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Ashtan tears down the benevolent Halfway House for orphans, preferring that its orphans be taken to the de Vermiis orphanage to be killed. | Ashtan tears down the benevolent Halfway House for orphans, preferring that its orphans be taken to the de Vermiis orphanage to be killed. | ||
214 AF: | |||
Zsarachnor posts vampire guards in the Chrysalis Basilica to slay members of the Church. Some various | |||
Shallamese citizens, led by Rezzo, a priest, slay them. Zsarachnor warns that there will be reprisals. | |||
Sarapis unveils the game of freeze tag, played in the Matsuhama Arena. | |||
216 AF: | |||
Elsdragon, leader of the Sentaari, wins a series of six competitions held by the Gods. His prize is a tower, built | |||
with divine assistance. | |||
217 AF: | |||
Ashtan declares war on the Church, claiming that the shrines the Church erects are weapons of mass destruction. | |||
Ashtan demands the removal of all shrines outside of a limited area around Shallam. | |||
In order to provide a safe place for orphans subsequent to the tearing down of the Halfway House by Ashtan, | |||
Aurora, Goddess of Light, organizes a choir in the Chrysalis Basilica, where orphans may lead safe, happy lives. | |||
Banks open in Shallam and Ashtan. | |||
218 AF: | |||
The war widens as Shallam declares that an attack on members of the Church is an attack on Shallam. Darthus, | |||
the powerful leader of the unaligned Serpentlords, declares his support for Shallam. | |||
Ashtan and Shallam, being in states of war, employ archers to assist in the slaying of invading city enemies. | |||
219 AF: | |||
Shin, Maran, and Dalamar, speaking for the Church in place of the absent Archprelate, Isildur, negotiate with | |||
Nimos and Gijan, representatives of Ashtan, in order to gain peace. They are successful, though the Church is | |||
forced to accept limitations on where it may place its shrines. | |||
221 AF: | |||
Hashan begins to grow, as it begins accepting new citizens. | |||
222 AF: | |||
Sartan, Lord of Evil announces His existence to mortalkind. Previously known as Shaitan, he had attacked, slain, | |||
and absorbed the power of the new God, Apollyon. | |||
223 AF: | |||
Sartan Releases the Seven Truths of Evil, which champion strength and might as right. | |||
224 AF: | |||
Gambling parlours open in both Ashtan and Shallam, and for a time, roulette is all the rage in the monied set. | |||
227 AF: | |||
Gaia, Goddess of nature forms The Council of Oakstone to combat the city of Hashan. She calls for all citizens | |||
of Hashan to quit Hashan, claiming that they are being duped by Twilight, God of Darkness. Plans for the | |||
expansion of Hashan into a city on par with Ashtan and Shallam begin. | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 105 | |||
228 AF: | |||
The War of Achaea ends, with Ashtan conquering much of the land, and marching its troops into Shallam. | |||
Sarapis commands that all hostilities must cease, and orders all troops to stand down. | |||
229 AF: | |||
Shallam begins taxation of shops inside of its walls. It causes commotion, but little else. | |||
230 AF: | |||
Sartan opens the Infernals, whose first Guildmaster is Sinistar. | |||
Workmen of Hashan begin to cut trees down in the Ithmia to make room for its expansion. | |||
Gaia, outraged at the betrayal of the forests by Firefox and other Druid or Sentinel members of Hashan's | |||
government, declares Firefox an enemy of the forests. She calls on Lupus, wild God of the Beasts for aid, and he | |||
unleashes a plague of werewolves to terrorize Hashan. Twilight and Hashan quickly pacify Lupus and the | |||
expansion goes on as planned. | |||
234 AF: | |||
Irontounge and the occultists declare war on the Church. Shortly there after, the government of Ashtan declares | |||
that it will not honour the old treaty, and declares war. | |||
After a period of intense hostilities, both sides agree to re-open treaty negotiations. They meet in the temple of | |||
Peace. | |||
235 AF: | |||
Cronono becomes a Celani and Chronicler of Achaea. | |||
A cease-fire is called in the great Ashtan-Shallam war. | |||
Disputes over the subsequent treaty quickly arise. | |||
Tylin betrays Shallam, and the Order of Light, and joins Ashtan, significantly altering the balance of power for a | |||
time. He suffers greatly under the wrath of Aurora, patron of Shallam. | |||
236 AF: | |||
In what surely be one of the most epochal events to take place since the Day of Creation, Sarapis decides that the | |||
long-imprisoned Lorielan has truly reformed, and releases the Jade Empress from her prison on the Crystal | |||
Plane of the Kx'khrah. Nearly at the same time, Aegis, who had long journyed the most remote plains spreading | |||
war to the further corners of Creation, returns His attention to Sapience. | |||
Lotash brings news that Bearnath and the cultists are trying to summon the Beastlord to this plane of existence. | |||
237 AF: | |||
Cynne Ravenwind organizes a Festival of Thanksgiving to the Logos. | |||
238 AF: | |||
Cynne organizes another festival, this time in honour of Lupus. | |||
Hashan formally withdraws from the treaty, citing blatant disregard for it by other signatories as the reason. | |||
239 AF : | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 106 | |||
Ashtan formally withdraws from the treaty, essentially ending it. Oakstone offers to mediate a new treaty. | |||
240 AF : | |||
Hashan formally posts a complete Canon of its laws for all to see, composed mainly be Elentari, the Seneschal | |||
of Hashan. Ashtan and Shallam rush to copy her work. | |||
Through the offering of the Spawn of the Unnamable Horror, Eris is awakened into the land after a twenty year | |||
slumber. | |||
In return for Gaia's slaying of the Spawn, Eris removes the Unicorn's horn. Mandrake Diamante, Druidess | |||
Esther and Ithan, with aid from Nita Le'Murzen, are able to scavenge the proper ingredients for creating the | |||
metacure elixir, which they use to restore the horn to the Unicorn. | |||
Dead sparrows and robins are found littering the land, their hearts burst from their bodies. An insane old man is | |||
found roaming the land, raving about 'Death's Heart' and a prophecy that begins with the death of the children of | |||
air. | |||
Dead geese and swans are found, their hearts similarly burst from their chests. | |||
All orphans in the land disappear. The old man claims that the disappearance of the lost children is the second | |||
part of the Death's Heart prophecy. | |||
Meetings are called among the various factions of the land, and it is decided that the threat the old man speaks of | |||
is the return of the Tsol'teth. They are wrong. | |||
Strange chantings are heard, carried on the wind, from the Shamtota hills, and a bright white light, and an image | |||
of a temple projected onto the clouds, is seen far to the north. | |||
Pryla'ka, a Tsol'dasi priestess of Life appears in a Temple to the north. She is the first Tsol'dasi to reveal itself | |||
since the dawn of mankind. She claims that someone called the Quisalar is gathering death energy for an | |||
unknown purpose, and that in order to stop him, the corpses of the dead sparrows, robins, swans, and geese must | |||
be brought, so that she may utilize the latent death energies in them to combat the Quisalar and his Quisalis | |||
cultists. The Quisalar makes similar demands, and when Maran, Sultan of Shallam tells him they will not assist | |||
the Quisalar in his plan to bring back Thoth, the Quisalar attacks, saying that either all will join him, or they will | |||
serve him in their deaths. | |||
Unable to discover the location of the Temple, the Great Mhunna, leader of Moghedu, and a famous campaigner | |||
as a young Mhun, volunteers to assist, and an expedition consisting of the Mhunna, Warmaster, Cooper, | |||
Aringar, Fuu, Perseon, Thorgon, Armelia, Thalen, and Jem set out to discover it, and succeed. | |||
People supporting Pryla'ka or the Quisalar begin working hard to collect the dead birds, laden with lingering | |||
death magic, and bring them to the Priestess of Life or the Quisalar. | |||
241 AF : | |||
Achaea is largely polarized over Death's Heart. On one side is Shallam and some of the more nature-loving | |||
Druids and Sentinels. The other side is led by Twilight and His Order, with support made up of various citizens | |||
of Ashtan and Hashan. | |||
Though the Shallamese and the others opposing the Quisalar make a strong effort, those backing the Quisalar | |||
manage to bring him enough death energy to complete the construction of Death's Heart. Twilight and His Order | |||
have manipulated most into believing that the purpose of Death's Heart is to awaken Thoth from His slumber, | |||
though this is not the case. Immediately upon the construction of the Heart, a battle of epic proportions takes | |||
place, with Maran, Sultan of Shallam, leading the attack against Twilight's Order. Death abounds on both sides. | |||
Soon after near-total war breaks out over the Heart, another issue nearly disrupts the alliances formed over the | |||
Heart. A rogue Serpentlord, Nuitari, gets very heavy pressure from Twilight and the Serpentlords to come back | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 107 | |||
to the fold, as they wish to ensure that the two serpent guilds can effectively control the distribution of the socalled | |||
"illegal" venoms. Nuitari balks and is persecuted, greatly upsetting his patron, Aegis, God of War. | |||
In order to strike back at Twilight's order, Aegis allies his with the Order of Light, but soon Twilight makes a | |||
deal with Aegis. Under the terms of the deal, Dalamar, Nuitari, and Cooper have to make restitution to the | |||
Infernals, whose influence Twilight was courting, for robbing their store, and Dalamar has to make resitution to | |||
Elentari's Hashan. Partially due to Twilight's influence, Sinistar, guildmaster of the Infernals, soon chooses | |||
Aegis, God of War, as Patron, displacing the apparently uncaring Sartan, Lord of Evil. | |||
The fight over Death's Heart waxes and wanes, but hostility is high. Many are unsure of the motives of the | |||
Quisalar, and those of Pryla'ka. Initially out-numbered, the Shallamese organize under the leadership of Maran, | |||
Echo, and the Archprelate of the Church, Isildur. They gain the upper hand initially but soon the discipline and | |||
power of those in the Order of Darkness such as Napoloen, the Grand Shadow, Overseer of Ashtan, overwhelm | |||
them and the Heart grows. | |||
242 AF : | |||
However, soon, Sinistar converses with the Quisalar, and, discovering that he opposes undeath, the powers of | |||
which the Infernals use, decides to withdraw his support, and this, along with increased intervention by Druids | |||
and Sentinels like Galdrion Longshanks, tips the balance in favour of Shallam and its allies. Despite a massive | |||
last-ditch attack led by Napoloen, the Shallamese manage to nearly destroy the Heart. | |||
Deucalion announces that it is over, that the impending doom that would have been caused by the Quisalar's | |||
victory has been averted. It is revealed that the Quisalar was working for Twilight the full time. Their plan was | |||
to dupe people who wouldn't normally support Twilight into unwittingly supporting him. The Heart would be | |||
caused to grow, and finally explode, releasing massive quantities of death. This would cause a chain reaction, as | |||
each dying being added to the total quantity of energy. Using the remains of the Heart, Twilight hoped to focus | |||
this astronomical amount of energy at the slumbering Thoth, slay him, and add Thoth's essence to His own, | |||
greatly increasing His power. In the process though, all life on Sapience would have perished. | |||
Sensing victory, Pryla'ka travelled to the Heart, and challenged the Quisalar. The Quisalar, no longer powerful | |||
enough to have a hope of defeating a Tsol'dasi Priestess of Life, made a last desperate rush at Pryla'ka, but | |||
failed. She banished him to eternal sleep. | |||
Pryla'ka begins attempting to safely dismantle what is left of Death's Heart, essentially a powerful bomb of death | |||
energy now. She fails, becoming overloaded with energy, and screaming that she cannot hold it. Some mortals, | |||
among them Khaseem and Cynne, refuse to leave the scene, and die upon the explosion of the Heart. So | |||
powerful is the explosion that life for a hundred miles around looks likely to perish in a flash, until, with | |||
unexpected, total sacrifice, Deucalion, God of Righteousness, attempts to contain the blast. So powerful is it, | |||
even in its much-weakened state, that he cannot contain the energy, and his essence is dispersed across Creation. | |||
In a final gesture of compassion, he manages to grant all mortalkind the ability to reincarnate and wipe clean | |||
their moral slate. Sarapis permits their souls to choose from five new races: Grook, Xoran, Rajamala, Horkval, | |||
and Atavian. Choruses of cheers erupt from around the land, as total disaster is averted. Shallam and its Druidic | |||
and Sentinel allies receive formal congratulations from representatives of many of the leaders of the land, such | |||
as the Great Mhunna and the mayor of Thera. | |||
In a gesture of peace, Shallam and the Church offer formal pardons for any crimes committed during Death's | |||
Heart. Darkness and its allies brood, but begin hatching new plans immediately. Peace will not last long. | |||
On a somewhat less serious note, Kona Diamante and Lemon Ni'Choya spent much of the year battling it out in | |||
an undeclared war of poetry. | |||
243 AF: | |||
Gijan undergoes a conversion, betrays the Order of Twilight, leaves the Kharon and styles himself “Healer of | |||
Shallam.” He becomes one of the staunchest defenders of his former nemesis, although many suspect that | |||
treachery still lurks within his heart and that he merely bides his time before betraying the Jewel of the East. | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 108 | |||
The Sentinels Guild, citing philosophical differences with the Divine Patron of Hashan, sue for permission to | |||
leave the city and are granted such leave, although many of the guild’s members remain citizens. | |||
244 AF: | |||
The perennial battles of swords and words between the Church and its sworn enemies continue to rage. Citizens | |||
of the city-states become more concerned with the defenses of their respective domains as the hostilities become | |||
more heated and war breaks out between the Church of Shallam and the Infernals of Ashtan. | |||
Entering the fray on a philosophical and theological level are those, including the Druids, who debate whether | |||
the ecclesiastical practice of sanctifying shrines through the blood of sacrificed creatures, and the use of | |||
demonic entities are much different from certain practices of the Infernals. | |||
In a stunning act of betrayal, Borknagar, Treasurer of Shallam, empties the city’s treasury and flees to Ashtan, | |||
having funneled tens of thousands of gold pieces to Ashtan’s coffers and leaving Shallam penniliess and | |||
ridiculed by her ancient foe. Borknagar reveals that he has been an agent of Ashtan, on a secret mission for | |||
Mistral, Guildmistress of the Shadowsnakes, all along. Although most of the Divinities of Achaea are publicly | |||
silent on the matter, Miramar and Lorielan express their rage at his treachery in no uncertain terms. | |||
245 AF: | |||
Mical Selvaetiim becomes the first mortal in the history of Sapience to reach the eightieth Circle of | |||
Enlightenment and is honoured by Sarapis with the title of Logosian. | |||
Dingo ignites a fierce debate on the shape of Achaea. Many claim to know that it takes the shape of a sphere. | |||
Others insist that it is flat. Eventually Sarapis, the Logos, deigns to answer the question concerning His creation | |||
but mortal minds prove incapable of comprehending this boon. Many are driven mad in their attempts to unravel | |||
His answer, their subsequent words unintelligible rantings. Some are shocked into catatonic silence, but the | |||
debate continues. | |||
In an attempt to protect what they perceive as a sacred birthright, the Serpent guilds of Sapience move to declare | |||
certain venoms “illegal” for non-Serpents to possess. The Infernals of Ashtan offer to become the enforcement | |||
arm of this new policy. | |||
246 AF: | |||
A long-simmering feud between Twilight and Miramar erupts into open hostiliy as their respective Divine | |||
Orders go to war with one another. Eventually the heavens erupt in fire and fury, and mortals cower in utter | |||
dread as the two deities declare open warfare on one another, and their priests and supernatural agents meet to | |||
do battle upon the mortal plane. The divine battle ends in a rather anti-climactic stalemate, and the two sides | |||
agree to withdraw from conflict for the nonce, although hostilities continue. | |||
During the battle between the two deities and their minions, several notice a blazing object fall from the heavens | |||
landing, it is discovered, at the site of an old altar to Deucalion. Concurrently, a vision of a fading spectral image | |||
appears in the skies over Sapience. Thakren is beset by visions about the object, which proves to be a statuette, | |||
and the Druids and Sentinels hear ominous whisperings of ill portent in the forests, filled with references to the | |||
Morningstar. Sapience fairly hums with gossip and speculation about the significance of these omens, ranging | |||
from the dark machinations of Twilight, to the reappearance of Deucalion or Thoth. Many wonder if the very | |||
Gods themselves have abandoned mortalkind. | |||
247 AF: | |||
Ashtan and Hashan move to declare war upon Shallam as a result of acts of provocation, in the form of shrines, | |||
placed within their walls. As preparations for war, and numerous deaths as the result of preliminary skirmishes, | |||
reach a fever pitch Twilight offers Miramar a cessation of hostilities. Miramar accepts. Subsequently, both | |||
Hashan and Ashtan stand down from the war effort against the Jewel of the East. | |||
Ashtan, the Bastion of the North, erupts in chaos as conflict between Sinistar and devotees of Twilight within | |||
the Infernals jockey for power within the guild. Sinistar is enemied and cast out of the city, for alleged use of | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 109 | |||
“illegal” venoms. Many believe that Sinistar has been framed as a result of plots hatched by the Order of | |||
Darkness. Others avow that arrogance and self-preservation have motivated Sinistar’s actions. | |||
Elentari of Hashan and the Council of Regents vote to reiterate their support of the venom ban, and pass | |||
legislation requiring that offenders be outlawed from the city. | |||
248 AF: | |||
Sinistar regains control of the Infernals, but dies, only to enter a state he terms “unlife,” neither truly corporeal | |||
nor truly discarnate. Debate ensues over this is the result of necromantic adepthood, as Sinistar lays claim, or | |||
merely smoke and mirror illusions, yet to be revealed. | |||
249 AF: | |||
Lady Elentari Lokelinde-Danial, Seneschal of Hashan and Guildmistress of the Serpentlords, becomes the | |||
second mortal in the history of Achaea to ascend to the Garden of the Gods and become immortal, transformed | |||
into Ourania, Goddess of the Moon. | |||
Sartan, God of Evil, angered by the claims of the Church that its shrines represent all of the Gods, rejects any | |||
connection of the shrines with Himself, and brings into manifestation a shrine of His own creation within the | |||
one of the most sacred enclosures of the Chrysalis Basilica itself. The reactions of the Church and Shallam, and | |||
the subsequent arguments arising therefrom, once again place the Church on the defensive as it is peppered with | |||
taunts of hypocrisy. Rumours of the imminent formation of a “splinter” or “dark” Church fly about the land. In | |||
retaliation, Aurora, Goddess of Light, places an altar in the Infernals guildhall. The altar placed in the Wedding | |||
Chamber of Maya by Sartan opens a rift toa demonic plane whence stream deadly demons, wreaking havoc on | |||
the populace of Shallam. | |||
Throughout the year, the followers of Oneiros, God of Peace, find themselves assailed publicly as to the true | |||
nature of peace and whether or not they invite accusations of hypocrisy by certain of their actions. | |||
251 AF: | |||
Sinistar resigns as Guildmaster of the Infernals. | |||
252 AF: | |||
Shallam follows in the footsteps of Hashan, binding its resident guilds to the city by making them signatory to | |||
the Guild Charter of Shallam. | |||
254 AF: | |||
While searching for irid moss, Taranis discovers a mysterious crystal. He receives arcane knowledge of | |||
elemental forces and becomes the first of the Magi. He forms a guild in Shallam and dedicates it to the battle | |||
against the forces of evil, darkness and chaos. | |||
Drazik attains knowledge of the elemental powers and forms the Sorcerers Guild in Hashan. Eschewing the | |||
dogmatic bent of the Magi, the guild chooses to align itself neutrally. | |||
257 AF: | |||
Aegis, God of War, chooses to once more walk the grim battlefields of Sapience. | |||
Napoloen forms the Warlocks Guild in Ashtan. Although he champions no politically based direction, as have | |||
the Magi and the Sorcerers, it is widely believed that the new guild will follow the philosophical bent of Ashtan. | |||
258 AF: | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 110 | |||
Prince Tu’eras of the Tsol’aa frantically informs the public that vile criminals of unknown origin have attacked | |||
the Tsol’aa people in their ancestral village in the dead of night and that although he has escaped, he knows not | |||
the whereabouts or condition of his parents. He tells of fires being set and the Forest of Aalen in flames. | |||
Many Druids and Magi mobilize to quench the flames. When the smoke clears and investigations begin, it is | |||
discovered that the King of the Tsol’aa has been cruelly murdered by one calling himself Kroul, and that Queen | |||
Celaabi has been raped. Although Celaabi, who refuses to leave the home of her ancestors, is safe and has been | |||
granted sanctuary by the Druidess Cynne, Tu’eras and the surviving Tsol’aa cannot be found. | |||
Vexlore rants publicly of his belief that Tu’eras is a coward and weakling for remaining in hiding with his | |||
people. He vows that he shall slay the Prince himself, and mocks the misery and suffering of the gentle Tsol’aa | |||
people. | |||
The Great Mhunna, while expressing sympathy for the plight of the people of the Aalen, cites appearances of | |||
Orcs skulking about the land to support his decision to seal the great gate of Moghedu until he deems it safe for | |||
his people to do otherwise. | |||
Orcs, claiming to be simply “touring” the land are sighted roaming the land. However, they are soon seen setting | |||
forest fires and speaking loudly of their “Lord,” Kroul. Many of them begin to enter the cities, expressing | |||
desires to see the fabled Master Crystals of the magi guilds. | |||
Maran of Shallam offers the Tsol’aa aid and succor. The other city-states, Oakstone, and the guilds and clans of | |||
Sapience eventually offer like assistance. In an amazing show of solidarity, ancient enemies join one another in | |||
common cause against the perceived threat on the horizon. Patrols are organized and guard set. | |||
Queen Celaabi is found murdered along with her unborn children. A group of Orc knights, assassins and | |||
huntresses makes a raid upon the hiding place of Prince Tu’eras and his band in hiding. They are repelled, but | |||
not before one of the assassins manages to kill the Elder Druid, Thaa’lis. | |||
Vexlore publicly boasts that he is a mercenary agent of Kroul, an Ogre High Priest. He reveals Kroul’s plans to | |||
seize the master crystals and open a portal into this world through which his legions shall pour, decimating all | |||
before them. Kroul, realizing that he must proceed openly now, and that the usefulness of his traitorous stooge is | |||
at an end, slays Vexlore cruelly, laughing at his gullibility. | |||
The Orcs launch raids upon the city-states, kidnapping Hakhim, Liirup and Ratman. The citizens fear that their | |||
economies shall collapse without these prime sources of revenue. The whereabouts of the three are eventually | |||
discovered, but during the attempt to rescue them, the Orcs seize the Master Crystal of the Warlocks. Thus | |||
empowered, they find the cystals of the Sorcerers and the Magi to be easily obtained. | |||
Sapience launches a massive assault on the stronghold of Kroul, in the recently rediscovered Dun Valley, | |||
defeating him, and discovering that Kroul is, himself, only the mercenary for Zh’risia, a Tsol’teth wishing to | |||
prove his prowess to his kin, who has been skulking within the Dun fortress the murder of his master by Baron | |||
Vukub Ysin’zhu. | |||
Sapience rejoices at the victory, but with sorrow as Tu’eras takes the mantle of kingship while mourning his | |||
dead parents and kin. | |||
261 AF: | |||
In an attempt to resurrect the essence of the vanished Deucalion, Maran sacrifices his mortal coil. Although his | |||
sacrifice is in vain, the Pantheon honours him for his selflessness, and his soul ascends to the Garden of the | |||
Gods to be reborn as Pentharian, God of Righteousness. | |||
Raajin Lucoster and various of his followers breaks with the Infernals over philosophical differences with | |||
Sartan, God of Evil and Infernal Patron. Although Khejian, his comrade-in-arms and close friend is to follow | |||
him, Khejian betrays Raajin’s Exodus Battallion at the last moment and chooses to remain with Ashtan and | |||
Sartan. The Exodus Battallion goes into exile, and take up residence as guests of Hashan. Although Raajin and | |||
his Battallion garner the support of many throughout Sapience, the Infernals and Ashtan persecute them | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 111 | |||
continually. Eventually Raajin is abducted and is not heard from again. The Exodus Battallion eventually falls | |||
into obscurity. | |||
262 AF: | |||
The Goddess Tarah appears to bid farewell to Achaea and disappears. | |||
264 AF: | |||
Polyargos is discovered. | |||
266 AF: | |||
Mysterious new “landmarks” appear in the lands. The Landmarks and their changing aspects are immediately | |||
recognized as having metaphysical import, and the essence using guilds and their allies take opposing sides in | |||
their approaches to the maintenance of the Landmarks and the sites and structures, engendering fresh and bloody | |||
new conflicts in Sapience. | |||
267 AF: | |||
Noxalar, the notorious purveyor of venoms to one and all is slain and, being without heirs, his shop closed. | |||
The Serpent guilds, seeing the futility of their former draconian desires to control the product, take a mercantile | |||
approach and declare all venoms legal to possess. Arguments break out over charges of price-fixing. Weapon | |||
forgers, purveyors of enchantments and dealers in herbs and other healing substances enter the fray. | |||
271 AF: | |||
A mysterious jade statuette with the ability to move from person to person of its own volition appears. Those | |||
who hold retain the object for any length of time are plagued by visions, dreams and nightmares. Madness, | |||
murder and suicide follow in the wake of these visions. | |||
Researches into the icon reveal that it appears to missing a shard, leaving a break through which pours a "cold" | |||
energy of some sort. The missing shard is recovered, and with the aid of a cleric of a mysterious group known as | |||
the Obeah Ecstasia the icon is resealed, narrowly averting further mayhem. The cleric reveals that the icon is an | |||
ancient artifact of the forgotten Goddess Valnurana, Mistress of Sleep and Dreams, who long ago placed inside | |||
of it four horrific nightmare spirits in order to protect mortal kind from their somnolent ravagings. The Obeah | |||
Ecstasia are revealed to be an ancient line of dream scholars to whom the icon was originally entrusted by the | |||
Goddess. Emese, the cleric, returns to her home, the icon once more safely within the hands of the Obeah | |||
Ecstasia. | |||
Vixen, guild tutor to the Sentinels, falls deathly ill. In a herculean effort to save her, some of the Sentinels | |||
perform a rite which intentionally decimates their groves. Although Vixen is saved, all Sentinels lose their | |||
Groves ability. The Sentinels are grief-stricken as the forest, so long both their charge and their sustainer, no | |||
longer communicates with them on any level. Eventually the Sentinels find the long lost village of Eleusis, | |||
where they make their new home and are granted the gift of the Woodlore skill. | |||
275 AF: | |||
Four years after the events surrounding the Jade Icon, the collective dreams of Sapience are once again | |||
disturbed. The resident tutors of the city states begin to be troubled by strange dreams. Much of the populace | |||
complains of a prevailing enervation and vivid dreams of ill import. Irritability assails some, brought on by | |||
fatigue and lack of restful sleep, while others sink into despondency and aimless wandering brought on by these | |||
conditions. More suddenly than they appeared, the dream disturbances cease. | |||
Epicurus, Ashtan’s resident teacher, has resorted to a potion in order to sleep, but has fallen into a deep | |||
unnatural slumber, beset by violent nightmares, from which it appears he will never wake. | |||
Hashan calls upon Sharbrena, high Cleric of its Patron Twilight and beseeches her to summon Eseme once | |||
more. The cleric arrives and enters the dreams of Epicurus in an attempt to discern the nature of his malady. She | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 112 | |||
is shocked to discover that during the repair of the Jade Icon, four years earlier, one of the nightmare spirits had | |||
been inadvertently sealed outside it, and the spirit’s bond to the statuette broken. The Icon itself has disappeared | |||
from the keeping of the Obeah Ecstasia again. | |||
The nightmare spirit, Erinyes by name, kidnaps Epicurus and plans to use him to complete her plans, begun with | |||
her quest for sufficient power by gorging upon mortal dreams and planned to culminate in the destruction of her | |||
ancient prisoner. Epicurus, still besotted with unnatural sleep, is unable to aid Erinyes. Instead, the Jade Icon is | |||
broken by Gelphend, a mortal who has fallen under her sway. The remaining three nightmare entities are freed | |||
and great harm is loosed upon the mortal planes as both sleeping and waking nightmares consume the populace, | |||
driving many into insanity and loosing mayhem throughout the continent. | |||
Without warning the hellish visions cease. Valnurana, Goddess of Sleep and Dreams has found Her own divine | |||
slumber disturbed by the unnatural flux and disruption in the dream patterns of the mortal world. She wakens | |||
and with Her power calls the nightmare spirits to Her, binding them and thus ending their reign of terror and | |||
once more taking Her place among the manifest Pantheon. | |||
276 AF: | |||
Sartan, Lord of Evil, after wreaking fearful havoc upon the world, declares that He intends to extinguish the last | |||
bit of power left by Aurora, Goddess of Light, before She left this plane for unknown destinations and for an | |||
unspecified length of time. He extinguishes Her Flame of Light, destroying Her links to the mortal world. Thus | |||
denying Her future return. However, deep within the keep of the Vampire Queen, Belladona, Dawn, the Keeper | |||
of Light has long guarded one of Aurora’s most potent artifacts, the Prism of Light. The Prism yet provides the | |||
Lightbringer a portal into this plane. | |||
Sartan discovers the existence of the Prism and shatters it as well. Breaking it into three pieces, He gives two | |||
into the safekeeping of dire dragons, and a third to one of his most trusted adherents. | |||
Through the heroics of many of Her faithful, through pain and hardship, and culminating in a great show of | |||
power, the pieces are eventually united and Aurora, Goddess of Light, sheds Her glow upon mortal kind once | |||
more. | |||
In a stunning turn of events Caerid, Guildmaster of the Paladins, chooses Sartan, God of Evil, as Patron and is | |||
excommunicated and cast out of the city. Caerid ingratiates himself with the Order of Sartan and, heady with | |||
power, turns on his former allies while unleashing a storm of murder and foul acts upon them. Eventually he is | |||
removed from the guild by force of arms. The reparation received by Caerid and his wife, Malia, for their | |||
service to the Lord of Evil was amazing. Believing that they were to be rewarded with the highest ranks within | |||
the spiritual hierarchy of the Order of Evil and granted temporal power over a new city-state, the pair stood | |||
proudly at the Shrine of Ascension before Sartan and much of Sapience. With the dark voice of the Evil One | |||
intoning their deeds, Caerid and Malia were stripped naked, beaten without mercy, humiliated and made to | |||
grovel. Sartan thanked them, then cast them from his Order and thrown to His pack of followers to be slain. | |||
277 AF: | |||
In the culmination of an old prophecy, first uttered by Choirmaster Handel of the Chrysalis Basilica, the essence | |||
of Aurora, Goddess of Light, is dispersed. Pentharian, God of Righteousness, takes Her mantle upon Himself | |||
and becomes God of Righteousness and Light. | |||
278 AF: | |||
Following new bridge construction on the Isle of Delos, and underwater city called Riparium is discovered. One | |||
of its inhabitants reveals that a specific herbal element will allow air breathers to visit there and many do. | |||
For the first time in history, the government of a city wields power over a resident guild when Dresden, | |||
Sultaness of Shallam, replaces the leadership of the Dawnstriders after a long-running conflict between the guild | |||
leadership and the Shallamese Viziers. | |||
279 AF: | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 113 | |||
The Forest and the dwellers therein rejoice at the reawakening of Gaia, Goddess of Nature. A number of Druids | |||
and other devotees of the ancient Goddess meet to perform a Rite of Prayer in honour of the nature Deity. | |||
Although they do so with scant hope, their hopes and prayers are answered as Gaia once more walks among the | |||
millenia old trees of Sapience. | |||
Several individuals attempt a rite to restore the essence of the Goddess Tarah. They fail. | |||
Sartan, God of Evil, performs an act of extermination within the sacred confines of the Temple of Gaia. In | |||
retaliation He is enemied to the Forest. His minions, The Order of Evil, begin to decimate and burn the forests of | |||
Sapience. The Sentinels and Druids react by banning the sale or gift of all herbs, ointments, and elixirs to all | |||
Sapience. The Sorcerers Guild bans all enchantments using kola in a gesture of support for the forest folk and | |||
their cause. | |||
Orina, Guildmistress of the Druids, joins with Xandor Sheolan, Grand Shadow of the Order of Twilight, in the | |||
performance of a rite known as the Darkenwood Ritual. For the second time in history the forests of Sapience | |||
are shrouded in shadow. This time, however, the intent is ostensibly to merge the essences of Gaia and Twilight | |||
in a shield against the minions of Evil. Orina is roundly castigated by many for what is perceived as her | |||
treachery. Some, recalling the Death’s Heart episode, believe that in her desperation to save the forests, she has | |||
been duped by the machinations of the Order of Darkness. | |||
Gaia refuses to intervene although many beseech Her for aid and succor. Many of the traditional allies of Nature | |||
refuse to be tainted by Darkness and refuse their aid as well. What is worse, for all Xandor’s words, it seems that | |||
the Children of Darkness have no true intent of helping the Forest. Orina changes her mind and seeks to undo | |||
that which she has done. The Children of Nature and their faithful perform a rite to rid the forests of Darkness, | |||
and the Darkenwood Rite is never completed. They succeed for the most part, but Gaia remains withdrawn and | |||
impatient and it is obvious that something abhorrent to Nature yet troubles the lands beneath the trees. | |||
The Children of Nature resort to oracles for assistance, but do not see that an imbalance has been created that | |||
they must right, preferring to place blame outside themselves rather than heed the words of wisdom given to | |||
them. | |||
Strange creatures appear in the forests, harmed by sunlight and the places inhabited by the known races and their | |||
works. Calling themselves Arachnoi, and appearing in the form of humanoid spiders, they claim that Xandor and | |||
Orina are their grandparents and that they have been sent by their mother to plead with their grandparents to | |||
complete the Darkenwood Ritual by which their mother had been created. They are creatures with no natural | |||
habitat within the existing mansions of Nature, and they are dying as a result. | |||
The rite is completed but Istishia, mother of the Arachnoi, is killed by a Shallamese contingent. | |||
The Arachnoi now reside in the newly created Darkenwood. Having little reason to trust the Children of Sarapis, | |||
they are rarely seen by mortals and prefer that that state of affairs remain. Balance has been returned to the | |||
forests for now, and all seems well. | |||
281 AF: | |||
The people of Sapience begin to erect shrines to their chosen deities, dedicated to individual Gods and | |||
Goddesses, breaking the ancient monopoly of the Church on these devotional structures. | |||
282 AF: | |||
The war between the Order of Evil and the Forests continues. Eventually Sartan presents His terms for “peace” | |||
to the Forest entities. Gaia and the Oakstone Council reject his offer. Subsequently, Gaia presents Her own terms | |||
and both sides declare victory, bringing an uneasy peace to the forest, which yet require great healing. | |||
285 AF: | |||
A clan of professional Assassins forms. Though feared and secretive, these contract killers have yet to make | |||
much of a mark on Achaean society. | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 114 | |||
Rejecting what they see as the soiling of honour and justice by their more mercenary brethren, some Assassins | |||
form a new clan, calling themselves Champions. They accept no fees for their work and claim to exist solely to | |||
mete out justice for its own sake. | |||
A blazing star appears in the heavens and plummets to ground. Soon it is discovered that the object is no star but | |||
is the Hammer of Phaestus. Fern, the Sentinel who discovers it, is visited by strange visions involving the image | |||
of a unicorn and great stones. | |||
An attempt is made to unravel the mystery by a group of Magi and Sorcerers, gathering at the monoliths in the | |||
Temple of Gaia and focusing upon the unicorn known to contain the essence of the ancient traitor-God Agatheis, | |||
but nothing is revealed. | |||
A second attempt is made, but is aborted when an Ashtanite Occultist makes away with the Hammer, taking it to | |||
Ashtan. A third attempt is made, and yet another Ashtanite steals the Hammer. After The Magi and Sorcerers | |||
agree to allow the Ashtanite Warlocks to participate in the Hammer is returned and the exercise proceeds. | |||
The gathered magic users focus their energies upon the unicorn, who touches his horn to the Hammer releasing | |||
Phaestus. | |||
For his selflessness in aiding the return of Phaestus, Sarapis pardons Agatheis for his role in the traitorous | |||
Triumvirate of ages past and releases His soul from the unicorn, restoring Him to the Pantheon. | |||
287-288 AF: | |||
Syvelium, guild tutor of the Paladins goes missing. When questioned about the disappearance, Pentharian and | |||
the other Gods deny that such an entity has ever even existed. Mortals begin to whisper among themselves that | |||
the Gods seem to have gone mad, and tremble in fear of what this means to the world. Soon the fabric of sanity | |||
begins to unravel throughout the continent. Mortalkind remember events and personages the existence of which | |||
are denied by the Deities. The madness moves throughout the populace and soon none are sure of life, memory, | |||
family or position. Or, indeed, are sure of things that cannot possibly be or never were. Many regress into | |||
infantile states or claim ancestries, histories or associations that go beyond the outlandish. Firefox of Hashan | |||
loses his Serpentlord abilities and finds that in their place he has attained a mystical knowledge previously | |||
unknown in the world. He calls himself a “Shaman” and forms a guild in Hashan. Events continue to spiral out | |||
of control. | |||
The Order of Valnurana is given a revelation of an entity that brings to mind the “Other,” spoken of by Phaestus | |||
at his release. Soon the Other reveals Himself to the world. He begins to use His powers slay Achaeans in a | |||
random and capricious manner. He changes the race of others to beings thereafter known as Satyrs and Sirens. | |||
During a great meteorological cataclysm, a gilded chest plummets from the sky to land in the Aureliana Forest. | |||
Kaisar La’Seir discovers the chest and reads upon it dire words of prophecy, warning that to open it will lead to | |||
horror and mayhem. | |||
It is discovered that the Great Mhunna, Lord of Moghedu holds what is likely the key to the chest. In his | |||
wisdom, and heeding the counsel of his ministers, he decides to keep the key where it may do no harm. Ashtan, | |||
Bastion of the North, eventually succeeds in murdering the Mhunna and gaining control of the key. Once the | |||
key is outside of Moghedu, it becomes apparent that it is of such nature that none may hold it for long. | |||
Eventually, Shakti Devi succeeds in opening the chest. | |||
At the opening of the chest a massive arrow of flame strikes at the very heart of Shallam, utterly destroying the | |||
Chrysalis Basilica, leaving a massive crater in its wake. As this happens, a second and larger chest falls to | |||
ground in the Pash Valley. Even though this object is inscribed with even more clear and dire warnings than the | |||
first, Charlotte Voivre of Shallam manages to open it. As she does so, flames fly heavenward incinerating all in | |||
the vicinity. In the city of Hashan, many of the populace has gathered at Crossroads of the city, seeking safety | |||
from the flaming vortex that has moved to hover over the city. They are annihilated by the phenomenon. | |||
Once Hashan has been destroyed the Other reveals His name to be Varian and vows to make all Creation His. | |||
As Achaea reels in the horror at His pronouncements that He is ruler of all, Sarapis, the Logos, reveals that He | |||
has all along been unaffected by the madness which has infected the other Gods, merely playing a waiting game | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 115 | |||
to size up this almost-equal entity from outside His Creation. The Logos is unable to destroy Varian, but has the | |||
power to create a mirror image of Achaea and expel the Other from Achaea and into the duplicate world. Sarapis | |||
calls this new sphere of Creation “Aetolia” and dubs it the Midnight Age. He then severs its connection with | |||
Achaea and sets it on a course of its own. | |||
The Divine Logos removes the flaming vortex from Hashan, but such is the destruction to the Chrysalis Basilica | |||
that He decides to leave it as it is, for reasons of His own. Slowly the atmospheric and meteorological | |||
disturbances fade away and normalcy, if such it can be truly called after such events, returns to the skies of | |||
Achaea. | |||
In the aftermath of the coming of Varian, an Ashuran monk, Revelation Azon, discovers a long lost Human city | |||
called Cyrene. The citizens of Cyrene petition Czanthria Zuiho_sho to become the leader of their city and she | |||
accepts. She founds the guild of Runewardens. | |||
Epilogue to the Aetolian Saga: | |||
It is certain that the changes wrought by the appearance of the Other will shake the foundations of Achaea for | |||
many years. New races, new classes, new guilds, and new cities will provide opportunity for power to shift, for | |||
alliances to formed, and broken. | |||
What will become of this heretofore secluded city of Cyrene? Will it grow to rival Ashtan, Shallam, and Hashan | |||
as a fourth power on Sapience? How will it feel about Ashtan and Shallam particularly? (For it was founded | |||
thousands of years ago, in the times before Nicator founded Seleucar, in response to the endless Ashtan/Shallam | |||
wars.) Perhaps not even the Logos knows. | |||
And what will happen to the mortals who brought this destruction upon their fellows, Shakti and Charlotte? The | |||
calls have already begun to hunt them for the rest of their existence for their crimes against humanity, and | |||
certainly it is difficult to avoid the opinion, given the warnings provided, that they knowingly brought | |||
destruction on innocents. Will Achaeans have the moral courage and the will to impose justice? Only time will | |||
tell. | |||
289 AF: | |||
For the first time in decades, the Spawn of the Unnamable Horror is unleashed on the land, by Lemon Ni'Choya | |||
and Khalid Yusef. | |||
290 AF: | |||
A mysterious wisp of flame is observed by many, flitting about the lands and performing odd, but harmless, acts | |||
of magic such as changing the colours and shapes of clothing. Khalid Yusef, a Druid, is intrigued by these antics | |||
and commissions a shrine to the entity. When the shrine is completed, Eris, Goddess of Chaos, arises from Her | |||
long sleep to take Her place in the Garden once more. This same year, the Occultists, overjoyed at the return of | |||
their ancient Patroness, embrace Her patronage once again. | |||
Pentharian, God of Righteousness disbands His Divine Order. | |||
291 AF: | |||
Ousting Sartan, Lord of Evil, Eris replaces Him as Patron of the city-state of Ashtan. | |||
292 AF: | |||
Many of the more neutrally aligned Orders banded together in a first-of-its-kind alliance, to combat the | |||
depredations of the Order of Sartan upon their shrines. Participating Orders included Caspian's, Phaestus', | |||
Lupus', Aegis', and Ourania's. | |||
293 AF: | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 116 | |||
In a shocking historical precedent, Tigrayne Lena, Guildmistress of the Druids, removes Gaia as Patroness of the | |||
guild, which position Gaia has retained from the guild's beginnings. She replaces the Goddess of Nature with | |||
Lupus, God of the Hunt. This action is preceded by the many of Tigrayne's supporters placing guild disfavours | |||
upon the Lady of the Forests before their final castigation of Her. Gaia, however remains Patron of Oakstone. | |||
Throughout the year fierce battles of words and recrimination are hurled back and forth among the Druids and | |||
the Gaian faithful. The central issue appears to be Gaia's desire that the Druids and Her followers adopt a more | |||
neutrally aligned position regarding the affairs of the world in accordance with the rhythms of nature. Many of | |||
the Druids reject this philosophy, maintaining that it is an infringement on their individual freedoms to choose | |||
their moral path. | |||
The Sentinels end their ban on the sale of herbs and medicinal substances to the city-state of Ashtan. | |||
Sartan and His minions continue their harassment of the populace of Sapience. Argument and debate regarding | |||
the nature of and philosophy of Evil dominate the public news boards. | |||
Hashan remains angry and at a state of declared war with Shallam over the firestorm incident. Adding fuel to | |||
Hashan's deep anger and grief is the fact that Charlotte, seen as the chief perpetrator of the crime against the City | |||
has been appointed to a government ministry position in Shallam. Shallam offers Hashan 50,000 pieces of gold | |||
and a public apology as recompense for its losses. Hashan's government, explodes in stunned and insulted rage. | |||
Calla and Kryvar take the battle public, with eloquent and impassioned rhetoric upon the public news boards. | |||
Hashan breaks off all talks with Shallam following this perceived insult. | |||
295 AF: | |||
Pentharian reinstates His Divine Order. | |||
Sartan's followers continue to anger, frighten, and frustrate the populace at large. Their desecration of shrines to | |||
other deities, and their seemingly arbitrary acts of violence against others weighs heavily on the life of Sapience. | |||
Many of Sartan's followers continue to chafe under the ouster of their Lord by the Goddess of Chaos. | |||
Citing years of unresolved conflict, Lady Deven Lucoster, Overseer of Ashtan, publicly addresses Hwolf, leader | |||
of the Infernals, on matters of contention between the Bastion of the North and the Iron Citadel. In response to | |||
an ultimatum dictated to Ashtan by Malaclypse, on Hwolf's behalf, Ashtan's ruling council offers the Infernals | |||
the promise that they may leave Ashtan, if it be their desire. Ashtan points out, however, that the permitted | |||
exodus of the Infernals bears no guarantees that the Iron Citadel itself shall be moved. Ashtan further warns that | |||
it shall take action to protect itself if the leadership of the Infernals continues to encourage its members to work | |||
against the City's interests. | |||
296 AF: | |||
Oakstone declares that the Darkenwood belongs to the realm of Darkness. | |||
Massive conflagrations break out in the Wilderness areas of the Northreach and Darkenwood Forests. In a credit | |||
to their ability to come together for the common good, people of ordinarily antithetical and inimical backgrounds | |||
and paths join in common cause to fight the inferno. | |||
The first Sapience-wide Monk Tournament is held. First, second and third place winners in the Transcendant | |||
School are Tranquility of the Ashura, Koralin, and Elgha, both of the Sentaari. For the Meditational School the | |||
winners are Zeto of the Ashura, Rangor of the Kharon, and Shylmysten of the Ashura. The Physical School | |||
winners are Buhawi and Laxarn, of the Kharon, and Hakuin, of the Sentaari. Prizes are also awarded for the | |||
most remarkable win, given to Zeto; the most improved monk: Ciries of the Kharon, Elgha of the Sentaari, and | |||
Draggoth of the Ashura; and highest ranked monk, achieved by Rangor of the Kharon, Koralin of the Sentaari, | |||
and Tranquility of the Ashura. | |||
History is made as Eris and Aegis declare their commitment to one another and are allowed by the Logos to | |||
plight their troth. A truly spectacular wedding ceremony, presided over and officiated by Sarapis, culminates in | |||
a reception for the divine couple during which mortals are allowed to tread upon the ground the Garden of the | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 117 | |||
Gods for the first time ever. Even amid the joy and celebration, there are many who wonder what this union | |||
between War and Chaos presages for the world at large. | |||
297 AF: | |||
The war of words between Ashtan and the Iron Citadel continues. Tensions rise in tenor as Ashtan casts out and | |||
enemies the entire Infernal leadership. The Infernals accuse the Archons of Ashtan of attempting to dictate their | |||
spiritual direction by forcing them to accept Aegis, God of War, as Patron. Ashtan, for its part, accuses the | |||
Infernals of sedition and treachery against the City. Hwolf launches a tirade against Eris that earns him the | |||
disfavour of Eris, Aegis and Phaestus for his disrespect. | |||
298 AF: | |||
Lorielan, the Enlightened, Goddess of Knowledge, returns to Sapience from a sojourn on the Crystal Plane. | |||
The Sentinels again enact an herb ban against the city-state of Ashtan. | |||
Hashan declares an end to its war with Shallam over the Firestorm and events of 288. The Crown of the Ithmia | |||
also declares an end to any negotiations with the Jewel of the East over the issue. Hashan, however, reports that | |||
although she will not hold the citizens of Shallam, as a whole, responsible for the misdeeds of a few, those | |||
individuals she does consider responsible shall ever bear her ill will and undying animosity. In retaliation for | |||
Shallam's refusal to unenemy four Hashani citizens for alleged war-related crimes, Hashan refuses to ally all of | |||
the Shallamese currently enemied, save on. | |||
Eris, Goddess of Chaos, in Her travels through time before returning to the Prime Material Plane, inadvertently | |||
unleashed a timequake. In the course of attempting to discover the effects of this phenomenon upon the Material | |||
Plane, Feliss, Firefox and Deonymus uncover evidence that leads them to believe that it might be possible to | |||
raise Kasmarkin, the dead and lost capitol of a once powerful empire of Trollish origin that existed before the | |||
Selucarian Empire. Many receive grim visions portending dire consequences should the attempt be made, but | |||
Andelas Ikari, a Troll of the Iron Citadel, is visited by visions and dreams counter to those received by others, | |||
and promising a much different outcome. He becomes obsessed with the idea that by raising the city he can aid | |||
his race in regaining their ancient glory. Pitched battles rage, at the site of a statue discovered in the Mannaseh | |||
Swamp, between Andelas and his supporters, chief among them his Infernal brethren, and those opposed to any | |||
salvaging of the ancient metropolis. Andelas, frustrated by his inability to ferret out the secrets he desires, turns | |||
to the Occultists in a desperate bid to learn that which he desires. His persistence is rewarded as Shakti and | |||
Silverstorm of the Occultists at last succeed in learning the magical keys necessary to make his dream a reality. | |||
As Kasmarkin comes once more into existence from the depths of the swamp, spectral voices warn all and | |||
sundry to depart lest death be their lot. Andelas however, now totally besotted with his dreams of glory | |||
seemingly just out of reach, leads a contingent of Infernals into the heart of the once-great city in a brazen | |||
attempt to wrest its secrets for their own. They are rewarded with the discovery of an odd magical artifact. | |||
Andelas realizes that the artifact lacks some essential element and sets about finding a way to make it complete | |||
and whole. Meanwhile, Shakti and Silverstorm discover that the source of power granted to the extinct Trollish | |||
was the gift of an ancient force, trapped in Kasmarkin. Their gift was two-edged, for in granting power it also | |||
gained power over the Trolls, bending their will to its own in time. Unraveling the tale, the Occultist scholars | |||
realize that a group of Troll Magi sought to restrain and subdue the ancient intelligence by constructing an | |||
artifact that would bind it to their will and end its growing power over their race and their Empire. Too late they | |||
were, for the intelligence destroyed Kasmarkin before their work on the artifact had reached completion. The | |||
two scholars seek to warn Andelas that in completing the artifact he is dashing his dreams, not realizing them. | |||
However, fate is not with them. Andelas completes his restoration of the artifact and, once activated, it binds the | |||
ancient force. The energies used to raise Kasmarkin do not sustain it indefinitely and it sinks once more into the | |||
mire of the Mannaseh. Shakti, her curiosity unassuaged, again raises the city and this time releases the ancient | |||
intelligence bound therein. Still, her power is not enough to keep Kasmarkin afloat and it sinks into the murky | |||
morass once again. Ill content to leave well enough alone, Shakti raises the city yet a third time, and this time is | |||
successful in controlling the ancient power residing in Kasmarkin. She enjoys her new found power over the | |||
entity, a giant, winged and befanged monstrosity, as it slays her enemies, until it turns upon her as well, much as | |||
it must have betrayed its ancient masters. None know what triggered the events that followed, but some say that | |||
it was the spirits of those long dead Trollkind whose voices soon rose from the ruins of Kasmarkin reborn, | |||
chanting in sonorous tones of power until, screaming its rage against its imprisonment, the entity was bound | |||
once more and Kasmarkin drawn down again to its murky, eternal grave. | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 118 | |||
299 AF: | |||
During the timequake caused by the Goddess of Chaos, a man who calls himself Silvestri Carnivalis is brought | |||
into our time from 600 years in the past. He claims, to the skepticism of many, that he is the personal jester of | |||
Queen Catarin de Sangre, who once ruled Selucar. He wanders the land confused and dismayed by the changes | |||
wrought by six centuries of passing time. His anguish grows when he learns that his line, once comprised of the | |||
most renowned entertainers in the Imperium, is extinct and that the art of Jestering has been lost, forgotten ages | |||
ago. He is, however, delighted to learn that one of the ancillary arts, that of Tarot, an art taught by his ancestors | |||
to the Occultists, has survived and evolved in ways not even imagined in his time. Heartened by this and | |||
refusing to grieve further, Silvestri decides that it is his destiny to return Jestering to its former rightful place | |||
among the arts and sciences. To this end, he intends to open a school of Jestering in Cyrene. His delight soon | |||
turns again to dismay when he learns of Cyrene's intended restrictions on who may or may not be a student of | |||
his school, based on their political, social and religious affiliations. Silvestri courts other city-states, but soon | |||
realizes that all of them indulge in the political intricacies so alien to him, who wishes only to teach and to | |||
entertain. He therefore decides that he will form his school on the Isle of Delos. After forming his school, aided | |||
by Llewellyn, Tay, and Ralph, Silvestri proceeds apace to begin his transmission of his ancient knowledge, | |||
offering it to all that desire to learn, without consideration of race, origin, or politics. Shakti, as Guildmistress of | |||
the Occultists, demands of Silvestri that he vow to keep the knowledge of Tarot secret from all but the Jesters. | |||
Silvestri, raised in the courts of Imperial Selucar, and unused to being treated so disrespectfully, takes umbrage | |||
at her, to his mind, crude and ungracious bullying. Subsequently, he is kidnapped by Shakti, Silverstorm, | |||
Mephisto and Mordyval. They torture him, breaking his limbs repeatedly and visiting foul torments upon the | |||
unfortunate jester until, in hopes of sparing torment to young jesters to come at the hands of the necromancers, | |||
he vows on behalf of the Jesters to abide by their demand. The experience leaves him broken hearted, bereft of | |||
joy, and despairing of our Modern Age. Silvestri, after placing his beloved school in the hands of Llewellyn, | |||
takes his leave, stating that he intends to wander, seeking what he may find of his beloved, lost Selucar. Despite | |||
these cruel events, both the Occultists and the fledgling Jesters Guild issue statements of intent to dwell together | |||
in harmony, and the Jesters reiterate Silvestri's pledge of secrecy. It may be that the Occultists may one day yet | |||
rue their arrogance and lack of compassion toward a man out of place and time and be called to answer for their | |||
biting of the hand that fed. | |||
Eris becomes Divine Patron of the Jesters. | |||
On the eve of year 300, Malaclypse becomes leader of the Infernals. Deven Lucoster, Overseer of Ashtan | |||
accuses him of seeking to overthrow the government of Ashtan. The war of words between the Iron Citadel and | |||
the Bastion of the North threatens to burst forth into physical manifestation. | |||
Tancred LaSalle, renowned as the greatest living historian of Achaea, publishes the second part of his planned | |||
trilogy on the history of the Selucarian Empire. All Sapience is abuzz with talk of interesting tidbits revealed in | |||
his treatise. It appears that there is something here for everyone, suiting all tastes from serious scholar to | |||
neighborhood gossipmonger. | |||
Most of Sapience busies itself preparing for the celebrations surrounding the Year 300. | |||
300 AF: | |||
Three hundred years after the Fall of the Selucarian Empire, all of Sapience celebrates the new century with a | |||
rousing set of festivities. As the New Year dawns, a brilliant, massive display of colourful fireworks explodes | |||
over the continent, awing the populace with never before seen pyrotechnic delights. The following months are | |||
filled with celebratory activities. There are continual banquets and parties replete with feasting and revelry. Most | |||
agree that this is the social event of the year. In the Garden of the Gods, the Pantheon joins in the celebration as | |||
the Divine Logos sponsors a series of contests to test the mettle of all who desire to participate. Opening with an | |||
intellectual exercise, Sarapis stages a Quiz on Achaean history and related subjects. Shakti wins first place, | |||
followed by Jerle and Saruman. A fervent Egg Hunt sees Shakti win again, followed by Brinn and Jerle. A | |||
rollicking Tumble Race is won by Rick in first place, followed by Yeshua and Vand. A Triplets Combat session | |||
ends with Andelas, Zero and Rivalyn placing first. They share the glory with Shakti, Estach and Jarik in second | |||
place, and Fostrow, Stee and Kail in third. In honour of the newly formed Jesters Guild a contest of Jokes is | |||
held. From the subtle to the crude, from the metaphysical to the ribald and profane, the jokes fly fast and furious | |||
from the contestants. All Achaea delights in this amusement and occasional laughter is even heard from the | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 119 | |||
heavens, as the gods themselves are drawn into the rampant mirth fest. At the end of the hilarity, Jarik, Shakti | |||
and Deonymus garner first, second and third places respectively. The Jokes Contest is followed by a Costume | |||
Ball. Among those most delighting the judges with their inventive garb are Bambi, Saruman, and Idempotent. | |||
Aringar, Tylin, and Yeshua win the top three prizes for their prowess in gaining the fruits of the hunt with their | |||
bashing skills. A game of Capture the Flag is led by Oakstone, followed by Ashtan and Shallam. All of Achaea | |||
waits with bated breath as Sarapis tallies the collective results of the various contests and announces an overall | |||
winner. That winner is Shakti. And for her prowess she is granted the thousand-year-old, legendary Staff of | |||
Nicator, created by the Logos Himself for Nicator and last awarded to Isildur. | |||
The minions of Sartan, God of Evil, continue their desecration of the shrines of many of the other deities. | |||
Nettled past hope of restraint, Aegis issues a clarion call to the Alliance and their followers to go to war with the | |||
Evil One and His minions. Although Sartan has been noticeably absent from the Material Plane, His followers | |||
obstinately refuse the conditions of the Divine Alliance for cessation of hostilities and continue to badger the | |||
public news boards with their stubborn, loyalist rantings. | |||
For the first time in the known history of the world, a guild declares war against its patron city-state, when the | |||
Infernals throw down the gauntlet, publicly, before the government of Ashtan. Shocked and scandalized by this | |||
treasonous breach of protocol, Ashtan's reaction is quick and powerful. The Archons look upon the events that | |||
follow with amazement as the collective fury of the Ashtanite citizenry explodes against the traitors. Crowds | |||
pour spontaneously into the streets and shouts demanding blood and retribution of the traitorous guild fill the air. | |||
Eventually the mob coalesces around Epicurus and the Dowager Montaganet who lead the angry mass of | |||
citizenry to the Iron Citadel. They breach the walls of the once proud fortress and drag forth Dacian, the Martial | |||
Master of the Iron Keep. Spitting his defiance and cursing Ashtan, Dacian is thrown to his knees and his | |||
vituperation is finally silenced as the blade of Ashtan's Lord High Executioner separates his head from his body. | |||
The Executioner tosses the bloodied, staring head, with its stump of neck, into the crowd, where children from | |||
the Orphanage delight in the new found "toy" and promptly begin a game of kick-the-ball with it. Some | |||
onlookers later say that they could still see the lips moving impotently as the eyes glared with unsated rage. | |||
Acting as with a single mind, the mob erupts in an orgy of destruction as they raze the Citadel to its foundations, | |||
setting it and all within to the torch. When it is done, the crowd stands in mute witness. No sound but the | |||
crackling of flames and the occasional collapse of rubble is heard as the thick, oily smoke of the conflagration | |||
rises over the City. A breeze springs up, dissipating the dark cloud and as it disperses, some say they hear a low | |||
moaning upon the wind. Some say that is merely the wind itself, whistling about the stones of the now ruined | |||
battlements. Later, some occultic scholars say that what was heard was the dying of the very Oversoul of the | |||
Infernals. For in their haste, obstinacy and arrogance, the lords of the Iron Citadel had committed a kind of | |||
suicide, not being aware of the psychic and metaphysical bonds that tie a guild to its genius loci. Without | |||
guildhall or teachers, without history even, given the dependence on written records, with no city to even call | |||
their own, the Oversoul of the Infernals could not be sustained, and so died, and with it thus died the once proud | |||
and strong Guild of the Infernals. | |||
The leadership of the Infernals claim to be unbowed by their fate of their guild. They regroup and form what | |||
they call the Interim Battalion, a name reminiscent of Raajin's now defunct Exodus Battalion. Unlike the case | |||
with Raajin's band though, there is no city-state willing to grant succor to the disgraced former Infernals. Some | |||
of the Battalion now have second thoughts and claim that their leaders have misled them. Such is their grief and | |||
disappointment that they renounce the Infernals, the Battalion, and Sartan, suing for the forgiveness and mercy | |||
of those they have wronged. | |||
Sartan, feeling the perturbations in the ether caused by the dissolution of His chosen guild, reenters the Physical | |||
Plane and seeks revenge the erstwhile Infernals by sending hordes of skeletal warriors, dragons and demons | |||
against Ashtan, the city He once Patroned. His machinations are for naught as the Bastion of the North defeats | |||
each of these measures. Undeterred by these setbacks, the proud Prince of Evil humbles Himself to ask | |||
Valnurana, Goddess of Sleep and Dreams, to aid him in achieving peace between Himself and the Divine | |||
Alliance. Once alone with Her though, he uses His power to place Her in a deep trance and begins a rite of His | |||
own devising designed to usurp Her power over the Dream Realm. Sartan seeks to bring the nightmares of the | |||
mortal kindreds into physical manifestation in Achaea, threatening both Gods and men. The Evil One is, | |||
however, unable to bring His ritual to completion. Angered, he gouges out the eyes of Valnurana, vampirizes | |||
Her essence and tosses Her immortal form at the base of the Pillars of Heaven. | |||
As Sartan worked His vile magics, nightmares had indeed begun to increase in frequency and intensity | |||
throughout the world. Many had their sleep plagued by intense dreams filled with unspeakably obscene images | |||
Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands 120 | |||
of dread, decay and destruction. Eris, suspecting that all is not well, seeks out Valnurana for an explanation. | |||
What She finds makes Her divine blood run cold. Bearing Valnurana's body to the River Temple, the Goddess | |||
of Chaos is able to heal the Lady of Sleep and Dreams enough for Valnurana to reveal what has happened to | |||
Her. Outraged, Eris calls out across the heavens in challenge to Sartan who laughs and insults Her and attempts | |||
attack. The clamour is heard in the Garden and the Alliance rises up, enraged, against Sartan for His desecration | |||
of the gentle Valnurana and the past misdeeds of His minions. Even Ourania, ordinarily choosing to eschew the | |||
squabbles of the Divine and keeping Her own counsel, erupts in fury. Caspian, Aegis, Eris, Lupus, Phaestus, | |||
Agatheis, and Ourania march upon the malevolent One. Achaeans cower in fear or gape in wonder as the sights | |||
and sounds of godly battle fill the skies. With a concerted effort the Alliance captures and binds Sartan, hurling | |||
Him into the Sea before Aegis and Lupus wrench a mountain from the Vashnar range and trap the Lord of Evil | |||
beneath it. Even victorious though, the seven deities give a collective shudder as they watch the mountain | |||
reform into an island, warped by the very essence of the immortal trapped beneath. | |||
301 AF: | |||
Valnurana, healed although still bereft of Her former divine voice and sight, and feeling unwarranted shame at | |||
Her inadvertent and unintended aid to Sartan, retreats into the Dream Realm, wounded in spirit. Dreamseer begs | |||
Agatheis, the Elemental Lord, to aid his Lady. Enrinyes, daughter of the Goddess, likewise pleads with Phaestus. | |||
Enduring great travail, the Orders of Phaestus and Valnurana, as well as other volunteers to who hold the her | |||
dear, follow the instructions of Phaestus, who is eventually able to craft for Her a pair of sapphire eyes. | |||
Returning Her voice proves more difficult, but the Elemental Lord, in concert with Vand and members of the | |||
Magi, Warlocks and Priests guilds, hoping against all hope and persevering against seeming failure, is at last | |||
able to succeed in conducting a rite that allows the divine voice of Valnurana to be heard in the land once again. | |||
Pentharian, God of Righteousness, and Lorielan, Goddess of Knowledge reveal a newly constructed Chrysalis | |||
Basilica, built outside the Material Plane. As onlookers gape, a rift opens in the heavens, and with great decorum | |||
and ceremony, the two deities direct the placement of the rebuilt holy place upon the crater bearing the ruins of | |||
its predecessor. | |||
302 AF: | |||
The island beneath which Sartan lies imprisoned becomes the scene of mysterious and disturbing manifestations. | |||
Chief among these phenomena is a stalagmite, located inside the island's mountain. Sartan's followers begin, like | |||
lemmings, to repeatedly impale themselves upon the object, their purpose unknown until some few reveal that | |||
they have been told that thus may they purchase the release of the Evil One from His bonds, with their blood and | |||
life essence. Others, through divine trickery, are told that impaling themselves upon the thing is a way of | |||
ensuring His continued imprisonment. Those who do not believe the lie, led by the Church and Oakstone work | |||
to prevent the continuous serial impalements, but their efforts are largely fruitless. Soon a miasmic, roiling, | |||
blood red fog begins to spread about the island, consuming vegetative life. Eventually the fog, growing in power | |||
and evincing an eerie quasi intelligence begins to spread to the continent, belching forth foul demons who terrify | |||
the populace of Sapience. Gaia, the Earthmother, becomes alarmed and, seeking to stem the horrific tide, causes | |||
an earthquake with which She hopes to sink the island, apparent source of the evil haze. Alas, the fog only | |||
spreads with renewed vigour. Adding insult to injury, the event seems to crush the bonds of Sartan, allowing | |||
Him release from His prison, whereupon he sets forth forming a new body from the now plentiful supply of | |||
demonic fog. His new body is a horror to behold, mutilated, scarred, as though the evil once held deep within | |||
His heart, was now worn upon His face and form. Rejoicing in His newfound fortune, Sartan proclaims Himself | |||
Sartan the Malevolent. He takes control of the island that was once His jailer, imbuing its very stones with His | |||
essence. In an act that promises dire fortune at some point in the future, the Malevolent One calls His faithful | |||
unto him, brings into manifestation a monstrous edifice called the Baelgrim Fortress, and endows an | |||
organization calling itself the Maldaathi Knights upon the former, humiliated Infernals. Kaelin is appointed as | |||
leader of this new guild. | |||
With most of Achaea now at peace for the nonce, discussion and debate on the natures of so-called Good and | |||
Evil once again dominate the public news boards ad nauseam. Lately, debaters on the subject of the true nature | |||
of Chaos, oxymoronic as such a subject must perforce be, have also entered the fray. Achaea abides. |