The Land without a King!

As I mentioned last time, Dragon Coast dissolved into anarchy when  Harlen I abdicated the throne in Anno Draconis 6. Without the steadying presence of a monarch, the realm was ripe for attack. Renegades and ruffians raided the kingdom's settlements and preyed upon the weak. I, Rufus, tried to patrol the lands and quell the disorder, but the chaos was too much.

Then disaster struck. An overwhelming army of monsters poured over the border. They decimated the original capital of Dragon Coast. The Usurper's stronghold was overrun, forcing a retreat eastward. The monster army continued into my personal demesne of Lion's Keep. I tried to resist their depredations but their numbers were too large. The beasts overwhelmed my fief. I led a determined band of survivors as we fled eastward away from the ruins of Lion's Keep. The enemy continued to hound us, however. We needed to find a safe haven.

Our eyes would turn across the waters. Ember Shoals, a chain of islands off the mainland, beckoned. It was a haunt of smugglers and pirates; Dragon Coast had battled their raids in the past. Now, the island offered sanctuary, I would lead my followers across the channel to the western coast,

Map courtesy of Kettlebaun, Lord Admiral and founder of the Freehold of Ember Shoals

However, the monster army would not stop harrying us. Without access to boats, the enemy sent wyverns across the channel to attack us. We built a watch tower that we named Wyvernwatch. From here, we scanned the horizon for attacks from the beasts. When the warning horn sounded, we would rush to the defenses. After a series of pitched battles, we defeated the wyverns. The attacks of the monster army subsided.

Thus, it was here on the rugged, formerly uninhabited coast that the survivors from Lion's Keep would build our new settlement. We named it after our tower - Wyvernwatch.

OOC Notes:

• As differences in opinion about the direction of Dragon Coast arose, I began to consider breaking away and forming a new Belegarth realm. I planned on calling it Wyvernwatch and I came up with the above backstory to explain it. Soon thereafter, Robb Rodgers would convince me to join him in forming a new Amtgard park, Ember Shoals. I merged Wyvernwatch into Ember Shoals.
• I had played Amtgard using the version 7 rules, which I did not like. However, v8 came out just when we formed our new park. I found it much preferable to the earlier rules. I am now an avid Amtgard player.
• I also discovered some other advantages of Amtgard:
• The restrictions on contact made it safer and more comfortable for these old bones of mine.
• It offers much greater opportunities for role playing. Dragon Coast had fallen into a repetitive pattern of battle games but (as you shall see) we were able to create more interesting story lines using Amtgard.
• The map came from Robb. I believe his father actually illustrated it. He even included a home for me on the map - Heron Hall. I shall tell the story of Heron Hall's founding and its relationship to Wyvernwatch at another time.