Post by thewriter on Jun 30, 2007 17:13:38 GMT -5
The Beginning
In the beginning there were only two gods (well 1 god 1 goddess) who ruled the stars and space alike but it was a lonely universe... cold and uncaring with little more than gravity trying to hold it together so the goddess, Ameraia went to one of the beds of rock that spun about a single star and began to mold it over thousands of years until it was flourishing with the greens of earth and the seas but it was still an empty place.
When Lyath discovered what Ameraia was doing, he went to the planet, and watched her for she was still sad that although she had this beautiful planet, there was nothing to love her there and nothing for her to love in return. So Lyath gifted the planet with life from the smallest creatures to the giant dragons that ruled the sky, and infused it with magic and energy. But still Ameraia was not satisfied with her work there, so Lyath gifted her one final creature, created to feel love and happiness and sorrow, much as they were and so the Ikorid were born.
They began, primitive at first, worshipping the god and goddess both, but soon they began to expand and grow up, designating themselves the protectors of the land in which they lived. During this time and after seeing how the Ikorid loved Lyath Ameraia made her own people and hid them from Lyaths eyes. But something happened that Lyath and Ameraia did not intend.
Ameraia became pregnant with twins. Jaylin, and his sister Wreathyn. Jaylin, with his love of the open air and sky was given dominion over the sun. While Wreathyn with her passion for darkness and water was given dominion over the moon whose pull swayed the oceans. Each of the twins decided to create a race to worship them. And so when they were old enough, the twins created the Mer’ai (later these guys become human), to live in the sea while Jaylin created his creatures to live the sky in secret, the Suliwei. Little did the gods know that the earth itself would find a way to sing its joy for its mother and father's children, and so the elves were born in the deepest forests.
The Meeting
It happened that for many years these races favored by the gods (Elves, Ikorids, Suliwei, Mer’ai, and Andraste) existed without knowing of the others, but such ignorance could not last forever. One day, parties of Elves were traveling towards the coast when they spotted the Mer'ai. The Mer'ai were startled at first upon meeting such creatures that could influence the ground to flourish and trees themselves to grow, and the elves were surprised as well to meet such strange and carefree people that seemed to cut through the water faster than any creature they had ever seen. The two trusted each other for a time, despite their different natures for the elves seemed stubborn to the Dre'nai, and the Dre'nai seemed too content to wander without a distinct goal in mind.
Despite the short-lived nature of their truce, this led to a realization among both races that they were not alone. It was not long after that that the races discovered one another, and a boarder was set up for each, though for a time, the boarders were relatively open. The Ikorid named themselves protectors of the other two races present, and often peace keeper between the two, calling on Lyath himself in times of need who gave them use of his power.
The War
It was not for many years after that this position of protectors of the land came into question when a mysterious race from the sky Suliwei began attacking the Mer'ai. It is said that a curse was placed on them on the first day of the war for the Dre'nai split into two groups. One group stayed to fight, and the other fled to the protection of the Ikorid on the land, and so separated from the protection of their goddess, the Mer'ai who fled named themselves Humans. The Ikorid, true to their word, stood fast to protect the land, but they were little match for those who came into battle on top of great dragons and controlled the wind. Many of the humans were enslaved outright. Some managed to escape to the elves who had retreated into the deeper forest where thei magic was strongest. Others fled to the mountains inside which the Ikorid had retreated.
The Mer'ai fought, with the aid of their mother Weathyn, against the creatures of the sky for many years, unknowingly giving the creatures of the land time to create a plan to save their enslaved brothers and sisters, but it would come with the greatest of sacrifices. The elves and Ikorid spent the next hundred years (or so it was said) constructing a well on the boundary of their homeland where the forest crept up the mountainside that led directly to the heavens, and Lyath blessed those Ikorid that drank from the well a connection directly with him, to be his knights in this war, for he would not strike down his own son in order to end this, and even then, the creatures of the planet were blessed with free will so it wouldn't have stopped them. It is said that each and every Ikorid drank from the well and was so blessed with this connection in order to fight the upcoming battle.
Meanwhile, the elves were devising a plan of their own in order to save the land from the Suliwei, even if it meant a sacrifice to themselves. They began to plant giant trees that grew tall and webbed their branches together in order to seal the land off from the sky and protect them, despite the Ikorid urging them not to do so. The trees quickly began to grow, faster than the elves had ever intended, but it had unexpected consequences as something began to poison the trees. Enraged by this, the elves assumed it was the Ikorid doing this in retribution for their disobedience, but as the trees began dying, their powers began to diminish as well and their was little they could do.
The Final Battle
When the final battle came between those who lived on the land and those who controlled the sky, the Ikorid were able to put up the best defense possible, with some aid from the humans and other races of the world. However, they were betrayed by the elves in a last attempt to get revenge as they poisoned the earth itself in order to destroy the Ikorid well to the heavens. The Ikorid were given the choice to save their new found connection with Lyath or save the land from the Suliwei, and they decided their vow was more important than the power bestowed in them. And so they continued to put everything they had into the battle against the Suliwei, until they finally won with the aid of what few Mer'ai were left came to their aid, throwing the full weight of their magic and swords against their would be conquers.
But it was too late for their connection as they began to feel it not just dying but becoming all consuming and changing from the purity that was there before to something twisted. After the battle when they returned to their mountain homes their skin began to fade from their bright colors to a dull blue gray. Some were able to remain pure, but most were not. Those who lost their connection were something entirely different now: they were connected to The Void… something more evil than anything the world had ever known.
The Aftermath
It began to change even the way the Severed Ikorid thought. Some desperately clung to their faith and began looking for a way to cure the well, but others had used magic too deeply, becoming addicted. They couldn't function without it so they fell to the void's dark way, and began killing off the light Ikorad that opposed them.
The elves on the other hand, were abandoned by their earth mother for disregarding its well being so much for something as petty as revenge. Too full of pride to admit their faults decided that they too would leave the earth abandoned. The majority of the race went to human lands staking out territory their where they practiced ulterior magic (earth magic) to regain the skills they lost. The rest chose to stay in their forest home. There they are still attempting to cleanse their native lands of the evil and poison that threatens to take it over in order to win back their place in mother earth’s heart. For their trials the Earth Mother granted them back a small portion of their abilities.
Not all of the Suliwei were destroyed in the final battle. The survivors fled back to their flying castles while the creatures allied with them were spared having been considered as slaves to the rulers of the air. They still have the love of their creator though and although they were few in number they struggled to rebuild what they could. You would rarely see one outside of the flying cities though and one outside of one is either extremely foolish or dangerous for they were likely to be attacked on sight by almost any of the other races.
Meanwhile the earth mother blessed a group of humans with her gift in order to begin the healing for the planet. At first, these wild magic users were accepted and even welcomed by most, until the truth of what happened to the elves came out. Those who used the wild magic began being discriminated against, even killed in less civilized cultures. So the mages of the world fled to private places, some schools were built specifically for magic users, and some simply went to live with the elves who openly dispised them for taking the gift that was meant to be theirs.
In their sadness, Lyath and Ameraia turned their back on the world so that they would not have to see the fighting and destruction of everything they had created. This left their children time to run free and in there anger with each other they began to create a group of smaller demi-gods to continue their battle in the heavens.
A New Age
That was many centuries ago. In more recent times humans, as they are known to do, multiplied rapidly and spread across many continents. And as usual, they split into many different factions and begun warring with one another. None of these small wars are on the scale of the “Last Great War” as it is known in the history books but still fairly decent ones. The demi-gods have been born just as the battle between the Earth Mother and The Void is picking up. The Suliwei are at least trying to begin to interact peacefully with the rest of Kyrandor. The Ikorids still continue their battle against their fallen bretheren. The Orcs are watching the goblinoid tribes carefully as they begin to look like they might be banning together to become a force worth reckoning with. Something is killing off the dragons and it is unknown whether it is a force of nature and something more sinister, so a council has been called to find a solution to the problem.
The Kingdoms of Sanct and Horate maintain an uneasy truce as they both focus on conquering in territory in the Wildes. But the Knights of the Sun in Horate have begun to develope a fear of The Void and the Earth Mother that it is apart of. Who knows how they will choose to respond to the growing number of Earth Magic users. The Sanct kinngdom, in an effort to exapnd their territories over the seas have begun skirmishing with the Dre'nai, although they have not declared an all out war.
The Elves still battle to reclaim their ancient forest home. And the Andraste have begun tobranch out from the western continent, sending emissaries and spies over the waters.
In the beginning there were only two gods (well 1 god 1 goddess) who ruled the stars and space alike but it was a lonely universe... cold and uncaring with little more than gravity trying to hold it together so the goddess, Ameraia went to one of the beds of rock that spun about a single star and began to mold it over thousands of years until it was flourishing with the greens of earth and the seas but it was still an empty place.
When Lyath discovered what Ameraia was doing, he went to the planet, and watched her for she was still sad that although she had this beautiful planet, there was nothing to love her there and nothing for her to love in return. So Lyath gifted the planet with life from the smallest creatures to the giant dragons that ruled the sky, and infused it with magic and energy. But still Ameraia was not satisfied with her work there, so Lyath gifted her one final creature, created to feel love and happiness and sorrow, much as they were and so the Ikorid were born.
They began, primitive at first, worshipping the god and goddess both, but soon they began to expand and grow up, designating themselves the protectors of the land in which they lived. During this time and after seeing how the Ikorid loved Lyath Ameraia made her own people and hid them from Lyaths eyes. But something happened that Lyath and Ameraia did not intend.
Ameraia became pregnant with twins. Jaylin, and his sister Wreathyn. Jaylin, with his love of the open air and sky was given dominion over the sun. While Wreathyn with her passion for darkness and water was given dominion over the moon whose pull swayed the oceans. Each of the twins decided to create a race to worship them. And so when they were old enough, the twins created the Mer’ai (later these guys become human), to live in the sea while Jaylin created his creatures to live the sky in secret, the Suliwei. Little did the gods know that the earth itself would find a way to sing its joy for its mother and father's children, and so the elves were born in the deepest forests.
The Meeting
It happened that for many years these races favored by the gods (Elves, Ikorids, Suliwei, Mer’ai, and Andraste) existed without knowing of the others, but such ignorance could not last forever. One day, parties of Elves were traveling towards the coast when they spotted the Mer'ai. The Mer'ai were startled at first upon meeting such creatures that could influence the ground to flourish and trees themselves to grow, and the elves were surprised as well to meet such strange and carefree people that seemed to cut through the water faster than any creature they had ever seen. The two trusted each other for a time, despite their different natures for the elves seemed stubborn to the Dre'nai, and the Dre'nai seemed too content to wander without a distinct goal in mind.
Despite the short-lived nature of their truce, this led to a realization among both races that they were not alone. It was not long after that that the races discovered one another, and a boarder was set up for each, though for a time, the boarders were relatively open. The Ikorid named themselves protectors of the other two races present, and often peace keeper between the two, calling on Lyath himself in times of need who gave them use of his power.
The War
It was not for many years after that this position of protectors of the land came into question when a mysterious race from the sky Suliwei began attacking the Mer'ai. It is said that a curse was placed on them on the first day of the war for the Dre'nai split into two groups. One group stayed to fight, and the other fled to the protection of the Ikorid on the land, and so separated from the protection of their goddess, the Mer'ai who fled named themselves Humans. The Ikorid, true to their word, stood fast to protect the land, but they were little match for those who came into battle on top of great dragons and controlled the wind. Many of the humans were enslaved outright. Some managed to escape to the elves who had retreated into the deeper forest where thei magic was strongest. Others fled to the mountains inside which the Ikorid had retreated.
The Mer'ai fought, with the aid of their mother Weathyn, against the creatures of the sky for many years, unknowingly giving the creatures of the land time to create a plan to save their enslaved brothers and sisters, but it would come with the greatest of sacrifices. The elves and Ikorid spent the next hundred years (or so it was said) constructing a well on the boundary of their homeland where the forest crept up the mountainside that led directly to the heavens, and Lyath blessed those Ikorid that drank from the well a connection directly with him, to be his knights in this war, for he would not strike down his own son in order to end this, and even then, the creatures of the planet were blessed with free will so it wouldn't have stopped them. It is said that each and every Ikorid drank from the well and was so blessed with this connection in order to fight the upcoming battle.
Meanwhile, the elves were devising a plan of their own in order to save the land from the Suliwei, even if it meant a sacrifice to themselves. They began to plant giant trees that grew tall and webbed their branches together in order to seal the land off from the sky and protect them, despite the Ikorid urging them not to do so. The trees quickly began to grow, faster than the elves had ever intended, but it had unexpected consequences as something began to poison the trees. Enraged by this, the elves assumed it was the Ikorid doing this in retribution for their disobedience, but as the trees began dying, their powers began to diminish as well and their was little they could do.
The Final Battle
When the final battle came between those who lived on the land and those who controlled the sky, the Ikorid were able to put up the best defense possible, with some aid from the humans and other races of the world. However, they were betrayed by the elves in a last attempt to get revenge as they poisoned the earth itself in order to destroy the Ikorid well to the heavens. The Ikorid were given the choice to save their new found connection with Lyath or save the land from the Suliwei, and they decided their vow was more important than the power bestowed in them. And so they continued to put everything they had into the battle against the Suliwei, until they finally won with the aid of what few Mer'ai were left came to their aid, throwing the full weight of their magic and swords against their would be conquers.
But it was too late for their connection as they began to feel it not just dying but becoming all consuming and changing from the purity that was there before to something twisted. After the battle when they returned to their mountain homes their skin began to fade from their bright colors to a dull blue gray. Some were able to remain pure, but most were not. Those who lost their connection were something entirely different now: they were connected to The Void… something more evil than anything the world had ever known.
The Aftermath
It began to change even the way the Severed Ikorid thought. Some desperately clung to their faith and began looking for a way to cure the well, but others had used magic too deeply, becoming addicted. They couldn't function without it so they fell to the void's dark way, and began killing off the light Ikorad that opposed them.
The elves on the other hand, were abandoned by their earth mother for disregarding its well being so much for something as petty as revenge. Too full of pride to admit their faults decided that they too would leave the earth abandoned. The majority of the race went to human lands staking out territory their where they practiced ulterior magic (earth magic) to regain the skills they lost. The rest chose to stay in their forest home. There they are still attempting to cleanse their native lands of the evil and poison that threatens to take it over in order to win back their place in mother earth’s heart. For their trials the Earth Mother granted them back a small portion of their abilities.
Not all of the Suliwei were destroyed in the final battle. The survivors fled back to their flying castles while the creatures allied with them were spared having been considered as slaves to the rulers of the air. They still have the love of their creator though and although they were few in number they struggled to rebuild what they could. You would rarely see one outside of the flying cities though and one outside of one is either extremely foolish or dangerous for they were likely to be attacked on sight by almost any of the other races.
Meanwhile the earth mother blessed a group of humans with her gift in order to begin the healing for the planet. At first, these wild magic users were accepted and even welcomed by most, until the truth of what happened to the elves came out. Those who used the wild magic began being discriminated against, even killed in less civilized cultures. So the mages of the world fled to private places, some schools were built specifically for magic users, and some simply went to live with the elves who openly dispised them for taking the gift that was meant to be theirs.
In their sadness, Lyath and Ameraia turned their back on the world so that they would not have to see the fighting and destruction of everything they had created. This left their children time to run free and in there anger with each other they began to create a group of smaller demi-gods to continue their battle in the heavens.
A New Age
That was many centuries ago. In more recent times humans, as they are known to do, multiplied rapidly and spread across many continents. And as usual, they split into many different factions and begun warring with one another. None of these small wars are on the scale of the “Last Great War” as it is known in the history books but still fairly decent ones. The demi-gods have been born just as the battle between the Earth Mother and The Void is picking up. The Suliwei are at least trying to begin to interact peacefully with the rest of Kyrandor. The Ikorids still continue their battle against their fallen bretheren. The Orcs are watching the goblinoid tribes carefully as they begin to look like they might be banning together to become a force worth reckoning with. Something is killing off the dragons and it is unknown whether it is a force of nature and something more sinister, so a council has been called to find a solution to the problem.
The Kingdoms of Sanct and Horate maintain an uneasy truce as they both focus on conquering in territory in the Wildes. But the Knights of the Sun in Horate have begun to develope a fear of The Void and the Earth Mother that it is apart of. Who knows how they will choose to respond to the growing number of Earth Magic users. The Sanct kinngdom, in an effort to exapnd their territories over the seas have begun skirmishing with the Dre'nai, although they have not declared an all out war.
The Elves still battle to reclaim their ancient forest home. And the Andraste have begun tobranch out from the western continent, sending emissaries and spies over the waters.