text: Kingdom of Ardeal - Background & Stories - The 9th Age
  The Kingdom of Ardeal lies north of the city Nevaz Derom at the base of the White Mountains which provide a natural barrier against invasion along with the rivers that border the Kingdom, this has helped in the defence of the territory. Although not an old Kingdom in comparison with the Empire of Sonnstahl or the Kingdom of Equitaine it has had a troubled history over the years with invasions by different races and Kingdoms.
  The first tribes that inhabited the current lands of Ardeal were known as the Akians, they were simple people that lived the land for hundreds of years without trouble. This ended with the invasion of the Ogre Khans hordes which for decades kept pillaging and burning all the lands so nobody would be able to live in that terroritory unless they surrendered to them. Years after without any notice most of the Ogres disappeared from the lands, and the ones that stayed ended up living in the mountains like hermits, as long as you didn't disturb their territory you were safe.
  A few hundred years passed were the Ardeal people were allowed to prosper without their land being attacked, mines appeared through the land and the vast mass of forests became a way to earn money as wood was used all over the world. The Kingdom prospered and the first mentions of it appeared in Vetia scripts found in libraries, this prompted other kingdoms to set their eyes in Ardeal, which ended up in a hundred of years of constant attacks from different factions within the Empire of Sonnstahl, although most of them were halted by the natural features of the land that surrounded Ardeal, two of them ended up within a day's travel of Klus, capital of the Kingdom.
  The first of this attack led by Hans the Brave which was accompanied by various war machines ended up within the view of Klus, Hans became so focused on moving forward that he didn't realize that part of the Ardeal army had flanked him and his entire army was slaugthered when it was charged from the rear. The king Nicolae didn't want more war, so he sent an envoy from the defeated army back to his homeland with a warning.
  We are simple people that love our land to the bottom of our heart. We will do anything to make sure nobody else captures our lands, come in peace and you will be welcome, come with conquering intentions and you will not see your homeland again.
  Nicolae didn't really know much about the outside world so when years passed and no army appeared he though he had ensured nobody would be interested in invading Ardeal again, sadly his time ended before he could see how big of a mistake he had made.
  The defeat of Hans the Brave wasn't a single event, the human empire was collapsing everywhere in the continent and a new race was taking its place, the Vermin Swarm. The rats rose to power incredibly fast by exploiting the human insecurities and a new age where they were the kings started. At the begining this didn't change anything in Ardeal, but as the rats developed, their hunger for slaves increased and military expeditions where launched from Avras across the White Mountains in search of new slave pools. This led them to the Kingdom of Ardeal where they found a fresh pool of slaves. The rat invasion was only stopped when the king, Bogdan the Weak, saw that the rats will overrun the capital and sent an envoy to negotiate a treaty in which every 10 years the rats will be allowed to come to Ardeal and pick as many slaves as they could. This saved Bogdan's neck but sent Ardeal into the dark ages where every ten years entire towns were raided and only a few hundred people were left there to breed again and create more slaves. The people that lived in those times were walking husks as the economy wasn't able to prosper and farming was almost non existent only the nobility were properly fed, the rest of the population starved to death, and those who didn't where soon collected by the rats as slaves.
  This status quo lasted that long that we certainly don't have an idea how long as most of the people that could read or write died and new people was never taught this increased the problem and the rats used it to push for more strict rules on slave trade. Everyone, even the nobility was affected by it and the raids were coming earlier than expected every time.
  At this time Nelu the Complacent was the king of Ardeal, he had two sons when the rats came for their raid, and when their rat envoy entered the palace and saw the two sons he decided he will take the eldest son to punish for the poor slave bounty they had found this year. Nelu couldn't do much as he had just a basic military which was no match for the rat army and it was the last time he saw his eldest son. In complete dispair he turned to isolation and not even his family could reach him in his last years.
  However his youngest son after having seen his oldest brother taken away decided that his country had enough and started thinking a plan on how to defeat the rats and make sure nobody else will ever invade his lands as his ancestors had wroten in that letter sent by the envoy of a defeated army. He started combat training in secret and when he wasnt training he was reading books in the library, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. He realized that he alone wouldn't be able to defeat the rats so he started creating an army that could defend Ardeal lands and make sure nobody will ever again enter Ardeal.
  By the time he was 18 years old he had been crowned new king and his army was ready, he had trained a perfect force comprised of all branches of the military, infantry,cavalry, dragons, war machines, beasts of the forest and a wizard conclave that could cast multiple spells from different paths. News of the rat invasion came from the south and the army was mobilised to neutralize the threat.
  The first weeks of combat were cruel and thousands died on both sides, however as the Ardeal side kept shrinking and shrinking the rat army seemed to have an infinite supply of warriors. Frustrated at his probable defeat he turned to one of the book he had read a few years early that described how to bring back your army. This book was hidden in the forbidden section of the library and he only though about using it as the rats kept pressing towards Klus, he brought back his wizard conclave and showed them the book. There was instant divide, most of the wizards have heard of the book and knew that it will only bring death, nothing else and so two groups formed between the wizard conclave, those against the idea of using the book were sent outside the palace and the remaining wizards started the spell to bring back the dead army, which included the King drinking a dark liquid from a vial attached to the book. At that moment the young King didn't understand the price he and his kingdom were about to pay. Once the wizards had finished the spell he asked them what they though had happened, as no visible effects were present. As none of the wizards had an answer he decided to check it himself, he mounted his dragon and took to the skies to see what was happening in the battlefield. As soon as he left the palace a veil of darkness followed him and wherever he passed he saw soldiers coming out of the ground. He could see glowing eyes and unnatural movements, but these soldiers kept battling the rats without even thinking of their surroundings or how their comrades were being slaughtered. At that moment he understood his army was no longer alive but at the same time his army was eternal so he flew all over the Kingdom, and wherever he flew the population could see their deceased loved ones coming out of the ground and start fighting the rats. This new army proved to be too much for the infinite army of rats and with the King riding his Dragon leading an undead army the rats were pushed away into the mountains.
  The population started calling the king Dracul the Saviour, as the rats were pushed away from Ardeal for the last time. Dracul returned to his palace as a changed man, he was victorious but something was changing inside him, and the fact that he had used an army of dead people didn't worry him anymore. He ordered the wizards to keep researching the book in order to make sure they all knew how to save Ardeal in case of future invasions and the army that had led the rats to the mountain was put to sleep. Dracul and the wizards became more and more obsesse with the book and the spells in it. So much that after that they barely saw the light of the day and when they saw it the instantly looked for shadows or darkness.
  The country which at one point had been a bright and lively region become covered by darkness, fog and heavy clouds almost constantly and even with that the country prospered and the population started to grow again as no more rats appeared on Ardeal. Dracul had made sure they would understand what would happen to them if they came back as the entire south border facing the White Mountains was covered with rat heads in pikes, left to rot.
  The growing population never saw Dracul or the wizards again, however the country is still running so most of them think Dracul died and his successor is the current King of Ardeal, so most of them don't care enough. Farming is growing again and the mines are working almost at full capacity again producing different ores. However the forests that once seemed to be full of live now have become dark places where no sane person would want to go, lumberjacks keep disappearing without trace and trade carts going through the forests are found left intact in the middle of the road but with no sign of the people that were traveling in them. These occurences and other rumours have made people afraid of an unseen force so most of the populace is afraid of going out into the darkness alone.
  Little they know that Dracul is still alive, decades after he should have died of old age he is still in control of the Kingdom of Ardeal, although his interest in his population has changed as he sees them as both food and warrior supply nowadays. The strong people become his food and when they die they are raised as new members of his undead army by his wizards while the weak one are left to die or used as food for his ever increasing army. So far Dracul has only been interested in his Kingdom and making sure nobody ever enters again, but who knows what would happen if he is provoked by an enemy force trying to invade Ardeal.
  The post was edited 1 time, last by deadbuc ( Aug 21st 2018, 12:30am ).
  Aug 21st 2018, 12:28am
  I am basing my Vampire Count army in Transylvania, however due to IP issues and the overuse of the word Transylvania I decided to use the other way in which the province is known, Ardeal. The capital is an mix of old ways of writing the city of Cluj, which is one of the biggest cities and depending on at which point in time the capital of Transylvania.
  I will be writing more fluff when possible and cleaning mistakes on this one. Along with that I will using images of my army for the stories.
  Aug 21st 2018, 12:37am
  The post was edited 1 time, last by Damo: not funny now hes fixed the typo ( Aug 21st 2018, 4:14am ).
  i like very much. Could you please going forward witn the time line?
  Cause in the official bg the rats were defeated 962 years ago. I love the idea of an hidden army ready to fight. I wish to add Ardeal on my fluffy stories.