Ailian the Great

History
Not much is remembered of Ailian the Great except the legends that survived the Imperium. She is often depicted with a long face, curly black hair, and light blue eyes. Many surviving stories tell of Ailian disappearing into the wilderness for weeks at a time in order to fulfill her mysterious duties as a priestess and an amazing ability to work closely with animals, leading many to suspect that she was a predecessor for druids who follow the circle of the moon. The most popular legend of Ailian tells of her rise to power after communicating with a luminous white snake named Mata.

The Legend of Ailian and Mata
During a ritual journey through the wilderness during her young life, Ailian was led to a dark pit where, seeing through magical visions, she discovered a small amulet of a snake carved from moonstone. The amulet brought her visions of great prosperity in the land.

Ailian spent many years attuning to the amulet, wearing it on a cord around her neck. Her visions did not return until a year of poor weather and crops for her tribe. That fall Ailian saw a great white snake come to her in visions. The snake named herself Mata and promised to sow good seeds in the fields of the druids if they survived the winter together.

On the first spring thaw, a great white snake was found asleep in the field outside of the sanctuary where Ailian was priestess. She took the snake into the sanctuary and prayed. She swore not to eat until the snake awoke. On the next new moon, Ailian was rewarded as the snake began to stir. She told Ailian that she was Mata, and that she would show Ailian how to lead her people to prosperity.

During the years to come, the druids were united under Ailian and Mata, and crops and game were plentiful throughout the Imperium. The druids came to worship the snakes in their fields as friends and manifestations of gods. The cities of the Imperium grew to be magnificent even after the death of Ailian and the disappearance of Mata.

Since the year of the fall, some have theorized that Mata was a manifestation of Semuanya, lizardfolk deity of survival, and a feud between Semuanya and Tiamat was the cause of the great war that cause the destruction of the Imperium. This has never been verified.