Zarum

Greyhawk Realm

Empire of Zarum
Government
Established:	-2900 CY
Demographics
Races:	Gith

The Empire of Zarum is a ancient former gith empire in the underoerth of Western Oerik.

History

"The scholars of Ravilla speculate that some 2,000 years before the Demon War, a race known as the gith prospered in underground cities. Their Empire of Zarum was vast, and the gith dominated many other races, using them as servitors. What little the grey elves have pieced together indicates that the gith were divided into castes and that their lives were driven by elaborate ritual. Certainly the ruins that have been examined overflow with sacred spaces and temples, although it is not known to what gods the gith sacrificed.

Whoever those gods may have been, they seem to have deserted the gith. The illithids, also known as mind flayers, launched a surprise invasion of Zarum from a neighboring plane of existence. The gith fought fiercely but could not stand up to the psionic powers of the mind flayers. In short order, their empire was cast down and the gith were enslaved. Most Zarumites were transported bv illithid slavers to other planes, there to work out their lives in the service of the mind flayers. A few cities remained intact, converted into wretched work pits by the gith’s new overseers.

The gith remained enslaved for countless generations. Those who survived grew strong, however, and learned how to resist the psionic manipulation of the mind flayers. Eventually, they developed psionic powers of their own. At last, a revolutionary leader called her people to arms. Not only on Oerth but all the planes of existence, gith rose up as one and toppled the mighty empire of the illithids. The unity and power of the mind flayers were crushed for all time, and they remain scattered and ineffectual to this day.

The gith, however, did not return home in triumph. Two powerful factions squabbled, and in the end their dispute tore the race in two. One group, now known as the githyanki, settled on the Astral Plane, while the other, the githzerai, inhabit Limbo. Since the schism, the two halves of the gith have become not only philosophically different but racially distinct as well.""

The ruins of Zarum

"The gith cities were savaged by the illithid invasion and later by the slave rebellion. When the victors relocated to their new homes on the Outer Planes, they left behind a few surviving mind flayers and former slave races to preside over the ruins of their once great civilization. Neither the githyanki nor the githzerai have ever returned to Zarum in force. If they retain an interest in their ancient homeland, it is well concealed.""

Anithor and Kalan-G'eld

After house Kilsek left Erelhei-Cinlu behind, an old ally named Ohlcaig, an illithid priest of llsensine, approached Venrit, the matron of the house.

"Ohlcaig "had been an ally of the House of Kilsek during the civil war, and it still thought the proud drow could be useful to the mind flayers and their machinations, Ohlcaig told Venrit about an abandoned underground city on the other side of Oerth. It had been a city of the gith, the progenitors of the githyanki and githzerai, but it had been abandoned since the fall of the Illithid empire. It was far from the Vault and completely unknown to the surface world. Venrit thought it was perfect.

Ohlcaig arranged for the planar transport of the House of Kilsek. They traveled through several planes until they reached a portal that led to the lands underneath the Sundered Empire.

Once back on Oerth, it was but a short journey to the ancient city of which Ohlcaig had spoken. It was largely in ruins, but the drow could see the potential. Venrit and her people spent several years fortifying the old gith city, scouting the region, and recruiting local troops. They learned the gith empire had been known as Zarum and the city as Anithor. The drow christened the city Kalan-G'eld, a name meaning "the forgotten spider.""

References

Bibliography

• Tweet, Jonathan, Skaff Elias, Rob Heinsoo, Chris Pramas and Skip Williams. Set 2 Guidebook: Blood & Darkness. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002. Item code 88010.
• Pramas, Chris. "Exiles from the Vault". Dragon #298. Bellvue, WA: Paizo Publishing, Aug 2002.

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

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