The Unfaithful Year
In the year 1289 after the Ruling of coexistence, a huge event shattered Apac's Sword and the flourishing Basin of Ethora was flooded by a giant cataclysmic wave, forming the Ethorian Sea.
Naturally this event is something, everybody in the world of Skeigham is aware of and there is one predominant version told throughout the nations to this day. This is the year that led to destruction of Ethoras, as told by the historian Sebastian den Heigenhill in 1307.
The reader be advised, that this version, while the most commonly known, is highly criticized throughout the current community of historians. The interested reader may see the notes at the end of the retelling.
A kingdom once known for its light, its beauty and its beautiful worship of the gods. Indeed, we all know the gods themselves founded Ethoras in the beginning of time and even when they were already far from the world, they still had their blessing upon this holy land. Ethoras was strong and beautiful and home to many legends. But the heresy of a few weak men was enough to doom thousands.
The gods are infallible, but we mortals are not. That is a sad truth.
Gorom the Enlightened ruled Ethoras for almost nineteen years, when his two sons started whispering in his ear, telling him about how the gods have left their kingdom to him to rule, to his family. And Gorom was very fond of his two sons, as much as he once was fond of the gods. But it was true, Apac long since then stopped speaking to Gorom, for the emperor had lost his faith.
And on the fist day of the month Tetrua, the very beginning of the year 1289, in his nineteenth year of rule, Gorom the Enlightend had his second coronation, declaring himself God-King of Ethoras, for he himself was speaker of the will of Apac. And with that heresy, as it is now clear, came the beginning of the end for the glorious kingdom.
I am ashamed to admit I myself have stood in the midst of the people, cheering for our Emperor, blinded by the false light of his pretend piuosness.
But the sons of Gorom were not content with what their father achieved. They lusted for more power, for an influence over all of the mortalworld. Yet they saw how they would each only inherit a small kingdom after their father had passed. So they continued whispering into his ears and their father listened to their lies.
Not soon after his coronation, in the month Halua, he pressured the neighbouring kingdoms of Baradolia and Keandra to agree to an alliance. Both the king of Baradolia and the Emperor of Keandra had beautiful daughters, and to fortify the alliance, Gorom decided they were to marry his sons.
Marianne del Inerelle was the princess of Baradolia, a maiden of seventeen years, marrying the second son of Gorom, Prince Anatus Principas.
Megethia di Teminaedus was the princess of Keandra, a woman of almost twentyfour years with great beauty but questionable morals. She was married to the first son of Gorom, Prince and Heir to the Throne Canum Principas.
While poor Marianne was clearly too innocent to share a life with the ruthless brothers, It is as good as certain Megethia was delighted to have a match as malicious as she herself was.
The gods may have left this world, but their presence was still here. They saw the bad turn Etheros was taking and how they abbandonned their faith - and the punishment was swift. During the month Femazu a plague began to sweep the lands, stricking down hundreds of husbands, wifes, sons and daughters with a pattern only the gods could understand.
But also the cattle was struck, getting sick as well, the rivers turned brown, the land itself grew sick. Surely, this was a waning from the gods, to no longer stray from the path of rightiousness. And the pious of us started to see and the fear in us grew strong.
But not every mortal is as piuos as me and my brethren. Most of them saw the suffering and the anger grew within them. It was then, in Atrezu, the fifth month of the year 1289AR, that the sons of Gorom saw a way to whisper no longer only to their father, but to the masses as well.
And so it happend, that talk grew louder about the one god who has not left the mortals willingly. Who did not stop caring about his children and who would save them.
Of course this dangerous talk was about Zecod, the fallen, the betrayer of the Gods, the ruler of the Darkness, the Nothingness and bringer of Chaos. Yet as the sons told it, Zecod was as betrayed and left behind as we have been, he would understand our troubles and save us, if we save him. Those were the words I personally heard Anatus speak to a frightened group of nobles one night and saw how they started chanting to Zecod. That was the night my heart froze in fear.
It was also the last night I saw Gorom, the so called God-King, slouching on his throne, his face pale and his eyes tired. He was no longer anything more then a puppet to his sons.
While the cult around the fallen god Zecod gained more and more followers, it so happens that the plague stopped throughout the lands in the month Zommed. Where my brethren see this as a sign of the gods giving up to warn us, naturally the followers of the sons were eager to praise their dark lord for the salvation.
Of their father, Gorom, was no word to be heard. It is said he hid himself in his chambers, brooding over his kingdom and cursing the gods, heretic as he was.
It makes me sick to my heart that the following eruption of the vulcano Mons Astris was twisted as well not as a sign of punsihments of the gods, but as a demonstration of might from their fallen lord. A sign of celebration, that caused the deaths of hundreds, that made the lands of Rashan'kan open up, swallowing whole villages and breaking the land apart with huge cliffs just outside the fabled library.
I think today Sabes felt what was to come and she intervened and decided to protected what was dear to her: The hoard of wisdom, if she at least was not able to save the many doomed people in the lands below. How she must have wept tears over all the souls that were lost that day, while the fanatics following the sons celebrated this as a glorious day.
As the harvests start to fail and the rivers started to dry out, the cult of Zecod grew. I remember how I saw poor Marianne weeping at a gathering of the cult, clearly distraught, standing next to her distasteful husband Anatus.
But in late Lirini the followers of Zecod had all but taken control of the lands. Their actions grew more and more distasteful, as they shut down temples and even burned down the Cathedral of Heroics, dedicated to our lord Apac.
They were in every city, in every hamlet and those who were not blind enough to follow them, cowered in fear. They hid their tokens of faith and me and my brethren, I am ashamed to admit, flew into the mountains north. It is painful to say that my cowardlyness spared my life in the events to come.
After so many months of darkness and suffering, finally the gods intervened. They appeared in Dinone at the plaza before the burned down Cathedral of Heroics and spoke to Canum, the elder son. It is said that Canum did not heed the warnings of the Gods standing before him, but looked them steady in the eye, so determined of his evil ways, that he even was willing to face the gods themselves.
The people tell, that the gods tried to warned them of the impending doom and true enough, to avoid the punishment of the gods, shortly after the sons organized a pilgrimage to the Sword of Apac, where Zecod was rumored to be imprisoned, bound to the mortal world, suffering for his crimes.
So eager where the two brothers that they both led a party there, each wanting to be the first to release their dark lord and gain his favor.
After the many months of drought and heat, the snow that fell in the last month of the year was a whhole different curse. We do not know much of what happened to the parties to the west on their way to the sword of Apac, but every night you could see the lights over the mountain flicker and spark. And each night it felt like they were growing stronger and more sinsiter. It was clear that Zecod waited to be released.
On the night of Sabes-Kimming that year, we awaited our doom. The streets grew quite and dark, no one dared to shine a light into this longest night as has been custom for hundreds of years. Even those fanatics blinded by the lies of the sons kept the darkness, yes they even invited it.
In this night, at the very strike of midnight, a giant light exploded on the mountains to the west of Ethoras, visible in the whole nation and the people cried out in fear. They just knew, Zecod would return and they started fleeing from the cities, to the north, where th etemples of the gods still stood. This may have saved their lives.
The night passed, but the lights did not. It was, as if the colors were fighting each other and indeed it was Apac, who came down to strike down Zecod onc again, to stop his rise back to power. But Zecod was prepared for this day, and though weakened, he was aided by the foolish king and his evil sons.
After ten days, the lights suddenly stopped. It was the middle of the day, but each of us felt as if it was the middle of the night. And then, we saw the wave.
I swear on the Stars of Sabes, I was able to hear the cries of panic from the Basin of Ethoras, many kilometres south of me. And I watched in horror, as a giant floodwave rushed over the whole lands of Ethoras, destorying every town, burying the whole kingdom of the gods beneath it. And with it every last insane worshipper of Zecod but also so many innocents, drowned by the anger of a fallen god.
We who survived were in shock. We all watched the new sea to our feet, were once stood a glorious kingdom. The water was dark, brown and red and at some places so littered with the remnants of your homes, that you would not believe it to be water. Our thoughts and prayers were with the people we lost. I myself lost a young apprentice, who I begged to join my refuge in the north. Alas, young Vertuus saw it as his duty to keep the faith, to help the people in these dark times. Perhaps he was a more devout follower of the gods then I have been.
It was at the dawn of the very last day of 1289AR, that Apac and Sabes themselves appeared before us. With him, he brought Gorom and his eldest son Canum. The godly parents talked to each of us, to our hearts and explained to us how Zecod has been banished, his might once again sealed and how saddened they are by the loss of the old kingdom. They blessed us with health to cure our wounds and they gifted us with a healing slumber to cure our minds, so we would be able to understand what happened.
When we rose again, the gods were gone, but the vile God-King Gorom and his evil son Canum were still with us. On this night, a tribunal was held and in one final morally good act both of them admitted the deep guilt that was on their shoulders. Anatus had perished in the lights, as had everybody that joined them on their way to the Sword of Apac.
On the same night that we passed judgement onto them, binding rocks onto their feet and drowning them in the remnants of the kingdom they ruined, we declared the kingdom of Ethoressi, the "Remnant of Ethoras" in the old language of the gods.
And it will forever be founded on the faith to the gods. For they may no longer be walking among us, but they watch over us and we are precious to them.Never again shall we forget this!
Ruknur Tiramakk, High Historian, 1658AR
Lector for Cataclysmic Events, Library of Rashan'Kan
Lector for Cataclysmic Events, Library of Rashan'Kan
The beginning: The Month Tetrua
The First Month of the year 1289AREthoras
A kingdom once known for its light, its beauty and its beautiful worship of the gods. Indeed, we all know the gods themselves founded Ethoras in the beginning of time and even when they were already far from the world, they still had their blessing upon this holy land. Ethoras was strong and beautiful and home to many legends. But the heresy of a few weak men was enough to doom thousands.
The gods are infallible, but we mortals are not. That is a sad truth.
Gorom the Enlightened ruled Ethoras for almost nineteen years, when his two sons started whispering in his ear, telling him about how the gods have left their kingdom to him to rule, to his family. And Gorom was very fond of his two sons, as much as he once was fond of the gods. But it was true, Apac long since then stopped speaking to Gorom, for the emperor had lost his faith.
And on the fist day of the month Tetrua, the very beginning of the year 1289, in his nineteenth year of rule, Gorom the Enlightend had his second coronation, declaring himself God-King of Ethoras, for he himself was speaker of the will of Apac. And with that heresy, as it is now clear, came the beginning of the end for the glorious kingdom.
I am ashamed to admit I myself have stood in the midst of the people, cheering for our Emperor, blinded by the false light of his pretend piuosness.
The Pride of Men: The Month Halua
The Second Month of the year 1289ARBut the sons of Gorom were not content with what their father achieved. They lusted for more power, for an influence over all of the mortalworld. Yet they saw how they would each only inherit a small kingdom after their father had passed. So they continued whispering into his ears and their father listened to their lies.
Not soon after his coronation, in the month Halua, he pressured the neighbouring kingdoms of Baradolia and Keandra to agree to an alliance. Both the king of Baradolia and the Emperor of Keandra had beautiful daughters, and to fortify the alliance, Gorom decided they were to marry his sons.
Marianne del Inerelle was the princess of Baradolia, a maiden of seventeen years, marrying the second son of Gorom, Prince Anatus Principas.
Megethia di Teminaedus was the princess of Keandra, a woman of almost twentyfour years with great beauty but questionable morals. She was married to the first son of Gorom, Prince and Heir to the Throne Canum Principas.
While poor Marianne was clearly too innocent to share a life with the ruthless brothers, It is as good as certain Megethia was delighted to have a match as malicious as she herself was.
The anger of the Gods: The Month Femazu
The Fourth Month of the year 1289ARThe gods may have left this world, but their presence was still here. They saw the bad turn Etheros was taking and how they abbandonned their faith - and the punishment was swift. During the month Femazu a plague began to sweep the lands, stricking down hundreds of husbands, wifes, sons and daughters with a pattern only the gods could understand.
But also the cattle was struck, getting sick as well, the rivers turned brown, the land itself grew sick. Surely, this was a waning from the gods, to no longer stray from the path of rightiousness. And the pious of us started to see and the fear in us grew strong.
The Foolishness of People: The month Atrezu
The Fifth Month of the year 1289ARBut not every mortal is as piuos as me and my brethren. Most of them saw the suffering and the anger grew within them. It was then, in Atrezu, the fifth month of the year 1289AR, that the sons of Gorom saw a way to whisper no longer only to their father, but to the masses as well.
And so it happend, that talk grew louder about the one god who has not left the mortals willingly. Who did not stop caring about his children and who would save them.
Of course this dangerous talk was about Zecod, the fallen, the betrayer of the Gods, the ruler of the Darkness, the Nothingness and bringer of Chaos. Yet as the sons told it, Zecod was as betrayed and left behind as we have been, he would understand our troubles and save us, if we save him. Those were the words I personally heard Anatus speak to a frightened group of nobles one night and saw how they started chanting to Zecod. That was the night my heart froze in fear.
It was also the last night I saw Gorom, the so called God-King, slouching on his throne, his face pale and his eyes tired. He was no longer anything more then a puppet to his sons.
The Woes of the lands: The Month Zommed
The Seventh Month of the year 1289ARWhile the cult around the fallen god Zecod gained more and more followers, it so happens that the plague stopped throughout the lands in the month Zommed. Where my brethren see this as a sign of the gods giving up to warn us, naturally the followers of the sons were eager to praise their dark lord for the salvation.
Of their father, Gorom, was no word to be heard. It is said he hid himself in his chambers, brooding over his kingdom and cursing the gods, heretic as he was.
It makes me sick to my heart that the following eruption of the vulcano Mons Astris was twisted as well not as a sign of punsihments of the gods, but as a demonstration of might from their fallen lord. A sign of celebration, that caused the deaths of hundreds, that made the lands of Rashan'kan open up, swallowing whole villages and breaking the land apart with huge cliffs just outside the fabled library.
I think today Sabes felt what was to come and she intervened and decided to protected what was dear to her: The hoard of wisdom, if she at least was not able to save the many doomed people in the lands below. How she must have wept tears over all the souls that were lost that day, while the fanatics following the sons celebrated this as a glorious day.
The Misery of the People: The Month Lirini
The Ninth Month of the year 1289ARAs the harvests start to fail and the rivers started to dry out, the cult of Zecod grew. I remember how I saw poor Marianne weeping at a gathering of the cult, clearly distraught, standing next to her distasteful husband Anatus.
But in late Lirini the followers of Zecod had all but taken control of the lands. Their actions grew more and more distasteful, as they shut down temples and even burned down the Cathedral of Heroics, dedicated to our lord Apac.
They were in every city, in every hamlet and those who were not blind enough to follow them, cowered in fear. They hid their tokens of faith and me and my brethren, I am ashamed to admit, flew into the mountains north. It is painful to say that my cowardlyness spared my life in the events to come.
The Darkness of the Sons: The Month Unumi
The Eleventh Month of the year 1289ARAfter so many months of darkness and suffering, finally the gods intervened. They appeared in Dinone at the plaza before the burned down Cathedral of Heroics and spoke to Canum, the elder son. It is said that Canum did not heed the warnings of the Gods standing before him, but looked them steady in the eye, so determined of his evil ways, that he even was willing to face the gods themselves.
The people tell, that the gods tried to warned them of the impending doom and true enough, to avoid the punishment of the gods, shortly after the sons organized a pilgrimage to the Sword of Apac, where Zecod was rumored to be imprisoned, bound to the mortal world, suffering for his crimes.
So eager where the two brothers that they both led a party there, each wanting to be the first to release their dark lord and gain his favor.
The Height of Hubris: The Month Vitukua
The Final Month of the year 1289ARAfter the many months of drought and heat, the snow that fell in the last month of the year was a whhole different curse. We do not know much of what happened to the parties to the west on their way to the sword of Apac, but every night you could see the lights over the mountain flicker and spark. And each night it felt like they were growing stronger and more sinsiter. It was clear that Zecod waited to be released.
On the night of Sabes-Kimming that year, we awaited our doom. The streets grew quite and dark, no one dared to shine a light into this longest night as has been custom for hundreds of years. Even those fanatics blinded by the lies of the sons kept the darkness, yes they even invited it.
In this night, at the very strike of midnight, a giant light exploded on the mountains to the west of Ethoras, visible in the whole nation and the people cried out in fear. They just knew, Zecod would return and they started fleeing from the cities, to the north, where th etemples of the gods still stood. This may have saved their lives.
The night passed, but the lights did not. It was, as if the colors were fighting each other and indeed it was Apac, who came down to strike down Zecod onc again, to stop his rise back to power. But Zecod was prepared for this day, and though weakened, he was aided by the foolish king and his evil sons.
After ten days, the lights suddenly stopped. It was the middle of the day, but each of us felt as if it was the middle of the night. And then, we saw the wave.
I swear on the Stars of Sabes, I was able to hear the cries of panic from the Basin of Ethoras, many kilometres south of me. And I watched in horror, as a giant floodwave rushed over the whole lands of Ethoras, destorying every town, burying the whole kingdom of the gods beneath it. And with it every last insane worshipper of Zecod but also so many innocents, drowned by the anger of a fallen god.
We who survived were in shock. We all watched the new sea to our feet, were once stood a glorious kingdom. The water was dark, brown and red and at some places so littered with the remnants of your homes, that you would not believe it to be water. Our thoughts and prayers were with the people we lost. I myself lost a young apprentice, who I begged to join my refuge in the north. Alas, young Vertuus saw it as his duty to keep the faith, to help the people in these dark times. Perhaps he was a more devout follower of the gods then I have been.
The Judgement
The Final Day of the year 1289ARIt was at the dawn of the very last day of 1289AR, that Apac and Sabes themselves appeared before us. With him, he brought Gorom and his eldest son Canum. The godly parents talked to each of us, to our hearts and explained to us how Zecod has been banished, his might once again sealed and how saddened they are by the loss of the old kingdom. They blessed us with health to cure our wounds and they gifted us with a healing slumber to cure our minds, so we would be able to understand what happened.
When we rose again, the gods were gone, but the vile God-King Gorom and his evil son Canum were still with us. On this night, a tribunal was held and in one final morally good act both of them admitted the deep guilt that was on their shoulders. Anatus had perished in the lights, as had everybody that joined them on their way to the Sword of Apac.
On the same night that we passed judgement onto them, binding rocks onto their feet and drowning them in the remnants of the kingdom they ruined, we declared the kingdom of Ethoressi, the "Remnant of Ethoras" in the old language of the gods.
And it will forever be founded on the faith to the gods. For they may no longer be walking among us, but they watch over us and we are precious to them.Never again shall we forget this!
Aftermath
These main events developed within one year, where Ethoras was the pride of the gods, blessed with generations of wise rulers only to suddenly degenerate into a dark place that was punished by complete extinction. The result was a geopolitical upheaval not at the least because of a leadership vaccuum and massive migrations of refugees.Concerning Bias and inaccuracy
It is only natural that exact records of such a catastrophic year are sparse and retellings in hindsight are bound to be biased and filtered by the knowledge of the events to come. What the reader had here, were accounts of major events known to be mostly true.It is to be noted, however, that there are documents and details telling a slightly different story. The interested reader might look up those events where they have been remarked.
Ethoras really was as blessed by the gods as it could possibly have been. It is a shame that it also was as cursed by the gods as it was imaginable. The hubris of the last king led to a downfall of many within a single year and would change the world forever
Summary
See the timeline hereTetrua
Gorom the enlightend becomes God-KingHalua
Canum and Anatus marry the princesses Megethia and MarianneFemazu
A Plague sweeps the landAtrezu
Led bei Anatus, a cultof Zecod begins to form.Zommed
The volcano Mons Astris eruptsLirini
The Cathedral of Heroics gets burned downUnumi
The gods appear and warn of impending doomVitukua
The fallen god Zecod is almost freed; during the battle the mountains "Sword of Apac" are shattered.The kingdom of Ethoras is destroyed by a giant floodwave.
The king and his sons all die
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