A long time ago, before the island of Trellor had joined the mainland,
the city of Lattyrna was a very prosperous trading city. Many beautiful
things were crafted by the artisans there, and exported as far the sea
elves of the western reef. The people of Lattyrna lived on a sprawling
island just east of where Trellor is located today. The city was
surrounded by a vast, white granite sea wall, and the port of Lattyrna was
the largest in the known world.
All year round, great amounts of trade goods were shipped into the
city, and an equal amount were sent out to the rest of the world. The
people were almost impossibly rich, and even the lowliest one of them had a
great deal of money to spare. Denizens of other countries came from far
and wide to visit the great city of Lattyrna. Over a thousand people
were employed to be the sanitation officials, and the great white city
was kept meticulously clean. Every month, the great white sea wall was
washed and cleaned of the salt stains and residue that the tide managed
to kick up.
At its height, the city was ruled by a wise man, Leviathan. His council
was so wise, it was deemed that the city needed no council of elders to
help direct affairs. His word and rule were absolute, and none dared
challenge his decrees. Not that ever did, of course, because his laws and
rules were always increasing the power and wealth of the citizens of
the great Lattyrna. Leviathan owned a great deal of land on the mainland,
and many of the richest of Lattyrna moved to the mainland to establish
great estates with fertile land. From these estates, the city received
their food supply, which could last for six years should their city
become blockaded. At this time many of the lesser cities looked to
Lattyrna as their "big brother". They encouraged their citizens to trade
there, and made treaties with the city.
Many of these treaties required the lesser cities to provide military
support at the call of Leviathan. It was because of this that the people
of Lattyrna began to think of themselves as all-powerful and began to
stop their worship to the gods. They began to think of themselves as
almost demi-gods themselves.
Leviathan told his people that they were but mortals, and not to jest
with the gods. But no matter how hard he tried, his people couldn't
resist themselves. They knew that everyday their great empire was growing
and growing, its coffers on the verge of overflowing. It was the only
time he met with any objection to his rule.
For years, Leviathan continued to pray to the gods for support and
wisdom, whether his people did or not. The people refused to join him in
homage, and began to taunt the gods, claiming that they did not rule.
They never saw the gods but they saw their coffers and granaries
overflowing. If the gods did rule, the people reasoned, than they would show
themselves. The taunting continued, always growing louder and louder.
At last, a few years later, Leviathan the great and wise king began to
listen to these jests. This was not that he himself disbelieved that
the gods existed, but because he realized that he could not rule the
people if this rift between he and they continued to widen. At last he
publicly stopped praying and agreed that the gods' power was waning. This
was the last stroke that ultimately spelled destruction for Lattyrna.
The gods had heard the jests for a long time, yet were convinced not to
ruin the city whilst Leviathan remained loyal. When Leviathan publicly
declared that the gods power was waning, however, the Gods could do
nothing to protect him. Most of the gods simply wanted to erase the city
from Medievia, but Poseidon, a powerful cleric in the service of the
gods, declared that if they wanted the rest of Medievia to conform, they
had to make an example of Lattyrna. The gods agreed, and so Poseidon set
out to the city to destroy it in the most ruthless way possible.
He appeared on the horizon in a great blazing cloud and in a great rush
rained deadly fire upon the city, such as has never been seen since.
All about the city people were screaming and dying, all of them
despairing. No amount of money or beautiful architecture could save them from
the great wrath of the elders. At last, when the entire island burned,
Poseidon used his long trident to roll up a tremendous tidal wave. The
wave could be seen from the mainland, yet there was nothing those people
could do to save the city. The wave crashed upon the island in such
force that it broke every building and even forced the land to compress,
until the highest spire on the palace was leagues under water.
As the sea calmed, a lone survivor could be seen floating half dead in
water, clinging to a piece of wood. Poseidon descended from his cloud
and levitated above the gasping man.
"By the gods!" the man exclaimed. "Could it be...?"
"Yes. It is I, Poseidon the Faithful. You have neglected your worship.
You have thought yourselves all-powerful. You are, or shall I say were,
wrong. Now there are none of you to think anything," Poseidon replied.
The man, groaned. "Please," he whined. "Please bring the citizens back.
They didn't know the consequences their actions might bring. Please."
Poseidon looked on in puzzlement at the man below him, truly astounded.
This man was on the verge of death, and yet he pled for the lives of
those already dead. "You must be Leviathan. I was going to be merciful
and kill you as I did the rest. But now that I see who you are, I have
decided to make an example of you, no matter how pious you believe you
are."
With those last words, Leviathan felt himself beginning to change. His
body seemed to stretch and become larger. His arms grew into great
wings, and his face became distorted, forming a great snout. At last,
Leviathan looked down upon himself, and noticed what he had become - a great
dragon.
"And now to complete your torment, you will never die, but shall remain
chained and in captivity forever within your own city." Poseidon
exclaimed at last.
Thus things came to what they are today. Poseidon descended to keep
Leviathan in torment, and was granted phenomenal powers by the gods. He
became the God of the Sea, but he forced the dead to live once more serve
him for the rest of their lives as mermen. The city remained hidden
under the waves for a long time. The estates that had once served under
Lattyrna's rule now fought with each other until they had all destroyed
themselves. After many centuries, the memories of the great empire were
forgotten.
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