The Twilight Union

The Twilight Union, before the story begins (2500-2000)
Phadria long ago was a unified land. In the beginning as with many of the virgin grounds of Caelos the gods made it their mission to create their new home; to truly make it theirs. What made Phadria special were its 4 Rivers, which met in the heart of the continent. These Rivers were named after the 4 founding houses of Phadrus:
• Occidensa (West to East) • Oriensa (East to West) • Austerensa (South to North) • Boreansa (North to South)
Some 2500 years ago the gods, Melora, Kord, Lolth and Corellon made their home in these lands. Corellon took to the west, Lolth to the North, Melora to the East, and Kord to the South. For 500 years there was peace, there was hope, life and love in the land of four rivers. It was to this place that Corellon brought his affectionate followers, the Eternal Elves, his Eladrin from his home of The Feywilds. He wanted them to embrace the beauty and difficulty of what it meant to make something of their own, and after having spent millennia in The Feywilds, he thought it time for them to make this wish a reality. Lolth being Corellon’s closest friend and lover, asked if she could take some of his children and have them do the same in the north, and of course he obliged her, trusting her intentions to be pure. This was the last decision Corellon made in the mortal realms that would reflect such love or desire to cooperate, as it nearly became his undoing.
While Kord and Merlora had brought their own followers, Half-Elves, Dwarves, Humans and the like, Corellon urged his children to move closer with them and to collaborate in the hopes that united they could fashion a world unlike that which has ever been. This, though initially tense, Kord and Melora urged their followers to accept the Eladrin despite their eccentricities. Unbeknownst to them all, Lolth had begun her machinations in the deep north of Phadria (Auron on the map) beyond the Traitor’s Expanse (The small bit of land separating Auron and Phadria). It was her plan all along to come with Corellon to this new land and to corrupt and break everything he sought out to create, for she was jealous. She was jealous of all the love and attention he poured on these “contemptable little things” and she referred to his Eladrin. And so it was her will and mission to take the segment of the population she did and to twist, torture, and mold them into her worshippers that they might one day break this new world and she could at last be all that was left for her lover to witness. Out of these generations of perversion and torture arose the first Drow of Caelos, truly a dark day for all.
Eventually, Corellon came to find out what his lover had been up to in the northern wilds of Phadria, but it was too late to stop what she had done. It was during a festival that was celebrated on the day of each solar cycle when the elves came from The Feywilds, that Lolth thought it most appropriate to make her treachery known. As Corellon began to speak and the crowds of his children crowded around the amphitheater to listen to their creator, from the ground rose great spiders, larger than even a horse and atop those spiders were a twisted visage of the Eladrin, their skin black as pitch and their eyes dark as the torture their souls endured under The Treacherous One. Blood was shed, curses hurled along with magic that devastated the land and its denizens. If not for Melora and Kord The Lady of Treason would have struck Corellon down and she’d have won. Through their combined efforts, the Drow were pushed north and Lolth was dragged back to the Astral Sea where she underwent judgement and sentencing to the Abyss where she resides still now.
This battle shattered parts of the world and caused such great misery and death that the 3 gods decided it best for them to leave this world freer of their influence, and they also returned to their domains. Many of the surviving Eladrin returned to their native home of the Feywilds but 4 families, those named after the 4 rivers, chose to remain. Though breeding between other races has essentially diminished their blood greatly, to this day the descendants of one of these 4 great families sit upon the throne of Phadria, and the Drow still oppose them, having made a “Dark Union” in the north at that very time, when they aren’t fighting amongst themselves.

The Trial of Lolth, an Aranea Maledicta (~2000)
With the conflict over, the gods had resigned themselves to the astral sea, and made for Mount Celestia. It was in Lunia, where The Atrium Exclesis stood; this known in the common tongue as The High Court. Bound in Aetherium Chains, the Queen of Deception found herself brought before her accusers, in the presence of all the other gods of Celestia. They had formed a pact ages ago in order to stand against the Lawless and Chaotic Evils of the multiverse. This was the first time that any of their own had plotted against them, and it struck quite a chord, as not even The Knowing Mistress foresaw such events. As was decided that day, it would be the chief abused who would sentence the accused, permitted they be living still; this left Corellon to pass judgement on the woman who he had thought he’d share eternity with. As they were both familiar with pact making and curses as was common amongst the Eternal Children (Eladrin) the lord of Magic felt it prudent and appropriate to carry out Lolth’s punishment in such a fashion. As the lord of rhymes paced across The Court he spoke these words:

As you wrought dark deeds across my land, so too will your skin glimmer as charcoal sand

As you crawled in the shadows to desecrate the land of 4 rivers, I curse you to creep on limbs of 8

As your soul has fallen black as onyx, in the Abyss will you become the newest convict

I curse thee Lolth, Weaver of Lies and treachery

To continue life, a being of enmity, of hostility

Growing Pains and Civil War (2000-1850)
With their Dark Queen banished to the Abyss to The Demonweb Pits, they now had to organize and take ownership of their fate now. Some were confused and disheartened at the loss of their Queen, wondering if all the bloodshed and violence was worth it. Though a small faction of the whole, the Deserta Sanquine (Forlorn Blooded) are those of the Drow that felt that war was unnecessary and perhaps they should attempt to mend relations with their brethren to the south. As one could imagine, the rest of the Fidelos (those faithful to the teaching and desires of Lolth) made war upon them, rooting them out as traitors and rebels against the Queen of the Pits. Because of this, those of the Deserta Sanguine fled into The Shadowed Highlands. This 50 year of civil war was ended when all of the unfaithful were rooted out and killed, at least all that they could find.
With authority finally seized, the Fidelos began to squabble amongst themselves trying to decide who would lead them and what they would do with their new kingdom. It was during this first great meeting that a female Drow stepped forward. Sylvis Xiltria had been among the first who’d been turned against their creator and toward the dark purposes of the Mistress of Lies. It was she who stood at the foot of the citadel when the time came to strike against Corellon and to finalize Lolth’s revenge once and for all. It wasn’t until this moment that the people of Auron realized that their lady never truly left them; there was a fragment of her power and personality that would be with them. This Sylvis Xiltria was chosen by Lolth to become her first Aspect on the mortal plane; to become her first instrument since her defeat and sentencing, in the hopes of continuing her plot for vengeance. At this great meeting, Sylvis stepped forth and decapitated one of the other leading Drow who thought they should be a leader. Such a show of force and brutality amongst the Fidelos was disquieting and gave her an opportunity to declare what she’d only come to know the past few nights leading up to this gathering. She declared herself Aspect of Lolth and showcased some of the power she held by resurrecting the slain drow as the first of the creatures that would become Draegoloths and their primary war machines against their brethren to the south.
It was near the end of her life that Sylvis made a decree as the Prime Aspect that without an Aspect to lead them, there would be in its stead a triumvirate of Drow, one from each of the three ruling families in the north. She also declared that henceforth they would be known as The Twilight Union and that it would be their mission to unite all the broken, shattered creatures among them that were rejected by the more civilized world; to take them and make them the skeleton of the war machine that would bring Phadrus to its knees. This ruling council would be known as The Court of Blood and their main agents, the Moré Kambâ (Black Hand in Undercommon). This group would serve as the will of the Blood Court both politically and martially when required. Only the best and most elite fighters were permitted entrance into this group.
The Twilight Union, first blood and the city of Zirq-Al’Anor (1850-1500)
War had not been easy, fighting from encampments, and villages in the wilds, and so the aspect of Lolth, Sylvis made it her mission to build a place for her people; a home for them. Though Lolth was not one for weakness or cowardice, she did share a love of beauty and elegance that drew her and Corellon together for the millennia they were together. Sylvis knew that this home of theirs would have to be brilliant, as well as effectual when it came to inspiring awe amongst those who would pass through it. In her times of prayer to the Lady of the Demonweb Pits, she was granted a name; Zirq-Al’Anor. It meant, “Resurgent Citadel” as she was told their time of waiting was nearly over. A great black spire was set within the center of the Dolorcuna Sine (The Anguished Bay). The main structure was a massive, onyx tower, gilded along the corners to stand as a towering reminder of Lolth’s dominion over the region. The Ony-che’turrim is where each Aspect sits and has sit since time immemorial, until her ladyship returns to the prime material to finish the work she began.
After the construction of Zirq-Al’Anor (1800) was finished it came time to look beyond their bay and into the rest of Auron. There were all the like of Goblin-kind, and other monstrous beasts that called these jungles and mountains home. Sylvis tasked the taking of the continent with Aes’muir Maleficas. He was a well-reputed Drow who had already been part of numerous raids on their brethren across the Traitor’s Expanse. Known for consistently outmaneuvering and crushing his foes, he received the moniker Leviathan, as he was a tremendous foe for any to face. To this day, there are those who train and try their hand at the Levian (Levi-on) fighting style within the scope of the Union’s borders. After 30 years of pressing into the wilderness he had all but eliminated the tribal leadership of these goblin-kin that made their homes here. As an unusual act of mercy, Sylvis offered these tribes an opportunity to dwell within the borders of the Union, rather than being destroyed. Respecting the power and prowess of The Leviathan, these tribal leaders agreed to this measure, in hopes to be grafted into this powerful race of dark elves. (1820)
Goblin-kind were not the Union’s only enemies in Auron unfortunately. Near the eastern peaks of the Rimecord Mountains, there was a colony of monstrous beasts that raided those lands. It took decades of fighting, scouting, and losses before the eventual confrontation. At the base of the Rimecord Mountains there was a wide region of open plains, that could be used for grazing, the Calnora Plains named after the popular drowess poet of the time. It was here that the Leviathan set his trap for the fabled king of the beasts, the Slithering King. Though none had ever seen him, they’d heard stories of this monstrosity from the dead beasts they’d brought back from death or interrogated. They couldn’t have known truly what was in store for them, as this was a pet of Demogorgon’s that had gotten loose hundreds of years ago and escaped across the ocean from Iashix. It was bloody, it was brutal, and it couldn’t even be called a fight. A thousand creatures erupted from the fertile grounds of the plains and began making work of the Leviathan’s Fist (colloquial term for the Leviathan’s personal military unit). If not for their lifetime of battle experience, they would have been routed, and in their tenacity, they continued fighting was must have felt like a lost battle. Aes’muir knew that he and his men’s time was short, but he would surely give everything he had before he failed his dark queen. He drew his greatsword, Lacrimosa, and charged the King who Slithers himself, without his normal phalanx to reinforce him. Only stories are reported from this battle, but the results speak for themselves, as they continue to manage the whole of Auron, though there are rumors that the creature could not be slain, but somehow interred and kept under permanent guard. The only surviving depiction of the battle from that day: ..\Creatures\The King that Slithers.jpg (1500).
Moré Kambâ, Phadria an Empire no longer (1500-1000)
As the war in the east suffered heavy losses, Sylvis’ health declined in the capital. There were some that felt that in her age she’d lost what initially made her so attractive; her ruthlessness. In one bloody night known as Sumēre Noctes (Harvesting Night), the drow aristocracy voted in secret to tear down Sylvis from her throne and to elect their own candidate for Aspect. In the hour of her death, Sylvis was drawn and quartered, her body being used in a sacrificial ritual to the Queen of the Demonpits. Clearly, Lolth was satisfied with her children’s initiative to “Cull the weak” as she referred to it, and the second Aspect, Lucretia Kor’dal began her reign in Zirq-Al’Anor. (1495)
One of the greatest complaints against Sylvis was of her complacency in their efforts against their southern brethren. Lucretia’s stance was that the Black Hand should be utilized in a much more direct way than the spying they’d been reduced to for generations now. She had a vision of a divided Phadria; one that would be easy to conquer and annex to Auron when the time was right. She sent an infiltration team led by a drow of the name Zel’roth Boreansa. Though being of the blood of the 4 royal families within the current power structure of Phadria, instead of execution all those years ago, Sylvis thought it prudent to maintain this bloodline in case it could ever become useful; Lucretia was thankful of her predecessor’s acumen for seeing potential threads to pull in years to come. Under the cover of night, Zel’roth and his band made it across The Traitor’s Expanse, evading detection from the imperial Phadrian forces along that northern border. Stories say that long ago he found himself traveling through the Hemlock Grove, a forest infamous for its poisonous flora and fauna. They entered the forest early morning on that first day unaware of the hell they’d be walking into. The first to die were to vines that caught some of his armor, the ensuing infection going to his mind and causing him to walk into a swamp, drowning himself. The next was a woman who was stung by swarm of large insects, completely unprovoked; the swelling stopped her from being able to breath within minutes. After 6 days, Zel’roth was the last alive and felt his mind slowly slipping from his grasp, when he found a cavern within a swamp somewhere in this forest. A voice had been speaking to him since he’d entered The Grove 6 days ago, and now it felt louder and almost in control of his animal-like state.
All accounts stop after the entries involving Hemlock Grove, but it’s clear that Zel’roth eventually made it out, the next day. A new mission and conviction present within his mind, and the goals of The Twilight Union left behind in the swamps of Hemlock Grove. He would go on to enter Phadria and through statescraft and illusion magicks, he killed and replaced one of those in line for the Boreansa family position of headship. After 15 more years and some further intentional destabilization of the relationships between families within the capital, Zel’roth had achieved a movement which inspired the other three families that this system of “taking turns for the throne” would only cause further degradation of their culture and ideas as intermarriages happened and the families blood became more diluted. And so, each of the other three families in the next 100 years eventually left the capital, leaving Zel’roth the head of the Boreansa family, and at the head of the Phadrian Empire; The Twilight Union thought that their final victory had been won, until they heard. On the day of his coronation, Zel’roth Boreansa, Twilight Union spy and infiltrator of over 100 years, mysteriously took his own life, famously a cup of tea with hemlock in it. Unable to capitalize on their position, the Twilight Union’s attacks fell flat as the families, though divided, were still uniquely against the Union at all costs. A strange period for all the continent certainly.
Breaker of Worlds, Galmar the Destroyer (1000-500)
It wasn’t long after the creation of the Zosin Alliance that the Union began their celebrations. Though no word had come from Zel’roth in years, they’d been able to see through their spies on the ground in the capital that their plan was working. It was a short period of what some might call prosperity for the dark elves. Though born of treachery and blood, they’d finally come into their own as a world power, able to display that those of their ranks were able to infiltrate and effect what they’d consider the other great powers around them. Unfortunately, their victory festival was quite premature; a scout arrives near the at the base of the Ony-che’turrim where spirits were at their highest. A message signed Vesh Itr’axen, general at the eastern borders of Auron. Lucretia approaches the scout, covered in his, or someone’s blood and takes listens to him stammering away in Undercommon. “ A slaughter along the coast. Both garrisons mostly destroyed, 3600 dead. A wave of creatures sweeps across the sea toward the Rimecord’s eastern slopes. Red-scaled humanoid lizard creatures that spew fire, acid, ice, and poison. They loosed upon us creatures with the bodies of horses fused with other lizard like creatures as well. Prepare for war, they’re coming. General Itr’Axen of the Eastern Legions “
The weeks that followed were ones of worry, disdain, and fear. As outpost by outpost fell in the Ivory Coast (eastern coast of Auron), the Blood Council debated what actions they should be taking in the face of such dreadful odds. Their enemies were faster than they were, dominating the land by a large margin. They had access to unnatural and incredibly powerful beasts, which seemed never to tire; they were backed into a corner. In times of war such as these, they’d grown accustomed to calling out to their Dark Lady, in hopes that she’d grant them an insight they couldn’t glean themselves. Unbeknownst to them, these creatures were of an otherworldly origin, and as much as Lolth appreciated a surprise attack, she doesn’t like her place in the world being threatened. As rare as the occurrence was, The Lady of the Demonpits answered her children’s call onto her, and she gave them some cryptic advice, believing that over all things, they must learn to be self-sufficient, especially in the face of such dire consequences. She empowered her Aspect, Lucretia to be able to twist and alter forms, more power than perhaps any mortal should ever have. With these powers came the likes of the Draegloth, Driders, Barghests, Neophrons, and Duergar in time to become the bulk of the war effort.
The final stand came in the Marrow Valley just miles away from Zirq-Al’Anor’s gates. The champion of these invaders, Galmar (..\Creatures\Galmar The Destroyer.jpg) came across the valley riding atop a three headed draconic beast called Azi Dahaka, Breaker of Worlds ( ..\Creatures\Azi Dahaka, Breaker of the Black Tower.png ). Lucretia Kor’dal led her troops into battle, against the army of beasts from Iashix. In her manipulation of this new magick, she changed herself into the first Drider, and being a powerful mage, she wrought destruction across the battlefield utilizing some new spells she had developed within the Ony-che’turrim (Hold Monster, Planar Binding, Wall of Force, Telekinesis, Chain Lightning, Disintegrate). Though these new powers were formidable, and the tactical prowess of the drow won the day, it could not save her from the raw destruction that Galmar and Azi Dahaka wrought upon her. After the battle had been won, and the dead counted and committed to the Dark Lady, a new Aspect was elected, through the same sacrifice of the previous, though posthumously. The third, and Aspect of the current age was chosen; Leiana Del’mora (628).
The Aftermath and the Underdark (500-Present)
After this hundreds of years of strife for Phadria there came a time of peace and prosperity once again. Aspect Del’mora saw to it that the Moré Kambâ were again refurnished and their ranks filled to the brim, as her sight once again drifted southward toward their high blooded brethren. For 10 years they saw slow and steady pressure as they attacked the northernmost towns and regions, avoiding Hemlock Grove for fear of mysterious losses as had happened generations ago. As with all things there came an end to this good fortune. On a routine resupply run, the group of 6 Moré Kambâ encountered some strange and terrible phenomena; 2 killed each other, 1 drowned herself, 2 swam off into the ocean, and the only survivor went mad. For as long as she (Morsa Tal’duor) lived after the crossing, she would sing to herself “a song to Paigam and Xete”. Soon afterward, it became impossible to continue any direct war efforts against the Phadrians and Aspect Leiana began seeking other solutions.
During the war with the beasts of Iashix the Drow had lost most of their encampments and outposts to the east. During the time these incursions to the south were beginning to falter, an imperious man, Forten Hal’kes took it upon himself to begin leading expeditions to reclaim what they’d lost. On these expeditions they found that the beasts had begun digging into the mountains; digging down, and far. He began to find some useful minerals as well as iconography and figured that the Union would pay well if they could gain some benefit and possible travel (beneath the sea) back toward their main goal. He has supposed correctly as all attempts from Aspect Del’mora to continue operations across Traitor’s Expanse had met with further suicides, and now a large artillery weapon mounted atop Xete’s Keep. This began the major financing and utilization of the Duergar as before they’d simply been basic servants or slave labor, it turns out these dwarves were well attuned and naturals when it came to carving out and exploring these caverns. The eastern city of Obrath-Sess’An was founded in the mouth of the largest of these cave mouths along the eastern Rimecord Mountains. It was during the first of the expeditions, called the Obsidorum Initiative, that those of the Union discovered that they had more than just the Iashixians to deal with. There was a foe even perhaps even more dangerous, and especially more cunning as they were residents of these dark caverns as well as of the world below; a world that nobody knew existed and is still greatly misunderstood by those who dwell atop the surface. Illithid in undercommon, a name that strikes both fear and respect into the denizens of Auron, the Drow wage war against them as they slowly press their way downward, in search of a way toward their fated enemies of Phadria across the Traitor’s Expanse. Rumor has it that Aspect Leiana is looking for any fool hardy enough to discover the source of these aberrations, and to destroy them.
Additional Character Options from this Region
The Leviathan School (Fighter Sub-Class)