The Siege and Fall of Ciermanuinn

The Origins Entry: The Fall of the Sacred Home
Recorded by Chronicler of the Silver Blade.
  History records the Siege of Ciermanuinn as a tragedy of war, a clash of steel and sorcery in the high valleys of Aille. But to understand the fall of the Sacred Home, one must first understand the sky. The catastrophe of 928 AV was more than an invasion; it was a cosmic alignment, a moment when the Gaze of the Watcher turned blind.

The City and the Secret

Ciermanuinn was a city of sanctuary built in defiance of the north. Nestled in a deep, rain-shadowed valley within the mountains of Aille, providing a mild microclimate that allowed a sophisticated Elowyn culture to flourish. It was the adopted home of Avraan, the companion of Torryaen the Great, and served as a refuge for the Vesprian royal family, fulfilling the ancient decree that Torryaen’s heirs must walk among their kin.
  At its heart was the Alabaster Gate in the Vale of Harmony, a horseshoe-shaped arch connecting the Elowyn lands directly to the Torryaenen Palace in Vespyr. It was a masterpiece of restricted magic, keyed only to the blood of Vespria's twin founders, Torryaen and Avraan.
 

The Broken Omen

The invasion occurred on the Middark Watchnight, the 14th Day of Edowyn, in the 5th Circle of the 103rd Arc of Vespria (or simply, Atarin 14, 928 AV, rendered in Therysian Reckoning). This was the precise midpoint of the nine-year cycle, the moment the red-ringed shadow of the world moves across the surface of Selyne like the bloody iris of a swirling purple storm. The Bloody Eye of the Gaze of the Watcher.
  Ordinarily, this is a time of violent beauty. As Aithyris’s crimson-ringed shadow passes across Selyne’s surface, it brings with it the Great Violet Storm. For the Elowyn, this is the Middark Hunt, a sacred communion when the veil between spirit and flesh is thin.
  But in 928 AV, the omen was corrupted. The invasion was strategically synchronized with Middark, the Midsummer night event occurring only once per Arc, when Aithyris casts a ruddy shadow upon the silvery-violet surface of Selyne, creating the phenomenon of the Bloody Eye. The Bloody Eye of the Great Violet Storm is the shadow cast by Aithyris, creating the illusion of a vast, luminous eye gazing down upon the world as if from the middle of a vast cyclone. That Middark, the Bloody Eye of the Huntress turned upon the Vales of Ciermanuinn.
The invaders leveraged this celestial blindness. The Nottsver, the "Night Swords" of the Stornir, arrived in numbers never before seen, driven by an unseen force that used the Middark’s amplified magical volatility to conjure creatures of myth.

by Val Saraven

Excerpt from the private journals of Princyn Lirynel Torryaenen,

"We failed at Ciermanuinn because we tried a diplomatic answer to a tactical problem. That is the first and hardest lesson I learned in the mountains of Aille: tragedy is often just strategy that went sideways. We knew the Nottsver were coming... Yet, the Vesprian Council delayed, debating the sanctity of the Treaty of the Snows while the enemy built their siege lines in the ice."

The Shadow's Gambit

The assault was led by the Nottsver, but they were merely the blade. The hand wielding them was far more subtle. The invaders tore through the island's defenses, bringing war to the Vales for the first time. The conflict included the Battle of the Seven Stars at the foot of Torryaen’s Tears, a clash that exacted a heavy toll on the Sisters and Wardens.

by Val Saraven

Excerpt from private journals of Princyn Lirynel Torryaenen,

"The Elowyn fought brilliantly... But the true end came not at the foot of Torryaen's Tears, but through the air. The Shadow Dragon presented a devastating force multiplier, a black, living void that tore through the weakened protective remnants of the song that kept Ciermanuinn hidden. I watched the wards—which had prevented the Vale's discovery for centuries—fail in moments. The collapse of the Song was a chain reaction... The Stornir flooded the inner city. The fight became a rout, a desperate, final dash toward the only sanctuary left: the Alabaster Gate."

The Hour of Sacrifice

In the final moments, individual acts shaped history. Seeven, Krysaalis’s father, wielded the Silver Blade. Where normal weapons failed against the shadow dragon, the Silver Blade struck true. He drew the beast away from the fleeing refugees, appearing to be consumed by a flame of darkness burning violet.
  Princyn Illiryn Torryaenen broke protocol to aid the defense, charging into the darkness to stand with Seeven. His twin sister, Princyn Illiryssa, was left holding the line at the Gate.

by Val Saraven

Princyn Illiryssa Torryaenen was recorded as saying,

"I was shuffled alongside my brother, Illiryn. My twin. We stood in the line, trying our best not to be trampled by everyone trying to get through. I followed Avaaya and her daughter Krysaalis. When I turned back around, Ryn was no where. And then I saw him...swallowed by the mêlée, a final flash of his Sentinel armor disappearing into the black-and-red crush of the enemy. He ran straight for Seeven. And that living shadow."

Avaaya, a former Sister of Ciermanuinn, coordinated the retreat to the Alabaster Gate with Ruminende. However, she left her daughter Krysaalis at the gate to chase after Princyn Illiryn. There, Avaaya was mortally injured by a shadow dragon.

by Val Saraven

Excerpt from private journals of Princyn Lirynel Torryaenen,

"Just as the defenses began to buckle... I saw the beast—a thing of absolute shadow and scales—descend on her. It was not a creature of Thea's making. In the brief, terrifying moment of clarity, Krysaalis's father, Seeven, charged... He lunged, wielding the Silver Blade—a weapon of pure, cold light—he always had near. He struck the formless void and, as if his strike were somehow physical, it screamed a kind of dark sound that rattled the very foundations of the world."

The Severance

It was the child, Krysaalis a'Ciermanuinn, who was the burden of the final escape. Avaaya, realizing she could not save both her husband and her child, entrusted Krysaalis to the royal line.
  Scholars estimate that by the time the Gate fell, the Siege had claimed half of the approximately 3,000 shandaryn present. Roughly 1,000 civilians escaped to Vespyr. Despite two expeditions to Aille during the subsequent Arc, no survivors were ever found
  By all accounts, Avaaya fell to a grievous wound and is presumed dead. Princyn Illiryn was lost and presumed dead. Seeven’s fate remains unknown to Vespria, and he is presumed dead.







 
 

by Val Saraven

Excerpt from private journals of Princyn Lirynel Torryaenen,

"The line was breaking. I saw Illiryn vanish into the black-and-red crush, running straight for Seeven and that living shadow. Avaaya saw it too. She looked from her husband to her daughter, and I saw her heart break. She made her choice. She didn't run; she turned to Illiryssa.

The Alabaster Gate hummed with the warmth of Vespyr—a cruel contrast to the screaming valley behind me. I was there, a ghost watching the horror unfold. There was no time for thought. Avaaya shoved the child, Krysaalis, into Illiryssa's arms. I heard the promise, desperate and fierce: 'Take her! I will bring him back. Go!'

Illiryssa hesitated, torn between her brother she was leaving behind and the child that now clung to her. She looked at Avaaya—trusting the Sister to save Illiryn just as Avaaya trusted her to save Krysaalis. Then the shadow fell. There was only reflex as I tumbled through the Gate into the makeshift refugee and mustering space on the Vespyr side. Illiryssa screamed her brother's name one last time, shielded the child, and threw them both through the Gate.

Avaaya did not follow. She drew her blade and ran back into the dark, toward Seeven and Illiryn. They were the last ones through. The portal snapped shut behind them, three lives exchanged for one."

The Strategic Cost

Krysaalis escaped through the portal to become a ward of the Torryaenen royal family. The Alabaster Gate was destroyed on the Ciermanuinn side, and the Vesprians dismantled the portal on Dyth Seran to prevent Stornir incursion. The Vale of Avraan was left devastated, a twisted black husk with vegetation resembling glassy obsidian.

by Val Saraven

Excerpt from private journals of Princyn Lirynel Torryaenen,

"We talk about the 'tragedy,' but the real tragedy is the lesson: the Vesprian policy of aloofness is deadly. We waited for diplomatic consensus and paid for it with the lives of our own kin. Ciermanuinn taught me that you cannot rely on Councils, Queens, or even magical wards. You rely on precise planning, trusted friends, and the ruthless efficiency of a well-executed plot. Now, the darkness is rising again, and I won't wait for permission. I will send the smallest piece of light I know back into the Shadow."

The tragic murder of Princyn Tependil robbed the Council of Nine of their immediate heir to the Morning Star position. With rescue expeditions failing or being chased off, the Council abandoned Aille and Ciermanuinn, ceding the island to the Stornir. This loss set the stage for the wider Saga, trapping the Silver Blade and its wielder on Aille, and creating the orphaned refugee Krysaalis, whose return to Aille in 1081 AV would mark the beginning of the end.