History of Turmish

The History of Turmish dated back thousands of years before the Era of Upheaval, from the fall of ancient Imaskar, to the great Jhaamdath empire, and the formation of the far-reaching Emerald Enclave. The region endured great plague, many years of war, and even a supernatural disaster that saw many of its cities fall to near-ruin.

Origins
The Turami people migrated to the region from their native lands around the Alamber Sea when they were displaced by the Mulan after the fall of Imaskar in. After finding these sheltered fertile lands, they settled down.

The Turami tribes near the Akanapeaks were incorporated into the empire of Jhaamdath. Following Jhaamdath's destruction by the elves of Nikerymath in the, the Turami tribes migrated to the Jhaamdathan province of Granite Grates in what is now present-day Turmish.

The coast of what became Turmish was once home to the nation of Scarbala, a country of fisherfolk and pirates. When Scarbala tried to expand inland and was met with raids from angry satyrs, concurrent attacks from vengeful victims of their piracy and several years of harsh winters destroyed the nation. The coast was also subject to attacks from koalinth and ixitxachitls.

Alaghôn Settled
The port city of Alaghôn was founded in on top of the ruins of a dwarven mining settlement, and soon became a major trading hub of the Sea of Fallen Stars. Seafarers on their way to southern lands, nomadic tribes from the Shining Plains, and dwarven gold from the Orsraun Mountains converged upon the young city to exchange wares. The population grew along these inland trade routes, with many villages forming in the land that would later become Turmish.

Clinging Death
In the the first great plague struck Turmish, along with the wider Vilhon Reach, Westgate, Calimshan, Chessenta, the cities on the Lake of Steam, and the Shaar. More than half the population of the Vilhon Reach and Westgate, including Westgate's king Kergaard, perished. In Alaghôn the number of dead was so great that many were buried in mass graves. Druids of Eldath played an important role in reducing the severity of the "clinging death" by cleaning the water supply in cities in the Vilhon, and in Westgate a priest of Ilmater led efforts to combat the plague and was made king in gratitude. After the plague subsided, the peoples of the Reach happily returned to trade as usual, but many wars followed shortly thereafter, both among nations and with pirates. The origins of the plague were unknown.

Dempster Turmish
In a mercenary leader named Dempster Turmish declared himself mayor of the city. This precipitated a brief civil war that Dempster's mercenaries swiftly won for him. Dempster expanded the lands that he controlled, conquering all of the towns and villages that surrounded his city for thirteen years. By 145 DR, Turmish's aggressive expansion brought it to the lowlands outside of Hlondeth and brought the two nations to war.

Assaults on Hlondeth
Dempster died peacefully in his sleep in the and his wife Florentine took over from him. Florentine was far more interested in mercantile ventures than continued expansion, ordering a halt to the wars of conquest. Florentine was killed after only four years in power, leading to a leadership contest that lasted 116 years.

An attempt from Chondath to conquer Turmish united the country behind Alesam Mischwin in the. This war, known as the Stalemate, ended in one but the stability caused by a leader finally being chosen remained. Chondath would try to take Turmish on two further occasions over the next few decades, failing both times. Alexander Illistine proposed a mock war every Shieldmeet between Turmish and Chondath, the winner of which would gain a reward of slaves, resources and trading privileges, while ensuring that the two nations would remain at peace.

Disasters and Druids
In the, a fire in Alaghôn crippled Turmish's navy and destroyed its food stores, causing a rise in piracy and widespread famine. Turmish's noble houses, rather than working to help solve the issue, bickered with each other over who was liable for the damage. It therefore took over a decade of reconstruction to repair the damage. The saw the establishment of the House of Silvanus on the Isle of Ilighôn where powerful druids kept close watch on the ships travelling off the coast of Turmish.

Over a century of small incursions from orc and goblin tribes culminated in the War of 512 when the Candlekairn clan destroyed three Turmishan cities and carried off all of their accumulated wealth. When Mount Andrus erupted five years later, all hope of recovering that wealth was lost.

In the, druids from Gulthmere Forest and elves from Xorhun appealed to Arton Githsberry, the then ruler of Turmish, to stop logging in the forest in order to let the trees grow back. Arton appeased them with a show of consideration, but had no intention to stop collecting timber. The druids continued to pressure Turmish, becoming quite the thorn in Turmish's side by the.

Magocracy and Merchants
In the, the rulers of Turmish, a conclave of wizards calling themselves the Windlass, decided that they had enough of the druids in the region and launched an attack on both Cedarsproke and Ilighôn. Both attacks were halted before they could do any damage by the magic of the druids and their giant allies. The Windlass were executed, replaced by Alaghôn's merchant families. The druids of Ilighôn, now a formal organization known as the Emerald Enclave, had established themselves a force to be reckoned with.

The saw the merchant families of Turmish lose their temporal power to a dynasty of warlords, the first of whom established Turmish a powerful military nation. Their martial strength saw them through the 1018 DR Rage of Dragons quite safely, but the ever-increasing population was feeling the pressure of running out of space so, in the, the warlord Sjorn Sendreth initiated a war against Ironfang Deep. It was a protracted war that diminished Turmish's wealth to an unexpected level. Sendreth sent people out to bring back treasure which could fund the war effort - a tactic that worked spectacularly - Turmish was wealthy once more.

Wyrm and the Stars
Unfortunately, one such group of treasure hunters was tracked back home by the ancient blue dragon Anaglathos in the, who slew Sendreth and claimed Turmish for himself, killing or charming any who opposed him. The next five years were known as the Time of the Wyrm in Turmishan histories.

Anaglathos' rule was brought to an end by a paladin by the name of Corwin Freas, who led the rebellion against Anaglathos and personally slew the dragon. He was then acclaimed Turmish's king by a grateful populace. However, after a reign of only one year, Lord Freas dissolved his own monarchy and established the Assembly of Stars to rule Turmish instead.

14 & 15 Centuries
With a few small exceptions, such as the Plague of Dragons in the for example, Turmish had grown into become a democratic nation that was peaceful, safe and content, if occasionally a little overcrowded.

The Spellplague changed Turmish's fortunes for the worse, as the Sea of Fallen Stars drained away, leaving Alaghôn's port miles from the new shoreline. Turmishans became xenophobic as bandit raids from Erlkazar terrorized them and they were cut off from their neighbors. Nonthal took over as Turmish's most prosperous city as Alaghôn became increasingly dilapidated, while Sapra became the nation's only port. In the, the city of Gildenglade was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Kolimnis.

After the dissipation of The Great Rain, the Sea of Fallen Stars had risen to water levels not seen since before the Spellplague. Turmish's great cities were once again connected to the Inner Sea and its trading opportunities. This, along with a great agricultural boom aided by the Emerald Enclave, brought an upturn in the country's fortunes.