The origins of House Ishkarat, the House of the Wheel, are shrouded in mystery. Most scholars believe the aropagoi was founded by Serpent River villages in the far northwest corner of Barsaive, but even today the river villages of that area are spread so thin that any political union among them is difficult to maintain. Some scholars at the Library of Throal, however, believe the origins of the Ishkaratan aropagoi are related to an ancient North Reach river village called Elekso, whose crew covenants carried obsidian daggers that resembled those wielded by modern Ishkaratan crews. The exact location of Elekso remains unknown, and the evidence of an Elekso/Ishkaratan connection remains far from conclusive. The first recorded sightings of Ishkaratan vessels