The Tapestry of Meeros Tilva

"The city within a pocket dimension..."

During the age of Lumeria, in the once verdant expanse of Hariel Minuta that has now become The Wastes of Veric, stood the free city of Meeros Tilva. Meeros Tilva was a bastion of freedom, barely holding out amidst the horrors of the dictatorship known as The Empire of Methanok and its vile worship of the Outer God called Faldrighel. As such, it was a constant reminder to the Emperor Razen Diatrasi that his complete subjugation and control of Hariel Minuta was, in fact, incomplete. The writing was on the wall, as it had been for many years. Meeros Tilva would eventually fall. But the residents of the free city did not stand idly by. They knew there was no way to counter an attack of the magnitude they predicted, let alone defeat the emperor's army. They weren't even going to try. It would cost them too many lives for something beyond futile. Their master plan involved no battle. It was a stroke of genius born of arcane intellect. The wizards of Meeros Tilva were a worldly lot. They'd seen the wonders of the arcane throughout the realm and beyond, and had traded many wonders of their own in exchange for powerful magics. The order known as the Crimson Path (comprised of the greatest casters within Meeros Tilva) devised an escape plan for the people of Meeros Tilva... and the very city itself! The head of the Crimson Path, a member of the Circle of Seven known as Seer Vistanos, set about creating a a pocket dimension, a rift in the very fabric of the world, just large enough to encircle the city of Meeros Tilva. He then went to the finest craftsmen in the city and commissioned a great tapestry to be weaved. However, one with no inks or dyes used within the weave itself. An invisible portrait of Meeros Tilva. Once to project his pocket dimension upon.

THE DAY OF CREATION

And so came the inevitable, as Diatrasi's fearsome army mustered along the horizon, visible from Meeros Tilva as a dark, hanging smog of evil. And here the army stayed for many days and weeks, bringing nothing but fear to the city below. The intimidation worked, and virtually all of the various traders and merchants who both bought from and supplied Meeros Tilva were driven off, fearing for their lives. All but one. A simple spice merchant named Zel Alsa Nathere, of the nomadic Simbali peoples, remained (note: in some legends he is referred to as Tindalas al Anfar). He smuggled into the besieged city more than just spices. He brought food, for most of the farms beyond the city walls were now untended. He brought arms for the people of the peaceful city to defend themselves. He asked for nothing but the cost of the items in return. He proved himself worthy of the next step without ever knowing what he was doing. The religious leader of the city, a man originally from the north of Hariel Majour named Pontiff Blackwell, approached Zel. He had nothing to truly offer the merchant, but came with a request so urgent that to deny it would spell the end of Meeros Tilva. Blackwell presented Zel with the blank tapestry. "It must be you," he explained. "You must take this tapestry from here. Keep it safe. For your entire life. And then entrust it to your family. And their families after them." He continued, informing Zel that the emperor had put his cursed finger upon the names of every single man, woman and child within the walls of the city. They were all marked by accursed magic and, as such, could never hide from their enemy. It seemed the Circle of Seven was about to enact a strange and power rite. One that would transfer the entire city of Meeros Tilva, along with every one of its residents, into the literal weave of the "blank" tapestry itself. The ritual could not be performed before the attack, and it must be made in sight of the tapestry itself. Zel would be forced to remain in Meeros Tilva during the initial assault, putting his life at risk. Then, once the transference was complete, he'd need to escape the watchful eyes of the enemy and flee to safety. It was a long shot, and a risky one at that. Zel agreed. The attack came that evening. It was personally led by the Emperor himself, along with his top generals. This was to be the final victory that would complete the empire's total domination of Hariel Minuta. Zel stayed within sight of the Circle of Seven as they performed their arcane ritual. They'd be cutting it close. As the ritual continued, something terrible transpired. One of the mages' circle suddenly turned on the others. A spy! Worse than that, this agent was supposedly possessed by the spirit of the evil outer god that presided over the empire of Methanok itself. The dark Elder Being known as Faldrighel, come to preside over his disciples' ultimate victory. The possessed member of the Circle of Seven, a mage named Pathanis was apparently now the actual avatar of the Lord of Evil. The city guards rushed in and managed to subdue Pathanis before he could completely ruin the ritual, however the damage had already been done... The ritual required a bond between the spell casters. They had made it to the very end, but the power needed to flow around the circle of mages, and all seven were required. Zel, never a man of the arcane himself, threw himself in, taking Pathanis' place, allowing the arcane power to surge through him. ...Somehow it worked. As the walls of Meeros Tilva began to collapse around them, the ritual was completed. A brilliant flash of light, and then there was nothing... Where the city once stood remained nothing but barren land. Every person within the walls of the city was gone. And so was the terrible god of Methanok himself... Faldrighel was also trapped within the tapestry. All were gone save for the enemy forces that infiltrated the walls. They, it seemed, had remained, perhaps even more confused than Emperor Diatrasi himself. Zel wasted no time. He had his orders. He somehow managed to escape notice and fled to his hometown, nearly two hundred miles away, yet still part of the empire. By the time he reached home he discovered that the entire Empire of Methanok was in turmoil. Half the army (comprised predominantly by slaves) turned on the other half, led by a rebel warrior named Aar Tethlan (see Aar Tethlan & the Fall of Methanok). The Emperor and his generals were slain. Methanok's days were numbered. Zel looked upon the tapestry he carried. Where once but a blank canvas stared back at him, now a vibrant depiction of Meeros Tilva filled its expanse. Zel knew he carried the fate of every man, woman and child of the "fallen" city. And he was proud to take on the burden of its survival.

THE PASSAGE OF TIME

Many years and many generations of Nathere children grew up to claim the tapestry as their personal responsibility. This persisted through the founding of Varuum, and even the reformation of Lentokk in the east. Finally Mesnet Nathere, a direct descendant of Zel's, took up the tapestry. She had heard of the virtue of the Grand Hassir of Varuum, just as she had heard of the Lentokki quest for the "magic item" that housed the ancient city of Meeros Tilva. She knew it was only a matter of time before they arrived at her doorstep. Knowing she was ill equipped to defend the tapestry from the blood mages of the east, she made the controversial decision to transfer her responsibility to another. Thus, she gained an audience with the Grand Hassir himself. There she made her plea. The Hassir had grown up knowing of the legend of Meeros Tilva and the fall of Methanok. Now he was being shown proof of the truth of it all. She begged him to unburden her of the tapestry. How could he say no? And so it was that the spice merchant's lineage ended their association with the tapestry, and the watch of the Grand Hassir and his own descendants began. None were to know that the Grand Hassir held this treasure. Not even his Vizier or closest advisors. Only two people at any given time were tasked with the knowledge. The Hassir and his inheritor to the throne. As an additional precaution, the Grand Hassir went to The Tower of Light and had the High Custodian cast a powerful ward upon the tapestry, even though the Master Mage had no idea as to its purpose or contents. This ward was linked to a key, which then became the sole way of bypassing the ward to access the magic within the weave. The Grand Hassir then entrusted the key to an unknown agent, someone whose identity is unknown to this very day (a secret even from the all-knowing Custodians). Secrecy was of the utmost concern to the lord of Varuum, and rightfully so. For if the tapestry were to ever fall into the wrong hands, the powers of both an ancient civilization and the dark god trapped within it, could be weaponized and unleashed.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Within the weave lies the last free city beyond the Methanok Empire. None know whether the souls within the tapestry are suspended in time, or if they continue to experience their lives (either in actual time or some form of subjective time out of sync with that of the Material Plane).

Manufacturing process

The tapestry was woven by the greatest artisans of Meeros Tilva, after which it was imbued with arcane energy by the Circle of Seven, via a ritual lost to the sands of time. It is said that the tapestry cannot be destroyed through ordinary means. It must be undone by a process unknown to any alive today.

Significance

Of significance to the entire world, as it houses the secrets of a civilization thought long lost. It is one of the only surviving magical artifacts from the age of Lumeria, though its current location is not fully known.