Sāvarāhid (Sah-var-ah-heed)
When the Shāmalta had grown large in number and spread to many holds, they experienced the growing pains of a nation. To combat the unrest, the Vegrāhid met and decided to form a structured leadership system to keep things organized. Feru became the original Regdāhid, or Emperor, of the Sāvarāhid, the First Empire.
The First Empire lasted at least three thousand years according to the Dumapra and surviving legends. It represented the pinnacle of technological and rūn sciences ever known to the Shāmalta, benefiting from the knowledge of the Vegrāhid and developments after them. The Regdāhid ruled the entire empire from his palace, known affectionately as 'Ald Iron' from the city of Feruhal.
They maintained familial ties with the surface kingdom of Teryn, and many Regdāhid sent their children to spent a few years living with the Teryn kings even as they hosted those rulers' children in return. Many mutually beneficial trade agreements existed between them as Sāvarāhid was interested in Teryn magic, and they in the machines and sciences of the Shāmalta. They were greater for their fellowship.
The empire's core was composed of the seven original holds founded by the Vegrāhid: Feruhal, Argadhal, Lumihal, Orahal, Molyhal, Vanahal, and Ithal. Each of these acted as the 'regional capital' for their territories, with Feruhal also the imperial capital.
Regdāhid Thekdrolir Thekdralornu arFeru dequis Feruqebed was the ruler when King Eadweard passed, and he watched the man's twin sons tear apart the kingdom in a war of succession. He admonished them as he would his own children, and they ignored him.
The Kings' War erupted soon after, and he not only refused to take a side but forbid any of the First Empire to do as well. Spoiled brats though he viewed them, Thekdrolir couldn’t bring himself to condemn either of them to death at his army’s hand.
What wasn't known, is that Thekdrolir was making final preparations for Makhashakh. He hoped the boys would resolve their issues and stand with him, but they didn't believe his warnings any more than their ancestors did.
The deathknell of the First Empire was an event known as the sundering, when the Teryn supercontinent was shattered into its current form. An interconnected subterranean civilization by nature would not respond well to suddenly having sections open to the oceans.
Comments