Thorabyr

The human settlements are unified under a single king or queen, although the various lords that are subject to the crown as 'bannermen' enjoy a great deal of autonomy. The ruler of the human kingdom is allways chosen by the bannermen upon the death of the former monarch, but the children of the royal family are allways assessed as the first choice. If the children are considered unfit to rule by the former monarch's bannermen, a summit will be held to choose a new monarch.

Not long after the first human settlers of Ussath Riel had claimed the Vikren isles, they started to look towards the mainland of Ussath Riel to expand. As they crossed the straits, they made landfall at the mountainous northern region that they would later dub Thorabyr. Allthough the area had allready been claimed by the Dwarves long ago, only several holds remained so shortly after the first Goblin war. Due to the relative isolation of these holds - spread throughout the region's mountains - the first contact between Dwarves and human settlers did not occur until several months after the first human settlers had made landfall and started to build their first settlements on the mainland. Both parties were wary of one another but the first few encounters remained peaceful despite the difficulties caused by the language barrier. The humans realised they were severaly underpowered compared to the fortified Dwarven holds and the Dwarves didn't consider the human settlers much of a threat. They also realised that much of the lands remained underdevelopped after the first Goblin war, and the human settlers could possibly provide a buffer against further Goblin incursions. Over the years, however, it became clear that the Dwarves had underestimated the humans and their ambitious drive to expand. The human settlemens expanded much quicker than the Dwarves had originally forseen and the humans moved further and further inland, even settling upon the remains of Dwarven settlements that had been lost during the first goblin war, or scavenging the ruins for building materials. This raised the ire of the Dwarves and they started to prevent further attempts of human encroachments, diplomatic at first but as diplomacy failed the Dwarves tried shows of force to keep the humans from expanding further. Mutual misunderstanding and distrust caused tensions to increase and, after several incidents, to grow into outright hostility. The hostilities sparked a series of conflicts now known as the Wars of the Mountains which envelop several skirmishes and battles between Humans and Dwarves, but also the second Orc war.   Allthough the balance of power was still in favor of the Dwarves at this time, the holds were still recovering from the first Goblin war and dared not commit their full force. The Dwarves also underestimated the resilience of the humans, who fought back viciously and used guerilla tactics to wear down the Dwarven forces while retreating ever further back towards their oldest settlements near the coast. As the Humans and Dwarves were at each other's throats, however, the Orc tribes from the badlands to the east saw their opportunity to wreak havoc. The tribes united under a single banner to sweep across the mountainous region, killing and raiding the weakened Humans and Dwarves indiscriminately. The Dwarves and Humans, although initially caught by surprise, responded by shifting most of their attention towards the invading Orcs as the larger threat. The animosity between the warring parties was far from forgotten however, and skirmishes between them continued while the war for survival against the green skinned scourge progressed. One of the major Human forces holed itself up in the ruined Dwarven city of Bazarikh, using what remained of the stone fortifications to build a defensable position. The Dwarves however, would suffer no more desecration of their ancestral homes and laid siege to Bazarikh, only to admit after intense fighting that Human determination and ingenuity, coupled with Dwarven craftsmanship, caused the fortified city to be an extremely tough nut to crack. After 4 days of fighting, the Dwarven commander, Duli Copperfist, feared that further engagements would bring too many casualities and commanded his army to encircle the city and starve the Humans out. But as the encirclement continued halfway through the second tenday, the Dwarves found themselves caught off guard as, during the night, they were surrounded and attacked by one of the main Orc hosts, having dispatched the Dwarven scouts and staging a nightly surprise attack. As the Dwarven forces, spread thin due to the encirclement of the city, were fighting a desperate battle against the Orcs, the unthinkable happened. The Human commander, Hamarl Thorison, realised that the Humans would be next once the Dwarves had been finished and so he sounded the horns, opened the city gates and called out for the Dwarves to retreat into the city as his own forces gave them cover from the city walls. In the ensueing battle, the Dwarves made a fighting retreat into the city as arrows rained down on the Orcish horde. Copperfist had to leave some of his men behind to prevent the Orcs from chasing them through the city gates, the desperate cries of those who were held back before they could make it through the closing gates chilling the fortunate survivors. But through the combined effort of the Humans and Dwarves, the first wave of the Orcish forces was held back and the Orcs now found themselves besieging a heavily fortified city.   Wave after wave of Orcs threw themselves at the walls of Bazarikh, but were repelled by the dogged defenders, despite their uneasy alliance. At times the Orcs would manage to create a breach but the defenders would then focus their effort to defend the breach as it was closed off with rubble and magicks. As time progressed, however, the defenders started to suffer increasing casualities and supplies started to dwindle. But the defenders were determined to outlast the Orcs or die trying. With the first tenday nearing an end, the Orcs, uneasy and unexperienced with prolonged siege warfare, were growing tired of the engagement. The siege now hinged on what would run out first, the patience and morale of the Orcs or the supplies and numbers of the defenders. As the siege entered its 19th day, however, it turned out that neither outcome would come to pass. For as the end of the morning dawned, and the Orcs were readying their next assault, the low booming sound of warhorns could be heard as a relief army of Hir Taruhm smashed into the Orc ranks from behind. Upon this sight, the defenders, despite their weariness and poor condition, rallied and sallied out of the city with cries that appeared to shake the very mountains. In the ensueing battle of Bazarikh, the Orcs - in complete disarray and caught between two forces - were completely overwhelmed, and the horde dismantled.   Although the relief army from Hir Taruhm was extremely wary of the human involvement, Duli Copperfist vouched for the humans and the siege and battle of Bazarikh marked a turning point. Spearheaded by Copperfist and Thorison, the Dwarves and Humans signed a truce and created an uneasy alliance against the Orcish threat. In the ensueing months, the combined forces started to turn the tide against the orcs, slowly regaining lost ground, and with the aid of fresh reinforcements from the Vikren Isles driving the Orcs back towards the Badlands. The allied forces even chased the Orcs into the badlands, but at this point the Orc hosts had started to fall apart, the warchief unable to hold the tribes together for a losing battle, and facing mass desertion as the various tribes either fled to go their own way or made a last stand against the allied forces. In the aftermath, the allied forces were still wary of one another, but having fought side by side brought respect and mutual appreciation to ease the former hostilities. The truce was ratified into a non agression pact, which over time grew into a lasting friendship between the Humans of the nation later dubbed Thorabyr, and the Dwarven holds.