A Primer to Ancient Thassilon

By Brodert R.Quink, Scholar 

(at the time of writing residing at the Magnimarian holding of Sandpoint, home to the last Hellfire Flume) 

The ancient empire of Thassilon (pronounced THAH-sih-lon) occupied most of western Avistan for over a millennium. While its power was great, struggles for control within the nation itself tore Thassilon apart. All that now remains are mysterious ruined monuments scattered throughout the landscape of Varisia.

Founding & Rise to Power  §

Prior to Earthfall, Golarion’s face looked much different from today. Where now the Inner Sea and the Varisian Gulf stretch out, huge land masses held ancient civilizations. 

Illustration 1: Copy of a fresco map of Golarion during the days of ancient Thassilon (ca. -6,000 AR), on display at the Founder’s Archive at the Museum of Ages, Magnimar. Found inside Hollow Mountain. Reproduced with permission from Dr. Archisa Aparna. 

Thassilon was founded by the benevolent emperor Xin, who first harnessed the power of rune magic. Due to the immense size of the empire, Xin established seven fiefdoms run by his most trusted advisors and the most powerful arcanists in the land. As his personal influence over the nation became smaller, his ideals were also pushed to the wayside, making way for the villainy of the sinful runelords, who gained even more power than Xin, but did so on the backs of the people of Thassilon.

Illustration 2: Overlay of the Seven Thassilonian Domains on Post-Earthfall Varisia (by B.R. Quink)

The Seven Domains  §

Xin’s governors, the Runelords, were each - initially - dedicated to one of the seven virtues of rulership: wealth, fertility, honesty, 

abundance, eager striving, righteous anger, and rest 

and were developed from the teachings of the goddess 

Lissala. As their power grew and the competition grew 

between the Runelords became more ruthless, the 

Seven Virtues eventually became corrupted and 

transformed to what is now known as the Seven Vices 

of Thassilon: Greed, lust, pride, gluttony, envy, Wrath, 

and sloth. Those seven aspects are symbolized by a 

seven-point star, the Sihedron (see Illustration 3). 

Each Runelord was also excelling at a particular kind of rune magic. One of the main reasons Xin dedicated government of his empire to the Runelords was his 

hope that they would further improve the seven individual disciplines of rune magic. 

However, that mastery came at a price: By focusing on one school of magic, the Runelords lost proficiency on others. 

Based on the above, the following table can be composed: 

Table 1: The Seven Thassilonian Domains including their associated Vices and Rune Magic associations 

Table 2: Thassilonian Vice and Virtue runes

The Fall of Thassilon 

The true reason for Thassilon’s destruction has been lost to time, but several theories exist. It is quite likely that the constant feuding between the power-hungry runelords ruined the nation from within. Some historians theorize that the enslaved stone giants revolted and tore apart the very structures and edifices they were forced to build, outlawing the use of rune magic. A smaller number of Thassilonian scholars hypothesize that, in their efforts to explore newer and darker realms of rune magic, the runelords unleashed an evil power so immense that even they could not control it, resulting in the downfall of their arcane empire. Whatever the reason, Thassilon is no more than a thing of legend in the modern world—a reminder that even the mightiest can fall. But knows what else can be learned from this high culture to help us in bringing Varisia back into the fold of civilization! 

The Special Significance of the Lost Coast 

Earthfall reshaped the surface of Golarion and cast almost half of what was Thassilon into the sea. As can easily be seen on Illustration 2, the resulting coastline – what is now called the Lost Coast – coincides for several miles with the border between Bakrakhan – the domain of Wrath - -and Shalast – the domain of Greed. My research has led me to believe that the Old Light is not an old lighthouse as its location would be hundreds of miles away from any larger body of water. It is far more likely that Sandpoint harbors the remnants of an insidious Bakakhanian weapon – a Hellfire Flume, able to spew fire onto the giant troops of the Runelord of Greed. 

Given the monumental scale of other architectural artifacts attributed to Thassilonian origin, I am convinced that we are looking at just a fraction of the original height of the Hellfire flume. Alas, whatever might lie below, it is forever buried under the rubble. For a potential solution to this, please see my plea at the end of the treaty. 

Many of my studies are in a preliminary stage due to the scarceness of original source material. I am including a brief selection in an appendix to share in a scholarly tradition and instill the awe I feel when looking at these memories from a lost time.

Appendix I: Overview of Thassilonian Runes (Discovery Status 4707 AR)

Appendix II: Images of Thassiolonian as Relevant to Sandpoint Illustration A-II 1: Drawing of the delirious sole survivor of a Pathfinder expedition to the depth of Hollow Mountain. It likely depicts Xin-Bakrakhan. The construction in the foreground shows similar details as the Irespan in Magnimar and there are hints that the last Runelord constructed this elevated, giant-sized walkway to avoid mingling with its subjects. In the background a monumental face bears down on those who would approach the Runelords seat of power.

Illustration A-II 2: Copy of a fresco found on the outside of a small building on the top of Skull’s Crossing, the dam which holds back the waters of the Storval Deep, thought to show Xin-Shalast, the city at the foot of the Runelord of Greed’s palace in the mountain behind it. Notice the face carved into the mountainside. This appears to have been a common feature shared by the seats of Runelords and should greatly aid the discovery of those places. Alas, nobody has been able to find Xin-Shalast and due to its fabled tales of unimaginable riches on display – streets paved with emeralds, buildings covered with rubies and roofs decked in gold – it is not for the lack of trying.

A plea to the fellow explorer 

Dearest reader! 

I truly hope that you have enjoyed this journey into the magnificence the Thassilonian Empire was so deeply steeped in. A few of its monuments are well known to us: The Irespan in Magnimar, the Grand Mastaba in Korvosa, the Storval Stairs, the Lady’s Light, the Cyphergate in RIddleport, and, of course, the Old Light in Sandpoint. 

But many more remnants of its past glory remain undiscovered, large parts of its history are unknown or not well understood. 

So if you set out to explore our wild Varisian countryside and happen to come across Thassilonian artifacts, be it magic, runes, weapons, writings, please keep your fellow explorer in mind. I might not be able to buy everything off of you, but can assure you that I will pay handsomely for and back-rubbings of stone-carved runes and for allowing me to spend a few hours with those things you were able to bring back from those lost places. 

I am currently residing in Sandpoint, the first holding up the Lost Coast Road from Magnimar, at 130 Tower Street (Uptown), right next to the Old Light. 

With curious greetings!