Andrenne
bastard
Greater Seal of the Kingdom of Sindrisiil
INDEX:
Index and Historical Summary (You are Here!)
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The Kingdom of Sindrisiil is the homeland of the so-called Snow Elves, or in their own language, the Iselemer (literally "northern kin"). Sindrisiil is a vast land with a rich history and, to the races of men, a rather exotic culture. It is said that the Snow Elves originated from a land far to the south, a warm and humid place, but this was an immensely long time ago. As such, their relation to the other elven races of Sorras are actually quite minimal. The Snow Elves are related to other elves, yes, but truly this relation is only biological. The cultures, languages, and customs of the Snow Elves differ vastly from their elven cousins, and they share no written history.
To start, a relatively brief summary of the history of the Snow Elves:
They first arrived on the now-outlying islands of their empire many years ago, before colonizing the coastal lands. There were about half a dozen or so notable groups at that time, though to refer to them as Snow Elves during this incredibly early period is inaccurate, rather they are typically considered a separate group and referred to as the Dhaomer by Iselic scholars, or "ancestor kin". These Dhaomer were a maritime people, some were warlike, and some were mercantile. The warlike Dhaomer quite frequently raided the coastlines of their northern continent, sacking cities, razing villages, and bringing boatloads of loot back to their scattered and largely nomadic clans. The mercantile Dhaomer, however, went on to found city-states that quickly became rich from trade.
They were able to raise larger and more disciplined forces than their raiding rivals, and subsequently rooted the raiders from the east, largely ridding the eastern bays and islands of raiders. The now-former raiders were forced westwards, later forming a confederacy of nomadic clans (who became known as the Sidara) that established their territory in the southwestern coastal lowlands. The Sidara and their descendants become a constant issue for the Dhaomer and later the Iselemer. To this day, although their lands are nominally under the control of Sindrisiil, the descendants of the Sidara (often referred to as the "Tasiri") continue to live somewhat autonomously and semi-nomadically. They are a marginalized but still very much existent group.
The mercantile Dhaomer and their city-states are what eventually become the Iselemer, although there are also a number of smaller groups that also descended from these mercantile Dhaomer such as the Siiramer, the Desadi, and the Asrana, among others. How the Iselemer became known as Snow Elves is unknown, but almost certainly refers to the idea that Sindrisiil is a cold, snowy land. This is partially true. Certainly, parts of Sindrisiil are very cold and get a large amount of snow, but other parts are actually sub-tropical and rather warm. Regardless, the early Iselemer frequently fought amongst themselves, with city-states vying for control of vital trade routes and ports, forming and breaking confederacies along the way. Interestingly, even at this time, it seems that Snow Elves rejected the idea of a singular monarch, with city-states often preferring small groups of leaders, from triarchies to heptarchies, and on some occasions, they were led by upwards of ten men.
Over time various religions took root within these city-state confederacies, although most were lost to time. The largest of these was a cult dedicated to the worship of dragons and serpents that later became known as the Serpent's Hand; this cult belonged to the powerful Asramiri League, dominated by the city-state of Asramir. Asramir was headed by the theocratic Council of Twelve, and their military and economic dominance of the confederacy led to the later establishment of the "Asramiri Empire", as it is often referred to incorrectly. In truth, it had no emperor and instead, the Council of Twelve continued to rule over it for its entire existence. A more accurate term for their empire would be the Asramiri Conclave, or more poetically, the Conclavus Asramiria.*
To get into the full history of the Asramiri Conclave would be far too much for a summary. The important part here is that, eventually, they did collapse along with the Serpent's Hand. They faced numerous rebellions and uprisings, with the most notable being the Lunar Orthodox Rebellion, the Rebellion of Man, and the Emergence of Gehldenbaum. These three rebellions would go on to establish Sindrisiil, the Thirteen Realms, and Gehldenbaum respectively. In the case of the Lunar Orthodox Rebellion, it was led by the First Triumvirate, a trio consisting of the noble-turned-rebel Esrelia, who would go on to become the first High Queen, the hedge wizard Marsalus, who became the first Archmagister of the Lucent Church, and the ex-general Ciaran, who became the first Praetor of the Black Legion and founded the Order of the Sword Saints (and thus was also the first Sword Saint). They followed a vastly different religion, founded by a secretive cult of mages and nobility. The rebellion was known then as the Lunar Heresy, and its beliefs weren't entirely solid at this time-- but importantly they believed in a main trio of gods, derived from an ancient Iselemeri pantheon. The most important were Elana and Nero, representing the moon and sun respectively.
To also go into the history of the Lunar Heresy and the early Lucent Church would, again, be far too much for a summary. What needs to be known is that this Lunar Orthodoxy Rebellion succeeded and resulted in a full-scale civil war-- The War of the Saints. This temporarily united the eastern realms of Asramir (now Sindrisiil) against the Serpent's Hand. The First Triumvirate led the rebellion to victory and subsequently established a new realm: the Triumvirate of Asramir. This was a very short-lived realm, and it nearly instantly collapsed into several warring sub-realms. The First Triumvirate ruled from the city of Asramir in name alone, and the newly founded Lucent Church entirely supplanted the Serpent's Hand. The Seven Kingdoms period saw the Triumvirate and Asramir as an observer of the warring kingdoms, who fought for dominance over the major cities and, as the city-states had done before them, for the control of important trade routes and ports.
The Black Legion was originally a professional force limited largely to Asramir and its surrounding area, and in this period, was a defensive force meant to protect the capital of Asramir, although occasional punitive campaigns weren't uncommon against Kingdoms that flew too close to the sun. On occasion, the Seven Kingdoms would also temporarily unite, by order of the Triumvirate, to fight outside threats. Ultimately, it would be the Kingdom of Sindrisiil that unified the realm, placing King Irellion on the throne in Asramir as the new High King of Sindrisiil in the 1st year of the 4th era, establishing a new triumvirate in the process, thus solidifying his rule. Thus, the Kingdom of Sindrisiil carried on the triumvirate-style government of Asramir and set out on the reconquest of their former lands. Many of their campaigns against their neighbors were successful, with the professional Black Legion proving to be a highly effective force alongside specialized forces like the Sword Saints, Ordinators, Wardancers, and Bladesingers, among others.
*The Snow Elves do not speak Latin. This is solely a poetic name and canonically it would not be in Latin.