The Vaskàri Society was founded in 626 HK to commemorate the achievements of colleague and geographer Vaska of Merid, who disappeared in 623 HK on an expedition to find the fabled Tultā Egn. Since that time, the Society has supported Dekàli explorers in their efforts to find, catalog, map, and document every facet of Teréth End. This great work was compiled from the assembled folios, atlases, and journals now residing at the Society library in the City of Lanádus. It is a lasting testimony to the enterprise of both Yrūni and Dekàli intelligence, resourcefulness, ability, and resolution.
A Global View
Buried on a dark shelf in a forgotten Panæði vault lies the folded tome Ismir’s History of Zarátam, whereupon was inscribed at the dawn of the Third Age each silver pinpoint star on a night-Dragul‘s hide. Ismìr Erygre named the deep and soulless firmament Zarátam after Zarav, first Apostle of Pæð, who walked among the silver stars compiling the Heavenly Wisdoms by which the Gods might justly rule the world. Upon the completion of this, his greatest work, Ismìr Erygre traveled to each of the five continents, spreading word of the greatness of Pæð. While returning home from Tassèrus, Ismìr Erygre stopped on the barbarian island Lanas where he was imprisoned following a grand oration. He was killed in 116 AR; King Garrd suffered no heretics. When word of Ismìr Erygre’s imprisonment and death reached Anū Gyð, the peaceful priests of Pæð were outraged and sent emissaries to the eastern island seeking restitution. King Garrd hanged each priest from the walls of the keep and set out to the Shrine of Vargal to gain insight into what should be done. King Garrd was assassinated before he reached the shrine and King Anðus seized the throne. King Anðus rallied the Lanátyr and prepared them for an invasion of Anū Gyð. He promised his people great wealth in desperate times. There began over one thousand years of war.
Ismir’s message has long outlived him and the Erygre sect (who were corralled and slaughtered in 110 AR). In the Courts of Marádū the Heavenly Wisdoms were accepted graciously and soon incorporated into their own doctrines. Pæð earned a place within their hierarchy where he was named Dorō, and credited with peace and knowledge. A ship laden with gold was sent to Anū Gyð in 109 AR to pay homage at Dorō’s temple. After a harrowing journey, the gold was confiscated and used to fund the Kændàli War. Those that escaped carried word to Marádū (five years later, on foot) that Anū Gyð had fallen and so began a great effort to build the Doróntir. In 6014 LR, the same year Alfard was crowned High Lord of Ildûn, Doron Turdir wrote from the ethereal pinnacle of Doróntir:
“… I have seen our green and blue world, and the white storms that curl across its face. I have seen the three disks that cross and circle Ismir’s firmament, and know Dorō’s truths to be inviolate. I have seen the fiery face of Arzàmarádð and watched its heavenly motion through the sea of silver points, its children in tow. I have seen our world slowly turning, and watched all of Zarátam dance with it in endless circles”
Mostly, Turdir’s heliocentric observations and prophecies remain unchallenged, but there are exceptions. The Cult of Wōd, a widespread but small organization, maintain that the world and the bodies heavenly are connected pieces of the body of the spirit-God Wōd and that all motions are due to growth and change within the body of their deity. To their credit, their astronomical predictions (eclipses, etc.) are unrivaled by even the studious Dorons. Many Werrid believe that Teréth End and its moons are orphaned worlds divided by some past calamity and that in time, the worlds will converge and they will be reunited with their kin.
The people of Teréth End, though separated by vast land and water divides, exist together. The events of one kingdom affects even the most remote people, if only subtly. All national events should be considered in the context of a much greater view, and while there may be no discernible end toward which all happenings are gravitating, there should be no mistake that an end (good or bad) exists.
Parting of the Veils
Shakàbha looked up from her copious notes and hooted with glee. Her students rushed to her side, scared that the old Sha’al had been stricken! Lifting herself from her chair, the crippled sage explained that there were three Creations, maybe more. The students looked to one another, confused. Maybe she had been stricken? The resulting Ahkdàla Ahblūmara (i.e., Trinity of Worlds) is the most significant work by Mortals on the subject of the Three Creations. It was the first document to describe the metaphysical relationships between the Ether, Nether, and Waking worlds. Written in 2/1610 ER, at the height of the Takàlabhrū Empire, the document has been translated and republished innumerable times by scientists, mystics, and wizards for the better part of two Ages. Most Inkàðura magics are based on these early theories. What was it that Shakàbha discovered that was so revolutionary?
Shakàbha’s first finding was that the World of Teréth End does not exist in isolation. It posited that there were worlds beyond the fires of Arzámarádð. It is unclear from endless translations and transcriptions how she settled upon this “truth”. Her claims however, are supported by racial histories that describe their arrival in Teréth End from a variety of unworldly locations. Most notable of these are the Eylfāe sailing ships, the Ikítikírittìk meteors, the Grū nightfall, and the duality of the Nūð. These claims were not earth-shaking, even in the Second Age. The true genius of Shakàbha’s observations were in her descriptions of the Invisible Worlds (e.g., Ethereal, Nether).
Complicating the idea of separate worlds was the idea of overlapping Creations which influenced one another. Shakàbha suggested that the World of Teréth End existed within a Creation known as the Twilight Realm (i.e., Terlònoç End). Furthermore, this reality was “bordered” by two opposing Creations (e.g., Ethereal, Nether) whose denizens were locked in perpetual battle across the intermediate landscape. Each of the three Creations were believed to be of comparable size, suggesting that the whole of Creation was incomprehensibly vast. Subsequent publications of Shakàbha are believed to have addressed the nature of the Eðèrim and Neðèrim, but those works have regrettably been lost to the Ages.