* * * Wizards Community Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : Brief history of my world. AD&D 2nd Edition Started at 10-24-07 07:16 PM by dontheox Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=943472 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : dontheox Date : 10-24-07 07:16 PM Thread Title : Brief history of my world. AD&D 2nd Edition Here is a small part of my home brew world's history and explanation of why arcane magic is outlawed. Tell me what you guys think and why you like or dislike it. Also this is a work in progress no where near complete! The History of the Thon Goren Arcane War Millennia has passed since the land of Thon Goren was a realm of peace and prosperity. In these days long past, the kingdoms of the continent of Thon Goren were allies -- some uneasy, others forced together from fear of annihilation. Lord Therein was a devout follower of Vance (patron god of magic and knowledge). He had won respect for his genius strategies and decisive victories against the Batuin in the endless ice wastes, and was granted lands by King Tarvos. While a gentle man, Therein was cold and distant and had little interest in socializing. He chose the location of his keep far away from the gossip and politics of Ophelion, on the edge of the Wyld Forest close to the small town of Thornvale. While waiting for his keep to be built, Lord Therein spent most of his time collecting rare books for his library, leaving his wife to the nobles' parties and intrigues. Not all of Lord Therein’s book collecting was a safe practice. Many of the volumes that he acquired were through various guilds most notability the Nexus (a crime syndicate) and the Shadow of Reniolen (a thieves' guild dedicated to the god of thieves, Reniolen). Knowing full well that some of his tomes would be sought out by powerful people, Therein commissioned his dwarven allies in the Krolntar Mountains to build a secure underground library, where he would store his rarest tomes. Lord Therein retained his Grand Keep, which became known as a source of knowledge and scholarship. Once every ten years, apprentices from the Order of Vance, the Mages' Guild and the elven Council of Séreméla traveled to study under the Elven Arch mage, Fingolfin Elanessë. Therein’s wife Angelina, once among the echelons of high society, hated the "hovel" she lived in far away from the gossip and parties she was accustomed to in Ophelion. Finally fed up with the years of being cooped up in an isolated keep with boring scholars and creepy old mages, the devious Lady Angelina took matters into her own hands. Knowing the Batuin wanted vengeance for the overwhelming defeat at her husband’s hands, she hired a magical guild known as the Batuin Order of Sorcery to destroy the keep and kill her bookworm husband. Included in the handsome payment to the mercenaries was the library of Lord Therein. Unbeknownst to Lady Angelina and the Batuin Order of Sorcery, a group of Nexus mages looking to retrieve their "stolen property" had unwittingly picked the same time to assault the keep. The Order of Vance, the Mages Guild and the Council of Séreméla combined their efforts against the invading groups; the Batuin Order of Sorcery and the Nexus, while not friends, formed a quick alliance to ensure their mutual survival. In the ensuing battle, apprentices from the Mages' Guild and the Order of Vance were killed, and the Council of Séreméla's Archmage Fingolfin Elanessë from was severely wounded. Knowing his library would soon be destroyed in the conflict, Lord Therein used powerful magic to quickly move his library into his Krolntar Library. This single event sparked a years-long war of attrition between the magical societies known as the Arcane War. After many years of open war and guerrilla tactics, a single tragic event would change the face of ThonGoren. During a huge magical battle in the streets of Ophelion, the King's son Prince Allard was killed trying to help a child caught in the crossfire. King Tarvos went mad with grief. He declared all magic not granted by the gods forbidden in his kingdom, and all those practicing arcane magic, or worshiped deities associated with magic, were to be executed on sight. Other kingdoms, including the kingdom of Batuin, had also suffered greatly from the Arcane War, their cities laid waste and many citizens hurt or killed. Kingdom after kingdom outlawed wizardly magic and the worship of arcane gods. Huge bounties were set for mages of even the lowest ranks. (The standing order of those times remains in place even today: all practitioners of arcane magic will be executed on site, and a bounty of 1000gp will be paid to anyone bringing the head and spell book of a mage.) Soon the warring factions of mages, now unconcerned about their previous differences in the face of persecution and possible extinction, stopped fighting and struggled to survive. Benevolent and influential mages tried to convince their kingdoms to reverse the laws after the Arcane War stopped, but their pleas were cut short by their own cries of mercy. Many mages came to their ends in traps laid by the kings themselves. A few of the more powerful mages -- evil, neutral and good alike -- escaped to other planes of existence. There they wait for a time when people will accept magic again. The races of elves, gnomes and halflings left the world of men out of fear and disgust of what their former friends and allies had become: hateful and ignorant of things they do not understand. Realizing that they too may become the focus of prejudices, they departed for their native kingdoms. However, in doing this, these races severed their ties with humans and fell prey to the same sort of prejudice they decried, assuming that no humans would accept them when that might not have been the case. The fey are rarely seen in this time; when encounters between they and humans occur, suspicion and caution are the rule, if not outright hostility. Humanity is not without allies, however. Dwarven kingdoms strengthened their relations with their human neighbors after the outlawing of arcane magic, thinking now that humans, though not perfect, were starting to think more like dwarves. Few people have any tolerance for magic not granted by the gods. Anyone displaying any kind of arcane ability by magic item or spell casting needs an impeccable reason for doing so; unfortunately, many people kill first then ask questions later. Anyone not displaying a holy symbol from an accepted faith and not registered with the local magistrate would be wise not to display any magical ability -- clerical or otherwise. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : realmaster Date : 10-24-07 11:52 PM Thread Title : Re: Brief history of my world. AD&D 2nd Edition I like it, sounds like you have a good start to a great world. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : casimps1 Date : 11-01-07 08:16 PM Thread Title : Re: Brief history of my world. AD&D 2nd Edition Sounds pretty interesting so far. It's a lot of info you have there. Almost too much to keep track of in one read. :) One thing that seemed a little weird to me though was the reason the Arcane War started. They went to war for years just because the king moved his books to the mountains? Or am I reading that section wrong? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Wizards Community (http://forums.gleemax.com) at 05-10-08 08:22 AM.