Official History
History of the Humans
Many millennia ago, when the Elves and the dwarves already had thriving kingdoms, the humans were nothing more than savage barbarians. They lived in tribes and were unable of the simplest craftmanship. Their villages were spread over the whole world, and attacks of Orcs or Ogres oftentimes meant sure death to the inhabitants. The harvests were small, and humanity seemed to the more evolved cultures not in the least better than the Orcs. That should not change for many centuries.
Then something struck humanity which should change it forever. Now one today knows who, nor when and how, but some individuals discovered that they had powers that exceeded the ones of normal mortals. Humanity had just discovered magic. A new era dawned upon the humans; the mages could increase the harvests by controlling the weather, and fend off invasions of monsters. The humans who didn?t starve now anymore and had time to care for their progress, quickly learned how to forge bronze and even iron and the villages grew into cities.
It should take again centuries until one man of a certain tribe on the westcoast arose to unite all the tribes. The Merindi with their city of Merindar began to invite their neighbours into an alliance with them, and the ones who refused were quickly conquered. After just a few decades, the Human Empire included all the places inhabited by humans; nearly the whole centre of the mainland belonged to it, with arms spreading into every direction. It was even bigger than the dwarven and Elfish empires, and its strong armies protected it against the small invasions by the Ogres and Orcs that took place every several years. Traderoutes were established with the dwarves and, to some extend, even with the Elves who still regarded the humans as savages, compared to their history of millennia of high culture. An era of wealth and benefit for all began. But some of the lords and dukes weren?t that happy. They were eager for some power of their own, not being watched by the emperor all the time. So when the first invasion of the undead and a massive Orc raid fell together by chance, and all of the empire?s armies were bound in fending them off, quite a few nobles rebelled and split off. That weakened the empire as a whole, and even more nobles felt uncomfortable with the rule of the emperor in Merindar. In the end, the monsters could be repelled, but the empire lay shattered. Merindar was still the nominal capital for all of humanity, but its power was gone and there were now again hundreds of fighting, arguing kingdoms, fiefdoms, city-alliances and more.The emperor died as a broken man, and his successors couldn?t repeat what he had achieved. Today, no one even knows the name of this man, for this all happened now over a thousand years ago.
History of the Skaven
In the days of the greatest of the Elder War between the Dwarves and the Elves, before the days of the Elven Schism, it is said the the greatest of of the Dark Elven Sorcerers took rats and granted them size, strength, and minds. These abominations were called Skaven and they could pass through the smallest of tunnels and they ravaged the Dwarves with their poisoned knives and the plagues they concocted. As the war with the elves raged on, one by one the Dwarven cities in the Black Mountains fell to the Skaven hordes.
After the wars, the Skaven ruled the tunnels of the northlands and from their capitol in the squalid ruins of the once-majestic dwarven city of Gorang'nor, near the headwaters of the Grukug River (the one that goes through the Orc city) could be heard the screams of their human slaves. At the hight of Skaven power the reached as far south as Evanton, but wars with the humans have driven them back into the Black Mountains.
History of the Birdmen
The Birdmen were always in the highest peaks of the Skyhigh Mountains. On the highest peak sat Aero, the capital of the birdman providences. The history is mostly mystic in character and not repeated but the Birdmen know about the lore of the land.
The leader of the birdmen is the Phoenix King. The Phoenix King was a birdman that was transformed into a Phoenix. To become a Phoenix King the birdman must accused the old Phoenix King and win in trial and then must defeat the Phoenix King in battle. This was not a good thing for the birdmen.
The Phoenix King is the keeper of legends and lore long forgotten. The lore is protected by the birdmen. For this reason the birdmen are reclusive and do not talk to many people. They are very snobbish when it comes to outsiders.
Enemies of the birdmen are the skeletons of the Undead King and the Dark Dragons. The skeletons of the Undead King are easy picking for the birdmen as they can fight one on one. One time the Phoenix King battle the Undead King, leaving the Undead King wounded badly enough to stay in his castle. The Phoenix King was killed and reborned in Aero again.
The Dark Dragons attack Aero now and then so that the birdmen have to use the ugly bows and ballitista, to send the dark dragons away from the city.
The birdmens disadvantage is that they like to fight and fly making them disadvantaged with evil human hunter. Nowadays they wear some armor when flying.
History of the Undead
by Elgar
Allow me to tell you of the walking dead, and how they came to be the most vile evil in our land.
A long time ago the world was at peace. The world was in balance, unstable though it was. Neither good nor evil had managed to get a decisive advantage over the other. But as the years and decades dragged on, the many wars took a heavy toll on both sides.
But evil had more problems than its counterpart. The evil races not only fought good, but also each other. Orcs and goblins were in an almost constant state of war. The ogres often intervened, as did trolls. Dark elves were always trying to destroy the dark dwarves, their hate for them eternal. Hobgoblins raided the lands of all the others frequently. Basically, evil began to lose the war. They were not only being killed by good, but they were killing themselves.
Many of the greatest and most influential mages, warlords, chieftains and leaders of the evil races gathered, in a somewhat uneasy conference. They were forbidden to fight each other for the duration of the great meeting that took place. The leaders met for a full three days, without ever leaving the massive burial chamber where they gathered. The place was chosen for its significance because of all the dead around them. It was a grim reminder to them all that they were slowly but surely losing the war.
It was drawing to the end of the third day of the meeting and still they hadn't figured out a way to combat the forces of good on equal terms. Then one of the minor mages that no one had paid any attention to got up. He pointed all around the burial chamber. He asked the others what they would do if their dead could be made to fight again. The whole chamber erupted in laughter. The mage patiently waited until the leaders were settled again. Then he began to speak an incantation. The others just stared at him. It was a horrible language that he spoke, even by their standards. Then all around them the dead began to rise up from the ground. The corpses of those that had perished long ago awoke to serve their new master. Their dead bodies had been re-animated with the foul magics of the mage. The others could not believe it. The mage then began to tell them of a new kind of magic that he had discovered. Necromancy, the art of raising the dead.
Still disbelieving, the others wanted to put the walking dead to the test. A hundred hand picked troops from each of the main races took to the field against the same number of freshly raised undead. The battle lasted for a little less than an hour. The undead proved to be excellent troops. They had no fear, did not question why they were killing, they just slaughtered. Many of soldiers of the living races screamed in terror and fled, shouting that they could not kill that which was already dead.
The mage was almost instantly elevated to lead the whole of the forces of evil. With an almost endless supply of new troops, the tide of war began to turn in favor of evil. They won crushing victories over good, striking deep and hard into the lands of the humans, elves and dwarves. But then the unknown powers that ruled the world turned the tide once more. Seeing the enormous success of the Necromancer, many of his rivals began to plot his downfall. In a night of bloodshed, they stormed his fortress and burned it down, along with all the undead within it. They also killed the Necromancer, his body burned in the fortress.
His rivals took control and tried to lead the now united forces of evil. But they failed. None were as skilled as the Necromancer. The forces of evil once again turned on each other, and their success was reversed. The world was in balance once more.
Years passed. Most had forgotten about the Necromancer and his undead minions. Then, after one hundred years, the Necromancer's body rose from the dead. He had enchanted a crown for himself that would bring his soulless body back, should he ever die. But the price was dear. He had to spend the rest of his tortured "life" in the fortress of his death, the dark citadel now known as Necropolis. With the crown of his own making he had become the Undead King.
In his rage and fury the Undead King decided to exact revenge on the world and all who lived in it. He would punish them with the exact same fate that he had cursed himself with. He would kill them all and raise their dead bodies up again to walk the earth for ever, giving their souls no rest.
Since then, the Undead have become one of the strongest of the evil races. Their dead bodies need no rest, for their souls get none either. They march eternally against their enemies until the twisted magic that binds them is broken.
Such is the evil that has yet again befallen our land. Take care that if you meet the walking dead you do not allow them to take your body whole. For if you do, then you will very soon be one of them, the peace of your soul stolen by the evil magics of the Necromancers.
Elgar the Historian
History of the Tranthian Dwarves
After the loss of the city of Gorang'nor, to the Skavens, the remnants of the Dwarvish people made an exodus across the Froath Ocean in the north to the frozen land of Tranth. There, the Dwarves set up their capitol, Artin-nor, and began anew to recreate their civilization. While, in the glorious days of Gorang'nor, Dwarven scientists had invented gunpowder, they had yet to make a practical weapon from the discovery. With the frantic flight of what has become to be known as the Freguf, (dwarvish for the Exodus), the knowledge of gunpowder was lost. Due to the harsh climate, Dwarves spent their time trying to survive and intellectual pursuits were given up for quite some time. Magic became a common practice, and each clan was led by a fire-keeper, a magus skilled in the arts of fire control. The Dwarves have very few raw materials, but their hardy nature has allowed them to survive on the tundra of Tranth. The Dwarves now eagerly await the Fugerf, Dwarvish for the Return, where the will display their dominance over the Skavens. The Dwarves have sent an small company of magi highly skilled in the art of self-metamorphosis onto mainland Astarak to scout out the current political situation. Glormar, a treasure hunter, was able to sneak his way on board the ship and traveled to mainland to try to seek his fortune before any other Dwarven treasure hunters (there are lots of them) arrived. This of course, is only the history of those Dwarves who fled Gorang'nor. Called the Tranthian Dwarves, they are unaware of the presence of Dwarves in Preveon.
History of the Sidhe
The Sidhe (pronounced incredible beauty and terrible awe, one can hardly look at these nobility without a sense of wonderment. They have based their nation south of the Sky High mountains, centered around the City of Arcadia. Isolated for centuries, their existence has been thought of as only a myth, and only a select few whom have been able to penetrate their elaborate defenses can attest to their actual existence. But they are real...
The Sidhe are the keepers of dreams. They inspire others to dream. Without the Sidhe, there would be no dreams, and without dreams, the Sidhe would be destroyed. Destruction of one leads to the destruction of the other.
Nation: South of the Sky High Mounains, only fabled to exist, the capital is the costal city of Arcadia, built of pure dream-force. It has been hidden from the rest of the world, and like the race itself, thought of as solely a myth.
Strengths: The Sidhe are incredibly beautiful and awe inspiing just to look at. Like true nobility, they know the rules of etiquette and social interactions. They can inspire dreams, and gain strenght from the dreams they inspire. THeir magic is not destructive, but creative.
Weaknesses: They are both snobbish and affraid of science. Snobby because of their beauty and the knowledge of their importance. They see science as a banal occupation, that destroys their dreams by enforcing reality.
History of the Tanish
The Tanish (I think that sounds better than Transeriers:))were never a peaceful people. Unfortunately, they were never much good at fighting, either. Pushed from their original homes near Draka Mountian by the Undead, the Tanish began the Great Trek across Astarak-they migrated across the entire continent, harassed by Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and Goblins. Many Tanish died in the Great Trek-especially those who could not fight. It was truly survival of the fittest. After many years of traveling, the Tanish reached North Capania-and found something they were good at.
The Tanish built giant boats, and floated into the ocean. Months went by without seeing any land, but the Tanish eventually reached the Erie Islands (with Cohon to the west and Iainville to the northeast.) and set up their new home. Finding the islands uninhabitied, they quickly established control over them all.
A capital city was set up on one of the north islands, called New Draka, and those who did not think the time was ripe to end the Trek set up a city on the southernmost island-Trekville.
(Imagine the islands as a backwards "C" The island New Draka is on would be at the very upper tip of C, the part that starts to curve down.)
Some Tanish have talked of founding new settlements on the mainland-King Ryan Madure is not sure of this, however.
History of the Star Elves
Upon the surface of some far distant moon, a glittering Keep made of some unknown crystalline material glitters in the darkness of space. The crystal fortress stands with a tall spire upon each corner each joined together by crystalline walls of approx 80' in height and 25' in thickness at the base. Another much larger tower stands within the very center of the structure and is surrounded on all sides by smaller structures which serve as homes, shops and gathering places. The entire Keep/city is in reality a crystal lifeform which many eons ago became trapped in the lunar gravity and fell to the surface. The organism generates and purifies the atmosphere within and surrounding itself, thus keeping the air from growing stale or polluted. The star elves care for the crystal being, by protecting it and caring for it. In turn the entity molds itself to the wishes of the elves to form buildings, counters, chairs, beds, etc. The origin of the Star elven race itself is shrouded in mystery, it is known that they are the children of the Goddess Luminae (known also as Selune, Luna, Silvara, and numerous other names). Stellar having been the first of the race, has held the throne for nearly 900 years. His benevolent rule has left no reason for disent or reproach from his people. The lifespan of the starelven people has never been determined as Stellar appears to be in his mid 20's by human standards. The Starelven people don't place a great value upon personal wealth, and tend to give supplies to those in need of them more often than selling them. Still with the various goods unique to the locale, this community retains enough wealth to buy and trade in a great variety of goods and services from all corners of the universe. The principal inhabitants of Starlight Keep being star elves, there is however no lack of various other races within the fortress at any given time, whether simply resting before moving onward or trading in the various unique goods that the moon city provides. The defenders of this Keep are known as the "Star Riders", a force of knight/mages who ride upon the backs of great star dragons. Star elves who possess the abilities to become a Star Rider form a spiritual bond with a young star dragon and remain companions for life. Should one companion die the other does as well. Starelven magic is produced through song rather than by the typical means. This has allowed them to combine the use of magic with swordplay into a type of song and dance combat style that is nearly hypnotic to enemies and onlookers alike. One dark cloud hangs over the harmony of the Starelven race, quite literally. The arch enemies of the Starelven people are the vile Storm elves who prey upon star elves mercilessly whenever they are encountered. Storm elves take a particular pleasure in collecting the stargems of their victims, which tend to fetch quite a nice profit due to the gem's stored magical energies. Star dragons are capable of flight through space and their magical nature and size produce an atmosphere for the riders they carry. The Keep also has an atmosphere which extends some distance from the outer walls. A short distance outside of the main gate stands a large silver archway which acts as a permanent fixed portal. It is activated by speaking the name of the companion arch that one wishes to reach.