|
|
|
|
¥
Map room |
It is said that the Old
Ones were the supreme masters of the elements at the height of their powers.
Their influence over the world was absolute. At some point in history they harnessed
the power of the elements into eight jewels. With these devices the Old Ones
were able to move the planet closer to the sun, altering its orbit to make
the climate warmer and more habitable. They used the jewels to split apart
the single mega-continent. The great plates underneath the earth were shifted
and a civilization was built the likes of which would never be surpassed in
splendor on this world. Oceans and mountains were moved and reshaped, and the
natural energies of fire, wind and water were refined to power their
industrious society. The designs of the Old Ones, however, were not flawless and in
the end it was their desire to control the elemental powers that led to
disaster. Through the treachery of one of their own, one of the Jewels of the
earth element was stolen and corrupted. The resulting unbalance in the
elements caused an earthquake of gigantic proportions in the northern pole of
the world. History knows this event as the fall of the northern gate where
one of their interstellar gates, used by the Old Ones to transverse the
Galaxy, crashed to earth and tore a hole into the fabric of reality,
unleashing Chaos upon the world. In their darkest hour, the Old Ones decided
to abandon the world to Chaos, disappearing into space and leaving behind
their creations to fend for themselves. Some of the world’s oldest recorded
history starts from here, when in fact a great war raged for many centuries
earlier as the creator Old Ones struggled against Chaos for control of the
inter-dimensional gateways in the skies above the world. The energies
unleashed during this time wracked the lands but slowly the Old Ones began to
gain the upper hand in the titanic struggle. During this time, The Old Ones devised numerous strategies
through which they hoped to close the gateways that were doorways through
which Chaos could enter the world. Their final plan was the construction of another ‘gate’
through which the Old Ones believed they could gain ultimate control
over the elements and use it to win the war. This unorthodox gate was a
wonder of science and arcane technology. It sat upon a pedestal as a
circular-shaped slab of stone, its surface imbued with powerful runes of the
elements and eight slots imbedded around the inner circle of the slab where
the jewels were supposed to be placed. It is speculated that the Old Ones, divine as they were, were
dangerously vulnerable and susceptible to the attentions of daemons. In an
act of betrayal that would have tragic consequences, the Old One Sha’ Dwen was lured by Chaos
and stole the jewels of earth, the most powerful of the stones. The Old One, who
would later come to be known as Eablis, fled to the
The collapse of the warp gates marked the end for the Old
Ones. Some believe that they were instantly destroyed by the influx of
chaotic energy. Others believe that they realized that the world was doomed
and so abandoned it to its fate. Whatever the case, the fabled gate of the
elements was buried in a secret location and jewels were scattered throughout
the world to prevent them falling into the clutches of Chaos. Without the power of the elements, the favoured
servants of the Old Ones, the Slaan, were forced to
re-awaken the shattered series of
wards that were spread cross the globe in areas of power, usually where the
lines of energy that criss-crossed the world. In
the end, however, doom was averted by the selfless actions of the Elves of Ulthuan. Under siege from the daemons overrunning their
island, the Elves created a powerful vortex of energy that siphoned most of
the magical winds back to the poles. The magic surging across the landscape
was suddenly halted and pulled back, and the daemons were banished into
stronger collections of chaos energy in the extreme north and south. Many wars have since been
waged by Chaos, but none on the same scale as the first incursion. Except to
the most ancient of the Slaan, all knowledge of the
gate and the Jewels was lost in time. The elemental gate, the weapon created
by the Old Ones to be the bane of Chaos, was forgotten. That was until the
coming of the Dwarfs. In the year The Awakening -
Narrative background (by SlythRa) |
