Sasin... my homeland, I find myself at a loss to describe it. Should I recount the glory etched upon relief murals or the decaying remnants buried beneath endless sands? Shall I speak of the inevitable decline of our golden era into dust, or our people's futile struggle? Fortunately, "history is the gold in people's hearts"; unfortunately, that gold would no longer belong to us, never, ever.
The Last Court
During the great catastrophe, the royal banners were the last to abandon our crumbling homeland. King Kurulek fought till the bitter end, yet even he was forced to retreat before the endless lava tides, splitting forces east and west. The calamity brought clarity - the King rediscovered long-abandoned duties and responsibilities. Acknowledging his failures, he bore the consequences: the court migrated to the barren western badlands, with most Grobato nobles, those who had enjoyed the greatest privilege, now shouldering the heaviest burdens. Another legion followed his most trusted general eastward, crossing the Brightvale into northern marsh grasslands.
After initial chaos, King Kurulek sought to command the Ancient Empire's fractured remains. Royal envoys traversed the continent as the King combined penitence with authority, mustering all available forces. Over eight years, he crushed three rebellions and a deification coup, dedicating all his resources to war preparations. The assembled coalition forces returned to lava-scarred homelands to battle the Outer God and its bloodthirsty minions. King Kurulek succeeded - The Seething was slain, the Outer Deity fell dormant, and Demonspawn retreated into fissures. But the cost is Dew's fall, a dozen legions destroyed, and the King's sacrifice. Most crucially, we lost our sacred homeland forever.
The crown prince returned west with surviving legions, proclaiming the King's final decree: The Ancient Empire's people will choose their futures. Chen-Yuan and Caucaid seceded, and allies withdrew, leaving only the western court and eastern grassland legions struggling to preserve their former glory. This crumbling realm became known as Sasin's first dynasty.
Days Gone
The stark contrast between past glory and present desolation is unbearable, yet the old nobles must struggle to survive in this barren land. To escape the harsh realities, people turn to religion, but in the Collapsed Era, the remnants of the Ancient Empire resent the gods' indifference and refuse to pray. Nostalgia for bygone eras and reverence for great monarchs birthed Sasin's unique ancestor worship. Guided by The King's Servant, the Grobato people merged history, bloodline, and death into one, enshrining King Kurulek as the source of faith, the Cult of Veil serves as its priesthood, the monarch's descendants - called Holy Scions - lead both the cult and the empire. From the Ancient Empire's corpse rises a new theocratic state, its creed illuminating the path as its people reclaim lands and rebuild civilization amidst the wastelands.
Separated by the Circle of Calamity, east-west communication remains arduous. But shared faith and King Kurulek's legacy maintain imperial unity. Grobato people strive against all odds to reconnect the divided realms. Since the Age of Separation, expeditions from both sides have pushed northward along coastal routes, erecting watchtowers, waystations, and fortresses like iron nails driven into ruins - a relentless campaign. Finally, when Chen-Yuan breached the Dragon-jaw Mountains in the south, eastern and western armies converged at the Circle's southern border. They raised the fortress "Kurujar", symbolizing the ancient empire's reunification and heralding the Outer Circle's New Chapter.
Elegy of the Ancient Empire
The unification of eastern and western territories should have stabilized the Ancient Empire and restored its golden age, yet centuries of separation had fostered distinct cultural practices. Political systems and theological doctrines diverged most severely, compounded by Eastern nobles accustomed to autonomy resisting Western court authority. Without geographical barriers, the empire's halves confronted accumulated tensions.
A power struggle within the Holy Scion Family ignited full-scale conflict. After Holy Scion Suhelat II's demise, his cousin, the firstborn of King Kurulek - failed in his succession bid and fled eastward. Proclaimed as Bandia I with claims of legitimacy, rival Holy Scions refused to compromise. Prolonged warfare erupted from western oases to eastern steppes. Ancient Empire's heirs clashed over legitimacy and Holy Scion dignity, demolishing Demon-spawn defense fortresses in mutual sieges. Once-united Legions turned blades against former comrades.
The Holy Scion conflict concluded with the Western court's victory. Bandia I suicided. Eastern areas acknowledged there was only one Holy Scion, but refused to acknowledge him as the Kurulek King's representation. Though retaining the crown, the court permanently lost eastern territories. Amidst the ruins, fortress Kulu Jar - the symbol of past unity - fell to Demon-spawn assault and was razed. Blazespawn renamed it "Kurujar", mocking the empire's self-sabotaged defenses. No Ancient Empire anymore! Eastern realms seceded as the Grobato Clan, establishing the priest-ruled Sagar Kingdom; the diminished western court gradually became known as the Sasin Dynasty.
The Scar of Molten Sand
The Holy Scion conflicts marked the fall of the Ancient Empire, revealing the vulnerability of outer realms to the Circle of Calamity. The outer realms seemed to have forgotten that the calamity lurking beneath the lava had never truly departed. In Year 57, when the Sasin Dynasty hadn't fully recovered from civil war, Demonspawn suddenly assaulted the border fortress of Withered Sands Castle. Demonspawn Mages unleashed molten tides that cascaded over mountain passes, spreading westward for dozens of miles, searing a charred wound across the dynasty's oasis heartland.
The remaining ancient legions were deployed piecemeal into battlefields, their centuries-old glory and thousands of lives buried in sand, barely slowing the Demonspawn advance. The royal court retreated from Sanjar to Minucius, lifting political restrictions on merchant clans en route and offering Ancient Empire relics as rewards for reinforcements. Militias and mercenaries of various races barely maintained defensive lines outside of the Minucius until the Kings' Tomb Guardian awakened, securing dynastic victory in the Battle of Minucius and driving the Demonspawn back to the Circle of Calamity.
The Scar of Molten Sands marked Demonspawn's first large-scale invasion against Outer Circle post-Collapse Era, also called the First Melting disasters. Amidst the ruins of Withered Sands Castle, the Sasin Dynasty signed the "Final Barrier" pact with Holy Elves, Sagar, Caucaid, and Chen-Yuan, pledging joint defense against Demonspawn invasions. This pact sometimes worked in Melting Disasters, but sometimes not.
The Rise and Fall of Dynasties
The Tragedy of Molten Sands exhausted the wealth inherited from the Ancient Empire, decimating the last legion. Regional warlords and rebel leaders grew powerful during this chaos, forcing the Holy Scion and priestly orders to share governance. Relocating the capital to Minucius, the Holy Scion recruited elite rebels to rebuild the Legion. Commanders of this new legion concurrently served as viceroys of major city-states, effectively confirming their authority in secular governance. The Holy Scion maintained dominance over all Viceroy family lineages through control of two elite legions and ancient mana-crafted artifacts inherited from the Ancient Empire.
In Year 124, the visionary monarch Shahmet · Sasin ascended the throne of the Second Dynasty. This Holy Scion wielded absolute power for over six decades, expanding into the White Desert, repelling Forest Elves raiders, excavating Kurujar ruins, and promoting the spice trade. His reputation reached its zenith through these military and administrative achievements. In his twilight years, Shahmet grew unwilling to share power with viceroys, conspiring with the sorcerer of The King's Servants to have the Cult of Veil deify him as a sacred sovereign, attempting to transcend mortal limits and centralize all authority. When this plot leaked in Year 187, temple priests and regional viceroys united to disrupt Shahmet's ritual at King's Rest, entombing the "Greatest Holy Scion" and expunging his name from historical records. The Second Dynasty collapsed, replaced by the Third Dynasty under descendants of King Kurulek's second son.
The eighty-year Third Dynasty witnessed twelve different Holy Scions and constant political turmoil. Viceroys warred against each other until Year 273, when bandit lords from the outlaw city: Gor · Aman exploited conflicts between the Holy Scion's Legion and Haman Province's Viceroy to sack Minucius. The last Holy Scion perished in this chaos.
The death caused seismic shockwaves across three Provinces. As the dynasty teetered on the brink of collapse, the Cult of Veil awakened the tomb guardians from King's Rest Place, crushing separatist warlords with overwhelming force. They installed another Kurulek descendant as the new Holy Scion. After destroying Gor · Aman, the Fourth Dynasty was established when regional Viceroys paid homage to Minucius. With the Tomb Guardian Legion as its backbone and the Cult of Veil as its voice, the Fourth Dynasty finally established stable political authority and administrative systems. For over a century, no collapse has threatened its reign.
A Ship Sailing on Quicksand
In Sasin, the time seems to have come to a standstill. Unlike Chen-Yuan and Caucaidian, who forge ahead into the future, the people of Sasin prefer seeking direction from tombs and archives. Ancient means better - nobles consider adherence to old ways as fashion, Scholars regard studying ancient arts as orthodoxy, and even the tactical innovations of Legion Soldiers lean toward the awe-inspiring Legion of the Ancient Empire, rather than valuing new developments in gunpowder, forging, or thaumaturgy. Ironically, ancient War Machines excavated from tombs, the King's Servant arcana, and immortal Warriors prove no less formidable than modern doctrines. The legacy of the Ancient Empire still has much to offer this dynasty. Fairness compels us to admit: Kurulek King's Warriors still guard his bloodline, ancient The King's Servants still manipulate court politics in shadows, past glories still guide descendants of the Ancient Empire on their campaigns..."The older, the mightier" seem more than empty words.
All know Sasin is a ship trapped in quicksand. Even with the captain and crew straining, they merely delay its slide toward The End. Faced with barrenness, it sails into history, drawing strength and pride from glorious yesteryears. But when priests' hymns fade and sand-laden winds rush through windows, people remember they're merely surviving amidst the corpse of the Ancient Empire. Perhaps the Holy Scion and priests all understand that the splendid past has vanished beyond retrieval, and the Sasin people are trekking toward mirages. Without that beautiful illusion, they couldn't endure until the next oasis.
Among outer realm nations, Sasin is far from the richest but undoubtedly holds the most secrets. Ancient Empire, The King's Servant, King of Kings, departed Godness - Dew... Their mysteries lie beneath yellow sands, concealed in sepulchral coffins. "History is the gold in people's hearts" - sometimes becoming gold in their hands. You may choose to venture into sandy seas, seeking treasures and truths lost among grains, doing what I dare not. Well, friend... May oases grant you dew.