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Age of Wonders: The First Millennium Forward
It is important to note that nearly all of what is discussed here has long since been forgotten. Even the longer lived races of dwarves
and giants have only wildly inaccurate legends of what took place in such ancient times. The elves, perhaps the only civilized race which
has a lifespan long enough to save such history, did not arrive in the world until after the first millennia, and so they can add nothing
to remembered history. Even the gods are silent on the issue, for neither were they present in those ancient days.
The Brothers Khan are figures so ancient that they have passed even from legend. Some extremely ancient writings
that were printed in stone or steel mention them in passing, but in the present age no one, even the greatest of sages knows of their
existence. The same is true for the Aenid, the First Dwarves. Modern dwarves tell tall tales of a progenitor race that dwelt deep in the earth,
and the name "Aenid" is still recalled, but the Aenid were, by most accounts, not an especially deep dwelling race and they disappeared to
the south rather than into the bowels of the underground. Likewise, each of the progenitor races are the subject of much speculation among
sages.
Also mentioned here are two facets of magic which no longer exist in the present day. The first is the One Power,
which the use of is often referred to as one channeling, one shaping, or the power within. The One Power is most aptly
described to be the ability to change reality by belief in what reality should be. For example, the first humans widely believed that there
were mysterious dark skinned humans who lived in the mountains and after years of this belief being told and retold it actually became true.
Sometimes, individuals were born whose strength of belief was so strong that they could rapidly imprint their will upon the world, causing
great changes and often raising them as legendary figures among their people. Many times, the influence of the One Power manifested slowly
through the collected belief of large groups of people. Throughout early history there are many cases where the One Power, belief, shaped
and changed events. When gods appeared in the world, late in the third millennia, the influence of the One Power waned and individuals who
could shape it disappeared within a couple generations.
The other form of magic mentioned here is called Sol. This magic is the same raw power which present day wizards
draw upon. It is often simply referred to as Sol or the power without. Users of this magic are usually called Sol wielders.
In the first millenia, Sol was a rare art and practiced among only the Barranan and the Aenid. The Aenid taught its use to the First Men and from
there it slowly spread into the world. While the One Power required nothing more then passive belief, Sol could not be skillfully used without
active participation and rigorous practice. Most people who used the power of Sol were naturally gifted; teachers in the use of Sol were
extremely uncommon and limited to a handful of mostly non-humans. Like the One Power, Sol was used to enact great events throughout the early
world. The use of Sol in its pure form was taxing and dangerous. Consequently, scholars of the arcane arts slowly learned ways to codify and
structure the use of Sol. These structuralists formed the basic theory that present day wizards apply. It was this basic theory that allowed
magic-use to be taught widespread and over centuries the use of Sol in its simplest form became a lost art.
The notation used in dates throughout this website, AC, stands for After Chaos. This is how many years have
passed since the creation of the Seals of Chaos at year zero, which ended the Age of Chaos. Most human sages use either a measure of dates from
the founding of the United Kingdoms or the end of the Unholy Wars, but even these dating
systems are suspect. While the reader may consider dates presented here to be authoritative, natives of Sulerin have no such assurances of
exactness when discussing such ancient times. Most folk and even sages still measure time by the beginning of their kingdom or by how many
years have passed for a given kingship.
Finally, of all the events which are described to have taken place here, those which transpired before the end of
the Age of Chaos (year 0) are the most mysterious of all. It would be hard, even after thirteen millennia, to entirely forget the Age of Chaos,
but that is almost exactly what has happened. Only the most learned can speculate that this time even existed, but know nothing of
what took place during that time. Most present-day sages believe that the world was either shaped by an ancient pantheon of gods (see the
Creed of Dreams excerpt from the Articles of Charalen for an example of
how wildly inaccurate this actually is) or they believe that the world naturally settled out of bubbling chaos. Some druids believe that the
world was populated by races which traveled to here from other worlds. All of these superstitions and speculations are laced with some bits of
twisted truth. Largely, we leave it to the reader to decide what truly happened. However, an astute explorer of Sulerin's pre-Age-of-Chaos
history may also enjoy reading the oracular answer which was given to a heroic
adventuring bard.
The End of the Age of Chaos
In the most ancient of times, unknowable beings dreamt all things that were to become Sulerin and all the stars in the heavens. Before
they awoke they created beings in their own likeness to watch over this dream and hid great keys of power that might later be discovered and
teach their progeny the secrets of all that is. Eons passed as these beings molded the dream that had been given to them and
some of the keys which had been left behind by their progenitors were discovered. One of these, the Key of Creation, gave these beings the
means to create anew creations at a trivial cost to themselves. Later, a second key was discovered called the Key of Ways, which opened
the dream to other dreams. In to the World of Sulerin spilled creations of other realms and with them they brought their wars and strife.
The newly created ways between the realms could not be undone and so the Key of Creation was used to make things with which to repel the
intruding beings. In desperation, the beings who had been set as caretakers of this dream gave all that was them unto the Key of Creation,
but even this failed to deter the rampant chaos. This was the time we call the Age of Chaos. Unguided, the world was changeable and easily
influenced by powerful beings of other planar realms.
In the Last Days of the Age of Chaos the Brothers Khan, great beings of power born from the Age of Chaos,
found the Aenid hidden deep in the earth. One of the Brothers, called Beldin, went to them and observed how they were less changed by
the powers of chaos that raged all about them. Beldin also saw how they crafted homes and ingenious devices which also were, in the words
of Beldin, firmly wrought.
The Brothers Khan brought the Aenid to the great Nexus of Lin. In a distant age this was where the great power
of the Key of Ways had opened the world to the realms beyond: to the great Astral Void, the Spirit Realm, The Ethereal Realm, and the
primordial Elemental Vortex. Above the Nexus of Lin, atop a great mountain, they built the first city and Beldin named it the City of
Ancients.
Beneath the City of Ancients the Aenid studied the primeval elemental energy which flowed through the earth
and they labored upon great secrets. It was there that the great Seals of Chaos were formed and the rampant powers of the Key of Creation
were bound, and with them was bound a great many terrible beings, including Sherian Khan, who opposed the other brothers. Not all things
that were set behind the Seals of Chaos were evil, but Sherian Khan was very selfish and kept the ways of evil as a close companion. The
Seals were scattered throughout the world and twenty guardians were set to watch over them. The Brothers Khan then gathered up the first
races and set them upon the world, and left them to their own ingenuity.
These were the first races to form tribes in the new age. The Aenid commenced to cut small kingdoms from the
stone of the earth. The First Men dwelt in southern Irendi and called themselves the Shin-Men. The Sultan came from the golden desert of
Jhet Brahna and settled into the far western lands of Irendi; The Kinder, "Child-Men," settled into the ancient hills near the Spine of
Irendi, between the Mountains of Elderkyn and the fertile valleys of the River Centesh. The giant Ul-Men, Gyrfolk, called Great-Men by
the First Men, were the closest with the ancient spirits of the Aenid and they too built great edifices in the wild hills and dales of
central-southern Irendi. Across the seas on the continent of Nereka the savage Ayrmin wandered and conquered, suffering from the taint
of chaos that raged deep within them; they scattered out from there and into the world where they would prey upon the fringes of other
fledgling civilizations. The Barranan, elemental kin of the Gyrfolk, built high in the mountains of southern Nereka, where raging rivers,
tumbled down the new erupting mountainsides and the sky lay close to the land. The Rhashar, tiger-spirits, were cunning savages
who stalked the jungle shadows of Nereka, using their illusions to hide themselves. Last of the first races to settle on the
earth of Nereka were the Saalneer, a brutal shape-shifting lizard folk. In all the world there were neither elves nor fey at this time.
Thus were the continents of Irendi and Nereka at the dawn of the Age of Wonders.
The Age of Wonders: The First Millenium
In the first millenium the first races spread out over the land. There were still great flows of magical power which rumbled
chaotic and unexpectedly through the world. The touch of these energies would affect important and lasting changes upon the
first races. There were fewer beings living in the world then and the powers of the One and that of Sol were strong. The One, the power
of belief, was used much like the divine magic found in modern eras, but there were no gods and many of the few talented beings who
used it in those days did not realize that it was their very will which was shaping the world about them. The power of Sol, called
the Power from Without, was only known to a very few beings and in those first days its use was only seen in the lands of Nereka or
among the Aenid. It was the subtle shaping power of The One, the Power from Within, which would ultimately scatter the first races,
polarizing them and bringing them into the lands which they are best known for in present time.
Shin-Men, The First Men
In the early centuries of the first millenium the First Men, Shin-Men, lived in the fertile plains and moved in nomadic tribes
between the cruth mountains, to the western and southern ocean shores, and eastward to the edges of the lands of the Gyrfolk. Seasons,
hunting, war, and whimsey circulated them through these lands. They were a superstitious folk and as they traveled these lands,
encountering others like them, their traditions began to include the stories and inventions of other Shin-Men tribes. They learned
to domesticate horses, wolves, and other beasts to aid them in their travels; early efforts to domesticate such beasts were greatly
aided by shaman mystics who were better able to shape the powers of The One. The First Men divided the lands into four regions:
Aerinia, fertile lands of the south; Hevnin, the tall lands to the east; Zurran, the trembling wildlands of the west; and Elvd, the
wooded land of the north. Together, they were called the Four-Fold Lands, and in their
center was the Mulker (Mulkerion Skyweir), where the councils of the tribes would meet.
The subtle magic of The One power was what shattered the First Men. Their own suspicions and fears wrought changes
through their race. Rumors of savage tribes with dark skin, who brought war in the night, were told among their campfires and slowly what
was at first only rumor became quite real. Dark skinned Shin-Men first appeared in the western lands of Zurran
(AC35). Other changes were also taking place; in the far north the Elvd worked alongside the Aenid
and began to build permanent dwellings in the beautiful foothills of the Cruth Mountains, southwest of the Clainborough (now the Alysian
Desert). As centuries passed the Elvd came to look down upon their nomadic ancestors. Though haughty, they also were among the first humans
to study The One power and the effect that channeled belief had upon the land. With it they carved green pastures from the mountains,
flourished, and began to expand. The Elvd brought war to the human race (AC385), a thing in those
days which was unheard of. The primitive tribes of the Four-Fold Land fled before the One Shaper mystics. Some hid in mountains of the
lands of Hevnin, but the Zurran and the Aerinian tribes fled west, through the lands of the Gyrfolk, and into what is now the
Eastern Empire.
The race of man had not suffered its last schism; perhaps it was forever altered to make war upon itself
as humankind has time and again throughout the ages. The lands of the far east were slowly populated over the second half of the first
millenium. The Aerinia had learned well the lesson of building and the great exodus across the continent of Irendi had finally spent
their lust for wandering for a time. The efforts of men were turned to building and safeguarding their new lands, should the Elvd pursue
or some other menace threaten. The Zurran and Aerinia occasionally warred against each other and rifts formed among their races. Their
fears shaped each other and the bloodlines of the First Men slowly disappeared as The One Power evolved their race. The Zurran settled
in what is now the Kingdom of Rillinon, while the Aerinia settled in what is now the Kingdom of Briteland. Strengthened by steel,
industry, and strong fortifications, the Aerinia occasionally warred against each other in contention for resources. The Zurran
pursued agriculture and hunting in the tradition of their ancestors.
The Elvd continued a scattered conflict against the Hevnin, who had remained behind in the Four-Fold Lands.
Emptied of Zurran and Aerinia nomads, the land was broad and empty. For the most part the Hevnin avoided the Elvd and they were left in
peace to pursue their nomadic ways as the First Men once had. The Elvd wrought from the western Cruth Mountains a powerful empire and
from the plentiful stone they One-Shaped amazing edifices to their rulers and their own glory. Unlike the Aerinia, the Elvd remained
close to their nature-cherishing heritage and from them arose the first druids of the age, the rulers of their people.
Gyrfolk, The First Giantkin
The first giants arose in the lands now known as the United Kingdoms (AC52). Long before
humans claimed those lands as their own there was a powerful civilization of giants. Unlike the First Men, the Gyrfolk felt the stir
of the elements within their spirits. It was not as powerful a stirring as their Barranan giant-kin would manifest, but it still moved
them to create their civilization in places that sung to their soul. Some built high atop the mighty Cruth Mountains, these were the
Syorn. Others hewed stone and built their cities within the mountains where the heat of the earth warmed their forges, they became
known as the Ffyr. Still others dwelt along the coastline, these were the Bienog.
Before anything else, the Gyrfolk were creatures of creation. Their spirit endlessly swelled with a need
to build. The Ffyr who labored in the mountains wrought metal works and worked closely with the Aenid. Together they dug deep into
the earth and joined their two peoples with vast tunnels that spanned great distances through the earth; these were the first passages
of the Underhalls (AC235). The Syorn built towers into the clouds and Bienog built cities that
flowed along the coastlines. The Gyrkin were austere and for the most part they lived in harmony, but this would not last forever.
Deep in the earth and in the dark waters of the ocean there dreamt powerful and ancient dragons, the
very first of their kind. The Gulf of Biengyar was the cradle of Kurckon, the dragon of storms. Even before the end of the Age of
Chaos the weather and seas had raged mightily in the waters to the south of Irendi as the tumultuous dreams of Kurckon raged and
influenced the land about it. The Ffyr and Aenid also heard a stirring beat deep within the earth; they named it Haanmananar,
the Hammerheart (AC239). Little did they know that their burrowing of the Underhalls had come
near to the lair of the earth dragon. Though these beasts did not rise to flight and destroy the world, as giant lore would have them
do, the dreams of these dragons did shape the Gyrfolk who labored in the lands near to them. The dreams of Haanmananar kindled
selfishness in the spirits of the Ffyr and they began to be weighted down with a lust for wealth.
Three great events of the latter part of the first millenium would echo through the history of the Gyrfolk.
The first was the withdrawal of the Aenid (AC585). Long had the Aenid felt the pull of The One
upon their spirits, but they had resisted it thus far. Even so, young were born to the Aenid which were less than their forefathers and
the Aenid feared the decline of their race. So it was decided that they would return to the mountain beneath the City of Ancients, their
ancient homeland, and retreat far from the rest of the civilized world. When they left, they abandoned their children, fearing that if
they brought them too then their race would continue to be changed.
The second event of import was the betrayal of the Ffyr. When the Aenid departed they left their young in
the care of the Ffyr, but for a long time the Ffyr had been secretly coveting the powers, wealth, and cities of the Aenid. Once the
cities emptied of the powerful Aenid warriors, the Ffyr betrayed their trust and slew the young of the Aenid, scattering them through
the depths of the earth. This ancient betrayal still poisons dwarves against giants in present times.
Finally, at the end of the millenium (AC897), there was a great
stirring in the Gulf of Biengyar as the storm dragon began to awaken. The shift of the waters decimated the lands of the Bienog Gyrfolk,
dramatically sweeping their civilization into the sea. The Bienog ruler, Ragog, a mighty mystic and warrior, vowed that his people would
return from the watery depths, even as the city about him was swallowed into the sea. It would be nearly six millennia before his promise
was fulfilled by a descendent called Gog (AC7077).
The Sultan
West of their mountain wall, the Sultan dwelt. The Sultan were very different from the Haruninki
and Silothreni descendent races. Most important of differences was that
the Sultan were dual-natured. Their physical and mental selfs were each mirrored by a spiritual being. The psyche and physical state of
either being was closely tied to that of their other self. Literally, they were of two minds. Usually a Sultan's physical and spirit selfs
would speak with unanimous opinion, yet each part of the whole had its own understanding of the world and its own interests, though they
might strongly overlap with those of its other part; and because of this divide the Sultan could actually commune with themselves and
learn things from their other self. This naturally led to the Sultan being a deeply spiritual race. This dual nature would shape their
race in extreme ways.
At the edge of the Golden Desert, Jhet Brahna, the scattered clans of the Haruninki came together and built
Bithra. It was meant to be a place where their tribes would return to each year. At the site of Bithra the Haruninki found they could
gain more intense insight and unification with their spirit selves, allowing each part of their being to partially exist in the realm
of the other. It was a euphoric state of harmony. Sultan youth and shaman would travel out from Bithra and into Jhet Brahna where they
would listen to the sounds of the sand moving and achieve an even more intense spiritual bliss.
For centuries the Sultan wandered their lands in search of holy locations where they could experience this
oneness with their other nature. As they searched about the land they would build temple-like buildings about a days walk from each site.
These buildings would be stationed by particularly wise Sultan who would act as guides for those who came in search of harmony and
communion with their spiritual selves. In the beginning these guides merely escorted the curious to the holy sites, but in time they
also became keepers of lore, very educated, and deeply in touch with their own spirit selves due to the great amount of time they would
spend at these holy sites. As generations wore on these spirit guides became a source of leadership outside the day-to-day clan
hierarchy, they would become the Sultan-lan, the Honored Sultan.
Unlike the evolution of many other races during the first millennia, the Sultan's strong sense of tradition
and their isolation from other races mostly preserved their race as it was in the very beginning.
Aenid, The First Dwarves
After the Seals of Chaos were crafted, the Aenid were tasked by Beldin Khan to secret them throughout the world so that no one might
find them, or should they find one that the location of the others would not be thus compromised at the same time. The Aenid dutifully
did as bid and spread their race throughout the world, traveling overland, but mostly under it and into the depths of the world. The time
of the Aenid throughout the world was short, but in one or two generations of their kind they sculpted their amazing cities, shaping stone as
easily as clay and seeding the hidden underworld with miraculous creations. Like their befriended Ffyr Gyrfolk or the darkness loving
Ayrmin, they were a race of builders and few were the hours that an Aenid spent not working on some project. Through their dedication many
of the first Underhalls were constructed (AC235), vast passages that spanned hundreds or even
thousands of miles beneath the surface.
Though the Aenid were the subject of many legends, even in their own time, they displayed the remarkable racial
trait of being immune to the beliefs of other creatures and the influence of the One Power. The same resilience for which Beldin Khan
brought them forth from the Age of Chaos served them well and unlike other races they did not diminish or change in spirit as the years
wore on.
In the few centuries that they wandered the world the Aenid became teachers to the other new races, bringing
them the talent and knowledge of craft, metallurgy, masonry, and magic. Even though they were resistant to the changes that the One Power
could cause, they had a natural knowledge of how to use the One Power to shape the world about them, allowing them to accomplish in
their brief time their many wonders. This knowledge of "belief magic" they brought to the other races. The Elvd of the Shin-Men and the
Gyrfolk were among the first of the beginning races to use the One Power, though as you have already read, it did not bring them only
happiness, but hardship as well.
Most important part of their brief time among the world was what took place at its very end, before they left the
world of mortals and returned to the Nexus of Lin. In the mid-sixth century the Aenid discovered that their young were being born
different from their parents. Some better suited to life in the depths of the world, some better suited to life in the light of the sun.
Some inherited a mastery for stone craft, while others could shape and fold metal with brilliance, but few could do both with but a touch
and intuitive insight as their forefathers could. This was terrible news. Though the Aenid were nearly immortal and many talented in
their supernatural ways, their newborn were not; they were lesser beings. This was happening among the Aenid clans all over the world and
so the Aenid decided to withdraw and return to their ancient halls above the Nexus of Lin (AC585),
where they were first commissioned and sheltered by Beldin Khan. In their wake they left their children, seeded throughout the world, whose
descendants would become the three dwarven races of Aefnan (Silver
Dwarves), Daernarthor (Hill Folk),
Urdunan (the Deep Dwarves).
The Aefnan were crafters of metal, who dwelt within mountains, accessible to the surface world, so that the
smoke of their forges could rise from vents and out of the earth. The Urdunan were masters of stone and they dwelt in the deepest
halls of the earth where the mighty weight of stone presses down and forms the most precious of gems. There in the depths they built
their cities of eternal stone and tirelessly labored upon their works. Third among the Aenid progeny were the Daernarthor. The Daernarthor
were the least of the Aenid children, but they were also the closest in likeness to their forefathers. Equally skilled in all venues of
craft, the Daernarthor chose to live near and upon the surface of the world and like their progenitors they would work alongside other races.
Kinder, the Halflings
Blessed centuries passed by as the Kinder warmed themselves under the new sun, drank the waters of the earth, and tilled their lands.
It seemed as though they had inherited all the patience that the First Men lacked. Their lands were warm and in those early days there
was naught but wide hilly grasslands and forests of the central most lands of Irendi. Their tranquility was increased by the presence of
angellic beings who dwelled among the halflings, the Seni. These other-realm beings stood as guardians at the edges of the Kinder's lands,
and they laughed and lived in their company. Some even began mixed families with the kinder, their other-worldly blood mixing with each
other. The young of such unions were beautiful beings of passion, magic, and longevity; such progeny were called Seni'm and most were
creatures of goodness.
Much blessed among the Seni'm was one called Andlor, but goodness was not in him. Andlor was an awakened being
who fully felt the power of The One with each weighty word that came from his lips, each thought that he cherished as truth, and each
gesture that bespoke decisive action. The Seni feared the powers of Andlor and quietly they plotted his death, but Andlor learned of their
treachery and in his anger he brought a star down from the sky and crushed their holy city (AC443),
where the portal to the native realm of the Seni was located.
Driven into hiding from the wrath of Andlor, the Seni hid among the burrows of the Kinder, but the worst was
yet to come. The Kinder cried out against Andlor, cursing him for his wicked ways and he was chased from his home and into the wilderness
with stones pelting his back. Though they scorned him, Andlor did not exercise his power over them, blaming the Seni for all of his misfortune.
So he went into the swamps and hid himself while planning his vengeance. His hate consumed him and through the One Power it manifested and
poisoned the waters about him, changing creatures which drank from its waters into crazed monsters that would wander out into the lands of the
Kinder (AC451). As Andlor focused his hatred he wished away the Seni, intently desiring that they
vanish from the world and never trouble him again. Decades passed and the Kinder came to fear the evils that spilled out of the Katar Swamps
to their northwest. Perhaps as an example of the tremendous might Andlor held over the One Power, the Seni slowly faded away, vanishing from
their beds, until just as Andlor desired, they simply were no more (AC512). Alone, without an enemy
to put his hate upon, Andlor bitterly dwelled in his swamps for many centuries, until the end of his days.
Many Kinder took these evil times as incentive to travel into other lands (AC457).
Those who stayed behind in their first lands became ruddy and swarthy as each generation knew the hardships of living in a besieged land.
Those who traveled away grew noticeably taller, their legs taking greater strides as they migrated, though not so tall as even a dwarf.
Those who traveled north became hairier, growing wizened beards on their faces and a curly matte atop their feet. Most who traveled out
of the Kingdom of Medea followed the mountains and went northeast and into the vast forests that lay north of the Gulf of Yren, led by
the very last of the Seni, a being named Jamai. For centuries they slowly traveled. The great forests of the north were dark and the
filled the earth thick with roots, making the ground difficult to farm, so the Kinder moved onward east until they came to the rolling
fields and open country that lay beyond (AC972). It was a beautiful land with deep azure seas,
towering mountains, and in the north it gave way to endless fertile plains for in this age there was no Great Jarik Glacier populated
with barbaric warrior clans. This is where the Kinder made their new homes near the end of the first millennia. Jamai was taken into
the heavens by a radient light, but commissioned eight kings to lead the Kinder in his absence.
Rhashar, The Deceivers
Before the end of the Age of Chaos there were islands scattered throughout the Sea of Rains. On most of these islands dwelt the warlike
Ayrmin, but on many others there lurked the Rhashar. The Rhashar were not creatures of Sulerin, but instead they were predators of a peculiar
nature who had come to this world by routes opened by the Key of Ways. On the islands in the Seas of Rain they appointed themselves kings
and with their advanced understanding of Sol, the raw powers of magic without, they enslaved any who came into their territory.
Qoyor Khan came among the Rhashar and warned them that their mountain strongholds would tremble, that new lands
would appear as the flood waters abated, and that they would soon need to learn to live among other races. The Rhashar listened this news with
a sly smile and bid Qoyor worry for the other races. Qoyor sternly looked upon the Rhashar princes and prophesied upon them that if they would
not humble themselves and instead choose to rule from the shadows, that the young races of this world would curse and kill them wherever they
were discovered; that while they might live in opulence, it would be a lie and they would live in fear of discovery. The Rhashar dismissed
the warnings of Qoyor Khan and continued in their ways.
The waters of the Sea of Rains did part as the Continent of Nereka arose from its depths. The Age of Chaos at an
end, the Rhashar greedily looked down onto the new lands and saw nothing but harvest waiting to be taken in by their magic and illusion.
With their trinks, beguiling tongue, and gifted minds the Rhashar secreted themselves among the Ayrmin, Saalneer, and other new races
and came to power as shaman, mystics, and magicians. Since they possessed an understanding of the One Power, the power of belief, they
created idols of themselves which they set over their minions. Not content with their sovereignty the Rhashar also vied for supremacy among
each other and used the new races in their petty feuds.
The Rhashar were (and still are) a chronically paranoid race; they feared the machinations of each other, they
feared the potent elemental magic of the Barranan, and in the shapeshifting Saalneer they saw a bit of themselves: agents who could hide
among them. In their quest for security and selfish entertainment the Rhashar began to experiment upon their Ayrmin minions. Through their
mastery of belief power they reshaped the Ayrmin race to be great warriors. Their first experiments in changing the Ayrmin resulted in
goblins and other weak races (AC601), but later experiments gave rise to ogres and more powerful creatures.
For centuries the Rhashar had feared the elemental magic of the Barranan and the ability of the Barranan to see through
Rashari illusions, but now, with great armies at their beck and call, they could finally bring a crushing offensive upon the elemental giants.
The Rhashar attacks on the southern Barranan strongholds drove some of the Barranan to abandon the Nereka continent (AC702)
and travel across the Sea of Rains in great stone ships.
Though the Rhashar were successful in expelling the Barranan of the west, those in the west stood firm against the
Rhashar and used their elemental powers to raise steep mountain ranges (AC709), and flood plains into
treacherous marshland, creating natural barriers against the movement of Rhashar aggression. When the Rhashar refused to relent, the Barranan
wrought an enormous earthquake (AC714) which collapsed many underground caverns beneath the Plains of
Enin, sinking the land and causing the Sea of Rains to crush vast numbers of Rhashari servants. Only scattered islands remain from the highest
peaks of land where this happened and the beaches in that swampy part of the Nereka Continent are still littered with buried Rhashari war regalia.
After this dramatic blow to Rhashari might, the Rhashar ceased their wars against the Barranan and fell to infighting
among each other. Several Rhashari kingdoms rose and fell. In the east there arose the Prthavi Empire (AC870),
a collection of conquered Ayrmin states in which the Rhashari could indulge their subtle conniving against each other. Beyond the mountains to the
west of the Prthavi Empire were scattered Dhurjaradan Kingdoms, named for the forefather whose sons warred and ruled its fractured lands. These two
civilizations clashed against each other regularly when summers allowed passage through the intervening mountains.
In the Prthavi Empire the Rhashar carefully organized some of the beginnings of religion. The Rhashar dispersed statuary
icons of their leader and encouraged the masses to focus on these idols with thoughts of the wisdom, might, and enlightenment of their leader. In
these early days the power of belief, The One, was well known to the Rhashar and this was an attempt to channel the belief of Rhashari subjects and
transform the Rhashari leaders into greater beings. The ruler of the Prthavi empire, Sishtha, benefited greatly from this practice and became creatures
of nearly god-like power. Other Rhashar emulated this tradition and numerous cults developed through-out the Rhashari civilizations. Many Rhashar
leaders were greedy to accumulate power and they ignored the dangers of this practice. Should the will of the people turn against their leader, or
should they focus feelings of fear or express thoughts of their leaders cruelty or incompetence upon their idols, then slowly their leaders would
change and the very traits that were once merely suspect became clear truth. In the end, several hundred years later, this very practice lead
to the downfall of the Prthavi Empire. Their leader, Splendid Sishtha the Immortal, was slowly transformed into a terrible monstrosity by the
beliefs of his people. His body was warped into a horrific creature, a monster that represented the fears of his subjects, and he descended into madness.
In a fit of bestial fury, Sishtha rampaged through his palace in the night to slay and cannibalize advisors, wives, princes, and any that crossed
his path, then ran into the night and carved a swath of carnage through the empire until disappearing somewhere in the north
(AC1065). It's leaders slain and capital in shambles, the Prthavi Empire fell into a slow decline and
eventually scattered.
Ayrmin, The First Orckind
On the continent of Nereka, which boiled forth from the Ocean of Rains in the dying days of the Age of Chaos, there dwelt a mighty race
called the Ayrmin. They had survived and flourished in the turmoil of the Age of Chaos, taking in a part of that chaos among themselves and
living brutally short lives of desperate violence. Before Nereka arose from the waters the Ayrmin ruled over mountain peak islands that
defiantly speared out of the churning seas. When Nereka spread its plains beneath the rising mountain tops the Ayrmin descended into the
new world and flourished. Their tribes swelled in numbers and they roamed the plains in hunting bands.
In the early centuries, the Ayrmin were already a powerful race. They clashed with the fledgling Saalneer and
brought war to the mighty and giant Barranan. The chaos which tainted their spirits spread them far and wide over the new lands of Nereka,
but while chaos was their strength it was also their weakness, which is why the early tales of the Ayrmin tell of their enslavement and
manipulation by the devious race of the Rhashar.
The Rhashar came among the Ayrmin in disguise, masquerading as Ayrmin of magical prowess. In this respect, the
Rashar subtly manipulated early Ayrmin into battle against the Barranan and Saalneer, whom the Rashar feared. The Barranan also possessed a
knowledge of the magic of Sol, that magic which does not require belief, and many thousands of Ayrmin perished in the warfare between those
two races. Death was not new to the Ayrmin, the Rhashar had for centuries directed them in battle against their own kind. To create more
potent warriors the Rhashar used their mastery of magic to reshape the Ayrmin, making them stronger and even more warlike. As
the conflicts between Rhashar escalated, the Ayrmin were experimented upon and in the middle of the first millennia
(AC601) the Rhashar created a terrible magical plague which swept the Ayrmin race: goblinization.
The mutation shattered the Ayrmin race in two. Those who lived free of the Rhashar yolk and who escaped early
enough fled north, but those who were left behind suffered terribly and the goblin race was birthed upon the world. The Rhashar would not
stop there, but further used their skill with the power of belief to shape the race into a dizzying variety of goblinized creatures.
The Barranan of the north took pity on the Ayrmin and a brief alliance was formed between them, the Barranan and
those Ayrmin who had defected. Select Ayrmin were taught to wield the magic of Sol and for a short time the two races worked together
against the Rhashar. Not all of the Barranan shared sympathy towards the Ayrmin. For hundreds of years Barranan and Ayrmin had clashed in battle
and many among the Barranan loathed harboring Ayrmin refugees. Tensions arose and some Barranan abused the visitors to their lands, setting off
riots among the Ayrmin. Clearly, an alliance between the giant Barranan and the smaller Ayrmin could not last.
After two generations the tension between the two races was ready to explode into violence. Wise Ayrmin leaders
knew that it was only a matter of time before bloodshed broke out in earnest between the two races and so they formed a plan. With the magic
of Sol they called on the Spirits of Winter and called a great glacier out from the north and used this as a land-bridge to the frozen continent
of Hammah (AC685). There the Ayrmin could live free from the oppression of other races. For many centuries
to come they would live on the frozen edges of Hammah, the bitter cold would harden them into barbarians without peer, and they would become a
race that could survive in the harshest of conditions.
Barranan, The Elemental Giants
It is said that at the end of the Age of Chaos, the Barranan were little more than spirits, but that when the Seals of Chaos were forged that
the Barranan took the elements (air, earth, fire, water) and clothed their spirits in it. Their shadow, vitality and breath came from the air, their
bodies from the earth, water flowed in place of blood, and the fires within them gave them intellect and purpose. Perhaps because of their
innate elemental spirituality, the Barranan were also powerful wielders of the magic of Sol, the magic without.
Like the Gyrkin, the Barranan were craftsmen, but rather than craftsmen of stone and mortal material, the Barranan
could forge solid objects out of the prime elements. With their craft they could shape fire or air into solids or cause earth to flow as
easily as water. Their fortresses were amazing towers of solid flame that burned out of water, aeries of stone that suspended from the
sky as sure as though they had been built on the ground, and other magnificent combinations of the elements. In the fortresses of great
Barranan sorcerers the secrets of the elements were searched out and revealed. Even the lowliest of Barranan were able to call summon the
elements to their will. Unlike many of the other races whose genesis was on the continent of Nereka, the Barranan were unified and did not
war upon themselves. Great or weak, all Barranan worked together for their common benefit.
In the very beginning most of the Barranan lived in the west of Nereka, but after a time they spread out. Many traveled
south and lived there in the young mountains, some traveled north to live in solitude from the conflicts that the Barranan became embroiled in.
Although the Barranan did not fight among themselves, the Rhashar feared them for their magic talent and would bring conflict against the Barranan for
centuries. Unlike the other races of Nereka, the Barranan could see through the illusions and deceptions of the Rhashar. Since the Rhashar
depended upon servitor races to maintain their kingly lifestyle, they did their best to sow mistrust between the Barranan and the other races,
often manipulating races such as the Ayrmin to engage in bloody conflicts upon the Barranan. In turn, the Barranan exposed the Rhashar who lived in
disguise and manipulated the other races, and just as Qoyor Khan had warned the Rhashar, their minions deposed and destroyed the Rhashar wherever
they were caught in their deception.
The conflict between the Barranan and the Rhashar shaped both cultures in their early days. After a few generations of
harassment from the Ayrmin, cronies of the Rhashar, many Barranan decided that they would seek out new lives to the west, across the Sea of Rains.
They crafted mighty ships from stone and powered them with wind and fire; even with magic at their call it was a terribly dangerous journey
(AC702). Storms struck their fleet, scattering the Barranan throughout the Sea of Rains and, at the end
of the journey, less than a third who set out from Nereka arrived upon Irendi. Some of the Barranan settled in the first lands they found, in the
far east and beyond the Evermounts, but others feared that the Rhashar would someday use their magic and pursue, so they took their ships further
in to the Gulf of Yren, and made landfall further west, beyond the shoals known as the Jaws of Yren.
Those who stayed behind on the Nereka continent suffered through an escalation of aggression. The Rhashar had
successfully redefined the Ayrmin race into an efficient and quickly multiplying army under the leadership of a powerful Rhashar warlord called
Ashar. Boldly, Ashar used his forces to push deeply into the western Barranan lands, killing and pillaging lesser races who lived under the protection
of the Barranan as they went. The Barranan responded by using their elemental powers to raise a formidable mountain range (the Mountains of Pyris) in
the path of Ashar's armies (AC709). This slowed the aggressors advance for several years, during which the
Barranan conceived a terrible plan and withdrew from the Plains of Enin which spread south of the new mountain range. When Ashar eventually brought
his armies through the mountains and his crossing of the Plains of Enin, the Barranan shaman caused incredible earthquakes which sank thousands of
square miles, all of the Plains of Enin, beneath the sea (AC714). The Inside Sea and the Sea of Rains came
crashing together and completely eradicated every last creature in Ashar's army, leaving nothing but island peaks. Tidal waves punished the shores
of the Inside Sea and the widespread destruction was felt throughout all of Nereka. In one awful act, all the will of the Rhashar to conquer the
Barranan was pacified.
Many of the Barranan were just as horrified by the great disaster that their people had created. The sinking of the Plains of
Enin had far reaching consequences beyond what they had anticipated. Following this deed, many Barranan fore swore destruction and conflict and became
pacifists and builders, seeking to undo the harm their race had done. Though there was a great deal of alarm and anger among the Barranan people, they
remained a unified race and conflict did not consume them.
The Barranan who had traveled to Irendi began new lives. Those who built in the east lived and prospered in quiet oceanside
fishing villages, along the Tith River, and in the eastern foothills of the Last Light Mountains. Those who sailed west beyond the Jaws of Yren found
harbor, sank their boats, and traveled into the mountains where they built hidden towers to look east for signs of Ayrmin pursuit. From the mountains
they carved mighty fortresses which would one day be found by the Aefnan (Silver) Dwarves under the banner of Clan Hallanstaen.
Conclusion: A Taste of Things to Come
The first millennium drew to a close with most of the original races slowly consolidating their kingdoms. Several races, namely the Ayrmin,
Kinder, and Barran, had already begun to spread out and mingle with the other races. Humankind had yet to make its move, but in the
millennia to come it would rise as a world power. Advances in magic would soon produce amazing wonders for which the Age of Wonders
is truly known for. Most importantly, the coming millennia would host such important events as the invasion of the Ayrmin out of
the north and onto the Irendi Continent, the schism of the Urdunan dwarves which spawned the Urdain, the spread of blood magic
throughout the Sultan homeland of Urharulan, and the appearance of elfin races and fey. Great things were yet to come.
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