Ebenfar was an empire in the Western Heartlands of Faerûn that lasted from the 1st to the 4th centuries DR.[1][4]
Geography[]
The Ebenfar Empire stretched south from its capital city of Ebenfar in the High Moor to encompass the Chionthar Valley.[1][2]
History[]
The empire was founded shortly after the Year of Purloined Power, 34 DR, when Verraketh Talembar found the Shadowstar in the High Moor. This mysterious meteorite transformed him into the "Shadowking" as he gathered an army of shadow-spinners and began a campaign of conquest against nearby Netherese and Talfiric populations.[1] The new realm used the power of shadow magic[5] to steadily gain strength and territory over the following decades.[1]
After King Terpenzi of neighboring Najara received a vision in the Year of the Faithful Oracle, 89 DR, foretelling his own death at the hands of the Shadowking, he made preparations to go to war against Ebenfar. He assembled a massive army of ophidians and yuan-ti, and in the Year of the Moor Birds, 90 DR, they attacked. However, the forces of Najara were beaten back all the way to their capital, Ss'thar'tiss'ssun, which was destroyed by Ebenfar's armies and its ruins cloaked in wards. With his kingdom destroyed and people scattered to the Serpent Hills,[6] Terpenzi led his remaining armies into a final clash that resulted in his destruction. The battlefield on which he was defeated came to be the namesake for the Fields of the Dead.[1] The forces of Ebenfar would continue to harass the surviving serpentfolk of Najara for centuries, and stymied their efforts to reestablish a realm of their own.[3]
Under the continued reign of the Shadowking, the empire would go on to persecute its Talfir subjects, including the nobility. In the Year of the Executioner, 140 DR, a large group led by Gwynneth would flee across the Sea of Swords, becoming the ancestors of the Ffolk people of the Moonshae Isles.[7][8]
The Shadowking would eventually become imprisoned beneath what would become Iriaebor.[9] Without him, the empire of Ebenfar collapsed in the Year of the Miscast Shadow, 323 DR.[4] Its human-ruled successor states continued to rule the Western Heartlands, but were steadily undermined by the resurgent Najara.[3]
Inhabitants[]
The kingdom was ruled by humans of the Talfir and Netherese ethnicities.[1][5]
Notable inhabitants included:
- Verraketh Talembar, the Shadowking.[1]
- Talek Talembar, son of the Shadowking.[10]
- Markus Randol, an Archduke of Ebenfar in the 2nd century DR.[8]
- Gwynneth, daughter of Markus Randol and a Talfiric leader.[8]
- Deric, son of Gwynneth.[8]
- Taylor, consort to Gwynneth.[8]
- The noble Hugh family, whose descendants would go on to found the Cymrych Dynasty of Moonshae High Kings.[8]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
Curse of the Shadowmage
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 61. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ProFantasy Software Ltd. (1999). Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. TSR, Inc.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 112. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Reynolds, Forbeck, Jacobs, Boyd (March 2003). Races of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 104. ISBN 0-7869-2875-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 49. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
- ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Brian R. James (December 2007). “Grand History of the Realms: The Moonshaes”. Dragon #362 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 32. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01.
- ↑ Reynolds, Forbeck, Jacobs, Boyd (March 2003). Races of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 109. ISBN 0-7869-2875-1.
- ↑ Mark Anthony (1995). Curse of the Shadowmage. (TSR, Inc.), chap. 6. ISBN 0-7869-0191-8.