Prince Eltram Landing

Overview

Prince Eltram Landing is one of the most storied cities on Ardentis — not because it was planned or built by great powers, but because history chose an insignificant port town to be the site of an extraordinary birth. In 40 years it became one of the most important cities in the region. It now serves as the capital of the Kingdom of Ulek, the most legitimate of the three Ulek successor states.

Emperor Theodor Crane of the usurper empire holds influence up to this city's borders but has never dared attempt to take it.

The Origin Story

Approximately 250 years ago, the Last King Ulek led a southward expedition across the Dark Sea to discover what had become of the original human homelands. What they found were orcs — servants of darkness — and the expedition retreated in haste. During the retreat, the King was struck by a shadow-cursed arrow, and the clerics aboard determined the wound was irreversible. He had less than a year to live.

The crisis compounded: the King had no wife, no heir, and a prophecy loomed — some clerics believed he was the Last King Ulek, the end of the dynasty.

On the voyage south, however, the King had fallen quietly in love with Lady Annabelle — a cleric of the Keymaster of exceptional ability, promised to chastity as a condition of her divine rank. Their love prevailed over her vow. Annabelle realized she was pregnant during the return journey.

The Dark Sea had other plans. Unholy forces transformed what should have been a 90-day return voyage into a 200-day ordeal. Ships were lost. Crew died. One vessel survived — carrying the King, Annabelle, a handful of warriors, a few clerics, and one mage. They limped into the harbor of a tiny, unmapped port town on the southern coast. There, Lady Annabelle gave birth to Prince Eltram Ulek. The King died having witnessed his son's birth.

The town had no name worth recording. Within decades, it had one worth remembering.

Growth

News of the miraculous birth spread fast. Pilgrims, merchants, loyalists, and opportunists flooded in. Within 40 years, the town had become one of the most important cities in the southern region. The name was never in question.

Lady Annabelle

After Prince Eltram was lost — sealed forever in the Temple of Primordial Evil near Xas, during the last campaign against the Mother of Monsters — Lady Annabelle did not retreat from the world. She became High Priestess of the Keymaster in Ulex City, overseeing the rites of coronation and maintaining whatever remained of imperial legitimacy.

Her death marked the symbolic end of the Ulek Empire after more than 4,000 years of continuous reign.

Current State (4724–4725)

Stable, functioning, and holding its identity as the moral capital of the Ulek legacy — even as the Free Cities fragment and the usurper empire postures. The city carries an enormous amount of symbolic weight and is well aware of it.

Connections

• The South
• Ulex City — Annabelle served there as High Priestess
• Temple of Primordial Evil (near Xas, South Forest) — where Prince Eltram is sealed
• Sandstone Harbor — usurper empire presses from the south