LordVyreth
First Post
Well, my original version of this Story Hour began less than a month ago and thus was eaten whole by the ENWorld crash, so I'll begin it anew. Luckely, nothing new was lost; just some of the campaign data I already gave my players. Because this game, like the Quill campaign I finished a Story Hour for earlier, is based on a homebrewed setting, I wanted to give the readers some basic information about the game before I get started on the actual Story Hour, which I should have the first excerpt of in a day or two. For now, though, I'll start with the basic timeline and history of Mesion, as far as the players understand it, and go from there.
Oh, and if you want to read my earlier Story Hour, which does have some ties with this one, you can find it here.
History of Mesion
Mesion’s Creation
Little is known about the true origins of Mesion. Sages speculate that the world is nothing but the balance between two great opposing forces; forces that may not be good or evil but that nonetheless are wholly incompatible with human life. Clerics tend to speculate that the gods themselves live beyond the boundaries of inhabited Mesion, and they explain that this is why explorers who go beyond the boundaries never return: because beyond the boundaries exist the afterlife.
The Beginning of Life
The sages and clerics, however, agree on the origin of life. The Gods created this world and seeded it with life, as they have done with all the mortal-inhabited planes known as the Primes. However, it was believed that Mesion was special, because of its proximity to the home of the gods or the opposing forces. As a result, the gods hungered for control of this land and fought over it endlessly.
As the gods fought, the people of Mesion suffered. They were caught in the crossfire of the battle and forced into an endless primitive state of want and fear. Finally, peace was reached with the help of unusual servants of the gods. Their names and nature were lost to history and the gods are silent about them, but they are believed to be the primal servants; beings that existed before the celestials and fiends the people of Mesion know all too well.
Their task completed, the primal servants disappeared from Mesion and the planes at large. It is believed that they broke into countless other outsiders, and that these outsiders became the fiends and celestials that serve gods both evil and good today. And with the peace negotiated by the primal servants, the gods organized and strove to make Mesion the world it should be. The gods were split into two pantheons, however. The larger pantheon came from outside Mesion to help its people develop. In addition, a pantheon unique to Mesion developed on its own. This pantheon was known as the Sisters, for it consists of twelve goddesses who claim to be a family.
The Godfield Years
For thousands of years after this point, civilization developed as normal, but in a world as war-torn as Mesion, that wouldn’t last. The Godfield Wars were started as a result of escalating tensions between celestials and fiends that started eons ago. The exact spark of the war is unknown, but all that matters is that it eventually came down to what was supposed to be a final battle between good and evil, with the winner deciding the fate of all the planes.
Once the final battle started, nothing could stop it for centuries, save for a mysterious truce that lasted a few years and that seemed to have no explanation. Once again, mortals were forces to hide and survive the crossfire as best they could. In the meantime, other changes to the world began. Unlike the earlier wars between Order and Disorder, the good and evil forces saw value in the mortals, even as they were endangering their lives. Both found allies among the people, and both also worked to create new mortal warriors to serve in the battle. Oddly enough, the new creations were largely skewed not between good and evil, but between law and chaos. The archons and devils created the first warforged to serve as tireless symbols of defense and order. Meanwhile, the eladrins and demons created their own chaotic warriors known as shifters out of the world’s increasingly large lycanthrope population. All sides relied on the recently created changelings, who by and large willingly worked for any side as spies, scouts, and often assassins. Finally, as the war raged on, actions by the humans and other mortals created the kalashtar and the inspired.
One unusual and disturbing trend developed as the war continued, and as the creation of the new mortal races suggests. Before, lawful and chaotic good outsiders worked together to oppose evil, and even lawful and chaotic fiends did the same. As the war progressed, however, these alliances weakened, and soon they broke off altogether. Direct warfare between lawful and chaotic forces of the same moral alignment never occurred, but there were even some indications that forces of the same law/chaos beliefs would even form brief allegiance despite being technically opposed on the good/evil access. For example, while many assume that archons and devils independently researched the warforged, some believe that they actually worked together to make these living weapons! It’s unknown how this would have affected the war, had it continued.
However, one day, it just ended. Almost all the celestials and fiends stopped their fighting and rose, as one, to escape the world. There were a few stragglers who resumed fighting, others who were magically trapped or prevented from fighting, and a surprising number of deserters who tired of the conflict of the gods and decided to remain behind to live new lives, but for the most part, the war was over. The outsiders and even the gods refuse to speak about why the war ended, however. The gods won’t answer the clerics when they ask the question, captured outsiders won’t speak on the subject even on threat of death, and even summoned and magically compelled outsiders will claim they don’t know the real reason for the war’s ending. This sudden end of the war and the relative peace afterwards is known as the Bladestill.
Aftermath of the War and Bladestill
With the war over, society began to recover yet again from years of violence. There were quite a few major situations that had to be dealt with almost immediately after the war ended, starting with the nearly complete collapse of all former empires. Oddly enough, that problem was partially solved, albeit violently, by another one. Much like the war between Order and Disorder, the Godfield war had a palpable effect on the land itself. It didn’t render whole continents uninhabitably aligned, but many areas were permanently warped to resemble the alignment of the outsiders that inhabited it. Fortunately, only areas that were inhabited by a single alignment of outsider for sufficiently long periods of times, usually over a century, were affected, so usually only the capitals and most important strongholds of each faction. However, there were enough areas of this nature to encourage settlement by appropriately aligned societies. Fledgling empires eager sought the most lawfully aligned regions, the most terrible of monsters congregated in the most evilly aligned realms, and so on. As expected, there was often brutal fighting for the most ideal of locations despite the war fatigue the people felt, but in the end, a number of stable societies developed fairly quickly due to the supernaturally good environments.
Another notable change came from inter-species relationships. Following the end of the Godfield War, the “civilized” races were largely divided into three groups; the old races, the new races, and the lost races. The old races included humans, elves, dwarves, halfling, gnomes, half-orcs, and to a lesser degree the more primitive humanoids like orcs, goblins, kobolds, lizardfolk, and such. These races existed since the Gods first seeded the world with life. After the Godfield wars, they lost some control over the world to the newer races, but by and large they remain in power. The old races still harbor some suspicions and hostility between each other, but overall they get along better than these races normally do in other fantasy realms.
The “new” races include the warforged, shifter, changelings, kalashtar, and inspired. In other words, it includes all the races apparently created as a result of or during the Godfield War. In general, the new races are treated with suspicion, with open discrimination common in some places. In fact, some societies haven’t even recognized the basic rights of the new races and even condone their slavery. The “lost” races were re-discovered during the Godfield War, but each one apparently has a history that stretches back thousands of years. As far as sages can determine, these races were as old as the “old” races, but all of them fled from ordinary civilization early in Mesion’s history. In addition, all the lost races had one common feature; they all practiced the mysterious power known as psionics. However, despite the general fear of psionics, there were many students of all races with a natural talent for the mysterious power, and the spread of the power made the lost races slightly more accepted than the new races. They still face discrimination in some circles, but they also haven’t faced the outright slavery, oppression, and accusations of treason that the new races often have.
Finally, one of the most important issues in the aftermath of the war is what to do with the remaining outsiders. A vast majority of the outsiders who refused to leave or were abandoned continue to act in or near their base alignment despite no longer having allegiances with their old divine organizations. Many celestials now serve as aids to good kingdoms, for example, and demons and devils have begun to congregate in evil-tainted lands, in the world’s underground tunnels, and other places to continue their villainy. These actions are not universal, however. Some celestials were so shocked by the level of violence in the Godfield War that they went mad or simply gave up on their ideals. Similarly, there are fiends who managed to be disgusted by the war despite their inherent mindset or who developed a kind of “madness” called morality. The rights of outsiders continue to be a major issue of debate, with some kingdoms banning all evil-based outsiders or even all outsiders entirely, others are judging them on a case by case basis, and others are starting far more elaborate tactics.
Timeline
Approximately tens of thousands of years BPO (Before Primal Outsiders): Speculated creation of Mesion is believed to occur at this point, assuming it isn’t truly eternal.
Approximately twenty thousand of years BPO: The Gods sow Mesion with life, but they get jealous of each other and begin to fight.
0: The Primal Outsiders are created to finally end the battles of the gods.
Approximately 300 APO: Based on the best research, the xeph and elans respectively leave Mesion proper for its cliffs and hid inside society itself around this time.
410 APO: After centuries of battle, the Primal Outsiders unite the gods and begin to purge the world of Mesion of the many mistakes and weapons left on Mesion.
430 APO: The war of the gods finally officially ends with the last trace of their destruction removed from Mesion.
440 APO: Their task complete, the Primal Outsiders bid the world goodbye and leave Mesion, perhaps forever. Some believe that just as they helped create the celestials and fiends that would later become the primary servants of the gods, the Primals finally broke down into the same substance, becoming the more advanced outsiders completely.
Approximately 450 APO: The dromites and maenads, perhaps troubled by the united society of Mesion or sensing the trouble of the Godfield War to come, isolate themselves from the rest of Mesion.
455 APO: The night sky is lit up with what is often called the Star of the Primals. Many celestials and fiends are known to have witnessed it, which seemingly is a tribute to their creators, for they met on that night at peace with their enemies and left Mesion again without incident.
459 APO: Grandithin’s Glory, the first nation to formally establish itself after the wars, reaches empire status.
463 APO: The Church of the God’s Voice, a sect dedicated equally to the Sisters and the Primal Outsiders first appears.
481 APO: The first churches of the Core Gods (often referred to as the Alien Gods by the followers of the Sisters and the Universal Gods by their own followers,) start to gain recognition.
690 APO: Palous, a theocracy dedicated to Pelor, becomes the first nation to challenge Grandithin’s Glory in terms of power and organization.
813 APO: Demons are sighted in or near Palous, making this the first seemingly self-willed case of demonic incursion (as opposed to ones merely summoned or otherwise utilized by the usual villains.)
825 APO: Negotiations as a result of the demon event over a decade earlier break down, leading Palous to declare war on several other nations, including an evil but lawful dictatorship run by worshippers of Bas known as Cylnexus (often simply known as the Bastion.)
830 APO: The Palous/Bastion war pours over into other nations and becomes an all-out holy war. Palous even blames Grandithin’s Glory for their lack of support, turning it into a battle between the Sister and the Core God worshippers.
1073 APO: The hot/cold war started by Palous finally ends with the destruction of the Bastion and the surprise merging of Grandithin’s Glory and Palous, who were both devastated by the long-term war. The combined nation is renamed Solar Devotion, and it becomes one of the first examples of cooperation between the two pantheons.
1211 APO: Celina Braye is formed out of multiple smaller elven communities gathered by powerful elven heroes. The nation becomes the first nation not controlled by humans and competes with human nations.
1376 APO: The first dragon exodus off the plane begins as a result of dragons of multiple alignments and colors simultaneously discovering something about the future. These flights repeat periodically for almost a thousand years, leading to the comparative rarity of Mesion dragons.
1512 APO: The second major holy war between the pantheons begins. This one takes place between evil forces, however. Bas worshippers leading evil members of other Sister sects launch a full-on attack on Hextor, leading to desperate alliances between them and other evil gods like Nerull and Lolth. As both sides become increasingly reliant on evil outsiders, a miniature Blood War seemingly begins.
1700 APO: The second holy war ends when Solar Devotion, who initially tried to stay out of the war but found itself caught in the crossfire for decades, finishes a magic ritual to summon an army of celestials and destroy both sides. Casualties on all sides were high, and Solar Devotion is largely ruined after the battle, reducing it to a satellite nation of more powerful empires. It is believed that the tensions and bad blood of this battle leads eventually to the motivations for the Godfield War.
1755 APO: A band of adventurers whose names are lost to history discover a massive dungeon complex that would later be known as the Gate of Madness. It becomes a focal point for explorers and risk-takers for centuries to come.
1811 APO: Stahl Modred is founded by idealists who work to undo the hatred as a result of the second holy war. Its peace, optimism, and tolerance help it absorb various smaller nations to become a new empire
2254 APO: Following a period of relative peace, events building to the Godfield War begin. A number of religious orders start the concerns with a number of predictions of an upcoming apocalypse. Many religions begin a push for militant reform as a result.
2281 APO: Fearing the events of the upcoming prophecised battles, Solar Devotion, which gained some power again over the years but mostly was known for its powerful religious artifacts and clerics, again perform the ritual of celestial summons. Armies of celestials destroy a number of evil organizations and drive churches dedicated to Bas and other evil gods out of their civilizations.
2302 APO: Dubbed the Retributive Cleansing, evil organizations join to summon an army of fiends that strike at the very heart of Solar Devotion. Many of its most powerful political leaders and clerics are assassinated, and their holy sites are defiled, preventing a third mass summoning of celestials.
2340 APO: A number of prominent adventurers and politicians are assassinated on the same day. All are killed in private, but common evidence points to evil outsiders. The deaths are highly debated, with some believing that the members belonged to some sort of conspiracy or secret society, as there are no other apparent links between them.
2350 APO: A second group of prominent adventurers and politicians suffer a similar series of assassinations, but these are far more public. In additions, the killers are both fiends and celestials, and they don’t always attack targets their alignment would suggest. Some of the killers claim they were forced to kill their targets through mind control, but the wave of violence that results from the assassinations silences all of them before the truth can be completely known.
2370 APO: Solar Devotion declares war on multiple evil nations at once, citing holy texts and the previous assassinations as justification.
2400 APO: Following decades of brutal conflict, Solar Devotion nearly manages to conquer several of their target nations, only to be suddenly attacked by a second wave of fiendish summons, suggesting secret alliances between evil forces. The summoned fiends turn the tide of war, as do a number of nations that ally against Solar Devotion. Some of these nations follow evil forces, but others are only interested in their survival and believe that Solar Devotion became megalomaniacal in its expansion.
2425 APO: Solar Devotion’s capital is invaded, and the ruin of the nation appeared imminent. In desperation, the city’s remaining leaders and clerics plead with their gods and celestials for assistance. They lack the power of faith to summon celestial aid of a sufficient power themselves but cite the previous apocalyptic prophecies and insist that the normal rules for divine non-interference no longer apply. The gods reluctantly decide they may have a point and unleash their own celestial armies upon Mesion. The survivors of Solar Devotion flee the country to form a new nation.
2427 APO: Though Solar Devotion was destroyed, its allies are bolstered by the celestial armies, turning the tide of the war. The Godfield War officially begins, however, now that the evil gods and demon/devil lords are free to send their own armies to Mesion due to the gods’ actions at Solar Devotion.
2430 APO: The tide of the war again changes when Stahl Modred pulls out of the celestial alliance, beginning its long slide into moral ambiguity and oppression. They justify it by pointing out the rising number of fiendish armies and their proximity to Solar Devotion and thus to the main borders of the war.
2480 APO: The survivors of Solar Devotion enter a new settlement in a celestial stronghold. They ally unconditionally with their saviors. In time, this new settlement would be renamed Zoridel.
2504 APO: The first of the “lost” races, the maenads, are discovered following a major coastal battle.
2519 APO: The elans, the only other “lost” race discovered during the actual Godfield War, reveal themselves after several of their leaders choose to use their powers to defend their homes.
2588 APO: Celina Braye is destroyed in one of the major turning points of the Godfield War. The city remains a flooded ruined filled with undead, and the elves largely flee to Shi Nella or to the wilderness
2602 APO: The first warforgeds appear in battle. Only a few months later, the shifters first are utilized by the chaotic armies of good and evil.
2611 APO: Changelings are first employed by both sides.
2659 APO: Primal Mountain, long considered a major target for all sides of the Godfield War, is instead conquered by pilgrims who are turned into the inspired. The kalashtar meanwhile return to the rest of Mesion to begin spreading the word of their powers.
2681 APO: A particularly brutal aerial battle creates the Splintered Peaks, which later becomes a haven for undead and fiends.
2690 APO: Mennotmoritar, a solar general and previously one of the most important soldiers for the celestial armies, openly deserts his armies following what he claimed was a revelation. He gathers armies of celestials, fiends, and mortals alike and encourages all of them to throw down their arms. He proposes that this war had gone on long enough and that all sides participate in a massive peace summit he calls the Bladestill. He is killed, however, before he could finish his plans, but his message resonates throughout Mesion, leading many to believe this is what ultimate ends the war.
2704 APO: The first Polythropes seen in centuries are recorded.
2712 APO: This year is known as the Year of the Bladestill. Suddenly, and without any real warning, all the fiends and celestials end the war and flee Mesion, leaving just the stragglers, the deserters, the imprisoned, and those conjured to Mesion via magic behind. To this day, no one on Mesion has any real idea what ended the war, but the end of the Godfield War was enough to make most people happy.
2713 APO: With the Godfield War over, the struggle for power began. Zoridel officially becomes a city-state, the Fra Danes began their raids on abandoned military camps, and the xeph officially reveal themselves to the world. Ulrich Bludwright builds the devil city Ulgurtha.
2714 APO: Enterprising gnomes form the Coin Counters Guild, which becomes a major economic and political force.
2719 APO: The Fra Danes, now an extremely wealthy organization, establishes itself as a city on top of the ruins of Solar Devotion.
2721 APO: The dromites, the last of the “lost” races, establishes itself as a recognized race on Mesion.
2722 APO: Xurim begins an expedition into the Gate of Madness.
2723 APO: Orr Kalen, having fought off dozens of rival forces, finally forms a peaceful, if brutal and totalitarian, nation on evil-tainted land.
2725 APO: After what happened in Orr Kalen and Ulgurtha, various good factions form the Grim Ward to prevent the last evil-tainted land from becoming an established nation.
2728 APO: Xurim, long believed to be dead, returns more powerful than ever. He uses his magic to create a new nation known as Lirawonowaril, which he rules unconditionally. Meanwhile, his information first gives the Gate of Madness its current name. Even though his reports were first considered the ravings of a madman, later adventurers (who mostly avoided the dungeon during the Godfield War,) discover that many of the nightmares he reported on are real.
2731 APO: Concerned with Xurim’s rule and the abuses he may be starting using magic, a number of powerful but moral wizards found The Toridanir Arcanum, a magocracy dedicated to using magic to improve society.
2734 APO: Durrackrej is formed to be a civilized, or at least semi-stable, alternative for orcs and other primitive humanoids.
2737 APO: After numerous failed attempts to found a stable nation, a jointly run society is established in what becomes known as the Arcadia/Elysia Crossroad.
2738 APO: Two cities are formed this year. Fearing further discrimination, the warforged found Altectonis-1. About the same time, the extremely wealthy dwarves and gnomes of the Coin Counters Guild create Darfal-Zezzin.
2742 APO: Modern day. The campaign begins here.
Oh, and if you want to read my earlier Story Hour, which does have some ties with this one, you can find it here.
History of Mesion
Mesion’s Creation
Little is known about the true origins of Mesion. Sages speculate that the world is nothing but the balance between two great opposing forces; forces that may not be good or evil but that nonetheless are wholly incompatible with human life. Clerics tend to speculate that the gods themselves live beyond the boundaries of inhabited Mesion, and they explain that this is why explorers who go beyond the boundaries never return: because beyond the boundaries exist the afterlife.
The Beginning of Life
The sages and clerics, however, agree on the origin of life. The Gods created this world and seeded it with life, as they have done with all the mortal-inhabited planes known as the Primes. However, it was believed that Mesion was special, because of its proximity to the home of the gods or the opposing forces. As a result, the gods hungered for control of this land and fought over it endlessly.
As the gods fought, the people of Mesion suffered. They were caught in the crossfire of the battle and forced into an endless primitive state of want and fear. Finally, peace was reached with the help of unusual servants of the gods. Their names and nature were lost to history and the gods are silent about them, but they are believed to be the primal servants; beings that existed before the celestials and fiends the people of Mesion know all too well.
Their task completed, the primal servants disappeared from Mesion and the planes at large. It is believed that they broke into countless other outsiders, and that these outsiders became the fiends and celestials that serve gods both evil and good today. And with the peace negotiated by the primal servants, the gods organized and strove to make Mesion the world it should be. The gods were split into two pantheons, however. The larger pantheon came from outside Mesion to help its people develop. In addition, a pantheon unique to Mesion developed on its own. This pantheon was known as the Sisters, for it consists of twelve goddesses who claim to be a family.
The Godfield Years
For thousands of years after this point, civilization developed as normal, but in a world as war-torn as Mesion, that wouldn’t last. The Godfield Wars were started as a result of escalating tensions between celestials and fiends that started eons ago. The exact spark of the war is unknown, but all that matters is that it eventually came down to what was supposed to be a final battle between good and evil, with the winner deciding the fate of all the planes.
Once the final battle started, nothing could stop it for centuries, save for a mysterious truce that lasted a few years and that seemed to have no explanation. Once again, mortals were forces to hide and survive the crossfire as best they could. In the meantime, other changes to the world began. Unlike the earlier wars between Order and Disorder, the good and evil forces saw value in the mortals, even as they were endangering their lives. Both found allies among the people, and both also worked to create new mortal warriors to serve in the battle. Oddly enough, the new creations were largely skewed not between good and evil, but between law and chaos. The archons and devils created the first warforged to serve as tireless symbols of defense and order. Meanwhile, the eladrins and demons created their own chaotic warriors known as shifters out of the world’s increasingly large lycanthrope population. All sides relied on the recently created changelings, who by and large willingly worked for any side as spies, scouts, and often assassins. Finally, as the war raged on, actions by the humans and other mortals created the kalashtar and the inspired.
One unusual and disturbing trend developed as the war continued, and as the creation of the new mortal races suggests. Before, lawful and chaotic good outsiders worked together to oppose evil, and even lawful and chaotic fiends did the same. As the war progressed, however, these alliances weakened, and soon they broke off altogether. Direct warfare between lawful and chaotic forces of the same moral alignment never occurred, but there were even some indications that forces of the same law/chaos beliefs would even form brief allegiance despite being technically opposed on the good/evil access. For example, while many assume that archons and devils independently researched the warforged, some believe that they actually worked together to make these living weapons! It’s unknown how this would have affected the war, had it continued.
However, one day, it just ended. Almost all the celestials and fiends stopped their fighting and rose, as one, to escape the world. There were a few stragglers who resumed fighting, others who were magically trapped or prevented from fighting, and a surprising number of deserters who tired of the conflict of the gods and decided to remain behind to live new lives, but for the most part, the war was over. The outsiders and even the gods refuse to speak about why the war ended, however. The gods won’t answer the clerics when they ask the question, captured outsiders won’t speak on the subject even on threat of death, and even summoned and magically compelled outsiders will claim they don’t know the real reason for the war’s ending. This sudden end of the war and the relative peace afterwards is known as the Bladestill.
Aftermath of the War and Bladestill
With the war over, society began to recover yet again from years of violence. There were quite a few major situations that had to be dealt with almost immediately after the war ended, starting with the nearly complete collapse of all former empires. Oddly enough, that problem was partially solved, albeit violently, by another one. Much like the war between Order and Disorder, the Godfield war had a palpable effect on the land itself. It didn’t render whole continents uninhabitably aligned, but many areas were permanently warped to resemble the alignment of the outsiders that inhabited it. Fortunately, only areas that were inhabited by a single alignment of outsider for sufficiently long periods of times, usually over a century, were affected, so usually only the capitals and most important strongholds of each faction. However, there were enough areas of this nature to encourage settlement by appropriately aligned societies. Fledgling empires eager sought the most lawfully aligned regions, the most terrible of monsters congregated in the most evilly aligned realms, and so on. As expected, there was often brutal fighting for the most ideal of locations despite the war fatigue the people felt, but in the end, a number of stable societies developed fairly quickly due to the supernaturally good environments.
Another notable change came from inter-species relationships. Following the end of the Godfield War, the “civilized” races were largely divided into three groups; the old races, the new races, and the lost races. The old races included humans, elves, dwarves, halfling, gnomes, half-orcs, and to a lesser degree the more primitive humanoids like orcs, goblins, kobolds, lizardfolk, and such. These races existed since the Gods first seeded the world with life. After the Godfield wars, they lost some control over the world to the newer races, but by and large they remain in power. The old races still harbor some suspicions and hostility between each other, but overall they get along better than these races normally do in other fantasy realms.
The “new” races include the warforged, shifter, changelings, kalashtar, and inspired. In other words, it includes all the races apparently created as a result of or during the Godfield War. In general, the new races are treated with suspicion, with open discrimination common in some places. In fact, some societies haven’t even recognized the basic rights of the new races and even condone their slavery. The “lost” races were re-discovered during the Godfield War, but each one apparently has a history that stretches back thousands of years. As far as sages can determine, these races were as old as the “old” races, but all of them fled from ordinary civilization early in Mesion’s history. In addition, all the lost races had one common feature; they all practiced the mysterious power known as psionics. However, despite the general fear of psionics, there were many students of all races with a natural talent for the mysterious power, and the spread of the power made the lost races slightly more accepted than the new races. They still face discrimination in some circles, but they also haven’t faced the outright slavery, oppression, and accusations of treason that the new races often have.
Finally, one of the most important issues in the aftermath of the war is what to do with the remaining outsiders. A vast majority of the outsiders who refused to leave or were abandoned continue to act in or near their base alignment despite no longer having allegiances with their old divine organizations. Many celestials now serve as aids to good kingdoms, for example, and demons and devils have begun to congregate in evil-tainted lands, in the world’s underground tunnels, and other places to continue their villainy. These actions are not universal, however. Some celestials were so shocked by the level of violence in the Godfield War that they went mad or simply gave up on their ideals. Similarly, there are fiends who managed to be disgusted by the war despite their inherent mindset or who developed a kind of “madness” called morality. The rights of outsiders continue to be a major issue of debate, with some kingdoms banning all evil-based outsiders or even all outsiders entirely, others are judging them on a case by case basis, and others are starting far more elaborate tactics.
Timeline
Approximately tens of thousands of years BPO (Before Primal Outsiders): Speculated creation of Mesion is believed to occur at this point, assuming it isn’t truly eternal.
Approximately twenty thousand of years BPO: The Gods sow Mesion with life, but they get jealous of each other and begin to fight.
0: The Primal Outsiders are created to finally end the battles of the gods.
Approximately 300 APO: Based on the best research, the xeph and elans respectively leave Mesion proper for its cliffs and hid inside society itself around this time.
410 APO: After centuries of battle, the Primal Outsiders unite the gods and begin to purge the world of Mesion of the many mistakes and weapons left on Mesion.
430 APO: The war of the gods finally officially ends with the last trace of their destruction removed from Mesion.
440 APO: Their task complete, the Primal Outsiders bid the world goodbye and leave Mesion, perhaps forever. Some believe that just as they helped create the celestials and fiends that would later become the primary servants of the gods, the Primals finally broke down into the same substance, becoming the more advanced outsiders completely.
Approximately 450 APO: The dromites and maenads, perhaps troubled by the united society of Mesion or sensing the trouble of the Godfield War to come, isolate themselves from the rest of Mesion.
455 APO: The night sky is lit up with what is often called the Star of the Primals. Many celestials and fiends are known to have witnessed it, which seemingly is a tribute to their creators, for they met on that night at peace with their enemies and left Mesion again without incident.
459 APO: Grandithin’s Glory, the first nation to formally establish itself after the wars, reaches empire status.
463 APO: The Church of the God’s Voice, a sect dedicated equally to the Sisters and the Primal Outsiders first appears.
481 APO: The first churches of the Core Gods (often referred to as the Alien Gods by the followers of the Sisters and the Universal Gods by their own followers,) start to gain recognition.
690 APO: Palous, a theocracy dedicated to Pelor, becomes the first nation to challenge Grandithin’s Glory in terms of power and organization.
813 APO: Demons are sighted in or near Palous, making this the first seemingly self-willed case of demonic incursion (as opposed to ones merely summoned or otherwise utilized by the usual villains.)
825 APO: Negotiations as a result of the demon event over a decade earlier break down, leading Palous to declare war on several other nations, including an evil but lawful dictatorship run by worshippers of Bas known as Cylnexus (often simply known as the Bastion.)
830 APO: The Palous/Bastion war pours over into other nations and becomes an all-out holy war. Palous even blames Grandithin’s Glory for their lack of support, turning it into a battle between the Sister and the Core God worshippers.
1073 APO: The hot/cold war started by Palous finally ends with the destruction of the Bastion and the surprise merging of Grandithin’s Glory and Palous, who were both devastated by the long-term war. The combined nation is renamed Solar Devotion, and it becomes one of the first examples of cooperation between the two pantheons.
1211 APO: Celina Braye is formed out of multiple smaller elven communities gathered by powerful elven heroes. The nation becomes the first nation not controlled by humans and competes with human nations.
1376 APO: The first dragon exodus off the plane begins as a result of dragons of multiple alignments and colors simultaneously discovering something about the future. These flights repeat periodically for almost a thousand years, leading to the comparative rarity of Mesion dragons.
1512 APO: The second major holy war between the pantheons begins. This one takes place between evil forces, however. Bas worshippers leading evil members of other Sister sects launch a full-on attack on Hextor, leading to desperate alliances between them and other evil gods like Nerull and Lolth. As both sides become increasingly reliant on evil outsiders, a miniature Blood War seemingly begins.
1700 APO: The second holy war ends when Solar Devotion, who initially tried to stay out of the war but found itself caught in the crossfire for decades, finishes a magic ritual to summon an army of celestials and destroy both sides. Casualties on all sides were high, and Solar Devotion is largely ruined after the battle, reducing it to a satellite nation of more powerful empires. It is believed that the tensions and bad blood of this battle leads eventually to the motivations for the Godfield War.
1755 APO: A band of adventurers whose names are lost to history discover a massive dungeon complex that would later be known as the Gate of Madness. It becomes a focal point for explorers and risk-takers for centuries to come.
1811 APO: Stahl Modred is founded by idealists who work to undo the hatred as a result of the second holy war. Its peace, optimism, and tolerance help it absorb various smaller nations to become a new empire
2254 APO: Following a period of relative peace, events building to the Godfield War begin. A number of religious orders start the concerns with a number of predictions of an upcoming apocalypse. Many religions begin a push for militant reform as a result.
2281 APO: Fearing the events of the upcoming prophecised battles, Solar Devotion, which gained some power again over the years but mostly was known for its powerful religious artifacts and clerics, again perform the ritual of celestial summons. Armies of celestials destroy a number of evil organizations and drive churches dedicated to Bas and other evil gods out of their civilizations.
2302 APO: Dubbed the Retributive Cleansing, evil organizations join to summon an army of fiends that strike at the very heart of Solar Devotion. Many of its most powerful political leaders and clerics are assassinated, and their holy sites are defiled, preventing a third mass summoning of celestials.
2340 APO: A number of prominent adventurers and politicians are assassinated on the same day. All are killed in private, but common evidence points to evil outsiders. The deaths are highly debated, with some believing that the members belonged to some sort of conspiracy or secret society, as there are no other apparent links between them.
2350 APO: A second group of prominent adventurers and politicians suffer a similar series of assassinations, but these are far more public. In additions, the killers are both fiends and celestials, and they don’t always attack targets their alignment would suggest. Some of the killers claim they were forced to kill their targets through mind control, but the wave of violence that results from the assassinations silences all of them before the truth can be completely known.
2370 APO: Solar Devotion declares war on multiple evil nations at once, citing holy texts and the previous assassinations as justification.
2400 APO: Following decades of brutal conflict, Solar Devotion nearly manages to conquer several of their target nations, only to be suddenly attacked by a second wave of fiendish summons, suggesting secret alliances between evil forces. The summoned fiends turn the tide of war, as do a number of nations that ally against Solar Devotion. Some of these nations follow evil forces, but others are only interested in their survival and believe that Solar Devotion became megalomaniacal in its expansion.
2425 APO: Solar Devotion’s capital is invaded, and the ruin of the nation appeared imminent. In desperation, the city’s remaining leaders and clerics plead with their gods and celestials for assistance. They lack the power of faith to summon celestial aid of a sufficient power themselves but cite the previous apocalyptic prophecies and insist that the normal rules for divine non-interference no longer apply. The gods reluctantly decide they may have a point and unleash their own celestial armies upon Mesion. The survivors of Solar Devotion flee the country to form a new nation.
2427 APO: Though Solar Devotion was destroyed, its allies are bolstered by the celestial armies, turning the tide of the war. The Godfield War officially begins, however, now that the evil gods and demon/devil lords are free to send their own armies to Mesion due to the gods’ actions at Solar Devotion.
2430 APO: The tide of the war again changes when Stahl Modred pulls out of the celestial alliance, beginning its long slide into moral ambiguity and oppression. They justify it by pointing out the rising number of fiendish armies and their proximity to Solar Devotion and thus to the main borders of the war.
2480 APO: The survivors of Solar Devotion enter a new settlement in a celestial stronghold. They ally unconditionally with their saviors. In time, this new settlement would be renamed Zoridel.
2504 APO: The first of the “lost” races, the maenads, are discovered following a major coastal battle.
2519 APO: The elans, the only other “lost” race discovered during the actual Godfield War, reveal themselves after several of their leaders choose to use their powers to defend their homes.
2588 APO: Celina Braye is destroyed in one of the major turning points of the Godfield War. The city remains a flooded ruined filled with undead, and the elves largely flee to Shi Nella or to the wilderness
2602 APO: The first warforgeds appear in battle. Only a few months later, the shifters first are utilized by the chaotic armies of good and evil.
2611 APO: Changelings are first employed by both sides.
2659 APO: Primal Mountain, long considered a major target for all sides of the Godfield War, is instead conquered by pilgrims who are turned into the inspired. The kalashtar meanwhile return to the rest of Mesion to begin spreading the word of their powers.
2681 APO: A particularly brutal aerial battle creates the Splintered Peaks, which later becomes a haven for undead and fiends.
2690 APO: Mennotmoritar, a solar general and previously one of the most important soldiers for the celestial armies, openly deserts his armies following what he claimed was a revelation. He gathers armies of celestials, fiends, and mortals alike and encourages all of them to throw down their arms. He proposes that this war had gone on long enough and that all sides participate in a massive peace summit he calls the Bladestill. He is killed, however, before he could finish his plans, but his message resonates throughout Mesion, leading many to believe this is what ultimate ends the war.
2704 APO: The first Polythropes seen in centuries are recorded.
2712 APO: This year is known as the Year of the Bladestill. Suddenly, and without any real warning, all the fiends and celestials end the war and flee Mesion, leaving just the stragglers, the deserters, the imprisoned, and those conjured to Mesion via magic behind. To this day, no one on Mesion has any real idea what ended the war, but the end of the Godfield War was enough to make most people happy.
2713 APO: With the Godfield War over, the struggle for power began. Zoridel officially becomes a city-state, the Fra Danes began their raids on abandoned military camps, and the xeph officially reveal themselves to the world. Ulrich Bludwright builds the devil city Ulgurtha.
2714 APO: Enterprising gnomes form the Coin Counters Guild, which becomes a major economic and political force.
2719 APO: The Fra Danes, now an extremely wealthy organization, establishes itself as a city on top of the ruins of Solar Devotion.
2721 APO: The dromites, the last of the “lost” races, establishes itself as a recognized race on Mesion.
2722 APO: Xurim begins an expedition into the Gate of Madness.
2723 APO: Orr Kalen, having fought off dozens of rival forces, finally forms a peaceful, if brutal and totalitarian, nation on evil-tainted land.
2725 APO: After what happened in Orr Kalen and Ulgurtha, various good factions form the Grim Ward to prevent the last evil-tainted land from becoming an established nation.
2728 APO: Xurim, long believed to be dead, returns more powerful than ever. He uses his magic to create a new nation known as Lirawonowaril, which he rules unconditionally. Meanwhile, his information first gives the Gate of Madness its current name. Even though his reports were first considered the ravings of a madman, later adventurers (who mostly avoided the dungeon during the Godfield War,) discover that many of the nightmares he reported on are real.
2731 APO: Concerned with Xurim’s rule and the abuses he may be starting using magic, a number of powerful but moral wizards found The Toridanir Arcanum, a magocracy dedicated to using magic to improve society.
2734 APO: Durrackrej is formed to be a civilized, or at least semi-stable, alternative for orcs and other primitive humanoids.
2737 APO: After numerous failed attempts to found a stable nation, a jointly run society is established in what becomes known as the Arcadia/Elysia Crossroad.
2738 APO: Two cities are formed this year. Fearing further discrimination, the warforged found Altectonis-1. About the same time, the extremely wealthy dwarves and gnomes of the Coin Counters Guild create Darfal-Zezzin.
2742 APO: Modern day. The campaign begins here.
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