Age of DeathSix-hundred years ago the necropolis fell from the sky; debris rained down and devastated entire cities, kingdoms and nations. War between these feeble rogue states erupted, and the people suffered for it. Uncaring, alien elves, enslaved all who crossed their path, forced to work at their pleasure palaces and to serve the whims of their new masters. The dwarves hid from conflict, content to toil away in their great underground cities. Their knowledge gave birth to iron-monstrosities that whined and spewed smoke and steam, fire blazing in their eyes. Humans did as they always had; they fought and killed each other over land, resources, religion, and the right to call themselves lords or kings.
The ancient necropolis, meanwhile, sat dormant, until a band of would-be robbers entered its corrupted halls. Inside they found the Slender Crown, the rotting god from another world. As the adventurer's screams echoed through the chambers of the ancient palace of death, droves of demons, undead, and things far too horrible to name spewed forth into the world. Now, in the Age of Shadows, a cold mist dominates Ayo'tha. Entire cities wall themselves off within their borders to hide from the terrors that lurk outside once the burning light of Aith'na sinks and darkness consumes the countryside. You are a foolhardy adventurer, you seek your fortunes outside the cities walls. Searching ancient ruins, seeking out artifacts and relics of powers long forgotten. You'll either live long enough to reap the benefits of your exploits and claim power, or die alone in some dark corner of the world. Either way, this is your story. Birth of MagickRUINATION OF MAGICK AND RELIGION:
The world is a fragmented, ruined shell of what it once was, and magick is what ensures it stays that way. In ages past, before the Night of Prophecy -- when humankind and the other races of Ayotha were given a chance to meet a sliver of what it was that they had foolishly called their Gods -- the world followed the rules set out for it at its creation. Arcanery, in a very generous sense of implying it existed at all, was only a theoretical, philosophical exercise, conducted in meeting halls and lounges by societies that simply enjoyed dressing their social circles in a different kind of trapping. It did not exist; not merely as the world sees it now, in this broken age of horrors, but at all, and when it did arrive, it did so on the wings of nightmares. Magick is not some mystical recipe its practitioners follow on a day-to-day basis to casually manipulate the world around them; while it effects very real results in the world around it, these results are consequences of another reality being imposed upon ours and causing the one we live in to shatter, albeit in -- at least hopefully -- a controlled fashion. As far as scattered records can ascertain, the application of this knowledge came at the hands of the humans of Ayotha first, as most of their peers and the other races struggled not just to rebuild but to survive in the lloigor-wracked wasteland that was once a comparatively peaceful, fertile world. After the Night of Prophecy, rumors of uncovered writings which allowed real magick, real power, to be channeled through a dedicated practitioner and out into the world. These writings were collected in an utterly forbidden grimoire that came to be known as the Black Book, a tome with many speculated origins. Some say the Book is a legitimately living, sentient other, an alien and conscious entity with an unknown and sinister purpose. Others say that it exists simultaneously in other times, other places, other worlds, and exists conterminously to spread its influence in the past, present, and future all. What is incontrovertible, however, is that the following of parsed and translated rituals found in this book or copies of it has wrought unmistakable horror upon the world and those in it. While the Night of Prophecy was responsible for the destruction of cities, towns, and life, the magick found in the Black Book is responsible for the corruption of what remains and what has been built to try and effect repairs upon those shattered remnants. While there is real power to be found in the practice of these rituals, the overwhelming vast majority that even know of the existence of the Black Book are far from willing to pay the cost of not just their sanity, but that of their friends, loved ones, and fellow men. Every so-called spell cast brings the known world closer to a tremulous reality merged with that of wherever the grimoire truly came from, and even among the universally-loathed practitioners, all but the maddest can recognize that that would bode very, very poorly for our world and those living in it. Most do not know the intricacies of magick, of course, but they know enough and have heard enough of rumors to wish to stamp it out where it exists. People have been strung up and burned, tied and quartered, even tortured to death over days over the mere mention of witchcraft, and this is the case through almost all of actual civilization. There exist, of course, esoteric societies, occasional outposts, even whole races of people who feel differently, but these people are outside their own universally reviled as destroyers and corrupters of the highest order, and they are ruthlessly hunted and slain by those who catch wind of them. Only in the vast, far reaches of the untamed world is this viewpoint ever relaxed, and even then it would still be a poor idea to reveal oneself -- fear is the most powerful motivator of violence. |
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THE ENDLESS VOID & THE CREATION OF LIGHT
The endless void was incomprehensibly dark and vast and time itself had not yet existed before the light of consciousness illuminated the darkness.
The Keeper was the First; the one above all. She weaved the beginnings of fate and celestial bodies into one. Stars, planets, and the very fabric of reality itself was her doing. With each new star or planet, she gave the void a part of herself. Eventually, her form was spent and the Keeper was gone, but her presence would always be felt in the tapestry of time. The Second was Kor'nu, a brilliant mind who sought to explore the cosmos that his sister had created. He was amazed at all the things he saw, but so terribly alone. His contribution to the void was the divine syllables. These words, the sublime commands, began to further shape and mold the immense space around them. Nu was volatile and expansive. Ohm was subtle and unifying. From these words, matter was created, condensed and re-forged for an unknowable, fluid amount of time. In this age of dreams, time did not yet exist, and its constraints and laws had no bearing on the creation of worlds. New syllables of reality emerged in the complexity; new words gave form to sentences and stories. In this newly lit cosmos, physical laws began to structure and solidify. Events became predictable and somewhat linear, lending time to reality. Kor'nu, the only mind in a vast, lonely, captivating universe, began to explore the galaxies and stars. He lit stars and molded plants as his sister before him. He spoke new commands of even greater complexities and seeded life throughout the galaxy, but Kor'nu was never truly satisfied. As the eons passed, and his nexus grew, he desired a creation of his own; and others of his kind to share it with. Kor'nu called out into the void, his voice carrying into the blackness of the cosmos. It was here he found Shaldrot. Shaldrot, chaotic, blind, and stupid, was the Third. Both male and female. Kor'nu was appalled at the sight of his sibling, a sad and terrible creature, and he attempted to banish the monstrosity back to the void but it proved to be impossible. Shaldrot became consumed in a masturbatory self-impregnation cycle which birthed terrible things into the vastness of the void. Destructive and terrible gods that still linger outside of reality. Kor'nu retreated from his grotesque sibling and attempted to escape the loneliness of the void a final time. When he uttered this bizarre word of creation, Kor'nu lost his material form and was cast among the stars in a destructive display. This sundering created an unfathomable number of individual consciousnesses that spread throughout the universe and were bound to biotic forms; separate, but still connected by origin and essence. Many lifeforms look to the stars and dream of what must be waiting there, never knowing it is themselves. This divine spark brought sentience to life on an unknowable number of worlds. One such world was Ohr. |
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THE PRIME PANTHEON - THE CHILDREN OF KOR'NU
- Kythra - Mother of Gods, Bringer of Bounties. Kythra is widely worshiped across Ohr as head of the Pantheon of gods, and seems to take particular interest in promoting bountiful harvests. Kythra takes on the form of a human woman, clothed in sheer silks with white lilies in the plaits of her dark, braided hair. This is similarly reflected in her chosen symbol: a stark-white lily surrounded by a laurel crown.
- Nythura - The Pale Lady, Watcher of the Stars. Nythura is responsible for setting in motion the current lights that orbit Ohr. She is closely related to Kythra as her twin sister, and is thought to have given her the sun so that the crops would have the warmth they needed to grow. She is the patron of the Luminous and favors warriors who exhibit selflessness above all things. Her symbol is a silver orb, surrounded by a ray of white light.
- Kyrenos - Field Father, The Great Hunter. Kyrenos watched the wildlife graze in his fields and surmised that by the time Nythura turned her gaze westward, at least half of Kythra's hard work would have been undone. He took aside one of the wild stallions and blessed it; imprinting upon it his will. These beings would become the first centaurs. Kyrenos favors order and tradition, expecting his followers to hold themselves to a higher standard. His symbol is depicted as a bow and arrow, with antlers as the handles and the arrow knocked and pointing downwards.
- Gaelyn - The Swift, The Trickster, Betrayer of Man. Gaelyn imparts his good will to adventurers who pray faithfully to the gods. He strongly dislikes arrogance, and often sends egotistical adventurers to the edge of death to learn their lesson the hard way. Gaelyn assumes the form of a shorter human male, shrouded in a navy blue cloak that is trimmed with silver. His symbol is a silver compass pointing to the East.
- Wenafar - The Two-Faced Crone. Wenafar ushers lost souls to their rightful places and claims the lives of those who are suffering. She has been seen in two forms: that of a beautiful, pale-skinned woman, or a wrinkled hag with bandages over her eyes. Her symbol is a weeping willow tree whose roots stretch down and around to form a circle around the emblem.
- Uthra - Flame drinker, Mother of Swords. Uthra is the stoic goddess of war and strategy. In one hand she wields a golden chalice that constantly spills molten lava, and in the other she brandishes a simple long sword with an ornate hilt. Her eyes are pits that hold flames burning as brightly as the dawn soul. Her symbol is a golden chalice bearing the "ever-lasting flame" respectively.
- Balaam - The Prismatic King, The Mauve Augur. Balaam manifests as a whirling zephyr, weaving the residual energies leftover from Kor'nu in an attempt to bandage the World Wound, left over from Kor'nu's death. He is worshiped in the highest halls as a deity of self-preservation and knowledge. His symbol is a purple nine-pointed star.
- Aio'in - The First & The Last, The Watcher. Aio'in takes the form of a massive silver wolf and is thought to be the progenitor of night stalkers. Little is known of his motives, but he does keep a silent vigil over the lands of the Forbidden East. His symbol is a fang, with the point facing down.
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SHALDROT THE IDIOT GODShaldrot was the blind, idiot god of the cosmos. The third god from the void who spewed forth terrible creatures as it became consumed in a masturbatory self-impregnation cycle which birthed these terrible things into the waking world. Destructive and terrible creatures. Prior to the birthing of the five chaos gods, Shaldrot had at least three offspring. For unknown reasons, Shaldrot banished the first generation of gods.
Shaldrot's children eventually grew jealous of the continuously birthed gods and conspired to kill their father/mother. They murdered Shaldrot and they each consumed a piece of their parent to engorge themselves with true divine power. They became lazy and allowed the husk of Shaldrot's body to vanish into the void. The husk of Shaldrot gives form to Azathoth who continues the cycle of birthing horrible things into the world. 'The Elder Spawn'.
THE FIVE CHILDREN OF SHALDROT
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PREHISTORY & MYTH: THE SEVEN CHAMPIONS | THE FORBIDDEN LANDS
The Grey Times were times of myth, legend and obscurity. No being who now lives on the face of Ohr now remembers them, and the Gods themselves hold their tongues when mortals beg them for knowledge of these times. One thing is known: millennia of suffering, exclusion, and hunger in the East drove the mortal races to embark on a legendary exodus that is now the first tangible point in our histories. Led westward by seven champions, all peoples found comfort and stability in the lands of Ohrros. Many scholars and explorers have since tried to return to the East despite the warnings of the Gods. None of them have returned to tell stories of that profane place. Perhaps it was destroyed entirely and no longer exists, leaving only a maelstrom of chaos that gobbles up foolhardy explorers. Whatever the case may be, the birthplace of all life on our noble planet is now forbidden to that life, and perhaps it is best that way.
TERMINOLOGY & LORE GUIDE:
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ANDMINAS, THE FOUNDRY OF MAN
The history of Ohr is given shape by one monumental catalyst: the founding of Andminas. 1,743 years ago in the month of Fire, Menos and the people of the Four Kings burned the Adamantine Mountain, shaping and forging it into the city of Andminas. Oral traditions passed down from that time say that the feat was accomplished in thirty days and thirty nights, though the measure could be subjective. It is this time that historians generally claim that Menos and the other Champions ascended to godhood after being bathed in the energies of the Worldheart, giving them the power that was to shape their respective civilizations. Menos ruled as God-King of Andminas for 300 years before a violent coup by his most trusted advisers and generals ended his life and his divine powers were lost to the world forever.
The first dynasty of priest-king primarchs to follow Menos were the Hwn, who trace their lineage to King Sin-Nasir. They were efficient, strong primarchs who created great public works and mobilized the peoples of the Four Kings toward military advancement. For 700 years the people worked the great forge at the heart of Andminas, making advancements in all arts and sciences while creating new ones. The first university on Ohrros was also formed at this time, standardizing the Rational Sciences that are used by all thinking beings today. During the Time of Madness (360-371 AF) when all other societies became destabilized by hate and strife, and the deadly eldritch horrors known as the 'Elder Spawn' attacked, pouring in from the World Wound, the primarchs mobilized their people into a fearsome war machine, expanding their territory across the whole of the western world.
The Hwnish Primarchs grew complacent and decadent as the years marched on, and the prosperity of the Four Kings people diminished. When Andminas was at its weakest, the Mists began to creep across Ohrros. All other peoples rose to the challenge, but the indolent Primarch Thoth-Nasir IV refused to step out of the Adamantine Palace to address his people. Within ten days, the people had revolted and Thoth-Nasir was hurled into the depths of the great forge. The Silver Oron dynasty would prove the most able successor in the Hebsed ritual, and Oron I first sat upon the High Throne on Memory 26, AF 1044. The Oron dynasty honored Menos and the Gods, lighting the fires in the ritual chamber deep beneath the Worldheart for the first time in 400 years. They also marched out and pushed back the Elder Spawn who had poured forth from the World Wound, breathing pride and purpose back into the people of the Four Kings.
The last 500 years have been marked by prosperity and expansion as the Andminas Empire continues to spread across the western plains, harvesting the mineral wealth of the land and forging it into a great sovereign nation. The peoples of Andminas have given birth to industry in that time, creating the first steam and combustion engines in AF 1178, as well as harnessing the unifying properties of the Aether in AF 1338. The Four Peoples of Menos, like their champion, are among the most resilient and powerful beings on Ohr.
The first dynasty of priest-king primarchs to follow Menos were the Hwn, who trace their lineage to King Sin-Nasir. They were efficient, strong primarchs who created great public works and mobilized the peoples of the Four Kings toward military advancement. For 700 years the people worked the great forge at the heart of Andminas, making advancements in all arts and sciences while creating new ones. The first university on Ohrros was also formed at this time, standardizing the Rational Sciences that are used by all thinking beings today. During the Time of Madness (360-371 AF) when all other societies became destabilized by hate and strife, and the deadly eldritch horrors known as the 'Elder Spawn' attacked, pouring in from the World Wound, the primarchs mobilized their people into a fearsome war machine, expanding their territory across the whole of the western world.
The Hwnish Primarchs grew complacent and decadent as the years marched on, and the prosperity of the Four Kings people diminished. When Andminas was at its weakest, the Mists began to creep across Ohrros. All other peoples rose to the challenge, but the indolent Primarch Thoth-Nasir IV refused to step out of the Adamantine Palace to address his people. Within ten days, the people had revolted and Thoth-Nasir was hurled into the depths of the great forge. The Silver Oron dynasty would prove the most able successor in the Hebsed ritual, and Oron I first sat upon the High Throne on Memory 26, AF 1044. The Oron dynasty honored Menos and the Gods, lighting the fires in the ritual chamber deep beneath the Worldheart for the first time in 400 years. They also marched out and pushed back the Elder Spawn who had poured forth from the World Wound, breathing pride and purpose back into the people of the Four Kings.
The last 500 years have been marked by prosperity and expansion as the Andminas Empire continues to spread across the western plains, harvesting the mineral wealth of the land and forging it into a great sovereign nation. The peoples of Andminas have given birth to industry in that time, creating the first steam and combustion engines in AF 1178, as well as harnessing the unifying properties of the Aether in AF 1338. The Four Peoples of Menos, like their champion, are among the most resilient and powerful beings on Ohr.
THE MARCH OF THE ASSAI
Following the Exodus, the Assai people wandered in the deserts of the Forgotten Lands for five years. While praying in a cave to escape from the heat, Alma, a tribe's wise woman captured the attention of the Goddess Uthra. In exchange for a covenant between Uthra and the Assai people, Uthra agreed to guide them to a pristine, empty land. From that moment onward, the Assai have been a military force destined for greatness and expansion, rivaled only by Andminas. Cutting their way through the heart of Lorerth and destroying ancient Aurum in the process, they eventually moved south until they hit the borders of what would eventually become the Mercenary Republic of Thanasi. After numerous bloody wars the Assai eventually settled into their new home and established the city of Anhki in AF 49. The earliest writings of clerics in the Temple of Uthra claim that the Goddess grew Anhki from the earth in seven days, giving the displaced Assai a home. Alma was crowned Assai Alma I on Light 1 of AF 50. The Assai Empire was the most strongly affected by the Time of Madness, most notably when Empress Assai Lavi II ordered her guard to attack anti-war demonstrators in the courtyard of her palace. Assai Lavi II was also the prime conspirator during the Night of Blood, whereby she and her court magus Eru Sitis Renon opened the city gates and allowed the Elder Spawn to slaughter her own people, casting blame on the Dwarves of the Stone Confederacy.
The events of the Night of Blood eventually lead to the First Great War (AF 356-363). During GW I, millions of sentient beings lost their lives to brutal weapons and magics. Thirty-seven years later, the Assai launched a brutal campaign of attrition against the Harkon of Aurum, culminating in the destruction of Aurum in AF 414. It is still a point of much discussion among scholars exactly how the relatively backwards Assai Empire managed to harness magics sufficient to summon an arcane singularity in the manner that they did. The Assai were the first to note the Mist as it creeped across Ohrros, and the scholar Esos Bakri is noted for the discovery that the Mist both spawned monsters and enraged the minds of mortals. It was the Assai fleet that protected the Council of Three as they cast the Maelstrom ward at Black Waters. Though Assai has been active since, her people and Goddess still crave battle and a chance to prove themselves worthy after the horrors of the Exodus.
The events of the Night of Blood eventually lead to the First Great War (AF 356-363). During GW I, millions of sentient beings lost their lives to brutal weapons and magics. Thirty-seven years later, the Assai launched a brutal campaign of attrition against the Harkon of Aurum, culminating in the destruction of Aurum in AF 414. It is still a point of much discussion among scholars exactly how the relatively backwards Assai Empire managed to harness magics sufficient to summon an arcane singularity in the manner that they did. The Assai were the first to note the Mist as it creeped across Ohrros, and the scholar Esos Bakri is noted for the discovery that the Mist both spawned monsters and enraged the minds of mortals. It was the Assai fleet that protected the Council of Three as they cast the Maelstrom ward at Black Waters. Though Assai has been active since, her people and Goddess still crave battle and a chance to prove themselves worthy after the horrors of the Exodus.
STONE CONFEDERACY & MAD KING THOLDUN
Scholars still hypothesize that the early rulers must've had some great power at their disposal, as a massive Andminas armada was crushed by violent waves as they approached Nulbizar from the Black Waters of the Dream. The combined forces of Valtyr's armies and the traitorous dwarven princes attempted to strike at the heart of the Stone Confederacy, but met a sleeping Tholdun and an army of well-equipped elves lead by Silanest at the crag between the Twin Dragon Fang mountains. The divine Silanest held Valtyr's forces at bay for two hours before Tholdun awoke and using his hammer World-Shaper fractured the ground beneath Valtyr's feet and destroyed him utterly. It was on that day that Tholdun and Silanest made a treaty such that their peoples should never take up arms against each other. Utilizing their divine powers, they carved the mountain faces into the Tholdun's Gate monument, featuring both of their likenesses and scripts of the treatise in every known language. Several centuries have passed since that time, the Long Dread would eventually steal away Tholdun's mind and he would betray his closest allies, leaving the elves in a state of complete chaos. Tholdun now claims dominion over the northern portion of the Stone Confederacy, the Tewa, Freemarch, and Greywater dwarves have since migrated all throughout the confederacy and beyond. The Empire Dwaves are the remnants of the armies and military power of the traitor princes, their holdings are in part an extension of Andminas. Empire dwarves are called 'mutts' or 'hounds' by most humans for their "subdued" nature, as they are "domesticated" dwarves. IST AND THE CHILDREN OF SILANEST Elven Mage
Forty-four years after Menos burned the Adamantine Mountain, the Champion Silanest guided what few Elves remained after the carnage of the Exodus. Landing first at the base of Mt. Koli in eastern Ohrros, the Elves were driven from the mountain immediately by Shana and the soon-to-be-Empress Assai Alma I. Silanest turned the Elves back to their ships and set out on a perilous journey further into the undiscovered West. After months of sailing and enduring the bizarre Eldritch Spawn of the water, the Elves landed upon a flat expanse of white sand on the southern edge of the Walking Wilds. The city of Istani was built in a fortnight by Silanest and the First Council of Three. It remains as it was then, preserved by the Lost Mythil and the will of powerful Exodial mages. When Silanest left the Walking Wilds, the Council of Three were tasked with the perpetual establishment of Mage-Kings to govern the Istani people. Each preserved his regime in extensive, unimaginably elaborate tombs containing all the spells, goods, and tools he would require to lead the people of Istani. Many of these first Mage-Kings have been lost to history, but one such ruler, Ist Kangi I (AF ~344-704) transformed a fledgling kingdom into a force to be reckoned with, maintaining Ist in the First Great War. Afterward, Ist Kangi I mobilized the elves to reach out into the jungle and become a powerful nation. It is said the elves found wonders and horrors unnameable in the heart of the Walking Wilds, and that wealth and despair shaped the kingdom was to come. Elven magic quickly became one of the most distinguishing attributes of the elves across all of Ohr, some believing the Elves had discovered the remains of some civilization lost to time and harvested their ancient magics. During the Time of Madness, the Elven people were able to withstand the mists with the Maelstrom Ward in AF 1345.
MODESTUS AND THE HARKON OF AURUM Harkon Warrior
It is that Modestus was the first of the Champions to unify the unorganized hordes of his people and drew them into order and unity. Even so, the Harkon wandered for eighty years longer than any other cilivzation in search of a home, finally finding that home on the tropical shores of Aurum. The City of Ellivia was founded in AF 134 between a rocky coastline and a dense, humid jungle. Having known years of adversity already, the Harkon settled immediately into their surroundings and wrested a city from the shores in twelve days. Modestus' powers were such that the Harkon did not know disease or hunger, and he remained among his people even as the other divine champions left to slumber. Fiercely isolationist, the people of Aurum would stay safe on their peninsula for 280 years, seeking knowledge and creating a vibrant literary culture. Some ruins from this time can still be seen on the coasts of Aurum by sailors to this day; curving towers and fortresses reaching toward the sky. They are covered with elaborate writings, evoking a society rich in stories and mathematics. Before the Harkon's greatest historians could collect their history, the Assai lusted for Aurum in their hearts, and eventually destroyed it with their greedy magics. In the millennia that has passed since that time, the Harkon have spread across Ohrros in a massive diaspora, seeking refuge and stability wherever it may be found. They hold lofty positions in some human courts, and toll as anglers on fishing boats off the Riva Della Morte. Though it is said that a rich oral tradition still exists among them, it is a burden of a historian greater than any other to put it on paper so that the world may know the forgotten history of the people of lost Aurum.
ONAK AND THE ORKON TRIBES
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