The Hadradan Empire
A Brief History

This history of the Hadradan People and their religious beliefs are so bound together that it is almost impossible to separate them. Any document written on this vast and ancient culture could never be comprehensive. There have been so many events, so many emperors and so many epochs that it is hard to know where to begin. In this account I use dates from the Urovan calendar for simplicity's sake – despite that calendar actually being based on Saladine Anureas's work.

The Beginning

The Hadradans were originally a nomadic people. They wandered in large tribes around the vast continent that is now called Hadrada. They were hunter-gatherers who put great stock in their horses and the amount of distance they could cover in one day. As a people they were not united and many tribal wars were fought over the years. This was the state of affairs around 1600 PL. This was a time before the appearance of the demon Karatath, before the first contact between Men and Elves and, arguably, before the Order. But there were other forces in the world.

To the north of Hadrada are the lands of the Vikallians. A people who, due to disease, upheaval, war, religion and natural disaster have remained unchanged and untouched from that day to this. A barbaric race of raiders and natural conquerors, around 1600 PL they moved south into Hadrada where they attacked, conquered and enslaved the native population. This was not something that was done overnight. The Vikallians were not an organised force. However, they possessed more sophisticated weapons that the Hadradans, and they had something the Hadradans lacked: magic. It took centuries, but by 1200 PL there were few areas of Hadrada free from the Vikallian yoke. This is a ridiculous simplification of events, but necessary for a narrative of this length.

The one thing that kept the Hadradans going through all this time, was their faith. The Hadradans have a peculiar faith, in that they are a monotheistic culture. Originally sun worshippers they built a mythos around a single benevolent deity whom they simply called God. Each tribe had their different traditions and beliefs, but after 400 years of servitude their religious lore had been somewhat homogenised. A new religious order had come about, that emphasised their roots and the country of Hadrada that they called home. To be Hadradan was more than a nationality, it was also a declaration of religious belief. They had their identity, and now they wanted freedom.

Elyas and Emancipation

Over the following decades organised unrest by the Hadradans made the Vikallians more and more weary. They were swiftly coming to the opinion that Hadradans were more trouble to hold on to than they were worth. Plus, since the religious beliefs of the tribes had come together some of the Hadradans had gained the ability to cast divine spells. The first Hadradan who called upon the power of God for divine aid was a man called Cassiah. He healed a man who was dying of a foul disease and was suddenly heralded as a prophet and a leader of the people. Of course, the Vikallians promptly had him hunted down and killed. This proved to be a mistake.

Unrest, rebellion and death were the results. Other members of the Hadradan people also gained the ability to cast divine spells. There was no formal church as yet, and each one these 'clerics' were given near-divine status themselves. The most influential of these early prophets was a man called Elyas. He was born in 1134 PL and first came to prominence in 1130 PL. He said that God had appeared to him and told him that the way to freedom was not through blood, but through reconciliation with their oppressors. Naturally, no-one listened to him. Elyas argued that the Vikallians were not evil, they were Men – misguided Men, but Men nonetheless. He drew up the laws of Hadradanism that are still used today, and he made such a pain of himself that eventually the Vikallians gave in and let him have his way.

Elyas led tens of thousands of his people out of the Vikallian lands of the north and into the warmer, southern part of the continent. He called this land Hadrada, and the people settled there, building homes and farming for the first time. Elyas himself settled at the mouth of a large river, in the a village that was named Hadras. The teachings of Elyas spread far and wide. By the time he died in 1117 PL the Hadradan Church had been established. Many clerics in this church gained divine powers from their god and all adhered to the laws as set down by Elyas. Followers of Elyas were sometimes referred to Elyassanites, but the distinction was not often made. Elyassanism and Hadradanism were one in the same thing. This would not always be the case.

The Foundations of Greatness

Over the next three hundred years the Hadradans grew and prospered in the south of their country. They mastered wizardry and science – it was as if they were somehow making up for all the time that they spent under the Vikallian thumb. Trade abounded and the population tripled and tripled again. After Elyas's death the first secular leader was elected by the heads of all the most powerful families. He was the new Hadradan King, a man called Ptelmis.

Through trade they learned of a great war being fought against the forces of evil far to the west. Elyas's teachings were very clear on the matter of opposing evil and so the Hadradans enthusiastically sent help to the elves and druids of the western lands. As soon as this happened, the Vikallians invaded from the north, and although they were repulsed the Hadradans looked again at such an altruistic foreign policy that had left them so vulnerable.

Surely God couldn't have meant for that to happen. Surely Elyas misinterpreted His words. A subtle, but significant change, came about the church. The laws of Elyas were rewritten and new laws were added. The proponent of these changes was a man called Vanda. Vanda was a high-ranking member of the clergy with the ear of the king. When he spoke, people listened. This was the first true schism is the church. There had always been those members of society who had not followed Elyas's teachings, who still held true to the pagan, sun-worshipping beliefs, but this was much, much bigger. Now there were two religions: Elyassanism and Vandanism. The king was a Vandanian and therefore Vandanism became the new state religion. Now to be an Hadradan was to be a Vandanian. Elyassanism was pushed to the side.

What this meant in historical and geographical terms was the beginning of a much more selfish, expansion-orientated country that saw itself as superior to all other peoples, and therefore had the right to lord their power over others. This was all happening around 1095 PL, the year that the demon-lord Karatath struck and destroyed all the seas in the northern world. This, to the Vandanians, was continued proof that the Hadradans owed the outside world nothing. They retreated from the Great War and built themselves a massive army. In the years between 1095 PL and 1000 PL while the Great War still raged around them, the Hadradans were attacking the Vikallians to the north and pushing the barbarians further and further into the Frigid Wastes. Some members of the Elyastic faith did go to help the Alliance, but they were few in number. By the time the seas were restored and the elves had permanently departed from Iourn, the Hadradans were masters of the entire continent. Now all the land was named Hadrada. This was their land that God had given to them. Now they had the duty to spread the word, as Vanda had said, and impose the will of God onto as many others as possible.

Expansion: 1000 PL - 20 PL

Now was the time for the Hadradans to reach out and expand their borders. In the year 1000 PL they began a crusade against the heathen dwarves that lived in the Black Hills to the east of Hadrada. The dwarves, an ancient race, had been weakened by the Great War and were not expecting such a powerful enemy. Elyassanites spoke out against the war, but their voice was not as strong as it once was. Indeed, many members of the 'sect of Elyas', as it was now called, were deemed traitors and put to death for speaking out against the war.

When the dwarves refused to abandon their beliefs and swear allegiance to the Hadradan king and to God, the crusade turned into genocide. It took the Hadradan forces seventy years to flush out the Black Hills, but when they were finished no dwarf lived within the once great civilisation. They were not all killed, many fled, but the Black Hills – the great dwarven nation of Zalak'kûn – was no more. It was on the day of victory that the Hadradan nation declared itself an empire. King Khayet was proclaimed the first Hadradan Emperor in a great ceremony.

The destruction of the dwarves had two immediate effects. First many of the non-human races who still called parts of Hadrada home, fled the country. Gnomes, hobbits, half-orcs and surviving dwarves left on boats to the south. They landed on the Isles of Lareth – once a great elven civilisation until it was wiped clean by the forces of Karatath. There they were safe, for a time. The second effect was that, without the dwarves as a bulwark Hadrada was left vulnerable to hordes of orcs, goblins and hobgoblins that had been penned in-between the Black Hills and the Far Sea. Around 928 PL they poured over the Black Hills with the intention of destroying the Empire.

The war was long and bloody, lasting for many years. The fact that an enemy had the temerity to invade Hadrada itself galvanised the population. The Hadradans fought back using all the powers at their disposal. After ten years, the orcs were broken and tried to retreat. The Hadradans would not let them retreat. What they did to the dwarves was nothing compared to what they did to the orcs and goblinoids. By the year 900 PL the Hadradans had expanded eastward over the Black Hills to the Far Sea.

Consolidation and trade marked the next few years. Using their eastern ports the Hadradans successfully contacted and traded with the people of the east. These strange people called themselves the Érewhoi. The Érewhoi had also been touched by the Great War. They were a quiet and secretive race, and by no means human. They were powerful, though, and although the Hadradans intended to conquer them, they would have to bide their time. The Érewhoi shared many secrets with the Hadradans and their culture advanced in leaps.

In the year 880 PL the Anurean Calendar was adopted by the people of Hadrada. This caused further religious division, as the many different traditions that made up Vandanism complained about changing their holy day. There was much strife and unrest in the empire. By the year 750 PL Hadrada was the largest and most advanced human nation on the planet. The Hadradans were pre-eminent among their species. They controlled almost all of the land that used to be Vikallia to the north, and all of their continent was their own. It was time to set their sights on new horizons.

In the year 700 PL the Hadradan scholar, Belsinor, detected the presence of the continent to the south that ringed the world. Although by this stage, reading, writing and book keeping had become common in the Empire (thanks largely to the Érewhoi) there was no written tradition before this. Over four-hundred years (1600 seasons!) had passed since Elyas's time and the actual events of those days had been blurred by the oral traditional and other more insidious forms of reinterpretation. The evil of the southern world had passed into myth, been incorporated into Vandanism, and was considered to be Hell. However, they were the Hadradans. They were God's Chosen People. If they could lead a force into Hell and destroy the evil that they found there, then so much the better. Thus, the Hadradans expanded even further.

Around 700 PL, and in the decades and centuries that followed, they moved south. Their intention was to annex all the land south of Hadrada before attempting to cross the girdle. Dozens of countries and independent island-nations fell to the Hadradan forces. In 618 PL the Hadradans conquered the Isles of Lareth. A new religious doctrine was being followed by many Vandanians at this time. The prophet, Cassiah (named after the original), was particularly keen on pointing out the superiority of humanity when compared to any of the other thinking races. His Treatise on Humanity, The Lesser Races and God's Divine Plan was popular bedtime reading. A great clamour came to exterminate everything they found on the Isles of Lareth.

This couldn't be further from Elyastic belief if it tried. The remaining Elyassanites rose up in rebellion against this. This was their undoing. An inquisition was set up to locate and destroy all the Elyassanites that could be found. Many were killed, many fled the country. However, they had some success. The Isles of Lareth were not cleared of all life, instead they became interment camps. All non-human life the Hadradans discovered was either killed or taken to Lareth.

In 580 PL the Hadradans made their first tentative steps to attack the Érewhoi. At first the Érewhoi accepted the Hadradan temples on their land, then when it became obvious that the humans saw themselves as conquerors the Érewhoi drove them off. It was a complete rout. The Hadradans invaded four more times in the following century, but each time they were driven back. In the end it was decided that the Far Sea was simply too large an expanse of water to fight a war across. The problem of the Érewhoi was left for another day.

In 350 PL the Hadradans attacked the western continent of Barbrasa (Urova) and quickly conquered all the western lands populated by humans. Although many hobbits and gnomes were shipped to Lareth, after the first few years it was determined that the expense of doing so was too great, and therefore the practice ceased. The Urovan gnomes went into retreat, but the hobbits and the humans were enslaved. The Hadradans hunted down the Order and any humans who showed the first hint of magical ability. They did give the continent good roads and clean drinking water, however. The dwarves of Urova were not like the dwarves of the Black Hills and the Hadradans were certain that they could not destroy them without heavy loss of life. Treaties of peace were signed with the Auld Kingdom and Gunstadtan that the Hadradans never broke. Whether they would have broke them if the dwarves had seemed weaker was another matter entirely. Of all the lands, the Hadradans were never able to take Maldomoor or the Pits of Walhoon by force. In the end they left them alone.

In 115 PL the Hadradans discovered the island of Whitemoor about a hundred miles off the coast of Érewhoi lands. They quickly removed the indigenous people to Lareth and began to build an enormous fleet to conquer Érewhoi. This would take years. The invasion was eventually launched in 94 PL. The Hadradans were successful in establishing a beachhead for the first time. It took them a year to seize the coast, but once they had, they began to slowly move inland. This aggression cost the Hadradans dear. Tens of thousands died, but the Hadradans continued to send more and more men to Whitemoor where they would bolster the forces at war. The battle continued for decades, but seventy years later the Hadradans were still there and controlled an area of Érewhoi land two hundred miles wide, all down the western coast.

The End of Empire: 20 PL - present

In 20 PL the time was right to make the first attempt to cross Belsinor's Girdle. It had been 680 years since the discovery of the land but this was not a simple matter of exploration. In Hadradanism the southern world is synonymous with Hell. To cross the boundary between this world and Hell is not a good thing. Elyassanites returned to Hadras, and there was also great upheaval in the Vandanian Church. This was the most serious religious strife to ever strike the Hadradans. In the end the hard-line Vandanians won out and in the Spring of 16 PL a force of 70,000 troops was sent south by Emperor Thaldrin. They never returned. The emperor was removed for his incompetence by his son, Malaine, who proved to be equally as mad. He sent 100,000 troops into the unknown.

In 15 PL 2000 of these troops returned. They were pursued by half a million ebony skinned butchers who proceeded to attack Hadras and the empire. Malaine rallied the troops against them and a terrible battle ensued. This was a religious war on the most fundamental of levels for the Hadradans. These creatures were called the Mannenites, after the demons of Hadradan myth who turned from God. They possessed magical abilities never seen before in the northern world. The Hadradans seemed to have no defence against their magic or the numbers.

However, the Mannenite tactics were not at all sound. Their force had swarmed over the girdle and bypassed many Hadradan holdings to the south (including Lareth) to attack Hadras itself. The Hadradans tried to encircle their enemy, but the Mannenite force was too large. The Hadradans pulled in reinforcements from other parts of Hadrada to bolster defences to the south. Vikallia was all but emptied of troops, but it was not enough. Vast armies were recalled from Barbrasa, but these were insufficient to meet the threat. The Mannenites took Hadras, burned much of it to the ground, and captured and ate the imperial family and all of the senate. Chaos reigned in Hadras.

Then the Elyassanites stepped in. Just because they followed the original Laws of Elyas did not mean they were pacifists. Years of living at the fringes of Hadradanism had made them tough. Many were trained warriors of a holy bent. They stepped into the void and tried to save God's people. The new emperor, Antovius, was happy to accept help from any quarter. He made the hard decision to pull all but a token force from Whitemoor and Érewhoi. It was that fleet carrying hundreds of thousands of soldiers that finally broke the Mannenite strangle hold on Hadras and drove them off. The last Mannenite left the City of the Sun in 13 PL. And they left it a ruin.

The Vandanian church quickly reasserted control, and drove the Elyassanites out of the imperial city. The Elyassanites washed their hands of the Empire and pursued the Mannenites south, presumably to their own extinction. The Hadradan Empire was now in flames. Within months of the force leaving Whitemoor the Érewhoi had thrown the Hadradans from the land, ending nearly eighty years of occupation. The Vikallians began moving south again retaking land that they had not held in a millennia. The Empire felt pressure from all sides. These next few years were years of collapse. Hadras was rebuilt, but with so many deaths the empire would never be the same again. The Vandanian Church was floundering, many seeing its policies as responsible for the massacre that had laid the empire low.

There was worse to come. More and more troops were brought back from Barbrasa to deal with the renewed Vikallian threat. Barbrasa then received its own prophet, a man called Uros who dedicated himself to throwing off the Hadradan occupation. In Hadrada, Timon appeared. Timon was considered to be no mere prophet, many thought that he was God given human form, appeared to berate the Empire and the Vandanian Church for their excess and their evil in His name. Timon did not restate the Laws of Elyas. He had his own laws, laws that appealed to many Vandanians. There was growing unrest.

In 1 LE the moons appeared in the sky for the first time. Shock and panic swept through the empire. Timon said it was a sign from God. Open rebellion against the Church and the Emperor spilled onto the streets. More troops were recalled. In 2 LE the Isles of Lareth threw off their Hadradan oppressors and declared themselves an independent nation. In 5 LE the Hadradans gave up Barbrasa to the indigenous population who renamed it Urova. A New Inquisition was formed by the Vandanian Church to seek out and destroy Timon's follows, but Timinism was growing in popularity.

In 13 LE the unthinkable happened. The new emperor, Zendrin, was confirmed a Timinite while in his seat. He declared Timinism the official religion of Hadrada. Now Hadradanism was synonymous with Timinism. The Vandanians were not persecuted however. Initially they fled to the northern lands where their hard-line approach was more acceptable to a people who had to fight continually against the Vikallian menace.

Over the next century the official religion oscillated between Vandanism and Timinism as successive emperors of different sects came to power. By 204 LE, however, the last seven emperors have all been Timinites and some stability has come to the country. In 204 LE Vandanian and Timinite churches can be found on the same street, but there is still little love lost between the two branches of the church. In actual fact, Vandanism and Timinism have themselves fractured into dozens of small cults and sects, all owing allegiance to their orthodox churches. Elyassanism has also made a reappearance, and for the first time in centuries Elyastic temples can also be found in certain areas of the major cities.

But this is not a golden age of tolerance for the Hadradans. They are a diminishing force in the world. Hadras and the hundreds of miles around it are as strong as they ever were – perhaps stronger – but he rest is crumbling. Every year the Vikallians push further south. The Hadradans have lost their allies in Érewhoi and Barbrasa and now trade only within their own country. They are inward looking and the emperors are increasingly decadent. Outside the capital, poverty and disease are widespread. Much of the work of the Timinist Church is in healing the sick. But they cannot heal the ills of Hadrada itself. They stood pre-eminent among nations for one thousand years. In a thousand years time it is likely that few will even remember they existed.

See also:

• The Hadradan Religions