- "And so Sinistra said: ‘What we cannot grow we will take by dread, and damnation on all who deny this.'"
- ―Extract from the Scroll of Misfortunes, thirteenth of the Secret Histories of Praes[1]
Sinistra the First was a former Dread Empress most well known for failing to steal Callow’s weather, thereby causing the Wasteland. She likely reigned around 120 AD (after declaration).[2] She's regarded as one of the worst Tyrants to claim the Tower.
Reign[]
Back when Praes was occupied by the Miezan Empire, they were used as a source of grain to fuel the Licerian Wars. The relatively remote location of Praes in relation to the main participants of the war - Mieza and the Baalite Hegemony - meant the crops were safe and Miezan governors used Petronian field rituals to increase crop yield far beyond what the land could provide. This was done for years, potentially even many decades, to the point where after Miezans were repelled, the land began to rot from the inside.[2]
While Sinistra correctly identified the problem, her solution was the Empire’s “first great national act of lunacy”. Her ritual was “sound in principle, though wildly ambitious and with laughably little margin for error”. It was interrupted by unnamed Heroes and the backlash resulted in the Wasteland, a non-arable stretch of land in northern and central region of Praes.[2]
It’s unknown if she perished during the ritual.
Epigraphs[]
“And so Sinistra said: ‘What we cannot grow we will take by dread, and damnation on all who deny this.'”
– Extract from the Scroll of Misfortunes, thirteenth of the Secret Histories of Praes[1]