The City State of Tarantis Was founded in 1792 BCCC, over 2,500 years ago, by two nomadic
tribes, the Paldorian Clan
and the Gishmesh Tribe.
The Paldorian Clan originated just south of the Lake of the Crown Beast and followed the
Azurerain River, finally selecting the present situation of
Tarantis on which to settle and build a permanent base for their
raiding operations. The Gismesh, skilled sailors and fishermen, originally lived southeast of
Tarantis but moved up the
river Bushkill to find better fishing. The merging of these two disparate clans was the
result of numerous raids upon the Gismesh
by the Paldorians who found the Gismesh women more pleasing to the eye and more numerous
than the women of
their own clan. In addition to the brides and sacrifices carried away by the Paldorians a
number of sailors, craftsmen, and
fishermen were captured and added to the labor force of the Paldorian tribe. In the course
of time, due to intermarriage and
increasing familiarity with one another peace was declared, the raids ceased, and the
members of the two tribes became
merged into one group, although the aggressive Paldorians were still the dominant force.
Originally only a cluster of dwellings and a few mercantile and craft establishments
protected by earthworks, the
growing city found an increased need for protection after several raids by the
Karzulan between 1882 and 1885 BCCC nearly
obliterated the town. In 1885 BCCC, the citv of Tarantis was officiallv laid out, rebuilt, and
fortified with high stone walls for
protection. In that year, also, the first hereditary monarch came to power and began to
organize the existing government of
Tarantis. However, the dominant strain of the aggressive Paldorians made total rule impossible;
the government only managed
to restrain total anarchy in this raucous city, not to control it.
All but one of the rulers
of Tarantis seem to have been of Lawful Evil alignment.
Between the years 2266 and 2309 BCCC Ryobl the Red attempted to bring complete law and order
to the city, but his
efforts were largely unsuccessful and, after several attempts were made on his life, he
disappeared, never to be seen again. His
legacy to the city is evidenced by the highly successful Tarantine Merchants' Association
and several lesser religions. After the
disappearance of Ryobl the Red, Grantadt, his successor, organized the skillful pirating
operations that ply the water between
the city states to this day. Scattered skirmishes occurred over the years between
the fleets of the Warlord of Quittak and the
pirates of Tarantis, but the Warlord, busy with wars with the Green Emperor, has never made a
determined attempt to
eradicate the pirates.
In the year 4020. a protective province of Tarantis was founded; close ties between the clans
and tribes in this area and
the Gismesh Tribe brought the Province of Jarmeer into existence especially to protect the
villages of Tallulla, Bastinadi, and
Borsippa, which were the targets of frequent raids by forces of the War1ord. A second
protective province was fonned in 4145.
It is Ganzir-Galad, located directly east of Tarantis. The area of Ganzir-Galad has a long
and bloody history of wars with the
Karzulan raiders, and the protection offered by association with Tarantis has not been as
effective as was hoped when the
province was founded.
In 4240 BCCC, Edario I, the father of the current Taran and formerly a captain of the
Nighthawk, the finest ship in the Tarantine fleet, overthrew the ruling
monarch of Tarantis, a 12 year-old boy named Greataust II, who suffered from a mysterious
illness which kept him bedridden.
The overthrow was hailed by the pirates and people of Tarantis as a necessary change because
it was believed that the advisors
of the ailing king were siphoning large portions of the city treasury into their own pockets.
The young king was banished with
a small retinue of retainers and a nurse to a lonely citadel far to the south of Tarantis.
Several years later, it became known
that a raiding group of bandits had burned the tower to the ground and murdered all within.
Edario I, the new monarch, established
a secret spy group known as the Blue Cobras to be his eyes and ears in every level of society
in order to crush any
repeat of his successful attempt to overthrow the government.