# History of Temnia ## Time Before History In the beginning, there was fire and water; earth and air; life and death. Six spheres of primordial elemental power, inexorably drawn to their opposite power. Each seeking to merge into annihilate itself and its opposite. From each of these primordial powers came the first life: the primordial elementals, for such pure and unadulterated power has a will of its own, and cannot stay wholly contained. From those primordial elementals came the first of the [[Elemental Lords]], and from them the lesser elemental powers. The Yai'tan, the Yai'ant and eventually the Yai'nasi. For time uncounted, the great sultans of the elemental spheres ordered their realms in their respective images, unaware of the other spheres, and the inevitability of their convergence. When the first convergence occurred, each elemental sphere found its territory beset by four invading spheres. These convergences were the elemental borders, the para-elemental planes. War ranged between the elements, each trying desperately to destroy the invaders from the rival courts, as well as the nascent powers of these new planes. But as the elemental chaos raged, the spheres continued to be drawn together, and closer to their ultimate annihilation. The second convergence marked the beginning of the end of the elemental chaos. The expansion and overlap of the para-elemental planes demonstrated that so long as the elementals continued to fight amongst themselves, the spheres would continue to draw together and their domains would continue to dwindle. Conquest was impossible, so cooperation was required to maintain an equilibrium, and to protect what territory was left to them. The Great Concord was reached, and together the Elemental Lords used their power to stop the convergence of there spheres. But what had been done could not be undone. The elemental planes were irrevocably tied together. In addition to the para-elemental planes, there were now places where three elemental planes overlapped. As the elemental planes spawned the primordial elementals, so too did the convergent planes spawn manifestations of their own great power. These were not elementals, they were both more and less. A whole greater than the sum of their elements, but also changed by their innate impurity. The fey creatures of the Wyldwood, the fell of the Bloodlads, the aberrant life of the Oozemarsh, and the unlife of the Gravelands and Empty Night. As the primordial elementals did before them, these manifestations spawned lesser and least versions of themselves. As the primordial elementals did before them, these powers struggled and fought against each other, jealous of their own territories, and envious of what the others possessed. As these struggles raged, there was another power at work, and soon to be another theater for these conflicts to play out. The proximity of the six spheres allowed the She'lioa to build bridges from the elemental spheres into the space between the spheres. The elemental powers flowing into this empty space, became the material plane, and the World of Temnia. ### The War of the Fey and the Fell On each of the prime elemental planes, there are places where the spheres overlap, and create a bridge between the spheres. The lands of ash between the realms of fire and earth. The salted seas between the realms of water and death. The luminous aurorae between the realms of life and air. There are also places where three spheres convene. These convergences gave rise to the first worlds of mortal life: The Wyldwood and the Bloodlands, which lay along the convergence of the realms of life and earth, the fecund furrows. The Wylwood borders the water realm and the Bloodlands the fire realm. The Bloodlands are a fetid land of corruption and strife, teeming with nasty quarrelsome creatures, struggling to survive in a land as hostile as they themselves. This foul expanse gave rise to the Norn: A monolithic race of cyclopean grotesques, while the Wyldwood gave rise to the fey: A bevvy of graceful forms as beautiful as they were unique. Between their respective domains lived peaceful and joyous inhabitants known as the onokami. The Norn, furious at their own foulness and envious of the beautiful and bounty they lay beyond their domain, sought to take them for their own. To that end, they built the Fleshforge, and used it and liquid earth of the Marifel River to shape any army to destroy and despoil. They took of their own flesh, the beasts of the bloodlands, and whatever creatures from beyond they could ensnare, and with that material they created the kaori, gorgon, cylcops, and kanos. The Fey of the Wyldwood were not blind to this threat. The Six Eldest knew that they defend themselves, but could not agree on how. To raise a wall and focus on defense, or to take the fight to the fell. To take on the fight themselves, or enlist the aid of the onokami or to spurn them completely. One of the Eldest took it upon herself to solve the issue. Tyrmaria called forth the Mists of Turguren, and with their power she shaped the animals of the Wyldwood into the anthoran and the tauren. Other eldest were angry with Tyrmaria for her impertinence, but conceded that the course had been chosen. Acting against her would only weaken them in the coming war with the fell. Sumarar used the Mists to shape the shae, Maenadan shaped the mera, Murigan created the reka, Aidella Asapara shaped the leshae. Instead of creating her own, Nayala sought the onokami, and worked to bring them into the war. War raged between the fey and the fell for generations. The onokami were caught in the middle, some captured and corrupted by the Fell, becoming the Oni. Others grew closer to the Fey, forsaking their corrupted or cowardly kin. They would become the Kami. Those that remained were desperate to escape the fighting, and running out of places to shelter. ### The Rise of the Everfluid Mind Meanwhile, a different and alien form of life formed in the convergence of the water, earth and death planes known as the Oozemarsh. A great roiling mass of thought congealed there: the Everfluid Mind. The mind reached out to the creatures of the Oozemarsh, pressing its thoughts into them, and in doing so, awakening them to a higher intelligence. These awakened creatures became the Qulaan Llu'laash. Unlike the Fey and Fell, the Qulaan Llu'laash did not have to endure organized antagonism from the gravelands. They were free to evolve and prosper in isolation, and so they did. A vast world of strange and alien wonders, where technology was grown and husbanded, rather than engineered and constructed. A society were want and misery were unknown and perhaps unknowable. A world as conceptually idyllic as it was visually horrifying. ## The First Age (???? - 4000 BC) As the war between the Fey and the Fell raged, and the [[Qulaan Llu'laash]] were growing their civilization, the She'lioa had been forging the material plane in the space between the spheres. They did this by building bridges (nodes) between the material and elemental planes. After centuries of work, the World of Temnia was transformed from a roiling maelstrom of elemental upheaval, poison gas, endless oceans and volcanic activity, into a multifaceted biosphere capable of sustaining mortal life. ### The Creators and Their Works Like the elemental planes, para-elemental planes and convergences, this new plane also manifested life from its own primordial power. Forces of nature and elemental power wrought in flesh: dragons. These immense and terrifying beasts were ravenous engines of destruction, incapable of thought beyond sating their own hunger and venting their fury on any foolish enough to cross their path. The [[She'lioa]] had not expected this when they began their work, and their designs for populating the planet would need to be altered to account for it, but they also did not want to interfere directly in their work. To this end, they created agents to work on their behalf: The [[baelshi dau]] would observe and report on the inhabitants of Temnia when they arrived, while the [[selska yll]] worked to quell the dragons, and ensure they did not decimate the world that had given life to them. By using their own magic to tap into the innate power of the primordial dragons, the selska were able to bond themselves to the dragons. This allowed the selska a degree of control over the beasts, and granted them an immense boost in power, but also made the dragons more intelligent, and in their own way more dangerous. At first, the bond was minimal, and the selka retained themselves wholly, using dragons as companions and mounts to fight against the feral dragons, bringing them to heel. As generations passed the bonds between selska and their dragons deepen, making the selska more draconic, and the dragons more intelligent and possessed of their own magic. These new dragons would come to call themselves [[true dragons]] while the selska and their various levels of transformation would be the [[dragonkith]]. ### Refugees of the Endless War Nayala, one of the Eldest of the Wyldwood, had long been weary of the war with the Fell, and regretful of her role bringing the onokami, into that war. Countless numbers had been killed, maimed, corrupted and defiled. Having had enough, she chose to lead the remaining onokami to the material plane. These refugees, the line of Hulza (the hulzakoth), were the first mortal inhabitants of Temnia. Nayla's treason was soon discovered by both the forces of the Fell and the other Eldest of the Fey. The bridges used by the hulzakoth to cross into Temnia were used by Fey and Fell to invade Temnia. Nayla's hope of salvation for her people was lost, and a new theater in the endless war was created. ### Visitors From Beyond the Rift The She'lioa had created their world, now they sought to populate it. To do so, they travelled beyond the rift and brought humans, elves, halflings and dwarves from the worlds of Haret, Selur, Ehris and Ahr. The She'lioa had planned to isolate these four peoples and watch their civilizations evolve in parallel. They were unaware that the Fey and Fell migration to Temnia was well underway, ruining their plan. But some things simply cannot be undone, and the She'lioa resolved to let matters unfold as they would. If the people they brought here were going to survive and develop in this world, they would have to defend themselves against the armies of the endless war. ## The Second Age (Circa 4000 BC - 0 AC) >[!Notes] >Nations of the Second Age > > Human > > Eldora - Successfully contacted the Qu'laan Llu'laash, and eventually became the cogetoi. > > Kingdoms of Yagmar - The original home of the Varyag and Miryag, destroyed during the cataclysm, forcing an exodus by sea. > > Heif - Under control of the Shi'ruul, the Heif were experimented on. Ultimately became the Sililikuul. > > Quanan > > Zelcoria - > > Dwarf > > Duerg Ahr - Dream dwarves? > > Duer Ahr > > Delv Ahr > > Halflings > > Orcs > > Ceori > > Kaori > > Qaori - remained in the Bloodlands ### The Sundering of the She'lioa The Second Age of Temnia began approximately 4000 years before the Great Cataclysm that would mark the start of the Third Age. It was heralded by the rise of  _Xael Arko'phen_, the flying continent. The continent was raised by the Shi'ruul, one of two races created by the fall of the She'lioa. For nearly 1000 years, the Shi'ruul remained secluded from the people of Temnia, unconcerned for their wars or the rise and fall of the petty fiefdoms of mortal races. Those few who had the power and bravery to make the trip to Xael Arko'phen never returned. As the shi'ruul were cloistered on their floating island, the Sha'dhen had created their home in the shadowy depths of vast cavern networks, encircled by desolate wastes. The Sha'dhen were a race of ebon-skinned, bat-like beings. They successfully conquered a smattering of nearby orc villages and dwarven holdings, but they never exhibited any ambitions towards the more fertile lands beyond their domain. The specific fate of the She'lioa was never uncovered, only that the Shi'ruul and Sha'dhen were all that remained of them, and that the two lost much in the separation. ### The Rise of the Dragon Gods Generations passed, and the bonds between the selska and the dragons deepened. The dragonkith grew in numbers and the dragons grew in power. As their power grew, so to did their ambition. The dragons and their kith saw themselves as the rightful rulers of Temnia, and sough to subjugate the lesser mortals of Temnia. Dragon riders scoured fey armies, dragon sorcerers sewed devastation among fell ranks. The dragon shamans crushed human and elven armies under foot and claw. Some bowed to the dragons, swearing fealty in exchange for survival. As more and more clans and nations fell under the influence of the dragonkith, the dragons began to demand more of their subject. Fealty gave way to worship, as the Dragons saw themselves as the Gods of Temnia. ### The Fall of the Eldar and Norn As the dragons grew in power, the Fey and the Fell began to feel the toll of their endless war. In addition to their ancient enemies, fey and fell had to contend with the dragons, the humanoid nations, and their own fracturing power structure. The Fey had already been betrayed and deserted by Nayala. Sumara and Murigan struggled for leadership of the Eldars, culminating in Murigan's failed coup. While that schism devastated the fey, perhaps the most crucial blow was the death of Tyrmaria. The Anthoran and Tauren looked to Tyrmaria for strength and courage, and when she died, so to did their will to fight. Maenadan and Aidella Aspara had always favored isolation over conflict, and Sumara was left little choice but to withdraw from the conflict. But as the Eldar diminished, so to did the Norn. One by one, the Norn had died or gone into hiding for fear of attack from the Eldar, the Dragons or even one of her fellows. Increasingly paranoid and fractious, the Norn found themselves the subjects of rebellion, unable to control the vast armies of their creations they had created. Orders went unheeded, and the Norns dared not appear themselves to make good on their threats, lest they expose themselves to their enemies. Despite their power, the Norns slowly accepted their dimished sphere of influence, and withdrew from the conflict. ### First Contact with Qu'laan Llu'laash Desperate to defend themselves from the warring factions of Temnia the humanoid nations sought for a means to match the mistic power of the fey, the sourcerous power of the fell, or the magical power of the dragons. One nation of humans, the people of Eldora, managed to do so by way of contacting the Qu'laan Ll'ulash. The Eldorans learned that some humanoids had a brain sufficiently pliable to make contact with the Everfluid Mind, and by making this contact, they could allow the Everfluid Mind to further reshape their brains, and better conduct the psionic power it uses to change the world around them. For their part, the Qu'laan Ll'ulash had no ulterior motive for this revelation. They believed in the sharing of knowledge, and were happy to aid the humanoids in their endeavors, and leapt at the chance to study a form of life that was, to them, utterly unfathomable. ### Five Great Empires of the Second Age Countless nations rose and fell over the first millennium of the Second Age, a churning mass of alliance and betrayal, conflict and conquest, division and rebellion. From this turmoil, five great empires would prove able to stand the test of time. To endure and grow, to seize control of power and use it to hold of conquerors and usurpers alike. **Atani:** In the hazy past of the first age, the anor'ithil disappeared from Temnia, and in their place were the Ela'drin: direct descendant of the mythical scalar and neylar people. The name they took for their nation, _atani_, came for their word meaning "twilight," but also a poetic word for "unity" as in the unity of day and night. Ela'drin scholars had devised a means of weilding magic sourced form the world itself, rather than conducting the power of other, more powerful creatures like Eldars or Elementals. Their seemingly endless lives, greater technological advancement and political stability provided them with significant advantages over the humans, dwarves and halflings of their time. The atani built a vast empire that stretched to every corner of the world.  **Cogetoi:** The partnership of the Qu'laan Llulaash and Eldora proved quite beneficial for the Eldoran people. True, the living technology of the Llulaashi people did not function properly on the material plane, and had the unfortunate habit of going feral, but the Eldoran made excellent use of their psionic powers to build a society, safeguarded their people from external threats, and expand their territory into a a formidible empire. As the empire expanded, the Eldoran Monarchy was overthrown by their Enlightened Council, and the Cogetoi rose to power. Cogetoi society was segregated between those with psionic power, those with psionic potential, and those without potential. Efforts to maximize their own psionic potential turned into controlled breeding programs and invasive experimentation on their own people. Work was done to allow Llulaashi technology to work on Temnia, or bring Eldorans into the Qu'laan Llu'laash to experiment on them there. Eventually, the Resaerchers of Enlightened Council found a way to remake their people into the ultimate expression of their destiny, a people reborn into a truly equal and united nation. The process of this rebirth was not perfect, and while many were remade into enlightened Cogetoi, others were still born without the light of the inner mind, and with a glaring number of physical malformities to boot. These "broken ones" were essentially livestock as far as the cogetoi were concerned, and were put to work as beasts of burden, preferably outside the sight of most of the cogetoi. Their territorial needs continued to grow, and thus did their empire continue to conquer. The acquisition of new raw materials with which to create more cogetoi could only come from outside populations. **Dragonborn**: The fusion of the selska yll and the primal dragons gave rise to the [[Dragon Gods]]. Though powerful and immortal, they aspired to more. They had their sites set on divinity, and to become gods they needed worshippers.  The dragonkith were able to subjugate several humanoid tribes and nations, but had trouble converting them from thralls to worshippers. They had much greater success with the anthorans. The anthoran clans had worshipped Tyrmaria as a creator god, and spent countless generations fighting a crusade against the twisted creatures of the fell and their ravening minions. But Tyrmaria herself had died in that war. Her true faithful were adamant that Tyrmaria would be born again, for some clans the promises of a dead god weighed little next the power of living gods who they could see in the sky. The worship of the Dragon Gods spread widely among clans of the Akal, Than, Kus, Burta and Tul. These clans swore themselves to the Dragon Gods. In recognition of this devotion, Dragon Gods bestowed upon them a power knowns as *runic magic*, which gave them the power they needed to defend themselves against any who would seek to dominate them. With this pact, the anthorans saw themselves as reborn, as *dragonborn*. **Sha'dhen:** After centuries of seclusion, the Sha'dhen finally stepped out of the shadows. Yet, as before, they showed little desire to claim new lands or amass resources. Instead, their focus turned outward—to the fragile balance between the three great empires. They began to manipulate that balance, pushing one faction forward only to subtly empower its rivals in turn. Their support shifted like a tide: backing one power, then aiding its enemy, all without clear gain. To outsiders, their motives were a mystery—an inscrutable game of influence played not for conquest, but for control. **Shi'ruul:** The shi'ruul were the first and last of the great empires to make their presence felt on Temnia. Their arrival and the raising of their great floating island marked the start of the age, but remained aloof for nearly 1000 years. They emerged from exile only after the Sha'dhen began to meddle more openly in the power struggles of the Second Age. Of the five great empires, the Shi'ruul commanded the smallest domain, but their mastery of magic was unrivaled. Their reappearance seemed driven by a single, unwavering purpose: to oppose the Sha'dhen and whatever design they pursued. But as long as any of the great powers sought advantage over the others, the Shi'ruul's efforts proved futile. ### Free Peoples of the Second Age While the five great empires controlled vast lands and great multitudes of people, some managed to resist their collective grasp.  **Bash:** The Bash were a shapeshifting race that lived on Temnia's moon, Kuna. They travelled between Kuna and Temnia with the aid of kunari canines known as _blink dogs_. The Bash cared deeply for the Temnian humans that they interacted with, and used their magic to shelter and defend them. But Kuna was no shelter against the terrors of the Second Age, for it was dying. Habitable regions dwindled, forcing the Bash to gather in shrinking settlements and spend longer periods on Temnia. As their moon withered, so too did their magic—and their ability to bear new life. Whatever was destroying Kuna was destroying the Bash as well. Some gave into the inevitable, and chose to remain on Kuna, dying with their home. Others chose to migrate to Temnia permanently, dedicating the last of their lives and their magic to the defense of the people they had grown so close to. **Koth:** The Norns and the Eldar had withdrawn from the great war that had raged since time before memory. But the koth, warped by the machinations of Fey and Fell powers, held some little power within themselves. Small cutches of goblins and ogres raided settlement of all kinds, living off theft and plunder, reveling in blood and destruction, and scattering to the winds in the face of organized resistance. The urdakoth chose to remain safe through isolation. They used their mistic magic to conceal themselves and confound invaders. These lived in larger enclaves than their fell counterparts, but often well outside the reach of civilization. **Vaal:** While some anthoran clans accepted the offer of the Dragon Gods, many decried such heresy against their kin and their creator Tyrmaria was unacceptable. These clans referred to themselves as the _vaal'anthor_, or "the true people." The traitors and heretics were the dragonsworn. A civil war between the dragonsworn clans and the faithful of Tyrmaria ended with the swift and thorough defeat of the vaal. But while the Vaal were scattered, they were never truly subjugated.  ### The Great Cataclysm The Second Age came to a violent end with the _Great Cataclysm_—a devastating event, or perhaps a chain of catastrophes, that reshaped the face of Temnia and shattered the civilizations of the era. What specifically caused the Great Cataclysm is unknown, but nearly every faith across Temnia offers its own account of that apocalypse: The Miryag claim it was the Ma’ar Leyna who extinguished the Flame of Amangyr. The Ylvani speak of Duor striking down the last of the Suen’wer. The Dragonborne believe it marked the death of the Dragon Gods. The Shi’ruul tell of a failed attempt by the Sha’dhen to annihilate the world—and take the Shi’ruul with it. Whether these tales are poetic allegories or mythic interpretations of true events is unknown. What is certain is that the Great Cataclysm was catastrophic—an age-ending upheaval in which untold knowledge, power, and history were lost. Civilization has only just begun to recover from its long descent into silence. How many years passed between the Cataclysm and the dawn of the Third Age remains a mystery lost to time. Whatever the causes and nature of the Great Cataclysm, its effects were widespread. **The Demise of Qu'laan Llu'laash:** The rise of the Lords of Chaos among the Qu'laan Llu'laash marked the end of that great civilization. The living technology has gone feral, twisted from their original purpose, they exist today as twisted and aberrant lifeforms that prey on anything they can seize and consume. Eldritch horrors reach into Temnia to shatter the minds of those unfortunate enough to hear their call. **The Fall of Xael Arko'phen:** The shi'ruul's floating stronghold came crashing down to earth during the great cataclysm, killing many of the shi'ruul and wiping away the landmass of the Yagmaran people. **The Extinction of the Dragons:** While some draconic beasts still roam the world, the True Dragons are extinct. **The Disappearance of the Cogetoi and the Rise of the Broken Ones:** The cogetoi were strongly linked to the Qu'laan Llu'laash, as it was they who taught the Eldoran humans how to connect to the evefluid mind, and it was their technology that ultimately allowed the Eldorans to remake themselves into cogetoi. The demise of Qu'laan Llu'laash might have been what destroyed the cogetoi, or it may merely be a coincidence of timing. Regardless, the Cogetoi are gone, but the mishapen creatures they used as chattel remain. And from those unfortunate souls came a number of new peoples and new civilizations. **The sundering of the Atani into the Ylvani:** The high Ela'drin that ruled the Atani empire were broken into three Ylvani races: The Aldarwa, the Erume and the Yelin. ## The Third Age (0 AC - 1513 AC) ...