Chapter 1, The Beginning
Before there was time, there was the Chaos Plane. A group of beings existed on that Plane. How long they were there before recorded history is anyone's guess, only those beings know for sure. One of the beings, simply having the name of Gyo, was the most powerful. Gyo was the strongest of the group, by far. After a few million mortal years, Gyo decided to give his fellow 'Immortals' something to work on, to even provide them something to amuse themselves. Gyo created a world that had land as well as large bodies of water. He left everything else up to the Immortals. Like other worlds that the Immortals have seen, this one was to be populated by mortal beings, some sentient, some not. After the Immortals had populated the world, they were to stay in the background and only watch what the mortals did. Gyo allowed the Immortals to indirectly assist those mortals by way of granting spells and other such activities.
One of the more productive Immortals, Eli, already had a plan on
what he wanted done. He was the first Immortal to create anything and
then place that creation on the newly formed world. He took many ideas
from already-established worlds, and made some up as he went. He
started with the non-sentient creatures, thinking that this world would
be a paradise for them. He created the forest creatures, as he was
known to prefer the woodlands. Deer, Elk, Rabbits, Wild Boars, Bears,
and Wolves were created in those early days.
During the time that Eli was populating his beloved forests, Gyo
himself intervened and placed the first sentient being upon the world.
His creations had extremely long life spans and were granted the use of
magical abilities, given to them through the blessing of Gyo. He
created several variants of this species, known to mortals as Dragons,
to reflect the balance of life that he knew had to be done. Based on
the colors of the spectrum, Dragons were the champions of the new world.
Eli was aware of the Dragons soon after Gyo placed them on the new
world. Some of the Green Dragons preferred the forest regions, of
which Eli was partial. Eli felt that the Dragons did not trust nor
revere the forests as he thought they should, so he created another
sentient race to counteract the situation. Named for Eli, the Elven
people lived in the forests alongside the Dragons, but each race having
their boundaries clearly defined. Elves were given the gift of a long
life, although not nearly as long as a Dragon's life.
The world existed in this state for a few thousand years, but
obviously it was far from complete. The oceans were empty and only two
sentient races lived on the new world. Gyo was not entirely pleased
with his underlings, so he charged each one of them to create not only
several non-sentient species, but a sentient one as well.
The stalwart Immortal named Reorx was quick to answer, as he had
been pondering what to do for quite a while. Reorx was partial to
living underground, and was fond of creating beautiful objects from
stone, wood, and other raw materials. It came natural to him to create
a sentient race modeled after him. The Dwarven people were born,
given life by Reorx himself. The Dwarves settled mostly in the regions
to the north, on the main continent (later known as Kalin), burrowing
deep under the mountains. Mostly working underground to garner their
raw materials for their workings, the Dwarves usually lived above the
ground, as they still liked the fresh air. Reorx also created many
species of beings that lived around mountainous areas, with the Wyvern,
Mountain Lion, and Mountain Goat being among those species he created.
Another Immortal by the name of Gnohert, who was normally too busy
performing experiments in his lab or tinkering with this and that, was
intrigued by Reorx's creation. With that, he decided to form a race
that bore resemblance to him and his favorite activities. The Gnome
race was born, driven by an almost-insatiable lust to tinker with most
everything. The Gnomes settled near the Dwarves and set up a rather
peaceful trade between the two industrious races. At this time, the
Dragon and Elven populations were to the south, so the Gnomes and the
Dwarves did not encounter those two races. After creating the new
Gnomish race, Gnohert created several species of flying animals, and
then went back to his lab, for a time. After a quick meeting between
himself and Reorx, the two Immortals combined talents to create another
sentient race, named the Svirfneblin. Also known as the Deep Gnomes, the
Svirfneblin resembled their surface cousins the Gnomes, but had an even
greater affinity for working with rock and eathry materials than Reorx's
major creation, the Dwarves. The Svirfneblin burrowed deep into the
core of the world, creating most of the tunnels of the UnderDark.
As it is with most groups, there are always a few individuals who
thrive on conflict and other such devious activities. One Immortal,
named Gormash, saw that there was not any conflict going on in the new
world, which to him was extremely boring. He wanted to spice things up
a bit, so he created not only one sentient race, but two. However,
since he had to divide his time up on creating these new races, they
came out seemingly half-finished. His first race created was the
Orcish. The Orcs were rather low on intelligence, but they sure did
like a good conflict. The Orcs settled near the large area now known
as the Plains of Nereka. The Ogres were created next, large on
strength, but also low on intelligence. They settled near the Orcs,
every now and then raiding the nearby Dwarven and Gnomish settlements.
Gormash also created several non-sentient species, with the Hyena,
Kobold, and Goblin being attributed to him. When creating these races of
beings, Gormash had the help and guidance of Kertaine's enemy, Xenei.
Around the time Gormash was creating his Orcs and Ogres, the most
chaotic Immortal of them all, the devious Loth, was scheming on plans
to produce her own sentient race. After several failures, she turned
her sights on Eli's most beloved creation, the Elves. She coveted
his creation, as she could not produce anything as beautiful. After
the 'Great Elven Rift' (detailed in Appendix 1), the Drow race became
a small yet lethal and prosperous inhabitant of the new world.
The diminutive Immortal, Timble, created the Halfling race (at
the time known as the Tinut). These beings were shorter than any of
the already-created races, but fleet of foot and cheerful almost all
of the time. They lived near the Gnomes, and subsequently became
allies with them. Timble then created several small creature races,
such as the Fox, Weasel, and Ocelot.
Another Imortal, the evil Remoah, was up to his usuall tricks.
Eons ago he and Reorx had a disagreement, and Remoah has been scheming
since. He now saw his opportunity to wreak havoc on Reorx's proudest
creation, the Dwarves. The Duergar race was established after the
ensuing corruption. For more information, turn to Appendix 2.
Next came the Minotaur race, created by the mysterious Sargonas.
He placed them near the oceans, and created most of the ocean creatures
for them to use for survival. The Minotaurs quickly became proficient
mariners and masters of the seas.
The last of the sentient races to be created were the Humans. Gyo
and another powerful Immortal, Kertaine, collaborated on the creation
process for these new beings. Gyo gave the Humans a natural choice
between Good and Evil, but also gave them the shortest lifespan of all
the created sentient beings. Kertaine gave the Humans their natural
drive for success, power, and a feeling of accomplishment. Kertaine
also created many of the larger predators, including the Lion, Tiger,
and Bulette. The Humans, unlike the other races, spread out across
the continent, settling down sometimes in the most odd of places.
However, the Humans usually did not settle in the forests or mountains,
so the meetings between them and the other races did not occur often.