Roughly between 24,500 and 20,000 years ago a great empire, Koloran, flourished in this corner of the world centred on
Iobaria. It was ruled by Cyclops who considered themselves the Chosen Race because only they, like the sky,
had one eye. They appear to have been enlightened rulers and studied the firmament and the movement of the stars in great detail. They were also renowned seers and appear to have prophesied the end of their empire as their rulers began to seek bargains with dark gods. Of the history of the Empire we know little but we do know how it ended due to a few rare inscriptions in Cyclopean ruins in Iobaria.
A successful general, Vordakai, seized the throne vowing to purge the Empire of the worship of demons. He began a reign of terror
executing any he thought guilty of such blasphemy and but after a time he took to designating anyone who expressed any dissent to his brutal methods or opposed him in any way as 'demon worshippers'.
In due course it emerged that his plan was not to banish the dark gods at all but to fully embrace them and to gain power and riches
for himself so that he became the greatest Emperor who had ever lived. In order to extend his reign he became a lich and sustained
the favour of his gods with constant sacrifice of his subjects. In the end many of his closest allies thought his actions were unsustainable
and would topple the Empire and civil war erupted. In desperation he sent word to the famous Falxagh Oracle asking whether if he marched to confront his enemies he would still be
Emperor in 100 years time. They replied that in 100 years time the Emperor would still be Vordakai.
Vordakai marched and in a mighty battle that shattered the strength of the Empire his army fell and he was captured and destroyed. The Oracle,
however, stood by its original prophesy, saying like all its pronunciations it would come to pass. The Cyclops as a result tried to abolish
all the works of Vordakai to prevent his return and even changed the form of goverment to a Republic.
The rot at the heart of the Empire went too deep, however. One of those charged with destroying Vordakai's works instead studied them.
Being a seer he forsaw the fall of the Republic and that if Vordakai came again none would have the strength to withstand him. He knew, however, that Vordakai was destroyed. He therefore took the name of Vordakai himself and buttressed by a prophesy that he would live for thousands of years turned himself into a lich and seized the throne. He was indeed correct in thinking that the dark magic he
wielded was the the dominant power in the largely ruined empire. What he didn't understand was that others also still wielded it and some
still believed in the return of the true Vordakai and saw him as an imposter.
Vordekai had built himself a tomb, thinking he still needed to study the dark magic and would need periods where he would 'die' and then
return maybe a hundred years later for he had little appetite for the rebuilding the Empire. Once it was completed, however, his enemies
tricked him and sealed him forever in the construction. The Cyclops civilisation had, however, descended into barbarism and the land was occupied
by other races.
The first race to discover the tomb was that of the Rashalka centaurs, great enemies of the Cyclops who they saw as degenerate giants. At that time they understood the language of the Cyclops and, having read the warnings upon its doors, immediately set a guard upon the tomb, the importance of which was passed down the generations. The wars in the south in the past two thousand years, however, have
frequently lead to migrations of men north forcing the centaurs off their lands and back to Iobaria. Each time they have returned the
stories around the tomb have slipped further back into myth and legend as far as their culture is concerned.