AR has fallen…

The once great city fell to radioactive poisoning from a foreign nation, leaving the City of Ages now naught by the City of Dust. Its people were scattered, held only marginally together by the last Ubar of Ar, Renatus Lycaon.

The proud city of Ar’s Station, once a colony of Ar’s, now an independent city on the Vosk River, suddenly found itself without allies.

Following the corruption of its administrator being revealed, Ar’s Station was shunned by the rest of the Vosk League. And all feared those who would ally with Ar’s history would sufer the same fate as the dead City.

But it was the arrival of Ar’s refugees, and the coffers of the once great Empire, that rebuilt the struggling Port Station to be once more a jewel upon the Vosk. Ar’s Station found itself the sudden heart of Imperial Ar’s Legacy.

With Ar’s help, the Station brokered a truce with the Vosk League. But the fragile peace was shattered as corsairs raided the League cities, ostensibly lead by the same faction that crippled Ar.

Once more in War, Ar’s Station has found itself the seat of an Empire in Exile, where the two Home Stones have been reuinited, and wear and calamity once more threatens civilization upon Gor.

Perhaps to snuff the great Ar out for good…

Ar Station

A colony town built on the Vosk River by Ar, Ar’s Station was built at the place where the Horde of Pa-Kur once met and gathered before laying siege to Ar.

Ar’s Station was established four years after those events in 10,114 CA, making it a relatively new town by Gorean standards.

Ar’s Station was given a degree of autonomy by Ar, but the great city intervened to prevent Ar’s Station from joining the Vosk League, preferring instead to exercise their power and authority over the river via the settlement.

Ar’s Station is so important because of its location at the meeting point of the Viktel Aria and the Vosk River.

Despite Ar’s intervention, Ar’s Station has retained strong ties with the Vosk League which came to its aid when it was besieged by the forces of Cos.

Even Port Cos, a colony of that island state, rose to defend Ar’s Station in brotherhood.

The betrayal of the settlement by Ar caused great resentment in the survivors from Ar’s Station and as the town has been rebuilt a thirst for independence has also grown.

 

“Ar’s Station is still, technically, a colony of Ar. Despite the revelations concerning the betrayal of Ar by Talena’s Cabal, resentment is still deep rooted there and the colony constantly asserts its independent ways against Ar.

It remains to be seen whether Marlenus will allow Ar’s Station to go independent – perhaps as an ally – or whether he will insist they remain loyal. Ar would be hard pressed to challenge Ar’s Station if the Vosk League stood with them, which in this Scribe’s humble opinion, they would.”

 

Ar’s Station, bearing the name of its tributary, was one of the first foreign territories to come under scrutiny and the attention of the restored Ar behind Marlenus II. Long had Ar’s Station, which had often attempted to rename itself, struggled with independence and its own status as a prosperous , well funded merchant hub on the river. However, Marlenus’ ambitions were to again restore Ar’s Station to the Ubarate and the Empire at large.

Though Marlenus got as far as installing diplomatic envoys into Ar’s Station and establishing a new trading route, often even lavishing Ar’s Station with gifts of Empire, the riverside port town remained politically neutral throughout the affair with Treve. It was only when Ar fell that Ar’s Station’s city administrators realized they would soon have two problems. An influx of refugees of Ar, and suddenly becoming the center of attention of whoever had destroyed Ar in the first place.

Just before the fall of Ar, Ubar Lycaon, knowing the danger the city had fallen upon as the spreading radioactive poison claimed district after district, installed agents of Ar in deep cover in Ar’s Station itself. From within, these agents have for the last few months been stirring dissent and political disunity between the rival factions of the Portside town.

Amidst the aftermath of the Treve war, Ar’s Station, neutral but historically tied to Ar, faced a sudden loss of wealth. The fear of radioactive retribution made even allies hesitant to send envoys and trade – and the former Administrator of Ar’s Station was outed for grand-scale corruption that destroyed faith in Ar’s Station as a trading port on the Vosk.

However, agents of Ubar Lycaon of Ar,  saw an opportunity to gain a foothold in Ar’s Station and take advantage of this loss of wealth.

As Ar’s Station grappled with its diminishing fortunes, refugees from Ar sought a new home, sparking a civil struggle within the city. A propaganda campaign, backed by Ubar Lycaon’s agents, favored those who advocated for uniting the refugees and accepting the gracious gifts and promises to rebuild and renovate Ar’s Station, and once more restore it to glory. A bloodless coup ousted the anti-refugee faction, leading to the influx of wealth and artifacts rescued from Ar.

But Ar’s Station’s newfound prosperity raised concerns among the Vosk League, fearing expansion and a potential river Empire. Ubar Lycaon, seizing an opportunity to strengthen alliances, offered support to Ar’s Station on behalf of the subjects of Imperial Ar, pledging defense for all League cities without demanding tribute. Stepping in directly as a diplomatic envoy, the Ubar of Ar led negotiations between the Vosk League with a promise that they would stand united, not at war, and that he would see Ar’s Station restored in standing and wealth.

This successful diplomatic meeting ended in the Vosk Accords, and elevated Ar’s Station’s standing greatly from an impoverished city-state known for corruption to a center of civility and reconstruction, and Ubar Lycaon returned to a jubilant city- with Ar’s people and wealth now aiding in a grand-scale reconstruction project.

Arian Loyalists took political actions, and when Treve agents attacked a ship on the Vosk, the League entered a war footing. Fearing paranoia and internal strife, Ar’s Station worked to maintain diplomacy between the cities of the League.

Ren Lycaon, Ubar of Ar, addressed Ar’s Station, passionately urging the reunification of the homestones under one banner. The city council, in a majority vote, elected Ren as Ubar, uniting Ar and Ar’s Station into the Empire of Ar, with Ar’s Station serving as the capitol-in-Exile. The stage was set for a new chapter in Gorean history.