Rise of the Barons

Society took a step forward in large part thanks to the Greywind tribe, who pinned down the number 3,000 as the Chain's threshold. The Nomad named Brom Greywind, head of the tribe at the time, saw an opportunity to settle and expand. He founded The Vale, which remains the only human Barony that has stayed under original family rule.

Brom conceived of the watchtowers used across the land today as an alert system for people traveling near, to or through the first small towns the Greywinds established. By observing and controlling traffic, Brom effectively established clear borders around The Vale. The new concept of permanency led to agriculture and resource harvesting.

This was also the first evidence of premiums being placed on tools and experts. With a fundamental limit to the number of people (and therefore workers) able to be in the same area, the only way to expedite a job was with better ability and better tools. Pulling one's weight became critical to expansion and defense of that expansion. Magic was also highly valued, but wielders of it were harder to employ for societal improvements. A lot were simply too hard to control and those that would serve chose to serve the military or the political arena.

As with other firsts, brutal laws were established to address unsanctioned marriages and births, with executions and exile as common punishments. These laws were effective, however, and largely supported. A child born at a time and place where the threshold is broken by even one number would mean certain destruction and death to the entire community.

The other Baronies soon sprang up in their earliest forms. Each grew apart with unique cultures, customs and laws. Eventually this led to conflicting interests and conflict itself. The competition for land, resources and cultural authority began. The Barons, organized and working alongside intelligent advisors, formed small contingents of fighting forces, the earliest signs of modern warfare. Conflict shaped itself as occasional skirmishes, as large armies could not exist without risking the Chain. These skirmishes were fought well outside the confines of a settlement. The advancing force had no use for land and buildings destroyed by the wrath of Argem.