The Annwyn
Revealed in 763The setting of the ten events
In 763 a fog swallowed the realm for a night and a day. When it lifted, a land lost to time lay beyond the western coast of Arnesse, ringed by a wall of mist that few came back through.
The Day of Mist
The darkness came at the Witching Hour in the 2nd moon of 763. It left sickness and death behind it, along with stories of people swallowed by the fog.
Livestock perished, the crops failed in the south, and a strange chill killed many. The popular story says that sailors in Breakwater Bay ran into a line of fog that took their ship. They returned days later, cast out of it, with tales of ruins, monsters, and treasure. The land was given the name of the Otherworld, the Annwyn, which is pronounced "a-noon."
Scouts found that part of the western coast no longer bordered the sea. A wall of fog stood there, and it ringed the new land completely. Several expeditions went in and did not return. The desperate kept coming anyway, and their tents became the town of Gateway, where it is said that the faces are always changing.
The nobles did little. One sadistic plan did come out of their arguments: the Last Walk, by which prisoners were marched to the border and sent into the mists. A loose band of Mistwalkers began to sell passage, gambling that they could disappear with a purse before anyone objected. The King sent a garrison of Blayne, Richter, and Bannon soldiers to Gateway, the Mistguard, and many of them turned to profit.
The Settlements
The land proved to be almost empty. People had clearly lived there centuries before, but few signs of them remained.
| Place | Held by | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway | Outside the mists | The town of tents and crime that grew at the wall of fog, kept by the Mistguard. |
| Stag Hall and Carran | House Laurent | An old Castellan fortress and the largest town in the Annwyn, on the western side. Stag Hall was later rebuilt as Dawnbreaker. |
| Ironhaven and Emberstone | House Hardinger | A fortified motte and bailey beside a great mining operation, with a keep left half built. |
| Skywatch and Arcton | House Falconer | A restored castle and a trading town in the northeast, beside a stately wood. |
| Tamris and Mystvale | The Second Expedition | An old port and a remote village, settled by people of every house. Mystvale became the center of the story. |
| Dawnhaven | The Aurorym | The settlement of the faithful, which starved through its winters. |
| Goldleaf | House Innis | A hidden settlement, later the seat of the Woodsworn King. |
| Moonfall | House Aragon | A hidden settlement that no one found for years. |
| Harrowgate | House Hale | The Coldhill settlement a few days north of the Laurent lands. |
The Rourkes kept a port of their own somewhere in the Annwyn. They kept its location secret.
The Powers of the Annwyn
The Crows
Those sent on the Last Walk soon formed bands of raiders, led by a wily figure known only as the Old Badger. They proved better organized than the nobles expected. In 765 Lord Niall Oban pardoned them and took them into the Innis army.
The Witches
Curses and wytchcraft were reported from early 764, and the beings called the Dark Ones preyed on Carran and Arcton. Stories said that their queen, Scáthach, had risen and walked the Annwyn.
The Mercenaries
The Silver Company patrolled the roads around Mystvale. The Bright Company rose in 765 with fair prices and a good reputation. It later marched at the head of Craxen's Legion as the Ashen Company.
The Godslayers
This movement against supernatural and divine powers began among the Hardinger garrison at Ironhaven. It took up arms with hidden noble backing in 766, and its ideals spread through the ranks of House Richter.
The Nightwardens
The Magi of three centuries before had made the Rite of Aeons, and sabotage had weakened it from the start. In the fall of 766, five people of Mystvale swore the Nightwardens' oaths to keep it, and the search began for a new rite.
A Reckoning of Years
This reckoning follows the account told in Mystvale and the prologue to the last event.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2nd moon, 763 | The Day of Mist. A fog swallowed the realm for a night and a day. When it lifted, the Annwyn lay beyond the coast of western Arnesse. |
| Mid 763 | The First Royal Expedition. King Giles Bannon II sent the Laurents, the Hardingers, and the Falconers through the mists to claim the land. |
| 764 | Mystvale takes a Burgomaster. Settlers came through the mists to Tamris and Mystvale, and House Laurent named Domitille of the Apotheca Burgomaster. |
| Spring 765 | The fall of House Laurent. The Laurent delegation was poisoned at the spring feast, and House Oban burned Carran and Stag Hall. |
| Spring 765 | The Lady of Death. Undead under a nethermancer attacked Mystvale, and Lirit came to the tavern with the gift of the dead to the living. |
| Spring 766 | The Tower of Menethil. Explorers uncovered the Tower and its shifting scroll, and King Giles Bannon II was slain on the road by his own guard. |
| 766 | The War of the Dawn and Dusk. With the King dead, the realm broke apart, and four claimants raised their banners. |
| Fall 766 | The Unraveling. The war reached Mystvale, and five new Nightwardens swore to keep the Rite of Aeons. |
| Winter 766 to 767 | The Long Winter. The bearers of the shards raised Hyperion incomplete, and the curate Cyrus was unmasked as Silas Laurent. |
| Spring 767 | The Precipice. Isolde Corveaux drew Auranthis and was crowned King Leander. That night the Cirque took those who held the town together, and the dead of every army rose. |
| Summer 767 | The Crimson Vale. Obeah was acquitted, and the five tombs of the Rite were carried out of the Vale. |
| 10th moon, 767 | The End. The forces of Oblivion took the Annwyn settlement by settlement, and the last battle was fought for Mystvale. |