History of Ultima

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Contents

Before The Shattering

A man who is later referred to as "Zog", curious about the newly foming effects of magic, speaks with the wisps in order to learn more about the arcane arts. Eventually, he becomes a talanted practitioner of magic in his primitive Sosaria. A Curious man, when the wisps taught him a new spell, he wanted to cast it right away. The Spell was the Ritual of Armageddon. The casting of this ritual destroyed all life on Sosaria.

Uncountable thousands of years pass, eventually life returns to the fertile planet.

Approximately 500 years Pre-Britannia

The kingdom of Akalabeth spreads throughout Sosaria. In its day, Akalabeth was a large kingdom similar to Britannia. It's last monarch was one King Wolfgang.

Approximately 50 years PB

Wolfgang's second son is born. His name is Mondain.

Year 1

Wolfgang tries to curb his youngest sons reckless behaviour by showing him his inheritance. Wolfgang declared that should his sons behaviour continue, he would not recieve his inheritance. Mondain then killed his own father and stole his inheritance, part of which was a magical ruby gemstone. The death of Wolfgang signaled the end of the Akalabethian empire, and the beginnings of a feudal city-state form of government.

Year 2 - 12

Mondain studies the ruby, and determines that by using the ruby against itself, he can create the Gem of Immortality. It is unclear wether this discovery was intentional or accidental. In any event, the power of the Gem gave Mondain a new confidence. He began to "experiment" with cross-breeding species through the use of magic. He crossed Rats and Humans to create Ratmen, Lizards and humans to create Lizardmen, and Dogs and Humans to create orcs. Slowly he began to release them into the world to wreak havoc on the remains of Akalabeth.

Approximately year 12-17

A young man by the name of Richard Garriott from Cambridge, England on Earth came across a medallion with a serpent engraved upon it. Upon examining it, a portal opened, and Garriott went through to a new land: Sosaria. There he met his first friend, Shamino who had injured himself while chopping wood. Shamino used magic to repair his wound, and Garriott was impressed. Afterward, Garriott couldn't re-open the portal, and so stayed with Shamino. It was Shamino who gave Garriott the nickname British as he was from Britain.

Approximately year 17-23

When British entered Sosaria, the land was divided into feudal city-states who warred off and on with one another. Through the years, British gained political popularity for his ideas of peace and alliances and eventually got his own city-state. Conicedentally, Lord Britishes city-state was named Britain.

Around the same time Mondain's evil plot began to unfold. The power that Mondain weilded with the Gem of Immortality under his control was tremndous. The Gem made his fortress impregnable, and himself immortal.

Year 25

Mondain opposed Lord British, claiming the world for his own. With the Gem of Immortality at his command, Mondain summoned creatures of every type to wreak havoc on the land, and distract the people from the true culprit; himself. Because Sosarian time is 12 times faster than Earth time, Lord British also had his own form of Immortality, at least to Sosarians. He eventually learned how to use the Serpent Medallion he found ages ago and summoned another from Earth to help save the planet.


Mondain opposes Lord British

The Stranger destroys the Gem of Immortality

The Stranger was the name Sosarians came to know him as. Sosaria had become technologically advanced in the many years since Mondain corrupted the world with his gem. The Stranger used a time machine to go back before Mondain had completed his evil magic, and shattered the gem of immortality. The Stranger had destroyed the gem just as Mondain had completed his ritual. Due to this, each remnant of the gem contained a likeness of Sosaria.

You may have noticed that thus far, this is virtually identical to the story of Ultima 1. That is because that this IS the story of Ultima 1. The only events that the Ultima Series and Ultima Online share is Ultima 1. Contrary to popular belief, the events of Ultima 2-9 did not happen in Ultima Online.

Each Likness of Sosaria contained within each fragment of the Gem became a living breathing world contained within that gem. Within each gem, the worlds were further seperated into different facets of each gem. In one (or possibly more) of these facets, the destruction of the gem caused catastrophic and disastrous changes to Britannia, most notably the facet of Ilshenar.

The Middle Era

From 25 to 300

(Mondain was defeated in the year 25, and the start of Ultima Online to the public is considered to be the year 300. Thats a 275 year gap in which many things could have occurred. I refer to that span of time as "the Middle Era." I have made every effort to put these events in chronological order, but you may find one or two that are out of place.-Hansonian Institute)

Some time after the year 25 a disaster afflicted Sosaria. Probably magical in nature, it changed the geography of the land forming the world which we know today as Britannia.

Lord Britishes popularity soars after the defeat of Mondain, no doubt due to his summoning of the Stranger.

Lord Blackthorn raises through the ranks, and becomes a trusted advisor, and friend to Lord British.

The Time Lord comes to Lord British, telling him that he is only a mirror of the real Lord British. Furthermore, the Time Lord explains the 8 virtues to Lord British, citing this as the only way to reunite the shards.

Lord British spreads word of the virtues through the land, but Lord Blackthorn disagrees with them. British orders shrines to the 8 virtues constructed. With permission from Lord British, Blackthorn invents his own virtue, Chaos, and builds a shrine for it.

The citizens of Britannia paid no heed to the virtues, and continued to live as they did before. Lord British created an incentive to follow the virtues by creating the Order Guard. The Order Guard was to defend the virtues and correct moral injustices. To counter the Order Guard, Lord Blackthorn created the Chaos Guard. The Chaos Guard was to defend the citizens freedom of choice. Neither of these great organizations fulfills that purpose, however. Ever since their inception, they warred amongst themselves, and the people still continued to live as they did before.

A man named Crawworth was born to a young guard and his wife in Paws. Together, they raised him in the ways of the virtues. Before Crawworth had reached maturity, his father was killed and his mother was so distraught that she abandoned him.

The parents of a fellow named Mordread are killed in a hart stampede. Not unusual, as they were herders.

Mordread is transformed into a Liche in a Magical accident

Mordread the Liche destroys Rhysart's family

A man named Hebban Olla is born. He is either born evil, or turned evil by circumstances unknown.

The City of Paws is attacked and utterly destroyed by a suprise orc raid. The forces of Trinsic travel to Paws to offer any assistance possible, but it is too late. A kind warrior by the name of Hartham discovers that Crawworth has survived. He takes a liking to the boy, and adopts Crawworth as his own son.

The father of two twins: Lathiari and Kyrnia dies in a storm at sea. The children become obsessed with the decay of their fathers corpse, and death in general.

Crawworth becomes Lord Crawworth, and Captain of the Guard of Trinsic.

Lathiari and Kyrnia continue to research death, corpses, and the mysteries of the life force. One day after a trip, their mother became ill and shortly died thereafter. Devestated that all their research could not save their mother, they encased her in a block of ice and set about searching for a means to revive her.

The research of Lathiari and Kyrnia took on a new momentum, and eventually they were able to restore life to the body of their departed mother. They had not, however saved their mother from death, they had merely created an undead monster with their Mothers body. They killed the zombie, and cut her body apart. They then burned all the pieces, save the eyes, which they fashioned into Necklaces.

The demented experiments of Lathiari and Kyrnia continued with fallen soldiers. Their peers in the Mages guild demanded they stop the experimentation, and shunned them. They moved from their home of Magincia, to Yew. there they discovered the lost art of Necromancy. Their experiments in Necromancy always needed more subjects, and more and more innocent people became victims to that experimentation. Eventually, word of the experiments reaches Lord British himself, who was appalled at the ordeal. He set a mandate banishing them from Britannia forever. When a party arrived to serve the mandate, Lathiari and Kyrnia could not be found. The party left their house alone, afraid of what might be inside.

Hebban Olla commits unknown evil acts, but is defeated, killed, and magically sealed within his own tomb by a man named Dar-Salaam.

The First Age of Britannia

The First Age refers to everything between the day Ultima Online went public to the first day the Second Age went public.

Year 300

Lord British sees the land become overrun by bandits and monsters, and calls adventurers from Earth to aid the citizens of Britannia. These people become known as "Charter Britannians."

The first version of Ultima Online avaliable to the public was the "Ultima Online Charter Edition." Contained with the game CD was a certificate from Lord British welcoming the purchasers to Britannia, and bidding them to help stop the evil which has befallen the lands. True Charter Britannians are few and far between these days. Only persons who purchased the Charter Edition are considered Charter Britannians.

The Charter Britannians procreate with full blooded Britannians, causing a population explosion unparalleled in all of Britannian history.

Years 300-303

In the first three months of public release, Ultima Online gained members extremely quickly. So many members in fact, that they exceeded the capacity of the game servers to handle. Origin has since upgraded those systems many times over.

Years 303-312

Oberon the Healer obtains the staff of Dar-Salaam while in a meditative trance. He believed that he was in the spirit realm, and found the staff after tripping over it. It is unclear whether this is true, or merely a hallucination.. but he did find the staff. The staff remains the key to Hebban Olla's Tomb.

Rhysart the Hermit appears, searching for the Liche Mordread, which had destroyed his family. he carries with him a red crossbow which belonged to his grandfather. It was the only item left after Mordreads attack.

Oberon the Healer begins to see visions from the staff of Dar-Salaam, the staff tricks him into awakening Hebban Olla.

A unique White Hart appears in the vicinity of Yew. It is subsequently captured and trapped on an island in the dungeon Despise. It was eventually rescued by a party led by Rhysart. The beasts antlers were neccessary to fashion a bolt of purity, which would be instrumental in destroying Mordread the Liche.

A potion of Purity was the second ingredient needed to defeat Mordread. A party was led into the depths of Hythloth to recover it, but it was discovered that Azhur the dragon had gotten there first. Azhur wished to be free of his master, Mordread the Liche, and so the adventurers convinced him to hand over the potion as it was key to Mordreads destruction.

Rhysart combined the bolt of purity with the potion of purity. The act of which made Mordread mortal, and thus defeatable. Once Mortal, Mordread was quickly slain.

A group calling itself the Zog Cabal terrorizes the land. Their actions include piracy, murder, and robbery among various other evil deeds. They believe that the world is corrupt, and desire to take charge to make everything right in their own eyes. They are also referred to as the "Followers of Armageddon."

The Zog Cabal got their name changed during this event as OSI was unaware that the word "Zog" was also the name of a Terrorist group. (Or at least, that is what the rumour was) Throughout these pages, I will refer to this group as the Followers of Armageddon, simply for clarification purposes.

Hartham, the head trainer of the Trinsic guards, and step-father to Crawworth is assassinated by poison. Lord Crawworth was selected to perform his eulogy, during which a masked man appeared and took credit for the assassination. The man claimed to be from the Followers of Armageddon.

Paladin Juo'Nar is discovered to be guilty of several crimes during an investigation into the Followers of Armageddon. Juo'Nar's crimes are unrelated to the Followers of Armageddon, however.

The Evil magician, Lathiari returns to his dilapadated home in the form of a Lich. It appears he needs something from the house.

The Followers somehow obtain Sage Winslow's research on the dialect of wisps.

The Followers of Armageddon obtain the knowledge of the Ritual of Armageddon from the wisps. They see this as the perfect means to accomplish their goal of "righting the world."

The Troll brothers, G'Thunk and G'Splat attempt to seige the North Vesper bridge claiming the northeast forests for their own.

Juo'Nar resurfaces, and murders several monks at the Shrine of Spirituality, he also leads random attacks on the other 7 shrines.

Laithari and Kyrnia attack Yew again, Sage Humbolt begins a means of defeating them, for their undead bodies regenerate when attacked. He gives adventurers the task of acquiring the Bell of Courage.

Humbolt deduces that the source of the Evil Liches power is their hearts. He finds a way to destroy them, and leads an expedition into Dungeon Despise, where he is killed, but not after he is successful in defeating the liches.

Lord Crawworth resigns his position as Captain of the Guards of Trinsic, appointing Finth Desryn to replace him. Finth Desryn had previously been the Master at Arms for the Paladins Guild.

Juo'Nar attacks a weapons caravan headed for Trinsic, killing the caravan's leader, Tali Desryn. Tali Desryn was the wife of Finth Desryn, Captain of the Trinsic guards.

Sage Humbolt's wake is held, he is entombed in the Britain graveyard. His successor is Sage Winslow.

Sage Winslow dies at the Bottom of Dungeon Shame. The Followers of Armageddon had their hand in this event, for he is replaced by a False Winslow who is loyal to the Followers.

False Winslow begins to debunk rumours about the Followers of Armageddon, dismissing them as a myth. Lord Crawworth becomes his most vocal opponent. False Winslow even goes so far as to claim that Crawworth is insane.

Juo'Nar is located in Ocllo and slain by a group of warriors.

G'Thunk and G'Splat are sighted in the Forests near Vesper. They are hunted down for the bounties placed on their heads by the Minoc constabulary. G'Splat does not survive the encounter, but G'Thunk escapes.

False Winslow continues to announce his beliefs that the Followers of Armageddon are a myth, even after Crawworth presents incontrovertable proof that they do exist. He is arrested and questioned by royal officials. He is later released.

Julia the tinker and Mariah the Mage are simultaneously kidnapped from Vesper and Moonglow, respectively.

Halston Montil of the Britannian Royal Army is appointed lead investigator of the FoA (Followers of Armageddon).

The Skeleton of a man is found at the bottom of the Dungeon Shame, the Staff of Sage Winslow is found nearby. Halston Montil begins an investigation.

Halston Montil's investigation reveals that the remeains do indeed belong to Sage Winslow and that False Winslow was a replacement. Furthermore, it was discovered that False Winslow was the leader of the FoA. Efforts to find False Winslow were doubled.

The FoA attempt to cast the Ritual of Armageddon prematurely. The result is a series of termendous earthquakes which kill many people. Lord British sends adventurers to the 4 corners of the globe to assess the damage to his kingdom.

Halston Montil and his party finally locate False Winslow, along with Mariah and Julia. The Troll brother, G'Thunk was also present. G'Thunk announced his intention to kill False Winslow, as he blamed the FoA for the death of his brother, G'Splat. Upon seeing Montil, False Winslow surrendered, but the troll was bent on slaying the evil leader. Julia stepped in between the two, and pleaded with the angry Troll, saying Justice would be served. G'Thunk could only think of one kind of justice he wanted, and with a single strike from his weapon, Julia fell to the ground, dead. Montil and his party leapt into action before Julia came to rest on the damp floor of Dungeon Shame. G'Thunk did not last long against the onslaught of adventurers, led by Halston Montil.

Montil carried Julia with him, as he and his party brought False Winslow to Yew for trial.

Lord Britshes adventurers returned to him, reporting caves that were heretoforth unknown to anyone. Some had ventured into the caverns and spoke of a new, savage land. Lord British then commissioned a party to explore these caverns, lead by none other than the noble Lord Crawworth.

Crawworth and party Journey to the new lands. They discover a savage land in the middle of a war. At first the party was very successful, and they covered a lot of ground quickly. Soon though, they began to succumb to strange illnesses.. Crawworth in particular. They are drawn into an internal war, and most of the party is killed while trying to return to Britannia. Crawworth is struck by a poison arrow, and his condition deteriorates rapidly. The other remaning party member, a journalist attempts to remove the bolt, but pricks herself in the process. Both Crawworth and the journalist die aboard the ship as it enters Britain harbour. The Journal leaving the only record of their adventures.

The Second Age of Britannia

Year 313

Lord British officially opens the new lands and invites adventurers to explore it thoroughly. This ushered in the Second Age of Britannia.

Year 317

Mayor Maximillion of Yew orders the Staff of Dar-Salaam destroyed, as he knows it is the key to Hebban Olla's release. When Oberon attempted to give the staff to Maximillian, he became encased in a pillar of fire. Maximillian returned the staff, and the fire ceased. The ghost of Hebban Olla apparently had some hold over the staff.

A plan was formed to dispel Hebban Ollas magic, and this required the saliva of a White Hart. A search was conducted, the hart was found, and Oberon was summoned to the scene. As Rhysart the Hermit and the others looked on, Oberon called to te Hart so that he might collect it's saliva. Instead, Oberon wielded the staff of Dar-Salaam and struck down the beast. It was later discovered that Oberon was possessed by Hebban Olla at the time. A manhunt was on for Oberon, as it was feared that he might try to release the foul master of magic from his tomb.

Year 318

William Kopek rediscovers the Tomb of Hebban Olla. It is believed that some sort of magic caused the populace to forget where it was.

Year 319

Rhysart the Hermit is turned to stone by unknown circumstances, and later released from stone by hand unknown.

Year 323

The Faithful Ogrelord makes the first of many appearance in Yew, searching for Oberon. The Ogrelord has been summoned by Hebban himself, and this is presumably the reason for Hebban's lack of activity since the white hart incident in 317. It appears that Hebban's control over Oberon was not absolute, as the ogrelord's mission was to destroy Oberon.

The Ogrelord made several other appearances this year, searching for Oberon. Apparently the Ogrelord did eventually catch up with the healer, as evidenced by the grave site just outside Empath Abbey.

Year 325

Britannians celebrate the 300th anniverary of the Strangers coming and the defeat of Mondain.

Year 327

Monster activity at Hebban Olla's tomb increases as he prepares to return to the world of the living.

The Brotherhood of Healers places Magical mushrooms on the grave of Oberon the Healer. These mushrooms prevent the spirit of Hebban Olla from resurfacing. Activity at the Tomb of Hebban OIla ceases. Rhysart the Hermit sets off into the forest, never to be seen again.

Year 328

Lord British commissions Lord Nicolus to wander about the lands and deliver gifts in the tradition of "Santa Claus" on his native Earth. Unlike Santa Claus however, Lord Nicolus wore a suit of yellow (The color of compassion).

Lord Nicolus is kidnapped by a man named Keeonean, and taken to a secret lair. He was rescued soonafter and returned to Castle Britain, where Lord British rewarded him with a suit of red (the color of valor). Apparently Keeonean was a mercenary hired by a mysterious mistress.

Year 329

Undead begin to appear in Trinsic, Headless in Cove, Trolls in Vesper, and Mongbats in Yew. The Town guards seem unwilling to help fight the monsters.. as if they were under some strange magical influence.

Adventurers begin to find objects called "moonstones" carried in monsters packs.

Attacks increase on the 4 seiged cities, Britain also comes under attack by lizardmen. The Path from Britain to Trinsic is swarmed by foul creatures of all types. Orcs begin to appear in Yew along with the mongbats, and Gazers begin to appear in Cove.

Juo'Nar returns to his home city in the form of a Lich. He commands the undead as they swarm the city. Keeonean leads the assaults on Yew. The Brother of G'Thunk and G'Splat, G'Ruagak leads his trollish forces in assaults on Vesper. A gazer fiend wreaks havoc in the deserted city of Cove, and Malabelle, an evil sorceress who ensures the path from Britain to Trinsic is sufficiently dangerous.

Year 330

Lord British addresses all of Britannia publically. In his address, he bids all the adventurers to seek out the mastermind behind the attacks. He also made public a plan to take a prisoner for interrogation. This task he gave to Sir Geofferey. He also revealed that Nystul, His Majesty's royal mage, had discovered that a spell was affecting the guards of the cities, as well as the magic dampening fields surrounding them.

Librarian Joye forsees the fall of Trinsic, and tries to warn the Trinsic Town Council of impending doom. She is only mildly successful.

Juo'Nar and an army of undead invade and capture the city of Trinsic, forcing all the citizens to flee. Royal mage Nystul creates an escape gate for them. Few persons are able to use it. The carnage is unprecedented in all of Britannian history. Barracades are constructed at all access points to the City of Honor.

The Britannian Kilted Police locate Joye at the Britain Library and question her. They uncover the true name of the Dark Mistress: Minax. They also discover the motivation for Malabelle's attacks on Trinsic and surrounding areas. It appears that Malabele and a young man by the name of Tyball were lovers, and that Minax has convinced her that Tyball was betrayed by someone in Britain or Trinsic. Joye learned this information from a Crystal Ball which mysteriously appeared in her library.

Iolo and Sir Geofferey succeed in capturing an orc, who is held for questioning at Britannia Prison.

A plan is formulated with the purpose of giving the crystal ball to Malabelle. When the plan is carried out, Juo'Nar kills Joye, and the crystal ball is taken by a thief. All over Britannia, hearts sink.

Lord British disappears and is presumed to be captured while returning to Britain after visiting the orc prisoner.

Kaltar (the Gazer Fiend) and a group of gazers raid Britannia Prison and free the captured orc, slaying the guards and anyone else who opposed them.

Dupre is visited in the night by the ghost of Julia the Tinker, he gets together with Nystul and formulates a plan to choose 5 virtuous adventurers and send them to the Etherial Void to retrieve the spirit of Joye. And so, the 5 adventurers are chosen, and they return with Joye.

Dupre consults with Joye, and slowly a plan to sway Malabelle from her evil acts is constructed.

Year 331

Lord British escapes Minax's clutches.. as it turns out, Lord British was never actually abducted, it was Shamino who was abducted, disguised as Lord British. Shamino relays what information he has learned to Lord British

Dark Temples begin appearing in the Major cities of the land, Presumably constructed by Minax via magical means.

Malabelle is confronted by Dupre, and the evidence given to him by Joye. She agrees to discontinue her rampage, but only on the condition that Dupre help her locate Tyball. Dupre agrees. Malabelle hands over the Key to Minax's fortress in Trinsic.

Dupre and an army of volunteers rush Trinsic, leaving piles of undead in their wake. Simultaneously, hundreds of other volunteers Tear down the Dark Temples in other cities. In Trinsic, the adventuers Invade Minax' Stronghold, Discovering some sort of evil magic altar. The magical energy within begins to rip apart the stronghold as the adventurers evacuate. A ring of curious onlookers watch as the fortress explodes. Some are caught in the maelstrom of debris, and don't survuve. A cheer as heard as the crowd tears down the barriers throughout the city and reclaim their homes.

Because our Sosaria is wholly contained within a shard of the Gem of Immortality, our universe is crystalline in nature. Within each shard lies the possibiity of multiple facets. It was Nystul's research of Minax' magic that led to the revelation that such facets were possible. Nystul and Lord British create a facet whose very nature follows the virtues, as they use the Mantras of the virtues in the casting of the spell which eventually creates Trammel.

Nystul orders the construction of several stones in various places throughout the globe. Supposedly to allow for the mass exodus to the new facet of Britannia.

Detailed facts are unavailable, but this is known: Nystul cast his spell which allowed travel between the two facets. The old world is now named the "Felucca Facet" and the new world is named the "Trammel Facet". The purpose of the mysterious moonstones has been discovered. They allow transit between the shards.

The Reniassance Age of Britannia

Year 332

Lord British declares a "no building" policy throughout his kingdom on both facets.

Many citizens of Britannia are amazed by the Trammel Facet, and make Pilgramages there. Others decide to remain in Felucca and defend their homes to the bitter end. Visitors to Trammel discover that they are prevented from attacking one another because of the Virtuous nature of the world.

Researchers discover an unintended side-effect of opening the other facet: two worlds means twice as much resources, and twice as much gold. Britannian economy collapses, making the gold piece virtually worthless. Objects which once sold for a few thousand pieces now sell for hundreds of thousands, and perhaps even millions.

Year 333

Lord British repeals his "no building" policy. Every suitable piece of land in the entire kindgom is built upon in a matter of hours.

New homeowners searching for furniture and other amenities for their houses pour more money into the economy, degrading it further. Clever Entrepreneurs build extra houses, and sell them off at extremely inflated prices.

Year 338

Andrew Jollier, a well-known philanthropist commissions the construction of the Jollier fairgrounds in a field near the city of Skara Brae. There is some trouble with the undead as the fairgrounds are discovered to have been built upon an old graveyard. The problem is solved when one of the undead spirits is reunited with her former mate.

Year 339

The undead become restless, rising from their graves and attacking mourners in their graveyards.

Robert d'Guy leads attacks at the intersections of all the major roads, he appears to be searching for something.

The Cult of the Rat is suspected to have kidnapped several prominent citizens from their homes.

Robert d'Guy is killed.

Year 342

A Mage named Gilforn attempts to create a stable facet gate to Felucca in the hopes of helping to reunite two peoples. One night, he has a strange dream where the answer to his questions comes to him in a vision. He uses those answers, and succeeds in creating a stable facet gate. This gate, however, does not lead to Felucca, but to an entirely new land.. the land of Ilshenar.

The Third Dawn

Year 342

Gilforn is able to create 8 Stable gates to Ilshenar, and they are connected to Britannias pre-existing moongate system. This allows free travel from Britannia to Ilshenar. In addition, Gilforns research finally does produce it's desired result, which is to establish stable gates to Felucca.

Lord Blackthorn travels to Ilshenar, and is compelled to be transformed into a cyborg by Exodus, a machine which has ben built into a mountain somewhere deep in Ilshenar.

Year 343

Mechanical creations known as Golems appear in Britannia with their controllers. Strange devices also appear throughout the land, presumably to soften Britannia for conquest.

With help from the populace, Nystul creates a great tower in the castle courtyard. The tower is actually a large device which will reveal any number of hidden devices, designed to purge Trammel of its virtuous nature.

The devices are destroyed, leaving Britannia in peace.

Lord British abdicates his throne.

Year 344

The mysterious Blue, Green, and Brown robed Ones cease to appear in Britannia. Nobody knows why exactly, but several wakes are held in their memory by their worshippers.

Year 345 - 352

Ilshenar History The following is a discourse written by the scholar Jerno Milik, who is the first known Britannian to decipher the history of the lands.

Mondain ruled for 1000 years using the Gem of Immortality to control Sosaria and bend it to his will. Mondain’s reign ended when a Stranger from the stars arrived, destroyed Mondain, and shattered the Gem of Immortality. In the world we live in this was the end of the first age of darkness, but not in Ilshenar. Let us not jump ahead though. First we must speak of shards and facets and what we know about them.

When the Gem of Immortality was shattered an image of Sosaria was captured in each of the broken shards. Each shard from that point further, as far as we can tell, has its own history and peoples. In recent years we have discovered that within each shard there are what may be limitless facets that contain individual worlds - again with their own histories and peoples. The possibility of infinity inside of infinity has many people at this very moment rather upset and thinking if there are layers beneath our current layer, could we not be another layer under some other world’s layer? I leave that thinking to the philosophers.

In the world we know we now have our original facet, Felucca, and our new facet, Trammel. One must also consider that Minax too did come from another facet. As to the nature of her previous world we know very little, but I digress. Trammel is in itself an oddity for it did not exist until Lord British and Nystul cast their magicks to make it so. How exactly this sorcery works it beyond my meager knowledge, beyond the fact that Lord British and Nystul drew power directly from the Virtues themselves to make it so.

Then what of Ilshenar our newly discover facet? The first brave men and women to venture into this newly discovered facet have returned with some maps and some literature. Everyday more information is brought back to us and this new land’s mysteries unfold. I have put together a patchwork of documents and tried to follow the path of Ilshenar’s history from the time after Mondain’s defeat up until what seems to be a handful of years ago. In part this has been difficult as the people of Ilshenar speak two languages often at once. Being a scholar I find this most peculiar. The primary language is the common tongue we all know and use, the secondary is foreign to an extent. It contains a very similar style of speech to the magic words of power we use to cast spells. An easy example is one I have found in reference to Wisps. Their word used for Wisp is “Orlor”. In our world that would be very similar to “Ort Lor” which translates to “Magic Light”. In fact much of the language used in speaking of magic or arcane knowledge is often done in this strange dialect. It has been a long running debate as to where the words we use for spell casting originated, mayhap Ilshenar will hold some answers for us. It leads me to wonder if these people knew more about magic then we, but again I jump ahead. Let us start at the beginning.

The Shattering

We return to the time when Mondain ruled the world. He was the unchallenged master of Sosaria until the Stranger arrived and ended Mondain’s reign forever. Even the smallest of children know this story and know that the times which followed that glorious day, until the recent troubles in our land, have been prosperous and wonderful times of discovery, knowledge, and most of all peace. Ilshenar did not share our happy fate. The day the Stranger defeated Mondain is known as the “shattering”. It is a day marked by death and disaster. On that day all was not made right, all was undone. The whole of the world changed. This is a small part from a book found in Ilshenar called “All That Remains”. At this time I do not know if this was a true account or if it is a fictional account, but it gives the best feeling of what happened that I have yet to find.

“The world now fallen. All torn and undone until it is remade whole again but different. Where I was is no longer where I am yet I have not moved a step. Fate has swallowed the world and spat it out, gnawed, ruined, changed. We are lost in our own land.”

It would seem that their entire world was transformed into a something that does not resemble our world at all. One can only imagine the terror this would have caused in those who were still alive. From the first day after, stories began to sprout like weeds. I found this passage on a scroll that was brought back from the first expedition.

“It is all clear. The Anorlor have finally cleansed our world of its corruption and Mondain is fallen. Mistas is restored.”

As I spoke of earlier Orlor is the word for Wisp. Anorlor would seem to be a “dark wisp”. Mistas, which is used very often, seems to be the word for Balance. This author, it would seem, thought these “dark wisps” had been responsible. Possibly thinking they had cast Armageddon as Zog had done eons ago. This particular thought is set my hair on end. Thinking back to the Followers of the Armageddon and their “obsidian wisps”.

Another author wrote:

“All is for nothing. Mondain is Anilem.”

It took some time to figure out what “Anilem” was. The best we can decipher is that it means “he who destroys”. This would make sense if this author had thought Mondain responsible for the destruction of their world. Which in a crooked sort of manner he was.

This last excerpt is taken from a book found in a large temple in the northwest section of the world. The temple is known as Terort Skitas. This translates directly to Temple of Knowledge. This one line seems to translate closely to what we know to be our history.

“Avenlem est Anilem. Mondain est korp-kat. Sosaria est bal-kans”

Translated:

“Lost-one is Destroyer. Mondain is fallen death. Sosaria is doom consumed.”

This was not simple to decipher. The “Lost-one” literally translates to “not found one” This would seem to imply the author may have meant the Stranger had destroyed Mondain and thus destroyed their world. This is open to interpretation.

By all accounts the Sosaria of Ilshenar was far from what it had been before Mondain fell.

Recovery

The remaining people slowly recovered. From the remaining masses a leader emerged. Strong and confident, Ilshen took to organizing the people and restoring order. Ilshen began the rebuilding of civilization when she was only twenty-two years old. Little is stated about her other than her undying devotion to make sure all was put right in the world. We hope to find more writings about this young woman who started the rebuilding of the world.

The people gathered in the northeast area of the world and established a city on a mountainside calling it Montor. Long ago in Sosaria another town of the same name had existed in, ironically, the lands ruled by Lord British himself. At first I thought the name was just a reuse of a familiar town but you can translate the name to mean “Mountain Passion”. The later seems to ring true. In other texts it is listed as Mont-Or. The later name would befit a new city with people who survived such a catastrophe. This new city took about 40 years to complete. It was, by all accounts, a paradise of city and mountain with waterfalls that cut between buildings and the mountainside. In the years that followed Ilshen and a council of scholars set up laws and government and peace reigned.

Then twenty years after its completion Montor was destroyed. We still are missing pieces of all that transpired but it seems the mountain Montor was built on had a volcanic eruption. The city’s present state would back that up fully. It would also appear that the people knew it was going to happen and evacuated.

Rebirth and Separation

From the single city of Montor came several sects of people. This division was already well in progress before the city was to meet its doom. Even though the city was doomed some stayed. They moved down the mountainside and camped in tents and wagons waiting until the eruptions would stop so that they might return.

To the west the mountains had been breached with a road. A keep was built as a halfway point and as a fortress to keep out what ever lay beyond. The northwest section of this world is a huge forest that melds into jungle as it heads south. In the center of this area is Terort Skitas, the Temple of Knowledge. Much of the information we have about Ilshenar is from books are scrolls found here. It appears this place was being built long before the city would fall. It resembles what Montor must have looked like before it met its doom. As people fled Montor some came here. They called themselves the Anskitas. That loosely translates into Awakening Knowledge. It was a place for study and reflection. Judging by the description of the mostly empty bookshelves one would guess this great library might have rivaled our own Lycaeum.

More people than just the Anskitas came west. The remaining people were not suited for days of study and contemplation. Another scroll described these people as “…stoic and strong. Seeking the Balance of all things.” They headed south. In the south they found a race of lizard men that were less than friendly. The southwestern landscape watches jungle fade into swamp. At the most southern point is the home of the lizard men that would plague these people on a regular basis. This may explain the city they built. Looking more like a fortress, and rivaling Trinsic as walled cities go, it is a sight to behold. They called it Mistas. To the west of the city are two towers that mark the entrance ways to what appears to be a huge underground keep. All the information we have would indicate that these were just and honorable people.

Other people left Montor and headed south. We have yet to be able to explain some of the things were have found here. There is a city that sits on the water in the southeast section of the world. These people are still a bit of an enigma. They do not use the secondary language at all. They call their city Lakeshire, while the Anskitas refer to it as Mireg, translating to Water-Home. The people in Mistas refer to the people there as “lacking will”. All in all it is very confusing. Mayhap as we find more information we can sort it all out.

All around this area it would seem strange magicks are at work. In the center of the lake found here is a citadel. No one has yet entered to investigate but a passage found in a book in Terort Skitas describes those that built it.

“Est ven lem vas mani”

Translates:

“The ones seeking higher life”

One can only imagine what that might mean.

To the north of Lakeshire is another oddity. A small village built into huge trees And inhabited by what some have called Pixies. I find it hard to believe in such foolishness. The southern expanse also holds mystery. There you find large cairn stones that seem to mark boundaries. One party reported seeing strange figures in the woods here. To the west of the town is a ruined forge. It looks as if it was used to forge iron mined from a cave just next to the location. It is now overrun with vermin. Finally that last note on this area would be a large fortress built into the side of a mountain. No one has dared venture inside for the outside is piled high with skulls and bones. One passage in another of the Anskitas books speaks of this place.

“korp ku-nte reg de por-ilem-mani-lemi”

Translates:

“death within the home of she that takes life”

I fear for those who would be the first to explore this place.

Virtue

It seems that the Virtues exist across facets. Though not all have been seen by our exploration parties, the eight shrines of Virtue are spoken of in all the areas of Ilshenar. Ilshen herself had the first shrine built. That was the shrine of Compassion. Again, very little of anything involving Ilshen exists, this is one of the rare pieces, in the form of a poem.

“Ilshen stood with hands of light, At sun’s height without a sound. The Ankh was stood upright, upon Compassion’s ground.”

Strangely enough a shrine to Chaos is also to be found. Lord Blackthorn is pleased by this news I am sure.

People and Mysteries

The biggest question we have to face is what happened to all the people of Ilshenar? Little by little we are finding the clues and are amazed at what we are finding out: knowledge that will change our view of things, forever.

Somewhere around 150 years after the “shattering” the most amazing thing happened. A brilliant mage name Ulvol opened a portal between facets. The Anskitas do not call them facets, they call them Arktermar or “hidden worlds”. Ulvol discovered that he could tune these portals like a lute string and find new destinations. At this time we are hoping to find a record of how to do such a wondrous thing, but so far to no avail. The people of Ilshenar traveled between facets like you or I would walk to the moongate in Britain in order to get to Skara Brae. This in itself is amazing. The question then is, where are these gates? The texts speak of permanent gates, called Vasgres, used for commerce between worlds. No one has found such a thing. Instead we found these passages in several different books in Mistas:

“The four traitors have been sent through the Justice Vasgres into the void. We who remain have ensured the bal-lem is imprisoned. The last Vasgres, at Sacrifice, between the Arktermars are now sealed. Ensuring safety of our people and of all who exist outside our world. We can live out our last days knowing we have done what is just and that we have restored mistas. To my friends who have sacrificed themselves, may Virtue shine upon you always.”

“The bal-lem (a word here is scratched out) has taken the north tower and made it rubble.”

“(a word here scratched out) has come. He is bal-lem, he seeks to be Anilem.”

“The bal-lem is in league with the Anorlor fiends. Together they seek our doom.”

“The eight have offered themselves to seal the bal-lem (a word here scratched out) for eternity in the prison we have made. May Virtue guide them.”

“The migration through the Vasgreses is near completion. If (a word he scratched out) will be held back so that all who wish to go may escape.”

Bal-lem is “evil one”. Everywhere it would seem to name this “evil one” the text has been scratched out. It appears that what ever the bal-lem was it is now imprisoned and most of Ilshenar has fled to other facets. This is a bit unsettling. Why if this beast were captured would they not return? Why destroy the Vasgreses between facets? Again I hope for scrolls and books to arrive soon.

Conclusions

Many things are not fully explained. It would seem to boil down to this place, Ilshenar, like Felucca and Trammel is another Facet of Sosaria. A world that was torn apart when the Gem of Immortality was shattered. A world that knew of the Virtues and followed them. A world set upon by some great evil that they conquered but feared so much that, even though it was imprisoned, they still not dare return. That simple fact has given some of us pause as to the continuation of our exploration for the fear that we may unwittingly unleash that, which has been imprisoned.

- Jerno Milik, Grand scholar of the Lycaeum

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