Shissar

Vol. I ----------------------------- Escaping the Green Mist

Nearly two thousand years before the appearance of the Combine Empire, the Green Mist swept over Kunark and decimated the Shissar. Over a period of a year, tens of thousands of Shissar succumbed to the green death. However, during that time, the coddled emperor, nobles and their slaves isolated themselves from the lower castes in an attempt to prevent their own demise.

Emperor Ssraeshza, the military and spiritual leader for the Shissar Empire, spoke of a vision that promised to deliver the noble Shissar to Luclin, the moon. He assured all that he could release them from the clutches of the Green Mist. Emperor Ssraeshza and his supporters firmly believed they could start their empire anew on the moon and be free of the Green Death forever. Alas, there were some nobles who were in disgust of Ssraeshza's plan, chiefly Zhisza, who quietly set to work to find a way to remain alive on Norrath. It was their dream to retreat, rebuild and return to reclaim their empire.

On the day that Ssraeshza and the remaining Shissar cast their great spells to teleport to Luclin, Zhisza and his followers executed their own plan. As Ssraeshza moved through time and space to the moon, Zhisza and his nobles teleported deep within Empotith, an underfoot school of Dark Arts that had been under construction. When Ssraeshza and his followers arrived on Luclin, they presumed Zhisza and the others dead.

Untold ages ago, the Faceless One, Cazic-Thule, placed us upon the lands of Kunark. Scattered and unlearned, we were enslaved by the terrible snake-like Shissar with their curses and wicked enchantments! At last one day the skies opened up and the sacred Green Mist delivered us from our enemies. Unaffected by the mist, we watched as our captors melted away. In the midst of a cacophony of screams of terror and anguish the iksar were freed. Today we remember the destruction of our oppressors by desecrating an article of their creation.

Over the centuries, many tribal states were established as we spread across Kunark. It was one iksar, Venril Sathir, whose knowledge of battle and necromancy allowed him to conquer and annex all the tribe-states. Using the might of the united tribes and the slaves of conquered lesser races, the mighty fortress of Sebilis was built. Imposing and beautiful, Sebilis was a place of learning and lore where for many long years we honed our skills and thrived. Under Sathir’s rule as the first King of Sebilis, he established the great Sebilisian Empire. The jealous dragons, however, saw our greatness and knew we posed a threat to them.

The meddling dragon known as Trakanon was not content to leave us alone. Through his treachery, he turned our servants against us and led a group of his kind to Sebilis and destroyed it! Many iksar were slain then and we honor them by lighting a funeral pyre from the remains of iksar slain in these times.

During the time of the Rending our beloved Kunark was beset by terrible earthquakes and the Lake of Ill Omen flooded the city of Cabilis. It was during these times that a large sailing vessel carrying many of our kind to lands far away was smashed by a massive wave. Many survived this tragedy by swimming to the shores of a nearby island.

For nearly a year the survivors lived on that island until the Overlord caught wind of their presence. After a series of fierce battles he captured the survivors, brought them back to Freeport and tried to enslave them! Years passed, but despite the Overlord’s best efforts, he could not break their spirits.

As the Rallosian army spread across all of Norrath, the Overlord knew he could not repel these aggressors without our help. In exchange for our freedom, we fought valiantly alongside Freeport’s own army and crushed the Rallosians with the help of the same Green Mist that had killed our former oppressors, the Shissar! Today we remember our brief captivity and toss the Overlord’s tools of oppression to the bottom of the sea, where they can never be used to hinder the mighty iksar.

Once, ages ago, a mighty kerran beastlord named Khati Sha served his King Vah Kerrath faithfully. When the city of Shar Vahl was transported to the Moon of Luclin, Khati Sha immediately set out to explore this new world. As always, he served with honor and distinction, expanding his people’s knowledge of the moon and its strange inhabitants. After a time, Khati Sha heard tales of a strange place on the light side of Luclin where the evil shissar snake-folk purportedly held sway.

Fearful of the threat that the shissar represented, and perhaps just slightly too curious for his own good, Khati Sha ventured into the blazing eternal day of the light side and sought out the region known as the Grey. He never returned, and soon the Vah Shir mourned the loss of their greatest beastlord. Today, the Shar Vahl guild of beastlords bears the name of their greatest hero. Most believe that the legendary Khati Sha perished, while others believe that he lives on still, watching over his people from the wilds of Luclin.

The Shar Vahl and their king would be horrified if they knew the truth. In the Grey, Khati Sha was captured by the shissar and taken to their temple, where he was subjected to unbelievable torments. Curious about the world’s newest inhabitants, the snake-folk twisted Khati Sha’s body and mind, transforming him into a cruel and terribly powerful creature of evil. Infected by the shissars’ xenophobia and lust for further power, Khati Sha escaped from the Grey and wandered Luclin’s moon for a time, a twisted parody of the noble creature he had once been.

At length, he found his way back to the Mushroom Forest, where his people managed the thriving Acrylia Mines. In the depths of the mines, Khati Sha encountered a primitive race of bestial humanoids, which he dubbed grimlings. Handling the grimlings as cruelly as he himself had been manipulated by the shissar, Khati Sha transformed them into a cruel, sadistic race bent on spreading death and suffering. By the thousands, the grimlings burst from the Acrylia Mines, slaying countless Vah Shir and driving the kerrans from the forest. Renamed the Grimling

Forest, this realm is today a bloody battleground.

For their part, the grimlings worshipped their new leader as a god, who now called himself “Tashakhi,” a twisted version of his old name. Few if any have realized the similarities, though some newer grimling architecture is said to mirror the Vah Shir style of design — a fading remnant of Khati Sha’s old existence.

Today, Tashakhi is a brooding, skeletal being who dwells in the depths of the Acrylia Caverns, with the terrible powers of a malevolent godling, plotting with his grimling followers the ultimate conquest and destruction of his own people. Once the Vah Shir are utterly destroyed, Tashakhi