A thousand years ago, around the time of the Invoked Devastation and the Reign of Colourless Fire, there were verdant plains between the southern border of the Flan Kingdom of Rhest and the mountains of the Crystalmists. Several nomadic Flan tribes lived on those plains, and their leader was a great druid who was at one with the mountain lion. The tribes built a massive lion of stone in honour of this great druid, who taught them the ways of the lion and how to live at peace with these proud creatures. Yet when dark times fell on Rhest, their shadow also fell on the lions' plains.
It began when nobles from Rhest visited the region. The local tribes befriended the nobles, but their friendship was betrayed when the visitors hunted down and killed a lion monarch for his pelt and claws. The locals responded by killing each and every one of the visiting nobles. Rhest answered in kind, sending its army against the southern plains. The disorgnised tribes of the plains stood little chance against Rhest's military might, and even though the lions rose to defend them, the tribes were slaughtered. The warriors of Rhest confronted and slew the great druid between the paws of his massive stone shrine, and considered their work complete.
But the night after the warriors returned to their city, doom came to Rhest. Ghost lions prowled the streets, stalking and killing all they came across. When the dawn came, all of Rhest's warriors, including families, servants, and slaves, lay dead. Rhest never recovered from this night of terror, which marked the beginning of the decline of this once-proud nation until it was conquered and destroyed by the Oeridians who crossed the Crystalmists and settled throughout the Sheldomar Valley.