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400-500 A.E. The 100-Year Summer

Aybari Imperial Flag

Elamian Union Flag

Walks-like-pebbles, Memory-keeper of the Trollkeep of Gar Elam, remembers it thus:

	The new century began unusually. Trolls never pay much heed to the years as reckoned by the besktekar, counting in sleeps and reckoning from great events. Yet many of the beshtekar scribes at the Monastery of High Redback, where I was educated, celebrated a new “century”, the year 400 A.E. with great enthusiasm. This was because, they said, the Five Ancients had given us five centuries after the fall of the Prometheans – who had the hubris to challenge the ancients of heaven and the very earth! – and we were now entering the fifth and final, in which events would prepare the re-awakening of the Five Ancients one hundred years hence. This typical beshtekar reasoning seemed like fresh inventions from the Priests of Bet Aybar, who pretended to guide all of us. Still, I confess I was heartened at the thought the suga usurpers, the Feinar barbarians, and the Grogar murderers might all be resolved in one hundred years. Indeed, even the venerable Memory-abbot Pinebrusher seemed cheered by the good spirits all around us.

	The Elamian Union was in its twenty-sixth year. This new name had been embraced by all of us; and not least by the Beshtekar, who now called the whole northern range and its sheltered valleys “Elamia”. The Guprakim Valley, which contained Gar Elam, already bloomed with crops, and the high pastures were sprinkled with sheep and troll-goats like little puffs of white cloud. Wise Memory-brothers and Astronomers advised troll clansmen and our subjects in the construction of great terraces to place every inch under cultivation. Soon Guprakim was swelling with people and food. More trolls and trollspawn were being born than ever before, and the more martial of the clans were talking about taking back the foothills from the Feinar menace, who still yearly raided our villages and winter holds.

	For the first time in living memory, the clans were at peace, and the strong leadership of High Councilors Tallstanding and Earthchewer held the overeager and restless youth in check with endless construction work. What's more, beshtekar were pouring into the kingdom; humans from the Northlands and the West Ranges, driven by Grogar and Feinar, kobolds from Scalethein, and huge numbers of Prometheans from Yossod, swearing allegiance to the troll Chieftains for protection. Many days at the Monastery, we had more foreign sages visiting than Brothers and Sisters! Other days, we barely reflected or repeated our memories at all, we were so busy working in the fields and towns to prepare land for new arrivals. While these new arrivals were allowed to elect their own reeves and leaders, trollspawn wardens and marshals were appointed to organize the clan levies in case of war or emergency. For a long time, ten years at least, there was peace like none of us could remember. 

	That changed in 412 A.E.. With fall came huge Feinar raids driven by a new warlord, a Heggrim the Red, that crushed levies and sacked villages all the length of the Guprakim Valley. Forty trolls were among the dead. An Assembly for War was called in the spring of 413 A.E., and this time, the young Chiefs could not be withheld. Three massive war-bands marched north to the foothills, burning Feinar hillforts and villages as they went. Yet on low ground, and in unfamiliar country, Elamian forces were surrounded and badly bloodied. The deadly Feinar raids returned unabated that fall. Finally, in the spring of 414 A.E., an emissary came from the Prophet in Qa-Avnel. The Yossodites were prepared for war with the Feinar – would the Elamians march with them? Ten thousands warriors set forth in a campaign that would set the North ablaze. While the foothills were easily claimed, and the Feinar warriors beaten in pitched battle, the numbers and mobility of the enemy stymied the campaign. Once more in 416 A.E., the Elamians set forth to subdue the Feinar; and while Yossodite infantry and troll ballistae archers reclaimed huge tracts of land, victory was far from near. Many feared the Feinar would slip right past any defenses and continue to raid Elamia's heartland.

	So, the High Council declared that any young trolls seeking clans, forts and lands of their own, as well as a seat in the Assembly, would be granted the title of “March Lord”, tremendous autonomy, and supplied with arms and warriors to defend themselves, and the northern border. Between 418 and 436, twelve clans re-settled in the north, building new forts, villages and roads in the foothills of Elamia. The three greatest, from east to west, were the Stonebreakers, Riverdrinkers, and Tallbacks. The Grandfather Tallback, notably, single-handedly crushed two Feinar warbands when aiding the Yossodites against the rebellions of 421. The Marches, while insecure and often violent, provided an effective defense, much-needed agricultural land, and a site for cultural exchange. Later in the century, it was not surprising to see trollspawn originally of Feinar parents guarding March lords. The Lords themselves became very powerful on the High Council of Elamia.

	Throughout all this, the ties between Yossod and Elamia grew increasingly close. Yossodites were welcome guests in Elamian keeps, and troll traders and workers became a common site in Yossod. From 428-36, the two nations together built the Great Elam-Avnel Road, a marvel of engineering that included chasm-spanning bridges, aqueducts, road-houses, and long, curving switchbacks up mountainsides. From then on, the road was never empty of travelers, be they traders, the odd tourist, or endlessly hopeful Yossodite missionaries, whom the trolls welcomed curiously – though stone-trolls were less than ideal students in the mysteries of Ila! Alongside these, mountain-climbing trolls created a series of fifteen beacons, manned constantly throughout the year, by which calls for aid could be sent in times of need.

	As a further sign of the esteem in which the trolls of Elamia held the Yossodites, their Prophet was invited to address a full Assembly of Voices and Reflection in 428, on both political, religious, and philosophical matters. I was fortunate enough to be invited to record this meeting: a blessing for which I thank the Five Ancients! The Yossodite Prophet appealed, despite our differences, to our shared dedication and faith in the value of all life and the importance of wisdom. Many trolls, expecting little of a beshtekar, were stunned to hear such eloquence and profundity of thought and speech from the Prophet. From that day until their deaths, many trolls would claim that upon that day the Prophet was not a mere beshtekar, but a troll in mind, spirit, and blood – the Five Ancients, they said, had clearly blessed this man and his message. Many, therefore, also listened attentively to the Priests of Ila. The following year, the trolls sent a grand delegation of one hundred troll Chieftains, a thousand trollspawn warriors, and a gift of five chests of precious blue lapis lazuli (used for dyes), amethysts, and gold and silver bars. The Elamians had no skill in working precious metals, but knowing the Yossodite fondness for them, eagerly wrought them from the land in return for salt, hardwoods, iron tools, and marvelous siege weapons and construction machines. For many troll warriors, a Yossodite ballistae, made to be held comfortably in their hands, became their weapon of choice. The grim march-lords were never seen without this “troll-bow” and their iron mace. 

	The next two decades saw continued struggles with the Feinar, deepening ties with Yossod, and ever-increasing immigration. Increasing trade and remarkable harvests brought huge surpluses of food, and an explosion of births. In the collective memory of the Dyarvik, there had never been so many children and troll-spawn born in such a short time. I myself bore four-five young spawn each winter; one ancient goat-herd added fifty young troll-kids to his herds in 438. This tremendous fortune was only dampened by the news that the suga of Five Stones enjoyed an even greater bounty from the Ancients. Surely, this is a reminder that the Powers of this world, by means and reasons known only to them, will first raise the blasphemer and the oath-breaker up, before humbling them in their punishment.

	Such a punishment came for the proud suga trolls. I had been sent in 440 as an emissary to Bluepeak citadel (in all its false majesty) to advocate for northern trolls to be allowed to visit the sacred lands. Five Stones had prospered under so-called King Cloudreacher and his successor Winterpine II, called “the Wise.” They showed grace and kindness, but also pride and hubris. It was clear the court was more influenced by their small beshtekar advisers than the wondrous monasteries in their own lands. When the beshtekar Empire appealed for aid, Winterpine and his lords eagerly assembled an army to march forth. They even disturbed twenty light-sleeping ancient trolls from their well-earned sleep to fight with them. Thousands upon thousands of trollspawn from Five Stones and Scalethein lands assembled, and thousands more allied beshtekar. After wintering in Uthein, they marched out to meet the saurian enemy. Their ignoble, if hard-fought, defeat, recounted in detail elsewhere, was the just reward for their pride, violence, and the crimes of their ancestors.

	It became clear after the Battle of Thoktor that major miltary reforms were needed if stone-trolls were to truly match the saurians, Feinar, Grogar, or even the beshtekar of Scalethein in battle. Yes, it was Five Stones that had lost the battle: but for stonetrolls – any troll, not just the suga – to lose a battle with beshtekar warriors, was unthinkable. For too long, trolls – – had relied too much on their size and might, and not their tremendous minds. Their individualistic, proud, and peaceable nature had rendered them vulnerable. Indeed, there was only one of the four nations of trolls that had truly mastered the art of war, and they had spent three centuries in the service of humans: the Getterim of Bet Aybar. 

	So in 450 A.E., the High Council in Gar Elam and the High King at Bluepeak Citadel sent me, now Prior of High Redback, and twenty other troll lords and abbots to Bet Aybar to seek wisdom and training in these arts or war. The Aybari Empire was in a period of long decline; while the beshtekar of Scalethein had risen, been shaken by the Saurian menace, and now rose again, Bet Aybar had enjoyed no such renaissance. Since the start of the beshtekar century, they had faced unending raids from the wild, uncharted westlands ruled by the Grogar clans of distant Gurak. These raids had grown in size and frequency from year to year, and would continue even in the rainy seasons of winter, when trolls slept, and trollspawn returned to their herds. Grogar ships dodged Imperial triremes and raided the coast as far north as Feinar and barumbesukeh lands. To make matters worse, the Grogar appeared to have ended their internecine strife, and pushed east with renewed strength.

	The emperor at the time of our arrival was his Imperial Majesty, 'Ali Panjul IX ibn 'Ali, known as Stonebreaker. He had troll blood from his mother, a trollspawn princess his father had married to secure troll support in a succession crisis. Panjul IX had twice the cunning his father had, and none of the charm. He was roundly disliked, even by the priests of the Imperial cult. Half the Aybari human legions were on the point of marching to the capital and overthrowing the young man. Using troll troops to keep order had worked when they were outside nomads and hulking strangers; but now trolls and trollspawn were fully integrated into Imperial society. While many remained nomadic, troll chieftains were all wealthy urbanites, with lands, titles, and interests of their own. They had been sucked into the great corrupting game of politics. 

	Stonebreaker introduced himself by his troll name, and welcomed us warmly. Over a series of meetings, he made his position clear. His armies and administration were stretched and weakened to the point of collapse. Though he ruled an Empire of millions, his twenty-five thousand trolls the lifeblood of the Imperial economy. They had administrative, mercantile, industrial and agricultural duties. Already Bet Aybar's magnificent and monumental architecture was in poor repair with so many young trolls and able-bodied citizens under arms.

	The Aybari army was among the best-trained and most experienced in the world, but even if its numbers were doubled, it could not entirely stem the Grogar tide. He humbly and piously requested the full aid of Five Stones and Elamia, a Foreign Legion of troll warriors, to fight for Bet Aybar. In return, all Aybari military advances would be shared in full, and he would grant veterans large portions of land to the north. What's more, if Elamia and Five Stones sent Aybar a tribute of iron and precious gems and metals, they would share with them the secret of Aybari steel. We readily agreed, and new roads were tracked through the mountains for a steady flow of supplies.

	The Aybari Foreign Legion was officially established in 452 A.E. with 200 mountain troll legionnaires. By 462 A.E. it had swollen to over 3,000 trolls and 10,000 trollspawn and beshtekar. It was constantly on the move, joining the heaviest fighting of the border fighting with the Grogar, suppressing rebellious legions or lords, and building massive defensive dikes to slow the raiders. There mere sight of the Legion's blood-red banners would often suppress rebels, though the Grogar seemed if anything more bloodthirsty upon learning the reputation of their opponents. Still, to outside observers like myself, the foreign legion was like a breath of fresh air into a stale room. And it reminded the city trolls what they were; a new flow of pilgrims began from Bet Aybar to holy sites in Five Stones and Elamia. 

	Under Panjul IX's shrewd and bold leadership, the Empire grew to the greatest size and might it had ever seen. As official ambassador of Elamia, I often spoke with the Emperor, and understood his mind. If Bet Aybar was to be saved, it had to be jolted out of its decadence and stagnation. A massive restructuring of the army prompted insurrections between 463-6 A.E., but Stonebreaker ruthlessly executed rebellious lords, often replacing them with loyal young northern trolls (who were less susceptible to being poisoned or stabbed in the back). The army swelled to 150,000 humans, including thirty thousand trollspawn cavalry regiments. Smoke filled the summer skies as legions drove deep south and west into Grogar territory, and entire forests were felled to build a new navy of one hundred ships to patrol the coast. Even the thick jungle of Promethea did not stop the Emperor's vision; he led his men personally as troll engineers cleared the way. In 475 A.E. Stonebreaker, now admired and feared by his legions, finally looked upon the ruins of Promethea. 

	Victory would not last. Wanting to bathe himself on his return to Bet Aybar, the aging Emperor waded into the river Umlat, and collapsed in the current, drowning before his aides could reach him. His death sent the Empire into chaos. His successor, Mahmoud Panjul X ibn 'Ali ibn 'Ali was only a child, and even stone-trolls were divided over the proper regent. In 478 the troll-dominated Imperial Guard staged a coup to claim leadership, prompting scores of revolts across the Empire by dissident lords. The civil war would last four years, and would be followed by twenty years of ignoble retreat, as incompetent rulers squandered Stonebreaker's vision on petty feuds. Only the Foreign Legion remained above the violence, and many of its members returned home, bringing the martial wisdom and skill they had learned. I went with them.

	I was invited in 480 to leave Bet Aybar and join the High Council in Gar Elam as the High Memory-Keeper for all Elamia, a position I am humbled to serve in today, and given the name Pebblewalker. It is my duty to reflect upon the memories of my life, and all the accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and memories of the Dyarvik people, and advise the Council. I have been fortunate to live in a century the like of which trolls have never known; despite strife, it has truly been a hundred-year summer of prosperity, growth and joy. Yet as the end of the century approaches, and I my one hundredth and fortieth year, I remember the jubilation and trepidation I felt one hundred years ago at the predictions of my kobold brothers. It must be said, none of the great events I anticipated came to pass; or quite as I anticipated. Many brothers still predict the end of the world as the year 500 A.E. approaches, but I am not so sure. It seems to me that the Ancients have set for us a task on this Earth, and they will not receive us until that task is complete.

	Rumours have come from the East. They say that the Saurians grow strong again, and many look to Scalethein to sate their thirst for war. Others whisper that the beshtekar feud among themselves, and that Uthien grows bold and tests the bonds of Empire. Yossod, too, struggles to contain the hungry beast that grows within its breast. Should it turn to war, what then of Elamia? What then of our oaths? 	And rumours come too from the West. They say a Grogar warlord has raised a horde, the like of which has never been seen or heard before. Rahim ibn 'Ali Panjul XV, the young Emperor in Bet Aybar, shows much promise to reverse the damage of the last three decades, but should such a wave come crashing upon him, I fear for Bet Aybar. If Emperor, Prophet and Queen should fail, then what becomes of we trolls, in our mountain holds, in our halls of stone? I fear for us all. I fear, and I am tired. So tired. All I wish to do now is sleep, embrace the earth... and sleep...

Summary of Major Changes:

	Territory: 
	Off-colour shades represent territorial gains. Note that the expansion of Bet Aybar's territory noted here represents the "official" delcaration of the Empire's territory by Imperial authorities, not the actual borders of control.
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