Family History

Mr. The Fat

Lived in Era 24, got 1 heir(s) (Celendrum Cikayson) and was a member of North Empire
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Ezatius, Era 24~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Lord CK the Fat, as the name depicts, was a very fat and harsh ruler. He liked to keep his peasants working hard and his army scared out of their wits. In short, CK the Fat was what we may call an a**hole.

But that's being a bit harsh. CK the Fat was a huge patronage of the arts. Well... the elaborate art of cooking and food preparation, in which he spent %3 of his national budget on his daily dinner alone. Out of embarassment, the Council of Seven (which will be described later) decided to completely leave it out of the daily Productions records.

CK the Fat was known to be a bit of an idiot. He thought himself as general and master strategist (which was all to easy to believe behind thick, castle walls filled with many escape tunnels, leading not only out of Middle Core, but from Mantrax itself!) This is why he was surrounded by his seven main administrators (known as the Council of Seven,) who were the real masterminds of the nation. They usually prefered to leave CK out of all politics and economics entirely, allowing the fool of a king to think highly of himself without performing any actual work. In retrospect, this was indeed the best decision for the empire.

THE BETTER-KNOWN OF THE COUNCIL OF SEVEN:

Head Ambassador: Nobleman Valerius
Cheif General: Nobleman Kanskat

ON CK CITY, CAPITAL OF THE CK EMPIRE

Ethnically, CK had found the majority of his followers among the dwarven races. It came as no surprise when CK City was first created as a mining community, south of the Northern Mountain. Immediately, the dwarven peasants, among others of various races who had tagged along, began construction of mines as deep as in the Old World.

In the center of the city sat the Imperial Palace, where CK and his Council of Seven ruled. Beautiful gardens surrounded the palace. But beyond the gardens lay a jumbled series of stone buildings and narrow cobbleston streets poorly-planned. As the city grew, conditions only worsened. There are several accounts of merchants being lost within the city for days at a time, managing only by eating rats off the street and begging from those inside.

Ethnically, CK City was a very mixed culture, but it also had its sharp class distinctions. As CK and his loyal followers were dwarves, dwarves tended to emerge as the wealthiest class who owned and managed the mines. As humans from small villages and elves from tribes within the forest found a new home within the thriving metropolis, they emerged as the middle-class. Orcs and halflings, being the more rare visitors and inhabitants, found themselves bearing the grunt work in an eternal state of poverty. Many riots broke out over the years, but the Council of Seven preserved both order and the class system by putting them down by force.

Economically, CK City was almost completely driven by the mining industry. A good majority of the city's inhabitants found work in the privately-owned industries, though the labor was long and hard. Only several hundred farms were ever constructed in the city, which were incapable of feeding the quarter-million population of later years, which meant that the sister city Farmington had to produce in agriculture for what CK City lacked.

Militarily, CK City remained relatively inactive except for the early Dark Rider-Slovaknia wars. It relied upon its colonies to provide troops for the cause in later wars against the North Empire, The Legion, The Empire of Midgardur, and the Ever Victorious Army. The base of the army came from any type of species; dwarf, human, orc, elf, and halfling alike were used as the basic Swordman infantry unit. However, the higher ranks of soldiers, like Hammerthrowers and Axemen, were restricted to the upper classes--primarily, the dwarves.

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A CHRONOGICAL PROGRESSION OF THE CK EMPIRE:

The following section is a timeline of the CK Empire. Much of what happened is now lost to time, and surely a bit of legend has worked its way in as well. I have tried, with moderate success, to share the story of the ancient empire as close to reality as possible.

2-28-07: The dawn of a new age! King CK the Fat had just been ousted by other lands, and along with two thousands, loyal (and very, very foolish) peasants, set out onto the Realm of Mantrax. Construction of the capital city, named CK City, began immediately. Scouts soon discovered neighbors under the king Lord Marius. The Council of Seven sent Nobleman Valerius out, and he forged the CK-Sharoom (CKS) Kingdom between Lord CK and Marius. What a day of beginnings!

3-01-07: CK-Sharoom expanded north with the invitation of Mr. Kalkan, though the recent expansion of neighbors threatened future conflict. However, Mr. Kalkan remained a sketchy type of ruler at best--surrounded by lies and deceipt, which would be revealed in later events.

3-02-07: As CK City grew and colonized outwards, the demand for a more secure position in Mantrax became necessary. Thus, the dual monarchy of CK-Sharoom was ended by dual agreement. CK City joined the larger kingdom Dark Riders, making many new allies and friends. The good king Marius was short to follow. The Dark Riders would remain a friendly and powerful kingdom for many years to come.

3-04-07: CK City was tasked by the King of the Dark Riders to secure Middle Core, removing barbarian tribes from the land, as well as the traitor Mr. Kalkan. The Council of Seven declared war against the threatening and expanding kingdom of Slovaknia and began its march to protect allies north of the Great Mountain. The first blood was shed on this fateful day... but it was merely a prelude of what was to come later.

3-05-07: Capital city Zion was siezed from Slovaknia while allies besiged the remaining two cities. The war seemed nearly at an end... though a new one appeared to be growing. The North Empire began threatening Dark Rider interests in the Middle Core region, primarily to the east, but enemy strength and motive remained unknown. The culprit leader, Mr. Agurcas Son, seemed a powerful figure, and one to live up to threats.

3-06-07: The War with Slovaknia came to a temporary ceasefire as forces from the North Empire began appearing to the north, possibly aided by The Legion. The future of Middle Core began to look grim as enemies grew and allies remained undiscovered. Would this be the end of the CK Empire? Just as it was beginning to grow?

3-07-07: The Council of Seven recieved orders from the allied king Mr. Transporter to attack the northern empire known simply as The Legion. Troops began razing smaller villages in the border region, bringing the fight to enemy ground before the enemy could claim the first victory.

3-07-07: Talks of ceasefires temporarily halted military expansion and rapid militarism, providing the Council of Seven to look back at the empire's economy, building new homes for peasants and mines to extract gold. New farms were also ordered to be constructed to make up for the swiftly-growing population. The food problem would last many more years, sometimes at the brink of destruction.

3-08-07: An alliance was forged between The Legion and Dark Riders! Peasants and soldiers celebrated aloud as the promise of war diminished to the north, allowing them to attend their farms and forges. This also allowed the Council of Seven to focus on defeating the invading North Empire, who had captured the bridge-side city Bridgeton. The brigade called Defenders of Middle Core engaged in battle and emerged victorious, driving out the invader Mr. Monk from the North Empire out of Middle Core. Additionally, a ceasefire was formed with the Empire of Midgardur, allowing troops to travel to the eastern front for the upcoming war.

3-10-07: An effort was made to recapture the blocker city Bridgeton by a force of 11,500 troops (an amount as yet unprecedented in Middle Core). The siege was sucessful and the city was reclaimed. Astonishing news of the North Empires disbanding also came to the Council of Seven with much rejoice.

3-11-07: Former North Empire members Mr. Agurcas Son and Mr. Monk joined the kingdom of the Dark Riders! The seemingly dark man known as Mr. Agurcas came to light as a personal ally to Nobleman Valerius, who made frequent trips to see him. Troops breathed a sigh of relief; battle seemed distant once again, allowing the CK Empire to focus on its economy, as well as establish a colony in the South Core.

3-12-7: A breif and largely bloodless civil war ravaged through the Dark Rider kingdom as spies and other malcomitters disbanded the kingdom, effectively halfing the number of kings inside the alliance. However, the shock did not last long, and provided positive benefits--the Dark Riders could now discovered where their cities' loyalties lay. And, with great happiness, the kingdom retook its place as the strongest kingdom of Mantrax.

3-13-07: Midgardur Empire broke the non-aggression pact with Dark Riders by besiging a city with two armies of over ten thousand men each in the distant South Core region. Did this mean war? Additionally, the Dark Riders deemed the Ever Victorious Army a hostile kingdom with lands available for the taking. Would the prospect of war on two fronts bring about the CK Empire's demise? The outcome remained unknown by even the wisest of prophets, but one matter was certain--the road to the future lay drowned in blood.

3-14-07: The two Midgardur armies broke off the siege; however, the prospect of war did not look fully diminished. Tensions remained high, and both the Empire of Midgardur and the Dark Riders were competing for supremacy in the South and Middle Core.

3-16-06: War indeed was not gone... it had simply moved. The Empire of Midgardur deployed an astonishing military Corp. Over 50 thousand fresh troops roamed across the western pass to Middle Core, constructing new cities as they progressed along. The future of Middle Core once more looked grim, especially as news of a possible ceasefire between The Legion and Midgardur moved across the land. Additionally, the war with the Ever Victorious could begin to unwind the delicate seam that held Middle Core together. To make matters worse, Mr. Agurcas Son left the allied kingdom of The Legion, his course of action uncertain. Would he join with the Ever Victorious Army? Rejoin the Dark Riders? Or exert his force upon all his will his strength allowed him to? King and peasant alike did rejoice, however, upon learning that the CK Empire took its place as the tenth strongest empire of Mantrax, even if only for a short time.

3-17-07: Bloodshed only continued. The CK Empire dealt with great success attacking Ever Victorious Army colonies out to the east, but the Empire of Midgardur only grew in the west with the creation of several news cities upon Middle Core grounds. A small raid destroyed a lone Midgardur city, but the troops did not survive an additional battle than left no survivers. Additionally, new armies were spotted approaching. However, the Council of Seven remained confident that the invading scourge could be driven away.

3-18-0: The Legion and the Empire of Midgardur called a ceasefire, ending the bloodshed in the area. However, all the kings in the region knew that Midgardur was not a trustworthy kingdom, and doubts were confirmed when the enemy kingdoms launched several sieges against The Legion despite ceasefires.

3-19-07: The CK Empire rejoiced as Legion I, an army among the strongest of Mantrax, crushed an entire enemy Corp and several divisions, suffering only a small portion of casualties compared to the mass bloodshed of the enemy. The legion marched past the river an onto the outskirts of Muspelheim, the Midgardur city just west of the bridge to Middle Core, ready to assault the walls and capture the governor inside.

3-20-07: Although utter domination of the Empire of Midgardur seemed distant, worries shifted in the CK Empire not from any human foe, nor from sickness, or drought, or famine. A mysterious black cloud emerged far to the North, encompassing the lands across the Great Mountain in shadow. A great fear began to grow. What was this monstrous phenomenon, devouring the kingdoms to the north?

3-21-07: The cloud kept on approaching. The north was filled with darkness as if a giant wall of evil had devoured all the land beyond it. No one knew what was happening, but one thing was certain--the end was near. King CK and the Council of Seven tried to flee the shadow, abandoning the kingdom, leaving it to perish on its own. Many viewed this act as cowardly--and with good reason, too.

However, CK and his Council were never seen again alive nor dead. Myths surround the mysterious dissapearance. Some claimed that the guards fleeing with the king and council killed them. Others say that they were later caught by the shadow and dissapeared from the face on Mantrax like everything else had. Still others claim that they survived, but remained hidden for the rest of their lives.

Only one matter was certain. The CK Empire had ended.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of the CK Empire. These days are now long past, and the names I have mentioned would have been forgotten had it not been for the scraps of parchment my monostary posseses.

But this is not the end of my stories. Rather, it is only the beginning. King CK secretly had a bastard son, an ambitious young man and soldier eager to fill the footsteps of his father...

Mr. Celendrum Cikayson

Lived in Era 25, got 1 heir(s) (Tantulii) and was a member of Zeon
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Republic~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Virgin, Era 25~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Celendrum Cikayson, bastard child to his father and the former king CK the Fat, managed to survive the sudden and tragic destruction of Mantrax. He was born in CK City to one of the concubines Lord CK had kept. However, his name was hidden. He was not named prince. Nor was he even acknowledged into the royal family.

Celendrum grew up in the streets of CK City with a kind and loving troll family. Due to their race, the trolls were constantly in poverty and struggling to survive in the unfair city. Even other trolls and orc minorities ridiculed the family's decision. What kind of troll family adopted a human?

But Celendrum lived on anyway, ignoring the racism and poverty, the many hungry nights and hours tending to wounds inflicted by a hate-driven human or dwarf. He grew to sixteen years old with this family, and it was then when disaster struck. The Great Plague struck the city, kiling many of the inhabitants inside. The poor, unemployed peasants suffered the worst. Celendrum's trollish family caught the disease quickly and died.

What would Celendrum do? He had no family, was too young for either a job or to enlist, and had no money to support himself. He thought of something that his adopted father had whispered to him upon his deathbed--who he really was. A prince. The son of the great king CK the Fat.

Anger consumed the man's heart. His birth parents had rejected him, and his adopted parents were now gone. He fled the city, injuring two guards by the gate while escaping with nothing but a wooden staff. Outside the city walls he wandered, south past Farmington where a kind couple fed him, and then west to the river. He constructed a raft and floated down the stream aimlessly, not knowing where he was going. The lands were completely uncharted.

After a week of survivng on the farmers' bread and whatever fish he managed to catch, the river came to a bay. There he could see giant ships the likes no one had ever seen before! He saw towering walls and titanic towers. The city was filled with noise and laughter, with the scent of foreign foods. Celendrum floated right by to one of the piers, where several men in foreign clothes and an unknown accent helped him up and gave him some strange fruits and an entire sack full of coins. He had come to a city far greater than any ever known, with far more men, with far more industry, with far more intellect. And he loved this town and the people within it, which he later found out was named Blue Harbor.

The ancient manuscripts are vague from here. What I have recovered is that Celendrum became a favorite to the city's patrician, head of the republican government established there. Celendrum learned the local language and went to the city's university for the following six years, learning all means of sciences and mathematics. He learned how to build ships and how to design great palaces, as well as many arts unseen in most other lands.

At some point, Celendrum left again. The manuscripts are unclear as to why, precisely--perhaps it was news of the destroyed CK Empire that brought him back north, or perhaps it was because his royal blood began to boil and he longed to sieze power in the northern worlds of "a thousand kingdoms". Either way, he departed from his beloved city and returned to post-destruction Mantrax, and saw the heaps of rubble and charred bodies and barren wastelands. Mantrax held no future, so he set off for another world--Fantasia.

Celendrum wandered alone many miles into Fantasia. There, he met someone he least expected to--one of his father's old friends, Agurcas. Agurcas was a kind king, unlike Lord CK. He lent Celendrum 900 peasants and set them off to build a humble town of their own with the reincarnated North Empire.

Once the city, named Blue Harbor (despite the complete lack of a harbor--it was named after the city Celendrum had been educated in), was constructed, Celendrum immediately sat down in his humble chamber and began to wonder. How would he run his empire? He had no passion for what his ignorant, fat father had ruled, nor did he intend to hand over affairs to a council of noblemen more concerned for the empire than for the people within it. But he also admired the Republican form of government, and struggled in his mind what to do in a new world such as this.

Eventually he decided upon this: each species within the city who numbered %10 or more of the total population would be given representation in the government who would serve for five years. If a species had less than %10, they would be grouped with the second-smallest race and the votes combined. Celendrum himself would be the patrician and would serve for life. Thus he had estabished the CK Republic, where no peasant would live in poverty or be the victim of specieism, a better world for all.

Celendrum took up a modified form of his birthname, Cikayson, and began his dangerous reign. Smart but proud, kind but ambitious, idealistic but hard-pressing, Celedrum would lead his empire as long as the fates allowed. However, Fantasia wasn't the peaceful, simple world that Mantrax had been. It was full of bloodshed and cunning opponents. Celendrum's reign would prove far more difficult than his father's. But he managed to survive and live up to his father's reputation as a king, if not a military leader.

ON BLUE HARBOR, CAPITAL OF THE CK REPUBLIC:

Blue Harbor, though built next to the mountains and among the smaller cities of the empire, was highly reminiscent of the Blue Harbor many miles away. The gray rocks that formed the city walls were painted, the towers built taller than any others in the North Empire, and the streets as organized and gridlike as a quilt.

The senate building and imperial palace did not lie in the center of the city as the former empire had done, but were constructed near the back by the mountains. The buildings overlooked the city and all the lands west of it to the river. Both buildings were made quite grand, filled with marble columns and artwork for the finest artisans in the lands. Celendrum's personal chambers rose highest of all. His round chamber loomed over twenty stories in the air. His bed sat in the middle, surrounded by his furniture. Windows, made from real glass (a luxery yet indiscovered in most kingdoms), were placed around the walls so that light poured in any hour of the day.

In the center of Blue Harbor lay the Agora, where tradesmen sold their goods from all over the region. Celendrum hosted public games every weekend in the Agora, ranging from jousting, sword battles, storytelling, racings, and public lectures.

To the far east lay the mines, which provided a majority of the labor for the city's inhabitants. Celendrum made sure that each mine was safe and efficient, and limited work hours to eight a day for all species alike. The government controlled all the mines. Private ownership of the vital industries (mining and woodcutting) were strictly maintained by the Republic, so that no unfairness could work its way into the system.

Ethnically, the city was primarily orcish, becuase Agurcas had lent mostly orcish peasants. However, a number of humans and elves had also made their way into the mix.

Militarily, the city had little function. Most of its troops were trained elsewhere.

A CHRONOGICAL PROGRESSION OF THE CK EMPIRE:

3-26-07: Celendrum set out with his peasants and 50 swordsmen soldiers in the middle of the city Tokyo owned by Elon Tatsu. The company headed north just a little distance where they established the capital city Blue Harbor. Later two more towns were built nearby, Remville and Riverton. The kingdom The One and Only neighbored the North Empire to the east with many cities and armies. Whether or not the kingdoms would work with one another or against remained unknown.

3-27-07: Celendrum ordered for many more houses, mines, and farms to be built. He knew that the basis of every empire was its infrastructure. However, he also ordered for the training of a decent number of soldiers for possible future conflict and for imminent war with The One and Only

3-28-07: Difficult times fell upon Celendrum. Should he stay loyal to the North Empire and die? Or should he try and live and join The One and Only? After much pondering, he rode to the gates of Mr. Morgan's new city Darzs and asked to be admitted into the kingdom. Mr. Morgan kindly accepted Celendrum and his people into the kingdom, and the people of the CK Republic raised new flags. Sadly, those original peasants and troops loyal to Agurcas were slain by civil dispute or exiled from the land and quickly replaced by new troops. Agurkas siezed Riverton and captured many vital food supplies, and the people of the CK Republic went hungry.

3-29-07: The neighboring kingdom MAD showed no mercy as army upon army began pouring into The One and Only Lands from the north. No plan had been formed yet for countering such a massive force, but Celendrum would not betray his new allies who he now held so dear. Once enough farms were constructed to adequately feed the population, he began training soldiers like none other, to show the invaders that he would fight for his ideals.

3-31-07: Constant training occupied most of Celendrum's time. He didn't want to have to march to war. He just wanted to rule over his two cities peacefully. But his allies were being attacked to the east, and he had an obligation to help, so over the course of time he assembled a powerful army of strong dwarven axemen and had them sent to the front. He knew that the war could not be won. The enemies exceeded his kingdom's strength by more than threefold. It would not be long before enormous armies came to raze the land. Celendrum slept very little. However, it was also during this time that he met a fair elven woman, one of Mr. Elfwine's beautiful daughters named Sansulii. He loved her greatly, and brought her gifts of love and compassion... his only escape from war.

4-1-07: The CK Republic rejoiced as progress was made offensively against the kingdom MAD. The One and Only armies forced the invaders to withdraw to behind walls. However, everyone knew, whether or not they said it aloud, that is was simply a matter of time now... The North Empire had resettled to the south, and armies were starting to march again. The Ever Victorious Army also appeared allied to Agurkas' forces, though they were continually weakened as MAD devoured their cities and stole across the corders. War was not the only passing, however. Celendrum also established a new city, Boulton, across the river into largely unknown territories. Remville also grew to new sizes, becoming one of the largest cities in the kingdom. Additionally, Celendrum also continued to meet with Sansulii, each meeting becoming more intimate than the last...

4-3-07: After more fighting, an accord was finally met between MAD and The One and Only. MAD armies withdrew to the north and east, leaving the kindom's cities at peace. Every peasant and nobleman, rejoiced at the news. No more war, at least not for now. Unfortunately, some skirmishes in the south threatened to break the peace, but for now the Republic was safe.

4-4-07: War had returned. Luckily, it was still on distant fronts. The kingdom Checkmate, which lay many miles to the south, had attacked some lesser The One and Only towns some time back. The most powerful kings of the kingdom sent many troops into the enemy's homeland and siezed their cities. Celendrum formed a legion of 1600 freshly-trained axemen, the first Legion I. The action was unpopular with the common people, however. They did not wish to fight. Celendrum, out of loyalty to his kingdom, overruled the protests and sent the legion south. Disconent began to grow.

4-5-07: Massacre! An enemy army under Mr. Killer attacked Legion I in a bloody and decisive siege of Didziojo Gamyba, a recently-captured enemy city. None survived the battle; all sixteen hundred troops were slain. Rumers stated that there had been half a thousand nazgul warriors, legendary men of such strength Celendrum had thought to be fiction. The utter defeat of the Legion made the people of the CK Republic's four cities protest more strongly to military actions. The common peasants and republicans alike spoke against it. However, Celendrum refused to his allies be slain and ordered for more troops to prepare for battle. Sansulii seemed the only one who understood the confused king's difficult choices. She was a fine elf; quite, but very intelligent and compassionate. Every day he loved her more and more until her being away was nearly unbearable.

4-6-07: The Republic was shocked when another kingdom entered the fray, Carnage, by attacking MAD to the east. Celendrum still disliked the old enemies, but knew that MAD acted as a buffer zone to incoming enemies. Carnage, a reputably vicious kingdom, would likely move on to The One and Only next.

4-7-07: The Legacy kingdom was, with much dismay, discovered not far to the north. Additionally, the Illuminati Empire threatened a CK Republic scout to move or be killed, which the scout complied to. Caught between three of the largest kingdoms in all of Fantasia, the future looked grim indeed... Now it was only a matter of time before the enemy came in force.

4-8-07: An NAP was signed with Carnage, allowing the CK Republic and The One and Only to focus on defeating the last Checkmate cities. The kingdom was officially established as the sixth strongest kingdom of the era. Celendrum celebrated the day by announcing his intentions of marrying Sansulii. However, he was called away to tend to his troops when several Legacy armies marched south before the ceremony could be arranged.

4-10-07: Legacy, while advancing, approached slowly. The NAP with the Ever Victorious Army was ended, allowing the kingdom to invade. Celendrum doubted the wisdom of this plan, however. When Legacy came full force from the north, could the kingdom survive a two front war? Did the Ever Victorious Army pack a devastating hidden punch yet unforseen? Perhaps this was merely another false alarm--or perhaps it was the beginning of the end.

4-11-07: The war with the Ever Victorious Army, assisted by the Carnage, progressed well. The CK Republic had not yet been able to capture an enemy cities, but constructed an fort, Elision, closer to the battle. Another matter occured that greatly lifted the young king's heart. Celendrum married Sansulii one warm summer evening, making their marriage official. (Some history states that the Sansulii had already been his mistress for some time.) He was called off to perform foreign business not longer after, however, and left the kingdom in the hands of its senators.

4-16-07: The patrician returned, pouring the accumulated tax money into construction like none other, as well as the recruitment of thousands of new soldier to fight against a new foe, Legacy.

4-19-07: Celendrum found opposition towards him increasing... his people did not want to engage in war with Legacy, the world's largest kingdom. However, Celendrum overrulled their actions, much to their discontent, and ordered the recruitmen of thousands of troops to engage Legacy in the east. He was assigned into a side-assault team to capture Legacy cities in the east.

4-20-07: Horrendous news from the front severely demoralized the CK Republic. Legion III had lost a battle, taking over 18,000 casualties and over 20,000 more injured. The battered army was able to retreat, but war looked grim. Where were the fellow kings supposed to assist Celendrum? War on the western front seemed to be progressing well, but none at all was made to the east.

4-21-07: Celendrum issued another thirty thousand troops to be trained. However, there were not 30,000 willing volunteers in Remville, so he was forced to override the Senate's anti-draft legislation and started a new conscription program for all males between 18 and 38. When senators protested, Celendrum had them jailed, which only caused more clamor. He tried to explain to his people that desperate measures had to be taken...

4-22-07: Treachery! A Legacy army was able to slip by the northern block, and marched unimpeded south toward the enormous cities of Darzas. Blue Harbor, the CK Republic's capital city itself, lay in the possible path of destruction. Celendrum did not want the enemy to capture the city. He didn't want it to fall into barbarian hands.

4-23-07: Panic spread among the Republic. Powerful Legacy armies approached swiftly and stealithly; already they had siezed several cities in the middle of The One and Only core, and now many more were coming. Carnage armies rode to the north and to the east, either to sieze cities or to liberate them. Hope and fear lay with them. But in this dark hour came good news as well--Sansulii was expecting a child, Celendrum's first heir.

4-24-07: Fighting continued within the core, a series of capture and counter-captures. Many thanks were owed to Carnage, who played a crucial role in stopping Legacy troops. Corposes littered the fields and city walls by the hundreds of thousands, and more were still to come. Meanwhile, more Legacy troops approached from the North. The future looked bleak once more. Especially so when reports of blackening skies began to reach the cities... the end of the world Fantasia?

4-28-07: Many lives were lost, but Legacy was, for the most part, driven away. Hundreds of thousands of troops continued to approach, but by now Celendrum and the rest of the kingdom had millions of troops to counter the threat. Sansulii also gave birth to Celendrum's first child, a crossbreed human-elf named Tantulii, which meant Fire in the elven tounge. (Sansulii meant water.)

4-29-07: Peasants rioted against the conscripition acts. They were backed by the senators, encouraged to protest against the war efforts. So Celendrum officially disbanded the Senate, and in effect, ending the CK Republic. War had taken such an effect on him that memories of Blue Harbor lingered hidden in the back of his mind. No longer was he a patrician. He had become the king.

5-01-07: The skies to the north churned with black, ominous clouds. Lightning illuminated the distant mountains. Rain and wind battered the land. The end was near when the inhabitants of Fantasia would flee or perish in the all-consuming void. Celendrum knew the end of his reign was near. And all in all, it hadn't been to bad of one--he'd nearly matched his father's economic strength, and exceeded that of his military. But something seemed lacking. What would make him stand out in the history books? What would future generations think of him, an idealist fool or an intelligent lord? It was this pondering that made Celendrum realize that since his childhood in the foreign city Blue Harbor, he'd been corrupted by everything he'd disliked about the realms of chaos. So in a final act, he restored the senate and resigned his short-lived reign and told his people to prepare for evacuation. In 40 more weeks all would be lost...

5-02-07: Sansulii gave birth again, this time to a pair of twins, a son and a daughter. Both were mixed human-elf. Meanwhile, Celendrum worked on evactuating the populace of his kingdom, setting them south down the rivers. Perhaps there they'd find better worlds. Perhaps not. Celendrum knew that his story was coming to a close. It was just a matter of time.

5-03-07: The dark clouds consumed each abandoned town, one by one. Most of the people had been evacuated already, but some of the elderly or proud had insisted on staying, and dying. Celendrum made sure every last peasant who wanted to flee had done so, the very last man in the long line of boats. He'd already sent his wife Sansuliin and three children a week ago, down the river past many worlds, where they would be protected from the end of Fantasia.

Though it was a close call for the patrician, Celendrum survived the affair and lived the remainder of his life in Blue Harbor, the city he'd loved and lived in as a young man, writing books on scientific contraptions and the realities of Fantasia. He lived many years longer before dying of natural causes. For so long he'd struggled to survive as a hero. Now he could sleep, forever, as one, while his children carried on the legacy CK the Fat had begun.

The CK Republic ended.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of the CK Republic. While much more artifacts exist from this time period, none of Celendrum's direct books exist today, and details are sketchy. Naturally, my monostary has added in its own bit, which I have tried, with moderate success, to remove.

The CK Empire would continue on with Celendrum's elvish daughter Tantulii. Her reign would contrast her father's in many ways. Her reign would be of blood, magic, and terror...

Lady Tantulii

Lived in Era 26, got 1 heir(s) (Ironpick) and was a member of Zeon
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Crissxcross, Era 26~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE QUEEN AND HER MEN:

Tantulii, the daughter of Celendrum and Sansulii, was born and raised in Blue Harbor during the last two decades before the world ended, when Only U troops fought Legacy continually. War was part of her life. It filled every day, every week, every year. In fact, Tantulii's first memory was seeing the funny-dressed dwarven troops, armed with wicked axes and gleaming armor, parading through the city, singing loud songs of glorious battle, bravery, and, above all, honor.

One day, when she was barely five years old, she wandered up to the high towers of Blue Harbor and rummaged around Celendrum's desk, looking at the maps and papers inside. She would see Celendrum's journals and documents and blueprints. And, as expected of a young child, she was not particularly interested in them. But she did take a keen fascination in the pictures of old battle strategies showing the tactical movements of some of Blue Harbor's most famous victories.

As she grew up and received her education, Tantulii tended to ignore subjects lie math, science, and economics in favor of magic and military history. She spent her days reading about old heroes and battles, and her evenings either at the military arcane instructors or in the training grounds. She became experienced with the sword, bow, and a vast array of protective wards and offensive spells.

As a teenager, the military consumed her life. She ordered the city's finest smiths to create her a set of armor. It was a very different, very new task for the dwarves to suit an elf, and beyond that, a female elf, with armor. But, after some trial and error, they produced a set made out of the finest ore, and enchanted to provide extra durability and resistance to arcane power. Tantulii wore her armor in all manners of ceremonies, so much that Celendrum grew worried about her behavior.

Due to her preferance of war studies, Tantulii neglected her civil studies and learned nothing of being a ruler. Celendrum would plea with her to abandon her silly pasttime, or at least take into moderation, and become an educated queen. But his fire-willed daughter would not listen, which left Celendrum to appoint her twin siblings to take over the other aspects of the empire, like construction, taxes, law, and other forms of management.

One day as a young woman, Tantulii finally satisfied her thirst to see and be involved in the military directly. Posing as a low-level officer, she traveled with the third Imperial Legion among the tens of thousands of axemen and runemasters. She observed how the dwarves marched, how they ate, how much distance they could cover in a day's march. Still, this did not satisfy her. The troops all spoke of glorious battle, but she had yet to even see it with her own eyes.

The opportunity came in only a few weeks time. The legion, which was marching to lay siege to a Legacy city, was intercepted by the Legacy troops and forced into combat. Tantulii watched as the runemasters summoned protective wards to protect against fire in the sky, fireballs, and other arcane projectiles. Meanwhile, the axemen quickly and chaotically moved into formation, attempting to form a strong front line. However, the army was ill-prepared, and the veteran Legacy troops descended upon the army without mercy.

Eventually the line broke, and all hell broke loose. Initially, the shouts and screaming of the dying or wounded stirred Tanutlii's heart and made her courage waver. But she summoned her strength, lifted her sword, and charged into the fray.

She slayed many of the enemy Legacy dwarves with her magic, incinerating many of her opponents before they drew near. When she felt her arcane ability tiring, she drew her sword, and began to fight hand-to-hand against the relentless enemy. She found this more difficult, as her mere feminine, dwarven muscles were barely a match to the powerhouse dwarves. But with the right combination of speed, precision, swiftness--and good, strong armor--she cut down the enemy.

However, it was too late for a victory. Already the legion was beginning to route, fleeing from the blood-soaked field back toward allied territory to rest and heal up. Tantulii, dissapointed, mounted an horse and galloping off, firing arrows at the dwarven warriors pursuing her. Thus, Tantulii had witnessed her first battle.

When Celendrum was able to find her, his made his mind, and sent both Tantulii and Sansulii away to escape the armageddon clouds creeping from the north. For a year, the masses of peasants traveled south, always south, out of the world of Fantasia to where it was safer.

But Tantulii would not follow them. She selected fifty loyal troops and a thousand willing peasants to split off and return to the blackened world. This time Celendrum did not oppose her actions. Another year later, Tantulii and her lifeguards found a suitable land occupied by the descendants of her father's peer kings, this time under the banner Zeon. She then ordered a small city to be constructed near the mountains to the north, and established the beginnings of her ill-fated empire.

ON HONOR, CAPITAL OF THE CK EMPIRE

Not much has been recorded on this subject. Tantulii's kingdom remained extremely small compared to her ancestors, possessing far much less land and hundreds of thousands less troops. Honor was a mainly a military-based city, though it did not serve the task of recruiting more than several hundred "ghost" warriors. In the center sat a stone palace lined with iron, though it was a home to Tantulii's generals more than Tantulii herself.

Ethnically, Honor had an even mix of dwarves, humans, and elves, with the occasional troll, orc, or halfling. However, as Tantulii was mostly an elf, the leading class of the city tended to be the elves. Humans were second-class citizens, dwarves third, and the other races even worse. Tantulii did not worry much about internal affairs; she left such matters in the hands of her siblings while she focused on pursuit of glory.

A CHRONOGICAL PROGRESSION OF THE CK EMPIRE:

5-07-07: After two years of wandering, surviving off of wild game and arcane food. Tantulii and her lifeguards found a suitable region to construct the first city of the empire, Honor, named after the one strongest virtue. Many other cities owned by Zeon lay nearby, ready to offer assistance in battle.

5-08-07: The neighboring kingdom Lietuvos Didzioji Kunigaikstyste established their kingdom core extremely close to the east, bordering Honor by only a few miles. Tantulii ordered the construction of homes, mines, and lumber camps. Additionally, she trained a number of "ghosts" to defend them and prepare for future conflict, should the two kingdoms go to war.

5-09-07: Indeed, the two kingdoms marched to war, Zeon as the agressors. The enemy cities, largely undefended, fell quickly and easily to the armies of Zeon. Tantulii scorned the enemy. Had they not prepared for battle in the slightest? Much to her dissapointment, however, she was not able to take any part in the conquering.

5-10-07: With the war dying down, Tantulii permitted her sibling rulers to invest funds to the economy. A lack of wood brought a breif depression, preventing more buildings from being constructed, but a lucky trade solved this problem.

5-11-07: A new threat, Dark Blood, began to rise in the west. Enemy strength was unknown, but Tantulii began gearing up for the worst.

5-12-07: Tantulii herself rode to the blocker city Next with thousands of archers to defend it against the Dark Blood invaders. It seemed as though invasion was imminent, as she didn't want to miss the battle.

5-16-07: Lacking the ability to go on the offensive, Tantulii ordered her troops to stay within the Zeon core. There had been a few ill-fated attempts at a counterattack into the Dark Blood lands which Tantulii had participated in, but left her own troops back to defend. It seemed as though neither DB nor Carnage had the ability to assault the kingdom, just yet. However, the enemy was expanding to engulf cities and march along alternative routes. It was a matter of time and lives now.

5-20-07: Virtually no development in the war. Music crumbled to the kingdom Mirror and Carnage tried a new strategy approaching from the south through the remnants of Music towns, but still there had been no direct assaults. Tantulii itched for battle, no matter how bad the odds. Luckily for her, but not for the rest of the kingdom, the gears of war had started to turn. Dark Blood marched from the north, Carnage from the south. Already forts along the great walls were crumbling to the foe. Soon the hour would be at hand to decide the kingdom's fate.

5-21-07: The barbarian invaders marched ever onward. The north and south were falling into enemy hands, and Dark Blood massed forces much greater to the west. What would become of Zeon?

5-22-07: Indeed, this was the end. Dark Blood armies broke through the blocker city Next and began rampaging through the Zeon core lands. City after city fell to the invaders like an unstoppable tidal wave. In one final act, Tantulii ordered her cities burned and retreated with a small division of riders. She would not leave her capital city to the enemy, only ashes.

5-23-07: Tantulii, in one final battle, attempted an ambush on a Dark Blood army passing by. At first it went well and many of the enemy died, but the enemy was too large. Her elite bodyguards fell one by one or fled from the suicidal battle. Tantulii's magic could only protect for so long. Her energy began to wane, and she was pierced through with many arrows. Dying on the bloody field, the enemy general beheaded her and stuck it on a high pike. Such was the inglorious death of Tantulii--but at least it was a warrior's death.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of the second stage of the CK Empire . Tantulii remains largely in myth, as little physical artifacts or evidence remains of her reign. In fact, she might have been forgotten if her twin siblings had not recorded her short reign.

Although legend may leave this small vital piece of information, Tantulii bore several children. It is rumored she took no pleasure in men, and used a rather, to quote one certain account "archaic spell, thus the man in her emerge from the mother as longeth as so desireth." It is likely this is ficticious and that Tantulii merely remained isolated during her pregnancies. Or perhaps her descendant bore no blood connection whatsoever; the truth remain is uncertain.

At any rate, from the demoralized and disheartened peasants and lifeguards from the failed empire emerged a new leader to, or at least try to, bring the empire back into honor.

Sir Ironpick

Lived in Era 26, got 1 heir(s) (Ironpick II) and was a member of Music
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Crissxcross, Era 26~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

After the collapse of the CK Empire in Fantasia and the death of Tantulii, only a handful of survivors remained under the flag of the CK Empire. A majority of these survivors were officers who had deserted Tantulii in her final, suicidal ambush. Sir Ironpick was a cavalry officer in her army, a mid-level general and politician. He had no direct ties to the throne, but was in fact a descendant of one of the original Council of Seven in The Fat's time.

Sir Ironpick was a very moderate man. He was decently good at arguementation and persuasion, and a competant military officer as well as ruler. He was not bloodthirsty like Tantulii and recognized the importance of not only the soldier but the farmer who bakes the bread for them both. Though uneducated at first and illiterate for the first thirty years of his life, Ironpick returned to his studies during Tantulii's reign. However, his wisdom came from his experience, not from dusty old books and scrolls.

Sir Ironpick's leadership did not come painlessly. Several others were looking to take up the crown and lead the survivors back into glory. They were willing to take drastic measures to fulfill their greedy desires, and several of them never woke up one morning due to a red streak across their throats and a red puddle. Ironpick was not immune to this. One night he heard someone come to his tent, and very silently open the flap... A very quiet ringing of metal from a sheat... Prepared, Ironpick, lurched to the side, and the assassin's knife planted in the ground. Soon another knife was planted--Ironpick's knife straight into the middle of the assasin's chest.

Ironpick took advantage of the situation. The next morning, he rounded up the camp of survivors and publicly spoke of what had passed. He gave a short but moving speech (the words themselves have been lost, I am afraid) on how the empire needed to move along, not act like the cutthroat barbarians in which Tantulii's head now served as ornamentation. While this did not eliminate competition, it won Ironpick support from the people and his rivals alike.

With his governmental position stabilized, Ironpick led the camp south out of Fantasia, and back to the lands of Mantrax where the CK Empire itself had begun under The Fat and begun another segment in the empire's history.

A CHRONOGICAL PROGRESSION OF THE CK EMPIRE:

5-26-07: Ironpick located Tantulii's descendants from the collapsed empire of Zeon and begun anew, settling in a small valley. Unfortunately, his predicted much bloodshed in the future. Mantrax was an old world and already full of powerful enemies. Even an idiot of a general could potentially beat out the small and skilled armies of Zeon. Knowing this, Ironpick swore no oath to restore the CK empire to glory. He simply wanted his people to live and flourish once again.

5-27-07: A bit of exploring by fellow kingdom mates revealed several nearby empires. The Wild Boys sat to the south and east, while Solaris lay to the west. Ironpick did not let war occupy his mind, however, and oversaw the construction of two new cities, many new homes, and hundreds of new mine chambers to provide his citizens work.

5-30-07: Over time, Zeon built up its cities and began to make a somewhat decent impact in Mantrax. However, it was also at this time that Solaris sent a few small armies to the Zeon homelands... perhaps this was a small army looking for easy gain, or perhaps it was merely a prelude of bloodshed to come.

6-1-07: With both Solaris and Wild Boy armies marching from two fronts, Zeon had little hope. However, Ironpick did his best to assemble his men and prepare for battle.

6-2-07: Efforts were for nothing. Simply outnumbered, Zeon cities fell to the supposed "liberators." Ironpick gathered up his largest force of over 5000 axemen and runemasters and fought an evenly-matched battle against Solaris. However, despite his troops' valiant efforts, they were forced to withdraw and returned to the castle Dultwai. Ironpick, who attended the battle, was also severely wounded by a stray arrow midway through the fight. His wounded body was rushed all the way back to Ironpick Castle to be treated, but he did not survive. A little past the city Silvermoon Ironpick drew his last breath. Disheartened, his remaining officers ordered his cities to be burned so they would not benefit the enemy and waited for the rest of the kingdom to fall.

6-4-07: With Sir Ironpick buried in the ground, the citizens of the CK Empire sat and waited as invaders took Zeon cities and as a few small, brave armies reclaimed the cities, only to fall to the enemy later. The remaining soldiers and peasants looked forward to a new life on another realm.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of the fourth stage of the CK Empire . Sir Ironpick was buried in secret in a tomb in the mountains, safe from armaggedon and capable of lasting millenia. Sir Ironpick's one and only son would be the one to take up where the empire had left of, attempting once again the restore some of the empire's former glory.

Sir Ironpick II

Lived in Era 26, got 1 heir(s) (Bruto Cikayson) and was a member of ZEON
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Crissxcross, Era 26~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Ironpick II took after his father in Mantrax and led the survivors to Nirvana, where they followed him without great question. Surrounded by the honorable allied kingdom Music, Ironpick II commanded only a handful of cities. The capital was a small city known as Stone Glade, a mining town as much as anything else. As time passed more cities were built until Sir Ironpick II's kingdom grew as great as Celendrum's had.

Ironpick II did not engage in many wars. Zeon and Music dominated the world of Nirvana, creating a peace across the lands. Although Ironpick II trained several thousand axemen and a good number of runemasters, he only captured one enemy town, constructing the rest with his own funds.

Due to the lack of costs, the CK Empire became a commercial empire extremely abundant in wealth. Between taxes, mines, and alchemist projects, the empire raised tens of millions of dollars--so much it did not know what to do with it all.

Due to Ironpick II's short reign and lack of foreign wars, not much else is recorded about him. I personally suspect that Ironpick II may not have been a strong ruler. Rather, he let his empire fall into the hands of his associates. Nonetheless, the empire ran efficiently and effectiveley, and is considered one of the best eras for the standard peasant by the CK Empire's standards.

Sir Bruto Cikayson

Lived in Era 27, got 1 heir(s) (Hephaestus) and was a member of ZEON
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Crissxcross, Era 26~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Bruto Cikayson outperformed all of his ancestor's actions, save The Fat himself. As years passed he would engage in several major wars and be far more active, militarily, than the rulers before him.

Although Ironpick II had several children, none of his sons showed that they were capable, or even willing, to assume their father's position. The remaining lords and generals of the CK Empire decided to return the throne to its original bloodline, so they traced the family lenage back a distance. Celendrum had three children in all. Tantulii had died, but his other two children--a son and a daughter, twins--lived on and had families of their own.

It was Celendrum's younger daughter, Lanlulii, that the people decided to look at. Although unmarried, Lanluii bore several children. She had fallen in love with a low-class, crudg city dwarf when she was barely 13 years old. By 17 years of age she had given birth to her first child, Bruto. It was Bruto who would be been chosen to lead the empire.

Because Lanlulii was a human-elf bybrid and Bruto's father was a dwarf, the end result was a very multiracial child. Bruto was a very tall child, but he stopped growing much sooner than his peers around him. He was a bit taller than a regular dwarf, but shorter than a human. He had long ears and crystal-blue eyes like an elf, but a great red beard like a dwarf.

However, Bruto decided to adapt the dwarven style of life. Lanlulii was a good mother, but a rather uninteresting one in Bruto's eyes. Instead, he took after his father and learned how to wield an axe and a pickhammer, as well as how to hold his ale.

But as time passed and Bruto grew older, he became more aware of his surroundings in Stone Glade. When Lanlulii forced him to study his family history he truly realized that he had "superior" blood in him. He was above the crudeness of the city dwarves--including his father. So as the years crept by and Bruto passed in adulthood, he began to disrespect his father and the way of life of the city dwarves. By age 20 he would have nothing to do with his father or the ways of the dwarvish ghettoes, and began to claim he'd never truly felt at home among such a peasant squabble.

Bruto had always enjoyed a fistfight or wrestle with his dwarven peers or with his father as a child, but as he aged he decided to outdo them and enlisted in Ironpick II's army. Due to his nobility status he was given a command position and was taught by Ironpick's best generals. Here he learned how to shout and give orders and how to think the strategy of a battle.

Bruto was present at Ironpick II's one and only battle as the leading commander. The battle was as much for practice as anything else; Bruto's men outnumbered the enemy's garrison by many times. But it was here where Bruto killed his first enemy soldier and led his troops to victory.

When it was obvious no enemies existed for miles, Bruto returned to Stone Glade to discover his mother Lanlulii hearbroken. Her husband had ran away, back into the the slums of the city. Perhaps he too had come to abhor the lifestyle of the wealthy and the supposed divine right of the nobility. When Bruto heard this, he gathered some men and marched into his father's favorite taverne. The sight of fifteen imperial troops upset many of the city dwarves; as usual a deal of tension existed between the guard and the poor. But Bruto and his men managed to track his father down and returned him to the palace by force.

He gave his father two options. One was to stay by Lanlulii's side and never to return to the slums again, living the life of nobility. The second was to enlist in the army and make a "true man" out of him. His father decided to stay in the palace, and stayed by Lanlulii's side for the rest of their time in Nirvana.

Sir Ironpick II saw Bruto's ability to lead and made him governor his empire's largest city. There Bruto acted as judge, defense, and lord of the city, reserving ultimate power to himself. He learned how to wield a pen just as he knew how to wield a sword.

But Bruto grew proud of himself and his accomplishments and began to challenge Ironpick II's authority over the city by adjusting city tax rates to build himself a larger manor. Ironpick marched 5000 troops into the city to reassert his authority. Although Bruto, with a garrison of 3500 men, might have been able to defeat the army, he swallowed his pride and let the imperial troops in without disturbance.

Ironpick II relieved Bruto of his garrison and limited his infleunce over the city. He also created a council to keep Bruto's power in check; if enough of the council were dissatisfied, Bruto would be forced to resign. In essence, he became a figurehead governor, which dissatisfied him greatly.

For years he itched for a second chance. After fleeing Nirvana from Armageddon, Ironpick II died of old age, and the throne became open. Burto was not the only candidate for the position. He was not the best governor, nor the best general. But he had shown potential and bore a bloodline to The Fat, and as good of a choice as any other.

Finally, Bruto and forty-nine of his imperial soldiers, along with a thousand refugees, settled in Fantasia to endure another era.

His reign began fairly smoothly. To the east was the kingdom Abydos while Music lay to the West. Predators and Jesters began to the south. However, it did not take long for hostilities to break out. Almost immediately Predators was attacked in full force by Jesters. Bruto took part in the battle by leading his men to capture an armory city, which he later converted into a thriving metropolis as war located to more distant lands.

It did not take many years to discover that Legacy lay to the east. Scouts had reported fairly large Legacy armies approaching... but... they were not attacking. Why? Soon it was discovered that Legacy itself, the most powerful and feared empire of Fantasia, was under attack by a myriad of enemies, including the Phi Empire. Abydos joined in the fight, as well as a few Zeon armies. Together the triple forces drove the Legacians farther and farther east until the empire was crippled, holding together in a narrow region protected by one last powerful city. Phi continued the assault, but they could not break the swords and spirits of the Legacy defenders, and any army sent to siege the town was destroyed or forced to retreat.

Meanwhile, Abydos and Jester destroyed Music, only to meet with a new threat. Carnage, a massive and strong empire to the north, began an assault into the Jester core, and thus jeapardizing Abydos and Zeon cities. Carnage broke in and caused great damage, but eventually were driven back and the war turned into a stalemate along the western front. However, a sneak attack across the river endangered many Zeon cities, an army consisting largely of Nazgul and veteran warriors. In time, it too was crushed.

Now began a new stage of the war--the offensive. While Abydos occupied Carnage to the west, Zeon began massing large armies to the north along exposed Carnage cities. For several years each king within Zeon trained great armies and set a date and time for the attack.

At first the assault was a success. Surprised and stunned at the attack, city after city fell to Zeon armies. Bruto himself took up the sword and commanded a corp known as the mighty Legion I. But as time progressed, Zeon kings began to discover they themselves had been the ones to make the grave mistake. The mighty army that had marched out to assault Carnage broke up into smaller ones to capture more cities. But Carnage had its own massive armies heading to defend and reclaim lost lands, and one by one intercepted and mercilessly slaughtered each Zeon force within the vicinity.

Bruto was little exception. Legion I, the pride of his kingdom, was attacked and destroyed. The Carnage numbers were too great and too fierce, and there were no cities nearby to retreat to. Every single soldier and commander alike fell to the sword, axe, bow, and spell cast by the enemy, and none survived. Luckily, Bruto had brought several of his best mages along, mages skilled in teleportation. But the distance they needed to send him took an incredible amount of energy, more than they were capable of using and living through. So the mages, in honor of their king, came together and cast the spell to save Bruto, to collapse in exhaustion and fall to the enemy themselves.

All of Zeon formed a retreat and hastily scrambled back to defend. Carnage won back all their lands, their casualties small compared to those of Zeon. Militarily, the assault was a complete failure. Not only that, but the lack of troops opened the doors for a possible Carnage invasion, and all the rulers of Zeon hastily scrambled together a defending army, which was capable of keeping Carnage armies from breaking into the Zeon core.

Some time later when the fields had settled down and the stalemate between Abydos and Carnage continued, the kings of Zeon gathered troops and began a new offensive. Instead of attacking Carnage, Zeon armies traveled north to assault Carnage's ally, Peacekeepers. Peacekeepers, a smaller and weaker kingdom, gradually fell to the invading Zeon forces, but were able to push back and reclaim many vital urban centers in counteroffensives. When Carnage armies entered the scene, the Zeon armies gave way to stronger forces, and after many battles and sieges, the Zeon offensive ended in failure. However, the damage had been dealt to Peacekeepers, leaving them to rebuilding, and thus less of a threat. Bruto took no part in the invasion, due to another concern, this time far to the east...

The largest threat to the kingdom was yet to come. Legacy, which had been caged up for many years far to the east, broke out in a daring and stunning counteroffensive. Hidden armies of millions of elite troops stormed out and captured Phi, Zeon, MAD, and Abydos towns in the area. Bruto had ordered the construction of two major mining cities south of the region, which proved to be a mistake. Although each of the cities was defended by thousands of hammerthrowers, they were lightly defended compared to the Legacian forces marching south, bent on veangance.

One city, named Sediment, was captured after a hopeless battle. But the other city, Igneous, suffered no fate. Defended by three times the men of the first city, Legacian armies that began siegeing the city lacked the power to penetrate the walls, and were unable to capture it. Eventually MAD forces pushed Legacy out of the region, putting the front back up north.

Bruto's also set up three more cities closer to the front. One was an armory. The other ones were a city full of magic towers, and the other a supply depot where alchemists could practice their art and turn worthless material into gold. Crust trained several hundred thousand axemen, hammerthrowers, and runemasters. As Legacian forces swarmed and claimed all other cities nearby, Crust's defenses held strong, able to sally forth and crush any invading troops. The other two colonies were lost, however.

In time Zeon, Phi, and MAD armies pushed Legacy back, but not into their old caged-in lands. Troops from Crust participated in several battles, some victorious, some embarassingly failed.

In these late years, the skies began to darken, a familiar and dreaded sign. Armageddon would soon be upon the world... but strangely enough, not by man's doing. None had ever even attempted casting the sinister spell. Rather, the angry gods of the skies and earth took the action, and began spreading the black clouds of death.

Bruto decided to do what many of his ancestors had done and evacuated his cities, displacing his hundreds of thousands of citizens. They marched south until they were safe, and lives out their lives in peace and quiet.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Bruto Cikayson. Bruto, in his middle years, married a particularly interesting woman, a troll to be precise. Despite his peers and his subjects dissings, he loved her and together they had several children who would live on... but in blood.

Sir Hephaestus

Lived in Era 28, got 1 heir(s) (Lacewing) and was a member of Carnage
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Dark Orion, Era 28~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Bruto Cikayson had several children, but fate would not be kind to his family. The oldest child was a strong son, but he died from disease at age seven. The next child was also a son, but he died several months before his brother after falling from a horse and breaking his neck. Bruto's third child was a daughter, born a year after his first son's death. However, she was an unhealthy child, and contracted an illness that left her scarred. Worse, it damaged her brain. For fear of his citizens seeing her, he kept her out of public sight.

Bruto despaire. If he did not have a son who lived to inherit the throne, his bloodline would end.

But fate was kinder to his last child, a young boy born four years after his oldest son's death. And just in time, too--several months after his third son' birth his wife grew past the childbearing age. This son was named original called Grakel.

Bruto took every precaution to keep Grakel safe. He forbid him to ride horses or participate in battle, and hired the finest doctors to tend to him should he fall sick. However, he feared he would raise a "soft" son, one unfit for ruling a kingdom. In secret he began to visit concubines, in hope of fathering more children should he, if utterly necessary, renounce his son's heir status.

But luckily it never came to that. Although Grakel did not grow tall and muscular, his mind was keen, and his fingers nimble. When he was nine years old he traveled down to the royal armory where weapons and armor were quickly being produced in the efforts against Carnage and Legacy. Hephaestus watched the smiths work and began to practice the craft on his own, beginning with simple swords and daggers. But as he grew older his skill improved and he became a master smith.

In addition to practicing the craft, Grakel also sought books and smiths from foreign lands to teach him new ways, and learned how to better heat the metal to remove impurities and mix charcoal to form stronger steel. Although this was not the type of son Bruto had originally hoped for, he was proud of him and gave him the nickname Hephaestus after an old god of the forge.

When Fantasia was destroyed, Hephaestus fled to the south with the rest of his subjects. There he took temporary shelter until he could return to begin his kingdom anew.

Bruto died of old age when Hephaestus was twenty-seven, leaving him as the heir to the throne of the CK Empire. Much happened in the years followng his death. Since Celendrum Cikayson had begged for admittance to The One and Only the CK Empire had stayed faithful to Zeon. But Hephaestus had befriended the sons of his old enemies and grew close to them, so when the fires of Fantasia cooled and settlers returned, he would fight in Carnage's name instead.

In this time, Hephaestus also began to see something in his sister that his mother had not. His scarred sister, named Selyica, had a talent with magic. While Selyica made little sense when she spoke, she could perform spells and rituals flawlessly.

One day he heard her muttering strange omens about ice raining down upon the sky, although it was a sweltering day in summer. At first he paid no attention, but later in the afternoon it began to hail. Only then did he begin to suspect his poor sister possessed the gift of foresight.

Feeling ashamed for his father's treatment of her, as well as his own, Hephaestus was determined to bring her out of the shadows. He publicly announced her existance to his people, but still he feared if his subjects saw her bodily state they would give no respect, so he began to forge a mask for her to wear out of gleaming blue silver. Once he finished with the mask, however, his head was running full of ideas and his fingers itching for more, so he proceeded to forge an entire suit of armor for her to wear, made of solid silver and embedded with arcane gems to attract the essence of magic.

When the armor was finished, he had Selyica wear it and ride on a carriage through the encampment. Stories say that the armor shined like the moon as if she were a goddess, and legends began to grow that she was not a mere mortal but a goddess, or some automaton of immense beauty. Such was Hephaestus's skill with metal.

Eventually the world of Fantasia settled and the trees grew back, and Hephaestus and his remaining followers traveled with other Carnage kings and lords. However, when Selyica fell sick, he waited several weeks to nurse her back, and thus settled late compard to his companions.

Hephaestus' peasants were of mixed ethnic origins, but the predominant race were the trolls. Hephaesus selected several trollish noblemen to be his advisors and began his kingdom with the city Ul'Gargrhub, meaning "valley" in orcish.

Almost immediately the kings of Carnage began to discover their neighbors... and the scouts' reports were not good. The powerful Legacian Empire and its close ally Dark Blood lay just to the north, and almost immediately war began when small armies began marauding bordering towns and farmlands. Only Peacekeepers came to Carnage's assistance, but the young kingdom quickly crumbled to its Dark Blood invaders.

Hephaestus played only a small part in this war due to his belated start, but still he mustered up several thousand hobgoblinds and some warlords to fight. His men assisted other Carnage kings inside cities and in combined armies to prevent the Legacians from making any progress.

The war did not fare well for either Carnage nor Legacy and her ally. While troops died by the dozens, no land could be gained on either side. As other kingdoms to the north were quicky building up their own cities, the warring kingdoms to the south could not expand due to the constant face of war. It seemed that in time, Legacy would prevail, but good news arrived for Hephaestus and his peers. At long last, the leaders of Carnage and Legacy came together and agreed to settle their disputes, in order to have any hopes of surviving against the great kingdoms to the north, just as the strongest kingdom, Nemesis, began to launch an invasion against Legacy.

Throughout the conflict Hephaestus only lost one small city-fort, which was given back, as the original boundaries of the kingdoms were restored.

With the dust settled and the blood seeped away into the earth, Hephaestus and the Carnagian Empire began to rebuild. A small convoy that had been sent to build new Carnagian cities far to the southeast sprung up many new homes and mines, and prosperity was grea. But peace did not last long.

Carnage launched an offensive campaign against its neighbors to the north. Small kingdoms were quickly swept aside, such as the Lunar Wolves, and the empire expanded as city after city was captured and added in.

But not all kingdoms were as weak or as foolish as the Lunar Wolves. In time Carnage's conquests brought troops to the gates of the mighty kingdoms of Music and the Brotherhood of Wolves, and unlike the lesser kingdoms, cities were not captured easily.

Hephaestus captured one small city, The City of Pas, and quickly converted it into a military fort, training thousands of fierce warlords and mystical mages, as well as incredibly vicious and uncontrollable berserkers, crazed trolls with no other thoughts than to shed the enemy's blood. Hephaestus sent is men north to aid his allies, but he was unable to capture land for his own personal kingdom.

Initially, the Brotherhood and Music slowly fell, slowly but surely. But when the enemy kingdoms brought together there troops, they were nearly able to withstand the might of the Carnagian generals and troops. Only with hundreds of thousands of men working together in a single battle could any progress be made on either side. It seemed stalemate was imminent.

During these wars Hephaestus engaged in an adventure like none other in his family. Due to his deformed shape, he found love hard to come by, until he met a woman at a great ball. However, he did now know her name, and traveled to Prince Corothius's palace to find her. Upon discovering his love was the daughter of one of his servants, he set off again to find the lord who had bought her.

Once make on the throne, Hephaestus returned to his affairs. Due to the stalemate, Carnage's conquests were not faring well. To make matters worse, news began to spread that the powerful sourcerer Mcikan from the Zeonic Empire was casting the great spell of death... the spell that would end the world. And then came reports of massive Zeon armies arching to Carnage's eastern core in full force. After suffering civil war, the Zeonic Empire was invading with a veangance.

In time the Brotherhood of Wolves and Music crumbled and fell under Carnage's continuous onslaught, but new problems were marching to Carnage's door. Zeon, who had prepared for a full-scale invasion for years, finally burst through Carnage forts and swept down into the homelands. But the armies of Love and Onuris seemed hesitant to hold any particular city, dodging about, capturing only one city at a time and leaving but a small garrison behind. Hephaestus lost one major city in the invasions, but a good ally liberated it back.

When Legacy and Dark Blood seemed all but destroyed, Nemesis finally broke it's ceasefire with Zeon and began its own invasion. Zeon fell quickly, but there was no time for utter defeat, for the clouds of armageddon rolled again.

Hephaestus evacuate his armies and peasants out of Fantasia with his wife and sister. What happened next remains ambiguous as the texts tell the story in passing, but it seems Hephaestus died of cancer a few short years after fleeing from armageddon. But he bore a daughter with his wife by the name Lacewing, who would continue on the legacy of the CK Empire.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Hephaestus Cikayson. After his passing, his daughter, raised by the widow left behind, learned of one of the most feared and dangerous people of the CK Empire, a certain Lady Tantulii from eras back, and began a campaign to be the strongest ruler of the CK dynasty yet.

Duchess Lacewing

Lived in Era 29, got 1 heir(s) (Luta Mor) and was a member of Carnage
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Asystole, Era 29~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE QUEEN AND HER MEN:

Hephaestus and his newfound wife bore a child in their later years of life. To Hephaestus's relief, the young girl was not plagued by disformity or scars as he had always been. Instead, she was young and pure, and neither Hephaestus nor his wife could have wished for any greater luck. She even crawled and walked at an age extraordinary for a child her age and could never seem to stay still, so the parents named her Lacewing.

Sir Hephaestus took Lacewing outside the palace to explore frequently. The young girl quickly took notice to the wonders of nature and the animals that inhabited it. She loved to watch the butterflies and bees in the gardens or the deer tread quietly in the forests. Before she could even speak her first words, she could imitate animal calls nearly flawlessly.

But the king also took her to the libraries and showed his daughter the tapestries and illustrations in the volumes of books within his libraries. He told her all the stories he knew and shared with her the family history from the original The Fat to his bastard son Celendrum and beyond. Lacewing quickly learned how to speak, and almost immediately afterward how to read.

Hephaestus had experienced no joy or love greater than that which he gave and recieved from his young daughter. But we all know just as well today as then that life doesn't last forever. Hephaestus's tough years caught up with him, and he began to steadily decline in health. Lacewing did not leave the palace without him, attending to her beloved father every minute. At times it seemed as though Hephaestus would recover, and the two would take short journeys away, but it did not last.

He tried to explain to her what death was. He tried to tell her that everything must come to an end, that swords dull over time and people die. But Lacewing did not understand at first, not until the unspeakable happened to her father. On one summer evening Hephaestus drew his last breath and died.

After Hephaestus's death, his precious wife withdrew into mourning. Lacewing was lost without her father, and she had no mother to back her up. She too stayed in the dark chambers of the palace and hid in the shadows. She asked the eternal question, Why?, but never heard an answer. To he, her father's death was also her own, and every hour of every day her mind was dark and empty, and ever so alone. She lived on her memories of her young years, replaying them in her head. But all they ever brought her was pain.

She grew thin and pale, and no one would see her for days. Hephaestus's advisors ran the kingdom the best they could, but it was apparent an heir was needed, and soon.
So they came up with a plan to coax Lacewing out into the sunlight and back into the world. The guards captured a butterfly and let it fly free through the palace.

Lacewing would never have noticed the butterfly if it hadn't landed on the back of her neck, her head tucked between her legs. She slowly looked up and saw the small glimmer of happy memories, flying ever so happily... And though the butterfly was a bitter mockery of her loss, she couldn't help but follow it as it fluttered outside.

The butterfly led her to the palace gates and rested on the door handle as if waiting for her to open it and let the insect free. Lacewing reached out her hand and was ready to pull, and let the world outside back into her life. Inchs away, seconds away from that which would change her life forever.

But she did not free the butterfly. At the needlepoint of her mind, on the very tip of the balance of fate, something compelled her to commit another action instead. Some bitter memory, some pent-up frustration, some tear running down her cheek. She snatched the butterfly in her hand and pressed her fingers down upon her palm, crushing the gentle omen of hope and recovery, and let the juices rub against her hand. This is how history is made, the smallest things at the most crucial times.

Still, the advisors' plan did not fail. The butterfly's insides smeared across her hand, she open the door and slowly slipped outside to meet the world once more.

Sadly, the ancient texts do not speak much of Lacewing's later childhood, but I have compiled a version of her story based on various legends in other texts.

Lacewing slipped quietly onto the city streets. None recognized her dirty form, taking her as just another child wandering the streets. Keeping descrete, she traveled around the city through streets and alleys, sleeping in dark corners. She stole food from tavernes when the bermen and barmaids were not looking.

In one intance she stole several pint of ale and drank them quickly, as she saw the men do. But after waking up the next morning with her head throbbing, Lacewing learned to abhor the stuff and drank no more alcohol.

In another instance in the city she witnessed a man being dragged into an alley and beaten. Hidden, she watched as as five strong men beat him to death and stole his money. When the five strong men scattered, she crept over to the body and gazed at its bruised, scarred, lifeless state. She did not cry or weep. She was not anguished or afraid. Instead, she bent down and let her hand run over the man's wounds, feeling the warm blood on her fingers. When Hephaestus's royal guards arrived, she ran away from them, escaping from their pursuit.

At some point in time she left the city and began to explore outside. The knowledge that she had kept hidden since her father's death began to re-emerge, the stories of the wilderness and how to find food and shelter. She learned how to track wild animals and kill them and to forage for wild vegetables and berries.

But she also began to track humans. She noticed how bands of rouges would wander the countryside, usually food and bags of treasure at their side. She tracked these bandits and stole their loot, not because she wanted it, but to prove she could as some form of dominance.

In one encounter, Lacewing was caught by a bandit. He tried to force her to the ground and began to undress her, but Lacewing stoically drew a hunting knife into the man's heart and watched him bleed to death. When the other bandits found the body, she hid in a tree and shot them down with arrows.

The stories do not tell how long Lacewing spent away from the city, or exactly what happend during her absence. But sometime in her late teen years, she returned to palace and daringly claimed her rightful place. At first the palace guards did not admit inside the palace, assuming her to be another impoverished street girl. It wasn't until Hephaestus's closest friends came and saw who Lacewing was, despite her changes in age and body.

Within days memories came flooding back into Lacewing's mind. Everything Hephaestus taught he came back to her, all the history, strategy, mathematics, and science. Within a week she had promoted a vast series of kingdom-wide reforms, including a mandatory draft for both men and women. She increased the number of guards in the capital and ever outlying providence tenfold. She replaced local governments with appointed governors, figures she knew would obeyher every order. She raised taxes to an unprecedented amount, using threat of force to prevent rebellion.

Ruling with an iron first, Lacewing began a new age for the kingdom. Her reforms increased employment and economically helped the CK Empire, but for all the suffering and hardships her subjects endured many thought it did not matter. She quickly became a despised ruler... despised enough for a few bold souls to take action.

On one scheduled patrol around the city streets, several young men decided to try and become heroes. Over the course of a month they plotted an assassinatin to abruptly end her reign. They hid in the dark windows lining the streets, waiting for the queen's coach to pass by. As soon as they saw the queen, all the young men brought out crossbows and simultaneously fired at her.

Pierced by many arrows, the woman riding on the coach fell to the ground, quickly dying. But Lacewing was not the woman riding on the coach. Her spies had relayed Lacewing the details of the operation since the would-be-assasins first came together, and on this day Lacewing had ordered a decoy to ride the coach. She had crept into one of the towers hours ago in wait for the assassins, and after they shot the decoy she emerged from the shadows and sunk daggers into their necks. She then picked up a crossbow and fired at one of the assassins across the street, slaying him as well.

Lacewing then met up at a field hospital where the decoy's body was laid out. She stripped the corpse of its bloodstained clothes and put them on herself. After half an hour she re-emerged from the field hospital and back into public view. Many citizens feared she was immortal or protected by a strong magic, which was her plan all along, a plan that had let the innocent decoy die for her own benefit and deceptions.

When Lacewing returned to the world of Fantasia, she quickly began to build an empire to match the size of her fathers'. She studied and practiced the art of war with her fierce nazgul riders, all her warriors raised to be killers from birth. When Carnage first marched against Zeon, Lacewing herself led the first army and fought with her troops, riding the largest and most ferocious nazgul in her royal stables. In battle she was ruthless, and ordered that no prisoners should be taken. If a soldier fell, it was his or her own fault for being too slow. This applied to the enemy as well.

But when victories began to pile up and Zeon began to crumble, Lacewing returned from the battlefield to her capital city, Lacewing City. Whether or not victory on the field had grown old is unknown, but at some point she decided to give up her warrior lifestyle and become a politician. She learned how to be a proper lady and began attending councils instead of sending diplomats. It was not long before her ability to conquer through words became as great as her ability to conquer through battle.

She also learned how to incorporate the two. Quite frequently one of her more poweful advisors mysteriously vanished, or happened to fall out of tall towers. Others, quite plainly, ended up with a dagger in their throats, delivered by the Lady herself and in full public view.

When Zeon fell, Lacewing and her Carnage peers ordered armies north to the kingdom known as Predators. Lacewing returned to the battlefield to lead armies of several thousand nazguls, quickly marching to enemy towns and capturing or razing them. Any enemy peasant became a slave of the state, forced to work in mines or lumbermills until their deaths.

But no matter how many victories Lacewing celebrated, she was never content. She always tried to train her troops better, hold more power over her kingdom, and keep her empire running quicky and efficiently. Her kingdom grew just as large as her father's had been, and many times stronger in sheer military strength. But never was it enough.

She could not understand. She had everything her father had and much which her father only dreamed of. Yet still she felt empty, as if some vital piece of her were missing. Ever feat only seemed to make the emptiness greater and more painful.

Eventually Predators fell and Lacewing returned to her capital, preparing for another invasion. The years had passed; she was no longer a young woman. Wrinkles began to appear on her face, her years of war taking their toll on her body. It was only when she returned in a time of peace did she understand what it was she did not possess yet craved so deeply: love. No feat, victory, or accomplishment would ever earn her love. Respect, power, yes. But not love.

And her years were slipping away. She was not a virgin; she had laid with many men over her lifetime, but she had never even pondered the idea of marriage or a lasting love. It was now when she began to ease up her iron command on her empire and tried to make amends to those she had caused harm to.

At last she found a husband, a younger prince from a distant empire. They married quickly and in secret. Within twelve months Lacewing bore twins, and just in time.

When armageddon drew near, Lacewing ordered the evacuation of her cities. From then on, she lived in relative obscurity with her husband and two sons. Whether Lacewing ever truly found happiness still remains unknown, but regardless she grew up to forge an iron empire worthy of her predecessors.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Lady Lacewing. It would be her twins who would carry on the throne, this time in a manner the empire had not seen since the days of Celendrum Cikayson: a republic one again. But this time Fantasia would prove particularly harsh and be one of the most bitter struggles in the kingdom's history.

Duke Luta Mor

Lived in Era 30, got 1 heir(s) (Ulgrin The Bastard) and was a member of Carnage
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Lenard, Era 30~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE RULERS AND THEIR MEN:

Lacewing and her husband dissapeared into obscurity. Once she bore her twins, she gave them away, perhaps in fear that her lifestyle would only make them evil, bitter children. It seems most likely that she just wanted them to be happy, to live a life free from the pain and suffering she had endured as a child. Therefore, right before her departer she found a young halfling couple who lived in a remote hill-town miles away from war and bloodshed.

Halflings, in legends at least, were commonly known to be the happiest race. They were not strong like orcs or trolls, not wise and magical like the elves, or cunning like humans and dwarves. But they were a strong and spirited people who did not let the toils of war destroy their minds... only their bodies. Halflings could be trusted. Halflings could take you away from your troubles and plant a smile on your face, no matter how grim and depressing life seemed.

The halfling couple were rejoiced, for the halfling woman was barren, yet both she and her husband still loved each other very much. Lacewing had not even named them yet, so the adopted parents gave the twins names of a Halfling origin--Luta Mor for the male child and Lusa Mor for the female.

They raised Luta and Lusa in a traditional halfling fashion, living in a small house under a hill. But Luta and Lusa quickly grew as tall as their parents and continued to shoot up, until navigating through the home because a difficult and head-bumpingly-pain experience. Because of this, a committee of friendly halflings constructed a full-size house for the two human children to live in by the time the two were nine years old.

The twins became more than just citizens. The humans fascinated the halflings. Halfling parents thought them to be intelligent and wise, and halfling children loved playing with the two seemingly giants. Not a soul in the gossipy town did not know their name.

Luta and Lusa lived their childhood peacefully. As per Lacewing's requested, their parents urged them to venture into politics, beginning with the town's very own Elder Council. The Elder Council was a meeting of twenty-five local halflings, each member chosen by the general population in a democratic manner. Although Luta and Lusa were many years younger than most other members, they were elected to the council as soon as they applied.

Luta was smart and crafty and Lusa was kind and compassionate, but despite their differences their voices were always one. Luta and Lusa were extremely like in mind. They always sat next to each other and shared their ideas before publicly announcing them.

The two remained in the town until they reached the age of twenty-five when another message was delivered from their mother. Up until now, Luta and Lusa had not been told who their mother was or that they had noble blood running through their veins. Shocked, the two read the letter as it explained who they were.

But more shocking was what the letter said next. Lacewing told the two to return to the survivors of the CK Empire and claim Luta's spot as king and Lusa's position as queen. At first Luta was resistant. Why travel to a strange world with strange people for the sake of a person they had never met before? But Lusa, the more sympathetic of the two, convinced him that it was their responsibility, not just a gift.

The last part of the letter spoke of an orc named Jul Karoth who had been one of Lacewing's youngest and best generals. Jul Karoth was to meet Lacewing's twins halfway to the blackened world of Fantasia in a historic city: Blue Harbor, the city where Celendrum Cikayson, the second ruler of the CK Empire, had been taught nearly two hundred years ago.

The halflings of the town erected a statue of the two before the twins began their long journey. Made out of solid marble, it quickly became the town's central landmark and attracted other artists. (The statues were actually uncovered twenty years ago in the ruins of an old halfling town, although scholars debate whether it is genuine or a replica, or perhaps completely unrelated to the CK Empire's past.

They halflings, in their long and dangerous journey, traveled across a thousand miles of forests and mountains, through hostile war-torn lands. Tribes raided tribes, cities marched against cities, and empires clashed with empires. Luta and Lusa saw the aftermath of war for the first time and realized it was nothing like what the halflings thought it as. What glory was there to men, women, children, and beasts lying in a field, ravens picking apart their bodies? Or of the hundreds of the thousands of peasants whose homes had been razed to the ground? And all for what? For one side's greed.

In these solemn days, Luta and Lusa swore to never become like the cruel lords who invaded their neighbors, let them rebuild, only to return a decade later. They vowed to never cause more war than what was needed.

At long last, Lacewing's twins reached Blue Harbor. The city had changed little since centuries ago when Celendrum Cikayson had visited its libraries and learned of the knowledge within. A bustling commercial port, the city remained a symbol of cultural mix. They discovered the city’s streets just as Celendrum had, through its sights, smells, tastes. But most importantly through its people, a mixture of all the races.

Luta and Lusa did not spend as long as they would have liked, however. They were quickly summoned to the consul, the area where the patrician met with the city’s senators. There they met Jul Karoth. **Author’s note: I feel obligated to mention that the name of Lacewing’s favorite general varies between stories. Some account describe him as being a timid orc, but a quick thinker. More commonly, however, he is portrayed as a large, strong orc like the warriors of old. But for the sake of interpretation I have decided to go with the lesser-known account, as orcish history is often littered with fable.**

Jul Karoth welcomed the twins inside the palace where official matters took place. He showed how the city’s republic worked, how each portion of the city, each race and class, elected a senator to speak for them, but when it came to military affairs power was left up to the patrician. Luta and Lusa watched as business was conducted. Undoubtedly the two were already forming ideas in their heads. But Jul Karoth did not want the twins to become “idealistic fools.”

The next day he showed them a different ordeal, a debate between merchants and peasantry regarding taxes. Here the city was evenly divided on the issue, and for all the civilized actions of the senators, the meeting was little more than a squabble, wasting a full day of time. And in the end there came no resolution, no progress. This, Jul Karoth explained, was the down side to a republic.

Jul Karoth was careful to explain one more aspect of city ordinance to Luta and Lusa. Originally, the two believed that only a small standing army was needed for any city’s protection. Buta Jul Karoth explained differently. Blue Harbor had nearly been sacked twice since Celendrum had visited. Both times the invaders were repelled by the city’s Imperial Legions, an army of two hundred thousand elite soldiers. Only with a sharp sword could a republic survive. A city always needed more troops that what was required to man the walls. A city must be able to return with vengeance. Peace was won only through fear.

There seems to be a large gap in the story. I believe Luta and Lusa would have stayed in the city for a number of years and learn how to run a government, or how to set one up so it ran itself. But the ancient manuscripts have no mention of this time. Instead, the stories advance five years into the future.

Luta and Lusa, at long last, returned to the world of Fantasia to claim their rightful positions as heirs of the CK Empire. With a band of one thousand workers and fifty farmer militia, the two ordered the first city of their regime to be built, named Luta Lusa City. They immediately drew up a set of documents outlining how the government was to be run: a republic, just as in the days of old.

Soon the twins met with diplomats from the Carnagian Empire. As their mother before them, the twins devoted their support for the kingdom of Carnage. In the first few years of the CK Empire’s rebirth, Luta and Lusa focused on keeping their citizens happy and constantly expanding with farms and mines. But it did not take long for the lords of Carnage to meet a familiar foe, the religiously zealous kingdom of Zeon. Luta immediately dispatched thousands of pony riders to defend key cities, but watched in dismay when Carnage attempted to move on the offensive. Three times was one of Carnage’s main merges repelled. In Luta’s eyes, thousands had died to no avail whatsoever.

But he recognized the threat of supporting his kingdom with troops. Lusa reluctantly agreed, and together the two ordered the construction of two forts. Together the barracks within the cities armed and trained adventurers and illusionists by the hundreds of thousands, eager young men and women Halflings to march out and defend with honor. And if necessary, to die with honor.

This is how it went for decades. The threat of war was always looming to the east, and the potential of invasion from the kingdoms of Phi and Abydos from the north. Hundreds of thousands of troops marched to key castles and forts, only to sit in idle service for years upon years, when they could clearly see the enemy’s banners across the valley. No war, no glory, save the occasional battle. No adventure.

It is commonly said great times make great leaders. It is incorrect to state Luta and Lusa did not face any challenges or difficulties in running their empire. But year after year, little ever changed in the common folks’ eyes. What Luta and Lusa did or even how they felt was never recorded. Halflings loved great stories, and to them their lives were simply stale and unexciting, so they simply did not write down or tell stories of the twins’ reign.

Luta and Lusa may have been great rulers, or perhaps negligent. Perhaps they were wise, or too optimistic to see life as it truly was. Though it is almost certain they did not do anything evil or cruel, or such actions would have been remembered. So as the years passed, the two simply began to grow old.

In time, Luta and Lusa both married. Luta bore four children with his wife, two sons and two daughters. Lusa gave birth to one son, and then many years later she gave birth to identical triplets girls. Only then did Luta and Lusa begin to seperate, living in different chambers of the imperial palace and meeting only when business calld for it and the occasional summer retreat.

Near the end of their reign came one final noteable event. As the clouds of Armageddn approached from the north, Zeon launched its final counterattack against the Carnage empire, sending over five million troops to attack a crucial fort. With this hour of fate upon them, the citizens and soldiers of Luta and Lusa's kingdom came together to drive off the enemy's millions of invaders preparing to lay siege.

Led by Mr. Architect, the Carnage empires arched against the invaders. The battle took several days with inconclusive results, but finally the battle was won. Over fifty thousand halfling adventurers, illusionists, and pony riders perished and another fifty thousand more injured or dying--shallow compared to the two million bodies left on the field after the epic clash.

The halflings were quick to immortalize the battle in legend, commemorating the fallen with poems and songs. Feasts raged on for days, for soon the populaton would need to abandon Fantasia or perish in the clouds of doom. The two now-old twins ordered for their populations to abandon their homes, for not it was time to leave Fantasia once more.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Luta and Lusa Mor. Both died peacefully in old age. It would be Luta's firstborn son who would take up the empire many years later, a decision that would prove to become a grave mistake when internal issues, as well as external, would gnaw the once-peaceful CK Empire away from the inside.

Duke Ulgrin The Bastard

Lived in Era 31, got 1 heir(s) (Jerall The Shortbeard) and was a member of Carnage
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of Lenard, Era 30~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Ulgrin is a most notable figure in the CK Empire, a man of contrasting ideals. He was commonly known as The Bastard, (though by technical terms, this is not true: he was known by both his mother and father) but the title held also a significant level of informal respect and even an unrealized show of love. Though a shadowy man, he was renowned for his insights on life in his poetry and books.

The CK Empire had traditionally been a rather small one with only a few children per generation. However, the dual rule of both Luta and Lusa, and the factor each bore a number of children, which would later cause significant turmoil.

Luta's oldest son was named Jerall, the firstborn child of the new generation. He was a kind lad and eager to learn about his parents, including their ideas of justice and reigning over a Republic. Even at a young age, his keen insight surprised his caretakers and Luta's advisors. But perhaps caught most people's attention was the radiance of kindness, fairness, and morality Jerall seemed to project. Some legends even speculat Luta had taken Jerall to be blessed by a wizard, for Jerall seemed the perfect son and the perfect heir. Even his body was strong and fair, practically the image of a holy crusading knight.

Ulgrin was born next, five years behind Jerall. Ulgrin seemed the complete opposite. He was extremely pale, an albino. His eyes were a colorless, and as some described, seemingly lifless gray. He did not care for books or manuscripts, or the tutors who desperately tried to teach him. Ulgrin acted rude and selfish in his youth, calling his parents, palace guards, teachers, and caretakers nasty names. He quickly learned how to threaten, blackmail, and frame others. The more respected the person, the more Ulgrin tried to tear them down. Not only in private, but in public, attempting to spread rumors among the palace staff.

But of all those who Ulgrin tried to pester, he was always envious of his older brother whom everyone seemed to think some sort of hero. Yet for all this, Ulgrin never approached his brother or spoke negatvely about him.

Ulgrin was nine when Luta's two sisters were born, born just a year apart from each other. Ulgrin surprised the kingdom by immediately "taking his family under his wings," or so he announced. Whenever he and his sisters went out in public, Ulgrin took it upon himself to silence the crowd--never a difficult task, primarily because his ghostly appearance and commanding voice captivated his audiance--and inform them anyone who spoke negatively of his sister would be "significantly punished."

When his sisters aged, Ulgrin became practically a second father to them. He never missed one of their birthdays or failed to congratulate them for a task well done. But why would Ulgrin do this? the people wondered. Luta, though he tried to be a good father, was far too busy and failed to notice.

Meanwhile, Lusa was rearing children of her own. She gave birth to her son when Ulgrin was two. The son's name was Malrich, a short but energetic boy with fiery red hair and freckled skin. He was always eager to learn, just like his cousin Jerall, though he had considerable difficult when trying to learn math and science. Instead, he enjoyed history, especally the stories of old adventures and heroes. Malrich was a charmer; people thought of him as a noble lord in times past.

Malrich was always eager to travel to his cousins and play. But Jerall was always too busy with work. At first Ulgrin rejected him as another stranger, but Malrich was too dense, or perhaps too perserverant, to notice and returned repeatedly. Then one day Ulgrin changed his mind. He was willing to play certain games, especially those with heroes and monsters. Malrich would play the knight or magician, while Ulgrin took the role of the dragon or other kind of beast. He must have related to the monsters in emotion. perhaps due to his own irregular appearance.

Unlike typical child's games, however, Ulgrin did not grant Malrich the ever-so-traditional happy ending all too common in fairy tales. Ulgrin always made sure the hero's destiny was that of sorrow in their games. No cheering kingdoms for the knight to return to, no beautiful princesses to marry or mountain of gold to claim. Sometimes the hero did not even live past the encounter. Years later Malrich gathered the courage to ask why. This wasn't how the stories went, he told his cousin.

Ulgrin replied with a grim smile and spoke the famous words, "Men's lives are like candles. The brighter we burn or the more heat we release, the faster we burn away. In the end we always end up a puddle of cold melted wax. One may choose to throw this truthaway and pretend to believe in heroic immortaliy, but it is our very flame that will always be our undoing."

Years passed. Jerall quickly rose to a position in the republic's senate, a favored son by a favoring people. Malrich grew up, and though his problems continued with his education, he discovered a talent with economics and began his own series of armories and workshops, as well as a trading convoy to distant lands. Lusa gave birth to her triplet twins, one who studied medicine and healing, another who studied teaching, and the last who studied poetry and art. And Ulgrin's sisters grew up as well and began to part from Ulgrin's constantly watchful eye.

As for Ulgrin himself, he actually seemed to lose the qualities that made others think lowly of him. He grew quiet and reclusive, keeping his activities a mystery to the populace. In time he was nearly forgotten. People assumed Luta had sent him away to a foreign university or had fallen terminally sick. Ulgrin was anything but sick, however. In these teenage years he wrote a majority of his dark poetry and began to take his own education seriously, though selecting knowledge from his own sources.

But then life changed when the clouds of Armageddon began to destroy the world of Fantasia. Soon after leaving Fantasia, Luta died and Lusa contracted an illness that kept her in bed. Though it had never been officially declared, Jerall, the respected son took up his father's position as the patrician of the CK Empire.

But Ulgrin surprised the population. When Luta died, he came to his father's funeral dressed in a black cloak. Few payed attention to him, considering him just another well-wisher for the deceased patrician's soul. But after Jerall spoke a noble speech in tribute to his father, Ulgrin slipped up to the funeral pyre and turned to face the people. The crowd murmured and asked amongst themselves who the strange pale-skinned man was.

At last Ulgrin spoke cryptically, leaning over his father's funeral pyre. "This soul burned brightly, and so it has been consumed. Now let the body follow." With this he lit the funeral pyre. "Goodbye, father."

Shocked and awe-struck, the crowd began to stir. This wasn't the traditional ceremony for the death of a leader. There were no priests to conduct a sacred and lengthy ritual, no chanting to free the soul from the body, no last offerings of jewelry and gold thrown atop the body. Jerall, wide-eyed, stood and watched his brother.

"A new evening approaches," Ulgrin said. "With my hand the moon shall rise and the stars chime." Then he departed from the funeral.

In silence, Jerall, the priests, and the crowd began to remember who the stranger might have been, the strange and forgotten younger brother. Several priests came up to Jerall and whispered in his ear, but Jerall simply stood wide-eyed and dazed. Had his younger brother actually been so brave as dare such a feat?

Life resumed as usual, but the story of how the younger brother bypassed the expected king. Some believed Ulrgin should have been cast into exile. Others viewed Jerall as being weak and unresponsive for letting his brother emerge so unexpectedly. Yet others whispered their quiet admiration. Who would be the new king? Jerall or Ulgrin?

Lusa, who had not been able to attend her brother's funeral due to her own illnesses, died several years after. Jerall remained the favored leader in the scarlet robes, and authority fell upon him when dealing with foreign affairs. But he was not alone. Ulgrin's sisters and Lusa's daughters, after many years, were educated as advisors and took up command of various aspects of the republic. Their individual domains were not directly stated, but time seemed to categorize their influence based on their apparent skills. Only Ulgrin seemed absent from the ruling family. However, this was anything but the case.

Jerall, though a smart and wise ruler, didn't quite have the ability to lead the kingdom when the conflict stemmed not from an invading army but domestic issues, such as famine, plague, and taxes. As troubles began to arise, his confidence in his education began to falter. Over time he began to visit his younger brother Ulgrin for advice. Ulgrin's advice usually led to quick and efficient solutions, though not always the most popular in the common eye.

At some point or other, Jerall began to do very little for the kingdom other than act as the figurehead. In secret, it was Ulgrin who was the ruling mastermind of the empire. Though the official records show Jerall never faltered as king, through long-lost evidence can it be proven Ulgrin was the true king of the CK Empire.

In Fantasia, Ulgrin led his people alongside the trusty kingdom of Carnage. Over the course of the years Carnage fought Abydos, Phi, and the once-trusted kingdom of Dark Blood. Although no official relations were ever forged with Legacy, the kingdoms remained at peace.

Carnage had declared Dark Blood as a neutral kingdom. However, tensions began to mount--Dark Blood sought an alliance but Carnage would not grant such. Information leaked that Dark Blood may be Carnage's next target, so the kings of Dark Blood assaulted Carnage cities without an official declaration of war. One of Ulgrin's were among the first cities to fall, but in time it was liberated. Split between two enemy kingdoms, Carnage fought both Abydos and Dark Blood on two fronts as Legacy swiftly killed Phi and an old kingdom known as LDK.

Progress war slow; Carnage was outnumbered on both fronts. Abydos successfully reclaimed lost territories, and Dark Blood seemed capable of marching in a southern onslaught. However, due to Abydos and Dark Blood's distractions, Carnage was able to maintain a stalemate--and even turn the tides of war against Dark Blood with the help of long-time allied Peacekeepers.

Throughout these campaigns both Jerall and Ulgrin married. Jerall married a dwarvish woman and had a son and daughter with her. Ulgrin, on the other hand, married a troll, a species largely disliked by the "civilized" races. Legend claims they bore several children, though their names were never recorded.

Jerall died just before the storm clouds of Armageddon ravaged Fantasia. He and his wife were buried in the mountains in the dwarvish tradition. Ulgrin, however, seems to fall out of history. His death was never recorded. Some stories claim he still hides in the ruins of the final years of the CK Empire, immortally waiting for a new such empire to arise.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Jerall and Ulgrin the Bastard. It would be Jerall's oldest child, Jerall the Shortbeard, who would rise to command the CK Empire in another tough generation on Fantasia.

Duke Jerall The Shortbeard

Lived in Era 32, got 1 heir(s) (Jenine The Nobeard) and was a member of Carnage
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of White Widow, Era 32~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume. --Monk Devontiun

THE KING AND HIS MEN:

Jerall and his wife gave birth to a young dwarven child only a short year after their marriage. Their son seemed to bear more characteristics of the dwarven race and seemed to prefer to play with dwarven children, so it was assumed he'd be considered such as well. They directly named the child after Jerall, and old traditions that knights had once done hundreds of years ago.

Young Jerall grew up like any other child. With Ulgrin becoming more and more dominant in politics and leading the empire, the elder Jerall and his wife spent a lot of time with their child, encouraging him to read, play, and explore. Jerall thought it might be a good idea to have him trained in the art of war, how to handle a sword and how to maneuver in heavy armor. But the younger Jerall had little patience actually learning combat and only went through a few months of training before Jerall the elder and his wife saw the child's disinterest. They reasoned that perhaps he would never need to see combat in his reign.

As young Jerall matured, he grew to five feet--tall for a dwarf, but not extremely uncommon. When he tried to grow his beard out in the traditional dwarven fashion, his face grew fuzzy but never seemed to produce a full, thick beard. For this he was nicknamed "Jerall the Shortbeard."

In time Shortbeard's father, Jerall the elder, died. Due to the mysterious circumstances regarding Ulgrin's children, or whether or not he truly had any, Shortbeard was titled king at age twenty-three and ruled alongside his mother.

When the storm clouds of Armageddon fell upon the world of Fantasia once more, Shorbeard traveled with his mother and survivng subjects into distant lands. These years are vague, but stories tell that he was decently wise and intelligent, though a bit short-tempered. Also notable were his several attempts of wearing a fake beard, especially when it fell off during a ceremony. In time Shortbeard accepted his unlucky fate and nickname for good.

Sadly, Shortbeard did not live to be a very old man. He married a dwarven woman and bore three children just before arriving in Fantasia. However, less than a short year after establishing his capital in Fantasia, he sent her away to safety. The familiar kingdom of Dark Blood, allied with a more foreign one known as Dark Trio, immediately invaded Carnage from the north. The Carnage lords had little room to build their mines and establish their cities. Shortbeard's capital was constructed far from any major natural resource and could not compete with cities with over twice the productivity.

Shortbeard did celebrate one small victory, which was to capture a lone city owned by another foreign kingdom known as Army of Darkness. However, the garrison was stretched thin as the few brave recruits could not hold off against vastly superior forces and fell with little to no harm upon the enemy. Desperately, Shortbeard attempted to evacuate his people, but a Dark Trio army interrupted and executed all ten thousand peasants. Soon only Shortbeard a few loyal bodyguards remained.

But even Shortbeard's refugee city to the south in Peacekeepers lands was defeated. Shortbeard fell to Dark Blood swords and became the first ruler in many years to fall to an enemy. Thus Shortbeard's short and tragic reign came to a premature end.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Jerall the Shorbeard. Wisely, Shortbeard had his wife and children sent away to safety off of Fantasia. It would be his wife who would resume the ill-fated CK Empire in the lands of Nirvana with an old Carnagian friend, the son of the legendary Sir Survivor.

Duchess Jenine The Nobeard

Lived in Era 32, got 1 heir(s) (Krasksagon) and was a member of Havoc
~~~~~~~~~Chronicals of the CK Empires~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Era of White Widow, Era 32~~~~~~~~~~~
````````Compiled by Monk Devontiun`````````

PREFACE: This old journal chronicals the history of the CK Empire. It is said much can be learned about the future by looking into the past, and thus I have devoted my scholarly and religious studies looking into years gone by. I hope you enjoy reading my tale of these times long past as much as I enjoyed studying the ancient manuscripts and composing such a volume.--Monk Devontiun

THE QUEEN AND HER MEN:

Jerall sent his wife Jenine and three children south to flee Fantasia, and wisely. He was slain by his enemies in Fantasia, his kingdom brought to ruin.

After the fall of Carnage, the Dark Blood and Dark Trio armies continued to ravage allied Peacekeepers. Some children of Carnage lords restablished cities elsewhere in the lands, but a handful of other Carnage rulers decided that their fates did not lie in Fantasia anymore.

Jenine learned of her husband's death not long after fleeing to the uncivilized wildlands. Struck with sorrow, she alienated herself from her children and remaining subjects for a month to mourn the passing of her husband. When she returned, she cast no projection of sorrow, nor of anger, nor of pity. She did not speak her feelings to anyone anymore. Perhaps during her isolation she realized that she had come to inherit the throne,
and needed to lead the CK Empire just like her ancestors. Her husband had not been the first to fall to the enemy. The empire had not collapsed then, and evidently she decided with an iron resolve it would not start now. Even when her second-born child died from illness, she did not give in to greif.

Jenine first became known as the "Nobeard" when it was apparent she would stop at nothing to resume the kingdom that had been passed down to her. Although it was quite common for dwarven women to grow beards, Jenine always shaved hers to pass as more humanlike. Strangely enough, when it came
time to choose a dominant race for her warriors, Jenine did not use dwarven troops as expected, but rather converted to some of the most infamous armies known in the worlds--the orcs.

Jenine found a handful of other surviving Carnage lords and children of slain Carnage warriors, among them Sir Survivor, Mr Whoops, and Prince Corothius. The group of lords and their subjects traveled to Nirvana and settled next to several cities owned by a kingdom known as Highlands Honors and south of a small alliance known as Double Trouble. While Survivor and most of the others settled north of a river, Jenine decided to distance herself and settled south, away from the immediate assistance of her peers.

In time several local lords switched their alleigance to a now-growing kingdom known as Havoc, among them Mr. Spike and Mr. Tidus. Soon a war was sparked among the already established kingdom of Highlands Honor as Jenine sent troops to invade cities to the south as the lords retaliated. Many
times enemy armies could be seen from the city walls, but Jenine always kept a strong military prescence. Countless enemy armies were turned back or entirely slaughtered by the defensive troops. An independant, strong lord known as Duke Loren Sloth also threatened the lands many times, capturing cities and raising armies very quickly right in the borders of the CK Empire. However, Havoc was simply outnumbered and could gain no ground on the offensive.

Additionally, Double Trouble threatened to invade with powerful armies. This was where one of Jenine's children first became of significance. Her firstborn son was born a natural philsopher, teacher, and diplomat. He braved a journey to the northlands and began negotiations with Double Trouble, offering a kingdom merge which was refused. He then suggest a non aggresion pact, but it was just before a treaty was signed when he recieved word from Jenine that Havoc now clearly had the upper hand and to break off all negotiations.

The son was slightly sorrowed when he heard this news. He felt Havoc's actions had been mislead, casting the illusion of desiring peace when preparing for war. Additionally, he had made friends from the kingdom's palaces and cities. With regret, he honestly told the king of Double Trouble that Carnage intended an invasion and apologized for his part in it. Though he put his life in danger by this kind gesture, the king released him without incident just as armies owned by Mr. Whoops lay siege to the kingdom's outer defenses.

Slowly, tides began to turn. A neutral kingdom known as Jugantorial, consisting of several ex-Abydonian lords, attacked Highlands Honors and their allies from the east, and slowly the Highland Honors armies were stretched too thin to defend. At last, Havoc was able to expand until it dominated a majority of the northwest. In addition, another kingdom merged into Havoc from the east, increasing Havoc's power greatly. Mr. Whoops made significant victories to the north against Double Trouble, and though it took countless lives, the kingdom fell.

Highlands Honor crumbled until the broken lords disbanded and fled. Soon only three kingdoms remained, Havoc, Jugantorial, and a weak kingdom known as Black Chain. Black Chain would have died if it were not for switching sides to the kingdom of Havoc.

Throughout this time Jenine's second son, in sharp contrast to his brother, trained as a military tactician and became a high level officer in Jenine's armies. Although he was too young during the majority of the fight against Highlands Honors, he saw action and led troops against the last of the kingdom's armies. Although he returned home victorious, he was unsatisfied.

Until this time there existed a fragile peace between Havoc and Jugantorial, largely on the basis of a common enemy kingdom with over two dozens lords. But with this threat gone, several Carnage rulers decided to turn their attentions on undefended Juganitorial cities and captured them, breaching the unspoken truce. Immediately the five-lord enemy kingdom responded with retaliation, declaring war, thus beginning the second stage of Havoc's great struggle. It was this time when Jenine's younger son was promoted to the rank of general, sent to the fort Rbs to defend against invaders and plan future assaults.

Juganitorial was old kingdom with very intelligent generals and owned the entire south end of the world. Four out of its five members were considered the strongest of the world. Though Havoc had numbers in terms of Lords, Juganitorial had seemingly unstoppable armies. Immediately skirmishes broke out over the border and cities frequently changed ownership. It seemed a stalemate would last for some time, ending in Juganitorial's ultimate victory. The fort where Jenine's younger son commanded was attacked and laid siege to it for nearly a year, but Jenine's defenders would not budge despite low food and morale. In time, the defenders outgrow the attackers, and the Juganitorial army was forced to flee--but not without slaughtering an army of reinforcements full of fierce nazgul warriors. Jenine's younger son led his troops to give chase, despite the fact his army was by far much weaker than the enemy and in great peril outside city walls. It took the combination of many Havoc armies to match and defeat the enemy army, but this was accomplished and the enemy was forced to withdraw after a great battle. This was Jenine's first major victory, and the battle which would grant her son his fame.

Then a miracle happened. The Jugantorial generals suddenly stopped responding. Perhaps this was due to civil strife or disloyalty, or perhaps they dared not advance without their lord's advice. But Jenine was able to march a thousand devoted troops straight into the heart of an undefended Juganitorial region, capturing city after city and building an armory directly on enemy lands. Many of the cities were captured from Mr. Seth, each victory a resounding triumph amongst the CK Empire's regrowing population. Juganitorial did not respond until it was nearly defeated, leaving behind only a handful of cities with large garrisons. Jenine only faced resistance from a handful of independant lords, but even they fell to her massive armies.

But then whatever caused the generals to pause vanished. Juganitorial armies marched out of their garrisons and began reclaiming cities. But it was too late; Havoc was now fully geared for war and far superior in strength from the captured cities. Slowly the remaining Juganitorial troops were eliminated until only one city remained.

Unfortunately, this was still not the end. A massive army marched back to Rbs, the city that had been sieged by the same ruler years ago. But now its defenders were outnumbered by five times, and if it were not immediately reinforced the city would fall, allowing Juganitorial a strategic fort to resume its desperate offensive.

But a miracle struck again. Although the attackers worked quickly to assemble siege towers, rams, and ladders, they did not have enough time. Another great army joined the garrison, and the attacker was forced to flee once again, this time without so much as a scratch against the city walls.

Jeninie's combined defensive forces pursued the army, catching up when the enemy attempted to stop and lay siege to an undefended city. Miraculously, they did not claim the city in time, and when Jenine's forces flanked them by behind the army routed for the last time.

Before the storms clouds of armageddon arrived Juganitorial owned just one city where the remainder of its once proud armies defiantely held out against the ineviteable. However, Havoc was denied total victory as armageddon arrived, and fled from the lands just in time.

The years of turmoil had been taxing for Jenine. Though she hid it, worry gnawed her away at the inside. Her hair was white by age forty, and by seventy she looked over a hundred years in age. She grew sick in the uncivilized wildlands, and despite all the efforts to nurse her back to health, she died in the company of her two accomplished sons.

CLOSURE: Thus ends my account of Jenine the Nobeard. After her passing, her two sons would continue on the empire--though which son would be the one to do it had never been declared. The two brother's personalities differed vastly, causing mutual dislike and distrust, each believing themselves the superior ruler. These problems would resurface later, causing only further turmoil to an already weakened CK Empire.