HISTORY

The page describes three major eras in Chult's history: Era of The Erased, the Era of Sameer and Aarti (EAA), the Era of Leeli (EL), and the Era of Mahapatra (EM).

EAA was marked by the short reign of the dragons Sameer and Aarti, while EL was dominated by their daughter, Leeli, who brought temporary peace and prosperity.

In EM, Leeli's son, Mahapatra, lived in isolation until the kingdom of Chult was transformed into an oppressive empire, until Ronen Arcturus and Veritas overthrew the empire and established a kingdom (later a consulate), ruling together until the current year, [YEAR: EM-648].

Era of the Erased (The Black Jungle)

Chult used to be a peninsula inhabited solely by various species of reptillians and reptillian animals. While the exact year is unknown, it it widely agreed upon that humans first set foot on the peninsula about 2000 years ago. They came from the north via ship, as the Eastern Jungles were impenetrable.

Older human history books describe the reptillians found back then as savages, and the ones who struck first. However, most scholars of our current era agree that this was part of the erasure that took place back then.

No reptillian-written works, whether on stone or paper, exist from this era. However, human-written works have been well-preserved. It is widely believed that an active effort of erasure existed back in those times, forever silencing the locals that have been enslaved.

Local deities were forcibly replaced by Faerunian gods, however they never really appealed to the locals, due to stark differences in culture and modes of worship. This lead to even more severe punishments and the impossibility of climbing out of slavery.

The Era of Sameer and Aarti (EAA)

Few historical records have survived from the Era of Sameer and Aarti. Sameer and Aarti were two ancient dragons that arrived in Chult and settled in the westernmost mountain chain. Due to their presence, the mountain chain gained the name of “Dragon Mountains”. The inhabitants of Chult suddenly felt their strong auras, especially the reptilian population, which immediately began seeking aid from the two dragons, as the reptilian population was oppressed by the humanoids.

While humans base their hierarchies on age, reptilians base their hierarchies through size. Sameer and Aarti were the very first dragons to ever land on Chultan soil, and it is believed that they were ancient, therefore their size was colossal. Most historians theorize that, because of these factors, the reptilians immediately saw them as gods, not knowing what a dragon is.

Their reign lasted only 10 years, from EAA-0 to EAA-9, having been defeated by the humanoids. But before leaving Dragon Mountains to go to war, Aarti laid an egg. This egg stood still for 90 years, untouched and unmoved, yet life was still in it, to the amazement of the reptilians that witnessed it. After 90 years, in EAA-99, the egg hatched and thus Leeli was born, and her era began, EAA-99 becoming EL-0.

The Era of Leeli (EL)

Leeli was the daughter of Sameer and Aarti. It is said that Aarti whispered all of her wisdom to Leeli while she was in her egg, and thus she was wiser than most. As soon as she came out of her egg she knew of the world she was born in and she could fend for herself. Such a birth was seen as a symbol of hope by the reptilians that witnessed it and so they began following her everywhere, admiring her beauty and wisdom.

The humanoids hated Leeli, seeing her just like they saw Sameer and Aarti, a pest worthy only of extermination. And so they tried to kill her. However, this time, the reptilians joined the war, wanting to protect the being they admired.

But Leeli’s power was a million times greater than Sameer and Aarti’s combined. The humanoids began trembling at the knees when they saw her power and grace.

The reptilians were amazed, and began worshipping her like the goddess that she truly was, her dwelling in Dragon mountains becoming a place of pilgrimage. They built temples for her, prayed to her, wrote stories of her and made art of her. With the reptilians by her side, she was unstoppable.

Leeli was also clever. A well-known story from her era is the one in which she saw the many reptillians enslaved by the humans and wished to free them all. She created a huge amount of gold, then divided it among reptillian men in order to buy the women and grant back their freedom. This is what gave birth to the Chultan “wife buying” traditions.

But Leeli was also kind and wished for peace. And so, even though she could’ve wiped all the humanoids from Chult, she chose to let them live and thrive, blessing them as well. She hoped that humanoids and reptilians could live as equals, neither oppressing the other. And thus began a time of peace and prosperity. Some of the humanoids began worshipping Leeli as well, and she gladly welcomed them under her wing, like the loving mother she was.

Sadly, this peace only lasted for 21 years, between EL-754 and EL-775.

In EL-775, Leeli laid an egg in Dragon Mountains. This was seen as miraculous, as she never had a partner. And from that moment she began whispering all of her wisdom to it, just like her mother once did to her egg. The reptilians were overjoyed, and renamed Dragon Mountains to God’s Cradle, as these mountains gave birth to not one, but two gods. However, the humanoids who did not follow or respect her went mad with anger, wishing to kill her and destroy her egg, stripping Chult of its gods once and for all.

But Leeli was tenacious. She whispered to the egg for 100 years, while fighting off the humanoids and protecting the reptilians. She died in EL-875, protecting her egg with her very life.

As soon as she drew her final breath, the egg hatched, and so her son, Mahapatra was born, EL-875 becoming EM-0.

The Era of Mahapatra (EM)

As soon as he was born, Mahapatra hid in God’s Cradle, wishing to have nothing to do with the affairs of the humanoids. He wanted to live in peaceful solitude, and his followers respected his wish. The humanoids seemed satisfied with the death of Leeli and so they moved on to conquer other lands. They expanded towards the east, turning Chult from a small kingdom into an oppressive empire. In EM-143, Chult reached all the way to the eastern shore, swallowing the entire south part of Faerun.

The Chultians were miserable, humanoid and reptilian alike dying from starvation or in war. Chult’s population dwindled, reaching dangerously close to extinction, while the royal family was living a life of wealth and luxury. They imposed horrid laws, meant to aid the repopulation of Chult, but all they did was exacerbate the people’s misery. Such laws included, but were not limited to: heavily fining couples that had less than four living children at any time, banning marriage between couples that, for any reason, cannot procreate, forcing people from conquered territories to immigrate to Chult and become soldiers in war against their very homelands. However, these oppressive measures not only did not solve the problem, but they even accelerated the extinction that Chult was facing.

In EM-295, two men of unknown origins, Ronen Arcturus and Veritas, rose up against the royal family, gathering an entire army of humanoids and reptilians to overthrow the empire. In EM-301, with Mahapatra’s blessing, Veritas cut the throat of Emperor Khan Basim, ending the reign of the royal family and becoming the new King of Chult. As soon as he sat on the throne, he gave back the stolen territories, returning Chult to its former borders. He then removed all the tyrannical laws that were imposed by the empire, allowing himself to marry Ronen and make him king as well. They demolished the Palace of Mezro and built homes for themselves and the people.

Veritas and Ronen demanded for the reptilians to be treated equally by the humanoids and so the kobolds, yuan-ti, dinosaurs and lizards rejoiced.

In EM-303, the Kings of Chult, with the kind blessing of Mahapatra, exiled all of the surviving members of the former royal family from Mezro and Nyranzaru. They settled in a valley in the south-east, which bears the name of “Valley of Lost Honor” ever since.

Thirty years of peace followed, then in EM-333 the former royal family formed a rebellion against the Kings of Chult, hoping that they would regain their throne once more. The Kings of Chult stomped the revolt, exiling any and all partisans to The Valley of Lost Honor, and restoring peace once more.

In EM-406, the rebellion movement grew once more, but this time they were more subtle, fighting with false rumours and propaganda. They became technologically advanced, their inventions threatening to wipe Mezro and Nyranzaru from the face of Faerun. In EM-412 Mahapatra himself intervened, stomping over the valley and snuffing the rebellion once more. He granted the people of Chult the wisdom to create their own technology.

In EM-612, Veritas began researching for ways that could prevent the extinction of Chult’s population. In EM-617, Roxanne Arcturus was born from Veritas and Ronen. Roxanne's birth was controversial, as the rebellion used it to stain Veritas’ credibility and paint him as a mad scientist that played with the laws of nature.

In EM-627, an all-out civil war started when rumours of a second child between Veritas and Ronen being on the way began spreading. The war ended in a bloodbath. Ronen got heavily wounded from pushing Veritas away from an incoming Shatter spell and taking the entire hit himself. At the end of EM-627 Veritas and Ronen annulled their marriage and implemented a new governing system. Thus Chult became a Consulate, led by two consuls:

• Ronen Arcturus, the First Consul, dealing with civil matters such as the economy, the education system, or labour
• Veritas, the Second Consul, dealing with martial matters such as the justice system, the army, or the police

They also had common duties and shared responsibilities such as infrastructure improvement and maintenance, dialogue with the population, or maintaining general safety.

In EM-628, Talia was born. Both her and Roxanne remained with Veritas.