Battle of Baranathis

Remaining records of the Battle of Baranathis are hard to find. Recorded more than a thousand years ago, many versions of the legend did not survive the harsh environment of Crystal King. What is represented here is a composition, stitched together from what was left of the records and oral tradition that fills in the gaps between these singed and smokey letters. Where there can be multiple interpretations, conflicting evidence, or general ambiguity, I have sought to leave all versions of those facts included for the reader to decide.
This is, unfortunately, an unreliable source despite my greatest efforts. Too few records remain and the stories genasi tell of those times are certainly aggrandized. I've done the best I can with what I have found but in the end this is only an interpretation of the remaining clues. Reader beware.

- Rogdul, from Rogdul's Compedium of Fights and Faeries

The Battle of Baranathis begins and ends with the failed conqueror himself. Little is known about the human/half-elf/elf wizard's childhood. He developed a fondness for elemental magics at an early age from a chance encounter with the fire/earth plane. Seeing the powers of this plane secured in his mind the need to discover and learn all of its secrets. He briefly/for several years/for decades resided in a wizarding school, absorbing what information was made available to him. He was eventually forcefully removed from the institution after rumors of devastating experiments began to bear fruit. Several students/servants/soldiers were killed before he was successfully expelled.
After his tenure at the wizarding school, he began to wander. His travels took him to many far places; some fanciful, others deadly. He travelled to the Fey Wilds to learn from the Eladrin and what they understood of the elements. Several excursions were made to the planes of fire and earth. He held a symposium of the greatest minds on elemental magic near Bushos/Anun/Crithe, although those lands were known by different names in that time. He began to gather notoriety as a learned scholar, brilliant scientist, and dangerous debater. His rage was nearly as well known as his brilliance. Secrets were not kept for long from his ire or his wit.
His research began to focus in his elder years. Gems became more and more fascinating to the scholar. He found that there were latent powers in the crystalline forms that could be harnessed and used. His insatiable curiosity developed many useful insights, not the least of which led to his staff, his dagger, and his pendant. The Staff of Baranathis was carved by stone giants, engraved with their magics to give him the power over the earth. The Dagger of Baranathis was forged by the flames of a balor/malakbel/pit fiend and hot enough to destroy the roots of the world but carried a terrible curse. The Pendant of Baranathis was a tear drop from a gem dragon. Nothing but rumors exist of the pendant but some say that it captured all of his thoughts that would have been forgotten. The accumulation of discarded ideas eventually created a mosaic identical to Baranathis himself. So powerful was his personality that this gem began to feed his own spirit, elongating the brief spark that is a human lifetime.
But forgetting memories and losing track of thoughts has it's benefits. Mortals are not meant to keep all that drips from their ears. As the demon/devil powered dagger twisted Baranthis' thoughts into paranoia then to violence, his anxieties then his fears and finally his ravings were captured by the pendant. Unable to escape the persistent thoughts of those plotting against him, he clutched at the one force that had always guided him true; his curiosity. He delved deeper into the study of gems and happened upon the August Elemental. His demon fueled nightmares eventually focused on Crystal King and the abundance of new and wondrous gems that sprout from the back of that colossal earth elemental.
He had gone beyond rationality. His decisions were made out of panic as he saw shadows leaping for him and the noises of a soft forest chase after his footsteps. Crystal King knew immediately that this wizard was tainted by demon/devil stink and refused him. Rallied by his anger, Baranathis began his siege. When the demons/devils offered aid, he accepted their terms before they could outline the bargain. He wanted the elemental. He wanted the gems. Wielding staff and dagger, he sought to bring worlds down upon Crystal King. Where Baranathis split the ground with his staff, fiends spilled out onto the Wandering Fields. Mountains fell with a swing of his staff, then burst into flames as he plunged his dagger into their rocky carapaces. Meteors had begun to fall on the elemental. Baranathis wanted the elemental dead if he couldn't conquer it.
Crystal King was no surrounded by the fiendish horde with meteors raining from the skies. Simply squashing the host of fiends would not work, there were simply too many. The meteors could dash themselves upon its back but eventually he would succumb to the pummeling. The August Elemental hunkered down and began to grow. Sharp, long, and thick spikes erupted from its back. Pale blue and incredibly hard, these spikes grew to 50/100/500 feet long. Between these spikes, the lava that fueled their growth flowed onto the Wandering Fields. The demons/devils were drowned in rock and flame. The meteors were pierced and broke apart among the spikes. Those same cracks that brought the fiends were now their graves as the chasms filled with lava and drew the creatures into their depths, as a stone falls into a pond once it's released from your hand.
Baranathis escaped with his life but what plane of existence would have him is unclear. His paranoia, curiosity, and rage would make it seem impossible for any one place to suffer his presence for too long. Some say that he took his items with him into the plane of fire so that he could finally be with the object of his desire forever. Others say he dashed his cursed weapons, and lived his few remaining years in peace on the outskirts of Itand. It is unknown if he or his items still remain on the material plane, if they exist at all.

Historical Basis

There are physical clues that this battle may have taken place. The pale blue stones found in royal regalia all over the continent can only be found in Itand or in the jewelry of the aristocracy.

Related Species

• August Elemental

Related Locations

• Crystal King