Sparos
Once a great kingdom spreading over vast stretches of the Dragons' Tears Mountains and beyond into what is now the Desolation of Hissh, the High Elven nation of Sparos is now no more than a memory confined to ancient tomes of history. In the year 1,423DP Sparos was destroyed by the armies of the Vampires of Ymeris , who completed their campaign of conquest by levelling Sparos’ capital city Penelionar and killing almost all of its people, with only a handful escaping to keep the memory of their once great nation alive.
Structure
Sparos was ruled by a royal family, who claimed to have an unbroken line of kings and queens dating back to the creation of the Elves race. This line of monarchs was brought to an end with the death of Sparos’ last king Kamon, who fell in defence of the capital city Penelionar against the final onslaught of Ymeris.
History
Exactly when the High Elves of Sparos established control over the northern reaches of the Dragons' Tears Mountains and its hinterland between the mountains and the Icefang Ocean to the north is unknown, and legend has it that they were gifted the land at the creation of the Elvish race by the Divine Sagosa herself. Regardless of the circumstances of their arrival in the area, the kings and queens of Sparos ruled their lands for hundreds of years.
Under their monarch’s watch and the caring eyes of Sagosa, the Sparites worked tirelessly to create a wealthy kingdom. In the early years of the era known as the Divine Peace, Sparos was known across Kelbonnar’s Material Plane as a nation to be admired and there were always a bevy of envoys and diplomats from far and wide before the gates of Sparos’ Royal Palace, hoping to broker treaties and trade agreements with them.
Over the years Sparos gained a haughty reputation. They began to regard themselves as the original Elvish nation and they looked down on other races and felt that their kin from other parts of the world who went to live among those of other races acted traitorously against their own blood. This meant that whilst Sparos was happy to trade with the other nations, they never thought of any as their friends, and they tried to keep their neighbours at arm’s length from them at all times, lest the jewel that was Sparos be tainted by outside influences. It was this attitude that would prove to be their downfall.
In a twist of irony, one of their own citizens, a powerful mage determined to cheat the death that lay even at the end of her long Elvish life was corrupted into the first Vampire. News of the emergence of this monstrosity and their insatiable bloodlust quickly reached the ears of King Kamon I, who dispatched soldier to kill the creature before they grew too powerful. However, instead of nipping the problem in the bud, Kamon’s troops were slaughtered and soon other Vampires began to emerge across Sparos as the Divine Hissh saw an opportunity and supported the first Vampire so that she was able to tempt others into her undead immortality.
The Vampires and both their living and undead servants began to spread across Sparos like a plague, forcing the Sparites back to the safety of the mountains, until they had ceded control of all of their hinterland, which began to be covered in an eternal darkness, the work of Hissh's foul magic to help the cause of his adopted undead children.
In desperation, Kamon sent envoys to nations across Kelbonnar, begging for aid, but all he received in return were curtly written responses, if he received responses at all, berating Sparite hypocrisy for refusing to provide aid to others, but demanding it themselves. Realising that time was running out, Kamon petitioned Sagosa herself and received from the patron goddess of the Elves a jewel of pure starlight, which he named Kamon’s Light. He placed the jewel within the observation chamber of the tallest tower in the royal palace, and its divine light stopped the darkness from the Vampire held lands to the north from encroaching any further towards the capital of Sparos Penelionar.
Bolstered by this Divine support and realising that Kamon’s Light stopped the Vampires from marching on the capital, Kamon mustered his forces and decided to take an offensive stance.
In the year 1,425DP, Sparite troops descended from the mountains to strike at the heart of the Vampiric threat, hoping to punch their way to the newly founded capital of what was now referred to as Ymeris, Vonstorm. At first they made great strides, even reaching the walls of the city, but the defences there proved too strong, and the Vampires’ ranks were bolstered with new undead troops with each Sparite soldier that fell, until eventually Kamon’s forces began to be forced back, eventually retreating all the way back to Penelionar and the safety of Kamon’s Light.
As dissent began to tear through the royal court, with many Sparite nobles beginning to claim that the Vampires were a punishment being meted out on Sparos for the hubris of its royal family, a further disaster struck. Kamon’s sister, Lysimacha, who had long coveted the throne was wooed into helping the Vampires. In the dead of night, she stole up to the tallest tower of the royal palace and sabotaged Kamon’s Light, extinguishing its radiance for a time and diminishing its magic to a shadow of its former glory.
Ymeris' forces wasted no time. The Vampires and their undead hordes surged into the mountains, where they were met by an increasingly desperate defence as the dwindling numbers of Sparite troops fought a valiant holding action, desperately hoping that Sparos’ mages would be able to breath life again into Kamon’s Light. So many died in the rolling battle that lasted many days that the valley at the top of which the city of Penelionar is situated is now called the Valley of Bones.
In 1423DP, Sparos’ capital Penelionar was burned to the ground, with much of its wealth, art and literature being carried off back to Ymeris' castles and mansions. King Kamon I died in the city’s defence and the few remaining Sparites fled deep into the mountains, a vestige of a once mighty nation.
As for Lysimacha, it is said that she was granted her wish and made the Queen of a ruined nation, which she is still rumoured to stalk to this day, her anger and grief keeping her alive far beyond the span of her prodigious Elven years.
The Survivors
It is unknown how many of the Sparite Elves survived the destruction of their nation, but it is believed to be only a minute percentage of the population. What exactly happened to them is likewise unknown, but it has been suggested that some travelled to other lands setting up Elven enclaves, with the largest group said to have travelled all the way to the isles off the south-eastern coast of Euristan where they are said to have founded The Arcane Isles. Regardless, there are none now who would call themselves a Sparite and amongst Elves the demonym has become something of a term of insult, implying that someone is hypocritical, haughty, or doomed to fall.Territories
Sparos used to control all of the territory in the north of Euristan east of the Black Water River down to the borders of the Wyld Woods, the area now known as the Desolation of Hissh, as well as vast swathes of the northern reaches of the Dragons' Tears Mountains.
Type
Geopolitical, Free City
Capital
Successor Organization
Demonym
Sparites
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Related Species
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