The Burden of Zhograzin
In the time when the Khajian Empire was one nation, a powerful and devious Blight attacked, invading from the mainland of Doth’Moria, spreading disease and rot across the land. It was defeated and bound to a wooden statue and covered in an enchanted golden leaf to seal the prison. It was on this site that a temple was built to serve as a prison to keep the Blight’s powers from reaching outward further.
The Blight was both patient and crafty, and set out to continue its conquest, even from the confines of its prison. Generations went by, and the vile thing sat patiently, and waited, slowly working from within the statue.
When the Empire was split between three siblings, the Blight sensed an opportunity, and struck. Reaching out from its prison, it sought out a chieftain named Shang from the steppes between Dothmoria and Zhograzin. Via dark and twisted dreams, the Blight whispered to Shang of the chaotic artes, which he then passed on to his people, forming a potent cabal. Together, they rode against the fledgling Empire, spreading disease and rot across the countryside.
The first attacks happened so quickly and were so deadly that no one was left to spread word of the attack. The new Empress only learned of the invasion when word reached her that villages and towns had fallen silent, and were found littered with disease-bloated corpses. When an army was formed to counter the invaders, it was for naught - Shang unleashed his newfound powers, and the defending troops fell to boils, plague, and other awful maladities.
Shang and his troops moved quickly on Zharreg Vahs, intent on freeing the Blight. The Empress assembled an army of her most loyal and powerful troops, and moved to block them. Having learned of Shang’s skills, she and her guard made a dedicated choice in how they would stop him - they ritually turned themselves into undead, so that they would be resistant to the disease Shang spread.
Shang and his cabal warriors were outmatched. Without the Blight’s gifts, they quickly fell to the superior army. His spell tome was taken to the mountain temple where it would be locked away in the prison of the Blight. The Empress thought to end the threat this creature had still posed, but soon understood the terror of what it had planned over the years. The statue had been wholly corrupted, now serving as a vessel for the Blight to use rather than be imprisoned. The only thing stopping the creature from escaping was the enchanted gold surrounding it.
The Empress ordered the statue and tome to be moved to her throne room in Yoze Shai and fashioned where they would be fashioned into the throne of her empire. With this act, she swore an edict that her line would forever watch over the Blight’s prison, ensuring it would never deign to influence another against her land and people. Try as it might, the blight could not breach into the mind of the Empress.
Thus bore the tradition that each ruler to ascend the throne of Zhograzin would be ritually mummified upon their coronation, freeing them from the influence of any outside force that might try to sway the Empire. In equal, this act also served as a pledge to guard the Empire against the malignant Blight trapped within the throne. Few living beings are ever permitted in the throne room of Yoze Shai, but those who have, have noted the unnerving presence, which has led to the rumors about the nature of Zhograzin.
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