Belynsia, Province of Madness

In its early years, North Nidonn once had six provinces. East of Phedailin and south of Jevithem, resting beside River Baymoor, was Belynsia, founded in 3717DB and first ruled by Lord Maharch. In the eyes of the Phedailin Knights, Belynsian fighters were established as intelligent knights who wielded not only swords but magic, under guidance of Duracia's Institute. They were taught to cast balls of fire, shock with electrical surges, and even heal their own wounds. They proved to be effective knights and Belynsians took great proud in their military.

Places in Belynsia

Due to the massive destructive phenomenon triggered by Katahedra's defeat, not much of Belynsia survived; most of it was utterly pulverised as mountains shot up from the dead earth, and the towns in the remaining fields simply crumbled once the people left the land. There are, however, two distinct ruins left in Belynsia.

The first is in the northeastern corner of the only remaining field, now called the Fog Wastes. There lies a ruin of the grand Fort Tyriasa, which was second in command as far as Katahedra's ranks were concerned. Fort Tyriasa is now a jumble of large stones sitting atop a network of underground rooms said to be cursed as badly as Central Ideitess.

The second is what remains of Katahedra's mountain-fortress, called Anukafobaia. Though it once pierced the heavens with black ferocity and towered beyond sight, now it is a mere giant claw of rock surrounded by remnants of great battlements and towers. Like Fort Turiasa, it is said to extend underground, but none have managed to find any surviving entrance into the magical chasms below. It's believed that Iethyer GvoranShun is hiding in these caverns.

History

Lord Maharch was possibly the most reserved of all the lords. During the council gatherings, he would often remain silent and agree with what was said. After not even a hundred years of rule, he died during the night with no wounds or signs of poison in the year 3598. Everybody blamed magic. Maharch had no children, so a new ruler was selected.

It was around this time that He created the devil lord Tokjalyo. Tokjalyo took the form of a human, called himself Katahedra, and entered Phedailin to prove to the king that he was worthy of being Belynsia's new ruler. As Tokjalyo was not human, his fighting prowess and intellect impressed the king greatly, and Tokjalyo, under the name of Lord Katahedra, was appointed as the second lord of Belynsia. Of course, the king did not know it was Tokjalyo, for an Odanon would never be given over such authority; they are malicious and always conspire to harm humans. But Tokjalyo tricked them, and he was given authority.

Lord Katahedra made many changes to Belynsia. He expanded its border northward into Jevithem, claiming by force what is now the mountains just south of Jevithem's castle. He also erected his own magical institute and put a mysterious figure known as Acronda, who was later thought to be Taipan in a different body. Acronda taught the knights to use shadow magic, increasing their strength significantly. Belynsia became heavily guarded, and the large population eventually feared leaving the province as guards began to behave irrational and violent towards people crossing the border. Over time, a cloud seemed to hang over all of Belynsia, and it didn't move for many years. Lord Katahedra stopped attending the council meetings in Duracia and, upon slaying a messenger of the king, he found a great force marching against him.

Katahedra's War

From 3598 till 3565BD, Phedailin's and Leotyne's armies attacked from the west and forces from Jevithem attacked from the north. The battles fought over several years were some of the largest in North Nidonn and many thousands of lives were lost. Belynsia, however, held its borders strongly; the magic of the Belynsian knights proved to be ultimately superior to anything that opposed it. Out of desperation, King Harha ordered that the high priest Father Duosol speak with the god Nikina to request help. Nikina told Duosol to withdraw all armies, as Katahedra was too powerful for them. Despite Duosol's pleading, Nikina said no more on the matter. King Harha eventually decided that the losses were growing too great and he ordered that all forces were to withdraw and defend their own borders in the year 3565. Belynsia did not follow the retreaters. Instead, they watched.

For some time, Belynsia stayed where it was. Nobody went in and nobody went out. Nobody could see what was happening in the province, as it developed a permanent layer of fog and cloud. Occasionally, a dozen or so Belynsian knights would leave their province and attack whoever and whatever they encountered like mindless slaves until they were killed. Upon interrogation, they would kill themselves via shadow magic. Concerned about the random dangerous attacks and for any "normal" people still trapped in Belynsia, King Harha and Father Duosol consulted Nikina again, this time in 3553BD. Nikina told them that he had prepared a weapon to send into Belynsia, and that they were to send a paladin to Trelinia and recruit a boy named William Macelle as a knight, to train him well, and then to send him into Belynsia.

The paladin they sent found William in the town of Vesht, just as Nikina described. William was incredibly eager to become a knight and had already been taught to use a sword thanks to a peculiar set of events that recently took place in his life. William was taken to Duracia and spent the next eight years developing many battle and survival-related skills. Sir William Macelle was appointed paladin status under the order of Nikina and was then sent into Belynsia with six other highly-trained Duracian knights, including the paladin who first found him.

They encountered minimal resistance. Eventually, they met a heavily robed figure hiding in one of the villages who turned out to be a Karithian called Iusdiho. With their new ally, they ventured deeper into Belynsia, clearing several towns of corrupt Belynsian officers and freed the citizens, but asked that the people all kept quiet until they dealt with Lord Katahedra himself. When the troop set eyes upon Belynsia's castle, they recalled that it had been driven up into the sky as though the mountains were offering it to the heavens: "The top is completely concealed with clouds; even though the cloud cover is very high, I am sure that what we are witnessing is only the foot of what could only be called a castle-mountain...". They broke through the gate, made their way up dark corridors, and upon reaching the top, they were confronted by a man shrouded in shadows. The troop also recalled that, when Lord Katahedra began to speak to them, Iusdiho's fear was so great that he turned himself into magical stone to protect himself from the evil magic. Since Iusdiho had defeated every other form of opposition with no sign of effort up to that point, the soldiers' confidence was dashed.

The Victory and the Changing Land

Katahedra invited them to deal one blow to him, as he believed he was invulernable to any attack they could muster. All but William faltered; William took hold of Iusdiho's spear, now turned into the otherwordly stone, and he thrust it into Katahedra's chest. The blow appeared lethal and an immensely violent storm struck the mountain at that very moment. The wind blew with such force that the towers and roof were torn off and shattered in the air, and great arms of lightning clutched Katahedra and carried his figure up into the dark clouds. William grasped hold of Iusdiho's statue and they were thrown over the mountain and into the ocean behind it. The storm grew so strong that the mountain was demolished and the rest of the troop did not survive. More stranglely, the earth shifted and mountains were pulled up between Jevithem and Belynsia, and over half of Belynsia itself was made mountainous. This was the year 3545BD.

Very few towns survived the storm and earthquakes, but those who did fled the ruined land and spread throughout the rest of North Nidonn. It's believed that none of Katahedra's magic knights survived. Many say it was the work of Ilertav, cleaning up the mess after the problem had been removed. Belynsia was abandoned entirely and left as a wasteland behind the new mountain ranges. Sir William was found on a nearby shore some time later, still holding Iusdiho's spear. However, it was no longer stone, and it was thus assumed that Iusdiho, too, was no longer made of stone, but he was assumed to have simply travelled southward, out of the way of everyone. Seeing that the spearhead was still made of magical stone, William decided it was best to hide the weapon away as it still seemed to be powerful beyond his comprehension. William named the spear Rushnukvan and took it back with him to Trelinia after being handsomely rewarded by the king and high priest for his grand deeds. With his money, he had a vault built, which is said to be hidden deep in a cave, which was hidden deep in a crypt, which was hidden deep in Trelinia's forests. Many believe it is within Belynsia Mausoleum, which is indeed within Woodridge, north of Sedr Keep.

The story of Sir William and Lord Katahedra has transformed into many variations of children's stories in North Nidonn, some of which involve bizarre twists.