In the wake of the Song of Woe, Chelmarrond, like every other part of the Empire of Relarion, was on its own. The few refugees from the heart of the empire, bearing tales of indescribable terror, made it clear that the Relarion was gone, along with most of its people. There would be no help from the outside.
Chelmarrond had a few advantages, though. Firstly, there were few of the People of Woe in this outpost of the empire. There were no mines nearby, requiring a large force of expendable slaves. There was too little wealth in the city to employ a large workforce of domestic servants.
Another advantage was the College of Magic in the city. Again, it was an outpost, a minor center of magical studies. After the Song, though, it was the only such center remaining in Sacawisha. The magicians of the College, being further from the worst effects of the Song, retained their sanity more often than their colleagues elsewhere (still, many bravely sacrificed their minds in the months and years afterward, casting spells to save the city).
The final advantage was a person. Once again, a Thearaddan woman began a dynasty. Her name was Orlona (now called Orlona I, or Orlona the Great). She rallied the survivors of Chelmarrond to the defense of the city. Monsters were invading—the creatures of the Hills of Helgar, and the undead of Quastaria. Most of the former inhabitants were rotting in the streets. Mindlost were roaming the city and the countryside.
The bodies were buried or burned, the Mindlost were killed (or perhaps “put down” is a better term). In a series of battles, the undead were repelled. Finally, the climactic battles, fought in the low hills to the west of the city (now named Neraifi Loruen, or “Hills of Blood”), drove back or killed the monstrous invaders from the Helgars. This all took eight years, and cost the lives of about one-quarter of the survivors. But the relentless Orlona drove on until Chelmarrond was finally at peace, within and without. Then, she established the Princedom of Chelmarrond, adopting many of the laws and customs of the vanished Empire of Relarion.
After this, Chelmarrond existed unremarkably for the next eighty and more years. It slowly grew outward, absorbing the valley of the River Nimitho (which flows from the Helgars into the Elave), and establishing Port Elave (which, misleadingly, is not at the mouth of the Elave) on the nearby coast.
Finally, a few adventurous souls began to look outward again. This took a brave heart, for refugees had come to Chelmarrond during all this time. They brought reports of a world gone mad. It seemed that Chelmarrond was the only oasis of peace and sanity in the world. Some few people resolved to find out for themselves.
What they found was not as bad as had been feared. Explorers went east, into the Dry Towns: they found the foundations of civil society re-erected. Eventually, some penetrated to the northern reaches of Amagaresh, and found that old culture re-asserting itself (though it was soon to be conquered by the nomadic Furce N'maida).
More explorers went west: at first, they found only the chaos that refugees had spoken of. Once the explorers cleared Coravant, though, they found the emerging Empire of Simlarin, which was bidding fair to replace the old empire. Here was peace and order on a large scale.
Some time later, the most daring explorers went north. Many of them found death, both in the Helgars, and in the undead-infested swamps of Quastaria. Some made it through the narrow valley of the Elave, which lay between the swamps and the hills, and found the Wet Towns. They were amazed: in the midst of vast stretches of forest, here were sizable towns, settled and civilized. There were strange things here, things that could be found nowhere else; things that an entrepreneur might sell at a profit elsewhere. After the explorers, came the traders. Braving the voyage up the Elave, they brought new items to the people of the Wet Towns: spices from Amagaresh, for example. These were traded for the strange goods on offer: old magic, spell components, elven bows, dwarven swords. These went back down the Elave, to bring huge profits to the merchants who sold them in Simlarin, in the Dry Towns, in Amagaresh.
Soon the Elave wasn't enough to transport the traffic. Merchants wanted a land route, well defended and isolated from the undead of Quastaria. It was Prince Chelond I who directed the building of the road that now bears his name. It took six years to construct the 150 miles from Chelmarrond to Jolonda, along with the chain of forts to defend the road. This first section was completed 142 years after the Song of Woe (that is to say, 166 years before the opening of the campaign). With enthusiastic cooperation from the Wet Towns, Chelmarrond builders extended the road all the way up the Elave, to Callanri, in sight of the mountains of The North.
The Road of Chelond I was all the spark Chelmarrond needed. The city's history since then is an uninterrupted rise. Wealth has doubled, and doubled again. The realm is the richest and most stable part of Sacawisha. Chelmarrond merchants voyage ever farther afield. The voice of the Prince of Chelmarrond is heard throughout Sacawisha.
The prosperity of Chelmarrond has been further strengthened by building the port of Chellartdord, seventy years ago. This is on the Elave, next to Chelmarrond itself. This allows ships to come up the Elave, and unload almost directly into the Chelmarrond market (of course, this was a bad development for Port Elave, which is now the seediest place in the realm).
Chelmarrond looks confidently to the future—a future in which, say dreamers, the City of the Eastern Realm will re-create the old Empire of Relarion.