Prelude: A Window Through Time
Prelude: A Window Through Time
The Dragons were the first to live upon this land and gave it its name as was their right as the first and oldest children of the Nameless Gods that begot those that followed them and who, in time, would take what their parents had given them and reshape it as their own. The dragons alone bore witness to the birth or arrival of the other races and it is from them that We, that record known history, learned of it.
The Dwarves were shaped from the rock deep in the bowels of the Karzendarn Mountains, that they came to call home, by Azakon the Architect. He gave them knowledge of steel, iron and all other metals. He gave them the mountains and all the land beneath them for as far as they dared to go.
Both races of Elves, Lismera and Shamera, were born from the radiant light of the sun, The Divine, and the deepest shadows of the earth, The Shade, twin deities and highest born of the Nameless Ones. Being cousins the two races were forbidden to fight one another and given dominion over the two great forests, Laior and Narisden. From the Divine the Lismera received light along with a love for music and all the finer things in life. From the Shade the Shamera were granted all the worlds’ history and knowledge, a love for dark places, simplicity and quiet.
A great volcanic eruption birthed the island of Tarzarn and the Minotaur’s. They were cursed by Baraktorn the God of War with the head of the bull to remind them always of the sin of killing ones brother to attain power that had been committed by the first of them to draw breath. Fierce and deadly with intelligence that even the dragons came to envy, they are the most cherished of the God of War.
The first Plains people came from the south, up the rivers in long boats. They settled upon the Plains of Morlan and the first ancestors of the Tain, Ubear and Galam were among them. The Zarquilen however were not for they were born from the land itself. A last curse upon the dying breath of a slain God, to take revenge upon the land his brethren loved in his place.
Other Men came from the North across the sea bringing with them their wealth and knowledge of farming. They made great cities and the Temple of Second Life for Alandier the Goddess of Healing. They settled where they felt they would be allowed and claimed the land there as their own, regardless of who may have been there first.
The Territorial Wars began as most do, one dispute over land became many and when words failed, as they often do when hearts and minds are filled with anger, the races settled instead for tearing one another to pieces. Those that lived would have their way. Twenty years passed before a treaty was decided upon. The dwarves could keep their mountains and Jareleime Jungle, with the exception of the area that was held by the Zarquilen. The elves kept their forests and the surrounding land. The humans could keep their cities but any dispute over the Plains of Morlan would have to be settled between them and the Plains people who lay claim to them. The Minotaur’s kept their island as well as the Slorlan Marches and other land on the eastern side of the Tawz River. The Dragons themselves, for they still dwelt upon the land and continue to do so, took no part in these wars for what would have been the point in fighting over land that was already theirs if they chose to take it, who could have stopped them? They remained in the West in their caves and caverns, far from the Dwarves with their prying picks and hammers. Let the lesser creatures squabble over the land below, they were the Lords of the Sky and there were none to challenge them.
Drundar the City of Thieves rose up out of the dust of the wars and is in reality a minimal security prison where all criminals could go with what they had taken in that time and live free lives. They were pardoned and free to live as they pleased and govern themselves so long as they remained within the protection of the city. Leaving the city would mean that their lives were for fit and they would be hunted down for their crimes. Bounty Hunters and Lawmen, forbidden to enter the city upon pain of death, stake out the cliffs around the city, waiting for the foolish and the over confident to make that exact mistake.
