The Transmission of the Ages

The Transmission of the Ages

Prehistory

Aeons ago, the world of Shenn was a primordial chaos of elemental fury, which was finally brought to order by the harmonious balance of Mother Earth and Father Sky. But this tenuous harmony was disturbed when the Great Old Ones from beyond the stars arrived upon a black comet, brought to Shenn by some distant stellar calamity, or by some evil intent far beyond our mortal comprehension.
With them came the Shadow, an ineffable and destructive malaise that threw the infant world into disease and madness, and portended Armageddon in the coming of Yuggoth, the Dark Planet. Torn by grief, Earth and Sky separated, and in the space between were formed the Elder Gods, spirits of vast intelligence whose creative presence tamed the maddened elemental spirits, balancing and becalming their churning, tumultuous confusion, and bathing them in the blessed, loving light of eternal peace, infinite wisdom, and profound understanding.
These Elder Gods and Alien Gods fought, and some of the Creators were corrupted and turned to Shadow – namely Baal and Sarastra. But eventually, and at great cost, the Elder Gods prevailed and buried their enemies deep in the bowels of the earth, there binding them with divine magic.
Down in the Cyclopean Deeps, the Alien Gods slept, incarcerated in eternity, while the weakened Elder Gods set about creating powerful, magical guardians who could maintain their bonds and repel the incursions of Shadow. These guardians were the Dragons, one of whom the Elder Gods elevated to godhood and welcomed to their own pantheon: Bahamut the Wise.
So began the Age of Dragons.

*

Khorian Era

When the Gods had recovered their strength, each made a race of beings to celebrate the peaceful world they had created. Mael made the Apshanti and granted them dominion of the Oceans. Arden made the Elves and gave them dominion of the Forests, tended by the wise Onodrim, or Ents. Pelor made the Orcs and gave them dominion of the Prairies. Thoth made the Dwarfs, and gave unto them the Mountains; and Bahamut made the Draconians, and gave unto them the Deserts.
Baal, still gripped by the madness of Shadow, made the Chromatic Dragons, in mockery of the First Dragons, and gave unto them the Skies. These cruel and avaricious wyrms clashed with the noble dragons of Bahamut’s lineage, and the world was threatened once more. The gods intervened by creating the Titans – enormous, elemental genies who could unleash the primordial powers of creation and tame these great, magical, and chaotic beasts.
While the Wyrm Wars raged, Sarastra, Mother of Shadows, had secretly created her own race of beings, unbeknownst to the other Gods. These she called Humans, and gave unto them a sovereign, whom she named Khors, the Father of Nations – the Bronze Emperor.
Humankind she made barbarous and warlike, giving the people short lifespans that made them fickle and cruel. Soon they had driven the native Orcs to the mountains and swamps, splitting their proud tribal nation in the Great Schism that made the Akrin and Urzin, and causing Orcs to swear themselves forever the bitter enemies of mankind.
Mourning such strife and suffering, the Elves vowed to spurn these lower mortals. The noble ancestries of the Eldaranari (Silvanesti, or Sun Elves) and Lantawathesti (Shadow Elves) departed for the Feywild and Shadowfell respectively, while the Qualinesti (Grey, or Moon Elves) enchanted their secluded forest kingdom deep in the Galentaur, and the Kagonesti (Wood, or Wild Elves) found sanctuary in the inhospitable boreal forest of Nyster.
A faction of the Qualinesti fell under the spell of a maniacal sorceress called Llolth, who dabbled in blasphemous transmutations, and in later centuries elevated herself to godhood by the blessing of Sarastra. She and her disciples were cast out by the Qualinesti, and became the Balenuinesti, or Dark Elves, called by some the Drow. These ancestral splits became known as The Divergence of the Elves.
The Dwarfs, who called themselves Khazad, retreated beneath the earth and built vast underground edifices in honour of Thoth. But some succumbed to temptation, as those of more covetous spirit were entranced by the Efreeti Titan, Idu Maagog, who had scorned the gods and founded the City of Brass upon the Elemental Plane of Fire. These selfish and obsessive Dwarfs slowly changed and became the Duergar, who dug deeper and deeper in a relentless, ravenous search for precious metals, and soon found themselves in conflict with the grim matriarchy of the Drow.
Some Duergar lost their minds entirely, as they dug so far down that they came too close to the frightful, slumbering minds of the Alien Gods. They worshipped these nightmarish beings, and through forbidden rites transformed themselves into the insane and twisted Derro.
Meanwhile, Khors the Father grew overly fond of power, and resented and rejected his own mortality, so he made a pact with a malignant alien being who had by trickery escaped the Binding of the Gods. This being was Nyarlathotep, the Doomsayer, who whispered dreams of divinity into the vainglorious ears of Khors. He taught Khors the ritual by which he could make himself a god in his own right; but this ritual would upon completion open a rift to the Outer Planes, providing a portal into this world for the bestial demons of the Abyss.
As Khors ascended to godhood, becoming the first mortal to Ascend, demons spilled forth into Shenn, terrorising the First Races and all but exterminating their draconic protectors. Amongst the demons came the Demon Lords, some of whom made themselves patrons of those who were tainted by hatred or touched by Shadow.
Thus Tiamat became the Dragon Queen, and Gruumsh the Orc Father, who banished Pelor to obscurity. As Khors ascended, Nyarlathotep took his place to become the Immortal Pharoah, and saved the Children of Sarastra by pledging their souls to the Demon Lords. Thus humans prospered even as their hearts darkened and their souls were lost.
The Elder Gods, seeing their protectors destroyed and their Children ravaged in the Great Struggle, granted divine magic to the First Races by casting a web of invisible ley lines across the lands. The mortals quickly learnt to harness the power of this godly weave, but alas it was not enough.
The demons were too many, and their Lords too mighty and entirely without mercy. Even the Elder God Mael was cast to the Outer Planes in these Demon Wars, resulting in the entire continent of Azlent being lost beneath the waves. And so, the gods made a desperate plea to the Lords of the Nine Hells.
Asmodeus and his Archdevils saw an opportunity for power, and gladly came to aid the gods, driving back the demonic hordes and chaining the Immortal Pharoah in a great pyramid at the mountainous heart of Amarthaur, where the First City of Feirgotha stood. This unholy temple was crafted by the diabolic Witch-Kings of Azath from the remains of the black comet by which the Pharoah’s kin had arrived on Shenn.
The power of the Black Pyramid was fuelled by the scattered remnants of the comet’s impact, which lay buried along the ley lines of the gods. These threads of divine magic, called by some the Song Lines, were not only a source of magic, but also a means to godly wisdom. Some believe they even serve as a tenuous passage to the Outer Planes and the gods themselves.
The Children of Sarastra, imbued with the cunning of the dark goddess and the despicable evil of their demonic masters, stole the secrets of divine magic, and made it their own, calling it the Way of the Arcane. The Way took many forms.
Some, like the Red Wizards, studied Elemental Magic and Conjuration. It is believed these were the first true sorcerers, in whose very blood ran the weave of magic. Some rose to become the Sorcerer-Kings, who wielded great power in old empires such as Zakhara and Thassilon.
Followers of the Dark Ascendants learned Necromancy, Transmutation, Void and Chaos Magic. Some of these experiments went awry, spawning aberrations that still plague the world even today. The Giants are perhaps the most formidable of these magical creations, being perversions of the Titans of the Gods, although the Giants themselves vehemently, and often violently, deny such claims as lies and heresy.
Battle mages crafted devastating spells of Evocation, while scholar sages worked wonders of Abjuration and Alchemy, with incantations, meditations, rituals, potions, and hieroglyphs. But not all magic belonged to the Way. Tribal nomads learned Divination by reading patterns in sacred ashes, fire-cracked turtle shells, and polished crystals. Druids learned to draw magical power directly from nature, whilst warlocks, priests, monks, and paladins prayed fervently for their patrons’ favour and blessings.
The arcane arts spread rapidly to the other great ancestries of Shenn. The Dwarfs learned Rune Magic, Ring Magic, and Clockwork Magic, with which to fight against the Giants. The Elves built magnificent Schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Illumination, and squabbled amongst themselves. In Drakonia, the noble Dragonborn found ways to harness the innate magic of dragons, while the Orcs devised bizarre and horrific rites of Blood Magic, and learned to tame great beasts of war. The Apshanti were gifted with powerful psionics, and some even say they could see through the very fabric of space and time.
So began the Age of Magic.

*

What followed was a millennium of war and strife, called by some the Arcane Wars, by others the Wars of Iron. The land was blasted by untamed magic, the First Races were scattered, and humankind fragmented into hundreds of paranoid and bloodthirsty city states.
Some of the rulers, heroes, and archmages of these early civilisations themselves ascended to godhood, following the path of Khors in a desperate race to power. Some gods clove to good, and others to evil. Some were jealous and vengeful, others kind and benevolent. Some openly clashed, whilst others cloaked themselves in secrecy.
A myriad cults came and went, with only a few securing their longevity with temples and priesthoods, often maintained through violence, intimidation, and oppression. The influence of Asmodeus declined, although sceptics suggest his presence permeated the cults of the Dark Ascendants, and like a puppet master he manipulated their leaders from behind the scenes.
Elven gods arose, like Silvanus and Selune, as did those of the Apshanti and Draconians. The Dwarfs followed Volund and Rava, and goodly men and women erected temples to Perun, Geb, Desna, Sarenrae, and Tyr. Some gods created races of their own, in their own image, while others grabbed domains of power or magic, of mind or matter. The peoples of the world worshipped their new idols, and they forgot about the Elder Gods. The Lords of Hell, too, faded into memory and myth.
The Elves, who lived close to the Song Lines, were literally soaked in magic. Some turned from the Ascendants to follow the esoteric ways of the Twin Sages, Yarila and Porevidh, whilst others defected to the dark arts of Shadowmancy. This became known as the Second Divergence, which created further rifts and tensions within the great Elven nations. In Qualimor, sovereignty was shared between the Summer King and the Winter Queen. For reasons unclear, the Onodrim entered a deep and eternal sleep, while the Apshanti seemed to simply disappear from memory and history altogether.
The Northmen of Ulfheim believed gargantuan, otherworldly spirits called Norns controlled their destinies. Goliaths rejected the sylvan god of the Centaurs, Pan, and adopted the animistic beliefs of the prehistoric followers of Mother Earth and Father Sky. The Aarakokra, Kender, Tabaxi, Myconids, Tortles, Changelings, Gnomes, Firbolgs, Merfolk, Grippli, Thri-Kreen, and others, all found their own idiosyncratic ways – some worshipping their ancestors, others hailing immortal Child-Kings, false idols, or tyrannical liches, and still others adopting and adapting the gods of other races.
Some, like the Wind Elves, were pledged to the Djinn; others, like the Skyseeker Dwarfs, worshipped the semi-mythical Cloud Dragons of the East. Still others, like the Kuo-Toa, Sahuagin, and Yuan-Ti, found faith in the dark promises of demonkind. The Minotaurs followed Baphomet; the Illithids, Juiblex; the Gnolls, Yeenoghu. Amongst Humans and Orcs, Demogorgon, Graz’zt, Orcus, Zuggtmoy, and Fraz-Urb’luu found favour.
Sarastra, knowing the magics of the Black Pyramid would one day fail and Nyarlathotep would step forth once more into the world to spread his Shadow, cunningly exhorted the Elder Gods to draw a curtain over the world, so that never again could the evils of the Outer Planes enter and slaughter their children. She purred:
“They have no need for us now – our fickle Children have made their own gods. Our wisest course is to withdraw from our creation and seal it from the incursions of the Abyss.”
The gods were persuaded by her cunning wiles, and so they bid the Norns, the Weavers of Fate, to lay the Godsveil across the planar border. This ethereal membrane served as a permanent barrier, which prevented the Demon Lords and Archdevils from crossing into the Material Plane.
But in so doing, the Elder Gods cut themselves off from the world forever, so they could only watch from afar, their only influence the Soul Shards that they entrusted to their angelic avatars, and the enduring faith of their few remaining devotees.
So began the Age of Ascendancy. Although some call it the Age of Forgetting.

*

Nurian Era

This was the beginning of the modern age, as great nation states such as Nuria, Arcady, Barcella, Rashan, Nehwon, Doresh and Lether began to emerge from the chaos of the end of the Khorian Era. From the ruins of Thassilon rose Vasilea; from the blood-soaked deserts of Zakhara came the Amlakan Sultanates. Ancient civilisations grew either decadent and stagnant, like Thassil, lost to the turmoil and despair of civil war, as in Kara-Tur, or mired in clogging political intrigue, as in Xiantian.
Drakonia became insular and secretive under the reign of he who remained – Bahamut, called Saviour by some, and Betrayer by others. For he alone did not retreat behind the Godsveil, although in remaining he surrendered much of his divine power, which some say has been preserved by alchemists in dangerous, magical elixirs.
Kesh became a nation of slavers. Neizhong was terrorised by hordes of marauding horsemen. In Silonos, entire cities were raised into the sky, only to crash to earth as their magic sputtered and failed, killing all who dwelled therein. Still other nations, hidden in deepest jungle or behind impenetrable mountain ranges, were largely forgotten, or fabled by ignorance.
Several calamities occurred in Amarthaur. The prosperous Seven Cities were devastated by the Conclave of the Red Wizards, who left the fertile lands forever defiled by magic. Even now this area is virtually devoid of life, except for savage abominations that prowl the wildlands, and magic is dangerously unpredictable. Most know it as The Wasted West.
A Shadow fell upon Rothenia – the invading forces of imperial Lether retreated without warning, and the trading ports of Fornheim were abandoned to ruin. To the east, rumours spread of Doresh falling to a nation of Darakhul, and the name of Orcus was whispered in fear. The Elves managed to repulse a vampiric horde, and repulsed other threats from the Minotaurs and ophidian Yuan-Ti, as well as a rare alliance of chromatic dragons, who had survived the Demon Wars, before retreating once again to their forest and planar realms.
The Dwarfs abandoned Hvel-Runor and fled to the Mithral Mountains, amidst tales of fire demons and fallen heroes. A gargantuan creature imbued with a jewel that held the spirit of a Demon Lord and was repulsed beneath the Stoneheart Mountains in Tannesh; great underground citadels like Barakus and Rappan Athuk fell to the denizens of the Underdark; and folk spoke in hushed tones of the return of the Black Pharoah, the Harbinger of Doom.
Soon after, one of the imprisoned Alien Gods burst from his confinement and broke through the Godsveil to bring forth another tide of demons. The Great Darkness had arrived. A weapon of pure energy was forged by Hecate, Mistress of Dark Magic, and was wielded by a hero of Arcady who drove back the demon invasion in a whirlwind of carnage.
The Alien God, whose name resembled Tsathoggua, was bound and banished once again by the self-sacrifice of Arden, and the Godsveil repaired, although Hecate’s blade was tainted. Arden was petrified, sundered, and cast over the continent he had saved by the Dark Mistress, who rejoiced in his foolhardy surrender. His heart she used to seal Tsathoggua in his tomb, and only his eyes were salvaged at great peril and cost by members of his depleted sect.
The Arcadian hero, Aka Bakar, adviser to King Bahotep, was driven insane, and the City of Tsen was cursed forever. It is told that this time three malevolent entities managed to escape the binding of the Frog God: the Black Pharoah was one; Zvilpoggua, Spawn of the Toad, was another; and the third – Cassius, Dark Herald of Yuggoth.

*

In the aftermath of these horrors, many of the nation states of Amarthaur collapsed. A multitude had perished, and the precarious order had been lost. Raiders came from Ulfheim and the Shining Sea, and the nascent, aggressive Kingdom of Yore arose out of the ashes of Arcady and Barcella. It was repulsed by Nuria, Lankhmar and the Qadiri of the Sundered Kingdoms, but it conquered Rashan, Akados and Dun Emnon, the Nurian outlands of Natal, and the fertile farming lands as far as prosperous Zobeck. The Red Wizards were driven out, as were Xin invaders from the East.
After a few decades of turmoil, Yore grew to become a bastion of civilisation, its wise learnings ensconced in an astral library of sorcerous invention, named Athenaeum. The coastlines, hinterlands, and criminal underbelly of Yore were all watched and managed by mysterious factions such as the Red Mask Assassins, the Black Network, and a secretive cabal of archwizards known as The Three.
Trade was established with the Dwarfs of the Ironcrag Cantons, the people of Xiantian, and the Elves of Qualimor. Skyships brought exotic goods from afar. Zobeck regained its independence, and kept it by training elite griffon-riders and gear-forged infantry. Vassal city states of Yore such as Reme, and the provinces of Tyr and Endholme, competed and traded and soon became great merchant powers to rival the ancient seaports of Old Nuria. A fragile peace reigned.
But strange things were afoot, also. Through the machinations of Loki, the trickster-god, also called the Seven-Eyed One, Khors regained his seat amongst the Ascendant deities, taking Arden’s crown as Sun God for himself. There were numerous sightings of the witch Baba Yaga, and the Margreve forest became sentient and hostile, even to its own indigenous inhabitants.
The ancient Elven citadel of Myth Drannor fell curiously silent, and the Lantawathesti began to return from the Shadowfell. A fallen Ascendant called Koschei rode through Amarthaur upon his dark horse, declaring himself the Hooded One, and a great plague followed him, destroying crops and devastating populations.
Rune Giants wielding elemental magic stepped out of some forgotten history to do battle with the Elves; and the fossils of long-dead dragons began to stir along the Dragon Coast. Some of these threats were quelled. Those that could not be killed were incarcerated in the sentient Houses of the Azath, their souls severed and hidden away beyond the grasp of those who would seek their return.
Yore, pressed by these bizarre phenomena, along with the constant threat of belligerent Akrin Orcs and Goblins, barely noticed the flight of the entire Urzin tribe from their marshland habitat. Nor did it perceive the growing influence of Shadow amongst the Qualinesti Elves. Nor the increasingly flagrant cultists of Demon Lords and vile, Dark Ascendants such as Nephthys, Zon-Kuthon, Rovagug, Poliel, Lamashtu, Chernobog, and Mammon. Nor did it see the increasing boldness of the Bleached Skull Gnolls of the Dragon Coast. Nor the gruesome mutations of flora and fauna spilling out of the swamps and forests.
From his throne at Bard’s Gate, King Ovar of Yore did not see the struggle at the Battle of Ilthe-Ba’Manza, as the Drow overcame the diseased Illithids and their enslaved Duergar. Nor did he notice the great fire that swept through Zobeck, razing it to the ground, nor the strangling of the Hidden City of Treeholme by the awakened spirits of the Old Margreve.
And he is not aware of the small band of unlikely heroes that has just unknowingly dispatched Dagon, one of the Slumbering Gods of Yuggoth.
A Second Darkness is imminent. War comes swiftly from distant Lether, and Death sails from unquiet Doresh. There is Evil lurking within the Kingdom of Yore, and a Shadow has been cast over Elvenkind. Tsathoggua has allies – some mortal, and others alas not. The Frog God is seeking a way to return, although his intent is obscure; the minds of the Great Old Ones are surely beyond mortal ken.
The Black Pharoah is abroad again, peddling his prophecies of doom. Fell armies are being raised within Yore. There is talk of genocide, and blasphemous perversions of godly creation. Zvilpoggua and Cassius are working to realise their dark lord’s baleful design. Both Graz’zt and Orcus are coming from beyond to establish their foul dominions, their servants bearing weapons of great power. The Demogorgon and Zuggtmoy are both seeking artifacts to facilitate their return. But the Elder Gods are lost behind the Veil, and the Ascendants are powerless against such eldritch forces.
The Sword of Air must be found, and soon! The powers and factions of Yore all now mobilise to acquire the lost blade of Hecate, or its predecessors, the legendary Swords of the Elements. Conflict is inevitable, and with each working to their own ends, the doom of Yore, and indeed the entire world, is sealed. If Baba Yaga has seen truly, the innocent peoples of Yore are in dire need of heroes! May the gods look kindly on all our souls!
The augurs and shamans are in rapture. The oracles and soothsayers awaken from their trances and clamour for the world to listen. The Blood Comet has been spied amongst the constellations. If the prophecies are correct, soon the Dark Planet of Yuggoth shall arrive. And Oblivion shall soon follow.
A New Age is about to dawn. Let us pray it shall be an Age of Hope, not Sorrow; an Age of Heroes, not Shadow…
… An Age where good and evil can persist, where the endless cycle of birth and death can continue, and not be annihilated by the Awakening of the Great Old Ones.

*

“The Transmission of the Ages”
Woven from the Threads of Fate by Jo’deh of the Moot
Walker of the Song Lines