Origins of the Xorhai
This book can be found in a chest in Xor'Huul. It describes how the city came to be, explaining that its inhabitants were originally the final tribe in the far north of Casai to be assimilated under King Athrah Zarha in the founding of the Casain Empire. They were sent away to the far north, and landed on the Island of Dawn, where they settled in a series of caverns and came to worship the Vorthrah (crystal mites) that inhabited the island.
Coordinates¶
| X | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|
| -1221 | 66 | -4150 |
Transcription¶
In the year Av2 1256, our ancestors, the mighty Clan Xorha Barbarians of Northern Casai, rightfully slew the Warrior-King Athrah Zarha in battle after years of religious discrimination and threats of forced assimilation. Our hands were forced, and yet, those who inherited his power were, to our greatest fears, far worse than the so-called uniter.
As punishment for Zarha's death, all of Clan Xorha, every man, woman, and child, were chained to the masts of ships and sent into the endless seas of the North. This was, of course, a genocidal act of retribution. Our people suffered for days, likely weeks, and many perished from dehydration and hunger as they drifted aimlessly to what was believed to be the forsaken edge of the world.
But, perhaps from an act of divine intervention, the survivors washed ashore upon a strange, new land: the Isle of Dhuzehl. The flora and fauna were much unlike what was once known in Casai, but our hardy kind adapted and overcame the day-to-day struggles of survival.
From then on, the survivors of the Casain Empire's attempted mass murder declared themselves the Xorhai, honoring our ancestors upon our new homeland. In line with our fervent worship of Koh, Aspect of Stone, we found ourselves much more at home in subterranean dwellings; indeed, the underground appears the same wherever one may travel.
As our kind moved deeper and explored the island further, we began stumbling upon more and more of the crystals that dot its landscape and fill its caverns. And with them, came the Vorthrah: magical guardians of the crystals, small in size yet quite deadly.
Though words are futile, these beasts understand our actions, and so they permit us to continue living in the lands below and harnessing the magic the crystals bear, in exchange for sacrifices of our own to their many teeth. It is not a noble act... but from the beginning, the Xorhai have been driven by necessity and survival. It is our way.
Generations have now lived and died on Dhuzehl, and while we assume Drehmari of the mainland continue to get caught up in petty squabbles and meaningless wars, the Xorhai persist.