of Ragnest's outlooks on the contemporary world.

Current
Upon hearing news of the outbreak of civil war, Ragnest's worst nightmares were met. He was both a good friend of the king but also a great ally and friend of the peasantry whom he regarded almost as his family. His only possible option therefore was to leave, accompanied by Tyron, and to hopefully return when the war had subsided.

Other: It is worth noting that homosexuality is frowned upon in Vaolos, hence the 'closeted homosexual'.

Chapter 1, Origins and beginnings.
There are a few tales and variations on the origins of the Orks and Trolls, but all revolve around the idea that we were once from the underworld and escaped the clutches of the demons. I have read a few books on this subject, namely ‘Dru Shikhdub’ (not the original of course, that is lost to time), ‘Druan o Dru’ (this mostly just talked about our relationship with the demons) and ‘Dru o Drukh Druanzabekhuk?’ (This ponders the concept of our being made by demons and the validity of the idea). I have merged these ideas and picked out the ones which I believe to be most logical.
In the beginning the Orks and Trolls were a race of humans, not too different to the ones in Vaolos and Theolagius today. In Hell there was a war going on between factions, one being a rebel faction. This rebel faction was in need of an army, so they took the entire race of humans and changed them into Orks and Trolls. The war lasted a while after this, with the new army proving a formidable foe even to the powerful demons of Hell, but eventually we lost. After that the history is mostly blank but it is believed that the Orks and Trolls over through the rebel demons and fled to Terra to took up refuge in Nildug.
So that is all I gathered on the origin of our people and you can see that it leaves much to be desired, however, this next chapter will be longer.

Chapter 2, The Foundation of Nildug and the Creation of The First Empire.
I gathered this information mostly from tales but there were a few history books documenting specific events in our history.
Part One, The Great Battle of Garknuk.
Once the Orks and Trolls escaped the underworld they were drawn to Garkunig, its fire and rock making a perfect refuge for them. Our people then were more timid and stupid, but the fires of Garkunig reminded them of their previous home, so they made the first town on its sloping sides. It was called Garknuk, meaning ‘strong refuge’ in the common tongue. It is well known that Ocrad was inhabited by lesser races in those times, mainly humans and goblins, but in the wake of the demon war there were not enough Dru to claim the land for themselves, so they waited and gathered their power. They tunnelled deep into the mountain to forge things in the fires of Garkunig, so that their weapons of war would be strong enough to slice though any human weapon or shield. It is said that the Dru waited in Garknuk for 1,000 years, and fought off any opposing force that tried to take the city. Over those years it grew, and grew, until it covered an entire side of the mountain. The humans then united, for back then they were but tribes, and marched on Garknuk. This event is thought to have happened in about 150 years before 0, but that is a rough estimate as time was not recorded before 0 which is why it was named such. The human and goblin force numbered from 300,000 – 500,000, depending on what source you believe. The Dru are thought to number about 200,000 – 400,000, again depending on who you believe, but it is generally thought that they were outnumbered. The humans and goblins had no chance however, because the Dru had been working on weapons of war and magic in those 1,000 years and one theory is that the Dru of today were actually made in this time, those Dru using the same methods as the demons did to improve on what they were previously. The Dru before this are thought to have been mighty, yes, but shorter and less bulky than those of today. The different races of Trolls were perfected in this time, with the original thought to have been similar to the grey trolls. Black and Brown, the larger of the Trolls are thought to have been created in this period. This is why in the Great Battle for Garknuk the Dru utterly destroyed the human and goblin alliance.
There is actually a quite detailed account of the battle, so I can go into reasonable detail when explaining what happened. The human and goblin alliance struck first, placing ladders upon Garknuks great walls and covering the soldiers climbing them with arrows from goblin bows. The Dru responded by opening the gates, and letting loose their army which was led by about 50 brown trolls (the largest of the three races) and commanded by Sunkdarok the Great, who was the leader of Gurknuk and the first Darok. The human and goblin army had to reposition to defend from this attack, and stuck long spiked logs into the ground to deter the trolls. The archers also repositioned to assault the army, letting loose a rain of arrows upon the Dru. Sunkdarok commanded them to raise shields to defend from the attack, and most of the arrows bounced harmlessly off the Dru’s mighty shields. By the time the trolls had reached the poles, it is written that 100,000 – 200,000 Dru had exited the city and joined the assault. Ork archers with powerful metal bows and arrows that could pierce rock finished off the wall climbers and turned to let loose their own rain which cut down a lot of the human army. The trolls, armed with mighty swords and armour, destroyed the barricade of poles. The humans had scattered archers among their army and their soldiers were armed with spears, however and cut down the trolls easily, but not without losses. This initial attack however, left the army in confusion and allowed the Dru to gather for a controlled charge, using a wedge formation.
The melee then began, with the Drus superior size, strength, weapons and armour giving them an advantage over the fur clad humans and goblins. Archers from both sides let loose a few arrows into the opposing force, but most dropped their bows and joined in the fight. A group of black and grey trolls charged into the fight, the orks parting for them. This allowed the Dru to push further into their force. The humans and goblins had a trick up their sleeve, giant fire ball launching catapults threw their deadly cargo into Garknuk, setting a lot of the wooden buildings on fire and killing a lot of Dru. The walls were destroyed and a second force, previously unseen, charged into the city and engaged the rest of the army that was on defence. The main two forces continued attacking each other as well as the two secondary ones in the city. For about an hour they were at a stalemate, but after that the battle was shown to sway in favour of the Dru. They pushed the humans and goblins out of the city, but the bombarding from the catapults had continued and a lot of the buildings that weren’t underground were devastated. After 2 more days the battle was over with the Dru reigning victorious. The casualties numbered about 50,000- 150,000 on the Dru’s side and the entire human-goblin army had been killed.
Garknuk had been destroyed, all that remained was the forge, underground stronghold and rubble from the houses. The Dru agreed that another city should be built, but some stayed behind and began repairing Garknuk. Sunkdarok stayed in power and governed over Garknuk, but sent 100,000 people to begin construction of a new city, which was built at the foot of Mount Sakunig, meaning second fire. The city was named Nildug and became the second stronghold of the Dru.
Part 2, The Fall of Garknuk and the Rise of Nildug
After the Battle of Garknuk a small settlement was built where the main battle site was, at the foot of Mount Sakunig. Sunkdarok appointed Ukdarok to govern this to be city and granted him the title of Darok. Uk was a prominent figure in the Great Battle, commanding the main attacking force and slaying many humans and goblins when Sunkdarok had to fall back and command the city defenders. Sunkdarok awarded his prowess in battle and his courage with the title of Darok and granted him the new city, Nildug, to govern over. Ukdarok set to work at once, taking 50,000 Dru to build and defend Nildug. Sunkdarok had also awarded Hokdarok his title, whom then oversaw the building of Toguk on the other side of Garkunig and governed it, as well as Kagdarok (oversaw building of Drukark, further down the Nul Mountains than Nildug, and governed it). These were the first four Daroks and together started the council of Darokut, with Sunkdarok as High Darok. The new, small nation of Ocrad was not at peace yet however, as Sunkdarok was leading an army of 100,000 to annex the tribal towns of the humans and goblins that had attacked him. They had, stupidly, saved almost no soldiers to defend their towns if they lost the war, which ultimately was their downfall. Sunkdarok went north-west, to what is now called the Gotuk Mountains, and enslaved the humans and goblins and annexed their towns for the Dru. Most of these towns were ransacked and destroyed, but a few, notably Nukrak, Tonark and Gerhut, were colonised by the Dru and became major cities. Sunkdaroks campaign in the Gotuk Mountains lasted for almost two years, mostly due to breaks and terrain difficulties, as the long-striders had not yet been found. During this time the four cities had made good progress, with Nildug leading, boasting a large amount of farms, almost completed underground stronghold and accommodation in the form of stone houses for up to 5,000 Dru, in which the workers who were of higher class slept. Sunkdarok had appointed Kudet the Betrayer, although he was noble and strong then, to govern over Garknuk while he colonised the Gotuk Mountains. Kudet was a good ruler and under him many farms were build and Garknuk was almost completely repaired. Progress on Garknuk was much faster than that of the other cities as more than 300,000 Dru still resided there, to the 30,000 – 50,000 in the other cities. When Sunkdarok returned after his two year campaign in which 30 towns and cities are thought to be built in the Gotuk Mountains, he found Garknuk hostile to him. Kudet had used magic to slowly but surely twist the minds of the people against Sunkdarok. Although only a few Dru had died in the campaign, 149,500 still remained, there were still over 300,000 Dru in Garknuk and Sunkdarok didn’t have the war machines that the human and goblin army had before. Sunkdarok called out to the other cities for help and they gladly sent their Dru to help fight the battle. Ukdarok and Hokdarok even joined in with the forces and fought alongside their people. Around 80,000 troops were raised from the four cities and some of the stronger willed people of Garknuk had joined as well. Sunkdarok ordered that catapults be built and that large boulders be ready to fling into the city. Sunkdarok challenged Kudet to try and draw him out of Garknuk, but like a coward he refused and instead stayed in the sanctuary of the city. This started the Second Great Battle of Garknuk.
Sunkdarok had an army totalling 230,000 against Kudets 300,000. However of that 300,000, 270,000 were able soldiers. Sunkdarok had amassed a total of 15 catapults, however he did not want to use them for fear of destroying his beloved city. On the day of the battle Kudet filled the walls with archers, ready to shoot any impending army. This forced Sunkdarok to use the catapults as he wanted to minimalize casualties among his army. Kudet responded to this bombardment by opening the gates and marching his army forth, much as Sunkdarok had before. Kudet stopped however and split his army into two. He sent one to the left of Sunkdaroks and one to the right. Sunkdarok formed his army into a wedge shape so that they could fight on both fronts. He then sent the archers to the sides of the wedge and let arrows rain on both halves of the army. Kudet had a trick in his sleeve however and rocks came falling from the sky bombarding Sunkdaroks army. They then heard a rumbling and the ground collapsed in front of them and trolls ran out of it. Sunkdarok hadn’t had enough time to place barricades and most of his orks were armed with swords. The trolls devastated the army, 70 of them killed nearly 30,000 of Sunkdaroks orks before they were killed. Most of the archers were killed in this assault and Kudet used this and the confusion caused by the falling rocks to form the two sides of his army into wedges and charged into Sunkdaroks army. Sunkdarok was losing fast and he saw that the catapults would not save him, but he had one other option. He called on his chief wizard and after 15 minutes the wizard was ready. Sunkdarok gave the order and a huge rock, the size a mountain (probably exaggerated) fell into Garknuk and destroyed it. The army of Kudet was released from the spell as Kudet died in the blast. Everyone in Garknuk was killed and their bodies could not be found. The mountain wept that day and fire ran down its sides and turned made Garknuk become part of Garkunig again. Ukdarok had died in the battle, his body was found and glorified. This ended the Second and Last battle of Garknuk, named The Battle of the Falling Rocks.
Sunkdarok became the Darok of Nildug and reigned as High Darok for 100 years. Nildug became almost as big as Garknuk had been. The other three first cities became great, but none as great as Nildug. This was a time of peace for the Dru. Sunkdarok banned all forms of magic, and anyone who practised it was executed. Although humans and goblins still roamed the country, the Gotuk cities were prosperous and filled with many soldiers. Some leaders, notably Kargdarok, who was the fifth Darok appointed by Sunkdarok in 145 years before 0, led the Dru into the western lands and conquered a lot of the land west of the Gotuk Mountains. Sunkdarok also led another conquest of the north east, in 90 years before 0, but left Hokdarok in charge instead of someone else. He went all the way to the Dunkut Mountains and colonised them, appointing Bukdarok in charge of Bubgruk. This conquest lasted only 6 months as once he reached the Dunkut Mountains he discovered the long striders and used them instantly. This meant he could take a small force and sweep through the mountains, which he did and the colonists followed behind him. 22 cities and towns were made in that conquest and another 15 were to come in the next 5 years. As these cities grew, the four great cities prospered. Nildug reached its prime and became possibly the greatest city in the world at that time.
Part Three, The Great Ocradan First Empire
Ocrad, with the help of Sunkdaroks campaigns, had already spread into the Gotuk and Upper Dunkut Mountains which meant that the north above Garkunig was conquered and settled by the Dru, as well as Kargdaroks campaign into the far west, but the south was still full of humans and goblins. By this time the Dru had enslaved about 200,000 humans and goblins, but the south was much more populated than the north. Sunkdarok had the nation in peace until he died, well he allowed the Daroks to lead their own campaigns and some did, but no big military actions were taken against the south until Sunkdarok died (in 30 years before 0 (average ork lifespan then was about 200, but now it has fallen to 125) and Tobdarok governed over Nildug. At about this time the second generation of Daroks started, with Hokdarok dying from an unknown disease, Kagdarok dying in a battle, Kargdarok, in his old age, dying in a Konkuna match (a fight in which old orks participate in if they want to die with glory) and Bukdarok dying in a raid of the north east. These new Daroks were appointed: Hogdarok of Gunkark in the Gotuk Mountains (Appointed by Sunkdarok), Ugoddarok of Toguk (Appointed by Sunkdarok), Nukdarok of Drukark (Appointed by Tobdarok) and Tutagdarok of Bubgruk in the Upper Dunkut Mountains (appointed by Tobdarok). This new generation was a lot more active than the last, perhaps wanting to live up to the legend of the previous Daroks. Immediately after Sunkdarok died Tobdarok led a conquest of the Lower Nul Mountains which lasted a year. He appointed Anagdarok to be in charge of Hunkot which still stands today in the Lower Nul Mountains. Tobdarok waited for the cities in the Nul Mountains to be finished, but while he waited Tutagdarok led a conquest of the land beyond the Dunkut Mountains, which is now Xian. This ended badly as the humans in Xian, although similar to the ones in Ocrad at the time, summoned demons to defeat them. Tutagdarok knew more than we do now about Hell and what transpired before the Dru escaped to Garkunig, so he retreated. This was the Drus first defeat in over 1120 years.
For another 100 years Tobdarok and the other Daroks led conquests of the south and west. A large part of the north western continent was conquered by the Dru and the entire southern half of Ocrad was made part of the Empire. 5 more Daroks were appointed Bugdarok of Sazunlo, Kogdarok of Dargudig, Dobudarok of Goguhut, Nangdarok of Tebdonkut in the Lower Lower Dunkut Mountains and Hengakdarok of Bodarkag in the Lower Lower Nul Mountains. The western lands were ruled by a splinter group of Dru and were not officially part of Ocrad.
This so began the First Great Empire of Ocrad.

The realisation that time and the act of recording past events was, and is, an important this came late to the Dru. Even then the arts and writing were considered a woman’s job, and since we were rarely in the front lines we didn’t have much to record. This is the first chapter in this book on culture rather than military history and it will detail the culture of the Dru in the first and second chapters, let’s begin.
Part One, Culture of the first Dru and their knowledge.
The Dru were actually quite a timid people when they escaped the demons, which is most likely the reason they stayed in Garknuk for 1000 years. They had picked up their culture from their demon masters, whom, being a splinter group, had developed a culture different to the rest of the demons. This is a clue that the rebel demon group had been separated from the rest for many years, as they developed their own culture and way of life and that does not happen fast. The language we use now, Druka, is an almost lazy version of the language that those demon rebels spoke. The early Dru spoke the language almost exactly the same as the demons, but being in their custody for a long time and being Dru, they spoke it more directly than the demons. The Dru of that age were master craftsmen, or mediocre craftsmen that were strong in magic, or both. They utilised the fires of Mount Garkunig to forge their weapons, armour and a number of other commodities like ploughs and picks. They dug large mines into the Nul Mountains, but left Garkunig as their fortress and forge, leaving its ores untouched. This is most likely because they considered Garkunig to be sacred, as we do today. In the excavation of Garknuk, although most was destroyed by Sunkdaroks fireball, we found some remains of weapons, household objects and other things. Some of these weapons were enchanted, magic imbued within them, which could mean that the Dru were strong in magic. This would not be a strange thing, as most know that demons, even the Terra-dwelling ones of Xian, are magic users. The Dru then seemed to use fire-themed magic, evident in a sword we found that cauterized wounds when sliced, Sunkdaroks fireball, and the Dru’s travel and establishment of Garknuk on Garkunig. This is interesting news, as the average Dru nowadays cannot do more than rub their hands together to warm them. There is, of course the Order of The Fell, whom are known to use fire magic, although their strongest can do no more than throw a small ball of fire. This actually could give an insight to the nature of magic, which it dullens or disappears over time. But enough about magic.
Some of the traditions of the ancient Dru have survived until today. The ‘Young Trials’ for instance were used then and are still used today to prove a younglings strength. They consist of three tests. The ‘Birth Rite’ which is performed when a baby is born and consists of branding the child with the birth symbol (x) with a knife. If the baby survives the next test is the ‘Youngling Strength’ test, which consists of locking the child in a room, in the dark, with 5 rats and a snake. The child wins by killing all of the animals, breaking down the door or finding another way out. If they survive this they come to the last test, the ‘Coming of Age’ test, in which they are dropped in a remote part of the mountains and have to survive for a week. If they return early they have not passed the test and are dishonoured, if they die their body is found and burned, if they beat the test they can return home and bask in the glory of their new age. This is, or was the standard procedure and has remained largely the same except in the ‘Youngling Strength’ the 5 rats and a snake is now either 20 rats or 1 rabid dog. The snake is not used anymore. Another ritual which has remained until now is the battle ritual. After a Dru kills, they rip out the heart of their enemies and consume it. This is usually left until after the battle is finished, unless you are particularly brave. After war you can usually find Dru wandering through the bodies of the dead, trying to find those whom they have killed. This practice brings strength to the warriors and sometimes if a great enemy is slain the heart will be blessed by the Order of the Fell, by slicing it open and letting the blood of the Dru whom killed and the priest performing the ceremony.
There is not much else to tell about the culture of these days, at least not without making another book on the subject, and since this is mainly about history I will end here. However it is known among all Dru, whether then or now, young or aged, that they used to be human, and that ascending from that state was, and is, a gift. But it is known that we still carry the mortality of humans, although our lifespan is longer, and that is our eternal quest, to seek that which the demons kept from us, immortality.
Part Two, When Recording History.
Now I will begin this next part with a division of history into the ages.
The First Age, also known as The Age of Mystery, 1150-150BZ (Before Zero) (850BZ-150AZ standard time)
The Second Age, also known as The Age of Assertion, 150BZ-150AZ (150-450AZ standard time)
The Third Age, also known as The Age of Strength (some call it The Age of Ignorance), 150-700AZ (450-1000AZ standard time)
The Forth Age, has not yet been named, 700AZ-Present Day (1000AZ-Present Day standard time)
(Addition from editor, please remember that Slasha was writing this in 1118 so present day for her would be 818AZ Dru time).

In this book the First and Second Age has already been covered, however the First Age not in detail at all. The next Chapter will tell of the Third Age, but for now I will document how the Ages were formed and when. Until 0, the Dru only used primitive sundials and the like to tell time. The concept of a year was not known, although day was of course. We followed the pattern of Darnka (what some call Moon) but did not see any need to record events or tell time beyond a measure of days. In year 0, revolutionary astronomer and thinker Sunket, travelled to Xian on terms of peace. There she stayed and remained for 5 years and upon her return brought the concept of year and the recording of time back with her. She wrote an account of current events and dated it written on ‘Narkug 1, 1 Darnkakh of the Year 0’. This one book was printed in many copies and given to the great rulers of the time. This started year 0, and to the Dru time itself. Sunket went on to write about the First and Second Age, as she named them. She wrote that the First Age was all of the time before 150 years before zero and that she currently resided in the Second Age. This started a chain of history recorders, until the Order of the Fell eventually took responsibility of recording events in 370AZ. After this recorded events were noticeably more restricted to a single point of view, with other books being written, if any, being unnoticed and unread.
In 237 the Great Waterfall Clock was built in Nildug, by the legendary architect Tukor. It worked by filling up a large basin, which filled up a large glass clock on the floor of the Nildug Stronghold courtyard. Every hour a twelfth of the clock would be filled. It, however, requires someone to empty the clock every twelve hours, which soon became entrusted to a single family. Not many wonders of time were built or written after this, but perhaps my book will go down in history who knows, it would be nice to know I had accomplished something.