The Terath Library

The southern continent of Terath is a vast bastion of military strength and magical power. In Terath, Kings and Emperors struggle for dominion, Dukes and Barons strive to manipulate their enemies in an endless game of court politics, and hidden figures pull the strings from the darkest corners. In Terath, legends rise and fall like the setting sun, dragons rule over men as indomitable masters, and the vile and villainous forces of forgotten realms seek to cloak the world in fire and ruin.

Ancient History

Terath’s known history began thousands of years ago, when ships filled with humans fled The Great Plague of Rhoum. The ships landed upon the shores of many continents, but the ones that landed here eventually founded what became the great Kingdom of Terath. The first King, known as The Vallahorien, was a dragon. He formed many baronies throughout the land, and made peace with the Elves of the eastron forests. Over time, many Kings and Queens have ruled Terath, but it has always remained a true vassal to the Rhouman Empire, now spread over many continents throughout Cyrillia.

Over a thousand years ago, a Queen determined that dragons should no longer rule in the Terathian Kingdom. Many dragons moved to the northwest and established homes under the rule of the Great True Dragon Cureanon. No longer could those that were at least half-dragon rule a Barony or become King or Queen of Terath. Peace with the dragons has been tenuous, with border wars occurring many times in the past, but only very rarely in the last 300 years.

The baronies of old have become kingdoms in their own right, with a High Queen who rules over them as guardian of the land and sworn servant of the empire.

Recent History

In the years 206-208PB, an ancient and powerful enemy known as “The Forsaken” returned to Terath and usurped the territory which had been known as the Barony of Southwatch, destroying their people and killing the once-ruler of Terath, Queen Octavia Lucius, in the wars that followed. The Forsaken were ultimately defeated and condemned to live in The Forsaken Tower within the borders of what is now the Xelaque Kingdom of Haven. This tower was destroyed using powerful ritual magic, and it is believed that nearly all of the shape-changing Forsaken were slain.

In the year 208PB, Baron Kajorelle of Westerland took Queen Octavia’s place as the ruler of Terath, and appointed many Kings and Queens instead of Barons and Baronesses. He named himself The High King of Terath and gave more independence to his neighboring kingdoms than had ever been given before.

In the year 209PB, The Empire of Terath began to seethe with political turmoil as the foundations of a world-shaking war began to build across the continent. Alliances were forged, treachery became commonplace, and rumors of Demonic creatures began to fill the darkness.

In the year 210PB, Terath found itself at war, with the primary lines drawn between those who supported the prideful and now deposed High King Kajorelle, and those that supported the militant former King of Ebrus, a Black Knight known as Fallion ‘The Red’. As this conflict, known as The War of Kings , came to a boiling point, a great host of Dragons flew down upon every great city on the continent and burned thousands of innocent common people to death with their terrible Dragon Fire. The two kings were banished from the land, and The Great True Dragon Cureanon returned and proclaimed that he would serve as the Steward of Terath. His demand was that the war be halted, or else the dragons would return to destroy every last breathing man and woman on the continent.

The year 211PB was spent in recovery after what became known as the Draconic Domination, while a tenuous peace settled over the continent, as the growing hatred and fear of the dragons replaced the rivalry each of the neighboring kingdoms once held for each other. The Great True Dragon Cureanon declared that the old empire and its traditions had been sundered, and a new age had begun. New kingdoms arose, and old ones began to crumble, as the old and new nobility of Terath quarreled over the dragon’s authority to make such a claim.

In the year 212PB, the divided kingdoms of Terath found themselves threatened by a legendary primordial creature known as Typhon, The Father of Monsters . Swarms of wretched beasts crawled up from the sea, entire rivers became poisonous and corrupted, and armies of Ogres, Trolls, and Goblins marched together as one mighty horde. Although many of the kingdoms refused to recognize her claim to the High Throne, Queen Embla Vanir stepped forward to lead the defense of Terath during Typhon’s Invasion. Together, the unified armies of Terath defeated the horde and reclaimed their lands.

At the very dawn of the year 213 PB the Kings and Queens of Terath received a summons from the near-mythical ruler of the ancient Rhouman Empire.  Choosing to recognize the ancient mandates, nearly all of the rulers of Terath answered the call and sent their soldiers to the seat of imperial power; The Continent of Verath. Those left behind struggled to defend themselves from the roaming beasts left behind by Typhon’s shattered horde, and sought desperately to protect their people from the predations of a great and terrible avaricious red dragon.

The imperial call to arms was soon revealed to be the continuation of a terrible war which became known as The Pale Campaign, which soon came to the shores of Terath and embroiled the entire continent in a struggle against an army which served the legendary undead creatures known as The Pale Ones. As the armies of Terath returned home, their new enemy returned with them. The war was fought in earnest, with Dragons fighting alongside mortal soldiers to keep the terrible enemy at bay. At last, victory against the Pale Legion was achieved in the summer of 215 PB. As the victory celebrations could be heard in villages across the land, word began to spread that nearly every single Dragon in Terath had taken flight and left the realm, with only vague rumors hinting at what might have drawn them away from their territories in the northern land DragonHeld.

In the handful of years that followed the Kingdoms of Terath recovered from the hardships of war, and strove to shield their people from supernatural dangers which seemed to fill the void left by the departing dragons. Various orders, such as The Starfall Initiative and The Order of Light, rose and then fractured as they attempted to give aid to those in need and sometimes became corrupted by the very eldritch or primordial forces which they hoped to stand against. There were numerous minor border disputes, military skirmishes, and royal betrayals or alliances; each accompanied by endless political maneuvering which often brought many of the kingdoms to the verge of war.    

In the year 219PB, the people of Terath found themselves threatened by a rising army of undead which gathered within the terrible enchanted Ruins of Ku’Vahl. This ever-growing army of the dead was led by none other than the ArchLich Tal Sigor, known as the Father of Night. But before the dreaded foe could march forth, they were confronted and defeated by a great alliance of mighty soldiers from Falconcrest & Ebrus, Black Knights from Westerland, agents of the Argent Tide, Wizards of the Rhouman Guard, and many heroic adventurers.

The year 220PB brought much political turmoil, with The King’s Moot of Hadrianus resulting in the ascension of the bloodthirsty Queen Khadia ‘Spite’ Eider, while the southern and western coasts of Terath were visited by impossibly massive ships crewed by hundreds or perhaps even thousands of militant travelers from a distant and unfamiliar land. Rather than waging war against the Kingdoms of Terath, over the next few years these strangers settled in many lands across the continent, building alliances and pursing their own mysterious agendas.