Rudovan Rurik (330-255 AU BU) A man who is said to have arrived in the Nur Dal from Volchok in 303 BU. He is the founder of the Rurik dynasty, one which is based – so it is claimed – on extortion and expropriation. Whatever the case may be, he settled here and built his palace city. Without him, it is fairly certain that the khans, though living amicably enough with each other, would never have united to form a nation state.
Imporia Rurik (202-189 BU) The only female ruler of Blood Rurik, Imporia ruled Ulaam between 202 and 189 BU, before she was assassinated for reasons unknown. During her short tenure in charge of the Blood, Imporia accomplished some fairly incredible things. Firstly, she adopted necromancy, and it is rumoured she even had a lover who was necromantic. In 200 BU she ordered the construction of tunnels beneath the Torvorog and Zapovedni mountains to connect the Nur Dal with its northern neighbours in Volchok. In 200 BU, she formed what is today known as the Nekromika, the first Order of its kind anywhere in Bratsk, and it served as her personal security, though, given her untimely and violent death, it seems the Order was not working properly. Over time, the Nekromika was adopted by other Rurik members, until, after Blood Rurik was amalgamated within the empire, the Nekromika was expanded across all of Bratsk, and formed a significant vanguard in its military.
Istvar Rurik (1845 AU-present) The current head of the Rurik Blood in the Nur Dal, who, of course, has his central residence in Ulaam, that great city palace built between the Altai plains and the Shivtsei Desert. Much like his contemporary in Volchok – Affanassi Neprev – Istvar feels surrounded, even though his province is relatively peaceful at present. He has many opponents who come wearing the guise of friendship. The clansmen who wish to see the Nur Dal break entirely with the Blood system, and the nationalists who wish to see Nur Dal lead a new empire on the charred remains of the old, by taking control of Volchok and destroying the Obshina. The uneasy alliance with Tal’dor has become increasingly strained recently, and in particular since rebels in Volchok appear to have taken control. Whilst Tal’dor seeks to destroy the necromancers obviously assisting the Obshina in its revolutionary activities, the Nur Dal – and Istvar in particular – see an opportunity to strengthen its position by taking control. Istvar believes that the historical sanctuary his family and country have always given to necromancers means that when the time comes, they will leave the Obshina and seek his support. And with a re-established Nekromika the likes of which the Nur Dal used to enjoy – indeed, before 1200 AU, which the entire empire enjoyed – then he and Blood Rurik would be unstoppable. Even the posturing of Tal’dor would be inconsequential.
Ulgen Ularm (1065-1106 AU) An aristocratic populist who believed in a programme of ‘going to the people’ to find out their ways and learn from them. During his five year hiatus amongst the peasants and clans of the Nur Dal between 1090 and 1095 AU, Ularm learnt much, including the depth of the hatred many clans felt towards their overlords, Blood Rurik.
Returning to Ulaam in 1090, Ularm spent the next two years of his life committing acts of terror against the regime, including destroying parts of Ulaam, as well as the infrastructure that enabled the appropriation and transportation of natural resources out of the Nur Dal and to other parts of the empire. His ideas were a strange collection of autocratic edicts and democratic sentiments, their contradictory ideas settled in his mind as simply ‘the arc of history’ which played out against a background of conflict and war. He was a radical in the true sense of the word, but it was a radicalism grounded upon an incredible sense of righteousness and egotism, leading Ularm to believe that he was a messiah of the bedouin peoples of the province, even if they refused to recognise him as such. He was assassinated in 1106 AU, but his parents did not weep for him. Such was his betrayal of his family, Blood Rurik, and the empire, that he had been dead to them years before.
Significant dates and people of The Nur Dal
- Rudovan Rurik (330-255 BU)
- Rudovan arrives in the Nur Dal in approximately 303 BU, from Volchok
- Ulaam settled in 100 BU
- Imporia Rurik (202-189 BU)
- Tunnel systems between the Nur Dal and Volchok constructed between 200-400 AU
- Ulgen Ularm, of ‘the Black Goose’ (1065-1103 AU)
- The Nur Dal joins the empire in 0 AU and cedes in 1519 AU
- Istvar Rurik (1845-present)
- Ulgen Ulam (1065-1106 AU)
