The Story Begins

The story begins in 4710 AR, when a group of young fellows receives a charter to explore the lands to the south of a northern kingdom called Brevoy, and part on a journey that will change their lives forever.

The characters arrive at Oleg's Trading Post at the end of winter, on the 9th of Pharast (March).

Numeria

(taken from Guide to the River Kingdoms Book)

Kellid nomad tribes constantly menace the northern edge of the River Kingdoms and the western frontier of Brevoy from the Echo Wood all the way over to Pitax.

These same tribes also make fine mercenaries when a northern lord wants to bolster his army. Automatons sometimes cross the borders on silent, murderous errands for their Technic League masters. Meanwhile, Numerian steel trickles into various River Kingdoms, and flows down the Sellen for profit.

Pitax

 (taken from Guide to the River Kingdoms Book)
 
Most of Pitax history has been embroiled with strife. Although the two kingdoms have not yet been at war, Brevoy has accused Pitax many times of offering refuge to the bandits that raid southern Rostland, and disputes the eastern territory of Pitax, the area known as the Glenebon Uplands.

Pitax is known as nothing more than a den of thieves, where bandits can hide from authorities. In an attempt to give Pitax a veneer of respectability, its actual leader, Lord Castruccio Irovetti recently formed the Academy of Grand Arts, hoping to turn the city into a bastion of fine arts and high culture, but so far no important work of art has come out of the Academy.

A General Overview of The Stolen Lands

 (taken from Kingmaker's Players' Book)

Wedged between the River Kingdoms and Brevoy, the approximately 35,000-square-mile swath of wilderness known as the Stolen Lands has a long history of being regarded by Brevoy as “stolen” from the nation’s southern expanse by bandits and barbarians variously from Numeria, Iobaria, or the River Kingdoms themselves.

The Stolen Lands comprises four distinct regions and the following is what the adventurers know at the beginning of the campaign. If you wish to learn more, your characters will need to ask around once the campaign begins.

The Greenbelt: Dominated by the woodland known as the Narlmarches and the rolling hills of the Kamelands, this region is the one your group has been chartered to explore. Bandits are particularly rife in this area, and the rumors that they’ve organized under the banner of a bandit warlord who calls himself the Stag Lord are particularly troubling. You are to explore as much of the northern half of the Greenbelt as you can and, if possible, to find out more about this “Stag Lord” and remove the bandit threat from the region. Other rumored problems in the region include a tribe of mites, a tribe of kobolds, mischievous fey, and numerous dangerous monsters and wildlife.

Glenebon Uplands: The swordlords sent a relatively experienced band of adventurers into the westernmost reach of the Stolen Lands—an area that is supposedly under the rule of the bandit kingdom of Pitax (although that River Kingdom has done very little to prove its claims over this area).


The Slough: The East Sellen River runs through the swamps known as Hooktongue Slough. Rumor holds that the swordlords sent actual Brevic government agents into this swampy area.

Nomen Heights: The easternmost reaches of the Stolen Lands contain a low mountain range and border the long ruined realm of Iobaria. The swordlords sent a band of mercenaries into this region, rumors hold.

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...