BackgroundWell several people have asked me what exactly is the background of New Elgante, so I thought I would make a collection of it here so far. I'll add to it a bit more later.
This is a "diary" entry of a priest who resides in one of the larger colonist towns
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18th of Welence in the reign of Emperor Laden second of that name since the formation of the Empire, Year 142 since discovery of New Elgante.
The colony reels after a shocking raid made by the filthy tribe of the mountains upon the small town of Hamgild, most inland settlement. Talks of abandoning all towns and villages which are not at least a day and a half from the coast are being discussed. The Duke of Port Horizon has offered to campaign upon the barbaric tribe and bring them to justice but little support for this has been forthcoming. The Arlenmen which have so far proved trustworthy towards the Empire and its interests are proving reluctant to take action upon a tribe which has been neutral to them. The Rebels grow in number each day as the scum of Elgante fall victim to the promises of their false ideals, they burn every book or script they find which contains any mention of the good and righteous Emperor Laden. The last ship which was sent back to the mainland has not returned in over a year, just like the one that preceded it. Fears are growing among the populace that the colony has been abandoned, both by the Emperor and by God, since no contact has been established in the past seven years. With more and more atrocities like the raid happening each day, I confess, with a heavy heart, not even I am immune to such misgivings. Lord Halrod of Hamgild has been reported to have been captured by the rebels after he survived the raid. No ransom message has been received as of yet. I hope that support from the Arlen tribe is given and the good Duke of Port Horizon can make a successful campaign to show these worthless barbarians and natives who is the one and true god. But most of the colonies money is being put towards horses, since the number of them severely dwindle and now it is a very uncommon sight to see anyone who is not of an upstanding rank to own a horse. I sincerely hope that a fleetis on its way to the colony even now and that the support it brings will help restore the glory that the colony of New Elgante once knew.
Signed Priest William, Silvershore
Basically the colony has been abandoned for reasons unknown, the rebels beleive that without the emperor surveying the area, that they should make their own ruling class. Which are not tyrannical, it is an ideal however. They do not realise that the civil war is only tearing the already weakened colony in half. The Karkan tribe (the "filthy tribe from the mountains") have reportedly been consorting with the rebels but the Empire are not well informed on this. The Arlen tribe are basically the tribe which is being bribed by Elgante to turn on its neighbours. The Lundmen are a break-off of the Karkan Tribe who are on speaking terms with the empire. They trade all sorts of things which sometimes include weapons. They have been slightly duped in this though since the empire sometime does not tell them how to use them. Like the cannon shots being traded to them, without the cannons! The strange tribe who live on the southern promontory shaped like a snakes head seem completely alienated with every other tribe, as well as the colonist and rebels. They are providing the most stubborn resistance
to the colonists.
Timeline52 Years before colonisation - Emperor Osmond of The Elgante Empire dies at age 43 from bad health. Emperor Welence, who was named successor, comes to power, aged 19.
51 Years Before colonisation
What can the colonists make, what do they have good supplies of, what are they much less well supplied with? Are powder weapons quite rare? What about armour? Does the island have any natural metal resources?
HMM... New Elgante is an Island far west of the Southern Realms. New Elgante has rich supply of the material used to make guns and that is why guns are very rare in the Southern Realms.
That might suggest that Markovis is from the Khergit Khanate.
Quote from: "Jubal"What can the colonists make, what do they have good supplies of, what are they much less well supplied with? Are powder weapons quite rare? What about armour? Does the island have any natural metal resources?
The colonists generally spend most of their resources on mass production of crossbows and swords. Gunpowder weapons are rare, usually only seen in the highest ranks of the empire armies. There is no way as of yet discovered to make gunpowder off of the resources the land has to offer, and that is why they are so rare since it all comes from the mainland. Armour is a fairly common thing to wear for the colonists, from light to heavy. Though heavy armour is phasing out. Plate armour is no longer fielded in the army.
The Island does have a natural metal resource, the tribe of snakes use it heavily for all their weaponry. The colonists do not really see the use of it, since iron seems to be just as good and cheaper.
Darn it... that just blows my theory. :P
Timeline added. It will be added to and changed. I still have 142 years to go :o but it should give people a good idea of why the colony was formed and a bit of background on the Empire
Thats good than.