Ancient Attia Ruins

Ancient Attian Ruins

Location	The Swamp of the Damned
Races	The Attian Humans before the fall of Attia

Introduction

Where once a great city stood, now lies the stinking swamp of the Northen Vale. The Cursed Swamp, as the Attians know it of Hadriana, is nothing but a reminder of the evils of Eden that can corrupt and destroy all that is good-fated.

Its ruins are slowly rising above the surface; the city of Attia was once a beacon of power and knowledge, the symbol of the Attian Empire. It was homed by scholars and mages that sought out the mysteries of the world. Who eventually lost themselves to blinding arrogance and excessive comfort.

Now it is merely rubble and decay. But even the debris may hold secrets of the days of old. Of the darkness that made the city sink beneath the surface.

Location

The ruins of the great city of Attia are located in the swamp of the Northern Vale. Between the borders of the Denur Imperium and the northern borders of Hadriana’s northern fiefdom. The swamp has been dubbed many names by the Attians of Hadriana, such as the Cursed Swamp and the Swamp Of The Damned.

The location of the ruins is in the south of the swamp. Its ruins' resting at the roots of the Spine of Eden.

Over time, the changing climate, water levels, and earth shifting have slowly brought some of the old relics above ground. The most remarkable ruin is the aqueduct, which was partially left behind when the city sank hundreds of years ago and was kept intact. It may give anyone willing to dare his life in the swamp a sight to behold.

Some ruins still hold their original shape, showing off the buildings and their purposes long ago compared to others that are mere foundations.

Though the ruins might seem beautiful to the eye, due to its history, it is seen as a cursed location. And not many dare to enter the swamp without the fear of being taken by the creatures that once took over the city itself.

History:

The city of Attia was founded by Auron the Great in 33 A.F.S. at the end of the ‘War for Existence’. A war between the Denur of the Denur Imperium and the now united Attian tribes. The city marked the capital of the newly found Attian empire.

The Attian city was built with greatness in mind. It invited Elven philosophers, Khadan merchants, Denur architects, and all sorts of intellectuals to this new city. They raised walls that couldn’t be penetrated. The sons of the first imperator, or emperor, were said to have been blessed individuals, and so a dynasty was born of the ancient god-emperors of Attia. The first emperors ruled fairly, spreading the borders of the Empire from the Hinterlands to the Northern mountains.

Both Denur and Elvish architecture inspired the city itself. Large, white stone constructs of beauty, temples, theatres filled the streets. It was a magical city filled with wealth, music and song, scholars, and artisans. Magic was even supported to the point of free use, to let all races experience this wealth. This went on for a thousand years, turning the Attian Empire into the pinnacle of civilization.

The city survived civil wars in the ninth-century A.F.S. leading up to the eventual collapse of the Attian Empire. The Empire and the city eventually regained stability under Emperor Claudius, who reigned uninterrupted for 20 years after winning a brutal Civil War. The Attians and their Empire eventually became self-reliant. They did not need much to obtain what they sought, even from other races, this brought great to extreme comfort and blinding arrogance, which eventually made them seek other means to find new ways of pleasing themselves. And what they turned to was debauchery.

During the final year of the Empire, in 1114, a witch called Cecelia of Aquine rose through the court ranks. Eventually becoming the highest advisor to Emperor Claudius himself. She manipulated the Emperor by offering him means to eternal life. Claudius was employed to prolong his life because he thought that he could save the Attian Empire from imminent collapse. The Emperor became obsessed with obtaining immortality, and Cecilia performed pagan rituals in blood sacrifices to ensure his prolonged life.

One by one, the city succumbed to these dark magic cults and rituals. And more and more people began to either disappear or change. The son of the Emperor, prince Severan, sought to find out the disappearances and behavior of his father. Only to unravel the darkest secrets of the blood-lusting shadowy creatures his father and the citizens had turned into.

The prince was contacted by a Sentinel of The Maker, an angel of the Attian god. Who instructed him to leave with all those of goodwill in the city. The Maker would bring his wrath down upon the city to destroy the Voidal corruption. The prince followed his instructions, took the majority of the surviving population, and left the city. Behind them, in the Northern Vale, the mountains' glaciers of the Spine of Eden began to instantly melt, engulfing the entire valley into the water, swallowing the city. The ground turned to mush and bog, and the city sank beneath the ground, taking all the dark inhabitants and secrets with it. What was left was a swamp landscape, and the plains of the north froze again. A city once so great, succumbed to darkness, finally resting.