Southern Dark Ages

The growth of culture in the southern Old World came to a halt with the massive Orc invasion of 474 I.C. Sweeping past the formidable defences of Barak Varr, the greenskin horde overran and obliterated the Daric League. Without pause, they swept through and laid waste to the Tilean countryside before rampaging elements bludgeoned their way into Estalia. Though many died in the devastation, the strong fortifications of the large Tilean and Estalian towns allowed the inhabitants to avoid the same fate of the Daric League.

In spite of their initial success at slaughter, the Orcs were greatly overextended. The remnants of the armies of Tilea and Estalia began a long, slow process of eliminating the greenskin threats from their lands. Most of the fighting took place in the countryside, but the constant dangers posed by the greenskins made farming a tenuous business. Famines were common throughout the southern Old World as well as disease. Centuries would pass before the Tileans and Estalians were able to expel the Orcs and re-establish a level of normalcy in their lands. In contrast, the old civilisation in the Border Princes was forever a thing of the past and the land remained wild with small Human settlements in the foothills of the Vaults and Black Mountains. Nomadic tribes of Orcs and Goblins inhabited the central and southern portions.

The appearance of newly arrived Bretonni warlords and their retinues in these lands changed the balance of power. The Bretonnis swept out and replaced the native ruling families in the region. From a peasant's point of view, one set of rulers was no better than the last. In time, Bretonni rulers would intermingle with the remnants of the old order.

One more disaster beset the lands of the southern Old World. The Black Plague that began in the Empire in 1111 I.C. spread across the entire Old World. The devastation wrought by such a disease led to many deaths and depopulated whole villages. Even the greenskin tribes were effected and many of them perished as well.

By the end of this period, migration into the Border Princes from the Empire began to grow. Some did so to escape the anarchy brought forth by the Empire's Age of Wars, others for the opportunities that the under-populated Border Princes presented.

The Araby Wars

As the southern Old World began to recover from the ruinous pestilence, another threat loomed on its horizon. Arabian corsairs have become bolder over the years with increasing attacks on Estalian and Tilean shipping. This eventually led to an Arabian invasion of the island of Sartosa, which had been settled by Norse immigrants over two hundred years before. From their island redoubt, the corsairs stepped up their piracy, as well as conduct slaving raids along the northern coast of the Black Gulf and along the rivers of the region. These raiders stayed clear of the Barak Varr Dwarfs.

A larger Arabian invasion came two centuries later. The main thrust was into Estalia with a secondary expedition launched at Tobaro in an unsuccessful attempt to secure the flanks of the main effort. The squabbling Estalian kingdoms and dukedoms fell before the onslaught, many of its inhabitants fleeing into the Irrana Mountains. Soon, only Magritta stood defiant, but besieged.

Fighting men from all over the Old World put aside their differences and joined in a Crusade against the Arabian intruder. Many battles were waged before the Estalian cities and towns were able to drive the invaders out. Sartosa lasted for a few more decades before it too was freed of the corsairs.

The war didn't end there. Many of the knightly orders and mercenaries craved more riches and glory and the local rulers wanted these unruly and dangerous forces out of their lands. So, Estalian ships, chiefly those from Magritta, took advantage of the bloodlust and transported many of these warriors to the northern and western shores of Araby. Their energies spent, the Arabians could not resist in the initial stages of this counter-invasion. Many cities and towns fell before the marauding Old Worlders, including the then Sultan of Araby's city of Istrabul.

The destruction of Istrabul proved to be the critical catalyst to Arabian resolve. Armies that once faded into the desert now attacked with a fierceness that the Old Worlders had not expected. Where there were once victories for the invaders, they now experienced defeat. The Old Worlders fought their way with mounting losses back to the Arabian seaports. Uprisings there made even these (relatively) safe havens dangerous. In retaliation, the Old Worlders set these towns aflame so as to cover their own evacuation. Ships from Tilea and Estalia transported the remnants of the Crusaders back to the ports of the southern Old World from where these warriors could make their way back home.