Fariah and Izarr

Love in the Time of the First Cleansing

Fariah and Izarr is a legend of ancient Akhene origin, dating back to the time of the First Cleansing (circa 12,000 - 11,000 AE). The two central figures are a tribal warrior, Izarr Rez'Credir, and the daughter to a powerful chief and renowned healer, Fariah Von'Krishri, both of whom were Vasarthi. Much of the myth details the fall of the Old Kingdom of Akhenaton and its line of Sokoleth-worshipping pharaohs, the uniting of the Vasarthi tribes into a society that became the Middle Kingdom, and the First Cleansing that turned much of Akhenaton, Solkaddi, and the Southern Chain to inhospitable desert.

Summary

Izarr's Madness

The legend begins with Izarr Rez'Credir, a brave yet violent warrior from a nomadic tribe, being exiled by his father for killing a fellow warrior in a fit of madness. Izarr's behaviour had grown increasingly erratic since his defeat in battle whilst leading a group of warriors against a rival tribe. As the only survivor, guilt over the loss of his comrades overwhelmed him and drove him into fits of insane anger. After his exile, he wandered the wastes of the Khal-Hurun Desert for many days, slowly becoming more insane as he started dying of thirst. In the middle of a sandstorm, he came across an obsidian monolith that he had never seen before. It looked odd considering there was no other structure for many miles around, but Izarr approached it and touched the pillar, thinking it to be a hallucination at first. As soon as he did so, the monolith started to hum with an energy. A scavik, one of the creatures of the desert that looked very much like a giant vulture, swooped down and perched on the top of the pillar, looking directly at Izarr. It began to speak to him telepathically, telling him of a great evil that was going to swallow the world, and that he alone would be the one to unite the Vasarthi tribes under a single banner and stop it. Izarr was shocked at the revelation, believing it to be a part of his madness, but somehow the scavik restored him in body and mind, bestowing upon him a clarity he had never experienced before. It continued to explain to him that Izarr himself was actually the mortal son of Tesh'Nahal, the deceased king of the gods, and that in his death a piece of him had fallen to the mortal realms and manifested as a Vasarthi child. Izarr's divine uncle, Sokoleth, the God of darkness and death, was the one responsible for his father's murder, and that he was trying to usurp the mortal world and pull it into his nightmarish plane of never-ending night. Izarr asked the scavik what it was, and it cryptically responded that it was 'the last shred of will of thy father', before vanishing in a cloud of ash. Filled with resolve and feeling stronger than ever, Izarr made his way back to his mortal father's tribe with the intention of telling them what he had seen. He was immediately attacked and turned away however, suffering a grievous wound in the process. Soon after he collapsed in the desert near an oasis, expecting to die and believing he had failed already.

Fariah's Rescue

Izarr awoke what felt like a long time later to find his wound tended to. He was still at the oasis, although he was no longer alone. A Vasarthi tribeswoman by the name of Fariah Von'Krishri had discovered him lying unconscious by the water as she had stopped to collect water. Being a skilled healer and priestess of Halima, she had healed much of his wound with her divine magic, explaining to Izarr that he must have been unnaturally strong to survive such an injury anyway. 

Spread

The legend of Fariah and Izarr is common knowledge within the Akhene culture and among the Vasarthi people in particular. The near-mythical nature of the First and Second Cleansings and its effect on not just Akhenaton but also Solkaddi and the Southern Chain (both of which were under the rule of the Old Kingdom of Akhenaton at the time), certainly make it an important story for the humans and other races with roots in the latter lands as well. Beyond the desert realms, the legend is not as well known or largely considered to be completely fictional; even the elves of the north who supposedly fled the southern lands in ancient times regard the Cleansings to be a convenient way to explain why the region is so forbidding and hostile to life. Despite this, the odd reference to Fariah and Izarr, and even complete translations of the story, can be found in various children's books around the world, or in scholarly texts that try to grapple with how such a legend might be true.   

Variations & Mutation

In other cultures outside of Akhenaton, the legend of Fariah and Izarr is changed subtly to reflect where it is being told and who is telling it. In Solkaddi and the Southern Chain, both of which are lands populated mostly by humans and half-elves, the protagonists Fariah and Izarr, as well as many of the supporting characters, become human or elven. Although the setting of the Old Kingdom of Akhenaton remains intact, and the pharaoh and his priests of Sokoleth are still regarded as enemies, the Vasarthi tribes are replaced with Akhene slaves who revolt against their masters. Historically, there was an exodus of human, elven, and dragonborn slaves from Akhenaton shortly after the fall of the Old Kingdom, and many of these peoples fled to Solkaddi and the Southern Chain to start new lives. Dragonborn tellers of the legend tend to stick to the same formula, although they claim that Fariah and Izarr were dragonborn who escaped slavery together, only to discover the monolith in the desert and be called upon by Bahamut to free his children. The dragonborn of the south have long believed that they suffered the worst treatment under the Vasarthi and that humans and other races were given positions of power in Akhene society, although this is still a point of contention among scholars.  

In Literature

"And thus it said: I am the coming storm; I am the eater of stars and the digester of worlds. I can walk through paradise and turn it into hell." - Beginnings, Fariah and Izarr, Devastation, translated from the original Akheni

The Book of Devastation

The historical text of Devastation is one of the Akhene people's most important sources of information on the First and Second Cleansings, written approximately 500 years or more after the events purportedly took place. Due to it not being a contemporary account, it is largely regarded as a work of historical fiction by most scholars; the Akhene, and in particular the Vasarthi, believe it to be a holy scripture of their people's glorious past and proof that they descend from the gods. In particular, Izarr's status as a demigod and the fact that he rose to claim the throne of what became the Middle Kingdom of Akhenaton validates the claim of the line of pharaohs in the present New Kingdom.

Date of First Recording

circa 10,500 AE

Date of Setting

circa 12,000 - 11,000 AE

Related Species

• Vasarthi