Creation
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Creation
The Lands of Creation
Hello Friends, welcome to the lands of Morgan Shire. The farthest reaches of the Shining Empire, is the end of the world for some and the whole world for others. In the centuries since the Empire crumbled, under its own weight, the Shire lands have changed little. The Port City of Calahorn still controls the Bay of Sern, the Dwarves of the Stone Citadel rule as always over the Dragon Tooth Mountains and Elves maintain eminence over the Vale.
Morgan’s Keep however has changed. A gift from the Dwarves the Keep stands on one of the low peeks of the Dragon Tooth, and is visible by most in the Shire lands. Where it once stood proud and tall it is now empty and haunted. It was said that the Empire was built on Morgan’s Courage, so perhaps it is little wonder that the corruption and fall of his line heralded the end of the empire three long centuries ago.
Still the Shire Lands are as they always have been. Quiet, hard working people making their way in the world far from the vast kingdoms, reminents of the former Emerald Empire, of the west.
Races
Dwarves
All the Dwarves in the world can trace their roots to one place, the Dragon Tooth Mountains. In Fact the Vast majority of dwarves still live in around the Dragon Tooth. They were the first people to rebel against the Fire wyrm and come into their own as civilized people. Legend says that Dwarn rose up and cast down the first wyrm slayed by mortal hands, he and his seven followers; Lowboar, SilverTalon, GoldStag, StoneBear, IronWolf, HighEagle and FallRam that is.
The eight leaders of the rebellion founded the laws that all dwarves live by to this day. First they strengthened the borders and claimed the Dragon Tooth as their domain. They sought shelter underneath the earth. Clan StoneBear being the closest to nature stayed above ground to be the protectors of the passes that crossed the mountain range.
The Dwarves spent the next 100+ years building the largest structure under the Moons, Sun and stars. The Stone Citadel. It stands as a monument to the strength and power of dwarves. It is said that the gate way into the Dwarven kingdom is the blood right of all dwarves and none should ever be denied entry.
After many Centuries the Dwarven toiled and lived waring with the creatures of the deep and the Orn to the north. During this time Clan Dwarn the royal line of the the under-mountain was sundered. Years of inbreeding and foul sorcery given to them by the Dark god of Lies Decev had corrupted Dwarns blood line, the dwarves clans caste them deep into the earth. After the battle of Golic’s valley, a battle in a fertile valley in the Dragon tooth against an Orn force, the Dwarves decided to send a portion of their populations out of the Mountains into to the hills as the first line of defense against the Orn threat.
All was well, the war of the FisherKing however changed this. The human war spread across the land swallowing all the peoples into an epic struggle for the very soul of the world. The Hill clan dwarves, Lead by the greatest warrior the world has ever known, Coroth the Ironwolf, marched to the Stone Citadel to defend it’s walls and the gates of the Under-Mountain. For two weeks the Hill Clansmen fought an army of foul beasts. this was a pitched battle that broke the fell army and saved Dwarfdom. However upon Coroth's request to enter the Citadel and retreat the coming winter, Lord GoldStag denied the Hill dwarves, claiming that famine now racked the Under-Mountain. Thus the great schism occurred. The Hill Clans were forced to leave the stone citadel, and and many of their numbers died (nearly 50%, mostly children and the elderly). The SilverTalon sickened by their mountain clansmen’s malice left with the Hill clans. To this day 900 plus years later there is little but enmity between the Hill and Mountain Clans.
- Mountain Clans
- GoldStag : one of the Noble Clans, their military prowess is rivaled by few.
- HighEagle : The Scribes and scholars of the Dwarves, a noble clan
- FallRam : a common clan the agriculturalists of Undermountain.
- Hill Clans
- SiverTalon : A noble clan, the Skalds, Musicians and Heart beat drummers.
- LowBoar : A Common clan, the architects and stone smiths of dwarfdom.
- IronWolf : A common clan, the craftsmen and Runecasters of the Dwarves.
- Others
- StoneBear : The barbarians. Gaurdians of the dragon tooth. Famed for their Tatooed Berserkers.
A dwarf is not limited to the profession that their clan specializes in, but they are the primary and best practitioners in their field. The exception is perhaps the LowBoar and FallRam, they both do agriculture and stone working quite well.
The greatest honor a dwarf can receive is being given their clan name as their own. For Instance Coroth the IronWolf was formally Coroth of the family Dargoth of Clan IronWolf. After Dieing, by the hand of a traitor, Slaying Ezithor second born the Fire Wyrm at the gates of hell (releasing the dragon from millenia of suffering for it‘s hubris) and being given life by Nora's(goddess of life) hand and leading his army of Hill Clansmen to victory over the Orn legion at the Gate of the Stone Citadel, the people of his clan decided he deserved the title IronWolf.
- Dwarven Vocab
- Skalds : storytellers and musicians
- Heart Beat Drummers : War drummers beating drums that steel the souls of the warriors.
- Berserkers : The tatooed StoneBears who’s tatooes a inked with the blood of the Stone Bear, a monstrous Bear who a StonBear clansmen must kill at there coming of age.
Elves
The elves of MorganShireare are a mysterious people. Unlike other Elves across the old empire the peoples of the Vale keep to themselves.
They are an old people who’s history stretches to time before the Dragon wars millenia ago. After the Fall of the 2nd Wyrm Ezeroth the elves spread across the globe. The Vale was one of these places and the elves here share their kins conection to the world. More than any people they feel and react to the change of the world. Their deep connection to Ilvor (Goddess of nature and the cycle) may have something to with this.
The Vale
The dark forest lies in the east of Morganshire on the coast of Marin’s Sea, south of the Bay of Sern. The center of the forest is said to be haunted and ruled by the foul Gnolls. The Elves of the vale fight the Gnolls in a seemly endless war of control over the Forest. There is also tell of an ancient dragon sleeping in the wood, the old ruler of the Vale from before the Dragon Fall. Perhaps the dragon is the source of the twisted gnolls.
Speaking of Elven cities is a difficult task, as there is no formal elven capital of city to be named, and the cities lack any disernable or stable borders. They seem to the naked eye as migratory, but they do have structures and housing, however these dwellings seem to flow and ebb with the life of the forest. The Tower of Harthenathos is a sight to behold but any outsider who is unwelcome will never find it. Those who seen it will not find it where it once was.
Elven Society
During the age of the Dragon Rule, the elves like all others were enslaved. When Dwarn and his followers lead the first rebellion against Ezeroth the elves saw an opertunity for hope. They were not powerful enough to rebel by force but they did have a great connection to the world itself. In the chaos of war, they sent a single elf maid to find Azathor the first born, dragon of the sun. It was Azathor's revery that had given his younger sibling the moment to strike and enslave the young races of creation. The maiden with the assistance of the wild northman (a young human man of the old tribes who'd evaded slavery) found and awakened the great wyrm who would cast down his brother and his followers. After this the elves scattered to the four winds finding places to settle that were strongest with Ilvors power.
Elven culture seems as fluid as their city boundries. There is a ruler and an aristocracy. The Ruling family “Anthnos” has rules since the coming to the Vale. The Aristocracy though seem to come and go as they please and there is little care for someone’s birth place. The castes as well are fluid, soldiers can come from anywhere, a prince become a farmer and a poor girl can easily become a diplomat or courtier.
There are many families of elves and their connections to other families can seem endless. They care a great deal for these connections as they often effect their place in society. They are a forgiving people, and crime is excedingly rare, when it happens thugh exile is the most common punitive response.
Warriors
All dwarves are warriors, but elves tend to stratify more. Though many Elves have Martial skills an Elf warrior is a member of a caste and a professional soldier. There are three types that have garnered great fame in the wider world.
- The Elsenoris : Unique to the Vale, as a Young child an elf who shows the proper characteristics will be paired with centaur fole. Together they are raised and trained to be a two man cavalry team, they double as Calvary and infantry. They are amongst the most feared military units in the world.
- Archers : They are the English long bowmen of the world they are incredibly accurate and potent. Some even travel with short bows and swords to act as skirmishers, traveling with light infantry and fighting side by side with them, even being trusted as far to be allowed to fire into melee.
- Rangers : Though elves aren’t the only rangers in the world they were the first. Many of the human rangers in the Shire lands were trained by the elves.
- Spell-Sword : The battle mages of the elven army. They are accomplished mages and sorcerers who can weild a sword and bear armor. they travel in squads of 3-6 and are explosive in battle, specilizing in Evocing offensive powers and defensive wards. Reinforced by their skills with swords they seem to fear little.
Elf extras
Age : Elves can live for 100’s of years, but after about 200 of these years they are all but useless, and will retire to the Revery. No one knows exactly what they are pondering in this torper, but they will stay there until they decided to move on, sometimes 600-700 years.
All elves have a deep connection to the earth. Like how not all Rune Casters are Dwarves, but most are; not all Druids are Elves, but many are. Though even those who are not druids still have two gifts most people don’t have. One is excellent senses, eye and ears. The other is a subtle divination, some can sense water, direction, the weather changes, have perfect time and even some connection to flora or fauna.
MAGIC
There are several kinds of magic in the world, though not all are considered magic in the world at large for the sake of this article we’ll refer to them as magic.
The types or as follows:
Sorcery
The most common magic in the world at large. This the classic fantasy magic, learned from the sages of old and arcane in nature. The finger prints of the gods are still present in the world at large. Wizards can perceive these fields and use them to bend and break the laws of nature.
Wizards learn from books and ancient teachings. Every wizard must have the gift to perceive the fields. Some of these fields are strong and some are weak. Most often wizards choose to make their homes in areas that are strongest in the energy they need for the types of spells they wield best.
All races, from the Moon Beasts of the Orn to the Sun creatures of Human, elves and Dwarves have spell casters. Wizards can create magic items, weapons and armor. However these items will fade in energy over time and aren’t usually as strong as the works of the runesmiths.
There are many schools of magic and several universities around the continent. Some sample magical schools are:
- Evocation : Offensive Magic
- Divination : Seeing things through magic
- Necromancy : The understanding of the dead
- Warding : Defensive Magic
- Elemental schools : Obvious
- Enchantment : The effecting of other beings actions
And more…
A wizard maybe a master of more than one school, but will usually focus on one specific school. Wizards are also the longest lived people in the world, even elves can stave off the Reverie for many centuries.
Hedge Magic
Humans have a more holistic style of magic that venerates ancestors and spirits. This stems from human kinds shorter life span and higher reproductive rate. This is the magic that witches and warlocks use. It is similar to sorcery, except that they are bolstered far less by the fields of magic, and is far more tied to the energy human spirits possess. It’s not uncommon for some warlocks to also be necromancers. This type of magic is highly focused on charms, curses, reading of the bones and hexes. Mechanically it is similar to Sorcery.
Rune Casting
The Dwarves long ago were given the gift of the language of creation. This language can only be written in runes. No one knows who used the language after the gods but perhaps they were the architects of the ruins that dot many of the lands of creation. The dwarves have the greatest repository of this language, held in the collective ranks of the Ironwolf clan. They are the most powerful Runecasters and smiths. However even the Ironwolf clans’ understanding of the language is limited.
Anyone can be a Runecaster though the VAST majority come from the dwarf clans, and the most of them are from the Ironwolf. Though the Goldstag have a contingent of capable teacher of the art in the Kingdom of Undermountain. Even the Stonebear blood tattoos are based on the Runes of old.
Devine Gifts
In the religions of creation there are many priests and orders of priests and nuns. Few however maybe less than 5% have any true gift granted by the Gods. Most, even the truly devout, join the priesthoods as a vocation. Some truly unscrupulous individuals use the priesthoods as means to wealth and power.
Those though who have the gift come in several varieties. I will list a God, and gives an example of those they choose to give their gifts to.
Dieties
Kale
Kale is the God of justice, and Just warfare. All peoples revere or fear Kale, though he most often appears as human. There are two groups know to receive his gift the first are the War Priests of Kale. They wield mighty powers, they can shake the earth, strike an evil foe dead with a stare and their hammers can be seen as beacons across great battles. There are also the Swords of Kale, these are true paladins. They are knights errant who ride the lands saving the innocent and righting wrongs. They’ve great knowledge of where they are needed, the ability to smite evil foes, they can Lay hands, and have one truly important gift, they may choose their moment to die.
Lenor
Lady of law and Kale’s wife. Her arbiters are neutral eyes in legal issues. They see the world in law and disorder and seek to keep the law. They some times conflict with kales followers pursuit of justice. The Arbiters have the gift of sight able to see truths through lies and find the point where the scales of law will be balanced.
Ilvor
The goddess of the cycle has Druids. We’ll talk of them later.
Scarver
The God of savage violence and the dark side of the cycle, too, has druids.
Decev
God of deception, Malase‘s consort, the corruptor. His followers are known to be charismatic and easy to like. They will use any means and their super natural gifts to seduce and befoul anyone they see as means to extending their patrons ends.
Malase
Goddess of Malice, among the truest gods of evil. She is evil, to spite creation. Her followers are similar to Kale’s war priests. They however seek to destroy and ravage the lands of creation.
Wreth
The specter of death, the death nail, keeper of hell. Wreth is the end of the life his followers seek those on the verge of death and end it quickly for them.
Nora
Goddess of life, the souls breath. Her followers are the sisters of Nor. They are healers, and are exceptionally rare. She is the wife to Gorm.
Gorm
The Soul Forge, the Creator. He appears as a dwarf smith. On occasion, he may inspire a paladin, but his gift to the world was the knowledge of the words of creation that Runecaster wield.
There are many other gods, some powerful and some less so.
Druidic Gifts
Druids are the followers of Ilvor or Scarver. Though they tend to lean towards good or evil respectively, they are more concerned with their place in nature. These two faction aren’t at war and conflict rarely, they are opposite sides of the same coin, though when a druid commits to a side in a war they may come into conflict with other druids on the other side of the conflict.
Druids meet in circles. They do so to commune with each other wield more power. These circles occur where Ley Lines meet. Ley lines are like creations blood vessels. Where they meet there is great power to be found. Druids often use ley lines for navigation as well.
A druids power is all things Natural. They call down lightning from the sky, call storms, cause life to flourish or blight a land, they commune with animals and effect the tide. They are fearsome beings.
