The Pre-History of Gareth

The dark mists of time have shrouded much of the very early history of the world, most of which have been reduced to footnotes. This work intends to fill out the history of humans, Serpantol, Knighthood, and Gareth Keep and discuss their interactions with the world during the pre-history.

Sehvelarious Iolius, the Loremaster

The Birth of Knighthood

As with all beginnings, rarely does anyone ever write things down because they're too busy creating the history that I now write.

Humans were created with the other mortal races, the elves and the ogres, but after dragonkind. They precluded, though the elves would say that they caused the fall from grace. Humans were a weak and barbaric race until the warring tribes were united under the leadership of Ser'Phan. This mighty warrior founded the settlements which would become the city of Serpantol. One virtuous young noble in the court of Ser'Phan named Tesalon Gareth would identify a need for a disciplined military force which would follow the precepts of righteousness. And thus the Knighthood of Serpantol was born. "The means justify the ends" ideology ensured a lawful system of checks and balances were in place, and those of the fledgling town flocked to their banners and treated them as their champions.

This organisation was ahead of anything seen in the world up till this time, so the Knighthood of Serpantol led her armies all over Algoron to civilise the world. Any evil and warlike race was bested in the field and incorporated. Any well natured ones either offered protection and citizenship such as Thalos, or remain sovereign and gain an alliance to assist and come to aid in time of trouble such as Shinalstin. Thus with remarkable haste did much of the world fall under the banner of Serpantol, in great part of the military efforts of her Knighthood.

Much that we know of Serpantol comes from the book, "The Serpantol Empire". It suggests that its people were 'very conservative' and 'non-militant' and preferred the study of magic and powers of the mind. The Conclave of Magic were born of Serpantol but would quickly become independent of it before merging their knowledge with Shinalstin. The creation of the Temple of the Serpents Eye would become a central place of knowledge and learning by the manatonic monks who discovered the art of meditation and hand-to-hand combat.

Some have speculated that it is due to the powers of manatonicism and the discipline of the Temple of the Serpent's Eye that the Serpantol Empire spread so rapidly, overcoming civilisations which could not stand up to powers they did not understand.

Tesalon Gareth would rule the Knighthood of Serpantol for very many years, and shown such growth to the order that he is not only their founder but Serpantol's chief empire builder. A true golden age of culture and empire from a barbaric beginning.

But that was about to change.

Civil war with San Gohdam's Eclipse

San Gohdam was the second Lord of Knighthood proceeding Tesalon Gareth who had founded our order. He is significant because whilst he was the Lord of Knighthood, he was also the founder of our antithesis at the time, Eclipse. There are myths that have passed over this since the dawn of time which have sought to outline what might have happened, but no one really knows. I will use this work as an attempt to separate the fiction from the murky fact.

As shown in the Galleria of History, we can see the pictorials of the early days of Knighthood. The creation of the first human settlements, and the military order of the Knights of Serpantol which Tesalon Gareth created to protect them. Tesalon Gareth was a long-serving leader of Knighthood, time enough to allow Serpantol to move from a fledgling community to an Empire for which Gareth, as the military arm of Serpantol, must have been mostly responsible for. As with most civilisations, after a period of expansion the Empire took to stagnation and decadence. This lead to a decline which the Knighthood, along with the Empire of Serpantol must take the blame.

Around this time the yinn were seen coming from their northern homeland from dae'Tok in their age of conquest. They began by occupying the northern reaches of Shalonesti. There seems to have been little cooperation between Serpantol and Shalonesti at the time and this aggression was allowed to proceed unchecked.

It is about this time that it is most likely that Tesalon Gareth, in what must have been a very ripe old age indeed, handed over the reins to San Gohdam, his successor. There are stories that state that he was murdered, or others that he passed away, others to say that he handed over his commission to Gohdam with the ceremony that we still use today. I say that this is the most likely time, because we see a very definite change in the style of leadership from this point in time, perhaps even a disagreement with the Lords of Serpantol. As we will find later San Gohdam did not have a happy relationship with the Empire.

So I say that this is the most likely time for the handover because it was at this point that Knighthood takes a separate path to Serpantol. The Knighthood was no longer joined at the hip to the city it was designed to protect and moved south to Gareth Keep, on the borders of the Empire of Althainia which was a self governed principality of the Empire at the time. Knighthood kept a strong presence in Serpantol as their oaths of protection had not been removed.

San Gohdam was a born leader and he was well known as one of the most powerful warriors of his time. As Lord of the Lance to Tesalon Gareth he was the natural choice as leader and when the time came he proved himself more than worthy. His time as Lord of the Crown was to be short lived. Although inspiring and courageous, he was not as politically inclined as Tesalon Gareth and he found himself trapped by the laws of Serpantol, the governing body of Knighthood at the time. San Gohdam is renowned as the only Lord of the Crown to remove himself from the leadership in our early history. Privus the Good, his Lord of the Lance and his successor as Lord of the Crown was the only member of the knighthood to see Lord San Gohdam leave Gareth's Keep.

The yinn were on the move again, moving south and westwards invading lands sovereign to Serpantol and increasing their holdings in the Shalonesti Kingdom. Again the invasion was not countered in any way by either Shalonesti or Serpantol. In fact according to the lore in Dragon Vale it was political, not military pressure which saw the loss of this land by cessession. There are many reasons why this might be, but the most plausible would imply that the new Lord of Knighthood, was demanding action to defend the lands under the protection of Knighthood, and coming into conflict with the court of Serpantol, which whom he had previous animosity with. At the same time, the Emperor of Serpantol was thought to be in dispute with the manatonics of the Temple of the Serpent's Eye. The ensuing bureaucracy would have cumulated in the inaction of any protection of Serpantol to which the Knighthood was obliged.

Footnote: There is more on this subject under the book titled, "Tales, Myths and Legends" under "Serpantol" and "dae'Tok".

Incensed by the blocking of his defence of Serpantol which had been undermined by the rigid laws of Serpantol and its ever-increasingly decadent court which was headed by the Emperor, the Lord of Knighthood took those which were loyal to him and set up a rival Keep to the west of Althainia. Those of Eclipse would come to know this as "San Gohdam's Keep". He pledged to offer the honourable protection of his vassals in accordance with his oath which would allow the defence of the Empire independent of Serpantol. After the cataclysm, San Gohdam's Keep would relocate near Verminisia on Arkane.

"Sun of Dominance" outlines that San Gohdam thought that there was no counter balance to Serpantol and the Knighthood, which is curious because the yinn were a clear and present danger. His observation of an eclipse of the sun by the moon, a powerful body by a far smaller one only closer paved the way for his new order. Proximity allows one to strike closer.

As a side note of interest, Lady Saravhana of d'Fale in dae'Tayana, Librarian and Lore Keeper of Eclipse wrote a secondry work, "Sunset Dawn" which went into great detail on these campaigns. Whether it was through religous zeal or a profound level of speculation, most scholars in Algoron consider the work as fiction. Interestingly enough though is that a summarised version of the work lies in the Fourth Chamber of the Dragon Vale. A fragment of the epilogue of Sunset Dawn lies in the Seventh Chamber. The Magus Demegant Thill, the High Sorceror of the Conclave spoke these words, ".... We know not what to call this new era. The time of war is technically past, and so I lay to rest this book of combat. I must confess, I was none too sad to see the dragons lay waste to the foul knights of the Eclipse. Although their transgression was before the time of my grandfather's grandfather, the legendary sacking of the tower will live forever in the souls of the Magi. It is with a glad heart that I put away the tools of war and prepare my Conclave for a time of enlightenment and peace. --- Signed, Demegant Thill, High Sorcerer of the Conclave." Whether this implies that the dragons agreed with this version of the history, or if it was simply the collection of an ancient work is open to question.

Footnote: There is more information on this in "Tales, Myths and Legends" under "Sunset Dawn" and "The Critique of Sunset Dawn".

San Gohdam's initial intention was to create an independent military order which would be flexible to address the issues of the defence of the Empire. He had his oath to protect the Empire, regardless of the decline of the Emperor who governed it. He achieved this in a way which was outlined in difference to the Knighthood he had left. There was the independence and flexibility previously mentioned. Secondly, and more importantly, was the axiom was that the "ends justify the means", rather than Knighthood's traditional "means justify the ends".

While the first change could be seen as a forgivable or even essential action to take, the second cumulated in his downfall. Rather than reform the laws to highlight the weakness in the system, he simply broke them to get to the outcome that he wanted. No doubt this course was far easier and given the invasion at the time, was probably the most expedient. But in creating a culture where breaking the law to get what he wanted he created a flawed organisation which could only fail in its mission.

Once San Gohdam had set the precedent for such lack of respect for the law, the only path could be towards chaos. He had not created a lawful order, but one whose very existence depended upon the ability to break laws for an ill-defined purpose. His once aspiring order was filled with those who thrived on short cuts. They might be a disciplined fighting force, but lawful they were not. Driven only by personal gain, they fell to the whispered of evil gods promising power and wealth.

It is not at all clear why San Gohdam's revolt against a declining and decadent empire might make him seek out new evil Gods, especially considering that somehow he ended up with Necrucifer. Certainly one can understand the logical extension of the 'ends justifing the means' as moving from a stance of law and good into a stance of chaos and good. How he ended with law and evil is somewhat of a logical and ethical curiosity. As he was not diplomatically inclined, this might highlight his failure to resist the seduction by evil of his cause.

The tome, "Rise of Eclipse" outlines an unholy pact formed with a demon from the abyss named Sah'ron, and how they used his power to advance their power. The disciplined Eclipsians would not kill needlessly and would only take the resources they required. This comes from an excerpt from the "Sunset Dawn" present in the Dragonvale which corroborates the original work by d'Fale, though sadly adds nothing further to its authenticity.

To an Empire which was losing it's grip on power, and to a decadent people who were disillusioned with their leader's political stagnation, the ranks of Eclipse swelled with a lower calibre of recruits who saw such rule breaking and short cuts as of greater benefit to them than the rigid laws of Serpantol.

The Knighthood fell to the leadership of the General of the Lance, Privus the Good who was a noble leader who saved those within Gareth Keep from utter collapse. A close friend of San Gohdam, he was Lord of Knighthood for twenty years, which saw two decades of peace and prosperity. Some blame his love of peace for the losses suffered in the Brotherhood War which erupted immediately upon his death as Knighthood was barely mobilised. Others say his strength of character made the Knighthood strong enough to survive it. Whatever their thoughts, all knights agree that his friendship with San Gohdam was why Eclipse did not declare war until after his death. It is not clear how war broke out between Knighthood and Eclipse, probably an initial rivalry of two organisations trying to do fulfil the same purpose, mixed with the inherent scrappiness and ill-disciplined Eclipsians and the rigidity of those in Gareth who considered themselves better. History implies that San Gohdam declared war after the death of Privus so the conflict which would be known as the Brotherhood War was really a civil war.

Already weakened by the lost territories to the yinn and maintenance of a two front war, ineffectual leadership from Serpantol and popularism of Eclipse, the new power held its own against the stagnant Empire. At this time Croyden Vesuvias continued to follow the reforms of Privus the Good, the path with San Gohdam ought to have taken, making it independent from Serpantol, and demanding reform from the Emperor. Changing the laws which all had to follow, rather than allowing quick wins without lawful governance.

The brutality of many of the Eclipsians shocked both San Gohdam and those who had left with him, and the Knighthood under Croyden Vesuvias. Before the civil war escalated into what would be the destruction of either Serpantol and Gareth or Eclipse, San Gohdam was murdered by Malicians within his leadership, tired of the constraints of honour and flawed law which he had continued to impose upon them which they saw as pointless when they applied the principle of 'the ends justify the means'. "Why should we follow lawful reason when the ends justify all means? they asked. Thus do we see how closely related the Eclipsian and Malician principles are really related.

Lord Croyden Vesuvias did not survive the Brotherhood War. The timing is uncertain, but it is perceived that San Gohdam would never call for a dishonourable assassination of his former comrades. It is expected that after the murder of San Gohdam, the Malicians were the prime motivators of the murder of Vesuvias. Five dark knights assaulted him in the north west tower which now bears his name. Four were slain whilst fifth who slew him received a mortal wound would survive Vesuvias by one day.

Upon Gohdam's death, the Eclipsian's melted away from war in the field, planning for a more global and dangerous mischief. The Malicians fought on against the Empire and Gareth in a guerrilla campaign. What had previously been armies meeting in the field had degenerated to the sacking and looting dispersed settlements for personal gain for the new fortress of Gaar Volen.

More importantly, the Empire and Knighthood were weakened by this diversion, sapping them of strength which they would sorely need for the trials ahead.

A transcript of a history lesson conducted by Sir Rassilon Shiroken about this time period can be found on this scroll.

The Draconus and the Dragon Wars

With the murder of Croyden Vesuvias, Darion Doreath would take up the mantle of the Lord of Knighthood. The Knighthood-Malice war which ensued gave no benefit to Gareth Keep. Not being able to be everywhere at once, they always arrived at the scene of the sacking too late. The Malicians would not dare, nor would it make any sense to attack well armoured knights when easy looting was ripe all over the declining Empire. The mood of the populace turned against them as they considered the Knighthood incapable of protecting them from the vicious banditry of the Malicians.

But greater things were afoot which would drastically change the situation.

Eclipse had remained hidden consolidating their power and working to a well-disciplined plan. After the death of San Gohdam, two men named Targetter and Moderate assumed central roles in its rebuilding, though Moderate was to take the new mantle of Highlord. Like the yinn, they had their own ideals about world domination, sensed a weakened Serpantine Empire. They drew up what was to be known as "The Dark Alliance" with ogres and minotaurs, and conceived a plan to steal the Draconus from the protection of the Conclave of Shinalstin. They were successful in the raid upon the Citadel of the Conclave which they sacked and carried off the Draconus. We can only speculate on how they achieved this, but according to the "Rise of the Eclipse" it was with the dark assistance of Sah'ron the Demon. There is something auspicious about the timing of the event, which occurred during the first ever total eclipse of three moons of Algoron. Whether Eclipse saw this as a sign of divine providence, or the eclipse caused a low ebb of magic on the part of the Conclave, or if the dark mages were able to hold the Conclave for long enough or perhaps Sah'ron's unholy perversions were in part reason to Eclipse's success.

Moderate and Targetter used the Draconus to call the chromatic dragons to their side to wage a terrible war upon anyone who would oppose them. One might imagine that they would look at the state of the world powers, a powerful emerging Yinn empire, consolidated elven and dwarven kingdoms, and their ideological enemy in a large, weak and divided Serpentine Empire in decline, I can only think that the choice on where to begin would have been plainly obvious to them.

Little detail remains of those ancient battles, but suffice to say that city after city of the Serpentine Empire fell to the might of "The Dark Alliance" and their dragons. The Knighthood fought with the Serpentine Empire they were pledged to protect in an alliance with Shinalstin and a livid Conclave determined to regain the Draconus. Lastly, a surprise ally was found in the Malicians of Gaar Volen. I can only speculate that the Malicians were either still at odds with the Eclipsians from the conflict with San Gohdam, or they preferred their current existence of easy pickings over the world which would not be allowed if a strong, new pitiless world order arose to take its place. Regardless, that is where they fought which no doubt will prove an enigma to future historians. Meanwhile, the yinn as of yet unchallenged looked upon the conflict with great interest, no doubt making their own plans and watching for weakened victors and the defeated.

No mortal may comprehend the divine, and the Draconus was fashioned by the Gods. To the dismay of the Eclipsians, it called to the metallic dragons to the side of Serpantol, though as they did not control the Draconus, the advantage of controlled dragon power clearly still favoured the Eclipsians and her allies.

This advantage "The Dark Alliance" was about to lose. With the power of the moons returned, the Conclave and Shinalstin were able to recapture the Draconus during the siege of the capital of Althainia, Thalos - the heart of Gareth's protection. Well versed in their wicked ways and furious of the leverage that the Eclipsians had forced upon them with the Draconus, the chromatics turned on their previous masters and drove them from the field with crushing loss.

With the fortunes of battle turned, the Serpentine Empire and its allies controlled their metallics. They faced an army of ogres and minotaurs bereft of their leaders, but still with their angry but disorganised chromatics, a great battle laid waste to the once proud Althainian capital. Thalos would never rise again from the destruction caused from that war.

The battle was won, but at terrible cost. Thalos lay in ruin, and a steady flow of refugees either fled to the relative quiet and safety of the desert oasis, or to the small settlement of Midgaard near Gareth Keep, now known as Althainia. It is written by the dragons that at the conclusion of the battle, "It was then that the Dark Alliance was destroyed, and the freedom of soul was returned to our brethren and our order. The times of darkness have passed, and to prevent such an unholy pact of happening once more, the Dracons were forced to be separated into five parts, called by the youth as the 'Parting of the Dracons.' Where the Dracons are placed remains a mystery, even unto us, the constructors of our Birthright."

The Conclave of Shinalstan were in awe of the destruction of Algoron for which the Draconus was responsible. The Master of the Conclave took the wise precaution to magically separate the Draconus into five parts, and to entrust them to five political powers who would never agree to consolidate it again. One presumes that it could not be destroyed. Footnote: There is more information on this in "Tales, Myths and Legends" under "The Draconus" and subsequent pages.

It is likely that Lord Darion Doreath was slain in the rearguard of this final battle, our records show that he was slain whilst gloriously fighting an evil white dragon over Althainia, so most likely in the defence of the refugees who had escaped Thalos. Lord Vanaard V'Dare would succeed him.

Eclipse would lick their wounds, but quickly mount a second attempt to capture the Dracons in order to gain the control of the dragons again. Whilst in the process of trying to procure them, the Dragons went to war with a weakened Eclipse. Moderate was slain and his clan all but eradicated. Targetter would lead Eclipse from this point.

The Dragons vanished at the conclusion of the Dragon Wars with the fall of Moderate, most likely to the Dragon Vale. There is no evidence to suggest that they were involved in the dae'Tok invasions. It would not be till Qevarris the Red emerged in early modern history that dragonkind would engage in Algoron again. This would explain the timing of Darion's death.

There would be another tumultuous change and no rest for the Knighthood.

A transcript of a history lesson upon this topic conducted by Sir Rassilon Shiroken can be read here.

Dae'Tok destroys the Empire of Serpantol

The Knighthood of Lord Vanaard V'Dare and the Serpentine Empire fell back to Gareth Keep in the state of exhaustion. The eyes of the Yinn were upon those worn states and they knew the time was ripe.

Knighthood had not the resources to defend the Serpentine Empire, the metallics were gone with the Draconus and the fresh armies of dae'Tok poured out of the north upon the war-ravaged land.

The tired humans could not withstand the savage assault of the yinn. Weakened by a constant drain of men and resources from the frontiers of the North to reinforce a beleaguered army under the attacks of the "Dark Alliance" and the chromatics, what remained was woefully undermanned and was only able to provide token resistance and then fell to the powerful army sent by General Tayana. There is evidence from a note in the ruins that there were no innocents in the area, so this suggests firstly that Serpantol was not caught unaware of their dire position, and secondly that organisation enough remained to evacuate the city. After the conquest of Serpantol, it was renamed as dae'Tayana to the new yinn inhabitants.

The old Serpentine Empire was destroyed, but it had long peaked in its power and was caught in the tired thrashes of decadent decline. It was no match for the new Yinnae power, having spent its last breath defeating the Dark Alliance.

The elves were outraged that their flank was no longer protected and severed diplomatic links with the Knighthood. In all reality though, if the transference of men and resources had not occurred from the north, then the war against the Dark Alliance might well have ended differently. Not only humans would be affected by this, but in a total defensive strategy, even those elves living outside of Shalonesti at the time would face exile as Shalonesti closed itself from the world.

Meanwhile the Yinn under Tayana would advance further south and destroy Shinalstin. It was not much of a battle, but more of an evacuation. Shinalstin had long been an ally of Serpantol, and her fortunes rose and fell with her greater partner. Knights of Serpantol still remained, but bore the brunt of the populations anger during the evacuation as they had whilst trying to defend the people of Serpantol. No one knows the exact location of Shinalstin, but a clue remains from the Shinalstin/Conclave war with the Ogres who had long been in the area. Find the remains of the ogres and you'll find the remains of Shinalstin.

Footnote: There is more information on this under Myths and Legends, Ancient Cities, Shinalstin.

Dae'Tok were at the very gates of Gareth Keep with a powerful and victorious army, whereas the Knighthood was at its lowest ebb. A futile resistance took place with great loss of life, so many knights were unwilling to retreat any further. The defences were breached and Gareth Keep fell to Tayana, scattering the Knighthood to the winds as they had nowhere left to retreat to. The yinn general sacked the keep, and according to the lore from the Dragon Vale, stole the Dracon of Justice from the Keep. An observer might wonder why a fleeing Knighthood would not take it with them.

Footnote: There is more information on this under "Tales, Myths and Legends" under "The Dracon of Might to Knighthood" and "Dae'Tok".

Civil war with the Knights of Valour

With the military arm of the Serpentine Empire decimated, dae'Tok withdrew, returning to face the two kingdoms remaining near, Shalonesti and Thaxanos. In time, the members of Knighthood would return to a destroyed and deserted Gareths Keep in an attempt to refortify it and gather their strength once again. Remarkably, it is still possible to see the difference between the Keeps by visiting Old Gareth Keep in Ancient Thalos. When the Old Gareth was destroyed and sacked by the Yinn, it is the structure which stands today which was rebuilt at this time.

Unfortunately there were two opposing views at the time of the direction of Knighthood. What should have turned into a reform of the old laws of Serpantol which governed the Knights turned into outright mutiny. Personalities of the time of Lord Vanaard V'Dare, who had survived the fall of Knighthood, clashed violently with younger officers. It formed two groups of opposing knights, one set it its old way of rigidly conforming to a doctrine of a destroyed empire, and the other demanding reform from all rules which had governed it. Thus a lesser part of the Knighthood departed for the halls of a new order, Valour.

As stated, really all which was required was reform, but a hot and bitter taste of defeat was burning in the mouths of a proud order. It is not the Knighthood's finest hour but a point where it would rise again.

Valour would go on to accept other races, and alignments, though not those of evil, and would no longer be bound or constricted by discipline or virtue, but to fight with every fibre of their being to win they day. In this way they followed Eclipse and Shadow in the 'ends justify the means' debate, excluding them from an organisation based on law. As they were no longer forced to deal with the Serpentine Empire, there was no animosity with an Emperor. The world then was still very much drawn by racial lines, so the only useful and very much ahead of its time proposal was to allow other races, based on the precepts of a meritocracy rather than racial attributes. Such a change to racial policy would make more sense today. Footnote: More information in 'A Vision for the Future'.

But with the decline of law, and the laxity of those who would join her, a weakened Valour would become easy prey to destruction from the Shadow Knights in the Godswar in mid-modern history.

Rebuilding and last attempts to displace dae'Tok

Knighthood would not be the only military order struggling to rebuild itself, Targetter of Eclipse was doing precisely the same thing. He would do so unnoticed.

The two remaining powers on the border of dae'Tok's empire of Shalonesti and Thaxanos had good reason to fear as the Empire had disintegrated with the arrival of the aggressive and warlike General Tayana and his armies of dae'Tok. They were able to mobilise an army far larger than the army which dae'Tok was able to field and yet were completely annihilated in the battle which took place. There is some confusion if it was a Shalonesti-Knighthood army which was destroyed, as stated in the "History of Algoron", or if it was a Shalonesti-Thaxanos army as stated in the revised version. "The Serpantol Empire" agrees with the dwarvern rather than the Knighthood inclusion. Both views are questionable. Knighthood had been completely routed so completely as to have their remaining castle of Gareth Keep sacked, so it is not considered that they had the resources for a new campaign at this point, certainly not to raise an army larger than Tayana. Given the historical animosity between dwarves and elves there is a mist of doubt over the revised history, though perhaps it is their combined failure here which gave birth to the mistrust and constant war which they have engaged in since the dawn of time.

"We must find some way to stop these fierce fighters before they take over all of Algoron. However, we are speaking to both the dwarven and elven nations on strategical tactics, as those two nations appear next on the conquest of these yaeini."

The above extract from a memo from Serpantol suggests that the command came from above for the tactical withdrawl, that the yaeini razed Serpantol and that there was diplomatic dialogue between the elves, dwarves and Knighthood to suggest a common defence. What is interesting is that this did not happen. The yinn advanced further south and sacked Gareth Keep without Thaxanos or Shalonesti assistance. Then the far larger Thaxanos-Shalonesti army (or Knighthood-Shalonesti army depending on which text you believe) was destroyed by Tayana's same army which crushed Serpantol, who then proceeded to withdraw and not press the advantage of their victory. Serpantol itself would disappear from the map over time, as the history in the Pan-toll library by Jahonatin Tahn attests to, "Even so with this defeat, the Yinn weren't pushed entirely out of Serpantol. May the gods damn those territorial bastards! Lucky for us, the very south of Serpantol was still free land. There is still one of the old fortresses nearby, probably the only thing left standing from Serpantol."

This indicates that there is a greater part of Serpantol which has been lost to history, but whether this is a populated yinn city of dae'Tayana, or a broken city which nature has reclaimed is a question which yet remains. There is differing information which suggests that Serpantol was razed, and others that claim that dae'Tok would rebuild and garrison. Footnote: There is more information on this under Myths, Ancient Cities, Serpantol.

There would be many attempts to recover the lands after the invasion of dae'Tok, Knighthood was in no position to secure a lasting victory. All attempts would meet with the utter failure to dislodge the yinn in any way.

The dae'Tok yinn were here to stay.