Profiles in History: Recent History
Centuries ago, drawn by curiosity and the spirit of adventure, our ancestors came through portals cast into their homeworlds by the random planar magic released by the mage Asheron. Isparians (now called Humans) from several regions of a world called Ispar, Tonk (or Tumerok, as some call them) from Ezheret-Hazahtu, and Lugians from Tuu found themselves on an empty island on an empty world--empty, that is, except for monsters and for Asheron himself, the last of the Empyreans. With his aid the newcomers broke free from the Olthoi who had enslaved them and, finding that there was no way back home, settled down to live in the new world. They fought great enemies and small, and each other at times, and at last achieved peace. The Golden Age lasted for about a century, much of it under the fifty-year reign of Borelean Strathelar. Late in that century, intrepid explorers began to reclaim the Yalain homeland, Knorr.
During that century of peace, some of the Derethians organized themselves into factions, or Kingdoms as they were called. The Order of Dereth followed the teachings of Asheron, to study and teach and to protect the weak from the strong. The Shadow Kingdom remembered Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer, who had been cast out of the world by Asheron and the mortals, but whose altars still lurked in odd corners, enabling warriors to cast off Asheron's blessing and fight one another. The Virindi Dominion sought to find a common ground of understanding with the Virindi, that strange hive-mind whose native home is portalspace, whose emissaries so often had taken mortals apart and put them back together to see what would happen--but who offered power and a strange kind of peace, at the price of pain.
Disaster came in two waves. The Inner Sea churned and something horrible rose out of it. It rose to the sky and shattered the small moon Rez'arel. It descended again and obliterated the seaport city of Yaraq. It gathered form and went striding across the A'mun Desert. Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer, had broken his prison again and returned to wreak havoc not only on the descendants of his jailers but on the land itself. Dereth shattered under his feet, and in his wake went the mutagenic Black Breath.
Asheron, who during the Golden Age had remained in quiet seclusion, returned to Dereth to battle the Hopeslayer. He sent forth blasts of magical energy that consumed Bael'Zharon--but then something went wrong. The energies rebounded onto him. He could not control them, and went up in flames. The Virindi Imperator, which was floating nearby to observe the outcome, was also destroyed.
The Hopeslayer was gone; but the land had shattered under his feet. Dozens of faults had opened in the ground, into which the waters of the sea and the rivers flowed, breaking what had been one large ring-shaped island into three clusters of fragments, which later were called continents. The western half of the ring, called the Direlands, disappeared. The A'mun Desert, homeland of the Gharu'ndim, vanished altogether but for a little patch of ground at zero north and zero west, where the Midsong Festival Stone had stood and where Gaerlan and Martine had attacked Asheron and Elysa. Northern Osteth as far as the Crater was fragmented but remained in one cluster, called simply Osteth.
Examining old maps, one is shocked to realize that southern Osteth was torn apart and reassembled like a Virindi's experimental subject: south of the draining swamps of Sawato was Shoushi, and the ruins of Yanshi, which had lain between them, were now found south of Baishi along the remnants of the Prosper in Omishan. Marae Lassel was cracked along the paths of the Volkama River, and its northern shores broken into three separate islands. The remaining Tonk fled their homes and settled among the Sho-lands, which were now part of Omishan. Aerlinthe Island, unstable site of the great volcano Tennkarun, sank beneath the waters. The Linvak Mountains were torn from Osteth west of Mayoi, and drifted southwestward, along with the ruins of Qalaba'r, to form a frosty continent which the Lugians named Linvak Massif.
The mortals, shaken, began to pick up the pieces and rebuild. The great fortress of Cragstone Castle was built at this time, and the citadel of Linvak Tukal encircled by many stone walls, for there were uneasy rumors in the air. But no one foresaw what was to come next. Out of obscurity came the Nemesis races: Drudges against the Humans, Burun against the Tonk, and the Gurog, once their friends and students, rose up against the Lugians. Cragstone Castle fell in one night. The sacred Tonk burial brounds became corrupted swamps. The Lugians saw a mysterious figure on a mountaintop, urging on the Gurogs in their slaughter.
The Fettermages, masters of planar magic, built Shelters in the depths of the earth, accessible only through portalspace, and the remnants of the mortal races took cover there. For ten generations they waited. From time to time teams of explorers would be sent out to explore the world above--never to return.
About five hundred years after the Cataclysm, scouts did return, to report that the surface was habitable--for some values of "habitable"--and that their predecessors, before they perished, had set up gateway portals between the ruined cities and ringway portals to the surrounding outposts. Monsters still roamed the islands, from low-level Vermin and beetles in parts of Osteth, to dangerous Gurog and undead in parts of Linvak Massif. But there were regions that were safe enough to settle--and Drudges, bypassing the secure portals altogether, were beginning to dig down through the earth into the uppermost regions of the Shelters. We began to return to Dereth.
Once again we stepped out into a world empty but for monsters--but there was a difference. Centuries before we had come into a land covered with the ruins of the Empyreans, an unknown people with powers we could not comprehend, structures whose purpose was a riddle to us, ancient works of giants. Now, we returned to Dereth to find ruins whose names and purposes were familiar to us. These ruins were our own.
For the first several months life was comparatively peaceful. The Nemesis races were still living in the wilds, but they generally did not approach the cities. We learned that the Drudges of Osteth had come to worship the Burun of Omishan, and the Burun to worship the Gurog of Linvak--but it took us time to learn whom the Gurog worshipped, who was behind it all. Menhirs, set in Vaults guarded by monsters, reachable only once in each adventurer's lifetime, told us part of the story.
It was Geraine who was behind it all. Geraine, called "His Eternal Splendor," Firstborn of the Dericost undead, who had escaped the conquering Yalain and retreated to Dereth with his lieutenants Rytheran and Aerfalle and his followers the Filinuvekta, the Winds from Darkness. Over the millennia he had slumbered and wakened again, meddling for his amusement in the affairs of lesser folk, then sleeping once more till things got interesting again. Toward the end of the Golden Age he had wakened again, to find Dereth and Knorr infested, as he saw it, with ugly little mortals who were not even Empyrean. He chose to entertain himself by destroying them.
He it was who had recruited the Gurog to his service by slaying their chieftain in single combat. He had set up the Gurog as gods to the Burun, and the Burun as gods to the Drudges. With powerful spells he had learned from the ancient Falatacot text, the Book of Eibhil, he had ensorceled the menhirs that regulated the flow of magical energies across Dereth, and sunk them deep in the earth so that Asheron could no longer control his spells and was cast down. Then he loosed the Nemeses upon us and, when the last of us had disappeared from his sight, went back to sleep.
The three Kingdoms, somewhat changed, continued to recruit followers. The Order still followed the teachings of Asheron, out of love for their fallen leader and for their fellow mortals. The Shadows now followed Isin Dule, the Shadow general who had rebelled against Bael'Zharon and saved our ancestors in Elysa's day--even though no one had seen him since the Cataclysm. The Dominion was said to be searching for a new Imperator to rule it.
For the first few months, life was relatively uneventful. We could go out into the wilds and battle our traditional Nemeses and other monsters, improving our skills and heightening our powers, and then retreat into the safety of the towns to rest. The most surprising thing that happened all winter was a cold spell that froze most of Osteth solid--except where liquid water hinted at the presence of hot springs near the Cragstone moat and at the southern end of Lake Artefon--and tipped with snow the highest peaks of tropical Omishan. There was snow and ice on Linvak Massif, of course, but there always is and the running joke at the wintertide festivals that year was "How can you tell the difference?"
As spring approached and the ice melted, it revealed regions on all three continents that had been stricken by a death-spell that destroyed all vegetation, leaving withered stumps and scorched earth, and corrupting the remaining animal life with the taint of Chaos. Worse still, bands of Skeleton Cavalry roamed the blighted areas, the remains of Human ancestors animated by nameless spells, riding strange undead mounts. But those who slew enough of these ghastly creatures were able to recover saddles from these mounts and purify them, gaining the ability to summon and ride healthy living Ataurs such as the Empyreans had ridden in the distant past.
Tall pillars topped with powerful crystals appeared in Cragstone, Ikeras, and Linvak Tukal. They were inscribed with reminiscences by a nameless Shade who witnessed the fall of the Kings and the final splendor of Asheron. Their encoding was subtle, and it was only those who had learned everything the continental Vaults had to teach them who could tie to these Nexus and recall there at will. Those who achieved Soulbound weapons on all three continents were given a final vision of the Fetterguard. These heroic warriors, at the cost of their own lives, defended the Fettermound portals until all our ancestors had entered the safety of the Shelters. Nalicana had armed them with the magnificent Soulbound weapons, with which they fought off the Nemeses until the final spells that set the Shelter wards slew defenders and attackers alike and set the land rippling like water disturbed by a thrown stone, as we can see to this day.
Those who came to the Fettermounds to pay tribute to those dead heroes found strange sights there: ghosts who gave instructions, and Gearknights, which had not been seen since the Cataclysm, that would enable adventurers to make Soulbound weapons of their own. Finally, a family of smiths appeared in Linvak who could make armor from Tyrant scales--but, as the old saw has it, "first catch your Tyrant."
One fine spring morning, visitors to ruined Rithwic discovered that the dead city had been overrun with Drudges, who were cutting down all the trees for miles around and building a crude but effective dam just south of the city. The waters of what had once been the River Prosper found other pathways to the sea--there were plenty to choose from in shattered Osteth--and the waters of Lake Artefon continued to pour over the dams at its southern end.
We had known that there was something resembling a city or town beneath the water--a few spires had protruded above the surface even before the Drudges had set to work--and during the cold spell, when the lake had frozen over, had walked over the ice to look at them. Now, as the lake continued to empty, buried lands could be seen through the murky water, lining the river's original channel, and archivists ransacked their libraries, searching for clues to what city might have been built during the Golden Age on the old site of the swamp town of Sawato. And on the bank was found a letter, stating that the masters of the Burun and the Gurog commanded the Drudges to continue their work of draining the lake, to provide access to what lay beneath. And it was labeled, "Archon's Edict."
The waters receded, uncovering islands in the middle of the old river channel. The archivists' search revealed that this place had been the site of a great necropolis: tombs still littered the landscape, and a deep shaft led into a labyrinth of branching catacombs in which the great had been buried. But the tombs had been ransacked; the ancient heroes wandered the lakebed, attacking adventurers even as they pleaded for release. Deep in the catacombs the boldest found the tombs of Elysa Strathelar, of Thorsten Cragstone, of Borelean Strathelar and his queen Hoshino Kei. The tombs of Elysa and Thorsten were empty; Hoshino appeared at times as a ghost, pleading for help; the spirit of Borelean had been possessed by the enemy and must be released by difficult rituals of purification. Far away in Omishan, the undead shape of the mage Shoyanen Kenchu wandered the shores near the ruins of her Tower, where wild aconite grew, and the spirit of Thorsten roamed the easternmost islands, hard to locate and pitiful to behold. Mines on the three continents, guarded by many undead creatures, provided gems to those who were able to snatch them up in the midst of combat. An alchemist near Shoyanen's Tower offered recipes for purifying the gems. Shocked and horrified, the adventurers hastened to fulfill all these quests, and discovered the formulae for making ancient armor, glistening with cut and sparkling gemstones, such as had been worn in the Golden Age.
As summer began--"as if we had not troubles enough already!" the adventurers remarked--another ancient enemy surfaced. Tall mounds sprouted on the shores of Omishan, disgorging hordes of Olthoi grubs, slithering across the sand as fast as a man could walk, spitting acid as they went, and extremely hard to kill. Not long afterwards, another enemy appeared.
The first report came from a group of adventurers on Linvak, preparing to slay a Gigurath. Suddenly they were attacked by a horde of Flayers, led by what looked like an Empyrean undead, whom his armies addressed as "Saelar." In subsequent days there were other undead attacks--Skeletons against their Human descendants, Bal against the Tonk (and against those Ancestors who fought beside their Invoker relatives), Flayers against the Lugians. And three names were repeated--Saelar, Renselm, Hahnain.
Those of us who had paid attention in history class while in the Shelters recognized those names. Saelar, a kinsman of the dread Rytheran, and his companions Hahnain and Renselm were Dericost undead who in Queen Elysa's day had run a site near Samsur for the collection of Mnemosynes. They had been servants of Tennar Portheran, one of the Filinuvekta, who had perished during the Fourth Sending. It seemed they had now gone into business for themselves. They not only commanded the efforts of the Nemesis races, but they had somehow learned to raise the bodies, or the spirits, of dead mortals from their graves and send them out, reeking with the taint of chaos, to battle their own descendants.
Over time, we learned some of their history. They had later been archivists and librarians in the service of Geraine. At his command, after the Fifth Sending, they sought and found the Book of Eibhil. They expected great reward; but Geraine gave them only brief praise before his court and the assurance that the office of Archivists would be theirs for eternity: he named them "Archons of the Way," which being translated out of poetic language means only "Chief Librarians." They felt wronged, and brooded on revenge; now, with Geraine sunk in centuries-long sleep, they felt their time had come. The Book of Eibhil, if they could lay hands on it, would give them power over the entire world.
They had now succeeded in destroying many Lifestones, from whose shattered pedestals arose chaos-tainted Bloodstones that roamed the land attacking mortals. Still, when destroyed they frequently dropped Ichors that restored large amounts of health (most helpful when one rode at full-tilt on Ataur-back toward a chosen goal or away from a horde of enemies) and Cores that restored Vitae (if in spite of the Ichor one didn't make it to safety). And Radiant Temples reappeared, hidden since the end of the Golden Age and now brought to light by the Archons' chaotic magic, where the Kingdoms could fight each other's forces and gain the materials to make fine armor in their Kingdom colors. As summer drew to a close, rumor whispered that the Archons, armed with the stolen Book of Eibhil, were preparing to invade the sleeping place of Geraine himself, who had scorned them, and destroy him.
As fall began, explorers on Linvak found the entrance to the long-concealed Archons' Holding, now abandoned by them as they went to fight Geraine. The Archons had taken the Book of Eibhil with them -- except for a single page, loose from the binding and fallen unnoticed to the floor. The explorers carefully kept this, though they could not read the ancient Falatacot runes and agreed that it was probably just as well. In the Holding they found the eidola of Elysa Strathelar, Aun Aulatah, and Kresovus. Each of these imprisoned spirits begged a favor of them--Elysa, to find the spirit of Thorsten and tell him that she loved him; Aulatah, to bring him the ashies of the akiekie fire in the Catacombs, and Kresovus to reassure him of the safety of three important ritual objects. This done, they followed the trail to Arramora (once Marae Lassel) and to the Hero Shrine, built by Ciandra the Archmage toward the end of the Golden Age and hidden by her on the Hopeslayer's return. Here they received augmentations to make them in many ways the equals of the vanished Empyreans. Along the way, a party of adventurers inadvertently awakened Geraine's lieutenant Aerfalle, who on learning that the Archons were in rebellion immediately set off to alert Rytheran and to gather an army to oppose the rebels.
The Archons with their army of rebels, and Rytheran and Aerfalle with their army of loyalists, set up camps in the far north of Osteth, preparing for the coming battle. The Loyalists tinted their armor and weaponry sea-blue, and the Archons grass-green, to the amusement of historians. Both sides sent heralds to Cragstone to recruit mortal warriors to fight with their forces. Yes, they were willing even to take on mercenaries from among their despised enemies, and many joined one side or another ... or joined one side and then the other, turning their coats day by day for the love of combat and the experience that comes of it. Others said firmly "A plague of both your houses" and stayed away.
Elsewhere, the Tonk raised shrines to the Animae all over Omishan, and the beneficent Deru Tree made the drum Nature's Ally available to audacious Tonk healers; in Osteth, rabbits tinged with Chaos alarmed the nearby inhabitants, and deep in his lair the deadly White Rabbit emerged from his native Chaos to taunt hunters and send them to the lifestone before they could say "little bunny Pookie."
As winter set in, a milder winter than the last one, the war raged for day upon day. Living and undead struggled and fell, and were regenerated and returned to the fray. Elsewhere, noncombatants kept to the cities, anxious for news but unwilling to go to the site and learn on a practical basis who was gaining the field of battle.
The Archons' forces were victorious. Overrunning the Loyalists' camp, they struck down Rytheran. They struck down Aerfalle; but as she fell she made a gesture. The air trembled. The Archons' cry of victory resounded through all Dereth ... and Geraine appeared. Unlike all the other undead we had ever seen, this ancient mage, preserved by genuine Falatacot blood magic, had the appearance of a man in the prime of life.
"You've come far, my Archons of the Way," he remarked, "but I see you've listened to the Book's whispers and been tempted by its promises of power. Now it has led you to this end. There is nothing left but to settle this revolt. Shall we?"
The remaining mortal troops fell back, watching from what they hoped was a safe distance. The magical battle lasted for days. The Archons had the Book of Eibhil. Geraine had his long experience in the mastery of magic, including what he himself had read in the Book. But in the end it was the Book itself that prevailed. Saelar invoked the Book's most ancient spell, perhaps not aware that it would unmake the world. When he realized what he had done, he could only call for help: "Cannot... stop... the void... the void calls... for release. Ancient crimes... Stop... Stop!"
Geraine spoke: and the Archons vanished in a swirl of chaotic energy; in their place stood a writhing Chaos Archon, blended from the remnants of the three of them and embodying the gateway into Chaos. Portals were opened into the Chaos Planes, where ferocious energies pulse at random. The Chaos Archon was vicious and powerful: but the remaining mortal warriors were cutting it down. Geraine had sealed the portal through which the Archon had appeared, but as he watched the battle, he realized the Book of Eibhil at its core would take a path of its own choosing to another part of Auberean, to resurface again someday. As the Archon fell, Geraine ran to its dissolving body and stepped through the gate.
Tales tell that there he faced the spirit of Eibhil, author of the book, who had been manipulating the Falatacot and Geraine himself throughout the millennia, to cast down Dericost, Yalain, and all that lived on this world. It is said that he slew her, that from her dissolving corpse he recovered the Book, that he spoke the final spell and went beyond the boundaries of the world we know in search of the Kemeroi that created the Book, to battle and overcome it. We know only that he has never been seen on Auberean since.
He left behind the eidola of the Archons, faint images of what they had been, lurking in the depths of deep vaults for the amusement of those heros who cared to slay them, and crying out sometimes, "The void ... the void ... Rytheran, help!" With tokens from the three eidola, the heroes may proceed into the Chaos Planes and slay another powerful image, the Chaos Eidolon, honing their skills against future battles.
As the echoes of war began to soften, a powerful spirit, an Amano-Bal, appeared in Rakani, sending adventurers on a quest to be blessed by the eleven shrines of the Animae ... but the Shrine of Wharu only mocked them.
In the sudden quiet, the ranks of the three Kingdoms began to look speculatively at each other.
