History of Llama Hill

History of Llama Hill

A Comprehensive Guide to Llama Hill

Llama Hill is the place of residence of the Monarchy of Picketralia, and has been for its existence. While it isn’t the seat of government, it is a very important place.

Pre-Zorthenia:

Llama Hill was never utilized by the Piks and they actually deemed it an obstacle to get from their settlement of Stimpton to the Stimpton Delta, a large lake which is the mouth of the Stimpton River and Birch River, which feeds into Moria. The Stimpton Delta was teeming with fish and provided an excellent food source for the Piks. One fisherman wrote, roughly translated “On the way to the lake there is a large and grand hill, of which seems to be occupied by mean llamas. It is a minor obstacle to the grand prize.”

Zorthenia:

After King Calyur of Zorthenia conquered the Pik lands in 1078 BCE, he wanted to know exactly what he now owned. He took notice of Llama Hill and its strategic position, writing “The local populace have no care for the hill, I learned from a fisherman to watch out for the mean llamas.”

He disregarded their comments and climbed up the hill. He had men build a fortress and he, a few years later, began construction of a palace that we know now as Sullivan Palace. It was finished in 1069BCE, and for superior function, the majority of it was located underground. He would live there during the summer, but return to the Palace of Marsha, the main palace of Zorthenia. The Palace of Marsha sits on the current site of Mountland Palace. 

The next king, Calyur II, was not too fond of the United Zorthenian State of Pik. However, he was an outlier, and the area surrounding Llama Hill became a popular destination for the Zorthenian Royals, and Sullivan Palace became a party place. However, Zorthenia’s reign had to come to an end, and in 100 CE, they were kicked out in the First Pik Independence War. 

Free Pik’s and Railtown:

After Zorthenia, the Pik’s called their new nation the Free Pik’s. The king of the country, who was a descendant of the original king of the Empire of Pik-Flourtess, moved into Sullivan Palace and fixed it up. The building was 1000 years old, after all. However, the Free Pik’s didn’t last too long and were taken over by the neighboring kingdom of Railtown in 126 CE. 

The Railtonians didn’t utilize the palace and let the Pik’s keep it. It was, after all, a puppet state, and while Railtown had a huge sphere of influence and a police state, they had some decency.

Sullivan Palace was used during the Second Pik Independence War as the final hideout for the rebels from 976-978, where they planned the end of Railtown.

Today:

Picketralia still uses the hill and Sullivan Palace. They have expanded the structures on the hill and now it boasts a graveyard for the kings and their wives, a chicken coop, and they expanded the gardens there, plus the addition of stables and a spiral staircase, so people don’t have to use the steep slopes to get up into the palace. In 1117, the interior was completely gutted and redone to support the needs of the monarchy.