Bohavia’s location, right in the center of the continent of Svyet, has been both a blessing and a curse to its peoples. Its blessing comes from the fact that the country is at a natural crossroads, which brings much trade through the country, both overland and by rivers. In addition, Bohavia is also rich in mineral deposits and possesses very productive agricultural lands.

Such a bountiful land has obviously presented a valuable prize for invaders throughout Svyet, with the result that its peoples have had to adapt to regular conflict from races wishing to occupy the land.

Until 3212, the unified country of Bohavia did not exist. Parts of the country were, and still are, occupied by three distinct races, namely elves, dwarves and humans. These three races tolerated each other in the main, as they each chose to inhabit areas exclusive of each others. The elves chose to inhabit the lush forests, the dwarves the rugged highlands and the humans the fertile lands of the Morava basin. However, relations between the three races was never so strong as to enable any one of them to gain control of the entire region, although one or another race tried, from time to time.

The elves had been living in the sylvan forests of Shumava since the dawn of time. Dwarves had moved south to inhabit the North of Bohavia between 1000-1500, occupying the rugged northern terrain of the country, known to them as Sudeten. Humans are the most recent arrival, originally nomads from the Eastern steppes who decided to settle in the Eastern and Central sections of the region from around 2200. These barbaric savages came to be educated by their encounters with the elves and dwarves and came to prosper over the following 1000 years.

All three races had attempted to rule the others through force of arms since the arrival of the humans, but none had ever succeeded. However, as the humans prospered and their population grew fast, due to the higher fertility rate of humans compared to dwarves and elves, it became obvious that, one day, the human race would gain power over the other two races. This was not, however, achieved through conquest, but rather by diplomatic means.

The father of the present day country of Bohavia was Otakar I, whose father, Bretislav, had risen to the position of leader of the humans. Otakar I was an intelligent and talented diplomat who, after several years of negotiation, was able to unite the three races of Bohavia in return for establishing a senate including the most influential elven and dwarven nobles.

Despite occasional setbacks caused by the rule of less able successors to Otakar I, the economy of Bohavia prospered, more so than any other country in Svyet. On a number of occasions, rival countries attempted to invade Bohavia, but the combination of elven bows, dwarven axes and human lances made Bohavia more than a match for the forces of any potential conqueror.

The golden age of Bohavia started in 3346 following the coronation of Karel I, a cleric king of great intelligence and diplomacy and a devout worshiper of Kitry, the God of Knowledge. Karel I worked hard throughout his reign to bring unprecedented prosperity to Bohavia in general, and the capital, Mnyesto, in particular. Among his most notable achievements were the building of a new castle and walls around the capital, the first bridge to cross the River Vltava, a huge cathedral dedicated to Kitry and the first university in the center of Svyet. Under his patronage, Mnyesto became a cultural Mecca and home to some of the finest artists, sculptors and artisans in Svyet.

This idyllic period in Bohavia’s history ended abruptly upon the death of Karel I in 3378, leaving the crown to his young son Vatzlav IV. Unlike his father, Vatzlav was a fighter but, sadly, not a very able one. He did little to improve the economy of the country, but rather wasted the resources of the country by spending a vast proportion of the country’s wealth on hiring mercenaries to participate in foreign wars, each of which proved to be disastrous. In order to generate more revenue, Vatzlav constantly increased tax rates (to the particular indignation of the dwarves) and cleared land for agricultural use (to the annoyance of the elves).

In 3405, a young elven druid known as Janhuss from the elven town of Tabor received a vision from his Goddess, Prirodna, Goddess of Nature, telling him that the destruction of forests was the ultimate sin against nature which should be stopped at all costs.

An excellent orator, Janhuss spread the word of his vision far and wide amongst the elves of Shumava, with the result that it became accepted as part of the beliefs of all Prirodna worshipers (who made up a vast proportion of the elves of Shumava). Janhuss tried to convert the humans, who were busy deforesting as fast as they could in order to increase agricultural land, needed to feed the exploding human population. He tried to impress upon them that what they were doing was a sin against nature. The human farmers, followers of Yarovit, God of Agriculture, however, were having none of it, as their beliefs were that cultivating crops was an honor to Yarovit.

By 3412, the situation was starting to become agitated and skirmishes were starting to break out between elves and human landowners. In 3415, Vatzlav IV was away campaigning, leaving his brother, Sigismund in control. Sigismund decided to act decisively in order to end the matter and promptly arrested Janhuss during one of his sermons to the human farmers. After a short, biased trial, a human court found Janhuss guilty of agitation and he was burned at the stake.

The elves of Shumava were incensed at Janhuss’ murder, and open warfare immediately erupted between elves and humans. Seeing their chance, the Sudeten dwarves started to march in support of their elven ‘brothers’ and in protest at what they saw as unacceptable levels of taxation.

For a while, dwarves and elves were united, but this soon changed after the dwarves besieged Mnyesto and Kutna Hora, an incredibly rich silver mining town controlled by the humans. Under attack from both elves and dwarves, the humans were soon routed from the center of Bohavia and were willing to begin peace negotiations. The dwarves were having none of it, however, as they had been able to breach the walls of both Mnyesto and Kutna Hora and were determined to get back the excess amounts that they had been taxed in order to pay for the humans’ follies. As there was little coinage left in the treasuries, the dwarves took what they believed was rightfully theirs in any way they could, sacking both cities of fine art, sculptures, temple ornaments etc., and taking them back to the Sudeten capital of Aussig.

The elves realized that the dwarves had entered the conflict, not in support of the elves, but for their own gains, and were incensed with the dwarves disregard for objects of beauty. Because of this, they insisted upon the dwarves’ withdrawal. The dwarves refused, leading to new warfare between dwarves and elves. Now all three races were fighting amongst each other. The warfare raged for ten years, leaving the armies of each of the three armies to become decimated.

Watching the events in Bohavia with great interest was King Wittelbax VI of the neighboring country of Nyemetzko, situated to the south and west of Bohavia. For many years, Wittelbax had been jealous of Bohavia’s prosperity. Seeing his chance, he mobilized his armies of orcs, goblins, kobolds, ogres, etc. which marched into the country from south and west.

Despite the severely weakened state of Bohavia’s forces, they did put up some decent resistance to the Nyemetz forces. However, their animosity was such that the three races were unable to unite in defense of Bohavia, and so their resistance was insufficient. By 3437, the final Bohavian resistance was crushed, leaving Bohavia as a province totally controlled by an occupying force of Nyemetz. Now it is 3460, and a whole generation of Bohavians has known nothing other than the yoke of Nyemetz occupation. Today, another threat is looming. On the eastern borders of Morava, the Slovenes are mustering their forces of hobgoblins and gnolls, their eyes fixed on the prize of Bohavia.