The Late Dynastic Period
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History of the
Dhakaani Empire
The Six Kingdoms
The Five Sovereigns
The First Dynastic Period
Vaal'ool Dynasty
Takec Dynasty
Kukaar Dynasties
Daan-Kukaar
Dagec-Kukaar
Shuulec Dekaar Period
Time of Warlords
The Early Dynastic Period
Har'daach Dynasty
Shuul'aagen Dynasty
First Shuul'aagen Dynasty
Rule of Vec'daar
Second Shuul'aagen Dynasty
The Incursion War
The Late Dynastic Period
Khar Dynasties The Red Kingdoms
Haal'khar Dynasty The Eastern Kingdoms
Dagec-Khar Dynasty The Green Kingdoms
The Western Wars
Oroch'dhech Dynasty
Taaluun Dynasty
The Raven States
Western Rhaguul Dynasty Kingdom of Lhekaan
Eastern Rhaguul Dynasty Zuul'dar Dynasty
The Daelkyr Wars
The First Daelkyr War
Ocral'dur Dynasty
The Second Daelkur War
Khragec Dynasty
The Third Daelkyr War
The Final Dynastic Period
Daac'or Dynasty
Makhaal Dynasty
Lahaas Uprising

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Khar Dynasties

The Jorek'khar bugbear military clans were initially subordinate to the Shuul'aagen Dynasty, but the clans' influence and power grew greatly after the Incursion War. In 7051 EC, the commander Telkuul Oc forced King Shuul Moc, ruler of Oraaguun and with a claim to the Shuul'aagen line, to abdicate the throne to him. Though it had been many years since the Shuul'aagen emperors had commanded all of Dhakaan, this symbolic ending of Shuul'aagen rule and the start of a new dynasty was remarked on even by contemporary authors. Telkuul Oc named his dynasty after his clan, which was in turn named after the state of Khar that once ruled the clans' homelands in southern Uthroul during the Shuulec Dekaar Period. In 7087, the Khar military finally stamped out the last of the resistance and re-unified the Dhakaani, but internal conflicts, corruption, and political turmoil quickly weakened the dynasty, and the unification lasted only a little more than twenty years.

Haal'khar Dynasty

As emperor, Telkuul Oc immediately focused on conquering the other two Dhakaani kingdoms, Tuun'tac in the center and Shalkhaan in the west. Tuun'tac fell in 7046 EC and Shalkhaan in 7051, though resistance in the western frontier cities of Maaguul and Huguun continued for some time, partially aided by strong bands of goliath and orcish mercenaries. In 7087 EC, 200,000 Haal'khar troops in six columns, travelling by river and land, invaded western Dekhuul'daal in force. They quickly broke through all resistance at Huguun, including an attempt by the city's chancellor to stop their transport ships with 300 warships. Very soon, Haal'khar forces were besieging Maaguul as well, which had only 20,000 defenders. Realizing he was doomed, the self-appointed ruler surrendered to the Khar army, and Dhakaan was reunified.

During the rule of Emperor Telkuul Oc and his successor, Dhakaan entered an period of prosperity. The Haal'khar rulers encouraged recovery by lowering taxes and subsidizing the construction of dikes and other works to benefit agriculture. The reunification of Dhakaan also spurred on trade to help stimulate the economy, as well as recently displaced orcish tribes coming from the north which provided ample cheap labor when they were not enslaved outright. This prosperity was reflected in the growing luxury of the emperor. One official reportedly gifted Emperor Telkuul Oc with two dozen highly-trained courtesans, while another feasted him with three days of meals made entirely of imports from Xen'drik across the Thunder Sea. This decadence was criticized by other Haal'khar officials, many of whom served in the military clans which began the dynasty and so the emperor's lifestyle as softening. Some also worried about increasing orcish migration into Dhakaan, a concern which proved prescient in hindsight as were concerns about the establishment of goliath mercenary tribes just west of Dekhuu'daal, battle-hardened in the recent fighting.

Dagec-Khar Dynasty

With the crowning of the third Khar emperor, various imperial princes tried to grab power in a devastating civil war, the War of Eight Blades. The First Huul'der Uprising followed, during which large numbers of refugees fled east while the west, including most of Dekhuul'daal was occupied by various nomadic tribes of goliaths (huul'der in Goblin) that eventually coalesced into Tazr Tribal Rule. This marked the end of the Haal'khar Dynasty in 7176 when the Khar court evacuated to the central Akhaac, and the beginning of the Dagec-Khar period. Emperor Telkaguun re-established Dagec-Khar rule at Dekhuul in 7176 EC, with its territory stretching across most of central Dhakaan. During this period, huge numbers of people moved away from the Dhakaani frontiers, stimulating growth of Akhaac, southern Uthroul, and the previously-sparse Dalaan Province. The emperors of Dagec-Khar had limited power, with most of it concetrated in the royal family's hands, whilst military power was mostly wielded by non-royals. Many frontier territories started to have ambitions which resulted in military revolts and the establishment of principalities like Olkhaac, Shuulaal, and shorter rules (see below). Compounding this was the establishment of several powerful elven states in Shuugac, the so-called Green Kingdoms, and later the Red Kingdoms of the halflings, which both seriously undermined imperial authority .

Even though there was the stated goal of getting back the "lost lands", paranoia within the royal family and a constant string of disruptions to the throne caused the loss of support of many officials. By the mid-73rd century, the empire had lost so much territory that the Green Kingdoms mobilized their troops and intended wipe Dhakaani power from Khorvaire. Faced by the threat of elven invasion, many Dagec-Khar officials cooperated hoping to repel the attack. After the battle of Ghaal River, Dagec-Khar generals were able to push back the elven assault and seize back a significant territory from their enemy, breaking the southern elven states. However, more internal political battles from different groups of Dagec-Khar officials caused civilian administration to suffered, and more revolts from Vec'dhal, Kec'dhakan, and Shuulaal Principality as well the growing power of the halfling kingdoms in Talenta split goblin power into the Dagec-Khar to the west and the so-called Eastern Kingdoms. Ultimately, the Dagec-Khar dynasty suffered through almost two more centuries of chaos until the rise of the Kaal'tuuc and Aagen'daan Dynasties, marking the ending of the Khar Dynasties' rule and the start of the Western Wars period in Dhakaani history.

The Eastern Kingdoms

Main article: The Eastern Kingdoms.
The Eastern Kingdoms (Oraar Mekuul in Dhakaani, sometimes translated as "the Eastern Provinces" or "Holdings"), were a collection of numerous short-lived sovereign states in eastern Dhakaan from 7145 to 7469 EC after the retreat of the Dagec Khar court to western Dhakaan and before the establishment of the Northern Dynasties during the Western Wars. Originally, the term was first introduced by Shol'tuuc in the lost Annals of the Eight Eastern Kingdoms, which restricted formal recognition to the states of First Vec'dhal, Later Vec'dhal, Daaraar, First Kec'dhakan, Second Kec'dhakan, and the Northern, Western, and Southern Kec'dhakan states. These states did not exist through the entire period and many overlapped only for a few decades. Additionally, a number of small city-states and principalities existed which Shol'tuuc does not consider full-fledged kingdoms but which arguably had as much influence on Dhakaani politics in this period as Daaraar, the Vec'dhal states, and the Kec'dhakan kingdoms.

All of the Eastern Kingdoms were ruled by Dhakaani goblins, but other races ruled many of the other polities in this time, especially the Red and Green Kingdoms but also including the goliath Tazr Tribal area and some of the city-states in eastern Dhakaan. It is perhaps for this reason that Shol'tuuc is very exacting in what he considers the correct number of Eastern Kingdoms during this period.

The Red Kingdoms

Main article: The Red Kingdoms.
With the weakening in goblinoid power, the so-called "Red Kingdoms" (Mekuula Kaal or "kingdoms the color of rust" in goblin) of the halflings. These were less former kingdoms and more alliances of halfling tribes that were able to lay claim to parts of Tal'aakuul and for a time they were free of Dhakaani influence. The Red Kingdoms lasted from the formation of Aurhlah in 7224 EC to the loss of the Oazur Talenta in 7399 EC, over a century of self-rule by the halflings.

The Green Kingdoms

Main article: The Green Kingdoms.

Whether they were waiting for a lapse in goblin power or through sheer coincidence, the Tairnadal elves of Aerenal invaded Shuugac Province during this period and established a series of kingdoms called the Green Kingdoms. The bane of the Vec'dhal warlords and the other Eastern Kingdoms, these elven states lasted from the founding of Calae and Taelal in 7145 EC to the fall of Cojol in 7449 EC, though the elves briefly lost control of the peninsula entirely during the late 73rd century. These are the kingdoms, of course, that inspired the much more recent invasion by the Tairnadal during the Last War that led to the creation of Valenar.

Other States

  • City-State of Mekuul'del (7387 EC - 7406 EC): As the authority of the Dagec-Khar emperors failed, cities were left behind and unprotected. The city of Mekuul'del struggled against increasingly hostile halfling tribes in the kingdom of Nazkah. When the city finally received military support led by the Lhevk-Rhu Ve'Kuun, a native of the city, he surprised them by leading the city into open revolt and declaring themselves an independent city-state in 7387 EC. This lasted for nineteen years until the armies of ascendant Aagen'daan reclaimed both Mekuul'del and the halfling kingdom surrounding it.
  • City-State of Ghaal'duun(7338 EC - 7355 EC): The city of Ghaal'duun in Tal'aakuul was first allied to Prince Khakaan Ran'gec in his small principality and then in the larger Vec'dhal states. When the latter state's rule began to fail, the city won independence and existed as an autonomous city-state for almost twenty years. Eventually, however, it was reclaimed by the Aagen'daan Dynasty in its expansion.
  • Dhagegaar Principality (7341 EC - 7337 EC): The Dhagegaar Principality was a state dominated by Magaan goblins for a brief five years. It was founded by Ghoguuc Agarlaan (Ghoguuc the Archmage, sometimes called the Mage-Prince) during the chaotic failure of the Kec'dhakan states in northern Uthroul. Dhagegaar was a magocracy, explicitly founded to favor the goblin clans associated with Agaac, Dhakaani god of secrets and magic. The Mage-Prince also initially intended to reunite his lands with the Dagec-Khar emperors to the south but the intense politics of this period soon swept that away. The principality was characterized by extreme political instability and internal fighting, as several of the high mages of the Magaan died of unnatural causes during the brief five years of its existence. Eventually, the resurgence of the Second Kec'dhakan state easily swallowed up the fractious and inexperienced armies.
  • Drekec Principality (7346 EC - 7356 EC): A state of led by Dregaan and Shaakhec hobgoblin families in the southern Targaask around the cities of Meugeruun and Khruukec. Its allegiance had previously been moving between the Dagec-Khar emperors, the Vec'dhal states, and the smaller Shuulaal Principality. In 7346, after a petition to reconcile with the Dagec-Khar was bluntly turned away, the military officers in both cities rose up against their leadership and took control. They claimed the bottom part of the peninsula including the fertile Khraal farmlands (now overrun by a rainforest). The cities only enjoyed ten years of independence before a Vec'dhal military force marched south to take the territories directly. Local leaders were replaced with Vec'dhal commanders and the region remained in Vec'dhal hands until the fall of the Later Vec'dhal to the Aagen'daan in 7416 EC.
  • Druul-Shaalcaan (7159 EC - 7265 EC): The "kingdom" of Druul-Shaalcaan was a self-aggrandizing city-state controlling Shekhuul in northern Dalaan and the lands around it. While a small territory, it was strategically placed in the northern pass through the mountains of what is now Zilargo. As such, when the lords of the Former Vec'dhal conquered the city in 7265 EC they allowed it to remain as a semi-autonomous vassal until they lost control themselves in EC. Counting this period as a vassal state, many scholars rate Druul-Shaalcaan as the most successful of the small states in this time, though with many caveats.
  • Moc'voch Principality (7262 EC - 7265 EC): This small territory in the borderlands between Uthroul and Tal'aakul surrounding the cities of Akaarlec and Ghaal'duun was ruled for its brief three years by the self-styled Hekhuulael ("Adopted Princess" Mogac Shuun who united the people in the area. While her rise to power was swift, she proved ill-suited for politics and the principality soon fell to infighting and raids by the halflings of the Red Kingdoms. Though she appealed to her "father" of the Dagec-Khar Dynasty to the south (who never adopted her and had no real political connection according to extant records) the Moc'voch Principality fell like all other small states in Uthroul at this time and the cities were left on their own.
  • Olkhaac Principality (7147 EC - 7243 EC): The loose affiliation of cities ruled by the Olkhaac princes only remained independent for two reasons: its relative isolation in northern Uthroul and the threat of the elven Green Kingdoms in the south. The cities of Hukaan, Kraalr, Maagekaan, and Okherthagon banded together under the daguur of Hukaan who styled himself as prince. The prince's line continued to rule the other cities until the mid 73rd century when the growing Shuulaal Principality claimed Hukaan and destroyed the authority.
  • Ran'gec Principality (7255 EC - 7271 EC): This short-lived polity led by Prince Khakaan Ran'gec briefly united the Tal'aakuul cities of Ghaal'duun, Khraguun, and Mekuul'del into a principality. Attacks by the halflings of Aurhlah were ineffective in destroying this alliance until the principality came into conflict with the state of Former Vec'dhal. Under the combined threats, Khakaan's government crumbled and the prince was killed, reverting the cities back into independent sites which were overcome by the Vec'dhal.
  • Shuulaal Principality (7231 EC - 7356 EC): During their century of self-rule, the leaders of Druul-Shaalcaan (see above) briefly took the city of Akakaal as well. This quickly proved to be an over-reach and so the rulers were set up to be a client city-state under the rule of Druul-Shaalcaan, an equally-grand "principality" to the northerly "kingdom" though the term "city-state" is certainly more appropriate for both. When Druul-Shaalcaan fell to the armies of the Former Vec'dhal three and a half decades later, their armies declined to push farther into Dalaan and so the client-state of Shuulaal outlasted its overlords in independent rule for nearly a century. When the power of the eastern state grew as the shift to the Later Vec'dhal occurred, the region saw another military push and the Shuulaal Principality finally came under the rule of the Vec'dhal warlords at the same time as the Drekec Principality across the mountains.
  • Tazr Tribal Rule (7142 EC - 7226 EC): The small and marginalized Tazr state of the 72nd and 73rd centuries has received an impressive and, perhaps, outsized amount of scholarship. While it played little part in the politics of the much-larger | Dagec-Khar state to the east, it was the first (and, indeed, last) time for self-rule by goliath tribes within imperial borders in the history of the Dhakaani Empire. As the emperors of the Dagec-Khar dynasty concentrated on holding their borders and retaking lost lands, they acknowledged the rule of a goliath chieftain named Maugith Horncarver (transliterated as Maak-Shaagaar'Muur in Dhakaani texts) in the area between Maaguul and the coastal port of Huugun in western Dekhuul'daal. The state served as a buffer between central Dagec-Khar holdings and the independent goliath states to the west, including the powerful city of Guispe Cymar to the north (allies of the Tazr goliaths) and the sea raiders of Vytsaqqi to the south (which the Tazr goliaths fought alongside the Dhakaani goblins). While Dhakaani histories claim that this alliance between the Dagec-Khar emperors and the line of Maugith was friendly and inspired peace with the other goliaths in the area, excavations by scholars from Morgrave University in recent decades have uncovered signs that the Tazr goliaths may have fought with other goliath tribes to the west and might have been viewed as traitors for their cooperation with the Dhakaani. Many sites were destroyed after initial excavations, however, during the Last War so the truth might never be known.

The Western Wars

Aagen'daan Dynasty

Kaal'tuuc Dynasty

Oroch'dhech Dynasty

Taaluun Dynasty

Mokuul's Rebellion

The Raven States

Towards the end of the Taaluun Dynasty the imperial government granted increased powers to the regional military leaders, the lhevket or elder-warlords of subprovincial areas. Mokuul's Rebellion weakened the imperial government's authority, and by the end of the 86th century the lhevkets, who commanded de facto independence, were not subject to the authority of the imperial government. The political situation devolved into the period known as the Raven States, where regional authorities tore at each others holdings while a series of weakened dynasties succeeded each other in the east. To bolster their legitimacy, these short-lived dynasties claimed lineage to older regimes which flourished in the past. During the Raven States period, rulers used the same name as these earlier dynasties but later Dhakaani historians and modern scholars use "Restored" to differentiate them from the earlier states.

Restored Kec'dhakan

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During the Taaluun Dynasty, the warlord Volkhaac held the most power in eastern Dhakaan. Although he was originally a member of Mokuul's rebel army, he took on a crucial role in suppressing Mokuul's Rebellion. For this function, he was awarded the title of Lhevket of Akaarlec. Within a few years, he had consolidated his power by destroying neighbours and forcing the move of the imperial capital to Rhaal'dekuul in southern Uthroul, which was within his region of influence. In 8585 EC, he executed Emperor Tekaan Shaa'kaar and made his 13-year-old son a subordinate ruler. Seven years later, he induced the boy emperor to abdicate in his favour. He then proclaimed himself emperor and began the Restored Kec'dhakan Dynasty, claiming the blood of the Kec'dhakan rulers who ruled Uthroul during the reign of the Dagec-Khar emperors.

The emperors of the Restored Kec'dhakan Dynasty maintained a tense relationship with the the lhevkets controlling their cities, conscious of the role that those officials had played in the downfall of the Taaluun Dynasty. In particular, the rivalry between the line of Levket Turalkhaan at Laaruul and the line of Lhevket Shokaal at Hekhakaan polarized the south such that the emperors often had to bribe these powers to retain control. The Kelaac line, distant cousins of the former Taaluun Dynasty who ruled the coast around Raarlaan, also proved power-hungry and increased its sphere of influence throughout the Restored Kec'dhakan Dynasty. Eventually the Kelaac warlords were able to overcome the Restored Kec'dhakan leadership in 8630 EC and found the Restored Taaluuun Dynasty.

Restored Taaluun

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During the final years of the Restored Kec'dakhan emperors, rival warlords declared independence in their governing provinces — not all of whom recognized the emperor's authority. When the rival lhevkets Turalkhaan and Shokaal vied for control of the south, this was not an uncommon thing and it attracted little attention until they came to blows. Turalkhaan of Laaruul defeated Shokaal in the Black Seige of Hekhakaan, then expelled the imperial garrisons in her territory as well as that of the Shokaal family. Within a few months, the entire territory claimed by the emperor was in turmoil and the Kec'dhakan ruler seemed unable to quell it. Thus the stage was set for the Restored Taaluun emperors of the Kelaac line — the first in a long line of conquest dynasties. After reuniting much of southern Dhakaan uner his banner, Kelaac of Daal'doruul kept up his momentum and defeated the Turalkhaan armies. The emperor had little option but to name the powerful warlord hier and then promptly to abdicate the throne.

The Restored Taaluun dynasty, forged in blood and flames, was thirsty for more and a quickly-launched invasion brought the southern half of the Kuugauun kingdom to the west back under imperial control. This means that the Restored Taaluun emperors controlled considerably more territory at their height than did the Restored Kec'dhakan that they took the throne from. The importance of the Restored Taaluun dynasty had on Dhakaani history is far more important than its short thirty years would imply. The purely martial claim of Kelaac and his hiers firmly pushed the Dhakaani lands into a state of perpetual war for nearly two centuries. Whatever stability the Restored Kec'dhakan offered to the region, the rule-by-conquest mentality of the Restored Taaluun dynasty pushed thing back into chaos. As a result, the Western and Eastern Rhaguul emperors had much to sort out when they rose to power and did not have their power base properly fixed at the start of the Daelkyr Wars.

Restored Khar

Given the method of their rise to power, the Restored Taaluun emperors had only a few short years of relative calm after their western conquests before Emperor Kelaac died and unrest filled the lands again. In 8657 EC, Kuugaguun counterattacked and attempted to retake the territory to the south that the Restored Taaluun armies had just recently conquered. They badly miscalculated, however, and while they were engaged in the east the armies of Tashdraal attacked in the west. This began the bloody period known as the War of Black Talons where the fabric of the Dhakaani territories was entirely reworked.

At first, the Tashdraal forces, aided by the armies of Mahuukhaar, had several stunning successes against the Kuugaguun armies and they gained significant territories. However, the Mahuukhaar proved treacherous and eventually sided with the Kuugaguun to turn on their former allies. Between them, Kuugaguun and Mahuukhaar took much of the Tashdraal territories until the beleaguered kingdom was reduced to a small territory around the city of Ja'Sharaat. However, in another reversal a mass rebellion (perhaps instigated by the strained Taaluun emperors) arose in the east of Kuugaguun and the kingdom was wracked with war on the precipice of victory. The rebels took control of a large portion of the kingdom, which they renamed Akaagech, and the Kuugaguun king was forced into an area totally outside of the territory he had started with before going to war with the Restored Taaluun emperors.

Into this chaotic situation, an eastern warlord within the imperial territories came to power and launched a rebellion of his own. Lhevket Taal Lhekac arose in Khruukec bearing a sword he claimed was the ancestral blade of the Khar emperors, carrying it before him and challenging the imperial forces in the area. The people in the south were ready for change, finding the Restored Taaluun emperors to be excellent conquerors but poor rulers. He also made common cause with the rebels of new-born Akaagech against the emperor and his armies, smashing the force between them. In return for their aid, Taal Lhekac promised annual tribute and the northern area around Dhakar dor Shugaan (modern Lake Cyre). The alliance succeeded, and both Taal Lhekac and the Akaagech oligarchs had their rules strengthened with steel and riches.

Given the underhanded manner of his rise to the throne, the new Emperor Taal Lhekac was perceived as weak and a tool of the lesser kingdoms to the west. The people felt that Taal Lhekac was weak and he spent the first five years of his rule rushing from one rebellion to another. To counter the idea that he was a proxy for the Akaagech, Taal Lhekac abruptly adopted a cold attitude toward his one-time allies who gradually took offense to this. They pressed for more and more formal agreements of non-interference in the continuing raids of the latter War of Black Talons but things did not turn serious until, in the twentieth year of his reign, Emperor Taal Lhekac stopped the tribute payments altogether. They had been missing for several years in a row at this point and the emperor simply announced that he would not be paying these back-tributes nor paying any further tributes. The Akaagech oligarchs responded by invading and killing the emperor at the Battle at the Ruined Hill.

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The Restored Khar Dynasty is sometimes left out of the formal dynasties by historians because it seems so inconsequential. There was only one emperor, so it was technically not a dynasty (although he did claim to be the restoration of the older Khar Dynasties). The Restored Khar empire held essentially the same territories as the Restored Taluun dynasty, except for the region ceded to Akaagech. Despite his protestations, the emperor Taal Lhekac was indeed beholden to the Akaagech Kingdom to the north and never fully controlled the whole territory he claimed at any given point. However, it is extremely important to note that the dynasty is essential to Dhakaani scholars to account for the otherwise 26 year gap in imperial rule that would indicate a broken lineage.

After the death of the founder of the dynasty, Taal Lhekac's adopted son Taal Shuukuun defied the Akaagec, prompting another invasion and the prolonged Dhakaan-Lhekaani War.

Restored Shuul'aagen

Lhevk-Rhu Taal Shuukuun had served under the Restored Khar emperor through his rise to power, his subsequent campaigns against rebels, and the ill-fated invasion by Akaagech. When the emperor died in the Battle at the Ruined Hill, Taal Shuukuun smoothly stepped into the power vacuum, and skipped the intermediate ranks to proclaim himself emperor and the advent of the Restored the-early-dynastic-period, establishing a fourth successive dynasty which aligned itself with the great emperors of the past. Taal Shuukuun saw himself as an enlightened ruler and so claimed lineage from the powerful Shuul'aagen Dynasty rather than the more recent and more tragic Khar Emperors. However, this proved a bit premature as the Restored Shuul'aagen "dynasty" was the shortest-lived of the five Restored Lines. Following a coup in 8697 EC, the daguurech (ducchess) Holkhaan, a bugbear warrior, was enthroned and began the Restored Kukaar dynasty. However, Hekhuul Kaal'shuuc, the hier apparent of the Restored Shuul'aagen court, escaped to Akaagech and sought help in retaking her father's throne.

Restored Kukaar

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After the coup by Daguurech Holkhaan, the Restored Kukaar dynasty took power and ruled for more than two decades. Like many before her, Holkhaan was the sole ruler of her "dynasty" but it was not ambition that led to the downfall of this powerful woman. In another era, the cunning and influential daguurech might have succeeded in earning allies and negotiating troubling politics, but in the world she had inherited from the prolonged wars of the Raven States it was all she could do to hold on. First there was the war that Taal Shuukuun had provoked with Akaagech, silent when she launched her coup but quickly heating up once more. Then the Restored Shuul'aagen threat returned years later when Kaal'shuuc took the southwestern portion of the imperial territories, an area still sympathetic to their native sons Taal Shuukuun and Taal Lhekac. They supported her claim to empress and the long, drawn out War of Two Thrones shaped the region for the next 67 years. If she had not been preoccupied to the north, Empress Holkhaan might have been able to crush the rival power before it could become dug in but she missed her window and Oklakhaar remained a thorn in the sides of first Holkhaan and then the Rhaguul emperors.

This last touches on the true reason for the downfall of Restored Kukaar: Vuul'Mokuc the Dark-Crowned. This hobgoblin warlord, born under favored stars and wreathed in prophecy, had come to power in the resurgent west and came to found the last great dynasty of Dhakaan, the Rhaguul. Within eleven years he had conquered the imperial territories and most of the major Raven States. The rest followed soon after and Empress Holkhaan died of disease in an imperial dungeon in the same week as Mahuukhaar fell and the empire was once more complete east to west, or so the official histories say. This is the official end of the Raven States period and the symbolism of Holkhaan "the Usurper" dying alongside the "old world" as the Rhaguul took control is perhaps best described as "convenient." Over the next twenty years, Vuul'Mokuc and his heir conquered the remaining states until all of Dhakaan was reunited.

Other Dhakaani Kingdoms

As the five dynasties quickly succeeded one another in the east another ten independent states were established and dissolved, mainly in the west. Not all of these existed at the same time, of course, and perhaps two dozen tiny warlord-states existed for a handful of years here and there, but the major rival states to the "official" Dhakaani imperial lines are given below.

  • Akaagech:
  • Dalaan:
  • Draakhuul: A northern kingdom claiming the lands along the Gharthaal River (the modern River Cyre) and to the south of it. During the relative strength of the early Restored Kec'dhakan emperors, Draakhuul was small and isolated but as the political turmoil to the south grew, the northern kingdom grew bolder in its raids and alliances.
  • Hec'shor: When the Taaluun emperors lost their grip on power and the chaos that led to the Restored Khar emperors began, the so-called War of Black Talons, the northern kingdoms of Draakhuul and Rhekaal united by marriage into the kingdom of Hec'shor. Though the earlier kingdoms are mostly treated as footnotes, this relatively large state claiming much of the high Cyran plateau (then called the Taar'Han Highlands) and the fertile Talenta Plains (unruly halflings not withstanding) was a force to be reckoned with and its rule extended well into the era of the Western Rhaguul Dynasty. It also played an important role in the War of Two Empresses which established the kingdom of Oklakhaar.
  • Kuugaguun:
  • Mahuukhaar:
  • Oklakhaar: After the imperial daughter Hekhuul Kaal'shuuc escaped the coup by Daguurech Holkhaan to Hec'shor, she gathered support for an attempt to retake her father's throne. She established her court-in-exile in Takhuukelaan from which she launched a naval invasion of the southwestern imperial territory. This was the territory where both Taal Lhekac and Taal Shuukuun came from and the only part of the empire which remained behind the conquering warlords during the tumultuous previous two dynasties. This territory eagerly accepted the hekhuul and proclaimed itself independent. To make it clear that she would accept a peace treaty, Kaal'shuuc called her territory the Empire of Oklakhaar. This gesture was ineffective, though, as the Restored Kukaar emperors immediately besieged the cities of Oklakhaar. The border between the two nations lasted for nearly seven decades of fitful warfare until the Rhaguul emperors reconquered it.
  • Rhekaal: At first the enemy of Draakhuul to the west and then its chief ally against the more beligerent imperial states to the south, Rhekaal was another small and vulnerable kingdom at the start of the Raven State period. Claiming the southern Talenta Plains, Rekhaal had strong light cavalry but little else and their eventual alliance into the Kingdom of Hec'dor boosted their military enough to survive against the later Rhaguul Dynasties.
  • Tal'dekac:
  • Tashdraal:

Kingdom of Lhekaan

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The Kingdom of Lhekaan (also the Le'kuan Kingdom in orcish sources or simply Lhekaan by modern scholars) was a goblinoid-orcish fusion kingdom with territory in modern Aundair and Thrane from roughly 8613 to 9115 EC. The kingdom has its origins in the collapse of the Taluun Dynasty to the south which led to the ongoing wars of the Raven States period. Not all were content to fight over the remains of the Dhakaani empires of old and set off to the frontier lands north of the goblinoid races' traditional homelands. Three major groups came north into the lands of the orcs: the Shaacech Kuur (goblin and bugbear tribes from the eastern Byeshk Mountains), the Khruukoruul (an alliance of minor hobgoblin houses from Akhaac leaving defeat behind), the Gabraat (frontiersmen from Uthroul to the east). At first separate groups competing for resources in the former orcish area, they eventually forged a protective alliance along with local orcish tribes. By the end of the 87th century the alliance had taken on a formality as a joint-kingdom with four high kings, each from one of the original groups. The original claims fused into each other to become a coherent kingdom which could contend with the fractious goblin states to the south and the rival orcish tribes to the east and west.

Lhekaan has been commonly viewed as having been a goblinoid kingdom ruling over orcish tribes, but some recent archaeological work has argued against this. Instead work by scholars such as Professor Ash'tek of the University of Wynarn suggests an equal society, with the sheer mass of orcs outweighing the increased political power of the goblinoid races. It is certainly well-established that the peoples of Lhekaan rebuilt from the ruins of orcish cities which fell during the Incursion War, and that the Lhekaan ruins resemble a fusion architecture and not a strictly Dhakaani one.

The kingdom reached its height around 9000 EC, but further expansion was checked by the resurgent Western Rhaguul Dynasty to the south. Serious defeats against the the Rhaguul forces ended Lhekaan's "golden age" of relative isolation, and the kingdom became a client of the southern empire, then collapsed as developments in Dhakaan led to an abandonment of the territory. There is disagreement over the fate of the kingdom from the late 92nd century onwards. Some scholars have seen no revival of the Kingdom of Lhekaan after the long period of foreign domination, while others have seen renewed building and continued signs of central authority. The kingdom's independent existence certainly ended before the beginning of the Eastern Rhaguul Dynasty, though goblinoid tribes continued to live in the area until after the Third Daelkyr War.

Rhaguul Dynasties

Eastern Rhaguul Dynasty

Western Rhaguul Dynasty

Zuul'dar Dynasty

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