Legacy

Overview

The Legacy is located in Ossuary in the fromerly-Urizen territory of Spiral. Custodianship of the Legacy granted an Imperial title; a seat on the Imperial Bourse; and a seasonal bounty of valuable mithril. .

The Resource

This vast mine complex was one of the last places in Spiral to fall to the Grendel. The mine is mostly played out, but still managed to produce a reasonable quantity of mithril for the Seat holder. Traditionally, the mithril was used to improve the mana sites of Urizen magicians. As with many places that delve into the rock of the mountains of Ossuary, workers here occasionally uncovered the bones of giant creatures, buried in the deep rock - these curious finds were often considered collector's items.

When Spiral was lost to the Grendel in 331YE, it required significant military force and the focused attention of the most powerful Urizen magic to keep the Legacy from falling into the hands of the barbarians. The garrisons there managed to retain control of the region until the disastrous Grendel offensive| in Summer 379YE. The orc forces struck north from their positions south of Screed, and took the defenders by surprise. They quickly overwhelmed the Urizen force, and by the time reinforcements reached them, it is already too late. The sentinels were able to retreat, rescuing a few survivors and escorting them north into Zenith while the Grendel troops were occupied plundering the Legacy.

According to legend, the Legacy was part of a great gift to the Urizen people - but who gave it to them, and why, are details lost to time. The earliest stories go back to the time of Terunael, and despite the best efforts of Urieni scholarship, no solid evidence one way or another has been uncovered. The more fanciful tales suggest the Legacy was a gift from an eternal power associated with the deep earth. Another story, more popular with historians, speaks of a vanished tribe that once lived the mountains above Ossuary and left the Legacy as a bequest when they departed Spiral for parts unknown. Many simply assume that both stories are fanciful, and that the Legacy takes its name from its intended role as a gift to future generations of Urizeni as yet unborn - the magicians who will eventually inherit the powerful mana sites that the mithril helps create.

The liberation of the Legacy is obviously a matter of some concern for the Urizen people. There is also some muted concern however - the Legacy has always been a National Bourse Seat, appointed by the citizens of the mountains with the most investment in its use (the owners of mana sites). If Imperial forces recapture the Legacy, the Imperial Senate will legally be in a position to allocate it as an Imperial resource - or even potentially assign the entire territory to a nation other than Urizen. While this is unlikely, there is more than a little concern that the unquenchable thirst of the Military Council for mithil will mean that the Legacy is taken away from the Urizen.