The Panids of Koa
Fantasy Book Series and Prequels
One of the Panids' Children.
Background
(An extract from The Koan Narrative 2nd Edition by Drassique of New Kallian)
For hundreds of years, the Panids cast their benign influence across the Continent of Koa seated at the great Lantriums of Gillern in Hallorn and Lu-Esh in Urukish. Built by Mennem and the original Panids, the Lantriums were wonders to behold, centres of learning and the beating hearts of the Western and Eastern Panids. Places where any Talent of true ability could hope to earn the title of Panid. With the energy of the field at their command, the Panids’ knowledge and powers brought prosperity and peace. Such were their achievements and abilities that nothing seemed beyond them. It was truly a golden age.
When Mennem and the original Panids left, some feared for the future. Fear that was well-founded. Without his guiding hand wisdom became judgement, service became command and humility became conceit. In the decades that followed, the age of wonders reached new heights and the Panids were elevated to a position of awe no King or Queen could hope to match. They were named the Golden Ones, praised above all and worshipped by some as faultless beings who could do no wrong. However, the Golden Ones failed to consider the consequences of their arrogance or acknowledge the darkness in their ranks. The Four, Pheneel, Medard, Ikemba and Ellusian, of the Lu-Esh Lantrium, desired recognition and elevation above their kind. They saw only one path and on it the fall and rebirth of the Lu-Esh Lantrium under their rule.
Feeding the ego and expansionist desires of the Amarian Emperor Karna III, the Four aided his invasion of Nebessa. His forces paused long enough to rename it Firrica before moving on to invade Kiashu, Ciad and Akar. The first step towards Empire for him and a war the Four intended to weaken all of the royal houses in the East and more importantly distract the Lu-Esh Panids. As expected, the Panids of the Lu-Esh Lantrium, irritated by this ‘petty’ squabble, sought to end the hostilities and ordered the ambitious Queen VaCenet of Urukish to intercede. She sent her daughter, Princess DuLek, to Amaria to demand peace. DuLek was her mother’s daughter, a queen in waiting and saw herself as Emperor Karna’s equal.
Undaunted, Emperor Karna of Amaria kept the young upstart waiting for days, cancelling audience after audience. Princess DuLek stormed and raged, accused and openly insulted. Slights that reached Karna’s ears. The situation had reached a tipping point and sensing the time was right the Four took their next step. DuLek’s murderers left enough evidence to point the finger of blame firmly at Karna.
Inconsolable over the death of her beloved daughter the Urukish Queen demanded retribution. The Panids of the Lu-Esh Lantrium were forced to support her as she declared war on Amaria and brought the full might of her armies to bear. The conflict between the two powers quickly escalated, forcing other countries to join the fighting. The Panids of the Lu-Esh Lantrium themselves were compelled to take direct action and bend their powers to destruction and death. At last, the moment was at hand. The Four now made use of the war to remove all opposition within the Lu-Esh Lantrium. Unthinkably several of its Panids died in isolation or the unclear circumstances of war as the Four consolidated their control.
Far to the west, the Panids of the Gillern Lantrium watched, considering their obligations and the threat Lu-Esh now posed. Their intercession was of a magnitude unexpected by the Four and so the Lantriums were set in opposition. Gillern and Lu-Esh began to tear at each other and caught between them, the peoples and lands of Koa were devastated.
As the war became one of attrition and Urukish and Amaria wastelands, the Four and those loyal to them were forced to fight in the dirt alongside mortal men and women. Fearing defeat, they sought a way to gain the upper hand. They created the Meta. The Gillern Panids hurriedly retaliated with the creation of the Grip. But these creatures only escalated the ferocity of the war as it spread across Koa. As the two Lantriums struggled for dominance, the Panids’ Children were created, monsters of even greater power. In due course the Elementals were born, the Gale, the Havoc, the Blaze and ultimately the Fury. The war became an endless cycle of terror and death, each side inflicting yet greater atrocities on the other. Growing voices amongst the Gillern Panids called for the Children to be dissipated and the war ended. It was only after the creation of the Guardians and the destruction of the Lu-Esh Lantrium that the remaining Panids listened, finally accepting their arrogance and taking responsibility for their actions. Pheneel, Medard, Ikemba and Ellusian, the four Panids whose scheming had set events in motion, fled to the coast, intent on escaping to the empty seas of the West and the myths of hidden lands beyond. They were pursued and captured after a final confrontation that cost the Panids the last of the Lantriums.
The Panids-a Brief History.
Book 1 The Panids' Children
Pheneel, leader of the Four, architect of the Panids' downfall.
The emblem of the Panids. Ten points to represent the ten disciplines.
A section of the Ciad Enclosure
Only then did the remaining Panids pause to gaze about them and take stock of the desolation. The Lantriums were no more, their ranks decimated, the land scorched, and the people of Koa brought to their knees. In the empty days that followed the Panids turned their gaze inwards and saw only the inevitability of the war’s reoccurrence. From this bleak certainty, The Field’s Cap was conceived and created to limit the use of the field by all Panids and lesser Talents, preventing the possibility of another war on this scale.
The Panids chose four from their ranks: Kellim of Naddier, Tebeb of Tek, Ethre of Rorn and Etefu also of Tek, individuals embodying the attributes of compassion, foresight and moderation and who had spoken out against the creation of the Children and the wider consequences of the war. Who better to remain, watch over and guide the lesser Talents who would follow. In doing so the Panids hoped to bring a balance to the actions of Pheneel, Medard, Ikemba and Ellusian. Their legacy set, the Panids turned away from the world and with a final glorious act of sacrifice, set The Field’s Cap in place.
In the years that followed, the countries of Koa became wary and suspicious of the lesser Talents, who had survived the war, and forced them into Orders to better police and control them. Urukish became a wilderness, the remnants of its people finding refuge in its few remaining city-states, while the Urukish royal family sought to perpetuate itself through the Ildran royal bloodline. Amaria closed its borders and went into self-imposed isolation. Ciad, apparently humiliated and still furious at its invasion, began building the Ciad Enclosure, a great wall that would completely cut it off from the rest of Koa. Pidone struggled to recover and fell into civil war. Firrica declared itself once again independent of Amaria and took back its name, Nebessa. Akar and Kiashu began the long process of recovery and re-instated their monarchies. Akar rebuilt its ruined capital, Kallian, and named it New Kallian so that the losses of the past would never be forgotten. Selarsh seized the opportunity and reclaimed land, long since occupied by Ildra, once again reuniting its bisected nation. Hallorn and the rest of Koa buried their dead and faced the reality of rebuilding their countries and the limitations of the Field’s Cap.
Nearly one hundred years later the Great War is history. Royalty and politics exert their influence across the countries of Koa. Only Ildra struggles with the increasing obsession of its UruIldran Emperor, Segat. The Orders of Talents are no longer controlled and have become a source of counsel and support to those who rule. The people of Koa live out their lives with no use for lessons from the Great War or the mistakes of the Panids. Of the four remaining Panids, only Kellim of Naddier continues the role originally set them. Ethre of Rorn, long ago retired to the far North, is a faint memory. Etefu of Tek travels the continent resentful of the past and Tebeb of Tek has not been seen for decades.
As the past is forgotten, Amaria seeks to end its self-imposed isolation, feeling it has finally atoned for the actions of its Emperor, Karna III, and his role in the Great War. Empress Essedra’s more enlightened rule has gradually changed the mindset of the Amarian people. Her goal, while being mindful of the past, is to build a secure and prosperous future for Amaria. Under her direction, the Amar Order of Talents has begun the difficult task of re-establishing links with the other Orders.
The countries of Koa watch with cautious optimism as Amaria opens its doors to the world. Indeed, it worries me that all eyes are turned to Amaria when perhaps it would be wiser for them to watch events in Ildra and be wary of its UruIldran Emperor, Segat.
Drassique of New Kallian