The Story of Altair

These stories take place in the lands surrounding the city of Altair. The city lies at the confluence of two rivers, south of a tall, frozen mountain range and north of an uncharted virgin forest called the Wilderness. The swamps of Fenwood mark the western edge of its territory, while a vast ocean defines its eastern boundary.

For many years this territory was a land of conflict, as the various tribes and city-states constantly fought one another. Gradually, five warlords elevated their families to prominence, and each carved out a niche for himself. This consolidation of power only served to intensify the devastation spread by their constant wars. This continued until the leaders of the five warring tribes held a summit.

The Treaty of Five Swords put a final end to the conflict of the Figaro, Oberian, Regai, Kaldorn, and Gro-Bannor families. The symbol of their peace was a new city, ruled by a council of the leaders of the five families. It was called Altair. Once they ceased their infighting, the families formed the United Guard of Altair to face external threats like the increasing attacks by gnoll and bugbear tribes from the west.

Each family gave its own contribution to the people of the city. The Figaro family and its vassals were cunning merchants, establishing a valuable trade relationship with the independent port city of Darvin. The Oberians held the most fertile parts of the countryside before the treaty, and they were diligent farmers, feeding the city with their labors. The Gro-Bannor family was the result of intermarriage between the human Bannor clan and the orcish Grobak tribe. They brought military prowess to the city while simultaneously serving as a political deterrant against potentially aggressive orc tribes. The elven Regai scholars and the skilled smiths and miners of the dwarven Kaldorn family completed the alliance.

The Treaty of Five Swords held fast for over one hundred years, and Altair flourished. However, where fierce battles once raged, political struggles rose within the alliance. Each family received one vote in the ruling council, despite the fact that the Figaro family contributed the largest percentage of the population. This imbalance led to the council passing the occasional tariff over the protest of the mercantile Figaros. As this continued, some members of the Figaros began to consider a withdrawal from the treaty.

Meanwhile, the orcish tribes in the west became increasingly brazen, marching on border settlements under the name "The Fire Legion." This army of zealots fought tirelessly at the will of the object of their devotion, an ancient red dragon named A-Zaruk. As tensions rose in Altair, the Legion drove further and further east. The United Guard struggled to keep these raids contained, while council members' careful rhetoric kept the Figaros from secession, but the situation remained in a fragile state of balance.

This all changed when Torvald Oberian was poisoned. The Oberian family blamed the Figaro clan, while the Figaros took offense at the allegations, pleading their innocence. This controversy was the tipping point, and in its wake, the Figaro family left Altair. While the city's political and economic structure reeled from this upheaval, disaster struck.

Altair was weak. It had lost its most important economic contributors, and even the port city Darvin sided with the renegade Figaros. Its very foundation, the century-old treaty, was rent asunder. It was then that the Fire Legion struck. The orcish battalions seemed endless, dotted with trolls and ogres, as they laid siege to the city. The citizens of the city rallied, fighting the invaders from Altair's walls. Hope flared in the defenders' eyes, but a second betrayal arose. A-Zaruk's influence reached even into the Gro-Bannor family itself. Just as the United Guard began to push the Fire Legion back, traitorous cultists within the city opened the gates. Though they fought in every street, the citizens of the city were no match for the might of the Ancient Wyrm herself as she soared overhead, lighting Altair ablaze.

The Fire Legion ruled the city, and what citizens failed to escape the city were either slain or enslaved. The remnant of the Regai elves fled to the Wilderness, the Kaldorn dwarves retreated to their mountains, and the remaining citizens scattered.

In time, they gathered to in the south, forming a new city. Little more than a tent village, Haven was their new beacon of hope. There they prayed, wished, and plotted for the eventual liberation of their home.