HISTORY

THE BEGINNING ...

The original rulers of Spur and those lands surrounding it before the "true" gods arrived; each of the three lords of chaos represent one of the three sides of the balance. The Lords were the masters of the tribes that lived across the continent of Aradath, and the only strong resistance to the might of the Dragon Imperium. The Lords, known to their followers as the Holy Triumvirate, came under attack from outside forces in approximently 4100 after the fall of the Dragon Imperium, this time is marked in history only as the Age of Darkness. The Lords and most of their followers were defeated by the combined might of Sa (the most powerful God at the time) and Taath (the most power hungry). This period of war is marked in history as the epoch of Sa-Taath, known as the epoch of pain, terror and darkness. In the wars that followed the coming of these new "gods", the orderly lord, Moloch was banished to another plane of existence by Taath where he plots his eternal revenge should his fanatical followers ever discover a way for him to return. The lords Evoloch and Arioch, driven to the edge of the world, simply vanished from the battlefield with their followers late one evening, none saw or heard them go, nor could any trace of them be found. (Editors note: It is believed by most that the lords struck a bargain with the then tiny cult of Set, in return for their eternal favors, the cult provided the lords with an escape route and hid them on the then remote isle of Saldaea. Since no proof of this occurrence exists, though most historical records point towards it, it has been included as only a note until it is proven as a historical fact).

 

In approximently the year 250 TA (TA refers to "this age", as all that comes before the year 0 are marked with other ages), a small party of Odarian knights landed on the beaches of the uncharted Isle of Saldaea. There they founded the port city and keep of Saldaea, stronghold of the Odarian knights order. For a period of near 30 years the Odarians and their new city flourished, it became the trading center for the entire northern region of the continent as well as the northern isle kingdoms. The isle proved ideal, as only the large area where the city was built and a small area to the north where a tribe of Arachnians had settled existed upon the island. The entire rest of the isle was covered in a thick mass of forest, making it nearly impenetrable from attacks by raiding armies. The Odarians, who eventually grew tired of simply ruling their city and keeping the order within it, longed for adventure and battle to help further their reputations and honorable history. Parties of knights rode into the strange forest, intent to defeat whatever foe lay within its seemingly endless green mass. For near three months the over one hundred knights who had ventured into the forest did not return. Early in the morning, on the first day of the Odarian holiday, the week of might, a massive army of San Elves emerged from the forest and surrounded the city. Led by a pair of Muatana-al who announced themselves to be the Lord Priest Maloveous and his wife, the Lady Aeremerie. The Muatana-al motioned to the forest and ten carts were pulled out by a number of massive walking weasels, foul creations of the Lord Priest Maloveous known as wersids. Within the carts lay the shattered corpses of what had once been the missing knights. The Muatana-al simply smiled and waved his troops back into the forest, they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared leaving only the carts piled high with corpses where the army had once stood. It was then the knights fully understood what they had discovered, the Lords of Chaos, and there once loyal guardians the Muatana-al were very much alive and had been slowly building their numbers.

 

For a period of a further 49 years, the Saldaean knights lived in relative peace with the Lords followers within the forest. The knights had no interest in sending more troops into the forest to be slaughtered and the Lords had no interest in attacking the powerful Odarians in their fortress city. This peace continued to last until a small group of adventurers, following the directions of a strange magical artifact "borrowed" from the Arachnian matron of Saldaea, arrived from Spur and traveled safely through the forest to find the keep of the Lord Priest of Evoloch. From this time forward, a blood feud between the Lord Priest Maloveous, and his brother in law, High Lord Merlin of Spur, has resulted in numerous skirmishes, and one even all out occupation of Spur. The two continue their battles for control over one another in vain, as Merlin's cunning alone seems to win him every war in the end, though he tends to lose many of the battles.

 

About 100 years before the discovery of the lords followers in Saldaea, they were discovered in the far southern reaches of the continent by Taathian scouts. Using ancient artifacts known as the rings of Arioch, entire villages were converted to the lords against their will. While Evoloch made a slow comeback in Saldaea, Arioch made a fast return to the world with a massive firestorm invasion of the far southlands of the continent. After converting numerous small villages with the rings, Arioch and his remaining followers conquered the spread out barbarian clans and fishing villages of the coastal southlands, beyond the Odarian Highlands. The Taathians, learning of the Lords of Chaos return and fearing for their own survival, moved the entire focus of their armies from wars with the Odarians across the highlands to Arioch. What followed was over a century of stalemate battles where both sides traded blows and neither was able to gain any ground, until early in the year 308. Aiena, high sorceress of Taath and general of the Taathian armies for well over 300 years, watched in vain as her entire army was crushed by a massive mysterious tidal wave, Aiena proved to be the only survival of the near ten thousand troops camped on the plains. The Lords of Chaos, seeing their chance struck out at the Taathians and slowly battle their way north, hoping to someday reclaim their homelands again. Fearing a coming disaster, the Imperial Council, for the first time in all recorded history since the Age of Darkness, came together and formed an alliance of Dragons which battled, and drove back the followers of Arioch towards the coast. With the somewhat victory of the Dragons, the chaotic hordes of Arioch were driven into total confusion, and most left the religion entirely, fearing greatly for their lives from local militias. While Maloveous remains strong in Saldaea, in a nearly impenetrable stronghold of deadly forests and his massive keep, the troops of Oisin, Arioch's Lord Priest, are simply trying to defend themselves from a few small local troops.