Adulla

A millennia ago two mirror realms collided and beings from Faemar spilled over into Eyamar. With their magical abilities, the Faemar quickly shook up the world of Adulla. Some beings were seen as gods by the native Eyamar, and others instantly began oppressing them through force. After the 50 years of warring and political positioning know as "The Flux," one of the most oppressive Faemar, Xn’thana the Beholder, came out on top as the Lord Emperor of Adulla. He accomplished this through his elite force of Illithid “The 8”, commonly known as Tents due to the tentacles that adorn their faces.

Xn’thana was able to subjugate the native Eyamar very easily. The other beings that came from Faemar had built up followings and forces during the Flux, and proved harder to conquer with the mind powers of the 8 alone. The last 4 years of the Flux were known as the Spell Wars. In this war, the relatively reclusive and secretive Xn’thana joined its forces to cancel the magic of the other Faemar warlords. In the end, Xn’thana was “elected” Lord Emperor of Adulla by the 15 remaining Faemar leaders. These 15 leaders then founded the 15 ruling houses of Adulla. These houses battle with each other for control of the Adulla economy to this day. In the year 602AC, After Cataclysm, 3 of the major houses rose up in rebellion against the Lord Emperor. These three houses were able to storm the capital Ilithorn and do battle directly with Xn’thana. After defeating the 3 houses, Xn’thana made a new law restricting the number of magically abled individuals allowed in each house. This event became known as the Thinning, both because of the culling of magically abled individuals and as a slight on the Lord Emperor, for a portion of his bulbous form was burnt off during the battle. Since the Thinning the great houses, now 12 in number, have focused more on becoming the most useful to the Lord Emperor and less on overthrowing him. As part of this, they convert from autonomous houses to dependent city-states of the Lord Emperor. There have been no more open house rebellions by the city-states against the Lord Emperor since. The houses will battle with each other, though never in open combat. They prefer to use assassinations, rumors, and the like to climb the ranks and weaken their rivals.

The non-magical natives of Adulla have been enslaved in one way or another since the beginning of the Flux. The native Eyamar has inherited the moniker of Dullmars from their oppressors the Chosen. Though they are of the same races as the Chosen, the Dullmars' lack of magical blood makes them easy targets for slavery and oppression. Some nobles over the millennia have inevitably dipped their magical pens in the non-magical ink. This leads to halfbreeds that have magical abilities but are still members of the Dullmar. These Dullmars are relentlessly hunted by the 8. The easiest way to tell the difference between the Chosen and the Dullmars is whether or not they have a familiar. Since the first Faemar ascended upon Adulla they have naturally attracted familiars, a feat that did not exist before the Cataclysm. As part of the new laws from the Thinning, the Chosen are forced to kill the bond to their children's familiars excepting their firstborns in a ritual know as The Rending.

All of this has lead to the current day, 1107 AC, where the Chosen are more entrenched with their position in the Empire than ever. They are treated like the favored children of the Lord Emperor, leading to greed and jealousy. This increased avarice has caused the Chosen to try to press more out of the Dullmars. Resentment has been festering for years as the Dullmars see the ability gap between them and the Chosen shrinking, but the wealth being hoarded by the Chosen. The future of Adulla and the Lord Emperor's reign is at a fork in the road. It is up to a growing group of rebels to shape that future.