Dol-Sorne (alternatively, Dol'Sorne) was the high elven name given to the coastal lands south of the Barlans river and east of the Titanizk mountains and the Iperto desert, all of which were parts of the first High Elven Kingdom of Dol-Sorne. Later with the Age of Invasions and the arrival of Humans, the Liber Valley will be excluded -as became part of Dumia- as the Hannian Plains will be excluded, being reserved the term to refer to the peninsula itself.
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Peninsula of Dol-Sorne circa 2250 a.a.H.
Description[]
Political Successions[]
Originally inhabited by Beast People and later Silvan elven tribes in prehistoric times, the Lantanidos will settle in its shores, founding palaces and ports that extended Lantanidan hegemony in the region until the arrival of High elves, who will conquer the whole region, making it a great kingdom: A kingdom that collapsed during the Age of Invasions, being conquered by Dumia, and later will become a province of the Empire of Dume. After the fall of Dume, followed a period of political fragmentation, where the grey elven duchies of Dol-Sorne will face successive invasions, being a battlefield for Unlic, Cruzeños and Hannian.
Geographic Boundaries[]
Geographically, the Dol'Sorne peninsula consists of the land east of a line extending from the Mithduin -the Dumian Griseo- to the Aithabec -the Roaring Gorge-, west of the Aeglir Mountains. Historically, it excludes the Liber Valley, while the plains of Dol-Teilath -north of the Liber Valley and south of the Hannian plains- it was included.
The peninsula lies between the Aurgaeron -the morning sea- to the east , the Lugan Sea on the north, and the Annungaeron -the Sunset Sea- on the west. The backbone of the Dol'Sorne peninsula consists of the Aeglir. Most of its coast is lined with cliffs.
The peninsula has mainly a Mediterranean climate, though in the mountainous parts the climate is much cooler. Its natural vegetation includes shrub-land along the coasts and deciduous and mixed deciduous coniferous forests in the interior.
History[]
Prehistory of the Peninsula[]
Excavations throughout what once was the Dol'Sorne peninsula finds a Beast people presence dating back to the Paleolithic Age, some 40,000 years ago. Elves appeared about 20,000 years ago. The Ancient Elves of the peninsula were Rossnes peoples, though some elven groups of undetermined language families may have been non-Rossnes in origins.
Between the 2,200 and the 1,900 b.a.H Lantanidos Zuleis established contacts with the Peninsula -that they called Praseo-, and in the 1,800 and 1,700 Lantanidan colonies were established all along the western coasts and northern part of the Peninsula.
Lantanidan Praseo[]
In the 1.800 and 1.700 b.a.H, for various reasons, including demographic crisis (famine, overcrowding, etc.), the search for new commercial outlets and ports, and expulsion from their homeland by the servants of the Black Wizard, Lantanidos began to settle in western Praseo. Also during this period, Lantanidan colonies were established in places as widely separated as the Alan Isles, the Isles of Mercania and in the southeastern shores of Aels, they included settlements in Lug and the western parts of the peninsula.
These western coasts and northern settlements of the Lantanidan in the peninsula -they called Praseo-. The settlers were of three tribes: the Cerian, Praseodimian and Neodimian, founding respectively the palaces of Ceria, Praseo and Nodimia.
The local Rossnes called the area of the Peninsula the Great Lantania, since it will have so many Zuleis inhabitants.
With this colonization, Lantanidan Flairie culture was exported to the Peninsula, in its dialects of the Ancient Flairie language, its religious rites and its traditions of the diverse tribes. An original Lantanidan civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Rossnes civilisations. The most important cultural transplant was the adoption of the Unnline variety of the Flairie alphabet, which was adopted by the Rossnes; the Old Sylvan alphabet subsequently evolved into the alphabets that the Sylvan elfs would most widely use, until the adoption for trade use of human alphabets.
Many of the new Lantanidan Palaces became very rich and powerful, sometimes shadowing the metropolis and older cities of the Lantanidos.
After the High Elves arrived and the local rulers failed their attempts to stop the spread of High Elven hegemony, falling the peninsula to High Elven domination and remained in such a position well into the Age of Invasions.
The Kingdom of Dol'Sorne[]
In the Late Elfic Age, as the High Elves expanded westward, they will found a series of colonies and kingdoms in Aels: prosperous realms that will come to be the jewels of the Venerable Empire of the Whide Axis. (See: Empire of Whide Axis)
As the Silver High Elves arrived at the 810 b.a.H, they found Rossnes elves in the hinterlands of the Peninsula under the rule of dark elven trading coastal oligarchies, descendants of the Lantanidos Flairie, they quickly drew a parallel between the situation of their ancestors of Ushaenor and in Dol-Sorne, and will extend their own Zuleis-Rossnes war of Ushaenor to the continent of Aels.
At the 809, Silver High Elves will found in the Kingdom of Dol'Sorne in the eastern shores of Aurgaeron, in the plains of Dol-Teilath, lands that weren't part of the Prasean Unnline hegemony.
From the settlements in Dol-Sorne and Tol'Norsa, the high elves will begin the conquest of the Peninsula, that will last from the 800 to the 750 b.a.H, where they will defeat the Flairie local oligarchies, expelling the Flairie minority of the Peninsula, and proclaimed themselves as liberators of the Sylvan elves: however, the high elves pretty much replaced the Zuleis rule of traders, who only controlled the coastline by trade, by their own, trying as well to exercise an effective rule of the hinterlands, which will be resisted by the Sylvan elves, sometimes in armed revolts that were violently repressed.
During the Kingdom of Dol-Sorne, the Silver High Elves will become a largely urban elite, while the Sylvan elves continued to be a segregated rural group, marginalized from power, which the Silver High Elves failed to integrate.
During the Age of Invasions, The Kingdom of Dol'Sorne will face rural revolts of sylvan elves, the Curse of the Doroz and successive invasions of Orcs, Draak Harg, Kanovs and Humans:
While they were able to finally come to an agreement to try to integrate the sylvan elves into the Silver High Elven society of Dol'Sorne, existing a late integration, it was too late, and the kingdom will be conquered by humans.
Only under human rule, as the silver high elves lost their status of rulers, will come to be the integration of high and sylvan elves into a single community, labeled simply as Grey elfs.
The Dumian Province of Dol'Sorne[]
The conquest and fall of Dol'Sorne by the humans began precisely with a quick campaign to the very heart of the realm, the homonymous capital that was in the plains of Dol-Teillath: To avoid carnage, the elven kings surrendered and the city was left open to the sacking by the human armies, with the condition they won't kill or enslave its inhabitants, or destroy the city. The city was sacked, but as the elves paid a rescue to avoid slavery, the city came under human rule, but remained elven.
With the fall of the Capital -and what was seen as a humiliation, the kings surrendering without fighting the human invaders-, the former elven kingdom crumbled, with the local oligarchies of the greater cities claiming their independent rule, refusing to accept the terms of surrender and claiming for their own rulers the crown of the kingdom.
With the elves divided, they could do little to oppose the human tribes that marched against them, as the rich elven cities were seen as important prizes to rule. The Peninsula of Dol'Sorne will be conquered by humans: the cities that tried to resist were razed, while the ones who surrendered and paid rescues were spared -and sometimes, the same elven rulers will use the humans against their rivals in petty politics.-
The rich cities of the elves sparked the greed on the human chieftains, who proceeded to claim their own realms and Dol'Sorne will become a political mosaic.
Some cities were able to survive the chaos, doing a dangerous political waltz. Many were razed or abandoned by their original inhabitants, often with humans taking residence in their ruins. Most will became just husks of their former glory, as continued to decrease the population of elves, who already were being called Grey elves.
These ambitious, greedy little human kingdoms, chiefdoms and tribes ruling over subjugated elves will end with the rise of the Republic of Dume, that will conquer the peninsula at the 809 a.a.H. While the bloody annexation of the territory to Dumia seemed only yet other war in a long series of war in the Peninsula, Dumian rule will result in peace and stability in the region that had for long been war-torn.
With the conquest of the Empire of the Librarians of Dume of the peninsula of Dol'Sorne, the coming "Pax Dumiana" will give the needed peace and stability for the grey elven population of the peninsula to recover, and the tolerant Dumian legislation toward non-humans -and specifically the grey elves- will mean again a period for elven cultural revival -the same for their cities, with many obtaining municipal status and recognition, equaled to human, dumian cities.
Under the rule of the Librarians, the former territories of the Kingdom of Dol'Sorne were divided in five Imperial provinces -while other territories were annexed to the metropolitan province of Dume, Dumia-. The Dumians will recover the old Lantanidan names for the provinces of Cerium -Ceria-, Praseodynium -Praseo-, and Neodynium -Nodimia-, while the plains of Dol-Teilath became the Imperial Province of Dol'Sorne.
Grey Elves will progressively gain many rights in the Dumian Empire -even citizenship-, being equaled in law with humans. While in Dumia this was achieved with a process of Integration, with elves living along the Dumian humans, in the five grey elven provinces of Dol'Sorne this will be instead largely achieved with segregation, being recognized elven and human, separated cities, with some municipalities residence being reserved to humans or grey elves.
The acquiring of rights and segregated elven cities with an autonomous, elven ruling class will create progressively a specific grey elven identity, which had achieved as well an economic and political importance -this identity to be contrasted with the Grey elves of integrated Dumian cities, or the later grey elves in the lands of the Weseuros.-
The Grey Elven Duchies of Dol'Sorne[]
Since the Apparition of Demons at the 1365 a.a.H, the Dumian populations faced the demons in a series of successive and destructive wars, that severely weakened the Empire in these called Dumian-Demon Wars: first it will mean the division of the empire in a northern and southern fraction, and eventually Dume will fall at the 1676 a.a.H.
In the chaos that followed, there will be a series of invasions and fights for power in Dumia, between the Hannian Weseuros -that settled in the northern plains that will come to be known as Hannian since 1605-, Dumian Christian bishops, Grey elves, Kanov invaders from the Titanizk mountains and the Barlans and successive invasions of the Unlic Empire of Uslen who attempted to reunify the former Dumian Empire -
In this chaos, the grey elves urban elites that were formed during Imperial Rule will be able to form independent duchies, formed around the larger and more powerful cities: Dol'Sorne, to the south of the Hannian plains in Dol-Teilath. Daith'Mith, known as Grisel or the Grey Port in the southeast of the Peninsula, Ceir'Dundhuir -Ceria- in the north, Tal'Praess -Praseo- in the east- and Nod'Haidïn -Nodimia- in the south.
Along these five greater elven duchies, there were several smaller ones.
However, their independence will be faint and difficult, as this was a contested region, becoming vassals of one or another human faction, but being able to ensure an important level of autonomy in their cities, being as vassals of Hannian, Cruzeños or Unlic humans and despite of their region being a constant battlefield.
Hannian Dumian Empire, foundation of the Duchies, 1688-1833[]
After the fall of Dume, as the shadow of the Empire still was cast upon its ruins, at the 1688 the Hannian -that first had settled in the northern borders of the empire as allies of Dume in 1605, having fought fiercely in the Dumian armies against the Dark Legions- will invade Dol-Teilath and Dumia, with their king Christaric claiming the re-founding of the Dumian Empire, crowning himself emperor. He sent an embassy to the Southern Dumian Empire for the emperor to recognize him as his peer, but the embassy was mocked and sent back with a request for Christaric to send the imperial seals and crown back to the crypts he had sacked.
Fearing then an Unlic invasion, Christaric sought support of the mosaic of cities, human bishops and grey elven lordships in the peninsula of Dol'Sorne, where the elven rulers of the cities requested their recognition with titles: Christaric will then appoint the dukes of Daith'Mith, Ceir'Dundhuir, Tal'Praess and Nod'Haidïn.
The feared Unlic invasion however never materialized -as they were busy with the dark legion in the Unholy Mountain of Hortann.
Christaric, who had antagonized the Christian bishops of Dume and feared it will spark a rebellion from the plebs, while in the north the Hannian dukes conspired: Christaric left Dume by the 1698, dying quelling a revolt of the duke of Barcan in 1712. His attempts to establish a hereditary dynasty failed, and the Hannian revival of the Dumian Empire crumbled, as neither of the self-appointed successors of the Hannian throne claimed for themselves the Imperial title.
By the 1722, after a decade of civil war, a weakened royal figure of the Hannian king claimed to rule over all Hannian, Dumia, and Dol'Sorne, but in reality the power was held by the highest ranking aristocrats, the dukes.
semi-autonomous Dumian and Hannian human dukes -and their grey elven peers-, which in turn had their duchies divided in city-states, will be the political organization during this period.
Unlic Invasion of Tinian II, 1833-1984[]
The Unlic Emperor Tinian II, seeking to re-establish the Empire of the Librarians wanted to extend his rule to the historical center of the Empire in Dume. The Unlic will launch an invasion at the 1833, while it had some initial success, saw the death of the son of the Emperor Tinian II, defeated and killed in battle, which along with crisis in Uslen due the shadow of Hortann, meant that another imperial effort at re-conquest was not possible. Because of the Hannian incursions, the Unlic possessions had fragmented into several isolated territories, and in 1862, the Unlic Emperor reorganized them into five provinces.
Thus by the third quarter of the 19th century the new order of powers had settled into a stable pattern. Dume, governed by its governor, who held civil and military authority in addition to his ecclesiastical office, was confined to the city and environs as far north as the Dol-Teliath, beyond which lay territory of the grey elven duke of Dol'Sorne, nominally in imperial service, and west to the Aithabec River, beyond which lay the Duchy of the Nod'Haidïn, also under a duke nominally representing the Emperor of the South.
The Unlic rule was organised into a group of duchies which were mainly the coastal cities in Dumia and Dol'Sorne peninsula since the Hannians and Grey Elves held the advantage in the hinterland.
The elven duchies largely at first supported the Unlic -due to their rivalry with the Hannian dukes-, but the stance of Unlics to non-humans hurt the relations between the Unlic and their nominal grey elven vassals.
These fragments of the province of Dumia, as it was when reconquered for Tinian II, were almost all lost, either to the Hannian, or by the revolt of the grey Elves, who finally separated from the Empire on the issue of the racial reforms regarding non-humans.
The relationship between the Grey Elven dukes and the Governor in Dume was a dynamic that could hurt or help the empire. The Dukes -be elven or human- could be a vehicle for local discontent. The old dumian and grey elven aristocracy resented being governed by a Governor who was considered by many a meddlesome foreigner. Thus the exarch faced threats from without as well as from within, hampering much real progress and development.
In its internal history the Unlic Imperial Province of Dumia was subject to the splintering influences which were leading to the subdivision of sovereignty and the establishment of feudalism throughout Aels. Step by step, and in spite of the efforts of the emperors at Titipopolis, the great imperial officials became local landowners, the lesser owners of land were increasingly kinsmen or at least associates of these officials, and new allegiances intruded on the sphere of imperial administration. Meanwhile, the necessity for providing for the defence of the imperial territories against the Hannians led to the formation of local militias, who at first were attached to the imperial regiments, but gradually became independent, as they were recruited entirely locally. These armed men and elves formed the forces, who were the forerunners of the free armed burghers of the Dumian and elven cities of later Ages.
During the 20th century, the growing menace of the Hannian humans and the Kanovs -either of Titanizk, the Barlans or Iperto- as well as the split between human and non-human vassals, culminating in the acrimonious rivalry between the Duke of Dol'Sorne and the Governor of Dume, made the position of the governor more and more untenable.
Dume remained the seat of the governor until the revolt of the Dumian over religious disputes with the Unlic Christianity. Ethilicos, the last exarch of Dume, was killed by the rebelion of the Grey Elves in 1984. The remaining imperial lands was reorganized as the Province of Dume, which was lost to Kanov invaders in 1980 and only recovered in 2004.
When in 1989 the Hannians drove the Kanovs out of Dumia, the Bishop of Dume claimed the former Imperial territories. His ally the King of the Hannian, donated the conquered lands to the Bishop; this donation will be confirmed by the Archbishop of Karentia. The cities within the former Unlic province, however, had developed traditions of local secular power and independence, which contributed to the fragmenting localization of powers. That independence would fuel the rise of the independent communes.
So the Imperial Province disappeared, with small remnants of the imperial possessions on the mainland.
La Cruz-Uslen War, 2038-2144[]
By the 2002, again the Unlic prepared for re-asserting their imperial authority on Dumia, and before sending an invasion force, they sent embassies to gain to their cause the local dukes, who had their own clashes with the Bishop of Dume.
Mostly thanks to diplomacy, buying the aristocrats and only minor campaigns, Dumia came to be again -nominally- under Imperial control, with the dukes of Dol'Sorne peninsula, Dumia and Hannia recognizing the imperial rule.
However, the Bishop of Dume will request for the help of the Archbishop of Karentia to recover the donated lands, which will lead to the Archbishop granting permission to Cruzeños noble adventurers to reconquer these lands of the church, for the church.
The Cruzeños adventurers of La Cruz will arrive at the 2038, beginning the La Cruz-Uslen wars, that will last until the 2173.
These wouldn't be the first Cruzeños to arrive to the region -Cruzeños mercenaries had at least been serving the dukes or the Unlic since some 11 years prior-: what will change at the 2038 was that the mercenaries, proclaimed their own Cruzeño Duchy in Dumia, against the interests of the Empire and the local dukes.
While most of the campaign was fought in the valley of the Liber in proper Dumia between the Cruzeños and the Unlic, the Grey Elven duchies weren't unaffected by the war. The Duchy of Dol'Sorne was a key ally of the Unlic, and had to endure the march of many Cruzeños armies sacking Dol-Teliath. Daith'Mith and Nod'Haidïn, initially allied with the Unlic quickly abandoned their alliance: Daith'Mith will support the Cruzeños -hoping to get this way many disputed lands with their Dol'Sorne neighbors-, while Nod'Haidïn claimed its neutrality.
Tal'Praess and Ceir'Dundhuir, who hadn't renewed their loyalty to the Unlic -their rebellions against the Unlic in the previous century still fresh in their minds-, and they wanted to sit out the conflict to see the outcome:
However during a truce between the Unlic and Cruzeños -that soon would be broken-, new cruzeños adventurers had arrived, eager to plunder and sack and become rulers of their own duchies: And so, they will land in Ceir'Dundhuir at the 2044
With an army at their gates, the Duke of Ceir'Dundhuir sent an embassy to try to buy the Cruzeños, hiring them as mercenaries to be used against Tal'Praess -their rivals-, or hoping them to return to their ships and continue, paying them a ransom.
However, as the Cruzeños saw the gold of the ransom and the embassy, they figured the elven duchy to be an easy prey: they claimed the elves had insulted their honor, slew the embassy, took the ransom and marched to the grey elven city, while their ships sailed along the coast.
The Ceir'Dundhuir tried to resist the sudden assault, but attacked from sea and land the city fell, being followed by the sack of the city.
The Cruzeño noble Ignaros, leader of the expedition, claimed the Cruzeño Duchy of Ceria, soon giving noble titles and lands to his followers: they made the ducal palace into a cathedral, consecrated it -and the new duchy with a mass- and, without losing time, they gathered horses from the nearby farmlands, and marched against Tal'Praess.
When first the news came of Tal'Praess of the fall of Ceir'Dundhuir to the human invaders, some celebrated the end of their long time rivals: but soon to the news followed the army and fleet of the new duke of Ceria, and the Tal'Praessians realized their mistake. The Duke of Tal'Praess quickly gathered his army to face the invasion, but while they hold the first attack of the Cruzeños of Ceria, the navy of Ignaros landed at their flank.
Attacked by land and sea, the elves retreated to their fortified cities or to the forests, from where they tried to resist the invasion. While Ignaros was able to conquer some coastal cities and fortifications, the campaign began to be too long and costly, especially as arrived news of the end of the Unlic-Cruzeño truce -the Cruzeños of Dumia attacked a convoy of Unlic merchant ships front of the island of Luthe, claiming them to be reinforcements for the Unlic soldiers in Dumia-, and so Ignaros had to leave with much his army, leaving in charge of the sieges and pacification of Tal'Praess to his uncle, Joacco.
Between the 2044 and 2051, Joacco continued the slow conquest of the grey elven duchy: when finally fell the city of Tal'Praess, he then proclaimed himself to be the Duke of Praseo and Ceria, taking the title and lands from Ignaros, then fighting in Dol'Sorne.
When hearing the treason, Ignaros wanted to leave with his host to fight his uncle, but the Cruzeño commander -the Cruzeño Duke of Dumia- forced him to stay, as he needed his host to face the Unlic.
Joacco, learning of the support of the Duke of Dumia to Ignaros, then entered in secret treaties with the Unlic, and in exchange of gold and their recognition of him as duke of Ceria and Praseo -and Imperial governor of these provinces-, he was to support the Unlic against the other Cruzeños dukes.
However, Joacco didn't kept his word, and remained in his duchies while he send an embassy to the Archbishop of Karentia and the King of La Cruz, offering himself as vassal to the kingdom and important concessions to the church -investing the new bishops of Ceria and Praseo, tasked with the conversion of Christianity of the grey elves.-
By the 2050s, the Unnlic only held a few coastal towns in Dumia, and at the 2056 after a series of battles in Dol-Sorne, and after many attempts of relief to the Unnlic held grey elven city had failed, the city surrendered at 2059 a.a.H, ending the Unnlic presence in Dumia.
Being cleared this situation, the Duke of Dumia finally allowed Ignaros to march with his army against his uncle Joacco, landing in Ceria. Joacco marched with his army to the north, preparing to face Ignaros, but the Bishop of Ceria, in representation of the Karentian Christian Church and the King of La Cruz intervened to avoid the spilling of Cruzeño blood when they needed to keep their forces to rule over Dumia and Dol'Sorne. As neither Joacco or Ignaros were to leave their differences aside, it was then decided to determine it by a trial of combat between them, in a duel with swords. However the night before the duel, Joacco and fifty of his men broke into the house where Ignaros was sleeping, killing him and his entourage. He expected that the Bishop of Ceria, which he considered an ally, to intercede for him and recognize his rule over Praseo and Ceria, but instead as he heard of these crimes, the bishop excommunicated Joacco, who was proclaimed an outlaw to be arrested and hanged for his crimes.
Joacco with his closer supporters escaped from the city, riding to the Aeglir mounts -to become a bitter knight bandit, who will terrorize the countryside for almost a decade.- The Bishop then offered the headless duchies to the Duke of Dumia, to gain his support.
the Duke of Dumia gave Ceria and Praseo to his sons.
While Tal'Praess and Ceir'Dundhuir had been conquered by the Cruzeños -becoming Praseo and Ceria respectively-, with more and more humans coming to settle down in the grey elven lands, the dukes of Nod'Haidïn and Daith'Mith will be sensible enough to become vassals of the cruzeño duke of Dumia to avoid to follow the destiny of sacking, plunder and invasion that suffered the other three duchies -as in 2059, Dol'Sorne too fell, with the duke giving is crown to the Duke of Dumia -though he will appoint again a grey elven duke to the city in 2071, to gather support from the grey elves against the Unlic in a new Unlic-Cruzeño war-
Ignacio Rogelio, the powerful cruzeño Duke of Dumia will die during a new war with the Unlic at the 2074 and his brother -the Duke of Mercania, Roberto Rogelio- will be granted from the Archbishop of Karentia the former lands of his brother at the 2080:
Controlling eastern Dumia, Ceria, Praseo and Mercania, he will become the King of Mercania -sometimes known as the Cruzeño Kingdom of Mercania, or the Dumian-Cruzeño Kingdom-, with the grey elven dukes of Dol'Sorne, Daith'Mith and Nod'haidïn.
Cruzeños hegemony over Dol'Sorne and Dumia, while not uncontested by many conflicts between the ambitious cruzeños nobles, local revolts and palace intrigues will last until the 2144:
In the 2137, the Unlic were able to gain as allies the Hannian and Dumian dukes to their cause, tired of the Cruzeños rule: However this alliance would be largely unfruitful.
Only the death of Rogelio II in February 2143, who was succeeded by Ignacio I of Mercania, combined with the widespread rebellions against the rule of the new King in Mercania and Dol'Sorne, the presence of Dol'Sorne grey elven refugees at the Unnlic court, and the successor of the Hannian Duke failure to deal with the Cruzeños encouraged the Unlic empress Carolina to take advantage of the multiple instabilities that existed in the Dol'Sorne Peninsula. She sent two imperial officers with Unnlic troops, 10 Unnlic ships, and large quantities of gold to invade Dol-Sorne (2144).
While the two generals were instructed to enlist the support of the Hannian Duke, since he was hostile to the Cruzeños, but he declined, as he was elected the new duke of Hannian under the promises of not continuing the aggressive Dumian foreign policy of his predecessor and his army was demoralized to continue a fruitless dumian campaign. Nevertheless, with the help of disaffected local barons and grey elves, Carolina's expedition achieved astonishingly rapid progress as the whole of southern Dumia rose up in rebellion against the Cruzeño-Mercanian Crown, and the untried Ignacio I. There followed a string of spectacular successes as numerous strongholds yielded either to force or the lure of gold.
After about one hundred years, the Cruzeño hegemony had been broken, with Dumia, Hannian, Dol'Sorne, Daith'Mith and Nod'Haidïn breaking the cruzeños chains -however, the duchies of Ceria and Praseo remained in the hands of their cruzeños dukes, and the kingdom of Mercania will continue their existence until the 2181.
As result of these wars, with the Cruzeños unable to take southern Aels, they turned their attention to northwestern Aelian affairs. The Unlic meanwhile had not possessed the will or the resources for any Dumian invasion since the days of Carolina IV. After the third invasion, the survival of the Empire became more important to the Unlic than a mere province as was Dume, across the Iperto dessert: satisfied with the dukes swearing their loyalty to the Empire and a nominal vassalage, the last unlic soldiers retreated to the south, against the rising treat of the Unholy Mountain of Hortann.
The First War of the Power in Dol'Sorne, 2207-2210[]
With the Unlic and Cruzeños weakened, the local dukes will contest each other in petty squabbles for power and petty wars: Despite these wars, culture and trade flourished.... but beyond their borders, the black banners of the Dark Legions began to gather:
To the north, in the Barlans the armies of the Kanov barbarians gathered, while in the Titanizk mounts the war horn called the warriors of the Kanovs, Orcs, Ogres, Goblins and Giants, while in the east of Dumia, in Abilia, the Land of the Heretics, Demons began to raise demonic cults and across the sea, in the island of Lug, black ships were being built.
While numerous voices saw the danger rising, besieging the humans and grey elves alike of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne, these voices were ignored.
The pirates of Lug began to raid the shores of Dol'Sorne, and the barbarians of the Barlans crossed yearly the river, demanding payment of ransoms to the northern Hannian duchies, while agents of the demons infiltrated in the cities of Dumia, spreading their cults in secrecy.
Worried about this, the Bishops of Dumia, Ceria and Praseo will send concerned letters to Karentia, the Five Kingdoms and the Unlic Empire of Uslen, but their concerns too were ignored.
When finally the Dark legion attacked, beginning the First War of the Power with the simultaneous attacks of the Demons to the northerner Five Kingdoms of the Northwest and the Southern realms of Uslen and Purpurian, at first the Dukes refused to accept the extension of the war and the bolder raids by their Kanov neighbors of Iperto, the Barlans and Titanizk were disregarded too as local events:
Only the fall of the three of Five Kingdoms will be a wake up call to the dukes to toss aside their differences and try to attempt a coordinated defense, sending support, weapons and coin to Tardos and la Cruz at the 2204: but it was too little, too late.
If the neither the Five Kingdoms, Purpurian or the Unlic had a chance to face the Dark Legion, the little armies of the dukes were in a worse condition.
While the Dukes massed an army at the ancient elven bridge of the Bultr, hoping to stop the armies of the Dark legion marching from the north, the pirates of Lug landed to their east flank, in the delta of the river, while coming down from the Titanizk mountains came a howling horde of kanovs, mountain wild men and orcs: the armies of the Dukes were defeated, before the northern Dark legions arrived: this was called the First Battle of the Bultr Bridge, or the Disaster of the Bultr.
As the survivors retreated to the south, the hidden cultists tossed their hiding cloaks, and acting as a fifth column closed the gates of cities to the armies of the dukes, while opening them to the Dark Legion.
From Abilia and Iperto other armies attacked, and landing from the sea came the Draak Harg of Mercania and the pirates of Iperto.
Everything seemed to be lost, and only remnants of the ducal armies, fighting from the hills, shrubs, forests and mountains a guerrilla warfare resisted, fighting a lost war, as there seemed nobody was left to support them -aside of the sporadic help from Valknyria and Liohn-, when -in what seemed like a miracle-, landed an Expeditionary force from the Venerable Empire of the Whide Axis in the Bay of Bike, at the 2209.
The great elven and human host, commanded by the Emperor of the Elves Altarin decided to march to the south, defeating the Dark legions in the successive Battle of the Cold Plains and the second Battle of the Bultr bridge: after this, the army of the Whide Axis liberated the duchies of Hannia, Dumia and Dol'Sorne with the help of the local warriors -however, not without political complications-:
The Second Kingdom of Dol'Sorne, 2210-2227[]
The Ambitious Altarin, who wanted to give again all its former glory to the High Elven Empire of the Whide Axis, conditioned his support in exchange to be the tutor of the elves of Aels -and several realms considered to be elven-: this included Dol'Sorne -and not only the grey elven lands and cities, but the extension of the former kingdom of Dol'Sorne:
this was protested and resisted by the local human elite as a colonial administration of High Elves was established in the liberated Kingdom of Dol'Sorne -which had as elected king, the same Altarin-
While the colonial administration of the newly re-founded kingdom was hated, it was perceived as a lesser evil -especially compared to the previous demonic occupation-, and the grey elves and humans will continue to fight under the banners of the Whide Axis in their campaign to the south -to liberate Uslen and against Hortann- and then the final great campaign to the Demonic Lands of Polforia itself.
As with the rest of the Whide Axis, the disappearance of Altarin -the Lost Emperor- in battle will create serious political turmoil, that the colonial high elven administration was able to sort recognizing -temporarily- the claim to the Imperial throne of Saerchanar the Fake:
But as he bitterly renounced to the throne of the Empire at the 2227 a.a.H, there was no successor to the throne -and neither a succession law-. It was established a regency council by the High Elves, remaining legally a possession of the Empire of Whide Axis.
While there was a modest influx of High elven colonists from the Whide Axis -that nevertheless, helped to recover strength to the local grey elven culture and population-, slowly the old elites began to contest more and more the Regency Council, which was seen as a foreign tool.
The High Elves faced several rebellions of the Dukes, and without support from the Empire of Whide Axis -increasingly isolationist of the White Party, they were fighting a losing war. To gain support against the predominantly human dukes, they will try to gain the support from the cities, granting charters and municipal privileges, and inclusion of the grey elves into the Regency Council.
While it was attempted to seek a diplomatic solution, the stance of High Elves regarding the humans and their exclusion from the Regency Council -and the refusal the reinstatement of the Cruzeños and other human duchies in what were elven lands before the La Cruz-Unlic Wars- will lead to the northern Hannian dukes first -and the Dumian dukes soon after- break away from the kingdom:
At the 2254, Only the Five Duchies of the Grey Elves will remain in a kingdom without a king, ruled by a Regency Council.
City States and the League of Dumia[]
After the First War of the Power and the crisis of the Kingdom of Dol'Sorne, will began a political development in Dumia: the transformation of the communes into powerful city states modeled on ancient Dumian Republicanism -model that will be replicated too in the Grey elven cities of Dol'Sorne-.
This replication of the model was both because the local grey elven urban elites desired the rights that had been granted to the human cities, and because of the human settlers that lived within their own cities, as the model of segregation was broken during the conquests of the Cruzeños -only in Daith'Mith remained the segregation of differentiated elven and human settlements-.
These republics and city-states will flourish and rose to great political power, contesting the duchies: However this meant that the Dumian and Dol'Sornian city states were in a state of constant warfare, adding to and overlapping with the conflict they had with the rising -since the 2350 a.a.H- Kingdom of Hannian.
The dukes of Hannia were the first to break appart from the second kingdom of Dol'Sorne, but they hadn't crowned a new king until the Duke of Hanovian, the northernmost of all the duchies of Hannian commanded an alliance that defeated an invasion of the Gorbegean Kanov in the Bultr Bridge: After this victory, they proclaimed Duke Christopher I as King Christopher I of the Hannian at the 2350.
The Kingdom of the Hannian will try to extend their influence over Dumia and Dol'Sorne, meddling in the conflicts between the bishops, city-states, republics and duchies, often trying to legitimize the supremacy as defenders of the region from the barbarians of the Barlans and the Titanizk Mountains.
The claim of Christopher II to the empty throne of Dol'Sorne will spark the most notable of these dumian wars, -the War of the Elven Nights-, that lasted from 2390 to 2410, that finished with a status quo ante bellum, being the true victors the city-states, as it further weakened the dukes and made the king of Hannian retreat back to the pre-war borders.
With the Second War of the Power (2435-2535 a.a.H), having witnessed the great demonic invasion of Sargos of the 2440, only stopped by The Miracle of the Battle of the plains of Sargos, the grey elven and humans of Dumia and Dol'Sorne will form the so-called Dumian League, accepting the leading role of the King of Hannian.
Under Hannian leadership, the League of Dumia will defeat the demonic state of Abilia and participate in the Holy Wars of Eden: the elven warriors of Dol'Sorne will be among the few elven warriors to fight alongside the human warriors in the Holy Wars.
Dol'Sorne in the Holy Sargonic Empire, 2502-2592[]
Kingdom of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne, 2486-2502[]
As the leading role of the Kingdom of Hannian became more effective, the king will come closer to the high nobility of Dol'Sorne -who was coming to be more and more confronted with the rich and powerful city states and republics-.
To seal this alliance, the regency council of the Kingdom of Dol'Sorne -for long, vacant- will elect as king of Dol'Sorne the Hannian king Christopher IV at the 2486 -as Cristoforo I of the Kingdom of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne-: in this way, the king ruled over Hannia, Dumia, Dol'Sorne, Abilia, Titanizk, Lug and the Mercanian islands, becoming the most powerful monarch of central Aels.
However, the king -backed by the high nobility- will enter in conflict with the City-States and Republics within his kingdom -against the burghers and low urban nobility-, with the conflict often becoming uprisings of the cities, that Cristoforo I had problem quelling.
As the conflict extended for a bit more than a decade, it was finally achieved an agreement under the arbitration of the newly appointed Emperor of the Holy Sargonic Empire.
As guarantee of this pact, that granted the cities wide liberties while providing with regulated tax incomes to the king of Hannian and the high nobility, King Cristoforo I swore as vassal of the Holy Sargonic Emperor at the 2502 a.a.H, becoming the kingdom of Hannian an imperial subject -which opened the doors to the trade to the protectionist empire to the trading cities-
Dol'Sorne in the Holy Sargonic Empire[]
While the guarantee of the Holy Emperor served to freeze the conflict, it wasn't truly solved and disputes will arise in the following decades, where the Emperor and the Imperial Court had an important role keeping the precarious balance -and the situation will turn even more volatile as the Kanov Kingdom of Gorbegea, which had become Christian, entered to the Empire 2557 a.a.H -and the ambitious kanov kings wanted to extend their influence into the Kingdom of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne:
Not only internal conflicts and the ambitions of their northern neighbors menaced the kingdom: to the south, the Caliphate of the Orange Sun of Blazakhov -that had made into a vassal the ruins of the Unlic Empire of Uslen at the 2544- had extended to Iperto at the 2560 -and it didn't seemed they would stop in their expansion: the first clashes will happen at the 2565 in the Dumian borders -and it will break open war between the great Christian and Muslim empires at the 2574 in the Battle of St. Miliel -where the Imperial Armies defeated the Orange Sun, which had marched into Dumia- began a war that will last until the 2594 a.a.H.
After the victory over Blazakhov at the 2574, the Imperial Army tried to attack Iperto from Dumia and Purpurian: but as the campaign stagnated and the costs rose, it was decided at the 2577 to retreat the imperial legions, leaving instead only the royal armies of Hannian and Purpurian to continue the campaign in Iperto -specially as the Muslim fleets began to endanger the shores of the Holy Sargonic Empire.
Cristoforo II, King of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne, indebted due the war efforts will try to enact new taxes on the City-states and Republics -that broke the sanctioned agreement by the emperor-. The cities protested in the Imperial Court which tried defusing the situation:
However, as Cristofo II began to collect the additional, illegal taxes at the 2579, the banks -based in the cities of Dol'Sorne and Dumia- forced the situation of the King of Hannian which made the kingdom fall into bankruptcy.
While the enraged Cristoforo II tried to force the cities -and their banks- with a trade embargo and laying siege to the Grey Port of Daith'Mith. The cities -organized now in the League of Daith'Mith- retreated their communal militias, armed burghers and mercenaries from Iperto to prepare to fight the royal army.
However, it won't come down to this: the inability of Cristoforo II to pay his mercenaries fighting in Iperto meant that his professional army deserted -soon followed by the feudal levies that formed the bulk of it-, remaining with a smaller army -invested in the siege of Daith'Mith-:
This opened the borders of the Empire to the Caliphate of the Orange Sun, who began to mass a new invading army in the south.
At this situation, the Holy Emperor Camilo VII had to call again for the Imperial armies, who marched to the Kingdom of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne.
While the Imperial Court -temporarily in Dol'Sorne- was able to defuse the situation -making a compromise solution that left neither the king or the League of Daith'Mith happy with it-, it was just in time for the communal militias of the League of Daith'Mith and the knights of Cristoforo II to join the Imperial armies in battle against an invasion of the Orange Sun of Blazakhov in the 2580: Dumia became a battlefield and was ravaged by the Imperial and Caliphal armies, ending this campaign at the 2583: the Muslim armies had finally abandoned Dumia, but they camped right in the borders of the empire, in Abilia.
Exhausted and indebted, it seemed soon would boil again the conflict between the King and the league of Daith'Mith. However, the Imperial court sanctioned balance will finally crumble, not due commercial reasons or the conflict within Hannian, but from the actions of the new Emperor, Camilo VIII The Apostate, who crowned at the 2585, entered in conflict with the christian karentian church the 2586, conflict that became the infamous sargonic religious war at the 2587, war that will soon rage along the empire.
The Archbishop of Karentia, having excommunicated The Apostate, crowned instead the King of Botania, Carlos Alfonso IV, as new Holy Sargonic Emperor: this wasn't recognized neither by the Apostate, or the king of Gorbegea, Sergei II, who claimed himself Emperor at the 2589: this was known as the War of the Three Emperors, within the sargonic religious war.
As result of this, Dol'Sorne, Dumia and Hannian became a battleground for the Three Emperors in their civil War -the grey elves largely supported the Apostate, while Hannian and Dumia the Botanian claim of Carlos Alfonso IV-: but to the north was the powerful Gorbegean state with their own claim with the Imperial Throne of Sergei II.
Sergei II will invade Hannian -quickly defeating the followers of Carlos Alfonso- and then attacked Dol'Sorne. While his army was tangled with the Apostates, the Armies of the Caliphate of the Orange Sun marched into Dumia at the 2591 a.a.H.
Making a desperate call to the other Christian princes to come in his aid -and aid to the empire-, Sergei II prepared the Gorbegean armies to face the Muslim invaders: but his call was unanswered by his rivals. Standing alone, the Gorbegean Emperor was defeated in the decisive Battle of Hannovian at the 2592 a.a.H, where Sergei II himself was slain in battle.
While the Gorbegeos will retreat fighting -and will be able to resist in their peninsula, abandoning to the Orange Sun most of their kingdom that covered all the Barlans to the Nohalion Mountains-, in Hannia, Dumia and Dol'Sorne the humans, grey elves and kanovs, Apostates, Karentian Christian or pagans kneeled to the Orange Sun of Blazakhov -which continued its triumphal march into Sargos itself, the capital of the war-torn Empire-
The Caliphate of the Orange Sun of Blazakhov became the dominant power in Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne until The Cataclysm. Many people converted to the religion of the victors -the Islam-.
Emirate of Al-Dolnahir, 2592-2675[]
Al-Dolnahir was the name given to the whole region by their Muslim rulers from the Caliphate of the Orange Sun.
Muslims, who first invaded in 2565, seized control of the entire region from the war-torn Holy Sargonic Empire -and the local Kingdom of Hannian, Dumia and Dol'Sorne- at the 2592. A Blazik-Dumian culture developed, producing a multiconfessional and multilingual state. The Emirate collapsed with The Cataclysm at the 2675 a.a.H.
Though their reign, continued revolts by Christian humans and elves occurred, especially in the southeast, and part of the lands were even re-occupied before being quashed.
The local population conquered by the Muslims were human Karentian Christians - but there were also a significant number of Jews- and grey elves -the majority of which declared themselves as well Karentian christians, along a numerous minority that followed ancient elven religions-. There was an unknown number of Demon Cultists, acting in secret. Christians and Jews were tolerated under Muslim rule as dhimmis, but were subject to some restrictions. The dhimmis were also required to pay the jizya, or poll tax, and the kharaj or land tax, but were exempt from the tax that Muslims had to pay (Zakaat). Under Blazik rule there were different categories of Jizya payers, but their common denominator was the payment of the Jizya as a mark of subjection to Muslim rule in exchange for protection against foreign and internal aggression. The conquered population could avoid this subservient status by converting to Islam. Whether by honest religious conviction or societal compulsion large numbers of natives converted to Islam. However, even after 80 years of Islamic rule, numerous Karentian communities prospered, especially in Hannian and Dumia, as dhimmis. This was largely a result of the Jizya system which allowed co-existence. This co-existence with the conquered population fell apart after The Cataclysm.
As with most of the Aelian states, the existence of the Emirate of Al-Dolnahir will be endangered by the Third War of the Power, and much of Hannian and Dumia suffered the demonic invasions -the peninsula of Dol'Sorne being largely spared of the worse of the war-.
After the Cataclysm, Al-Dolnahir Muslims remained citizens of the multi-ethnic counties and subsequent kingdoms of Motzabili, until those who had not already converted were expelled in the 2840s -mostly to the Caliphate of Anglasecuarnia. Until the late 2700s, and probably as late as the 2820s, Muslims formed the majority of soutwestern Motzabilian population. Their influence remained in some elements of the Motzabilian language, as well as surnames and locations.