Way Back When
No one knows when Berador became a village. It's just always been here. Tales going back for centuries mention Berador, prominently or not depending on the story. The oldest facts known about Berador tie in to tales of the old Oshland Empire and its wars with the kingdom of Palacia. The Oshland Empire of old claimed Berador and all of the region around the Blue Wash as a border province. At the height of their power the kings of Oshland placed troops and border forts in the area. Berador served as a provincial capital of sorts long ago. The crumbling tower fort just outside of town attests to the reach of the kings in the ancient metropolis of Kray City.
During one of the many wars between Palacia and Oshland the lands of the Berador region revolted against the King of Oshland. No one knows the details, but most people believe that the revolt began with an attempted call for conscription. Soldiers of Oshland rode out from the tower fort in Berador and called the people to arms "in defense of the Empire" against the forces of Palacia. Only a few hardy souls offered their services. Palacia and Kray City were far away and of little interest to the simple villagers. The local governor demanded more. He called on each family in the region to send one able-bodied man for the war effort. The call became a demand, the demand became a show of force and the show of force resulted in anarchy. The governor died in the fighting and most of his men fled the region as the people of the villages united behind a band of heroes.
When the war with Palacia settled down the King of Oshland turned his eye to the rebellious province of Berador. Soldiers from Oshland came in numbers too great to oppose. The people of Berador and Dalton and Darshire decided not to fight. They would submit to the yoke of the empire once again. Unfortunately, the soldiers had no interest in surrender or in subjugation. They arrived intent on slaughter and vengeance. Thousands died as mounted soldiers swept over the lands with sword and fire. Whole families were murdered, and the Oshlanders burned villages and farmsteads. Having ground the land to dust and soot, the soldiers left and the Oshland Empire never returned. Not many years later the Great Slaughter of Kray City reduced the empire to ruin and it never recovered its former majesty.
Rebuilding, Rebirth
The destruction of the villages of the Berador region did not last. Most people survived the fighting as they fled into the Greywood or even up into the Silverine Forest for protection. Heroes and saviors shepherded the people through the hard times and the elves of the Silverine provided much needed aid. In time the villages were rebuilt, the farms and gardens replanted, cattle were herded back onto pastures and life resumed.
Dalton took many years to recover. After the village burned the people of Dalton fled to other places where they could find food and shelter. Over time a goblin tribe took up residence in the area and seized the mines. Again heroes of the age stepped in. The goblins fought long and hard, but could not overcome the power of the heroes with the descendents of the people of Dalton supporting them. Even after they moved back to the town site, it was many years before the people could reopen the mines as goblins and kobolds continued to plague the land.
Port Eben, at the mouth of the Blue Wash, became a pirate cove and eventually a pirate town. For nearly a century the buccaneers and cutthroats of Port Eben plagued the lands and the sea around the place. Over time as the port grew in size a general civilizing trend took hold. While pirates could steal and murder at will on the sea they could not live among themselves in great number without some law. Port Eben adopted many customs from the seabound captains that called the place home. Even today the local authority figure is called Admiral of Port Eben as opposed to Mayor or some other title. The Admiral is elected by the ship captains that make Port Eben their home port.
As a crossroads on the main east-west travel route and the north-south passage of the Blue Wash, Berador recovered relatively quickly from the Oshlanders's butchery. The elves of the Silverine Forest and the dwarves of the White Mist Mountains continued to trade with the human lands to the west. In doing so they traveled the Road and the Wash and the convenient intersection made Berador wealthy for a time.
Empires Falling
It has been some three hundred years since the time of the Oshland Empire. While the Slaughter destroyed much of its power two hundred years before, it was the coming of the demons that ended all. Again, no one knows exactly how or what happened, but most accept that the Purge began in Kray City. At least, the first stories of the demons always start there.
While Oshland and Palacia fought a new border war some great evil enveloped Kray City. People who have been there still speak of the great crater and black abyss that the city site has become. But no one won this war. They merely survived.
The demon hordes first marched over the human lands. Oshland, Palacia, Karameikos, and even the Free Cities fell as the spawn of the Abyss swept over the lands. The greatest horror of the time was the inability to tell friend from foe. The demons possessed the bodies of their enemies and traveled from land to land in disguise. That is how the elves and dwarves fell to ruin. In trading with the humans and offering shelter to refugees they invited their enemies into their strongholds. In a matter of only twenty years the demons destroyed all of the great cities and strongholds of the civilized races. Even the orcs and goblins fell to ruin in this time as the demons cared not for any life in the World. Tales of destruction in the Underdark speak to the demons' attacks on the drow and other dwellers in the deep places of the world as well. No one escaped the Purge unscathed.
No one knows what stopped them. Maybe they had accomplished their goals. Maybe they had slaked their thirst for blood. Or maybe the gods took a hand in the troubles. Whatever the cause, something stopped the deomons. On April 12th 273 years ago all of the demons fled the World and returned to the Abyss. No one has since seen or heard tale of demons in the World.
Points of Light
Now, nearly three hundred years after the Purge, the peoples of Greyshad have rebuilt and again society begins to flourish. Gone are the days of wide-sweeping empires and great kingdoms. City-states and small kingdoms stand as bastions of civilization in a sea of wilderness and chaos. The dwarves of the White Mist Mountains hold a few of their ancient fortresses. The human lands of old are mostly a ruin, but the great city-state of Roth, once a jewel of the Oshland Empire, has established a hold on the nearby lands.
The elves scatter across the lands. While they had tried to rebuild their city of Moonspire in the heart of the Silverine, something has driven them from the forest. Rumors speak of their ancient holdings in the far west and the great forest fortresses of Farenloth and a gathering of the elves there. But this land is far away and unknown to most.
The halflings continue as they always have. Their caravans and barges ply the lands and the rivers. Some set up semi-permanent homes as they have in Berador, but most travel throughout their lives. Tieflings and dragonborn live among the human lands in small clans or as solitary families. They have tales of their own ancient glory before the times of the Oshland Empire, but no one can point to any concrete proof of their history.
And so, life goes on.
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