Introduction to Talinie

[DM B]

Talinie is a much younger realm than Boeruine to the south. Boru warriors came here to destroy the sidhe kingdom of Trautha during the closing years of the Human-Elf war, but they did not settle the heavily forested land. Only a few brave souls made home along the south-western coast, in what is Seaport province today. Rjurik clans settled further north, along the Icehaven bay.

Meanwhile the interior forests were once again – now that the sidhe were conveniently gone – overrun by goblins and their allies. Even today goblins are a real menace in this area – with goblins clans actually living within Talinie’s borders, and many more across the border in Thurazor and the Five Peaks. But back then, before Deismaar, the region was awash with these filthy creatures. Come the War against Shadow these very goblins would be the end of human settlement in the region – goblin hordes slaughtered any who did not flee, and continued their rampage south into Boeruine and the Heartlands.

The first mention of ‘Talinie’ in Imperial records is a document signed Emperor Gladian Roele (r. 83-93 HC), wherein he ordered the building of a new city in the ‘Lands of Talinie’. That city would eventually become Nowelton, capital of Talinie. Some scholars note that ‘Talinie’ is a woman’s name, not a land-name of any significance – and oddly enough the Emperor was know to have a favored concubine called Talinie.

The Roele interest in the north didn’t outlast Gladin. Within a few years of his death the construction of the city had more or less stopped, and there was no longer an influx of settles – quite the contrary. Continuing unrest among the Dukes also led to the Talinie garrison being recalled, with devastating results for the settlers – they were gobbled up by goblins within a decade. Only Nowelton with its walls partially built and a strong keep remained, but was cut of from the rest of Anuire for all practical purposes, except by sea.

By the mid 4th Century House Boeruine were again masters of their own land and beginning to look about for glory and land. Talinie was close and thus a tempting target. Many years of bitter war with the goblins followed, but this was the people who had broken the sidhe – no filthy goblin could stand against them. They succeeded in pacifying and settling the south-western provinces along the coast. Nowelton, however, continued to be the property of the Roeles. In the event it turned out that Talinie was not a rich or pleasant land, and Boeruine’s attentions were soon drawn to other places – the Western Isles and beyond – leaving Talinie a backwater all the way up to the Fall of the Empire.

The Rjurik also returned to Talinie in this period, claiming the Icehaven bay and surrounding lands for themselves. Several Rjurik communities flourished from the mouth of the Ruide River all the way to Icehaven bay during the 7th and 8th Centuries.

Then it happened again; first came Boeruine’s rebellion against the Emperor and then the devastating century of succession wars after Michael’s death. Needless to say the armies of Boeruine were needed elsewhere – and when there are no guards at the door the goblins always come sneaking right back in. The Anuireans were not driven out this time, only compacted towards the coast and the south, and in the process loosing every gain made over several long centuries (with the province of Lindholme and House Larst being the obvious exceptions). The Rjurik living in the north, however, did fare very badly – they had not the resources to withstand the goblin onslaught.

1292 HC Jarod Dannis won the Battle of Ice Haven, ending three centuries of chaos and warfare in Talinie. His bloodline ruled well for over two centuries (a few bad apples there were, but not too many, nor any too rotten), eventually claiming and – at least partially – civilizing all of modern Talinie. Goblins were rooted out and largely consigned to live east of the new borders; a new Thegn was created to watch the goblin border, a standing army created, and many fortifications raised.

The end of the line came in 1528 HC, when Prince Robert, last of the Dannis scions was slain by Brandon Boer. Robert’s father, King Richard the Widower, had in his old age remarried (Robert’s mother died in childbirth), taking for his bride in 1520 HC the young Thuriene, a scion of the House of Berran (provincial yokels from northern Alamie). Everyone knew it for what it was – and old man wanting something young and fresh to warm his bed – but after near thirty years as a widower the beloved old King got away with it; bards proclaimed it ‘love’, catching the imagination of the young gentry.

In 1521 HC King Robert went to the trouble of having his previous marriage annulled (how he managed that only the dead know), effectively making Prince Robert a bastard. The King appeared to really have fallen in love and was planning to beget new heirs (presumably ones more to his linking than Robert). Then King then formally recognized Robert as his own, thereby making him Heir again – until such a time as a trueborn son could be produced. Robert was said to have been quite unhappy. King Richard died in a hunting accident in 1522 HC whereupon Robert tried claim the throne; it went badly and he was forced to flee Talinie, leaving Thuriene the Queen of Talinie (and Torias Griene Hierarch of the Northern Imperial Temple).

Robert would later become the figurehead of the Taren/Royce rebellion of 1526 HC that ousted Thuriene (and nearly toppled Theon Boer, only to cause Brandon to become Archduke of Boeruine). That rebellion was eventually crushed, Thuriene was rescued from her Dantier prison and re-crowned, and Robert was killed by Brandon. Thuriene has not re-married.

[DM B]

Thuriene Donalls (b. 1502 HC, m. 1520 HC, r. 1522 HC), Queen of Talinie, Thane of Ice Haven, Protector of the Faith: FAn; Noble 5/Cleric 2; Anduiras (Donalls), major, 31; LG; Abilities: Wis 18, Cha 16. Thuriene, then only 18 years old, married the now deceased widower King Richard of Talinie. Thuriene became Queen in 1522 HC by the Land’s Choice after the King’s untimely death in a riding accident. This came as something of shock for the King’s son Robert (from an earlier marriage with House Royce), and he eventually engineered a coup that placed him on the throne and exiled Thuriene to Dantier. She was rescued by Moergan Shaeme and Wilfred Isilviere, and later reinstated after a force led by Brandon Boer had crushed Robert’s supporters. It later became clear that Prince Robert had engineered his own father’s death and that he was involved with a cult of Belinik. Following her return to the throne, Thuriene has become an intensely religious person. Of House Berran, a minor family from Alamie.

Charles Alexander Myles (1495 HC), Earl of Winter’s Deep: MAn; Bard 7; Basaïa, minor, 17; CG. Abilities: Int 16, Cha 17. Charles is the Queen’s lover, a relatively well-known fact, even among the lower classes. Normally such a thing would not be tolerated in puritanical Talinie, but Charles and the Queen have a special place in the commoner’s hearts. Theirs is the heroic tale of love denied, great sacrifice, and duty preventing their marriage. Charles was the Queen’s most vocal supporter during Robert’s insurrection and he paid dearly for that at the hands of the Prince’s torturers. But he managed to escape and persuaded Brandon Boer to help the Queen by going to war, while he led Moergan and Wilfred to Dantier to free the Queen. The Earls of Winter’s Deep have been around for hundreds of years, originally serving with Dannis. Their strange Basaïan blood bringing light and warmth among the often cold and hard rulers of Talinie.

Eoerel Larst (1453 HC), Earl of Lindholme: MAn; Fighter 6; Reynir, major, 51; CN. The Old Man of Lindholme is the patriarch of the Larst clan. He is very old and weak, and even on good days he is not entirely sane. He has seven children, thirty-five grandchildren, and a host of great-grandchildren. His children have minor bloodlines, but the rest have only the most tenuous claim to the divine blood. The Larsts are a breed apart – literally – and never marry outside their extended family. The Larsts are also special because they along held the forestlands against the goblin tribes in the dark years after the Fall of the Empire. They are rumored to offer sacrifices to Reynir – and that it was the real reason for their survival.

Edwin “Fellshaft” Erwyne, Thane of Sermiset: MAn; Ranger 7/Sorcerer 1; Vorynn, minor, 20; N. Edwin is the archetypical image of a Westerner, big, strong, and gruff. He is all that, but also a cunning and calculating ruler who would stop at nothing to protect his family and fief. His nickname “Fellshaft” comes from his ability to make impossible shots (aided by true strike) with his might longbow – he has been seen killing goblin worg riders at over 1000 feet with his sidhe-crafted bow (no, that bow was not a gift from friendly elves).

Adler Royce (b. 1503 HC), Baron of Seaport: Male Brecht; Noble 1/Rogue 3; Masela, minor, 23; N. Adler inherited the Barony of Seaport after his father and three elder brothers well killed during Prince Robert’s insurrection. He is a vain and insecure man; prone to gossiping, but without the stomach for much more. House Royce is of Brecht stock; immigrants from Danigau, who bought lands from the King of Talinie a hundred years ago. They have managed to turn Seaport from a lightly settled coastal province into a growing agricultural center, and the town of Seaport is quickly becoming the second major port in Talinie.