Lineas was a tiny kingdom bordering Valdemar to the west. The capital city, Highjorune, had originally been the site of a Tayledras Vale.
Founding[]
Usually, when the Tayledras finish cleansing the land and move farther west, they deactivate the Heartstone, draining the magic out of it and transferring it all to the Heartstone in the new Vale. In the case of Highjorune, this was not an option. A massive fault line ran through the area, under the city and all the way into western Valdemar. At some point during the Mage Wars, a hole had been punched through this fault, leaving behind massive instability, with the virtual certainty of huge, deadly earthquakes all along the fault line. To prevent this, a Tayledras Healing-Adept fashioned a spell that was probably the masterwork of his lifetime. The spell drew on all the magical ley-lines pooling into the area, stabilizing the fault line and slowly stitching the unnatural hole closed, healing the area for good. The Heartstone was left intact and active, as it was the anchor for the spell and the natural magic powering it.
The spell took a huge amount of magical energy, enough that even one unscrupulous mage drawing off that power would upset the balance, setting off earthquakes. Knowing it would take many centuries for the spell to do its work, the Tayledras got Lineas off the ground, naming the first of the Remoerdis line its king. The Remoerdis family had Mage-potential, but no actual Mage-Gifted, making them the perfect people to become guardians for the Heartstone and the healing spell. The guardianship was tied to the mage-potential in the bloodline. The Remoerdis family encouraged distrust and fear of magic and magecraft in the local populace, ensuring that the spell would remain safe.
The first of the Remoerdis kings decided to spread the guardianship duties as widely as possible. As the Heartstone was located within the royal palace itself, he insisted that all residents of the palace, right down to the lowliest servant, be part of the bloodline. The servants were all descended from illegitimate children, and each was tied to the Heartstone, charged with protecting it.
Relationship to Baires[]
Lineas was bordered on the north by the equally tiny kingdom of Baires. The royal family of Baires were nearly all mages, most of them very powerful. They coveted the power running through the ground of Lineas. The Lineas-Baires War had been the latest attempt to grab Lineas. Eventually, the war was settled through a treaty negotiated by Valdemar. As part of the deal, a Mavelan daughter, Ylyna, was married to the Linean king, Deveran. The treaty further stipulated that should either family die off (without any help from the other), the kingdoms would be joined, with the remaining family taking control of both.
This treaty was the motivation behind Vedric Mavelan's attack on the Remoerdis family. Tashir was supposed to die in the attack, as he was the focus of the trap-spell. Only Tashir's strong Fetching Gift saved him. In either case, Vedric hoped to eventually merge the kingdoms, and rule in Lineas, nominally under the authority of his cousin, the king of Baires. He didn't count on Herald-Mage Vanyel getting involved.
Annexation by Valdemar[]
Vedric's defeat resulted in the deaths of the entire Mavelan family, as they had all been linked into a power meld together. This left Tashir, whose legitamacy had been proved, as the sole heir to both families. However, he had also been Chosen by a Companion, which further complicated matters. To resolve the situation, Vanyel suggested that the kingdoms be combined and annexed by Valdemar. This would allow Tashir to serve in both capacities as a ruler and Herald. Tashir and King Randale agreed, and Tashir became the Lord-Baron of the March of Lineas-Baires. This is further detailed in the Lineas-Baires Annexation.