*READ FIRST* History of Erath

*The story as known and told by historians, bards, & legend aficionados *

THE BEGINNING In the beginning, creation was without form, and void; the only occupant a singular conscience of densely packed matter/energy that created the void as it created its self. In time it separated itself into multiple parts…the reasons unknown…but at this point creation began.
First came the 3 Moons made of all the primal forces, that rotated clockwise around the “SUN” like energy ball of the creator. Each moon had its Guardian Force, that was tasked with 1 primary mission. This mission, protect the heart/power of the creator from all of creation to follow. At least until it was time to start over again. How they carried out this task was up to them.
Second came the Primordials. They were wild/chaotic forces of both creation and destruction…the ultimate agents of change. But they seemed incapable of creating anything substantial or long lasting. Countless eons past and then came the third group.
Third the race we call Gods. Thousands of them existed along side thousands of Demi-God origin. They had an odd relationship with the primordials. They attempted to bring a lasting order even if the sole basis of that order was CHAOS. Their attempts constantly failed due to the actions of the primordials …eventually the inevitable happened and the first war occurred.

THE FIRST WAR* The FIRST WAR was beyond imagining. THE 13 Primordials that existed were far out numbered by the numerous GODS but seemed to completely rival them in power. The 3 MOON GUARDIANS did not interfere or act in anyway, unless any of the GODS or THE 13 attempted to cross the spherical boundary they guarded.
In the end THE GODS who originally numbered in the thousands had defeated THE 13 but at a heavy price. There now existed less than 100 godlike beings; some shocked at their success, some showing no sign of reaction, & yet some seemed to have become drunk with power on their musings over their abilities, but only 9 retained enough of their original energy to be considered Gods .Also amongst them were the combined power of all their fallen comrades floating in a cloud of pure energy. The remaining 9 Gods would split up the energy cloud and use their CLOAKS OF POWER to rule over all of creation; the remaining entities would control and rule over the realms/aspects they cherished most. The first thing they created was our planet Erath. In times of high contestation it was decided the 9 would meet as a council and majority would rule. It was also determined at this first council meeting of the repercussions of breaking the ruling of the council. The offender would be stripped of their cloak of power & it would be given to a successor. The method of doing this was a ritual that required a majority of The Gods to perform it.

CREATION 2.0 The remaining GODS used their powers and the vast remaining material/elements left of THE 13 to forge all that has and will follow. In honor of how creation had started, the first things the GODS created was Erath. THE GODS then seeded the planet with abundant plant/animal life and a race of angelic beings loyal to each of their creators. The final part of this creation process was to have the 3 moons that were older than them to circle the planet; these moons would later be known/recognized as The Gods of Magic and each would rule a different aspect of Good, Neutrality, and Evil. The neutral moon is visible to all regardless of magic talent or alignment but the other two are only visible to the practitioners of the arcane/divine who follow their alignment.
Try as they might the Gods could not fully suppress the powers of THE 13 and amongst those they gave life to, they would also find the Elementals ,the second race that started appearing after the Aasimar. Though the Elementals have long since retired to their own plain of existence their influence can be seen in the bloodlines of some sorcerers.
Things remained this way for over 4000 years…a blink of an eye to a god … where each race carved its own nitch in the world and developed skills, knowledges, and trades they were best at and others that only existed through cooperation with other races. Over time they developed technologies that exceeded that of our modern day EARTH . Interplanetary travel, free/self-sustaining power sources, a mixture of magic and technology, inter-dimensional travel via machines, ETC. But despite that peace and prosperity, there always seemed to be shadow of uneasiness that settled over all mortal beings during the last 500 years…as if something in the darkness…just beyond the range of perception was watching, waiting, and plotting. During this time as well the lesser gods and demigods started expanding upon the edge of the “created” universe creating their own realms as well as solar systems. It was during this expansion that the citizens of ERATH attempted one of their more advanced/dangerous projects that was supposed to create a portal between Erath and the farthest edge of space…it failed…and allowed something else through instead.

THE SECOND WAR* The moment that portal opened…everything changed… for it was not a gateway for them to a place on the edge of space…but a portal for a group of the most wretched and vile of creatures hidden in another realm … a sort of Eldritch Horror that defies description to this day… a being that should only be mentioned in the most dire of circumstances and even then with caution… a creature that defies description so much that each one and the hordes of their followers alike are simply referred to as THEM or the plague as the least brave call them.
This war was barely mentioned in the days following its end…and even less information exists today because of it… but one thing is clear, it changed the course of mortal beings permanently. From what tales we are able to gather these beings possessed power somewhere between that of a DemiGod and that of a full fledged God without a CLOAK OF POWER . The situation was a cataclysm that required all the efforts and power of the 9 to contain and deal with. Much was lost that day including all tech and 66% of the population on ERATH , but most importantly the good will and cooperation of The Gods amongst each other as fingers started to be pointed and tempers flared over who had created these creatures and situations…as only they could have created them.
The aftermath resulted in major portion of the main continent being uninhabitable due to the poison from the blood of this newly spawned race that fell on that final battleground. Great wards have been placed around that area, forever sealing it off and god level illusions cast around it so the true carnage could never scar the remaining inhabitants of ERATH . Even so most of the planet has been reduced to desert climates save for a few special locations.

MODERN TIMES* It has been 500 years since the end of the second war. Most of the citizens have forgotten about it and many variations of the story have been told to the point most don't know which one is true or if any of them are. The population has not increased much and the technology level is at medieval level at best with a few exceptions due to magic. Populated towns and cities are scattered very far apart as far as 99.9% of the citizenry is aware with trade/travel only happening between magical portals instead of walking. Each village and even most cities have only one portal to one "sister" city/village save for the largest of the cities. Superstitions are quite prevalent and in many small towns (like the one you are from) few have left the city in generations and no one would dare travel outside it by any method other than the portals ... but what if they lost those too? and what would drive a person so mad to venture into these vast wild deserts?

RECENT TIMES* Life has continued in a very secluded way between cities so far away from each other that they wouldn't know of each others existence save for the gates. In the small town of LakePass life is rural and often uneventful but in the last year there have been disappearances both here and our sister city of Brittleburgh. What could be behind these disappearances in places where no one leaves the town/city? What could these disappearances mean?