As of 5/25/98
The information found within detailing the Tsuthen and their underworld city, Kron Qwa'Kruun or The Darkworld's Black Gem, has been gathered from numerous sources, including the honorable Lord Miak de Vosai, Archmage of the Third Tier of Oesch-Onarga, and the honorable Claiver Ibenson, Merchant Lord of House Ibenson and Grandmaster of the Merchant's Guild of Gyper Bay in Cannovan. For their knowledge and assistance, I a most grateful.
It should be noted that, as far as my sources have informed me, no being other than a Tsuthen, Monzobahn, or Xythen (described herewithin) has ever journey to Kron'Qwa'Kruun and lived to tell of this dark and mysterious city, accessible only through the city of Kron Sortec, The Darkworld's Doorway, situated on the very edge of a massive expanse of canyonlands, of the same name, and the vast desert Kron Tjo'hkuc, The Darkworld's Mantle.
RULER: Dar-Dra Tuxarit Strackin
* Although not literally translatable, Dar-Dra appears to mean "Mother-Matron" or, more likely, "Mother-Lady." It would be comparable to use of the title Queen by citizens of Western Glashia.
POPULATION: Approximately 350,000
* Merchant Lord Claiver Ibenson has it on good authority that the population of Kron Qwa'Kruun is actually comprised of two separate races living together: the Tsuthen, totaling perhaps 300,000, and the Monzobahn or "black-hearted" dwarves, totaling some 50,000. These Monzobahn are thought to be cousins of Western Glashia's Dervatear who, at one point and time in their history, decided to remain within the caverns and tunnels they dug and mined, never returning to the glory light of Dirion.
PRIMARY EXPORT: Magic, in the form of weapons and other such magic.
* It should be noted that this magic, and any item enchanted by Tsuthen magic, is of the darkest sort and should be handled with extreme caution and care, if handled at all. Lord Miak de Vosai of Oesch-Onarga explained that items such as scrolls, wands, weapons, and armor enchanted with Tsuthen magic, or even thought to be enchanted by the Tsuthen's dark hand, are immediately destroyed by Oesch-Onarga's five Grandmages. If the item appears to be of extreme power, it is handled only by the Keeper of the Tiers himself, Ballesteros the All. To date, Ballesteros has destroyed only four items enchanted with Tsuthen magic that were beyond the power of the Grandmages.
ARMY: Standing army of approximately 10,000 male warriors, some 3,000 female priestesses talented in the arts of warfare, and some 2,000 female magesses, also knowledgeable in the arts of warfare.
* Rumors have placed the total of the standing army at twice the aforementioned number, although this has hardly been confirmed.
TSUTHEN SOCIETY
Tsuthen society is broken into several families, or houses. There are dozens of these, but only seven are important enough to warrant explanation. The seven Houses, their responsibilities, their
Matriarch, and any other pertinent information, is detailed below. While some of the details are based upon the sworn word of my resources, much is left up to speculation.
House of Gruax: Mining
Matriarch: Dra Xaran Gruax
Xaran is a frugal woman, bartering hard for the prices she gets for the stones
and metals her slaves dig. Since mining is not a very respected
profession, Gruax is not a very powerful house, but they do have the support of the Monzobahn.
House of Strackin: Magic
Matriarch: Dra Akira Strackin
Strackin currently has the most power, since the current queen was formerly of this
House. Since magic is the primary export in the form of weapons and such, this
House also considered the wealthiest. Dra Akira is viewed as being the most likely to
be the next queen . . . if, that is, she can defeat her mother, the current queen.
House of Bruggar: Religion
Matriarch: Dra S'rixis Bruggar
A very powerful House, but not quite as powerful as the Strackin House. Dra S'rixis is
a High Priestess of Dudok, Goddess of Disease and Pestilence, but she oversees several different temples within the city.
House of Xanic: Espionage
Matriarch: Dra Zalzan Xanic
There are no secrets hidden well enough so as to be kept from Zalzan and the Dra's
Enkelt, or Lady's Eye. Zalzan is a ruthless woman, sneaky and very cunning.
She is rumored to have spies everywhere, even in other Tsuthen Houses.
House of Zool: Trade
Matriarch: Dra Tulva Zool
Possibly the only Tsuthen personality that would be considered friendly by
above world standards, Tulva could almost be considered pleasant, but only because she has to be. Normally she is able to control
her temper, but she has been known to fly into uncontrollable rages during trade
negotiations, ordering everyone killed over some small point.
* It is worth mentioning that, although he did not meet Dra Tulva Zool personally, a few of Merchant Lord Claiver Ibenson's traders have had the displeasure of making her acquaintance. As it has been reported by Merchant Lord Ibenson, five trader's sat down with Dra Tulva Zool, but only two were able to stand after the negotiations.
House of Hyrix: Slavery
Matriarch: Dra P'hulic Hyrix
A pinch-faced weasel of a woman, Dra P'hulic controls all slavery within the city. From
pricing slaves to choosing their breeding, she is in charge of every aspect of the slave trade. No one feels safe around
her, since everyone has a value in her eyes.
House of Chalitz: Warfare
Matriarch: Jayra Chalitz
The women of this House are the officers in the Tsuthen army. Chalitz is a fairly
powerful House, but not quite as powerful as the Bruggar and Strackin Houses; however, it is noted for
pulling daring nighttime raids on above world settlement. Dra Jayra Chalitz is known to be
a military genius.
The Queen, Tuxarit Strackin, rules over all with a heavy hand, often instructing the Matriarchs how they
should conduct their business; however, this is thought to occur only in extreme situations. The Dras are normally allowed to run their affairs as they see fit.
TSUTHEN HISTORY
Within Fpathen myth, it is said that, about 20,000 years ago, there were no
Tsuthen. As with all things, though, their time to rise up came. This is the history of how the Tsuthen came to be, a description of their
greatest city, and a little on Tsuthen culture and society.
Almost 20,000 years ago, there was a faction of Mnoethen that wished to
master the art of black magic as well as that of the white. In their attempt to do so,
they killed and desecrated the most holy of all the creatures to walk the lands of
what is today Western Glashia - a maiden unicorn.
The Mnoethen lured the young unicorn, Aryanna, to the deepest of forests,
where they murdered her on the shortest day of the year. That day was also
significant for the fact that there was a full solar eclipse, extending the time of
darkness.
They killed her on that day of darkness and desecrated her body in their
attempt to gain the attention of the gods of evil, but when they did it, they attracted
the attention of the gods of good as well. When the gods of good realized what
these rogue Mnoethen had done, they wanted to destroy them. But the gods of
darkness (namely Xaricphonia, Vogg'an, and Dudok) insisted that the Six Gods of Neutrality
judge them impartially.
The Six Gods of Neutrality (Gloisur, Theavia, Kasta, Fhaye, Saharan, and
Chiradan) decided the fate of the Mnoethen would be underground imprisonment for a
period of 6,000 years, approximately twice the life span of a Mnoethen.
For 6,000 years the dark Mnoethen lived beneath the ground, under a
place called Kron Sortec, or the Darkworld's Doorway. The gods were satisfied that
this sentence would have the desired affect of teaching the dark Mnoethen a lesson.
The Mnoethen were forced to survive as best they could, having to learn to live in an
environment totally alien to them.
Even the gods themselves were unable to observe the Mnoethen during their
imprisonment, so they waited for the wards to be lifted, and to see what the dark
Mnoethen would be like after their 6,000 years of imprisonment. As the Mnoethen began to emerge, the first noticeable thing about them was
that they all had ebony skin, and that their hair was a gleaming white with streaks of dirty gray.
It was
soon apparent that the Mnoethen's punishment had not worked. If anything, the Tsuthen, as
they began calling themselves, were even worse than before, being more cruel and sadistic.
In the end, every race in the known world turned their backs on the Tsuthen.
Most of the Tsuthen returned underground to a great series of caverns they had settled in. The few that remained aboveground came to be known as Xythen, possessing ash-colored skin and hair. They are mostly shunned by
other surface dwelling races, while other elves will have absolutely nothing to do with
them, normally killing them on sight. These Xythen built a city atop Kron
Sortec of the same name.
Once the wards were lifted by the gods and the Tsuthen set free, the majority of them chose to remain
underground. They returned to a series of caverns stretching for perhaps 5 miles that were also on
several different levels. The Tsuthen set about showing their dominance in the underworld, and by using magic,
they soon succeeded.
The Tsuthen were able to get the Monzobahn to help them build their city, turning their scattered settlements
into one of the largest communities in the known world. And in its own right, it is a beautiful place.
Kron Qwa'Kruun sits on the southern edge of a large subterranean lake called Zugaraa Lake,
with the River Tkorin flowing from the lake. Zugaraa Lake has several fish species
living within, which the Tsuthen use as a food source, as well as what they trade for from the
Xythen. The city is never silent, since the sound of a thousand foot waterfall, called the Plythryx
(Awakening) Falls, drops from above and into the lake. Since the falls are over a mile away, the sound
isn't overwhelming, but it is ever-present. The only natural light at this depth comes from various types
of luminescent fungi. This fungi doesn't provide much light, but any 20-foot-square room containing some of this fungi is lit well enough for a human to function somewhat normally in.
Surrounded by the city on one side and the Zugaraa Lake on the other, Castle Par'Kruun rises
above all other buildings found in the city. Made of a blood red stone quarried miles away, the Queens castle is truly a
sight. Towers rising up hundreds of feet and situated around the castle assure the Queen of her safety. From within
its walls, decisions are made that could affect, either directly or indirectly, every living soul in the known world.
* It should be noted that astronomers within Western Glashia believe that another total solar
eclipse will occur on Darkenight, the longest night of the year, in the Year of Our Keeper, 6022.
People everywhere fear what the Tsuthen could be planning for this next eclipse.
TSUTHEN SOCIETY
What little is know of Tsuthen society shows that it is very unlike any other.
Firstly, it is a very matriarchal society. It is said that, shortly after their imprisonment,
one of the female Mnoethen, a dark magess named Gulan Gruax, gained support from a large
number of the other females. Once Gulan had that support, she led them in
destroying most of the males, who she believed were responsible for their
subterranean captivity. Tsuthen males are still present, but they are generally
weaker than the females and normally cannot wield magic, while the females make
excellent warriors, magicians, and priestesses. The males cannot hold positions of
power, and they never outrank a female, no matter what her station in life. If a female
gives birth to a boy as her firstborn child, it is placed on a raft on the Zugaraa Lake
and set adrift, thought to be eaten by a monstrous creature that supposedly dwells beneath the
lake's black surface.
Tsuthen view any sort of weakness as something to be smashed out of
existence. Anyone thought to be weak is summarily executed or driven out, to be
killed by the surface dwellers.
The only way for a Tsuthen to advance is by defeating whoever is in their way.
This is true for the Matriarch position of each House, as well as for the queenship.
The last battle for the crown was reportedly an epic combat. The incumbent Queen
Ul-Seequa Chalitz was set upon by the upstart Tuxarit Strackin.
All of the aforementioned is a long-winded way of saying that the political scene in Kron
Qwa'Kruun is a dynamic entity. The changes occur fast and often, and without
warning.
The Tsuthen have divided up responsibilities, and have given control of these to
dozens of Houses. The Matriarch, or Dra, of each House rules over her House's
responsibilities and answers to no one, save the queen.
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