Kalvan series

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The Kalvan series is a fictional series started by H. Beam Piper about a Pennsylvania police officer who is transported to an alternate world. The series is part of Piper's Paratime series and features many of the characters from that series. The police officer, Calvin Morrison, is picked up by a "Cross-time flying saucer" (really a Paratime conveyor) and dropped off in an alternate Pennsylvania where Aryans migrated east across Asia and the Pacific Ocean and arrived in North America. This is different than in the real world where the Aryans moved west into Europe.

Contents

[edit] Books

The Kalvan series currently consists of four books, one by Piper (Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen), one by John F. Carr and Roland Green (Great Kings' War), and two by John F. Carr alone (Kalvan Kingmaker and Siege of Tarr-Hostigos).

[edit] Races and Cultures

[edit] Zarthani

Main article: Zarthani

The Zarthani are a group of Indo-Aryans who speak an early Greek dialect. The Zarthani are the inhabitants of the Great Kingdoms.

[edit] Urgothi

The Urgothi are a race of proto-Germans. A thousand years after the arrival of the Ros-Zarthani, the Urgothi arrived from the Cold Lands. They found the coastal areas settled by the Ros-Zarthani and so they moved east and south into the Sea of Grass (the Great Plains) and near the Great River (the Mississippi River).

The Urgothi created the Middle Kingdoms, including Grefftscharr.

[edit] Ruthani

The Ruthani are the real world Native Americans. They are considered barbarians by the Zarthani, who virtually exterminated the Eastern Ruthani when they arrived in the area to become the Great Kingdoms.

[edit] Great Kingdoms

The North American Atlantic coast is the location of the Great Kingdoms. These kingdoms are inhabited by the Zarthani and are the main location of the series. Originally there were five Great Kingdoms (Hos-Zygros, Hos-Agrys, Hos-Harphax, Hos-Ktemnos, and Hos-Bletha), but at the end of Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, the new Great Kingdom of Hos-Hostigos is formed. Partway through the series, Kalvan also recognizes a seventh Great Kingdom, Hos-Rathon. Neither Hos-Hostigos nor Hos-Rathon are recognized by any of the other Great Kingdoms.

[edit] Hos-Hostigos

Main article: Hos-Hostigos

Hos-Hostigos was formed from the princedoms of Hostigos, Nostor, Sask, Beshta, Sashta, Nyklos, and Ulthor, which were all former princedoms of Hos-Harphax. Great King Kalvan I dramatically improved the armies of Hos-Hostigos, attempting to eliminate pikemen altogether from the Royal Army (and replace them with musketeers). Kalvan also has started construction of the Great Kings' Highway, which is a two-lane stone road running through the kingdom.

[edit] Hos-Harphax

Main article: Hos-Harphax

Hos-Harphax is the original Great Kingdom of the princedoms that created Hos-Hostigos. Hos-Harphax is one of the older Great Kingdoms and was created when the trading city of Harphax City began to exert its influence on the other cities, towns, and villages upstream from Harphax City. At the beginning of the Kalvan series, Hos-Harphax is ruled by Great King Kaiphranos, who dies in Kalvan Kingmaker.

[edit] Hos-Ktemnos

Hos-Ktemnos has one of the best militaries in the Great Kingdoms, consisting of the Sacred Squares. Hos-Ktemnos is located in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and is the site of the city of Balph, the headquarters of Styphon's House.

[edit] Hos-Bletha

Hos-Bletha is the southern most Great Kingdom (consisting of real world Florida and Georgia) and was originally a part of Hos-Ktemnos.

[edit] Middle Kingdoms

The Middle Kingdoms are located in central North America. They include Grefftscharr, a major trading city, Rathon, and Dorg. Rathon was later recognized by Great King Kalvan as the seventh Great Kingdom of Hos-Rathon.

[edit] Grefftscharr

Grefftscharr is a major trading city in the Middle Kingdoms. In the Kalvan series, Paratime Police Chief Verkan Vall establishes a cover of being from Grefftscharr when he helps Kalvan.

[edit] Styphon's House

Styphon's House is the temple of the god Styphon. The main temple of Styphon's House is in the city of Balph, located in the Great Kingdom of Hos-Ktemnos.

[edit] Holy Order of the Zarthani Knights

The Holy Order of the Zarthani Knights is one of the two military arms of Styphon's House. The Knights defend the Great Kingdoms of Hos-Ktemnos and Hos-Bletha from the barbarians of the Sastragath. The Knights are similar to the real world's crusading orders.

The Knights are divided up into Lances, which are then combined into Wedges.

[edit] Styphon's Own Guard

Styphon's Own Guard is the other military branch of Styphon's House. The soldiers in this military where red armor and have been known to kill friendly soldiers who try to flee the battlefield.

[edit] The Great Kings' War

The Great Kings' War is the war between Great King Kalvan and Styphon's House. The war also involves the pro-Styphon Great Kingdoms of Hos-Harphax and Hos-Ktemnos and the Pro-Kalvan/Anti-Styphon forces of Hos-Rathon and the Urgothi "barbarians" led by Warlord Ranjar Sargos. The war is to some extent a continuation of the Hostigos War of Unification (shown in Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen). The war begins in the book Great Kings' War.

[edit] Battles and Campaigns

[edit] Great Kings' War

  • The Battle of Chothros Heights (Kalvan victory) -- The battle where Kalvan utterly defeated the Harphaxi Royal Army and destroyed three lances of Zarthani Knights.
  • The Battle of Tenebra (Styphon's House victory) -- The battle where the Styphoni (led by Grand Master Soton), defeated the Hostigi army led by Prince Ptosphes.

[edit] See also

[edit] References