| Category | Events |
| Location | Midrêth |
| Period | 995 HE - 1355 HE |
In 862 HE, three centuries after they disappeared into the Void, four primordial vessels arrived on the world of Bal-Kriav. Aboard each was a Durkoth leader and thousands of his kind. They brought with them other races that served more or less as minions. Across the super region Midrêth, they established spheres of influence.
To this day, it is still not understood why some Durkoth mutated. When they did, they left the surface to dwell beneath the waves. One theory is that in-breeding caused their genetic code to change. Another more plausible theory is that they were simply returning to what they were originally created for. On Osâchar, their civilization was in a dry area with the main source of water coming from deep wells. Once on the world of Bal-Kriav, they found themselves in the presence of vast bodies of water, which according to the theory triggered the changes in their bodies, leading to the Durkoth Descent. Another theory is that if you worshiped one of the Saints of Maen, then you were granted the ability to dwell under the seas, otherwise you still mutated into an aquatic variant of the Durkoth but did not have the yearning to head for deep waters. The result for these non-Chosen was dehydration and death.
Spire of Molakh-Búle - Abâthigûr
Those aboard what would become better known as the Spire of Molakh-Búle, established settlements across the isles of Necrocrypt. Around 995 HE, Abâthigûr's Durkoth began their change. With bodies becoming more suitable for the sea, came a yearning for deep waters. Unable to resist the urge, with gills and webbed extremities, they swam away from everything they once had once held dear. They abandoned their subjects on Necrocrypt, leaving the empire to take care of itself. In 1011 HE, Abâthigûr, an off-shoot of the Horgon Empire (159 HE - 537 HE), came to an end.
The merfolk that patrol the edges of Necrocrypt say many Durkoth went into Zen'nêlkhush and vanished, while others went north to Orat-Khagor. In this area, they became masters of the ixitxachitl. There slaves built Ogharkú for them. Deep inside this place, they placed hundreds of Hibernation Bays, then built a supposedly impenetrable vault around them. After the Durkoth mysteriously disappeared into their vaults, their former minions went on to form the Ranturâpha Empire.
We called them the Chosen. They were the ones that advanced to a new form. The Chosen were destined for the seas, those not, ignominy.
You could tell when one was beginning the change. They would linger for hours in the bath houses, or seen submerged in the plaza's great pools that you would think they drowned, or swimming in the ocean long after a normal Durkoth could endure.
It was not the end of our people, but a new beginning for the Chosen. Once masters of the land, we became masters of the sea, what next? The skies?
- excerpt from the Tablets of Inendeep - "Masters of the Sea"
Spire of Krak-Oth - Ak'mrîtun
The Spire of Krak-Oth landed in the northern reaches of Grashakh. Overlooking the marshes of Droonesh, they founded the settlement of Argruxiel. Ten years after this the Ak'mrîtun Empire was founded with Krak-Oth its first emperor. By 1200 HE, all the Durkoth of this empire had left for the seas.
| One theory of the Durkoth mutation is that it came about as a result of a powerful curse. The Unausprechlin Kulten says that the people of Horgon imprisoned a master race that once held sway over the Sussgurd, Theegans and other peoples of Osâchar. This master race, the Old Ones, saw their cities sunk into the seas and themselves imprisoned in the watery depths. A very similar fate to what befell the Durkoth. |
The Theegans, the majority of Ak'mrîtun's population, reigned for centuries after the Durkoth Descent. When horse cultists began to gain influence in the empire, the people were damned by their former Durkoth master, and now god Krak-Oth. In the Year 43, these horse-cultists were cursed. They woke the next day as centaur abominations. These chaotic brutes would come to be known as the Jara.
Spire of Neld-Rac - Rângilan
The Durkoth of the Spire of Neld-Rac were different than the rest of their ilk on Bal-Kriav. Most were more interested in study and experimentation (c.f. Muneyd'vith) than conquest. Today, those searching for information on the primordials and the Creation War turn to items pulled from the Spire of Neld-Rac.
Around 1017 HE, the Chosen of the Spire of Neld-Rac began mutating. All of them ended up going south into the Sea of Mourning, making their way to a place called Rângilan. In this undersea realm of the deep abyss, the Durkoth under Neld-Rac spread chaos and dissent among the people. They subjugated sahuagin and other aquatic races and had them build a massive undersea city called Limac-Nîr. It was built to such size and grandeur that only a tiny percent was ever used by the population. Some areas were built in such confusing ways that creatures entering would become lost in the structure.
The madness in the design of Limac-Nîr is such that only an insane person can truly appreciate.
- Neld-Rac, "Madness in the Deeps"
Spire of Rioch Tetrax - Inendeep
The Durkoth of the Spire of Rioch Tetrax were never able to form a sizable empire. The area around the Spire was dangerous, not suitable for those unaccustomed to wetlands and disease. Around 1150 HE, Durkoth began leaving Nagdúrzol and other smalls settlements of the Troll Bogs and its sub-surface region. They swam far out into the Pearl Sea, settling in the undersea geothermal canyon Tyelcirion. In this area, they became masters of the area's merfolk. Durkoth influence was centered around Inendeep. Back on land, the Durkoth departure left their former minions, Laupha overseers, and a multitudes of slaves, to their own fates.
Durkoth Hibernation
In 1355 HE, large tracts of Midrêth began to feel the effects of a bitter cold. This was the start of a minor age that proselytizers of Thyrm called Thyrms Breath. This weather change resulted in the total disappearance of the Durkoth. In their undersea holds, they entered vaults and sealed themselves inside. They have never been seen again.