Slagovich ancient history
by happylarryhere - a little bit of ancient history... I'd appreciate any feedback other have to offer, particularly any inconsistencies with other timelines.
Note: this history seeks to include the coming of Dwarven and Traldaran settlers around 450AD, but also adds some additional previous elements. Mostly this is personal preference: I prefer a ‘magical engineering’ feel than a pure ‘engineering’ feel, and therefore did not want Slagovich to be a purely engineering marvel.
1000 BC Soon after landfall, Alphatian explorers on a mapping expedition stop at what is at that time a small ?Oltec fishing village for provisions. Disguising themselves as merchants, they spend a few days in the village resting and recuperating, and witness the daily waterspout from the local cavern.
This is the first really interesting thing this particular party has discovered, and it brings to the surface the existing tensions within the exploration group. Water and air mages disagree on how this phenomenon should be classed, and in the end the water mages mutiny, murdering the rest of the party to avoid the more powerful air faction getting hold of the waterspout, which they have realised is a permanent and stable gateway to the elemental plane of water. They stay on to explore the area further.
1000-950 BC Gradually the local population is enslaved, as the followers of the water slowly increase their numbers. A small and secretive fellowship, they manage to avoid arousing the interest of others in far off Alphatia, whilst continuing to explore, classify and regulate the waterspout.
938BC The Crystal chamber is finished, a magically crafted fortress with large areas of translucent stonework (hence the name) which sits within what is now a heavily modified cavern. Valuing secrecy, the water fellowship keep their impact on the surrounding areas to a minimum, apart from the assistance they continue to receive from the local villages. Over the next few centuries, the colony continues to expand, with the usual occasional contractions caused by infighting and unwanted visitors from the elemental place of water. etc.
c.700BC Nithian explorers discover and conquer the village, causing an issue when the Alphatians next come to visit their minions. After a standoff, Vassillaanaas (later, Vassillaanaas the undrowned) and Eth-Koaha (later, Eth-Koaha the undecayed) broker a peace, consummated in their marriage.
700-500BC The now joint Nithian-Alphatian enterprise continues to expand, having a more lasting impact on the landscape (elements of Upper Slagovich date to this period). Many of the wizards studying here turn towards Thanatos worship, and the colony becomes almost entirely intermarried and interconnected. Times are much worse for the local villagers.
500BC the colony is destroyed, and memories are wiped, when Nithia is eradicated. A few Alphatian mages are transported to the hollow world, but this marks the end of the fellowship of the water on Mystara
Note: Vassillaanaas the undrowned and Eth-Koaha the undecayed are on another plane when Nithia is destroyed, and for considerable time afterwards. When they return, their attempts to resist the effects of the spell turn them insane, but not before they have both become powerful undead beinsg who rest at the bottom of a deep trench below Slagovich, until such time as the Crystal Chamber is defiled / fully reawakened.