Mythical Heritage

It’s said that the ruling family of the Kingdom of Lavadia can trace its origins back to the time before The Great Upheaval,  Their history claims they were the only surviving noble family from the lost kingdom of Elenestra . There is little historical evidence to support the claims of the House of Layden, however it is thought that Elenestra was in the region from which Lavadia was built.

Founding

The Kingdom of Lavadia was founded in 11 AGU by Elric of Layden. At the time it was little more than a city-state. It encompassed the Valley of Lavadia, which is notable for having a holy site of the goddess Gecyndas  Within the valley resides a tree born from one of the seeds from the lost Forest of Frandir.

Debt to Mancos

The land of the kingdom was fairly far removed from the fighting of The Wyrm Wars, still, few people of the world were unaffected by its impact; Lavadia was no exception. When the Great Wyrm Mancos called on the peoples of the world to unite, Elric was moved by the message of Mancos. He marshalled what forces he could and marched them off to battle.

Elric was welcomed by Mancos and over the course of the early battles of the Wars Elric managed to make a small name for himself and his kingdom. He pledged himself and his family to the faith of Mancos. As years passed and the Wars continued, Elric, ravaged by old age, retired to his Kingdom. His son Elar, took over leading the small band of the kingdom’s warriors in the remaining wars. 

When the Manconian Empire was founded and the Church of Mancos formed, Lavadia was too far removed from the area to be included within its borders. Elar and his father were invited to the founding of the capital city of Manconian and relations with the Empire were formed. The empire noted their kingdom's efforts during the Wars  and accepted the pledge of Elric and his family to follow the teachings of Mancos and to rule Lavadia with his tenets in mind.

Expansion

Over the next few centuries Lavadia slowly expanded from the valley from which it started, encompassing the surrounding valleys and the mountain of Randune. The capital of Lavadia grew and became a well known pilgrim site for the followers of Gecyndas. The kingdom was blessed with the coin of travelers, bolstering their kingdom and helping fund their expansion.

They continued to have relations with the Manconian Empire during this expansion, most notably Lavadia supplied grain and cotton to the Empire, helping it in its own expansion. The growth of Lavadia’s borders were mostly ignored by the Empire. They were considered too far away from the center of Manconia to be a threat and they were only one of several kingdoms supplying the Empire’s needs.

The Iron Age

In 357 AGU the trajectory of Lavadia changed forever. Large deposits of Iron were found at the foothills of the mountain of Randune. Eager to exploit this new resource, the kingdom increased the taxes on the pilgrims and funneled that gold into building out a vast mining network.

The kingdom, whose production had mostly been agrarian, quickly shifted over the years to a more industrial economy. They focused on refining the ore and producing products to trade with the neighboring kingdoms and of course the Empire.

During this time the kingdom’s economy boomed, but they saw a dramatic decline in pilgrimages to the holy site. As the years progressed, the ruling family distanced themselves from being the caretakers of Gecyndas’ holy site and focused more on their wealth and power.

As their power and influence in the region was increasing, so too was the Empire’s. During this time, the Empire expanded its holdings in the region. The ruling family managed to adeptly maneuver the political landscape to keep the Empire’s influence at bay, avoiding becoming just another kingdom of the Empire. Part of their success was their kingdom’s history with the Empire and its support of Mancos during the Wyrm Wars.

The Decline

By the 5th century the once bountiful iron mines of Lavadia were dwindling and in 436 AGU the last iron mine closed. For a time the kingdom was able to import iron to fuel its industry, but eventually the cost to import ore increased to the point it was no longer sustainable.

As the wealth of Lavadia dwindled, the pressure from the Empire increased. By the mid 5th century the kingdom found itself surrounded by the Empire and saw its independence slowly being stripped through diplomatic concessions.

The economy of Lavadia was in full decline and the wealth that had sustained the ruling family was nearly depleted. Eventually the whole production industry collapsed, poverty and crime became widespread. House of Layden sought to refocus the kingdom back to a more agrarian based society, but they had little success. 

The Fall of Lavadia

In 461 the current ruler of Lavadia, Gaven of Layden, ascended to the throne. He had inherited a dying kingdom. His family’s wealth was all but gone and he inherited many debts owed to the Marconian Empire. 

While many people of the kingdom were able to find honest work, either farming, merchanting or becoming mercenaries, there was a disproportionate amount of people who delved into the criminal world. The kingdom was plagued by bandits and thieves. Their influence spilled across the borders of the kingdom into the Empire and by 470 AGU the Manconia had had enough.

They put pressure on Lavadia to pay its debts to to deal with the criminals affecting the Empire. King Gavin found himself broke and powerless to combat the criminal element within his kingdom and gave into the pressure of the Empire. In 472 AGU, Lavadia had no other option but to concede to Manconia and join the Empire.

Gavin was forced to to use his own family as a bargaining chip to remain in power. His children were to be relocated to the Empire’s Capital to be educated. His eldest son, Abraxas, was to be promised to the Lady Allisandra of House Revian. When they were both of age, Abraxas would take over her family's holdings, giving up his right to ascend to the throne after his father passed.

Galia, Gavin’s daughter and youngest child, was to be married off as well. She was promised to the third son of one of the High Lords of the Marconian Court, Darian of House Lunara. An honor befitting the daughter of a king.

Gavin saw that the Empire was diluting the power of the House of Layden and setting up its eventual downfall, and tried to save the house through use of his second son, Armaros. The King tried to convince the Empire to allow his second son to return to Lavadia once he was of age and to rule the kingdom after his passing. He was successful, after a fashion. 

The Empire agreed that his son would have the chance to return to Lavadia, if the kingdom is ever able to pay off their debts to the Empire; both those already owed and the ones incurred by the Empire in bringing law to Lavadia.

Until such time Armaros was to stay with the Empire and serve it by joining one of the holy orders benefiting his talents and birthright.

The Present

The Kingdom has been fully integrated into the Empire and Gavin remains king of Lavadia, although his influence in running the kingdom has been greatly diminished. Much of the security of the Kingdoms is regulated by the Empire’s army. What remains of the army of Lavadia is  under direct control of the Empire. The security of the kingdom has much improved, but is far from perfect. 

The king has turned to his family’s heritage and sought to be a protector of the holy site of Gecyndas once more, but he has found that his attention to the holy site is unwanted. Over the years the followers of Gecyndas have come to see the rulers of Lavadia as a bane to the security of their holy site. 

Gavin’s ancestors had heavily taxed the pilgrims and paid no mind to the teaching of Gecyndas when extracting the iron ore of the past; doing considerable damage to the natural environment surrounding the mines. The leaders of the Gecyndas faith who are entrusted to the holy site view the kings renewed interest in the holy site with suspicion