Varelay Upheaval

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The Varelay Upheaval was an environmental disaster brought on by the demons of Varelay. As a result of their sinister nature, the demons showed little concern for anything they did with respect to its impact on the peoples around them or on the land.

During its long reign, Varelay was an unstable and chaotic nation, so to keep the masses under control, Varelay had to be fighting wars or putting the population to work in vast civil projects. Historical records of the period, and those not biased, say that it was not the masses that made Varelay so chaotic, but the demons and their endless feuds. This bickering and fighting for more power and influence resulted in constant civil unrest and internal fighting.

The demons of Varelay ruled parts of my master's vast empire. Some came to think these as their personal fiefdoms. My master had to wipe out entire towns and their rebellious satraps to prove that he would not stand for disobedience ... same measures were applied against those that tried to bed one of his harem maidens.

- Agiesir, court historian to Aperoq, excerpt from the book - "The Great Aperoq"

Varelay's massive mining operations was the cause of what would become known as the Varelay Upheaval. The demons and their cohorts put their slaves to work mining the hills and mountains, including volcanic peaks and areas rife with geothermal activity. The heaviest mining started around 2400 LE and would continue to the final days of the empire. In 2608 LE, Varelay's reckless mining operations weakened the structural integrity of the main lava tube joining each of the Hen'khas volcanoes. This resulted in a massive cave-in which blocked the main lava artery. A few days later, this caused the simultaneous eruption of two of Hen'khas's volcanoes. Over the years that followed, the volcanoes began erupting more frequently and earthquakes wracked a wide area of Tha'lith.

The Varelay Upheaval caused some Tragarans of Tilnangau to pledge themselves to Blibdoolpoolp. This was done to save their own skin. They descended into the Underdark with the sinking city Rolipoon where they became kuo-toans. Many of Tilnangau's people survived the Varelay Upheaval and escaped the clutches of Varelay, by fleeing the area. They migrated southeast into Gulimbor or south into Azrik.

There were periods of smoke that lasted for months, blanketing the swamps and the low lying areas. The heat was at times unbearable and required us to remain in the water or be baked in the hot dry air blowing west from Cerbere and Malephar.

- Shobb-Gaun of Tilnangau, excerpt from a personal diary found at Rolipoon

As a result of the Varelay Upheaval, the Tilnangau empire fell in 2615 LE.

The violent earthquakes of the Varelay Upheaval reshaped areas of the landscape. A large swathe of the swamp Gurutharni became a lake called Styming. The earthquakes also brought down some of the ancient fortifications of Mughakh-Gol. The volcanic mayhem damaged the areas around Cerbere and Malephar and wrecked the civil infrastructure of Varelay's holdings. The destruction of aqueducts, homes, ruined crops and fields and ash blanketed forests took a horrendous toll on the population. These factors along with the mysterious disappearance of their emperor were the main factors that brought down the demon empire Varelay. A third of the bay Sallos was filled in by lava flows. This started when Varelay built canals to direct the lava coming out of the volcanoes Arhi'phis and Verfaer.