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Seeds of Destruction: Unfolding the Lore - Part 5
Toskirakk, Korascian Warrens, Rathe Council Chambers


Invasion of Earth

During the Elder Age of Norrath, the first Rallosian forces led by the great ogre Murdunk invaded the Plane of Earth - the realm ruled by The Rathe, Council of Thirteen. Under the command of Rallos Zek, the Warlord, Murdunk was instigated to invade this realm by Rallos Zek's son, Eriak. The goal was simple for Murdunk - he wanted to prove to Rallos Zek, the Warlord, that he was worthy to lead the forces of Zek throughout Norrath.

A great battle ensued and many guardians of earth perished along with numerous members of Murdunk's Rallosian army. To their dismay, the invasion was destined to fail because of the regenerating ability that The Rathe possessed. When a member of the Council of Thirteen was slain another would replace it. This gave them great advantage and although many of their guardians had been defeated, The Rathe emerged victorious. Those Rallosians not slain were thrown from the plane by the wards of The Council of Thirteen.

News of the defeat spread quickly across the Rallosian Empire. Such a dramatic failure angered Rallos Zek. He was not content to wait for the heavily scarred and injured Murdunk to recuperate and chose to enlist master tacticians and proven war heroes Tallon and Vallon. Although he was extremely disappointed with Murdunk's previous failure, Rallos Zek decided to allow him to accompany his horde in this second assault hoping to make use of the knowledge that Murdunk had acquired in his previous battles in the Plane of Earth.

With the power of the Warlord behind them, Tallon and Vallon rallied the legions of children of Zek and entered the Plane of Earth. This invasion was only partly successful – though the Rathelings' power source remained untaken, the members of the Rathe Council were captured and brought to Norrath, where one of them was executed. Where this Rathe member fell, the Rathe Mountains were raised, and Lake Rathetear formed. The Rathelings were incensed at these brazen attacks, and mourned the death of the thirteenth council member; for one of them to die in Norrath was permanent and irreversible.

While Rallos Zek was unquestionably the greatest warrior ever to exist, he knew little of the inner working of the Planes of Power. Rallos Zek was ultimately scarred and disfigured by the same wards that had banished Eriak and he lay silently regenerating in the Plane of War while the reborn Rathe exacted vengeance on the army's leaders. As the leader of the ogre nation and Zek army, Murdunk was slain.

To protect their realm from further fruitless attempts at invasion, the Rathe Council placed a curse upon all creatures of Zek. In this they were aided by several other members of the pantheon. The curse spread rapidly through the lush homelands of the giants and froze all of the lands, now known as Everfrost. The curse swept the lands of Norrath, striking any child of Zek that it touched, turning all followers of Zek into lesser beings in mind and body.

Tallon and Vallon, sensing their inevitable demise at the hands of the curse of the pantheon, called out to Rallos Zek to deliver them. Rallos Zek was sufficiently renewed by this time to summon Tallon and Vallon to his plane to escape the curse of the pantheon, but was unable to save the rest of his creations. Realizing that Eriak surely knew of the ward that protected the Plane of Earth and had failed to tell him of it, Rallos Zek brought the crippled form of Eriak before him. Rallos Zek tore from him the essence of warfare, tearing it into its more base elements and imbuing them to Tallon and Vallon, the two mortals who were able to succeed where Eriak had failed.

Eriak still retains a piece of the essence of war in his shattered and disfigured frame, but was banished to the lower levels of Drunder, the Fortress of Zek, to help in the menial tasks of forging weapons for his father's armies. To this day the great form of Rallos Zek bears the scars from the ward of The Rathe beneath his blackened war armor, a silent reminder of the failure of his son.

This is a pivotal moment in the history of Norrath. It is here that the forces of Discord plan to strike. Success by the Rallosians would mean that war would prevail on Norrath, and isn't war a form of destruction, of discord?

The Korascian Warrens

The Korascian Warrens is the key invasion route for the Rallosian forces as they battle their way into the Rathe Council Chamber. This area of the Plane of Earth is adjacent to both the Rathe Council Chamber entrance and the portal to Toskirakk. The bulk of the Rallosian Army is in a siege camp in the northern canyon, facing the entrance to the Rathe Council Chamber.

The Warrens is named for the great frog Korascian Prime, who has guarded the approach to the Rathe Council for centuries. Now he and his minions are sequestered in the west astride the line of the Rallosian advance, battling ill-equipped Rallosian slaves who are sent in to distract the frogs. Many such slaves end up succumbing to Korascian Prime's mesmerization powers and become thralls.

Korascian Prime's original lair was destroyed by the Discordians with a great magical disjunction. This left a massive rift in the northeastern limb of the Korascian Warrens, exposing the Plane of Earth's elemental crystal core, and venting out a new order of crystalline monstrosities which hate all other forms of life.

The Rathe Council Chamber

The Rathe Council Chamber is the original seat of The Rathe beings who govern the Plane of Earth. Its appearance reflects the essence of the powerful beings who rule here. Great stonework vaults linked with tunnels define the interior, which is patrolled by stone golems and guarded by many different kinds of creatures native to the Plane.

The Rallosian Army is attempting to destroy all thirteen members of The Rathe Council to seal Rallos Zek's dominion over the Plane of Earth as well as Norrath. Should this happen, with Rallos gaining control over the source of the Rathelings' magic, the balance of power among the gods would tilt inexorably in Rallos Zek's favor, and Norrath would enter an age of endless disorder and destruction.

Toskirakk

Toskirakk is the original capital city of the ogres and the mightiest bastion of the ancient Rallosian Empire. The slave-mine within is a platinum mine where much of the currency used in Norrath's future would originate. With the growing dominance of their Empire, few outsiders remain as free people and the slave warrens grow crowded.


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