Camul Star System

Camul Star System

Major Holdings – General Information

History

The Long Memory of Camul

Set down by the Hand of Witch Lord Bertwin Gisking Bearspear

 

Camul is no mere star system, it is an ancient pillar of the Drucos Nebula, first settled when the 12th Fleet of Mann carried the Galan into these reaches. Camuldun, its beating heart, is by all trusted reckoning the oldest recorded major system in Drala. Once it minted its own coinage and guarded its own hoard. Once it was seat and capital of a great Galan kingdom. In time, that crown would be wrested away by a rival power, for in the long game of the stars, no throne is forever.

 

25,355 AA

Into Gaint came Emperor Fausta Sanguis Mysticstorm, the Reluctant, with reinforcements for the Feyan Star Dominion. There, where the Starhold of Rutupiae would rise, he prepared the spearhead of the Drala Conquest. From Gaint, the Feyan tide swept to Camul. Eleven Galan kings bent the knee without battle to her there.

 

The Starhold of Othona, first of its kind in all Drala, was raised to protect the world of Camuldun and whole Camul star system. From it, the 12th Great-Legion watched and waited. Feyan General Thais Duccius Jewelclad, the Rebuilder, was dispatched to subdue the Durot and Dungar Sectors. Her banners took Belgar, Scir, Durn, Iniswitrin, Isca, Kynancear, and more besides.

 

Fausta held court upon Camul, reviewing the invasion. I am told, by men whose fathers stood in that hall, that she received honors from his soldiers before the Eleven Kings gave their submission. Temples to the Emperor rose here, grander than any in Drala, seven Great Feyan Temples on Camuldun alone. The world was girded with a planetary shield, vast enough to wrap the sphere against bombardment. Technology few outside the Feyans could master.

 

25,389 AA – The Rebellion of Arth Wraithblade

 

From Iken, Camul, and beyond came the Galan to the cause of Arth Saeth Wraithblade, the Father of Vengeance. They came in ships of burden and passage, not in fleets of war, cargo haulers, miners, liners, yachts, with a scattering of Outriders, fewer Cruisers, and almost no Ships of the Line.

 

At Camuldun, Arth and his lords, with one hundred and eighty thousand light star-bands, broke the Feyan hold. Those who sought sanctuary in a Great Temple lasted four days before the slaughter found them.

 

General Crotopos Crito Ultraborn, the Void-Rider Fox, led the 9th Great Legion, seven to nine thousand star-legions, and allied lords to relieve the world. They were routed. The Fox escaped with a handful, and even in later years his eyes would darken at the name of Camuldun.

 

This rebellion, in which Camul, Lohna, and Caemb were all sacked, is said to have taken seven to eight hundred million lives. Camuldun was rebuilt after, but never regained her full measure of power. Legends, however, grew in abundance.

 

26,136–26,764 AA

Over six centuries, four great fortification works remade Camuldun into a fortress-world.

26,136 AA: First major works.

26,164 AA: Second great strengthening.

26,736 AA: Third reforging.

26,764 AA: Fourth and final in that age.

 

26,840 AA

After the Feyan Withdrawal from Drala, rule passed to Houses like Dunmail Peatborn, Gollach Druidborn, and Saeth Wraithborn.

 

27,116 AA

From Camul’s throne ruled King Alwyn Saeth Wraithborn, the Dragon, champion of the Feyan cause and local peoples of Drala, who fought King Guinevere Gollach Druidborn, the Supreme Lord, and Glessum Furse warlords such as King Ella Umbra Stoneborn, the Overlord, of Haesta, and Warlord Aethelflaed Umbra Wyvernborn, the Conqueror.

 

In the centuries that followed, many Glessum Furse made homes in and around Camul, living in uneasy peace with the Feyan Galan. Under King Wulfmar Umbra Frostborn, the Star Kingdom of Catuvella reached its height, ruling Camul, Lohna, Caemb, Elge, Cyninges, Atrebas, Brigae, Regnen, Haesta, and more.

 

Catuvella was an early convert to the Feyan Faith, but turned back to the Ancient Ways, banishing the Pontiff of Lohna. A century later, the Faith returned. Their history, like that of House Umbra Frostborn is one of bloodshed. Many kings were slain for betraying the Ancient Ways, many were slain for turning their back on the Feyan Faith. In the end, the Feyan Faith won out, but it is said that within their holdsteads, many still follow the Ancient Ways of the 13 Fleets of Mann.

 

27,369 AA – Battle of Camuldun

King Guthred Umbra Wyvernborn, the Conqueror, of Gewiss, with allied lords and a great fleet, seized Camuldun, but could not hold it. He withdrew to Gewiss in fury.

 

27,612 AA

King Beorn Umbra Frostborn, the Pious, issued a charter concerning the Starhold of Othona. Some argue this belongs earlier in the record; I set it here as it was passed to me.

 

27,822 AA

High King Ecgbert Umbra Strongwyvern, the Strong Wyvern, conquered the Star Kingdom of Catuvella and demoted the King Alfrun Umbra Frostborn, The Quiet, of Catuvella to System-lord of Camul, perhaps also Sector-lord of Catuvella, but that is less likely. By the time of her death, she had reclaimed her throne, and crown.

 

30,050–30,058 AA

King Alfrun Umbra Frostborn, the Banner-lord, yielded Catuvella’s crown to King Astrid Umbra Wyvernborn, the Wide Ruler. Alfrun’s rights and star-systems were pared down until she held only Camul. Though reduced to System-lord, her line would reclaim the Sector-lord’s mantle more than once thereafter. Astrid later expelled her after a failed rebellion in which she reclaimed the throne of Catuvella and from Camul outright. She is said to however, have allowed House Umbra Frostborn to continue to rule in her stead, although others state they retained only Camul at this time. More research will be needed to confirm.

 

30,157 AA – Peace of Osgar & Oughtred

Lohna, Camul, Caemb, Bregas, Pecsa, Maeres, Stayn, and Wreoca were declared neutral, bending the knee to neither the Skanelaw of Gewiss, though most had already fallen to Skane lords in the Great Savage Crusade.

 

30,190 AA

Skane forces withdrew from Lohna into Camul and Grauth, many dispersing into the Skanelaw.

 

30,225 AA

King Wulfrun Umbra Wyvernborn, the Elder, builds the Starhold of Wichama on Camul, upon the ruined husk of a Galan fortress.

 

30,404 AA

Sector-lord Hereswith Umbra Frostborn, the Exiled, the daughter of Ceolbert the Brave, slays a sheriff of the Iken Star Sector. For this, King Oswald Umbra Wyvernborn, the Ill-Advised, exiled her, stripped her title, but let her son Rambert Umbra Frostborn, the Sword of Catuvella, keep Camul’s lordship. Oswald kept the Sector-lordship for himself.

 

Today, Camul stands diminished in power but not in name. House Umbra Frostborn still rules from Camuldun. Their cadet lines maintain holdsteads on Dunmowa, the minor world Frigidumorbis, the Starhold of Wichama, the asteroid field of Grenweald and within many other stars their ancestors once ruled over as kings. I have walked those worlds, traced the scars of bombardment with my own hand, and stood in the shadow of the Great Temples. The stones remember, and so do I.