Okoth - Regional History
During first era of the Days of Thunder (more than 35,000 years ago), the sarrukh ruled over all Faerûn, centring their power in three major empires. The first and easternmost of these was Okoth, founded circa –35,000 DR along the forested shores of Azulduth, which was then the largest freshwater lake in Faerûn.
Like their kin in Isstosseffifil and Mhairshaulk, the Okothians created many races in their own image, including lizardfolk and others long since vanished.
Okoth crumbled after less than a millennium, when a devastating civil war forced its feuding great clans to flee across the planes. The races they had created were left behind to find their own homelands and survive as best they could.
During their plane-walking, the Okothian sarrukh experienced alternating periods of growth and decline. Several millennia ago, in the Barrens of Doom and Despair, they chanced upon a reptilian race known as the khaastas, which they incorrectly assumed to be descended from their own lizardfolk creations. An ill-considered attempt to enslave these creatures resulted in a war between the two races that raged for centuries. When the tide turned in favour of the khaastas, the Okothian sarrukh fled across the planes with their foes at their heels.
In the Year of the Nesting Harpy (643 DR), Nezram the Transmuter, author of the famed spell tome boastfully entitled Unique Mageries, left his tower on the western shore of Lake Azulduth to explore the outer planes. Nearly forty years later, most of his Mulan descendants were scattered or slain when a young green dragon named Chaathuuladroth tore apart Nezram’s Tower in the Year of the Zombie Lords (681 DR).
The victorious dragon flew off to the lonely, mountainous regions to the west with most of Nezram’s treasures. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Nezram had spent a great deal of time studying the ancient legacies of Okoth and knew of the sarrukh. When he discovered an ancient portal in the depths of Azulduth, he passed through it in hopes of discovering what had become of these once-mighty creatures. Nezram’s fate is not recorded, but an ancient warding spell alerted the scattered sarrukh clans to the use of their long forgotten portal and prompted at least one group to return secretly to Faerûn in the Year of the Rampaging Raaserpents (699 DR) to investigate.
In the centuries that followed, increasing numbers of Okothian sarrukh returned to their ancient homeland in hopes of evading the vengeful armies of the khaastas.
Amidst the ruins of their former empire, the Okothians hoped to recover their long-buried weapons and hide long enough to rebuild their strength.
The latter’s wish came to naught when the first khaasta raiding party passed through the portal in the Year of the Gate (1341 DR). Although the sarrukh managed to close the ancient portaland destroy the raiders before they could alert their fellows, the disappearance of this group drew additional bands of khaastas to Faerûn in subsequent years.
During the Time of Troubles (1358 DR), the Okothians secretly approached the divine minions of Set with a brazenly treacherous offer: In exchange for assisting Set in binding their god Sseth into eternal slumber, the Mulhorandi Lord of Evil would grant the sarrukh spells and aid them in their ancient battle with the khaastas.
Set accepted their proposal and created the first wereserpents to mark the agreement. He also convinced his sometimes-ally Sebek to send a host of werecrocodiles up the River of Swords to serve in the Okothians’ army.
Today, the Okothian sarrukh and the khaastas have reached a détente of sorts. The khaastas continue to dispatch raiding bands to Faerûn, but the Okothian sarrukh continue to hold them off, thanks to their newfound patron and an army of lesser allies.
Frustrated by their inability to take Okoth, the khaastas have recently begun appearing elsewhere in Faerûn, hoping to learn more about the world of their ancient enemies and discover other sarrukh enclaves and ruins.