The Fallen Empire of Khermi
Long ago, during an ancient and forgotten age, Khermi stood as a shining beacon of civilization and Human achievement; a golden age when its cities shone with a majestic splendor, its buildings crafted from magnificent marble and limestone, its armies capable of conquering entire kingdoms. In this long-lost age, Khermi's mighty rulers reigned as living gods amongst men.
Through centuries of work and culture, Khermi, known to its people as the Great Land, was built into a powerful civilisation. Its people built great cities out of white stone and carved marble. They constructed vast roads and fleets of ships to connect each city to its neighbours. Mighty kings, whose every whim was law, ruled the people. Vast armies of disciplined soldiers were raised and trained in the king's name, and those that invaded their cities were mercilessly cut down.
At it's height, Khermi had controlled almost the entire lands of Varda, as well as the Islands in the Sapphire Sea, and even colonies on the continents of Olorin and Rohvanar.
The king's armies marched across the world, subjugating all before them, and their vast fleets of galleys terrorised the Great Ocean. Though Khermi and its cities grew in size, wealth and influence, the kings thirsted for ever greater power. To this end, they began to war upon each other.
After years of infighting, the kings were finally united by a great ruler known as Akophet the Eternal. Akophet brought each of the kings into line, and established a cruel but prosperous era for the Empire of Khermi. The arrogant king sought to rule forever, and turned towards a group of priests known as the Cult of Mortis .
The priests of Khemri did as Akophet bade them, and for years they brewed potions, recited incantations, and travelled into unknown lands in search of the secret to overcoming death.
In their research, the priests learned much, and they used their powers to extend Akophets's life far beyond its natural span. However, they could not halt the passage of time indefinitely and were merely postponing the inevitable while their lord's mortal body became ever frailer. The priests of the @Cult were naturally reluctant to reveal these limitations to Akophet, whose wrath was legendary, and continued to search in vain for a way to accomplish this impossible task.
The priests journeyed for many years throughout the world. They studied all aspects of death, and over the years they learned much, and their powers grew. Using their arcane knowledge, they also extended their own lives as well. They learned how to preserve a corpse from decay until the art of mummification had been tuned to perfection. These priests became some of the very first liches to come into existence, and first tapped into the negative energy plane, creating their necromantic spells.
Khermi soon became a society completely obsessed with death and immortality. Dieties like Myrkul, The Lord of Bones and Kelemvor, The Judge were worshiped the most among its citizens. In an event that is shrouded in mystery, with knowledge acquired from the Pyramid of Nekharma, a great ritual that was meant to give the priests and their king eternal life, ended in catastrophe. The entire capitol city was destroyed in the wake, and great nobles participating in the cult have been duped by Myrkul, The Lord of Bones and punished by Kelemvor, The Judge. The Khermi empire fell, and millions were wiped out in an instant. All that remained were the various liches, and their tombs buried beneath the sand of their demise.
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