Dynasty of Varkos
The Dynasty of Varkos was a noble family of the Empire of Kataris who formed a successor state in the Vale of Viraky from the fall of the Katari Empire in the mid 6th century AK until the Viraky Revolution of 1076 AK. They were notorious as practitioners of necromancy and blood magic, and are known to have transformed themselves into vampires. They are widely believed to have been wiped out when the people of Viraky rose up against them with the help of Alderni mercenaries, though there is some suggestion that they may have survived in the wilderness of Deep Haunt.
History
The Empire of Kataris is believed to have annexed the Vale of Viraky in the mid-2nd century AK, driving out or enslaving the Goblins who dwelled in the valley along with those of the Ljotis humans who had sided with them against the Katari invaders. The earliest reference to the Varkoi refers to them as the "Plegmena", meaning "braided ones", and describes them as being a Ljotin tribe who sided with the invaders and were granted rulership over the valley for their assistance in the annexation. "Varkos", which is similar to a word in the language of the Ljotis meaning "braid", might thus be best understood as an attempt to render the original name of that tribe in a way that would be easily pronounced by the Katari.
The Varkoi are understood as having intermarried and assimilated into Katari culture over the next few centuries, in a similar fashion to a number of the empire's other subject peoples, adopting Katari customs and setting themselves aside from the "barbarous" inhabitants of the valley who they ruled over. They were renowned for their ruthlessness and for their magical skill, and were considered among the Katari Empire's most loyal subjects.
When Witherpeak erupted in 544 AK, the valley of Viraky was devastated by the rain of ash and fire, and the choking clouds of poisonous gas that billowed from the accursed mountain. As the Katari Empire fell into disarray, the Varkoi are said to have turned to the darkest aspects of necromancy and blood magic to ensure their own survival, entering into pacts with foul entities in order to transform themselves into immortal vampires, undeath granting them a measure of protection from the devastation that overtook the valley, and the ash of Witherpeak likewise guarding them from the glare of sunlight. Weaving a web of magic about the valley that held the poison clouds at bay, they offered their former subjects a choice as simple as it was cruel - to serve these new undead masters, or to perish in the choking miasma.
For more than five centuries, the Dynasty of Varkos held sway over the valley - their rule at first enforced by their control over the elements, and later by their growing necromantic prowess and monstrous servants. Any hint of rebellion was crushed without mercy, entire families being put to the sword in order to ensure the obedience of the valley's population on whom they fed. It is perhaps a mercy that the ambitions of the Varkoi did not extend beyond the vale of Viraky - for whilst there were sporadic efforts by Balthan jarls, Goblins, and the mages of Ira's Flame to annex the valley, the magical prowess and undead forces of the Dynasty of Varkos proved unassailable.
Disbandment
Historians have endlessly debated how the Viraky Revolution of 1076AK was able to topple the seemingly invincible Varkoi, and there is little agreement on the subject within most academic circles. It is well-established that the rebel peasants received assistance from Aldernord, and that the Barony of Viraky was an Alderni protectorate until the Treaty of Taraborg established the Gateway Alliance in 1302 AK; but in 1076 AK Aldernord was also engaged in the War of the Seas with the aquatic Empire of Xapikatlec, and could surely only spare a small number of soldiers. It is often assumed that the Varkoi made some critical error of judgement, or that the rebels were simply lucky and able to catch them off guard and burn the fortress of Nachtzahn before the vampires could put down the insurrection.
The archives of the Gilded Tower, however, shed a rather different light on the situation - for whilst the fall of the Varkoi was occasioned by a rebellion among their subjects as is generally assumed, the support that the rebellion garnered was rather wider.
It appears that in late 1075 AK, a few months prior the rebellion, an organisation known as the y'Mara Temakh met in Rostog. Whilst little is known of the y'Mara Temakh for certain, it appears that the meeting consisted of representatives of the houses of Bheuren, Canthor and Zaal, along with mages from Ira's Flame and, most enigmatically of all, emissaries from the Second Empire of Yua and Ras Amur. The Tower's archives record that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the matter of the Varkoi, whom they apparently considered a significant threat. The nature of this threat was not entirely clear, though appeared to relate to a magical ritual referred to as the Black Rain of Famine that the Varkoi had either developed or rediscovered, and which the y'Mara Temakh believed they might unleash upon the world at the bidding of the entity which had granted them their vampiric immortality. The y'Mara Temakh considered that this was too great a risk to justify their long-held policy of non-interference in Viraky, and after some significant debate agreed to back a nascant insurrection against the Varkoi.
It was thus that when trouble stirred in the vale of Viraky in 1076 AK, the rebels soon found themselves unexpectedly assisted by the magical might of the normally isolationist Collegium Euocatio, who descended from their mountain stronghold to rain down fire upon the vampires. This was then further augmented by a small contingent of elite Alderni soldiers, mostly from the armies of House Canthor - it being the case that the forces of House Zaal and House Bheuren were mostly occupied with the defence of the western coast and islands against the Sahuagin. Among these soldiers, it appears that there was a contingent of soldiers under the command of the di Gratiano family of Cameri. The Tower's archives report that these forces were joined by a handful of Yuan-Ti assassins from Tenuatlan, and several powerful magicans from Ras Amur.
It appears that the Varkoi, though well prepared to crush a peasant insurrection, were caught completely unawares by the alliance that had formed against them. Less than a week had passed from the first skirmishes with the vampires before the fortress of Nachtzahn was put to the flame, and within three short months the Varkoi had been scattered. Those among the vampires who did not flee the valley were hunted down without mercy, dragged from their hiding places and impaled on wooden stakes to burn up in the light of the dawn.
Though the western end of the valley was never entirely cleansed on the undead menace, by the end of 1076 the Vale of Viraky had been liberated from the tyranny of the Varkoi. The alliance that had aided the rebels in their struggle dispersed - though not before the Alderni took the opportunity to ransack Nachtzahn for whatever knowledge and relics the Varkoi may have left behind. The Tower's archive suggests that the mages of Ras Amur were the last to depart the valley, conducting a great ritual with a local group of druids known as the Circle of the Thunderstar which caused a great earthquake that destroyed a small glacier in the nearby mountains where the river Basval now flows, creating the Barrier Lake.
The Dynasty Today
Whilst the power of the Dynasty of Varkos was shattered in 1076AK, it has recently emerged that a number of vampires may have secretly survived in the Vale of Viraky. Those that remain are said to have sworn fealty to Hyperios Canthor of Deep Haunt, and within their own ranks are led by Dmitri Varkos.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
100s AK - 1076 AK
Type
Political, Family
Alternative Names
Vampires of Nachtzahn, The Braided Tribe
Predecessor Organization
Successor Organizations
Demonym
Varkoi
Location
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Comments