History of the Accursed Expanse

By Liadka 'd Almeraux, 1245ER

About a thousand years in the past, the lands that are now called the Accursed Expanse were the heartland of the vast and mighty Opalian Empire. Originating from the city of Opal, the Opali tribe gradually conquered their neighbors, incorporating their cultures into their own and gradually expanding to control over half of the continent.

As the empire grew, its ruling elite gradually developed factions that struggled for control with one another. Eventually, the tenuous balance was broken by one faction making an agreement with a sinister outside force and attempting to take control, declaring themselves sovereign. Desperate to maintain their position, many other factions followed suit, making dark deals with a variety of entities.

The resulting civil war lasted for decades and ripped the empire apart, culminating in an earthquake-inducing magical eruption that nearly leveled Opal and left much of the surrounding countryside littered with wild magical energy that corrupted and sickened anyone who got nearby.

Much of the Empire's heartland was abandoned by all but the strongest or most foolhardy, its remnants still struggled over to this day by the dark powers that tore it apart between them.

Government & Culture

When the empire suffered a near-armageddon, much of its infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. As such, all central government effectively collapsed. In the following years, the remnants of the factions were subsumed by the entities they had summoned or created. Each of those entities became a local power, ruling over the imperial remnants.

Some have declared themselves kings or queens, whilst others are content to rule from the shadows. They vary as much in their temperament as any conscious being, though they are by necessity powerful individuals.

For most inhabitants the imperial past is a distant memory at best. For all that, the vestiges of Opalian culture still remain. Most of the day-to-day life of inhabitants is more collectivist than in other nations. Children are raised in what is known as a “Syntyche (common fate).“ These are communal living groups where they are cared for and taught until they reach their majority. Syntyche is also a common friendly greeting, denoting kinship and a desired for shared prosperity.

Economy

Most of the territories of the Expanse are self-sufficient by necessity. Trade between them is frequent, as long as there is no current war. Trade from outside of the Expanse is severely limited.

With much of the Expanse barren/cursed, most settlements are located near a coast or river. For reasons unknown to most, fresh meltwater has a slow purifying effect.

Military

Every territory still uses the core of imperial military doctrine, with a focus on shield-and-spear infantry. The scarcity and cost of horses mean that cavalry are often used in a supporting role, if at all.

Besides that, most territories have unusual capabilities that are derived from the nature of the ruler. For example, the Lord of Bats’ aerial bat riders and the dragonborn shock infantry of Chathilia. Below are listed some of the more influential territories of the Expanse, as well as what is known of their rulers.

Sciathús

The ancient monster Ugglukhalys was old when the world was young, spawned in dark and stagnant waters in the deep heart of the Underdark. There it spent its time growing, toying with the cautious mortal races that it came across, warping and subsuming them as it pleased. At its core lies an immutable belief that might makes right, and none could be mightier than it. Even the few times it was denied, tricked, or avoided it simply rewrote its own memories to suit its needs.

Even as the Drow first became aware of the true danger the ancient Aboleth and its brood – for it has spawned many times – posed, it became aware of the glory and power of the aboveground empire, and coveted it for itself. Approached by the Meritorious Brethren of the Golden Hall, with which it had in common its belief that strength is all that is needed to justify the wielding of that strength, it acquiesced to their request for a pact. They would pay the Aboleth in gold and slaves, and it would use its might and magic in their service. Alas for them, they did not realize the true nature of their ally.

Ugglukhalys subsumed the will of their leaders, using them like puppets and eliminating anyone who caught on to the danger that now lurked in the canals of the glorious city of Opal. It made only one significant miscalculation. It did not imagine that the opposing factions would be just as willing as it was to commit atrocities to acquire and hold on to power. As such, it was quickly rivaled by other beings of cunning and malice.

The magical cataclysm that destroyed the city after decades of bitter war also destroyed much of the aboleth's power, but not nearly all. It forced its slaves to remain and live in the ruined city, tilling the broken fields and enduring the cursed atmosphere. It still lurks in the lifeless canals of the city, making its home in a crater filled with brackish water.

A portion of its memory is missing. It does not remember the days before the cataclysm, and it does not remember how it happened. Whenever this bothers the ancient abomination it gets agitated, striking against its foes erratically and furiously.

Chathillia

One of the most enduring and stable powers in the Expanse is the ancient blue dragon Av'ulanach'athi'iliss, whose to non-draconean tongues incomprehensible name is Avulena Chathiliss. Hailing from the warm southern lands, Avulena was considered an unusually curious sort of dragon in her younger years. Interested in mortal culture, art, and many other things she traveled for centuries, before arriving to a now gone island nation which was conquered by the empire.

Avulena thrived in the empire, gradually amassing great wealth through trade and the benefit of her unending lifespan. Hiding her true nature, she gradually came to control the faction known as the Illustrious Fellowship, who valued cultural and artistic achievement greatly, albeit from the lofty vantage point of those with great family wealth and power.

When tensions erupted Avulena was already aware of the dire situation the empire was in. Uninterested in acting for any greater good but still attached to her personal fortune, she utilized her mortal followers to move her hoard to the provincial city of Zurakh. Once that was secured, she entered the fray with the goal to ''rescue'' as much of the empire's artworks and treasures as possible.

In current days, she still remains a provincial power. Avulena's personal strength and reputation is enough to keep most enemies away, with the remainder running into the kobold tribes and dragonborn followers of her most royal Reverence.

While Avulena allows commercial activities and trade, the taxes levied by her ever-vigilant dragonborn tax collectors are enormous. Added to the inherent dangers of the region that means that most foreign merchants avoid the place, though there a few still brave the journey to acquire specialized goods, such as the blue peppers that only grow in this region.

City: Kolchis

The port city of Kolchis is one of the most accessible ports in the Expanse, and one of few that is ever used by foreign merchants. It is divided into the Gray Harbor, Agora, the Scatters, Old Town, and Citadel.

Charimex

Ruled by Volriel Tanukhin, the tongueless Marquis. He is assisted by Balthamel, his royal advisor. Elves were long involved in the empire, hailing from migrants or conquered peoples. A distinguished orator, lord Volriel Tanukhin came to head the faction known as the Mendicant Scholars. Interested in the acquisition and sharing of knowledge, they operated schools and universities across the empire.

When the civil war erupted lord Volriel was caught by surprise. Desperate to find a solution, he turned to the most forbidden archives of the Scholars to find a solution, or a weapon of some kind that would allow him to protect the people and institution he had spent centuries guiding. There, in the deepest depths he found an ancient parchment that he had never seen before. Scanning it only cursorily, he identified its powerful magic and enacted a hasty ritual.

Inscribing a pentagram in crushed aquamarine and obsidian, he lit candles and chanted in a language he did not speak. As the temperature in the room dropped below freezing a wheezing voice laughed in his mind. He begged it for aid, promising his utter devotion as long as he might live and beyond.

Levistus, frozen lord of the fifth of the nine hells, accepted. Through the bargain they struck and Volriel's magical puissance, a gate was opened and great numbers of the minions of the lord of Stygia poured forth like pus from a wound.

Last to saunter from the gate was a figure who had to duck to be able to fit through. Blue-black scaled and rimmed with frost the pit fiend Balthamel, general of Levistus, introduced himself to Volriel with barely contained malicious glee, and it was then that Volriel began to realize the grave error he had made.

Balthamel declared Volriel an honorary Marquis of the Nine Hells, and tore out his tongue with his own claws because the man's begging complaints were unbecoming of a Marquis. He took a long nail and hammered the Marquis' hand to the arm of a black wooden throne, that he had especially brought for the purpose.

Through the haze of pain and horror, Volriel was informed that he and his army would of course be glad to take any order the Marquis wished to give under consideration. Provided he was willing to pay the price. A pair of nearby imps came flying by with a heavy hammer and more nails, cackling gleefully.

Unable to speak properly and forced to have an iron nail hammered into his body for each order he wished to give, Volriel suffered greatly. Nevertheless, he managed to utilize his tormentors sufficiently to stave off invading forces long enough to allow a great number of civilians to flee. A fair number of those were then caught by the devils, of which he was dutifully informed by Ock, his imp chamberlain.

It's said he wailed for so long that it broke what remained of his voice. A hoarse moan is the only sound he can now produce. Still, some of the refugees managed to slip the fiendish nets and escape to the west.

Since then, the devils roam across the land as they please, mostly content to make their home in and around the city of Calumn. They use it for training and sport, occasionally undertaking some business or other across the continent but seemingly content to stay put.

Volriel's mind is, perhaps mercifully, mostly gone. Some days, he is lucid enough to consider his predicament. So far, he hasn't found a solution. What he does not know is that a few members of his family did escape. Though they do not condone his actions, they have also not forgotten him.

Wastes of Amorgos

These lands are ruled by Neifion, sometimes called the Lord of Bats. The eccentric faction of the Puissant Naturalists utilized their knowledge of the natural order, turning to the powers of the feywild for deliverance. But they were so far removed from their druidic roots that they were unaware of the varied and sometimes malicious nature of the Archfey, and first struck a deal with a pale, baldheaded, and pointy-eared gentleman who met with them in a forest glade by night.

By his instruction they opened the path with strange and mutating magics, and some accepted a pact and became his warlocks.

At first, they were able to hold their own. They struck east, utilizing the vast steppes to their advantage to outmaneuver their enemies. They made peace with the warlike goblin tribes that lived there, exchanging goods for mercenary service.

As the decades progressed however, the Lord of Bats' sinister intent became clear. The Naturalists began to develop disconcerting symptoms, that no magic or medicine could cure. Itching skin rashes, blindness, mania and delusion, and many more such debilitated them.


By unknown method, a few of the Naturalists managed to break their agreements and flee west. In time they would become the first of the blood hunters. The rest painfully mutated into horrifying giant bats, inhabiting the rafters of Slate Pinnacle, Neifion's newly built bastion in the eastern mountains.

At present the goblins still serve Neifion, who is an equally cruel and indifferent overlord. He spends much of his time in the Feywild, leaving his underlings to fend for themselves. They have since tamed the giant bats, who make for a capable airforce, even if they sometimes eat their riders.

Orothus

Ruled by Fialaine the Bright, Queen of the Ighin. Little is known of the far-flung island nation.

The militaristic faction known as the Pentagonal Aegis enlisted the aid of Fire Giants from the elemental plane of fire. Making contact through the volcano Perges on the isle of Orothus, the giants quickly subsumed the Aegis and enslaved their followers. Greedy and expansionistic, over the years the Giants have initiated several wars, only to be beaten back by combined forces of other Expanse nations. They are also hampered by a lack of resources, wood for ships and fuel most central among them.