New Thassilon
Runelord Karzoug was the first of Thassilon’s seven runelords to wake after thousands of years in stasis, trapped just beyond the borders of reality until an unwitting stone giant wizard set in motion the process enabling the runelord’s return. A band of heroes stood against Karzoug and his giant armies and defeated him, and in the process resurrected the legacy of Thassilon.
When the revelation spread through Avistan that Varisia was once the site of a powerful and ancient empire of wizards that had been lost to time, adventurers, explorers, scholars, and investigators came from far and wide to study and learn more about Thassilon.
Leaders among Varisia’s city-states grew worried, though, for seven runelords had vanished at Earthfall, and if only one rising from slumber could wreak so much havoc, what then would happen if the others rose as well? At their urging, a new band of heroes sought out an ancient artifact, the seven-pointed Sihedron, and rebuilt it from its shattered parts. Originally created by Thassilon’s founder, the mighty wizard Xin, the Sihedron held within it the secrets of Thassilonian magic and would be a valuable defense against the other runelords should the time come.
Yet when the other runelords inevitably began to rise, Varisia’s reigning heroes and the Sihedron alike vanished without a trace. A new band of heroes rose to face the challenge, discovered the Sihedron’s fate, stood against Runelord Alaznist, and prevented her from altering time itself to turn the Saga Lands into an empire of pain and wrath. But the heroes needed help to achieve this goal, and they found it in the most unlikely of places—Runelord Sorshen.
Once the ruler of Eurythnia along Varisia’s southern coast, Sorshen was one of the most powerful of the seven runelords, and after the events of the recent return of the runelords settled, she was one of only two who survived. Sorshen and her counterpart, Runelord Belimarius, went on to claim a swath of thinly inhabited land along the northern edge of Varisia consisting primarily of the towering Kodar Mountains. This became New Thassilon.
The land of New Thassilon itself is further divided into two smaller kingdoms. Sorshen rules Eurythnia, the larger of the two, but her rule over this land is light and her involvement in the life of this land’s subjects subtle. Working as her adviser and benefactor is her once-demonic patron Nocticula, a newly ascended divinity associated with midnight, exiles, and artists. Together they seek to fashion Eurythnia and, in time, all of New Thassilon into a place where those with no other land to call their own can seek shelter, an asylum state for exiled politicians, subversive artists, and misfits of society. As queen of Eurythnia, Sorshen has abandoned the trappings of runelord and does not seek to follow in the footsteps of her fellows Karzoug and Alaznist. She’s seen their attempts at rule by force fail and has realized that the world has moved on since Thassilon’s fall. Wiser and accepting of this change, Queen Sorshen seeks to build New Thassilon into a place that can exist peacefully alongside its neighbors.
This view is not shared by her co-ruler to the west. Runelord Belimarius continues to be poisoned by the sting of envy, despite mercy and understanding from the heroes who could have destroyed her. She seems incapable of looking upon her neighbors’ holdings without jealousy, despite the fact that her own power remains great. Her first major act as ruler was a short but pivotal war with King Opir Eightfingers, whose realm in the Linnorm Kingdoms lay just north of her own. Her defeat of this unpopular ruler ironically cast her in a more favorable light, yet the gratitude of those who had grown tired of Opir’s posturing is likely to be short-lived. Sorshen knows Belimarius is an unstable element and may be the greatest threat to her hopes of New Thassilon finding a more peaceful position in the Saga Lands. Though resigned that it’s simply a matter of time before something must be done about her rival, Sorshen nevertheless abstains from dissenting publicly, allowing Belimarius to forge her own fate.
One significant development among the citizens of New Thassilon is the evolution of the title of “runelord” itself. In ancient Thassilon, only seven at a time held this title—it was synonymous with “governor” or “ruler” as much as it indicated mastery over arcane magic. But now, many have begun to explore and examine what it meant to be a runelord. In time, the notion of runelord may well make the transition from a governmental title to a widespread term. One of this movement’s most vocal and compelling leaders is a woman named Aethusa, the so-called “Thrice-born Queen,” who claims to be the reincarnation of not one but two runelords of old.
When the revelation spread through Avistan that Varisia was once the site of a powerful and ancient empire of wizards that had been lost to time, adventurers, explorers, scholars, and investigators came from far and wide to study and learn more about Thassilon.
Leaders among Varisia’s city-states grew worried, though, for seven runelords had vanished at Earthfall, and if only one rising from slumber could wreak so much havoc, what then would happen if the others rose as well? At their urging, a new band of heroes sought out an ancient artifact, the seven-pointed Sihedron, and rebuilt it from its shattered parts. Originally created by Thassilon’s founder, the mighty wizard Xin, the Sihedron held within it the secrets of Thassilonian magic and would be a valuable defense against the other runelords should the time come.
Yet when the other runelords inevitably began to rise, Varisia’s reigning heroes and the Sihedron alike vanished without a trace. A new band of heroes rose to face the challenge, discovered the Sihedron’s fate, stood against Runelord Alaznist, and prevented her from altering time itself to turn the Saga Lands into an empire of pain and wrath. But the heroes needed help to achieve this goal, and they found it in the most unlikely of places—Runelord Sorshen.
Once the ruler of Eurythnia along Varisia’s southern coast, Sorshen was one of the most powerful of the seven runelords, and after the events of the recent return of the runelords settled, she was one of only two who survived. Sorshen and her counterpart, Runelord Belimarius, went on to claim a swath of thinly inhabited land along the northern edge of Varisia consisting primarily of the towering Kodar Mountains. This became New Thassilon.
The land of New Thassilon itself is further divided into two smaller kingdoms. Sorshen rules Eurythnia, the larger of the two, but her rule over this land is light and her involvement in the life of this land’s subjects subtle. Working as her adviser and benefactor is her once-demonic patron Nocticula, a newly ascended divinity associated with midnight, exiles, and artists. Together they seek to fashion Eurythnia and, in time, all of New Thassilon into a place where those with no other land to call their own can seek shelter, an asylum state for exiled politicians, subversive artists, and misfits of society. As queen of Eurythnia, Sorshen has abandoned the trappings of runelord and does not seek to follow in the footsteps of her fellows Karzoug and Alaznist. She’s seen their attempts at rule by force fail and has realized that the world has moved on since Thassilon’s fall. Wiser and accepting of this change, Queen Sorshen seeks to build New Thassilon into a place that can exist peacefully alongside its neighbors.
This view is not shared by her co-ruler to the west. Runelord Belimarius continues to be poisoned by the sting of envy, despite mercy and understanding from the heroes who could have destroyed her. She seems incapable of looking upon her neighbors’ holdings without jealousy, despite the fact that her own power remains great. Her first major act as ruler was a short but pivotal war with King Opir Eightfingers, whose realm in the Linnorm Kingdoms lay just north of her own. Her defeat of this unpopular ruler ironically cast her in a more favorable light, yet the gratitude of those who had grown tired of Opir’s posturing is likely to be short-lived. Sorshen knows Belimarius is an unstable element and may be the greatest threat to her hopes of New Thassilon finding a more peaceful position in the Saga Lands. Though resigned that it’s simply a matter of time before something must be done about her rival, Sorshen nevertheless abstains from dissenting publicly, allowing Belimarius to forge her own fate.
One significant development among the citizens of New Thassilon is the evolution of the title of “runelord” itself. In ancient Thassilon, only seven at a time held this title—it was synonymous with “governor” or “ruler” as much as it indicated mastery over arcane magic. But now, many have begun to explore and examine what it meant to be a runelord. In time, the notion of runelord may well make the transition from a governmental title to a widespread term. One of this movement’s most vocal and compelling leaders is a woman named Aethusa, the so-called “Thrice-born Queen,” who claims to be the reincarnation of not one but two runelords of old.
Type
Geopolitical, Co-rulership
Predecessor Organization
Founders
Government System
Magocracy
Power Structure
Feudal state
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments