Everguard

The Lost Realm of Everguard
Realm Battle Flag Realm Coat of Arms
Map of Realm's Greatest Power
Last Known Leadership
High King Karibash ka Habb
Royal High Commander	Semyon Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin
Royal High Adjudicator	Unknown
Royal High Treasurer	Unknown
The Kingdom At Its Height
Realm Type	Kingdom
Capital City	Gelene
Largest City	Gelene
Regions	12 (Valkyrja, Yggdramir, Ygg d'Razhuul, Zareth, Aquitain, Gelene, Gelene Outskirts, Ammando, Shrine of Seeklander, Sabadell, Eidulb Outskirts, Eidulb
Population	Roughly 205,000 Peasants

The Kingdom of Everguard was the fifth recognized realm that formed on the continent of Dwilight. It was geographically located in the central region of the extreme north of Dwilight, to the west of the Empire of Springdale. The capital of the realm was the city of Gelene, also known as The Emerald City of the North. Everguard was founded in the late winter by a small group from Springdale looking to test the frontier of western Dwilight. The kingdom was originally ruled by the sovereign High King Fisc Arylon, but after a plague struck him down, he was forced to abdicate. He was succeeded by Lucky Jack, who would unfortunately have a short reign as he too would fall victim to the plague. The throne is currently held by High Queen Averyll. The official religion of Everguard is Torenism.

Following a territorial war with Astrum, most of the regions of Everguard were taken by Astrum. The final two regions of Everguard, Ygg d'Razhuul and Aquitain, switched allegiance to the fledgling realm of Averoth. This switch of allegiance brought an end to the realm of Everguard.

Everguardian History

Main article: History of Everguard

Main article: Founders of Everguard

The history of Everguard begins with the history of the South-East Island. In the early winter of the Last Era (winter 2007), the god Tor revealed to the inhabitants of the island that it would be destroyed, and all people remaining on the island would be killed. The people of the island, especially the adherents of Tor, began to make plans for escaping the doomed continent and what they would do after they left. As the continent was swollowed by flood, many nobles had decided to flee the island for a rumored new land, called Dwilight. Together, many Torenites, Ikalakians, and Taselakians boarded ships and set off for the new land.

Upon arriving on the shores of Dwilight, those who had departed the South-East Island found that many who had tried to make it to those shores had been shipwrecked in other locations, lost at sea, or otherwise not made it. Only a handful of men and women from Toren and Ikalak arrived as planned in Springdale, and they quickly attempted to secure protection from that land as refugees.

After settling in for a short time, the heir to the throne of the now dead realm of Toren, Fisc Arylon, began to seek out the other refugees. He first encountered Henk Van Hoensbroeck, his old friend Mosious Alfjoi Suaht, Hackem de Struct and the Ikalakians Jack Carnes and Lestat Corax. These men gathered together in the capital city of Springdale City and formulated a plan to join together in friendship, strike out to the frontier and attempt to found a realm of their own to carry on the legacy of the South-East Island. Together combining the strengths of each of their respective deceased realms, they did plot to craft the realm of Everguard as the jewel of the west, stronger than any realm previously known.

Just as they began to formulate their plans, a rebellion struck Springdale, throwing the realm into chaos. Immediately, Fisc began to negotiate with the rebel leader - Neel Arya - a man who would soon be King, and later Emperor. As time passed, Fisc was able to secure support from Neel for the formation of Everguard to the north of Springdale.

Weeks passed, and more people began to hear about the realm ready to leave Springdale. More Torenites and Ikalakians approached Fisc asking to join the delegation - as did many native Springdalians, and even some nobles from other nations such as Morek. Together, seventeen nobles had gathered together, recruited troops and set off for the unknown land of the north. The settlers originally planned to settle in the region of Nifelheim, to the north of Springdale, however objections from Neel regarding claims to that city led the founding delegation to instead set off for Valkyrja.

After a long, dangerous journey through unknown lands filled with monsters, the delegation arrived at the white tower of the Stronghold of Valkyrja, and began to set roots, formally creating the realm of Everguard in the early spring.

Once the realm was founded, the nobles elected Fisc as the first High King of Everguard. Once donning the Emerald Crown, Fisc began setting up the kingdom, appointing a Royal Court, Dukes, Lords, and directing the expansion of the realm. His rule saw the drastic growth of the infant realm, and a remarkable unity by the nobles calling Everguard home. There is little doubt that Everguard will continue to develop and be considered one of the continents great powers, now under the guidance of his successors.

Political Leadership

Main article: Ruling line of Everguard

The sovereign political power of the Kingdom of Everguard is vested in the hands of four noble born leaders. Total command of the entire realm and all of its organs rests with the High King of Everguard, who enjoys full authority over foreign and domestic policy. The Royal High Commander has full and complete control over all military affairs of the realm. The Royal High Adjudicator is the chief administrator of justice in the realm, interpreting and enforcing all laws. The Royal High Treasurer controls the purse strings of the realm, setting tax policy, managing food shipments, and so on and so forth.

Current Leadership

• High Queen - Averyll Arete
• Royal High Commander - Hexic Jeckyl
• Royal High Adjudicator - Karibash ka Hab
• Royal High Treasurer - Hackem de Struct

Diplomatic Relations

Everguard was formed with the blessing of its neighbor to the east, Springdale, and as such it enjoyed peaceful relations from the start. Since that time, the two realms have forged close ties and are currently at peace. In its early days, Everguard also made peace with the realm of Morek, to the south of Springdale.

The other two realms on the continent of Dwilight are currently neutral to the existence of Everguard and have shown neither any hostility, nor any adoration for the fledgling realm, and talks with those nations are ever evolving. The young nation has yet to face any legitimate wars that threatened its existence, and has to this point only faced off with small groups of monsters attempting to raid its territory. It has had one attempted alliance with Springdale.

Historical Diplomatic Relations

• Astrum - Alliance
• Viridian - Peace
• Springdale - Peace
• Morek - Peace
• Madina - Peace
• Caerwyn - Peace
• Pian en Luries - Neutral
• Grand Duchy of Fissoa - Neutral
• Shadovar - Neutral

Everguardian Military

Main article: Wars of Everguard

The military is the primary focus of the Kingdom of Everguard. Based on its founding principles of rugged frontiersmanship, nearly all Everguard men (and even some women) dedicate themselves to the military war machine of the Kingdom. There are a limited number of politicians, bureaucrats, priests and other professions within Everguard, but the main priorities have always been, and will remain - strong militarism and manifest destiny.

The military is lead by the Royal High Commander of the realm, as well as the Marshals under his direction. There is currently one main army in the Kingdom - known as the Phoenix Guard, a name chosen by High King Fisc Arylon at the dawning of the realm to pay tribute to the re-emergence of a rough warriors life that had originated on the South-East Island - as though rising in glory from the black ashes of a dead Phoenix. The Phoenix Guard is lead by the noble Jack Carnes, a military mind equal to the task of expanding Everguard's borders throughout the frontier.

The Everguard war machine began with only a handful of men and soldiers, but strives to continue to grow and expand, to become the most feared military regime on the continent.

Territorial Claims

Everguard originally planned to settle in the region of Nifelheim, to the north of Springdale. However, objections from King Neel of Springdale regarding claims to that city led the founding delegation to instead set off for Valkyrja - which at the time was on the frontier of known land. Everguard immediately began setting its eyes upon an aggressive expansion of its lands, and has since taken the adjacent region of Ygg d'Razhuul all the way to the city of Eidulb. The realm now plans on moving exponentially south and west, as well as commanding certain northern sea routes. Everguard has continued the practice of capturing new cities and territories wherever it can. Everguard views the entire west as its manifest destiny, and plans on expanding its kingdom as far as it can possibly stretch, as well as seed friendly colonies to the neighboring areas it can not control.

Historical Territories

• Gelene - Duke Hackem de Struct
• Seeklander - Duke Fisc Arylon
• Gelene Outskirts - Marquis Lawrence Expatriate
• Aquitain - Marquis Henk Van Hoensbroeck
• Ygg d'Razhuul - Count Necroid Frolancer
• Ammando - Count Gairac Orim
• Sabadell - Count Inagon II Gamgon

Religion

The official (and only legal) religion in Everguard is Torenism. Religion is deeply rooted in Everguard - more so than any other realm of Dwilight. The reason for this is based on the history of most of the founding members of the realm - coming from the doomed island in the south east. The refugees fleeing that island had heard tale that the sinking of their home into the ocean had been prophesied and caused by the god Tor, which led even non-believers to consider his existence real.

In the infancy of the realm, the seeds of Torenism were planted, and began to quickly spread across the land. Although the organized religion itself had yet to be founded, it was deeply ingrained in the lives of Everguard's citizenry. It will no doubt dominate religion in the west and be a haven for the truth of the spirit of man.

Guilds

Everguard, though a young realm, is highly organized and plans to make a great deal of use of guilds. They have been organized in advance on order of the High King to provide for essential noble services - everything from training in the use of the blade to organizations of spies and assassins. Each guild will have a specific purpose and will be well utilized by its noble citizenry.

Guilds Founded

• The Black Tower

Heroes of Everguard

Fallen Heroes

• Mosious Aljfoi Suaht

Living Heroes

• Hackem de Struct
• Hexic Jeckyl
• Henk Van Hoensbroeck
• Kakashi Uzamaki
• Lawrence Expatriate

Culture

Much of Everguard's culture and society is borne from its founding. The nobles who created the realm were mostly refugees from the now destroyed continent known as the South-East Island, which is now somewhere beneath the great ocean. The music, language, traditions and heritage of Everguard is linked inexorably to that now dead land. Additionally, however, as the realm has grown it has absorbed a number of new cultures, and many noble born knights hailing from far away lands have joined the ranks of Everguard.

Peoples of the Realm

Main article: Peoples of Everguard

Everguard is a kingdom that is comprised of a great deal of cultural groups - many of whom are at odds or distrustful of one another. Indeed, the sovereign ruler of the realm is called High King because of the systematic subjugation of a number of minor kingdoms and rulers which Everguard consolidated under one crown - thus the ruler of Everguard is something of a King of Kings - officially titled as the High King.

The ruling class of the realm is made up mostly of refugees from the South-East Island, known to the natives of Dwilight as Islanders - including Torenites, Ikalakians and Taselakians. The rest of the nobility and peasants of the kingdom are made up of peoples known as Mariners, Steppemen and Mountaineers.

Politics

Much like the politics of the heritage of its nobles, Everguard has a somewhat independent streak. Knights of the kingdom tend to be very brash, aggressive and outspoken - something encouraged by the High Kings. So long as their freedom to speak does not attempt to overthrow the crown, or hurt the realm, they have shown a strong propensity to let nobles say what is on their minds. Simple respect, however - is a necessity.

Perhaps reflecting the personality of its leadership, Everguard has an intriguing social structure - something called the Game of Houses, which in essence is the political competition of status whereby families of nobles vie for influence in the kingdom. Many nobles are extremely competitive at this so called game, and obtain many rewards as a result.

Originally, almost all political power was held by the group known as The Founders - the 16 nobles who were the catalyst for the creation of the realm. As its territory expanded, however, new blood began to work its way into power. Today, the highest nobility of the realm is made up of a mixture of what is known as the "Old Guard" (the original founders), and the "New Wave", which consist of the new nobility not originally with the realm.

Traditions

Main article: Everguard Birth Ritual

Main article: Commission of Everguard Knighthood

Main article: Everguard Wedding Ceremony

Main article: Everguard Death March

Song and Dance

Main article: Music of Everguard

The men and women of Everguard are a cavalier people, living in the moment and attempting to blaze a path into history. That attitude has created a sense of freeness that is often expressed by song and dance. Nobles of Everguard tend to be extremely creative, jovial and amused, and as such spend what little time they have off duty drinking, singing and dancing.

Nobles tend to write and sing songs after glorious battles, especially if a hero of either side has been slain. Glorious battles, historic defeats, brilliant strategy - all result in celebration, song and dance.

Food and Drink

One of the most famous products of the dead realm of Toren was a particular ale from the northern region of Dakan. It was a particularly strong and tasteful drink produced by the peasants of the coast - heralded as the best in the land by even the enemies of Toren.

When the Toren refugees came to Dwilight, two of them - Fisc Arylon and Mosious Aljfoi Suaht - were able to smuggle their private stock of ale from Dakan into the new world. Once Everguard was founded, High King Fisc ordered the peasantry to sample the ale and work on duplicating the production of it. In the experimentation phase, some unique ingredients that are native to Dwilight (but not to SEI) were added to the mixture, adding an even stronger bite and taste.

Production of the ale has now been ramped up, and the new drink, while a bit different from the original, is still called Dakan Ale, in memory of its heritage.

One of the most popular dishes of culinary delight enjoyed across the realm is a crop called "corn". The residents from every corner of the South-East Island were unaware of the existence of this delicious food, as the tall stalks do not grow on the war island. Neither did they originally grow on Dwilight - however in the days after the appointment of Duke Lestat Corax, his brother Memnoch Corax who resides on the peace filled continent of Atamara, sent Lestat a congratulatory shipment of seeds to disperse to the peasantry of Valkyrja. These seeds grew into corn, and from the first introduction into the Everguard food supply, the battle hardened warriors of the realm fell in love with it and today count it as their favorite food.

Later, it was discovered that when kernels of this Guardian favorite were placed over an open fire (in a pot), the kernel would pop and produce an enjoyable snack. This secondary use of the crop is now extremely popular in the Royal Theater, where nobles sit and enjoy entertainment, as well as on the front in the time between battles. This form of the crop has become a part of the normal rationing provided to all nobles before heading out from the city, and is considered a form of lavishness and hospitality.

Corn is grown predominantly in the outlining areas of Valkyrja, near the coast on Lestat's private farm. It is also now exported in a limited fashion to the other established realms of the continent, and represents a good deal of the food trade done by the kingdom. The crop is now more or less synonymous with Everguard.

Media Coverage

The Everguard Visionary was founded by Arthur Spindle in March of 2008 as the official newspaper of the mighty realm of Everguard. The position of Editor in Chief was created and assumed by the High King to ensure purity of information given in the publication of each issue. Many nobles of Everguard have contributed articles to the newspaper, and it is widely regarded as the highest quality newspaper on the continent.

Literature

It was in the Last Era of the South-East Continent when Henk Van Hoensbroeck entered the oldest part of the dungeons of Toren Stronghold. It was there where many scrolls of wisdom and countless of books were kept and stored to serve as a place of knowledge. Unfortunately, due to constant wars these books and scrolls were mostly forgotten, except by one person. Henk ordered his servants to load everything onto the boat by nightfall and secretly move everything to Dwilight. Till Everguard has been found the books and scrolls are safely stored in Henk's estate in Rye. Waiting till Everguard has been established firmly and a library being built. With the savings of the scrolls and books thousands of years of knowledge about war, region maintenance, politics, armies and training and many more subjects should be safe from harm.