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Neshad: Butcher of the Desert

Ciuacoatl — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:03:23 CDT

Before the Great War there was a figure of note on the continent of Janus who was known as “The Butcher of the Desert”. This is the part-elf Neshad. She was known to be seen with the servant of the god Cohen—Blackguard Codus. This was during the Mortal Years of Codus before his ascendancy into godhood. More of this will be revealed later in this missive. During this era there was a lot of animosity between elves and humans. Still the blood had mixed in varying degrees between the two races due to a genetic and magic compatibility with humans and dragon.

One of the strongest bipedal groups to survive the deserts and continue to this day are a group that is mostly human that carries about 1/8 of elven blood. Originally they had been pulled through the Darkgate from desert regions. These desert dwellers originally had skin a black/brown. With the elven mix their color became like a pale chocolate. In the time of Neshad there was a successful elven mix which resulted in a very beautiful looking ‘human’. She herself was noted to be of darker skin with hair that rivaled the flames of the sun.

Their reign of the desert people ended after 105,000 years due to Neshad. While they survive the deserts now, they are a scattered group of people and struggling to survive. During Neshad’s life time there were 2 great tribes in the Desert. Due to poisoning of the few water supplies, and Neshad’s rise across the desert those tribes are gone. The Great War had finished her work and not even their cities remain. The sands have buried them.

Her life was remarkable from the beginning. Neshad was born to the High Priest and High Priestess of Cohen—the Darkest One. Neshad has been heard to state that she was conceived on the same altar she was born on! Vile rituals were involved with both. This was the beginning of a vile, but tormented life and soul. One cannot hear her story without feeling some sadness about her plight. Her life had never been her own from the start.

At an early age she had been sneaking in to observe rituals her parents performed for their god. While she was too young to be observing, Cohen himself did not warn any of his followers. He had plans for the curious little girl. Part of those plans were to foster hate. It did grow in her. She was a desert nomad’s daughter, and therefore not much more than property. Records from various churches that tried to treat her show that she had been raped and beaten from as young as 6. In response, she would go off on her own for hours at a time. She taught herself to read, but was most noted for her intricate studies of animal anatomy. Corpses around the village were found with skins missing, or living animals with limbs reattached backwards. Stitching became more and more perfected. No one suspected the red-haired child. More of her victims were alive with their bodies put back together in ways they should not have been. Flaying of the skin was a particular favorite. Her other specialty was poisons. She studied flowers of the desert and experimented on animals for their uses.

At age 14 someone stumbled on her experimenting. She quickly dispatched of them by tainting a canteen of water in their possession. She had perfected her weapon.

During all of this she had always been an outcast. There were no friends. The adults of the village thought she was strange and shunned her. Only her grandmother coddled and treated her with any real kindness. Over time she grew to hate that as well. When news of the dead village member reached everyone they sought the culprit. Neshad’s grandmother remained silent—which was a horrible mistake. In the middle of the night she was taken with paralysis. The entire village had been poisoned from the oasis water. That oasis still reeks with rot and death to this day. She had thrown all of the bodies into the water. Her special present she reserved for her parents and her grandmother however. Her grandmother was the one who named Neshad. Her name meant “Desert Flower” but now means “Nightshade of the Desert”. That special event led to her grandmother having a special place in death. She was the last to die. Neshad tied her to a chair and made her paralyzed grandmother watch as she tortured and killed both her mother and father. By this time voices had began to speak to Neshad in her mind. She spared her grandmother any physical torture, killed her quickly, then raided all books on rituals, Cohen, and any valuables from the village. Neshad took a couple of pack ostriches and fled with possessions in tow.

She was not seen for 3 years. She reappeared in the city of Vor’Sahran. The voices—servants of Cohen—had led her to the Black Wizard and High Priest of Cohen. Sardacens took the girl in but continued cruelty towards her. His first lieutenant Codus Cerralus displayed a measure of protectiveness towards her—which he later reported was due to the spirits telling him to. He reported the girl also frightened him to some extent.

Neshad was to become a priestess and torturer for Cohen, but she had fallen into Sardecen’s hands. He had no liking of women just as she had none for men. Neither respected the other, but the Wizard had all the power and used it. Once she was initiated into the cult by the drinking of Cohen’s blood mixed with her own as her throat was slit wide open—Sardecen’s kept her to menial tasks. She did most of his torturing. Much of it was very creative and the scars artful according to Codus. Neshad did everything she could to please the Wizard, but she was met with the same disdain her father once gave her. It increased her hatred. What frightened the Black Guard however was her reaction to a punishment Sardecen’s ordered Codus give to the red haired Neshad.

Codus stated that he strung her up naked in front of the lower castes in the group to make an example of her. The whip he used was barbed and he did provide salt and vinegar for the wounds. This technique worked as a punishment for most recruits—but Neshad enjoyed it. Codus reported that she acted like a woman in the throws of passion. He nearly killed her and her reaction was to beg for more.

It was after that when Sardecens locked her out of the complex they had set up in city they destroyed. The gates of Vor’Sahran were locked to her forever. She had been fortuitous enough to take her journals and notes with her. They were incomplete and Sardecens had no interest due to his arrogance. Neshad tried to follow Codus, but grew disgusted when his attentions turned to the elf woman named Black Feather. She was preparing to wander again when she met Naethe--who was the daughter of tradesmen and went to the priesthood to increase her class standing in the empire. Naethe wanted more, and was working her way up in the ranks as a priestess to the Storm Gods. This was a step up in her status--especially to be a fighting priestess for the church. She had chance encounters with Neshad while spying on Sardecens, and Neshad had long ago captured her attention. With Sardecens and Codus off to their own devices—Neshad was free of their influences and Naethe set her sights on her.

The two women did fall in love. It’s said they were together for a few years before Naethe grew weary of Neshad’s growing madness. She left her when Neshad began to speak to demons and make some very frightening pacts. Naethe was a practical woman and saw no good coming from such pacts. She did enlist the help of the Church of Aria and paid them very well to try and help Neshad, but a female demon ensnared her and used her as a pawn against Sardecens. This would be the beginning of the arrogant wizard’s fall just as Cohen had planned.

The demon’s forces convinced Neshad to leave the safety of the church in Zaladorn. She went back into hiding—or so officials thought. When some of Cohen’s men were captured they were tortured and butchered in the cells while the guards had been given sleeping draughts. The draughts were analyzed by magic to be found to contain plants only from the Great Desert. By this time Neshad was well known, and word had reached the Zaladorn council of what happened to the desert tribe Neshad came from. Alerts were put out to find her.

This did not deter her, but Codus did. The quake that shook the continent and made the Sweet Water River run backwards along it’s length was triggered by the slaying of a goddess by Codus. Humans assume to this day that Black Feather was the goddess Driannasi (the Sweet Water River). She and Codus were in love, and he killed her to save her from Cohen. This caused the quake and heralded the beginning of the Great War. That day Codus went into madness and created the Road of the Dead from the surface through midworld. Nothing was safe in his path. Nothing ever grew near that road again.

Neshad was one noted for self-survival. When she learned of Codus and his condition, she fled the opposite way—back into the Great Desert. The sands hid her well there and new ambitions formed. Sardecens was distracted, and his lead commander was on an insane path of bloodshed. Both were far away from her. As war loomed, the desert people were gathering up to take their share of spoils. Most that survived Neshad’s previous horrors and those of Cohen’s were nomadic warriors. Neshad was a convincing force however, and soon an army of thousands followed her. Those that betrayed her were tortured to death. However, she was a priestess with a very powerful ally in that demon. So the tribes followed and tore across the desert towards Zaladorn. Their target was Sardecens.

The Zaladorn empire had put out a bounty on Neshad. She was elusive, insane, and highly intelligent. Many tried and could not get to her. Neshad’s only true love was the only one to come near her. The demon tried to warn, but failed. Something about Naethe continued to tug at what little sanity and passion remained in Neshad. Naethe killed Neshad and took the bounty. Naethe's purpose was not the bounty, but she felt she was only one she could trust to actually end Neshad's life. Part was kindness, part was practicality. It was not done without a measure of sadness. She then planted evidence that each of the desert leaders had done the deed—which led them to war on their own and leave Zaladorn untouched. Neshad’s head was brought before the Emporer. Naethe—reported to be devastated—vanished and there are no further records. Neshad’s extensive journals also vanished. Many suspect they are still in the desert somewhere. They are possibly buried. The parchments were made of human skin—so it is unlikely that they will ever be found. Woe is the day they are. We can hope they decayed.

It’s said Neshad begged for forgiveness at the end from the gods themselves. Of course none had been granted.

Laws of Magic

Tezcatlipoca29 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:59:55 CDT

There are actually two major forms of magic on Darkshom, Deep (called 'Low' by mages) and High. They rarely interact, though it is possible; most of the practitioners of High magic look on the requirements of Deep (see below) with active distaste, though they envy the sheer power Deep Magic holds.

Deep magic is a force without equal if it can be stirred to action; it is a thing of sacrifice, either of the self or another. Because finding willing sacrifices is difficult, and just pulling people in and killing them is frowned upon in most places, Deep Magic rituals are not often seen. Most people, in fact, are more familiar with one particular manifestation of self-sacrificing Deep Magic: the death curse. It is widely accepted that anyone, being close to death from violent causes, may give up their remaining time and any hope of resurrection to lay a curse on someone responsible for, or associated with, their death. The resulting magic is powerful, impossible to prevent, nearly impossible to remove, and even the gods themselves are not immune.

The Dieties of Magic

Tezcatlipoca29 — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:41:00 CDT

DIETIES OF MAGIC FOR ECLIPSE: SHADOW OF THE TWIN WORLDS

by Christine H. Rietsch and Troy D. Teske

The deities of magic are a divided lot in a way that only the earth deities match – the main pairs are resident only on one world or the other, not both. The principal deity of light on Darkshom has long existed as a prophecy only (see below), leaving magic itself lacking in power. Recently, the chaos that has gripped the magic of Milia has begun to infect the local gods of magic themselves; some speculate this is a sign that the coming of Maraya is close at hand. Collectively, the deities of magic are the patrons of mages and sorcerers, though some mages prefer one individual. Priests of any of these deities tend to be multi-classed mages or sorcerers.

The workings of magic have certain rules. Even the gods have to follow these rules, for they are intrinsic to the world. See the rules of magic here!

SESHAT

Lady of the Tome, Mistress of Scrolls, Keeper of the Past

Symbol: Eye of History, Raven
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Knowledge, History, Reason, Divination, Patron of the Gnomes
Worshipers:Mages, sages, diviners, alchemists, judges, gnomes
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Neutral, True Neutral
Favored Weapon: Staff
Specialist Orders: None
General Information: To non-mages (and non-gnomes) Seshat is a minor power, the recorder of history; mages and others of a studious bent see her as the keeper of all knowledge, and a teacher of the sciences. Such individuals appeal to her for bits of forgotten knowledge, study in her temple libraries, and seek the backing of her priesthood in experiments (often of questionable merit if gnomes are involved). Her followers also include those who seek truth in order to dispense justice; the courts of most lands that have such things often feature her likeness beside that of Takari.

Seshat generally appears as a plain woman with brown hair and eyes and pale skin, wearing a long brown dress of middle-class cut and style. She often appears in company with her consort, Fate; the two even share temples in some locales. Her symbol, the “Eye of History,” represents the three-fold view of the historian – studying the past, observing the present, and looking to the future.

History/Relationships: The first records of Seshat on the Twin Worlds coincides with the arrival of the Amenep on Darkshom; under the name Seset, she was worshiped as the goddess of magic and the mind. She abandoned magic to Areneth (see Dead and Forgotten Powers) shortly after the Amenep crossed paths with the elves, focusing exclusively on knowledge and reason; contact with the Akkadians spread her name and worship among the humans. It was at that point she came to the attention of the leader of the pantheon, and fell in love with him; the two quickly became a firm couple in both their lives and the theology of most humans. The murder of Areneth struck her deeply, and she quickly moved to secure the aspect of divination, rather than allowing any more power than was necessary fall into Ylafax's clutching hands. The migration of a group of her human worshipers through the Darkgate has given her the one thing that has eluded the other deities of magic: an uncontested power base on both worlds, which she guards jealously.

Never one to do anything but speak her mind plainly, she has earned more than her share of animosity from other deities; despite that, she has very few true enemies. First on the list would have to be Nanaja, for although she has forgiven her mate for his affair, she refuses to forgive the unrepentant object of his attentions; though it seldom affects the priesthood of either, the two goddesses are still feuding over the incident. Her rivalry with the goddess of literature is far cooler on her part; she simply feels that fiction and prose are a waste of time and ink, which irritates Athyr and leads to the occasional squabble between the two. Ylafax and Kali Druin are another matter entirely; Seshat feels both should be exterminated for the betterment of the pantheon and the Twin Worlds; Fate has counciled her against such drastic action, so she settles for ruining as many of the schemes of both as she can ferret out.

Seshat has had a long and somewhat tempestuous relationship with her consort; she has some trouble with his desire to “do whatever is required to keep everything on course.” Namely, what he seems to think is required (like his having twins with Nanaja) and what she does are often two very different things. Only one thing has prevented a break-up between the ruler of the pantheon and his lady: that he always returns to her without prompting. Patience being her strongest virtue hasn't hurt, of course, nor did the birth of their daughter Khes, who seems to have a gift for soothing her mother's ruffled feathers. Dogma: Knowledge is the ultimate pursuit; to learn, discover, record, and teach are the sacred duties of all true scholars. Only through the gathering of information can one truly comprehend the wonders of the multiverse, and realize that the place of one being in it is both inconsequential and immense beyond understanding. To obsess over such distinctions as race or faith are minor without greater underlying reasons; for example, the drow should be hated and scorned for the practices that make them a menace to civilized society, not simply for being drow. Divorcing one's self from the baser emotions is key to being able to observe, record, and teach without blinding biases, and so should be encouraged at all times. Beyond that, understanding the past may be the best way to move forward; we can see what worked or not in the past, and proceed without repeating the mistakes of history. We must always stand ready to prevent the loss of knowledge to war, despotism, and “encouraged ignorance;” the struggle for knowledge is not always a mental one, and the body must be kept healthy to keep the mind healthy in any case. Clergy and Temples: Seshat's clergy are organized loosely, with the only central authority above the highest ranking priest in a given locale being the goddess herself. Within an individual temple, clerics are divided into four ranks, each with specific duties. Aspirants are the novices of the temple; their main duties are learning from their Pedagogs, and the basic upkeep of the temple and surrounding grounds (if any). After a period of roughly three years, each Aspirant is allowed to take a test, administered by a Pedagog (usually one he or she had little previous contact with); depending on the result of that test, they are given the option of becoming a Senior or a Pedagog (though some are only given one “option”) or are forced to spend another year as an Aspirant. Seniors are the administrators, librarians, and history-keepers of the temple; their main duty is to maintain and expand the considerable library that is a part of every temple (the exact definition of 'considerable' varies by location), and to preform most of the actual services. Pedagogs are the teachers, offering to educate any in the community that wish to learn, as well as overseeing the education of all Aspirants. The final rank is that of Keeper, of which there is one per temple; these are the leaders, coordinators, and final authority in all matters concerning the temple. Keepers do not have varied rank with respect to other Keepers; in the very rare event of a dispute in jurisdiction or authority, the goddess herself is consulted.

Some consider it bizarre that Seshat's clerics are given any combat training at all, but such is the requirement of the temple; all Aspirants are given extensive training with the staff and the sling (though the staff is stressed). Though her clerics are not by far the first to throw themselves into the defense of a city they will do so if they feel it necessary; many are multi-classed mages, able to bring a great deal of power to bear in an emergency. It should be remembered, however, that her priesthood is not one of warriors, and contains no warrior order; those who have great love of weapons work to the exclusion of all else usually never pass beyond the rank of Aspirant, and leave on their own before too long. Other RacesSeshat is known to, and venerated by, most of the races of Darkshom and Milia; dwarves, gnomes, and halflings all follow her under her human name. The elves recognize her as Fallanderia the Recorder, and refuse to acknowledge she has another identity, while the goblins of Milia call her Thak'yn; the orcs and other races of Rohrn and the Midworld don't recognize her at all.

DARKSHOM MARAYA

Mistress of the Morning Star, Swan-Maiden, the Gypsy

Alignment: Neutral Good
Symbol: Key of Power, Swan
Home Plane:?
Portfolio: Magic (Light)
Worshippers: Arcane Spell Casters
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Good, Nuetral Good, Chaotic Good
Favored Weapon: Staff
Specialist Orders: None
General Information: The goddess the prophecies say will one day come to return balance to the magic Darkshom. Some say the time is very near, as her priests have begun receiving spells; persistent rumors among other priesthoods have the god of fate as the responsible party, others blame a bleed in power from her counterpart of Milia, Caho. In any case, her cult is a small but hopeful one, laying the groundwork slowly for the day when their goddess claims her rightful place; they typically keep a low profile, as they are routinely hunted by followers of Ylafax who seek to ensure Maraya never gains a power base.

Dogma: The talent and skill to perform magic come with a cost – they should be used in the defense of others and for the general good, not for personal gain (at least not primarily, depending on alignment). Mages should not only seek their own advancement, but the advancement of their community and nation as well. “With great power comes great responsibility” may be cliché, but it also happens to be true.

Clergy and Temples: Maraya has very little in the way of a priesthood as of yet, but there are a few; most are taught directly by a senior member, and only told the name of the head of the church when they are fully trained. Clerics operate alone, for the most part, and tend to masquerade as members of the churches of Caho, Seshat, or Verthara; most operate in fear of their lives. Her priesthood is limited in power (maximum of 10th level); most are, like the priests of the other gods of magic, split class mages.

Other Races: Like most of the other divided powers of magic, Maraya is known to all races by one name; she is venerated by all but the drow (who's only god is Kali), the Nation orcs (who have their own deity of magic), and the Darrog’n--the Dark Dwarves (who ignore her). Gypsies believe she will be born among them and all gypsies venerate her in some form or another--including having their own festival yearly in her name (which means beautiful in their native language).

YLAFAX TELOCH

Father of Hexes, The Dark Usurper, the Uncaring One

Symbol: Mirrored Moon, Black Owl
Home Plane:Abyssal
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: Magic (Dark)
Worshippers: Arcane Spell Casters
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil
Favored Weapon: Staff
Specialist Orders: None
General Information: Ylafax is a usurper, and one who's rise to power has caused no end of chaos and suffering in the Twin Worlds. Even he himself has not escaped the turbulence, as his primary goal – to seize the entire portfolio of magic on Darkshom – has gone unfulfilled. This has been a constant irritation to him, and a situation he continues to spend a great deal of time and effort trying to correct. He cares very little about the problems his rise has caused others, only about his own ambition; some even speculate that he would not even bother with followers if they didn't add to his power.

In the battle to gain his current position, half of Ylafax’s face was destroyed; he forced a dwarf to fashion a metal mask for him that covers the left side of his face and replaced his left eye with one of glass. The power used in the struggle also turned his hair stark white, though in all other aspects he looks like a fairly well muscled, mature human. Ylafax searches for Maraya; he has spent centuries moderating his power, but as yet has been unable to capture control of the other half of Darkshom’s magic. He now believes that if he waits for that power to be incarnated in her, he can destroy her and take the sum of the power of magic for himself, as he intended in the first place.

Ylafax's symbol is known as the Mirrored Moon; he sees the world only as a reflection of himself, existing only to enhance his power.

History/Relationships: Ylafax is an old deity. Sages speculate that he is either a deity brought to Darkshom by the Amenep, or a powerful Amenep sorcerer that has ascended since they appeared. Either way, Ylafax became powerful enough to challenge the old god of magic by gathering the darkest of power to himself and embracing it whole-heartedly. How he managed to actually gain enough power to destroy the god of magic remains a mystery, but the result is not. However, his victory was not complete – his dedication to the darker arts of magic prevented him from taking the full power of the god of magic, at once bestowing the darker half of the portfolio on him and creating the prophecies that speak of one who will come to take up the other half of the portfolio of magic. His action had one other unforeseen consequence: the splitting of power he caused echoed into Milia, dividing the goddess Zebidee (see Dead and Forgotten Powers) into two separate entities.

True to his focus, Ylafax tends to ignore the effects of his actions on others, which has collected him no small number of enemies, including Caho, Seshat, Verthara, Fate, Rath, Mabenceos, Chel, Rohrn, Takari, Nanaja, Grundal, and (perhaps most chilling of all) Ti Malice. Of these, only Caho, Seshat, Fate, and Verthara have their priesthoods actively oppose his on a regular basis; Ti takes a great deal of delight in having her people mess with him, but prefers to remain unpredictable. He has one more, far more hateful enemy, one he believes is far too weak to currently hurt him: Tezcatlipoca of the orcish pantheon. The two (and their priesthoods) had bloody clashes on many occasions before the passing of the orcs; if Tezcatlipoca were ever to return in power, the god of dark magic may find himself in serious difficulty. Though few enough, Ylafax does have allies; he works with Cohen on occasion, and Kali fairly regularly, though she doesn't think much of him.

Dogma: The power of magic has a single purpose: to serve the advancement and pleasure of the mage. Nothing is or should be forbidden if it is the mage's will; secular law should be obeyed only if the conscience of the mage demands it, otherwise it should be twisted and turned or broken as needed. By right, there is no power short of the divine that has any authority over those who manage to master the darkest secrets of magic, and any who think otherwise should be schooled to the true order at the mage's earliest convenience; this should most often involve subtlety and control, as fear is an excellent deterent against future “uprisings.”

Clergy and Temples: Ylafax maintains little in the way of actual temples; most of his followers would prefer their faith were not widely known, and are not big on cooperating with others. Because of the tenants of the faith, however, it is not suppressed by most nations; it doesn't openly advocate violating laws, and so is viewed with unease but allowed to remain in the open. Most major cities have a small shrine or temple where followers can seek the aid of the priesthood and each other; these temples are often full of mind-controlled servants, slaves, and many other things that skirt the edges of the law. Those priests Ylafax has are often accomplished mages as well as clerics, meaning his temples usually are equipped with mystic libraries and other aids that followers may use – for a price, of course.

What priesthood he has follows a strict hierarchy, with rank obtained based purely on personal power and influence; the most powerful priest in any given temple is awarded the title of Dark Magus and directs any projects the temple as a whole undertakes. Infighting among the priesthood is common, savage, and quite often produces fatalities, depending on how far an individual Dark Magus wishes to allow it to go. At the highest ranks, the personal bloodletting dwindles down to almost nil; the highest of the church use others as their weapons, with politics being the playing field of choice; these indirect skirmishes can cause havoc among the local nobility as two priests duel by proxy. This gets all the more obscure in the infighting between Dark Magi; through manipulating people on a national and sometimes even international scale, one Dark Magus is selected as Overmage, the head of Ylafax's church.

Other Races: Ylafax has yet to garner much of a following outside of the human race, nor do most races actively seek him out. He has a few followers among the dark elves, and even fewer among the rest of the elves; most of his non-human followers are to be found among the Darrog’n and the gael.

KALI DRUIN
Serpent Queen, Deep Mother, Lady of the Grave

Symbol: Serpent's Tail, Snake
Home Plane:Abyssal
Alignment: Neutral Evil with some Lawful tendencies
Portfolio: Necromancy, Patroness of the Drow
Worshippers: Arcane Spell Casters
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil
Favored Weapon: Dagger, Whip
Specialist Orders: None
General Information: Kali is one of the most feared deities, in no small part due to the fanaticism and single-minded loyalty of the people that serve her; she expects no less of her drow. She owns her drow body and soul, organizing their society to her desires; in no way will she even begin to tolerate the existence of a drow that displays the slightest hint of “ethical behavior.” Any “good” drow will be hunted down and killed by the drow nation as a whole, with no remorse or reprieve; thus, the life span of such a drow can literally be measured in days, if the goddess doesn't rip their souls out before they get two steps. Her Matron Mothers are her voice, eyes, and ears, as well as her sword; if a Matron Mother betrays her the consequences cannot even be imagined.

Kali tends to appear as a striking drow woman, well muscled, usually carrying a wicked-looking scythe and the severed head of her latest victim. She is often accompanied by several drow warriors, both living and in the undead form sometimes called the “Blessed of Kali,” as well as by her chief lieutenant, a massive male that seems to combine aspects of drow, snake, and some insect. This abomination is Thuris (see Minor Powers below), the closest thing the drow have to a second deity and Kali's current consort. Her symbol, the Serpent's Tail, is said to represent the spiral of the living into the grave, where they add to her undead horde.

History/Relationships: None know exactly where Kali Druin came from; she has hinted that she was cast out of the pantheon of some distant world, but refuses to speak of it further. She first appeared among the pantheon of the elves shortly after their rise to power, as the goddess of decay and the undead; she was not satisfied with this position, however, and began to look for some avenue to take power. The migration of some of the elves to Milia marked her first attempt: she tried to have her followers usurp the leadership of the colonists and claim them all in her name. After that plot failed, she tried other things, always as patient and menacing as the serpent which is her symbol; with Cohen's aid, she engineered the death of Sar'Anderost, Ketira and the banishment of the forest elves. These she took up and remade into a form which served and pleased her, birthing the drow elves, often called the “Seed of Kali” or "Serpents of the Moon."

The death of Areneth (see Dead and Forgotten Powers) caused a blow to her power just when she felt ready to move against her enemies; the chaos that ensued allowed her to steal most of the aspect of necromancy for herself, a fact that galls Ylafax to this day. The division of that power between the two worlds, and the attempt to consolidate that power, left her vulnerable; the new goddess Verthara was able to cast her out of Milia. Kali, apparently feverish or delusional from having so much power first infused into her then ripped away in (relatively) short order, spoke words many regard as prophecy before she fled through the Darkgate to Darkshom. “You have banished me, true, but in my absence you will be cursed: as you dispel my power, so will rise from my seed and the seed of the soulless those who will bring the cold of oblivion even to such as we!” Those words had a profound effect on her, even if Verthara didn't take them too seriously; she seems to be making preparations for something, acting as if she is genuinely fearful that her words will come to pass. The whole experience has affected her in one other way; a lust for power has become full-fledged megalomania.

Kali seems to wage an intermittent war of conquest with the rest of the pantheon; she believes she is destined to be the one and only goddess of the Twin Worlds, and wastes no opportunity to further this aim. This has brought her into direct conflict with almost every power in the pantheon, save those few who are willing to take a submissive role to her (namely, her twin siblings Zervas and Vasera) and the one she considers her equal and predestined consort: Cohen. Persistent rumors have the two as partners and lovers, though there is no proof of the latter, and Cohen denies it. DriannaSi is a particular thorn in Kali's side; she is the only drow (even if a throwback) ever to escape Kali's clutches, something she would dearly love to correct. Worse, she is now ascended and a goddess in her own right, doubling Kali's desire to be rid of her; however, as there is no way she could ever take Drianna's portfolio, she is forbidden from trying to kill her. Instead, she settles for having her drow butcher DriannaSi's followers whenever they can, hoping to whittle her power base down enough that she fades from memory and joins the ranks of the Forgotten.

Two groups should be given special note: the elven pantheon is the first, the second the gods of the orcs. Kali is still technically a member of the elven pantheon, but most view her with a hatred that goes beyond mere warring; they literally wish to see her gone, and only the rules laid down by Fate himself have prevented them from matching action to desire. In order to stay within those rules, they are currently grooming their god of death and the dead to challenge her and take her power. She, of course, is doing everything in her power to make sure he never gets strong enough to achieve that goal, meaning the frequency and bloodiness of drow strikes on his temples and followers is horrific. Kali does not trust the orc pantheon, despite having worked with them successfully in the past; they too seek domination. She knows they will clash at some point, but the orcs said they would not contest her claim to the peoples of the Midworld. Needless to say, this has confused her; she doesn't dwell on it much as she thinks they are all but powerless now. Should they somehow rise once more (which she firmly believes WILL happen) she is at a loss as to what to do about it. The few times she has tried to solve the matter by defeating them one at a time and annexing the orcs, they have joined together as a group to deliver stinging defeats; this has left her all the more puzzled, and wondering – where exactly are the orc gods getting their power?

Dogma: Absolute obedience to the will of Kali is the greatest honor and duty any mortal can aspire to in life; the passing of the soul to the afterworld should be accompanied by the full permission for necromancers to use one's mortal remains for the greater glory of the Lady of the Grave. As the goddess's goal is her total dominion over the world, so all mortals have but two duties: to secure dominion for her, and to glorify her in all aspects of their lives.

Clergy and Temples: Among the drow, Kali's temple is the only one found; all priestesses are hers, as there is no other full deity to follow (but see Thuris in Minor Powers below). A large number of non-drow follow Kali as the goddess of necromancy, adding to the large number of drow necromancers, who include the Kings or Queens. She treats these individuals no differently than she does her own people, even to the extent of allowing them free passage where no other can go unmolested: among her drow. Most nations of both Darkshom and Rohrn have declared her cult illegal, driving no small number to accept the “hospitality” of the drow.

Within the temple rank is based in equal measure on power, age, and politics. The lowest rank, the Sgoilear, are the trainees, with a harsh, twenty-year 'apprenticeship' to complete before reaching the most common rank: Sagarat, literally meaning 'priestess.' This is the group that is most seen by commoners or anyone else that comes to one of Kali's temples, the ones who drive the masses to do Kali's will through appeals to devotion and pride; if that doesn't work they are more then willing to motivate by liberal application of whips and the rods that mark their rank. Above them are the Nighean, the administrators of individual temples and special assistants to the highest ranks, including the Matrons. The highest rank of the church itself is that of Buidseach, the dark priestesses of the necromantic arts; most are several centuries old before being chosen for this level of training and are shining examples of devotion to Kali's will and the ideals of her chosen people. Included among them are all of the Kings or Queens. Beyond them, at the head of both the clergy and the secular government, sits the Matron Mother, the sole head of the drow people and Kali's direct representative.

There is an odd movement sweeping through the temple, one Kali has seen fit to allow at the moment; her current consort, Thuris, is being viewed as a demigod, patron of warriors and male drow. As he is just as cruel as his mistress, twice as insane, and completely devoted to her, the difference to outsiders seems minimal; some wonder, however, if Kali isn't trying to start a pantheon of her own.

Other Races: Only one other race as a whole recognizes Kali, namely the elves; to them, she is known as Kali Druin, the goddess of decay, the undead, and corruption. Most necromancers recognize her as the source of their power, even if few openly follow her; the holdouts are followers of one of the deities of dark magic.

MILIA CAHO
The Mendicant, Mystic Wanderer, The Bright Twin

Symbol: Fountain of Power, Cat
Home Plane:Aurial, City of Aratheil
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Magic (Light)
Worshippers: Arcane Spell Casters
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good
Favored Weapon: Staff
Specialist Orders: None
General Information: The goddess of light magic on Milia usually appears as a young half-elven woman with black hair and brown eyes, bearing a staff and wearing a dust-stained traveling robe; of late, her priests report that she has taken on a wild look, even to the extent that her long hair always seems to be being blown around by an unfelt wind. She is typically described as outgoing and friendly, with an intensity that has recently grown in magnitude enough to worry her close allies. The rift that created Caho and Verthara seems to be growing, making the “sisters” increasingly chaotic, some might even say bordering on insane. In Caho, this has manifested itself in a shift to a more “ends justify the means” attitude in her goal of aiding those who need it, often ignoring any local laws completely if need be. Her symbol, the “Fountain of Power,” is said to represent the power that rises into a mage; the somewhat dagger-like appearance reflects the double-edged nature of power.

Caho is the “unofficial” patron of plane-travelers and magical healers; many who heal by magic pray for her to intercede with Ashmedaii and lessen the pain of their patients.

History/Relationships: Caho came into being in the moment that Ylafax destroyed Areneth (see Dead and Forgotten Powers); when Ylafax was only able to take up the darker aspect of Darkshom's magic, the power of magic became severely unbalanced. That stress literally tore Milia's goddess of magic Zebidee in two, giving “birth” in a bizarre fashion to Caho and Verthara; while the stresses that cause the division where greatly reduced, most think they will not be completely eased until the goddess Maraya takes up her role as Caho's counterpart on Darkshom.

Lacking any previous relationships didn't hinder the outgoing goddess for long; she shocked everyone by quickly developing a romantic involvement with the otherwise dour Rohrn, who seems just as stunned by her affection for him as anyone. Caho formed friendships just as quickly, including close friendships with Athyr and Ashmedaii; she has also made a firm alliance with Seshat. In her eyes, these relationships have the happy side effect of making life easier for her followers, giving them some hope of keeping up with her shifting goals.

The vast majority of Caho's attention is usually focused on her “sister;” the two share a tight bond, yet agree on very little, creating a very contentious relationship indeed. Currently, however, they have mostly put aside their differences to unite in a common goal: to find Maraya, and thus (they believe) create enough of a balance among the primary deities of magic to restore their slipping sanity. This alliance puts the two in direct contention with Ylafax, a fight that most certainly has spilled over to their respective priests. The other point of agreement between the sisters is Kali: both stand united in making sure she NEVER finds a way to regain a power base on Milia.

Dogma: Power is a gift and a responsibility, meant to be used in aid of those less powerful; this stern duty can and should take precedence over all other considerations, including personal comfort and even laws if circumstances require it.* One way to give the most aid to the most people is to form alliances; there is strength in numbers, and a group that works well together is often more powerful than the sum of its members. Evil actions, and any other behaviors that may harm innocents, should be stopped as soon as they can be; identifying one who will preform such acts and preventing them from ever doing so is to be preferred, if possible.*

* These ideas (flatly ignoring the law and preemptively attacking) are recent additions, and are not yet fully accepted by her priesthood – they hope she will regain her more neutral outlook.

Clergy and Temples: Like most of the powers of magic, Caho's priesthood is rather small and not centralized; most of her priests are split class mages. The goddess herself appoints some few to the rank of Elder Sage; these few are expected to take charge on the rare occasions when the church acts as a group. There are small shrines to the goddess in many cities, but they are tended in rotation – if one priest wants a brief rest from wandering, the current keeper of the shrine gives up his/her duties and takes to the road, often willingly. Only the largest city has even a small temple, tended by full-time priests that remain with it. Caho's followers include city watchmen, herb healers, and village wise men.

Other Races: Caho is widely followed on Milia, and is known as “Caho” by almost all races; the main exception being the goblins, who call her Ter'gabat

VERTHARA
Witch-Queen, War-Witch, The Dark Twin

Symbol: Miser's Well, Grey Owl
Home Plane:Abyssal
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Magic (Dark), Patroness of the Deep Elves (Milia Drow)
Worshippers: Arcane Spell Casters
Cleric Alignments: Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil
Favored Weapon: Staff, short sword
Specialist Orders: None
General Information: The goddess of dark magic on Milia is in all ways a mirror image of her “sister” – she appears to mortals as a blond half-elf with ice-blue eyes and a perpetual sneer hovering about her lips. Normally self-centered and self-serving, Verthara is the patroness of back-ally power brokers, magical hucksters, and social climbers of magical skill, among others who use magic predominately for personal gain, as well necromancers and drow on Milia. Her symbol is the Miser's Well, said to depict her world view – the mage at center surrounded by lesser beings.

Verthara is also the unofficial patroness of war-mages, and is known to delight in the thrill of the battlefield.

History/Relationships: Verthara was created in the same moment as her “sister” Caho, and has resented everyone involved from that moment. An opportunist of the first order, she lost no time in attacking Kali when the latter was still weak, claiming for herself the aspect of Milia's goddess of necromancy. The act cast Kali out of Milia entirely; the sisters capitalized on the moment to wrest Milia's Drow away from her and thus severed all connections she had to Milia; Verthara took power over the drow, and has fought an ongoing skirmish with Kali to keep them ever since.

Lately she has been trying to copy her sister's habit of creating alliances, but with only mixed success. Her first effort was an attempt to lure Akkarn away from Ashmedaii; she failed, but to her good fortune Ashmedaii was more amused than angered at the attempt to poach her mate. She has since taken Verthara under her wing, acting as a surrogate mother even as she plays the role of elder sister to Caho. Undaunted, Verthara turned to Rath, who proved to be a very willing subject for her seduction; the two are rumored to have at least one child, though no one can identify him or her. Another success has been Geimhreadh of the elven pantheon; no one quite understands what the two see in each other, but they are becoming fast friends.

Ylafax is most definitely not a friend; she blames him whole-heartedly for her very existence, which even she views as a mistake. Verthara spends a great deal of time finding ways to hurt her counterpart on Darkshom; she has been warned not to kill him, but had no intention of doing so in any case – she prefers to see him suffer. This particular rivalry has spawned another unlikely alliance; Verthara has taken up with several of the orcish gods, including the brothers Tezcatlipoca and Pohagnhut.

Dogma: The power of magic has a single purpose: to serve the advancement and pleasure of the mage. Nothing is or should be forbidden if it is the mage's will; secular law is of no consequence.* By right, there is no power short of the divine that has any authority over those who manage to master the darkest secrets of magic, and any who think otherwise should be schooled to the true order at the mage's earliest convenience; the best method is simply to ensure they no longer draw breath.* Nay-sayers make excellent zombie servants..

* These ideas (flatly ignoring the law and killing indiscriminately) are recent additions, and are not yet fully accepted by her priesthood – most hope she will regain her more neutral outlook.

Clergy and Temples: Verthara's priesthood has been outlawed in most nations, though this doesn't affect them much; there isn't much of a priesthood to suppress. The vast majority of the Witch-Queen's priests are solitary, occasionally banding together at the direction of their goddess, but the kind of people that worship Verthara aren't big on cooperation. No rank as such exists within the temple – initiates are found and trained by a single mentor, then left to the direction of their own ambitions and the whisperings of the goddess. Because of this, infighting among followers and priests is not at all uncommon; conflicting ambitions and personalities abound.

That said, most cities are home to one or two priests and their respective “flocks,” groups of ambitious individuals who seek to use the group as much as the priest does; most are shocked at the ease with which their ambitions are twisted and used for the goddess's own purposes by her clergy. Many of these don't marvel long; they either fall under the sway of the priest, or die conveniently in a battle they never intended to start with someone they might (or might not) have counted as an enemy before running afoul of Verthara's servants.

Other Races: All of the races of Milia recognize the goddess of dark magics; the elves call her Cogadh-Cailleach, the War-Witch, but the rest all know her as Verthara. copyright: 11/01/2006 Christine H. Rietsch and Troy D. Teske

Hollow World Geography

Ciuacoatl — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:53:26 CDT

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD OF DARKSHOM AND ROHRN

copyright July 20th, 2006 Christine H. Rietsch

From "Eclipse: Dance of the Sabres" story copyright 1986, Christine H. Rietsch

The planet itself is generally known as Darkshom. The diameter of the planet is 7900 miles (similar to Earth). The circumferance on the equator of the surface is 24,900 miles. The planetary Crust is 100 miles thick and contains magma chambres as well as the gravity plane. The inner diameter of Rohrn at it's equater is 24,500 miles. The diagram below shows the basic geography of the inner and outer world. The core of the planet is about 1500 miles in diamter and is a concentrated ball of magma that acts as an interior sun. The Midworld caves hold a gravitational plane that runs through the center of the planetary crust. The arrows show the downward force of the gravity. Travelling through this area will be a form of dead space if you can find a path that does not lead into magma chambres that run through the center of the crust. There are 6 vortexes who's details are described below. One is at the north pole, one south, then 4 more run at equal intervals across the equator of the planet. The magma core is suspended by a mixture of gravity and the planetary magical force. It acts a sun for the inside world.

DARKSHOM--THE SURFACE WORLD

The exterior or surface world is much like our Earth. It's called Darkshom, which means "Dragon's Shadow". You will find varied climates and species. Darkshom has 3 moons, named after the 3 phases of Fate in a tongue that's origins are long lost. These moons.are Liser, Mantaruk, and Shantus. Liser reaches full moon 13 Earthdays. Mantaruk is called the Moon of Blood in old orcish writings. This one will glow red at new moon and white at full. It reaches full moon every 208 days Shantus--called the Moon of Nightmares-- has no odd coloration. Its full moon occurs once every 365 days. This is the moon of nightmares. Every 500 earth years this moon will have a red halo around it. The origin of these phenomena is unknown. When the halo is present necromantic powers reach a zenith--and bad dreams in ALL sentient species are prevalent. Every 2,073 years the three moons align with the sun. This conjunction is said to be the time when prophecies are made real. It is far worse than that however, for there is a year period where the planet activity becomes violent. There are massive storms. Vortexes get so violent they cannot be navigated. There is huge volcanic activity, earthquakes, pestilence, famine, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc. At the end of this year is a 7 day period of absolute SILENCE so to speak. Nothing planted grows. All storms and activity ceases. The vortexes close completely. At the end of this period people are able to start rebuilding their lives again.
Darkshom's general geography is similar to Earth. There are polar ice caps at North and South. The Darkshom day is one half of the day of Earth (in part to deal with the constraints in NeverWinter Nights and NeverWinter Nights II). One year on Darkshom is 4/3 of a year on Earth due to the planetary rotation. However, Darkshom takes a longer time to go around the sun-- so it's real year is 1.5 times that of Earth in proper perspective. Planet surface size is twice that of Earth. Gravity is the same. It is a very compatible environ for those who come from Earth through the DarkGate. The surface is 3/4 water. There are some large landmasses. Thanks to the industrious dwarves, there are lots of artificial extensions on the land. Some cities are built over top of the water. The largest continent is Janus. This land mass contains a giant mountain range the people have called the Spine of the Dragon, or Dragon's Spine. Janus is where NeverWinter players will begin their journies on this planet. Even though much of the continent is temperate to tropical--the Dragon's Spine is snow capped. Major cities known thus far on Janus include: Zaladorn, Old Zaladorn, Emerald Harbor, DarkGate, Greenwich, and Siviche. There are a large amount of regional areas and tribal cultures across the continent. Nearby islands that are considered part of Janus include Elsiana and Waterford.
The other continents are: Melefor, Shardis, Elom (West of Janus), Carcisse, Kordukahn (south of Janus), Zantus, Aegypt, and Raumer. The equator runs along the top edge of Kordukahn.
Flora is highly compatible to Earth. There is a tremendous variety from grasses to carnivorous plants. There are bright flowers to trees bearing nuts, seeds, and fruits. With an abundance of fresh water across the landscapes there is no shortage of plant life except in the rare desert regions. Fauna run from mundane to magical creatures. Many are similar to Earth. The magical creatures are their own. People in both Rohrn and Darkshom believe that the abundant and intelligent dragons were creators of the world--and that most of the sentient species descend from them.

ROHRN--THE INNER SURFACE

The inside world of Rohrn is named for the dwarven god Rohrn. It is little explored. One continent is known to have small settlements--and it appears to be vast with various islands around it. This continent has been named Fe-last (meaning "First"). The environment is a little more hostile for visitors.
The interior is lit by a red sun--the magma core is suspended via magic and gravity in the center of the planet. The core is shielded enough to prevent it from scorching the inner surface. Even though the planet rotates--the inner core rotates with it. Therefore there is no night and there are no seasons on the interior surface. It is always a warm to hot climate.
The elevations of the landmasses harbor the deserts since these are closer to the magma core. Moisture is wicked away or absorbed by massive jungle canopies in the lower regions. There are no snowy regions. Drier forest regions appear on elevations between the deserts and the jungles or swamps.
Flora: there are very few species of food producing plant life on the interior surface. There are some grasses and seed producers in the temperate forests. In the jungles you will see very little in the way of fruit. Seeds and spores are common and can be vitamin rich and greatly sought after for food. Harvesting them is much more difficult than on the surface. Much of Rohrn's plant life is carnivorous or survives on the decay in the soil around it. Some move to find carcasses to feed on. Others have developed mechanisms to attack and kill other life forms. Some water life is able to come to the surface to hunt. It is a dangerous landscape. The atmosphere is sulfuric as well--so surviving without magics is not possible. The few settlements set up for farming and harvesting the untapped riches are heavily protected by magics. Individual forays do not last more than 1/2 hour of foot travel due to magic wearing out. Plus many have lost lives to the wildlife living in the Rohrn lands.

The danger is in part due to the lack of fresh water. It does exist but can be very hard to find. Most of the populated areas of Rohrn are built around fresh water. The rest of the waters show high saline content or even traces of arsenic. The plant life often have to go to blood sources to compensate for this lack of fresh water.
Geological activity is often in the form of small geysers. These put the traces of the poisons into the soil and water. Fresh water sources are located far from any seismic activity. Most arsenic deposits are found in Rohrn or Midworld.
Fauna: weaker creatures such as rabbit, deer, etc generally do not survive well on Rohrn. They get eaten too quickly. The animals that have survived have come to rely on magics or have developed battle tactics to survive the plant life. Dragons that reside here without difficulty are the blacks and the reds. Also there are the Vortex Dragons located inside the vortexes. People: There is a growing orc village here. Other people's that inhabit the interior are the drow, some dark elves, the black dwarves, and some human peoples.

THE VORTEXES:

There are 2 we know of on Rohrn—from what area has been explored. These do not form an atmospheric reaction like those on Darkshom due to the differences between the skies of Darkshom and Rohrn. The vortexes affect only the Rohrn seas—with one in the Blood Sea and another located in the Sea of Bahst. Like the surface openings, they do form a tunnel of violent water 75 miles in diameter through the water into the sea bed. The 25 mile diameter tunnel leads to Darkshom. The waters here harbor the natural bacteria of the surrounding water, plus algae and microbes that are only found in the vortexes due to the mixture of water compositions from Surface world and Inner world. Of course the vortex dragons live in these tunnels. None of the land based dragons will approach them. Only the Sea Runners (an elven race) are able to navigate the vortexes.

ENVIRONMENTAL NOTES: CONTINENT OF JANUS

ALLENDRA’S FALL: runs through Vor’sarhan. Divided the city Sardecens took over in half. Burned 2 mile wide swath through the area and destroyed villages, etc for 200 miles on her path. The ravine is ¼ mile deep. For 2/3 of this swath there are sheer cliffs that the northern kingdom of Eldueth has just begun mining—however they will not go all the way down into the ravine. Deeper inside the cliffs are made of glass (onyx) from the melting due to Allendra’s Fire. This ravine reaches all the way to the cliffs that drop into the ocean—so during the last 1/3 of the ravine it is ocean water at the base. The swath cuts at the tip of the Tang Mountain, but they have direct access to Zaladorn through mountain routes and a cave system. The mountains are valued for the mining, and so is the side of the ravine. Eldueth and Elberin are at the halfway point of the ravine. This area is also known as “Cities of the Fall” if referring to the two nations that have developed.. General belief is that this land is cursed.. 2 societies have developed on the north and south. The northern kingdom is Eldueth. The southern kingdom is Elberin. Both mean “city divided” due to linguistics differences.

GREAT RIFT: result of one plate pulling away from the others. There are some tiny settlements inside the many caves. The floor is thick loam and very rich—this is a dense jungle where no sun reaches the bottom. Some geysers. Some caves lead to Rohrn. This rift is being studied by the gnomes. BURNING LAKE: volcanic caldera. Was calm until the earthquake that people believe was caused by Codus slaying the goddess of compassion. Lava spouts appeared inside the lake waters. This place has huge earth, steam, and fire elemental activity. Land around it is becoming poisoned and sulfuric. Old Zaladorn sits next to this. It has a small mountain range on one side of it.

CRATER LAKE: this is a dead volcanic caldera in the icy Dragonspine near the city of Darkgate. It is assumed to be filled by several freshwater springs from deep within the mountains. It spills through a small river off of the cliffs into the Dragon's Emerald Ocean to the south. This area is rich in gem deposits, sulfur, nickel, lead, zinc, copper, gold, diamond, and bauxite.

SWEET WATER RIVER: deposits of gold, copper, silver, tin, iron. Is approx 2000 miles long. Areas of depth range from 1 foot at the headwaters in the Dragonspine to 400 feet deep near the Bay of Lost Hope. Widest point is 10 miles at juncture of the main waters and the 2nd branch. Sweet Water consists of the main and 2 branches that are all considered the Sweet Water. There are many small tributaries. Land is fertile due to the every 3-year flooding. Basin at Lost Hope is becoming poisoned due to the Greenwich. Jungle is becoming poisoned swamp. Continental fault line is all the way up the main waters from Lost Hope to the Headwaters.
The Sweet Water is named for the goddess of compassion who was said to have her naming ceremony in the waters of the river. It's also been witnessed that during times of major world events the river will shake and the waters will flow backwards and actually go back UP the mountain range. This will cause massive flooding. It is a phenomena related to the earthquakes caused by continental drift. Magnetism is high. Compasses and lodestones will fail. Occasionally villages will pop up here—but they do not remain long. Heavy rains are closer to the mountains from the Vortex Winds.

MOROU DELTA: Fed by the adjoining waters of the Taramak and Clesiastis rivers that join at the Nouakchott Falls. From there the waters cause the Morou floodplain and delta. In the past 7,000 years this coastline has advanced into the Forgotten Ocean by 30 to 100 miles. It is formed by sediment that builds up and compacts. It is said that the Great Northern Marsh is part of this delta in a different stage of the process. This is a heavy fish resource. Life includes reptilian, mussels, turtle, black bear, and jaguar. Heavy producer of clay and oil (petroleum). The Murai (reed people) dwell in here and the swamps. Morou is a bastardization of the Murai name—and any areas with this name are believed to be controlled by the Murai.

GREAT NORTHERN SWAMPS: similar to Florida Everglades. 3 million years ago silt and sediment formed a limestone bed called a Tamiami Formation. The marsh lay over this. Trees in this area vary from Cypress, mangrove, hemlock, and pine. ISLES OF MOROU: a swampy set of islands. This is a huge part of the delta.

BARREN SANDS: similar to the Sahara. Nights are extremely cold. The Dragonspine to the south prevents moisture and warm coastal storms from the Vortex. These sands are in the Dragonspine rain shadow. The desert is riddled with caves and some run into the Dragonspine and deep enough to reach Rohrn. Minerals available: Agate, Amethyst, Calcite, Chalcedony, Copper, diamonds, fluorite, geodes, gold, halite, jade, kyanite, malachite, opal, quartz, petrified wood, silver, spodume, topaz, tourmaline, turquoise. Has many streams that run toward dry basins—where the waters are sucked into the sands. There are not a lot of geologic rock formations in the desert itself. What rock there is remain along the Dragonspine where the rocks are polished by the winds. The winds here come from the plains of Har-inshea and get trapped in the curl of the Dragon's Tail. There are frequent sand storms with winds that do not reach above 60 miles an hour.

GREENWICH WASTES: This is becoming a barren and poisoned plain to desert region. Waters in this area are highly poisonous and polluted due to gnomish experiments. Even with purification spells—it's best to avoid drinking the water here. Eating any fleshy creatures or plants (if found) is not advised. Toxins range from sulfurs, salts, aconite, arsenic, and acids. This edge in the current century is encroaching on the Sweet Water River. Even though the gnomes have stopped their experiments 2,000 years ago and are working to help the dwarves and elves preserve the Sweet Water River basin…it is doubtful they will succeed. People say the land is acting like a tumor that is growing. Druids put massive efforts in to stave off the growth of the poison.

ASKIVARR: The people who live within this thick jungle are also called the Askivarr. This is a massive rain forest that runs from the western tip of Janus clear to the Dragonspine. Its northern edge is the Great Rift. Extra tributaries and small rivers drain into the Great Rift's western tip. All manner of wildlife and black dragons reside in this area. Product from this region is very hard to get—but ranges from bright feathers, hides of serpents, venoms, flowers, exotic animals, exotic woods. Food is plentiful here. Looking at the plant life, it is easy to think that the soil is rich, but it is actually nutrient poor. Plants cannot grow on sunlight and rain alone: they need small quantities of minerals as well. These minerals include calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Over the years the rain has washed these out of the soil, so all the nutrients are actually in the living plants and animals. Competition for the minerals is fierce. If a leaf falls from a tall tree, or a piece of fruit is knocked off a branch, it may fall to the forest floor. Immediately the detritivores (bacteria and fungi that eat (break down) dead material) get to work and start digesting the fallen piece of organic matter. Their digestive processes make the minerals available again, and the net of shallow plant roots lies ready to soak them up and send them up into the trees and vines. This means that the nutrient "wealth" of the forest is all being used by the life forms living there. If the rain forest is cut down, nothing remains but a thin layer of low fertility soil. Seen from above, the rain forest looks like a bumpy green carpet, but it actually has a number of levels. The emergent layer has the tallest trees, which stand up individually above the trees crowded together below them. These trees get a lot of light, but they also have to deal with the wind. They make good perches for eagles and other predatory birds. The canopy consists of a thick growth of tall trees, which capture much of the sunlight. Their branches touch, their leaves seem to fill every space where light may fall. Their branches bear colorful fruits. Epiphytes (plants that "grow in air") perch on the branches as well, and vines climb up from the forest floor to claim a share of the sun. Many of the animals live in the canopy, eating fruit, flowers, and leaves. Meat eaters go where the plant eaters are, and prey on the monkeys and colorful birds. Insects are everywhere. This part of the rain forest is filled with life. It supports life forms and communities as the surface of the earth usually does. The understory consists of small trees, shrubs, and bushes. These plants are adapted to low light levels, and their large, tender leaves capture as much light energy as they can. The shrubs support vines, mosses, and fragile amphibians, such a frogs, which enjoy the humid atmosphere. The forest floor receives only about 2% of the light that falls onto the trees of the canopy. There are few plants down here in the twilight. The floor is littered with dead leaves, twigs, animals and fallen fruit, all of which are being digested by diligent insects and other detritivores. A few animals also live here, including wild pigs. They eat whatever has fallen from the rich communities above them. There is no underbrush for them to deal with, so travel in this dim world is easy. A serious problem is developing as small ponds deep within the askivarr are starting to show signs of poisoning—containing acids, arsenic, aconite. Druids are concerned that the poisoning of the Greenwich Wastes is reaching into the Askivarr.

WATERFORD: This is tropical paradise. The whole island is owned by the merchant people there. There are beautiful beaches and this is quite the 'tourist spot'. Being the land of neutrality and commerce--it is home for people of all types. There are jungle type forests on the interior of the island. DRAGON'S TONGUE: volcanic tropical islands and small mountains. This is similar to Waterford except for the volcanice activity. There are frequent slow moving molten lava flows that form black rock and eventually soil. Where things grow is lush and tropical. PTAHRR FORESTS: These are more temperate forests named after a long forgotten god when the humans first started arriving through the DarkGate. There are various hard and softwoods here.

GRASSLANDS AND PLAINS: Here you find more herd animals and prairie life. There is little in the way of trees. However the soil is thick with grasses and flowering plants. Hunting animals here have to be fast and fierce.

ELSIANA: This island is more of a temperate forested island with many cliffs inside of it. It seems to be the top of an underwater mountain. Caves are inside the cliff faces that lead to mines the island inhabitants use. It had been settled by a brother of Emporer Zalus the 20th and numerous wealthy families. However none expected the Amazons that lived deep within the island. There has been turmoiol there since.

OCEAN GEOGRAPHY

The surface world oceans are close to what you find on Earth. There are lines of underwater volcanic activity, ocean vents, deep crevasses, reefs, etc. The only major differences are some of the sea life and the vortexes.

VORTEX: There is one directly south of the continent of Janus between it and the continent of Kordukahn. It's affect on the atmosphere is that it's a severe storm tunnel that reaches from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of the Rohrn oceans. All of this tunnel is violent and turbulant. Land based dragons will not fly over the vortexes. The storms are constant with loud violent winds, heavy rains, and hail. There are hot rains. Sailing ships that have the misfortune of getting too close will be ripped apart. Only the Sea Runners have managed to navigate and sail these vortexes—and thusly handle most of the shipping that occurs between Darkshom and Rohrn. From a distance these tubes of storms look like large tunnels of lightening.
The vortex is not only in the ocean itself—but the air currents continue this as a tunnel of violent water and air from the sea floor to the top of the planet's atmosphere. This tube that the vortex forms is 75 miles in diameter. The waters within this tube are just as violent as the air above and creates a rolling mass that is filled with silt, dead sea life, boulders, and anything else you can imagine. Mostly it's bacteria that survive here. Because it reaches the Rohrn waters on the other end of the tube (a 25 mile hole leads from the sea floor through the shell of the planet and to the other side in the Rohrn oceans), the waters also have a mixture of chemicals in them from the Rohrn oceans. These waters are hot. Bacteria thrive.

Witnesses have seen great dragons ride these currents with ease. Ships that get too near the vortex will sometimes be destroyed by these dragons who seem to grow to great lengths—some even a mile long! All that is seen is ruddy mottled flesh that matches the water and fins along the bodies. The sea runners may know more.
copyright: 7/25/2006 Christine H. Rietsch

Rules of the Eclipse Universe (General information)

Ciuacoatl — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:31:58 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Driannasi: Goddess of the Hunt

Ciuacoatl — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:42:40 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

The Durga--Elves of the Midworld

Ciuacoatl — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:23:59 CST

THE SERPENTS OF THE MOON

The Durga were originally on the surface of Darkshom some 150,000 years ago according to modern estimates. Back then they were considered the Wilder Elves. They were very dark skinned like surface woodland elves of today. It was apparent they were far more distant from the ‘pure’ elves and their dragon kin even back then. Hair color generally was black. Skin appeared in rich tones of browns to reds. Eyes were mostly dark but could find brilliant colors of greens, blues, or yellows. The bright colors hearkened back to the distant draconic origins. Scales were not present on these elves. They were a more war-like society of the elven nations. Most considered them primitives. They were attuned to the forests as fighters. Many were expert horseman or able to tame and ride the great elks and fallow deer of the woodlands. Ranged and mounted combat were specialties. They were known for beautiful leather work and crafts from natural materials of their surroundings. Fey spirits such as pixies and fairies often would bring them materials to create items for them. Even though the Wilder Elf skill was different than the elves of the civilized parts of the nation—they had the inherent elven attention to detail. Fae creatures enjoyed the quality of the dark forest elves craftsmanship. One of their princesses—known as Ketira (Many Tears) had met with an elven prince named Sar’Anderost. Despite the physical differences—he was much more pale than she with silver hair and light skin—they had fallen in love with each other. He was a prince of the Pure Elves. His features were closer in resemblance to the dragon—with scales all over his body and a flatter face. Yet he and the forest princess had fallen in love. Their wedding became a major event and brought unity to the elven nation. Ketira was so beautiful. She bore the bright blue eyes of the river’s waters. To this day some say she was the first incarnation of Driannasi. Others who don’t believe that, still feel she is one of the incarnations of the Compassion goddess. There remains in existance one faction of the Kingdom known as the Dark Elves. They were and still are racial purists. At the time of Sar’Anderost and Ketira—they were only a small group. However they were greatly angered that a great king would sully himself with a savage. They worked magics and prayers to enlist the aid of agents of Cohen and his consort Kali Druin. She had decided to take the mages up on their request and convinced Cohen of the same. This complacency and peace could not be allowed to continue. When there are remnants of any racial tension, it does not even take violent action to create a rift. Such was the case here. Ideas were fed into the minds of dreamers and became rumors in royal courts. On both the sides of the Wilder Elves and the rest of the Kingdom, ‘information’ was fed of upcoming betrayal and designs for war. Both sides believed it for the evidence was compelling. Over the years the tensions increased until finally war did break out. Agents of the Serpent Goddess and Cohen disguised themselves as agents of the opposing people—for lack of a better term. Acts of treason towards the treaty were broken. With no better understanding of what the truth was this led to all out rebellion. Agents of the Kingdoms learned that treason was committed by Ketira when Sar’Anderost had to go to one of the sub-kingdoms for political reasons. They were to execute her without trial but the Wilder’s stated she was the double agent and wanted her to face their punishment. It was one thing the elders could agree on, which resulted not in any trial, but her being held captive by her own people. Her ear tip was sent to the Elven king--her own husband. He returned in great anger. His people did little to back him and he was distraught over what was happening to his love. She was brought to him, but behind the Wilder elves were a band of demons and not the nature spirits of before. The corruption from Kali and Cohen had already begun. They stated that war would not break out if he surrendered himself to them. His wife would be spared if he did the same. His own people, blinded by evil and words, forced the issue on him and he voluntarily gave himself up. In front of him they butchered his wife and fed her remains to the wild beasts. They blinded him after that. War did break out when the Kingdoms learned they had been duped. They chased the demon-backed Wilder into the cave system deeper and deeper until the Wilder were lost within the depths of midworld. The chase was 20 years. All the time Sar’Anderost was starved and the Wilder first learned how to torture. Kali and Cohen made sure the demons interbred with the already savage and brutal elves. In it came a lust for causing suffering and pain. Many years later the King’s body was found at the same entrance the Wilder had been chased into. The son of Sar’Anderost had found the body and correctly identified it as his father. Evidence remained of what tortures had been laid on the once beloved King. Sar’Anderost’s body was interred in a great tomb along the northern coast of Janus in the mountains. That tomb still exists, but has been buried in the earthquake preceding the Great War of 500 years ago. The tomb is said to be haunted and that some day the wronged king will rise and search again for his lost love. It’s said that destruction will follow in the angered spirit’s path. He is called the father of the elves. Half of his children remained with the surface kingdoms. The other 2 children felt compelled to enter the midworld caves and never returned. Sar’Anderosts other name is the Father of the Durga. Since the descent into Midworld there have been many changes to what once were the Wilder. They had been given the word Durga by their goddess for the unseelie or truly evil elves they had become. Over many generations of careful breeding and selection, we have come to the Durga we understand in this day and age.

BASIC PHYSIOLOGY

Kali still keeps an iron fist on her people. We know that they all participate in a ritual to bind their souls to the durga goddess. No non-durga has ever witnessed what this ritual is. The details are unknown. However, searching for a soul in a Durga will reveal that they have none. It is believed their soul is so tightly bound to the goddess that it is hers and no longer their own property. This gives her more power over them. From what we have discerned from corpses found on raids in Durga territories their physiology has been altered from that of the surface elves. From thousands of generations in the cave system, their skin has gone milky white. Eyes are milky versions of regular eye colors. Hair will often be silver or white. Teeth are normal. Height is 4 to 7 inches smaller than that of surface elves. Ears are longer and will reach above the head. One assumes this is to facilitate hearing in the cave systems. The durga is more muscular than their surface cousins. Their body type is a shorter version of a muscled and lean human warrior man or woman. Over all they are very striking and a comely people. Their faces still display their distant heritage. Features in the nobility are more refined. Only in nobles will you occasionally see the scaling of the draconic elves. This is considered a throwback trait and a sacred sign of Kali. Records and paintings of the Queen Sioned—self touted mother of Driannasi—indicate a very beautiful countenance. Such results are also visible in portraits of Driannasi—which leads us to the conclusion that the tales of Durga origin have merit since Drianna herself we now know was Wilder. However the Durga beauty can come across as a deadly beauty such as seen in a cobra. One is enticed. On females there can often be telltale signs of rearing young. These are shown as scars from bite marks on the breasts. Some reports indicate that the young feed off of the breast milk and the mother’s blood. On autopsies we have found infants displaying fangs and sharp milk teeth. In stomach contents will be mixtures of blood and coagulated milk. There have also been traces of flesh and durga skin—bringing us to the conclusion that the infant possibly cannibalizes it’s litter mates. We currently do not know how rapidly the Durga child will develop. The Durga life span is assumed to be as long as the surface elves if not longer. Sioned was recorded as saying her grandmother lived to 3,020 years old. Most will die in battle. The reproductive organs of the Durga female are similar to that found in cats. They have a multi-chambered uterus which allows for mating with multiple males and the bearing of multiple young. With the evidence of cannibalism we can also assume the litter-mates will kill each other off leaving only the strongest to survive. The Durga male shows no physical difference in reproduction from other non-draconic elves. He is physically a bit larger than the female in body type as are most races. Both male and female are wiry and muscled. There is no chest or facial hair on the Durga male—same as the elves of the Kingdom. None of the Durga found bear tattooing or body scarring of any type. Records indicate they are vain and love beauty. Scars other than of nursing the young are seen as defacing the Durga body. However, we have learned that the lesser classes of Durga will have scarring. Prevention, it seems, is reserved for the noble or wealthy. They will decorate their ears and use elaborate paints and dyes on their skin that wash off after many weeks. Hair colors are generally pale as well. One can assume that the entire body type is pale due to no exposure to the sun. This has been found in other cavern denizens. In exposure to bright sunlight the Durga will attain sunburn and have Moon-blindness. They cannot see in the sunlight. Most Durga activity is at night for this reason. Durga are known to avoid high-sunlight regions such as the desert. From what we can tell, the Durga are immune to poisons but not disease. In battles, they have not been affected by poisons. Druids and other spell-casters have been able to successfully cast disease on the Durga enemy with visible results. Corpses of Durga have been found with occasional diseases such as leprosy.

VARIANTS: HALF DURGA
We are seeing an increase in the number of half-Durga sightings. While evidence indicates there is an increase of Durga raids on surface villages, many half breeds are showing as some of the raiders. They have been found as scouts. Some have appeared as slaves to the noble classes of the surface world. All seem to be a mix with human. Skin colors vary depending on human lineage. Hair color will be pure white like the pure Durga. The only other indication to Durga heritage will be the color of the eyes. One slave currently owned by Lord Knightsbridge has eyes like the northern dogs—a milky or almost glacial blue. From interviews it has been learned she does tolerate sunlight, but needs her eyes shaded from light. She also does not do well in extreme heat. She prefers colder climates. The slave is as tall as her owner—almost 6 feet. Like other half durga she is tall and well muscled. This causes the writer to question if the creation of these mixtures is intentional. Occasionally half-durga will be born completely blind. Many human parents will not keep a pregnancy from a rape by a durga so records are few. The reports of blindness are consistant throughout the continent however on those allowed to survive. The child of Codus and Driannasi is recorded to have completely blind from birth as well—which again caused question of where Driannasi’s elven heritage actually came from. Lord Knightsbridge will not allow us to purchase the slave for dissection. We have been told that unlike human females she does not bleed with the moons. Most half elves do not. She has not been bred for us to learn how many children she is capable of. Lord Knightsbridge assures us he will keep us informed if he decides to use her for breeding. Her temper and anger does not bode well for this to happen however. She is not complacent. If other half durga have bred we have no records of results. Research is being done among other continents to see if there is more half-durga activity. When we learn more it will be added to this document.

THE DURGA CULTURE
The culture is widespread throughout midworld in smaller cities. Overall the culture is lawful. They are a monarchy determined by power—not bloodline. The durga have a central ruler. The central ruler is titled the King or the Queen dependant on gender. These titles carry over from their origins on the surface world. During this time we have learned that this position is in contention. A male named Varshek was assassinated and had been the former King. He had replaced the Queen Sioned when she was killed by the dwarves of DarkGate during the Great War. The head ruler is called either the king or queen. Their consorts may hold political power but from what we understand they are not often involved with decision making. Consorts are an important part of the power process in the Durga society. When interviewing the slave of Lord Knightsbridge it has been learned that the Queen Rosin has over 40 consorts. They are both male and female. These are not just for sexual purposes but are close and loyal companions to the ruling Queen. The same can be assumed with consorts of other society members. The Durga will keep them loyal with a combination of fear, gifts, or favors. He or she may also genuinely have affection for the consorts. One can hope that there may be such a feeling, but it is doubtful. Consorts are separate from slaves. There is no infighting among members of the same family. They need each other. If a family member is killed by another in that family—then the whole group will take retribution on the killer. The family provides power to the head. They may try political trickery or maneuvering to become the head, but they have reasons for staying united. If the head becomes the ruler of the Durga people—then that whole family has power. With that power comes an increase in consorts, slaves, material goods, and in decision making. They also gain troops. Other families will go after ones in power through assassinations, dueling, political maneuvering, or manipulation to increase their own power. Often there comes a time when a previous ruler will be killed and the most powerful one will become the new ruler. These changes in status are highly ritualized and often backed by the churches of Kali and the goddess herself. All political aspirations are set aside in times of great need however—such as an ongoing war. Durga can be terrifyingly unified in intent and purpose—especially if they see wisdom in the decisions their king or queen will make. All Durga serve their goddess first and will follow the orders given to her priests and priestesses. They will unify to ensure the survival of their race and to increase it’s overall power. They will not back a fool’s errand as in the case of Sioned attacking DarkGate. Most of the Durga stayed behind. They did join in the attack on Zaladorn and achieved victory in destroying the old city. Settlements extend from the original midworld caves into the Durga city of Serpent’s Maw in Rohrn. All are unified under the king or queen. Stabs at power are not determined by location. Durga have political alliances with the Darrog’n dwarves of Rohrn. They participate heavily in the slave trade and may sell their own people off to the Darrog’n as punishment. The dwarves are experts in breaking spirits—even those of the Durga. This alliance is carefully kept because the Durga are wary of the power of the dark dwarves.

THE POWER OF THE TEMPLE OF KALI
Here are details for the structure of the order of Kali. While the king or queen holds the highest power in the society, there is a secret undercurrent to the entire culture. No durga is truly aware of the real power the temple of Kali holds over the rule and political structure of durga society. They have been known to perform assassinations and get families into bitter feuds over them—according to I’makkiri —head of the Order of the Asp. The main temple is headed by one known as the Matron Mother who is the supreme power of the entire durga culture throughout the midworld . She represents the image and power of Kali and is the most powerful priestess of the culture. Currently the Matron Mother is Rosin’Err Illdegar. This is the ONLY position within the culture that is held by only one gender. The temple performs all sacrifices and executions. All births are overseen by the priests and priestesses. There are no marriages. The temple oversees everything related to deaths and dying. They often mete out the punishments for crimes against Kali or her people—such as treason. Punishments range as simple as plucking out an eye to full torture and execution in public. These are rare occurrences. Treason for instance—is rare. It is said Kali keeps an iron fist on her people. Other acts of treason may occur inside the temple—as in the case of coveting a temple slave. This will allow for the one committing the crime to be taken as a slave, punished, and then continue to serve or be sold off. This can happen often. In reality the Temple is the law. While the King or Queen rules—the real source of power is their alliance with the temple. Laws are written in the temple and passed through the ruler. If a ruler falls out of favor with the priests and priestesses, then it’s likely an assassination will occur or the temple will back a contender for the throne. Hence the ruler is very careful to stay in the good graces of the temple. Gifts are often given to the temple to seal agreements or for bribes (which rarely work as such). Bribes usually result in the family who sends the bribe a black mark with the temple and end up being watched closer. However such families may think they have been successful. While the temple has great wealth—there are times they will distribute some of it back to certain families they support.

DURGA SEXUALITY
These are a perverse people. Consorts are male and female. We have been told that they will often involve torture or servitude into their matings. They do not stay with only one mate. Many times they will be together with more than one partner at the same time. They will often have these activities with their own children involved—which will seal a love/hate relationship in the child. That relationship fuels anger in the child which in future years turns them more brutal to the outside world. Sometimes they will take in a person from another race and mate with them for sport—later to kill the victim horribly. I’makkir has described instances where a durga party will finish battling and become aroused by it to the point they will mate on the dead bodies. However they are not necropheliacs. They will not mate with animals or the dead. Demons however are an acceptable alternative.

DURGA PERSONALITY
The durga are not a timid people. There is not much that causes a durga to fear. A half durga will show fear under extreme circumstances only. There have been no accounts of pure durga showing any fear if they are raised inside the durga culture. They have no shame in what they are for they see nothing wrong with what they are. You cannot guilt a durga. Guilt is an emotion they just are not capable of—and there is no word equivalent in their language. In extreme circumstances they may find what they call ‘love’. However this is a form of control and the ‘loved one’ is property or an object in the durga eyes. Having a durga love you is like having a vampire love you. You have no say in the matter. If the person they are attracted to is not used to the ways of the durga they will train them in it. For example we have obtained records where durga women have taken children they desired. When these captives escaped years later they eventually were able to explain that they were tortured into submission. ‘Mothers’ will be protective and very possessive of their ‘children’, but it is twisted by the standards of us more civilized peoples. Children will share the bed with the parent and lover or lovers. One had been known to tattoo the child with acid then set the ink into the scars. Drawings of the tattooing seem to denote possession and had the markings of the owning ‘parent’ on them. It’s unknown if these adoptees have their souls bound to Kali—but it is assumed so. At this time any adoptees that were freed shortly killed themselves after freedom. We only have comparisons to the non-durga necromancers who follow Kali.

CONCLUSION
It is to be assumed that this is a fierce and dangerous race. We do not have complete knowledge about them. There is much more to be discovered. However we doubt the wisdom involved in keeping such creatures in the current slave system or even allowing the existence of the half-breed durga. It is our belief that all of them should be eradicated for the safety of society. This proves a difficult task since we do not know for certain how wide-spread they are. They operate with a single-mindedness that is frightening. We have submitted the above research to Emporer Zalus VIV of Zaladorn. Our recommendation is that we receive further funds to capture and research more of the durga creatures to find a better way to stop the menace.

Babel Hermatese
Captain of Cultural Research
City of Greenwich

AUTHOR'S NOTE--THE ALBINO DURGA

As a writer I decided to create something even the durga were afraid of. No culture is perfect. Each one should have benefits and flaws—even an inherently evil culture. In other fantasy settings you hear of albino elves. They have various names. Now, durga is actually a term for unseelie elves—so there is no copyright issue with rpg companies. However, that is where any similarity ends with those other elves with the same name. This even goes as far as the genetic abnormality albinism in these evil elves. The reason I am writing this note—and not the studious gnomes of Darkshom—is because these people are ones that not even the durga like to discuss. They are a nasty and dirty secret. In reality this is part of why there is a breeding program being started by the current Matron Mother. They have spent a severely long time within the cave system. Already as you have seen from Babel Hermetese’ writings, these elves are devoid of pigmentation to begin with. I myself have done further investigation into their genetics and have learned of this rather bizarre abnormality that is partially caused by just a deviant gene, the twist in gravity of midworld where the gravitational plate shifts and it’s radiation, and the lack of light in general. The albino durga is a creature so devoid of color it is almost transparent. The skin layer is considerably thin, easily torn, and without a layer of fat. As a result you have a creature that is thin, wiry, and easily damaged. They can be prone to disease and cancerous growths. The skin is transparent enough that the blood vessels and organs can be seen. Blood vessels appear to be a blue network of spidery lines across the skin. Albino eyes are red due to increased capillary flow and build-up within the surface of the eye. They absolutely CANNOT stand light of any kind. Due to lack of UV protection they often will have cancerous growths that make almost all of them hideous to look at. These are the monsters of the durga. The durga themselves cannot seem to stop this from happening. They are afraid to execute infants born this way because somehow they fear the wrath of Kali Druin. It seems she favors them—and the durga call them the Living Undead. Still, they are socially outcaste. This leads to all sorts of mental health issues within these people. They are more deviant and brutal than the durga themselves. These creatures have become so isolated that they have no socialization. Somehow they still manage to form groups. Kali does favor them. She is a fickle goddess and has granted these beings some strange gifts. Along with a complete lack of conscience—they also possess tremendous magical power. A 40 year old albino will have the magical power of a 200 year old durga. They also possess great intelligence and cunning, so they learn new magic quickly. A new development seems to be that some are being born with the ability to luminesce like other cave denizens. They will appear as a humanoid with a green glow to it’s skin to those with normal vision. The final ability is that of being able to expand blood vessels. This is not present in all of the albino durga—but is showing a greater appearance. They give off a very faint heat signature. When the blood vessels are expanded—it acts as a flash in the infrared spectrum. For creatures with infravision or any ability to detect heat—this is like a beacon. It is one of the tactics these durga use to lure victims or prey. They are carnivorous and cannibalistic at times. They will eat their own if a member of their societal group dies for any reason. However they prefer the flesh of other elves—if anything for revenge on them. These durga hate ALL other elves. Inwardly they feel hurt and betrayed by all other elves. Their anger and lust for blood is insatiable. Nothing is known about how they form their society or it’s inner workings. Even I have not gotten that far—but they are out there. They are waiting. Copyright May 2007, Christine H. Rietsch

Eclipse: Legendary People

Ciuacoatl — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:38:53 CST

Darkshom: The Legendary People

Within you will find the actual figures of note in planetary history. These are not the tales that have survived thousands or hundreds of thousands of years that the inhabitants of the planet know. These are the author's thoughts and retelling of historical characters.

The Dragons of Darkshom

Ciuacoatl — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:55:16 CDT

THE BEGINNINGS

At the beginning of our time the dragons were the only sentient life on the world. They flew the skies freely and learned how to manifest physical forms. Over time the spirits became trapped in the physical bodies for the love of the sensations they brought. This was of no consequence to them however, for they were happy. They perfected their physical form to enjoy soaring on the breezes and air currents. Some began to take to the vast oceans. They had no regrets save one. Originally on other worlds the dragons were guardians. They were responsible for the well being of animals and sentient beings—as well as the spirits of the worlds. These smaller dragons—unlike Syrahn and Aria—helped nurture the great eggs that were the life-giving planets. They educated and sang to the hatchling inside the egg. By this time they knew that Darkshom had suffered. There was no life inside. It had been diseased by Cohen. They felt loneliness and sadness for their egg suffered. They also were much like the dragons of this day and age. There was a bit of vanity. No sentients existed to admire the dragon’s great beauty. So they set forth to create more life. Sadly the pickings were slim until they discovered a wild and unstable energy source that would grow into the DarkGate with careful manipulation. This was a natural anomaly of the planet. As the dragons gazed into the depths of the wild blue flame that appeared in random locations—they were able to see living creatures on other worlds. Humans interested them greatly. They used magics on the DarkGate so they could control it. From there they snatched humans from a couple of worlds. One source was from the sister world of Millia. The second was from the earliest humans of Earth. The dragons experimented to form the humans into their own liking. Neither creature was beautiful enough, and so they began to intermingle with them to create what they desired. First came the orcs. The legend remains to this day of the birth of the Brothers. Since magic had already begun to take hold on Darkshom, some of the humans had become affected by it. A few had become shape shifters—and the great Cheera was among them. The legend does hold true. A dragon had fallen in love with her and from her—the orcish people were born. She birthed them when she was in animal form, so they took on animal characteristics in their early years. Over generations mingling with humans and elves the species would change to what they are today. Experiments led to two vastly different creatures. It was learned that if a male dragon mated with a human—a being similar to our elven kind was born of the union. They were lithe and beautiful. They gained an almost ethereal quality. These early elves are now known as the fae—and the modern elf is descended from them. The second were known as the Hess. We do not know if they still exist. If the mother was dragon and the father human, the Hess came into being. They were equivalent to our modern half-dragons. Their appearance was more lizard than human. Human eyes were set in lizard-like skulls. Scales covered their bodies. They lacked any wings but were very dexterous with human type fingers ending in claws. They were intelligent and cunning. How they ended no one knows. People’s developed. More came through the DarkGate by accident—ancient races from Earth’s Egypt, and Israel. An entire tribe had been grabbed by the wild magic from Israel and brought to our world. Despite the dragon’s careful work to control the DarkGate it took it’s own control back. This time due to their manipulations it was more powerful and could grab entire cities—such as the dwarven citadel of DarkGate. By this time the dragons were satisfied. They had species to lord over and care for. Still, as the generations passed they still became more solid and unable to leave the world.

DEVELOPMENT OF DRAGON SOCIETY

They were able to manipulate the land with their magics and form vast cities anywhere they chose. Some were in high mountains, others were in the depths of the oceans. Another group went to Rohrn to examine the red sun. Cohen was one who felt they had too much freedom. He employed some of the Hess and early shamans to begin corrupting and poisoning the lands the dragons chose. At times demons would come in disguise and mate with certain types of dragons. Most clung on to their beautiful civilizations. Wars had begun to break out against Cohen’s forces. The sages of the dragon-kind studied various ways to stop the onslaught. However others took more direct action and began to fight in long bloody battles. The battles lasted for ages. The sages noticed that the fighting dragons seemed to enjoy what they did. So, they began a second breeding program. They would create warrior dragons to destroy Cohen. This worked at first. Some of the dragons developed differing body styles. Wings became useless or turned into massive claws for raking a foe. Some lost their for-limbs and were able to shift or dive like falcons. Others that were in the oceans lost limbs completely. Then there were the dragons who took their homes in the Vortexes to trap unwitting combatants. It worked so very well, but something strange was happening. They noticed over time that the darker color the dragon was—the more mentally unstable they had become. In our time, the black dragon can be labeled as psychotic. They are brutal killers that enjoy what they do. Levels of mental defect vary as do the colors of dragons. The purest soul and also the most studious is the white. They are devoid of any mental defect. Clearly they are the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the blacks. Before the dragons went into hiding in the last 500 years, the white dragons were the leaders and the scholars. The lighter colors remained in cities. Medium colors such as the golds or the tans would take to villages. Reds and blues—down to the blacks would often be solo. Lighter colors would often bond with elves for a number of years. In rare instances it would happen when a dragon hatched—and the pair that bonded at hatching would do so for life. The dragon would grant it’s apparent immortality to it’s human or elven partner. Bonding at hatching is considered a curse however, for if one partner dies the other one will. It is like half of their soul is ripped away from them. Even before the Great War such bonding was not a common practice. Some dragon cities even outlawed the practice entirely. Dragon villages were not as strict.

BASIC ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

As stated above, wings are not available on every body type. Forelegs, and for some ocean dwellers, limbs are completely missing. Some things are quite common place—although very little is known of the giant vortex dragons.

THE FLYING DRAGON:

These vary naturally in size from those of the size of a fae dragon to ones as long as a single keep wall. All of these types have wings that are in comparison in length to raptors. One surface jungle dwelling dragon has brilliant feathers on it’s wings similar to a bird. The rest of the types have small scales lining where bones reinforce the wing which fade into the leathery sails (the thin tissue) between the fingers. Each wing is similar to that of a hand, but of course very elongated. The thumb will usually be a clawed appendage where the wing is at it’s peak. Depending on if this is a war type dragon or one of the civilized area—the size of this ‘claw’ can vary. On the war types this claw can be as long as an orc’s arm. Bones of the flyers are all hollow, but excessively strong. The bones that support the wings have a clear fluid inside of them that turns into a mist and dissipates in a few minutes when exposed to the air. This fluid is even found in the bones of the shoulders. It’s been difficult to test, but so far from the information we have gathered this fluid is imbibed with magical properties. Our scholars are working on this. The rest of the bones are filled with dragon’s blood. There are massive lungs that fill the entire rib cage except for the 2 hearts. These hearts are next to eachother. There is an extensive network of blood vessels and valves in between these hearts. One can assume that if one of the hearts is damaged the body can close it off and use the other one until the first is healed. The lungs have 3 lobes each. Below the lungs and above the muscle that controls breathing is a separate bladder with it’s own tubes that lead to the throat. Found inside this bladder are specific substances the dragons may chew on and swallow to trigger a dragon’s breath. For instance, sulfur is consumed by dragons residing in the volcanic regions in order for them to breathe fire. This practice is not adopted by non-combative dragons. However, in times of war it was known that all would consume the necessary materials in case they were called to battle. Most dragons have 2 stomachs and up to miles of intestine depending on the dragon’s size.

THE OCEAN DRAGON

What little we know is this creature is far different than any land dragon we have seen. We assume the dragons residing in the vortexes are similar to this creature seen in underwater exploration. They are large beasts. A single one is known to take down a fleet of ships. Reports of the few who have survived are that the skin changes color and pattern. Sometimes it is hypnotic to the crew on the ship as the beast rises up and flashes colors like the northern night skies. The face has tenticles that change shape and move almost gracefully. There is a star-like opening in the middle of these where a fanged beak shoots out to grap and pull it's victem in. These dragons are so large that their bodies can take out the ship fleet. People have speculated if they inhabit underwater ruins, but magics do not hold out long enough to explore further. If the sea elves know anything they are not divulging their informations. For now that is all we know.

THE VORTEX DRAGON:

This is a frightening creature from what reports have survived the ages. We suspect the Sea Elves may have alliances with them in order to navigate the vortexes, but we cannot be certain. These dragons are as large as thier ocean counterparts. Any witnesses have seen only one color however; an inky blackness like oil from the ground. The shape of the head has never been seen. If it has it's only been from the inside on the way to the gullet.

REPRODUCTION:

The female does have a womb which is a massive organ that produces eggs. When they are ready for Flight she will have up to 30 small leathery eggs inside. The male dragon has organs similar to elves and humans for reproduction. We can assume these adaptations allow the dragon to mate in biped form or their natural form. A female can mate outside of her species and produce fertilized eggs, as can the male mate with a biped and create a child. When mating, the male with join with the female in a like fashion as us bipedal folk. The seed then coats the eggs inside. After a year’s time the female will grow heavy and lay these eggs in a nest of her choosing. She must be in dragon form to do this. The eggs will harden when exposed to air. When she is heavy she has only enough strength to build the nest—and often the male or other dragons will come and provide food. Fighting dragons of the darker colors have adopted a philosophy of sorts, where they will prefer to mate in their natural form. These Sky Battles are bloody. One female will fly with up to 10 males at once. The males have to chase her down and capture her. This is not an easy task. Many males die in these battles for the females have become wicked in their ability to destroy a suitor. Witnesses below say the sky rains blood when a Sky Battle is in the works. Dragons have also fallen to the grounds below dead. In brief conversations with Allendra the Red (when she is agreeable), she has stated that a female like her will only clutch about 10 eggs at the most. The lone female has to be able to provide for her own needs. She will gorge on meat and plants before clutching her brood. Nesting grounds will vary depending on personal preference of the female. All but the most insane will guard their eggs and hatchlings. Even in the white dragons this is a dangerous time to approach for instinct takes over and all females are exceedingly protective to the point of violence. If the dragon is from a mated pair, the male will help guard the clutch or provide food for the female. Nesting grounds vary by dragon color and type. One secret of the dragon kind is how they feed their young. These are always meat eaters—even among the most civilized dragons. The mother will regurgitate food for the young if she watches them. Black dragons are born with their killing instincts intact. Those young will not be guarded by parent and will learn quickly to find food for themselves.

RECENT TIMES

The Great War has devastated many races. It would seem the dragons are no exception. The light colored dragons have vanished from the face of the world since Codus went on his 18 year rampage through the midworld and subsequently had slain the dragon king White Tiger. Reds, greens, blacks, and blues are still present—but not many survive a visit by one of those beasts. Those dragons are scattered throughout the surfaceworld, midworld, and Rohrn. They have become a hunting sport to less civilized races other than us gnomes.

Babel Hermatese

Captain of Cultural Research
City of Greenwich

Copyright November 2007, Christine H. Rietsch

Eclipse Histories: A Bards Tale

Ciuacoatl — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:50:20 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Eclipse Histories: The Fall of Zaladorn

Ciuacoatl — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:45:48 CDT

ECLIPSE HISTORIES

A revision of the basic time-line of the Great War, also known as the Fall of Zaladorn (residents of the rebuilt city of Zaladorn always add the word "Old", as in, "the Fall of Old Zaladorn"; most others don't make the distinction). Dates are as used in modern Zaladorn, and are labeled BF (Before Fall) and R (Rebuilding); for proper reference - the current year is 514 R. The time-line of the war falls into three distinct sections. The first, called the Rorn Troubles by most, and "The War of Black Blood" by the orcs, encapsulates the both the original causes of the Great War and it's opening skirmishes. Oddly enough, the orcs that would later destroy Zaladorn itself were considered it's defacto allies at the beginning.

28 BF - The Betrayal of Compassion (not called so at the time, but...):

Codus, one of the servants of the warlord Sardecens (the High Priest of Cohen), slayed a mortal woman in the Tomb of Sar'Anderost. The woman, an elf who was a Hunter from the Orc Tribes and known rebel by the name Black Feather, had been brought up in a savage tribe, and some rumors of the time hinted that she might have been Codus' lover; later additions to the story add the claim that she was the mortal form of the goddess of compassion. The moment of her passing is marked by a massive earthquake and all the rivers flowing backwards, after which no trace of her body may be found - legends that grew since that date claim that Aria (the mother goddess) caused the earth of the Tomb to open and take her body into itself, out of respect for the woman who made the black heart of Sardecens' champion feel the touch of love. Histories indicate that, shortly after this event, a cloaked and hooded man delivered a baby into the hands of a rising noble of the Nation of the Blood, which he promised to adopt and raise as his own. The noble, a warrior priest named Hennan, would later become the leader of the orcish warrior society called the Hunters. Also hinted at is that the "stranger", who many claim was Codus himself, kept his side of the bargin - that no Hunter would fall to his blade, or those of any in his command, so long as Hennan lived. This would lead to trouble in later years.
Sardecens, gleeful at his champion's act and perhaps realizing what would happen, granted Codus a large army of evil creatures and mercenaries to do with as he would, though the army took a few years to form up. Some delay was caused by Codus delving into madness over the act of killing his love. The delay did not worry the forces of Cohen however--for Codus went on an 18 year killing rampage in his madness. He travelled through Midworld leaving what is now known as the Path of Skulls. Even the king of dragons was killed--which made many of the dragons go into hiding permanently. This lessened the amount of 'good' dragons able to help the defenders of Zaladorn.

27 BF - The Red Alliance:
At the suggestion of his god, Sardecens spent the year treating with both the dark elves and the Nation of the Blood. His goal was to reassure both that nothing was going to threaten them, and thus keep them out of the fighting he knew Codus would start; simply put, Cohen didn't want them in the fighting because he was unsure which side they would be on. The pact was just as simple - that the two nations would remain out of the fighting, in return for a promise that neither would be attacked and that both would be allowed to take a small portion of the land conquered in the general fighting. 25 BF - The Rohrn Wars begin:
A massive army, with Codus at it's head, swept out of Cohen's main temple and began laying waste to the Midworld and the small explored areas anyone could survive on Rohrn; small forays were made into the surface lands of Darkshom, but they were not as profitable compared to the losses sustained. Neither frequent nor large. Rohrn, however, faced near-total devastation; none of the settlements of that time survived the destruction intact, and those that did survive were only to receive a momentary reprieve. The Sea Elves had to escape their settlements.
8 BF - The Battle of Dragon Tears:
The last battle the mortal form of Codus lead was against a village of dragons and dragon-kin, which resulted in massive carnage on both sides. In the midst of the battle, a single warrior who seemed to belong to neither side charged Codus and was heard to shout some kind of curse, just before being killed. Later histories claim that the man was a priest of Ti Malice, who placed a simple but devastating curse upon the leader of the evil army - that he regain his conscience. In any case, Codus fled the field and went into hiding.
Sardecens was, of course, furious, and moved to take direct control of the army, as well as to attempt to bring the other two nations of the Red Alliance into the war on his side. TO that end, he began to appear to the orcs, most especially the Hunters, assuming the guise of an avatar of the Hunters' patron god, Pohagnhut (known to most as the Beastlord). Around the same time, a young, blind girl of half human and half elf parentage traveled out of the orc lands, claiming to be the daughter of Codus and Black Feather. Whether they believed her or not, many still attempted to use her as bait to try and lure Codus out of hiding. Trading on this identification, the ruler of the durga, a matron named Sioned, came to Zaladorn claiming to be the girl's grandmother. Since none really knew the parentage of Black Feather--this ploy put doubt into the minds of many. Sioned started trying to gain the trust of the nation's rulers.

7 BF - The Dark Ambush, the failure of the Red Alliance, and the end of the Rohrn Wars:

Matron Sioned gave information to the rulers of Zaladorn regarding a supposed movement of Sardecens' army, and offered durga aid in attack them. Zaladorn sent half of it's crack units out with the durga, only to be betrayed. The soldiers were slaughtered by a superior force of Durga. Zaladorn responded by issuing an edict of death against all Durga and banishing Codus' daughter in the process. The girl also lost face and position with her adopted nation (the orcs) for her grandmother's actions.
Just as plans to join the war were nearing completion, the orcs discovered Sardecens' ruse and formally declared the Red Alliance broken. The Hunters were unsatisfied with merely pulling out and regained their honor (in their eyes) by briefly placing themselves between Sardecens' army and the main route to the surface. To the shock of many on both sides, the army (formerly Codus') refused Sardecens' command to fight through them, and moved to take a longer route around. In his anger, Sardecens attacked the Hunters personally, causing the rest of the Nation's army to retaliate. The combined forces of the orcs ground those parts of the evil army that did not flee into powder with surprising ease thus ending the threat. It also giving the nations of Darkshom an eye-opening look at their might. (The refusal of what was Codus' army is seen as further proof that the "stranger" that deposited a baby with the orcs WAS Codus, and that his army grew to be more loyal to Codus than Sardecens.)

Sardecens was supposedly captured by the Hunters, but rather than killing him for his betrayal, they exercised a bit of creativity. First, they removed his tongue (so he could no longer cast spells), then broke all of his fingers to prevent him from trying to untie his bonds. They then stripped him naked, beat him severely, then lashed thorn bushes to his body and left him to wander the desert without food or water. While this may have seemed like justice, it would work against the orcs later.

***********************

The second segment of the Great War, commonly known as the Fall of Zaladorn (the orcs are said to have called it the "War of Glory and Shame"), encompasses the last years that cemented the nations and races into the path toward war, as well as the war itself. None know for certain when the point of no return was reached, but most place it at the formation of the Second Red Alliance, or the decrees by the so-called "Nations of Light" that forced it into being.

6 BF - The Butcher's Trial:

No matter what may be thought of him, in the end, Codus seems to have regained some sanity. One year after the conflicts seemed to end, he came out of hiding. He went first to the dwarves, where he asked to be allowed to undo part of the harm he did by resurrecting one of their greatest heroes, a man who fell to Codus' own blade. Then he and his presumptive daughter went to Zaladorn where he surrendered, and both were placed in prison (the girl more for her own protection than anything else). Two things were immediately noted...first, that this seemed to be a very changed man, and second that his daughter was no longer blind. Codus refused to discuss those matters, however, only muttering about a curse and and a price. He seemed to become more and more bitter in prison, though he never stopped teaching his daughter how to live with sight. In the end almost seemed to regret his earlier change of heart.

Codus was executed after a public trial, and as his corpse was taken to his grave, the crowd turned ugly, hurling abuse, stones, and anything else that came to hand...until the Hunters intervened. A full dozen of them, armed and ready for battle, stepped out to form an honor guard around the wagon carrying the body. Later asked why, the orcs responded that, good or bad, he was an honorable man in their eyes, and did not deserve to have his body defiled. The action did not sit well with the folk of Zaladorn, however, and muttering began in many quarters that something should be done about the orcs. De'Tallia Cerralus--Codus' daughter, returned to the Orc tribes. Her own honor was restored and she would find her own mate.

5 BF - The Nation Expands, the Council of Light, and the Slave Decree:
With most of the settlements of Rohrn gone completely and the few remaining in disarray, the orc leaders decided that now was the time to expand their lands. They moved only on those that literally no longer existed first, incorporating their populations and, in a few cases, even some of their customs, into the Nation of the Blood. This put the few rare things that could be taken from Rohrn into the Orc's control. The nations on the surface viewed this as the realization of their own fears, and franticly planned a meeting of their leaders, which they dubbed the "Council of Light". It is at this unfortunate point in history that the worst possible thing happened at the worst possible time. The old orcish leader, or "Speaker" (by the best translation known), Tlacor, died while practicing his swordsmanship with a few of his advisors. The young orc that was chosen to replace him was very charismatic, but also a hothead and a zealot. Rathbalam made matters worse by immediately ordering an attack on one of the more stable settlements of Midworld. It was a move that was very popular with his common folk, but not at all popular with his advisors. Of course this had a very predictable effect on the leaders of Darkshom's nations - they panicked.
With the increasing rate of the orcs' aggression as fuel, the Council that met in the last month of 5 BF was one where fear and arrogance ruled. The end result was the infamous 'Slave Decree,' stating that no orc would be allowed to live in the cities of Darkshom unless either a slave or of at least 50% non-orc blood. It should be noted that the dwarves never enforced the decree in that form - they simply forbid orcs from entering their lands, period. The orcs received this decree as if it were an act of war, and began to mobilize.
4 BF - The Privy Treaty:
The orcs' expansion continued unchecked into the lands of Midworld, but they made no effort to move their conquest through to Darkshom, possibly not wanting to step on the toes of their former allies that did remain on the surface. Quietly, high ranking members of several of the orcs' warrior societies began to meet with nobles from the surface realms; all of those involved in these "privy meetings" feared that open conflict at that point would decimate both sides. It is unfortunate that Hennan, then the leader of the Hunters, shared this view. Rathbalam took a dim view of the Hunters' actions toward the end of the Rohrn Wars, and thus tended to oppose anything Hennan told him out of sheer dislike, or so the few orcish histories captured at the end of the Great War say.

What came of these meetings was dubbed the Privy Treaty, even though it was in reality not a treaty per se. What it was was an agreement between those attending to try to bend their leaders away from open conflict. It prevented the war they feared...for all of four years.
2 BF - The Second Red Alliance:
The orcs' leader was in secret negotiations of his own with their former allies, Sardecens and Sioned. Sardecends was driven in part by need for revenge for his 'punishment' by the orcs. He nearly died in the desert had not some desert followers of Cohen found him. Sardecens was busy planting a rumor (with people of Darkshom) that the Hunters were actually following Cohen. The second rumor (with the orcs' own leader) that the Hunters planned to supplant him. The three formed a pact to bring the war to the surface world, with the orcs as the spearhead, supported by the Durga and a horde of dragons that Sardecens had either recruited or enslaved to his will. The Druga quietly opened paths through the midworld to prepare for the orcish armies, and Rathbalam mustered his people for all-out war.
Year Zero - The Fall of Zaladorn:
As sometimes happens, when the end came, it came swiftly, and with only a word dropped in the wrong ear to set the fire ablaze. Rathbalam discovered what his advisors had done, and that they had been deliberately trying to steer him away from any attacks on the surface. In a rage, he declaired that the orcs would attack the surface, and that instead of starting with weaker targets to weaken the surface nations, they would strike directly at one of the capitols - Zaladorn. His advisors were appalled, but there was no room to argue and they prepared to march.

Thanks to the Durga, the orc armies were able to come to the surface very close to the city, and take it completely by surprise. What followed could only be called an all-out massacre. The city's defenders fought valiantly, and took many orcs and Druga down with them,. The conclusion was evident the moment members of the Shadow, another of the orc warrior societies, appeared out of nowhere and prevented the gates from being closed. The vast majority of the orcish warriors celebrated the victory with their leader, but some few remained concerned. Legend indicates that Hennan's reaction to the victory was merely grim satisfaction, and that he agreed wholeheartedly with a remark attributed to his counterpart among the Shadow society: "Well, we have poked the sleeping dragon with our spears...now comes the part with the teeth and fire!"

************* The last section of the period is commonly known as the Vengeance (the orcs' name for it is unknown...they left no records after the Fall), and deals with the breaking of the orc nation and the deaths of all three of the Second Red Alliance's leaders. That the first few years after the Fall are included in the "Rebuilding" period, rather than being set off by themselves, is a point hotly contended by scholars, but the Zaladornen are adamant - the birth of the new city began the moment their allies started gathering their armies, less than one week after the city fell.
2 R - The Marshalling of the Light:
The orcs held their conquest for two years without challenge, but the allies of Zaladorn were not idle. The elves, halflings, gnomes, dwarves and others gathered in the remnants of Zaladorn's armies, mostly consisting of units that were guarding other parts of the realm when the city fell, and added them to their own levies. Any mercenaries and mages that they felt could be trusted were called up, and the priesthoods and holy warriors of any church that would support the cause were rallied. This included a few surprises - the fledgling cults of Codus and Ylafax joined in the fight because of their hatred of Sardecens, and followers of Ti Malice joined in as well for reasons of their own. Surprisingly few joined the "Armies of Light" from among the settlements of Rohrn and Midworld the orcs conquered.
By the end of the year, it became obvious that the remaining nations of Darkshom intended to drive the orcs out, and had put together an overwhelming force through an unprecedented show of unity. The orcs and Durga knew very well what was coming, as well, and rumors of unrest and even outright rebellion among the forces of the Second Alliance grew daily. By the time the Armies of Light began to move, however, all of their opponents seemed to agree - the time had come for retreat.
3 R - The Liberation of Zaladorn and the deaths of Rathbalam and Sardecens:
Word that the Armies of Light were nearing the conquered city was all it took to break the Second Alliance - the Durga vanished, the dragons that had joined willingly fled and the rest began fighting Sardecens' will, and the orcs prepared to make the Armies pay for the city in blood. The end of that plan came when the rest of Sardecens' dragons broke his control, and a red named Allendra actually began hunting him! Sardecens fled, and the war leaders of the orcs concluded that they were in a losing position and prepared to retreat from the city. Spies indicate that this idea did not sit well with Rathbalam; he tried to force his people to stay and fight. The last reports before the spies had to pull out indicated that three of the leaders (including Hennan of the Hunters and the leader of the Shadow) went to "deliver the Helm of Skulls" to Rathbalam, whatever that may mean. What is known is that he was found dead in the throne room of the palace when Zaladorn was retaken, apparently strangled, with a helm decorated with real skulls on his head.
The Armies found Zaladorn abandoned, and continued on to find the orc army in full retreat. So great was their anger at what was found inside the city, that they followed the orcs into the tunnels of the midworld. Behind them they left a trail of blood and broken bodies, scattered about dozens of small battlefields.
Meanwhile, the dragon Allendra followed Sardecens' magical flight back to his stronghold in the city of Vor'Sahran - which she proceeded to single-handedly level despite every effort to stop her. She eventually drove a wounded, tired, and spell-drained Sardecens to the edge of the cliffs near the city, and then right off the edge. With no magic left to save himself, and his own god raging at his failures and thus unwilling to save him, the self-proclaimed "greatest High Priest of Cohen in history" plunged to his death on the rocks below. Reports are that Allendra was never seen again.

4 R - The death of Sioned:
The Durga apparently had a different plan - hide in secluded caves until the other armies were gone, then attack the (they thought) weakly-defended dwarven city of Darkgate. The dwarven militia ensured that the assault never penetrated the city itself. Sioned died on the battlements while still disbelieving the size of the force that stopped her.
7 R - War's End:
The Armies of Light harried the orcs back through the tunnels, then all the way back to their home cities, liberating the lands the orcs had taken as they went. They were appalled at the sheer level of the orcs' depredations - most of the cities they took were down to less than a third of their former populations. The final battles of the war took place in a pocket valley, where the orcs' civilians had fled at news of the approaching force. Here the Armies found a nasty surprise - the orcs had left behind a large force, including a whole society of elite warriors to guard their homelands. These fresh forces turned the retreat into a bloody last stand, commonly considered the bloodiest battle ever fought, even surpassing the taking of Zaladorn. When the dust settled, however, the Armies of Light stood as the victors, having slaughtered every orc, warrior, woman, or child, they could find. (Understand now why I frequently call them the "Armies of Light", with quotes?)
Rumors persist that some piece of the orc Nations survived, but none of those who witnessed the battle could explain how that could be...the last orc forces and most of their non-combatants where herded into a cave, which was empty of living orcs when the Armies left the field. The daughter of Codus and her mate: Ridush of Many Axes are said to have fallen protecting a group of young children. Her adopted father, Hennan, is said to have died in the mouth of the cave; reports of the time insist that he was the last warrior standing, and that the cave behind him held nothing but corpses. In any case, the Armies promptly returned home, leaving the shattered remains of the folk of Midworld to restart their own lives; after five long years the assorted surfacers had no desire to stay and help.
The humans came back to find a horror - the city of Zaladorn was no longer livable. So brutal was the fighting to take and reclaim it that it was now a blighted land fit only for the ghosts that flitted here and there, or fought eternally in bitter memory of the fall of the great city. New Zaladorn was founded in the late autumn of 7 R, built on the coast to take better advantage of sea trade.

Eclipse Histories

Ciuacoatl — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:39:40 CDT

In these pages you will find historical information regarding the world of Darkshom. There are famous ballads and re-telling of tales such as The Fall of Zaladorn.

At this moment I'm on a hideous internet connection. This page will contain the historical time-line of the world and give you a better sense of how the planet developed and it's many creatures evolved.

Eclipse Shadow of the Twin Worlds Home

Ciuacoatl — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:28:43 CDT

THE BEGINNINGS

The world of Darkshom was little more than a pipedream back in 1981 when I was 11 years old. I had run out of reading classes to take. My school created a classroom for about twenty students with a teacher who volunteered for it. He introduced us to writing.
Back then began various incarnations of the main character Black Feather. Her name was Ketira back then--and initially I made attempts at pulp vampire/sci-fi. At 11 years old this just doesn't work so well. After that my mother introduced me to Edgar Cayce. She and I discussed his ideas in comparison to the Bible--what things could have been. Cayce had a theory that there are world gates in various locations on Earth. Supposedly he thought in his dreaming that there is a pyramid that is such a gate in the Bermuda Triangle. Suddenly my vampire story had a different form of space travel that utilized these gates between worlds.
Through various copyrights and frustrations I kept redoing the story over and over. Nothing was really satisfying because, I confess, beyond biology and genetics science is not a major strong point. I can't configure things that don't sound like fuzzy science. Another world grew in the mean time, where dragons flew. Anne McCaffrey's influence set in and suddenly dragons could bond with people. Gods and Goddesses began to appear. A new world was forming--but the soul of the original character, Ketira, turned into a drow from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I role played some. At this time I had not heard of Drizzt. Forgotten Realms was only a role playing landscape. I had been granted my Native American soul name of Black Feather by this point. I'm German, but I did and still wear this name with honor and pride. Since much of my influence was on surface drow in the story, the woman became Black Feather. She started searching for her real identity--which was DriannaSi. Her name means "Sweet Water River" after the Elfquest saying "Shade and Sweet Water to you." Leeta's influence from Elfquest set in.
I nearly burned everything. In 1995 I learned about Drizzt and my idea was no longer original. I was role playing this character and it just made me sick that there was another good drow out there. However, this character was interesting. By this point she had become a goddess who was still mortal and unaware of who she was. Someone compassionate--a drow born with a soul. Friends and my dm--Tezcatlipoca--convinced me not to burn the years of manuscripts I saved. Don't trash the idea.
The world gate--the Darkgate--allowed her to go from world to world. It wasn't under her control.
You may see things change on these documents as I hone the world. My one desire is to break away from Forgotten Realms (tm) and things associated with popular role playing. I want this to become my own creature and creation. You will see that those other references are fading away and have no place here.
The links here show stories of this world and hints of the cultures within. It is a work in progress, and my future hope is to have novels published from this as well as support from Steve Jackson Games as I turn this into a GURPS role play setting. All work is copyrighted to me and my writing partner Troy David Teske. Other contributions are noted on each story. The works are not to be used without written permission from me. The writings here do not reflect any of my religious beliefs. This is a fantasy setting.

THE WORLD OF DARKSHOM

When basic Dungeons and Dragons came out with the Hollow World campaign set I was hooked. The concept fascinated me. They focused a lot on primitive Earth cultures for their modules, but that fit well with Darkshom. So much of the world had beginnings in Egypt--or should i say Egypt had beginnings on Darkshom. (Geesh this sounds like Stargate--I'm sorry). The concept of the world being hollow was another. Imagine one planet where you can explore for eternity almost!!!

THE CREATION MYTH AS TOLD BY THE AUTHOR

At the very beginning, there was the being who was the universe. She was in the end of her life cycle that all beings go through--birth, life, motherhood (or fatherhood), aging, and death. From this end she would be reborn. She shrivelled to a single point smaller than a mote of dust floating in the sunlit windows. All life growing inside of her had fled long ago to her sisters that were growing larger and squeezing her out. She breathed her last breath and all light and time ceased within her.
The Nzame--the being that is all life and death for eternity--held this speck in it's hand. This being was the father of the Sisters who bore all life. He grew sad over her passing and shed a single tear. It fell on to the mote and nearly drowned it in his hand. With a gentle breath he blew the tear away.
None can ever describe the flash of light, force, and power that raged forth from his hand as the speck was once again whole and growing. In an instant the Universe became woman in her father's hand and all life burst forth as she grew. Everything: time, space, suns, planets, gasses, and elements flew out from the great rushing river that was her womb. Life would have a foothold again.
As there are red and white blood cells in our own bodies, thus are the Celestials that roam the universe. Some are good, some vile. Some become gods. One who came into existance to protect and cleanse Mother Universe was Grundal. He fathered his own children as he travelled the growing space that continued to come from Her womb. Those children became our gods in turn to have dominion over us along with their father.
There were two more of the Celestials who became our gods. They were the dragons Syrahn (the Sky-Father) and Aria (the Earth Mother).
Dragons lay or clutch eggs. The clutch can be of one or 2 eggs. They lay them near a grown sun to nurture the eggs and keep them warm. These eggs are like the planets near the star--but they are the only ones that are able to bear life. The eggs are a living being and their own life force nurtures. The eggs grow until the sun becomes a red giant. The change in temperature, magnetism, and chemical reactions cause the life on the surfaces to die--but the inside of the egg to hatch. When a sun becomes a red giant a new Celestial dragon is born.
Christine H. Rietsch

Eclipse Shadow of the Twin Worlds - Recently Updated Pages

Neshad: Butcher of the Desert

Laws of Magic

The Dieties of Magic

by Christine H. Rietsch and Troy D. Teske

Hollow World Geography

copyright July 20th, 2006 Christine H. Rietsch

From "Eclipse: Dance of the Sabres" story copyright 1986, Christine H. Rietsch

Rules of the Eclipse Universe (General information)

Driannasi: Goddess of the Hunt

The Durga--Elves of the Midworld

THE SERPENTS OF THE MOON

Eclipse: Legendary People

The Dragons of Darkshom

THE BEGINNINGS

DEVELOPMENT OF DRAGON SOCIETY

BASIC ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

RECENT TIMES

Eclipse Histories: A Bards Tale

Eclipse Histories: The Fall of Zaladorn

copyright September 26th, 2006 Christine H. Rietsch, Troy D. Teske

Eclipse Histories

Eclipse Shadow of the Twin Worlds Home

THE BEGINNINGS

THE WORLD OF DARKSHOM

THE CREATION MYTH AS TOLD BY THE AUTHOR