Harek

After the (then unnamed) Harekians conquered Hilderayne and defeated the Order of the Blessed Ground to end the War of the Pearls, Queen Kerah eventually expanded their holdings beyond Lazuli Bay and back into Argones. Tactically, it was a brilliant move to seize the relatively narrow stretch of land that connected Argones to Ixnay, but in reality, the Harekians had grown bored with victory and feared stagnation.

Geographically, Harek was a densely forested region, rich with coniferous, evergreen trees set between the lowlands of the Dragonridge Mountains and Ice Caves of Azinth. Temperatures stayed mild, slightly cooler than most of Argones but not as frigid as Azinth or Ixnay. Its territory expanded across the northern coast of Argones and west toward Brendelwood Forest, stopping at the borders of Aeranus.

Kerah's line would rule Harek from Hilderayne from 228 up until the death of her descendant, King Lor, in 949. Lor's children, Prince Jonas and Princess Naresa, would thrust Harek into a civil war that would become known as the War of the Daffodils, with Jonas taking the eastern half for Amarillia while Naresa would seize the west for Verdun. Neither monarch would ever sit on the throne at Hilderayne, as it disappeared during an event known as the Silent Dawn.

For over 50 years, King Jonas and Queen Naresa would wage war on one another, undoing any chance of a reunified Harek as many former Harekians no longer wanted anything to do with either side—in fact, the Azulites would completely abandon their lands entirely, preferring to live as nomads and vagabonds to being caught in the crossfires of war.

When King Jonas was assassinated in 1000, whispers began circulating that the victorious Queen Naresa would reunify the warring kingdoms and restore Harek. These rumors turned out to be just that, and instead of recalling her troops, Naresa instead decided to expand Verdun's territories south across Puckett's Ridge, Grosden Swamp, and all the way to Hosuth in what she would come to call the Verdant Realm.

Many now blame Naresa's lust for war on her advisor Quintus Barclay (arrested and exposed as a cambion by the Suns of Pelor during the Brightest Day), and rumors have once again been circulating that Prince Bredvor Icebend will restore Harek to its proper place in Lonn.