| Ul'dah | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| For Coin and Country | ||
| Leader | Nanamo Ul Namo | |
| Ruling Body | Ul'dah Sultanate | |
| Patron Deity | Nald'thal, the Traders | |
Amidst the arid deserts of southern Aldenard stands Ul'dah, a bustling commercial hub and rule of the regions of Thanalan. The city rises suddenly from the malm upon malm of dusty wastes, protected from the blowing sands by the embrace of a stalwart fortress.
History[edit | edit source]
The Rise and Fall of Belah'dia[edit | edit source]
The dawn of the Sixth Astral Era saw a great suffering of magi. They had ruled the realm for an age, yet their arts had wrought great destruction, may people demanded that magic be forbidden outright. Naturally, all these even remotely proficient in spell-craft faced some form of persecution. Those few who used sorcery to protect themselves from the stones of fearful peasantry were often subject to greater retribution. The only path left to the magi was to flee and hide in the remote outskirts of civilization.
As time passed, bitter memories became history, and history legend. After several centuries, men had forgotten their fear of magic, and instead desired it anew as a means of military might. Thus, it was the Lalafellian heirs to the sorceries of Mhach- one of the civilizations of the Fifth Astral Era- who eventually sought to reclaim the rightful place of the magi. Banding together, they made for the wilds of Thanalan, and there used the arts of their forebears to find water flowing beneath the parched lands. What began as a well became a town, and grew into the nation of Belah'dia by the year 737.
Twins Apart[edit | edit source]
Belah'dian civilisation flourished in relative peace for two hundred years. Yet all was to change in 964, when the sultan grew deathly ill and was confined to his sickbed. This triggered a fierce struggle between Sasagan and Sasawefu, his two sons, over who would sit the throne as rightful heir. The twins each called upon the soldiers loyal to them, and the nation was soon wracked by war. The sultan's death a year later did nothing to stem the fighting, and in 969 the princes decisively tore Belah'dia in half. Each then built a city anew in Thanalan- Sil'dih under Sasawefu and Ul'dah under Sasagan.
For centuries thereafter, the sibling city-states found cause to fight. However, if was the actions of King Lalawefu of Sil'dih in 1159 that would ultimately doom their relationship. Instituting flood control to save his nation's ailing economy Lalawefu began to draw waters from the upper reaches of Ul'dah's source. The move was popular in Sil'dih, and the people proclaimed their monarch the King of the Springs. The Ul'dahns, however, hissed curses at him through parched lips. The stage, then, was set for war.
The Dead Walk[edit | edit source]
In 1177, a drought came over Thanalan and King Lalawefu succumbed to illness. This misfortune spurred Ul'dah to action, Sil'dih's sibling nation seeking to profit from the confusion. The following year, the city-state marched forth in full force to reclaim their water source. The Sil'dihn elite, however, did not stand idly by. They united their nation in the face of the crisis, and met Ul'dah with their own army. The resulting war was long and bloody. Yet, despite countless summers of campaigns against one another, neither side could claim superiority, and the conflict showed little sign of drawing to an end.
In 1181, however, Ul'dah found a means to break the stalemate- a powder, devised by the thaumaturges, that turned men's corpses into zombies. Having laid siege to Sil'dih, the Ul'dahns used their catapults to cast the substance upon the citizens within. What followed within was a scene not amiss from the seven hells. The bodies of those fallen to starvation rose one by one, and attacked their own countrymen.
To explain the anguished screams, Sasagan Ul Sisigan- the third of his name and ruler of Ul'dah- crafted a fictitious tale: Sil'dih had transformed their own dead to zombies in an attempt to win the war. Proclaiming it a sacred crusade to send these zombies to Thal, he ordered his Immortal Flames, an elite unite, into the city. Behind them followed a great host, and together they purged the walking dead. Thus, Sil'dih fell.