Mundi Mundos

Mundi Mundos is a world of beauty and of horror. It was born long long ago, before the stars had first ignited into life. But, it was lifeless then too and remained so, until the Pathmaker came to it. The Pathmaker breathed life into it, but there were problems. Life needs heat as well as balance and so, the Pathmaker would bring forth multiple stars together to give heat to the life that was being born there. As for balance, he took some of the planet's essence and crafted a mighty moon above it. Then, after this was done, the Pathmaker would decide to stay and observe the struggles of life upon Mundi Mundos, the world of worlds.   As life took root, races were born, such as the elegant and long-lived elves, the brutal and cunning orcs, the short and clever dwarves, and the adaptable humans as well as many others both good and wicked. These races would believe in higher and lower powers, and would inadvertently bring forth such beings as the Gods and the Devils as well as their spawn. The two highest of the gods were Cessus, the God of Death and Vitralis, the God of Life. Under them were Umbryx, the Goddess of Darkness and the Moon, and Lumera, the Goddess of Light and the Sun as well as Scelus, the God of Thieves, Iurn, the God of Law, Amora, the Goddess of Love , Perodi, the God of Hate, Venari, the God of the Hunt, Naturas, the Goddess of Nature, Somni, the God of Dreams, Melosa, the Goddess of Music, Cognis, the God of Knowledge, Technology, and Time, Arcan, the God of Magic, Vocatus, the God of Merriment, Tellusa, the Goddess of the Land, Pael, the Goddess of the Ocean, Fel-Fausa, the Goddess of Luck and Libertas, the Goddess of Adventure.   The Devils also had their own Gods of evil and wickedness, although such was in constant flux as is their nature. They had Interrix, the God of Destruction, Avarit, the Goddess of Greed, Colae, the Goddess of Pleasure, Amenire, the God of Madness, Morsus, the God of Pain, Mendac, the God of Lies, Pestila, the Goddess of Pestilence, Ventirn, the God of War, Ventryx, the God of Murder, Ultio, the God of Revenge, and finally Malum, the God-King of Evil. These two forces would do battle over centuries, while still interfering in the lives of mortals, which would ultimately lead to the darkest of times.     Back in the first times, resurrection was a way of life, and people never had to say goodbye to the ones that they loved, but this would be the grandest of mistakes, as eventually the bloodiest and most brutal of wars would break out. Nobody knows what happened to cause such a war, but it was probably the same as any other war. Differences in opinion, wanting more power, more land, more resources, wanting to prove that one race is better than other, but whatever the case, it would usher in a new age of terror for Mundi Mundos. Now, as resurrection was commonplace, wars and battles were drawn out and excessively brutal as people had to invent new and terrible ways of killing their foes. All of the resurrections took their toll on Vitralis, who slowly became corrupted and eventually would become a monster known as Endron, a god of undeath. When Endron was born, a ripple of undeath spread throughout Mundi Mundos which corrupted and killed many. Endron would then go on a rampage throughout the world, until eventually the Gods and the Devils would reluctantly join together to try and stop Endron. However, it was impossible to kill Endron, and so they imprisoned him deep within the many planes of the world, and they set about trying to restore order, and for a time, there was order, and eventually the world returned to some sense of normality, although no new life was born and the Gods now forbid resurrection.   This did not sit well with many mortals and some of the Devils, who eventually were able to free Endron back into the material plane. Endron would then share his power with the mortals who freed him, who would be transformed into the first necromancers and lichs. Endron was weakened by his imprisonment, though, but was still much more powerful than the Gods and their mortal servants, and so, Endron and his army of necromancers and undead would begin to wage war against the devastated peoples of Mundi Mundos as well as the Gods who were still weakened after their first battle with Endron. However, Cessus would learn of the Pathmaker and would beseech the Pathmaker to give him his power of life, so that he would be able to defeat Endron. The Pathmaker would reluctantly agree, and would give up all his power of creation to Cessus. The Pathmaker, now without his power over creation, would return to his dimension, where he would continue to observe what happened on Mundi Mundos as well as all the different Mundi Mundoses that there were. Cessus would return to Mundi Mundos and he would begin to replenish the life that had been stolen by Endron. Endron was outraged by this, and would then commence battle with Cessus. Cessus would come out victorious, although he could not find it in himself to slay his brother, and so, instead, he opted to shatter Endron into many pieces and scatter the pieces over Mundi Mundos. After this, he then had to figure out how to fully control the new power he had, and the other Gods who were battered and broken, would retreat to their domains to heal, but, in the meantime, the mortals would be forced to survive the dragons, and Devils, and all the other terrible creatures and monsters that now took advantage of the Gods' absences.   Thus, Mundi Mundos would be plunged into darkness once again, as the mortals fought on desperately. One day, 5 metallic dragons would undertake a mighty quest through the various gods' domains asking for help in defeating the darkness, which now ruled over Mundi Mundos. However, each time, the gods would refuse, stating that they do not yet have the power to help, and each time, the dragons would continue to ask, until eventually they got to the last God, Cessus. Cessus would hear out the dragons' pleas, but would also state that he is unable to help, as he still was trying to master his new power, but he would tell them that if they took some of his power, they would be able to save Mundi Mundos. The 5 dragons would accept and Cessus would impart a small bit of his power in each of the 5 dragons. They would thank him and he would return them to Mundi Mundos, where they would begin to push the darkness back. Eventually, all that was left of the darkness were the Devils, but the Devils had grown too powerful for them, and would nearly kill the 5 brothers, whose blood and tears would fall to the earth, and create the Dragonborn, and the Kobolds. The 5 brothers, beaten and dying, would decide to combine their power, and they would form the All-Dragon, who would then push the Devils back into Hell, where they had come from. However, the damage was done and demon and Devil hybrids would start popping up all around Mundi Mundos. Also, a kingdom of were-creatures, vampires and other monsters would be formed during this time of Darkness, which would be known as the Kingdom of Night.   The All-Dragon, after defeating the Devils, would be worshipped by the Dragonborn and the Kobolds, as well as many other races and thus would begin a peaceful reign over them. However, 5 chromatic dragon brothers would grow envious of the All-Dragon's power and would beseech Cessus to give them some of his power. Cessus, in his desire to control his newfound power, would freely give some of it to each of the 5 dragons. These dragons would then return to Mundi Mundos, and would begin a campaign of destruction and terror. Eventually, the All-Dragon would take notice of them, and would send his children out to defeat them. However, they would easily kill all but a handful of his children. One of his children, Vaeros was rescued by the Kobolds, who at that time, were still living upon the surface of Mundi Mundos. Vaeros, in her gratitude would grant all kobolds the ability to produce magical breath from their lungs. Her twin brother, Aeros, would be saved by the Dragonborn, and he would grant all Dragonborn the same ability to produce magical breath from their lungs. The 5 chromatic dragons would then besiege the All-Dragon's capital city of Dragon's Keep, and would engage in a battle with the All-Dragon, who had the upper hand most of the conflict, until the 5 dragons decided to combine their powers as well, and they would become the God-Dragon. The two were almost evenly matched, and both would spill each other's blood onto the land and the sea, which would create more Dragonborn and Kobolds, as well as other things. Eventually, though, the All-Dragon would barely defeat the God-Dragon, but he would be severely wounded in the process and he would enter into a deep sleep in his ruined capital city. The God-Dragon would also survive, with horrific injuries, and would fly off to its own twisted, demented capital city of Dragon's Maw, which it would proceed to collapse around itself as it too fell into a deep slumber. Both of the mighty dragons' children and followers would guard them as they slumbered. As time went on, many mortals and many fellow dragons would make pilgrimages to Dragon's Keep and deposit tons and tons of riches and treasures in the hopes that the All-Dragon would one day wake. The amount of riches and treasures would pile up so much that eventually, Dragon's Keep and much of the surrounding area would look like a desert with all of the gold. As Dragon's Keep expanded and transformed into the Gold Desert, the dragon's children and followers would continue their vigil and eventually settlements and cities would pop up in the Gold Desert. Meanwhile, in Dragon's Maw, the God-Dragon's children and followers would begin to try to do the same, although not many freely gave riches and treasures to the God-Dragon and so, the God-Dragon's followers and children would frequently raid human settlements and kingdoms in the hopes of gaining riches. After this, the Gods began to return.   Now, the Gods had never truly left Mundi Mundos, but they just did not have the same level of involvement as they once did, and they never would, however, they would try. Many mortals had grown disillusioned with the Gods, and the Gods, in their attempts to reconnect with mortals, would breed with them, and create the Aasimar. Now, before getting too far, I must explain that there are 2 types of Aasimar. There are the original Aasimar, which are simply creations of the gods which do not have much free will outside of what their gods tell them to do, and then there are the 2nd and more powerful version of the Aasimar, which are born from the bonds of gods and mortals, and are the angelic opposites of the Tieflings, which are born from the bonds of devils or demons and mortals. The Tieflings were widely viewed with disgust and hatred among many, as many remembered what the demons and the devils had done and could not forgive their spawn. Tieflings tried to survive in a world which hated them, and tried to show this world that they were not the monsters that people believed they were. The Aasimar, however, were treated with reverence and many became kings and queens and nobles among the various kingdoms of Mundi Mundos. The Aasimar and the Tieflings would often view the other with hatred, and many wars between the two would occur with varying results, although the Aasimar would normally win as their radiant nature repulsed the Tieflings. Before we go any further into the history of Mundi Mundos, I suppose I should tell you a little bit more about the various races and various kingdoms which live on Mundi Mundos.   We should first talk about the elves. The Elves are one of the most long-lived of all the races, and one of the most elegant, and beautiful but they are also some of the most arrogant and divided. The first divides occurred during the Age of Resurrection, when elves with certain differences began to be discriminated against by others of their race. This would result in many many wars as the Elven kingdoms broke up into many different factions, such as the Grey Elves, the most arrogant, intelligent, and noble of the elves, but also the most racist and xenophobic, the High Elves, the most common of the elves, and also the closest to the original elves, the Wood or Wild Elves, who are the most reclusive and close to nature of the elves, the Sea Elves, who are aquatic elves, the Avariel, who are winged elves, and also among some of the most rare of the elves, and finally the Drow, or dark elves. The dark elves were born when Endron was first born, and because of this, and their dark pigmentation, they are normally viewed as the most evil out of the elves, although this is not true, in most cases. Many drow would escape into the Underdark, a place far underneath the land of Mundi Mundos, where some of the most dangerous and evil creatures lurk, and as such, when these drow would come back onto the surface, they would gain a weakness to light, which would further make people distrust them.   Now, it is time to talk about the dwarves. Dwarves are among some of the most boisterous, merry and intelligent of the races, although they are also some of the shortest and most ill-tempered. Dwarves are also divided, although not as much as the elves, and usually, they aren't as racist towards the other dwarves. Dwarves are divided between hill dwarves, who dwell mainly upon the land, mountain dwarves, who dwell deep within mountains and caves and other such places and the duergar, who are basically the dwarf equivalent of drows. Just like drows, they first appeared when Endron was first born, they also have dark pigmentations, and they also fled into the Underdark, where they gained a weakness to light and are also distrusted by many. There are also many other divisions as dwarves who live in certain locales can often change or gain certain abilities.The dwarves have created many things, such as the Constructs, artificial beings with free will, airships, and the ARKS, mysterious inventions hidden all over Mundi Mundos.   Now, we must talk about goblioids. There are 3 races of gobloinoids: goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. Goblins are among the most common of the gobloinoids and also they are the lowest of the low, and many view them as evil and stupid. While this is true for most goblins, there are many goblins, who are anything but. Goblins are also quite short, like dwarves, and many have an uncanny intelligence just like a dwarf's. There are numerous divisions of goblins, as many are taken as slaves by other races, and many wander into random places and end up adapting to such places. Hobgoblins are the larger and smarter cousins of the goblins and display a knack for strategy. They are also quite obsessed with combat, like many orcs. Now, it is time to talk about bugbears. Bugbears are the largest out of the goblinoids, usually standing at 7 feet tall, and in terms of intelligence, are somewhere in between goblins and hobgoblins. They often serve as chiefs of warbands of other bugbears and goblins.   The orcs are among the most barbaric of all the races, and it is widely believed that the first war was between the orcs and everybody else. Due to their extremely warlike culture, orcs are typically regarded as unintelligent, and while that may be true for some, there are many that are not, although they still thrive on a warrior culture and often take up slaves. Orcs are also among the most divided of the races, simply because they often war with each other even more than they do with other races. Some of the most chaotic and dangerous orcs are those called the Tanarruk, the offspring of orcs and demons or devils. However, unlike other demonic hybrids, such as the tieflings, most Tanarruk are completely evil and have almost no trace of good in them.   Among the many races of Mundi Mundos, there are various creatures who are humanoid and yet not humanoid. These creatures were born when Naturas beseeched Cessus to use his powers to stop mortals from harming animals. However, Venari would also beseech Cessus not to use his powers to grant Naturas' wish as it would also deprive him of his power. So, in response, Cessus would transform many animals so that they were stronger and could resist mortals, while still allowing many regular animals to exist. There are too many Beast-Folk to mention, but some of the most prevalent are the Lizard-Folk, the Yuan-ti, the Aarakocra, who are bird-people, bullywugs, who are toad people, the Tabaxi, who are feline people, the centaurs, who are combinations of other races and equine creatures, the Gnolls, who are hyena people, the Grungs, who are frog people, the Kenku, who are the flightless cousins of the Aarokocra, the Loxo, who are elephant and mammoth people, the Lupin who are canine people, the Minotaurs, who are bull people, the Saurians, who are dinosaur people, the thriikeen, who are bug people, the ratfolk, tritons, who are fish people, the merfolk, who are the triton version of elves, and tortles among many others.   Along with the tieflings and aasimar, there are other hybrids, such as the genasi, who are born from creatures of the Elemental Plane, normally incredibly powerful creatures, known as the Djinn, who some believe to have the ability to grant wishes.   There are also beings known as the Goliath, who are of the earth. They are incredibly strong, durable, and are often quite tall, normally measuring up to 7-8 ft tall.   We must now talk about the constructs. Constructs are also divided between many differences. There are the general constructs, who are machines, who have free will, and then there are the Warforged, who are dedicated entirely to battle, among many others.   There are many different races upon Mundi Mundos which makes it hard to list all of them and many often interbreed, so it is even more difficult to list all of them. Now, we must return to the history of Mundi Mundos.   Many many years, after the gods returned to Mundi Mundos, tragedy struck once again, as followers of Endron had collected multiple pieces of their broken god, and had brought forth a misshapen and demented thing, which would send a plague of undeath throughout Mundi Mundos, before quickly being shattered once again by Cessus. However, unlike the other ages of darkness, this was not one that could be weathered as before, and all over Mundi Mundos, the world began to die and be plagued by undead creatures. However, the gods would once again pool their resources to save many, although some saved themselves, while some decided to try to weather the storm and most simply died and the World of Worlds was forever changed.   Thus, Mundi Mundos was divided more than it had ever been before. Most races fled to the open seas, as they were vast, and the plague of undeath had difficulty crossing it. These seas which had many many islands, and small continents would be known as the Land/Ocean/Seas of Crossing. Many numerous kingdoms popped up all around the Land of Crossing. One of the biggest was the Kingdom of Regress, which wanted to retake Terra Initium from those that still dwelt on it. It also had a policy of extreme magic regulation, to the point where some extremist factions of it were completely against magic. Besides the dangers that they posed, there were also numerous pirates, monsters and Endron cultists roaming around these open seas. However, to many, it was a freedom not known even before the Age of Rotting, and many adventurers would travel all over the open seas.   There was also the continent which all life had been born on, and where most of the important events of Mundi Mundos took place known as Terra Initium. Terra Initium was ravaged by the plague, and those who were either left behind or stayed had to endure many years worth of terror as the undead and other monsters constantly attacked. Eventually, the plague would die down, although the undead still roamed freely and the continent remained divided between numerous kingdoms and countries.   One such kingdom was The Kingdom of Night who would rescue many people during the beginning of the Age of Rotting as most of it's citizens were immune to the effects of the plague as well as the fact that the plague could not work well in the cold Northlands which the Kingdom of Night was located in. As the plague lessened in intensity, the King of the Kingdom of Night, King Vertris VI would make a deal with some of the kingdoms. In exchange for some of the mortal kingdoms' citizens, the Kingdom of Night would not attack any of the other kingdoms and would actually help them fend off the undead.   The Gold Desert would rapidly expand in this time, as many people would give even more riches and treasures in the vain hopes that the All-Dragon would save them. However, when this did not occur, many started invading the Gold Desert and so, the defenders of the Gold Desert would become all the more brutal and xenophobic as a result. One of the many things they did to prevent invaders and bandits was to place curses on all of the riches and treasures of the Gold Desert, as nobody in their right mind, could resist it.   Also, as the plague swept through the land, the God-Dragon's followers conducted even more raids upon kingdoms and settlements as most of the people were either dying or dead. However, many of these raids would be halted by not only city and settlement defenders, but also the followers of the All-Dragon, mainly the Kobolds. The Kobolds would repel some of the dragon attacks, as even though they were much weaker and smaller than dragons and dragonborn, they vastly outnumbered them, and many of them had crafted dragon-slaying weapons and the like. However, it is also important to note that some Kobolds were completely subservient to dragons and dragonborn and viewed all of them as gods and so, wars would break out between kobolds. Additionally, those kobolds who did not follow the All-Dragon and his followers lost the ability to produce magical breath from their bodies.   It is important to note than when the plague swept the world, many creatures and people fled into the Underdark as the plague could not reach that deep. However, because of this, many transformed in the depths of the Underdark, due to its harsh conditions.   While some retreated into the very depths of Mundi Mundos, there were others that reached to the skies. The continent of Aeros is one such place. When the plague hit, its inhabitants retreated into vast airships, where life continued, although nobody left them ever for centuries, as the land was believed to be diseased. However, certain airship colonies would conduct expeditions onto the land. Besides Aeros, there were also floating cities of Aasimar, Aarokocra and dwarven design.   Another thing of importance is that the advance of technology differs everywhere on Mundi Mundos, especially after the Age of Rotting. Most places have crude guns, like flintlocks and cannons, and there is some crude electricity and plumbing, although that's about it. Dwarven ARKS though are known to have incredibly advanced technology, although they are closely guarded.   Another country of note is the magic kingdom of Mageria. It was formed centuries and centuries ago by magic users, and scholars and the like on an incredibly secluded mountain range. While initially it started off as little more than a city, it would eventually become an entire country and kingdom of its own. Even before the Age of Rotting, the kingdom of Mageria was always extremely reclusive, and only allowed the most promising of scholars, wizards, and sorcerers into its mighty halls. When the Age of Rotting occurred, the citizens closed off their borders completely and wouldn't allow anyone, even promising scholars and magic users, in.   Another of the countries of note of Mundi Mundos is Terra Vitae, or the land of life, which miraculously, doesn't appear to have been touched by the plague at all. Curious and curious er.   On the other hand, there is Terra Mortis, or the land of death, which suffered the worst of the plague, and it is honestly a miracle that anything can live there at all, even the undead.   After some time, explorers and kingdoms from the open seas would return back to Terra Initium and one of their first acts would be to quickly build numerous port cities, which would be extremely defended as they began to take their first steps back into the changed continent of Terra Initium. The Kingdom of Regress managed to create the biggest of the port cities, New Journey, and it was widely accepted that they had the most chance, besides pirates, to take back Terra Initium. Although, this effort would be bogged down by the numerous monsters and creatures that lived there now as well as extremist factions of the Kingdom of Regress who decided that the only way to safely take back Terra Initium was to rid it of pretty much everything that still lived on it during the Age of Rotting.   Another of the places of interest on Terra Initium would be the Wall of Mortality. It guards one of the most heavily infected places on Terra Initium besides the land of death. The defenders are constantly attacked by all manner of creature and invading army, but still manage to cling onto hope in a world that wants to break them.   It is also time to discuss resurrection again. Now as previously mentioned, resurrection was forbidden by the gods, although some still attempted it, and were cursed for it. However, some of the gods would come to disagree with this rule forbidding resurrection, such as Amora, who watched as people's hearts would crumble and break after their lover would die. Amora would beseech Cessus to once again allow resurrection. However, Cessus refused stating that if he were to allow wanton resurrection again, he would probably become corrupted as well. However, Amora and the other gods who wanted resurrection would threaten to turn against Cessus if he did not allow it once again. Cessus, not wanting to kill his brethren, would reluctantly agree, but he would make rules, so that hopefully, what happened with Endron did not happen again. Resurrection could occur, but, only if one was truly pure of heart, as well as having certain ingredients that were difficult to find.   Another thing I must discuss is necromancy. Now, while most necromancers and lichs are evil, there are some that are good. Certain necromancers and lichs are allowed to continue their work by the gods, although the gods now watch over and regulate them. Why they allow this is unknown, although it is believed that they are trying to find a way to restore Vitralis. However, despite some of them being good, most people view necromancers and especially lichs with disgust and hatred.