The Taxlatl Diaspora
According to the surviving treatises and texts on military aspects of the Great Strife, the principle reason battles raged across Cartyrion for over two hundred years was due to contributions of one particular faction among the followers of the The Gods of Coercion. Had the Taxlatl Empire's forces not been aligned with them, the world would not have suffered so. And this is why, according to those same treatises and texts, when the war was finally won, the Folk on the side of the The Gods of Consent agreed to ensure that military prowess would not threaten them again. That was why the Second Taxlatl Empire was forcibly dismantled and the Taxlatl People scattered.
Over the course of fifty years, teams of Dwarven workers from the Second Delve set about leveling the capital city of Taxl gra Kalakhrassa, the City of the Plains. With the aid of Gnomish engineers, the temples and government buildings were reduced to collapsed piles of rubble. Then, even the rubble was leveled to ensure that the ruins no longer resembled the pyramid-like structures favored by the empire. The rest of the "Five Cities" suffered similar fates. Only parts of the port of Fen's Edge were spared, but the Dwarves occupied this city themselves, driving out any Taxlatl that were living there.
The levees and canals that had be built to reclaim fertile land from the natural marshes were broken as well; it did not take long for the fetid, stagnant swamps reclaimed fields that had sustained a rich, powerful, and highly cultured people.
Smaller villages within the Taxlatl homelands were not spared either. By the time they considered their work finished, not a single stone structure remained standing between the Second Delve and the dark trees of the Coldmarsh Weald.
Some bands of exiles broke off to establish crude settlements in the isolated desolation of the Coldwater Lakes region. Some turned south and found refuge in the lands around Wolf's Bay among the many Orcs, Goblins, and Humans that had aligned themselves with the wrong side in the ar. Still others pressed further southward into the jungles south of the Dwarven Waking Delve.
Most continued eastward. Small, crude villages of Taxlatl refugees would rise along the way as some of the folk simply got tired of walking. These tended to be along rocky coasts, or in the Basin Wall mountains. As far as the armies driving them forward were concerned, anyplace a group wished to remain was acceptable as long as it was not rich, fertile land that would permit the Taxlatl to once more husband their herds of fearsome war-beasts back into a fighting force.
But they carried one other thing them that could never be taken away. They preserved their heritage and history thanks to their Past Singers. These folk - part historian, part storyteller, and part priest - kept alive the belief that the Taxlatl People were a great people, destined to forever be a significant part of the World of Cartyrion. They owe this to the efforts of one person - arguably the most important Taxlatl to have ever lived: Asssakh Khasssah. Known as the Past Singer of All the World, she made it her life's work to ensure that as the Taxlatl Diaspora was taking place, it was only the people's physical homelands that were being dispersed. Their culture would remain intact, and one day, the Taxlatl people would be unified and great once more.
The Breaking of the Empire
The Dwarves were tasked with the physical breaking of the Empire. This made sense as it was the Dwarves who had taught the Lizardfolk to build great structures with stone.Over the course of fifty years, teams of Dwarven workers from the Second Delve set about leveling the capital city of Taxl gra Kalakhrassa, the City of the Plains. With the aid of Gnomish engineers, the temples and government buildings were reduced to collapsed piles of rubble. Then, even the rubble was leveled to ensure that the ruins no longer resembled the pyramid-like structures favored by the empire. The rest of the "Five Cities" suffered similar fates. Only parts of the port of Fen's Edge were spared, but the Dwarves occupied this city themselves, driving out any Taxlatl that were living there.
The levees and canals that had be built to reclaim fertile land from the natural marshes were broken as well; it did not take long for the fetid, stagnant swamps reclaimed fields that had sustained a rich, powerful, and highly cultured people.
Smaller villages within the Taxlatl homelands were not spared either. By the time they considered their work finished, not a single stone structure remained standing between the Second Delve and the dark trees of the Coldmarsh Weald.
The Scattering of the People
As for the Taxlatl themselves, they were simply driven out. Some fled into the dark marshy forests of the Coldmarsh Weald. Most went eastward across the Broken Range into the Coldwater Lakes region and the land that would soon become the Kingdom of Tyrnabay. They were driven by the vast armies of Humans, Elves, and other Allies as the victorious marched home in triumph. For their part, the Lizardfolk were dismayed at being turned into penniless exiles, but were happy they were not prisoners - or worse.Some bands of exiles broke off to establish crude settlements in the isolated desolation of the Coldwater Lakes region. Some turned south and found refuge in the lands around Wolf's Bay among the many Orcs, Goblins, and Humans that had aligned themselves with the wrong side in the ar. Still others pressed further southward into the jungles south of the Dwarven Waking Delve.
Most continued eastward. Small, crude villages of Taxlatl refugees would rise along the way as some of the folk simply got tired of walking. These tended to be along rocky coasts, or in the Basin Wall mountains. As far as the armies driving them forward were concerned, anyplace a group wished to remain was acceptable as long as it was not rich, fertile land that would permit the Taxlatl to once more husband their herds of fearsome war-beasts back into a fighting force.
The Taxlatl Today
By the time the last groups of Taxlatl established permanent homes in the marshlands of the Frontiers and the Feywood, the once-great and techno-magically advanced civilization had been reduced to tiny pockets of refugees equipped with little more than their wits, a few domestic beasts, and stone tools.But they carried one other thing them that could never be taken away. They preserved their heritage and history thanks to their Past Singers. These folk - part historian, part storyteller, and part priest - kept alive the belief that the Taxlatl People were a great people, destined to forever be a significant part of the World of Cartyrion. They owe this to the efforts of one person - arguably the most important Taxlatl to have ever lived: Asssakh Khasssah. Known as the Past Singer of All the World, she made it her life's work to ensure that as the Taxlatl Diaspora was taking place, it was only the people's physical homelands that were being dispersed. Their culture would remain intact, and one day, the Taxlatl people would be unified and great once more.
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