Escann (Old Castanorian for Eastern Cannor) is the easternmost region of Cannor. It is bordered to its east by the Serpentspine Mountains, to its north by Gerudia, to its south by Bulwar, and to its west by Western Cannor. Escann has historically been divided into three major regions Inner, West, and South Castanor, which are so named due to their having been the domain of Castanor and its successor, Black Castanor. Beginning in the Age of Witch Kings, cartographers, politicians and commonfolk alike have reincluded the Deepwoods as part of the region after its reintegration at the end of the Greentide.
History[]
Pre-Castanite[]
Chroniclers’ note - work is underway to reorganize this section.
Castanor[]
Chroniclers’ note - work is underway to reorganize this section.
Black Castanor[]
Chroniclers’ note - work is underway to reorganize this section.
Chivalric Escann[]
Main article: Chivalric Escann
With the final collapse of Black Castanor came an end to a fifteen century legacy. Emerging from the chaos and disorder were a number of smaller states stemming from either historical provinces or were founded by veterans of the War the Sorcerer-King. Such examples are the Kingdom of Acengard, a state alleged to have been under the influence of the Infernal Court, the Blademarches ruled by hero Clarimonde who slew the Sorcerer-King Nichmer, and the continuously named kingdoms of Cast and Anor.
During this period, there was a general aversion to direct warfare, an effort to avoid the cataclysms that led to the fall of Castanor. Instead, many conflicts were resolved by tournaments, knightly duels and controlled small scale battles. Over the course of this period, these were codified into what is now known as the Trial by Chivalry.
This period continued until 1424, when the onset of the Greentide shattered the ideals set by Trial by Chivalry. Along with the end of this era came the end of most states that emerged during this period.
Age of the Greentide[]
Fall of Chivalric Escann[]
Main article: The Greentide
Chroniclers’ note - work is underway to reorganize this section.
Rottenstep and the Marcher Lords[]
During the majority of the Greentide’s conquest of Escann, much of Western Cannor was embroiled in the fourth and final Lilac War, the conclusion of a series of conflicts over the succession between the houses of House Silmuna and House Siloriel. It was only 1443, after the death of Adénn Skylance and final defeat of the Moon Party, that Western Cannorian eyes finally turned eastward. By then, Korgus and his vanguard had all but overrun Farranéan,
Organizing a response, however, proved to be a quick effort as thousands of veteran warriors and mercenaries eagerly answered the call to action by figures such as Crown Prince Jon of Gawed and Ricard I Silcalas, Marquis of Arbaran. Together, this newly formed force came to be known as the Marcher Lords.
The new force immediately set about intercepting the orcs, determined to prevent the Greentide from advancing further. The opposing armies met in the swamps of Rottenstep. There, the bloodiest battle of the Greentide took place, seeing upwards to thirty thousand souls perish. Despite the incredible amount of bloodshed, the battle ended not in a decisive rout but with the orcs conceding the battlefield with the Cannorians unable to pursue.
While neither side’s contemporaries considered the battle won, Rottenstep proved to be the pivotal point in the Greentide. Never again did Korgus and his forces advance further west into Cannor.
Corin’s Adventures and the Battle of Castanoth[]
See also: Corin (person)
Chroniclers’ note - work is underway to reorganize this section.
Struggle for Escann[]
With Korgus Dookanson’s death came the complete collapse of any meaningful political organization through most of Escann. Across the region, multi-way struggles between orcs, goblins and adventurers plunged the land into a state of anarchy.
To the north, the remnants of Korgus’ Ten and other orcish warlords fell into infighting as various leaders attempted to chart a new course for the orcish people. The first to rise was Aadga Venomtooth and her successors. Emerging as the short-lived Khozrugan Horde, there was an attempt to assert an ideology of “might makes right.” However, Khozrugan was quickly brought down by a coalition of adventurers including the Cobalt Company, Brave Brothers and Sons of Dameria.
The next attempt came under Gurzan the Bear-Heart, the last known surviving scion of Korgus Dookanson. Having proven himself as chieftain of the berserking Bloodgorgers, Gurzan attempted to pull the clans together by making calls to avenge Dookan and his son. This too met a swift end. This time at the hands of adventurers from the Sword Covenant and Corintar combined with the forces of the clan Clouded Eye, now led by Arosha Oakbreaker. With this victory, Arosha Oakbringer and her vision of a post-Dookan and Corin-aligned future asserted itself over orcish identity.
Chroniclers' Rendition of Late 1400s Escann
To the southeast, general consolidation by the warring factions occurred largely without major conflict. Part of this would be due to how, unlike the orcs to the north who were heavily tied to Korgus Dookanson and succeeding him, the most dominant clan in the region was the Heartgrinder clan. Having rejected the philosophy of Great Dookan after Rottenstep, the clan’s energy was spent not on picking up Dookanson’s legacy but on warding off encroaching adventurers and the Kingdom of Marrhold. The results of which led to the establishment of the Chiefdom of Barumand. Another reason was the integration of the Forest Goblins of the Groundhawk clan into the Corintar, which enabled adventurer bands like the Stalwart Band and Order of Ashen Rose to establish areas of loose control in relative peace.
However, there was one exception to this relatively quieter consolidation - the clashes between the Order of the Iron Sceptre and the Flung Head goblin clan. Battles between the two factions featured the heavy use of conjuration magic with one such battle ending with leveling the village of Stokestay and death of the Iron Sceptre’s leader Aldred sil Tchaveren. The conflict ultimately ended in Iron Sceptre victory only after Gloxee’s death and the rise of Varina Escer.
Chronicler’s note - order copies on Newshire: A Halfling Tale and Escann: After the Dookanson to fill out sections on missing section for western Escann
Age of Unravelling[]
Clans and Companies to States[]
By the late 1400s, the loosely organized adventurer companies and decentralized clans that had warred for Escann had consolidated into true political entities. Yet, despite emerging during the same period, these states proved to be extremely diverse thanks to their unique origins and backgrounds.
Escann in early 1500s
In the Chiefdom of Unguldavor, for example, politics was divided between the Dargom, or the orcish political elite and urban dwellers, and Ozdan, traditionalist pastoralists who formed the bulk of the army. In stark contrast was the neighboring Corintar, a landed order dedicated to carrying on and honoring Corin’s legacy forged from Corin’s Circle by Lothane Bluetusk. And in further contrast to that was Esthil, a magocracy led by Varina and mages of Iron Sceptre.
Taken together, it can be said that the period of anarchy that had begun with the fall of Chivalric Escann had come to a definitive close by 1500.
Emergence of Corinism[]
In 1511, the Mural of Castellar was leaked. Images of the Precursor sky god Castellar attempting to prevent the Ruin of Aelantir, only to fail and die in the attempt, quickly spread across the Empire of Anbennar and further still. Due to Castellar’s many similarities to Castellos, head of the Regent Court, many theologians soon believed Castellar and Castellos were one and the same. While these debates raged on, the layfolk of Cannor were quicker to come to a conclusion - the Precursor elves saw Castellos die, and wrote down what they saw so those who came after would know.
This conclusion sent shockwaves across the continent of Cannor, but no region felt it so much as Escann. It was in Escann that the legacy of Castanor, a legendary state dedicated to the seemingly now dead god, dominated. With Castellos’ apparent death, there was a sudden and obvious explanation to the suffering that Escann had endured through the 15th century. And it was Castellos’ brother Argados, through Corin’s actions and sacrifice, that the lands of Castanor were liberated and restored. Already the most popular of the Court’s gods in Escann, clamor began to declare Corin as the successor Castellos over his son, Adean.
It was this clamor that led to the deep divisions within the Eleventh Patheonic Council, which finally convened in 1518 to debate Castellos’ fate and succession over the Regent Court. These debates took an unprecedented two years of deliberation, with much of that time being spent on infighting and mire. As a consequence, by the time the Council’s official stance that Castellos was dead and Adean was the new head of the Court, the Regent Court’s unity had already been fragmented. From Beggaston turning focus on Begga only to minor temples breaking mainline creed, priests and common folk alike had found their own answers. Of these, none were so consequential as the Corinite Proclamation in 1519 in Ionntras, home of the Corintar. Declaring Corin as the rightful heir of the Regent Court, the Proclamation marked the end of a unified Regent Court and birth of the Cornite faith.
The First Corinite Crusade[]
Chroniclers’ note - work is underway to reorganize this section.
Rise and Fall of Rogeria[]
Rogeria at its height
Of the adventurer states that emerged in Western Escann, none were so well positioned as Rogeria. A combination of capable leadership, rich land, and political connections thanks to its Silmuna roots, enabled Rogeria to begin its rapid ascent, starting with the Rogier 'the Young Owl'.
Dynastic inheritance of Valefort combined with an invitation by the halflings of Newshire against Arrion enabled quick southward expansion. By the mid 1500s, Rogeria had effectively achieved hegemony over much Western Escann through a network of alliances, personal connections and political puppets. However, the greatest of its diplomatic coups was the Rogieran Silmuna reconciliation of the Wesdamerian branch by the marriage of King Ellís and Duchess Laurentíne, enabling a loose personal union.
It was through this connection that gave birth to the Shadowmoon Conspiracy. Taking advantage of tensions within the Empire between the Adeanic and Corinite princes, King Ellís attempted to overthrow Emperor Artus I Vanbury and restore the old Grand Duchy of Dameria. The plot was uncovered before it could be set in motion leading to a war that ended only after the deaths of Ellís and his son Lothane II.
Rogeria after its collapse
These violent failures led to the collapse of Rogerian hegemony as the careful political network created earlier in the century was undermined and discredited. While Rogeria survived as a rump state for some years after Lothane’s death, by the end of the 16th century it ceased to be after being partitioned by its neighbors.
Demographics[]
The Cultures within the area during 1444 primarily Green Orc and Forest and Common Goblin. Humans from across Cannor and even some from the Kheterata in Sarhal also came to be present, making Escann the most culturally varied area on the planet.
Worship of the Great Dookan was the predominant religion in the area due to the overwhelming number of Orcish inhabitants, but Goblin Shamanism and Regent Court also held a strong presence, and even Khetism could be found in Escann, practiced by the Kheteratan New Wanderers adventuring band.
In the first years after 1444 their was little conflict as few rival forces shared borders, but the smaller adventurer bands and thenomadic tribes were known to move their encampments on a moment's notice and this began lead to conflict as soon as borders came to be threatened.