The history of Seshnela begins in the land of Brithos during the Great Darkness. To forestall civil war between himself and his brother, Talar Froalar sailed across the Neliomi Sea with a band of settlers to found the colony of Frowal. Although the land was thinly populated by bands of lion-worshiping Pendali, the settlement survived thanks to the self-sacrifice of Queen Xemela and through the worship of various local gods, including Seshna, Worlath, Ehilm, and others. The remaining sorcerers of Seshnela joined with Zzabur’s immortal sorcerers to complete the long and complicated ritual that ended the Ice Age and released the Sun from Vit’s grip. When the Sun rose, the Malkioni found themselves surrounded by vengeful Pendali, the lion people who had hated them in the Darkness, and hated them now. The Malkioni were outnumbered, but they had walled cities and horses. Prince Hrestol broke the stalemate, but at a price not truly realized for centuries. He and his companions cast off the restraints of caste and they taught each other their secrets. Then Hrestol went into the heart of the land and crippled the goddess of the Pendali. He would not have succeeded if he had obeyed the taboos of his Talar caste, and his deeds awakened the ambitions of the Malkioni. Hrestol himself traveled to the Malkioni colonies in Akem and then to Brithos itself.
