Seryndor

Description

Seryndor is an ancient Letheni trade city atop an island that sank beneath the waves of the Gulf of Liborius over a thousand years ago. Few Letheni alive today remember much about it, except that it was a vast city home to all seven races of Aellorah, and was one of the largest trade hubs in the world. Those that do remember Seryndor have a vague idea of where it was located, but even if they could locate the ruins, the Antiquarians' Guild does not have the means to excavate it.

History

The island that would later come to be known as Seryndor was discovered by a group of explorers on Asten 19, 768 UP during The Upheaval period. They established a small settlement before bringing a large group of settlers with them a few years later and building the city up to reach its final size roughly 1,100 years later. The city quickly became a hotspot for trade vessels, as its convenient location in the Gulf of Liborius allowed Arak's major cities to ship their trade goods here to sell in Seryndor's marketplace.

About 650 years after the city reached its peak size, a wizard named Valdor purchased some land just outside the city walls and erected a tower there, beginning to use the city's vast resources to aid in his research in return for magical advisement and services for the city. This idea was not unique to him, as several other spellcasters arrived in the coming years and formed a sort of council that advised on magical matters, bolstering the city's defenses, and even producing magical goods for the marketplace.

Seryndor sank beneath the Gulf of Liborius in the year 20,178. Though none of the inhabitants of the planet know the cause, it was largely believed to be related to a Wellspring eruption the prior year due to the fact that no effect was observed at the time. However, the Wellspring eruption in question was in fact responsible for the creation of Endaravan.

The actual cause behind the disappearance of Seryndor was a pair of sorcerers named Calantha and Valdor.

Calantha was once in love with Valdor. She was a local of Seryndor and learned magic so that she could ask to study under Valdor with the hopes she could spark something romantic. However, Valdor is perceptive and picked up on her intentions and rejected her, though kindly. He offered to put in a good word for her with the Ars Aurum Academy in Mythwell if she wanted proper training.

Dejected and crushed, Calantha left Seryndor to attend the Academy, where she had skill with Illusion magic, training under none other than the former Kestori of Illusion, Adamar. However, she never could let go of Valdor and began to take an interest in the school of Enchantment, thinking it could get her what she desired. However, being highly illegal in Arak, she journeyed to Myr and studied under the Kestori of Enchantment in Catarvoss, a Vesperkin by the name of Melody Mudbelly. But the Sorcerer's Cabal could only teach so much of Enchantment magic, and Calantha lost herself in her obsession, eventually seeking alternative sources of information, leading her straight into the arms of Maven. Sensing her twisted obsession and desperation, he approached her in mortal form and offered to teach her, and did not shy away from teaching her specifically what she would need to know to ensnare Valdor.

Years later, Calantha returned to Seryndor to claim Valdor by any means necessary, but found that he had taken a lover -- a Human woman named Ardnys, who looked similar to Calantha. Enraged, Calantha sought Maven's help once again, and he transformed Ardnys into a Sea Hag. Ardnys fled, not wanting Valdor to see her like this. Crushed by this, Valdor was more susceptible than ever to Calantha's influence, allowing her to charm him. She then imprisoned Valdor in his own tower in a cell she constructed lined with Esciten, preventing him from using magic to escape. By interrogating him, she learned of the only other things that really mattered to him: Seryndor itself, and his magnum opus, the Elixir of Eternity. So Calantha turned to Maven once again and was given the knowledge of how to create a new Voidspawn in the form of a ritual she could use to sacrifice a large number of civilians to feed The Void the souls it needed to create one for her. She gleefully accepted, surrounding a large section of the city in a ritual circle, and sacrificed its inhabitants, creating a Voidspawn Dreadnought -- an extremely powerful Voidspawn that is normally dealt with by the Seven Sisters. The Dreadnought wiped out the city's inhabitants and caused the island to begin sinking before The Sentinels arrived. The Sentinels lost many of their Paladins that day, but managed to destroy the creature before it could wreak havoc anywhere else on Aellorah.

Valdor has been trapped in his tower for nearly 1,300 years while Calantha has searched the ruins of the sunken city for Valdor's final, most prized possession, the Elixir of Eternity. It took her many years to locate it, but she has been unable to unlock the blood seal protecting it. To unlock the seal requires the blood of a creature blessed by the Seven Sisters, and it must be a willing offer. However, word has reached Calantha via her network of connections with the aquatic life in and around Seryndor that a group of adventurers in central Arak have caused quite a stir with their heroic in Eldham, not only cleaning up the Goblin infestation of the area, but stopping a cult and taking down an extremely powerful necromancer who had threatened all of Arak. Through use of Divination magic, Calantha was able to discover that one of these adventurers was none other than her great granddaughter, and she just so happened to have been blessed by the Seven. She now has a possible means to open the blood seal if she can convince her great granddaughter to join her in Seryndor...