Theme - History

[Vardaen]

This thread will deal with history information and other such topics. I'm going to start this off by posting the History-Future of the Age of Ice setting. What followers is actually the history for the Age of Ice game, and some of it will not come to pass, it is in fact a bit of history, and a bit of future for this game.

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Age of Ice Intro

After 350 years of blizzards and crushing ice, there is a slight lull in winter's fury, as if Mulcarn id distracted by something. The Age of Magic ended when Bhall, the Goddess of Fire, succumbed to the whispers of Agares and fell. Her worshipers and creations were driven mad, and fire, which had been a powerful ally to man, turned against him.

Each good god was charged with the opposition of an evil god. Bhall was responsible for balancing Mulcarn, the God of Winter. Finding himself unopposed Mulcarn broke The Compact and moved into Creation.

Creation was on the verge of another open war between the gods, that which they had outlawed with The Compact. To keep that from happening a deal was struck and the gods agreed that one god would enter Creation to challenge Mulcarn. That was Sucellus, the God of Nature.

The two gods battled across the face of Creation, enter civilizations still recovering from the Burning Skies that marked the fall of Bhall were destroyed by their power. In the end Sucellus was killed and Mulcarn remained.

Without a God of Nature, the land fell beneath Mulcarn's Eternal Winter. All progress made by man in the Age of Magic was lost and in the 300 years since the Age of Ice began, men have become little more than nomadic savages, wandering ins mall tribes attempting to survive in the frozen world.

The gods seemed to have forsaken man. Bound by their agreement they cannot enter Creation and even if they did they would likely destroy the rest of mankind in the war. But some hope remains. The goddess Nantoseulta, who loved Sucellus, whispered to her most loyal follower, and archmage kept alive from a previous age and told him what he must do.

Kylorin was unique among men, the first to be trained in the art of magic by the evil goddess Ceridwen, whom he later betrayed to follow Nantosuelta. Directly instructed by both the evil goddess of conjuration and the good goddess of enchantment he was the most legendary figure of his age, and now he is needed to be the most legendary figure of another age as well.

Such is the god's power that their will is physically manifested. When two or more agree, that manifestation is even more potent. At the formation of The Compact, a symbol of that agreement was created: a sword inscribed with the mark of each god. Each agreed that if they broke The Compact they would be vulnerable to this sword, which came to bear the name Godslayer.

The Godslayer has been broken in the war between Mulcarn and Sucellus into three pieces and over 300 years those pieces have been moving close to each other. Now they all lie in the area of Letum Frigus, the place where Sucellus was killed, the home of Mulcarn.

Kylorin has gone into this region and has sought out the bands of men that still survive in a battle against Mulcarn and his forces. He has set in motion a plan to reforge the Godslayer and to do what a god had failed to do, kill the God of Winter.

Kylorin has for generations now traveled among the Amurite tribes and taken wives, and sired children. As each of his wives grows old and died, he remains young. His children bare his arcane blood, and they rise to great deeds among their people. One day Kylorin simply leaves, walking off into the winter wilds not to be seen again. His children, you, are left with the task of completing what he started. Will you fall to Winter God's might, or will you bring about The Thaw and save the world?

[Vardaen]

Erebus' history is broken up into variosu ages, each one ending or starting with some world changing event.

The Age of Creation - The gods create the world, heaven and hell, and all that dwels within it.

The Age of Dragons - The world is shaped by the great dragons of the time, the gods dwell and visit it regularly and the first war among the gods takes place during this age. The Compact is agreed upon and the gods withdraw from creation to prevent it destruction.

The Age of Magic - Man and other humanoids rise in power and modern history begins. The height of civilization reaches its peak in this age. During this age Kylorin the Archmage rules, Bhall falls during The Burning, Mulcarn defeats Secullus.

The Age of Ice - The Eternal Witner begins, this game is set at the begining of this age, and the other Age of Ice game is set at what is hopefully the end of it.

The Age of Rebirth - The time that comes once (if) the Age of Ice ends.

[Vardaen]

The Birth of Time
There was nothing, then there was Creation. The worlds were formed with their heavens and their hells. Things began out of the void and the architects of this time were the gods, many and varied in power. Chief among them were those with the greatest of powers. It was a time without time, without history, and things began were formed, destroyed, remade, and existed in many various ways.

The Age of Myth
In this age the world was shaped and the eyes of the Gods were focused on it. The other worlds were abandoned for only Creation proved to be sustainable to life. Great forests covered the lands, creatures big and small walked it, and all manner of geological changes were taking place. The very gods walked in Creation spreading their will.

The Age of Dragons
The dragons first came into the world, intelligent beings of great power. The gods took various dragons under their tutelage and shaped their being and their very bloodlines. Turmoil began among the dragons, they felt jealousy and fear, greed and pride, and a rift was soon split among them and among their patron gods. The gods began to oppose one another and it was in this time that sides were chosen, and lines were drawn. Each god stood opposed to another god and war ripped across Creation. The world was shattered into many continents, deserts were made, mountains were raised and thrown down, forests burned and Creation was nearly destroyed. During the last years of the war new creatures came into Creation: Man, Elf, Dwarf, Orc and many other intelligent beings. These fledgling species were in awe and fear of the gods and the gods saw at once that their war would be the end of them and of Creation so a truce was formed called The Compact.

The Compact
Each god agreed to leave Creation, to remove themselves from it in order to save it. Such is the god's power that their will is physically manifested. When two or more agree, that manifestation is even more potent. At the formation of The Compact, a symbol of that agreement was created: a sword inscribed with the mark of each god. Each agreed that if they broke The Compact they would be vulnerable to this sword, which came to bear the name Godslayer.

The Age of Awakening
Ancient history truly begins here for the fledgling races of humanoids were spared the war by the Compact and began to grow and flourish. The Gods did not completely abandon the world, they came at times, in secret so others did not know, in their angelic form. Avatars, of greatly reduced power walked among the people. They raised up the primitive people and traits from the gods became part of those people and vice versa. The gods answered prayers in the form of magic through the divine clerics of the world and enlightenment spread. Avatars taught arcane power to their mortal apprentices. In this time Kylorin the Archmage studied at the feet of Ceridwen the Brightstar. The primitives became advanced, and culture and learning spread across Creation. With it however came bloodshed and war, monsters from the Age of Myth remained, Dragons still stalked the land, and the ‘evil’ gods perverted various races to do their bidding like the Orcs or Gnolls, and many others. The gods were in danger of breaking The Compact, and it was Arawn the Soulkeeper, whose attention rarely turned to Creation, that finally spoke out against the actions of the others and pulled the gods from the brink by threatening to take up Godslayer if they did not relent. They withdrew once more, even more than before, leaving the humanoids to do as they would, the Compact keeping even those like Ceridwen and Mammon the Golden from further direct interference; for now.

The Age of Magic
With the politics of the gods withdrawn once more nations began to rise ruled by the various races. Here is where 'modern' history begins. Hundreds of years passed with countless changes of nations, tribal rule, petty warfare and more all leading up to Icatian's rise to dominance. During these Pre-Years Kylorin founded the Malakim nation in the East of Patria and his dark empire grew slowly.

Timeline for Patria
0 IC – Icatian wars of expansion end and a new era of peace begins. A new calendar is founded and begins being used across Patria. Pre-History and ancient times pre date this.

15 IC – Thelon breaks from the Elohim to found his own elven nation.

139 IC – The greatest of the Kilmor Stonehomes is founded, Kral-Nordak.

232 IC – Junian “The Clean” begins his rule of Icatia.

351 IC – The War of the Gryphons begins.

363 IC – The War of the Gryphons ends.

422 IC – The Calabim seek immortality.

440 IC – Calabim breaks with Braduk and the War of the City States begins.

502 IC – The Silence of the Bells. A great solar eclipse takes place which lasts 28 days. It not only blots out the sun but disables magic across Creation during it. Many advances are set back, calamity ensues and the time is filled with turmoil. Many scholar claim that Esus and Agares were at war in the heaven with Lugus which caused this.

567 IC – Kylorin’s Malakim Empire reaches its height.

607 IC – The Great World War. Malakim, with Calabim support, launch an attack on Icatia pushing deep into Icatia. They seem to be unstoppable but Braduk and the Thelonites support Icatia and slowly turn the tide. Eventually even the Elohim and Kilmor join forces and press the Malakim back.

700 IC – Kylorin denounces Ceridwen and joins with Nantosuelta.

702 IC – Kylorin goes missing. Malakim falls into civil war.

765 IC – First Kilmor War with the Ember Clans. Kilmor are victorious. Some claim to have seen The Archmage aiding the Kilmor.

860 IC – The final vestiges of Kylorin’s Malakim destroy themselves in a magical cataclysm. The people fall into a great decay and begin their time as nomads in the sands.

862 IC – Second Kilmor War with the Ember Clans. Braduk aids the Kilmor defeating the Ember Clans once more.

873 IC - The Oasis of Amatheon appears in the Great Malakim Desert. Its origins unknown, but it becomes a center of life in the barren desert.

880 IC – The Blue Knight Adventures. During this time the adventures of the Blue Knight in western Icaita takes place which will eventually lead to the Blue Knight Legends and set the ground work for many knightly orders. No one ever discovers the true identity of the Blue Knight.

901 IC – The Order of Lietbur is Founded. The Order of the Ebon Hand is Founded. Religious reformation and crusades in Icatia begin.

915 IC – The Lanun flee (are driven out of) Icatia.

937 IC – Order of the First Chapel founded in Braduk.

939 IC – War of Shadows. The Crown Prince of Icatia Durnan IV is assassinated late in the reign of his aging father the Emperor. This sparks a cold war of succession in Icatia among the noble families. It is an excuse for nobles to fight over land, power, and bloodlines, but most of the action is political and within the shadows. Eventually when Emperor Durnan III dies, he is replaced by Empress Editia the 1st as the outcome of the War of Shadows.

956 IC – Order of the Ebon Hand secretly infiltrates Icaita raising many cults among its populace. Then in a massive ritual of human bloodletting they raise the honored dead of nearly half of Icatia within the very heart of the country. The Order of Lietbur puts down the undead army but at a great loss of life. A second religious reformation begins where cremation becomes preferred funeral service by most to prevent such a calamity from happening again.

1012 IC/0 AFB – The Burning. Bhall Falls to the Whispers of Agares. The Pit is opened.

04 AFB – A man calling himself Kellinan the Wise leads many of the refuges of Braduk to Trokair.

38 AFB – Trokair falls to demons of The Pit. Kellinan falls defending the retreat of the city.

40 AFB – Oliver Farrel begins his rise to power.

40 AFB – Sucellus Enters Creation with Godslayer and does battle with Mulcarn across the Malakim desert and into western Erebus destroying many lands in the battle.

41 AFB – Sucellus is slain by Mulcarn, Goldslayer is shattered and scattered through Erebus.

44 AFB – Third Dwarf war with the Ember Clans.

47 AFB – Palamon named the Hand of Justice in Icatia.

50 AFB – Movement of the ‘Purity of the Untold History’ takes root among young Elohim.

52 AFB – Fallen Empires Game Begins

400 AFB - Children of Kylorin Game Begins


The Age of Ice
Mulcarn has come into Creation and taken over. 350 years of an ice age have settled on the world and he dominates it all.