Tsar
For centuries, Tsar embodied evil and hate. Orcus, the demon prince of the undead, delights in leading the righteous down the path of corruption, and the circumstances surrounding the genesis of Tsar are no different. The city began its existence more than 4,000 years ago as St. Harul’s Hold, a bastion of good that housed the High Altars of Thyr and Muir. For centuries thereafter, the holy place, now known simply as St. Harul’s, drew pilgrims from throughout Akados, including Polemarch Oerson who bestowed gifts upon its patriarch when the Hyperboreans first arrived in Akados. However, St. Harul’s virtuous façade concealed a terrible secret. Over the course of several hundred years, the disciples of Orcus steadily infiltrated the shrine’s political and ecclesiastical hierarchy like a malignant cancer. The end came in 2462 I.R. when Tam Xaverik, a clandestine priest of Orcus, became the Protector of the Hold. In less than 10 years, Tam successfully wiped away all remaining vestiges of Thyr and Muir including their clergy and followers, and renamed the debased city Tsarul.
Within a century, the small shrine and town expanded into a festering metropolis. Like a siren’s call, the great temple city beckoned foul beings of all sorts into its diabolical embrace, including hordes of humanoid tribes from the Dragon Hills and hosts of evil men and monsters from every corner of Akados. There, in its wicked arms, Tsar sucked every iota of goodness and compassion from its subjects until only darkness and malevolence dwelt within the being’s loathsome heart. At its center stood the great Citadel of Orcus, the epicenter of demonic worship in the mortal world. Within its wicked confines, the demon prince’s deranged worshippers committed heinous atrocities and schemed to unleash even greater horrors against all who defied their master’s baleful call.
Despite its stain upon the world, the great empires of Akados and beyond cast their eyes away from the terrible blight tainting their lands for hundreds of years. The Grand Cornu, Orcus’ earthly representative, grew rich and complacent from their collective apathy and malaise. He levied stiff tariffs against goods passing over the roads crossing through his lands to the east. With the aid of the indigenous non-humanoid tribes, he established a foothold at a southern port to further expand his influence. It seemed no one would dare to challenge the Grand Cornu’s machinations — until an opportunity for revenge reared its head.
Keen for a chance to settle the score for expelling them from St. Harul’s centuries earlier, the weakened yet still potent churches of Thyr and Muir gathered a delegation of good- and neutral-aligned faiths to petition the newly-crowned Overking Graeltor to lead a crusade against Tsar. Buoyed by the success of his predecessor’s crusade and Tsar’s growing threat to the lucrative trade routes between the Isthmus and Foere, the new monarch assembled his own military force he dubbed the Army of Light. In 3208 I.R., Zelkor, a powerful archmage who served as Graeltor’s most trusted advisor, led the Army of Light out of Bard’s Gate to march against Tsar.
Zelkor’s forces punched through Tsar’s outer defenses, laying the land and the enemy to waste in horrific fashion. After a year of ferocious battles, the Army of Light now stood in sight of their goal — the depraved city of Tsar. The forces of good besieged the metropolis for months without any breakthroughs and a tremendous loss of life on both sides of the walls. Reinforcements from the depths of The Abyss continuously poured into Tsar, while celestial beings bolstered the ranks of Zelkor’s demoralized army. Then without warning, the Grand Cornu and the entirety of Tsar’s defenders inexplicably vanished from the city. When Zelkor caught sight of the force behind the Army of Light, he pursued Orcus’ disciples into the Forest of Hope, where both sides were never seen nor heard from again.
Meanwhile, the paladin Bishu and a small contingent of knights entered the abandoned city, encountering only sporadic resistance on their way to the Citadel of Orcus. When they entered the demon prince’s earthly stronghold, the structure inexplicably disappeared into nothingness, presumably taking Bishu and his cohorts with it. All that remained of Tsar and Orcus’ minions were a handful of stragglers and the sundered ruins of a broken and abandoned city. While Graeltor could theoretically claim victory over Tsar, the heavy price in men and materiel left Foere in disarray. The Hyperborean monarchy of the Foerdewaith soon collapsed under the heavy weight of rebellion spurred primarily by the crusade’s tremendous costs when measured in spent resources and lost lives.
Although Tsar technically had been defeated, few ventured to the shattered metropolis to claim the spoils of victory. The confrontation between the Army of Light and the minions of Orcus transformed Tsar and its surroundings into a desolate wasteland. Furthermore, many terrifying mysteries remained. No one could explain what happened to the Citadel of Orcus, the Army of Light, and the demonic hordes they chased into the Forest of Hope. For the most part, Tsar remains unchanged from that fateful day. Although some monstrous denizens streamed into the city to dwell amid the rubble and some guardians remain sequestered somewhere within the city, the settlement is now a far cry from its former, inglorious self. Rumors persist that many of Orcus’ devotees still reside in the undercity below the broken streets and razed buildings. Others believe an even more ancient force predating all recorded history and legend played a role in deciding the battle’s outcome for better or worse. Regardless of the truth, only the hardiest adventurers even dream of making the long, arduous slog to Tsar’s desecrated ruins.
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