The Dyrwood, Part 1: Early Colonial History

"No other land has such a wild and bloody recent history. From colony to palatinate to free republic, the Dyrwood has undergone a trial by fire to emerge as a powerful force of the Eastern Reach.

Dyrwood's history actually begins in Aedyr in 2602 AI. Aedyre explorers returned from a journey across the ocean with tales of the treasures they'd found. They'd discovered countless ruins scattered through the forests as well as plains to the north of the trees that would be perfect for growing vorlas. There was a problem, however - the locals were hostile and there was potential for conflict. The fercönyng of Aedyr (FAYR-cö-ning, "first king") knew that this was too good an opportunity to pass up and sent more explorers to scout and map the area.

Exploration continued over the next twenty years. Small groups of explorers traveled back and forth between Aedyr and this new world with a handful of colonists setting up small camps to establish a base for the explorers to work out of. Conflicts with the locals - who the Aedyrans learned are called the Glanfathans - were rare, but frequent enough for the fercönyng to send a small squadron of guards to help protect his citizens. These guards established a central base on a river in the western section of the woods. This settlement would eventually become the city of Dyrford (upon which the modern day village of the same name is presently built). Once that base was established, the first permanent Aedyran settlements began north and west of the Bael River. Over the next three years, thousands of Aedyrans made the trek from Aedyr to this new land. The Glanfathans, who seemed to revere the ruins scattered through the forest, caused a few problems with some of the settlements - especially those founded near the ruins themselves. These were easily taken care of by the colonists with the help of the imperial guard. The Aedyrans, in order to further their foothold in the area, reduced the cost of production, and in an attempt to keep the Glanfathan population under control, started making slaves out of any Glanfathans captured during the uprisings. This resulted in a great increase in tension between the two groups.

With the population of the area growing, an official governmental structure was established by the fercönyng. He appointed several erls to preside over the land and assigned them thayns to help run their territories, and they called the new gréfram the Dyrwood. Dyrford remained the center for the imperial guard, but the settlement in Pearlwood Gulf, New Dunryd, was the true seat of power for the area. Sitting at the edge of the ocean, forest, fertile farmland, and a river that runs from the coast to the White March, settlers flocked to the area, hoping to establish names for themselves. Aedyr began to spread across the new land."