úrmish, Jákalla and Thráya
Cities of the Great Triangle
Sources
Dumán Langshá
Savályal hiPáchuyal hiFánuldáli
(The Cities of the Lords of the Great Triangle)
in Tsolyáni, preserved in manuscript in the Temple of Karakán in Jakálla
Contemporary or just subsequent to the Empire of Llyán, another human state arose in the plains of southern Tsolyánu. No material artifacts of this society have been identified since the three capitals of this nation—úrmish in the west, Jakálla in the south, and Thráya in the east—have been rebuilt many, many times, and any smaller sites now lie buried beneath the Mssúma River delta.
Almost all the evidence for the Three States of the Triangle comes from their conquerors, the Dragon Warriors who swept down from N'lüss in the far northwest. According to their records, the armies of the Three States did battle with the nonhuman Churstálli, a semi-intelligent species related to the Ssú, and also with the Mihálli. Both of these statements must be mere legend, or else the geographic spread of the Churstálli and the Mihálli must have been far different from what can be inferred today. More certain is the alliance of the Three States of the Triangle with the reptilian Shén in a series of wars with the Hlüss; this is corroborated by Shén records.
The Discovery of the Gods
During the latter days of the Empire of Llyán some unknown scholar made contact with certain of the mightiest beings of the Planes Beyond. These beings are for all intents and purposes ‘gods’; unimaginably powerful and transcending man’s understanding, yet willing to aid those who serve their enigmatic goals.
It was soon discovered that rivalries exist between these ‘gods’ themselves. One ‘alignment’ supports Stability: a status quo, a tranquil progression of time and space on towards a final amalgamation into a perfect and eternal ‘Light of Being’. The other urges Change: endless ephemerality, with all Planes perpetually undergoing violent upheavals, birth, death, and renewal. There are also interplanar beings who stand outside of these two parties, as well as whole hierarchies of lesser inhabitants of other dimensions who have greater or lesser talents and powers than does mankind.
Human moral terms do not apply to these alignments’; the boundaries which separate these two positions surpass mankind’s understanding, and various aspects of a ‘god’ may appear as members of different ‘alignments’ in different times or periods, or separate deities in one land are combined into one in another. What the ‘gods’ disclose is all that can be known with certainty—and even this can be only partial and beyond man’s ability to grasp.