History of Brevoy

(taken from module 31 of Pathfinder, "The Stolen Land")

    The history of Brevoy is actually the history of two lands, Issia and Rostland, united into one by force.

    Issia, the northern half of the nation, has been sparsely settled for centuries. Numerous small villages cluster on the southern shore of the Lake of Mists and Veils and in the foothills of the mountains to the east. With the land too rocky and cold elsewhere for proper farming, the people of Issia survived on a combination of fishing and raiding—the most successful tribes even venturing across the great lake to sack settlements along its western or northern shores.

    Rostland, south of Lake Reykal and the Gronzi Forest, is quite different than Issia—a vast stretch of rolling
hills and grasslands fed by the East Sellen River and its tributaries. Taldan colonists settled this area centuries ago under the leadership of Baron Sirian First, who became Sirian Aldori, first of the Aldori swordlords.

    In 4499 AR, the Iobarian warlord Choral Rogarvia, later known as "the Conqueror", crossed the Lake of Mists with a great host. Issia surrendered without a fight, but the swordlords of Rostland, with their history of resisting bandit raiders, were not so willing to bend their knees, though Rogarvia's military and tactical prowess proved too much for them, and only after a few weeks of hostilities they too sued for peace.

    Under House Rogarvia rule, the new nation came to be known as Brevoy. For two centuries, House Rogarvia ruled from New Stetven, the site of the Ruby Fortress and sat on its Dragonscale Throne. But in 4699 AR, all members of House Rogarvia vanished without a trace. A brief period of chaos and panic followed, after which House Surtova, the noble family that had ruled Issia before the conquest seized power.

     During the reign of House Rogarvia, most of the army and defenses of the kingdom had moved to the north, so the warlords and nobles of Rostland had little choice but to bend their knee again. Today, 10 years later, King Noleski Surtova holds the Ruby Fortress and the Dragonscale Throne, yet it remains to be seen how long he can maintain this rule over a kingdom growing increasingly fractious.

     In the south, the warlords of Rostland, tired of the many bandits raids that harass their southern border have sent several groups of explorers and mercenaries to pacify the region known as the Stolen Land, and maybe bring it once and for all into the embrace of civilization...