These are dark days for Tamia, so dark that we may never again see the light of day. A cloud of darkness, thick as smoke, clings to our fair city like a foul mist. Inside Tamia, it is almost perpetual night. Creatures most foul maraud, pillage, and kill at will. Yes, there are those that would stand and fight, but they cannot hold out for much longer.

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It was not always this way. Tamia, for many dozens of generations, was one of the most powerful cities in all of Eastern Olmran. Its citizens were learned, and generally culturally advanced. Learning and knowledge flourished, prompting many sages and scholars to visit and make Tamia their home. From them came the workings of magic, refined enough for everyday use. Life was good in those days.

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Then, without warning, a strange army riding under a red banner swept down on the town. Tamia held out for almost two years, but eventually the King laid aside his scepter, the staff of Niord, and surrendered to the new power: Kaid.

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Imperial Kaid, at that time, was an emerging culture from the sandy banks of the River Namm. Because Kaid lies in a veritable desert wasteland, the Kaidites were protected from enemy attack, until one day they burst forth in a conquering fury, and none in their path could withstand them.

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The Kaidites brought with them their strange customs and gods. The supreme Tamian god, Niord, god of light and fury was replaced with the warlike Helk. Ahrimal the forked-tongue had a temple right against the wall of the Palace itself. 

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Tamian gods, save for Niord, were tolerated, so long as their worshippers did not cause any trouble. The Niordites continued to worship their god underground, however, even under severe persecution, for all knew that if their lost high god found his power, the Kaidites would be driven out.

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The conflict was a hundred years in the making, and when it happened, events moved so quickly and in so bizarre a fashion that none could have foreseen it. The Kaidites brought their gods with them, for sure, but they also brought the dark blight  the Cult of Arnak. Arnak, whose mere name made every Kaidite, regardless of social station, quiver with fright. Arnak is true evil  some say the high demon himself. His worship was banned even from warlike Kaidite society, so strong was his evil.

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Unfortunately, evil begets power, and the Cult of Arnak was no different. The cult came to fair Tamia soon after the Kaidite Occupation began. Many Kaidites, even those in the court of Duke Danius, joined and began worshipping the evil one. His cult grew in power until it was common knowledge to all that Arnak's was on the move in Tamia.

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So, the supreme power struggle among the gods began, but not in a way that anyone foresaw. As Niord struggled against Helk and Ahrimal on the Celestial Plane, Arnak himself wove a mighty spell around the city of Tamia. The city was instantly plunged into darkness, as dark as night. From that day forward, the sun has never shone in the city, save for a murky twilight that lasts for mere minutes a day. Arnak, then, in a mighty bid to claim Tamia for his own, loosed his seven Servants upon the city.

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Meanwhile, on the Celestial Plane, the three warring gods sensed their impending doom  but much too late. Arnak had grown in power so much by casting his spell upon Tamia that they were powerless to stop him. Immediately, the three formed an alliance to rid the city and indeed all of Olmran from this scourge. Banned from the city they were bound to protect, Niord, Helk, and Ahrimal constantly strive to win back what was once theirs.

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Arnak, pleased with his conquest, started his true invasion. As darkness fell over Tamia, he summoned his unholy army to raze the city. Each soul taken by his foul troops made him all the more powerful. Zombies, skeletons, werewolves, vampires, imps, and his demons appeared from the nether planes to stake their claim to the city, each bringing a unique power to his army which he soon hoped would sweep across Olmran.  Arnak even recruited a dark cult of Orc Shamen to keep his army strong with their healing magic. The hideous statue of Arnak in the temple glowed with an unholy light as his power grew.

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Arnak's plan was clear. As soon as his army harvested enough souls, he would have enough power to make the jump from the nether planes to Tamia itself, forever unleashing his evil upon Tamia, Kaid, and eventually the entire continent of Olmran. It did not take long  weeks only, until the city was nearly cleared of humans. Arnak wove his spells and prepared his corporeal body to make the journey from the nether plains to Olmran. His spell complete, he felt the pull of the magic take him towards the darkness at the end of the tunnel  the darkness surrounding Tamia.

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But, just as he was about to reach his destination, Arnak felt his body and essence diverted into a different direction. Long he struggled against this power, but he had not enough strength to overcome the force. The between-planes spell had weakened him too much. In disbelief, he found himself funneled off to a flat featureless plane of existence, where he was dumped unceremoniously on a barren packed dirt ground on a world far from anywhere. At that moment, the glow of his statue in Tamia flickered, then dimmed, then was extinguished.

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Arnak had fallen prey to the weakness of the cruel and strong  he had underestimated his enemies. Helk, Ahrimal, and Niord were independently no match for Arnak, but together their strength was more than the evil demon god could withstand. They used all of their life force in diverting Arnak to his prison, but they were successful. So drained were the three from their exertion that they had not the strength to lift the evil spell from Tamia. But, they knew that without Arnak's strength, the humans had the possibility of defending themselves from the evil horde. Helk, Ahrimal, and Niord retired to their respective planes, licking their wounds and building their strength for their triumphant return.

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It took little time for Arnak's minions to understand what happened. Being bloodthirsty and power hungry by definition, the Seven Servants of Arnak's unholy army  the strongest Zombie, the strongest skeleton, the deadliest imp, and so on  quickly formed their own cults and began their own power struggles against the humans, and even against each other.

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These gods, having lost contact with their Dark Lord, had no way of knowing that refugees from Tamia had escaped to a large continent south of the city.  Here they found the ancient structures which house the Idols of Light, and learned of their power.  They built their city anew around these Shrines, vowing vengeance upon the army which had claimed their homeland as soon as they were once again strong enough to attack.  

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Half a world away, far west of Tamia and past the great Greyknife Peaks, the tribal followers of Ra'Kur saw the opportunity to reclaim their part of the world which had been taken from them so many years ago by the Tamians.   The once great empire of Trolls, Orcs, Lizardmen, Ogres, and the rest of the chaotic followers had once stretched as far east as the great desert, but had been pushed back almost to the ocean itself.

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Ra'Kur and Arnak both knew the power the followers of Niord would wield with the idols in their possession, and used what limited power they had to create similar shrines and idols of their own.  Their followers swore to protect these idols with their life, and seek to capture those of their enemies, so that a further advantage could be gained

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And so we now enter what will surely be one of the most chaotic periods in Tamia's long history.  Three realms vying for power and control of the continent, all centered around our once great city.  Tamia has survived much, but I fear the days to come may destroy us all. 

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This is the history of this great and august city from the beginning until the present day. I, Sage Thomas, known as Thomas the Tamian, put forward this history in good faith and utmost objectivity.