The Ten Black Days of Eleint, also known locally as the Troubles,[1] was a period of absolute chaos and mayhem in the Kingdom of Tethyr, from the 13th to the 22nd of Eleint in the Year of the Bright Blade, 1347 DR. These days of siege warfare, riots, and outright slaughter[2] served as the dark beginning of the Tethyrian Interregnum, a period of about twenty years when the kingdom was without a clear ruler.[3][4]
During this tenday, Tethyrians rioted throughout the realm, assaulting the kingdom's nobles and their families.[3]
Background[]
The chaos and violence of the Ten Black Days were a direct result of the burning of Castle Tethyr and the immolation of King Alemander IV, Queen Rhinda, and their children, including Crown Prince Alemander V, who had been maneuvering against his father in a bid for the throne.[3]
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Ten Black Days[]
With no king to stop them, Tethyrians continued their riotous behavior, turning their attentions to the nobles who had mistreated them over the last thirteen years. The 12th–22nd of Eleint were a time of chaos in Tethyr. Mobs of people roamed the country hunting and murdering nobles as well as anyone with a connection to them.[3]
- In the first two days, the families of Queen Rhinda, Princess-Consort Dhara,[3] and the Sakhars, royal merchants and cousins to Alemander IV, had all been murdered.[2]
- By the end of the next two days, only two Counts, Tuvos Akasi and Romar Miklaas, had managed to survive without fleeing but their homes were under siege and both would be dead by the end of the Black Days.[2]
- The sixth day was the most violent and saw the most nobles flee the country. Twelve hunted families managed to flee into Amn but in the lands surrounding Ithmong and Myratma the rest were slain, their manors and cattle ranches were looted and burned to the ground. Every surviving noble from the Mir Protectorate was drowned in the River Ith when a servant was bribed to reveal the location of their incognito wagon train trying to escape through Survale Ford.[2]
- The last four days saw the mobs begin to lose cohesion as the remaining nobles had dispersed far enough afield to be too difficult to catch while the nobles who had not mistreated their people and those not swept up in the slayings dug in and waited for the mobs to return to their lives.[2]
It was reported that several members of the royal family escaped Tethyr and somehow made it to The Five Lions inn in Turmish, but they were followed by rebels who killed them in the Faraway woods. This gave rise to a rumor that a gate linked the inn's cellar to a hidden location in Amn.[5][note 1]
Of the 56 landed nobles, and over 100 lesser, titled nobles, only two dukes, a count, and five barons survived the Black Days. Over 550 family members had been murdered and over 1700 commoners had been killed by mercenary guards or out-of-control fires.[2]
Baron Dinos Akhmelere of Kirgrove, a renowned hater and hunter of elves, survived the chaos but was later slain by elves while trying to flee to Esmeltaran.[4]
The tyrannical heir to the Duke of Dusk, Nivedann Illehhune, gathered what men remained to him and his three surviving vassal-barons to hold out in his castle, which endured a four-year-long siege before it was breached and everyone inside was killed in 1351 DR. Two of his barons, Lord Erktos Kytolamn of Valshall and Lord Challas Barstonn of Shelshyr were killed trying to flee the siege a year after it began, presumably under Nivedann's orders. The last baron, Nivedann's uncle Maxos Illehhune, was killed during the final attack as the last true noble of Alemander's Tethyr.[2]
Survivors[]
Count Vartan Thrynnar brought all of his tenant farmers inside the former duke's castle to protect them from the mobs and managed to break the first of the sieges against the building but was unable to ever control more than half of the dead lord's land.[4]
Baron Amir Raslemtar survived the Black Days but decided to flee before his luck ran out. Announcing his intentions he and his family were allowed to reach a port in safety once his duke had been executed. He sailed north for Baldur's Gate.[4]
Duke Valon Morkann, always an honorable man, was protected by his subjects after they had killed his barons. After two months, by popular demand, his duchy of Elestam seceded and he was crowned king of the new nation, which would come to be called Erlkazar.[4]
Aftermath[]
Once the destruction of the Ten Black Days were finished, many wars and conflicts erupted, whereupon a number of forces attempted to seize the Tethyrian throne. Some 200 adventurers, mercenaries, and returning nobles made claims that they were the rightful rulers of the realm.[4]
Appendix[]
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Notes[]
- ↑ Polyhedron #98 only says "When strife came to Tethyr..." It's presumed this refers to the Ten Black Days, it being the triggering event. The above history implies all the royal family were killed in the castle fire, but it is known that many nobles escaped to Amn. Thus, these were likely royal-related nobles.
References[]
- ↑ Victor Milán (October 1995). War in Tethyr. (TSR, Inc), p. 81. ISBN 0-7869-0184-5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 37. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 36. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 38. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (August 1994). “Elminster's Everwinking Eye: More Hidden Powers of Turmish”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #98 (TSR, Inc.), p. 25.