< Scavenger Lands | Hundred Kingdoms | Wyld Reaches >
Roughly 190 years ago, the murder of Savoth the Life-Giver broke apart the Protectorate of Amanton and plunged the region into a prolonged period of chaos. The cities of Budan and Mar were both members of the Protectorate, and thus sheltered by that God's power, but after his death both cities swiftly fell to invaders from both within and without the former Protectorate. 30 years passed, the cities suffering under repeated invasion and rule by a succession of invaders, until eventually the Twin Cities Revolution managed to liberate the cities.
As often happens with such things, after the Revolution was ended the task of actually building a government proved harder than ejecting the previous one. Some halfhearted attempts were made to unify both cities into a single domain, but there was little progress and that movement quickly fell apart, especially once the two cities began divvying up the mineral rich foothills that separated them. Still, a rough pact of mutual defense was entered into and there was peace in the lands of Budan and Mar for almost 40 years. It was this very prosperity that ultimately sent these two lands on a path for war, as the cities grew and claimed more and more of their territory. Small towns that had once been largely independent were forced to pick sides, and tensions began to rose, until outright war broke out.
The fighting was thick and fierce, and ultimately Budan managed to triumph. People from Mar thought this was mostly because of shady deals the city had made with some of the Fair Folk, the odd example of which accompanied the forces of Budan on the battlefield. The Budanese only ruled over their new Kingdom for a few years, however, and always they faced persistent resistance from the people of Mar. The Budanese Minister of the City did what he could to retain order, and committed no few atrocities, which only spurred resentment higher. Eventually, in RY 651, the people of Mar rose up and threw out their oppression. When Budan sent an army to retake the city, the people of Mar - with weapons bought from the Guild and a Mercenary Company from Nexus, all paid for with Gold stolen during their resistance - took to the field and forced a fighting retreat. Mar had every intention to conquer Budan in turn, but the Battle of White River ended that ambition after both sides were forced to retreat from the field following a Wyld Storm that damaged all side. By the Spring of the next year, interest in war had died off, and Mar had lost their contract with the Red Rook Company in any event.
The occasional odd brushfire war over the next 16 years kept both sides off center, until a new dynasty took possession of the Fortress City of Mourning Spire and started to move deeper into the Wyld Reaches, first conquering the City-State of Dalton and the White Tower before arriving on the borders of Budan. Both cities quickly saw the need to group together, and with some difficulty and shared hardship, they managed to fight off the invader. Already ravaged by war, the cities then began to panicky anew when one of the Deceivers was born in the city of Radiant. Fear of the Anathema, particularly this cunning specimen that survived the Wyld Hunt once and required the near destruction of his once-great Kingdom by the Dynasty to ensure his return to the Demon Princes' bosom. Worse, with the overwhelming destruction of Dalton, the power balance once again began to shift.
Only a year after the Wyld Hunt was forced out of the region by the Seventh Legion, Budan Mar finally did what it had failed to do all those years ago, and unite into a singular Kingdom. Though neither city much liked it, the tensions in the region (which continued to grow) only pushed them closer and closer together and the Kingdom of Budan Mar remained a rock in the midst of the tumultous Hundred Kingdoms for 66 years. Then, the Realm busy fighting the horde of Sahji-tah, the Fae-Touched Warlord Joktan (originally from Budan) gathered an army of men and Fae both, ravaging his own homeland as well as a large swath of the Hundred Kingdoms until he was finally able to be put down by Lookshy's Third Field Force.
Maheka Lespa paraded the Warlord's head through the city of Budan (which Joktan had razed), but it was little comfort to the people there. Though people still tend to call the land of the two cities "Budan Mar", the actual Kingdom has been dead since that day thirty years ago. The most obvious sign of this, of course, was the war just last year when the leaders of both cities seemed utterly intent on destroying themselves. Only the activities of a circle of Anathema, led by a former Gunzosha of Lookshy who is now one of the Blasphemous, managed to save the cities from mutual destruction. Even so, the damage was harsh and it will take the lands of Budan Mar a long time to fully recover -- even if they do decide to accept the help of their new patrons.
Ruled by High Autocrat Dunlan; sizable population of "settled" Raksha.
Ruled by Prince Amanan Rodarl; has greater rangeland.
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