Continuity/Sho Settlement on Dereth

Overview

There are pieces of information regarding when Sho settlements were established on Dereth, but there is a not a cohesive timeline. This article will attempt to construct a likely timeline.

Beta / Release

The Aluvians were the first Isparians to arrive on Dereth. They were followed by the Gharu'ndim, who began to arrive after Thorsten and Elysa had freed their people from Olthoi enslavement. The Sho began to arrive after the Gharu'ndim.

An early map of the Sho nation shows Hebian-To, Mayoi, Shoushi, and Yanshi.

The warlord Ijiku Tambai built the fortress Yaosai to protect the fledgling village of Hebian-To. Eventually, the need for protection diminished, and the fortress Yaosai was converted to the town Shoushi. Shoushi is now a waypoint between Hebian-To and the western Sho holdings.

Fort Aimaru was a fort north of Hebian-To, along the coast. At some point prior to Leafcull, 10 PY the Sho abandoned this fort, and drudges took over.

At Leafcull, 10 PY, Baishi was descibed as a town surrounded by woodland. Until recently, Baishi had to import their food from Shoushi

Nanto used to be on the southern frontier of the Sho lands. In the past few years (from Leafcull, 10 PY) the frontier has expanded with towns such as Mayoi and Lin.

Yanshi has three sources of information: The Story of Ben Ten and Yanshi, Yanshi's description from the manual, and dialog from Te Ven, resident of Yanshi south outpost.

The author of The Story of Ben Ten and Yanshi recounts the events of their arrival on Dereth, the settling of Yanshi, and the Tumerok attack on Yanshi. According to the author, they arrived on Dereth in the plains near where Yanshi would be settled. They were attacked by reedsharks and rescued by Ben Ten, who sent them to a group of nearby houses. As more Sho arrived on Dereth, it was quickly decided that their main city would be Hebian-To. But the author and some of their friends decided instead to settle near the plains where they first arrived and were rescued by Ben Ten. They found a large boulder, and settled around that, building some houses and beginning to farm. One evening, Tumeroks attacked this settlement. This was many years after the author's arrival. Tumeroks burned the homes and the villagers were pushed back to the boulder. Ben Ten arrived and saved many of the townsfolk. It is noted, however, that some died, and this was in the time before resurrection came into existence.

Yanshi's entry in the manual states that the last place that Ben Ten was seen was atop a large rock near the edge of the Blackmire swamp, and some of Ben Ten's followers decided to settle there. The village that arose there was called Yanshi, and in the past several years (from Leafcull, 10 PY) it had grown into a trading center with roads leading to both the Gharu'ndim and Aluvian lands.

Yanshi's manual entry also states that, in the time before Ben Ten came, many of the people that would one day settle Yanshi tried to hide from the Tumerok scourge in a dungeon. However, the dungeon already had creatures living within it, and those creatures slew many of the people trying to seek shelter. Te Ven also mentions a ruin where some people lived before Yanshi was founded.

The people of Kara have a few pieces of information about their town. By Leafcull, 10 PY only four of the original founders were still there. The rest had either died or went back to civilization. The origal jeweler, for example, was killed long ago.

We do not have any information on Tou-Tou or Wai Jhou, other than that they both existed as of Leafcull, 10 PY.

Later Information

In The History of Auberean/ Volume V: New Arrivals (-540 to 13) we get our first solid date, which is that the Sho began to arrive on Dereth in Portal Year 0.

With the introduction of the Town Network, more details about the Sho settlement of Dereth came out:

• Hebian-To is stated to be the first Sho settlement.
• The fortress of Yaosai was established to defend the fledgling village of Hebian-To. When there was no longer a need for this fort, it became the town of Shoushi.
• Yanshi was settled by those that chose to not live in Hebian-To.
• Kara was founded by Jojiists. Some of the original inhabitants were killed in the time before lifestones.
• A few years prior to 10 PY, the frontier of the Sho nation pushed outward from Nanto to Mayoi and Lin.
• Lin was settled shortly after Mayoi. It was established to give the Sho people an advanced warning of Lugian raids.
• After the successful settling of Lin, Baishi was founded.
• After the fortress of Yaosai became the town of Shoushi, Sawato was settled. With the founding of Sawato also came a road connecting the long isolated town of Yanshi to the rest of Sho lands.