Thoriandra

Thoriandra is a harsh and unforgiving world full of strange creatures and old magic. It wasn’t always. Once the 13 races lived in peace. Once, magic and technology were combined to create unimaginable wonders.   Twelve thousand years ago, Man, Orc, Dragon, Elf and all the other races lived in peace. War was eliminated from the planet. Technology and magic allowed all Thoriandrites access to the wonders and riches of the solar system. Colonies existed on neighboring planets and the Thoriandran moons. Dwarves, typical of their race, mined the thousands of asteroids orbiting Fero, the star around which Thoriandra circles.   But, now, Thoriandra is a broken planet trying to rebuild itself after the Great Cataclysm which literally cracked the world.   Perhaps it was the fault of the Clerics who authorized the little advancements which eventually led to the discovery of the forbidden. Allowing the use of biological components to create supercomputers capable of artificial intelligence. Permitting the use of cybernetic implants on beings to improve their mental, physical and auric abilities. The next step, creating life around machine and endowing it with intelligence, seemed inevitable to those who survived.   Many historians and philosophers today believe the TechMages had the best intentions for the races in mind as they chose the course of combining magic and technology to create unfathomable new devices. It started innocently enough. Linth Grad, an Orc engineer with the Tech Guild, and Landriel Amondre, an Elven medical doctor with the Mage’s Guild, learned how to create machines to replicate poorly operating or missing body parts of living beings. With only simple magic, they could eliminate the need for anti-rejection medicines. This cooperative endeavor laid the groundwork for the creation of the TechMages 73 years later.   Tragedy struck when a small group of TechMages, who specialized in melding technology and magic to create impossible machines, androids and totems, decided to attempt the forbidden. In a misguided attempt at immortality, the TechMages, led by Hardeth, used the one power which the 13 gods had decreed to be theirs alone: the power of Bio-genesis. The ability of Creation itself.   The Clerics Guild confronted the TechMages entreating them not to engage in this effort as it would be an affront to the 13 gods. But, the lure of immortality was too strong for the TechMages who decided in secret to proceed. One of their ranks betrayed them informing the Clerics Guild of the TechMages’ decision.   Gathering their most powerful members, the Guild of Clerics of the 13 Gods engaged the TechMages. In the ensuing battle, the magic energy pulled from the ley lines was more than the planet could sustain causing volcanoes long dormant to erupt, powerful quakes swallowed entire cities and the very ground to rend itself apart creating a large rift on the continent of Thoria and the Parthian continent to split in two at the equator.   When it was over four days later, all that remained of Thoriandra were the survivors in the few underground cities and those who were off-planet at the time. Without the support of resources from the planet, soon, the extraterrestrial colonies on the moons, planets and asteroids failed. Thoriandra, for all practical purposes, was a dead planet.   Angered, the 13 gods debated on how to punish their creations for their grave violation. Some suggested the destruction of their world was enough punishment. Others suggested that only the races involved in using bio-genesis should be punished by extinction. Still, others wanted all the creations destroyed and that a new planet be formed elsewhere in the universe so they could try again. In the end, it was decided to spare those who survived underground and destroy all life on the surface of the planet.   So it came to pass that the surface of the planet was scorched by fire, cleansing it. Only the Dragons, with the help of their god Drag, survived.   And one other being. Hardeth. Driven mad by his deed, Hardeth was cursed by the gods to roam the planet for all of eternity with no hope of reprieve through death.   Meanwhile, of the 52 underground cities in existence at the time of the Great Cataclysm, most soon failed. When the ley lines were depleted and magic failed, the underground cities depending on that magic to hold the land above them were buried; forever lost. None of those which survived knew the fate of any others as communication between the cities had been cut off without magic. Nobody knows exactly how many cities survived.   On the new continent of South Parthia, 109 years after the event, the Goblin community of Corind could no longer sustain themselves in the cave system in which they had taken refuge. Their population had dwindled to a few thousand. Their water supply had run dry. Their hydroponics gardens were failing at a rapid rate and food was scarce. The only known sapient left on the planet who could wield magic was now 126 and was not expected to live much longer. What little magic she could muster, she used to reinforce the ward keeping their community safe.   The Corindi, led by Grand Master Cleric Larena and the governor of Corind, Wutath, decided to take a chance and return to the surface to see what was there. With most of their technology no longer working and their ability to manufacture completely gone, these brave people left their home in search of a new one on the surface. Little did they know what curse awaited them.   What they found upon reaching the surface, astounded them! Life had returned, albeit a kind of life they knew nothing about. Giant creatures now roamed the surface. Few of the seeds they brought with them would grow in this new soil. Their only salvation was the domesticated livestock they brought with them.   Without much competition, insects and burrowing animals that survived the cataclysm began to thrive and grow larger. Soon, moles, spiders, ants and other creatures developed into dwarf-sized predators.   Rabbits seemed to be the most adaptable to the new environment. Many were released into the wild and soon, the entire countryside around New Corind was teeming with them.   But, with a new food source introduced into the environment, predators became less timid and more numerous.   Blaming the conflagration of the world on the other races, the few Dragons to survive swore to take their vengeance out on any of the other races they came across. The rabbits were their first indication that the others had returned to the surface. The Dragons were now on the hunt.   Over the next 500 years, Dragons waged an unsuccessful war on the Goblins. Dragon populations diminished eventually dropping to the level of near extinction. The war stopped but the hostilities did not.   Slowly, magic began to return as the ley lines replenished. As part of their punishment, the gods ensured that never again would there be sufficient magic to recreate bio-genesis. Additionally, every thousand years, the ley lines were depleted by three quarters. Those who survived the Great Cataclysm would never be able to rival their ancestor’s magic.   Over the next several thousand years, the curse on the Goblins began to manifest. They began to transform. Eventually, three distinct goblinoid races developed, all under the watchful eye of GMC Larena, who wears immortality like a ring on her finger. Within 10,000 years, the Goblins of old were all extinct, except for GMC Larena; replaced by vile and repugnant creatures.   Eventually, the surviving underground cities began to repopulate the surface. Within a few thousand years, South Parthia had numerous villages, towns and cities mostly populated with humans, elves, dwarves and dryads. Orcs distanced themselves from the other races developing into savage warriors. Giants, always preferring their solitude, continue to wander aimlessly around carving statues out of rock and writing songs.   Most of the remaining races either isolated themselves or scattered to who knows where.   It remains unknown to this day how many, if any, of the Kuo-Toan underwater cities survived.   This story of great adventurers begins 12,000 years after the Great Cataclysm.   In the small village of Phandalin...