What follows is an excerpt from a book about the settling of Östlaed written by a monk at the Acholm monastery in 532.
The Settling of Acholm
Acholm was one of the first permanent settlements of Östrons in the New Mercurian Empire. Sometime in the first era of the Cycle of the Dragon, approximately 320-340 A.I, a tribe of Östrons that came from a village near the capital of the Dwarven realm of Duroth settled the area. It had taken at least 2 generations for this tribe to finally reach this area, during which they had made several temporary settlements on their journey east. The original settlers were lead by relatives of Ealdorman Mark Accynnafon's ancestors.
Like many of the early settlements, including the non-permanent ones, it started as a collection of tents reinforced with wood staves formed into camps close to their beached ships. The tribe that founded Acholm brought pigs and mooshrooms to the area, as well as wheat, potatoes, carrots, and pumpkins. Today's crops appear to be a blend of native and old world varieties of these plants, with the exception of beetroot which was native. The early temple they built still stands close to the shore, and the area they used to process logs felled from nearby forests along the shore is used by some locals as well.
It is from this particular tribe that Östlaed received its national colors of black, white, and green. Matter of fact, in many ways, this particular tribe early on established many of the customs of most Östrons today, including but not limited to the following:
* Styles of Ale
* Eating mooshroom soup
* The Acholm dialect became the standard dialect of Östron
* Architectural style
* Religious customs
* Preference for blue orchids, dark oaks, and mooshrooms
These early settlers of Acholm also established one of the first three monasteries of the Order of Sanct Creopbaina, building the initial sanctum sometime around 380 A.I. This helped to give them a significant advantage in influence over the neighboring Östron settlement of Gourdham, despite Gourdham's great castle. Their close ties with the wealthiest Östrons in the late 300s and early 400s lead to Acholm rising in prominence at a faster rate. Ultimately, this lead to Ealdorman Accynnafon choosing Acholm to be the capital of an Östron realm in 495.
The early settlement of Acholm has been in various states of preservation over the years. The temple has always been maintained, however, various farms have existed in the area and even other homes. Recently, House Accynnafon moved to restore the original site as it may have looked in order to promote a unique historical educational opportunity. Several paintings were also commissioned:
