A messenger got waylaid off while traveling through the mountains by the
gaseous cloier which had broken through the aetherways in an experiment
gone awry. Once the cloeir was vanquished, a strange cask was found that
was meant for Jeremiah Gryphta, a wanderer who has settled in the Basin
of Life. Once Jeremiah received the cask, the history and the background
of his people was revealed.

While the Age of the Vernal Wars was known as a time of strife and
conflict, there were moments when great cultures of elegance and
artistry arose among the mortal races. Alas, these brief glimmers of
accomplishment were too often soon extinguished during the cataclysms
wrought by the Soulless Gods, leaving behind only a legacy of myth and
fable.

One such civilization was called the Cultural Province of the Czigany
Coast. Those who sought the Czigany Coast were artists seeking to find
kindred spirits and a place of belonging. The Cultural Province isolated
itself from the rest of Lusternia in order to create great works of art
that existed simply for their own aesthetic sake. At the height of its
glory, the artists raised a Vernal Goddess of their own, who ascended to
be known at first as Menestre of the Laughing Heart and later simply as
Menestre the Fool. Little is known of Menestre, except she was not well
regarded by the other Vernal Gods, with the exception of the Vernal
Goddess Tzaraziko the Enigmatic who tried to protect Menestre when she
could and it was reported that they often travelled together. Besides
bits of myth and legend, the only remaining evidence of Menestre's
existence is her Marvelous Motley Cap, which was kept in the Meliashmora
of Imperial Secrets, a repository of vernal artifacts safeguarded by the
Holy Celestine Empire before its fall.

In the end, however, the Cultural Province of the Czigany Coast met the
fate of many such civilizations during the Vernal Wars. It was utterly
annihilated by the Soulless Gods. Those who escaped destruction became
wanderers, still devoted to their art, but never again settling down in
one place. Their descendants continued a nomadic life as they wandered
throughout the far reaches of Lusternia. The Basin of Life knows of one
such travelling group, the Czigany Wayfaire who shows up in times of
celebration. Jeremiah Gryphta made the almost unprecedented decision of
settling in the Basin to sell their strange artifacts, which some
believe are derived from techniques long thought lost along with the
demise of the Cultural Province.

Thus, when word finally reached Jeremiah that a group of wanderers has
discovered the ruins of the Cultural Province, he realized the magnitude
of the find, for they had unearthed the remains of curios created by
their ancestors, objects of such wonder and marvel that merchants would
travel from the far reaches of the world to collect just a handful, and
retire with riches beyond their dreams.

Unfortunately, the curios have been broken, smashed and scattered by
war, time and the elements. Slowly, however, sealed containers from the
lost civilization are making their way for those collectors and
enthusiasts rich enough to afford a memento from an ancient, though
glorious, past.