Selias Jodame

Selias Jodame was a Sage of Nomikos who wrote a history of Shadow Valley before it shifted in time and space, an instability associated with what were called isles of transfer. He was tasked with surveying what happened there by his "masters" after he finished his studies in Emer, most likely in the early 6000s Second Era, before the founding of Quellburn or possibly at the very beginning of the Wars of Dominion. This is implied by his referring to the Claedesbrim Bay area only as "northern Jaiman." While the word Loremaster was replaced with the word "Sage" at the end of the I.C.E. Age, and mortal members of the Loremaster council were called sages, Selias Jodame was young and would have been one of the world traveling Scribes of Nomikos who were Sages by profession.

Selias was familiar with northern Jaiman from his youth, and was surprised to hear what had happened to Silver Valley. His story recalls a young human named Jaron Galarn who acted as a tour guide for the wild horses of the valley, and his investigation pieced together tavern tales that largely account for what happened. The valley was exploited by miners who inadvertently awakened a powerful extra-planar entity that was dormant deep underground. This was necessarily before Lorgalis conquered the region in 6521 Second Era, who might have been the implicit villain of the story. The Shadow Valley story can be regarded as a spin-off of The Legend of the Necropolis of Etrevion. Various aspects of it appear to be directly linked to the story behind The Broken Lands which is also a spin-off.

Behind The Scenes

The modernized form of the story labels him as a "Master of Lore" and Advisor to the Council of Biblia. Very little is known about him specifically. "Selias" is Greek for "the moons" and Joda is Hebrew for "he who is praised". Tearhaut could mean naively "tear skin" or "high tear", or play off "Terre Haute" which is French for "highlands", relevant for being located near old Native American burial mounds. Silver Valley would have originally been located near the underground portal to The Broken Lands, and seems partially based on "The Fall of the House of Usher" which ends with a blood red moon. In the night of the third moon when Charon (Lornon) became blood red, it was common for essence disturbances to happen, where celestial alignments could include ripping open portals to the demonic. It is possible that the Broken Lands portal is the same as the one in the Silver Valley story, and that Bandur Etrevion learned of it when he lived at Nomikos from reading the journals of Selias Jodame.

Resources

• History of Silver Valley
• Navigators