The Last Runelords

The runelords forged alliances with dragons and enslaved giants by using secrets of rune and glyph magic stolen from the alghollthus in their efforts to increase their own power. With their enslaved giant armies, the wizards of Thassilon built massive tombs, enormous magical constructs, and staggering monuments that survive today, mute testimonies of a mysterious age long past.

Thassilon, As It Once Was

The seven runelords of Thassilon each ruled their own realm in the centuries before Earthfall. Each runelord was a powerful wizard tied to a particular aspect of sin magic.  

Alaznist, Runelord of Wrath Domain: Bakrakhan	Belimarius, Runelord of Envy Domain: Edasseril	Karzoug, Runelord of Greed Domain: Shalast	Krune, Runelord of Sloth Domain: Haruka	Sorshen, Runelord of Lust Domain: Eurythnia	Xanderghul, Runelord of Pride Domain: Cyrusian	Zutha, Runelord of Gluttony Domain: Gastash

Origins

Thassilon was founded in -6530 AR by First King Xin who had been exiled from his homeland of Azlant for promoting heretical beliefs. As the empire grew beyond the bounds of Xin's ability to control, both militarily and administratively, he appointed powerful wizards as governors to oversee his lands. The mightiest of these were the runelords, seven of the most skilled (and power-hungry) wizards in Thassilon, if not all of Golarion. In -6420 AR, the runelords assassinated Xin and subjugated those loyal to him—including his own son, who became a puppet emperor—while each plotted within his or her own lands to become ruler of all Thassilon.   The seven virtues of rule (generosity, love, humility, temperance, charity, kindness, and zeal), passed down from the goddess Lissala and First King Xin himself, were seen as the benefits of power, and each of the runelords was drawn towards one of the seven. Over the course of time the runelords corrupted these into what modern scholars understand to be the "great sins of the soul," abandoning the positive aspects and embracing the negative connotations of each (greed, lust, boastful pride, gluttony, envy, wrath, and sloth) as the rewards of rule. Each of the seven rulers specialized in a single school of rune magic and possessed a mighty weapon which not only served them in battle, but also became a symbol of their rule.  

Slumber and awakening

Thassilon met its end when the alghollthus called down Earthfall to destroy Azlant in -5293 AR. As the end drew near, the seven runelords retreated into the depths of their greatest monuments, put themselves into stasis, and tasked their minions to free them once the dangers have passed. Due to the sheer devastation of Earthfall, however, no one was left to awaken them and the runelords of Thassilon slumbered for nearly 10,000 years.  

In Varisian Culture

Thassilon, and the runelords' reign over it, left indelible marks across the Inner Sea region. The Shoanti quahs of Varisia all still tell stories about the runelords, but refer to them as a pantheon of deities called the Azghat who turned evil and needed to be destroyed. Thassilonian ruins across the region still contain artifacts, magic items, treasures, and creatures associated with or crafted by the runelords.