Bédenes/1st edition/1



Bedenes is a remnant of ancient Corani ambition in the north. It is now held by the Warriors of Mameka, the strong right arm of the Agrikan primate and bane of the Kuboran barbarians. Mamekan loyalty to the king gives much pause to the rebellious Earl of Tormau, half a day to the south. It is a place of ordeal for the Order of Mamaka, Master of Steel, and no place for the weak.

HISTORY
Corani emperors once looked toward Peran and spoke of “the robe of civilization to be cast about the shoulders of the barbarians.” A fort established at Emesa in 402 was the base of expeditions into northwestem Peran and the legions that took Kustan in 414. The Kubora struck back with bloody ferocity; by the late 460s, the robe of civilization was “nothing more than a scarlet ribbon!” When Kustan was destroyed in 477, Emesa was abandoned by the empire. Those who remained traded and intermarried with the Kubora.

The Balshan Jihad had little impact on Emesa; tribute was sent and Emesa was ignored. Hugai Lynnaeus captured Tormau in 588 with Kuboran warriors hired in Emesa and Emesan bread in his stomach. When Arlun swept into Rethem, he bypassed Emesa. The siege of Kubora-friendly Tormau was little more than a formality. When Tormau was granted to Clan Lynnaeus, trade with Emesa continued as it had for years.

In 675, King Nemiran made Emesa the Hundred Moot but failed to rule on the Lynnaeus claims to Emesa and Nouserin Hundreds. The landed at Alesen in 690. Claiming title to Emesa and all the surrounding lands, they executed resistors. Locals slaved for nine years to construct the forbidding keep at Bedenes, which created a hostile northern border for Tormau. A herald from Clan Lynnaeus sent to establish terms of relationship was fed to the Holy Flame. The heralds of the Sanguine Saltire have not forgotten this and refuse to acknowledge the claim.

Since 700, the have established chapterhouses throughout Emesa Hundred and the clerical order has set up a seminary at Bedenes. In 718, an assault on Kustan planned by the (grandmaster) ended catastrophically. For the first time, the are vulnerable.