History of the Shar Dankra

As of today, there are two orders of Shar Dankran Samurais. They are diametrically opposed in attitudes and beliefs to the point where open hostilities have existed between the two groups for centuries going back before Coalesecne.   While both operate at a level of just rumors to the common populace, the Sharlashtri are commonly believed to have prevailed. The Shurandai are seen as the losers in their battle of ideals and if they exist, it is only in the deepest shadows for fear of being discovered by the Sharlashtri.   Both orders descend from one man, Dar Lankra. Both orders revere him as the father of their order.   To understand Shar Dan, it is best to first understand the history of psychic powers within the worlds of Pyrideon and Camoray.   Psychic powers first manifest on Durrekeo Isle among several youths all during the same generation around 2949 BC. This trait is unique among these peoples and after the first few generations, the only ones to have this trait are descendants of these first psychics.   During the Age of Aggression when war magics were used wantonly throughout the lands, a powerful psychic is born in 2917 BC on Durrekeo Isle, named Illan Siastice. What differentiates Illan from all other spell casters is his ability to undercut the very source of magic, his powers allowing him to bypass the most powerful magical defenses. If spellcasters were poets and authors, using words to create their reality, Illan was creating and modifying the language itself, changing word meanings at whim.   Illan would rise in power, first as a warlord to protect his people from the ravages of war magics to eventually forming the Illan Dominion, a powerful empire far to the west of most of the known world in Pyrideon. His nation’s power and army consisted of over 1000 psychics gathered from his people. This army was known as the Illuminated Samurais. During that first century, all hostile magicians were eliminated from the Dominion. While a magician was still superior at range of miles, up close, the Illuminated Samurais were more than a match for any magician.   The most powerful magic weapons of the day were created by magicians, a few even by the gods, and all were thought to be indestructible. It would be Illan who found the flaw in how most of them were made and created a method of deconstructing them. This secret was passed on down through his descendants.   As his empire grew in power, even the Gods become concerned, so the story goes. By mutual agreement, the Gods agreed to allow the Illan Dominion safe sovereignty over the lands it currently held in exchange for Illan to cease his expansionist agenda.   After passing, Illan’s descendants took the throne, creating his dynasty. They began waning in overall power generation by generation, none as powerful as Illan himself. During this time, all within the Dominion with psychic power were sought out and conscripted into the army for life. This law was absolute, punishable by death for any psychic who did not swear complete expansionism and servitude to the throne. Toward the end of the first three centuries of the Dominion’s existence, all new psychics were born into the families of those already part of the military. Breeding programs had already started with incentives and promotions for powerful psychics who would choose to rear children together in the hopes of creating more and more powerful psychics.   The society was now starkly divided into a caste system. The royal family, the noble families, the army, and everyone else who existed almost at a level of being a slave. Among each caste, one’s ability with psychic power often determined the pecking order.   Dar Lankra was born in during the Fourth Chaos Storm in the year 2584 BC. At this time, the Illan Dominion was extremely militaristic and fascist in nature, with the psychic castes fanatical in their servitude of the imperial family. By the end of the third century, any psychic born in the lowest castes were put to death, along with their sibling and parents, rather than conscripted into the army as they were often viewed as impure.   Dar Lankra’s mother was a servant in the lowest caste, meaning as soon as Dar Lankra was found out both he and she would be put to death. She did not know who Dar Lankra’s father was. Unlike others, Dar Lankra’s talent was different, probably from changes created during the Chaos Storm. His talent was undetectable.   At a young age, Dar Lankra started exhibiting a knack for psychic control unlike anything in recent memory. His mother sought to hide his powers knowing he will be killed if he is ever revealed as a psychic, or worse, enslaved to the service of the Illuminated guard. After initiating an affair with her master, a captain in the Illuminated Guard, she confided in him and beseeched him to aid her son. At first, he agreed, thinking that the child was of little importance and little talent. As he began to work with the child, he discovered that the child was powerful and gifted, coming up with original mental constructs almost without effort. Suddenly worried that he could have a true threat on his hand, the captain tried to slay the child before anyone else found out he was aiding and abetting a powerful psychic. Dar Lankra’s powers were already developed enough that not only did he sense the pending attack, but he was also able to turn the captain’s aggression into a strong compulsion to aid both Dar Lankra and his mother. The captain then continued to not only hide Dar Lankra but proceeded to teach him all he could about the use of his powers.   Growing disillusioned with continually needing to hide his powers, Dar Lankra left his birth city. He travels to the edge of the Illan Dominion and joins a small monastery dedicated to the pursuit of physical perfection. Once there, he learned from the monks an ancient form of martial arts known as Sherok o Tor. For the next twenty years, Dar Lankra studied and mastered this highly advanced combat skill, in the process of learning to master almost every weapon. One of the chief components of the style was the teaching of treading softly, never engaging in harsh words, seeking to never offend, and deliberatively avoiding hostilities. The martial art was designed on concepts of misdirection and deflection, rather than an outright attack. Much of Dar Lankra’s early philosophical leanings were heavily influenced during these decades.   Continuing to follow the teachings of his order, he eventually became the next head of his monastery and soon the entire order. He was the unquestioned master of Sherok o Tor. Other monasteries started seeking him out for his wisdom. In the meantime, he had secretly begun to integrate his psychic disciplines with his martial arts. Under the cover of the school, he occasionally took in psychic youths before the Illuminated Guards could find them. For most, he stripped them of their ability so they would never be a threat to the Dominion or themselves should they be found. For a few, he taught them in secret so they could live a life out in the open able to effectively hide their abilities. Many of the students, following Dar Lankra’s teachings emphatically, would later leave his monastery and become powerful leaders in the northern lands, with several of those becoming leaders in the upcoming revolution.   Coromir Siastice took the throne in 2453 BC and ordered the immediate execution of any psychic not part of the military or royal family, including those of the minor noble families. Fearing for the lives of his students and yet sick of the despotic nature of the imperial family, Dar Lankra left his homeland, heading toward Brynthia.   During Coromir’s rule, even members of the major noble families were being put to death discretely by the military. Coromir was now just a puppet of the military. Even some of his family were at risk.   After Coromir, Zhagar Siastice assumed the throne and was even more adamant in securing the military and his immediate lineage as the only psychics in the Dominion.   In 2338 BC, the third daughter of Coromir, Sevalera, fled north before her brother, Zhagar, had her killed as he solidified his power by eliminating any threats to the throne. She would end up aiding the growing revolution against the military.   By 2300 BC, current Emperor Glanis Siastice crushed the revolution, finally bringing peace to a war-torn and exhausted nation to fearful to resist anymore.   Having spent years in hiding in the northern lands of the Illan Dominion, Sevelara, now going by the name of Shelara, had become enamored with the legend of a powerful warrior who had lived in those parts and even hid a monastery, teaching psychic skills to students while completely hidden from the Illuminated Guard. Many of her former leaders in the revolution spoke reverently of Dar Lankra and claimed he was their initial teacher. After years of searching, she came to the conclusion that Dar Lankra had left and traveled to the eastern Cities beyond the Kestrel Mountains. Seeing that the rebellion was all but dead and believing that Dar Lankra could still be alive assuming he was as powerful as the legends suggested, Shelara sat out on a quest to find him and convince him to return.   Shelara found Dar Lankra after years of searching. It took years of following him, but she eventually convinced Dar Lankra to take her on as a student. Sometime after that, they became lovers. During these years, Dar Lankra became resolved to the idea of returning home to aid his homeland.   In 2292 BC, once his daughter Gráinne Líadan Siastice was born and he was satisfied that the child and Shelara are safe, he left to fulfill his destiny back home. He promised that once it is safe he would send for Shelara, and if at that time she didn’t wish to come home, he would return to Brynthia. He visited Shelara and his child rarely, for fear that he could be tracked while teleporting back and forth. Also due to this fear of being tracked, he kept communication to a minimum during these years. Upon returning to his homeland, Dar Lankra spent a year traveling the land, learning what he could of troop movements, where the Illuminated Guard was active, and who the most influential political leaders were by region. He also found the remnants of his students and prepared them for when the revolution would rise again so that he could strike quickly and surely, minimizing the bloodshed.   Taking control of the remnants of the previous revolution, Dar Lankra quickly determined a path toward the isolation of the capital city. Within a year, the outer provinces were freed from the Dominion armies as they withdrew into the central province. In a single strike, he revealed to the world his ability to penetrate a city teleportation shield by leading a strike force into the central council chambers during a high-level meeting of the imperial family and the head of the Illuminated Guard. Several key members of the Illuminated Guard are killed along with a few of the high ranking members of the imperial family. Emperor Glanis escaped leaving behind his queen and two children to be captured. Several other family members are also captured.   Having captured several high ranking members of the Illuminated Guard along with the royal family, Dar Lankra chose to go silent. He neither ransomed nor threatened them – he and his immediate circle simply refused to acknowledge that they had them. In reality, they were safely and comfortably held in the northern province. This silence served to only enrage and cause a greater instability in Emperor Glanis who began to lash out in all directions. This ended up creating greater cohesion among the revolution while also garnering greater support from sympathizers in the inner echelons of society within the Dominion. Suing for peace, the inner council secretly conspired and rose up to replace Emperor Glanis. Drugging him, they offered him up to the Revolution in exchange for peace. Dar Lankra accepted the peace and released many who have been captured. In the process, he also lanced the psychic ability from Emperor Glanis along with several key members of the Illuminated Guard which had been captured. Dar Lankra arranged for Ex-Emperor Glanis and his immediate family to be banished and relocated to Drynthia rather than face the public execution many are demanding. Using his connections within the Drynthia, Dar Lankra made sure that Glanis was well provided for.   Glanis would eventually recover from the sting of his dethronement and live out his days as a successful major landholder and farm manager. When his grandson joined the elected council of Drynthia, Glanis would state he is thankful for the reprieve granted by Dar Lanka and happy for the choices destiny made for him.   Over the next several years, Dar Lankra aided in the forming of the new government. Having accomplished a successful revolution, Dar Lankra resigned from his post of leadership within the new Republic and headed home to his family. After spending six months with Shelara and his daughter, he returned once again to the Illan countryside. Carefully selecting new students, he began a new order and school intending to create an order of peacekeepers for the land. During this time, he regularly teleported back home to Brynthia to be with Shelara and their growing family.   Having trained his peacekeepers and feeling confident that they have the moral integrity to truly be peacekeepers, Dar Lankra allowed his Shar Dankran Samurai to begin roaming the land. They were powerful psychic peacekeepers who live peaceful and simple lifestyles. They taught peace, calm reflection, and meditation as a means of interacting with others. However, when needed, they were also the fiercest of warriors and would step in to help the commoners whenever the local authorities were unable to help. One of their early mandates was to avoid contact with the military, stay out of major cities, and stay out of politics. This was one of Dar Lankra's ways of ensuring that the Shar Dankra remain above reproach. Over the next several years, he began to relax this mandate and as the order grew, so did their influence.   During his later years, after much meditating on the teachings he had garnered from his travel among the time elementals, Dar Lankra began to have disturbing visions of the future. Dar Lankra penned his alternate visions concerning his followers. Both versions started with a similar story of a big fish separating into two fish swimming in different directions, separating from a yin/yang symbol.   He wrote down the visions in three tomes and what some of his interpretations are. He saw in one vision that the two fish eventually come together again, swimming side by side yet never joining. In the other vision, he saw the black fish getting bigger and bigger where it eventually consumed the white fish. Not knowing which fate would roll out, if either, Dar Lankra was careful not to pen down any thoughts or preferences for an outcome, attempting to scribe his visions to the best of his ability.   During this time, the Illan Federation dissolved into several states loosely known as the Calliff Confederation. Infighting and unrest began to exist between the various states. In 2218 BC Dar Lankra passed in his sleep at the age of 366. His surviving children buried him next to Shelara in Brynthia in a secret ceremony at a hidden grave. While never wedded in life, his children proclaimed them married in death and with priests of Borollo present, this union is blessed.   After his death, the Shar Dankra eventually felt the need to step in and address the infighting between the Calliff Confederation. Over 20 years they forced the Calliff Confederation into a harmonious nation. The methods the Shar Dankra utilized to unify their country began to start serious rifts in how they viewed themselves, their purpose, and their future.   Over a disagreement in fundamentals, the Shar Dankra split into two parties within the same house, the Shurandai Samurai and the Sharlashtri Samurai.   The Shurandai, which was of fewer numbers, believed in the passive guidance of others toward civil tranquility. They espoused the earlier teachings of Dar Lankra and the Sherok o Tor martial art which helped form his discipline.   The Sharlashtri believed that the only way to save mankind from evil and destruction was if mankind was persuaded to be good by reasonable means, choosing to more follow Dar Lankra’s mindset when he was toppling the Illan Dominion. To this end, the Sharlashtri started believing themselves to be self-righteous and made themselves out to be judge, jury, and executioner. To compound this attitude, they also made themselves out to be the rightful lawmakers and began manipulating many of the world governments from behind the scenes.   While the two houses remained loosely affiliated and shared the same ruling authority, their effectiveness for new initiatives was almost completely paralyzed by fundamental disagreements. Both parties saw the final writings Dar Lankra as foretelling this split, the two factions being the two fish he foresaw.   Having all but split into two groups, the Shar Dankra violently sundered into the two orders each declaring separating leaders. During the split, massive fighting broke out as the Sharlashtri ambushed their brethren in an attempt to weed out the weak and unfit.   The Shurandai are forced to flee and end up hiding in the Zyloan territories. In the prophecies set forth by Dar Lankra, he saw his children splitting into two. He also saw that one of his children would come forth and unite them. For this, however, he saw two fates. One of the children was a black fish swallowing a white fish and growing to immense size. The other was the white fish kissing a wounded black fish. The black fish then turned into a gray twin of the first fish, after which they both continued to swim in harmony but always apart. While both orders revere the teachings of Dar Lankra, it was the Sharlashtri who actively pursue the outcome they seek, continually looking for their promised leader. To this end, they also enshrine the original writings of Dar Lankra, keeping them sealed from the Shurandai.   Despite the Shurandai being weakened in numbers and on the verge of fading into obscurity, the gods came to the Shurandai for help in 1522 BC.   The gods had learned of the Keepers from visitors from Gashmyr. The Keepers are a powerful race that seemed to have no physicality and seem to be made purely of psychic and magical energies. As they are also very xenophobic, no one had ever seen them and few know of them. Of those that do, few are willing to talk of them. Only an ancient lost race known as the Krem even approached their level of power. What is known of the Keepers mostly came from the hard to find literature of the Krem. The Keepers were believed to be responsible for many of the laws of reality by which the multiverse works, something intrinsic with how the Shar Dan powers work. While the gods strictly monitor to make sure no one abused travel to and from Gashmyr, they needed to find more information about the Keepers or the Krem.   This had the gods requesting aid from the Shurandai. In an agreement to help keep the Shurandai stay hidden and safe from their wrathful brethren, 300 Shurandai agree to travel to Gashmyr and out from there into the multiverse to continue the search. To this day, no one has heard what become of this expedition.   Both factions survived Coalescence.   In 525 AC the secretive Shurandai order of the Shar Dankra finished the building of their new home, Suthandor Mind Hall, located in the valley between Borollo Peaks. They remain hidden until the time of the Pryson Break, which will happen about 100 years after the Events in Chrailis.   In Year 680 AC, the Sharlashtri completed the construction of their new home and school enough to which they can move in. The actual structure is finally finished in 758 AC. They called their new home the Eminence. Though they are active behind the scenes in several governments, they still choose to remain hidden, affecting events from the shadows. They control events through the happenstance of unexplained accidents, unsolved assassinations, and equally unexplained miraculous good fortune for those they favor.