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History of Exile
Akhronath: Index.
This is not intended to be a complete history. New information will be added every now and then. Remember also that with Blades of Exile, new parts of the lore of the Exile world may reveal themselves.
Last updated November 8, 1998 by Reality reckoning.
History of Exile
After the Plagues - The Slith War
The Tower of Magi
Not all Exiles returned to the surface when the Empire gave them a country of their own. Some stayed in the caves and tunnels they had adopted as their homes. They desired peace and safety. But it was not to be, at least for a long while.
The Dark Slithzerikai, subterranean lizard-men, demon-worshippers who had fought Exile for much of their existence, attacked again. Several huge, barbarian tribes of the creatures are attacking Exile, and had great success at first.
Fort Cavalier, the key defensive outpost between the Dark Slithzerikai and the heart of Exile, was under siege. The fort had held out for months, growing weaker with every passing day under constant bombardment. A plan had to be devised to aid it, or else the Darklings would penetrate into Dharmon, and it would indeed be difficult to recover from such a situation.
Three weeks were allotted to a tried group of Exile mercenaries. They were to deliver a bundle of wands, specially prepared by the Tower of Magi, to Fort Cavalier. Starting at Fort Goodling, they traversed the unexplored streams and caverns of the Za-Khazi Run, so named after an ancient Vahnatai pillar which stood there. Passing through neutral Slithzerikai lands, they approached the black towers at the top of a plateau rising above dark swamps: the fortress of Morog.
A powerful Lich, Morog was willing to make a deal. She offered the mercenaries a quest, which they completed, and gave in exchange a scroll of draconian knowledge. Thus the mercenaries passed out from the fortress, bearing a scroll of which they could find no foreseeable use.
Passing through Vahnatai crypts and Troglodyte fortresses, they made contact with the Crystal Soul Casser-Bok, a being great in wisdom yet also in desire to command, not advise as was the norm for the guardians of the Vahnatai. He lives then in seclusion, awaiting the Vahnatai to recall and serve him. The mercenaries found a small Vahnatai encampment, led by Zoat-Ihrno and the Crystal Soul Presso-Bok, there to watch the events in Exile. They gave Casser-Bok this reply:
"Casser-Bok sent you here to tell us he wishes to return to his people. Is this correct?"
"I must tell you that our response is no. It may never return."
Furious, Casser-Bok was driven to insanity upon hearing this response. Sensing their peril, the mercenaries departed quickly, and passed away to the north. Awaiting them was the fortress of Khoth.
Khoth was one of the dragons of Exile. Mighty and wise, he dwelled for a while on the surface world with his brethren, then came below again to build a huge library of knowledge. Upon receiving Morog's scroll, he let them pass. From there, it was a swift journey to Fort Cavalier.
The wands did their job, and the Slithzerikai were repelled from the fortress. The tide of the war had turned, and Exile was once again secure.
* The Melora Opal was excluded from this account.
One of the most important settlements in Exile, the Tower of Magi was probably built soon after the imprisonment of Grah-Hoth. It is the greatest center of learning in the human-inhabited caves. Its library, full of information both useful and arcane, was mainly constructed by the efforts of Erika Redmark: she was able to transport volumes of books from the surface world downwards to the Tower.
The Tower of Magi is ruled by a Triad, three wizards of high power. At its establishment, this task was taken by Erika, Solberg, and Patrick. Driven by the desire vengeance on the surface world, Erika later left the Tower. Patrick eventually retired to his own tower as well. Solberg remained, and his colleagues were Linda and 'X'. 'X', has he was known, was absorbed in research of new and fascinating wizardry, participating little in the affairs of the Tower. Linda was an expert of summoning, yet perhaps not enough.
Wishing to bring forth more aid to Exile, she attempted to bind a Haakai Lord -- a demon high in power, as it were -- to the service of the Tower. Solberg warned against the possible consequences, but he did not have his way, and therefore sought refuge in a small, secluded vale surrounded by stone and lava. Linda was left as the supreme authority over the Tower, and the plan went forward. And so it were: the Adze-Haakai, lieutenant of Grah-Hoth, was summoned and imprisoned, but the mages of the Tower could not bring it under their control. The Adze-Haakai had to be banished again. With the failure of her operation, Linda was forced to resign from her post. Taking over the management of the Tower was Mahdavi.
It was then that the Empire invaded. Solberg could not return to the Tower, his dwelling surrounded by demons summoned by Garzahd, High Archmage of the Empire. The main project of the Tower at that time was the construction of a teleporter capable of sending one anywhere within Exile if one knew the correct vocal coordinates. The foremost experts on teleportation in the Tower were Mahdavi and Pyrn. Pyrn, however, left to research on his own, and became trapped in a remote tower, unable to fully wrest command from the mind of a Haakai.
The teleporter was built, and used to great effect in the war. In addition, the Tower of Magi became the point of contact between Exile and the Vahnatai lands, as the Vahnatai fashioned a portal leading to the Tower for communication. Eventually, after the war was over, Solberg returned, and with the aid of the Vahnatai they were able to boost the power of the portal so as to be able to send one near the surface world. In this way was Upper Exile built, and contact with the surface established.
The Tower was quiet for some time, but catastrophe would strike again. Linda's research brought her back to the Tower of Magi, and there she began in secret to build a plan to bind Grah-Hoth, banished a decade earlier to the netherworld.
Attempting to use her soul as the gateway so as to control Grah-Hoth, the operation failed again, this time to total disaster. Demons poured into the Tower of Magi. Most were slain, including Mahdavi. 'X' teleported away, bringing what he could of the library with him, and Solberg as well as the soulless Linda took to hiding. A small group of adventurers were sent down to attempt to salvage the situation. With her last remnants of sanity, Linda told of the methods of breaking the portal: slashing the gateway with the Blessed Athame.
The portal was broken, and Grah-Hoth's return was cut short. Enraged, he demolished the Tower. Solberg and the adventurers were able to teleport out in time. But the tower was totally destroyed, and had to be built anew. It was eventually done, fashioned more well than before. The wizard Seletine took the position of a Triad Mage, and the Tower had stood to this day.
The surface world is ruled by the Empire, and has been for longer than anyone could remember. From its birthplace on the continent of Aizo, it has spread to cover almost all of the world. Cities and fortresses covered the lands of Pralgad, Vantanas, and Valorim.
Two centuries ago, the wizards of the Empire discovered a new land. Not a new continent, no. That would have been found a long time ago. Instead, it was a massive weblike labyrinth of caves far beneath the surface. To explore this new land, the Empire sent down the Visitations.
The first of these visitations was called, logically enough, the First Visitation. It composed of a band of heroes and a large group of soldiers. They carried with them some of the most powerful artifacts ever created. And they failed. They were slaughtered - 'to a man and a woman'. Many of the items were lost.
After this failed expedition, the Empire decided to use these caverns as the dumping ground for petty criminals and undesirables. The fact that they sent people down instead of outright killing them was to their credit.
All of them were sent through a one-way teleporter, banished to the underworld, never to return.
At first, the Empire only sent down small groups at a time. It was during the reign of Emperor Hawthorne that people started pouring down into the caves. He wanted order above all. In doing so, he made a crucial mistake.
Hawthorne, with the archmage Garzahd, sent down several powerful mages who were at the losing end of a political struggle. Rone, Solberg, Patrick, Aimee, and Erika.
Erika Redmark was the most powerful of those sent down. She was also cursed. The Empire wizards set a powerful curse on her, that she may never live to see the sun. Thus, she had the most desire for revenge.
The exiled archmagi set work to improve the conditions of living. They were able to imprison the demon lord Grah-Hoth, ruler of the caverns. They created edible, slightly glowing mushrooms for food. They were able to teleport down some books - rare commodities in the caves. And they created a nation. They called it Exile, as a constant reminder that this was not their true home.
Erika was not content. She set work on plans to assassinated Hawthorne. And she succeeded.
By Erika's aid, a group of adventurers teleported up to the middle of Castle Hawthorne, and killed the emperor in his throne room.
The effects of this action were immediate. The portal into Exile was closed. Then, when the Empire saw that Exile was surviving despite the fact that no one entered, they invaded.
Soldiers and wizards teleported down to Exile, led by Garzahd. They quickly captured the Northern Waters and the Abyss. For a long time, the war was at a stalemate in the Front, while Empire raiders ravaged the towns.
During the War, the Empire found bizarre creatures, adept in magics involving crystals. These beings, the Vahnatai, were able to shape the spirits of the ancestors into crystal form. The Crystal Souls were the guardians and, to a degree, the gods of the Vahnatai. The Empire found this interesting, and stole three of them for experiments. The Vahnatai were shocked by the degree of this crime, but not knowing who committed them, they attacked Exile.
Some of the Vahnatai wanted a true explanation. Among them was Bon-Ihrno. He sent a message to those of Exile, bidding them to traverse the Black Waters to the Vahnatai Lands, and explain themselves.
The truth was revealed. The Exiles were able to take back the Crystal Souls and restore them to their home. The Vahnatai became allies in the War against the Empire. Their most powerful mage, Rentar-Ihrno, agreed to give help to the Exiles against the Empire.
Meanwhile, the wizards of Exile created a great teleporter, capable of sending one quickly to anywhere in Exile, if the right coordinates were known. One of the wizards, named Thompson, came upon the coordinates of a most important place: the fortress of the archmage Garzahd. With help from the Vahnatai, particularly that of Rentar-Ihrno, a group of Exiles were able to penetrate Garzahd's defenses and slay him.
The Empire was also working on a teleporter to send mass amounts of troops at a time to Exile. That device was also destroyed. The Empire's forces were greatly weakened. Finally, due to the difficulty of sending down troops and supplies, the Empire withdrew. Exile had won the War.
After the War, the Exiles were able to augment their teleporter to be able to send people directly up to the surface. They set up Upper Exile, a string of caverns just below the surface world. There was an exit from Upper Exile to the surface, to southwest Valorim. There in Upper Exile, they built Fort Emergence, to prepare for their return.
But when they sent groups up to examine the situation, they found what they least expected. Monsters, at the height of the Empire's power. The creatures destroyed towns and fortresses, and there seemed to be no end of them.
Magical slimes, giant cockroaches, troglodytes, giants, golems, and alien beasts, each one more deadly than the one before. It was with the help of Bon-Ihrno, among others, that these plagues were destroyed, one by one. Yet it was still not apparent who created these creatures.
Not apparent, until the source of the golems was found. They were created in a huge factory, controlled by machines, and commanded by the Mind Crystal. When the Mind Crystal was destroyed, the golems ceased to function. Shards of the Mind Crystal were taken for evidence. It was found that the shards were part of a Crystal Soul.
This proved that the Vahnatai were responsible for the plagues. It was confirmed again in the ruins of the Keep of Tinraya - and beyond.
With much difficulty, the Exiles found Bon-Ihrno. He told them of the revenge madness of the Vahnatai, and how they might be stopped. Bon-Ihrno was later assassinated by the Vahnatai, as a traitor to their cause.
With this, a group of Exiles infiltrated the fortress where all of the monsters originated from. With the knowledge from Bon-Ihrno, they were able to disrupt the operations. However, that was not enough. The controls of the fortress were still in the hands of Rentar-Ihrno.
Then came an unlikely turn of events. Erika teleported to the fortress, and engaged in a duel with Rentar. However, Rentar was prepared. The curse on Erika was activated. Erika was turned to ashes. This sacrifice gave enough time for the group of Exiles to reach the control pedestal, and destroy the fortress. Rentar teleported away to the Lower Caverns, vowing vengeance as she did so. But the monster plagues were gone. As a show of gratitude, the Empire gave Exile a piece of land for them to live on. It has come full circle: the Exiles have returned.
Yet the story is not finished. The Vahnatai have not yet completed their revenge. What will happen next? We do not possess foresight, so we can only wait and see...
The Slith War: Quest of the Za-Khazi Run
The Tower of Magi
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