Anacestra

The inhabitants of Aer Aer, The First World, the First World, who traveled to Aertrea, the Second World Aertrea, The Second World after the former was destroyed. See Ancient History Timeling Ancient History Timeline.

The Anacestra, First Worlders The First World was a large planet with incredible flows of elemental matter and various energies. Millions of elemental and energy creatures arrived, mixed, and evolved. Rising from this evolutionary battleground was a group of beings sometimes called “First Worlders”. They would come to call themselves the Anasestra. Instilled with energies of a primal universe, these beings were incredibly varied, powerful, and unless destroyed by another First Worlder, generally immortal. These creatures evolved on Aer for countless ages, growing more powerful and reaching the highest levels of sentience. These beings new endless conflict and in the end, their conflict destroyed their world and scattered them throughout existence.

The exact nature of the final conflict on the First World is unknown. The bits of lore that have been gathered suggest a multi-sided war that spanned the entire planet. Three factions have been identified. The Ebominsana were generally huge and bizarre creatures, who manipulated other life into servants and soldiers. The Draconians were Dragon-like creatures that were individually powerfully, both physically and magically. The third group were the Du-Crura, or two legs, an alliance of a variety of humanoid-like creatures skilled in magic. It its apparent that the Anasestra were not always so easily classified and that alliances were forever shifting and changing. Why these three groups went to war is unknown. The conflict is said to have raged for thousands of years and is now most commonly known as the Anasestra Wars.

The end of the Anasestra War details are unknown but it is thought that a side on the verge of complete annihilation opened a huge and unstable gate to the primordial Abyss unleashing hordes of Obrynths (early demons) and destructive energies. It is guessed that another side (or sides) was then forced to flood the planet with negative and positive energies from equally unstable gates to destroy the hordes of demons. Storms of positive and negative energy scoured the lands, the skies, the oceans and even beneath the surface. They mixed with unpredictable surges of chaos from the Abyss to create an environment deadly to everything. These storms blasted Anasestra, servant races, demons and everything else in their paths into oblivion. All while a huge three sided melee continued across the huge planet.

In the end, the greatest planet to have ever existed became uninhabitable. Powerful creatures still visit the First World, as it is the gate way to many other realms and planes and is thought to still hold ancient magics and artifacts. Those who visit find a world covered in ash, dust and ice, burying vast cities and structures of millenias ago. Demons, undead, and a few other creatures exist there, but are forever at the mercy of the great storms of positive and negative energy that clash throughout the planet. Scholars note that this event marked the decline of Obrynth demons in the Abyss and the rise of the Tanar'i.

Most of the First Worlders perished in the aftermath of the destruction of their world, but thousands were able to flee. Many sought refugee on what was considered the “Second World”, known as Aertrea. This world possessed some fundamental matter and energy that had already birthed it owns, signature life. The similarities to Aer and the advancement of its evolution brought many of the Anasestra to make new homes there.

Not all fleeing Anasestra chose Aertrea as their new home. Many of the Ebominsana traveled to other planets, more primordial in nature. Others sought refuge on other planes. Those who chose Aertrea and arrived there, forever changed the nature of that burgeoning world.
There are a number of sources from which this knowledge is drawn.

Du-Crura

• Vecna- "Dark Whisperer", Ascended to demi-god status. Legend of Eye and Hand. One of the Three Necromancers. One of the less powerful Anacestra on Aer, he banded together with his two allies for protection. Fled to Aertrea after the War, where he obtained many worshippers from the elves and other creatures he enslaved. Eventually ascended to demi-god status and now resides elsewhere.
• Kas- The Horned. The Armor-Mage. One of the Three Necromancers. A hulking brute of a humanoid always depicted in armor. He(she) was adept with weapons as with magic. Kas journeyed to Aertrea but appears to have disappeared quickly.
• Acerarak- "the Arch-Lich", While Vecna is often given credit for becoming the first lich, it was, in fact Acerarak. One of the Three Necromancers. He journey to Aertrea and took part in the inital empire building. Acerarak was more interested in learning and research and withdrew from the world. There are tales of adventurers stumbling upon his tomb, surviving its dangers, and speaking with the Archlich.
• Mór-Ríoghain, the Unseen. This apparently naturally invisible creature was instrumental in the Dua Crura battles with the individually more powerful Ebominasa. He(or she) could remain hidden in just about every circumstance. No information about Mor-Rioghain's fate is known.
• Talas: This winged humanoid was a creature of thunder and lightning. No information about Talas fate is known.

• Molag Behl
• Lisianthus: This creature was described as a "four-legged plant plant centaur. A gifted elemental mage, Lisianthus held its own against most Anacestra.
• Cegoarch: An amphibious plant creature described as a rubbery column with many eyes, wings, and tentacles. A skilled shaper of flesh. It does not resemble, physically, many of the Dua Crura, but fought on their side.
• Anahit :A three legged humanoid, it was covered in a layer of cooling rock over a core of molten lava.
• Aramazd: A cloaked figure of unknown appearance. Skilled in opening portals and gates.
• Sakra: Apparently a female humanoid with wings and bladed hands. She was a master of air magics.
• Ossain: A hairless humanoid creature with multiple eyes, he was said to not be able to speak. An expert in "physical magic", Ossain was on the front lines in the War. It was said to have journeyed to Aertrea but nothing else is known.
• Tarchon: A winged snake-like creature, Tarchon was a gifted summoner. Tarchon has actually been encountered by modern day planar travelers, but never on the same plane twice.
• Vidramadi: Described as a tall thin humanoid with bark-like skin and up curving horns. Its ability with defensive magics was very valuable to the Dua Crura.
• Ziusadra: A giant centipede-looking creature, Ziusadra was famous for being unkillable and shaking off all that the Ebominsana threw at him. There are tales of Ziusadra literally burrowing into much larger enemies, killing them from within.
• Arngrim: Small and compact warrior with the coloration of stone and long bright green hair that it could use to grab and constrict with.
• Tangoroa: A tunnelling creature small in body but with many huge, rake-like claws. A master of earth magics.
• Daodroth: An amorphous creature made of acid and fire.
• Istasha- a tiger headed female, thought to have created the Rakshasas either on Aer or Aertrea. She destroyed her enemies with both magic and claw and fangs. She crossed over to Aertrea to a fate unknown. She is mentioned frequently in the few reports about the Second Anacestra War.
• Margyr: A humanoid covered in chitinous plates. A skilled water and fire mage.
• Thegrun: A twenty foot centaur-like form with the head of a bull. Wielded a lances of ice and axes of fire.
• Zesa: A tall and extremely thin female warrior with gray skin and blueish hair. She fought with multiple bladed weapons like a whirlwind. She hated the Ebominasa with a passion. It is not thought that she survived the final battle on Aer.
• Qadasbal- a hulking giant, appears to have been carved from stone. Slow moving but said to be unstoppable. He was able to control gravity and the laws of physics around him. Initially not involved in the War but eventually fought for the Dua Crura. He does not appear to have appeared on Aertrea. His fate is unknown.
• Razaryurgoes- a furry biped, he was apparently quite reclusive. He possessed great strength but slept for thousands of years at a time. No record of him on Aertrea. His fate is unknown but he is thought to have been killed in the last battle on Aer.
• Vaprak, The Destroyer- This monstrous creature is thought to be the source of all trolls. An aggressive and indestructible instrument of violence, this creature escaped to Aertrea where it eventually became a demigod.

Draconian

• Tiamat- "the Five-Fold Queen", Ascended to Godhood, resides in Hell.
• Dahak- prima servi of Tiamat, imprisoned.
• Bahamut- ascended to demi-god status.
• Tchernobog- Humanoid-bat-dragon-like creature. Was said to draw power by consuming the blood or other essences of its enemies.
• Falak- This shape-changing creature was always large and dragon-like but was able to change its body to fit its need, growing limbs, heads, wings as needed.
• Druk, The Maw: This huge flying worm was mostly mouth and teeth. It did not give the impression of great intelligence but sought to swallow its enemies.
• Vrita
• Ejderha
• Ver Selen
• Zomok: A flying creature of unknown appearance, but was said to be a collection of "debris" held together into a physical shape by a "intelligent humming noise".
• Balaur: Described as an horned-ape with wings, two tails, and four arms, it was said to be the strongest creature on Aer. There is no record of it reaching Aertrea.
• Draig goch
• Thevatat
• Alhydra- draconian, mother of hydra and other multi-headed monsters. Journeyed to Aertrea where she created many new servant creatures that exist today. She was said to be aggressive and was one of the instigators in the Second War of the Anacestra. Is said to have been destroyed in that battle.
• Bukanawa- limbless dragon , aquatic, single horn on its nose, huge.
• Minokawa- phoenix like draconic bird. Mirror like eyes. Can see you soul and all its imperfections.
• Vitra- dragon made of rock and bone and minerals.
• Typarhon- humanoid, bat wing, serpent tailed monstrosity. Only loosely affiliated with the Draconian Anacestra, Typarhon was an aggressive and arrogant creature of great personal might (even by Anacestra standards). He dissappeared prior to the end of the first world. Hints that he was not destroyed, but was imprisoned or banished in some manner by the Ebominasa.

Ebominasa

• D’Endrah- blurry female humanoid, hides tentacles
• Kaajh'Kaalbh: an amorphous shape changer, usually liquid in nature
• Mh'ithrha: a gigantic, invisible wolf without hair, creator of the Hounds of Tintalos.
• Ngyr-Korath: a swirling bit of mist, contains an eye of fire.
• Nyctelios: towering aquatic cyclopes of blue, covered in writhing worms.
• Tru'nembra: a being that exists only as sound, often music.
• Aylith- a shadowy femaile form with glowing yellow eyes and strange branch like protusions. Serves Shub Niggorath.
• Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg- a flying scorpion being associated with disease and pestilence.
• Dygra; a living geode with mineral appendages and floating crystal eyes.
• Gla'aki: a giant three eye slug with spines of metal
• K'nar'st- an amphibious humanoid with tentacles for legs, four arms ended in seven claws. The head of a hairless lion with three long tongues.
• Mynoghra: a female humanoid with tentacles for hair, vampiric but not undead.
• Shlithneth: a gigantic worm with tentacles surrounding its huge maw.
• Abhoth, Obox-Ob- A sloshing pool of ooze and protoplasma, constantly spawning mutant life, move to the Abyss where it is sort of a demon prince. Actually flowed back through the Abyssal Gate devouring an army as it went. Now receives some worship. Two of its prima servi, of which little is known, did flee to Aertrea when they were not able to follow their master through the gate into the Abyss. These creatures, Nug and Yeb, sought refugee deep within the earth, as the anger of the Dua Crura and Draconians was fierce. It is whispered that these creatures seek to appease their old master and summon him to Aertrea with sacrifices and dark rites.
• Atlach-Nacha- a huge spider-like creature- seeks to entwine all of creation in its webs, traveled to distant world. Its agents can travel across space on invisible web strands of force. Fled into space on its webs when Aer was destroyed. This being finds patterns where few else can percieve. Sometimes humanoid worshippers seek to gain some eldritch knowledge from it. Atlach-Nacha exists on the Astral plane, spinning webs to connect all points in the universe, it can travel down its web to any area it has spun them. Some say it wishes to destroy all it connects.
• Azathoth, creature of madness, perhaps the same as Tharzidun.
• Bokrug, the Water Lizard- Imprisoned Deep underground by its enemies. Served by its ghosts of its slain followers. Debated on whether it or Tiamat shaped Lizardfolk. Evil cults of Bokrug seek to dominate. His spirit demands sacrifice so that it could one day be free. He was main combatant in the second war of the Anacestra on Aertrea. He and his servitor races (the main one anyways) were defeated. His servants were destroyed and he was imprisoned deep underground. He is served by the ghosts of his people, strange lizard-frog humanoids. He can manifest himself, when called, briefly.
• Byatis, the Serpent-Bearded. Imprisoned on Aetrea. Casues all areound it to forget it exists.Trades knowledge and power for worship. If it grew strong enough it would be freed.
• Chaugnar Faugn, Demi-God of Flesh Shapings, can be called upon by sacrifice, will only appear to animate a statue of itself. Its great secrets, continues its eons long mission to shape flesh and alter life.Was defeated in the second war of the Anacestra. Clearly imprisoned somewhere. Created the Aboleths.
• Cthugha, A hive mind creature of fire spirits (fire vampires), originally a fire elemental creature, imbued with negative energy, its millions of parts generally exists in the elemental plane of fire, but can send part of itself elsewhere.
• Cthulu, The Great One, IMprisoned on a distant world, defeated in the Anacestra War on Aer.Dagon, Father, Demon Prince of the Ocean, Fled to Aertrea and dwelt within the oceans, conflict drove it to the Abyss,created the deep ones
• Ghatanothoa, Asleep in a volcano on a distant island, olman tribes serve to keep in slumbering. Imprisoned following the Second war of the anacestra.
• Hastur the Unspeakable, rules a distant planet, fled from Aer, can reach out across the stars to influence others.
• King in Yellow, servant of Hastur
• Ithaqua, the Windwalker, Lives in the space between worlds.
• Nyarlathotep, the Crawling CHaos, the Howler,
• Nyogtha Thing that should not be, the absense of light, lives deep within the underdark.
• Quachil Uttaus, become a spiritual being, treader of dust,
• Rhan Tegoth- Hybernating deep space dwelling creature, requires power, would return its Ebominsana to Aertrea to dominate the world.
• Shub-Nigguranth- Goddess, resides in the bowls of Aer, can manifest, served by her Dark Young and Daughters,
• Tsathoggue, Father of the Formless Spawn, water elemental creature of chaos, lives deep underground, responds to followers.
• Tulzscha, the Green Flame,a chaotic fire elemental being, resides there, can be summoned, looking into its flames can teach you secrets and lead to madness.
• Yig, the Father of Snakes, and his prima servi Yderius
• Leng, originally allied with the Dua Crura, he siwtched side to the Ebominsana after being betrayed by Dahak and Tiamat. Settled on a distant realm and created his own servents, the Denizens of Leng and the Spiders of Leng amongst others. There he is a demi-god.
• Ictobral, the Tentacled Lord, reported to be destroyed or imprisoned during the second war of the Anacestra. Thought to have created the mind flayer race.

Other or Unknown

• The White Wolf.
• Scylla- She has the lower body of a spider with the head and long next of a snake, but a humanoid face with frills. She never spoke but used magic and communicated with haunting sounds she produced from the gills along her neck. Generally neutral she did not fight int he War of the Anacestra. She apparently traveled to Aertrea but nothing else is known.
• Ygax the Despised- theorized to the originator of the beholder species. Was apparently hated by all three factions. Its fate is unknown.