In the North Realm the winds blow ice and snow through the veins of their people. The land takes hold, and it's people live in strife under a tyrant king. But time is running out. The people of the realm must liberate themselves before their kingdom...
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House Staedmon found its origins in Rustam the Great, who split from his brother Igor Svellinski and took the majority of the family's territory by force.
He saw opportunity that was being neglected in the lowlands, a predominantly sheep-farming area and invested in industry. Iron mines opened, lumber was felled in large quantities. Within a short amount of time Stalderheim went from being a poor and laughed at region of Iltensk, to its own kingdom with a fast rising economy.
Within three decades, Stalderheim was thriving. Rustam had ambitions, and turned his eyes back to Iltensk. Rallying his military, he began his devastating campaign. The southern city of Breganova was sacked, and the Iltensk diplomats surrendered with little struggle beyond that. Their military had could never withstand the Stalders, and they valued their cities and knew that they could never win.
They turned next to Gwylleth. Gwylleth fought hard and bravely, but they were being attacked from land which was not where their strengths lay. They fell in a period of six months.
Stalderheim then rallied their troups to Ba'althos. The campaign of Ba'althos resulted in many dead and a long siege of a terrain they understood little of. But when the army reached Tanakh, the city and castle itself only took a number of days to conquer. Though fierce, the people of Tanakh did not have the military might to match. Next, Rustam and his sons turned to Marsan. The fight for Marsan was short, but it cost the life of Rustam's eldest son and heir Branko Staedmon, who was poisoned in his sleep by Marsan assassins. Although they had no soldiers, the Marsan people had caught wind of the bloody campaign of Rustam, and had prepared skilled archers and assassins at the borders and drove Stalder soldiers into their dark swamps. Many of the Stalder camps became ridden with paranoia. But on the fifth week of siege, the Phyres came forward to announce a truce, saying they would bow down Staedmon to avoid the loss of more life. They were a young kingdom and did not see the point in war so soon into their history. Chineye Marsan knew that after the death of his son, King Rustam would keep a wide berth of Marsan, even if he did conquer it.
Next, was the snow covered kingdom of Valendor which lay to the northwest edge of the realm. Many of Rustam's generals considered it an unworthy territory. A white wasteland, the Stalder weren't even sure the kingdom had rulers beyond simple village folk who they pillaged with ease when the found them few and far between.
The conquest of Valendor took the longest, and many soldiers died from exposure to the elements. When the Stalder finally came upon Valendor forces, they were met with some of the most fearsome warriors they'd seen. But it was the conditions that took the lives of most, because although the Valendor had a fierce army, their numbers were swamped by Stalderheim's, who had begun conscription from their conquered kingdoms. Eventually, after nigh on a year, Valendor fell.
