The Rain of Fire ends. The Northern valley is blanketed in burning fragments of metal, and wildfires destroy much of the pristine hinterlands. The ancient cities of the First Men are destroyed in the process, either from the massive impacts of the Rain of Fire or the wildfires that sweep through the lands. The survivors split up, some sheltering in caves throughout their lands, while others seek refuge among the frozen glaciers to the north.

Records are irretrievably lost. The memories of many of the survivors of the Rain of Fire are dimming. Much of the fabled lore of the First Men is forgotten. The survivors slip into barbarism, often waging savage wars against each other for food or territory. The exact origins of each Northern kingdom are often in dispute. The Montaigne claim descent from these survivors of the First Men, while the Aengard claim to be descended from tribes of Free Men who watched the Rain of Fire from their cold glacier homelands.

The ancestors of the Eiremen and the Mercians begin their generations long quarrel. The exact causes of the feud are unknown, but many speculate they had to do with grievances from before the Rain of Fire.

The Montaigne sweep into the forests and bogs of the Eiremen from the southern mountains. Using chainmail and mounted horses, they quickly surprise and overwhelm a few Eiremen settlements. The war ends quickly with the Montaigne consolodating their gains, while the Eiremen learn to use their claymores to hack the horses out from under the Montaigne knights.

Mercian lands are invaded by the Montaigne, causing the Mercians to put aside their feud with the Eiremen. Although the Montaigne are more skilled at the arts of war at this time, the Mercians possess the knowledge to craft incredibly long and powerful bows capable of penetrating chainmail easily. The Montaigne quickly win this war as well, although they pay a serious price in lives and men.

Incensed that the Montaigne have ignored them, the Aengard sweep from their icy homes and attack Montaigne occupied lands throughout the Northern lands. Ignoring the already occupied Mercians and Eiremen, the Aengard provide a welcome, if not unintended, relief from the Montaigne. Although the Aengard have no cavalry, their great axes, spears, and shield walls allow them to fight the Montaigne on equal footing. For four years, the Aengard raid and pillage as they see fit. When the fighting stops the Montaigne claim victory, although this is dubious since all fighting was done on Montaigne occupied soil.

The various tribes living in the Northern Valley and the surrounding Black Forest avoid forceful conquest by the Montaigne. A relatively generous taxation treaty is negotiated, and the various people of the Fris river are left in peace provided they do not arm themselves, or the enemies of the Montaigne.

The border between the Montaigne and the Eiremen and Mercians has been relatively stable for the last twenty years. Although cross border raiding is common, rarely does this flare into full-scale war. Many of the peoples in both lands are beginning to normalize their lives and have accepted whichever lord demands taxes from them.

Exhausted by decades of skirmishes, the four kingdoms agree to cease hostilities. The rights and borders of the four kingdoms are proposed, but nothing is formalized, although the fighting does stop. The Frislenders are recognized as a vassal state of the Montaigne and given their according status.

The fifty three year winter, known as the Great Winter or EverWinter arrives. For years, the inhabitants of the Northern Valley noticed the seasons becoming more and more skewed, with more winter and less summer for harvest. Already fearing the worst, they have been stockpiling food for the last three score years.

The EverWinter exceeds their worst fears, and for five score years, there is no summer. It is not until 935 AR that the Great Winter releases its grip upon the land.

The end of the Great Winter brings with it the Summer of Bounty, where in a straight year of Summer, four consecutives harvests are reaped, saving the survivors. All over the Northern lands, thanks are given to respective patron saints.

The Khaliphate launches its invasion, starting with a mass drive of camel and cavalry. The garrisons positioned at the Maw Mountains are weak and fall within days. Unopposed, the Khaliphate quickly divides its forces and begins to wage war against the first Northern kingdoms it encounters. The Montaigne are the first to battle the seemingly unstoppable Khaliphate. The Aengard, in accordance with their traditions, honor a treaty that supposedly dates to before the Rain of Fire, and begin a forced migration south to battle alongside the Montaigne.

The Montaigne have lost more than half their lands to the Khaliphate, and frantically retreat towards the center Valley of the North, where their vassal subjects, the Frislenders live. The Aengard have suffered high casualties fighting on foot against the amassed Khaliphate camel and horse riders, but refuse to yield. The Mercian king William II agrees to a temporary halt of a border dispute with the Eiremen king Cruaich mac Fenian. Each man pledges an army of five thousand men to battle the Khaliphate.

The war continues with no sign of abating. The ten thousand strong Mercian/Eiremen army has been thrown into disarray by the arrival of Khaliphate foot soldiers. Previously unknown, the Tajik Janissaries and Autarch regiments show their discipline and mettle driving the Mercians and Eiremen from the field in disarray. The Mercian king William II and Eiremen king Cruaich mac Fenian quickly put aside their border dispute and begin massive mobilization.

The Khaliphate are finally stalled at the entrance to the Northern Valley by a combined force of Mercian, Eiremen, Aengard, and Montaigne soldiers. Over two thirds of the Northern lands are under occupation by the Almohad raiders who begin to consolodate their defenses. Surprisingly, there are no forced conversions or other abuse of the occupied people.

Lotharr the Unifier succeeds in removing the tribal competition between the Frislenders for the first time since the Rain of Fire. Under his unified rule, the Frislenders rapidly mobilize and arm themselves from leftover armor and weapons left from the front at the Valley. The Frislenders show remarkable speed in learning the arts of warfare, and many hope that they will provide the backbone of a new force to drive the Khaliphate from the valley.

Tragedy strikes when in one day of battle, both the Mercian king William II and the Montaigne king Phillipe IV are slain in battle against the Khaliphate forces. However, the Frislenders and Aengard refuse to yield and continue fighting, heartening the Mercians and Montaigne. Surprisingly, it is William's former rival, the Eire king Cruaich mac Fenian who swears vengeance. By the end of the day, Cruiach has slain two sons of the Sultan Suleyman abn Yusif Wahid, the ruler of the Khaliphate. With the Frislenders reinforcing all fronts, the Northerners begin to counter attack into Khaliphate occupied lands, pushing the southern invaders into the defensive for the first time in the war.

The Northern kingdoms celebrate the freedom of all their lands from foreign occupation. Surrounded by the armed might of the North, the Khaliphate begins a rapid retreat south, force marching its Tajik foot at a brutal pace through the mountain passes, causing uncountable wounded to be left behind and perish.

The Mughal Horde rides through the eastern gap in the Maw mountains. While the Northerners are better prepared and have much more experience waging war than before, the Mughal horde is more disciplined and more numerous than even the Khaliphate armies. The Montaigne commit their entire nobility and every mounted knight they have, and still suffer defeat. The armies retreat hastily, as the Golden Horde begins to occupy the Montaigne lands bordering the Maw.

The Mughal Horde occupies over two-thirds of the Northern lands as the Khaliphate once did. The Northerners have learned to fear and envy the Mughal discipline and skill at riding horses. The only areas still under Nothern control are the central Valley, the frigid glacier home of the Aengard, and the wooded forests of the Mercians. The ice of the Aengard's home is too slippery for horses, allowing the Aengard to fight the lightly armored Mughal on foot. In addition, the Mercian peasants rebel against their Mughal occupiers by using their famed longbows from the woods.

A brutal war of attrition continues in the North. The Aengard, although diminished by their mauling by the Khaliphate, begin to mount nighttime raids on the Mughal occupiers. Using the fjords and rivers throughout the valley, they use their low keeled longboats to rapidly navigate to Mughal encampments, ambush or raid them, and then quickly flee back north to the saftely of the glacier. Although the Mughal continue to oppress the Northern people with crushing levies and taxes, many serfs run away to the wilderness and join rebel armies. The huntsmen of the dead Mercian king William II continue to provide longbows and arrows to serfs willing to oppose the Mughal occupiers.

The long anticipated Northern counter-attack begins. Huge numbers of Frislender serfs are trained and equipped into a relatively fit fighting force. Despite their origins, the Frislenders are quick to learn the arts of war and are brave. With their ranks reinforced, the Northerners begin to attack Mughal encampments all over, using the Mercian longbowmen to take down the mounted Mughal shortbowmen. When forced to fight in melee, the Mughal take many casualties from the Eire claymore and Aengard great axes against their light armor. All does not go well, as the Khan of the Golden Horde, Olug Khai, slays the Frislender king Lotharr I in single combat.

The Golden Horde has been dispersed after six years of war. The Frislenders, under king Ulric, demand independence from the Montaigne. Of all the four kingdoms, the Frislenders have commited the most manpower and suffered the least casualties. Fearful of consequences of the newfound Frislender nationalism, the Montaigne accede to their request, granting the Frislenders command over the Northern Valley. All lands within fifteen leagues of the Northern valley becomes sovereign Frislender land.

Explorers and ambassadors to the south discover the origin of the Khaliphate retreat. While there is little love lost between the North and the South, all are equally surprised to learn that the Mughal and Xian attacked both the North and South simultaneously. While the so-called Golden Horde attacked the North, the Shining Horde attacked the south, with similar chances of conquest. Both North and South consider peace a reasonable situation and warily eye the numberless hordes of the East.