Place of Origin: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos

To be a Karameikan is to know that you are a citizen of a nation that is destined for greatness. And to be a Karameikan adventurer is to believe that you will bring this greatness about. Karameikan adventurers don't tend to be braggarts, but they have a quiet stubborn assurance that no one is better than they.


History

Much of the early history of Karameikos is recorded in an epic work of poetry, "The Song of King Halav", and is known to nearly all of the inhabitants of the duchy.

In ancient times, Karameikos was the forest homeland to the Traldar. It was a beautiful and prosperous land. Then, a race of evil beast-men invaded the land and there was a great war. The immortals visited 3 Traldar and gave them secrets to defeat the Beastmen. The Traldar, Halav, Petra and Zirchev, overcame great odds to defeat the beast-men, and eventually joined the ranks of the immortals themselves. The time of King Halav has since been referred to as the Golden Age of the Traldar.

Following the Golden Age, came the Dark Age. Traldar never fully recovered from the invasion of the beast-men, and many evil things settled into the Traldar mountains and forests. Towns were cut off from one another as clans of goblins, hobgoblins and orcs settled in and made trade very dangerous.

Gradually though, the descendents of the Traldar, called Traladarans, started inching their way toward economic recovery as trade with Thyatis and Darokin began to flourish. Elvish and Gnomish settlers began to aid the humans in their struggles with the humanoid tribes. Its chief city, Marilenev, began to flourish, catching the attention of the Empire of Thyatis.

Worried that Traladara could one day become a threat, the Empire conquered the capital in AC900, claiming all of Traladara for itself. Renamed "Specularum" (The Mirror City after its reflective bay) began to flourish even moreso. The Traladarans were left alone for the most part, and actually enjoyed a substantial increase to their economy.

Traladara remained much the way it was until AC970, the year the Stefan Karameikos III sold his ancestral lands to the Emperor of Thyatis in exchange for independant rulership of the Traladara region, which is renamed the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. Thyatians began pouring into the land, swearing loyalty to Duke Stefan in return for land grants.

Unfortunately, some of the Thyatians were ruthless, stealing land from the Traladarans living upon them, but, on the good side, roads were built throughout the Duchy, and a substantial army was raised. Duke Stefan's rise to power, though marked initially with armed insurrection, gradually gave way to acceptance as the land was united into a single, powerful nation.

Today, the Grand Duchy is composed of an unmixed and divided population (Traladaran, Thyatian and others). It is a young country, with most of its interior uncivilized. But it is growing stronger and more united day by day, and is, of course, full of grand opportunities for adventure.


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