The Realm of the Concordant

Our supreme sovereign, His Grace The High King Eden Belrase, skillfully subdued the warlords and regional rulers of the eight states that surrounded the royal state of Belmar, and bound them together in the Concordant. First he conquered Rikkan to the north, for they lacked unity, and warred among each other for supremacy of the horse trade and lapis of their mountains. When this was accomplished and the other lords saw his might and the rightfulness of his claim, Grand Duke Darton Narventis of Narrania surrendered his rulership and gifted Narrania to His Grace. As the First to Kneel, the Grand Duke did not have to pay the joining ransom that the other lords did when they entered the Concordant.

With Rikkan to the north and Narrania to the west both conquered, The High King turned his attention to Galway by the sea. Lord Severi Marcano met him in several battles, putting up the longest fight of any nation, but in the end was defeated at the hill now called Edensgain, for with it, The High King took Galway. With Narrania and Galway thus taken, the southern state of Solmar, with no support, fell on its own and without battle. Four states strong, Our Lord, who is the Torch of Reason and of fairness and justice, secured the remaining three states by diplomacy.

Janu, being the southernmost state and closest to the Darklands, suffered the most from Darklander raids. Aware that without support they would be unable to defend themselves in the event of an invasion, a ruling descendant of Syuna Felivan, the ancient Queen of Oristan which Janu was once the heart of, Jireena Felivan, surrendered the land to His Grace. At the border of Janu and Parthad, nearly five leagues from the city of Parashrun, the Qushara of Parthad, Etrorin Qushara, met us with a might of twelve thousand men and one thousand horse. After three clashes spanning four weeks, the Qushara and his rightful king met in negotitian, both eager to spare the lives of their men so far as possible. In the end, Etrorin entered the Concordant, under the condition that the Upright Law not be pushed upon his people, and that they be free from the fears of the newly-formed Justicant and its Confessors. Though many urged His Grace against this agreement, his wisdom outshines ours as the sun outshines a candle, and for his own ineffable reason, he accepted, and brought Parthad into his protection.

Cardania had been silent, choosing a principle of non-interference, hoping to avoid the spread of our light. The High King saw that their naval power had to be ours, or else our shores would never be secured. Through cunning and intelligent ploy, we secured the last living son of the King of Cardania and filled his mind with the Proofs. At his son’s entreaty, King Owen Belkind bent the knee to His Grace and thus Cardania entered into his skillful rule. At that time, our Lord of Reason’s glave and protector, the northman Graveson Helmondson, returned to his ancestral home of Helmond. He fought the heads of the gavels in single combat and defeated them, becoming their Warchief, and then entering Helmond into the Concordant.

In this fashion the entire continent was secured, and the warring lands and realms became a single Ordered World, divided into nine states, Belmar at its heart. The eight who had once ruled, gathered at royal invitation in Belmaras, in our splendid capitol, and knelt together to pledge their loyalty to the High King. In his unperishing mercy, he allowed each of them to retain governorship of their respective state, and appointed over them a royal Regent, who would act as the High King’s mouth to their ear, and ensure they obeyed royal decree.

~Morrell’s History, Folio 2, Chapter 31, The War of Nine Kings.
Written in the Twentieth Year of the Third Kingdom.
Dedicated to King Arron Belrase, Heir and First Born of the High King Eden Belrase (gone to peace)
Scholarch Medisto is the scribe-hand