The seven
runelords of
Thassilon each ruled their own realm in the centuries before Earthfall. Each runelord was a powerful wizard tied to a particular aspect of sin magic.
Origin of the Runelords
Thassilon was founded in -6530 AR by First King
Xin, who had been exiled from his homeland of Azlant for promoting heretical beliefs. As the empire grew beyond the bounds of Xin's ability to control militarily and administratively, he appointed powerful wizards as governors to oversee his lands. The mightiest of these were the runelords, seven of the most skilled (and power-hungry) wizards in Thassilon, if not all of Golarion. In -6420 AR, the runelords assassinated Xin. They subjugated those loyal to him—including his son, who became a puppet emperor—while each plotted within his or her lands to become ruler of all Thassilon.
The Virtues of Rule (generosity, love, humility, temperance, charity, kindness, and zeal), passed down from the goddess Lissala and First King Xin himself, were seen as the benefits of power, and each of the runelords was drawn towards one of the seven. Over the course of time, the runelords corrupted these into what modern scholars understand to be the "great sins of the soul," abandoning the positive aspects of each and embracing the negative connotations of each (greed, lust, boastful pride, gluttony, envy, wrath, and sloth) as the rewards of rule. Each of the seven rulers specialized in a single school of rune magic and possessed a mighty weapon that served them in battle and became a symbol of their rule.
The Runelords' Slumber
Thassilon met its end when the alghollthus called down Earthfall to destroy Azlant. As the end drew near, the seven runelords retreated into the depths of their greatest monuments, put themselves into stasis, and tasked their minions to free them once the dangers have passed. Due to the sheer devastation of Earthfall, no one was left to waken them, and so the wizard kings of Thassilon slumbered for countless ages.
In Culture
Thassilon, and the runelords' reign over it, left indelible marks across the Inner Sea region. The Shoanti quahs of Varisia all still tell stories about the runelords, but refer to them as a pantheon of gods called the Azghat who turned evil and needed to be destroyed. Thassilonian ruins across the region still contain artifacts, magic items, treasures, and creatures associated with or crafted by the runelords.
