Xandar was a capital city of the old kingdom of Tethyr that was destroyed in a volcanic eruption in the 3rd century DR, commonly known in later days as Lost Xandar.[1]
Geography[]
Xandar originally lay on the northern slopes of the Small Teeth, beneath the sleeping volcanoes of Kossuth's Eyes.[1][2] At the time, it was in the region known as the Ralamnish Ridings, the wide and lightly-inhabited lands on Calimshan's northern imperial frontier adjoining the Western Emirate of Amin.[4][5]
History[]
The city began construction in 233 DR, reaching completion in the year 250 DR. It was built under the command of King Matamid Korrunhel of Tethyr, vassal of the Shoon Imperium, who wished to settle the lands north of the Wealdath and around the Small Teeth. Once the city was finished it was named after his son Xandar, who inherited the throne the following year, and it became the northern secondary capital of Tethyr after Zazesspur.[1][3]
The city was unexpectedly destroyed in the Year of Sunless Stones, 260 DR by a sudden eruption from the otherwise quiescent Kossuth's Eyes. King Xandar happened to be visiting at the time, and so he, the population, and all the structures of the city were buried beneath layers of boiling mud and lava.[1][3][6]
Over the centuries that followed the site remained well-known to the locals, who were well aware that there was a hidden city beneath the pine-covered foothills of the mountains. Although the promise of royal treasures was tempting, the effort needed to dig through the rock would be enormous and it would ruin their fields and pastures in the process. A few attempts were made anyway using magic, but they only found common entombed homes, possessing skeletons but little treasure. Lost Xandar remained a subject of great interest to sages and scholars, but the issue of gaining access to the buried site was a near-insurmountable obstacle.[1]
In the late 1360s DR, the hin adventurer Brenth Stoutshield delved into the ruins and found a fortune in gems. He then used it to fund the building of the Citadel of the Banner Raised Anew, a militant temple of Arvoreen in the nearby lands of Meiritin.[7]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book Two: Amn”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 58. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ProFantasy Software Ltd. (1999). Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. TSR, Inc. File: Amn.FCW
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 83. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend, Dale Donovan (September 1998). Empires of the Shining Sea. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 17. ISBN 0-7869-1237-5.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book One: Tethyr”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), p. 23. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1999). Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark. Edited by Jeff Quick. (TSR, Inc.), p. 122. ISBN 0-7869-1509-9.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 164. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.