| Category | Fallen Empires | ||||
| World | Bal-Kriav | ||||
| Region | Gulimbor, Necrocrypt | ||||
| Government | Elder Furs | ||||
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| Deity | Ptah | ||||
| Enemies | First Khazarkar Empire | ||||
| Reign | 790 - 1131 | ||||
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This empire was established by the Tragarans of Lanirûk. For centuries, these hardy highlanders from the Hedrac and Barândîr valleys raided the lowlands as far as Woad. They pillaged the minotaur holdings of Imrabêl and those of the Khazarkar as the latter expanded northward from Akann'ndâb. During the formation of the Khazarkar city-states that would become the First Khazarkar Empire, the Tragaran highlanders were often employed as mercenaries. When not serving as hired swords, some groups would return to raiding the Khazarkar frontier. The hostility was not limited to plunder raids, as the Tragaran city-state of Lanirûk and Khazarkar Akann'ndâb were embroiled in recurring conflicts over territory and resources.
By the time of the establishment of the Khazarkar city-state Chal-Kazod, Gulimbor's southern Tragarans found themselves constrained by a series of defenses limiting their movement to Messu-Nora, Hedrac, and Barândîr. Notions of population expansion south of the Siganbul mountains were negated by the threat of Hive Swarms and the unforgiving terrain of the Hive region. Following a six-year war between the neighboring groups, peace was brokered in 221 with the signing of the Treaty of Alêth. This accord defined the borders between the Khazarkars and the Tragaran highlands, and granted rights of passage for seasonal hunting and foraging.
The Tragarans of southern Gulimbor were the first human civilization to extensively practice psionics. They acquired this knowledge from the hags of Messu-Nora and through exploration of the Auhtai ruins south of the Rônnahar wastes. The hags trained their captive Tragaran tribesmen, as well as those Tragarans bold enough to seek them out. Some less malevolent hags even instructed Tragarans in psionics, exchanging this knowledge for manufactured goods, jewelry, and sustenance. When the Purging of the Hags occurred, the Tragarans had become sufficiently skilled to train others, though the loss of the hags may have diminished potential psionic discoveries. One of the largest centers of psionic learning was Mîras-Sûr, now a perilous ruin plagued by psychic terrors.
In 790, the highlander settlements of southern Gulimbor founded the Borillisk Empire. This was a necessity, as competition amongst themselves and the burgeoning power and commercial sway of the First Khazarkar Empire had begun to adversely impact them.
The Khazarkar Empire declared war on the Borillisk Empire in 996, commencing the Hedrac War.
In 999, suffering from the catastrophic Gulimbor Cataclysm (996 - 1203) and unwilling to become a vassal state of the First Khazarkar Empire, the people of Borillisk joined the massive Great Exodus (998 - 1017), a migration of over a million people. Nearly half of Borillisk's population ventured westward, eventually becoming citizens of the prosperous Ba'lith Empire. Those who traveled northward passed into the lands of the Cal-Thaoun Dynasty, joining the throngs boarding ships for new homelands. On Cal-Thaoun and other friendly vessels, the Borilliskins were transported to their newfound abodes, settling upon Sahuld, a small island in the Necrocrypt region. For the subsequent nine years, they adhered to the binding Hedrac Treaty, becoming what many perceived as subservient to the Khazarkar Empire.
In 1131, a formidable band of adventurers ventured into the interior of the nearby island Gathrot. Half of the group returned to Cerebrum to recount their experiences. They reported the discovery of ancient Abâthigûran ruins, encounters with numerous undead, and unspeakable horrors from other realms. One survivor recounted a tale of a haunted area that seemed to drain their life forces. Unbeknownst to the adventurers, they had entered a great hall that had witnessed the rise of the evil god Thasmudyan; a place that would later become known as the Basilica of Thasmudyan. The returned survivors carried a virulent disease back to Sahuld, which swiftly spread throughout the capital city of Cerebrum and beyond. The disease proved resistant to priestly, wizardly, and psionic treatments. Seeking aid, they sent courier pigeons to Kal-Oni and other empires, but word of the deadly plague had already spread. To prevent its further dissemination, Borillisk's island home was blockaded by the Kal-Oni. Unable to break the blockade, most of Borillisk's population perished. During the plague, the empire's chief alchemist Godhead worked on powerful elixirs to cure and potentially save some of the people. Unfortunately, one of these elixirs failed, creating a cursed fleet of the dead known as the Armada of the Damned. The Borillisk empire fell within a year.