Misery Ascendant - The Lands of Talisham

Talisham

The Lands of Talisham

The History of Talisham is one of the oldest in the Lands Under the Suns. The origin of these lands is widely known by the sages throughout the Lands Under the Suns, as it is also the beginning of their world.

The Time of Cyryllynese

Originally the greater gods of good created the Lands Under the Suns to be a place of utter goodness (0CR). The gods of good thought to make it a haven for their most trusted servants. It was the good gods intent, to keep this land a secret from the forces of evil. For this cause, they created Cyryllynese, whom they imparted parts of their essence, as the great enforcer of goodness (1CR). It was his duty to make sure that evil never corrupted the Lands Under the Suns.

Cyryllynese was one of the original members of the planet of Cyuk. Cyryllynese was a mage of great power who was created by the greater gods of good on the planet of Abeir-Toril, who was created for the purpose of starting a new world of good.

Cyryllynese built his castle with the help of servants loyal to the greater gods of good. Cyryllynese used this tower as a base from which to scry the world around him, hoping to eradicate evil if ever the darkness attempted to take control of the lands of light. The entirety of the fortress would radiate a strong aura of Divination magic if detected for. In Cyryllynese' main chambers the walls were actually functional scrying devices, which he used to watch over the world.

Cyryllynese ruled his lands the only way he was able, and happiness and goodness flowed from the Lands of Light. The Lands of Light remained much this same way for nearly four and a half centuries, with little or no real crime.

Little did the gods of good, or Cyryllynese, know that evil cannot be kept at bay. A few of the gods of darkness found out about the Lands under the Suns, and set out to humble the gods of light (418CR). The gods of evil found out the locations of Cyryllynese, and then his fortress, and sought to strike at him where he would least expect it.

The gods of darkness sacrificed portions of their followings on Abeir-Toril in order to combat the mage Cyryllynese. With the souls of their loyal, the gods of darkness created Abithanoir, the champion of their combined evil. One of the heaviest contributors to Abithanoir was Azuth, the god of Mages. Although Azuth was not an evil god, he held resentment for Mystra, the all too good goddess of Magic. Azuth believed that magic should be held for all, whereas Mystra felt magic belonged only in the hands of goodness.

The evil gods sought to corrupt the races of the surface to do their bidding. The five main gods responsible for this were Lloth, the Spider Queen; Gruumsh One-Eye; Velsharoon, the lord of the undead; Abbathor, the dwarven god of greed; and Yeenoghu, the god of ghouls and gnolls.

Lloth corrupted members of the good races of elves, driving them underground and turning them into drow. Gruumsh recreated the race of Orcs and placed them in the Underdark. Velsharoon raised the corpses of the long dead natives of the land into undeath, Abbathor enticed the Mountain dwarves of the Haedrael Mountains to do his bidding, and transformed them into Duergar and Derro, and Yeenoghu polymorphed various wilderness animals into the reviled Gnolls and Flinds.

With the god's recreation of the races of darkness, they proceeded to guide them beneath the earth, into the Headrael Mountains, and their surrounding areas. From here the races of evil carved out the beginnings of the Underdark, and found their way beneath the Fortress of Cyryllynese. Here was built the Underfortress of Abithanoir. This fortress was built directly beneath Cyryllynese, the one place his scrying magics would not aid him.

The races of evil conducted many raids on the surrounding areas of Cyryllynese’ fortress, until the surrounding populace was too weak to be of any real threat to them (463CR). The Lands of Light were slowly eroding into that of darkness. It was at this time that Abithanoir was created by the gods of darkness (471CR).

The mass of the horde of darkness dwelling beneath Cyryllynese was sacrificed by their gods to impart their champion with their power. Roughly nine-tenths of the population of Underfortress were given to this cause. Along with the sacrifice of these followers, Azuth imparted a portion of his essence into the being of Abithanoir.

Abithanoir was a being of such great power that it is said that the power could be felt, almost if it were a physical force, by people standing no closer than thirty feet of him! The skin of his body rippled with waves of magic that would vary in color, from various shades of blue, to greens to yellows. Where Abithanoir’s eyes should have fallen, only a bright blue light could be seen.

Abithanoir was almost to powerful. The gods of darkness soon found out that the amount of power they had imparted in him was to much for a mortal body to handle, and that if they did not act soon, Abithanoir would destroy himself in a mad power surge. Thus, one of the greatest mages, Abithanoir was set upon his foe.

Cyryllynese was immensely overwhelmed by the deaths of his townsfolk and had been attempting to rectify all of the damage of the Siege of Shadows. All of Cyryllynese efforts were focused on this goal, and left him with little time to pursue the aggressors. This was, of course, taking it’s toll on Cyryllynese, and had weakened him to the point of exhaustion.

The time to strike was now. Abithanoir set out from Underfortress, and went to meet his adversary head-on. When Abithanoir found Cyryllynese, he was in the City of Light, attending to some of the weakened villagers who had been ravaged by the Siege of Shadows. Abithanoir stood behind his foe, his only reason for existence, and called out Cyryllynese’ name (473CR). Cyryllynese turned, slowly, to meet that which he knew would always come, for Cyryllynese was a wise man, and knew that evil could not be suppressed, that there is no goodness without evil; neither of the two can exist without the other.

A great spell battle ensued. The gods of goodness imparted what power they could into their savior, but that was pray little. The gods of goodness had been very busy, with the re-emergence of evil, and attempting to rebuild their Lands of Light.

The battle of spells and wills ravaged on for quite some time. The City of Light was completely destroyed in this conflict, killing all of the inhabitants, which pained Cyryllynese to the very core.

The battle raged on for days, and then weeks, and months, and years. Cyryllynese was losing the fight. Realizing this, Mystra, the greater goddess of magic, made one of the greatest sacrifice a god can make. She decided to impart all of the remaining power she had in this planet into that of Cyryllynese. At this, Mystra was immediately expounded from the Lands of the Suns, never to be heard from again (485CR).

The sudden influx of power revitalized Cyryllynese, and the battle raged on for another year, when the combined magical energies of the two greatest wizards reached a climax of such power, that they were blown from the realms, on a spiral towards the great sun (486CR).

It is said that the two greatest wizards still battle to this day, and their spellfire can still be seen. When Abithanoir and Cyryllynese were blown to the sun, they stopped roughly two-thirds of the way there, where their magic caused a great explosion that can still be seen by all, the Second Sun (487CR; 0SR).

The Second Sun revolves around the Great Sun, and can be seen most of the year, except for the times when the Second Sun travels to the far side of the Great Sun, during winter, in the middle months of the year. The Great Sun appears as a slightly crushed sphere, and usually glows a feint blue. The Second Sun seems to pulsate if looked at directly, and will gradually change colors, shifting from a bright blue to a feint green to a smooth yellow. Some say this is a trick of the light, while others feel it is the eternal battle between the great mages Abithanoir and Cyryllynese.

The Rise of Talisham

It was not long before the nation of Talisham grew around the ashes of the City of Light. A descendant of one of the great wizards of Akeron, founded the city in 097SR. The Lord Talik, called the lich lord by those who knew of him, even though he not among their status, left the city of Arylon after a brief power struggle between himself and the authorities of that land.

Talik took with him his entourage of mages, later to be named as the Mage Lords of Talisham. Around these eight lords Talik built the city of Talisham, slowly but surely attracting people from other lands to live in the new found 'City of Light.'

Talik and his mage lords ruled the lands for many years, and due to constant bickering and conflicts between the Mage Lords, Talik portioned the city into eight parts to divide them, for each of them to govern (139SR). In this way Talik would only have to associate himself with the Mage Lords, and they could handle the concerns of the people. This would also allow Talik to rule in secret and remain in the shadows, so that the people would not begin to suspect his unnatural life span.

Talik's Mage Lords are each specialists of different fields of magic, appointed by Talik. so that he could keep access to the most powerful magics at his disposal. In the time when Talik left Arylon, magic was much more common than it is now, and he was able to recruit eight very powerful mages as his entourage. One of his longest standing, and most loyal Lords, who was never known by anything more than Lord Raven, even to Talik, Was a quick rise in power and the perfect compliment to Talik's abilities. Lord Raven was officially the highest-ranking Lord, and sometimes the other Lords would answer to him as opposed to disturbing their King.

It was widely assumed by the populace that Lord Raven was their true king, and the power quickly grew to his head. He began acting as the King, and Talik was to absorbed in his studies of magery to even notice. The other Lords grew resentful at this, but thought it Talik's bidding (258SR).

It was not long before Lord Raven began to change the laws of Talisham, from the relatively just laws of Talik's to a far more dictatorial state (269SR). The people began to revolt against Lord Raven, who at this point had been the only Lord that wished his face be seen by the populace. The rest of the Lords continued to follow Talik's rule in this, that they should keep their faces hidden at al times, so that their apparent agelessness brought on by the magics of Talik would not disturb the peoples.

Lord Raven ruled in this manner for nearly a hundred years, when the Lord Larelon challenged his place as ruler (353SR). Lord Larelon was a powerful diviner, and used his powers to see into the mind of Talik, against his will. Lord Larelon learned that indeed Lord Raven was not to be the acting king of Talisham, only his own province. Lord Larelon attempted to convince his fellow Lords that Lord Raven was attempting to usurp their beloved ruler's throne right from under them, but alas, the remaining Lords would not help to overthrow Lord Raven, saying that they did not wish to anger the powerful Lord Talik, and that if Talik did not want this to happen, it would not have gone on for so long as a hundred years.

Lord Larelon was disappointed in his fellow Lords, but could not blame them, Talik could tear any of them apart in short notice if needed be. Lord Larelon began to search for the lost king, wishing to discuss the matter with Talik personally.

Larelon was unable to find the King, however, but true to his word, he would uphold Talik's law by all means. He began to circulate rumors among the people of Lord Raven's undying youth, and that he was indeed an undead of some kind. If Larelon could not get the Mage Lords to help him defeat the Necromancer Raven, then he would get their people to revolt against him.

The entire city of Talisham quickly grew into a revolt, and Lord Raven did not like what he saw, and began to suspect treachery (357SR).

He questioned the other Mage Lords, and when no answers came, he began to seclude them from the others, one by one, so that he could torture them.

Lord Larelon learned of this quickly enough, as Raven was only to the second of his victims. Lord Larelon told Lord Raven how it was he who had betrayed the False King, in the name of the True King, Lord Talik.

Lord Raven could not have this kind of insubordination from those that he intended to rule, and so told the Mage Lords that their 'True King' was Lord Raven himself, as Talik was dead. He continued, pointing out to the Mage Lords that if he was not, then they surely would have seen him some time in the last hundred years that Lord Raven ruled in his stead.

This upset the other Mage Lords, that their true king was dead, and that they were now forced to follow the incumbent Lord Raven. But they did not revolt against the False King, believing that the only way Talik could be deceased was if Lord Raven himself had killed him, and so the Mage Lords began to fear Lord Raven.

Lord Larelon had had his fill of Lord Raven at this point, and attacked Lord Raven with the thoughts of all the suffering he had caused to the populace during his reign. Alas, Lord Raven held no feelings for the people of Talisham, and so the effects were diminished greatly.

A great spell battle ensued between the two, finally ending when the Necromancer Lord summoned his horde of undead followers, which tore the Lord Larelon into pieces, limb by limb.

The Mage Lords would surely not interfere now that they had seen Lord Raven's army destroy their fellow Lord in such a way.

Unfortunately for Lord Raven, the death of Lord Larelon was felt by Talik, and he returned within the hour from his plane-walkings. The other Lords were more glad to see their Lord than they had ever been before, as they hoped that Talik would end Lord Raven's manipulations once and for all.

Lord Raven was nearly spent by the battle between himself and the Diviner Lord, and so the battle between Lord Raven and the True King Talik did not last long. Talik's magics tore at the flesh of the Necromancer Lord's body, disintegrating it into dust.

Lord Raven was not through, however, as he had more or less planned on Talik's return sooner than later, and as such had recently undergone the transformation into Lichdom. When Talik destroyed the body of Lord Raven, his essence traversed into his phylactery, where waited one of his trusted servants. Lord Raven assumed the body of his highest advisor, a vassalich who had been under his tutelage, and sent the escaping essence into his phylactery until another suitable body could be found for him.

Lord Raven vowed to build his own kingdom in which to destroy Talisham when it was ready, to prove himself the better king. Lord Raven fled his tower in his quadrant of the city, and began to travel west, to search for a new home (358SR).

King Talik gathered the remaining Mage Lords and destroyed Lord all of Lord Raven's creations, except for the few that Lord Raven was able to escape with to the west.

Talik apologized for his extended absence, and vowed to never leave his city again. The Mage Lords were ecstatic at this, as they had no desire to rule as king, witnessing the error in which Raven ruled. Talik implemented them to change all of the laws once again, back to what they once were (363SR).

Lord Talik intended to find his trusted advisor and resurrect him, but found that the essence had somehow been stolen from it's corpse. Talik began to suspect that Lord Raven was indeed not dead, and had taken the essence of Larelon with him when he did. Talik vowed to find Larelon's soul, and revive him to a state of life.

Shortly after these events, Talik began his search for a new Lord of Talisham, one that would take the place of Lord Raven and rule his quadrant of the city (391SR). Talik decided that this time he would not search for the most powerful mage he could find, and indeed it seemed as that was not as easy as it once was. The new Mage Lord would not be kept around long, as the wizards from the school of Necromancy tend to grow too powerful before long. These Lords would be either destroyed or banished from Talisham at the first sign of mutiny.

Talik eventually settled for a boy of no more than thirty winters, who had been an apprentice of Lord Raven's before his departure.

When Lord Raven learned of his replacement, he sent out envoys to destroy the new Mage Lord (402SR). He was successful in his attempt, but instead of destroying his former student, he offered him power to live under his rule or die. As the boy was not yet ready to die, he accepted his fate, and Lord Raven turned him into a Spectral Wizard.

The Mage Lord of Necromancy has since been replaced again, but all further attempts at his life have been foiled thus far, as the Mage Lords are now aware of Lord Raven's ever present influence.

Talik rules Lord Larelon's portion of the city in his guise to this day, until he succeeds in restoring his trusted friend to his rightful place as a Mage Lord.

The Dead City

The city of Ravenia was founded by the fleeing Lord Raven in the year 371SR. He used powers of enchantment to coerce people from all of the surrounding nations to inhabit his new kingdom. These people came to his city against their will, completely dropping any sort of life that they had made for themselves in their previous location. He set up his city just outside of the reaches of the kingdom of Talisham, so that he would be able to influence them from afar when needed be.

Lord Raven ruled his 'kingdom' with an iron fist, and held the people of Ravenia under oppression. He taxed the people to the point of starvation, and had laws that he would freely change on a moment's notice to serve his whim.

The people began to die out beneath him, due to starvation and cruel laws that would sentence people to death almost commonly. Rather than decrease the level of his dictatorship, Lord Raven devised a new kind of undead, one that would pose as a normal townsman, which would have no smell of death, which he would use to keep the city looking full.

Lord Raven had no desire to show his failings as a king, nor did he wish to admit it to himself, and thus continued to make his zombies. To this day there are more of them then there are normal citizens of Ravenia.

Ravenia is slowly dying, but Raven cares not. His only purpose is the destruction of Talik and the Mage Lords. He holds the soul of Lord Larelon in his private quarters, and makes sure that he is well tormented each day.

The erection of his tower began in the year 643SR, and is due for completion sometime in the year 816SR. The construction of his tower is slowed, due to the fact that many of the people working on it are in actuality minions of Raven. Lord Raven has also been building many secret doors and traps into his tower, which must be made by more intelligent, living people. As such, Lord Raven has sealed many of them in the walls of his tower upon completion of each trap. The screams and wails of the deceased within the walls are said to be heard on some nights of the year, which seems to be nothing more than music to Lord Raven's ears.

Lord Raven will carry out any action that he thinks may disrupt the rule of Talik and the Mage Lords of Talisham.

Port of Wyrms

Wyrm Port was founded in 414SR. Lord Talik sent emissaries to this location to build the port city, because Talik desired a way to gain more monetary value for his kingdom, and decided that open trade over the waters would prove to be a good investment.

This trading port proved to have another function as well, that of the building of ships for the battles that occurred against the Pirates of Humble Home.

Not long after the trading port was opened, the ships that carried the goods from Talisham to other locations went under attack by the pirates of Humble Home. This prompted the construction of naval vessels that would patrol the waters of the Poison Sea to this day. The pirates and the Navy of Talisham warred with each other constantly, and piracy is still a problem among the trading ships that frequent the Poison Sea.

The city of Wyrm Port got it's name, as did the entire coast, from the battle that arose when a fleet of pirate ships where attacking a merchant vessel, which prompted the envoy of naval ships to the scene.

This battle between the ships aroused an ancient wyrm from it's hiding deep beneath the waves. The wyrm destroyed the conflicting ships, as well as the merchant vessel.

The wyrm continued on it's rampage along the coast, completely destroying several farm villages before arriving at the site of the port city. There a great battle was fought between the wyrm and the Mage Lord Jarelyn, the Mage Lord of Invocation. This battle lasted for some time, and destroyed many of the newborn buildings that made up the infant city. Finally Jarelyn was able to drive the beast away, at least that is what it seemed.

The Wyrm returned within a week's time, this time with three others of its kind. This time, but this time there were no Mage Lords in the city to defend it. The militia of the port city was faring batter than it was thought they were able, however, and they soon dispatched the lesser three wyrms. This battle was taking its toll on the villagers, and the city that was had nearly been destroyed.

The battle raged on until nearly the next morn, when the beast was finally taken down by a volley of arrows that clipped its wings, rendering it unable to fly. The battle turned to the ground, a much more advantageous battleground for the earth dwelling villagers.

It was at this time that the axe-wielding warrior Lorik of Dharburg defeated the beast with a wicked slash that completely destroyed the creature's head.

The rebuilding of Wyrm Port began shortly after, in the year 484SR. Lorik of Dharburg was now Lorik of Wyrm Port, head councilor of the city. The entire coast is named for the rampage that the four wyrms wreaked in that time, the Coast of Wyrms. The city of Wyrm Port is now larger than it was before even the first dragon strikes, but the battles with the pirates of Humble Home still exist, and more common than Lorik wishes to admit. Wyrm Port is now a stable trading port among the south of Aredakar, and is one of the highest sources of income for the entire kingdom of Talisham.

Geography and Environs

The lands of Talisham are located on the West side of the southern end of the Headrael Mountains. This kingdom is bordered on the East by the Headrael Mountains, the North by the Bedas River and by the South the Poison Sea. There are three major cities in Talisham, that of Talisham, Dharburg, and Wyrm Port. The city of Talisham lies to the East just inside of the Cyryl Forest. The giant crater that was once the City of Light, lies just South of the residence of present day Talisham, with Dharburg lying just to the West. Wyrm Port lies on the Coast of Wyrms, at the mouth of the Bedas River. The villages of Caelford and Kinferg lie just to the West of the farthest reaches of the Cyryl Forest, and are joined by the road of Saddle Run, which extends far to the North West.

The Fortress of Cyryllynese lies aways East from Talisham, and is surrounded by the thickest parts of Cyryl Forest. Cyryl Forest extends to pass just North of Talisham, and passes through the heart of the land of Talisham, stopping just before the villages of Caelford and Kinferg. The Cyryl Forest is bordered on the East by the lower reaches of the Headrael Mountains. The deepest parts of Cyryl Forest contain many tall trees, called Greybarks by the Talishites. These Greybarks are frequently in the neighborhood of one hundred and eighty to two hundred and twenty feet in height. In the thickest parts of the Forest, especially the region around the Fortress of Cyryllynese, these trees completely black out the light of the Suns. Many Talishites believe the Forest and the Fortress of Cyryllynese to be haunted, and few life-loving people tread there without very good reasons.

The dead city of Ravenia lies to the far west border of the kingdom of Talisham, just beyond the Bedas River. This city was built far enough away so that Lord Talik would not wish to pursue the Lost Lord Raven, instead letting him dwell there in his failures.