Islik, the demigod son of Illiki Helios, the Sun-Bull, was born on the isle of Illia, sometimes called the Isle of the Sun, standing as it does between the Silver Scale Sea and the Great Golden Sea of the East. He ascended to the throne of Illia and established his Sun Court soon after reaching manhood.
He warred against the barbarian warlords of the Hemispial Peninsula, and eventually brought those lands under his control. Tributes were sent to him from the Gola and Galia, and he was then called for the first time King of the Earth.
Islik was overthrown by Israha, the Rebel Angel, who usurped his throne and cast him into exile. For 21 years, Islik wandered the world, traveling even beyond the Midlands and finally into the Underworld, performing Ten Victories during his journeys to prove his right to the throne. He returned from exile in triumph, and cast Israha into Hell before ascending into the Heavens into a new palace of his own making. There Islik became the Divine King of both Heaven and Earth, according to his followers.
His descendants and followers held near-divine power in his name throughout Illia and Hemispia. The greatest of them were called the Dragon Kings, since the Dragon is the symbol of worldly power.
Dauban Hess consolidated Illia and Hemispia, and then struck out into the world. He conquered Amora with ease, and then the ancient courts of the Gola welcomed him with open arms, and he established his court at the city of Seker. There he was told of Nymarga the Tyrant, the great lord of Thessidia, by rumor a son of Israha. Nymarga had taken power in the West, and was being hailed as the Worldy Tyrant.
So Dauban Hess led his armies out of the Gola into Thessidia, and thus began the great war between the Conqueror King and the Worldly Tyrant. For twenty years they fought until Dauban Hess slew Nymarga and took his crown. He conquered Thessidia and Vanimoria, far into the West to Metea and Samarappa, before returning to conquer Dania. He received tribute from Khael, and in all the known world only a minor city-state, Palatia, refused to recognize him as the Golden Emperor of the World.
Dauban Hess moved the Sun Throne of Illia to Millene and established his own political court in Avella, capital of Thessidia, ruling over the largest empire in history. He tired of court life, however, and soon left on a great expedition to the East to find the Dawn, where Helios the Sun rises each day. He was never heard from again.
Before sailing into the Golden Sea, Dauban Hess had appointed a series of great Kings who held power over his territories, each given a Dragon Throne as a sign of their authority in his name. As time passed without word from the Emperor, some of the Kings declared themselves powers in their own right, and fell into squabbling. In time, a split emerged between the generals appointed by Dauban Hess and the Dragon Kings of Illia, Hemispia and Dania, who held power as hereditary monarchs of the ancient Sun Court. None could hold the Golden Empire together on their own, and soon the Empire broke into many pieces, ruled by the Succesor Kings.
Worship of the Divine King suffered a schism. In the south and west, the Successor Kings of Thessid-Gola established the Phoenix Court at Millene, and asserted non-heriditary claims on kingship, being for the most part generals appointed to power. In the east and in Dania, where Dauban Hess had kept Dragon Kings in power, the hereditary principle was put in place, and the Sun Court was reestablished in Illia.
In time, the Thessid-Golan Kings fell prey to the subtle influence of magic inherited from Nymarga's rule in Millene, and embraced the use of sorcery and dark magic to prolong life. They became twisted shadows of their former selves, and were called the Worm Kings. They waged war against the Sun Court, warring against the Dragon Kings, against Amora, against Khael and Palatia, even as rebellion swept Thessid-Gola.
A Worm King fleet sacked the Oracle City, on Khael, and in so doing brought about their doom. They were cursed by the Oracle Queen with her dying breath, and their capital of Millene disappeared in a volcanic maelstrom, taking with it the original Sun Throne and plunging the world into the Winter Century, beginning what many call the Dark Age.
After the destruction of Millene, Thessid-Golan disintegrated. Vanimoria and the Gola, now called Grand Sekeret, went their separate ways. New kings and priests came to power in Thessidia and they led the great purge of Worm King influence from the new Phoenix Court. The rejected the title of King, and called themselves Emirs, ruling by appointment in the Phoenix Court tradition. Throughout the world, the last of the Worm Kings were hunted to their deaths, though the hunt took centuries. The last known Worm King was found disguised in Uthed Dania, and there Erlwulf, called by some the last true Dragon King, was slain in its pursuit. Githwaine the Worm King was unmasked and destoyed and Uthed Dania was blighted and became Lost Uthedmael.
In time a new power rose in Thessidia, the young emir Akkalion, scion of a princely house untainted by a Worm King past. A great warlord, he led his armies into Grand Sekeret, but after conquering the land he submitted himself to the testing of the Golan Great Schools,and so was hailed as the Thessid-Golan Emperor. He then turned west and conquered Vanimoria, Metea, and Ramoristan, intent on reestablishing the Golden Empire of Dauban Hess.
He was unable to conquer Samarappa or the Kessites, however, and Akkalion returned from his conquests in the west unhappily. He conquered Amora and received tribute from the Sun Court cities of Illia and Hemispia.
He turned then to the land of Dania, now called the Four Kingdoms — Dania, Auria, Atallica, and Maece. He landed with a great fleet in Maece, and there was met by the Watchtower Kings of the coast, backed by inland allies. The night before their battle Akkalion was overcome by a strange dream from which he did not awake, and in the morning Irré, the Black Sun, rose in the sky; bereft of their Emperor, the demoralized Thessid army was driven into the sea.
The Black Day Battle marked the end of the Empire's expansion. Akkalion was taken back to his capital, Avella, and while his body has survived the past four hundred years, his mind has remained trapped in his dream. The Sun Court lands of Illia-and-Hemispia, organized into the Hemapoline League of Cities, ceased their tributes, and the Queens of Amora, backed by the ancient city-state of Palatia, threw out their Thessid overlords. Power in the Empire fell first to the Phoenix Court and the priests of the Emperor's own cult, but eventually a Sultan was appointed to speak in the Emperor's stead and lead the Imperial emirs. Agameen is the ninth Sultan.
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