Successors of the Ghetunbalastod

After a noble reign of 2143 years, the Ghetunbalastod ast Corgastor crumbled to ruin as its surviving nobles struggled against one another to assert or and control. This collapse was the legacy of the First Feud, the final score settled between the Eshan and the creator that lay seething beneath the surface for millennia. In 3451, Ácolitus unleashed the fruits of a plot in the making since the Ascension era: the introduction of Zarthum, a beast formed entirely from the energy of Vussalas, into the olûndari world.

The ominous monicre of ‘Last Light’ is not unique in the Corgastodmar vocabulary but shows up often among the settlements of the realm’s embattled borders. It reflects a certain tenacity attached to Corgastodmarism that has defined the faith for eons- where troubles reign, the light of Corgastor continues to shine for Aemarda’s guidance. This attitude established the foundations upon which foreign intervention across Qadal and domestic theological domination were based. For centuries, the most enduring physical icon bearing the name was a great lighthouse built upon the shores of the Nathrovayen Fringe. It was build in 2317, shortly after the region’s destruction in the Great Conflict, and depicted the opened hand of Corgastor, within which burns a pale flame to guide ships ashore. History remembers the amiable reception of its construction. Ghetunbast Kendastor, heir of Dothen the Sword, rode south with his retainers to personally ignite the birthing blaze. Thousands of Everosi natives witnessed the event, emerging from homes situated leagues and realms disant to enjoy the redemption of the cursed Fringe. For the Aemar, this was the first return to Nathrovas since the dreaded war and a means to assert the ascendancy of Aemarda in its wake. Fear was replaced with honest optimism. No matter the bloodshed, the light of Corgastor continued to shine. The Last Light remained a beacon of Corgastodmar protection for centuries everafter. Sailors compelled to make the dangerous voyage through the blasted remnants of Nathrovas revere the ancient ‘Last Light’ with a near-mystical worship. The imagery and name of the Last Light thus enobled itself across a great demographic swathe of Everos.   Perceptions regarding the Last Light changed in the 3400s. The vaunted title assumed a grim aspect after the tragic self-sacrifice of Corgastor against the Eshanic beast, Zarthum. In the years following 3451, the Corgastodmar Empire unwent a punishing series of civil disunions and internal crises. Aemarda was forced to accept the death of their celestial master and thusly reconcile their position in the world.

With the fragmentation of the Corgastodmar Empire into a confederation of semi-autonomous states in 3460, the traditional authority of the central state frayed to its territorial extremities. Domains such as Beyrenite Lohoremas and Grathem, situated in the extreme south, separated themselves formally and informally from Ghethemas and the Last Light. The former claimed to remain a part of the Corgastodmar empire but severed all economic dependency and tax obligations. What wealth remained in the marble city was divided among the noble families and merchants. Chiefs of business in Beyren such as Bardast and Dorastor Falgastelon, Alyth Sorageld, and the renowned Larahod traders, turned away the Corgastodmar taxmasters. In isolation, they claimed self-sufficience and hoarded the Gissir within as payment for their own safety. The north no longer provided the economic support required for survival. They turned face to the west, where trade with the Neyasi was lucrative and the demands of the sorukeyan minimal. However, the theoretical protection of the Last Light offered some superficial sense of security in an uncertain time. Beyrenite nobles paid lip service to the Trident and remained loyal. In the south, Grathem immediately broke from the fold. Corgastor died in 3451; by the summer of 3452, Grathem had declared independence and returned to the Aebastadmarism of their ancestors. They scorned the allegedly protections and wealth wrought by ‘Corgastoria’ in favor of turning inward.   In the northern reaches of Everos, the environs around Ghethemas remained under the tight control of the surviving government. Ghet Oselen Garlen, son of the previous Ghetunbast, swiftly gathered influence and authority in the Trident’s shadow. Despite his young age of 23, Oselen forced the masters of Ghethemas and surviving provincials to kneel before him as Lothast’s heir.   The beleaguered heirs of Corgastor’s realm were granted an extraordinary opportunity in 3468, with the coming of Syrgus Pyrgos, the ancient Third Son of Tressonar Lysander Pyrgos. All the easternmost continent was consumed with the news and turmoil which came with it. Syrgus struck against the reigning Mitras dynasty, ousting them from Pyrgoros before striking west against the bastion of Illidost. In battle after battle, the Third Son proved himself a vigorous commander and shrewd diplomat. Come the winter of 3468, he ruled over all Mitras Eurobia. Ghet Oselen and the leadership of the Lornesse watched with interest and a measure of terror. Long now was the opposing Aemar empire in Qadal broken, and the implications of its return were uncertain. However, discretion was practiced, and nothing done for the time. Spring arrived short months after, and with it important news for the Lornesse. Orin Eddenvas, their chief diplomat on the Othosar continent, sent word to Oselen that opportunity was ripe. Syrgus was trapped between Vestanir attacks, Vallisian defenses, and Demhezzar complacency. Lornish action could be the deciding factor in the conflict. Within two months a host was gathered, and fleet provisioned for the journey. A small garrison was left along the frontier with great risk.   The full measure of the war in Othos is written elsewhere, but suffice to mention that the Corgastodmar emerged victorious.   After the collapse of the Last Light in 3485, the anciet heartland of Corgastoria was left vulnerable numerous threats and terrors. The Yrd grew onward without mercy nor clear motive, though occasionally hatled for decades at a time without word. Those who approached with ill intent were universally destroyed. Further to the west of the Yrd menace, Sekras’kolura infiltrated themselves among the frightened Aemar population, preaching the faith of Ácolitus and winning many converts. It was such that even Vehem Osterath, being the elder seat of the region, was turned into a bastion of this new faith. The old masters departed in haste. The reigning masters of Eroyther were forced southward, closer to the coast and Lornesse river. These threats were held at the river, however, and unable to pass into the Lornesse territories at large. It was the tenacious skill of arms which kept the worst at bay. Moreover, the wealth entering the region from the Demhezzar-conquered domain of Erothod bolstered the relative strength of the Lornesse, and many warriors from that area were exported to Everos when Othos was at peace. The wealth which was levied there served to construct fortifications, build ships, and arm warriors against the enemies of the Ghetunbalastod, whether Eroyther or exiled Etayen. The alliance with Syrgus prevented any serious insurrection for independence.

The defeat of Corgastodmar forces in the War of the Yrd in 3485 created broad dissent against the Corgastodmar domain. Various Ghetûn across the continent realigned themselves in smaller alliance or landed dominions, but nowhere was attention turned to Ghethemas. The ancient capital was left the bastion of a single people, those of the Lornesse, but otherwise disregarded for other places. The Last Light thus collapsed into shadow. If this decline of empire came in earlier centuries, the people of Eroyther might have joyfully explored this opportunity for freedom after 1,000 years of kinship. However, circumstances were much worse for it, and Eroyther was crushed terribly beneath these changes. The Karthuuzar were once more liberally migrating between Nemrohed and Mehras, threatening to occupy northern territories beside the Balendorn mountains as was done in the Ghetunbalastod’s early years. The Daorhu solidified their strength in response, but they were no longer bound to alliances that bound them to Corgastoria, and thus chose their own paths. Rivalry with the Lornesse isolated them in the west. The country was beset on all sides, and in the heart remained the Yrd. These beasts were beyond the folklore of mere speaking nature, but roots and boughs which lived and strangled and overwhelmed. Nothing in the universe of bloodshed could repulse the beasts. The menace continued to grow, while its leadership, motives, and methods were completely unknown. One must lament, then, how the period from 3485 to 3502 was passed in grave suffering and the worst measure of decline. Everything was devastated, and the masters awaited the deathstroke, but the Yrd became silent and allow them to live for some decades more in shadowy peace. The reason why is uncertain.   What came next was equally surprising. Eroyther was granted a measure of peace. No formal treaty was signed to support the claim, nor were discussions had with the Yrd. However, the reluctance of the weary Aemar to hurl themselves into the forest appeared to calm the timber tide. The great forest continued to grow, but perhaps a third the rate as in wartime.   In the year 3551, the new assault of Yrdic monstrosities poured forth upon Eroyther, plumbling that thus weakened realm into ruins. Swarming hordes of tree implings swept westward, encroaching on the territory which surrounded the provincial capital of Vehem Osterath.

While the Last Light began its collapse in 3485, the loyal states which surrounded Ghethemas- Loryne, Lornesse, and Eroyther, remained within its sphere of influence.   Loryne annexed Erehem and departed the union as the independent Ghetod ast Loryne, breaking the realm upon the seams it was built some 2,000 years prior.

Walls of marble appear the cleaner without dour stone to mar their beauty. In old Corgastodmar life to death, and from new freedom to the future, the region of Lohoremas maintains a sparkling image. After the collapse of the Corgastodmar Ghetunbalastod, the peoples of the southwest of Everos were divided from their polity. Newborn Jequa and Grahen stood between them, whereas Neyas and Etal pressured them from the seaward direction. The common peoples remained sufficiently loyal to Ghethemas, but to what conclusion? Ghethemas was days upon days away. The upper eschelons of Lohoremas, many being merchants, began to pursue an independence movements.

Long has Grathem dwelled in the shadow of Corgastor’s empire. Those years had been dark, for it was through cruelty and trickery that their proud Lhenod Khelorad was slain and his son overthrown. The Corgastodmar handled their defeated kingdom like a beaten dog, and slaughtered it- offering the scraps to their own nobility. Hennas, Lohoremas, and a weakened Grathem were born from this insult, and they became unwilling Imperial provinces. The noble Grathon people tolerated this humiliation for decades because no other opinion arose, but in 3451 things changed. The great Eshanic hero, Corgaster Ghedelon, destroyer of Atûn the Youngest, was slain fighting the great beast Zarthum, and his empire was thrown in ruin. Ghetunbast Lothast II Garlan was killed in the Trident, along with the Solhesunbast and major figures of nobility who made that palace home. Moreover, the Corgastodmar host mustered against the Etayen threat of the Drakayen War was scattered and confused by the chaos. All at once, every military and political structure that bound Grathem to servitude was shattered. The south rejoiced and the north lamented. For the first time in 150 years, the iron shadow of Corgastor receded and was lost from Aemarda! Independence was the next logical thought for the descendants of Rhelored, just as their ancient master had departed from Corgastor and his allies during the years of the Velgasid Etag.   Dreams of liberation were not easily manifested into reality. More than any other province, Grathem faced significant turmoil after the death of Corgastor and devastation of his realm. Foremost, Ezra Gower and her closer advisors were killed during the siege and internal strife within Drakar. Leaderless, the Grathon witnessed with horror as the hamlets and townships of southern Everos were ruined by disparate bands of renegades and deserters.

The craggy bastion of Lodon did not remain silent while Everos descended into chaos in 3451. Yithmenal Lod, the cunning master of Mesian’s race, watched the Corgastodmar empire as it fractured into competing states. Distant memories of the Awakening and Weeping Era, periods wherein the Elivas were victims of Aemar cruelty, resurged from the inner recesses of collective memory. These were bitter thoughts, and planted primals fears into the hearts and minds of the west. What might be done to assuage the terror? No territory beyond the Zomore was possessed by Elivas lords since the Weeping Era- in part because of Aemarda’s growth and another part because of natural aversion between those races. Attention had shifted to Nevan and other foreign lands, where the grip of Corgastor was weaker and nations more willing to deal with unfamiliar cultures.

The suffering and misguidance of others can provide significant opportunity. Etayen remnants from the Drakayen War perceived this shifting of the proverbial winds following Zarthum’s rampage and death. They witnessed the chaos and unprecendented aimlessness that gripped Aemarda; their former enemies, once united and strong, now appeared as sheep. Immediately, strange transformations occurred around them. The deaths of Corgastor and Aebaster left the southern reaches of Everos in a unique position. Grathem, the famed bastion of ancient Aebastadmarism, contemplated independence. Those dreams had never come to successful fruitition during the days the Corgastodmar Empire, though spirited attempts were made in 3378, 3384, and 3401. The power of the Eshan managed to hold the realm together through periods of war and peace. With Corgastor dead, however, this critical bind fell apart. The south was now free to follow its own destiny, but what might that entail? Unfortunately, it did not equate to consensus. Chaos reigned as the artistocracy of the south scrambled to fill the vacuum. In the extreme southwest, the Beyrenite nobles broke economic and subjugative ties with Ghethemas in favor of loose military protection. By the year 3460, the Ghetunbalastod ast Corgastor had fragmented into petty states. This provided the prime breach into which non-Aemardic races could reassert power over the long-dominated lands of Everos.   In the ashes of this calamity, there remained faint glimmers of hope. Vulred, the Ghalûn of Jequa during the Great Conflict, returned to Everos after 1,000 years of absence. It was believed that he was dead, along with the other unfortunate inhabitants of Nathrovas. The assumption was well grounded. Nothing had survived the blast, save for the corrupted bodies of a scarce few inhabitants. The stone crumbled to dust between his fingers as it detonated, and everything around him was terminated or thoroughly corrupted. He survived, however, as he was right upon it. The energy washed over him before it grew in destructive potential. Bal’gorod, his honor guard, and the 100 companions of Jequa were all annihilated. Vulred watched in horror from the peak of Shar’kova as the ground fissured and broke, plunging land into the sea while millions died in moments. In a matter of an hour, the unleashed power of Vojûn had done its grim work, annihilating the once fertile region of Nathrovas, transforming it into the Fringe.   For centuries thereafter, Vulred disappeared from history- presumed dead by the blast. The Great Conflict ended shortly after the death of Bal’gorod and the destruction of Nathrovas, leaving the world aghast by the results. Kingdoms across Qadal began to crack down on the power of Vojûn, widely believing it to be the cause of danger and instability. This was something of an unfair generalization. Vojûn had been used more often for kind purposes than evil, but the reign of Bal’gorod and the aftermath left a deep scar of mistrust and hatred for that power. Otherwise, time continued its endless march. The centuries passed as a new era dawned from the ruins of the Great Conflict: The Imperial era. During that time the Corgastodmar, Eurobasar, and Axodraharik all enjoyed the laurels of empire. They grew and strength and dominated their regions of Qadal. Meanwhile, the Fringe of Nathrovas lay abandoned by all but the most wild and bold settlers. The legacy of Nathrovas became a myth, like some apocryphal tale meant to scare the proud to humility. Its glory faded and was forgotten.   However, the reality of history defyied common perception. In 3451, the continent of Everos was hurled into an existential struggle under the guise of a mundane war. The Etûletal under Atûsbal Unain Thin’tak Sekoras swept his navy across the Semyr, smashing the completely unprepared Corgastodmar fleet and landing on the southern coast. His army of 60,000 laid siege to Drakar for reasons unknown at the time. These warriors settled into the wooded hills of the Gol Sadûn like swarming ticks, with eyes cast at whomever may try and oust them. A week later the Order of the Hemon Ghesed arrived with 10,000 men to attempt it. They were surrounded in a narrow gorge along the road to Drakar a thrown back in a bloody battle, leaving them to limp back to Cloudsypre. At this point in the war, the Corgastodmar government deployed the Keepers of the Lornesse Nerodhic Company to investigate the motives and strategies behind this sudden invasion. In Drakar, they learned about a certain ancient ‘pedastel’ that was something of a forbidden artifact in the city. It was no mere manifestation of Vojûn, but some far worse.   The Keepers of the Lornesse pursued Unain Thin’tak to the devastated lands of the Fringe, which were once the beautiful vallies and hills of Nathrovas. They were outnumbered, prey to horrific beasts, and completely lost in where to travel. Before them a single monument pointed the way forward, Shar’kova, known as the Nemeshir of Heavens because of its reputation as the place where Bal’gorod and Vulred fought their imolûndari battle. They traveled to the island by boat but were hounded by Etayen ships and crashed upon the shore. In short order, the vessel caught flame and the supplies were lost. The company was left to wander the thick, black morass of the jungle floor. Along that route they came upon a wooden hut at the heart of an unnaturally clear expanse of grass. Baffled, they carefully approached and found it empty, though bearing signs of occupation. A few hours later, a strange old figure strode into the clearing with an armful of jungle wood. The Corgastodmar found that this individual was none other than Vulred, whom all the world thought to be dead after the detonation of Nathrovas. The aged Vulred explained that he had indeed survived and had spent centuries under the shadow of Shar’kova, reflecting and mourning his follies. However, the arrival of the Nerodhic Company to hunt Unain Thin’tak heralded a potential opportunity for redemption. He offered to join the Corgastodmar in their quest to defeat the Etayen.