Nithian Mandates Theory
by LoZompatorePart 1: Introduction
This is the first of a series of posts detailing a totally non-canon theory of mine about a possible "alternate / secret past history" for several populations of Mystara.
In my opinion it has some potential for adventure hooks set on Bellissaria and on nearby poorly-detailed lands like the Alatians and central Isle of Dawn. It also adds details on current people living in these places, which in canon are rather bland and uniform. Finally, it has the advantage of not explicitly contradicting other canon and fanon sources, as most of what happened is now altered or removed by the Spell of Oblivion.
In short, the basic idea is that the Thyatians, Kerendans, actually originated in Old Alphatia, as already detailed in this article.
At the same time I assumed that the first colonists of Bellissaria, the Ochalese, the Yasuko and the Alasyians originated from other branches of Old Alphatia's inhabitants, namely the Beltharians, Gammarians, Deltharians, the inhabitants of Paradise Island and the Merchants of Kabarkhand from M1 module, respectively.
All these populations from Old Alphatia (collectively called "The People of the Star Kingdoms" as per M5 page 22 fragment #8) were encouraged by the Nithians to settle on Mystara around 1000 BC, during the final phases of the war between the Followers of the Air and the Followers of the Flame.
According to HWR2 module "Kingdom of Nithia" (DM's Booklet page 2) the Nithians aided the Followers of the Air in their war in Old Alphatia, then invited the Alphatians to colonize on Mystara.
As hinted in M5 module (page 22) it could be even inferred that the Nithians were themselves an autonomous offshoot of Old Alphatian people. After all, in DotE (page 6) it is said that, from BC 3000, off-world Alphatian colonies were mostly left to fend for themselves, without being annexed to the Empire. The Nithians may have reached Mystara from Old Alphatia around BC 2000 and may have evolved their own culture there.
In the wake of the apocalyptic destruction caused by the Great War in Old Alphatia it could be assumed that the Nithians extended their invitation to come to Mystara to any other faction of Old Alphatia that was not overtly hostile to the Followers of the Air (i.e. was not following Alphaks by the end of the war).
This would include allies of the Followers of the Air like the Gammarians and neutral factions like the Beltharians and the people of Kabarkhand. It would not include the Flaems and the Sky Pirates of M1, both of which still followed Alphaks by the time of his defeat.
In the following it is assumed that the Nithians established land concessions (called "Mandates" from now on) for the People of the Star Kingdoms to colonize. These Mandates would be instituted in convenient locations, instrumental to the expansion of the Nithian sphere of influence: they would be placed in the wilderness connecting Nithian colonies or in the borderlands at the fringes of the Empire, with the ultimate purpose to quell local threats, extract resources and create buffer countries to project Nithian power further away.
To keep some affinity between the current countries of Mystara and the people of the Star Kingdoms I made the following initial land assignments (a few of these people migrated elsewhere in the following centuries):
Beltharians (mountain people, freedom-oriented, miners): Western Surshield
Gammarians (chaotic authoritarian magocracy, trade-oriented people living in a variety of terrain types): Northern Lagrius
Deltharians (fertile farmlands governed by clerics and paladins): Horken and Southern Lagrius
Merchants' Guild people - called Asyians in the following, in later ages corrupted in "Al-Asyians = Alasyians" (rich traders and middlemen among greater powers): East and West Portage
Ochalese (peaceful, low-magic people, farmers, silk weavers): Central Dawnrim
Yasuko (assumed as an M-Japanese culture, possibly peaceful at least in the early times): Northern Dawnrim
In table below I summarized what I have in mind for the whole project, to be detailed in following articles (except for the People of King Thyatis which are already discussed at the link above).
The original assignments to the People of the Star Kingdoms are listed (from the oldest to the most recent), together with the intended function of their new colonies in the Nithian Empire and their status by the fall of the Nithian Empire in 500 BC.
The Nithian Mandates
| Population of Old Alphatia | Status during the Great War | Corresponding current population | Arrival date on Mystara (approx.) | Arrival place on Mystara | Way of arrival | Lands assigned by the Nithians (Mandate) | Intended function in the Nithian Empire | Status as of 500 BC (the Fall of Nithia) |
| Asyians (people from Kabarkhand) | Neutral | Alasyians | 1020 BC | Bay of Ekto | Magical mists (naval and aerial fleet) | East + West Portage + Kendach + Several Trade Cities | Traders and middlemen connecting the People of the Star Kingdoms, the Nithian colonies and Metropolitan Nithia. Development of water magic. | All memories erased. Capital sunk during the Fall of Nithia and moved to Hollow World. Those on the west coast of the Isle of Dawn migrated to Ylaruam where they were further brainwashed and adopted a nomadic culture; the others who stayed on the Isle of Dawn got the same memories' alterations of the Followers of the Air (see) and were assimilated by the Alphatians. |
| Followers of the Air | Followers of the Air | Alphatians (Common and Pure) | 1000 BC | Helskir | Aerial fleet on fiery winds | Sub-continent of Alphatia and Helskir | High-magic colonists of the Alphatian sub-continent. Development of air magic. | Most information about Old Nithia, the origins of the other Star Kingdoms, the Bellissarian wars (see below) erased. Memories altered to forget about the Thyatian people and to make Thothia appear as a sister magocracy incurring in internal instability. Other false memories implanted to persuade the Alphatian elites that the other Mandates were actually colonies of Alphatians under the rule of Sundsvall. |
| Echolese (inhabitants of Paradise Island) | Neutral (their elite was utterly corrupted by zzonga-wu in Old Alphatia) | Ochaleans and Yasuko | 1000 BC | Helskir | Aerial fleet on fiery winds (people ferried by the Followers of the Air) | Northern and central Dawnrim on Bellissaria | Colonists of Bellissaria, providing food (pastures, fishing) to the Nithian colonies of the Isle of Dawn and the Alatians. Possibly development of life-nurturing (Ochalese) and martial (Yasuko) magic. | Involved in internecine wars sponsored by evil Nithian factions against the other colonies of Bellissaria. Same general alterations of memories that were implanted on the Followers of the Air (see). Moreover, memories altered to appear as common, low-magic Alphatians fleeing persecutions by high-magic Alphatians. The Ochalese followed the Immortal Koryis to colonize the island of the ogre-magi (then renamed Ochalea), while the Yasuko moved to Davania following invitation by the Milenian Empire. |
| People of King Thyatis | Former allies of Alphaks (repudiated him before the end of the war) | Thiatians, Kerendans and Hattians | 999 BC | Scar Mesa | Fearsome chariot of fire | Heldannic Territories and coastal Norwold (Landfall and Oceansend) | Colonists of the western coast of Brun, connecting the Nithian settlements of the Northern Reaches and of the Great Bay. Development of fire magic. | Moved to Davania by the Nithians just a few years after landfall in order to save them from a massive gnoll horde. Mistreatment by the Nithians led to a large rebellion of the Thyatians which also included the Antalian slaves brought there from the north. The Nithians were defeated, but at great cost, and the Thyatians reverted to barbarism. They merged with the surrounding Antalian people and lost most memories of their origins and culture, including existence of the Alphatians and of the other inhabitants of the Star Kingdoms. By 500 BC most of the Thyatians settled back to the northern continent just south of Nithian metropolitan lands, possibly following invitation as mercenaries by Nithian pharaoh and warring Nithian overlords. |
| Beltharians (dwarves) | Neutral | Part of the dwarves of Stoutfellow | 998 BC | Western Surkarian Range | Gate with the Elemental Plane of Earth (dwarven rockships) | Southern Dawnrim on Bellissaria | Colonists of Bellissaria, providing mineral resources to the Nithian colonies of the Isle of Dawn and the Alatians. Development of earth magic. | Invaded by neghbouring colonies at the beginning of the Bellissarian wars, around BC 515 migrated through rockships to southern Stoutfellow accepting an invitation to settle there by the Alphatians, bringing there most lore about earth magic. Same general alterations of memories that were implanted on the Followers of the Air (see). Moreover, modifications to their past history to make these dwarves an allied faction of the Followers of the Air that moved on Mystara together with the Alphatians. |
| Beltharians (humans) | Neutral | Humans of Surshield | 997 BC | Western Surkarian Range | Gate with the Elemental Plane of Earth (ferried through a fleet of dwarven rockships) | Western Surshield and southern Dawnrim on Bellissaria | Colonists of Bellissaria, providing mineral resources to the Nithian colonies of the Isle of Dawn and the Alatians. Development of earth magic. | Involved in internecine wars sponsored by evil Nithian factions against the other colonies of Bellissaria. By BC 500 the Beltharian colony fell to anarchy due to major military defeats. Same general alterations of memories that were implanted on the Followers of the Air (see). Moreover, memories modified to remove all references to dwarves and earth magic, and to turn the Beltharians into a group of common Alphatians who settled on Bellissaria shortly after Landfall; false memories about current state of anarchy as being established by Imperial decree as the normal way of life. |
| Gammarians | Allies of the Followers of Air (actively opposed Alphaks) | Northern Lagrius | 996 BC | Blueside Lake | Phaseships' fleet from Redside (the Shani Sea - "Crimson Sea" - on Gammar) | Northern Lagrius | Colonists of Bellissaria. Development of phase magic. | Involved in internecine wars sponsored by evil Nithian factions against the other colonies of Bellissaria. As the most powerful faction on Bellissaria, the Gammarians managed to more than double their territory, mostly at the expense of the Deltharians of Horken. Caught off-guard by the Fall of Nithia, the ruling class was defeated by Alphatian military intervention. Same general alterations of memories that were implanted on the Followers of the Air (see). Moreover, memories modified so that the Beltharian elite appeared as a group of rogue powerful Alphatian magic-users who rebeled to the authority of the Empire and were (largely) disbanded. Phaseships' magic removed from the memories of most, or associated with the rogue magic-users and outlawed. |
| Deltharians | Likely Neutral (most likely opposed Alphaks) | Horken and Southern Lagrius | 996 BC | Bay of Ekto | Magical mists (Deltharian floating towers). Migration guided by Deltharian Immortal patron. | Horken | Colonists of Bellissaria, providing agricultural resources to the Nithian colonies of the Isle of Dawn and the Alatians. Development of clerical and knightly magic. | Involved in internecine wars sponsored by evil Nithian factions against the other colonies of Bellissaria. By BC 500 they lost the westernmost half of their territory, their floating towers and their knightly elite to invading Gammarians. Asked Alphatian intervention for help. Same general alterations of memories that were implanted on the Followers of the Air (see), removing also the military defeats by the Gammarians, the loss of their elite forces and the request for aid to the Alphatians. Following the restrictions imposed by the Spell of Oblivion, their Old Alphatia's Immortal Patron lost interest on Mystara and established only a token presence in the country, to be later substituted by local Mystaran Immortals (Alphatia above all). As a result, Deltharians believe themselves as a branch of common Alphatians more focused on clerical magic who settled on Bellissaria by imperial decree shortly after Landfall. |
Additional Concepts
As hinted in table above, a few concepts I'd like to introduce under the Nithian Mandates approach (to be detailed in later posts as well) are as follows:
The Behemoth
By the time of the migration from Old Alphatia the seas of Mystara are a dangerous place to cross, as they are infested by the Behemoth, the gargantuan sea-monter which made so difficult the migration of King Milen's people to Davania, and which is also at the origin of the "Sea of Dread" name. The Behemoth is still alive and well after the migration of the Thyatian tribes to the north in BC 600 (see PWA II entry about Davania for details). Moreover, the Sea of Dread was not its only hunting field, as in PWA I it is reawakened by the sinking of Alphatia, being trapped for centuries in a nearby submarine cave system. I assumed that the Behemoth could be found potentially in every water deep enough to accomodate its size (say that waters shallower than, perhaps, 300 feet are safe), that it awakened shortly before BC 1000 (otherwise the Nithians and the Nuari would not be able to settle in the Isle of Dawn and elsewhere across the sea) and that it was trapped in the cave system (by some Immortal, maybe?) during the Fall of Nithia in BC 500, freeing the seas from its menace.
In these five centuries the Behemoth hindered trade, exploration and colonization by sea. Even if it did not make them impossible, these endeavours were much more risky and dangerous than the present time, especially when large numbers of ships were involved. For this reason, especially for migrations and colonization efforts, which could have attracted the Behemoth, alternative (magical) transportation methods to seagoing vessels were employed, if available.
About the origin of the Behemoth it could well be a Nithian failed experiment of the same kind of the gnolls, or some curse sent in advance by Thanatos to torment the Nithians, or even some beast (or a weapon) from Old Alphatia that found its way on Mystara during the first migrations of the refugees.
Alasyians
I assumed that the Alasyians came from Old Alphatia, mostly due to the similarities between their culture and the description of Kabarkhand in M1 module (the leader of Kabarkhand even has an M-Arabic name). GAZ 3 states that very few lore exists about the Alasyians before AC 250 other than the Alasyians came from a population of Nithian slaves from the Isle of Dawn who migrated to Ylaruam following the Fall of Nithia. Here I tried to make their past more interesting by having them descendants of a sophisticated culture not born on Mystara which is slowly rediscovered. Moreover, M1 (page 24) states that the people of Kabarkhand still know of the Magical Mists of Old Alphatia, they know that they are able to teleport anywhere, and they seldom use it to trade with other worlds. It could well be that the Merchants kept a tenuous connection with the Alasyians and slowly helped them to rebuild their culture. There may be ships at anchor along the coast of Ylaruam that look like other Alasyians ships but that, actually, come from farther, farther away...
Yasuko and Ochalese
As hinted in PWA II, I connected the Yasuko (M-Japanese) to the Ochalese (M-Chinese). So, as the Ochalese come from Old Alphatia, the Yasuko come from this place as well. I placed the Ochalese on Bellissaria because I believe the sub-continent of Alphatia is already too crowded at the time (I assumed most non-canon original populations like the Dafians, the Afotiri and so on already settled on the sub-continend by 1000 BC). Moreover, I liked the similarity between the economies of Dawnrim and Ochalea and I also found a nice alteration to the name of the capital of Dawnrim: "Alinquin" could well be a corruption of the Ochalese "Lin Qin", which I adopted as the original name for this settlement. The Yasuko might have started as a peaceful people like the Ochaleans (the term "Yasuko" meaning "Peaceful" in Japanese) but they might have assumed a different attitude following their experiences on Mystara: as they currently live in "tribal lands" then a devolvement of their original culture is implied, especially since their current location is next to the potentially aggressive Bogdashkan jungle orcs and the violent, xenophobic Manacapuro. The fact that the Yasuko, altough close to the Ochalese, chose not to settle on Ochalea, let me think that they did not share the same beliefs nor the same Immortal patron (Koryis) by the time of their last migration.
The Bellissarian Wars
I introduced a major conflict among the Bellissarian colonies in the decades before the Fall of Nithia (say between BC 520 - BC 500). It is part of the last spasms of the Nithian Empire and was actually instigated by the evil Nithian overlord of the Alatian Islands.
I chose to use of the Nithians of the Alatians because their fate was different from nearby Thothians: as stated in Dragon Magazine #181 page 49, the original inhabitants of the Alatians were deported shortly after their conquest by the Alphatians (in 500 BC), so I guess the Nithian culture in the Alatians was severely weakened by the Immortals during the Fall of Nithia, likely because the local rulers were corrupted by Thanatos.
The excuse for the long proxy war in Bellissaria is the attempt by the Alatians' overlord to gain control of the whole resources of the Star Kingdoms through his Gammarian allies, enabling him to field a large army to counter Milenian colonization from the south and (more importantly) to have a chance to seize the Nithian imperial throne for himself. In truth, this was just another part of the Thanatos' master plan to destroy the Nithian Empire. Due to the heavy involvement of the Bellissarian colonies in the Nithian civil wars and in Thanatos' plots most of the memories of the Bellissarians were erased (thus avoding conflicts with other fanon sources about the early history of these people). In game terms, the Bellissarian wars could give some interesting (and hidden) past to be discovered by the PCs, present some rationale to the odd borders of the Bellissarian kingdoms (especially Lagrius), to the migrations of the Ochalese and the Yasuko (which I made part of the conflict), and to the strangely conservative and apathetic attitude of the inhabitants of Bellissaria. The latter could well be a local consequence of the Spell of Oblivion, combined with the effect of some ad-hoc magical artifact hidden in Bellissaria, the like of the one buried under Surra Man-Raa in Ylaruam but with different effects on the minds of those passing by.
Echolea
There was a unified M-orient culture in Old Alphatia called Echolea, a combination of M-Chinese (Ochalese) and M-Japanese (Yasuko). The name "Echolea" comes from M5 module (page 22 fragment #16). Of course it is a misspelling of Ochalea but here I liked to exploit this difference to create an additional Star Kingdom (which also follows the A-B-C-D-E progression for the names of cultures in Old Alphatia, at least according to an odd mix of Greek Alphabet and Phonetic Alphabet) which I conveniently placed on Paradise Island (M1 module pages 8-9).
This island is as large as as Delthar (M1 page 22, and from DM's map #3 the island of Delthar is around 100 miles across, surrounded by sea), is fertile and with a mild climate, so it could potentially host a pretty large population. Nevertheless, in M1 it is said that Paradise Island is populated only by 1500 natives, all of them addicted to zzonga-wu (by comparison, Delthar hosts 50'000 people). For this reason I assumed that most of the original population of Paradise Island migrated elsewhere.
M1 states that Paradise Island was the last stop of the Followers of the Air in Old Alphatia: here they abandoned their prisoners before leaving for Mystara (M1 page 9). Paradise Island is also on the opposite side of Old Alphatia with respect to the realms of Belthar, Gammar, Delthar and the Merchant's Gild, with likely little or no possibility to contact them. For these reasons I made the assumption that the current inhabitants of Paradise Island / Echolea are the high-magic descendants of the ancient Ochalese / Yasuko elite, which were guilty of some crime during the Great War (possibly their inaction due to zzonga-wu addiction, which could have prevented the war or, maybe, turned the tide for the Followers of the Air earlier and with minor losses). As a punishment, after the end of the war, the Followers of the Air stripped them of their people and abandoned those indolent leaders to live an aimless life on their beautiful island. The Echolese commoners then reached Mystara with the Followers of the Air. Here the Nithians persuaded the Alphatians to set the Ochalese and Yasuko people free on one of their Bellissarian Mandates, under the safeguard that they do not have access to high-magic arcane lore. After the Fall of Nithia this trait is kept by the Immortals and is turned into a cultural attitude versus low-level arcane magic and clerical magic (at least for the Ochalese people).
Halzunthram
I assume that the Halzunthram described at page 23 of M1 module is the same Halzunthram who tried to conquer Glantri in the IXth century AC. Here I hypotize that Halzunthram was an ambitious mage of Lagrius who could not suffer the social immobility of his country after the fall of Nithia (Lagrius was always ruled by a member of the Lagrius family, as per Siaron Lagrius background in PWA I module; I assumed that Lagrius was the Alphatian wizard-general who conquered the Gammarians around BC 500). Halzunthram discovered the truth about the origins of his people during his research and learned about Old Alphatia, the Gammarians and the forgotten / outlawed powers of phase magic. With this knowledge he tried to conquer another Mystaran magocracy for himself to rule, so he moved to the lands of the Flaems. Once defeated by Alexander Glantri around AC 830, Halzunthram used the power of the Radiance to escape to Old Alphatia, where he managed to become the ruler of the Gammarians. Unfortunately, his use of the eldritch power of the Radiance - which surpasses every Immortal power - had the side effect to free Alphaks from his extraplanar prison in the Pits of Banishment (the entrance / exit of the Pits is a black spot in the skies of Old Alphatia, as detailed in M1 module page 13), and Alphaks was able to trace back his people to Mystara, where he started plotting his revenge.
Languages and culture of the Star Kingdoms
I assumed that all people coming from Old Alphatia spoke the same language (some sort of a "Standard Alphatian" with a capillary diffusion throughout the Empire) but that they also kept some heritage from their origins - the times before their culture was annexed to the Old Alphatian Empire. After all this is canon for the Ochalese people, which possess a definite M-Chinese culture (including names for their settlements) albeit they are part of the larger the Alphatian culture and speak Alphatian.
For this reason I extended this concept also to the other People of the Star Kingdoms: I established a rough correspondance between every Star Kingdom and some culture of the real world; in this way it is possible to introduce for each country some original words / names taken from different languages and add some colour to these lands.
The associations I made with real world cultures are as follows:
Beltharians - Switzerland (neutrality philosophy, freedom loving, melting pot culture; for language correspondance I used Romansch, mostly because Beltharians' leader name "Rawn-Driz" has some meaning only in this language - "Raun" meaning "frog" and "Driz" meaning "line up")
Gammarians - Arabic (Gammarian words in M1 can be assumed to be distorted form of Arabic language, namely "Halzunthram" from "Halzun" meaning "spiral, snail, helix" + "Thram" from "Thran" mening "three", "Afka" - from "Afkar" meaning "poor, destitute", "Shani" - meaning "crimson, red" and "Shain" -from "Shahin" meaning "falcon". I found "Lord Yrnsteph" impossible to associate to any language: anyway it sounds Nithian to me)
Deltharians - Proto-Germanic (knighty orders, "Horken" meaning "cork", king "Korwald" and sir "Haarlow" which can be considered ancient Germanic / Norse / Anglo Saxon names)
Echoleans - Divided between Chinese (ancestors of the Ochaleans) and the Japanese (ancestors of the Yasuko)
Asyian - North-African Arabic (Morocco and the like)
From the list above there could be some common cultural origin between Gammarians and Asyians and between Deltharians and Hattians.
Here is a map showing the extent of the Nithian Mandates around BC 1000, together with the most notable settements and populations of the area at that time:
As you see from map above the orginal borders of the four Mandates do not correspond to the current borders of Dawnrim, Lagrius, Horken and Surshield. Part of it is due to later modifications introduced by the Bellissarian Wars, but I also assumed the Nithians kept parts of Bellissaria for themselves to be settled in future times (something that actually never happened) and so they limited the Star Kingdoms Mandates to clearly visible landmarks (rivers, mountain rangers, plateaus, and so on). The Nithians could even set some magical wards to prevent trespassing by the colonists; sabotage ot these wards by the Alatians' overlord was what made possible the conflicts on Bellissaria and later expansion by some of the Star Kingdoms.
In map above I renamed several settlements with an "ancient" name used around 1000 BC, when these places were under rulers/cultures different from the current ones.
For settlements on Bellissaria I assume that current English names such as "Bridgeport", "Blueside" and so on are just the literal translation in Standard Alphatian language (i.e. the "English" terms) of the original names for these settlements given by the People of the Star Kingdoms in their own languages / dialects.
Table below lists correspondances for the names of all settlements different from the current ones.
Correspondance of Ancient and Modern Settlements
| Ancient Settlement's Name | Current Settlement's Name | Notes |
| Anakh | Aeria | Seat of the Nitihian Governatorate of the Alatians. |
| Ankhrt | Crossroads | Current Alphatian name plainly translated from Nithian language. |
| Arovish | Coppertown | Current Alphatian name plainly translated from Beltharian dialect. |
| Azrakhur | Blueside | Current Alphatian name plainly translated from Gammarian. The city was named as opposed to the "Shanikhur" or "Crimson part" referring to the Crimson Sea (Shani Sea) of Gammar. |
| Djertet | Deirdren | |
| Dmist | Harbortown | Meaning "City of the crews" in Nithian. |
| Ganot | Waping Piao | Trading post manned by slaves of the ogre-magi (lupins, rakasta, humans). |
| Hashiminato | Bridgetown | Current Alphatian name plainly translated from Yasuko dialect. Original main settlement of the Yasuko people. |
| Heket | Ekto | Renamed Ekto after being briefly under Milenian rule around BC 550 - BC 500. |
| Hepiut | None (ruins) | Nithian outpost to connect with local allied Fast Runners. Destroyed by encroaching barbarians around BC 850. |
| Iantu | Beitung | Trading post manned by slaves of the ogre-magi (lupins, rakasta, humans). |
| Junuhor | Dunadale | |
| Jutis | None (ruins) | Nithian outpost to connect with Thyatians, Kerendans, Hattians. Destroyed during the Thyatian rebellion around BC 900. |
| Kamadi | None (some submerged ruins), mostly moved to the Hollow World. | Capital of the Asyian colony on Mystara. Removed by the Immortals in 500 BC following the Fall of Nithia. |
| Lin Qin | Alinquin | Mostly resettled with common Alphatians following the departure of Ochalese people. |
| Nekhab | None (ruins) | Seat of the Nitihian Governatorate of the northern Isle of Dawn. Destroyed during the Fall of Nithia in 500 BC. |
| Per-Senet | None (ruins) | Conquered by the Milenians around BC 800 and renamed Ialydros. |
| Ptahrnak | Thyatis City | Former city of Mesonias, conquered by the Nithians from a Traldar offshoot group around BC 1040, then assigned in BC 735 to Thyatian mercenaries under Nithian pharaoh and renamed Thyatis City. |
| Ranak | None (some ruins), mostly moved to the Hollow World. | Ancient capital of the Nithian Empire. Moved to the Hollow World in BC 500 during the Fall of NIthia. |
| Raqta | None (ruins) | The whole colony was destroyed in a civil war against Thothia around BC 600 and never rebuilt. |
| Sairi | Aegopoli | Conquered by Milenian admiral Aegos around BC 700 and renamed after him. |
| Shemra | None (ruins) | Seat of the Four Southern Colonial Kingdoms of Nithia. Destroyed in a civil war around BC 800. |
| Zridebu | Trikelios | Renamed Trikelios after being briefly under Milenian rule around BC 550 - BC 500 |
Hope all of this it could be inspirational / useful to you!
Sources I used for ths article:
Canon:
M1
I1
M5
GAZ 3
HWR2: The Nithian Empire
DotE
VotPA
PWA I and PWA II
Dragon Magazine # 237 (Lupins and Ogre magi)
Dragon Magazine # 247 (Rakasta)
Dragon Magazine #181 (Alatians)
Fanon:
Lost Civilizations of Thyatis and Alphatia
Caerdania Gazetteer
The Conquest of Alphatia - The Early Years
A Gazetteer of Limn (Parts 1-2-3)
Alphatia: Kingdoms Before Landfall
Northeast Davania Map, 24 mph
History And Evolution Of Rakastas
Another Vacros and Cathos placement theory
Extent of the Nithian Empire
Extent and expansion phases of the Milenian Empire
A theory on the Thyatian early centuries
Thoughts about Bellissarian maps
A Gazetteer of Ochalea - Timeline
Timeline of Glantrian History
People of NE Davania
The Tale of the Classical Hattians