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The second sentient being to ever have existed, father of the metallic dragons. | ||
With the Zariger routed, the world of man was left with a number of mighty heroes who quickly spread the word of their patrons. These heroes brought many followers into the light, slavery was replaced with industry, suffering was replaced with comfort. Ore was still mined, land was still farmed, but for the benefit to those that chose do so.
The blessed heroes became kings, queens or similar, but the divine dragons realised they could play too big a part if they were not careful, so the metallic deities formed the 'intervention laws', a series of rules that they all agreed to uphold and indeed enforce. Of course the chromatic deities didn?t agree at all, they wanted to rule once more, but they had weekend, their followers had greatly decreased, and all bar Katrinix reluctantly agreed.
With the humans now the dominant species, the elves hidden away, and the dwarves fighting extinction Mathandria's new race had the chance to spawn freely on an isolated island, these halflings knew nothing of events passed and were bound to the earth with a much greater respect for the forces that shaped the world.
Trade between halflings and humans grew, halflings slowly spread, in minute numbers, across the world. During the same time small numbers of elves returned to the lands they once roamed, and the world entered a glorious time of peace and prosperity.
For around a hundred years the world existed in harmony, the was no war, no contact with any enemy species, all three of the primary races that the deities constructed flourished, even the dwarves had begun to show a rise in numbers, but still isolated from the others.
That peace was not to last, a series of creatures began to encroach on the peaceful lands, on the homeland of the halflings orcs crept out from the underdark, initially they raided and plundered the halfling resources, but soon the seized land once home to halflings. The halflings had known nothing of war, the elves offered aid but the orc numbers seamed without end.
In the more isolated island areas various species took hold, some of the human or elf populations were massacred, some were just forced out, safe in their knowledge of other areas to spend their lives without war. From the darkest places of the world sprang a series of creatures never before seen, these were the result of Vorseth's tinkering, but the human forces prevailed, keeping these new threats underground.
All threats were not foreign, some of the factions of humans fell to the control of evil men, warlords took charge in areas less connected than others, these warlords would keep outsiders at their borders for trade, or cut trade off altogether. It was not long before these warlords amassed enough might to seek the lands of others, although these conflicts were small they heralded a change, peace was over.
With the world once again suffering unrest, armies were gathered, militias formed, defences built and fortified. The world would not be swept into all-out war easily. During these preparations, the faithful same to the front, with the power to harness the various forces of the world they became leaders of armies and peasant alike, they had found a direct link to their deities through devotion of body and mind.
These faithful were known by various names throughout the lands, clerics, druids, mystics, shamans to name a few, but everyone knew they were of divine providence, able to wield power unknown to normal man. But they were not alone, the enemies of peace also wielded these mighty warriors, able to pull the same energy just from a darker place. The chromatic deities had also learned how to channel their power to their followers.
In the constant conflict around the otherwise peaceful nations elemental energies were being used more and more, this gave rise to a new power, the Arcane. A completely random and unconnected selection of all sentient life began to develop these arcane powers, without the need for a faithful connection to the divine. These sorcerers, or warlocks, held the power to harness the elemental forces at a whim, but without practise they were wild and dangerous.
In the civilised world the emergence of these individuals was immediately noticed and controlled, a combination of safe areas to practise and the gathering of those with more natural ability, quickly led to the setting up of various magical orders. Whereas the other areas, these individuals often took control, or were self-destructive, either way they became feared for their power. And in the worst scenarios, these individuals were hunted and murdered, often in horrible and torturous fashion.
Over a few hundred years the acceptance of gifted people had become normal, wizards had become sought after for their enchantments, clerics for their healing abilities and each user of magic found a place. By this time the various kings, lords, warlords were often accompanied by the most powerful of these casters, for both protection and a status symbol.
The world of Terrainia finally settles into its established order, the various islands and continents, above and below move into the world close to what we know it now. War is less continual, an occasional warlord, usurper or rouge orc might gather a force and try to make a name for themselves, but nothing causes major change to the nations that have grown and evolved.
Trade routes see the oceans awash with vessels, merchants and military alike. The vast majority of human kind leaves its barbarian like past behind, the elves mostly stay in their homeland, those that settle elsewhere accept a mortal life, the dwarves numbers see them escape extinction, and the world hadn't seen a duregir for millennia.
This is a relatively long period of stability, but it wasn?t going to last forever, the King of Talax knew of one last area of barbarians, and he vowed to bring culture to those still stuck in the past. He set upon a huge expedition, a force capable of conquering a small nation, but he wanted peace and landed with good intentions.
The vast majority of natives quickly realised the benefits of this new way of life, the kings army pulled the barbarians out of poverty and disease and they loved him for it. That was except for the existing chieftains who were often put to death, but one in particular gathered all those that fled the invading army into one large settlement, and vowed to keep them safe.
This last chief met the kings army as they approached, but quickly realised he was no match, but defiant in his ideals he sacrificed himself to bring the attention of the dark gods. Nothing immediately happened and the king thought it was superstitious nonsense, and his magical advisors felt nothing untoward. The king had free the people and brought them out of darkness, over the next sixteen years he built castles, raised armies, and there was no sign of the old ways, the people had fully joi
What the king didn't know was that the chieftain had set in motion a chain of events that would shake the world. While the chief may have sacrificed himself, his son had witnessed the horror and prayed to the dark gods for revenge, and they answered.
This moment of pure rage and the huge numbers of Nazitsor followers close by actually gave the deity the energy to connect to the mortal realm without drawing the attention of the other gods. With this connection he bestowed his power in a fashion similar to how the metallic deities had done so to bring an end to the Zariger tyranny, but he didn?t stop there, this new power was shared with others and they formulated a plan, to bring the world to its knees in hope for a return to power.
It took sixteen years for the chieftains child to come of age, and with it sufficient in power. in conjunction with the other 'avatars' of the dark gods, he attacked Talax, while they attacked other areas of the world.
Trozok had empowered an orc, and directed him to attack the halfling lands, while Vorseth chose a lycan to destroy the humans of Alantor above. Abixlion had grown bored of his duregir and found a human willing to pledge allegiance and through him he assaulted the half human half elven land of Ultwe.
Katrinix however had other ideas, she wanted the entire world for herself, for she knew that only with the collective power of her siblings would she be able to return to the mortal world. This isn?t to say she didn?t keep up the pretence of assisting the downfall of the world, but she had been planning since ascension, and over many millennia her drow had spread throughout the underdark and was poised to attack on masse.
When the attack came Talax and its king were overwhelmed, the greatest city of the kings new land was destroyed. Meanwhile the lands of Alantor and the halflings were also devastated by all-out war. The land of Ultwe was subtly turned without conflict, but those unwilling to serve new masters were massacred.
Terrainia desperately needed heroes and it would not go wanting The Age of Heroes
