Panthos

The Lost City of Panthos

Panthos was a once thriving and glorious city without parallel; rich with people of all races, backgrounds, ethnicities and beliefs; a trade haven for goods both local and imported; a home to many renowned scholars and academies. Its majestic, tall buildings served as tribute to the craftsmanship of the elves and its sturdy fortifications an homage to that of the dwarves. But despite all it was — or all it was rumored to have been before The Culling — it vanished and was considered at the least lost to the world, if not a fairytale of the old generations, depicting a utopia that never existed.

"The past should be left where it is, the past. What good does anyone hope to achieve by digging up the mistakes of the ancestors. Their gods abandoned them and the only things left of their lives are hearsay and ruins; surely whatever their bones have to teach isn't worth learning. Let the dead rest and their history die, I say."

— The High Librarian of Lienargel

The Discovery

Cities rarely disappear to thin air however, and such too was the case with Panthos. And like all lost cities, sooner or later someone stumbles upon their ruins or whatever is left of them, accidentally or on purpose. In the case of Panthos it was very much the purposeful efforts of one Bartholi di Santa, at the time a renowned explorer, who uncovered its fate and current location, hidden deep beneath the surface of the Emerald Waters just off the coast of southern Saraspecia. The discovery quickly gained attention realmwide, including the attention and disdain of The House Of Minerva. What's more, the documents retrieved from the submerged city finally uncovered its history and the events surrounding its final days. Although many of the documents were written in Archan, Bartholi and several other scholars worked to translate them posthaste.

The Final Days

Although most of the documents were swiftly collected by The House, the following is according to the general understanding of the events that led to the demise of Panthos:

When The Culling began and the skies blackened, Panthos was one of fastest and hardest hit settlements, despite its strong defenses. Swarms of monsters assaulted it from all fronts and the city's forces, although formitable, could not stand firm but had to withdraw inwards to the heart of the city. Walls eventually collapsed and caved in, result of the brutal and seemingly tireless onslaught of the mindless horde, and the number of casualties soared. However this would not be the end, as the city denizens started reporting having witnessed strange seismic activities over the course of the last couple of days. These seismic occurrances only grew more volatile until finally all written accounts seized. It is understood that shortly after, for some unknown reason, Panthos and its surrounding land was detached from the continent and slid and sunk down to the dark, cold embrace of the Emerald Waters.

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Ecosystem

The current day Panthos, in its submerged state, is understandable taken over by the ocean and the life therein. Coral formations span throughout its sprawling streets and its many buildings serve as home to a great variety of marine life. As another testament to the architectural craftsmanship of the elves some of the buildings even have pockets of dry space remaining, which have turned into miniscule ecosystems of their own. Although the time for humanoid life has, understandably, come to an end, the city remains ever bustling. Nestled deep in a seabed valley the city is also sheltered from currents and as such is likely to survive well into the future, in case someone wishes to take the plunge and explore it further. Of course, what happened to Bartholi di Santa does act as a form of disincentive to do just that.

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Localized Phenomena

Around 450 A.M. the citizens of Marid, Saraspecia's capital, and especially its fishers started reporting having heard a strange periodic hum that originated from underneath the surface. The hum was said to last a couple of minutes at a time, intensifying slowly at first until it fades away and was no longer audible, and it's said to be reminiscent of the cry of whales, only louder and deeper. However adding to that, the Emerald Waters aren't known to host whales within its ecosystem. Some sailors also claim that the hum has been accompanied by a great green light that engulfed the water surrounding their ships, similarly intensifying at first until it faded away, and that the light must've originated from the ancient city below. At first these stories were cause for concern, enough for the Mayor of Marid to send out expeditions to find out what was happening in the waters below. These expeditions however soon came to a sudden halt when the Mayor banned further exploration of the city and painted the stories as completely baseless fisherman's tales. Since then reports of the hum have all but died down and the common consensus is that it's simply another form of flavouring the otherwise mundane lives of the trawlers.

Alternative Name(s)

Jumalkoto (dwarves), Ainmar (elves)

Type

Underground / Subterranean