Years ago, on the old website, FFG posted an article revealing some of the historical background of Terrinoth and the Dragon Lords. Having seen people asking for more detail on the world of Runebound, I found a copy of the article and thought id post it here for anyone interested.
Runebound History
Excerpts from the Chronicles of Autorius of Greyhaven, Emeritus of History, Greyhaven University.
The Free Cities
In aeons past, so long ago that we have no written records of this time, the Elder Kings came to Terrinoth. They conquered the land and subjugated the people – human, elf, and dwarf alike – living therein, establishing a line of kings that ruled from sea to sea. Their seats of power are known to men today – they were the beginnings of what are now known as the Free Cities: Greyhaven, Nerekhall, Tamalir, Forge, Dawnsmoor, Riverwatch, Vynelvale, and, of course, Thelsvan. As these great cities grew and prospered, the Elder Kings became increasingly lazy, complacent, and demanding of their subjects. With every passing generation, the merchants and lesser lords of the cities grew more able and prosperous and the Elder Kings grew more unfit to rule them. In time, more than one thousand years gone, the inevitable occurred (in 1 FC). The precise nature of the rebellion and overthrow varied across Terrinoth, whether through open warfare (as in Frostgate), an assassin's hired blade (as in Riverwatch), or simply the death of the last of the royal line due to sickness (as finally occurred in Tamalir, aided and abetted by the local lords).
Since that time, the Free Cities have each ruled themselves as an independent city-state. Each city, ruled by its own laws and methods of governance, controls the territory around it. Gone are the days of Empire.
The Dragon Lords
All men know of dragons – ancient and terrible beasts that sleep atop mountains of gold, creatures of immense power and ever-burning appetites. Dragons are believed to be intelligent, but their minds are so alien and their tendency to eat unwary humans so pronounced that there has been little scholarly investigation into this matter. What is known is that dragons, although mighty and terrible, have never posed a great threat to the people of Terrinoth; no more so than bears, lions, or other predatory animals. A dragon may eat a man or even burn a city, but it is not in its nature to commit murder, nor to wage war.
Not so the dragonlords, unfortunately. The origin of the dragonlords is just as mysterious as the origins of dragons, although it seems fairly certain that the true dragons predate these mysterious creatures. Dragonlords were every bit as powerful as their brethren, but they were much more human in their shape and, sadly, in their thinking. Dragons may lust for gold, but there appears to be no more to this fact than the magpie's attraction to precious jewels. The dragonlords, on the other talon, knew that gold can be spent. A man could speak and even bargain with a dragonlord (something not generally possible with a dragon), but of course this fact had its own uniquely horrifying consequences. Dragonlords did not just lust for gold and food, no. They lusted for power, for fame and wealth (a very different thing from gold) and all the other things humans have murdered each other for over the aeons since the dawn of time. When a man kills another man for a gold coin it is terrible enough, but dragonlords could murder cities.
After the Elder Kings came the dragonlords. As years passed, these dragonlords made contact with the free cities – some peaceful, some less so. The dragonlords demanded tribute, offered protection, traded, made alliances, broke alliances, and generally comported themselves like men with teeth and claws and powers beyond comprehension. Over time, the various dragonlords became associated with individual cities (a sort of inverse of the human tendency to feel fond of the land where his fathers were born and died – the dragonlords grew increasingly attached to places where they watched successive generations of humans live and die), and over more time, the cities became associated with one another. There were no Empires or Alliances or Kingdoms, no League of City-States or United Guilds of Terrinoth, but there was Margath, and the northern cities, and there was Korina, and the cities in the south. Eventually, it came to war.
The Dragon Wars
All known now about the Dragon Wars is, of course, tainted by the lens through which it is viewed. What is certain is that the coalition of dragonlords led by Margath and the coalition of dragonlords led by Korina went to war. The tales now told are of Margath as a terrible beast, cruel to his enemies and terrifying to his allies. Singers warble on about his greed and thirst for power; children tell each other hushed stories of his depravity and violence. As to all that, I cannot say. What caused the war, I cannot say.
I can say that the great city of Thelsvan, the seat of Korina's power, fell to Margath's armies of dragons and dragonlords. I can say that cast out of her home and near to defeat, Korina turned to the elves and the dwarves, to the men and the orcs of her land for aid. The bonds of trade and fellowship proved stronger than Margath suspected and cities and armies rallied to Korina's cause. From near-defeat in a single strike the forces of Korina's cities recovered and fought, and fought, and fought. War raged for years as the lesser races joined into the fray on both sides, and terrible casualties were suffered by all peoples of Terrinoth, even the mighty dragons and dragonlords.
In the end, Korina led her band of Rune Keepers to victory over Margath and his dragonlord lieutenants. Korina gave her life to slay Margath, but her mortal Rune Keeper followers were unable to kill the remaining dragonlords. Instead, they bound them into rune stones to be imprisoned for all time. As the longest-lived of the lesser races, the elves were entrusted with the task of keeping these stones safe.
Recent History
With the final demise of the dragonlords Korina and Margath, peace slowly returned to Terrinoth. After spending their strength warring, the surviving Free Cities eagerly returned to peaceful trade and steady reclamation of their territory. Heroes had fallen on both sides, often in obscurity, and powerful magics had been unleashed across the continent. The mightiest of magical artefacts and powers were lost, perhaps forever, and the turmoil of war had transplanted creatures, intelligent and otherwise, hundreds of miles from their natural homes.
Their population dwindled to the barest ember of their former glory, and newly burdened with the responsibility of protecting the Dragon Runes, the elves retreated to their forests. Disgusted with the insanity of the surface world, the dwarves turned their backs from the light and retreated once more into their underground citadels. Humanity, meanwhile, rebounded with the vigour for which it is known, while the orcs, who had proved their worth as stalwart allies and fierce warriors on both sides of the Dragon Wars, were accepted into civilized society to a degree never before imagined. Orcish barbarians that look to ransack civilized towns now often find themselves opposed by orcish mercenaries or even Town Watch, and so the slow march of civilization continues.
It has been nearly three centuries since the Dragon Wars and still their shadow is felt.
