A Brief History and understanding of Cerus

Introduction

Cerus is a magical world but not one of immense magnitude, Dragons are intelligent apex predators but are not capable of speech, there are no gods that walk the upon the worlds face and Cerus is undeniably the domain of man in its current age. But man didn't always dominate Cerus, before the rise of the age of man there was the mighty dragon empire that made man its slaves and held territories in most of the known world.

The Dragons Empire
Before man established their kingdoms, empires and dynasties the dragonborn of the dragon empire ruled from their now shattered province of Val'Ruhm, They enslaved early man for untold amounts of generations and had outposts all through almost all of the known world where their raiding parties would capture slaves to be transported back to its central territories. All races fought back best they could but their salvation would come in the form of a great calamity which shattered Val'Rhum and took with it the dragons iron grip. This event is known as the dragons fall, none know for certain the catalyst for this calamity, some say a great rock from the sky shattered their lands, some say the ground crumpled beneath their feet and some say it was the divines punishing the dragons. The shattered land would eventually become the archipelago of the Tryos Imperium, its not uncommon to see the ruins of the dragons great structures beneath the sapphire blue oceans between the islands of Tryos in shallower water. The fall of the dragon empire saw the end of the dragonborns dominance on the world and now only small communities remain in various provinces, this event was so prevalent in the history of Cerus most provinces mark their lunar calendars dates with B.D.F (before dragons fall) and A.D.F (after dragons fall) to document their histories.

Magic of Cerus

Cerus is a plane of existence that on an astral level resides in between and in close proximity to many other planes, when one wields magic they're turning their bodies into a conduit into which they channel one of these planes energies into themselves and expel it. One must be born with these abilities with exception to those make pacts with other planer beings, these are called the plane touched, there are several reasons and theories as to why one might be plane touched. One such theory suggests everyone is plane touched to some degree and only individuals particularly gifted can manifest magic. Another theory says some have deep in their bloodlines experimentations from the Dragons Empire or even before that that allows them to manifest magic. Some still are plane touched with their very souls before they physically walk on Cerus and in their formative years undergo a metamorphosis into a tiefling or aasimar. Whatever the reason for most except those who naturally have abilities and for the most prodigal of plane touched it takes years of practice to be able to manifest magic to a considerable degree.

Outer Plane Theories

Many religions and myths either long dead or still very much active have and do reside within the pantheons of Cerus, The devout of these religions will you tell without a doubt that their pantheons and myths are real while most or all others are only fiction. What is known is that there are extra planer beings that do interact with the inhabitants of Cerus usually in ones sleep. Some theories suggest all pantheons and legends are real and that these beings are extra planer entities that sustain themselves on the worship and beliefs of Cerus. Another theory suggests this is true for some religions but not all. Another suggests perhaps everyone is slightly plane touched enough that if enough people believe and worship a pantheon or myth than those beliefs will manifests themselves into reality. Another still suggests these aren't gods at all and are only lowly entities that interact with Cerus for nothing more than their entertainment. None of these are verified as extra planer travel is difficult and dangerous for the inhabitants of Cerus. These planes operate on completely different rules of reality than Cerus and the mages in their towers, institutions and colleges can only travel to ones for short times and only under the effects of powerful protection spells. Elemental planes are traveled to but a world of pure water or fire are inhospitable for those of Cerus and even still are the eldritch planes where those who travel to come back completely mad and those who travel to Fey, Divine of Demonic realms may find the inhabitants less than friendly or the lands themselves completely inhospitable. Some mages have documented that weight is tripled in divine planes making even simple travel difficult or that demonic realms lack any breathable air at all. What is known is that these planes do collide with Cerus from time to time, recordings of great flashes of light and then a burning field filled with entities of elemental fire planes or a bright light and an once vacant valley now flooded as the a water plane collided have been documented throughout history.