Of all the Younger Children of the World humans proved the most fertile and resilient.
Those that dwelt n the Valley of the Ancients threw off the yoke of the evil First Men and
travelling
south subdued the local Gishmesh tribesmen. Their first settlement in their new land was
called Kelnore and in time it grew into a great city. Their first Cyng (as they called their
leaders)
was Krieg the Elder and he called for his people to elect a council to advise him. This
became
the famed White Council of Kelnore, and had much influence in the burgeoning empire. The Army
of Kelnore was well organised and supported by powerful magic users and the Empire of Kelnore
quickly encompassed all the land around the Winedark Sea and the Uther Pentwergen Sea. Soon
the Kelnorian Ket was the currency of trade from the Elephand Lands to Ghinor in the
south. The
City of Kelnore became a centre of learning and the arts and Cyng Gratus Golden Hand
rebuilt the City with an Inner Keep of solid white marble surroundered by flowering cherry
trees. Kelnore then took its name as recalled by legend - The Ivory City. The Peace of Kelnore held sway
over the Inner Seas for more than a thousand years.
But Kelnore was not invincible and was resisted on its eastern frontier by the Kingdom of
Karak and on its western frontier by the wild Tharbrians and Altanians. The Altanians in
particular gave the Kelnorian army much trouble with their unfathomable wild magic which
perplexed the Kelnorian mages. In the end a treaty was signed and the Kelnorians
established a line of frontier forts around the Trident Gulf and on the Pazidan Peninsula.
In the years of the greatness of the Empire the strength of these forts was barely tested
but when the Empire began to show signs of weakness the barbarian tribes gathered again.
It is said that the troubles of the Empire began with a series of weak Cyng's who squabbled
with the White Council and tried to limit its powers. The council for its part had become
filled with merchants and other seekers of influence and had lost its reputation for
promoting justice. Cyng Gert the Swarty it is said spent more money on refitting his palace,
than on the army and in his reign Kelnore lost half her western territories. Ironically
a new line of frontier forts had to be built at great expense. With the focus of the Empire
turning in on itself, princes of the outlying kingdoms
declared independence. The once loyal Kelnorian army had largely been replaced with
mercernaries who the princes found were only too happy to change allegiance for the guarantee
of regular pay.
In a move designed to raise revenue for long neglected repairs to roads and forts the
Council proposed a rise in taxation.
Cyng Romular, however, turned the
population against the Council, blackmailed the Council into proclaiming him Emperor and then
recalled the Eastern army to crush the popular uprising he himself had instigated.
The Empire was now riven by factions and an army commander seized control by bribing
Romular's personal guard and personally throwing him from the towers of the Ivory Palace.
Although Cyng Bram, as he became, was an able strategist he found the Kelnore treasury empty
and spent most of his reign defending Kelnore itself leaving the provinces and their
unpaid regiments to their fates. The succeeding Cyngs were less capable and even the local
Gishmesh tribesmen became a threat to the city. An alliance of Gishmesh and Paldorian tribesman
finally overthrew the city dragging the last Cyng Keltigern the Bald from his palace
to die in the arena in front of a jeering crowd. The barbarians then burnt every building in
the city and
left the Empire of Kelnore to memory.