Cedara
"Milord, we're from Cedara. We know a little about madness."
 —The adventurer-rogue, Ronan O'Lara, to Prince Calivardes of Vodaccium (AR 897).

Map of Cedara

Ruler: King Cormac II
Who Really Rules: The king, backed by the King's Council.
Cities (population): Dun Lorgan (30,000), Dunmoor (capital; 62,000)
Resources & Exports: Wool, Iron, Silver, Livestock, Produce, Leather, Alcohol.
Races: Human 87% (Emerish 82%, Hraal 15%, Lyrrean 2%, others 1%), Halflings 7%, Dwarves 3%, Elves 2%, others 1%.

Cedara, a picturesque land of emerald forests, rolling hills, and smiling, simple folk, has had a dark and bloody history. Like the other realms of the Emerald Isles, Cedara has been the target of many foreign invaders. Unfortunately, many of these raiders were successful, as Cedara has been sacked and conquered dozens of times over the centuries. Through it all, however, the folk of Cedara have held fast to their national identity; they wear their tainted history like a badge of pride, and bury their shame beneath their dark humor and legendary capacity for drink. In the eyes of most of the other Emerish, the Cedarans are thought to be a little touched in the head.

In AR 792, Arthedain and Emerlene united their armies to invade Cedara with the goal of ending the 200-year Hraal occupation. This conflict, known as the Bitter War (AR 792-796), ended with the defeat of the Hraals and the capture of their rulers, King Vranar and his queen Ilisene.

Vranar and Ilisene were both imprisoned in the dungeons below Dunmoor, and were eventually sentenced to death. Vranar was publically drawn and quartered, and Queen Ilisene was to be beheaded shortly thereafter. According to popular folklore, the darkly beautiful young queen, skilled in the ways of Hraalvic black magic, knelt before the executioner and pronounced a dreadful blood-curse on the future rulers of Cedara. The queen was beheaded and Lord Tymrik of House O'Barrow—who had been living in exile in Emerlene—was crowned king.

Since Queen Ilisene's beheading 104 years ago, all of the males of the O'Barrow royal line have been afflicted with various forms of madness. Although most of them have been only mildly afflicted, a number have taken their insanities to bold new heights. The worst of the lot was "Bloody" King Uthan, who on Midsummer's Eve in AR 833 succumbed to a psychotic frenzy and butchered 36 servants in the space of a single night.

The current monarch, King Cormac II, has ruled since AR 893. Known affectionately as "Cormac the Bull", the king is  a hulking bachelor of middle-age, and has yet to publicly exhibit any signs of the O'Barrow madness.

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