Since the dawn of recorded history, elephants have inhabited the eastern fringe of Anatolia, and the hearts and minds of the Phrygian people, enjoying a privileged place in their culture as the lion did in the culture of Byzantion, and the tiger in that of Trapezous (in turn the elephant was associated with Antiokheia, which although a Byzantine city through and through, was the gateway for most of Hellenic settlement of the lands of Old Phrygia).

The elephant is a majestic creature, of fearsome strength, with beautiful tusks and a thick hide capable of deflecting most blows. It is also a creature endowed with great mental abilities, such as an extraordinary memory and relative intelligence. They also seem to mourn for their dead, and to the ancient Phrygian pagans they were believed to be associated in some way with ancestral spirits. This respect led to elephants being left alone for much of their coexistence with the people of Phrygia and Akkadikê.

However, in recent years, and since the fall of the City, the increasing lack of faith in the benevolence of God has eroded certain aspects of the Phrygian cultural fabric. It was no longer uncommon for elephants to be hunted for their ivory, which could then be sold off to foreigners for large sums of gold. And thus the population dwindled. When the last true Phrygians set out on their great trek northward, they saw clearly the devastation their countrymen had wrought on the elephant population, and their hearts were filled with sorrow.

But one day, as they were marching along the hills of eastern Armenia, scouts came upon a great valley; and in this valley lived the largest herd of elephants ever to be seen, guarded by a clan of Phrygians who had protected them from incursions for generations, clad in multicoloured armour, whom the scouts nicknamed the "Rainbow Warriors" in their report to the Basileus. Though the Phrygian migration continued, they remembered this location and vowed to return to save what was seemingly the last remnant of the once great Phrygian elephant population.

And indeed, once the Phrygians had been able to carve out a new Kingdom for themselves in the northern plain, they set about the creation of a great fleet, which was commanded to sail down the Caspian and find this lost refuge of the elephants ; its flagship was the Rainbow Warrior.

Their mission was a success. The Phrygian clan protecting the beasts cooperated and assisted the expedition in transporting the elephants to their new home; indeed, they had been able to gain their trust long ago, and thus convincing the elephants to board the ships was a straightforward task. By docking at regular intervals along the coast, the expedition was able to return home with no losses.

A large territory was then set aside to serve as the elephant's new home, and the Rainbow Warriors appointed as their guardians in perpetuity. These Rainbow Warriors played a crucial role in the establishment of the elephant population in Phrygia ; their multigenerational mission had led to a tradition of proficiency in elephant veterinary medicine, and their expertise allowed the population to enjoy stable growth.

Philippos II Gordias was very interested in preserving and restoring Phrygian cultural identity ; to this end, he invested heavily in the quality of the elephant's living spaces, building several facilities for them and their guardians. He ensured all of their needs would be met and built for them a magnificent new complex which would be used as a great stable and shelter, endowed with large walls to ensure the population would be impervious to poachers. The fortress was built mostly from red stone, and its long walls enclosed a large area, ample space for the elephants to grow and flourish ; and naturally it was designed to be agreeable to its human inhabitants as well, and it encloses a large quantity of smaller buildings. He named this fortress and the surrounding land Elephantinē.

Philippos and his successors came to spend a large quantity of their time in proximity to this settlement, eventually setting up their great camp outside its walls. Eventually, they decided to construct a palace of their own outside the fortress, on a nearby hill that surmounted the general area, which was otherwise mostly flat - thus offering a great view of the lands the elephants now inhabited. The realm had grown rich from plunder, and now much of it was being invested into this glorious palace, mostly under the reign of Philippos IV, and eventually many more buildings, to house the workmen and the minor clans paying tribute to the grat court, all in a similar style ; quite separate, on the whole, from the mainstream of Byzantine architecture, despite clear similarities.

Now, under the reign of Arsakēs I, the settlement is a glorious ceremonial city, inhabited mostly by noble clanmsne, their retainers, and the workmen directly involved in the construction and maintenance of the city. Its style remains demarcated from the general Anatolian style, with notable foreign influences, such as the adoption as a decorative feature of Levantine calligraphy, which has grown in popularity amongst the Phrygian élite due to its beauty.

Amongst the beautiful buildings of Elephantinē are Philippos IV's great hill palace, not particularly beautiful from the outside, but with an interior composed of breathtakingly beautiful gardens and courts. The complex has grown beyond Philippos IV's structure, and as its first patron predicted, it offers a great view of the city below. Other buildings include a temple to Helios Aniketos, some ornate forts, and beautiful gardens.

Another feature of Elephantinē's landscape is a great library, holding a great quantity of manuscripts raided from the holy city of Amopolis. When the Byzantine government fell, they took with them a great wealth of manuscripts to their new capital of Hierosolyma. And when things started looking south for Hierosolyma, Byzantine knowledge was escorted away to Amopolis, the capital of Suemos ; where, ironically enough, many of the manuscripts had originated, such as Obikon's full works and a manuscript detailing the life of Ludvala the Kind and Just. The libraries of Amopolis conserved this wisdom for a few generations. However, there exists in Phrygia a clan known as Clan Ludvalassides, composed of cadet members of the Ludvalassan royal line, jealous rivals of the Amopolitans. After much nagging, they persuaded Philippos II Gordias to conduct a daring raid into the city ; not so much with the aim of destruction, but rather with the aim of humiliating Amopolis into acknowledging the inherent superiority of Ludvalassa.

Philippos II carried out his raid, and during the ritual looting, he decided to take charge of Amopolis' manuscripts, which he stole and gave to the librarians of Astrakhan. Now, with Elephantinē's growing role as the ceremonial capital of Phrygia, the libraries have once more been displaced, and are now based in the great red buildings of Elephantinē, where they continue to be maintained. In particular, one of Arsakēs' favourite scholars has been given a grant to pursue the compilation of a history of the Hellenes, from the settlement of Byzantion until the arrival of the Phrygians on the Northern plain.

Elephantinē's geographical location, on the Eastern fringe of Phrygia, has hampered any ambitions of turning it into a major administrative centre. Nevertheless, it plays an important role in the ritual life of Phrygia, as most of the ceremony involving the Basileus must now be conducted here, and it has been a key driving factor of recent policy in the lands of Neasthuemia. It has also stirred fear amongst the proudly nomadic populace that their ruler may be turning into one of the city-dwellers they so despise ; simultaneously, the Basileus hopes that Elephantinē will be proof if proof were needed of the greatness of Phrygian civilisation.