A Brief History of Karion
This is basically a rough guide to the history of this world. There are three calendars on this history: the Elven Calendar, which was used up until the fall of the great elven empire of Cetaratii, the Dwarven Calendar, which was used from the creation of the dwarves until the fall of Horin, and the New Calendar, which is used today. There is no direct conversion from one to another because of the large gaps in the timeline.
CHAPTER I - The Beginning
???? - The Descent -
It was at this unknown point in time that the Gods descended from their mysterious other world to Kyron. Where they came from and what drew them to this place is a mystery that may never be answered. Presumably there are other Gods in the land they came from, since certain Gods have children but no wife. It is generally assumed that there was a terrible calamity in the home of the Gods, forcing them to make the long journey through the void to this plane.
???? - The Dawn of Kyron -
Not long after their descent, the Gods looked around at the world they had come to and decided to shape it after their own design. Hermetradies used his mighty hammer to push up land from the ocean floor, creating the various continents. Butarsis then used his great strength to push them into the proper places, spread out through Dorariia, Kateriia, and Artariia. Each God claimed a continent and built their homes on the land they had chosen.
Once they had completed their homes, they set to work creating the world of Karion. One by one, they each made their changes to the face of the planet, until it took on a shape not too dissimilar from its current one.
Once the planet was finally complete, the Gods brought life to Karion. The creatures they created were massive, ferocious beasts with little intelligence. Most of these creatures were strange looking, with oddly shaped horns or crests. They ruled the world for millions of years.
The actual date of this event is an estimate, made by the ancient elves long ago. After millions of years, the Gods felt it was time for a change. They desired something more than animals to rule over. They desired to create intelligent life. Starting at this point, and over the course of the next few thousand years, most of the creatures of the Age of Beasts became extinct.
CHAPTER II - The Elves
It was in this year that the first elves were created. They looked about at a new world, untouched yet by their hands. As elves began to spread across the world, they marveled at the wonders it contained. And from above, the Gods smiled as they watched.
Another race was also created at the same time. A mysterious and secretive race that took immediately to the forest. The daqueen would be forgotten for some time.
After a thousand years of expansion, the elves began their greatest accomplishment in history. Banding together on the continent they called Lillith-Dolla, they set into motion the events that led to the creation of a vast empire by building a great palace in a city they named Cetaratii.
During this glorious 5000 year period, Cetaratii expanded into an empire that spanned the globe. Elves studied everything - magic, geology, biology - storing their collected knowledge in a massive library. Their civilization was the most glorious and most peaceful Karion has ever seen.
In this black year Cetaratii was attacked by an army of undead creatures sent by Forn. Totally peaceful, they had no way to defend themselves, and could only flee in terror. As the monsters advanced into the very heart of the city, however, the daqueen emerged. Like a plague of locusts they swarmed the monsters, ripping them to shreds with their claws. The elves watched from a distance as the undead army was destroyed. From that day forward, the daqueen were declared to be the champions of the elven empire. However, the raid caused more damage than it had seemed...
It was in the year 5001 that a simple blacksmith caused the downfall of the entire elven race. After studying animals for some time, he created a short piece of metal with a sharp edge, which he said would help protect them should the Army of Darkness ever return.
The sword was born.
The emperor was disgusted with the idea of cutting flesh instead of cloth, and ordered the thing destroyed. However, the High Council disagreed, saying the sword was their only defense should the daqueen ever fail. Within months, swords began to work their way into the hands of city guards.
Over time, the art of using the sword was refined, and the idea of using the bow - once thought of as nothing but a tool for hunting - as a weapon was quickly becoming commonplace. However, this urge to protect themselves was slowly changing the elves from peaceful to violent. As more and more elves began to use their weapons in anger instead of in self defense, the elven society began to crumble. Fragmented clans, which eventually became the various sub-races of elves, began to emerge. Soon, the empire was in turmoil.
Finally, over six thousand years after it began, the society of the elves collapsed. An army of rebels, led by what would eventually become the Drow, rose up to take control of the empire. The High Council was fractured, unable to make up its mind as to how best to stop these upstarts. The emperor ordered them hunted and killed, an order which only caused more of the clans to disperse. Finally, the daqueen called upon Illiharn to end the fighting. Knowing that the elves would never be able to reconcile their differences by this point, Illiharn caused a great ball of fire to fall from the sky, destroying the city and everyone in it.
Across the world, the remnants of the empire stood in awe. The daqueen spread word that the same would happen to all the elf cities everywhere if the fighting did not cease. Saddened and disgusted by their own actions, the elves tore down their cities and wandered into the woods. It would be thousands of years before they came together in a society again.
CHAPTER III - The Dwarves
Untold eons passed. The elves slowly began to rebuild from the ashes, but they knew as well as the Gods that their time of glory had passed. It was time to give a new race a chance. In 1236, the very fist dwarves found themselves looking out upon a world that had survived the ravages of the elven war. They took it upon themselves to do better.
Like the elves before them, the dwarves quickly rose in power and technology. Soon, they began to create a vast network of underground tunnels, which connected their cities. However, long before completion the project was abandoned as being impractical. The attempt to do so, however, brought to the city of Horin the greatest architects and builders the dwarves possessed. Soon, their efforts turned towards a palace as the great kingdom of Horin was founded.
Horin quickly expanded across the globe. Powerful rune magic, which the dwarves were able to master, enabled them to connect their cities by a series of "teleporters" rather than tunnels. Soon, it looked as if the dwarves would be the greatest creatures to ever live.
Like the elves before them, the dwarves began to bicker among themselves. Nationalistic pride gave way to petty feuds Though their society did not collapse, it was showing signs of weakness. Weakness which Forn jumped upon.
Forn traveled to Karion disguised as a dwarven nobleman and began to spread rumors that the elves were planning an attack. Claiming they were jealous of the dwarves's power, he was able to convince the king to attack first. What followed is the most terrible conflict in recorded history. For years, the two races battled fiercely, neither able to gain ground on the other. At last, the elves developed a powerful spell with the power to destroy their enemies with a single blow.
Unleashing the power of the Solar Flare, the great civilization of Horin was destroyed overnight. Even deep underground, the searing flames raced through their cities and burned the dwarves alive. Those that were left turned to their own magic, unleashing a mighty earthquake which leveled the remnants of the elven forces. When the two were finished, all was in ruin. The few dwarves that survived the Solar Flare were crushed by their own earthquake; likewise, many of the elves were burned by the Flare long before the quake toppled their homes and buried their families. What remained was hardly a shadow of these once great societies. Both were hurled back to the stone age, their entire collected knowledge burned to a crisp or buried under hundreds of feet of solid rock. The two would never again come close to touching the power the once held; elves, though powerful mages, would never again be able to alter the very fabric of space and time, and the secrets of the ancient art of Rune Magic were destroyed. Magic was lost to the dwarves for all time.
CHAPTER IV - The New World
???? - The Great Council -
The Gods watched with dismay as the intelligent races of Karion destroyed themselves and devastated their world. Illiharn was about to give up on the world, thinking that perhaps it was best to destroy it and start over from scratch. While he pondered the fate of the world below, Kismat began to grow suspicious. It was clear that something had happened to cause these sudden outbreaks of violence. She was particularly concerned with the Army of Darkness that had descended upon the elves-the undead were her province. She soon discovered that Forn had interfered in both cases, causing the conflicts that destroyed the two great civilizations. Furious, she demanded Illiharn punish him. Illiharn was unwilling to ignite strife among the Gods, however, and so he devised a compromise: after apologizing for his actions, Forn would withdraw from Karion for a short time, during which new races would be created.
Illiharn realized that the only reason that Forn had been able to cause so much trouble so easily was because there were hardly any civilizations on the planet. With little competition, they quickly rose in power, until the time when they were so powerful they could destroy themselves and their world in one rash action. This time, the Gods came together and created countless new creatures: orcs, humans, halflings, bilnarko, and many more. Spread across the world, their individual distrust of each other forced them into petty battles. Though it brought Illiharn great sadness to see it, he knew it was the only way to ensure the safety of all.
It has been ten thousand years since the Dawn of All Being. The many peoples have spread out across Karion, forming nations and complex societies. Though tensions are high, the balance of power is stable. But this stability is deceiving; dark forces are conspiring to destroy what the many beings of Karion have wrought. Danger is everywhere, in the form of political unrest and vicious monsters alike...
