Otaria (Dominaria Supplement)

Otaria

Note, the below info on Paladonia is updated to 80 FA.

Paladonia

Paladonia is all that remains of the great realms of religious might that used to fill Otaria. After the deaths of the Paladin Lords during the Battle of Nurim's Plains in 69 FA, and the massive guerilla war perpetrated by the Cabal, many of the structures that help the Paladonic realms together fell apart. The good-aligned North and South made swift advances over the evil-aligned East and West in the aftermath of the apparent destruction of the Cabal's Leadership soon after the Dragon's Death. But the Southern Caliphate's war on Otaria threw the whole region into turmoil. Despite Arcadian aid, the weakened Paladonia was little match for the advancing armies. Where they could match strength with strength they often won by virtue of their superior magic, but all too ofter there just weren't enough to stem the tide.

For the last 5 years since the truce, Paladonia has been rebuilding and putting its leadership back together. The current country covers almost all of Northern Paladonia, a good portion of Eastern Paladonia (including the ancient enterance to the ancient and aborted Pilgrim's Way through the Verge), and the remains of the country's ancient capital in the center of Otaria. A Paladin now sits on the Northern Paladin's Throne and is calmly directing the rebuilding of the country and ushering in a return to normalcy and trade with the dwarves, Arcadia, and the West. He also is concentrating on fighting Cabal and Dark Paladin sects left over from before the wars. His main civil drive is linking the North's infrastructure into the East's which he is cleaning up and bringing up to speed. Also he's put gold and hired workers into surveying and preparing the ruins of Paladonia, the city for which the country is named, for the first rebuilding effort in 1100 years.

Pardia

The new country formed by the Pardic Barbarians in Southern Paladonia. They border the XXX river, the Arixo Wastes, and the Emerald Caliphate and their new King is gently testing the waters of trade and treaty with his neihbors old and new. A sense of wariness but also legitimacy hangs around them.

XXX

The Kingdom of Pardia was born out of the Southern Caliphate's 11th Great War of Expansion. In 71 FA 90,000 Caliphi troops crossed the Arixo Wastes at the High Pass in Upper Sura and invaded Eastern Paladonia. Grand Caliph Nurah al-Din, blessed be he Lord of the East, wished the Dark stain on the Suran border gone. Sura was his furthest and most unruly holding; long years had passed since the Caliphs of Karnak had held any real power there. A new war would mean Caliphi troops in Sura, Eastern Paladonia gone would mean an end to their timeless threat, and Otaria was the richest land the Caliph could lay hands on. The Caliphi Armies quickly sacked Adassa and the surrounding area, securing a beachhead in the realm. Dark Paladin and Cabal forces joined with Pardic Barbarians and fought back. The first phase of the war was characterized by engagements on the plains north of the Pardic Mountains and along the XXX River north of Adassa. Caliphi forces fought defensively in the south and offensively to the north.

The war was brutal, especially for the Caliph's forces. The men of the east had not faced a Dark opponent in several centuries, and despite better organization and numbers (the Cabal's best minds were with the Dragon in the West) the war began to take a steep toll on the Caliph's army. The Pardic barbarians also proved more of a challenge than the Caliph anticipated. The men of the Pardian regions were battled hardened mercenaries, having fought the Light, the Dark, and themselves for centuries. The defensive effort in the south was no less demanding. From the end of the supply chain in the smokey dens of Abu Neferet came an answer to the two front war. Sultana Alurah bint Asrah, the shrewd leader of the City of Secrets, suggested a most elegant solution. The Caliph had one of the few things the Pardians valued, and he had it in abundance: gold. The Sultana suggested that the Pardians simply be bought off and used as allies to prosecute an even wider war.

The Sultana suggested, and many grudgingly agreed, that the lands of southern Otaria were just as fertile as the East and fit for the taking. The Pardic Barbarians would make fine allies and the Paladins of the South were weakened by their last war. So the Grand Caliph sent a Caravan laden with gold and escorted by 4,000 of his best Malmuks to bear his offer to Korosa Rock, the seat of the most powerful Pardian Warlord, King Crom of the Ironarms. Fighting in the south was halted by the Caliphi generals as the caravan approached. Several hundred head of cattle and 1,000 sheep were given as a ceasefire offering and the caravan was soon the center of a large Pardian horde moving south and then west towards the Rock. Luckily for the Caliphi envoys, King Crom had an eye for opportunity and a hunger for greater power; he lept at the opportunity to ally with the Caliph. He did however, have a condition: any Pardian tribe that did not kneel to him, and any Warlord who refused to bear Crom's colors, would meet the sword of the Caliph. Sheikh Basheer al-Hiyab Abd al-Wajib, commander of the Malmuks accompanying the Caravan, quickly agreed. This treaty, and the repercussions thereof, would shape the entire conflict and in four years' time shape the destiny of seven countries.

XXX

The Skirk Goblins

The Creatures who inhabit the highest ridges and crags of the Skirk Mountains are now a free agent in the developing nation of Pardia. Their status, politically and societally, is in question and an uneasy truce keeps them in the Pardic Mountains for now.

The Cabal

Still alive, and further flung than ever before. They're weak true, and apparently headless, but thanks to the Dragon and Phage's plot they have cells and members all across Dominaria. Whether these groups can connect or even learn of eachother in some cases is in question, and their future is hazy, but in the fiery and cataclysmic death of their last plot their spores have been flung to the far corners of the map.

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