Aerth has a long and complex history, most of which is described in very broad strokes here, but of course it is impossible to include every historical detail of every nation and people on the world. There would simply not be enough space to include that and all the other information you would need in order to make Aerth a successful campaign world for your Palladium game. I have attempted to include the most pertinent information to understanding the basic flow of history throughout the seven known ages of time as well as the mindset of those who were involved in the momentous events that shaped Aerth. I have also included as much as I could of the worlds early, pre-history to give you a better understanding of Aerth’s place in the larger cosmos.

 

The Ordering of the Universe

 

     Most of what scholars know of the shaping of the world and the universe around it comes from the sacred text of the Lexicon Temporal or the “Book of Time”, and the law of life, the “Codex Anima”; both written by the prophet Gilraen in the latter years of the first age, just before the destruction of Luria. No other written documents or scrolls that predate the lexicon and the codex are known to exist, at least within the vast libraries of Arkitheron, excepting the prophecy of the Eighth dragon which was written down by Jerod, which serves as the seat of all recorded knowledge and has done so ever since the western kingdoms ascent from the darkness of the sundering. Treasure hunters throughout the realms have long sought some form of historical record earlier than the lexicon, many of them delving into places best left alone or dying in the attempt to rediscover lost cities and buried kingdoms. But the knowledge of the dangers that lurk in the caves and dungeons of ancient ruins does not stop many who dream of finding the keys that unlock the more obscure and forbidden insights into the dark and bloody past of the world.

     What is known is that recorded history itself began long before the founding of Luria when the world itself was newly formed and the Primarchs still ruled over Aerth. A time so long ago that it is almost impossible at this point to separate the fact from the legend. Many also disagree as to what event exactly triggered the true beginning of knowledge, but most historians in the realms agree that recorded time began with the event known as the “First Exodus”. When untold numbers of Men, left Aerth, the world of magick, to settle on her sister world of Terra, the world of science. Even that event though has little meaning when viewed outside the larger picture of the crucial events that took place before and after.

The following is taken and paraphrased from the Lexicon Temporal. The tale is well known throughout the realms and except for a few minor variations from one people to another it is essentially the same no matter what part of the realms one hears it.

***

     In what is known as the Nether-Time, or Tempus Partium, nothing existed. Only the vast emptiness of the eternal and never ending void. No sun, no stars, and nothing that now seems so familiar. And in this void, LOR brought forth a great thought and Aon was brought into being, but dark and shapeless, having neither life nor depth. Then he spoke the first word of creation and so forged the Great Lamps, setting them in the ether of space. And the greater of these he called Solen, which he placed in the eastern sky. The lesser was called Mannen, and it was set in the west. Yet Aon was still dark below the face of Mannen and so he made thousands upon thousands of lesser lamps, setting them in the sky to help Mannen in its task.

     Now, Aon was still shapeless, and so LOR took it and turned in upon itself and it became the round world we know and the great lamps sat high above it. And he separated the lands of Aon apart from one another and caused the water to burst up from underneath and fill it to the edge of the mountains. This he did when he spoke the second word of creation, and Pangaea came into being. And the grass and forests appeared throughout the lands and some parts of it were scorched with heat and became the endless sands as it drew nearer to Solen, while other parts of Aon were covered in mountains of ice as it drew away. The world was covered with wonders. This is how what we know as creation, or "Edom" came to be.

 

     "Then LOR spoke the third word of creation and life sprang into being on Aon. The great fish swam through the oceans and birds flew in the air and all manner of things that walked or crawled along the ground came up from the dust and traveled over Aon, so much so that the lands were filled with their numbers and LOR looked on what he had created. And he was pleased with his creation and took it and placed all that was into a sphere of Adamant and Glass and set in the midst of the plains of Alysium atop the four pillars of the elements. And from then one the world and all that surrounded it was known as the Prime Material. And the great machine of the cosmos was set in motion around it, and so it was that time began and the great lamps began to revolve around the lands of Aon.

Then he brought forth a new thought and the Malachim came into being, and they were the first children of his mind. The first of these were given no names and they were set aside as his arm to carry out his will and his command in all things. And he divided the remaining Malachim into ranks and orders and took the highest seven among them, naming them Primarchs, and gave them charge over all the others and over all the creation of Aon. And he said to them “This world is yours to care for and you may have power according to your station to keep it.” Then LOR stretched out his hand and sent his fire to surround Aon and to envelop the world so that the Primarchs could draw from it the strength they would need to be caretakers and watchers over what they had been given.

Now the first and chief of the Primarchs was known as Imperiel, and he was the favored son of LOR.

     The second of these was Apollyon, the most beautiful creature yet to exist within LOR’s creation and he was made guardian of LOR’s throne atop the highest levels of heaven. His domain was the clear northern sky and no living being in heaven or on Aon was as high as he.

     The third was known as Chronos, who was given charge and power over the great machine of the cosmos. The power to order time and the keys to the chains that bind the pillars of creation together.

     The fourth was Gaia, and she was given charge and power over all the lands of Aon, to make it fruitful and to care for it as one would a bountiful garden.

The fifth was Primus, who was given authority over the Fire of LOR and over the primordial forces of the world and the power to shape it through them. In his right hand he held the lamp Solen and in his left was Mannen, with the stars of the sky as a crown upon his head.

     The sixth was called Caeros and he was given command all the beasts that roamed over the lands. The wild horse was his captain, the nimble deer his scout, and the fierce wolf his soldier.

     And the seventh was known as Orn, who was given charge over the seas and rivers that flowed over the land and all life that lived in the waters.

     Then LOR gathered them together and told them “I have set you above all of your brothers and have given you this world for your own. Create what stewards over the land you wish and shape the land as you see fit; but the power to destroy the world I reserve to myself.” Then the Primarchs departed, each one to his domain and set about the task they had been given by LOR."

     Paraphrased from the The Canticle of the Origin, Chapter 3: 1-15.

 

The Creation of the Elves:

      When Aon was still but a new world, great expanses of the land were covered in living forest. No creature save those on four legs walked among the endless branches and the air below the green canopy of leaves never warmed for the sun was blocked and shaded the ground for thousands of miles in all directions. And at the center of this great forest was a small glade with a clear pool in the center. The pool of Elthien-Thistle, what mortals would later call the “fountain of youth”. And at the edge of this pool, for many years stood tall and proud two large oak trees, their branches grown close and intertwined among themselves.

     So it was when the primarch, Gaia came to that place and fell in love with it. For she loved to sit on the great roots of the trees and rest her back against the trunk and look out over the soft swaying branches and the stars beyond them high above the canopy, that was the domain of her lover, Primus. LOR had created them as equals, yet they felt for each other an emotion that they did not share with the other primarchs, they never questioned why, simply accepted.

     And on nights when he would visit her, during the new moon, they would take on a physical form and lay in each other’s arms beneath the swaying branches of the trees. And over time as they lay beneath the trees, their love for that place led them to take wood from the very trees themselves and shape and mold them until they had given birth to the first of the elves. And they were born of the two great oaks that had overlooked Elthien-Thistle, the male and the female. And Gaia charged them to watch over and protect the forest as best they could and to preserve that place, and to aid them she allowed them to drink from the pool and the elves became immortal in their bodies, having a span of years far beyond that of any of the other races. And over the years as the seasons came and went, the elves themselves split into different peoples and each race of elf took on the charge to care for a particular part of the natural world.

 

The Creation of the Centaurs:

Legends and myths go hand in hand with the history of Aerth. They are one and the same. So it was in the far reaches of the Nether Time when man had not yet learned to measure their lives by the passing of the sun and the moon and the stars were something to be feared and hidden from. In this time lived two young lovers who were forbidden from seeing one another by their families, but each night they managed to sneak away and meet in a place that only they knew of. Until one of the brothers of the young girl followed her and reported her to their father the next day, and in a blind rage the man called on the dark powers of the underworld to curse his daughter so that she would never be able to lay with her lover again. And that very hour the girl was transformed and forced to take on the lower form of a horse while keeping the upper body of a human, and she was banished from her family, hiding herself in the forest in her shame at her form.

     That night, when her lover arrived at their secret meeting place, he found no one there and sat wondering what had happened to his love when he chanced to see hoof prints near the water and he followed them to where his love had hidden herself. There he witnessed what she had become and from the shadows he heard her weeping, and when he could bear it no more, he took out his dagger and prepared to thrust it into his heart. But the plight of the girl had moved Caeros, the Primarch, and he stopped the boy from killing himself and when he asked him what he would give up to be with his love again, the lad responded “anything”. And so Caeros transformed the boy into a creature like his love and they both departed that country together and never saw their families again. This was the rise of the race of the centaurs.

 

The Creation of the Dwarves:

     Now when the elves had been created by Gaia to help tend the forest and keep it from decay, Primus resolved to himself to make a home for he and his love and he set out looking out over the mountains and high hills of Aerth saying, “Surely there is a place among these high and lofty peaks that can serve as a place for me and my love,” and he found one such mountain far in the north and set about carving it and shaping it in such a way as to be pleasing to his wife. But the labor was long and hard and he began to neglect what he had already been given responsibility for and the other Primarchs told him that it was not good for him to neglect his duties.

     So he began working anew and made for himself helpers to take over the making of his home, and once he had carved them out of the rock face he asked Imperiel to give them life and he did so. Then Primus took his creations high into the mountain and told them “Go now and make for me and my bride a place suitable for us. Carve it with cunning skill and device and make it in such a way as to encrusted with all manner of jewels and precious stones.” He departed then and the dwarves began their work. For many months they hammered and chiseled away at the bare stone until they were finished and when they had presented their work to Primus he was pleased and he took Gaia to live with him in the mountain. And this was the first time winter had settled over the land for Gaia had gone into the mountain with her love and was there for three months. And the dwarf’s left that place and found other mountains and they delved deep into the earth for Primus had never told them to cease their labor. And still they labor even today, shaping and molding the rock according to the way Primus had guided them.

 

The Creation of Man:

     Imperiel thought long and hard for countless days about what he was to create but he told none of the other Primarchs of what was in his mind. He kept his thoughts to himself as he walked along the rivers of Aon as he loved to do when he was thinking, for the sound of the water flowing over the smooth stones was comforting to him and he would sit for days, gazing out across the land. Then he decided on what he would do, and he stooped over the ground as he began shaping and molding a form from the dirt and soil. And when he had finished he took water from the river and poured it into the mans throat and breathed into his lungs his own breath, then man awoke and became a living thing. And Imperiel said to him, “I will make you master over all that you see, and will give you all I have in its season.”

     Now all the races of Aon had their place in nature, but man had no place to call his home. The other races looked down on him with pity, but none could truly aid him because he was alone and Imperiel had not made for him a mate as the other Primarchs had for their creations. And one day, while man was near the banks of a small river, Imperiel came to him and said “Why do you wander aimlessly over the land and say in your heart that I have abandoned you? Did I not say that I would make you master over this world? Did I not tell you that all I can give I will in its appointed season?” and the man replied, “The others have a mate to ease their loneliness, but for me you made no one.” And Imperiel answered him, “I formed you from the very soil you walk on and made you a living thing, do you think that I would leave you alone? Show me you are worthy of a mate and I will provide one. But do not weary my ears with your self pity.” And Imperiel left him alone once more to think on what he had said.

     The man thought for many days on what Imperiel had told him and finally came to his answer. “I will go to the other Primarchs,” he thought to himself, “and I will perform a service to them that their own children have failed to do. This way I will prove that I am worthy of a mate.” And so he set off to demand the Primarchs try him and put him to the test.

     Over many months he traveled over the face of Aon, going to and fro and performing whatever tasks the Primarchs set before him. During his journeys he met the child of Gaia, the elf Tyberiel. And the two became firm friends as Tyberiel aided the man in his labors; and they journeyed as companions for many years.

     Then, one day as they were traveling through the forests of the north, one of the other children of Gaia came to them and said “There is a great bull, rampaging through our homes, we cannot stop it and it destroys everything it sees with its horns and fire from its nostrils. You must help us, we cannot survive this.” And the man and Tyberiel ran toward the heart of the forest where they found the great bull as it tore great oaken trees from the earth and flung them here and there. They tried for days to bring the bull down but each time they tried it simply threw them off as if they were nothing. Then they tried to lure it away from the center of the forest and it followed them, for many more days they fought the bull until exhaustion threatened to overwhelm them and they came upon a high cliff. The man and Tyberiel found themselves trapped between the edge of the cliff and the bull pursuing them. It charged them, its head lowered and its horns shinning in the sun, but before the Man could act his friend shoved him out of the way of the bull and so was caught by the horns and he and the bull fell from the cliff and were seen by the living no more.

     Then the man wept bitterly for a long time, saying, “He that was my friend and companion through adventure and hardship is gone forever.” So he rested from the labors and returned to the river from whence he came. And when he had returned he lay on the ground and fell into a deep sleep from which no creature could rouse him for he had traveled for many days bent to the ground with grief at the loss of his friend.

     Then, in the cool hours of the sunset, Imperiel came once again to that place and kneeled next to the man as he slept and whispered in his ear, “You have learned to love another more than yourself, now you are ready for such a gift to be given.” He told him, and Imperiel reached into the man’s chest while he slumbered and taking out part of the man’s heart he shaped another being around it using not the soil of the ground but the very flesh and blood in his hand. And he set the heart in the midst of what he had created and like he had done before poured water from the river into his creations mouth and breathed his breath into its lungs and it awoke a living being and he awoke the man and presented his mate to him.

     “This is woman, because she was formed out of man, and from now on you shall be called Origin for you are the beginning of many and your children will outnumber the stars in the heavens, and your wife will be named Lilith.” And Origin took his wife and loved her and they lived among the forests of the river from that time forward and he never sought any more adventure or hardship to prove his worth among the other races. But instead he became a tiller of the ground and grew crops to feed his family. It is said, even to this day, that when a man comes of age he will spend the rest of his life trying to find the other half of his heart, not being able to rest or know true peace until it is found. And knowing only peace afterward.

 

The Legend of the Dream Tree:

     The Man had come to the end of his journey but for the mate of Tyberiel there was nothing but grief and sorrow at the loss of her husband. Long she wandered and long she looked for another to care for. But she found nothing and at last when she began to despair she came upon a small grove of trees where the river met the sea and all manner of creatures came from the forest down to the river to drink. And it was so peaceful and quiet that at last her spirit could find some measure of peace and here she stayed, not wanting to return to her home where there were only unhappy memories. And Gaia, the spirit of the land, came upon her and took pity on her and said “It is not right that she live forever in sadness” and so she transformed the elven woman into a magnificent tree below which the foxes and deer could come to and be free of fear.

     But the elven woman’s children were saddened and they cried out for their loss and said to themselves, “Gaia delivered our mother from her grief but for us grief is neverending. Come let us renounce our immortality and live as the humans. Our fates are tied together because of our father, and we cannot face the countless years in sorrow.” And so from that time on, the Grey Elves gave up their everlasting life they had known for so very long and lived a span of years no different from man. And so it has been down through the centuries into the present day.

-The Record of the Nisse

 

     In the center of the Grey Elven court in Elmorn, surrounded by the walls of the citadel, grows a tree unique in the realms. Discovered by the elven warrior-king Tyranadin when his people settled Darandor following the ascent from darkness, for many years it has been the source of much debate and speculation but few can deny its beauty or its power. For the tree itself seems to be tied to the fortunes of the Grey Elves and has also been a source and comfort to many of them when times were dark and it seemed like all the world was arrayed against them.

     The tree itself sprouts from the rocky ground of the citadel garden and grows to a fantastic height, its top branches fully visible to visitors entering through the cities southern gate and its leaves giving off a faint golden shine that reflects the sunlight in such a way that the garden appears bathed in gold. Those who have sat at its base on a calm day swear that the tree still sways back and forth with a gentle motion a faint singing can be heard. This only reinforces the belief in the trees origin. It is constantly tended, and for anyone to intentionally harm the tree would most certainly bring about their death at the hands of the palace guard. Magical wards and other forms of protection also guarantee that the slightest flicker of a flame cannot be brought within fifty feet of the tree itself, and the garden is lit with special lamps that give off a faint glow without the need for fire.

     Many believe in the tree’s supposed healing powers as well and it is said that eating a single leaf can cure any disease or illness.

     The end result of this is that Elmorn has become the center of the world for those who pay homage to Gaia and her grandchildren, Aradia and Coros. But the elves do not permit just anyone to approach the tree and tear at its branches. Only a priestess of the Lady can take a leaf from it and then only after much communication with the spirit of the tree to let it know that she does not intend to do it lasting harm.

     More than this, the tree is a symbol to the Grey Elves and it is no wonder that the device in the center of Darandor’s national Coat of Arms is that of a large tree. Whether or not the legend is true and the tree holds the answer to why the grey elves renounced their immortality is a matter of belief.

 

The Rebellion of Apollyon and the Changing of the World:

     Apollyon had been given much and no other in heaven or on Aon was as high as him, and yet he was not satisfied with the gifts he had been given and looked with envy on the creations and works of his brothers. And he burned inside not only wanting to bring about a creation to match theirs in its beauty and strength but one that would set him above all the rest, and his heart became tainted from that time forward by greed and ambition. He was the guardian of the throne and he had become proud and lofty in his position.

     So Apollyon left his first position and abandoned the charge he had been given. And one day happened upon on of the children of Gaia, and elf, and he captured her and took her into the caves and caverns beneath the world and there committed the abomination that bought about the dark men and the races of the deep. But true beauty eluded his creations and all of the sub-men that were born by his hand came forth hideous and malformed.

     Now there came a time of accounting and all the Malachim were required to appear before LOR and tell what they had done with the gifts and powers they had been given, and the Primarchs as well had to give a report on what they had achieved in shaping and molding Aon. LOR was pleased with what they had done and decreed that the races created by the Primarchs would be given an immortal soul, so that they could continue to exist past their death. And he named Imperiel first prince of heaven. Giving him power and dominion over all creation and over all the Malachim.

     But toward Apollyon and his abominations he had no regard and LOR would not give the creatures a soul, for he knew of the secret and dark ways Apollyon had used and he alone knew of how Apollyon had used the tortured body of an elf to create the sub-races. Then Apollyon became enraged so that no one among the other Primarchs could console him and he gathered together the Malachite Captains on Aerth who served him and assailed the very gates of the holy city itself, for in his arrogance he believed himself to be more powerful than his creator and for many years he had lusted after the throne he had been charged to guard. And when they brought forth their strength to cross the bridge that crosses over from the holy sea to the mountain of El-Holum on which the city of LOR sits, then came down from the summit of the mountain Mikael, the captain of the guard, commander of the first ones, and his chief captains bringing with them all the armies of heaven and they defeated Apollyon on the edge of the mountain. But Mikael would not kill his brother and so delivered him up to his master to do with as he wished. For he could see that pride had been his brothers downfall.

     Then LOR came down from his throne and ordered the Primarchs to gather their children together in one place so that they would not share in the destruction and hardship the world was about to endure, and after they had done this LOR caused the world of Aon to once more turn upon itself and he divided it into two equal worlds. One would be known as Earth and the other as Aerth, Terra and Terra-Mater. And those lesser Malachim who had followed Apollyon in his rebellion were banished across the divide to Terra along with their master. And the Malachite captains who had followed Apollyon were imprisoned in spheres of adamant and glass, forever circling the plane of Alysium, so that they would trouble the people of Aerth no more, and their names were remembered no more except in the fragmented and forgotten texts of grand libraries and old historians. Thus they became known as the “un-named”. But no record exists of the tumult of that time and much of the world was changed and lost in the fires and upheaval. But the mortal races were kept safe, for they had been gathered together in a little land called in the human tongue Paradise, where the changing of the world had not touched them and in the appointed time they were once more given the land to live in and call their own once Imperiel had renewed it to its former glory.

 

The Coming of the Guardians:

     When Apollyon and his demons had been banished to Terra, Imperiel beseeched LOR for the means to prevent his returning and he was given the seals of power and when he had opened the seals the Guardians of Aerth sprang into being. But these were no humans or elves but were the Grand Dragons, Talamane, Ancalathraxis and Chronocallien. And they were the first of all dragonkind to exist in the realms of Aerth. And they soared high above the land protecting it lest Apollyon should attempt to cross back over from his prison.

 

The Charging of the Remaining Malachim:

      Now there were in that time, many Malachim who had aided the Primarchs in the shaping of the world who had not followed Apollyon during the Great Rebellion. And Imperiel charged them to rule over the world and to care for it.

     The children of the Primarchs had become numerous, for war between the races was as yet unknown and the elves, humans, dwarves and others all lived among each other in harmony and cities sprang forth from the earth, carved from the living stones by the craft of the dwarves and others whom the Primarchs had taught the art of forging and shaping metal and stone. And the Malachim who had been given charge over the earth looked at the beautiful works of art that the children of the Primarchs and saw that men had begun to honor them and to set them up as gods over Aerth.

     And the Malachim appealed to LOR to let them leave Aerth for they did not wish to share in the temptation that had brought down their brothers. LOR consented and so they were taken back up to dwell with the first ones in the lands of Alysium and to be servants in the lands of the Primarchs, and so they remain, serving the will and purpose of their master.

 

Primus Falls in Love with Gaia:

     It is said that one day, Primus grew weary of his abode up in the sky and so he came down to the ground to rest and while he did so, he chanced upon a woman bathing in a river in the center of the forest. For a long time he watched her until she had finished and left, he tried to follow her but she disappeared behind a large oak and he knew not which way to go. So he reasoned that he would return to the spot he had first seen her and wait.

     For many days he waited, but she did not appear and he had to return to the sky because it had grown hot and Solen had to be set in motion once more and more days passed as the sun turned and the leaves fell from the trees. But she did not return to the river.

     Then it grew cold and snow came and blanketed the banks of the river, which ran cold and fast. But he found no sign of her. So once more he left and went back to his home.

     Thus it was after many more days that when he resolved to go back to the river he felt she would not be there and indeed as he looked down at the bank she was not there. Then he heard a gentle singing on the wind and the flowers and grass on the banks swayed back and forth as she stepped from the shadows and into the water.

     For a long time he knelt there in his hiding place, stunned by a beauty he had never seen before and she smiled because she was aware of him, and finally called out to him, beckoning him to come out from where he was hidden.

 

LOR’s displeasure at the decision of Primus and Gaia

     Then LOR veiled himself and stepped down from his throne and walked among the trees and fields of Aerth, looking on what he had created, and saw that the lands were empty. With the passing of the Malachim, the land would forever remain but no eternal being would live there, and he summoned Primus and Gaia to him as he walked.

     And he spoke to them saying, “I am sorry that I ever created the world, for my children reject me and the mortal races which I allowed you and your brethren to create have forgotten me. They wander here and there seeking what is in front of them. And yet great is my compassion and I have pity for them, for they are like infants stumbling in the dark for they have no one among their number to guide and care for them. They bow to the sun and the moon in their nakedness, calling upon strange spirits, dancing and drinking until they shame themselves and they leave my shrines to be covered in vines and dust. But they are my children, born of you my sons and daughters and I will not forsake them.

     I will give shape to your formless bodies and you will walk the lands as men do. I will set you above your brethren and you will bring forth children to rule over and guide the races as best you can, and yet I will not force you or yours to follow my word. I command no mans love and so you as they must choose in your own time to follow my words or no. Though I wish it not be so, you shall be joined together and bring forth children, each in their own season. And their decision and fate will be a source of constant sorrow for you. You and your children will be the new caretakers of this, my creation, and great will be your power, and yet that power will be at the whims of those you watch over.

     I name you, Primus, the lord of all Aerth and only my son Imperiel and me shall stand above you.

     And in the appointed time, in the appointed season when a man seeks me out and remembers who it was that created the cosmos and set it in motion. I will give to him my laws and the people will begin to remember me once again. For I will speak to the generations through him and through the words of his mouth I will make my will known to the world. And I will send one of them to be a guide and leader for the nations of Aerth. And if the people do remember me I will show them favor, and if they forget me, I will hide my face from them and hear them not. This will all be because I have spoken it.

      Then LOR veiled himself once more and returned to his throne atop the holy city and came down no more in that time.

 

The Union of Primus and Gaia and the Coming of the Titans:

     Primus and Gaia were two of the seven Primarchs and as such they had no permanent physical form like that Lor had given the rest of creation. But their love was intense and they grew envious of the mortal races that were able to share their love through physical touch and they pleaded with Lor to give them bodies of flesh and blood, and after much pleading he finally relented and gave them physical forms but allowed them to retain the power to come an ago across the planes as they pleased. So he married them and made them for each other.

 

The Rise of the Elementals:

 

The Gods of Aerth are created:

 

LOR judges the Gods:

 

The Symbolic Alphabet:

     During the long span of centuries between the creation of the mortal races and the founding of Empyrea, written language, as we understand it did not yet exist. And yet the mortal races of Aerth did have a form of written communication in the form of the Symbolic Alphabet, a system of runes and symbols meant to convey concepts and broad themes more than specific words or feelings. It is unknown exactly who created it, if indeed it was a single individual, or when it was first used but no other form of writing has been discovered that predates it.

     Like many things in the world, every race lays claim to creating it yet no one can back their claim with proof. It is believed that once there were hundreds of individual symbols, representing every facet of life and existence. But now only a fraction of that number remains for archeologists and scholars to study.

Over time, as true writing developed, the symbols were used less and less and eventually they were only used in association with the gods and goddesses of Aerth. This continued until the two became inseparable and the runes became in essence the holy symbols of the gods and this is how they are known today. Each symbol and its ancient meaning or purpose now a direct link to the deity who wields it.

 

The Rise of a new Darkness:

 

The Gates of the World:

 

The Prophet Jerod:

 

The Creation of Galamadrix:

      Of all the creatures of history, few were as feared and at the same time admired as the Great Black Dragon of the north. Before him, only the birds of the air and the guardians themselves had the freedom to openly roam the skies and high places of the world, and with his coming, the true lineage of dragons began, for he was the father of all dragons to come after, and it is to him that they bow in remembrance, from the highest towers of Arden to the darkest caves deep within the Spine of the World. And it was deception that loosed this beast upon mankind.

     Antar, the god of earth and his sister Vesta, the goddess of fire, had worked long in the forges of the world. And one day a mortal woman came to them and begged them to create a being that might defend her village. And she told them that the guardians of Aerth had abandoned them to their fate, and with her was Aradia, the goddess of magic. But Antar and Vesta were tricked for it was not Aradia that stood before them but Rakariel, the goddess of Chaos who had taken her sisters form.

     And the god of the earth and his sister could not see through the deception, and believed the story of the woman. So they set about making a beast that could rival the guardians in strength and power and they told the woman to go home and that her village would be safe from then after.

For many months they labored over their charge and

 

The First Age: The Rise & Fall of Noble Luria (The Golden Age of Men)

The Birth of Taranis The Great:

     To the people of Kaliden he is Megas-Taranis, the first king of men and champion of Empyrea. To the elves he is the Great Eagle of the West, forever soaring free on the wind, unrestrained by the trials of life. To the people of Anthoria he is the glorious Lord of the Morning and the sunrise of his life and reign on Aerth was no more than the span of thirty and eight years. He was the Defender of Heaven, the Dragon of the Valor, the first Paladin to walk Aerth. In his shadow all warriors walk and his vision of uniting the race of men under a single banner still holds power even after seven thousand years. And it is said that on the day of his birth as he emerged from his mothers womb a golden eagle flew past the house and let out a cry as it circled high overhead, almost as if it was heralding his arrival in the world. And the eagle was his symbol ever after.

     Seven thousand years of bloody war and constant struggle followed that day, all in the name of reclaiming the throne of a man who’s life and teachings shaped the world unlike any other of his day. Even the great warrior kings of Luria itself were just pale imitations of him.

     When the great library of Empyrea burned to the ground in the first age, much that was known of this man and his early life was lost. But fortunately all the details of his life were not forgotten and the scribes and scholars of the temple set about recording all they could once more before that generation passed away.

 

Talamane gives Taranis the Seven Stones of Virtue:

 

The Subjugation of the Barbarians:

 

The Founding of Empyrea:

     “How easy it is to remember shining Luria when it was but a shadow, a shadow of a dream that was given life by the greatest of us. A shooting star that burned out before our eyes were used to his magnificence. The dream as it was, that was Empyrea. A gleaming jewel of the coast that shone out across the water and beckoned all men to it.” 

     Up until the first age, mankind had largely lived in small communal villages and extended family groups. Trade and marriage was the chief reasons these families came together in a place of mutual comfort and over time, these meeting places became small villages in their own right and those villages became towns. But no true city of men had existed since the dawn of time, until Empyrea.

     She was the first and greatest of her kind. The few ancient records that survive tell of walls that rose a full sixty feet into the air, towers made of white stone that stood gleaming in the sun like small bastions of chiseled marble along its length. Down the city looked from its perch on the cliffs of the western coast, upon a wide and fertile floodplain below that stretched for two miles before it reached the sea. And it is said that food was so bountiful that not a single person, man, elf, dwarf or any of the children of the Primarchs went to bed in hunger. It was a city that had no slums for in it was not a single person who lived in poverty; everyone had everything they needed to live.

     That was the reality of life in the city. A city where no one of kindness or merit was ever turned away at its gates. A city where all that came in peace were welcome.

     But for all her glory, she only stood strong and proud for three hundred years, until she was abandoned. Abandoned by a people who could not learn from the past and seek their own way without a mortal king to guide them. But it will always be remembered, for it was here that Zerra first wrote of magic, and it was here that a small child was born. A child that would grow to be the greatest warrior king the world has ever known.

     And when the sea heaved upward in the cataclysm that claimed Luria, she was buried forever by the waves and the great gleaming walls were lost forever to men.

 

The Death of Taranis and the Exodus to Luria:

     In the first age mankind was almost consumed in the fire and slaughter of what would come to be called the Battle of Falling Stars. For indeed a time it seemed that Mordin was close to achieving what he so often dreamed of, the destruction of Imperiel’s creation, man. But it was a man that defeated him and his spirit was sent back into the abyss from which it had escaped. This was the final act of Taranis in his life, for he was mortally wounded battling the lord of darkness and as the sun rose over the horizon to reveal the field of battle around Empyrea to be at last in the charge of men, he asked his lieutenants to prop him up against a tree and so breathed his last looking into the morning light.

     The words of his closest advisor and friend, Joakim, became etched in the memory of all who were there. “He bears the sun now.” For indeed it seemed that in the moments after his passing the sun shone brighter out across the land, driving away the last vestiges of darkness that had covered the sky for days during the conflict.

 

The Birth of Gilraen:

 

The Giving of the Law:

     High above the gates of the crystal city rose a snow capped mountain, the height of which had never been measured for it was considered sacrilege for men even to set foot upon it. By tradition it was here that the dragon Talamane brought the lifeless body of Taranis following the battle of falling stars and it was assumed that it was here as well that legend spoke the blade Impyratalix had also been entombed beside its master. The mountain was called Eirid-Dao in the old tongue of men, meaning “Mountain of God”. And it was also here that Gilraen would go up to commune with Imperiel and talk with him receiving the law and setting it down in several scrolls that would become the Codex Anima.

 

The Destruction of Luria and the Childless Dawn:

 

The Prophecy of the 8^th Dragon:

      During the fall of Luria, Gilraen managed to give his student Gadren several scrolls before his death. One of these contained the already ancient prophecy of the Eighth Dragon, who would be the “Lord of Summer” and would usher in a golden age unlike any the world had yet seen. Widely believed to have been written by the hand of the mysterious prophet Jerod in the later years of the nether time, it has remained a source of hope to many and a source of fear and worry to many more.

 

I was in the garden, in the cool of the evening, and I heard a voice calling to me, “Come and see.” And so I went into the heart of the garden and there was a crown, broken into seven pieces before me. And I heard two voices speaking to one another:

 

“What is it?”

“The Crown of the High King.”

“Who forged it?”

“He who once wore it.”

“Who was he?”

“He who came before.”

“Who shall have it?”

“He who is yet to come.”

 

“What shattered it?”

“The tongue of the golden Serpent.”

“Who shall seek to have it?”

“The Kings of the earth.”

“What shall mend it?

“The hands of an innocent.”

“Who is he?”

“The King that was promised to us.”

 

“How shall we know him?”

“By earth, and fire, and air, and water.”

“From whose blood will he rise?”

“The last Dragon of the West.”

“What shall be the sign of his coming?”

“When the Sun touches the Moon.”

“From where shall he reign?”

“From the city that was lost.”

 

“What shall be his kingdom?”

“The Four Corners of the World.”

 

      The thirteen stanzas formed what has become known as the “Song of the Promise”, when the power of Megas Taranis would be born anew in another king that would retake his throne and gather the pieces of Taranis’ shattered crown back to himself. The stanzas are taught in the church as part of a child’s basic learning and children are even required to repeat back the answers to the questions as proof that they have learned it. But more than a simple children’s fable to banish away the shadows at night, it is a story to which many in the realms hold in the current times. Never before has there been so many armies gathered under different flags, ready to do their part in the bringing to fruition this prophecy.

 

The Refugees of Luria come to Pangaea:

     The survivors of Luria were long at sea and in the haste to escape the island there had been no food or water brought on board except what had already been stored down in the lower holds. For many days the wind howled as it drove them ever eastward, the waves propelling the ships at an incredible pace and the men never bothered to take up their oars for they were not needed.

     During the journey some succumbed to grief, others to hunger and thirst, but on the morning of the twenty-second day they looked out across the water and saw the shore of a land their fathers had not seen in over five hundred and sixty years. Five ships there were that landed that day on the shores of Pangaea, carrying some two hundred men women and children. All of them from the seven houses of Vaxtron, descended from Taranis. But the last survivor of the house of Uriah, the princess Atlantia found no peace in seeing the new land. That night, while the others slept, she walked into the ocean and was never seen again.

 

The Second Age: The Golden Age of Dragons

     In the uncertainty and fear that gripped the survivors of Luria, many in their number despaired and felt that the gods had abandoned them. Many had indeed looked to princess Atlantia to provide comfort and direction, but with her suicide, they to began to give up hope. So Gadren bid them to stay and live for a time on the shores of Pangaea and they built the lighthouse of Caer-Anos on the western coast of the land that would in time come to be known as Dardathia, to steer any other survivors to them who might also be in the wilderness or out on the sea and when it was finished, Gadren departed from them and journeyed to a mighty lake and their spoke with the spirit of his dead master, seeking his wisdom.

     The shade of Gilraen told him to travel to the island of Ardenell in the center of the Sea of Arden, where the Dragon Court resided and seek the council of the Dragon Queen who ruled over all the greater dragons, the children of the blood of Galamadrix. Once there he convinced the Dragons to allow his people to dwell in the lands of Pangaea but they demanded in return the power to decide for themselves who it was that would lead the seven noble houses and thus the nations. The dragons had long known of the arrogance and foolhardy actions of Uriah, the last king of Luria, and the cataclysm that followed had made them hateful and untrusting toward the race of men.

     Gadren returned to his people and delivered this news. And after a month of taking council among themselves about what they should do, they decided to abide by the decree set down by the dragons and declared that no member of the seven noble houses would rule unless the Dragons of Arden declared it so. Then Gadren departed once more for Arden and took with him the seven eldest surviving members of the royal houses and many of their kin. Once they arrived in Arden the first Council of the Dragon Court was convened and many other races were there as well for the decisions made would affect all who lived in the west. And Gadren also took with him the pieces of the scepter of kings, which contained the stones given to Taranis by Talamane.

     Of the council and all that was said there, no book can contain but sufficient to say that at long last the lands of the west were divided among the great houses of Luria and not all at that council gave welcome or kind words to them. And at the same time, the seven stones of virtue were taken from the shards of the scepter and placed within the hilts of seven blades, forged in the furnaces of Arden and they were to be a sign from then on of a true king of the line. And only the dragon court could bequeath the swords to one they felt was worthy to hold it.

     Now the division of the seven Dragonblades, as they came to be known, was as follows. To the house of Bartan, the rulers of Antion, the sword of mercy was given. To the house of Reigwield, the rulers of Asgard, the sword of strength was given. To the house of Castigaer, the rulers of Kaliden, the sword of purity was given. To the house of Durn, the rulers of Tamirin, which lay between Anthor and Asgard, the sword of honesty was given. To the house of Dorman, the rulers of Anthor, the sword of Valor was given. To the house of Vager, the rulers of Celimbrior, the sword of Humility was given. And to the house of Praetor, the rulers of Roldir, the Sword of Justice was given. This was the formation of what has come to be known as the “Old Kingdoms”.

 

The Third Age: The Age of the Titans

     The third age of the world was one of the few times of peace on Aerth. The men of Luria were still new to this world. The titans ruled over all they could see and while the gods grew more powerful by the day they were content to make their homes in the high places, from which they seldom came down. Distrust between the two ran deep however and the gods knew that their survival depended on having what the titans would not willingly give up.

 

The Fourth Age: The Age of the God-War

     Of the fourth age of the world little can be said with any certainty for there are few creatures that remember or were even witness to the events that led up to the titanic clash between the Gods and the Titans, and those who served them.

     Long had the distrust and enmity between the children of Primus and Gaia had grown and festered until the very sight of one another was enough to spark combat. Even those beings who had sired and bore them seemed to have no power to call a peace between their wayward children. Those who were witness to such events often fled as far as they could before the enraged immortals let loose a wild magic that would consume them along with the object of their hate.

For hundreds of years the peoples of the west lived in fear of everything around them, for the very ground beneath their feet would shake and tremble and the elves made no songs or tales during that time that was light of heart.

     What is known to history is how this war ended. One the plains of what is known now as the Kaliden Empire rose up armies of mortals, led by the gods themselves and titans along with dragons as well and they all clashed at a place called the valley of fading stars and their battle is now only known in the annals of history as the battle of unending tears.

     When all had finally ended, the Titans withdrew beyond the Walls of the Gods in the east and there remain even until this day. And none of the Gods and Goddesses of Aerth dares to trespass there. Looking upon the slaughter of the battlefield, the god Turpin pleaded to Lor to let his priests have the power to bring back those who had died, and because he had humble himself to do do, Lor honored his request and returned the power to raise the dead back to mortals.

 

The Coming of a Dragon:

      The annals of history are full of those who attempted to write the story of their lives in the blood and slaughter of the battlefield. During the time of Ulthgar One-Eye many petty warlords rose up and fell just as quickly, their dreams of forging quick empires dying before they could realize it but there was one who was stronger than the rest and it is said when he was old enough to hold a sword, his first act was to drive it into the womb of the woman who had brought him into this world. His second act was to drive his dagger into the throat of the man who had sired him as well.

     But these tales are mere legend, at least that is what they are viewed as, what is known however is that the boy grew up to become the strongest leader of his tribe, some say hailing from the harsh steppes near the Sea of Ice, and that when it came his time, he took up the mantle that so many had before, that of a warlord. His name is also not a matter of legend but of historical fact, his name was Reichmar.

     So much conjecture and so many tall tales surround the early life of this monster it is hard to tell one lie from another but around the year 3180 of the fourth age it what is called Orsica in a non-descript village he was born. No record of his parentage or childhood exists other than persistent rumor but it is safe to say that if such things were true then he would have been banished long before being old enough to survive on his own in the wilds of the hostile north. More than likely his early childhood was just like any other among his people, a hard life of trying to carve a living out of the barren soil and eternal cold of the north. Childhood pleasures slowly giving way to more adult concerns as he grew both in body and in stature among his peers until the day he was ready for the tribe to declare him an adult. It is hard to remember sometimes that this scourge of humanity was nothing more than a mortal boy once upon a time. His flesh and blood being no different than any other. However he started out though he quickly gained strength and the loyal following of many of the tribes young men who like he were enamored with the doings of Ulthgar One-Eye who at the time was sweeping away all who resisted him on the plains of Anthor far to the south. And when the lad was old enough to be called a man he and many others set off to join their banner with Ulthgar.

 

The Fifth Age: The Age of Elves

 

Megatranix conquers Roldir, seizes the Sword of Justice, and enslaves the Grey Elves of the West:

 

The Races forge Antea:

 

The Sixth Age: The Age of Darkness

 

The fall of Antea:

 “Anthor-Elberin, Great city of the world, noble was the dream that spawned you. You reached for the heavens upon the wings of Taranis himself. And great was the sound of your fall, and it echoes still across the vast plains and rocky hillsides of the west. You were a dream, and it is said that all dreams must come to an end; and yet you cannot die and leave us with the cherished memory of you. You must remain forever just over the horizon and we are cursed to try and find you once more through the years.”

-From the “Song of Sorrows”

Written by Gerard of Gallemar

 

     It is said that the largest and strongest of trees may never yield to the wind, may withstand the strongest of storms, and yet still fall to the rot that eats away at it from within. So it was with the fledgling nation of Antea, and the city at its center, Anthor-Elberin, which had stood for over a century. A century of peace in which the old glories of Luria and its mother Empyrea could almost be tasted. But just as before, when one has reached too high, they inevitably will fall.

The dream of those who created it was to bring back the great days of the past when the races lived and worked as one before the bloodlines were scattered to the winds by evil and necessity. But its very existence was a thorn in the side of the one who yearned for the downfall of all the free peoples of Aerth and the elves in particular. What was once a matter of revenge had long since grown into an unreasoning hatred and the knowledge that many elves still roamed the world free of his chains, would continually send the baron Megatranix into rages that would shake the walls of his fortress. And just as infuriating as the knowledge that elven kind eluded him, so to was the knowledge that Anthor-Elberin was impregnable to his armies, for it stood high and strong among he cliffs and peaks of the Red Mountains far north of him. But what he knew he could not accomplish through strength of arms, he could through subterfuge and guile.

So he called on the goddess Veimara and together they plotted a means to bring about the downfall of the proud leaders of Antea. Sewing the seeds of distrust and hate by whispering lies in their ears and sending her minions to tell false tales in the beds of their unsuspecting lovers. And in a matter of years Megatranix was able to destroy Antea without firing a single arrow or drawing one sword. The races took to their old mistrusts and hatreds and the city of Anthor-Elberin was abandoned where it stood. Leaving only the creatures of the wild to roam its streets and houses.

 

The Departure of the High Elves:

     Not long after the races broke their accord and began the chain of events that would lead to open war, the High Elves, who had dwelled in the lands of Pangaea since the beginnings of the world came to the conclusion that they should leave the shores of the lands they had known and loved. Elven cities that had been filled with music and song for thousands of years now stood silent and still, slowly reclaimed by the forests around them. Until nothing remained except the fading stones and half remembered songs. The elves slowly moved all that they possessed across the sea to the island kingdom of Parn-Tannara and now pass the endless years behind a curtain of secrecy that is fiercely guarded. No stranger and certainly no human is permitted to set foot on the islands and to do so uninvited is to bring about a swift death.

 

The Great Race War:

     Perhaps it was inevitable, and perhaps it wasn’t but as the years passed and enmity between the races grew, even the wisest and most peace loving could tell that eventually blood would be spilled. All that remained to be seen was how such an event would occur and how would it end.

 

The Sundering:

     It was the final travesty of all that had come before. And once the elves, humans and dwarves set out to make war upon one another, it was unavoidable.

For many years, the baron Megatranix had sat secure within his walls, waiting and watching. Biding his time until the right opportunity presented itself. And when the war horns of Anthor rolled down through the hills he knew it was the right time to strike.

     The gates of the land of ash opened up to spew his soldiers out onto the world and an army vast and powerful beyond all imagination marched out against the last remnants of the western powers. For over a hundred years he had been building his forces, breeding his army and stoking the furnaces of his armories until the land trembled beneath the boots and war hooves of a force nearly a million strong. So great was their going forth that even the gods themselves covered their faces and feared the lord of Ash Mountain. And there was little that could stand against him.

     And not only vile and twisted men marched in the ranks of the Vampire lord, but huge dragons, their scales black as night soared overhead and set fire to the kingdoms of the west. Day and night the smoke of their destruction rose into the heavens and those that could fled before it as an animal might a wildfire.

North, west, and south his army marched and they conquered and destroyed everything in their path ‘til not a hut was spared and every castle they could touch was brought down to the ground. Until at last the vast army worked its way across the blackened and blasted landscape to the city of Anthor-Mirith, the last elven stronghold left on Pangaea.

     Over the years, as the land groaned beneath its evil, the army of Megatranix would lay siege to the elven city three times

 

The leadership of Tyranadin:

     People without hope can tend to not see it when it is right in front of them. The early years of the man who would later lead the elves to revolt against Megatranix are known to be remarkable in the fact that one thought the boy special or worthy of note. Like many boys his age, his family made him to be sickly and underfed so that they hoped he would escape the notice of the baron and be passed over by the agents of the Red Hand. And whether by their diligence or by the aid of the gods, he managed to remain hidden from the agents of the black master of Caer-Karidon until he passed the age of blood. A name given by the Grey Elves to a time when a child was old enough that their blood would not sustain Megatranix’s wretched unlife and so they were of no interest to him.

 

The Battle of Aldamar:

 

The Seventh Age: The Return of Knowledge, The Age of the DragonKings

     The darkness and despair of the five hundred years of war and sorrow that came to be known as the Sundering finally seemed to be lifted from the land. In the west, the Grey Elves has thrown off the yoke of their slavery to the Vampire Lord, Megatranix, and the armies of the west had beaten him back into the dark corridors of the Ash Mountains of Rorin and set a watch lest he threaten the free peoples again. Knowledge had returned thanks to the Gnomes of Arkitheron who had managed to hide the sacred texts in the caves of their island home. And the second council of Arden was convened to once again recognize the lost bloodlines of Taranis, which had been scattered abroad by war and danger. Old kingdoms, such as Tamirin and Celembrior were gone and beyond recovery though and the council knew that new ones would have to be established and allowed to flourish in their own time if the prophecy of the Eighth Dragon, given by the prophet so long ago as Luria collapsed around him, would have a chance of one day being fulfilled.

     Once again, the sorcerer Athelas Ben-Caleb was called on by the Dragons of Arden to gather those together that held the Dragonblades and to bring them to the island of Arden where the boundaries of the new kingdoms would be set. And although it took him many months to do, he finally convinced the Kings of the Dragonblades to come to Arden and to come in peace. Yet he did not travel into the accursed land of Rorin, which had been known as Roldir, because the land was now dark and filled with evil.

     For many days the council and the Kings talked, bickered and argued as to how the land was to be divided when they returned but in the end the council ended peacefully, though not without much disbelief and shouts of outrage at the decision of the council to leave alone the one being that all held responsible for the great wars that had claimed so much of the world in blood.

     The council had barely begun when Megatranix, in his arrogance, arrived himself. Carrying the blade of Telecus, the Sword of Justice, which he had taken from the dead king of Roldir himself in the latter years of the fifth age. He and his vile lieutenants strode into the council chambers and the uproar from the other Kings could have shaken the walls and swords leapt from their scabbards, but Talamane let out a roar that stopped all in their place and even Megatranix himself was visibly shaken by it and the threat he had been rehearsing for Tyranadin, his mortal enemy, died on his lips ere he spoke it. For Talamane had been awakened from his long slumber by Athelas and had returned to Arden where the dragon queen had submitted to him until such time as he chose to leave one more. Like it or not the Vampire Lord now held one of the seven Dragonblades and by the words of the law he would have to be recognized as a king, no matter how much he himself was responsible for what had so shortly before almost brought about the end of all civilization. And the Grand Dragon, Talamane, forbid the spilling of any blood under pain of death within the domains of Arden.

     And even Athelas Ben-Caleb could not understand why the dragons tolerated the presence of the vampire lord and he strode out of the chamber in anger. For he knew then in his heart that the dragons cared more for maintaining their power and position in the world than in bringing about the end of the prophecy and he left Arden for many years, and his friendship with Talamane was strained near to breaking.

     So Athelas left the isle and the council and his voice, though needed, was not heard. Had it been many believe that Megatranix’s rule over Rorin would have ended many years ago, but the people of that country still suffer his evil. But things are never as simple as they appear and it would slowly become known throughout the realms that the baron had enlisted the aid of many of the most evil dragons in Aerth to safeguard his realm from an attack by the dragons of Arden. Night drakes and fearsome magma dragons roamed the skies over Caer-Karidon, and all of this only added to his power. And in time, Ben-Caleb learned to let go of his anger and realized that Talamane, like his enemy, was biding his time.

     But the sorcerer Athelas Ben-Caleb had not abandoned the races to their fate and he sought out and befriended Tyranadin of the house of Eltherin, who had newly been named the holder of one of the Dragonblades by the council. Over time he aided his new friend in his endeavors to conquer the land that would eventually become Darandor and with the creation of the last elven nation on Pangaea, the races saw relative peace for the fist time in hundreds of years. But history has born out that the race of men can never stay at peace for very long.