World Building: The Fall of the Twin Empires

Kindrie Grove
4 days ago
2 min read

World Building: The Fall of the Twin Empires

Decorative element with two swords and a design between them.

Image of maps and leather bound books with a candle and writing implements, images and drawings by Kindrie Grove for The Stone Guardians

Built on the ruins of mighty and prosperous realms...

Mostly lost to history now in Eryos–the twin empires of Kathornin and Trilium were once mighty and prosperous realms. They spanned the width and breadth of Eryos, boasting grand cities and networks of roads for commerce and trade.

image of a a drawing of mountains and forests with leather bound books, pencils a candle and a wax seal

Only remnants of knowledge survive now, in scattered texts, disintegrating scrolls, and ancient tomes, their pages faded, bindings moldering in forgotten archives or library basements. Their pages, if they can be still be read –for few can now speak the dead languages–tell of grand buildings, advanced governments, and an integration of the varied races unheard of in Eryos now.

Drawing of ancient manuscripts and scrolls with and ink bottled and a feather pen by Kindrie Grove — Manuscripts of Pellaris Library, illustration for Book One: *The Messenger From Myris Dar*

The collapse came slowly at first, as the wealth from the ancient mines in the Timor Mountains declined, and the storied 'red-gold' deposits were exhausted. The merchant class was eroded as the elite aristocracy held tightly to their riches.

Rebellion stirred as the poorer classes struggled to survive.

sketchbooks, leather bound books and drawings.

When revolution came, it came with thunder, spreading like wildfire through tinder-dry forests. In the aftermath it seemed that a new civilization would arise, one with equality and wealth for all. And perhaps there was for a time. No accounts now exist to explain what happened to destroy those fragile republics.

What is known from a handful of surviving texts, is that the races turned on one another, and the unity and diversity of the empires–their true wealth–was lost, as men, Rithkind, and Tynithians, stopped trusting one another, and scattered to their respective strongholds.

image of an ancient helmet covered by moss and forest plants, illustration for The Stone Guardians by Kindrie Grove

Wars rages for centuries.

Darkness descended as the peoples of Eryos lived in small insular clans and tribes. Peace became a myth, a half remembered daydream from a distant time and place. Of the empires, their wealth and knowledge survived only in sheltered pockets.

The rest was destroyed, lost to the ravages of war and desperation.