Kohlingen: The Lost City
The lost city of Kohlingen is one of Arelith’s greatest mysteries, and a source of many questions. Unfortunately, there are few answers. What answers there are, shall be found within after many years of research. I shall only try to highlight what is definite. There are many possibilities that I will only allude to.
What is known is that at least eighty years ago, Duke Tristam was a member of Galahad the Builder’s court. He was a devout man of Triadic faith; zealous and righteous in his conduct. For whatever reason, Galahad the Builder was allowing ambiguous banners into his court. Duke Tristam was appalled by this act, and since he could not change Galahad’s thoughts, he left.
With him, he took his loyal knights, retainers and followers and headed north, to a realm that existed beyond Minmir. He founded the great state of Kohlingen. We know it to be a Triadic state, morally virtuous and a place of Light, more so than Light Keep. It was a feudal state, with Duke Tristam likely at its head, with a council of earls beneath him.
The Triadic state was its peak between 5 Before Reckoning (BR) and 2 Arelith Reckoning (AR). It was a state larger than present-day Cordor. Through the finding of Earl Manfried’s diary, we know that his corrupted manor in Minmir was on the outskirts of Kohlingen. His estate is large, only hinting at the vastness of the entire Kohlingen realm. Furthermore, we know there were at least two earls in Duke Tristam’s court: Manfried and Montgomery. We predict there to be many more, and with an estate of similar size to Manfried. We can only imagine the sheer grandeur and size of Kohlingen.
The Triadic state of Kohlingen existed for what we theorize to be a decade. Simultaneously, Galahad the Builder had already built Light Keep, transforming the simple Benwickian castle into the now-called epitome of Light, Light Keep. Kohlingen, however, still dwarfed it in size.
Most of the goodly folk left with Duke Tristam in his departure north around, an estimation between 20-10 BR. Unfortunately, we know Kohlingen ended around 2-3 AR.
The mystery of the Lost City is a tragic one. All we know for certain is that one terrible night, Kohlingen just fell into the sea. The only survivors of the apocalypse were Duke Tristam (we know that Kohlingen never lasted more than a generation because of his survival) and a few of his loyal knights and followers. Almost all perished, swallowed up by the sea.
Duke Tristam and the last of the Kohlingenites made their way back to Galahad the Builder, who accepted them with open arms in the years of 2-3 AR. The home Kohlingenites blended back in with the Benwickians, and the great Triadic state was never spoke of again.
~ Ser Nelehein of Impiltur, Sage-Knight of the Road and Last of the Great Skalds of Impiltur, 73 AR