Atlas

Imarel Travel Guide - by T.A. Saunders ©2010 v1.2

Kingdom of Vyss

Am-Raynia

The city of Am-Raynia was the capital of the Kingdom of Shei before the War of Eternals, originally founded in 4490 BF with the help of the Shar`Vaire. In the beginning, the Shar`Vaire saw the Elves as friends and a sort of kin, having been banished from the Heavens themselves they too had a sense as a people to lose their home. So, with the spirit of friendship in mind, Am-Raynia was constructed on land the Shar`Vaire took from the Zissah centuries before. Am-Raynia became a sprawling, wonder of architecture, some said rivaled distant Am-Shei in its splendor. While the Shar`Vaire themselves would never admit it, Am-Raynia rivaled even D`Mir in its wonder.

It was not to last, however. When the War of Eternals started with the slaughter of the Jir-Tasaar colony (which would later be known as Am-Tasaar) the city of Am-Raynia was the next to be hit, mere days later by thirty Imperial Shar`Vaire airships, including five Dreadnaughts. While the Tallis-Shei had airships of their own, they were simply no match for the better-crafted and more heavily armed Shar`Vaire vessels. The day Am-Raynia burned it is said that there were so many Shar`Vaire airships in the sky that the sun could no longer be seen and the only light came from their vicious sorcerous weapons.

The Elves that survived this slaughter stayed in underground catacombs they sealed off with magic and hid with powerful illusions. Having learned the lesson of Am-Shei well, there were ample food stores in these catacombs and the tunnels under the city were vast, allowing one to travel to any of the important buildings in the city. Further, these catacombs were connected by sorcerous teleportation rings to similar catacombs under Am-Vansa and Am-Talisa. The Shar`Vaire never knew of these catacombs or the rings so they were never searched for as they were confident they had obliterated their enemies. It is here in these tunnels a segment of the Moon Elves would remain and eventually give birth to the Tallis-Vyss race.

For centuries after the conclusion of the War of Eternals, Am-Raynia remained in ruins…or so most were led to believe. The Moon Elves who opted to stay on the surface and fight the Shar`Vaire head on were all but obliterated as a people. Those who survived did so by either hiding amongst Humans or by surviving the horrendous Shar`Vaire prison camps. These Elves would eventually integrate with Human society, thinking their ancestral homes destroyed, burned and unrecoverable. Little did they know that their brethren who had hid and waited for the Shar`Vaire in ambush where they could, lived on, even thrived in the catacombs and later deep tunnels under Am-Raynia. Roughly 200 years ago, the Shadow Elves suddenly emerged from their dark dwelling and established contact with the outside world. Am-Raynia had been completely rebuilt and populated with an Elvish people fundamentally changed forever for their long centuries in the deep places of the world.

The Am-Raynia of today is hidden as are all the major Shadow Elf cities, by a powerful illusion that misdirects those who stumble upon it back into the forest surrounding the city. The only way to find Am-Raynia is with the gift of Truesight, or with a Shadow Elf guide. Because of the War of Eternals, the Tallis-Vyss are incredibly xenophobic, tolerating only their Human neighbors to even send ambassadors to their lands and very occasionally a chosen representative from the Farwind or Windsong School of Magic to see the Shadow Elf culture and learn of its people. Most recently, this honor was conveyed to Lord Kithanis uth Braegon, while serving his tenure at the Farwind School of Magic as an instructor of Imarel Lore. Anybody else who attempts to break the illusion or enter Am-Raynia is slain on sight. No questions asked and more than usually, the body is never recovered.

Am-Raynia is the governing seat of the kingdom, which is currently under the rulership of Queen Vessyra Ri-Talaryn Kasyatirma, the younger sister of Queen Arisyeema Ymiyr Kasyatirma-Soryn III.The previous ruler, Nevrezh Tasheen Soryn II who was slain only fifteen years ago at the Battle of Lyrewood, in a charge to retake the city. It is said that the former Xannti Dragon Emperor, Thanaxiscar the Bloodied Fang took the King's life in a contest between the two rulers. After the close of the Shalzaarian Border War, which would be later renamed the War of Shadows, it was discovered his queen had made a pact with Thanaxiscar that to this day no one knows the fullest extent of, but involved luring the king into fighting the former Dragon Emperor. The city of Am-Raynia reflects the strength of the ruling house, maintaining all the splendor it had when originally built with the added canopy of trees that add a needed darkness overhead, for eyes that can no longer tolerate the light at full strength.

Besides her beauty as a city, Am-Raynia is known for its Tower of Sorcery that teaches all forms of magic, including dark arts once forbidden by Elvish Law. It also presently houses the cracked Star of Bae-Lorh, the ancient artifact brought from Am-Shei that granted all Elves not on Ishaela immortality. When the Star was damaged in the War of Eternals, the power was lessened for the damage, now only allowing long life to those who remain relatively close to it, with diminishing effects the further from it an Elf goes. It has been an ongoing and perpetual goal of the Shadow Elves to repair the Star and return their people to the immortal state their Sivanoshei brethren enjoy.