A Growing History of the Helghast Nation

Beginning at approximately 3,000 years ago the early hegemony established by the city state of Konstantine which had lasted for nearly 500 years, even following the complete destruction of the city state itself for another 100 years. While these Konstantine Helghast attempted to retain power over their formerly subjugated population they failed to hold their population together due to a lack of centralization. Soon the Forge-Clans who had once comprised the upper echelons of the Konstantine society spread across the lands, establishing small land claims. As Forge-clans established themselves among villages, usually in cohabitation, providing defense from raiders which grew common in this time, the clans propped themselves as the nobility across the land.

After a century of the clans settling into a new role as landed nobility the differing clans began to fight among one another for land and resources as all choice territories became claimed. This would begin a slow descent into the Clan War era. As the Clan wars began different clans began to dominate and slaughter one another. Brutal warfare often based upon massacring the population of rival clans including women and children.

As society became an intricate web of warring clans forming alliances life expectancy drops to the lowest levels in Helghast history. The violence is centered on thousands of different small farming hamlets with earthen walls. As Clans grew stronger and enforced safer trade they became richer and established greater compounds which protected their clan. These Compounds were similar in ways to castles but were not designed for protracted sieges, instead goals during battle was to breach the gate ramp, as metal gates were not used at this time and wooden gates were easily burned down, leading to brutal close combat in the ramp like depression leading up over the wall into the compound.

Throughout this period many technological changes and cultural changes began to occur. As the introduction of the use of cavalry began specialized units formed around the newly established speed and mobility given by these animals, allowing for farther ranging battles leading to small bands of highly skilled fighters butchering one another in the wilderness but in most cases not making any real progress against enemy clans. Wars became wars of attrition and the average age of warriors fell to younger than twenty-two.

Approximately at the middle of this era, around 2,250 years ago Oceanic raids on coastal clans began to spread rumors of inhuman Sea Raiders, Demons birthed from the very waters as they were poetically referred. Oceanic sailors landing attacking and fading back into the ocean mists faster than the Helghast Forge-Clans could mount a successful defense struck fear into the extremely war like peoples of Helghan, who saw themselves as great warriors in their own right. For another fifteen years the Oceanics raided and decimated the coastal clans. However the last major raid during the 1,500 year long clan war was approximately 2,230 years ago. The Kovan Raid, named for the Oceanic leader launching it led over seven thousand raiders to the shore line of Helghan.

What would occur would have been the greatest battle between oceanic and helghast peoples in history as a coalition of Helghast Clans moved against the landing to protect their allies. However, as the battle commenced the Sea suddenly seemed to drain away, the shocked raiders rushed defend themselves and retrieve their now beached ships and return them to the water, believing it a bad omen. The Helghast believing their gods and ancestors were helping them to cull the menace that had plagued their shores for nearly two generations, charged the Oceanics trying to overpower their foes in a moment of confusion. As they at first gained advantage, momentary joy turned to horror as monumental wall of water swept over the damp sand toward two battling armies. As men and women on both sides broke ranks fleeing toward the higher ground that had been the helghast positions only moments before. What little fighting remained was as much between comrades as against enemy troops as each and every man fought to survive.

While little else is recalled besides the recollection that around 1,000 oceanic's survived and around four times that in helghast. However the Helghast commanders had been killed and so the army dispersed returning home. With little hope of remaining among the clans they had raided for decades Kovan's group separated into two parts. Approximately 700 abandoned their leader to return home, yet Kovan's own group of around 300, mostly women and younger more loyal and aggressive men, became Kovan's Disciples, they abandoned the sea, instead following the Corinth river north. They raided when they had to and traded when possible, after five years of wandering through an increasingly confrontational Helghast Wilderness, Kovan had his group settle into the remains of a long since destroyed compound near the shore of a large lake. Dubbed Kovan's Lake, Kovan and his disciples nestled into a new home. However shortly after the group's arrival, Kovan was entombed on an Island on the lake. These Kovan, a helghast word adopted to frame the name of their leader meaning savages, would eventually be approached by various Clans from nearby, each desiring the physical mass of the Kovan Warriors as their shock troops.

At the end of the Warring Clans era the different clans had largely consolidated into small kingdoms, while there remained holdouts, the Kovan, as well as the Visari Clan, and the Vektan Clans to the south east. Each kingdom was stuck in an endless peace, as the use of it's soldiers in battle risked losing it's army, yet the armies were still required to defend against the possible incursion of a neighbor. It would be at this time the Helghast would develop Helghast Steel as foreign nations knew it or simply Wisp Steel due to the wisping designs in the metal. A superior alloy the metal was extremely light and durable for the time, it was near mythical in it's properties even as other peoples purchased it in trade, as other items, armor and implements of various type, were adopted in this new metal the trade worth grow substantially, and soon Helghan truly entered a conceptual golden age. It's goods were traded far and wide and it's lands were rather peaceful for the era being based around the creation of weapon technology. However by the end of this era, around 1,300 years ago Scolar Visari and the two sons of the usurped Vanquarian Autarch eliminated their opposition and seized control. Visari, a young knight at the time but a brilliant tactician and warrior began uniting Helghan. In a short amount of time, Scolar's superior knights and their training outmatched nearly every opponents easily. However, his greatest feat had been to make peace with the various groups of the Helghast Clans. Marrying himself to his Queen Emalia and several of his commanders to the daughters and sisters of other Clan leaders bound them to one another. However Only a short distance south east of the newly proclaimed capital Pyrrhus lay the Kovan dominion. After having ignored communication from his forces Scolar marched an army on Lake Kovan. Stopping outside the highwalls of the large fortress town Scolar asked to negotiate with the leader of the Kovan.

It would be here that Scolar would meet his second queen, Athala, the direct descendant of Kovan the Sea Borne Savage. She was beautiful, the Kovan had long since developed into more helghast physcialities than the meaty frames of their ancestors. While still taller than most Helghast by a full head they were far smaller and more lithe than their cousins at sea. Scolar stood at Athala's height but her brother and father stood a head above him. After days of negotiation Scolar wagered with Athala, the leader of the Kovan that if he could best her brother in a fight that she would marry him. Without saying anything Athala's younger brother, Magar set upon him and the two fought viciously. After hours finally Scolar gained the upper hand and defeated Magar. However when he rose up grinning and eager to return to his camp with a new bride to be, he found Athala preparing to fight. The woman was fresh and Scolar exhausted, the fight was short and Scolar lay on the ground defeated in only moments. She would not be married off to anyone without her own wishes.

After his shaming by the warrior woman Scolar would formally court her and treat her people with a differing level of respect. Scolar then began his