Ossmat (Region)
Region Description
The city of Ossmat is a small city set in Northern Beluaterra. It ekes out a modest living on trade and manufacture. It was founded centuries ago by Oss tribesmen and has changed hands several times since then. Despite its modest size it has a long and distinguished history as a capital for several realms.
Ossmat is dominated by the Imperial Grehkian Palace, which was built in the days of the Pomp of the Old Grehkian Empire, when Old Grehk ruled half the north. It is a massive complex where the Royal court and the Imperial government resided. Since the administration of current day Grehkia is so much reduced from its Imperial past, most of the palace serves nowadays as parks, museums and banquet halls for the amusement of visitors and the gentry, but a secure section is still kept for the administration and the residences of top realm officials.
The Imperial Grehkian Palace is set on a large rocky hill defended by strong walls. The hill beneath the palace is said to be a holy place, or maybe a damned place, and is honeycombed with ancient tunnels which provide a fertile hunting ground for adventurers. It is said that beneath the hill is a chamber containing a dead god's footprints. It is also said that the vampires defeated in the reign of terror were never truly vanquished but merely withdrew to these tunnels. Many things are said. I know nothing.
History
Prehistoric Period - From Legend to Tribal Kingdom of Ossmat.
Legend says that thousands of years ago, Aisen, the Ossmatian God of Wisdom, appreared on the site of a large rocky hill sacred to the Oss tribesmen who dwelt in the nearby forests. He commanded them to clear the hill and build the fortified town of Ossmat. Over the centuries this town grew into a city, proto capital of the tribal kingdom of Ossmat. It should be understood that the tribal kingdom was not a true kingdom as we civilized peoples understand it. It had no writing and hence no real history, but it did provide a justification for the later successionist uprising of the Ossmatian nobles, against their Grehkian overlords, that succeeded to create the historically verifiable Kingdom of Ossmat.
Grehk Period - The Grehkian Invasion.
In the First Age, the Kingdom of Grehk migrated from the City of Grehk in the overpopulated South East of Beluaterra and re-established itself in the city of Keffa in North Beluaterra. The Grehkian hordes were driven by a thirst for new land and Keffa was the first city to fall to their invasion. After that they expanded rapidly east, defeated the tribal kingdom of Ossmat and conquered Ossmat city. Ossmatian tribesmen were forced to become peasants and their nobility was stripped of lands and titles, which were handed over to the Dukes of the new Duchy of Ossmat. The crown of the tribal kings of Ossmat became the crown of the Dukes of Ossmat.
Ossmat Kingdom Period - Secession and Fall.
The Ossmatian tribes had been subjugated by Grehk, but when Grehk had all their cities secede in an attempt to survive the first UD invasion, an Ossmatian nobleman called Ghost declared himself the true King of the Ossmatian people. He siezed the ancient crown of the tribal kings of Ossmat, and created the historical Kingdom of Ossmat.
It did not last long. The Ossmat Kingdom was destroyed in a reign of terror inflicted by vampires, and King Ghost was killed.
Old Grehk Period - Liberation, Empire and Fall.
The city was liberated from the reign of terror by Old Grehk at the start of the Second Age. It was held as the flourishing capital of Old Grehk from the Second Age to the Sixth Age, surviving many UD invasions.
During the Sixth invasion, Old Grehk was set upon by Daimons, Undead, Monsters and Daimon-loving realms such as Spearhold. The Old Grehk forces made a last desperate stand in Ossmat, but the city was finally overwhelmed and the realm of Old Grehk was destroyed. Her allies were too weak and bogged down to save her.
Spearhold Period - Colonial failure.
During the Sixth invasion, after the fall of Old Grehk, a new colony Borodo Acah was created by Spearhold, with its capital based out of the city of Ossmat. However within a matter of weeks the colony was killed by the combined armies of two Old Grehk allies, Gotland and Thalmarkin.
Thalmarkin Period - Liberation and Stewardship.
After the Destruction of Borodo Acah, Thalmarkin has taken control of Ossmat and its surrounding regions. There are tentative plans to refound a Grehkian Kingdom in the future, based on Ossmat.
Grehkia Period - The Holy Republic.
At the end of the Sixth invasion, after the death of the Daimon Jomorosh, Duke Wilhelm Altenahr seceded the duchy of Great Ossmat to found the realm of Grehkia [23/10/2017]. Thus Thalmarkin fulfilled its oath of reforming a successor state to Old Grehk based around Ossmat. The new realm of Grehkia was founded to honour all the Gods and faiths of mankind, to be an implacable enemy of the Daimons, and to be a realm of faith and conscience.