Torme's began wonderfully but
was soon to become Hell!Far to the east, in the Toorleca
mountains, was a cluster of buildings inhabited by a small group of sorcerors.
From the old land came the not only the good but the evil as well. The
founders of this clan started this village using the boats they originally
built to scout this river years ago. They started raising what crops they
could in the mountains and taming some of the local wildlife to use as food
and mounts. They were even so bold as to return to their city and steal
wagons and provisions! But mainly, they studied their black magick. Magick
thought to have been left behind in the migration. Demon worship!Over the years, they began returning
to civilization, becoming part of the expanding populace. And culled from
the ranks of noble and peasant, new initiates. Even from the royal house
itself! Thorsus, son of Saereth, was taken because of
his innate abilities at magick. Soon he became leader of the cult. (Blood
will tell!)Thorsus became the recepticle
for all knowledge of the black arts and was most powerful. Almost powerful
enough to do that which he most yearned; the summoning of a Demon Lord!
Only one thing was needed for this. He returned to the manor house of the
king. Secretly he entered and, undetected, crept to his mother's room. Over
her he cast a spell of deep sleep then another to transport both of them back
to his laboratory. With much ceremony, Thorsus summoned
Ashric, Lord of the Demons of Upper Stygia. Ashric
was commanded to Thorsus' will by the offering of a female of his
line. Thorsus was given mighty powers, and Ashric was given
Saereth for his eternal, demonic pleasure.To the west Thorsus sent his
demons tp lay waste to the kingdom and secure power over the people. And so
began the Age of Darkness. Destruction began of a great scale
as the outlying farms and villages were destroyed. With sorcerors and clerics
scattered about, there was little defense. The tides of darkness swept slowly
towards the coast!Some hoped the few priests could
combat the evil but they knew they could not. So the clerics turned to their
deities. To the priests were given instructions. Devise a holy blade to be
invested by the gods, then find one whose virtue would allow him to wield it.
For the sword, the priests turned to the dwarves for they were the
greatest smiths known. Kordan Flamebeard, the king of the
Ironkeep Dwarves himself fashioned the blade for the priests and upon
the holy altar it was laid to wait. Then the clerics went out upon the land
to search for the Master of the Sword.In this time, the evil spread. Demons,
some not released for millenia, mated with man, animal, elf, and dwarf,
creating, in turn, beings of mutated shape and demonic abilities. These were
the beginnings of the dark humanoids. During the 225th year, the demons
entered Tunal'ake and laid waste to it! Torme was caught inside
the manor house and killed. The city was in anarchy and Ashric sat
upon the throne! Then a man entered the city. Seemingly in a trance, he
entered the temple, a building the demons couldn't destroy, and grasped the
hilt of the sword. It flamed into life and the inscriptions:
Morgaine flared upon the blade. The sword of a Paladin!
The man walked into the manor home,
scattering demons upon his path with the sword. Into the palace and on to
the throne room itself where the Demon Lord and his master awaited. At
Thorsus' command, demon leapt upon warrior. A titanic struggle between
human and supernatural, both of an equal power. The battle raged for hours
till Thorsus could no longer control the demon, then the swordmaster
struck. With Morgaine through his heart, Ashric exploded,
leveling the manor house ina brilliant fireball destroying not only himself
but Thorsus and the swordmaster too! The priests say no power on
earth could destroy the sowrd Morgaine, so its fate is unknown.
With the assumption of the throne by
Rhyce I, much was to be done. This was the worst that had
happened since the migration. Most of the kingdom lay in ruin and some
120,000 had been killed. Rhyce's burden was increased by his age and
his reign lasted but 4 years.
Andric II came to rule
with even more problems than were left for him! Upon his coronation, word
was sent that the Djaneer Forest was being overrun by the
Dak Alfar or Dark Elves. Beings of demonic origin.
With most of his kingdom still ravaged, Andric sent out in search of
people to aide him and, in his quest, found allies of unlikely origin. Those
people of Kian'ligar, now known as Ki'La. These people,
part elven and part human, were developing abilities thought perished in the
migration. Druidic powers of nature. With a force of but 100 men,
women, and children, they routed the humanoids from the forest, sending them
deep into the Salys'yar mountains and towards the Toorleca range.
In the 242nd year, Andric II
was killed ina capsizing, leaving the kingdom, once again, in the hands of a
woman; Andric's sister Felima.
Over the next 40 years, Felima
spent her waking hours in the rebuilding of the kingdom. She also saw to
the organizing of outposts at the borders and methods of communication for
better early warning. Though she reigned for almost 40 years, she could
accomplish only so much. She then passed rule to her son Mirth.
Mirth who, unfortunately, contracted a virulent disease and passed away
after only 4 years.
Corwin, Mirth's
brother, came to rule and began his reign by moving the capitol to the
Isle of Ninevar, which was more defensible; and totally rebuilding
the city of Tunal'ake calling it Tunaki.
Around this time, the governing council
of Atlar's Keep came to the king and asked that the city become a true
member of the kingdom. (Up to now it had been somewhere in limbo).
Atlar's Keep, now Atlaria, became a kingdom city. With
the king's help and the dwarves' consent, Atlari became a minor trade
city, the middleman between dwarves and kingdom. It also became the center
for kingdom coinage, housing the Royal Weights and Minters.
During Corwin's reign, the mages
of the land met in moot for the first time. At this singular encounter, the
basic rules and regulations for the present Wizard's Council
were formulated. New ideas were brought into the open; new research was
shared and this was all culminated by the founding of the College of
Arcane Arts. The location of the college is, to this day, known only
to members.
Jorik I took his place
among the monarchs with little note and left in quite the same way, opening
the path for Marek II. Marek's reign spawned but 2
significant events: first, he ceded all the Djaneer Forest to the
Druidic Assemblage of Ki'la. This group moved deep into the
forest. All events occuring there are the sole province of the
Assemblage.
The second occurred near the end of his
reign when he oversaw the formation of a smaller kingdom. The Anice
Kingdom on the east coast of the Bay of Ga'lon, named
for the kinglet.
The reign of Aytoun also
saw the formation of a kingdom. The Palaer March, just north
if the Anice. These two immediately began hostilities but neither
would seek help from the Auromic because they wished to maintain their
sovereignity.
Phaeron was the next in
line to be monarch, but his desires were more of the palate than the palace,
so the council had the main task of running the kingdom. The kingdom of the
Southern March was formed by their consent. This kingdm was
actually an annexation of the Auromic and made up mostly of retired
military. Being too far from the mother land, they were allowed self-rule.
The Southern March immediately began the formation of a College of
Martial Arts, supplying ,both the Auromic and the two feuding
kingdoms to their north. The March became known for their prized
mercenaries and soon were quite rich. (This college in modern times is known
as Sov-Ran Academy.)
Ceresus took the crown
in 410c.y. and immediately proclaimed himself "Overking". The name
didn't stick and neither did he.
Pindarus ruled for 19
years but died in a jousting tournement.
Corwin II was slated for
55 years of reign and the first 32 were quite smooth. Unfortunately the last
23 were pure hell!
Pellin, an aged discipine of Thorsus, felt he could
succeed where his master had failed. In the reading of Pellin, he
came across a book called the Tome of Eldritch Summoning which
magnified his powers. To himself he gathered the most powerful of the black
mages and formed the Council of Shadows.
Pellin soon gained control over
a large group of humanoids and began to amass them into great fighting tribes
and sent them to harrass the outlying kingdom lands. He also began to
infiltrate the smaller kingdoms of Anice and Palaer and lay
subtle rumors in the earsof the kinglets causing greater conflict between the
two.
Around this time, Corwin II took
an arrow from a battle with some humanoids and was left
totally paralyzed.
He urged the council towards a new regent and they, in turn, crowned
Meros.
Meros spent much of his time pursueing the dark beings with great
relish and invested much in the Southern March for more assisstance.
But Meros' home was not as safe
as his lands. A female of the Council of Shadows, one who's ultimate
grandmother was Felicia, granduaghter of Andric I, with a force
of wizards, invaded Ninevar and usurped the throne.
Cnossia the sorceress. Now with a member of the council upon
the throne, Pellin began mobilizing his forces of dark creatures.
Ultimately, he summoned
Baelith the devil, to overtake the realm of Anice and
Palaer. Anice fell to Palaer and, with his deed done,
Baelith took over Pellin. The devil then summoned a company of
demons and sent them to create a palace in the mountains he called
Toorloc. In their works, the demons uncovered the sword Morgaine.
Baelith then held the only weapon capable of destroying him!
The Auromic was held in thrall
from within and without, and the Wizard's Council was held in battle
with the Council of Shadows. With this, the clerics were forced again
to call upon their deities for help. A lone priest-warrior,
Sir Elric, spent the next 3 years in prayer and meditation.
Then the gods sent forth a weapon of
awesome power and Elric took up the sword Eylarin to the
devil's palace and slew him in his safest place. After a time, Baelith's
demons were bound by the Wizard's Council and placed in secret prisons
out of reach of ordinary men.
With these troubles behind them, the
populace pulled Cnossia from the throne, and with the mages' help,
bound her powers and sent her forth into exile.
For the next 450 years, the kingdoms
rebuilt their culture and homes. The recently overthrown Anice becomes
part of the new Planaer March with its capitol in Port
Kar.
All in all, a period of time unnoteworthy
(especially at the present price of parchment.)
Recent history begins about 1011 c.y.
with the crowning of Reynard I. His reign started on an ill
note with couriers bringing news of the invasion of Leshon-Kolveer,
the elven capitol, by Dark Elves and Black Dwarves. This lasted
for some time till the unexpected arrival of Galan, the High Druid,
who brought with him legions of forest folk and creatures. Most of the entire
Djaneer fauna to be exact. And, within a handspan of months, cleared
the forest.
Then, in near rapid succession,
Hycara, Brion, and Harn had their attempts at
ruling, until Soveth came. By this time, Dolorna had
become a great city and asked to become free. Soveth, in a moment of
graciousness, (one of only a few), granted it. Too bad he didn't realize
the amount of wealth to be gained there or he would have let the moment pass
(as he did most), unused. Soon, Dolorna would become the center for
most trade in the known world.
Miclos succeeded
Soveth and for the next 36 years, the kingdom experienced an age of
enlightenment never seen before, for Miclos was a scholar of great
magnitude. New colleges were founded and several new orders of learning were
seen then. Theoreticians and reasearchers were given grants in which to
further their ideas.
Sadly, Miclos passed away and,
in the year 1143, his brother Reynard II sat upon the throne.
Then Reynard's son Andros in 1183. It was during his
reign that the land saw another great fall.
In the year 1187, the Council of
Wizard's felt the opening of a great rift between the worlds. They were
at a loss to explain this magickal cataclysm but soon they would understand
it's implications only too well.
From the unexplored northern regions
blew a black, cold wind and, following it came a creature seemingly from the
netherhells themselves. Darthin, highpriest for a deity known
as Kel. A new deity from the icy depths with bear her name.
But his was not a quest for power; his was a holy (or unholy) crusade. The
founding of a new religion, one which would span the continent.
Many turned to him. Those of evil and
wicked personage, but most turned from him and these he laid low.
The cities showing the most promise of
good: Atlaria and Tunaki, he attacked a decimated. Then west
to the port city of Kar. A city most wicked, yet even they turned
from him, bringing about their own destruction. Only one stood against him.
Only one had the power. Alkabar the Ancient.
The first battle took place in
Atlaria; caught offguard and unprepared, Alkabar lost for
Darthin was cunning as well as powerful.
With his powe, Darthin set
demons to harass Alkabar both day and night, allowing him little time
to rest and study. The from the south came the druids and, with them, the
creatures of the forest. But Darthin's mistress, Kel, gave him
powers over the legions of undead and upon the Plain of Salandra
they did battle.
The mage Alkabar, through his
spellcraft, built a ward to protect him, and Darthin went north.
North to the eastern shores of the Starfarer's Deep, the great
lake. Here he began to build his temple. To all parts of the world he sent
his undead and to him they brought the last vestiges of man: bones. From
these he fashioned a great temple in the form of a giant dragon's head,
Darthin's totem.
Soon, Darthin felt the touch of
Alkabar's mind calling him to battle. To the mountains of
Toorloc he travelled to meet his foe. Long did the two wage war using
all the magicks at their command. Great energies were spent and released and,
in a final cataclysmic explosion did the two disappear. Presumably destroyed,
along with a large section of the mountain range. So great the explosion
that it was seen miles away in Dolorna.
With the passing of Kel's
highpriest, some of her followers soon returned to the Path of Light
but most remained. Possessed by thoughts of great powers. Soon it became a
decree that the worship of Kel was a crime punishable by death, so the
followers became secretive. Even so, many of the cultists were discovered.
With Darthin presumed dead, a
new leader of the cult moved forward. One of the highpriests' most powerful
and loyal. Strichorn. He of the undead who believes that
someday Darthin will return. And, in truth, sightings of both
Darthin and Alkabar are numerous; but, who can know the truth?
