Vertani
The Vertani are an aristocratic race of foreign giants hailing from the land of Vertan who, in the year 379 AF, opened a portal to Sapience and entered as visitors to our world. Curious about Sapience and somewhat evangelical in their religion, culture and morals, the Vertani went about learning as much as possible about our culture while preaching their own. While most met the Vertani with civility, some immediately attempted to slay them – the first Vertani death was caused by the occultist Rocktamer.
Shallam initiated peaceful relations from the beginning, some of them acquiring a rudimentary fluency in the Vertani's native language. To facilitate the learning process, the Vertani sent a priest named Ralem, who took up residence in the Saoghal Valley, which they referred to as "The Temple of the All."
On the 21st of Eros 379 AF, the Vertani diplomat Hingar met with leaders from each of the city-states. After explaining some facets of Vertani culture, Hingar gave each leader a unique red torc as a gift of good will. He then invited all the city-states to participate in a continent-wide competition called the Game of the Eyes.
The Game of the Eyes commenced in Aeguary 380 AF, supervised from atop Mount Karnoth by the Vertani Overlord Estan, of the Sorathia region. Ashtan triumphed, Eleusis took second, and Hashan took third. Following the competition, diplomats, guards, and mages from the House Feranki presented the three cities with impressive silver monuments. Hashan was the first to use their new monument's resurrection capabilities, even using it on some against their will. Eleusis used the monument once but then banned it from further use. Suspicious from the beginning, Ashtan refrained from employing its monument in any fashion.
It wasn't long before mysterious golden cubes were discovered in the Dardanic Grasslands, and by the power of Feranki mages, a Vertani fortress solidified from these cubes in seconds.
The Vertani quickly sought to ally themselves with Tasur'ke, El'Jazira, Dun Valley, and Thera, hinting at a future Vertani Empire. (Whether the villages wholeheartedly agreed to this "alliance" is a subject much debated among mortals.) Once again, mysterious golden cubes were strategically placed, and Vertani fortresses appeared within each town's walls. This was perceived by many to be part of a plan to annex our world to the Vertani Empire, and was met with great hostility, particularly on the part of Ashtan and Mhaldor, who declared war upon the foreigners. Several skirmishes resulted, most of them ending with equitable losses on both sides. After one major altercation–involving a number of Theran soldiers, who had since allied with Ashtan in their fight against the Vertani–the power of the foreigners was truly revealed. In a fiery rain of meteors, Vertani mages brought about the complete destruction of Thera, reducing the village to mere rubble.
The majority of the race's occupation forces in Sapience was decimated in events following the destruction of Thera during what is referred to as the fall of the Vertani. A small faction, led by Commander Daqsool, remained as guests of Shallam for some period. Gathering his scattered peoples, the remaining Vertani have built their own settlement within the Dakhota Hills and have christened it Tir Murann.
Elsewhere, in the aftermath of the destruction, the town of New Thera arose from the ashes of the old.
Other notable Vertani:
Nine Vertani Houses make up the core of the Empire, based off the original nine territories that formed it. Each house has a leader, called the Solarn.
The suicidal Imperial Oracles, idiot savants who live in horror after having been 'touched by The All', are kept restrained and confined. Their sole purpose is to decide by prophesy which House's Solarn will serve as the next Ascendant.