The Coat of Arms of Nyermersys, designed by Koldar Mondrakken.
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THE NERMERAN CAPITOL NYERMERSYS |
Elvish: "Town of Two Battles",
called "Thevelin" until its re-naming in 500 b.S. by the
Erpheronians, also refered to
the "City of Death". Capital
of the northernmost Santharian province of Nermeran
with currently approx. 14.000 inhabitants. Nyermersys is most famous for its vast graveyard as these lands were
occasionally roamed by orcs from the north, barbarians and even
dragons from the nearby Tandala mountains.
Coat
of Arms. To describe the complete history of the banner of
Nyermersys, you’ll need a whole book full of heroic deeds, unbelieveable
stories and unforeseen events: The main problem of Nyermersys is that such a
vast number of symbols were added to the banner in it's long history of a border
fortress that you’ll find dozens of important moments of Nyermersys’ and Santharian
history commemorated here. This is the
shortest description:
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The
ancient Coat of Arms from the times when Thevelin was entrenched to a
fortress against the dangers coming from the north
consisted of two black towers on blue ground guarding
the bridge over the Teiphra under a full silver moon.
Also the burning crown of
Erpheronia symbolized the status of the castle Lord to be only
responsible to the King.
Several symbols were added in the years to follow as Nyermersys and its
population in the course of time have proven its
importance to the kingdom of
Erpheronia:
In 602 b.S. after the Great Plague the Lord of Nyermersys added the
insignias of Queprur,
the Goddess of Death, on his shield in order
to honor the priests of the Goddess who defeated the
plague when everyone else failed. Also the Temple of Queprur grew to the
most important location for the cult of the Death Goddess.
The Sickle and the silver Cup,
both representing two different aspects of
Queprur, were
then added.
The three stars in the center of the
coat of arms stand for the three dynasties of
Erpheronian Kings and Queens
who are buried here.
Most notable is the Sepulchre of
Thar the Great which the silver crown under
the bridge stands for.
In the many wars Erpheronia
has fought many Lords of Nyermersys died on the
battlefield. The most brave and important ones were
buried among the Kings to honor them for their deeds. Only three Lords were
given this extraordinary privilege, which have found their
way on the coat of arms as three red swords
on a golden shield.
But this is only the Coat of Arms of the town itself. The
coat of arms of the Lord of Nyermersys also contains
the broken swords of the
Fallen. In the
current shields of Voldar
and Astran you can also spot these swords, representing
their close alignment to the Lords of these cities.
Needless to
say that the official Coat of Arms of Nyermersys is very
crowded today, and so Nyermersys is one of the few towns having four
different banners aside from the main one. They mark different units
in this town aside from the banner containing all the described elements.
The
army units stationed in the notorious fortress of Ah'tamaen have the
crossed red swords guarding the
bridge. The guards of the High Temple of Queprur
have the
scythe and the
cup instead.
All armies that belong to the powerful
"Order of the Fallen" wear their colors when going to war and
form the feared "Fallen Legion",
one of the biggest and best trained units
in Santharia. Their coat
of arms consists of
the broken swords of the Fallen and the burning crown of
Erpheronia, which shines bright on a red-blue
squared ground.
The Lord's Coat of Arms. Only the Lord
himself and his most trustworthy advisors are left with the full banner with
all
its historical symbols and famous deeds. Now even added is the red-green
shield of the Eastern Marks and the blue-green colors of Voldar
showing their close alignment to each other.
Historical Development. As the Erpheronian kingdom developed, it assigned land to a row of Lords in the far north to form the Northern Marks (approx. 1000 b.S.). The Northern Marks were planned as a line of castles, fortresses and outposts to form a firm border against orcish tribes, and perhaps the elves from the Calmarios whose strength was rising during this period of time. Thevelin became one of these fortresses at the northern border overseeing one of the two bridges over the Teiphra, and - perhaps more important - guarding one of the most fertile plains in the north, sealing off the northern entrance of the Vale of Kalir, a plain embedded by mountain ranges and the Ishmarin Lake with fertile soil and abundant resources.
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Soon new settlements were founded in this region and slowly the village of
Thevelin became a town, though a very well armed one. As the Erpheronian kingdom
increased more and more in size, the Eastern Marks were established with Astran
as the central stronghold in the eastern region of the Tandalas. Together with Nyermersys Astran formed the line which everywhere in the northern
world was known as the "Iron Wall": Nyermersys guarded the west
and the Teiphra, Astran guarding the eastern region, reaching as far as the Adanian
Sea.
Soon after peace was ensured along the Teiphra, Thevelin started transporting
goods (mainly grain from the Vale of Kalir and iron from the nearby hills)
down the river to the sea. The northern regions became the corn chambers (and
its armouries) for the Erpheronian kingdom, exporting mainly raw materials and
foods to Voldar
and the southern Erpheronian
towns. Furthermore the northern regions sent battle-trained soldiers to
every battlefield the Erpheronian
kings found suitable.
A border town in the north chosen to defend a whole area against its enemies,
Thevelin and later Nyermersys had to withstand many
sieges and battles in the course of history and on several occasions was
nearly destroyed but always rebuild. Its soldiers were never as famous as
the Helcrani from
Milkengrad, but are known to fight as hard as these
warriors and got famous for their iron will to never give
up.
In
SW II it even withstood a grand elven army that tried to gain the bridge and
thus the entrance to the Erpheronian
north. The siege failed miserably despite a
coordinated attack between the Aellenrhim
elves and the Cyrathrhim elves.
They left the woods and evaded all outposts to attack the city from the north, while
the main fighting was in the south. The human soldiers not only fought
off an
overwhelming attacking force trying to breach the city walls, but also stopped the
northern approach and inflicted fatal losses on the elves there,
driving them
back over the river. Thevelin was renamed to "Town of Two Battles" for the
two victories the outnumbered human armies reached against two
elven armies at the
same time (500 b.S.).
The elves were forced to break the siege and withdraw soon-after. Reinforcements had been mobilized in the Vale of Kalir, and were then approaching the elven positions, who were encircled by Thevelin and Selidor by these new units. They were forced to a humiliating retreat they didn’t forget for along time.
Excerpt from the Chronicles of Nyermersys (497 b.S.) by Chromsassim, the Elder:
"The elven infantry attacked the southeastern walls in the early morning-hours, and tried to climb the eastern hillsides between the old Nekropolis and the city. The fierce assaults increased in intensity over the day, and soon more and more reserves were thrown into the battle.These detachments slowly dwindled down from the northern walls, until only a small detachment of guards remained.
The elves fought with wild determination, and their bowmen hit the men on the walls with an extreme expertise. Already parts of the city caught fire by flames initiated by the heavy fightings. Finally the garrison was able to strike back, and the enemy was driven away from the walls.
But in the meantime the Cyrathrhim elves from the Calmarios - who gathered during the night, north of the Teiphra – attacked the northern gates with all their might, crossing the river with boats and storming the bridge. Soon they had overwhelmed the small number of guards still there and were already within the citywalls.
The human army was close to panic when it recognized the danger and heard that their comrades were already involved in a bloody struggle right within the cities.
At the last moment the Lord of Thevelin took all remnants of the castle guard and threw them into the fight, personally leading them into a glorious counterstrike. Under heavy losses the elves were driven out of the town and behind the river. The Lord drowned - he and his horse were pierced by many arrows - in the Teiphra when the humans conquered the bridge again.
It was a glorious day for mankind! The attacks have ceased and the elves seemed to prepare their retreat…"
It is not
necessary to remark that the castle Lord was buried between the
Erpheronian kings as the first
non-royal for this act of bravery and heroism. After the war the Fortress of
Ah'Tamaen
which
was errected to strengthen the Dragonthorn
Bridge
was named after him.
Later
in SW II Thevelin or - as it was called after the war - Nyermersys started a bloody campaign of
reconquest and retaliation against the Cyratrhim
elves, pushing them back, deep into their own forests. These easy but bloody
victories represented no strategic value though, and could not prevent the constant
downfall of the human armies. Nyermersys was not able to change the odds at the
last stand at Selidor either, but still they fought to the last man in a
senseless war for a lost cause.
But beside some glorious victories Nyermersys also suffered under several
terrible defeats that destroyed most of the town completely. Every occasion not
only marked the
towns' population
as terrible for the town but also as a staggering blow for the Erpheronian
cause.
Most
famous to be mentioned is the siege of Nyermersys by the orcs in SW
III when the town already was part of the Tharanian kingdom. At this siege the garrison
held the city for several months against all odds, and the orcs could
only take the
city with multiple losses. The garrison of the town was honored by the
Erpheronian king for their brave deeds, and since this time has held the
name "the Fallen Legion". The Fallen Legion formed an elite troop
among the Erpheronian units, and is now still an important part of the
Santharian
army.
Today
in the times of the United Kingdom of Santharia a second ring of outposts are
positioned further north of the Teiphra. This ring of outposts now is defending the Calmarios and
the feet of the Dragon's Maw. Nyermersys has become the capital of Nermeran,
the most
northern province of the empire, and although many fortifications will have to fall
before the enemy could target Nyermersys, the town is still proud of its strong
walls and soldiers with whom they've defended the Erpheronian/Tharanian kingdom for
nearly a thousand years.
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Information provided by
Koldar Mondrakken
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