The Story

The Lands of Emlearal have a long and rich history filled with tales of triumph, perseverance, war, and tragedy.

 

The first civilization on the continent was that of the elves of Emo Dorei. In those days, some fifteen thousand years ago, all the races of elves were united under the banner of the Shyrtyr Pantheon. Back then, the ancient elven gods were in constant contact with their charges. Then came the Crucible, when the gods of all pantheons competed for dominance of the Realms. Deity slew deity and the cosmos shook. It was a chaotic and dangerous time where reality was made, undone, and made again. The war ended with the Sundering of the Worlds, splitting the primordial world from the prime material plane. The Shyrtyr pantheon was hurtled across the cosmos, separated from the world by an ocean of Oblivion. Gods of all pantheons had suffered. Some banished and many more destroyed.

 

The last of the elven gods, the Fey Prince and the Duchess of the Hunt, gathered the other surviving gods of all pantheons and forged an alliance with them. Each aided the other in defeating and banishing their enemies. The alliance of gods became known as the Crucible Pantheon.

 

As the elves grew and prospered, so too did a group of human settlements within the harsh desert of Amduat. While it was the earliest of human civilizations, it was not expansive and remained protected within their desert. Here, the gods of the Masri people did not just live among them, they ruled them as god-kings, leading the civilization of Amduat to grow and excel beyond anything ever seen before.

 

All of this is lost to history, forgotten about save by a few rare ancient tomes. Rare religious texts will contain brief footnotes in their genesis myths with regards to the Crucible. What truly shaped the lands of Emlearal into what they are today began over five thousand years ago. Human settlements were growing but limited by their understanding of the world. Then came the discovery of the elves and everything changed. The long-lived elves looked upon the tribes of men and felt pity for these young creatures whose aspirations went far beyond their short lifespan. The elves taught man the power of magic and the cosmos, opening their world to a power beyond comprehension. The tribes of men took to this power with great ability and impressive ingenuity. The elves were pleased, and the two races rose together in power for a time; until man’s power over magic began to overshadow that of the elves. The elves attempted to warn man of the dangers of growing too fast and relying on magic too much. Humanity thrived and very soon after, within two hundred years of learning the secrets of magic from the elves, humanity founded the Great and Eternal Empire of Dalordan. The magical empire rose into a Golden Age, claiming nearly all Emlearal save for the deserts of Amduat, the forests of Emo Dorei, and the savage lands of the Wild North.

 

For thousands of years Dalordan stood, the pinnacle of all man could dream and do with the power of magic. But all dreams must end and the dream of Dalordan ended just as the elves had warned them. The empire and its powerful wizards grew arrogant, spoiled by their power, believing themselves superior beings, like unto gods themselves. Soon, disputes broke out over who had the right to rule and who was the most powerful. Without any other force in the lands capable of rivaling Dalordan, the mages turned on themselves. Infighting and decadence ate away at the Eternal Empire and the mighty dream of Dalordan fell to decay, rotting from the inside out.

 

While this happened, or perhaps because of it, the orc hordes came. At first these savages were ignored as they attacked and razed the communities on the edges of the empire. By the time the Aetherium Council that led Dalordan took notice of the orcs, the horde was already on their doorstep. Dalordan was doomed, but their death was slow and painful. The First Orc Invasion, as history has named it, lasted nearly two hundred years as the fledgling nations that were growing in the shadow of Dalordan rose to fight back the orc invaders.

 

In the end, Dalordan fell. The once mighty utopia had fallen and taken with it all the great secrets of magic. Still to this day, ancient ruins litter the landscape, telling the tale of the civilization that once controlled the continent. Few brave souls dare to venture into those dark places that history works to erode, in search of the magical items and treasures of Dalordan.

 

With the fall of such a great power, however, came a change to the lands that were more than just political. The magical energies that had been gathered by the mages were released, causing catastrophic and immutable changes to Emlearal. The primordial world was temporarily merged with Emlearal, bringing the race of the dragonborn into the material plane. Much of the western and northern lands of Emo Dorei were flooded and lost forever to the darkness of the vast ocean.

 

When Dalordan fell, it was not alone in the fight against the orcs. The newly founded kingdom of Tolvara gathered forces from other growing nations to rise and fight back the darkness of the orc horde. While Dalordan was lost the orcs were stopped, allowing for new kingdoms to form. The Orc horde still held the lands that were once the city-state capital of Dalordan and reforged it into Turrez-Ghul.

 

Horrified at their part in the rise of Dalordan and failure to guide the mages away from their path, the elves withdrew into Emo Dorei, vowing to never again interfere in the growth of the races. On the eastern edges of the fallen empire, a collection of Dalordan mages, empowered by otherworldly patrons, sought to rebuild the dream of the Eternal Empire and founded the Magocracy of Maghanax. North of them, in a province that favoured discipline over sheer magical power, the people closed themselves off completely from Emlearal, building a massive wall around their land. None have seen beyond the Wall since. The dragonborn that found themselves transported over from the primordial world learned quickly that the people of Emlearal would judge them for their appearance and formed their own kingdom based on the cities of their homeland called Caliburn.

 

Six hundred years to the day after the orcs began to raid the edges of Dalordan, the horde came again in the Second Orc Invasion. This time, they charged forth from Turrez-Ghul with waves of goblinoid slaves charging ahead of them. The new Orc King had spent decades building up an army of goblinoids to overwhelm the peoples of Emlearal. Were it not for the combined alliance of Tolavara, Ocessa, Ðunna, and the Knights of the Crucible, the rest of Emlearal would have been lost. The orc horde was driven back once again. More than that, surviving slave settlements within the dark lands rose and broke free, creating a rebellion against their orc tyrants.

 

For another six hundred years, the kingdoms of Emlearal flourished and continued to work at keeping the orcs of Turrez-Ghul at bay within the dark borders. Many unsuccessful campaigns were launched over the centuries to retake the orc lands. The horde, even after being driven back on two invasions, was dug deep in their own kingdom. And then came the Third Orc Invasion and the current age. Due to a dark alliance, the orcs of Turrez-Ghul have been joined in their war with Emlearal by a cabal of dragons calling themselves the Doom of Emlearal. The nations of Emlearal watch and wait, ever ready for the next onslaught of the evil forces from Turrez-Ghul.