| Artist Depiction of Svyhaom |
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During the reign of Exalted King Kanat, the combined forces of two Axausan along, a force supplied by the High Ministry responsible for the creation of the Zaroi, and a sizable number of Snigrez battallions would, after several minor engagements, proceed northward from one of the Axausan's seats to assault the 'capital' of the Zaroi, which scholars believe was named Svyhaom, or sanctuary by the Zaroi upon their arrival and escape from the Hanti forces pursuing them for the time being.
The Hanti advance would be marred by Zaroi ambushes, the elves striking from the woods or caverns of Hyperborea, then disappearing back into them, with usually a battallion or two of Snigrez in hot pursuit of their quarry. The few Zaroi settlements in the path of the force would be razed and any elf who did not already flee would be executed. At the same time, the Zaroi had begun to collect a substantial amount of aetherium from the surrounding mountains in preparation for some manner of ritual, the purpose lost to time.
As dozens of Zaroi mages began the ritual, the Hanti force would launch their assault on Svyhaom following the failure of their artillery to obliterate the Zaroi. The details of the battle are lost to history, with scholars claiming the fighting lasted several days before the Hanti were able to breach the defenses of the Zaroi, some claim the Zaroi leaders made a deal with several powerful spirits who aided the defenders with their power, others believe the Zaroi had managed to capture military equipment during the Great Elven Rebellion and used it against the Hanti. At some point during the fighting, several towers of Svyhaom would begin to glow as the ritual neared completion, but the glow would suddenly stop for several moments before resuming for a short period time as the ground began to shake and a torrential downpour would begin only to be replaced by a snowstorm and then a sandstorm. Both the Hanti and the Zaroi would be forced to retreat as the ground began to shift underneath them, with at least one airship crashing into a portion of Svyhaom after being struck by at least one lightining bolt.
Whatever the ritual was intended to do, it's purpose was corrupted into creating the Elava Zoen, or Living Land, a part of Hyperborea where the terrain, weather, and even climate are ever shifting due to the large amount of quintessence particles present in the air with the effects being the worst at the heart of the Elava Zoen, where the remains of Svyhaom reside, which are constantly shrouded in a veil of fog, a sign in the living lands that means a large amount of quintessence is present.
Following the fall of Svyhaom, the Zaroi would scatter to the east and west through the caverns to escape the Hanti forces, fighting several minor engagements in the process. Those who fled to the east would first regroup around a small town established in the lower reaches of the caverns, although a second group would then leave there to continue eastward until they reached the mountain caverns. Those who fled to the west would lose their Hanti pursuers in the mountains of central Hyperborea, with several Zaroi mages redirecting flows of lava against their Snigrez and Hanti opponents. These Zaroi would settle around the caverns around the volcanoes of the central range. Some Zaroi would flee further into the forests of Hyperborea to the north and east, although these Zaroi would be forced underground some time later when the sky rained fire, otherwise they would be wiped out. |
[ANW] Zaroi
