Post by Bunhash on Nov 2, 2010 10:27:24 GMT -8
The First Age: Age of Life
Nine sparks. Dancing, singing, playing together. Nine there were, three groups of three. And that was all there was; nine sparks in the nothing. They were nine thoughts, nine feelings no less no more.
But a time came when the thoughts embodied themselves and they created something from nothing. The something was beautiful and made from nine parts. Shaiar they became; a spark within a husk. And each spark had a name. Aboshan, the one of knowledge so golden and unhindered. Bjorn, the dark, muted of color but of great shades and passions. Cralle, glistening red and strong. Genna, meek, sweet and a faded green. Aeran, even, exact and concious, smooth blue. Muxen, the firey so divine and powerful. Torlox of the dark and tired, such a dank violet hue. Vuen, jovial and bright, light rose. The smallest, Tibbit Duril, aglow with curiousity and joy, a brilliant jade.
And with a desire to, the Shaiar created space, light and dark. They made with their hands all dirt, water and air. Together they pressed and formed a sphere. They placed it alone in the dark but it was sad.
Aboshan, with great knowledge, created another sphere, one of light and heat. He placed it near the other and there was sun. Genna then reached out her hand and carressed the dark land and waded her fingers through the waters and life grew. Green like she and fruitful. This was good and beautiful.
All seemed good to Aboshan and Genna. Aeran was less pleased. He felt the land was too flat and without true measure. So Aeran created metal and gems. He buried them deep into the world then hit the dirt and stone. The ground splintered and caved in many places and elsewhere the ground shot up toward the sky. He named these mountains and ravines. This was good and the other Shaiar agreed except Muxen. He was dipleased.
They are weak and cold and calm, he said and thrust his arm into the tallest mountain peak. He stirred the rock and created heat. The heat spread toward the center of the world and cracked through mountains to erupt with violence and anger. Lava, he called this. Muxen was pleased but the Shaiar were divided.
For a time, all was left this way. The life was green and moved slowly. The Shaiar were pleased to watch their world flourish. But soon the land became overgrown, everything grew without end. So Torlox dipped down his head and breathed over the land and thus was death made. Decay formed and returned green to the earth. It fed the world, became anew with the dirt and was there to feed the new. This was good.
However there was something missing. The world was bleak though beautiful. All heads turned to Aboshan who was with the most knowledge but he too was without an answer. Displeasure at their creation brought dark thoughts to three of the Shaiar. The will to continue with the world was fading until one Shaiar had an idea.
The small one, Tibbit Duril was full of curiousity and trouble. He went in secret and from the world and the green he created life. It was like the plants in living but so much more like the Shaiar themselves. His first creation was 'worm'. Simple and weak but unalike anything else in the world, Tibbit Duril loved his creature. For a time he kept worm a secret. He did not want to share it with his brothers and sister.
But as his interest waned, his protection slipped until one day worm escaped. He could not find him. It was Genna who found worm. She was so pleased with worm she showed the others. Instead of being angry, most of the other Shaiar were pleased as well. They asked who made worm. Tibbit Duril told them worm was his. When asked, he showed the others how he had done it.
New interest flared among the Shaiar once more. Each took interest in the creation of moving life and took part in the making of all the beasts of the world.
Cralle felt adoration for the water and created many creatures of the sea. Tibbit Duril liked things small like himself and made insects, Vuen created birds and the things that fly, then Tibbit Duril made many of his insects fly. Aeran created the hardy beasts that walk on all four. Aboshan made all the rest.
The other Shaiar added to these beings in other ways. Genna took the creatures of the land and created male and female, like her plants and allowed them to make more of their own. This was very good. Torlox breathed onto the life and brought lifespans and mortality to all beings. They too would feed the new.
Muxen was vexed however. He asked Bjorn what he would do to add to this world. Bjorn, who revelled in feeling, said to Muxen he would bring pain to beings. Before this time, pain did not exist. Death came as a natural act. Muxen approved and was given his own idea. After Bjorn added pain to the living, the other Shaiar were so caught up with displeasure, they did not see Muxen add hate into the hearts of many creatures. He took his favorite creations and changed them to fit his image. He created preditors to hunt the others.
Outraged, most of the Shaiar turned upon Muxen, telling him he was wrong to do such. That mixed with Bjorn's pain and his anger, the creatures would suffer. This pleased Muxen and Bjorn anyway. Being unable to remove what had been done without killing the beasts, Vuen instead gave happiness and love to the other creatures in the world and Aboshan gave each creature reason so it could decide for itself what was good and bad.
The anger between the Shaiar soon calmed. Too caught up with their new world and their new creatures.
The decided together it would be calle Terrastra. To celebrate, Aboshan reached out to the space beyond the sky. He created lights in the distance that would shine when the world was dark and three moons that would travel around Terrastra and keep some light on the world when the sun was away.
This was good. And yet again for a time they watched, content. All things grew, flourished then died and started again.
But the contentment did not last. Aboshan, who was very wise was also very prideful. He did not want to share with the others everything. He wanted something special and like himself. He had created the sun and stars but they were no so different from Terra itself.
So he walked the world on his own for a while. He looked at the creatures who roamed. They were so simple. They were innocent in such a way that Aboshan could never connect with them. He yearned for something else to speak to. Genius struck him then. Why couldn't he make something more for himself?
He took up a branch from the tallest tree, water from the chilled streams and a piece of a star into his hands and molded it into a spark. The spark was faint but golden like he was and he was pleased. He gave the being shape and it resemebled the animals of Terrastra but it was intelligant and wise and could speak to him. Upon its husk it was given sharp talons to find food, which it would need to survive and sharp teeth to chew. It was given shimmering golden scales to protect itself from the weather of the world. To it, Aboshan gave it the name Dragoshan.
With care he put his child onto the world and it looked around with wonder and happiness in its eyes. Aboshan spoke to Dragoshan and Dragoshan to him. It was very good.
But the other Shaiar learned of Aboshan's doings and many were jealous and some spiteful. Aeran wanted his own and reached to the terra and dug from it precious gems and took water from a salty sea and some heat of the sun and molded a spark in his likeness. It too was bright and wise but looked unlike the beasts of Terrastra and more like the Shaiar themselves. He called him Eldar and they sat upon the land together and talked of many things.
Vuen felt wonder at the two creations and chose to make one as well. In his hands he took a clump of dirt and rock and a bit of a water from a fresh lake and created what he called Barberia which he later called Barbarian. Cralle followed, making 'dwarf' from the heavy salts of the seas, molten rock from the earth and diamonds from the caves.
Bjorn was envious of the other creatures. He wisked away from the others to make his own. He created not one but two types of people in his likeness; both harboring parts of his being. He also created female in the likeness of Genna, that whom he loved more than the others. His creations would be able to make more of their own kind, like the plants and trees did and like the animals who roamed the world did. And he gave them immortality so they would not die like other things did. He created Mornaquenta, the male being named Borithitor Rydal and his mate named Tala and the Dur Hini, the male being named Damio Kirith and his mate, Yula Kiri. They were beautiful.
His pleasure was short-lived though as the other Shaiar created mates for their creations as well and Aeran gave his Eldar immortality as well.
The others followed after that in quick sucession. It was Tibbit Duril who created next. But unlike the others, Tibbit was lazy and took one dwarf and changed it into 'gnome'. He was pleased but Cralle was not. He shunned the gnome to be hated by his people. But Tibbit was not deturred, he made many gnomes with ease after the first and sat with them, teaching them things.
Genna came to Aboshan and asked him how he had created his for she loved his creations. Feeling flattered, he helped her create the Mi'firel, a creature much like the beasts of the earth and much like the dragons in that aspect. Feeling pleased and more confident, she went to her other sibling, Aeran who had created the Eldar and asked him how he had been so genius to create such a wonder. He, also flattered, offered to direct her in creating something similar and from it came the Dolour. They were so alike to the Eldar yet more wild, much like her own spirit.
Now nearly 600 years into the beginning of Terrastra, Torlox made his and Vuen made another. Torlox, his vampires, those who did not die but did decay like himself whom he prided himself in. They were diseased and could make others by birth or by biting, a secret he kept from his siblings for a time. Vuen created humans from his barbarians, so alike to them but more vulnerable and more joyful and smarter.
Tibbit Duril then got himself into trouble yet again. While Aboshan was busy making his last people, the ashtel, Tibbit stole again from his siblings to create. He stole one of the vampires and created the De'mira. Torlox was outraged and displayed it to the mischieveous little god, feeling low, Tibbit Duril turned his back on his De'Mira, leaving them in exile and did not speak to them. Instead, he stole next and lastly a Mi'firel, one of the cat people of Genna and created the Rattle, a copy. Genna was upset but it was Aboshan who cursed the Rattles to live as fearful, weak minded creatures; always skiddish and terrified. They were to serve the others and they became the slaves of the world. Tibbit Duril was so saddened once again, he turned his back on his siblings for a time. He finally decided to make a race on his own which took him a long time. They were much like humans but smaller. He called them hobbits and he loved them above all the rest. They were most like him, so curious and lazy and full of life.
Muxen was the last to create. He waited until the others were content to make his own. He took the aspects of all the others and made the Sacrifi but he kept them hidden from the others' eyes. They were too busy with their own children to bother with Muxen anyhow. The Sacrifi were tall and broad, stronger than any others, very smart, cunning, beautiful and immortal. Muxen spent all his time with them, keeping them sheltered from the others' eyes and teaching them things they shouldn't know.
But for a time, this was good and they were all content.
It was Cralle who first suggested that he and his siblings step away from Terrastra and let their people grow by themselves. He suggested that the balance in their hearts was unbalanced and they wished to be free from the demands of the Shaiar who controlled most everything their children did. He called council with his siblings and persuaded them to listen to his words. There was much disagreement and they debated for a long time though time was only relevent to those on the ground. Muxen, finding pleasure in the rift, took advantage of their preoccupations and created the last race and dropped them hastily onto the world. They were demons and were cruel. They spread over the land and terrorized the other children of Terrastra. Through them the children of the gods were introduced to 'cursed sins'.
To commit a cursed sin is to make a permanent mark on one's own soul, a black wound that festers and darkens the heart. Murder, harming another and rape.
And while they fought in their fervor, they did not see the demons of the land causing strife, killing and harming. It was Genna only who learned of their works and stood up saying enough was enough. She said that in their bickering Muxen had done harm. Instead, they should come together and stop fighting. When they saw what Muxen had done, they were angry demanded he make them stop. Forced, Muxen promised to do something about them but in spite told his demon children to take to hiding for now and to emerge again in one years time.
So the siblings did come to agree that they should allow their children should live alone, that they should just watch from far away but that they would give last gifts. They agreed to shower down the ability to use magik and those it stuck to would be able to use it. They agreed some should have mortality and some should have immortality. Vuen first chose mortality for his people, stating that with mortality they would cherish and enjoy every second of their life more than any immortal could ever imagine. While others adopted this idea, and still others chose immortality for their peoples, they at last agreed after this moment that none would interfere with Terrastra's doings neither to harm nor save any peoples.
And they did so. And then each Shaiar seperated and built for themselves a realm where they could live and those who met death with mortality or those with immortality who were slain could come to as an afterlife.
Before long, each god handed down to his people, from a distance of course, the sacred commandments for serving him and taking up his religion as their own. Some chose to speak of and embrace kindness and other such noble ideals. While still others were told to be tolerant and clear minded and in the depths of the wicked hearts of evil, they were told to harm and bring terror to the land. The year was 1A999.
The Second Age The Birth of Atheism and The age of Conflict
With the withdrawal of the Shaiar from the mortal plane, the peoples of the world suddenly attained something they had not yet had, something so powerful that it gave birth to the first Renaissance and Atheism. It was the beginning of the freedom and doom of the world. Because of free will, there was an upsurge of emotions and free thoughts.
While happiness and sorrow were the first emotions, the nature of the living came out in all peoples. Sinful thoughts, anger, hate, greed, desire and pain became a very real thing for the people of Terrastra and from it came the actions of impulse: theif, rape, abuse and murder. But that was Free will and free will gave way to sin. But the world was not all darkness and chaos. No, the light stayed over the lands and the good in all peoples' hearts remained the way of existance.
And along with this new found free will, the thing that allowed all to think and act for themselves, doubt in the gods above rose like a wave. Some races stayed faithful to their gods while others quickly turned away their beliefs and moved to believe only in the worldly things around them. Extremist views even came in during the early years of the Second Age. A religion based on the land and the animals that lived in was called Terra Rovan and was popular with the short lived race called Humans.
But even with the freedom they now had, each race seemed to remain to themselves, distrusting of the others around them. Each race moved together to settle into places they could claim as theirs and formed within them the first governments or leaders and followers. There were those who were lost and empty when their gods left them alone; too scared to do anything without direction. And there were those who responded to the misery and fear and with either a dark or virtious heart and took command of the others, securing themselves positions of lordship and noblity. These two types became the first commoners and first leaders of their races. Some of these leaders appeared from the masses as a beckon of light and hope, others as a dark force too terrifing to deny and some were already in the position to take over leadership as they were the first made of their races and therefore had been the closest to their gods.
There were those select few others however that thrived in their freedom and walked away from their own people to wander into the wild land in search of the other children of the gods. These were the smartest, wisest and most magikly gifted people of Terrastra. With time, these men and women found one another, banded together and forming a council of their own. They settled into a single place where they would flourish. They were called The Scholars and created the written word from the common language they all spoke.
For nearly one hundred years they studied the world and wrote of their findings. They created books from their knowledge: written upon paper, stacked high and bound at one side. They created books of knowledge, of lore, of the gods, of their own feelings, of nature and so many things. They wrote until they were filled to the brim.
It was the decision of the council then to break apart, seperate the books between them and return to their own people with their new knowledge; to share it with all the people. When they reached their own people once more, they would arrive to find the world much changed already.
2A105: By one hundred years into the second age and into freedom, each race had founded cities or towns or settled into a way of life about Terrastra. The Ashtel and Mi'firel were the first to venture into the waters, using a sand bay to find land in the water away from the mainland. Both races left seperately but found the same island only months apart from the other. They agreed to share the landmass, split in half by a river running from north to south and home themselves either east and west of its quick rapids. The Ashtel made a large city from the stone whereas the Mi'firel created homes of leaves and lived in tune with the land.
Humans and Barbarians lived close to one another near the northern heart of the mainland, just above the mountains. But as the two races were alike and different at the same time, living close to one another was difficult and the Barbarians moved more northward. They loved exporing and the wild, having little fear so they would not settle fully for more long years. The Eldar, elves of gold, took leave from any other people and reserved the uppermost western corner of the land and staked claim over a large portion of land. They only permitted the Dolour to live close to their borders as they felt no threat from them.
Dragoshan took the other dragons with him and made domain in the northernmost mountains along the icy waters where they lived with the land and undisturbed by the other people. He took control of all of his kind and killed all other males, leaving all the females to himself in his greed.
The other two elves, those made by Bjorn came together, the only races to do so, and agreed to set up a city together and were ruled by the four firstborns. Each pair was equal to each other and in charge only of their own race. They named their city Eauti.
The dwarves alone took up residance in a cave where they would stay from then on. The other races continued to wander, rather than staying in one place.
The scholars who had left years before, returned to their races and brought their books and knowledge to their people and taught them all to read and write so the world could communicate even when the flesh was gone.
It wasn't until nearly 2A200 that Hobble was founded by the hobbits and the other races began to settle into regions of their own, create solid leaders and begin to form cities.
The Eldar were the first to create a full city. It was white and gold and even seemed to be made of light. The last race to settle were the demons. They took up the land at the center around the great volcano. No one else wanted the land and they were pleased with the heat but they were prone to their natures and traveled from their land to terrorize the other races; to bring plague, pain and death to all others.
The vampires had made a city in the south. It was glorious and tall with dark stone walls. They kept to themselves more than the others until this point. They lived on the blood of animals and beasts as they were expected to do by creation. But Hectr the Wrathful, their first king, owned many rattle slaves. He took up a taste for their blood and was shortly reknown for his barbaric habits. The world was yet very secluded but some words spread, like Hectr's behavior. When word travelled that his taste changed from slave to other people however, anger washed through the peope but more from fear than from disgust. People didn't care for the rattles nor care about their well being but cared much about the fact that they could be next.
2A500: By the world's 1500 year old birthday, Terrastra was a fully active and traveled place. Each race owned a piece of land and many cities were erected and finished. Each city was involved with one another by either trade or by sale. Each race gained special talents and skills in which they focused on and could sell to the others. A universal currency was invented where any person could pay for anything by coin. The greed of the world caused people to become involved in all types of trades with very little conscience. The largest trade in the world was the slave trade. Both the Eldar and the Vampires had the strongest hold over the slave trade.
The Dur Hini and Mornaquenta broke apart in the year 2A520 and left their city. They were unable to continue living with each other and to avoid any civil wars, each moved southward and into seperate territories. The Dur Hini found a grand cave beneath an unclaimed land that they took for their own. They named the land Nerian. The Mornaquenta found a thick forest to the east of the dead land, now known as Luin. Their King Tor was gifted with great magik and placed over the land a never ending spell that would cause the land to be in darkness always but would allow the sun's heat and nourishment to reach the land. This was to keep others out. As the mornaquenta could see in the dark and prefered its ebony hues, the forest suited them fine. The ever-night brought with it special trees and plants that strived in the magikal land and creatures of nightmares. The land was closed off from all others.
The humans were the most sinful and emotional of all people. They had both good and bad but of the bad all sins were popular. Murder and theivery was ripe amongst the peasant people and greed, abuse and adultry was common amongst all. It isn't to say there is no valor in men for some of the greatest deeds in the world were accomplished by men. The humans settled over the land and changed the terrain to suit them rather than live in harmony with it. When they finished with a land, they moved on to make more towns or cities, leaving the old ones behind.
The Barbarians went further northward and entered into dragon land. One would think this would cause a strife but with age, Dragoshan had little care of the barbarians. Dragoshan's attention was more focused on those things that shimmered and shined in the sun, those things found deep in the mountains and Terra. What Dragons had most however was envy. They coveted the dwarves because the dwarves had a love of things that shimmered as well but were far better at harvesting it.
It was his obcession that brought about the beginning of the first war, The Golden War. In 2A612, Dragoshan, deciding to take what he wanted instead of barter for it, brought up his legion of battle females and invaded the lands of the dwarves, demanding the treasure they had. The dwarves refused and the first battle day commensed. The dwarves, who had never given thought that they would ever be invaded, had no serious defenses in place. It was easy for the dragons to come in and destroy the great halls of the dwarves, kill all those who resisted and leave with the gemstones and precious metals that the dwarves so greedily hoarded. The attack took a single night. They tore apart the land of the dwarves with ease and left with all their treasure.
Word of the battle rippled throughout the lands like wildfire in a dry field. Fear took hold of many other people and the first defenses and warriors were created. The regions swiftly spoke ill of the dragons, labeling them beasts no better than the cattle they raised but feared them above all else.
The devolpment pleased Dragoshan though. He always thought he should be feared and ignoring their words naming him a beast, he decided to piliage the other races of their treasures as well. The war spread over the land starting from the north and worked its way south. Each race fought for time but some succumbed to the dragons' strength and wishes and gave away their riches easily. The Dur Hini fought alongside their cousins, the Mornaquenta and fended off their lands from the dragons enough to turn away their interest. This alliance healed some of the old wounds between the two dark elves. The Sacrifi alone were such a force they were impossible to impose upon. They could not be bested by the dragons and many died against the one race that so few knew anything about.
Displeased and ashamed, Dragoshan had lies spread over the lands that the Sacrifi were just poor and the dragons did not waste their time on them. They did not want them known as unbeatable. Perhaps if the truth had gotten out, the future would have came differently. But these dark things that still laid ahead were too far in the future for anyone to guess at.
The Golden War took over a year. The dragons thought themselves invincable. Little did that know however, that while they were away from their own city, the dwarves who had hidden themselves deep in their caves, came back with force. They rebuilt their homes and built up new and dangerous defenses and struck out against the dragons when they were least expecting it. While the king was away piliaging, the dwarves overtook the dragon city. They killed his nest of children, many of his females and reclaimed their treasures. By the time Dragoshan returned, the dwarves were already gone.
In his rage he turned his fury on the dwarves only to find they had built to resist him. The Golden War would be directed from then on as Dragoshan attempting to destroy the dwarves and never get in. Almost twenty years passed in his efforts before he backed away and gave up on his revenge.
Having much hate and distain for the dwarves, Dragoshan took his females, children and treasure and fled to the south. Unable to resist and finding an outlet with the vampires, Dragoshan destroyed the city of the Vampires, killed their king and claimed their land. He named the land Draconia.
What was left of the vampires were a mere handful, maybe a hundred at best. They left to the eastern coast and hid amoungst cliffside caves there, sore and close to death. Leaderless and weakened, the vampires turned to Hectr's only son, Darius, who swore to bring revenge against the dragons in the name of their people. He was a weak being, but full of hate and ideals. It was he who encouraged his people to allow their meals to live, to eat off the other people of Terrastra without care and make more of their kind through biting. No vampire before this point was stronger than a normal human though they closesly resembled stone. With each meal they grew stronger and the oldest and best of those who were left, now almost a thousand began to change. Claws and wings appeared on them. They grew the strength to rival the best races and possessed such speed and magik. They resorted to secrecy and for a time were forgotten by the other races, as if they were merely myth.
The Golden War had its uses however. The Eldar and Dolour were among the first to ally and form solid standing armies.They had the finest archers and magik users in the lands with massive numbers at their desposal. Many races had multiplied over the time they were alive but it was the immortals that grew the fastest for the mortals died and the immortal lived. The Eldar even learned to breed and raise Griffons, great winged beasts they could ride upon and into any battle.
2A750: The humans begin to quarrel amoungst themselves. The tension and greed of those in power led the people to split further, making cities all over the lands and away from each other. However the humans had learned to tame and breed horses, giving their race a skill to call their own, something they had been lacking in.
At this point in the world though, humans were of little matter or importance. The Eldar started a ranking amogst the races, a kind of placement on the value of all people in an order of most important to least. The Eldar set themselves at the top, claiming to be the best race of Terrastra, of course. They believed themselves wiser, more talented and more valuable than any other race. Humans, who made up the largest population of Terrastra, were easy to sway. They believed what the Eldar said and revered them.
The humans were of little importance, the same as hobbits, gnomes, or barbarians. The Dragons were named second to Eldar for their ferousity and grandour. Some races, such as the De'Mira, Mi'firel, Vampires and Sacrifi were completely ignored but it was the two dark elves that sat at the bottom alongside only with the demons. The Eldar named the Dur Hini and the Mornaquenta as perverted demon-borns, lackwits and cursed people. The mortal world, the part swiftly becoming the largest part of the world, had little contact with these dark elves and so the rumors took such a deep rooted hold on their minds that within a short time, the two races of Bjorn would be amoungst the most hated. It would be a pretext they will never lift.
This ranking would form more solidly over the course of the next two hundred years.
2A955: Nearing the end of the second age, all people were fully stereotyped and all trades were normal. The Mi'firel learned the skill of boatmaking at this time. The Ashtel had split into two cities amoungst themselves but remain on good terms with all their own people and with their neighbors, the Mao's.
In this time, the Vampires became a known presence once more. Their actions of feeding on other became known once more but they would not be a worldly problem long. Their leader, Darius, set upon the Dragons one night as revenge against their assault years previous. They aimed to take back their land but Darius was a poor planner and was defeated in a pitiful attempt against Dragoshan. The dragons rounded up the defeated Vampires, hosted them in a dark cell for the previous day then Dragoshan had all of them put into a massive casing and he flew them out to the eastern sea. He flew until he could see a very distant island and dropped the lot into the ocean. In his booming voice he told them to swim east and they would find land and that they should stay there. He said he was merciful to allow them their lives and to repay him by never coming back.
Many made it to the island but most bitten Vampires died when the sun rose, having been too weak to swim faster. They settled there and later named it the Rhun Isle. The Vampires would fall from knowledge after their start in exile. Very few races would remember them at all.
But the world was not at peace as it was all assumed. When Dragoshan returned to his people, he returned to death. For the second time in his reign, someone else had come while he was away and killed many of his people. Only a handful of females were still living and fighting by the time he arrived. To his horror, he saw they were still there, trying to finish them off. It was the Sacrifi, the only race Dragoshan knew was stronger than his own. For the first time, he felt fear, deep fear. Calling upon the strongest magik he possessed, he told his females to take flight and he released a wave of the hottest fire the world had ever felt. He thought he had burnt through the army and ended the attack but as the smoke cleared, the only thing that had burnt away was his land. Each Sacrifi stood exactly where they had been before, unharmed by the flames and grinning.
"What witchcraft is this!?" He yelled at them. To be untouched by fire...
Dragoshan took flight as well then, rounding up his females and flying away from the land and away from the dangers with his few females. Most of his people were gone. But Dragoshan had believed the Sacrifi were there for his riches or for revenge against his assault years before. He had no idea that they would continue their rampage over the lands and give way to The Sacrifi War.
The Third Age Age of Darkness
The plan had been simple. Start at the beginning of the Third Age and take everything. It was their design and Muxen's plan for his people. He was the god and sought out war like the world had never known before.
The Sacrifi came like a gargantuan horde of locasts. They tore through any defense and took over entire regions in single nights. The humans fell easiest of all while the dark elves, both the Dur Hini and Mornaquenta fought with passion and deadly skill. The Mi'firel and Ashtel Island fell over a week and within a month, half of Terrastra's mainland was property of the Sacrifi.
Those who resisted were killed, those who gave in were spared to become slaves.
The word of their attacks spread quickly after the Ashtel's fall. The Eldar, Dolour, few Dragons, remaining Humans, Hobbits and Dwarves banded together to fight the oncoming Sacrifi. They refused to come to the aid of the cursed elves and the children of Bjorn were left to their own devices.
But they would be the downfall of the remaining free people because as the Sacrifi found themselves fighting a too strong force alone, the Dur Hini and Mornaquenta offer peace and negotiations. They offer to side with the Sacrifi's ambitions, help to take down their enemies in exchange for their lives, their land and any tariffs or gofts they were asked to pay.
At first the Sacrifi refused them, having their own cousins, the demons as their aids and arrognat enough to believe they needed no one else. But as time weared down, their own numbers so few to begin with and the rebellion growing stronger each day, they agreed to accept the Dark Elves' proposals. They demanded their assisstance in tearing down the rest of the races and their compliance with any task they are asked to do with the addition of labor, money and food.
Meeting terms, the two dark elves took up their arms against the resistance and together the dark army tore through them and the mainland was won over to the Sacrifi.
Thousands of people died and all of those left were enslaved outside the Dur Hini, Demons and Mornaquenta and the two inhabited islands they would not find; Meiaja and the Rhun Isle.
The Mornaquenta and Dur Hini returned to their lands and began their labors for the Sacrifi and were allowed to live with some sort of bought freedom. At least they weren't behind bars like all others. The demons alone were allowed to roam as they always had because they were the Sacrifi's cousins and creations of their god Muxen.
The overtaking of the mainland took only five short years and was like a plague that almost no one could escape. Only the Dragons, their numbers now near 50, left right before the last seige. They flew out to the mountain tops, deep caves and even the ocean and spread out in hopes they would be able to exist and escape.
Each ruined city was rebuilt in the glory of Muxen. Each person was forced into labor, whoring or was tortured and killed for no reason other than for the Sacrifi's pleasure.
The darkness would seem never ending. The only thing allowed was the continuing of breeding as the Sacrifi wanted to continue keeping their slaves. The rattles, who were always the slaves of the world, served as they always had and perhaps without as much pain as they had before. They were the servants of the Sacrifi. They prepared the food, cleaned the clothes, were allowed food, water and occasional baths and were allowed small huts in closed areas. It's said only the rattles approved of this war.
Years passed. It would seem there was no change and there would be no freedom. It seemed also that the Sacrifi were nothing more than living and enjoying their ownership of the world but what was unknown was their plans had not halted at all. It seemed unfathomable that they could do more but their ambitions were not of this world.
In secret, Muxen had been wisping down the power of himself onto his people. As they bred and made more of their own kind, each generation was stronger, faster, and more magikal than the last. Almost 900 years into their oppression, they struck out.
Using magik unknown to the world or any people before, the Sacrifi open a gate to the god realms. Eight legions enter the eight realms of the gods, not including Muxen's who would be the ninth and they aim to attack and destroy the other gods to nothing.
It was here that the gods broke their pact, unable to stand back and do nothing now. Upon the arrogance of Muxen, they banished the Sacrifi back to the world and closed the gates they had opened. And to punish them and Muxen for his aims, together they cursed the Sacrifi.
They took away their beauty, giving them tusks and dark, calloused skin. They made them heavier so they would be tired. They took away their wisdom and knowledge and left them as oxes. And at last, they tore away their magik, leaving them as brutes and no greater than the cattle they owned and changed their name from the Sacrifi to Ogres.
Then they turned on Muxen. They banished him from their council and forever cursed him. Because each god was equl with another, they were unable to strip him of his power, but they turned his realm to ruin. It became of fire and decay and what mystical cities he had erected were turned to ash. And to finish it, he was locked into his realm, unable to ever leave it. For he may be equal to each god indiviually, together they were Muxen's power times eight.
It was decided after that, that those who died and lived lives against the will of their makers were sentenced to afterlife in his realm with Muxen. Ogres were sentenced to come into the afterlife as insects and live for the rest of eternity as fraile worms. And the gods would return to not interfering once more.
The next morning on Terrastra, no one knew what had happened. They had went to sleep and awoke the next day with their masters like dumb hulks. But out of fear, not a soul tried to move against their keepers. It wasn't until the third day that they started to understand that they had been freed.
The Mornaquenta and Dur Hini were the only races with a semblance of what they once were. With their masters no longer what they were, they killed those that were on their lands and took their true freedom back with rejoicing.
The Dragons were the first race to begin to recover. The first king, Dragoshan, had perished from age but left behind his heir; Tilith Thunderstone. Upon finding the Sacrifi changed, he flew out over the lands, calling to the people that they were freed. He then collected those dragons still living over the lands and brought them together in the land once owned by his father, Dragoshan, and began to remake Draconia.
For the next hundred years, the world would heal its bleeding wounds though there was truly no way to repair all the damage done.
The Eldar broke away from the rest of the races and took up residance in their old territory only this time, they used their greatest magiks and broke the land away from the mainland, making a massive island. They even broke away the edges of the island so each side of the island would meet the ocean at cliffsides. They left only one beachside for a well protected port and made a single, enormus bridge of gold stolen from their ogre masters' treasury that spanned from their eastern coast to the mainland. They made a pact with the Dolour to give them any weapons or training they wanted in exchange for taking up territory right outside the bridge and protecting it from any invaders.
The humans were more together than they ever had been though divided as well. It was agreed they would live in large cities instead of the smaller nomadic ones their ancestors used to but finding a leader was difficult. Many humans loathed the gods for their lack of caring and had turned away into Atheism. Others kept strong in their faith, knowing that one day they would be released and now that the day had come they should rejoice, not hate.
But this strife caused the people to split and follow two seperate men. One man was named Timothy Derk who was righteous and strongwilled. The other man was named Virgil Blackpalm, a steely man with a distaste for anything not human.
The two groups of humans went east and west, finding opposite coasts. They took up the cities made by their old ogre lords and staked the claims of their territories. The western city was run by Timothy Derk who became their king. He named their region Tirin. Virgil chose to be the lord of Felwyn, the city to the East.
The other races returned to their previous homes. The dwarves went back to their caves, the Ashtel and Mao's back to their island, the barbarians to the north.
The Fourth Age: The Second Renaissance
With the irony of timing weighing on the peoples' minds, each race looks forward to the next age instead of dreading it. By the past's record, all major things come during the beginning of an age and last the rest of the time. So with the freedom from their captures happening at the end of the last age, every soul let the sun shine down upon their faces and expected a new, full age of goodness without repression.
And for a time, this was true. Truth be told, destruction is truly the beginning of rebirth. With rebirth comes new life, new hope, general peace and good will. And for a time, this was true.
By the beginning of the fourth age, the Eldar had rebuilt their city in Bein'la, the magikally formed island. The castles and towers shone like light in the sun. The gold and gems they took in reperations to their pain lined the streets of their cities and homes.
The Dragon's now minimal in numbers but growing were beginning to multiply once more. The same tradition of one male, killing the others resumed as was tradition but was harder on Tilith that it had been on his father. Tilith Thunderstone was a good hearted male so often it was said there were long days of mourning for Tilith when he would kill his own sons. But the Dragons were slow in rebuilding their homes. Most Dragon homes were never more than rock piles or cave entrances really and Tilith desired castles and grandeur.
Tilith decided swiftly to take advantage of an option little thought of before. In 4A15 he found the scattered race of Gnomes. It was well known the prickly natured people were brilliant without equals but too weak in body to build much on their own and were generally left to live whereever they could find because they were often attacked and forced to leave where they were, or so it used to be before the Ogre War. When he found them, he was quietly pleased to see they were again back to living like beggers and thieves. He knew they wished for better but had never been able to achieve it. It gave him an advantage.
After managing a meeting with their Gnome Elect, their chosen leader for the time, he offered them a peaceful treaty and alliance. The treaty, called the Pact of Ages, stated that Gnomes would be allowed a sancuary land inside of Draconia at the coast, surrounded by Dragon territory that would be entirely Gnome owned. It also stated that Dragons would be charged with the defense and protection of all Gnomes within the land boundries and would also labor for any large project needed without imposing their own rules on the Gnomes inside of the Gnome city. The Gnomes in turn would be required to help create the architecture of a massive main city for the Dragons and of a wall that would span around the terrotory. The Dragons would do the labor and work, but the Gnomes would need to design it. In addition, Gnomes would be needed to help with any other project asked of them, as long as it wasn't too over ambitious.
At first the Gnomes were skepical, as was expected by the small people. However, in three days time, they had deliberated and concluded that they were very interested in the deal as long as they would not be harmed at all when tempers butted heads and that the dragon king understood he was equal to their Gnome Elect, not superior. Both parties agreeing, the Gnomes signed the treaty and were escorted south to Draconia.
To rejoice, Tilith Thunderstone held a banquet for the Dragons and Gnomes. There was much food and dancing. The Dragon king named this day to be Treaty Day and that every Dragon and Gnome should meet once a year on the same date for festivities and rejoicing.
Swiftly, the lands of Draconia would change. Within fifty years, the Gnomes and Dragons would complete not only the great dragon city and home of the king made of solid gold, but also would finish the Hailwan Wall; a wall that stood fifty feet high, seven feet thick and surrounded the Draconia border from coast to coast. The main city of the Gnomes seated in the Gnome territory called Gnome'Lore was also finished by this time.
The other races of Terrastra seemed to continue on much same pattern as the Eldar or Dragons. Each seemed to not only survive, but excel and grow. Both of the newly founded human cities were growing at immense rates. Both had a stable economy, large budding cities and law systems in place. But there was a difference in the two. Tirin, the city that had been founded by a man of great moral and heart, was flourishing with good design. Each man who had come from enslavement and followed into Tirin was given a piece of land as his own to farm on and to pass down to his family when he perished. Each woman that was unwed was given a place to stay and food supplied for her until she was married. Every orphan child found a home.
From there, the king decided that each man who had a working farm and was interested in raising horses was given one male and one female from the king who would have dozens bred or broken from the wild.
The territory was bustling with life and at its core was base rules of fairness, respect and chivalry. Wrong doing was punished severely which kept down the crime in the land.
Felwyn however, was based on the strong. They too were given land to farm with but were expected to find what they needed through work or money, which reappeared swiftly in their society. The rule system deemed that each man was responsible for himself, his family and his land. The Overlord, Virgil Blackpalm, took little pity on anyone, especially women who were never allowed to work outside making clothing or preparing food. And since women were not given land, they were forced to find husbands or suffer in the streets.
Within sixty years, when the people had settled into their lives and their cities were built, the people were so ingrained into their type of living, there was little future for change. Prostitution quickly arose as a job for those women who couldn't find husbands. The number of bastard children rose faster than legitimate ones, giving way to more homeless, whoring women and more thievery, murder and anger. Women who were born into families were treated lowly and were expected to obey a man's will no matter what his bidding.
The men of the land were darker souled too. Each was possessive of his land and shared little with the outside unless paid for. Blacksmithing became a common trade and it became expected for every male to learn to carry and use a sword from the time he was young.
Felwyn also had a strong, corrupt social system. Those with the most money controlled everything. Those with the most money were considered noblity as well. When Virgil Blackpalm died his son, Daniel Blackpalm, took over ruling Felwyn. If it was possible, he was more ruthless than his father. The first Felwyn military was formed under Daniel. The military men were allowed to take as they pleased and were feared because of Daniel's uncaring to their wrong doings. Many new smaller cities were formed during his reign that grew just as corrupt as the first. The slave trade began anew here as well. Rattles were collected, bred and sold like cattle to anyone wishing a slave that could afford one. Felwyn became the center for slave trading in the mainland.
By the year 4A300, each race had its own Territory and set of laws, politics and philosophies.
4A1: With some work the good-aligned races had returned order to the world. While evil still existed in the world, it only hid in the shadows and watched as the others danced by. And in this era of peace there was a second renaissance that included a lot of things the world had been without before, politics and philosophy.
4A500: While great libraries were constructed and filled with books, generations of humans lived and died, things came to a relative stand still. Dragons had finished the territory they began before the Sacrifi and allowed Gnomes, their tinkering allies, to live on the inner circle of the territory in absolute safety.
Aside from this, the era was a time of peace and tranquility. That was, until the next big problem showed its ugly head. And while it was not a new problem, or even a minor one, it had recently gotten more out of hand. In the start it was just the occasional thing and less likely to happen than winning at cards in the pub. Were-beast of all kinds had become such a problem that it had to be addressed before too long or else the people of the land would all fall under them.
The Fifth Age
5A1: The start of this age would be marred by warfare. The majority of the races, excluding the Vampires and Demons/Ogres, had banded together to fight the new threat that had reared its ugly head. But not because they had any trust in each other or because they had any reason other than the survival of their own people. The were-beast had spread like wildfire over the peoples of the lands and now was at a breaking point.
Many brave soldiers and names emerged from these battles while others wound up dead. But, unlike the Sacrifi War, this one was not fought against unconquerable enemies. These were weakly unified and scattered forces that took no longer than fifteen years to push back to the northeast coastline.
Battle from here was fierce and some of the best De'Mira showed up to do combat for their people but in the end they had to fall to the masse of forces that had collected to stop them. And in disgrace they were exiled to the island of Meiaja. Which was then enchanted with every known spell and curse to make sure no one got off the island easily.
5A300: While peace returned, it is unsteady and ready to break. The races are all at a standstill. Life has gone back to its slow routine. And while the people of Terrastra sit and wait, new and untold things begin to stir and are set in motion. What will happen in the end of this age? Will heros emerge or will a dark overlord come as swiftly as the Sacrifi and reconquer the world again?
Questions everyone is waiting to hear the answers for, so until then, we sit and wait.
5A657: Current Date.
Nine sparks. Dancing, singing, playing together. Nine there were, three groups of three. And that was all there was; nine sparks in the nothing. They were nine thoughts, nine feelings no less no more.
But a time came when the thoughts embodied themselves and they created something from nothing. The something was beautiful and made from nine parts. Shaiar they became; a spark within a husk. And each spark had a name. Aboshan, the one of knowledge so golden and unhindered. Bjorn, the dark, muted of color but of great shades and passions. Cralle, glistening red and strong. Genna, meek, sweet and a faded green. Aeran, even, exact and concious, smooth blue. Muxen, the firey so divine and powerful. Torlox of the dark and tired, such a dank violet hue. Vuen, jovial and bright, light rose. The smallest, Tibbit Duril, aglow with curiousity and joy, a brilliant jade.
And with a desire to, the Shaiar created space, light and dark. They made with their hands all dirt, water and air. Together they pressed and formed a sphere. They placed it alone in the dark but it was sad.
Aboshan, with great knowledge, created another sphere, one of light and heat. He placed it near the other and there was sun. Genna then reached out her hand and carressed the dark land and waded her fingers through the waters and life grew. Green like she and fruitful. This was good and beautiful.
All seemed good to Aboshan and Genna. Aeran was less pleased. He felt the land was too flat and without true measure. So Aeran created metal and gems. He buried them deep into the world then hit the dirt and stone. The ground splintered and caved in many places and elsewhere the ground shot up toward the sky. He named these mountains and ravines. This was good and the other Shaiar agreed except Muxen. He was dipleased.
They are weak and cold and calm, he said and thrust his arm into the tallest mountain peak. He stirred the rock and created heat. The heat spread toward the center of the world and cracked through mountains to erupt with violence and anger. Lava, he called this. Muxen was pleased but the Shaiar were divided.
For a time, all was left this way. The life was green and moved slowly. The Shaiar were pleased to watch their world flourish. But soon the land became overgrown, everything grew without end. So Torlox dipped down his head and breathed over the land and thus was death made. Decay formed and returned green to the earth. It fed the world, became anew with the dirt and was there to feed the new. This was good.
However there was something missing. The world was bleak though beautiful. All heads turned to Aboshan who was with the most knowledge but he too was without an answer. Displeasure at their creation brought dark thoughts to three of the Shaiar. The will to continue with the world was fading until one Shaiar had an idea.
The small one, Tibbit Duril was full of curiousity and trouble. He went in secret and from the world and the green he created life. It was like the plants in living but so much more like the Shaiar themselves. His first creation was 'worm'. Simple and weak but unalike anything else in the world, Tibbit Duril loved his creature. For a time he kept worm a secret. He did not want to share it with his brothers and sister.
But as his interest waned, his protection slipped until one day worm escaped. He could not find him. It was Genna who found worm. She was so pleased with worm she showed the others. Instead of being angry, most of the other Shaiar were pleased as well. They asked who made worm. Tibbit Duril told them worm was his. When asked, he showed the others how he had done it.
New interest flared among the Shaiar once more. Each took interest in the creation of moving life and took part in the making of all the beasts of the world.
Cralle felt adoration for the water and created many creatures of the sea. Tibbit Duril liked things small like himself and made insects, Vuen created birds and the things that fly, then Tibbit Duril made many of his insects fly. Aeran created the hardy beasts that walk on all four. Aboshan made all the rest.
The other Shaiar added to these beings in other ways. Genna took the creatures of the land and created male and female, like her plants and allowed them to make more of their own. This was very good. Torlox breathed onto the life and brought lifespans and mortality to all beings. They too would feed the new.
Muxen was vexed however. He asked Bjorn what he would do to add to this world. Bjorn, who revelled in feeling, said to Muxen he would bring pain to beings. Before this time, pain did not exist. Death came as a natural act. Muxen approved and was given his own idea. After Bjorn added pain to the living, the other Shaiar were so caught up with displeasure, they did not see Muxen add hate into the hearts of many creatures. He took his favorite creations and changed them to fit his image. He created preditors to hunt the others.
Outraged, most of the Shaiar turned upon Muxen, telling him he was wrong to do such. That mixed with Bjorn's pain and his anger, the creatures would suffer. This pleased Muxen and Bjorn anyway. Being unable to remove what had been done without killing the beasts, Vuen instead gave happiness and love to the other creatures in the world and Aboshan gave each creature reason so it could decide for itself what was good and bad.
The anger between the Shaiar soon calmed. Too caught up with their new world and their new creatures.
The decided together it would be calle Terrastra. To celebrate, Aboshan reached out to the space beyond the sky. He created lights in the distance that would shine when the world was dark and three moons that would travel around Terrastra and keep some light on the world when the sun was away.
This was good. And yet again for a time they watched, content. All things grew, flourished then died and started again.
But the contentment did not last. Aboshan, who was very wise was also very prideful. He did not want to share with the others everything. He wanted something special and like himself. He had created the sun and stars but they were no so different from Terra itself.
So he walked the world on his own for a while. He looked at the creatures who roamed. They were so simple. They were innocent in such a way that Aboshan could never connect with them. He yearned for something else to speak to. Genius struck him then. Why couldn't he make something more for himself?
He took up a branch from the tallest tree, water from the chilled streams and a piece of a star into his hands and molded it into a spark. The spark was faint but golden like he was and he was pleased. He gave the being shape and it resemebled the animals of Terrastra but it was intelligant and wise and could speak to him. Upon its husk it was given sharp talons to find food, which it would need to survive and sharp teeth to chew. It was given shimmering golden scales to protect itself from the weather of the world. To it, Aboshan gave it the name Dragoshan.
With care he put his child onto the world and it looked around with wonder and happiness in its eyes. Aboshan spoke to Dragoshan and Dragoshan to him. It was very good.
But the other Shaiar learned of Aboshan's doings and many were jealous and some spiteful. Aeran wanted his own and reached to the terra and dug from it precious gems and took water from a salty sea and some heat of the sun and molded a spark in his likeness. It too was bright and wise but looked unlike the beasts of Terrastra and more like the Shaiar themselves. He called him Eldar and they sat upon the land together and talked of many things.
Vuen felt wonder at the two creations and chose to make one as well. In his hands he took a clump of dirt and rock and a bit of a water from a fresh lake and created what he called Barberia which he later called Barbarian. Cralle followed, making 'dwarf' from the heavy salts of the seas, molten rock from the earth and diamonds from the caves.
Bjorn was envious of the other creatures. He wisked away from the others to make his own. He created not one but two types of people in his likeness; both harboring parts of his being. He also created female in the likeness of Genna, that whom he loved more than the others. His creations would be able to make more of their own kind, like the plants and trees did and like the animals who roamed the world did. And he gave them immortality so they would not die like other things did. He created Mornaquenta, the male being named Borithitor Rydal and his mate named Tala and the Dur Hini, the male being named Damio Kirith and his mate, Yula Kiri. They were beautiful.
His pleasure was short-lived though as the other Shaiar created mates for their creations as well and Aeran gave his Eldar immortality as well.
The others followed after that in quick sucession. It was Tibbit Duril who created next. But unlike the others, Tibbit was lazy and took one dwarf and changed it into 'gnome'. He was pleased but Cralle was not. He shunned the gnome to be hated by his people. But Tibbit was not deturred, he made many gnomes with ease after the first and sat with them, teaching them things.
Genna came to Aboshan and asked him how he had created his for she loved his creations. Feeling flattered, he helped her create the Mi'firel, a creature much like the beasts of the earth and much like the dragons in that aspect. Feeling pleased and more confident, she went to her other sibling, Aeran who had created the Eldar and asked him how he had been so genius to create such a wonder. He, also flattered, offered to direct her in creating something similar and from it came the Dolour. They were so alike to the Eldar yet more wild, much like her own spirit.
Now nearly 600 years into the beginning of Terrastra, Torlox made his and Vuen made another. Torlox, his vampires, those who did not die but did decay like himself whom he prided himself in. They were diseased and could make others by birth or by biting, a secret he kept from his siblings for a time. Vuen created humans from his barbarians, so alike to them but more vulnerable and more joyful and smarter.
Tibbit Duril then got himself into trouble yet again. While Aboshan was busy making his last people, the ashtel, Tibbit stole again from his siblings to create. He stole one of the vampires and created the De'mira. Torlox was outraged and displayed it to the mischieveous little god, feeling low, Tibbit Duril turned his back on his De'Mira, leaving them in exile and did not speak to them. Instead, he stole next and lastly a Mi'firel, one of the cat people of Genna and created the Rattle, a copy. Genna was upset but it was Aboshan who cursed the Rattles to live as fearful, weak minded creatures; always skiddish and terrified. They were to serve the others and they became the slaves of the world. Tibbit Duril was so saddened once again, he turned his back on his siblings for a time. He finally decided to make a race on his own which took him a long time. They were much like humans but smaller. He called them hobbits and he loved them above all the rest. They were most like him, so curious and lazy and full of life.
Muxen was the last to create. He waited until the others were content to make his own. He took the aspects of all the others and made the Sacrifi but he kept them hidden from the others' eyes. They were too busy with their own children to bother with Muxen anyhow. The Sacrifi were tall and broad, stronger than any others, very smart, cunning, beautiful and immortal. Muxen spent all his time with them, keeping them sheltered from the others' eyes and teaching them things they shouldn't know.
But for a time, this was good and they were all content.
It was Cralle who first suggested that he and his siblings step away from Terrastra and let their people grow by themselves. He suggested that the balance in their hearts was unbalanced and they wished to be free from the demands of the Shaiar who controlled most everything their children did. He called council with his siblings and persuaded them to listen to his words. There was much disagreement and they debated for a long time though time was only relevent to those on the ground. Muxen, finding pleasure in the rift, took advantage of their preoccupations and created the last race and dropped them hastily onto the world. They were demons and were cruel. They spread over the land and terrorized the other children of Terrastra. Through them the children of the gods were introduced to 'cursed sins'.
To commit a cursed sin is to make a permanent mark on one's own soul, a black wound that festers and darkens the heart. Murder, harming another and rape.
And while they fought in their fervor, they did not see the demons of the land causing strife, killing and harming. It was Genna only who learned of their works and stood up saying enough was enough. She said that in their bickering Muxen had done harm. Instead, they should come together and stop fighting. When they saw what Muxen had done, they were angry demanded he make them stop. Forced, Muxen promised to do something about them but in spite told his demon children to take to hiding for now and to emerge again in one years time.
So the siblings did come to agree that they should allow their children should live alone, that they should just watch from far away but that they would give last gifts. They agreed to shower down the ability to use magik and those it stuck to would be able to use it. They agreed some should have mortality and some should have immortality. Vuen first chose mortality for his people, stating that with mortality they would cherish and enjoy every second of their life more than any immortal could ever imagine. While others adopted this idea, and still others chose immortality for their peoples, they at last agreed after this moment that none would interfere with Terrastra's doings neither to harm nor save any peoples.
And they did so. And then each Shaiar seperated and built for themselves a realm where they could live and those who met death with mortality or those with immortality who were slain could come to as an afterlife.
Before long, each god handed down to his people, from a distance of course, the sacred commandments for serving him and taking up his religion as their own. Some chose to speak of and embrace kindness and other such noble ideals. While still others were told to be tolerant and clear minded and in the depths of the wicked hearts of evil, they were told to harm and bring terror to the land. The year was 1A999.
The Second Age The Birth of Atheism and The age of Conflict
With the withdrawal of the Shaiar from the mortal plane, the peoples of the world suddenly attained something they had not yet had, something so powerful that it gave birth to the first Renaissance and Atheism. It was the beginning of the freedom and doom of the world. Because of free will, there was an upsurge of emotions and free thoughts.
While happiness and sorrow were the first emotions, the nature of the living came out in all peoples. Sinful thoughts, anger, hate, greed, desire and pain became a very real thing for the people of Terrastra and from it came the actions of impulse: theif, rape, abuse and murder. But that was Free will and free will gave way to sin. But the world was not all darkness and chaos. No, the light stayed over the lands and the good in all peoples' hearts remained the way of existance.
And along with this new found free will, the thing that allowed all to think and act for themselves, doubt in the gods above rose like a wave. Some races stayed faithful to their gods while others quickly turned away their beliefs and moved to believe only in the worldly things around them. Extremist views even came in during the early years of the Second Age. A religion based on the land and the animals that lived in was called Terra Rovan and was popular with the short lived race called Humans.
But even with the freedom they now had, each race seemed to remain to themselves, distrusting of the others around them. Each race moved together to settle into places they could claim as theirs and formed within them the first governments or leaders and followers. There were those who were lost and empty when their gods left them alone; too scared to do anything without direction. And there were those who responded to the misery and fear and with either a dark or virtious heart and took command of the others, securing themselves positions of lordship and noblity. These two types became the first commoners and first leaders of their races. Some of these leaders appeared from the masses as a beckon of light and hope, others as a dark force too terrifing to deny and some were already in the position to take over leadership as they were the first made of their races and therefore had been the closest to their gods.
There were those select few others however that thrived in their freedom and walked away from their own people to wander into the wild land in search of the other children of the gods. These were the smartest, wisest and most magikly gifted people of Terrastra. With time, these men and women found one another, banded together and forming a council of their own. They settled into a single place where they would flourish. They were called The Scholars and created the written word from the common language they all spoke.
For nearly one hundred years they studied the world and wrote of their findings. They created books from their knowledge: written upon paper, stacked high and bound at one side. They created books of knowledge, of lore, of the gods, of their own feelings, of nature and so many things. They wrote until they were filled to the brim.
It was the decision of the council then to break apart, seperate the books between them and return to their own people with their new knowledge; to share it with all the people. When they reached their own people once more, they would arrive to find the world much changed already.
2A105: By one hundred years into the second age and into freedom, each race had founded cities or towns or settled into a way of life about Terrastra. The Ashtel and Mi'firel were the first to venture into the waters, using a sand bay to find land in the water away from the mainland. Both races left seperately but found the same island only months apart from the other. They agreed to share the landmass, split in half by a river running from north to south and home themselves either east and west of its quick rapids. The Ashtel made a large city from the stone whereas the Mi'firel created homes of leaves and lived in tune with the land.
Humans and Barbarians lived close to one another near the northern heart of the mainland, just above the mountains. But as the two races were alike and different at the same time, living close to one another was difficult and the Barbarians moved more northward. They loved exporing and the wild, having little fear so they would not settle fully for more long years. The Eldar, elves of gold, took leave from any other people and reserved the uppermost western corner of the land and staked claim over a large portion of land. They only permitted the Dolour to live close to their borders as they felt no threat from them.
Dragoshan took the other dragons with him and made domain in the northernmost mountains along the icy waters where they lived with the land and undisturbed by the other people. He took control of all of his kind and killed all other males, leaving all the females to himself in his greed.
The other two elves, those made by Bjorn came together, the only races to do so, and agreed to set up a city together and were ruled by the four firstborns. Each pair was equal to each other and in charge only of their own race. They named their city Eauti.
The dwarves alone took up residance in a cave where they would stay from then on. The other races continued to wander, rather than staying in one place.
The scholars who had left years before, returned to their races and brought their books and knowledge to their people and taught them all to read and write so the world could communicate even when the flesh was gone.
It wasn't until nearly 2A200 that Hobble was founded by the hobbits and the other races began to settle into regions of their own, create solid leaders and begin to form cities.
The Eldar were the first to create a full city. It was white and gold and even seemed to be made of light. The last race to settle were the demons. They took up the land at the center around the great volcano. No one else wanted the land and they were pleased with the heat but they were prone to their natures and traveled from their land to terrorize the other races; to bring plague, pain and death to all others.
The vampires had made a city in the south. It was glorious and tall with dark stone walls. They kept to themselves more than the others until this point. They lived on the blood of animals and beasts as they were expected to do by creation. But Hectr the Wrathful, their first king, owned many rattle slaves. He took up a taste for their blood and was shortly reknown for his barbaric habits. The world was yet very secluded but some words spread, like Hectr's behavior. When word travelled that his taste changed from slave to other people however, anger washed through the peope but more from fear than from disgust. People didn't care for the rattles nor care about their well being but cared much about the fact that they could be next.
2A500: By the world's 1500 year old birthday, Terrastra was a fully active and traveled place. Each race owned a piece of land and many cities were erected and finished. Each city was involved with one another by either trade or by sale. Each race gained special talents and skills in which they focused on and could sell to the others. A universal currency was invented where any person could pay for anything by coin. The greed of the world caused people to become involved in all types of trades with very little conscience. The largest trade in the world was the slave trade. Both the Eldar and the Vampires had the strongest hold over the slave trade.
The Dur Hini and Mornaquenta broke apart in the year 2A520 and left their city. They were unable to continue living with each other and to avoid any civil wars, each moved southward and into seperate territories. The Dur Hini found a grand cave beneath an unclaimed land that they took for their own. They named the land Nerian. The Mornaquenta found a thick forest to the east of the dead land, now known as Luin. Their King Tor was gifted with great magik and placed over the land a never ending spell that would cause the land to be in darkness always but would allow the sun's heat and nourishment to reach the land. This was to keep others out. As the mornaquenta could see in the dark and prefered its ebony hues, the forest suited them fine. The ever-night brought with it special trees and plants that strived in the magikal land and creatures of nightmares. The land was closed off from all others.
The humans were the most sinful and emotional of all people. They had both good and bad but of the bad all sins were popular. Murder and theivery was ripe amongst the peasant people and greed, abuse and adultry was common amongst all. It isn't to say there is no valor in men for some of the greatest deeds in the world were accomplished by men. The humans settled over the land and changed the terrain to suit them rather than live in harmony with it. When they finished with a land, they moved on to make more towns or cities, leaving the old ones behind.
The Barbarians went further northward and entered into dragon land. One would think this would cause a strife but with age, Dragoshan had little care of the barbarians. Dragoshan's attention was more focused on those things that shimmered and shined in the sun, those things found deep in the mountains and Terra. What Dragons had most however was envy. They coveted the dwarves because the dwarves had a love of things that shimmered as well but were far better at harvesting it.
It was his obcession that brought about the beginning of the first war, The Golden War. In 2A612, Dragoshan, deciding to take what he wanted instead of barter for it, brought up his legion of battle females and invaded the lands of the dwarves, demanding the treasure they had. The dwarves refused and the first battle day commensed. The dwarves, who had never given thought that they would ever be invaded, had no serious defenses in place. It was easy for the dragons to come in and destroy the great halls of the dwarves, kill all those who resisted and leave with the gemstones and precious metals that the dwarves so greedily hoarded. The attack took a single night. They tore apart the land of the dwarves with ease and left with all their treasure.
Word of the battle rippled throughout the lands like wildfire in a dry field. Fear took hold of many other people and the first defenses and warriors were created. The regions swiftly spoke ill of the dragons, labeling them beasts no better than the cattle they raised but feared them above all else.
The devolpment pleased Dragoshan though. He always thought he should be feared and ignoring their words naming him a beast, he decided to piliage the other races of their treasures as well. The war spread over the land starting from the north and worked its way south. Each race fought for time but some succumbed to the dragons' strength and wishes and gave away their riches easily. The Dur Hini fought alongside their cousins, the Mornaquenta and fended off their lands from the dragons enough to turn away their interest. This alliance healed some of the old wounds between the two dark elves. The Sacrifi alone were such a force they were impossible to impose upon. They could not be bested by the dragons and many died against the one race that so few knew anything about.
Displeased and ashamed, Dragoshan had lies spread over the lands that the Sacrifi were just poor and the dragons did not waste their time on them. They did not want them known as unbeatable. Perhaps if the truth had gotten out, the future would have came differently. But these dark things that still laid ahead were too far in the future for anyone to guess at.
The Golden War took over a year. The dragons thought themselves invincable. Little did that know however, that while they were away from their own city, the dwarves who had hidden themselves deep in their caves, came back with force. They rebuilt their homes and built up new and dangerous defenses and struck out against the dragons when they were least expecting it. While the king was away piliaging, the dwarves overtook the dragon city. They killed his nest of children, many of his females and reclaimed their treasures. By the time Dragoshan returned, the dwarves were already gone.
In his rage he turned his fury on the dwarves only to find they had built to resist him. The Golden War would be directed from then on as Dragoshan attempting to destroy the dwarves and never get in. Almost twenty years passed in his efforts before he backed away and gave up on his revenge.
Having much hate and distain for the dwarves, Dragoshan took his females, children and treasure and fled to the south. Unable to resist and finding an outlet with the vampires, Dragoshan destroyed the city of the Vampires, killed their king and claimed their land. He named the land Draconia.
What was left of the vampires were a mere handful, maybe a hundred at best. They left to the eastern coast and hid amoungst cliffside caves there, sore and close to death. Leaderless and weakened, the vampires turned to Hectr's only son, Darius, who swore to bring revenge against the dragons in the name of their people. He was a weak being, but full of hate and ideals. It was he who encouraged his people to allow their meals to live, to eat off the other people of Terrastra without care and make more of their kind through biting. No vampire before this point was stronger than a normal human though they closesly resembled stone. With each meal they grew stronger and the oldest and best of those who were left, now almost a thousand began to change. Claws and wings appeared on them. They grew the strength to rival the best races and possessed such speed and magik. They resorted to secrecy and for a time were forgotten by the other races, as if they were merely myth.
The Golden War had its uses however. The Eldar and Dolour were among the first to ally and form solid standing armies.They had the finest archers and magik users in the lands with massive numbers at their desposal. Many races had multiplied over the time they were alive but it was the immortals that grew the fastest for the mortals died and the immortal lived. The Eldar even learned to breed and raise Griffons, great winged beasts they could ride upon and into any battle.
2A750: The humans begin to quarrel amoungst themselves. The tension and greed of those in power led the people to split further, making cities all over the lands and away from each other. However the humans had learned to tame and breed horses, giving their race a skill to call their own, something they had been lacking in.
At this point in the world though, humans were of little matter or importance. The Eldar started a ranking amogst the races, a kind of placement on the value of all people in an order of most important to least. The Eldar set themselves at the top, claiming to be the best race of Terrastra, of course. They believed themselves wiser, more talented and more valuable than any other race. Humans, who made up the largest population of Terrastra, were easy to sway. They believed what the Eldar said and revered them.
The humans were of little importance, the same as hobbits, gnomes, or barbarians. The Dragons were named second to Eldar for their ferousity and grandour. Some races, such as the De'Mira, Mi'firel, Vampires and Sacrifi were completely ignored but it was the two dark elves that sat at the bottom alongside only with the demons. The Eldar named the Dur Hini and the Mornaquenta as perverted demon-borns, lackwits and cursed people. The mortal world, the part swiftly becoming the largest part of the world, had little contact with these dark elves and so the rumors took such a deep rooted hold on their minds that within a short time, the two races of Bjorn would be amoungst the most hated. It would be a pretext they will never lift.
This ranking would form more solidly over the course of the next two hundred years.
2A955: Nearing the end of the second age, all people were fully stereotyped and all trades were normal. The Mi'firel learned the skill of boatmaking at this time. The Ashtel had split into two cities amoungst themselves but remain on good terms with all their own people and with their neighbors, the Mao's.
In this time, the Vampires became a known presence once more. Their actions of feeding on other became known once more but they would not be a worldly problem long. Their leader, Darius, set upon the Dragons one night as revenge against their assault years previous. They aimed to take back their land but Darius was a poor planner and was defeated in a pitiful attempt against Dragoshan. The dragons rounded up the defeated Vampires, hosted them in a dark cell for the previous day then Dragoshan had all of them put into a massive casing and he flew them out to the eastern sea. He flew until he could see a very distant island and dropped the lot into the ocean. In his booming voice he told them to swim east and they would find land and that they should stay there. He said he was merciful to allow them their lives and to repay him by never coming back.
Many made it to the island but most bitten Vampires died when the sun rose, having been too weak to swim faster. They settled there and later named it the Rhun Isle. The Vampires would fall from knowledge after their start in exile. Very few races would remember them at all.
But the world was not at peace as it was all assumed. When Dragoshan returned to his people, he returned to death. For the second time in his reign, someone else had come while he was away and killed many of his people. Only a handful of females were still living and fighting by the time he arrived. To his horror, he saw they were still there, trying to finish them off. It was the Sacrifi, the only race Dragoshan knew was stronger than his own. For the first time, he felt fear, deep fear. Calling upon the strongest magik he possessed, he told his females to take flight and he released a wave of the hottest fire the world had ever felt. He thought he had burnt through the army and ended the attack but as the smoke cleared, the only thing that had burnt away was his land. Each Sacrifi stood exactly where they had been before, unharmed by the flames and grinning.
"What witchcraft is this!?" He yelled at them. To be untouched by fire...
Dragoshan took flight as well then, rounding up his females and flying away from the land and away from the dangers with his few females. Most of his people were gone. But Dragoshan had believed the Sacrifi were there for his riches or for revenge against his assault years before. He had no idea that they would continue their rampage over the lands and give way to The Sacrifi War.
The Third Age Age of Darkness
The plan had been simple. Start at the beginning of the Third Age and take everything. It was their design and Muxen's plan for his people. He was the god and sought out war like the world had never known before.
The Sacrifi came like a gargantuan horde of locasts. They tore through any defense and took over entire regions in single nights. The humans fell easiest of all while the dark elves, both the Dur Hini and Mornaquenta fought with passion and deadly skill. The Mi'firel and Ashtel Island fell over a week and within a month, half of Terrastra's mainland was property of the Sacrifi.
Those who resisted were killed, those who gave in were spared to become slaves.
The word of their attacks spread quickly after the Ashtel's fall. The Eldar, Dolour, few Dragons, remaining Humans, Hobbits and Dwarves banded together to fight the oncoming Sacrifi. They refused to come to the aid of the cursed elves and the children of Bjorn were left to their own devices.
But they would be the downfall of the remaining free people because as the Sacrifi found themselves fighting a too strong force alone, the Dur Hini and Mornaquenta offer peace and negotiations. They offer to side with the Sacrifi's ambitions, help to take down their enemies in exchange for their lives, their land and any tariffs or gofts they were asked to pay.
At first the Sacrifi refused them, having their own cousins, the demons as their aids and arrognat enough to believe they needed no one else. But as time weared down, their own numbers so few to begin with and the rebellion growing stronger each day, they agreed to accept the Dark Elves' proposals. They demanded their assisstance in tearing down the rest of the races and their compliance with any task they are asked to do with the addition of labor, money and food.
Meeting terms, the two dark elves took up their arms against the resistance and together the dark army tore through them and the mainland was won over to the Sacrifi.
Thousands of people died and all of those left were enslaved outside the Dur Hini, Demons and Mornaquenta and the two inhabited islands they would not find; Meiaja and the Rhun Isle.
The Mornaquenta and Dur Hini returned to their lands and began their labors for the Sacrifi and were allowed to live with some sort of bought freedom. At least they weren't behind bars like all others. The demons alone were allowed to roam as they always had because they were the Sacrifi's cousins and creations of their god Muxen.
The overtaking of the mainland took only five short years and was like a plague that almost no one could escape. Only the Dragons, their numbers now near 50, left right before the last seige. They flew out to the mountain tops, deep caves and even the ocean and spread out in hopes they would be able to exist and escape.
Each ruined city was rebuilt in the glory of Muxen. Each person was forced into labor, whoring or was tortured and killed for no reason other than for the Sacrifi's pleasure.
The darkness would seem never ending. The only thing allowed was the continuing of breeding as the Sacrifi wanted to continue keeping their slaves. The rattles, who were always the slaves of the world, served as they always had and perhaps without as much pain as they had before. They were the servants of the Sacrifi. They prepared the food, cleaned the clothes, were allowed food, water and occasional baths and were allowed small huts in closed areas. It's said only the rattles approved of this war.
Years passed. It would seem there was no change and there would be no freedom. It seemed also that the Sacrifi were nothing more than living and enjoying their ownership of the world but what was unknown was their plans had not halted at all. It seemed unfathomable that they could do more but their ambitions were not of this world.
In secret, Muxen had been wisping down the power of himself onto his people. As they bred and made more of their own kind, each generation was stronger, faster, and more magikal than the last. Almost 900 years into their oppression, they struck out.
Using magik unknown to the world or any people before, the Sacrifi open a gate to the god realms. Eight legions enter the eight realms of the gods, not including Muxen's who would be the ninth and they aim to attack and destroy the other gods to nothing.
It was here that the gods broke their pact, unable to stand back and do nothing now. Upon the arrogance of Muxen, they banished the Sacrifi back to the world and closed the gates they had opened. And to punish them and Muxen for his aims, together they cursed the Sacrifi.
They took away their beauty, giving them tusks and dark, calloused skin. They made them heavier so they would be tired. They took away their wisdom and knowledge and left them as oxes. And at last, they tore away their magik, leaving them as brutes and no greater than the cattle they owned and changed their name from the Sacrifi to Ogres.
Then they turned on Muxen. They banished him from their council and forever cursed him. Because each god was equl with another, they were unable to strip him of his power, but they turned his realm to ruin. It became of fire and decay and what mystical cities he had erected were turned to ash. And to finish it, he was locked into his realm, unable to ever leave it. For he may be equal to each god indiviually, together they were Muxen's power times eight.
It was decided after that, that those who died and lived lives against the will of their makers were sentenced to afterlife in his realm with Muxen. Ogres were sentenced to come into the afterlife as insects and live for the rest of eternity as fraile worms. And the gods would return to not interfering once more.
The next morning on Terrastra, no one knew what had happened. They had went to sleep and awoke the next day with their masters like dumb hulks. But out of fear, not a soul tried to move against their keepers. It wasn't until the third day that they started to understand that they had been freed.
The Mornaquenta and Dur Hini were the only races with a semblance of what they once were. With their masters no longer what they were, they killed those that were on their lands and took their true freedom back with rejoicing.
The Dragons were the first race to begin to recover. The first king, Dragoshan, had perished from age but left behind his heir; Tilith Thunderstone. Upon finding the Sacrifi changed, he flew out over the lands, calling to the people that they were freed. He then collected those dragons still living over the lands and brought them together in the land once owned by his father, Dragoshan, and began to remake Draconia.
For the next hundred years, the world would heal its bleeding wounds though there was truly no way to repair all the damage done.
The Eldar broke away from the rest of the races and took up residance in their old territory only this time, they used their greatest magiks and broke the land away from the mainland, making a massive island. They even broke away the edges of the island so each side of the island would meet the ocean at cliffsides. They left only one beachside for a well protected port and made a single, enormus bridge of gold stolen from their ogre masters' treasury that spanned from their eastern coast to the mainland. They made a pact with the Dolour to give them any weapons or training they wanted in exchange for taking up territory right outside the bridge and protecting it from any invaders.
The humans were more together than they ever had been though divided as well. It was agreed they would live in large cities instead of the smaller nomadic ones their ancestors used to but finding a leader was difficult. Many humans loathed the gods for their lack of caring and had turned away into Atheism. Others kept strong in their faith, knowing that one day they would be released and now that the day had come they should rejoice, not hate.
But this strife caused the people to split and follow two seperate men. One man was named Timothy Derk who was righteous and strongwilled. The other man was named Virgil Blackpalm, a steely man with a distaste for anything not human.
The two groups of humans went east and west, finding opposite coasts. They took up the cities made by their old ogre lords and staked the claims of their territories. The western city was run by Timothy Derk who became their king. He named their region Tirin. Virgil chose to be the lord of Felwyn, the city to the East.
The other races returned to their previous homes. The dwarves went back to their caves, the Ashtel and Mao's back to their island, the barbarians to the north.
The Fourth Age: The Second Renaissance
With the irony of timing weighing on the peoples' minds, each race looks forward to the next age instead of dreading it. By the past's record, all major things come during the beginning of an age and last the rest of the time. So with the freedom from their captures happening at the end of the last age, every soul let the sun shine down upon their faces and expected a new, full age of goodness without repression.
And for a time, this was true. Truth be told, destruction is truly the beginning of rebirth. With rebirth comes new life, new hope, general peace and good will. And for a time, this was true.
By the beginning of the fourth age, the Eldar had rebuilt their city in Bein'la, the magikally formed island. The castles and towers shone like light in the sun. The gold and gems they took in reperations to their pain lined the streets of their cities and homes.
The Dragon's now minimal in numbers but growing were beginning to multiply once more. The same tradition of one male, killing the others resumed as was tradition but was harder on Tilith that it had been on his father. Tilith Thunderstone was a good hearted male so often it was said there were long days of mourning for Tilith when he would kill his own sons. But the Dragons were slow in rebuilding their homes. Most Dragon homes were never more than rock piles or cave entrances really and Tilith desired castles and grandeur.
Tilith decided swiftly to take advantage of an option little thought of before. In 4A15 he found the scattered race of Gnomes. It was well known the prickly natured people were brilliant without equals but too weak in body to build much on their own and were generally left to live whereever they could find because they were often attacked and forced to leave where they were, or so it used to be before the Ogre War. When he found them, he was quietly pleased to see they were again back to living like beggers and thieves. He knew they wished for better but had never been able to achieve it. It gave him an advantage.
After managing a meeting with their Gnome Elect, their chosen leader for the time, he offered them a peaceful treaty and alliance. The treaty, called the Pact of Ages, stated that Gnomes would be allowed a sancuary land inside of Draconia at the coast, surrounded by Dragon territory that would be entirely Gnome owned. It also stated that Dragons would be charged with the defense and protection of all Gnomes within the land boundries and would also labor for any large project needed without imposing their own rules on the Gnomes inside of the Gnome city. The Gnomes in turn would be required to help create the architecture of a massive main city for the Dragons and of a wall that would span around the terrotory. The Dragons would do the labor and work, but the Gnomes would need to design it. In addition, Gnomes would be needed to help with any other project asked of them, as long as it wasn't too over ambitious.
At first the Gnomes were skepical, as was expected by the small people. However, in three days time, they had deliberated and concluded that they were very interested in the deal as long as they would not be harmed at all when tempers butted heads and that the dragon king understood he was equal to their Gnome Elect, not superior. Both parties agreeing, the Gnomes signed the treaty and were escorted south to Draconia.
To rejoice, Tilith Thunderstone held a banquet for the Dragons and Gnomes. There was much food and dancing. The Dragon king named this day to be Treaty Day and that every Dragon and Gnome should meet once a year on the same date for festivities and rejoicing.
Swiftly, the lands of Draconia would change. Within fifty years, the Gnomes and Dragons would complete not only the great dragon city and home of the king made of solid gold, but also would finish the Hailwan Wall; a wall that stood fifty feet high, seven feet thick and surrounded the Draconia border from coast to coast. The main city of the Gnomes seated in the Gnome territory called Gnome'Lore was also finished by this time.
The other races of Terrastra seemed to continue on much same pattern as the Eldar or Dragons. Each seemed to not only survive, but excel and grow. Both of the newly founded human cities were growing at immense rates. Both had a stable economy, large budding cities and law systems in place. But there was a difference in the two. Tirin, the city that had been founded by a man of great moral and heart, was flourishing with good design. Each man who had come from enslavement and followed into Tirin was given a piece of land as his own to farm on and to pass down to his family when he perished. Each woman that was unwed was given a place to stay and food supplied for her until she was married. Every orphan child found a home.
From there, the king decided that each man who had a working farm and was interested in raising horses was given one male and one female from the king who would have dozens bred or broken from the wild.
The territory was bustling with life and at its core was base rules of fairness, respect and chivalry. Wrong doing was punished severely which kept down the crime in the land.
Felwyn however, was based on the strong. They too were given land to farm with but were expected to find what they needed through work or money, which reappeared swiftly in their society. The rule system deemed that each man was responsible for himself, his family and his land. The Overlord, Virgil Blackpalm, took little pity on anyone, especially women who were never allowed to work outside making clothing or preparing food. And since women were not given land, they were forced to find husbands or suffer in the streets.
Within sixty years, when the people had settled into their lives and their cities were built, the people were so ingrained into their type of living, there was little future for change. Prostitution quickly arose as a job for those women who couldn't find husbands. The number of bastard children rose faster than legitimate ones, giving way to more homeless, whoring women and more thievery, murder and anger. Women who were born into families were treated lowly and were expected to obey a man's will no matter what his bidding.
The men of the land were darker souled too. Each was possessive of his land and shared little with the outside unless paid for. Blacksmithing became a common trade and it became expected for every male to learn to carry and use a sword from the time he was young.
Felwyn also had a strong, corrupt social system. Those with the most money controlled everything. Those with the most money were considered noblity as well. When Virgil Blackpalm died his son, Daniel Blackpalm, took over ruling Felwyn. If it was possible, he was more ruthless than his father. The first Felwyn military was formed under Daniel. The military men were allowed to take as they pleased and were feared because of Daniel's uncaring to their wrong doings. Many new smaller cities were formed during his reign that grew just as corrupt as the first. The slave trade began anew here as well. Rattles were collected, bred and sold like cattle to anyone wishing a slave that could afford one. Felwyn became the center for slave trading in the mainland.
By the year 4A300, each race had its own Territory and set of laws, politics and philosophies.
4A1: With some work the good-aligned races had returned order to the world. While evil still existed in the world, it only hid in the shadows and watched as the others danced by. And in this era of peace there was a second renaissance that included a lot of things the world had been without before, politics and philosophy.
4A500: While great libraries were constructed and filled with books, generations of humans lived and died, things came to a relative stand still. Dragons had finished the territory they began before the Sacrifi and allowed Gnomes, their tinkering allies, to live on the inner circle of the territory in absolute safety.
Aside from this, the era was a time of peace and tranquility. That was, until the next big problem showed its ugly head. And while it was not a new problem, or even a minor one, it had recently gotten more out of hand. In the start it was just the occasional thing and less likely to happen than winning at cards in the pub. Were-beast of all kinds had become such a problem that it had to be addressed before too long or else the people of the land would all fall under them.
The Fifth Age
5A1: The start of this age would be marred by warfare. The majority of the races, excluding the Vampires and Demons/Ogres, had banded together to fight the new threat that had reared its ugly head. But not because they had any trust in each other or because they had any reason other than the survival of their own people. The were-beast had spread like wildfire over the peoples of the lands and now was at a breaking point.
Many brave soldiers and names emerged from these battles while others wound up dead. But, unlike the Sacrifi War, this one was not fought against unconquerable enemies. These were weakly unified and scattered forces that took no longer than fifteen years to push back to the northeast coastline.
Battle from here was fierce and some of the best De'Mira showed up to do combat for their people but in the end they had to fall to the masse of forces that had collected to stop them. And in disgrace they were exiled to the island of Meiaja. Which was then enchanted with every known spell and curse to make sure no one got off the island easily.
5A300: While peace returned, it is unsteady and ready to break. The races are all at a standstill. Life has gone back to its slow routine. And while the people of Terrastra sit and wait, new and untold things begin to stir and are set in motion. What will happen in the end of this age? Will heros emerge or will a dark overlord come as swiftly as the Sacrifi and reconquer the world again?
Questions everyone is waiting to hear the answers for, so until then, we sit and wait.
5A657: Current Date.