When the human race arrived from the mists, to settle the disparate lands of Tyria, they
saw a world in which their primacy was assured.
For a time this was so, and their Kingdoms ruled every continent but this age has now
passed.
Many ancient and famous states exist today as only ruins, swept away by ocean tides or
the wrath of awakening dragons.
But it was not only the movement of the world that has stripped mankind of its place of
dominance.
Rival contenders are eager to assume the primacy that humanity once held, and none have greater
success than the Charr Legions.
Feline in appearance and evoking the characteristics of tigers, lions, or leopards, the Charr straddle
the line between the so-called “civilized” races of Tyria and the beasts that stalk the
wilderness.
When running on all four limbs in a loping gait, they might easily be mistaken for some
brute creation, only to then stand on their hind legs and become strikingly humanoid in
behavior.
But it is their sharp claws and razor teeth that truly define the Charr, and mark them
as a race of hunters.
Charr society has gone through numerous iterations and evolutions, growingly increasingly oriented
towards war across their history.
While adept in various aspects of diplomacy, industry, commerce and discovery, their application
within their civilization will invariably be towards supporting an ongoing or potential
war-effort.
Charr cubs are raised within a strict paramilitary structure, entering a kind of martial academy
known as a “fahrar” roughly a year after birth.
Within, Charr cubs are encouraged to form their own social hierarchy, which will culminate
in the creation of warband - the foundational societal structure of the Charr.
Though nonfamilial in nature, Warbands act as extended families and are trained to fight
as military units on the battlefields.
Within a Warband, the Charr are taught to consider themselves soldiers first, regardless
of whatever profession they may ultimately enter.
Unsoldierly trades are left to the feeble and infirm, and should a healthy Charr dedicate
themselves too closely to such a profession, they might be expelled from their warband
and become a Gladium, the lowest rank of their society.
To the Charr, bonds of loyalty and connection become strongest when forged during combat.
Therefore, a Charr without a warband is not trusted, and it is considered the duty of
every Gladium to rejoin one as quickly as possible.
For much of their history, the Charr Nation resembled a military dictatorship, with supreme
authority invested in a single individual known as the Khan-Ur, or Primus Imperator.
Their role was legitimized through the wielding of the Claw of the Khan-Ur, an ancient Charr
relic that had gained significant political and symbolic importance to their race.
It was at times an apparatus of revolution, a key to power, and a symbol of stability.
Despite its importance, the Claw has only recently re-entered Charr society, having
previously been lost in battle before it was finally reclaimed.
During its long absence, no Khan-Ur has been named, and power has instead been divided
between four “High Legions”: Ash, Blood, Flame and Iron.
In the absence of a Khan-Ur, the Charr Nation is in practical terms, an oligarchic kratocracy
in which the four High Legions compete for influence and prestige.
Each legion is led by an Imperator and together they coordinate the activities and conquests
of their race.
Religious differences and internal rivalries have made any lasting coordination difficult
however.
Each Legion has instead become a nation into itself, fiercely protective of their independence
and the governance of their own territories.
Though three of the High Legions, Ash, Blood and Iron have been able to form a loose confederation,
the Flame Legion is outcast, and the source of an ongoing civil war.
Directly beneath each of the Imperators within the Charr hierarchy is a “primus warband”;
first among equals and namesake of the Legion itself.
The remaining warbands are grouped under various other commanders granted the titles of Tribune,
Centurion, Legionnaire or Lieutenant depending on the number of warbands they lead and the
quality of their soldiery.
A warrior race above all, the history of the Charr is defined by its military conquests
and relentless expansionism.
Their earliest records tell of a great migration from their ancient homeland across the Blazeridge
Mountains.
During these times the warbands competed with one another for resources and territory, until
they were finally united under the first of the Khan-Ur.
Though their true name has been lost beneath this auspicious title, the Khan-Ur led the
unified Charr into a golden era, seizing for themselves the lands of the Dwarfs, Grawl,
and many other races.
It was humanity however, that would prove to be their most dangerous adversary.
United , the Charr were an equal match to the Kingdoms of man, but when the Khan-Ur
was assassinated, the legions quickly fractured.
Every attempt to expand their dominion into human territory was swept back.
In time, their great southern rival, the Kingdom of Ascalon constructed a great wall, seemingly
ending any chances of a Charr victory.
Many Imperators would claim the title of Khan-Ur in the centuries that followed, but none could
unify the legions to the same extent, and the reign of the successors was usually ineffectual
and brief.
The Charr began to blame the human gods for their lack of success and sought out deities
they might worship as their own.
When demonic creatures known as Titans were discovered by the Flame Legion within the
volcano Hrangmer, the prayers of the Charr were answered.
Imbued with the magic of the Titans, Charr society rapidly transformed.
A new leadership caste of Shamans and Priests formed within each Legion, and they united
the Charr to the same extent as the very first Khan-Ur.
With the Cauldron of Cataclysm, a relic of great power gifted to them by the Titans,
the Charr unleashed a terrible searing across Ascalon, destroying its Great Northern Wall.
Though their most capable rival had been brought to ruin, the Charr Invasion fell short of
conquering the more distant southern realm of Kryta.
Instead, one of the Titans was ultimately slain in front of the Charr’s own eyes by
human heroes.
That the Titans were mortal was a shock to the Charr, throwing their strict hierarchy
into chaos.
The Shamans were quickly shunned and despised, and the High Legions rebelled against the
Flame Legion.
In the many years since, a fragile peace has grown between the Charr and the other races
of the world.
Ancient evils arising in places of forgotten power threaten both Charr and Human alike,
and a spirit of cooperation is beginning to overtake the old enmities.
The return of the Claw of the Khan-Ur from Kryta to the Charr was a powerful, symbolic
gesture, and for the first time, the peace between these rivals is not merely a prelude
to another war.