History of ogres in the Cruth area
by Francesco DefferrariWell I haven't a comprehensive history of the Cruth area yet, indeed I've created the ogre kingdom only recently as I didn't mention it in my old history of Traladara.
This thread however is very useful to integrate the ogres with the above old history and the great work on the Cruth lowlands done by Agathokles.
That's a good time to integrate them, note that I do not use all Agathokles' timeline, but much of it:
Note also that (K) is from my Koskatep timeline, (H) is from my history of Traladara, (A) is from Agathokles' history, but I've added some explanations.
1412-1021 BC: Hutaakans control Koskatep, but the Cruth area is inhabited mostly by giants and fairies (K)
1147 BC Alik Rokov of Corescon lead a rebellion against the hutaakans but is defeated. Alik was a nosferatu follower of Nix. His family survives purged by Nix followers. (H)
1021 BC Orcs from the Shires sacks and occupy Koskatep, first ogres in the Cruth area (K)
1011 BC Hutaakans and humans of the area are constantly fighting orcs and ogres (H)
1000 BC Main Gnoll invasion, fall of the first "Achelos kingdom", Orcish tribes found the Kingdom of Othrong in the Shires. (H, A)
980 BC Gnolls defeated in Traladara, but found a kingdom in the west. The orcs of Koskatep pay lip service to them. At this time, ogres and giants are mostly confined to the Cruth mountains or subordinate to gnolls and orcs. (H)
954 BC Dwarves conquest Koskatep from the orcs but are in constant struggle with them and the gnolls to mantain control of the area (K)
933 BC Vandar humans in the west (A)
912 BC Gnolls conquer Koskatep (K)
900 BC Achelos is partly rebuilt, though it is only a small town by now. Vandar chiefs who have married into the Chardastes dynasty rule the area, with their ancestor divinized as the local patron Hero. (A)
841 BC: Followers of Nyx, aided by ogres and giants, attack Koskatep but are unable to conquer it from the gnolls. (K)
820 BC The gnoll are so powerful at this time that they almost conquer the western coast, including Halag and Luln (H)
760 BC King Ivan Ivanov inflict a decisive defeat to gnolls in the area of Threshold. The gnoll kingdom begin to fall apart. (H)
743-610 The Time of Heroes in the Hin lands. Many Orc clans leave the Shires
and settle in the western Cruth Lowlands
603 BC: The ogre king Kulfan conquers Koskatep in the name of Nyx and ogres rule over the area for centuries. Human priests of the Lady of the Night live in the city along with them. (K)
517 BC A pointless war between orcs and gnolls deplete the strenght of both people, ogre and giants become more and more powerful in the west (H)
500 BC The fusion of Vandars and Traldars has brought to a new people, the Traladarans. The Cruth Lowlands, however, keep their own cultural traits - stronger Vandar traditions, and the reemerging Sons of Night. The cults of Chardastes and Zirchev are also more common than those of Halav and Petra. (A)
496 BC Achelos Chardastes Halarov, destitute heir of the Halav dinasty, escape from enemies in Luln and establish his dominion in western Traladara (H)
BC 491 Goblinoid hordes fleeing the Sardal Pass arrive in Traladara (A) possible that more ogres join the kingdom centered in Koskatep
343 BC Queen Irina Lutescu destroy vampires and nosferatu all over Traladara. Nosferatu followers of Nyx and Tal people friends of them rebels against the queen. (H)
342 BC Peace of the night with the Tal people. The queen agrees to persecute no more nosferatu and followers of Nyx. (H)
95 AC: The Darkers almost complete the ritual to use the Starlake and bring forth the Eternal Night, but are stopped at the last moment by priests of Ixion, who drive out the ogres and occupy Koskatep for years (K)
227 AC: The priests of Ixion have repelled several attempts by ogres, giants and followers of Nyx trying to reclaim the ruins, but are destroyed at last by a very powerful and ancient vampire sent by Thanatos, The Last One. (K)
313 AC After the murder of the last Ivanov king, gnolls are again so powerful in the west to sack Luln and Achelos. (H)
327 AC The king in Marilenev places one of his son on the throne of Achelos, creating some tensions with the locals (A)
410 AC Boris Achelos Halarov is king of all Traladara (H)
445 AC Vampires and lycanthropes are exterminated all over Traladara. Even innocent Nosferatu are massacred by royal troops and adventurers. Ion Sulescu, friend of the people of the night, leave the council of nobles in protest. (H)
450 AC The king becomes cruel and tyrannical in his old years. The last free Tals, rebellious from his authority, are massacred in central Traladara. The People of the Night meet their end. (H)
452 AC Halag and Luln are effectively subject to dominion of Achelos (H)
444-493 AC A series of religious and political conflicts divide Traladara, leading in the West to the defeat of Halag and Luln with the rise in power of the Achelos kingdom (A, H)
509 AC: The Halarov kingdom of Achelos proclaim unilateral independence (H)
600 AC: The duke of Halag return to power, the duke of Achelos assume the title of king (A)
700 AC The Kingdom of Achelos suffers from orc and giant raids (A)
720 AC War of the serpent, the church of Atzanteotl try to gain full control of traladaran humanoids but is eventually defeated. In the west the Halarov kingdom is seriously weakened by the war, but the ogres and giants of the Cruth hills rise in power, destroying the gnolls and pushing orcs to the south and the west. (H)
783 AC Castle Koriszegy is struck by a curse that destroys the entire clan, except for the Count, who becomes a mad vampire. (A)
821 AC Duke Uidar Vargos mysteriously vanishes during a hunt in the eastern Cruth Lowlands. His companions are found dead, killed by Ogres (A)
900-903 AC: The Achelos kingdom is the only effective resistance to the thyatian invasion, but in the end is defeated, its cities burned and destroyed. Thyatians however are repeatedly defeated by ogres and giants when they try to enter the Cruth hills. (A, H)
912 AC: Traladaran freedom fighters hide in the ruins of Koskatep for some time, but are destroyed by the Thyatian army. The Thyatians, harassed by ogres and giants, soon leave the place. (K)
AC 944 Battle of Fire Rock: Orcish armies gathering north of Wereskalot are
scattered by a Hin surprise attack. Many Orcs flee into the Province of Traladara, prompting the new Governor General, Stefan Karameikos II (uncle of the current Duke) to order the construction of the Riverfork Keep (A)
AC 950 By this time, the northern part of the Cruth Lowlands is fully in the hands of the Orcs. Achelos is completely abandoned (A)
From the above timeline it's possible to divide in phases the history of Cruth ogres:
- They arrive in the area from 1021 BC but are subordinate to orcs and gnolls
- In 841 BC many of them are already followers of Nyx and their power is growing
- From 603 BC to 95 AC they have a powerful kingdom centered on Koskatep, inhabited also by giants and many human followers of Nyx, but are later destroyed by priests of Ixion and the dominion of Achelos.
- From 95 to 720 AC they have a time of decline, suffering attacks from orcs, gnolls and the humans of Achelos, until they begin to rebuild their kingdom.
- From 720 to 950 AC they rise in power in the eastern Cruth lowlands but are limited by orcs in the west and by the vampires that occupy Koskatep and Koriszegy.
- Around 1000 AC it depends on the campaign but if, as in mine, Koriszegy has been destroyed, Koskatep is again in the hands of ogres and followers of Nyx and the power of western orcs is much reduced due to fights with Riverfork and the defeat of the Black Eagle, then the Kingdom of Cruth Ogres and Giants can rise again