Garrah

A History of Helias Compendium - Garrah

A large glaciation, less than 1000 years ago which covered the entire mountainous land mass of modern Garrah, destroying any traces of human habitation that may have existed before the current period. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived travelling north from what is today known as the Kingdom of Torja around that time, as the ice sheet retreated and melted into the Sea of Storms.

At the time, Garrah was covered in moors, had more bog-land, and the main form of transport was by water between it's peaks and valleys.  These settlers began building the first known permanent houses where a lack of trees led to most structures being built of local stone.

During the first century after the Glacial Age, the society changed dramatically to a chiefdom model, as the emergence of settlements led to the concentration of wealth and underground stores of surplus food. The first clans started claiming vast swats of territory among the mountains.

The geographic location of Garrah and it's mountain rings helped considerably against raids from the south and the north and incursions from the Central Realms, where the most advanced and powerful kingdoms rose.

The discovery of larges reserves of iron, nickel, copper and tinstone under the soils of Garrah, would lead to the smallest nation, becoming the metallurgic centre in Helias and the exporting of products the main staple of their economy.

The Salarian conquest of Western Helias was never completed and was stopped by the fiercely independent clans in their dark, hellish moors. The first Salos incursion into Garrah occurred in 79 AD, when King Acolaian invaded Northern Garrah and defeated a militant army at the Battle of Mons Praut. After the Salarian victory, forts were briefly set along the Krags Ridge close to the Highland line, but by three years after the battle, the Salarian armies had withdrawn to the Lowlands of Salos.

The Salarian influence on the northern part of the country was considerable though, and they introduced the Pillars and their faith, which in turn slowly spread through the clans to eventually supplant the shamanic, nomadic beliefs that once held sway over the land.

Around three centuries ago, the area that is now Garrah was divided into three main areas. The Highlands, a patchwork of small clans in Northern Garrah. The Anrial-Charb, the chiefdoms of the Central Steppes, which had conquered southeastern Garrah. And  Cál Driata, founded by settlers from Bastion, along the coast, bringing new language and culture with them. These societies to this day are based on the family unit and have sharp divisions in wealth, although the vast majority work full-time in subsistence agriculture.

The Cál Driata maintaned the largest fleet of the three kingdoms for almost fifty years, before they were defeated in the Battle of the Broken Atolls, that led to the emergence of the Kingdom of Torja as the naval power in Helias. Garrah never regained their power and influences in the seas, apart from a brief period when the Purple Legion conquered and held the island nation of Bastion.