Endunia History Overview
Long before the ages of humans, elves or dwarves, Endunia was devoid of settled peoples. The races debate if there were any humanoids present, but what they agree on is that the world was often used as a battleground for the gods, the fiends, and various other immortals. Where their blood was spilt, nature was distorted and warped. In one instance, Gruumsh, the Evil warlike god of the Orcs, lost his eye in a fight with the Elven god, Corellon. The eye formed a chasm where it landed and was lost. In time, Gruumsh brought the Orcs to Endunia to scour the land for his lost eye, whether he created them for that purpose, or to fuel his endless war with Maglubiyet, god of the goblinoids, is unknown.
For centuries, the Orcs roamed the continents searching for the Eye. Forgoing permanent settlements, the Orcs followed a migratory pattern that spanned generations in a pattern that would be incomprehensible to non-Orcs. They cultivated many crops, staying only long enough for the harvest before moving on. They hunted the beasts of the land, leaving enough to repopulate by the time they returned. They also domesticated many livestock beasts, bringing them with them on their voyages, spreading horses, cattle and many more throughout Endunia. Their population grew rapidly in the abundant land, forcing them to break off into various tribes. Some continued the search for the Eye, while others began experimenting with metalworking, and animal husbandry. Their shamans and mages discovered secret places of power and their knowledge of the land and the arcane grew.
The Orcs did not have the continents to themselves forever. The Elves tell of a great migration from their native Feywild. They entered Endunia by following the call of an ancient and sentient tree, called the Trembling Giant. They passed from one plane to this one through a portal where the barrier between the two grew thin, the ancient grove where the Trembling Giant stood. At first, Endunia appeared to be nearly identical to the Feywild, but without the arcane dangers of their homeland. The Elves were not alone, however, and the goblinoids, seeking an opportunity to strike against Gruumsh and to disrupt the Elves, followed closely behind. Many Elves spread out among the continents, while others stayed behind to protect the Trembling Giant, and safeguard the portal against any other followers. The Elves found the land already primed for settlement, discovering the crops the Orcs cultivated and the herds they bred. The Elves assumed their gods had provided for them these gifts, not knowing they were enjoying the fruits of another race’s labor. They created nations and built magnificent cities, most led by the nobles from the Feywild who led them through the barrier. The Goblins raided Elven settlements and harassed the Orcs on their migrations. Many Goblin tribes settled in the mountains, traveling the natural caves and tunnels deep under the earth.
Next, came the Dwarves. The Dwarves are unable or unwilling to explain how they arrived on the continents, but they appeared near the Elven kingdoms. The two formed a close alliance, and the Dwarves built strongholds throughout the mountain chains, including the jewel of their civilization, Kildrakeep. The Dwarves dug deep into the rock, and disturbed the Goblins in their hideouts. Goblins raided the Dwarves mines, and Dwarves exterminated Goblin nests wherever they found them.
Two generations of elves went by when the Orcs reappeared, their migrations finally bringing them back to where the Dwarves and Elves had settled. The Orcs saw the lands they had cultivated and beasts they hunted being taken from them, while the Dwarves and Elves saw only a marauding army. Both sides viewed the other as invaders and a bitter war ensued with all fighting desperately to defend what was theirs. Decades passed as the Orcs tried to reclaim their lands, and the Elves and Dwarves fought to protect what they had built. Cities were demolished and Orc tribes exterminated. The war ended with Kildrakeep being buried under the mountains and the Orcs’ population devastated.
The Orcs continued to wander the continent, but only a few now sought the Eye, while most set themselves on revenge against the Elves and Dwarves, often encountering their ancient goblinoid enemies along the way. Orcs established their first permanent settlements, often on the mountainsides or tundras. They often enslaved Goblin, and even Elves and Dwarves, populations for use as laborers. The Orcs had a harder time subjugating the Goblins cousins, the Bugbears and Hobgoblins, who would occasionally rally the Goblinoids into great armies and exact revenge on the other races.
Dwarves dug deep into the earth searching for their lost capital, but found nothing but a void, at first. Their incessant trespasses into the Underdark and beyond awoke ancient horrors, including the giants, who had been slumbering beneath the ground for eons, sealed by some unknown power. When the giants came to the surface, they found their world much changed from the single mega-continent they left behind. Some giants fled the smaller races, searching for solitude out of the way of society. Others sought to reclaim their dominion over the land, seeking out the remnants of their long lost civilizations. Even more set out to conquer the smaller races, pillage their lands and confiscate their riches. The giants’ numbers were fewer than the humanoids, thus were largely unsuccessful, however, a few conquered Elven palaces, usurped Orcish chieftains, and raided the remaining Dwarven fortresses. The Goblinoids often cooperated with the Giants to vex the other races. Ogres, Trolls and the dimmer witted giants frequently assimilated into Orcish and Goblinoid tribes, leveraging their great size and strength to gain what they saw as an easier way to get food.
At some point after the destruction of Kildrakeep, Gnomes joined the Dwarves in their mining efforts and Elves in their woodland realms, as well as founding enclaves of their own. The Elves believe the Gnomes are relatives of theirs from the Feywild, but most Gnomes refute this claim, asserting they had been living underground near the Giants’ prison, and Dwarves had brought them to the surface. Halflings settled throughout the continents, as well, using their skill as boatmen to facilitate trade between the humanoid races up and down the riverways. The Halflings have legends of them passing into Endunia by sailing up a waterfall on their home world and crossing over. After a massive hurricane in the western ocean, a fleet of ships appeared, and with them, the first of the humans. Over the next decades, more storms brought more humans, and they settled across all continents, some cooperating with the Elves and Dwarves, while others joined the Orcish barbarian hordes. Rather than carve a niche, humans became the second best at most trades and occupations, but rarely the masters. They founded numerous kingdoms and empires, fighting wars alongside the Elves and Dwarves, and occasionally against them. Humans did not always enjoy internal peace, however, as they often fought amongst themselves. Halflings and Humans cooperated, with their settlements growing nearby each other and often coalescing into larger societies.
The gods of all peoples occasionally arrived on Endunia to resolve disputes and protect their peoples, although doing so often led to retaliation from rival gods. An uneasy truce was formed in which the gods avoided direct conflict on the planet, as to not devastate the populations of their own peoples. The Elves and Dwarves, unable to completely defeat the giants and expel them from their lands, appealed to the gods to send them champions to fight the giants. Bahamut, god of Good Dragons, sent his Metallic Dragons to Endunia; they descended from the skies and battled the giants wherever they found them. The giants could not contend with both the mortals and the Dragons, and their dominion was once again brought to an end. Many Metallic Dragons left Endunia, traveling back through the portal in the sky, but a few stayed to watch over the world.
For a time, the prosperity of the civilizations of the world waxed and waned. The Dwarves never found Kildrakeep, but reclaimed much of their former glory, delving deep into the earth and finding great wealth. The Elvish nations flourished, perfecting their crafts and mastering all manner of magics. Humanity spread across all continents, and trade flourished from land to land. Where there was wealth and prosperity, however, there were those who coveted it, and none were more covetous than the Chromatic Dragons.
From across the planes, the Evil Dragons made contact with intrepid mages and caught the scent of the great wealth of Endunia. They discovered the portal to Endunia that the Metallic Dragons used and conquered nations and deposed rulers. Like the Giants before them, the Chromatic Dragons sought conquest and wealth. The remaining Metallic Dragons were overwhelmed by their Evil kin, so rallied the mortal races to their side. The Elves, believing they needed to balance the scales, reached out across the planes once more, bringing more Good Dragons back to the world. The two sides fought across the continents, and peace was a distant memory. The Evil Dragons subjugated many people, from all races, and the Good Dragons likewise inspired many disparate nations to align against their enemies. It appeared Good was to prevail, until the Evil Dragons used their powers to create a new race, the Dragonborn. These dedicated and adept warriors helped the Evil Dragons gain the upperhand, once more.
Generations of men went by with neither side prevailing, leading to horrible scars across the lands. The Good Dragons managed to convert some of the Dragonborn to their side, but not enough to defeat their rivals. Eventually, Tiamat, goddess of the Evil Dragons, and Bahamut, god of the Good Dragons, arrived on Endunia, breaking the informal truce between the gods to avoid making landfall. The two fought a devastating and seemingly interminable duel, creating the Great Desert Gradllow. Their battle shook the Mortal Plane so tremendously that it began to destabilize, causing chaos across other Planes of existence. Portals opened across the lands, leading to uncountable Planes. Fiends escaped the Lower Planes, Elementals crossed over to the Material Plane, monstrosities and aberrations escaped their native realms to invade Endunia.
The chaos sowed by the conflict fueled the Demons of the Abyss, the masters of Chaos, allowing them to gain the upper hand against the Devils of the Nine Hells, as well as the gods of the Upper Planes. They poured across all Planes, destroying everything in their path. Demon Lords, such as Yeenoghu, roamed Endunia freely, corrupting life and creating new monstrosities, like the Gnolls. Asmodeus, Devil Lord of the Nine Hells, in his desperation, reached out to the gods of the mortals, and they brokered a deal to stop the battle between Tiamat and Bahamut, and banish the marauding Demons. Together, they created a magical barrier, which prevented the most powerful of the infernal, divine, and other supernatural powers from manifesting on Endunia in their full forms. Bahamut retreated gracefully, but Tiamat would not be shackled. She raged against the Gods and the Devils and was cast into Avernus, the First layer of Hell, where she became both lord, for a time, and prisoner.
The Great Barrier could not be fully closed, by the God Helm, until all Higher Powers were expelled from Endunia. The Gods of the Upper Planes and Devils of the Nine Hells left willingly, as the Barrier was their solution to hold back the tide of the Chaotic Demon Lords. The Demons, and many Evil Gods and other chaotic Higher Powers, would not be expelled from their mortal playground so easily, however. Helm’s power kept the remaining threats from receiving more power from their native Planes, but the great powers of Chaos and Evil were still far too formidable for mortals to contend with on their own, even with the assistance of Dragons and Giants. The Gods empowered chosen mortals to act as their instruments on Endunia, called Divine Crusaders, and expel the intruders. Asmodeus and his Devils would not be outdone by their Heavenly rivals, and empowered their own champions, the Chosen of the Infernal, to defeat the Demon Lords and any other that threatened the truce.
The Demon Lords, while cut off from their sources of power, were still able to draw power from the souls of their victims, not only strengthening them on Endunia, but also their servants in the Abyss. After two millennia of battle, further decimating the mortals of Endunia, the Truce and the plan of the Great Barrier did not seem to be working, and the forces of the Nine Hells were becoming overrun by the Demons of the Abyss in the Lower Planes, with Chaos once again threatening to engulf the universe. The Divine Crusaders and Chosen of the Infernal joined forces, reluctantly, and their combined might finally prevailed against their Demonic foes, in an event known only to modern day mortals as the Supreme Banishment. Both the Divine Crusaders and the Chosen of the Infernal disappeared from Creation, with even the Higher Powers unable, or unwilling, to offer an explanation. Helm, The Watcher, sealed the Great Barrier, and the Truce of the Heavens and Hells was victorious, and now free to continue to harass one another.
The gods and fiends and other immortal beings could no longer interfere directly on Endunia, due to the barrier, although they could still influence their followers through consecrated, or desecrated, places and relics. Likewise, any remnants of their power, for instance any body part, that existed on the Mortal Plane before the barrier was created remained. Under remarkable circumstances, the immortals could still send an avatar of theirs to Endunia, but not without great cost. The measure of a being's power on Endunia was now directly tied to the amount of followers they had, as well as the power of said followers' convictions. No immortal being was powerless on Endunia as long as they had one petitioner, artifact, or holy ground. A new era had dawned, and all the disparate nations of mortals began a new calendar, with the Supreme Banishment marking the Zero Year.
Today, millennia after the Dragon Wars and the Supreme Banishment, the peoples of Endunia still grapple with the past, but look towards the future. There are still artifacts to be found, wars to be won, villains to be toppled, secrets to be discovered, and ancient gods to be resurrected.
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