James Damerilat
From Mizahar Lore
James Damerilat was a high-ranking Alahean government official before the Valterrian. He is best known as the author of the Factual Register of the Empire, one of the few surviving documents that attests to the history of Alahea prior to the Valterrian.
Career
Damerilat was born in 54 BV in the city of Lisnar. Details regarding his early life are few, but it is known that by 30 BV, he had entered government service as a secretary in the naval department. He was known as a humorless man, but one who got results, and almost immediately went through a swift succession of promotions. In 17 BV, he was officially named Secretary-Executor to the Crown, a position that he would hold until his death.
The Factual Register
As Secretary-Executor, Damerilat took it upon himself to compile what he called a "register," which was something akin to an encyclopedia of the Alahean Empire. He began work on it shortly after taking office, and labored over it for some nine years before completing the six-volume work in 8 BV.
The Register is an exhaustive, almost excessively detailed compilation of population numbers, troop strength, and defensive fortifications for every settlement of more than fifty people in all of Alahea. The fifth volume is a complete list of all government officers and officials as of 8 BV, and the sixth contains various historical notes and some information on commerce in the Empire. The work was intended for government use only, and it does not appear that it was ever available to the general public.
Damerilat perished in the Valterrian, and nearly all copies of the Register vanished at the same time. However, a complete copy was in the possession of Lord Michael Falconer, a high-ranking naval officer whose home in Zeltiva was located in the small section of the city not leveled in the cataclysm. Prior to Falconer's death, he donated his copy of the Register to the University of Zeltiva, which has kept it in its library ever since.
The document is notoriously dull reading; however, in every instance in which Damerilat's information can be corroborated, it appears that the Register is exceptionally factually accurate.