The Hasran Imperium and Valys in particular had long sought a way to destroy the ‘vampyr menace’ on their southeastern border. Yet every attempt to destroy Olivantia ended in disaster, and they dared not risk another war for fear of the consumed.
So how could they remove the threat without facing retribution? They conspired with the very Stewards themselves to remove Olivanticus and the vampyr council of binders.
Their plan was devestatingly simple. Smuggle knights and battlemages into the country and have them infiltrate each and every hamlet, town village and city. These forerunners would get the lay of the land, then incite the populace to rise up against their vampyr masters. Aided by the Hasran’s they hoped to catch the vampyr unawares, ambushing them in their own homes.
To aid this plan Hasra decided to smuggle out promising young men and woman to be trained as battlemages, warmasters and assassins. If they wanted the people of Olivantia to rise up against the vampyr their best hope lay in creating leaders among their countrymen, since it was unlikely that the people would work with an invading army.
They spent two years training the Olivantians to resist their masters, then led and assault that became known as the Night of Black Blood. Thousands of vampyr all over the country fell to their human followers, cut down in their sleep or while at dinner. Among those killed was the mighty Olivanticus himself, victim to three dozen of the most powerful battlemages Hasra could send.
Hundreds more vampyr survived, but their power base had been weakened and their leadership was fractured. They did their best to regroup, forming an army centered deep within the Blood Wood. Before they could take action against their serfs a Hasran army invaded.
It seized the six Olivantian border forts, and began marching south for Reverian. The remaining vampyr marshalled their forces and moved to intercept that army. The two met at Reverian, which was still firmly in the hands of the vampyr.
A three month seige ended with the defeat of the vampyr. The captial was seized, their armies routed. The few survivors retreated back into the blood wood to lick their wounds, seething in hatred at the Hasran’s who’d overthrown them by treachery.
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New Olivantia’s Brief Reign
After The Purge the Hasran forces retreated back into Valys. They kept the six Olivantia border forts and a fifty mile swathe of territory on the southern side of the river Eldinore, but allowed the newly freed citizens of Olivantia to control the rest.
This was more than just a political gesture. It meant that Hasra no longer had a strong enemy on their southern border, but were not responsible for taking care of thousands of refugees. The citizens of New Olivantia were responsible for their own welfare.
Hasran merchants descended on the newly minted nation in droves, taking advantage of the uneducated peasants who suddenly found themselves running a nation. This created a great deal of ill will toward the merchants, but there was little the citizens could do as they relied on the merchants to bring everything from food to tools.
The Olivantian’s formed a democratic government, with each district effectively governing themselves. Each city had an elected governor and an assemblyman, who journeyed to the capital to sit in the assembly. The assembly handled matters threatening the entire nation, but were largely powerless since they had no power to raise taxes and controlled no standing military.
Each governor became a lord in his own right and the nation fractured into many small kingdoms in all but name. One of the few universal laws that the assembly managed to pass was outlawing all use of magic. Surviving mages, whether binder or battlemage, were rounded up and executed. Even those who fought to free Olivantia were not spared.
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The Return of the Consumed & The Maw
A pair of back to back events effectively destroyed Olivantia. The first was the return of the Maw, which hadn’t been sighted in three generations. It returned with a vengeance, but this time there were no vampyr dreadlords to combat the Maw Pirates.
The Maw animated thousands of corpses along the southern coast of Olivantia, while dozens of Maw pirate vessels assaulted the towns struggling to deal with the newly animated dead. Over night entire cities became ghost towns as their occupants were either slain or taken back into the hurricane winds of the Maw.
The citizens were powerless to stop the Maw’s advance, so most of the survivors fled inland to escape. Unfortunately there was no safetly to be had.
A second menace was beginning to overwhelm Olivantia, this one wrought by the people themselves. In overthrowing the dreadlords ruling their nation they freed thousands of consumed. These consumed wandered throughout Olivantia killing anything they found after dark, freed once more to do the bidding of the Tree of Blood.
The people were forced to huddle in walled towns, venturing out only in the comparitive safety of the daylight hours. Yet even that wasn’t enough to protect many of them. Larger bands of consumed could easily scale the walls, fanning out to kill dozens or even hundreds of people in a single night.
Entire towns disappeared, then cities. The consumed were relentless, unstoppable killing machines that the people had no defense against. Ironically they’d turned on the one group who could help them, the mages. With no battlemages no vampyr and no binders the people had no hope.
Within five years of overthrowing the vampyr nine out of every ten citizens were dead. The few survivors barricaded themselves behind walls tall enough to stop the consumed, and created large battlewagons to travel between cities. These wagons were large and sturdy enough to fend off most consumed attacks, and allowed at least some travel.
Unfortunately they were slow and cumbersome, pulled by teams of six draft horses at just a few miles an hour. Travel was severely limited, only taking place on well travelled roads. Towns or villages off the beaten path were abandoned completely, with the few survivors making their way to the cities on the coast or to those few with high walls.
Which brings us to today. What was once one of the most powerful nations in the west is now an expanse of wilderness dotted by a few surviving cities. A country of millions has been reduced to tens of thousands.
The Tree of Blood stands un-opposed, sending forth hundreds more consumed each month. A few powerful Orokh tribes survive, attacking any travellers foolish enough to brave the roads. Maw Pirates devil the coast, dragging off victims for some ghastly purpose.
Yet Olivantia still holds much allure for those adventures willing to brave its dangers. Several catalysts can be found in the nation, as can the ruins of keeps, castles, cities and dungeons. Each contains vast amounts of treasure, eldimagi, enchanted artifacts, gold, silver and gems.
In Olivantia adventures are known as Scavengers for their tendency to loot the dead cities dotting the nation.
