Last days and the Eruption

The account of the Last Days and the Eruption is an eye-witness account of the Crescent Eruption. It was written by Nezenar Tyrgam, a court baker of King Ustetur-Sahar Šamžan who, as the account itself reveals, was actually secretly a man of lower nobility, and a spy of the king of South Wašleng.

Contents

The Last days is a manuscript of 6 surviving scrolls, of which the two outermost scrolls (containing the last pages of the manuscript) have suffered significant damage due to moisture. The text is written on both sides of the scrolls, in Standard Zeribian. Based on the quality of the handwriting and some spelling mistakes, it is likely that the manuscript was written by the author, rather than a professional scribe.

The account starts from when the first cases of the Plague were observed on Crescent, and continues then to describe the eruption itself in a great detail. The last pages detailing the refugee of the inhabitants first to the nearby isle of Mulengder, and later to Washleng have been damaged, and are thus partially unreadable.

significance

The account is one of the few surviving eyewitness accounts of the most devastating recent catastrophe in the history of Salan, and by far the earliest written description of it. Many of the eyewitnesses of the last days on the Crescent were lost during the subsequent years, or were too traumatised to tell the whole story, leaving the people wondering Who caused the Black Years?

Transmittance

The account is estimated to have been written within 2-4 years after the Eruption (623-625 AH), and was originally intended as an intelligence report to the King of South Wašleng. Despite the delay between the events and the time of writing, it can be resonably suggested that the account is based on Tyrgam's personal notes or diary written during the Eruption. The document was stored in the records in the old palace of South Wašleng, until it was rediscovered sometime in the 750's AH, and then transported to North Wašleng for further safekeeping. It's contents were published for the benefit of the historians in 762.

Legacy

The publication of the account reignited old hostilities between the descendants of the house Šamžan and house Tyršan. The document seems to support the controversial theory, that Šamžan Senet the prince of Moons was responsible for arranging for the murder of his father Ustetur-Sahar Šamžan. This turn of events seemed to conveniently support the Tyršans' claims that they truely deserved to inherit the throne and lands of the Crescent Island, right after they had established a colony on the island. This has lead some to suspect that the account is a later forgery, or that it has been tampered with.

Type

Manuscript, Historical

Medium

Papyrus

Authoring Date

623-625

Location

Crescent Island

Authors

• Nezenar Tyrgam

Author

Nezenar Tyrgam was born a third son of a lord of the House Nezenar. He was originally born 590 AH in South Wašleng, but in 614 AH, at the age of 25, was send to Crescent on the command of the King in order to infiltrate King Ustetur-Sahar Šamžan's palace, posing as a baker. At the time of the Eruption he had lived six years on Crescent, and his account reveals that he was throughly familiar with the with the workings of the city state and the palace through the stricking detail of his commentary.
The later history of the author remains unknown, and he has not left any known descendants to this day.