Arcellus Unites Cella

## Summary

The legendary Betalium built a powerful wall which protected Arcellus from invaders. When its power was showcased against Vasten hordes, the Callian Rise quickly flocked to join Arcellus.

## Betalium Wall

Betalium Rafil II was born in 1190, three hundred years after the modernization of the Arcellan army and the founding of the Crimson Sails. He was cousin to the Zarod Muat Rafil II, and was not expected to lead his people. In the year 1213, Betalium set out with an iron blade and a handful of adventurers and wandered into the wastes of Vasta. For 20 years, the warriors explored the world and its people, finding ancient relics of Ghidovia, meeting Alfar, Tokai, and Sprites, and fighting terrible beasts.

In 1231, all three children of the Zarod drowned when their ship was struck by a storm off of the coast of Poneius. Two years later, the childless Zarod died to a sudden fever. Betalium was now heir to Arcellus, but the new Zarod was far away and unaware of his responsibility. By the time he learned in 1239, Betalium had already declared himself the leader of a tribe of Tokai who swore their lives to him. Rather than abandon his new people, Betalium brought them back to Werex Bankasorabeau in 1241. This tribe, named the Muzabachen Tribe, swore to defend the Zarod of Arcellus.

Betalium II was no stranger to war upon his return, and realized that his Zarodom would one day die and join the many crumbling ruins he had spent his youth exploring. To save the city would require a guardian that could not die, age, or switch sides. Betalium II commissioned a massive wall to be constructed on the south side of Nowes Fuval and encircle the entire city. The fortification was double-layered and made of earth covered in solid stone blocks from upriver. The Betalium Wall remains the largest wall in the world, measuring a distance of 12 kilometres in total.

## United Culture

Arcellus of 1352 faced a large threat: ashanzu raiders from Vasta had been united under a follower of Zastillifar. Their army razed the largest of the cities around Vitro Auq that year, and now loomed in the hills east of the closest of Arcellus' trade partners in western Cella. Dondorius Rafil II of Arcellus dispatched most of his army to protect the frontier near Mi Fuval and the Callian Rise. Skirmishes were fought with small portions of the Vasta army over the next two years while Zastillifar's followers gathered their strength.

In 1355, the Battle of Sumimin Oraterra was fought between about half of Arcellus' army and the majority of the invaders. Though better equipped and better trained, the Arcellus army was partially surrounded, and the remnants returned to tell of a horde of enemies led by priests who summoned meteors from the sky. Dondorius II recognized that his remaining army was beaten and needed to regroup. As they fled, Dondorius offered the people of western Cella refuge within the walls of Werex Bankasorabeau. The city swelled as over a million refugees attempted to hide within its walls. Food was shipped from along the coast, and soldiers from a dozen city states in Cella stood vigil atop the walls as the barbarous raiders drew closer.

In 1356, the raiders withdrew from Cella and returned to Vitro Auq. The year-long siege of Werex Bankasorabeau left the attackers hungry, weak, and diseased. The victory was due to the solidarity of the defenders, the strength of the Betalium Wall, and the colossal import of food by the Crimson Sails. Dondorius II was quick to visit the nearby city-states and offer them future protection under Arcellus if they fought to take revenge against the Vasta raiders. By 1357, his work was complete and western Cella had joined Arcellus.

The new army of Arcellus marched to Vitro Auq in 1358. This time, its full force went into battle alongside new recruits from Cella. The Battle of Esmin Luma routed the raiders back to Vasta and firmly established Arcellus in the Callian Rise, and forced the people of Kavees to cease their nomadic raiding lifestyle.

### Long Night

The celebration of Dondorius II was ended by the Rendiol named Cedorax, lord of the southern ocean. He was insulted that the Ashanzu in the Callian Rise had ceased to pay tribute to him, and sought revenge against the followers of Zarodossa. Dondorius Rafil II had the bulk of his army around Vitro Auq, and would be many weeks away if something happened to his capital city.

Cedorax flew to Werex Bankasorabeau the night of the 38th Zastiken, 1358. He unleashed magic and his acid breath upon the city and the Betalium Wall. Ships in the harbour floundered, and many hundreds were killed. Smoke from the fires blocked out the sun, and there was no light until the morning of the 40th of Zastiken. Cedorax returned to his lair, and vowed to return to the city each year unless tributes were resumed.

Dondorius II instead created powerful ballistae and placed them along the Betalium wall, equipping them with harpoons and chain to take down a rendiol. His Venificors trained in the art of fighting Rendiols, and slew many which lived in the islands around Arcellus. Cedorax did not return the the city, and continued to raid ships that sail through the sea which bears his name for many years. His recent inactivity suggest that the old Rendiol may have died or moved elsewhere.