Encyclopedia Ermariana - User contributions [en]

Horde Triad Slayers

2014-09-21T04:57:09Z

Davies:

In 880 [[IE]], a group of young Avernite soldiers were called up from [[Castle|The Castle]]'s [[Food Depot]] to do a series of missions for the [[Crown]]. Along the way, they attempted to solve the mystery of the [[Mushroom Blight]], but were unsuccessful. They also restored order to many parts of [[Avernum]] by ridding places of [[bandits]], [[goblins]], [[slimes]], [[undead]], and other monsters. Their claim to fame is that they almost single-handedly killed the [[Slith Horde Triad]]. Because of this, this group has become known as the Horde Triad Slayers in 882. Their place in history is shrouded in mystery because of their strange disappearance at the [[Great Portal]].

==Humble Beginnings==

In 879, four new Avernite soldiers were sent to help out at the Castle's Food Depot under the supervision of Sergeant Nichol. For one whole year, they moved supplies within the cellars of the depot. Then in 880 IE -- legend claims it was exactly a year to the day since their arrival -- goblins snuck into the cellars and started stealing food. These four were tasked of ridding the cellar of the goblins. They fought the goblins and found their leader, [[Lord Trinket]], in a back room. Lord Trinket escaped but the other goblins were killed.
Sergeant Nichol told them to report the goblins to Lieutenant Katlyn. She gave them the mission to kill Lord Trinket. These four headed south to an abandoned mine where Lord Trinket was. There they met a young man recently arrived from the surface named [[Vanderlin]]. He joined the four into the mine. They battled goblins and bats throughout the mine until they came to a room where Lord Trinket was prepared to make his last stand. (There was also a [[slith]] standing behind a closed gate.) Upon killing Lord Trinket, he yelled for help to someone named Khrez-Yss, but no one answered. Then the mysterious slith spoke to the soldiers. He said that he was not afraid of them and it would be only too easy to kill them now. Then he walked away.
They reported killing Lord Trinket to Lieutenant Katlyn. She thanked them for such a good job and told them to report to Commander Meryhew at the Castle.

==Early Castle Missions==
Upon their arrival at the Castle, Commander Meryhew promptly assigned her new charges the task of traveling to the [[Portal Fortress]] and being instructed in the use of portals, the better to facilitate their journeys in Avernum. The Portal Master, after requiring the soldiers assistance in dealing with shades called into being by the portal, gave them the required instruction, and they returned to the Castle to receive further instructions.
Their missions were to take them to [[Gnass]], to [[Dharmon]] and to [[Patrick's Tower]]. It is not entirely clear whether they actually resolved all three of the difficulties confronting these settlements. Some accounts of the era suggest that they only dealt with two of them, with the third allegedly handled by another party. In the absence of certain evidence to the contrary, however, all three situations will be discussed as though they were resolved by the Horde Triad Slayers-to-be.

[[Category:Avernum]]
[[Category:Adventurers]]
[[Category:Persons]]

Horde Triad Slayers

2014-09-21T04:55:52Z

Davies:

In 880 [[IE]], a group of young Avernite soldiers were called up from [[Castle|The Castle]]'s [[Food Depot]] to do a series of missions for the [[Crown]]. Along the way, they attempted to solve the mystery of the [[Mushroom Blight]], but were unsuccessful. They also restored order to many parts of [[Avernum]] by ridding places of [[bandits]], [[goblins]], [[slimes]], [[undead]], and other monsters. Their claim to fame is that they almost single-handedly killed the [[Slith Horde Triad]]. Because of this, this group has become known as the Horde Triad Slayers. Their place in history is shrouded in mystery because of their strange disappearance at the [[Great Portal]].

==Humble Beginnings==

In 879, four new Avernite soldiers were sent to help out at the Castle's Food Depot under the supervision of Sergeant Nichol. For one whole year, they moved supplies within the cellars of the depot. Then in 880 IE -- legend claims it was exactly a year to the day since their arrival -- goblins snuck into the cellars and started stealing food. These four were tasked of ridding the cellar of the goblins. They fought the goblins and found their leader, [[Lord Trinket]], in a back room. Lord Trinket escaped but the other goblins were killed.
Sergeant Nichol told them to report the goblins to Lieutenant Katlyn. She gave them the mission to kill Lord Trinket. These four headed south to an abandoned mine where Lord Trinket was. There they met a young man recently arrived from the surface named [[Vanderlin]]. He joined the four into the mine. They battled goblins and bats throughout the mine until they came to a room where Lord Trinket was prepared to make his last stand. (There was also a [[slith]] standing behind a closed gate.) Upon killing Lord Trinket, he yelled for help to someone named Khrez-Yss, but no one answered. Then the mysterious slith spoke to the soldiers. He said that he was not afraid of them and it would be only too easy to kill them now. Then he walked away.
They reported killing Lord Trinket to Lieutenant Katlyn. She thanked them for such a good job and told them to report to Commander Meryhew at the Castle.

==Early Castle Missions==
Upon their arrival at the Castle, Commander Meryhew promptly assigned her new charges the task of traveling to the [[Portal Fortress]] and being instructed in the use of portals, the better to facilitate their journeys in Avernum. The Portal Master, after requiring the soldiers assistance in dealing with shades called into being by the portal, gave them the required instruction, and they returned to the Castle to receive further instructions.
Their missions were to take them to [[Gnass]], to [[Dharmon]] and to [[Patrick's Tower]]. It is not entirely clear whether they actually resolved all three of the difficulties confronting these settlements. Some accounts of the era suggest that they only dealt with two of them, with the third allegedly handled by another party. In the absence of certain evidence to the contrary, however, all three situations will be discussed as though they were resolved by the Horde Triad Slayers-to-be.

[[Category:Avernum]]
[[Category:Adventurers]]
[[Category:Persons]]

Timeline of Ermarian

2014-09-21T02:40:16Z

Davies:

{{apocrypha|source=[[Ermarian canon]]}}
This article provides a general timeline of historical events in [[Ermarian]]. This timeline refers mainly to events relevant to [[humans]] and human nations.

For information on the measurement of time in Ermarian, see [[Pralgadian Calendar]], [[Before Pralgad]], and [[Imperial Era]].

==Before Pralgad==
*250 BP — [[Zion I]] becomes [[Emperor]] of the [[Aizoan Empire]]
*~100 BP — [[Aizoan Empire]] collapses
*~25 BP — [[Motrax]] born

==House Sol==
*0 IE — [[Empire]] declared on [[Pralgad]] by [[Sol I]]
*48 IE — [[Sol II]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*102 IE — [[Sol III]] becomes [[Emperor]]

==House Ironclad==
*132 — [[Ironclad I]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*201 — [[Viceroy I]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*204 — [[Viceroy I]] assassinated
*206 — Imperial Council disbanded; [[Empire]] provinces ruled by royal houses
*209 — [[Dorian Kylen]] declares himself Emperor and seizes [[Imperius]]
*211 - 229 — [[The Ascent of Ironclad II|Pralgadian War of Succession]]
*229 — [[Ironclad II]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*~250 — [[Morog]] becomes a [[liches|lich]]
*259 — [[Ironclad III]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*261 - 277 — [[Empire]] leads [[Extermination of Non-Humans|extermination campaign]] against [[giants]]
*281 — [[Ironclad IV]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*309 — [[Ironclad V]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*322 - 342 — [[Empire]] leads [[Extermination of Non-Humans|extermination campaign]] against [[nephilim]]
*357 — [[Ironclad VI]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*~376 - 386 — [[Empire]] leads [[Extermination of Non-Humans|extermination campaign]] against [[troglodytes]]
*379 — [[Anama]] Church founded
*~390 — [[Imperial Navy]] created
*405 — [[Ironclad VII]] becomes [[Emperor]] and issues decree against the [[Anama]]
*406 — [[Ironclad VII]] rounds up and jails [[Anama]]
*406 - 437 — [[Anama War]]
*~422 — [[Vahnatai]] [[Resting]] begins
*437 — [[Vantanas]] discovered by [[Imperial Navy]]
*441 - 535 — [[Discovery and Conquest of Vantanas|Vantanas explored and conquered]]
*450 — [[Ironclad VIII]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*467 — [[Ironclad IX]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*499 — [[Ironclad X]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*530 — [[Ironclad XI]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*535 — [[Ironclad XII]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*587 — [[Ironclad XIII]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*~600 — [[Valorim]] discovered by [[Empire]]

==House Strongarm==
*608 - 647 — [[Discovery and Conquest of Valorim|Northern reaches of Valorim conquered and settled]] and [[Ratbane Clan]] destroyed.
*615 — [[Strongarm I]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*~617 — [[Darkling]] [[sliths]] banished from the [[slithzerikai homeland]]; [[Bahssikava]] settled
*640 — [[Morrow's Isle]] settled
*658 — [[Strongarm II]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*672 — [[Stewart I]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*681 — [[Empire]] capital moved from [[Imperius]] to [[Solaria]]
*722 — [[Stewart II]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*727 — First [[Sss-Thsss]] killed by Calindor
*740 — [[Empire]] establishes feudal state on [[Morrow's Isle]]
*~747 — The disastrous [[First Expedition]] to [[Exile]]
*~755 — [[Chimney]] settled by [[Harfloot]]
*762 — [[Skylark School of Magery]] closed, leaving poisons behind

==House Hawthorne==
*763 — [[Hawthorne II]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*767 — [[Exile]] used as prison by [[Empire]]
*776 — The first members of [[the Five]] are [[exiled]]; [[Tower of Magi]] built with first [[Triad]] of [[Erika]], [[Patrick]], and [[Solberg]]
*777 —
**[[Kingdom of Avernum]] founded by [[Micah]]
**[[Sss-Thoss]] makes pact with [[Grah-Hoth]]. [[Bahssikava]] destroyed by a [[cavequake]]; [[Nolagh-Kahv]] enslaves [[Demon#Types_of_Demons|imps]] and dead Bahssikavans there; [[Lost Bahssikava]] founded; [[Vasskolis]] refounded.
*777 - 817 — [[First Slith War]]
*779 — [[The Five]] lead [[Avernum]] in an attack on [[Akhronath]] and seal [[Grah-Hoth]] in [[Skarragath]]
*780 [[Avernum]] takes the [[Great Cave]] and founds the [[Castle]]
*783 — [[Anama]] Church refounded by [[Ahonar]] on newly settled [[Isle of Bigail]]
*791 — [[Hawthorne III]] becomes [[Emperor]]
*810 — [[Linda]] and [[X]] replace [[Erika]] and [[Patrick]] on the [[Triad]]
*~813 — [[Krizsan Province]] settled
*816 — [[Anastasia]]'s [[nephilim]] steal the [[gold necklace]] from [[Formello]]; [[Solberg]] flees [[Tower of Magi]]

==Interregnum==
*817 —
**[[Linda]] summons [[Adze]].
**Second [[Sss-Thsss]] slain and [[Grah-Hoth]] defeated by [[Hawthorne's Assassins]]. [[Lost Bahssikava]]'s failed expedition to the [[slithzerikai homeland]].
**[[Hawthorne III]] assassinated by [[Erika Redmark]] and [[Hawthorne's Assassins]]. [[Prazac I]] becomes [[Empress]]; [[Garzahd]] acts as regent.
*818 — [[Mahdavi]] replaces [[Linda]] on the [[Triad]]
*820 - 821 — Exploratory [[Empire]] forces steal [[Crystal Souls]], destroy [[Lost Bahssikava]], build [[Kothtar]], etc.
*822 - 824 — [[Empire-Avernum War]]
*822 — [[Vahnatai]] [[Resting]] ends; [[Empire]] conquers [[Abyss]]
*823 — Barriers afflict [[Exile]]; [[Cotra]] and [[mass teleporter]] destroyed; [[Crystal Souls]] rescued; [[Garzahd]] assassinated by [[Empire War Heroes]]
*824 — [[Vahnatai]] reinforce [[Avernum]]; [[Empire]] withdraws

==Prazac I==
*825 — [[Athron]]'s brood hatches
*826 - 827 — [[Chimney]] civil war
*827 — [[Galthrax]] begins attacks on [[Vasskolis]]
*831 — [[Upper Avernum]] settled by [[Avernites]]
*832 —
**[[Plagues]] of [[Valorim]] set loose by [[Rentar-Ihrno]]; [[Keep of Tinraya]] destroyed
**First party of [[Surface Explorers]] recruited by [[Unspecified Services]]
*833 —
**[[Tower of Magi disaster]].
**[[Surface Explorers]] destroy [[Plagues]] of [[Rentar-Ihrno]], who kills [[Erika Redmark]]; [[Reconciliation]] between the [[Empire]] and [[Avernum]]
*834 — [[Kelner]] and [[Seletine]] replace [[Mahdavi]] and [[Solberg]] on the [[Triad]]
*835 — Lord [[Volpe]] takes over [[Morrow's Isle]]
*836 —
**[[Yvoss-Tai]] uprising; [[Groul]]'s coup in [[Chimney]] fails.
**[[King Micah]] dies and the [[Council of Avernum]] assumes control.
*837 — [[Temple of the Goddess]] built; [[Gnass]] attacks [[Lost Bahssikava]]; [[Legare]] leads [[sliths]] to [[Bahssikava]] and [[Vasskolis]]; [[Nolagh-Kahv]] and [[Galthrax]] defeated.
*838 - 848 — [[Second Slith War]]
*838 - present — [[Hill Runners]] revolt; civil war on [[Morrow's Isle]]
*839 — [[Redmark College]] founded
*842 — [[Skylark Vale]] poisons purged by [[adventurers]].
*843 — [[Encyclopedia Ermariana]] first published
*844 — Lord [[Volpe]] assassinated on [[Morrow's Isle]].
*846 — [[Starrus]] becomes [[King of Avernum]]
*855 — [[Rentar-Ihrno]] enacts [[retribution]] against [[Avernum]] and is defeated by the [[Shade-Killers]]
*859 — [[Northern Frontier]] discovered.
*870 — [[Darkside Loyalists]] assassinate [[Prazac I]]. [[Dorikas]] assassinated by [[Prazac Avengers]]. General [[Manfred Redmark]] becomes [[Emperor]].

==Redmark Era==
*877 — [[Mushroom Blight]] appears.[[Slith Horde]] invades [[Avernum]].
*878 — [[Great Portal]] malfuntions.
*8?? — [[Present Day]]

[[Category:History]]

Erika Redmark

2011-01-17T23:02:58Z

Davies:

Erika was the most powerful [[mages|mage]] of [[the Five]] and their political leader when they were first [[Exiled]]. She led their struggles on the [[surface]] and underground. Little is known of her life before this; it has been suggested that she was a member of the faculty at the [[Skylark School of Magery]], based on an office bearing her name discovered there by the explorers who ultimately purged [[Skylark Vale]] of its [[Skylark Curse|curse]]. This would suggest that she was, at a conservative estimate, over one hundred years old at the time of her death; she may have been much older.

Before she was [[Exiled]], [[Garzahd]] and his students placed a powerful [[magic#curses|curse]] on her. The [[magic#curses|curse]] was said to kill her if the [[sun]] ever touched her again, dooming her to life in the [[caves]]. But this did not faze her, and she did all she could to help the citizens of Exile, including teleporting a group of adventurers to [[Hawthorne III]]'s throne room to assassinate him.

When a small group of Avernites from [[Unspecified Services]] returned to the surface and found [[Valorim]] awash with monster [[plagues]], she helped the adventurers destroy the [[Vahnatai]] operation when she dueled [[Rentar-Ihrno]]. Unfortunately, Rentar exploited her [[magic#curses|curse]] and just as she was about to be defeated, she blasted a hole into the ceiling and a sunbeam touched Erika's skin, killing her instantly. She is considered a hero to many of the Avernites, and will be remembered by those forever with admiration. Others, however, considered her mad with revenge against [[Hawthorne III|Hawthorne]] and [[Garzahd]] after her falling-out with the [[Triad]], and accuse her of instigating the [[Empire-Avernum War]].

In 839, after the [[reconciliation]] of the [[Empire]] and [[Avernum]], [[Redmark College]] was founded and named in her honor near the [[City of Dawn]] in Southeastern [[Valorim]].

==Magical Ability==
To this day, no one is certain how powerful Erika really was. While her power clearly had its limits, she conveniently worked around them. Erika is known to have bent a number of [[demons]] to her will (while Empire wizards were able to do this easily when acting in concert, Erika did it alone) and was able to create [[doomguard]]s, a craft that is thought lost even to most imperial wizards. During her battle with [[Rentar-Ihrno]], Erika's summoned minions outnumbered the Vahnatai's, and the Avernite agents present noted that while the duel left Rentar-Ihrno looking exhausted, Erika was barely fazed. It appears likely that Erika surpassed her rival in sheer power, and could not have been beaten if it were not for the [[magic#curses|curse]].

Many scholars, particularly those from Avernum, name Erika as the most powerful mage to ever set foot on [[Ermarian]].

== Deeds in the Service of Avernum ==
* Teleported magical tomes from the surface, providing the basis for all Avernite magic
* Taught magic to generations of Avernite mages
* Teleported plants from the surface and modified them to subsist on volcanic heat energy
* Created [[cavewood]] trees, capable of growing in stone
* Created nourishing, fast-growing [[mushrooms]]
* Helped build the [[Tower of Magi]]
* Imprisoned [[Grah-Hoth]] (with [[Rone]] and [[Patrick]])
* Created the wards at [[Skarragath]]
* Worked with the [[Scimitar]] to uncover the [[last remaining exit]] to the surface
* Masterminded and facilitated the assassination of [[Hawthorne III]]
* Assissted the [[Empire War Heroes]] in the recovery of [[Vyvnas-Bok]] and the assassination of [[Garzahd]]
* Dueled [[Rentar-Ihrno]], sacrificing her life to allow the [[Surface Explorers]] to destroy the machinery responsible for the Valorim [[plagues]]

{{stub}}
[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Mages]]
[[Category:Alchemists]]
[[Category:Avernum]]

Erika Redmark

2011-01-17T23:02:15Z

Davies:

Erika was the most powerful [[mages|mage]] of [[the Five]] and their political leader when they were first [[Exiled]]. She led their struggles on the [[surface]] and underground. Little is known of her life before this; it has been suggested that she was a member of the faculty at the [[Skylark School of Magery]], based on an office bearing her name discovered there by the explorers who ultimately purged [[Skylark Vale]] of its [[curse|Skylark Curse]]. This would suggest that she was, at a conservative estimate, over one hundred years old at the time of her death; she may have been much older.

Before she was [[Exiled]], [[Garzahd]] and his students placed a powerful [[magic#curses|curse]] on her. The [[magic#curses|curse]] was said to kill her if the [[sun]] ever touched her again, dooming her to life in the [[caves]]. But this did not faze her, and she did all she could to help the citizens of Exile, including teleporting a group of adventurers to [[Hawthorne III]]'s throne room to assassinate him.

When a small group of Avernites from [[Unspecified Services]] returned to the surface and found [[Valorim]] awash with monster [[plagues]], she helped the adventurers destroy the [[Vahnatai]] operation when she dueled [[Rentar-Ihrno]]. Unfortunately, Rentar exploited her [[magic#curses|curse]] and just as she was about to be defeated, she blasted a hole into the ceiling and a sunbeam touched Erika's skin, killing her instantly. She is considered a hero to many of the Avernites, and will be remembered by those forever with admiration. Others, however, considered her mad with revenge against [[Hawthorne III|Hawthorne]] and [[Garzahd]] after her falling-out with the [[Triad]], and accuse her of instigating the [[Empire-Avernum War]].

In 839, after the [[reconciliation]] of the [[Empire]] and [[Avernum]], [[Redmark College]] was founded and named in her honor near the [[City of Dawn]] in Southeastern [[Valorim]].

==Magical Ability==
To this day, no one is certain how powerful Erika really was. While her power clearly had its limits, she conveniently worked around them. Erika is known to have bent a number of [[demons]] to her will (while Empire wizards were able to do this easily when acting in concert, Erika did it alone) and was able to create [[doomguard]]s, a craft that is thought lost even to most imperial wizards. During her battle with [[Rentar-Ihrno]], Erika's summoned minions outnumbered the Vahnatai's, and the Avernite agents present noted that while the duel left Rentar-Ihrno looking exhausted, Erika was barely fazed. It appears likely that Erika surpassed her rival in sheer power, and could not have been beaten if it were not for the [[magic#curses|curse]].

Many scholars, particularly those from Avernum, name Erika as the most powerful mage to ever set foot on [[Ermarian]].

== Deeds in the Service of Avernum ==
* Teleported magical tomes from the surface, providing the basis for all Avernite magic
* Taught magic to generations of Avernite mages
* Teleported plants from the surface and modified them to subsist on volcanic heat energy
* Created [[cavewood]] trees, capable of growing in stone
* Created nourishing, fast-growing [[mushrooms]]
* Helped build the [[Tower of Magi]]
* Imprisoned [[Grah-Hoth]] (with [[Rone]] and [[Patrick]])
* Created the wards at [[Skarragath]]
* Worked with the [[Scimitar]] to uncover the [[last remaining exit]] to the surface
* Masterminded and facilitated the assassination of [[Hawthorne III]]
* Assissted the [[Empire War Heroes]] in the recovery of [[Vyvnas-Bok]] and the assassination of [[Garzahd]]
* Dueled [[Rentar-Ihrno]], sacrificing her life to allow the [[Surface Explorers]] to destroy the machinery responsible for the Valorim [[plagues]]

{{stub}}
[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Mages]]
[[Category:Alchemists]]
[[Category:Avernum]]

Prazac I

2011-01-17T22:55:02Z

Davies:

{{emperor|crowned=817 IE|resigned=870 IE (assassinated)|name=Empress Prazac I|predecessor=[[Hawthorne III]]|successor=Manfred Redmark}}

Prazac I was crowned the first Empress in 817 [[IE]], after her father [[Hawthorne III]] was slain by [[Avernum|Avernite]] [[Hawthorne's Assassins|assassins]].

==Biography==

=== Birth ===

Prazac was born in 799 [IE] to Emperor [[Hawthorne III]], in the city of [[Imperius]], [[Pralgad]]. The name of her mother has been censored out of most history books (see [[Game canon#The Life of Empress Prazac|canon]]) - Hawthorne's only wife had died many years before.

=== Childhood ===

Prazac led a fairly sheltered childhood due to her father's power. During her teenage years, her father put her in charge first of several towns in [[Valorim]], then - for a few years - the whole of [[Karnold Province]] (then a tiny, quiet region) to train her leadership ability. Although her reign over the province was brief and uneventful, it nonetheless bonded her with the barely settled continent that was to suffer so harshly under the [[plagues]] decades later. Furthermore, her rule - barely overseen by the distant capital - established her reputation as a people's leader, a stark contrast to the tyrannical rule of her father. It is said by the people in that region that, aside from governing, Prazac traveled through the land and even did menial tasks to help the populace.

She spent most of her days in the Imperial Castle in [[Pralgad]]. As customary for Imperial heirs, she was privately tutored by the loremasters in [[Hawthorne III|Hawthorne]]'s court - her teacher in [[magic]] was [[Garzahd]] himself. Some theories now speculate that it was in that time that Garzahd established his influence on the future heir.

=== Ascension to the Throne ===

When Hawthorne was assassinated, Prazac was crowned sovereign of the [[Empire]] - the first Empress it had seen since its founding, incidentally. Contrary to popular theory, she immediately held all the political power that came with this office, in potential. However, she kept the council that had advised her father, and greatly relied on their advice. The council, in turn, was summarily owned by the archwizard Garzahd, through a mixture bribery, blackmail and mind control. It was little wonder therefore that, in spite of Prazac's eminent ability to rule, it was Garzahd, not her, who held the greatest sway in the Empire.

In this fashion, Garzahd kept a stranglehold on the Imperial throne (that, according to one claim, was aided by a mind-control spell he held over the young Empress) for five years after Hawthorne's death. This lasted until the [[Empire-Avernum War]].

Garzahd was the one who declared retaliatory war on [[Avernum]]. This was the first act that should - according to Prazac in later years - have been vehemently opposed by the Empress, but met only with mild protests. Popular support for [[Garzahd]]'s faction among the [[Imperial Army]] stifled any opposition, but the over-confident archwizard made one miscalculation. His purpose for declaring war was mainly to galvanize the people and gain their support through a surge of national unity, and to gain the greatest benefit in popularity, he arranged for himself to be put in charge of the punitive mission.

This was his end: A group of Avernites invaded his subterranean fortress and slew him, ridding Prazac and her council of his influence. Only weeks later, as Prazac regained her control over the Empire, the Imperial troops withdrew from Avernum. She gained the support of her people and the respect of the Avernites on that day, but she alienated her generals and most importantly the Imperial [[dervishes]] for decades to come.

=== The Plagues and the Reconciliation ===

With the invasion of Avernum at an end, the Empire was able to concentrate on more peaceful projects such as the settlement of Valorim. In the years following Prazac's withdrawal from the caves, the provinces of the new continent gained an unprecedented economical boost that matched that of the first days of settlement.

It was only five years later, however, that the [[plagues]] first made themselves known on the continent. Magical beasts - of kinds long believed to be extinct, and others never seen before - began to roam the lands. This increase in hostile monsters first merely made merchant traffic more risky, as it had been only decades earlier before the Empire had secured the land. When the monsters spread further and grew more ferocious, they also harmed the agricultural industry, destroying crops and making the wide fertile plains unsafe for farmers. These reports were initially met with little reaction from the Empire, since Valorim had always had a reputation as a wild country. The increasingly unstable economy was seen with considerable concern, however.

When in [[Icefall]] of 831 IE the fearsome six-legged [[alien beasts]] attacked and leveled the [[Keep of Tinraya]] and most of the surrounding lands of [[Footracer Province]], Empress Prazac reacted by placing the entire continent of Valorim under quarantine, barring anyone from passing through [[Blackcrag Fortress]] (the only passage through the [[Ndovlu mountains]]) and forbidding ships to leave or enter the ports of Valorim.

Following the discovery that a group of [[Avernite]] agents (see [[Surface Explorers]]) had left the caverns, Prazac made another controversial decision and swiftly called for a diplomatic meeting with the adventurers. Over the protests of her advisors (and the open hostilities of a treasonous band of dervishes) she tasked the adventurers to rid Valorim of the plagues, rewarding Avernum with a sizable piece of unsettled land north of [[Karnold Province]]. This contract (signed in 833 IE between Empress Prazac and [[King Micah]] of Avernum) marked the [[Reconciliation]] of Avernum to the Empire.

=== Assassination ===

After a lengthy and unfortunately turbulent reign, Empress Prazac was attacked by [[Dorikas]], leader of the [[Darkside Loyalists]], in 869 IE. Although she survived the assault, she was gravely injured, and died less than a year later. The Darkside Loyalists would probably not have appreciated the irony that their actions closely parallelled those of [[Hawthorne's Assassins]], including the fact that they provoked a greater disaster for their own side than they intended. In any event, as Prazac had never married or otherwise produced an heir, the throne of the Empire eventually came to General Manfred Redmark, beginning a new chapter in the history of the Empire and Avernum.

Kneece

2009-03-20T17:13:17Z

Davies:

{{city|name=City of Kneece (Abandoned)|continent=[[Valorim]]|region=[[Isle of Bigail]]|nation=[[Empire]]|title=Mayor|leader=None|industries=[[Trading]], [[Magic]]al Research}}

In the days before the [[Anama]], the island of Kneece, and its only city, [[Kneece]], was rich, due to its hosting of the [[Schools of Magery#Kneece|Kneece School of Magery]]. The School was the first, and only, such school at the time on [[Valorim]]. However, the golden age of Kneece soon ended with the coming of the Anama. The Anama philosophy spread through out the [[Isle of Bigail]], and fearing for their lives, nearly all of the [[mages]] at the School fled across the [[Bigail Channel]] to [[magic]]-friendly regions.

At some point after this, [[giant lizards]], [[salamanders]], and even a [[drakes|drake]] moved into the city, and deconstructed it. The School was destroyed, as was much of the rest of the city. Eventually, the [[Surface Explorers]] arrived in Kneece from [[Kuper]], looking for a cure for the [[Plagues#Cockroaches|Roach Plague]]. Here, they found a hermit-like mage, [[Purgatos]] who gave them a [[Phoenix Egg]] to destroy the [[Filth Factory]]. The mage reportedly recieved the Egg from a [[Vahnatai]] who [[teleportation|teleported]] to him.

Recently, there has been plans to at least resettle the island, and possibly reestablish the School, but these are likely rumors.

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Valorim]]
[[Category:Islands]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Empire]]

Quickfire

2009-03-20T17:09:41Z

Davies:

[[Quickfire]] is a special sort of fire: crackling with magical energy, intensely hot, and extremely dangerous. It spreads through the air as fast as a man can run, and very little short of solid stone or a [[magic barrier]] will halt it in its path. As a result, it tends to cause indiscriminate and total destruction, and it is used less often in combat than in magical [[traps]].

Quickfire does not occur naturally, and is only created by [[magic]]. Its creation was at one time believed to be a secret of the [[Vahnatai]], but as the [[Skylark School of Magery]], which closed more than a century before first contact with the Vahnatai, incorporated a Quickfire-based cleansing system into its toxic waste disposal facility, this cannot be the case. The substance is also known to be created and studied by many [[humans|human]] [[mages]], as well as some non-humans such as [[troglodytes]] and the [[undead]]. The magic which can create it is complicated. The magic which can control it is even more complicated, so much so that no known human has ever mastered the ability to do so (with the possible exception of [[Erika Redmark]]).

The flames of quickfire will die down on their own, if they are left in an enclosed area. They may last for hours, days, or even longer, depending on the space they have to burn in.

==Special Applications of Quickfire==
Certain types of augmented [[magic barrier]]s dissolve when they come into contact with quickfire. The most famous of these barriers was developed by [[Garzahd]] and [[Enla]].

The skilled application of [[Magic#Crystallomancy|crystallomancy]] is capable of trapping quickfire energy in a [[crystal]], known as a '''Phoenix Egg'''. Although the [[Empire]] has attempted to create such crystals, notably at [[Pyrog Labs]], only the Vahnatai have done so successfully. One such Phoenix Egg was given to the wizard [[Purgatos]] by a teleporting Vahnatai (almost certainly [[Bon-Ihrno]]). Purgatos then gave it to the [[Surface Explorers]] who employed it in the destruction of the [[Filth Factory]].

[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Magical effects]]

Rentar-Ihrno

2009-03-19T23:02:16Z

Davies:

Rentar-Ihrno was the most powerful [[Vahnatai]] [[mage]] with whom [[humans]] have come into contact. Rentar-Ihrno was instrumental in [[Avernum]]'s victory in the [[Empire-Avernum War]], but her hatred for the [[Empire]] did not end there. For the theft of the [[Crystal Souls]], she condemned the [[continents|continent]] of [[Valorim]] to die under a swarm of [[plagues|magical beasts]]. With unparalleled [[magic|magical]] knowledge and strength, it came as a surprise to many to hear that she was nearly bested by the human mage [[Erika Redmark]]. Some experts on magic conjecture that so much of her energy was poured into the factory that she was not at full strength, but others merely credit Redmark with being the most powerful mage of the time.

Rentar-Ihrno did not perish in her factory's collapse, however. With a final threat to the adventurers, she [[teleportation|teleported]] far underground. While there are a number of likely apocryphical accounts of adventurers encountering her in the years afterwards, she ultimately resurfaced in 855 [[IE]], when she resurfaced as a Crystal Soul and the mastermind behind Vahnatai [[retribution]]. However, scorned by the [[Olgai Council]] after requesting to be made into a Crystal Soul, she dangerously (although successfully) made the transformation herself. Ultimately, she was overcome by the [[Shade-Killers]], though there are conflicting accounts of her final fate. According to some, she was defeated in battle, while other reports suggest that the adventurers offered her mercy and turned her over to the Olgai Council, which apparently executed her.

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[[Category:Persons]]
[[Category:Mages]]
[[Category:Magic]]
[[Category:Vahnatai]]