Mystery of Gond

The Gontish culture and Empire are an abiding focus of interest for storytelleres, dreamers, scholars, artificers and conspiracy theorists in Suto. The arcane relics and ancient ruins that are all that survive the near-complete extinction of the Empire's culture, language and ruling population make its pull almost irresistable to archaeologists, arcanists, philosophers and treasure hunters alike. The relics of Gond can be found across Suto, but the greatest concentration - although not the best preserved - are found in the Empty Quarter, once the heart of Gontish power, flush with arcanotech and wealth, the desertification of the region is thought to have been caused by the catastrophic failure of all of the Empire's arcanotechnology during the Cataclysm.
The destruction of Gond as a culture and polity was equally absolute, thanks to the cascading failure of certain pieces of arcanotech within the fundamental infrastructure of the Empire during the Cataclysm. The remains of Gontish architecture all bear distinctive scorching from a powerful, arcane discharge. In many cases, and especially in the cities closest to the capital of Gond Apexi, this scorching has left only fragments of walls and barely identifiable remains of the contents of buildings. Almost no archives, texts, mural art or functional arcanotechnology remain, leaving a huge number of unanswered questions.
Among the many questions debated by scholars of Gond, the most fiercely debated include:

• The nature of Gontish rule. That a single ruler governed from Gond Apexi is agreed, but not the significance of the title Gond byaGond - either 'Gond of Gond', or 'Gond, child of Gond' - whether the title and office were predominantly political, spiritual, or a mix of both; how the Gond was selected; and to what degree they exercised power or acted as a figurehead.
• What degree was given to local governors in central and eastern Gond. While ruins in these areas tend to be more complete, it seems that arcanotechnology was less common further from Gond Apexi, and even the surviving architecture is distinctly different from that found in the Empty Quarter.
• What gods, if any, the Gonts worshipped. The bulk of the ruling classes were Eladrin and Unvada, neither of which had a good history with gods, yet the surviving architecture includes structures clearly identified as temples.

The oldest, and one of the few indigenous groups seeking the legacy of the Empire is the order of hunters called the Knights of Gond