History of Aengmor/Oenkmar important to the Geomorphology and Ecology
by Robin(political issues are left out which have no significance to this)
BC 3000 The Great Rain of Fire obliterates Blackmoor; the planet shifts and the ice caps recede from the steppes. Spirits are drawn in to merge with the world.
BC 2300. .The forming of new Nations in the "known" world.In the centuries following the Great Rain of Fire, the giantish races saw an explosion of prosperity. Of all the mortal races on Mystara, they (along with the beastmen of Urzud) seemed to be immune to the worst effects of the Rain and the Wasting disease that followed it. Frost giant Jarls and fire giant Emirs reclaimed much of their ancestor’s glory from the ashes of human civilizations around the globe. The nation of Grondheim in and near the Mountains was a shining example of this giantish rebirth. Many ruins can still be found see my Canolbarth 1 mile map.
BC 2200; Surface elves arrive in the area of Future Glantri. (probably south against the future Broken Lands, as the north of Glantri is still covered in ice).Though the borders of Grondheim expand little over the next few centuries, the presence of the nation introduces a general state of instability in surrounding nations. Children, lone travelers, and sometimes even entire villages disappear over night, never to be seen again. Some theorize that the lost find themselves deep in the heart of the fey world, but few will ever know the truth or be able to tell it once discovered.
BC 1720 Akkila Khan conquers southern Steppes (probably the northern section of Future Darokin)
BC 1711 Akkila Khan allies King Loark against the Ethengarian Nomads.
BC 1709 Akkila Khan betrays King Loark for Lands west of Dol Anur (probably an old name for the mountains west of Ethengar). The Great Horde is defeated in ancient Ethengar. King Loark reaches the future Broken Lands and settles. According the 2300 BC maps, this would most logically be in the woods around the lake southwest against the Mountains. I call it Lake Grondheim.
BC 1700 The surface Elves in Southern future Glantri discover great caves under the mountains there. Exploring these they discover ancient still working technology, a Blackmoorian device. In their attempt to tinker with the vile machinery, they triggered a cataclysmical explosion that has a profound affect on the lands around. The caves collapse and the force pushes the rocks on the sides outward and up. Volcanic activity underground and aboveground is abundant. Great depressions and upheavals change the whole region. The skies over the mountains were engulfed in flame, impenetrable clouds f smoke and ash, which did not dissipate for years. Gray dust fell from the sky. A dreadfull rotting plague affected the region. The grass of the steppes withered and died. In some places plants did never recover, and many humans, humanoids and animals fell sick or perished.The ancestors of the Shadow Elves seeing the clouds and feeling the explosion, fled for the caves below out of instinct and racial memory. Even though partly affected by the radiation, this instant flight possibly saved them from extinction. The Land of Black Sand is formed, partially from the ashes attracted from the skies. Grondheim is shattered in BC 1700 when the greed of the Troll Queen backfires and she and her court are transformed into ravenous beasts. Some theorize that the transformation was caused when the magical backlash of the explosion interfered with the Queens own powerful spells. Regardless of the cause, the effects were devastating, and waves of giants, trolls, and other creatures fled from Grondheim and into Antalian lands.
The Elf Artziann survives the disaster and ends up in the Hollow World, where he 1500 BC becomes an Immortal under the name Atzanteotl.
BC 1691 Baku betrays Akkila Kahn and drives his humanoids into the Broken Lands.
Akkila Kahn builds a fortress named Akkras in the Broken Lands upon the Ruins of an ancient city. The area is however very unstable and continuous repairs are needed in the upcoming centuries, and hence becomes known as the ever-changing fortress.
1494 BC Atruatzin and his followers retire in the Hollow World Fortress Quauhnahuac.
1484 BC The new Azcan emperor, driven by fear of Atruatzin taking over and Atzanteotl’s whispers, lead a massive assault on the Hollow World Fortress Quauhnahuac. Everyone found is slain, but of Atruatzin there is no trace.
1468 BC. Atruatzin and his followers find a resting place after years of travelling underground. Here they build a temple to the old goda. They name it Mictlan, after the Legendary land of the dead.
BC 1420:,. Yet even in the darkness, there seemed to be hope to the Outer-world Shadow Elves. While following the guidance of the Immortal Atzanteotl, wandering underground, they stumble upon a very deep cavern below the Broken Lands. Here they found a temple (Mictlan), built in a strange and unfamiliar style and the center of a community of barbaric humans, the Azcan. The elves drove the humans out after prolonged battling, occupied the area. Those Elves who had been seduced by atzanteotl declare that the temple is sacred to him, and he has given them victory over their enemies, and a place to call home. These Elves become the Schattenalfen. Most elves are uneasy about this alien immortal, but they are weary, and so they settle and changed the central religion of the humans of the Old Gods, into their new God. Atzanteotl was the Immortal's name, and around his temple they built a great city, which they named Aengmor. The construction lasted nearly 50 years, was ended 1352 BC. Atruatzin escapes alone.
1400 BC A group of Schattenalfen are driven out of Aengmor (by the will of their patron). They retrace an earlier expedition’s path to the Hollow world.
BC 1299 Trollhattan formed. Nithia enslaves the Black Moon tribe of Trolls.
BC 1290: For a short time the elves seemed favored, but another cataclysm was on the way. the Broken Lands were not fully settled from earlier events, and periodic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions ravaged this region. In BC 1290, a sudden eruption spewed forth a vast lava stream which surrounded Aengmor and traped the elves. Many died from toxic fumes or the overwhelming heat, but a fair number escaped through the use of magic. The survivors moved on to even deeper places, abandoning the city of Aengmor forever. They follow the path laid out in BC 1400.
Indeed, the apparent destruction of Aengmor was part of Atzanteotl's plan. dissatisfied with the low birth rate of the elves, he dtrove them out of Aengmor, without actually destroying the whole city. Later, more fecund humanoids would discover the Ruins of Aengmor and recolonize it under the bastardized name of Oenmar. in this way, the immortal of Entropy gained more followerd--and more viscious ones--than he would have had with the elves.The outer-world Shadow Elf city of Aengmor is "destroyed". During a underground volcanic eruption the cave is filled with Magma, surrounding the city and making it uninhabitable; many Schattenalfen escape, burrowing deeper into the crust of the earth. Actually, this is part of a grand scheme of Atzanteotl, their patron. The city erected upon a huge rock of Pumice (volcanic Floating stone, a fallen down stop in the surface inactive crater) is pushed up towards the old volcanic crater in the cavern's vault opened by Atzanteotl. The city was then thrust upward, allowing Aengmor's temple, the city's highest structure, to fill the bottom of the shaft exactly. Lower South Gnollistan is mostly filled by Magma. Aengmor/Oenkmar is “locked” in its current position, with only the Temple surfacing within the crater. Nearby Shadowelf structures are either crushed in the disaster by pressing it against the ceiling, or are buried between the Floating Rock of Oenkmar and the Ceiling. The Plateau of sun’s Anvil is pushed upwards very slowly(reaching +800feet in 1000AC). The new magma chamber solidifies later, the magma being of a soft version crystalizes in tiny sandlike particles, which do not adhere to one another.
BC 1269 Ogres settle in the Broken Lands after suffering great drought in Sind.
BC 1257 A swction of Wogar’s Horde setles in the Central Broken Lands.
BC 1190: Descendants of the Great Horde resurface in the Broken Lands. The Tribes meet again and discover the Rock of Oenkmar within the crater, the city of Oenkmar on it, and a knife they mistake for one of their legendary artifacts. End of the Quest for a Blue Knife. Truce proclaimed.
BC 1050: Odious experiments in Nithia turn Black Moon trolls into Gnolls. Gnolls rebel; they escape and later invade Karameikos. Nithian priests visit the Shamans of Oenkmar. Atzanteotl is increasingly offended. Nithians and Humanoids create new structures next to Aenmor/Oenkmar.
1000 BC Broken Lands overpopulated. All forces join and raid Rockhome; defeated by dwarven King Blystar III. Minor raids go on for 500 years. Tribes migrate south.
BC 800 The last ice sheets in Future Glantri have melted away.
BC 500: Nithia destroyed. Remaining Black Moon Gnolls scatter east and west. The Twin volcanoes become active, and the giant magma chamber breaks again through the floor of Lower South Gnollistan. in the last 700 years, the solidified and crystalized soft magma, now flows down, and as thus releases the upward pressure against Oenkmar rock, which sinks into earth, even through the sinkhole…. Deep into the Magma chamber. At the same time two new chambers are created (West of Orcus Rex, South-east of Yellow Orkia and a small chamber in Oggremoor), lowering the level of magma in the Great Chamber. As thus stopping any volcanic activity from this chamber in the nearby future (as there is air in between, there is no more possibility to pressure build up..until the magma chamber is fully filled again. Aengmor/Oenkmar will thus reside within the magma chamber until it is fully filled again.
BC 150 First contact between the Humanoids and the shadow elves.
800 AC Orcwars
802 AC Plague
1012AC The Shadowelves rediscovered Aengmor, liberated it from the occupying humanoids, and invading Dwarves. Soon thereafter they start guiding the city upwards again. As thus it will reappear in Lower South Gnollistan. The Shadowelves (being vulnerable could decide to “lock”the roch in this position, or guide it further upwards to the open old crater (probably widened to encompass just the Whole city.
Eitherway, this would greatly increase the pressure from below, destroying many caves, tunnels and if surfaced even whole Lower South Gnollistan. It would also mean that the whole plateau of Sun’s Anvil would again be on the rise.
This wole proces would also mean that all acess caves from the Great Magma chamber are either destroyed by the Magma or closed up (by the shadowelves, Atzanteotl, or earthquakes)....I would assume the latter, enabling the caves to exist.
Some maps to back it all up.
Here
Additional sources used;
Here. This map is use as a base
http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=8922.