A prologue to Andor's Trail
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:20 am
When playing through the game and even trying to contribute quests I stumbled upon the wiki (andorstrail.com/wiki). I recognized it as a nice source of background information but there are some things, where I had my own visions for filling some holes in the backstory.
So this is my view of a possible prologue to the game, with my view of the conflict between Nor City and Feygard:
Generations ago, the whole country was united under the royal banner of King Luthor. He was a righteous, strong leader. A man, the people would follow through the deepest and darkest hours, through the hardest periods of time -a man that would lead by example. The streets and trade routes were safe places guarded by the Feygard Royal Guard -a strong, well trained army of loyal soldiers. They protected the borders against monstrous threats, like the Gornauds in the Western lands, dark cultists from the Eastern misguided barbarians and they stood their ground against rising undead Lichs who tried to awake unholy armies in the deep, dark caves of forgotten landscapes.
People lived in peace with each other, honoring the law that was given to them by their King. Even different religions were tolerated in the forgotten kingdom. Every man and woman was allowed to follow their own gods, perform their own rituals, as long as they wouldn't try to convince other people to follow their ideals by force.
But dark clouds came up on the horizon. The King had misfortune with his wife. She died, before a son could have been born. So their was no heir to the throne, no legitimized prince. When the King took his last breath, the nobles started to arguee about their rights to claim the throne.
The Lords, once rulers of the bigger cities like Charwood, Blackwater, even Feygard and Nor City went to war. Some thought with their armies, some tried to build their power on a construct of lies and intrigues. But the price wasn't paid by the rich aristocrates, the price was paid by the simple people. The farmers, who lost their farms, the traders, who lost the safe routes between the cities and the soldiers, who lost their lifes in countless skirmishes and battles. Now, with the absence of the strong Feygard Royal Guard, the dark cultists started to secretly invade the county, building their unholy temples in the dark forgotten caves, performing their rituals and summoning unthought, unspoken evils. The monstrous armies saw their chance, to grab a piece of the former untouchable country, to get revenge for their lost wars. They only had to wait, until the last resistance was shattered by the private wars between the land lords.
Then, with most of the country side being burned to ashes, most of the Lords dead or ran away, two revolutions seemed to turn the fate of the tormented country.
In Feygard, Lord Geomyr climbed the throne as an "administrator of the Kingdom, until a new King would be crowned". People may be questioning his motives, but he restored order in Feygard and rebuilt the Feygard Royal Guard. After cementing his power in the former capital, he started to send out couriers to announce his demand for leadership and his goal to reinstall the old glory of the Kingdom. Some cities answered his message, some cities ignored him and some were offended by him. Not much after that, Feygard sent out troops. First, they rebuilt the Crossroads Guard House to secure the wide farm lands of Loneford. Woodcutters swarmed out, to cut down the trees and to expand the fields so the people of Feygard won't have to suffer from starvation anymore. More troops were sent to Blackwater and Charwood, to get access to the ore, they were digging out of the mountains. Ore, to create powerful weapons. Feygard started to get influence in most of the cities but they were unable to reinstall the old borders or to defend them. The army was only a shadow of the old glory. Many of the officers were corrupt, aiming to get their own benefits from those unsteady times.
The second big change was the revolution in Nor City. The former Land Lord was lynched by revolutioners. The strongest powerblock in Nor City was by far the cult of the shadow. The former priests became interested in the affairs of politics, offering a more self-determined future to the simple towns men under the banner of the shadow. Offering consolation to the widows and orphans, offering inspiration to armed forces, offering salvation for everybody who wanted to follow their ideals. They even experimented with necromancy, searching for a way to extend their lifetime or to awake long gone relatives. People were fascinated by the priests, who also created potions of decedents which were able to cure most of the common sufferings and even heal wounds from fights. People admitted those things and built cathedrals for their new spiritual leaders.
With the growing influence of the shadow cult Lord Geomyr became jealous of their success of spreading their words and was afraid of losing some of his own influence and power. He tried to force people under his banner, to apply pressure with increased military presence. He even prohibited rituals of the shadow and started to persecute priests who refused to give up on their practices.
Contrary to Feygard, Nor City didn't have a strong army. They were able to defend their city, but couldn't protect their chapels in the surrounding villages by armed forces. So they started a guerilla war, sabotating military convois, skirmishing with small patrols and recruiting free agents as spies or assassins. Feygard tried to fight those rebels with its Royal Guard, but was unable to gain successes against this enemy lurking in the shadows.
This is the time, where two brothers were up to forge their fate, to change the face of this country.
So this is my view of a possible prologue to the game, with my view of the conflict between Nor City and Feygard:
Generations ago, the whole country was united under the royal banner of King Luthor. He was a righteous, strong leader. A man, the people would follow through the deepest and darkest hours, through the hardest periods of time -a man that would lead by example. The streets and trade routes were safe places guarded by the Feygard Royal Guard -a strong, well trained army of loyal soldiers. They protected the borders against monstrous threats, like the Gornauds in the Western lands, dark cultists from the Eastern misguided barbarians and they stood their ground against rising undead Lichs who tried to awake unholy armies in the deep, dark caves of forgotten landscapes.
People lived in peace with each other, honoring the law that was given to them by their King. Even different religions were tolerated in the forgotten kingdom. Every man and woman was allowed to follow their own gods, perform their own rituals, as long as they wouldn't try to convince other people to follow their ideals by force.
But dark clouds came up on the horizon. The King had misfortune with his wife. She died, before a son could have been born. So their was no heir to the throne, no legitimized prince. When the King took his last breath, the nobles started to arguee about their rights to claim the throne.
The Lords, once rulers of the bigger cities like Charwood, Blackwater, even Feygard and Nor City went to war. Some thought with their armies, some tried to build their power on a construct of lies and intrigues. But the price wasn't paid by the rich aristocrates, the price was paid by the simple people. The farmers, who lost their farms, the traders, who lost the safe routes between the cities and the soldiers, who lost their lifes in countless skirmishes and battles. Now, with the absence of the strong Feygard Royal Guard, the dark cultists started to secretly invade the county, building their unholy temples in the dark forgotten caves, performing their rituals and summoning unthought, unspoken evils. The monstrous armies saw their chance, to grab a piece of the former untouchable country, to get revenge for their lost wars. They only had to wait, until the last resistance was shattered by the private wars between the land lords.
Then, with most of the country side being burned to ashes, most of the Lords dead or ran away, two revolutions seemed to turn the fate of the tormented country.
In Feygard, Lord Geomyr climbed the throne as an "administrator of the Kingdom, until a new King would be crowned". People may be questioning his motives, but he restored order in Feygard and rebuilt the Feygard Royal Guard. After cementing his power in the former capital, he started to send out couriers to announce his demand for leadership and his goal to reinstall the old glory of the Kingdom. Some cities answered his message, some cities ignored him and some were offended by him. Not much after that, Feygard sent out troops. First, they rebuilt the Crossroads Guard House to secure the wide farm lands of Loneford. Woodcutters swarmed out, to cut down the trees and to expand the fields so the people of Feygard won't have to suffer from starvation anymore. More troops were sent to Blackwater and Charwood, to get access to the ore, they were digging out of the mountains. Ore, to create powerful weapons. Feygard started to get influence in most of the cities but they were unable to reinstall the old borders or to defend them. The army was only a shadow of the old glory. Many of the officers were corrupt, aiming to get their own benefits from those unsteady times.
The second big change was the revolution in Nor City. The former Land Lord was lynched by revolutioners. The strongest powerblock in Nor City was by far the cult of the shadow. The former priests became interested in the affairs of politics, offering a more self-determined future to the simple towns men under the banner of the shadow. Offering consolation to the widows and orphans, offering inspiration to armed forces, offering salvation for everybody who wanted to follow their ideals. They even experimented with necromancy, searching for a way to extend their lifetime or to awake long gone relatives. People were fascinated by the priests, who also created potions of decedents which were able to cure most of the common sufferings and even heal wounds from fights. People admitted those things and built cathedrals for their new spiritual leaders.
With the growing influence of the shadow cult Lord Geomyr became jealous of their success of spreading their words and was afraid of losing some of his own influence and power. He tried to force people under his banner, to apply pressure with increased military presence. He even prohibited rituals of the shadow and started to persecute priests who refused to give up on their practices.
Contrary to Feygard, Nor City didn't have a strong army. They were able to defend their city, but couldn't protect their chapels in the surrounding villages by armed forces. So they started a guerilla war, sabotating military convois, skirmishing with small patrols and recruiting free agents as spies or assassins. Feygard tried to fight those rebels with its Royal Guard, but was unable to gain successes against this enemy lurking in the shadows.
This is the time, where two brothers were up to forge their fate, to change the face of this country.