Frozt Concordat

The mass migration caused by the Andlian Empire’s rapid expansion caused many nomadic peoples from the west to move eastward in search of a new place to call home. While many individuals migrated as Far East as the land would take them, others found suitable locations to settle along the way. When the Euchinne Mountains and the Moyen Plains were discovered on the journey east, large groups of travelers known as the Frozt People decided the call the place their home.

Before true settlement and colonization of the area could begin, however, there was an enemy that needed abolishment: the Orc Tribes. Widespread across the Mid-Neosan lands, Orcs slaughtered early settlers by the thousands. It was only due to the structure of the Nine Houses of Frozt that the settlers were able to oust the Orcs as the dominant race in the Moyen Plains and Euchinne Mountains. These houses, which would each stake a claim to a large part of the land, were known as Krasar, Maitse, Jardin, Frotierre, Mensierre, Ventaterre, Upoussi, Ciann, and Pousser. —

In the early days of colonization, Frozt settlers faced two distinct problems depending on their locations. The Northern colonies, inhabiting the Euchinne Mountains (Upoussi, Maitse, Mensierre and Jardin) would come to know the menace of the Kobold Tribes that inhabited the mountains. Being creatures of savagery, kobolds were unwelcoming to the new settlers in the area, and conducted constant raids on settlements from their mountain outposts. However the settlers had an advantage that the Kobold sorely lacked: their skill with crafting allowed them to barricade their settlements in a manner which made Kobold raids impossibly difficult, and hired adventurers were paid well for the tail of every Kobold foe they slew. In a matter of decades, the Kobold were chased back into their mountain caves, and the northernmost colonies were left with plenty of mineral-rich lands to build upon.

The southern colonies faces a quite different threat however. The colonies settling the Moyen Plains that would come to be known as Frotiere, Ventaterre, Pousser, Ciann and Krasar were in much more accepting land conditions, being located on much flatter grasslands, but this left them open invasion by the grassland’s natural inhabitants; Goblins. Another savage species incapable of coexistence, the goblin tribes that had previously had no humanoid rival other than themselves, and were therefore widespread across the lower Mid-Neosan lands. The southern colonies had trouble fighting against the unpredictable nature of goblins, as they seemed to have no clear motive or leadership among their ranks. However, after studying their migration patterns and designing accompanying battle tactics, Guiscard of House Krasar was able to stave off the Goblin attacks. He later led his house in conjuncture with the others in a series of battles known as the Goblin Crusades, cementing his title as Guiscard Goblinslayer.

While all nine houses did stake claims to land, not all were prosperous. Due to the harsh climate of Mount Haute, the nation of Mensierre faced many hardships. Their lack of suitable mining equipment left them with no way to harness the bountiful copper that rested within the mountain. Due to these circumstances, it wasn’t long before the Menserrian infrastructure collapsed, leaving its surviving citizens with no hierarchy to lead them. They lost the remainder of non-mountainous territory to other colonies such as Frotierre, which had little trouble initially settling due to the fertile soils of its claimed territory. From the ashes of the failed Mensierre rose Haute, a hardened colony of mountain-faring Froztans.

Another house that could not grasp success was the colony of Ciann. Having obtained the southernmost territory along with Krasar, Ciann felt that they had been cheated in the division of land, and made the foolish decision of attempting to seize territory from their northern neighbors of Ventaterre. Seeing an opportunity to expand their own territory, King Stephane Krasar attacked Ciann, proclaiming the colony of Krasar a defensive ally of Ventaterre. They proceeded to conquer all of Ciann, effectively absorbing the colony and slaying the King of their House.

With battles fought and colonies collapsed, the tension between colonies continued to grow at an alarming rate. Questions as to the legitimacy of land claims came into light, and many feared an all-out, free-for-all war between the eight remaining colonies. However, two leaders in particular would come to bring an end to the in-fighting. King Florian Pousser met with King Pierre Ventaterre to discuss a potential alliance. What they came up with was the Frozt Concordat. Initially met with skepticism, the Kings of other nations decided to conform to the Concordat when King Stephane Krasar, to many people’s surprise, agreed to the treaty. The Concordat explicitly states that an attack on one nation would be considered an attack on every one, and that every nation in the Concordat was obligated to come to the defense of another. In addition to this, flat trade rates were required across all nations, ensuring that everyone had access to the supplies they needed. Most historical scholars agreed that the Mid-Neosan colonies surely would have failed if the Concordat was not agreed upon.

The colonies began to prosper from thenceforth. It wasn’t long before each colony reached a status where they could be considered a true nation. However, with increased population, problems began to arise. As villages popped up in less hospitable areas across the Moyen Plains and Euchinne Mountains, they began to encounter resistance from old enemies; both kobold and goblin tribes proved to be a nuisance for the Concordat Nations. Some villages even faced threat from Giants, which, while rare, proved to be absolutely devastating creatures. It was due to these troubles that the first traces of the Adventurer’s Guild began to pop up. Originally composed of individual travelers that happened to be skilled at fighting, adventurers grew in number according to need when the market proved to pay well for safety and security. Eventually, when reliable contact was established with the Starstruck Valley across the Orc Wilds, these small clusters of adventurers were absorbed into the Adventurer’s Guild Proper, and access to individuals capable of protection became far more streamlined. It was not unheard of for even members of noble houses to employ adventurers for a variety of tasks.

While conflict from within the Concordat came to an end with the unification of the nations, outside forces had no such obligation to follow. Soon after the quelling of the Goblin and Kobold invasions, the nation of Krasar faced numerous raids from their southeastern neighbor, Eauz’ard. Though Krasar was considered the strongest military force in the Concordat, the two lakes that formed a good portion of their borders with Eauz’ard had them bottlenecked against their foe. They lost a good portion of land to Eauz’ard before agreeing to a cease-fire under the condition that trade agreements were set up between the two, with minimal taxing and tariffs imposed on Eauz’ard. Krasar’s agreement to this was seen as a major sign of weakness, especially to the western territory previously occupied by Ciann. The citizens of that area felt that they had been cheated by the trade agreements, as they relied on the trading of livestock to survive. When the Krasarian government gave no heed to their concerns, many took up arms, resulting in a civil war breaking out. Krasar, weakened by the Eauz’ardian raids and unable to mobilize their armies from the east, lost control of the western land, which then split off and fell under the commond of the then-growing house Venuk.

With the declared independence of Venuk, the Concordat was faced with the tricky decision of where to place Venuk in their alliance, Krasar, of course, demanded that the Venukians be considered traitors and violators of the Concordat, and that the other nations immediately send reinforcements to assist in its capture. Unfortunately for them, no nation wanted to risk their troops and leave themselves open to attack, as there had been repeated reports of large Orcish migration from the west. The decision of whether or not Venuk could be considered a part of the Concordat drew to a conclusion when the King of this new nation, Gerine Venuk, declared his nation independent from the others, citing their indecision as a sign of disloyalty. While this action was considered incredibly insulting, the nations took no action against Venuk, and the lone nation is still functioning independently to this day.