Murbol of the Temple of Epolde, and Lyndis Miralee tell the history of Zell and Ap Wys to the party:
As you may know, the history of Ap Wys is as old as the realm itself. The first king of Gwynyth Raius, Gorek I, banded together the loose clans that lived in the northern part of the realm to form his kingdom, through battle and war, and then to establish his laws, build a lasting legacy, and set forth his calendar as year 1 that we still use today. Thirty years after doing so, that king in his twilight years longed for battle like he had in his youth and set off once again with his armies to conquer. When he was done, nine years later, he had conquered the entire western coast of the realm, which included these lands here. Wise enough to know that the lands were too large to administer alone from his capital so far to the north, he created a province that he called Gwynyth Daius. That province would have an archduke chosen, one loyal to him, who would rule the province. The Archduke chose the city of Zell as the provincial capital.
It was no coincidence that he chose this city. In the year 18, Duath our Lord revealed Himself to Garrold Selig, and gave his blessing and wisdom upon him. Garrold became the first High Priest of the faith. Duath brought him here, to this hill by the lake within the forest, not a soul around, and bade him establish a grand fortress. Grandest in the land. He tasked him with creating this fortress to shelter and protect the innocent, and to spread the faith of Duath and his gospel of shelter and defense through the land. This Garrold did.
Thus, the first archduke of Gwynyth Daius, Anton Krogh, found this fortress and the city that was beginning to be built around it, and claimed it as his capital with the blessing of High Lord Protector Garrold. Archduke Krogh was of like mind and receptive to the teachings of the faith of Duath. These were days before the worship of Hysor became dominant in the kingdom.
The years and decades passed. The Archduchy of Gwynyth Daius remained in the Krogh family's hands, passed from father to son. The relationship with the High Lord Protector and the faith of Duath was always warm and became a true partnership. Though the priests always deferred to the nobility in all secular matters, they advised often when asked. The city of Zell grew to greatness. Walls were built, then the city would grow too big and new walls would be built.
Through the years of Gwynyth Raius's expansion and war with the kingdom of Norei, we were here accepting the weak, the innocent, the lost and displaced peoples from those violent times as is ever our calling.
Then, in the time of Archduke Silas Krogh and High Lord Protector Danvis Harrow in the year 141, the great project was begun. The great Wall of Ap Wys was conceived and the first stone laid. The wall would follow the rivers Eder, Moire, Nekar, and Danube in a great ring. This would serve many purposes. It would create a bastion to keep the arriving refugees from harm, for Zell itself was no longer adequate to the task alone. It would also form a boundary against the rising kingdom of Yrvil to the south. It is no coincidence that the southern wall was completed first.
Archduke Silas, of course wanted to enclose his entire province in the wall. But that task was impractical in his lifetime, and his descendants were gently convinced that the wall should be built in complete stages first. Much like how Zell itself over years grew as concentric circles of walls. Creating the bastion of Ap Wys surrounding the provincial capital was appealing for many reasons to both the Archduchy and to the High Temple of Duath.
The task would not be complete for over 130 years. This coincided well with the next great war of Gwynyth Raius with the kingdom of Yrvil, just on the south border. Yrvil led by the evil Vald the Glorious, as he called himself, grew powerful with magic and his army invaded the neighboring province of Gwynyth Laius to the east in 267. Vald dared not attempt our walls and instead struck where he could. King Beldyn I responded to the invasion with his armies of paladins, who by now after a century of religious teachings of Hysor, had become dominant in the armies and nobility of the land. Archduke Bernard Krogh was by his side. When it came time to advance into enemy territory, the bastion of Ap Wys was the base from which they struck. They reached the capital, Bern, conquered it, and Beldyn himself slew Vald with the Sword of Nulfid, his father’s sword. The lands of Yrvil, he annexed and created the province of Gwynyth Maius, placing another Archduke in charge, who chose Bern as his capital to keep it leashed.
It would seem with our lands completely surrounded by friendly provinces of the Kingdom of Gwynyth Raius that the flow of refugees would trickle and stop, but this was not to be so. Always there were reasons people must leave their homes to find sanctuary: plague, drought, persecution, banditry cannot always be answered timely and wholly. The people still came. But with them came the predators, the wolves in sheep's clothing, eager to find a soft underbelly to gnaw upon. Now as large as we were, it became harder to keep those types out.
The answer you should know, as history knows. The magical shield. The High Lord Protectoress Laila Kruesse had allies besides the nobility of Gwynyth Daius, and these included the wizards of abjuration and mentalism who had founded their schools within our borders at the very beginning of the province's history. Together, sometime in the late 420s, they perfected their fantastic magic and the shield was erected on our borders. The Archduke Simon Krogh was well pleased with this additional protection for his province and capital.
The centuries passed. The Archdukes abandoned their plans to build more walls, content with the bastion that was. The name Ap Wys was conceived for this region to differentiate it from the rest of the province. Then the dissolution of the kingdom of Gwynyth Raius began, crumbling around us and still we stood, the Archdukes safe in this bastion and steadfastly loyal to the kings of Gwynyth Raius in their succession despite how weak or inept they may have been. The refugees were given a place to escape the wars and chaos outside. Until like we were the first province, we were then the last province to remain in the kingdom.
Then came the great civil war that threatened to blow out the light of Gwynyth Raius, Colonel Myrddin's treacherous coup in 889 killed kind king Beldyn III and left a child, Hythe III on the throne. Arhus was conquered until the nobles of the land rallied, led by Archduke Lukas Krogh. He had immediately left the province, taking all able-bodied noble and man willing to fight and preserve the kingdom. This included all his sons. They successfully freed Arhus and pushed Myrddin's armies off the peninsula. But there, they stalled. Myrddin had gained support from mysterious places, and wielded unusual magics. He conquered the mainland Gwynyth Raius and raised his own banner on a country he named after himself. The war became long and bloody, and sadly, the Archduke and his sons all fell during the course of it.
In 896, Myrddin understood that support from the last province of Gwynyth Raius was keeping him at bay, and he sent agents in to cause its fracture. Though he never laid a hand upon anyone in Ap Wys, he did cause the other areas of the province outside our walls to leave the kingdom and withdraw their support. Kings crowned themselves in Deir es Mal and Hemelsyn. Nyrmland's chaotic worship of Baldrin was unleashed. The clans of Tinagel continued to aid Gwynyth Raius, but could never settle their own differences. Without the Krogh family's leadership, the province was no more.
Here in Ap Wys, we never had any other purpose but to fortify and protect. The High Lord Protector Leoharn recognized and stepped into the leadership vacuum and assumed control. The Archduchess had passed away in childbirth of their youngest son, and so with the final deaths of the sons of Archduke in the war: the Krogh family was no more. There was no standing army that could be sent anyway to give aid - that had already marched out with the Archduke.
That war drew on for more than 50 years, through Hythe III's death, the miraculous return of the Sword and Armor of Nulfid to the newly crowned king Calvin I. Then at last, the realm rallied and finally sent reinforcements to break Myrddin's last and nearly successful attempt at eliminating Gwynyth Raius by besieging Arhus. Shortly after, Myrddin was killed and the war ended. The Alliance of Peace was formed, which High Lord Protector Geren joined on behalf of Ap Wys in 947.
It was a new era. Gwynyth Raius was now an equal partner in an alliance of countries that spanned nearly its entire previous holdings. The rotating seat of Chancellor of the Alliance was passed around, though the High Lord Protector never took that chair. We still took in our refugees and had our protections in place. For nearly thirty years there was peace.
Until treachery again was unleashed on the realm in 971. Chancellor Butard of Hunsruck turned on the Alliance and broke it. Leaders were assassinated, King Calvin and Queen Flacia most notably among them, armies were raised, and the banner of Yrvil once again flew to our south. Having been the base of operations for their downfall before, we prepared to fight again behind our walls. But allies were sadly lacking. The rest of the realm continued to be in disarray and were unable to thwart the growth of the now-Empire of Yrvil and Emperor Butard. We turned aside his attempts to break our walls, and he just conquered elsewhere with his blue-cloaked armies.
When the army of dragons appeared in central Gwynyth Raius from some unknown plane of existence five years later in 976, that further broke the ability of the Alliance to rally and hampered any response to Yrvil. Emperor Butard must have laughed hard from his newly renamed capital of Bael Turoth (formerly Bern). Though that laughter had to have been silenced when the dragons quickly established their own empire of New Draconia and struck from their newly built capital of Arkhosia not at the alliance, but at him.
We watched from behind our walls as the dragons clashed with the Yrvillians. Remarkably, the Yrvillians were equally matched because of newly revealed fiendish power and pacts. This war was unlike anything before in history. Two powers surged out of nowhere and battled time and again in monstrous clashes.
Eventually, the Alliance of Peace was able to get their act together and respond, but they fought a three-sided war, facing two foes at once. Most of the countries of the realm slowly were conquered by one or two of the Empires or joined with the Alliance to hold their lands in desperation.
By the year 1068, the wars had lasted almost a hundred years. New Draconia was well established and held most of Gwynyth Raius except for the peninsula of Arhus, as in the time of Myrddin. It had also conquered Hemelsyn on our north border, Bircen, Cyneburh, Nothelm in the central part of the realm and Dun in the mountains.
The Empire of Yrvil had by this time conquered Deir es Mal, Hunsruck, Lignia, Krewald, Croy, Rothland, Uchdry which comprise our entire southern border except for Bedwyr.
There, and here in Ap Wys, the Alliance of Peace held as best as it could. Arhus was a light amidst a sea of darkness but was too far removed from the battleground to be a factor. King Beldyn IV of Gwynyth Raius moved the Alliance's stronghold here to Zell. Reinforcements came in through Tinagel from the ships of the islands, protected by the horselords until they reached our walls where they regrouped.
All this time, refugees poured into our lands like never before. We took them all in, screening for spies with the formidable magic as always. During this time, High Lord Protector Florent Deboek proclaimed that we would take even those from the new empires who truly wished sanctuary and had no harm in their hearts. Thus, tieflings and dragonborn came to our lands.
The Gwynyth Raiun King and the High Lord Protector strategized and fought what battles they could along with the rest of the Alliance leaders. Striking out where they could. Then, in 1082, word came of a massive offensive of both Yrvil and New Draconia. In some kind of twist of irony that was the war, each appeared to think alike. Strike forces of each had managed to covertly get near to each of the opposing foe's capital. And nearly at the same time, sacked each city. In retaliation, they marched their massive armies towards each other, and they would meet here at the wall of Ap Wys, in Lignia.
The High Lord Protector Deboek advised we just sit back and watch them destroy each other behind our walls. But King Beldyn IV would have nothing of that. He would take all the alliance forces and meet them both. Perhaps to annihilate them. Perhaps to negotiate an end to it all. It was that possibility of negotiation that convinced the other Alliance leaders to sign off on the decision.
The armies converged on Brynn's Field within sight of the walls. High Lord Protector Deboek and many others watched from the top of the wall instead of descending. The dragonborn and dragons marched in perfect rank and file, while the fiends and tieflings of Yrvil swarmed the field. The king and Alliance were entrenched on top of the hill, ready to meet them.
Then…
I was not there, of course, I am too young. Of the long-lived races like the dwarves and elves of the city, well, those that were alive at the time, and are here now still, were in fact here in Zell when it happened, not on the battlefield. What I've been telling you has been put together by the priests over the years from the accounts of those few that survived and were able…in good enough condition to speak of what happened.
Some said there was a blast wave that flattened everyone on the battlefield mid-stride in their attack. Others, a flash of light from somewhere that blinded all (and there were many of the survivors that were indeed blinded thereafter). Most said the earth shook, and those here in Zell did indeed experience the same thing. Was it the New Draconians that unleashed that power? The Yrvillians? Neither? We have never learned the truth. We only know the aftermath.
It was pure insanity afterwards. True insanity struck all the powerful forces. They went mad. Those that have studied the accounts and pieced this together believe that the more powerful one was with magic, the worse the insanity was. The dragons and demons on the battlefield were struck the worst and immediately began killing anything they could reach. The powerful Alliance wizards, whom the king had brought to a man to the battle, immediately began blasting each other and anything that moved. The king was slain in seconds. The other Alliance leaders shared the same fate.
From atop the wall, behind our magical shield, High Lord Protector Deboek was protected to an extent, but not completely. He too went mad, as did his assistants. We believe it was because he was at the edge of the shield, for many who were deep inside of Ap Wys, in Zell, were better protected. The High Lord Protector unleashed his magics inside the country on the others who were watching the battle, slaying people left and right in violation of his vows. It was horrible.
Then, amidst all the chaos, those inside the walls who tried to escape witnessed the horror that followed. The sun faded and it was night, dark as pitch because there was no moon either. Oh, it was midday, and yet night had fallen.
This only highlighted the brilliant orange explosion that shattered the sky to the west of the battle. It was the Wizard School of Abjuration. That place that was the source of the shield about our country as it had been for centuries. Gone in a blast so strong that it blew out the massive walls of our country. And with that explosion, our magical shield was gone.
The danger of the insane dragons, demons, wizards, and priests intensified. Sensing the weakness, they attacked the walls as well as each other. Imagine, dozens of dragons breathing upon the walls and rending them with their talons. Not to mention now being able to fly over it for the first time after decades of being thwarted.
Very few were able to escape the slaughter and reach Zell. We are all fortunate that the insanity prevented organization and clear thought of strategy or they would surely have destroyed us.
Those of Zell, deep, deep inside the shields fared well for the most part. Some of the most powerful wizards and priests, however, similarly went insane and on a rampage. Much like everywhere else, we later learned.
The people were frightened most of the premature night. The people of Zell huddled in their homes, terrified that it was the end of the world. They prayed. They all prayed and huddled, hiding from the madness. There was no leadership anymore. Only those most junior and least adept had kept their minds.
The darkness lasted three days. During that time, the powerful and insane rampaged and killed each other, leaving swaths of destruction and death until as is inevitable, they either died or wandered off. Some were killed by brave souls that banded together to overwhelm them with numbers.
When the sun rose on that third day, there was a collective sigh of relief amidst the smoke and wreckage. But the people of Zell were leaderless, lost. If not for a certain clear-thinking acolyte by the name of Adrien Paquin, we would not be here. He stepped into the power vacuum and brought organization and purpose to the priesthood again. The future High Lord Protector, declared such a few months later, issued orders, settled the city, and energized the priesthood. He sent messengers and runners to all the corners of Ap Wys calling in the refugees that survived. Come to Zell, he said, we will protect you.
He sent an armed expedition to Gyswyl to find out what happened to the wizard school and to recover what could be recovered. They returned, bringing word of the utter destruction of the city, unable to recover much at all, and barely escaping the insane wizards that still rampaged. But they at least learned what had happened.
The refugees trickled in. Many never made it far in the madness everywhere, including many of the messengers that had been sent in the first place, never reaching their destinations. But enough came. Oh enough. The city was soon bursting at the seams.
Meanwhile, the surviving priests and few junior wizards worked feverishly to restore the shield, terrified that the insanity outside would arrive any day to wipe out the city. The knowledge and power to erect the shield around the entire country as before was lost, probably never to be recovered again. But they did learn from the records in the High Temple that the shield originally was around just Zell centuries ago. They learned that it could be raised again, and High Lord Protector Paquin gave the order a few months after that terrible day.
I am not privy to any details of how that happened exactly. There are areas in the High Temple that only the highest echelons of the priesthood may enter.
The day the Dome was set in place was truly the day Duath's blessing was upon us once again. The city breathed a collective sigh and could finally get to the business of surviving and rebuilding. As you can imagine, there was much to do. Thousands upon thousands needed shelter, food, water, jobs, and so on. The priesthood was very busy figuring out how to rule again after so much knowledge and experience had simply been eliminated in a day.
High Lord Protector Adrien Paquin led the city for another 20 years after the Dome went up. They were hard years. The food riots of 1084 were said to be a very trying time for our city. There have been outbreaks of plague on two occasions, and the drought of 1106 under the rule of his successor High Lord Protector Justin Deslys sparked riots that were even worse than those before. There was simply not enough food for everyone. New decrees were put in place requiring all residences with arable land to plant vegetable gardens if possible.
Under the new High Lord Protector, careful ordinances were enacted to make the most efficient use of the farmland, regulate the fishing of the lake, and so on. The forests were preserved to create places for game to thrive. It worked, for here we are.
It has not all been perfect after that. There have been other uprisings from time to time. Those demanding that the shield be dropped have always been here, to be honest. They organize from time to time to challenge the notion that we stay here under the Dome, hidden from the world. I have no regret telling you this. It is common knowledge that you'll learn anyway by asking around. They have not been successful of course. The last was perhaps 10 years ago? Most have been peaceful demonstrations, some had to be quelled by force. I'm sure you'll be approached by many factions. News of the outside world, well. (She shrugs)
High Lord Protector Dando Terrelion was named to his position 13 years ago now. Like his predecessors, he has kept the peace well within our beloved city.