Arexisa was one of the fiercest kings of Emphdor – within half of his life-time, he had craved out an empire which stretched to the borders of Zinj and Khitai to the east and to the edge of the Krarth in the north. Dereus, an obscure scholar and philosopher of the times, was reputed to be the anonymous chronicler of Arexisa’s campagin. His records spanned eight volumes and copies of it could be found in various island-monastery upon the Cordaidan Seas. Most scholars agree that thorough though the Records of Arexisa’s Battles are, there is a significant amount of material missing, especially for some of the famed battles prevalent in folklore and the tales of the minstrels. Many of those include instances when Arexisa was repelling the unnatural hordes of the Krarth magi.
- Dereus did record the battles between Arexisa and the Magi of Krarth and include discussion and details of tactics, strategies and magic used. Unfortunately, Dereus also went on to record accurately various of the sigil, magical circles and inscriptions left by the defeated Magi – those are symbols of power, and scribes who eventually tried to recopy those ended up invoking the spells, calling forth unnatural creatures, demons and worst. Dereus’ last chapter in the Records of Arexsia’s Battles were banned; the original was believed to be destroyed when Threarexisa was razed. Rather, it was given to Krarth Magi when Emphdor and Krarth signed a non-aggression pact. It still resided in the vault of a minor Magus house. This would be a valuable find, for the chapter contained enough information to reconstruct many powerful lost spells.
- Dereus’ chronicles of the battles with the Magi stirred the anger of many Emphidian priests, for it portrayed their gods as inferior to the magic of the Magi, and demanded it to be destroyed. There was one passage within the record in which one of the Magus divined the Secret Names of the Gods and Goddesses of the various sects (which were dutifully recorded down by Dereus). That was enough for the priests to demand the book to be burnt. Burnt it was, but a Krarth Magus collected the ashes of the book. Recently, a rich merchant had paid the price of an entire merchant fleet for an ugly clay urn, containing naught but ashes. Could it be…?
- Contrary to popular depictions, there were no open hostility between Emphdor and Krarth in the times of Arexisa. The Oracle had warned Arexisa that the ancient sorcery of Krarth would defeat his armies, and the king, for once, heeded the prophecy. Dereus had recorded the exchange of emissaries from both sides and the signing of an alliance. The treaty, in full, were inscribed upon a standing stone within a lake. Of interest to scholars (and adventurers!) was that large amount of treasure from both nations were interned within with the stone and the terms of the alliance was written in Ancient Emphidian and Cabbandari (an ancient language of Krarth). It acts a “rosetta stone” for those who need to learn the old tongues.
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