At the dawn of history, Attrice, embodiment of the
heavens, and Tarantin, lord of storms and weather, were at war over control of the skies. The pair's fight among
the plane led them to an uninhabited prime material plane, Terra Dyne. Tarantin hastily claimed the oceans and
seas as his domain, seeing that they covered most of the world. Attrice, in response, claimed the dry land. The
two determined to settle their differences on the surface of this world, rather than in the skies, where they seem
too equally matched. Immediately, each began to assemble armies of minions. Tarantin quickly discovered that his
creatures of water could not hold their form longer than a few moments, and reverted to his old strengths of storms
and floods.
Attrice, new to the idea of forming creatures from
clay, first created three hideous, immortal monsters as his minions. Horrified at the results and unable to control
them or destroy them himself, Attrice buried them deep beneath the earth. His next effort was better, but still
imperfect, as he shaped the cyclopes and ettins, and as his skills improved, he created the hill giants, the other
giant races, and finally, the majestic titans, his masterpiece warriors, of which he created 99. These creatures
he set loose upon the earth, where they lived a golden life interrupted only by the ravages of Tarantin's storms.
The immortal titans were the favored children of
Attrice. He gave them everything and in return they helped thier father turn the tides of the battle with Tarantin.
Claiming himself as the ultimate power on Terra Dyne, Attrice finally sat content. The titans each claimed their
own area of control, and lived in magnificent castles atop mountains, beneath the sea, under the earth and above
the clouds.
Soon the titans, discontent and bored with their
idyllic lives, tried their own hand at creation, against the advice of Attrice. Their results were the goblinoid
hordes, deformed creatures with twisted minds who immediately turned against their creators. The next attempt yielded
dwarves and elves, long-lived and beautiful races. These peoples, however, were too independent, and rather than
serve their creators, they fled into the wilderness, the elves to the forests and the dwarves to the mountains
and underground tunnels. The titans' third attempt yielded the miniature races of the gnomes and halflings, amicable
little people who were willing to serve their lords. The titans, however, found that these tiny men were too small
to attend to them properly, and too mild-mannered to afford genuine entertainment. So the titans shaped their fourth
and final version, humans. Humans were tall and strong, and aggressively battled the defective goblinoid prototypes,
pleasing the titans greatly. Attrice, watching the progress of his own children, accepted the race of humans as
his grandchildren.
Like all siblings, the titans were destined to disagree.
Small groups found they could get along, but none could tolerate all his brothers and sisters. Factions formed,
and each faction sought the attention of one group of beings they had helped create. The first eight claimed the
elves, and granted them powers for their support and worship. The next eight followed the dwarves to thier montainous
lairs, the next eight followed the gnomes to the hills. Five of them became the gods of the gnomes.
The orcs gained six gods, the goblins gained four,
the bugbears three, the kobolds one. Five more became the Faerie Court, watching over the beasts and faerie creatures.
The rest fought over the humans, which were considered to the perfect children.
While the titans fought over the control of the
populous of Terra Dyne, two great forces emerged, having been in hiding since before the time of Attrice and Tarantin.
Mystra was the goddess of Magic, ruling over the powerful flux that made Terra Dyne a strong, enchanted world.
Auldwud was the father of nature itself, existing since the time Terra Dyne was born.
Between the titans, Mystra and Auldwud, the humans
allegiances were well spread. By this time, a coterie of demon lords had discovered the new world, and were searching
for a means to claim it for their own. They created paths to Terra Dyne from thier own world, and released into
it their minions of the Abyss.
Attrice continued to cast his eyes down upon mortal
men. He was kind and protective, sheltering humans from the machinations of the demon lords and their demonoid
minions. During this time, he was known as Attrice the Ever-Vigilant, as he could hear without fail the plottings
of those who would destroy man, and could see the patterns of conspiracies as they drew together; and Attrice's
was the power to destroy these schemes and devices. At the same time, Attrice shielded the mortals and their towns
and villages from the rampaging might of nature, pushing back hurricanes and tidal waves, silencing earthquakes,
and quenching volcanoes. For generations, this was Attrice's goal and joy, to bring peace and happiness to all
men.
One dark night, however, the god of ill weather
and the demon lords plotted together in secrecy, hidden from Attrice's ears by mystical power. They planned to
make Attrice's abilities a curse to him, rather than a blessing. The demon lords brewed a mystic potion, volatile
and repugnant, and the lord of storms brought it to earth. When Attrice came forth to do battle, the storm god
opened the vial of enchanted fluid and, with his strongest wind, blew it into Attrice's face. That potion seeped
into his nose, eyes, and ears, and burned them with the fires of Hell. Attrice retreated to the skies, defeated.
There he waited as his face healed. Blind and deaf, he could not hear the cries of man as the hordes spilled down
on them from the mountains, and the waves crashed down upon them from the sea.
When Attrice's face had healed, and his sight and
hearing returned, Attrice found things changed. Though his vision was as acute and far-seeing as before, he seemed
only to see what was most ugly and hateful - and he found mortal man to be the most displeasing to behold. When
he listened for the plotting of the humanoid hordes and men's cries for help, he heard only mutterings of discontent
and sneers of rejection for himself, from those he loved most, for the time he had been away and the destruction
that had rained down upon them. The demon lords' brew had poisoned his gifts, turning them to curses.
Attrice gazed down upon men once more, trying to
protect them as he had before, but hearing little thanks and seeing no beauty in his wards. The anguish of this
rejection soon drove him mad. He began to lash out against those who spoke against him - which, in turn, caused
more men to turn their backs to him. Soon, all the mortal men of the earth, and even his own children the titans,
renounced their devotion to Attrice, and he began a rampage of devastation upon the lands.
The titans, seeing his insanity, banded together
for the first time to exile Attrice from the earth. They defeated him in supernatural combat and imprisoned him
in the heavens, among the highest of stars, chained to the firmament. As a final insult, the first of the titans
created by Attrice, leader of the rebellion, castrated him, destroying his creative power. From there, Attrice
still glares down upon the continents, hearing every curse launched at him and seeing every bit of ugliness that
man has to offer. His heart is full of hatred not only for those who exiled him to the skies, but for every individual
thing that gives him insult. In the meantime, he has taken control of his new prison, and dominates all the things
of the upper heavens, everything above the clouds. This war became known as "The Great Divide", dividing
Attrice from his creations. Common dates in the Northlands are marked from this point and denoted g.d. The worship
of Attrice fell away, many priests beliveing they were forsaken by their god, the giants turning to worship seven
of their more powerful brothers, the titans, as gods.
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