Page 104 - Serpent Kingdoms

REALMS

Amahl Shoon VII dispatched seventeen troop ships to quell the newly created title of Overking of Lapaliiya fi ve years later.
uprising. During the Seven Burnings campaign, imperial troops Together, these two developments led to Lapaliiyan political
rampaged through Sheirtalar, Sheirlantar, Kormul, Lhesper, divisions that mirrored the enmities and alliances among the
Sebben, Rethmar, and Channathgate. However, the last qysar’s cities divine patrons and an ill-fated invasion of Halruaa in the
death at the hands of Tethyrian rebels in the Year of the Corrie Year of the Broke Blade (1260 DR).
Fist (450 DR) marked the fall of the Shoon Imperium, and the Shaliim, the Prince Royal of Lapaliiya, returned to Lush-
imperial garrisons were fi nally driven from the Shaar and the pool in the Year of the Prince (1357 DR), after four years of
Chultan Peninsula by the end of the Year of Unleashed Fears adventuring with a band of Waterdhavian wildblades. On one of
(451 DR). the worlds that the group had visited via a network of portals,
The satraps of Lapaliiya’s city-states remained in power after Shaliim and his companions encountered the Black Wyrms, a
the departure of the Shoon legions, having wisely allied them- band of aged black dragons who ruled a kingdom of humans
selves with their local populations several decades before the and dwarves. These dragons captured the newcomers handily,
Shoon Imperium’s fall. In the two centuries that followed, the but the band fought its way to freedom in a battle that culmi-
merchants of Lapaliiya traded with other ports along the Shin- nated with Shaliim leaping into the mouth of one wyrm and
ing Sea, growing wealthy and content during their nation’s silver slaying it from within.
age while Calimshan and the cities of the Arnaden struggled In the decade since his return, Shaliim has battled numerous
to rebuild. thieves who coveted the treasures he brought back with him.
In the Year of the Fanged Beast (640 DR), Yeenoghu’s cult When his aged father fi nally died of heartstop in the Year of the
rose to rapid prominence among the gnoll tribes of the Shaar, Unstrung Harp (1371 DR), Shaliim succeeded him. The newly
largely displacing the worship of Gorellik. This increase in power ascended overking continues to search for a wife, but he has yet
among the savage humanoids precipitated a sharp increase in to fi nd a woman who is his equal in swordplay and sorcery.
attacks against towns in the Lake Lhespen region during the
decades that followed. The rise of the gnolls indirectly unifi ed Plots and Rumors
the cities of Lapaliiya, and the Lapal League was initiated in
the Year of Peaceful Seas (656 DR). Once again, Sheirtalar was The rich lore of Lapaliiya provides a wide variety of opportuni-
named its capitol. Thanks to the outbreak of intertribal strife ties for adventure.
amongst the gnolls, the confederation continued even after Black Wyrms’ Revenge: Although Shaliim returned safely
the threat posed by the gnoll raiders faded in the Year of the from the world of the Black Wyrms, the great dragons did
Shrouded Slayer (671 DR). not so readily forget the thieves who had plundered their
In the centuries that followed, Lapaliiya was periodi- hoard. After a decade of searching, the dragons fi nally located
cally attacked by tribes of barbaric Shaaran nomads. Every the wildblades’ homeworld and have been quietly slaying the
few decades, a new Shaaran tribe rose to prominence and members of the group that invaded their world. One by one,
marched on Lapaliiya. More often than not, the barbarian Shaliim’s old adventuring companions have vanished. Word
hordes would conquer the coastal cities, only to be absorbed of the disappearances has fi nally reached Lapaliiya’s latest
as citizens while the merchants of Lapaliiya continued their overking, along with reports of a black wyrm swimming in
lucrative trade. Over time, Shaarans became the predominant the depths of Talar Bay. Shaliim is now holed up in his palace,
human ethnic group of Lapaliiya, and the Tashalans (the ad- desperately seeking a solution. His inability to represent the
mixture of Lapaliiyans, Calishites, Chultans, and Shaarans kingdom openly is hurting Lapaliiya’s mercantile interests and
who had inhabited Tashtan) became a minority in their own generating numerous whispered discussions at court. In des-
land. Nonetheless, rulership of Lapaliiya’s cities remained in peration, Shaliim has decided to hire a band of adventurers to
the hands of satraps who could trace their lineage back to the penetrate the Mhair Jungles and see whether any lore remains
era of Shoon viceroys. from the ages past, when the yuan-ti battled the great dragons
In the Year of the Sword’s Oath (1142 DR), after centuries of Faerûn.
of somnolence, the pureblood yuan-ti arcane spellcasters of the Missing Princess: Once a strict, almost tyrannical father,
Coiled Cabal attempted to take Sammaresh as the fi rst stage of a the High Suikh (king) of Ormpur is now a broken man. He has
plan to reconquer the Cities of the Seabreeze. The plot foundered already expended much of his city’s treasury in a series of failed
when their actions indirectly unleashed the heretofore-inhibited attempts to recover his missing daughter, Chansreena (Princess)
ambitions of more than two dozen Tashlutan and Lapaliiyan Alabhansree Alanasker. The chansreena disappeared in the Year
archmages. In a season-long orgy of spell battles along the of the Prince (1357 DR), along with a large quantity of saffron
Tashtan Coast, the so-called Rage of Wizards infl icted wanton and many magical blades that were to serve as her dowry. At
destruction on the cities of Lapaliiya and the Tashalar, but failed fi rst, Helbareim suspected half a dozen or so infamous thieves,
to gain any wizard (including the yuan-ti) a single throne. It did then he hired a succession of adventuring bands to rescue her
however, elevate the respect with which Lapaliiyans treated the from the slave pits of Llurth Dreier, a drow city beneath the
clergy, leading to the rise of civic faiths. This event also paved Shaar, based on reports that later proved untrue. No hint has
the way for the rulers of Sheirtalar and Lushpool to claim the ever reached Ormpur’s ruler that Alabhansree actually escaped

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