Civilizations That No Longer Exist

In the beginning, there was chaos. And before chaos? Alchemists and wizards immersed themselves for decades in contemplations about how beautiful the flowers that might have grown in the Godless Lands before the Disciples arrived. The subjugated territories once pulsed with life, intellect, and multiple different cultures or religions—all either razed to the ground or forcibly assimilated into the Disciples of Chaos. However, the ability of the Disciples to destroy is exceptional. It took merely 57 years for the inhabitants of these lands to be deprived of most of their identity, memory, and heritage. Nevertheless, this does not mean that they have erased this legacy to zero.
There are manuscripts describing vibrant green cities that once formed the foundations of this land. There were many different Kingdoms with diverse views on this world. From the peaceful Eldania, relying for generations on diplomacy to preserve peace, to the exceptionally bloody warmongers that existed on the territories now occupied by the gray desert. Even today, beneath the thick layers of clay, fragments of archaic weapons, furnaces, and forges can be found. Strangely enough, there are expeditions made by nobles of other countries, that hired wizards who specialize in transforming these weapons into splendid artifacts. Objects from the forgotten world command the highest value in the black markets. Often, they embody powers allowing control over water, fire, air, or underground creatures.
Underground ruins remind the people of the time that rocks in this part of Herja still had a bright color. Round and flat stone tables with perfectly geometric rectangular recesses arranged in a circle, they, along with the surface, form a pattern resembling a radiating star. The abundance of weapons and everyday items around the altars suggests that they might have been sacrificial altars for an ancient cult. The preserved vertical stone spikes emerging from the center of these rectangles seem to confirm this theory. If each rectangular recess represented a sacrificial chamber, it implies that the members of this civilization were of extraordinary stature. The spikes suggest that they sacrificed themselves, and there is no indication that anyone other than the victims participated in the ceremonies. Could we be dealing with a cult that had no priests or any other form of hierarchy? An extraordinary self-guiding civilization that did not require any religious authority.
The quantity of intricate armor and weaponry by the altars indicates that it was a martial civilization, undoubtedly strongly inclined toward bloodshed. The vastness of the areas where its remnants were found, however, suggests that it was a grand and all-powerful civilization. The technological complexity and mechanics of the items suggest that it was the people were very advanced. The beautiful yet macabre findings, however, cannot provide anyone with complete certainty about who they were.
Apart from the “bloody” civilization, remains of another civilization were also found. The lack of preserved buildings or cult centers suggests that it was a powerful group of nomads. However, the quality of the preserved items indicates that it appeared around the same time as the first civilizations. The most intriguing and well-preserved spoils of this civilization are the mysterious black and gold bows and their larger counterparts, ballistae made from the same kind of metal. The biggest mystery remains the recipe for the flexible, ductile alloy from which they were made. To this day, the most eminent magical blacksmiths have not discovered how to recreate it. The secrets of this ore might be hidden between the cracks of the black rock.
A considerable amount of fairly well-preserved pieces of armor, items, and weapons of this group were found in rather unusual circumstances. They are often discovered in the company of mummified and desiccated abdomens of gigantic insects. However, these insects differ in their physiology from those found on the surface of Wurgar today. Moreover, an adventurer described creatures as “powerful, with black-gold armor, resembling mobile homes” in his journals.
The size of the weaponry implies that representatives of this race were of unusually average height and slender build. The quality of the preserved elements of this culture indicates an excellent understanding of the structure of matter and energy behaviors. Despite being a nomadic culture, they appear to have been exceptionally developed. The coexistence of this civilization in the same period as the aforementioned one suggests that these civilizations must have somehow diplomatically managed their differences. No serious evidence has been found that would confirm military conflicts between them. Perhaps they lived in an alliance or some other form of symbiosis, enabling both civilizations to thrive? How these civilizations ceased to exist also remains a mystery. Or maybe they did not cease to exist?
The greatest mystery on the surface however, still lies in the northeastern forests. Where did their inhabitants come from, and how did they manage to evade Chaos? Some utopian theorists suggest a connection with the civilizations that once lived in the Wurgar deserts and their mysterious disappearance. However, this seems unlikely in any way. This civilization has been concentrating its efforts for decades on staying hidden and isolated from the outside world. A basic understanding of the history of the region suggests that they would not be interested in destroying two advanced civilizations just to hide in the forest later and exclude anyone else from reaching them. The behavior of this mysterious nation rather indicates signs of a guardian culture. Cultures of this kind do not usually boast expansionist-aggressive behaviors. What matters to them is maintaining peace and order around what they already possess, which is why they are not interested in conquests. Unfortunately, the true wealth of this culture is unknown. It is known that they love to use arrows. One thing is certain—this culture survived as the only one (although in a sense it remains absent and invisible), in its entirety, and may hold the key to the memory of the world before the arrival of the envoys of Chaos.
The northeastern shores of Wurgar, south of Trout Island, are one of the more economically interesting areas. Numerous rocky ports have been carved into the mighty cliffs. Arriving at these ports involves significant danger; however, the local population has mastered the art of navigation to such an extent that their ships always reach ports safely. In practice, this means that uninvited guests usually crash into the rocks or end up at the bottom of the sea (with a little help from the coastal guard). The primary armament of these ships is naval rams, which prove to be incredibly effective weapons in the straits. The inhabitants of these cliffside ports dwell in underground areas, mostly keeping to themselves. Do they live in symbiosis with the inhabitants of the forests? It is quite plausible. But they certainly constitute another civilization.