Long ago, the Rangers were the protectors of Araluen and its people.
The most famous of them all was Halt O’Carrick, the Ranger of Redmont and his apprentice Will Treaty. There were others, such as Halt’s first apprentice, Gilan Davidson, the only Ranger to wield a sword, Crowley Meratyn, the redheaded prankster turned Commadant and Will’s apprentice, Maddie Altman, the heir to the throne of Araluen.
The Rangers had many allies such as Horace Altman, Will’s best friend and the Oakleaf knight, Princess Cassandra, a tomboy princess who goes by Evanlyn who is a master of the slingshot, Alyss, Will’s wife and master courier, and of course Lady Pauline, Halt’s wife and head of diplomatic services at Redmont and Erak Starfollower, the Oberjarl of Skandia.
Then Araluen fell. All its enemies joined forces and attacked, Lead by Morgarath’s grandson, Cain, the combined forces of Scotti, Skandians, Outsiders, Kalkara and Wargals attacked Araluen and battles broke out. The enemies burned its three great castles. For once, the Rangers were powerless to defend the kingdom they had swore to protect . And on the first day of the tenth year of the reign of King Karl XI, the great grandson of Queen Maddie, Araluen fell. And Cain became king.
To all future generations,
I bid you greetings, I am Scribemaster George the Heroic of Redmont, I am recording this because this is Araluen’s darkest hour. Morgarath’s grandson, Cain the Traitor, has gathered the worst of Araluen’s enemies, including our former allies, the Skandians. Skandia has fallen into disarray after the death of Oberjarl Erak, may he rest in peace. None of our allies have arrived to save us and our land. I fear if they do come it will be too late. I have taken upon myself to preserve what little that has survived the burning of the three Great Castles, what has been recovered has been sent to remote places, including the castle of Dun Kilty and Castle Macindaw. I hope what has been saved will be enough for the next generation to learn from.
Farewell, I pray that this account survives me,
George
Twenty three years after King Cain’s daeth, the Toscan army took over, renaming Araluen as Britonica. In the three hundredth year of the Toscans’ rule, during the third month of the rule of Emperor Jovel, three Rangers’ descendents lead a rebellion against the Toscans.
“I am Evanlyn Treaty, descendent of Will Treaty, one of the leaders of the rebellion against the Toscans. My fellow rebels are Seamus O’Carrick, descendent of Halt O’Carrick and Mae Altman, princess in exile and descendent of Queen Maddie. We are descendents of Rangers and vow to do what our ancestors could not. It has been three hundred years since Scribemaster George wrote of the battles between our blood enemies and our ancestors. Much has happened since then, this is now the third hundredth year of the Toscan Rule and the Araluen people have started to rebel against our conquerors and slavers. As I am no Scribe, I will not write of the bloodshed, but now it is time. This will be the year of freedom!”
Evanlyn Treaty
Evanlyn and her fellow descendents allied with the Skandian, Lyre Starfollower, a descendent of Erak and leader of the Star brotherband. With Lyre and her crews’ help, the Descendents were able to retake Redmont, Norgate, Seacliff and Caraway fiefs. Unfortunetly, their rebellion was cut short, when they were captured and Lyre’s husband, Nils and her nephew along with Seamus’ cousin, Shaun were captured and executed to teach the rebels a lesson. Evanlyn, Seamus and Mae ordered a retreat into Clonmel. There they and their descendents lived for ten generations, waiting for the time to free their homeland.