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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Devon Mannix" data-source="post: 1313929" data-attributes="member: 15709">Thanks to everyone for the ideas and advice.BlackMoria brought up the subject of the gods and I realized that it might help if I gave a bit of the backstory for this world.I'm going to use the pantheon in the Forgotten Realms rulebook, but those deities won't be quite as powerful in this world as they seem to be in most games.  The gods can't really manipulate anything directly -- they more or less work through mortals by granting them spells, serving as objects of divine inspiration, etc."Above" those deities, you have the Elder Gods.  These guys basically control the primordial forces and the universe in general.  They CAN make things happen or stop happening.Anyway, way back when, the world of Nalur was nothing but a barren rock.  For whatever reason, the Elder Gods decided that they wanted life on the planet, so they put the four crystals on it.  They wanted this to be a "good" planet -- free from strife and war and other Bad Things.It worked for a while.  The people of Nalur lived in peace for many centuries.  The crystals were left out in the open for all to see and no one even thought of using them for evil purposes.That changed when a man named D’agor Shroth appeared.  He was basically evil incarnate.  Bashing in the skulls of little puppies gave him wood.So, he set out to take the crystals and destroy them, thereby wiping out all life in the world.  The Elder Gods, seeing this and knowing that the peaceful folk of Nalur would be powerless to stop him, decided to give the world a hand.  They selected four people and branded each of them with the Mark of the Champion.  This imbued them with great strength and much knowledge in the ways of battle.The four champions rode to meet Shroth and they found him on the mountain that held the Crystal of Earth.  There, he had assembled all four crystals and was moments away from completing his task.There was an epic battle and Shroth was destroyed.  The four champions, fearing that Shroth would one day return, called together the wisest man from every nation in the world and gathered them to decide what should be done with the crystals in order to keep them safe.  This was the first Assembly of Sages.Something happened at the Assembly that the champions did not expect.  The once-peaceful and agreeable sages failed to agree on a resting place for the crystals.  Many of them became enraged and demanded that his nation be the new home.  Only the sage from the small nation of Avos remained peaceful during the Assembly.  It seemed that Shroth's evil had spread and infected the heart of the humans.The champions took up the crystals and fled the Assembly.  The sages then went back to their respective nations and some began raising armies to go in search of the champions and the crystals that they held.  The many armies marched over the face of Nalur and where they met, they did battle.  This became known as the War of the Crystals, Nalur's very first war and it lasted for two decades.Long story short, the Elder Gods were pissed.  Greed and evil had destroyed their precious world.  When the war finally ended and all nations agreed to a cessation, the champions returned and called a second Assembly of Sages.  There, the Elder Gods actually made an appearance and basically said, "screw you guys, we're going home."  The Elder Gods, displeased with the humans for not resisting the temptation of evil, announced that they were abandoning the world of Nalur and would not return until such time as the human race managed to redeemed itself.Also at the Assembly, the champions told the sages that while the armies of men were busy fighting, they were busy erecting (tee-hee) temples designed to both honor hand protect the crystals.  They told that all four of these great temples were built within the peaceful nation of Avos, all in secret locations.  They also proclaimed that even if the temples were found, that only those bearing the Mark of the Champion would be able to enter.Before they left, they also put down one final proclamation.  The four champions promised that if Shroth's evil mug ever came back, that they would return to protect the people of Nalur once again.About two thousand years after that, the FIRST story arc takes place.  The PC's each have a strange, vivid dream in which they do battle with a dark, almost shapeless form.  When they wake from the dream, they find that they bear a strange mark, as if it was just branded onto their skin.  They eventually of course discover that they are the new champions and Shroth is, indeed, about to return.Blah blah blah, fight fight fight, story story story, and they ultimately meet Shroth in battle and one crystal is destroyed.  Cue second story arc.</blockquote>

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