The Xennor
The progenitors of humanity
The Xennor arrived in Terraneum in search of a new world to inhabit. Although they atempted to save their dying species from anihilation, their colony was wiped out by an unexpected disaster, the Great Blast. The survivors of this disaster, are the humble beginnings of humanity.
A new home
The Xennor group of colonists arrived at Teraneum searching for a new home using a powerful teleportation spell. Their home planet was dying and their civilization had sent colonizing missions in an attempt to find a new world to inhabit.
The colony began construction of a colossal gateway-like structure almost immediately after its arrival. This structure was to serve as a portal for the rest of their species to find their way into their new home. It would be an immense undertaking as it would require a tremendous amount of resources and energy. Moreover they had to construct this portal while also creating and maintaining a fragile colony in a foreign world.
They started building regardless. Its progression was very slow and often halted for extended periods of time, sometimes even centuries, because the colony had to shift its attention and use its resources for their survival. In addition to the physical structure, a powerful magical core had to be created to serve as the portal’s source of energy. The colonists had brought with them physical components that the core required to be built, since most of these components could not be found in Teraneum. The charging of the core however, meaning the process of storing enough magical energy inside it for the task needed, would take centuries to be completed.
Overcoming the hardships, their colony eventually evolved into a large self-sustaining settlement, built around the building site of the portal. that could serve as the beginning of a new civilization. This settlement continued growing steadily over the years up until the Blast. Using it as a base for operations, the Xennor launched several expeditions to explore Teraneum. They set up numerous outposts that provided the main settlement with knowledge of their new home as well as valuable resources.
Physical characteristics & evolution
Their form originally was that of a humanoid creature, almost twice the height of an average human. Their skin color was a pale tint of purple, varying slightly to each individual. Their lifespan was approximately one millennium. They had no hair on their head or skin and the color of their eyes was an iridescent yellow. Some could live longer than that as they could extend their lifespan through magic.
As the Xennor colonized Teraneum, they deliberately altered themselves over the years to better withstand the biomes of their new home. As a result of these alterations, their lifespan was significantly reduced, and most of their physical characteristics changed. These changes were specifically chosen after studying the fauna on Teraneum and discovering which characteristics could be integrated in their genetic structure. Eventually, the last Xennor generations before the blast, had completely transformed into a new species, the humans.
The Blast
Centuries passed and as the colony moved forward very few Xennor even remembered the purpose of the great portal, let alone worked on its construction. For the newest generations Teraneum was the only home they knew. The portal was nearing its completion but after so much time had passed there was no telling what could come through it. No proof that the old Xennor in the old home world were still alive. No reassurances that whatever destroyed their original planet was not coming through to destroy their new one as well. Moreover the portal used an immensely powerful core that could be used for the benefit of the people.
So, this community of proto-humans at this point, decided that it was best to abandon the construction of the portal and retrieve its magical core. Their knowledge of old Xennor magic was limited as it was forgotten over the years. A mishandling of the core resulted in a world ending catastrophe. The core exploded, annihilating the colony and all of its inhabitants. The explosion tore apart the main land splitting it into smaller continents. The skies filled with dust covering up the Sun for several decades, resulting in a short ice age. Magical energies surged through the entire planet violently turning many of its beasts into monsters.
The only Xennor descendants that survived were the ones that were far away from the main colony. They were the ones that formed the first human civilizations in this torn world and completely abandoned and forgot their Xennor ancestry.
Magic and Technology
The Xennor were a species of immense power and control over magic. Their culture, habits, social structure and arts were greatly influenced by it. Every part of their lives involved some application of magic, to the point that even advanced practices of the arcane were considered common knowledge. Their civilization was distinctly different then anything Teraneum had ever seen, or came after. They had also developed advanced technology, combining magic and mechanical or electrical engineering.
How the world remembers the Xennor
Little is known about the Xennor in the world of Teraneum. There have been some archaeological discoveries of Xennor artifacts and items, but not enough to create a comprehensive picture of their culture and civilization. A closer inspection in the lore and mythology of several ancient civilizations do in fact hint to their existence (the Blast is mentioned in many legends and ancient tales). This however is not enough for an archaeologist or historian to create a full picture of the Xennor history. Their actual name, Xennor, is only mentioned in one ancient Mynessian source used as a name of a location, making things even more confusing. This has led to some wild speculations and theories of the origin of their artifacts.
In addition to the incredibly scarce evidence, scientists have to deal with pushback from religious organizations. The existence of the Xennor directly contradicts the creation theories in all major religions in the world. Therefore many religious institutions have attempted to condemn and destroy any research made on them.
There is however, one piece of evidence that is impossible to ignore. The existence of several precious stones known as the “god’s tears”. These small stones consist of a material that cannot be found anywhere on the planet. They are impossible to destroy, and have unique magical qualities. Their existence is confirmed to be known by ancient times and even depicted in Xennor ruins.
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