History of Danigau

Danigau was settled around 200 years before Deismaar by Grafenstellar (Count in Anuirean terms) Harold Danig; the land was however only thinly settled until the third wave of Brecht colonization 50 years before Deismaar.
The dwarves of Khurin-Azur were met soon after the founding of the realm, the Dwarves and the Danigers did not come in to conflict, firstly because both were hard pressed by the goblins and secondly because the Brecht looked to the sea for wealth not to the mountains. A wary peace held between the two peoples and it is said that Harold was one of the few humans to earn the respect and trust of the Dwarves.
The goblins of Urga-Zai on the other hand fought Danigau from the day of the first settlements. The people of Danigau took the goblin?s land from them by force in a brutal war of annihilation; the surviving goblins were forced over the mountains shortly before Deismaar.
The harsh land and constant fighting meant that many potential colonists sailed past Danigau for more welcoming lands in Kiergard, Massenmarch and Müden. Those who did stay became formidable warriors and the Counts of Danig became expert generals from necessity.

As Azrai?s corruption took hold of the goblins and Vos, the folk of Danig found themselves beset from the goblins of Urga-Zai from the mountains on one side, and Vos raiders from the sea on the other. The strength of Danigau?s soldiers kept the goblins from the core provinces although some of the northern lands of Danigau had to be abandoned (to be later settled by the Rjurik of Kvigmar).
When news came to Blackgate that a huge army of Vos and beast-men was forming in Aduria, Count Wulf Danig realized that the army had to be stopped at the land-bridge lest it sweep across all Cerilia gobbling the human realms piece-meal. The Count left Danigau in the hands of the Baron of Blackgate and led his navy south to Anuire and war.
Fortunately for the Brechts, the great sea-beasts of Azrai (of which the Kraken is one survivor and the Leviathan another) and the deadly armada of the Serpent attacked the Masetian and Basarji ships in the east rather than the Brecht and Rjurik ships sailing down the west coast of Cerilia.
Arriving at Seasdeep in Taeghas, Wulf allied with the Duke, and once resupplied led his ships to raid the armies of Azrai along the north coast of Aduria, sinking vast number of goblin war rafts and raiding onto land whenever a suitable target (typically supply trains or isolated groups of soldiers) presented itself.
Wulf led his marines ashore at Deismaar and his battle hardened troops were the cornerstone of the Brecht defense against the Beast-men of Aduria. One of the few strong human magicians of the time Wulf battled several of the Lost during the battle striving to reduce the impact of Azrai?s wizards and their necromantic magic. When the gods fell, Wulf used the superior discipline of his troops to ensure that the armies of the Brecht?s withdrew in good order.
This swift withdrawal saved the bulk of the Brecht fleet from the tsunamis unleashed by the collapse of the land bridge and over half of the Brecht who had set out from the Brecht lands a year before returned safely.
Wulf spent the next decades ?fully cleansing his realm of the goblin taint? and learning more of the strange powers he had gained at Deismaar, both of the godly blood and of the true magic that he could now control. Wulf Danig may have been the first human wizard to understand how to tap the mebhaighl of the land via source holdings; certainly he was the one of the first wizards to tap this power to cast realm magic.

After the battle of Deismaar, Roele founded the Anuirean empire from the tribes of the Andu and thereafter began to look outside his new empire for other lands in need of his guidance. Traveling through the minimally populated mountains to the north-east of Anuire, Roele conquered Kiergard, and swiftly after Dauren and Massenmarch without difficulty.
Wulf Danig however was a far more deadly opponent, the Count won decisive victories over the Anuireans during 38 HC until Roele was forced to turn his attention to less organized (and therefore militarily weaker) Brecht lands to the east, swiftly conquering Müden, Tieren (now Rzhlev) and Grevesmühl.
Wulf remained young despite his advancing years and after decades of wise rule he withdrew from Danigau. Some say this was to gain a greater understanding of magic, others claim he fell leading an army against a daughter of the Gorgon that invaded Müden.
Whatever the truth of his disappearance, Wulf Danig remains one of the greatest heroes of the Brecht people as a whole, not merely of Danigau.
The next centuries saw Danigau mostly unconcerned with events elsewhere in Brechtür. While civil wars and rebellions raged in the Anuirean-occupied lands, Danigau had to defend against many incursions from the goblins of Urga-Zai, raiders from Rjurik and Vosgaard. This kept the population low and the Dangers both vigilant for enemies and loyal to house Danig.

After the death of Michael Roele and the collapse of Anuirean Empire in 973 HC, the Brecht states became independent. Many of the traditional Brecht realms fragmented as would-be kings carved out realms from the ruins of the empire.
After the situation inside Brechtür stabilized somewhat, many ambitious nobles began to turn their attention outwards, intent on expanding their holdings. The rulers of Danigau, Massenmarch, and Müden formed the Free League of Brechtür in 1136 HC, ostensibly for the security of Brecht realms.
In practice, the League's members sought to expand their holdings at the expense of their ?barbarian? neighbors. The league launched an invasion into Vosgaard which failed utterly; the Vos led by Tsarevic Basil Zariyatam, not only slaughtered the Brecht armies but counter-invaded and over-ran several Brecht states ? Rzhlev remains Vos to this day.
Unfortunately, blinded by his desire for power, Count Hans did not take this as a lesson. He raised taxes to crushing levels to rebuild his armies and marched his rebuilt forces into Urga-Zai and Kvigmar, pillaging and slaughtering the natives.
Hans failed to take anticipate the ferocity and battle prowess of the goblins. The goblins launched a huge counter-attack against the Count's armies, trapping them in the mountains of Wiergau and would have utterly destroyed the Danigers if not for the dwarves of Khurin-Azur who smashed one of the goblin armies at the Fields of Woe, allowing the exhausted Brecht to retreat from the main goblin force.
Shortly after the battered army returned home full of tales of the slaughter the people of Danigau rebelled for the first (and so far only) time ever, the Count was overthrown and killed by soldiers led by his own son Adler. Adler spent his reign rebuilding the trust of the Danigers in his family, the realms army and its treasury and driving the goblins back from Danigau?s borders and left Danigau stronger than before his fathers mad reign began.
Ironically the great losers of Hans? war-mongering were the Dwarves of Khurin-Azur who were left to face the full might of Urga-Zai alone and were driven from the Grim Hills (now renamed Urik-Na) and Uldrik?s Peak (renamed Zaruul).

Again, centuries passed with Danigau 'keeping to its borders and avoiding adventures beyond them? in the words of Count Konrad. While the Gorgon conquered Kiergard, and the Swordhawk took over Massenmarch, the Count?s of Danigau concentrated their attention on their realm's defense against constant raids from Urga-Zai.
The Gorgon and his newly subjugated slave realm of Kiergard son started to launch occasional testing strikes against Dauren and Wierech, Danigau sent aid at first but withdrew its armies after it was invaded by the goblins of Urga-Zai.
Fighting alone the proud Duke Kort Adler of Wierech was slain by the Gorgon?s troops and the fortress of Adlersburg sacked. Although the Count of Danigau has since granted a distant relative of Duke Adler the title of Baronet of Wierech, that small realm has never fully recovered.
A few years ago, after the constant nagging of his court for him to take a wife and produce heirs, Count Erik Danig married Katherine Gauren, a descendant of the rulers of Gaurenstadt (now the Rjurik realm of Hjorig). Katherine?s grace and generosity complimented Erik?s somewhat grim nature well and Danigau flourished under their rule. With Erik?s sudden death many fear that the peace and prosperity that Danigau has enjoyed for the last few years will come to an end.