National History

Throughout all of the Merkhwald Kingdom, the Sewer Plague ran rampant. No one truly knows what started it, and a large majority of commoners don’t care. They just know that it killed thousands, and it disappeared as quick as it arrived. 

Higher up members of the aristocracy and military though consider it to have been the work of a powerful necromancer. There was one active during that time, and the plague seemed to disappear right when they did. 

Historians believe that it may have killed as much as 20% of the nation’s population. 

The Crown tried to contain it, providing resources to various temples and providing support in the form of materials and skilled clerics. But with the sheer number of patients, and a large rebel uprising in the north, they could not provide support everywhere, or even effectively. 

To this day, many blame the Crown for a lack of action and support, resulting in thousands of loved ones deaths. 

In 939, community leaders of Far Port and Walker banded together in an attempt to create an independent nation of the northern peninsula. They felt that the Crown had suppressed them, murdered their ancestors, and now abandoned them. They raised an army, and sent an envoy to the Crown with their declaration. The Crown responded with a plea for diplomacy and peace talks. The Crown stated that it wanted to address their concerns, and hopefully resolve the issues. The Northern Domains rejected this offer, and promptly attacked the Crown’s outpost on the peninsula. 

While the Crown had tried to maintain a peace, they could not and would not let this go unanswered. Quickly mobilizing a majority of the standing army, King Trahorn led his troops north, embarking on a massive military campaign. Many of the kingdom’s clerics and resurrection materials left with the army on their campaign north. Within a week of the war starting, the Sewer Plague hit. 

Ultimately, the rebellion was suppressed. While originally the Crown was losing the war due to the guerilla tactics of the Northern Realms, the plague weakened the northern troops, allowing the superior numbers, supplies, and equipment of the Crown to turn the tide and win the war in 941. Shortly after the peace declaration, the plague disappeared. 

The King returned home, and brought the traitors before him. After imprisoning or pardoning them, he turned his attention to a traitor within his own court. When the traitor revealed that the recent assassination attempt on the royal family was their doing, the King lost his temper. The man was beheaded right in the audience hall, with dozens of onlookers watching in horror as the King’s blade dripped with the fresh blood.