Hewdamia, The History of

[Mourngrymn Dasha'r]

The Jester advised me to put this up in here not knowing if it was appropiate for the Story Hour forum. What follows is a history of the world I am running in my home campaign. It is 100% home brewed with no artificial flavor added. This is just the history, nothing added in of rules, race explanations, or character development. It is written like an excerpt from a history book. So after saying that, enjoy. And I hope it isnt to big of a read.

The History of Hewdamia
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1st Era - Lasted nearly 1200 years
0Aw - 425Aw - The Awakening
425Aw - 426Aw - Year of the Night Fire
455Aw - 648Aw - War of Brothers
650Aw - 1158Aw - 1st Age, The Age of Magic

In the early days of Hewdamia, the first Gods squabbled over the world and took what they could from the each other. The arrival of the newer Gods marked a turning point in the world that would forever change the world and the Gods above. While some of the Gods had been here for eons (Perteum, Gotruis, and Kameakias), new Gods began to arrive and fill the empty voids the older Gods ignored. Twelve new Gods arrived and began fighting to lay claim to the world below. They brought with them new conflicts as well as new concepts. The others that came were Bharat, Caedmon, Dubaku, Gutxi, Horatius, Kasal, Kiamana, Odhran, Ptah, Sethalis, Shehrevar, Xukthalis. Out of all the concepts and ideas brought, no other idea was more important than the mortal soul brought by Kasal.

Bharat came and brought warmth when the brothers could not. Once the mortals below began gaining intelligence, he taught them the concept of fire. With this concept now known to them, they slacked in their worship of the twin Sun Gods. The twin brother Gods did not like this and sought ways to remove him quickly lest he think bigger and want to replace one of the brothers in their duties.

Caedmon had a dark way of looking at the universe. The first chance Caedmon got, he taught the mortals about war. He was instrumental in teaching them the ways of battle and killing early on, much to the displeasure of the other Gods. With the idea of war now in their blood, mortals began waging war on each other for pleasure and power, which had never been done before. When the mortals began warring below, he just sat back and watched in mute pleasure.

Dubaku brought his eleven children with him from places unknown. These eleven children went to the world below and went into hiding, knowing something about what was to come from their father’s warnings. They went into hiding in remote parts of the world and went into a deep hibernation. These eleven children grew into what are the dragons today.

Gutxi saw the souls below her and felt pity on them and created the Ginesh in her own diminutive image. Giving them a cleverness that the other new mortals did not have at such an early state. She did this to give them an advantage over the larger mortals, fearing they would harm her little children. It is thought that she fled the destruction of a world where the mortals destroyed much of what she had held dear.

Horatius came to the world with a purpose. He saw that the Gods that were here before the others had developed a passing of time solely on the thought of day and night, light and dark. But there were no seasons, no reason or rhythm. There was no order to how the world grew, only a chaotic shamble. He changed the climate of the world so the seasons changed and gave the mortals a way to tell the passage of time by the changing of the seasons and the planting of crops.

Kasal was the one to have brought the soul of those mortals that were placed on Hewdamia. It is thought that he came from a world that had died or burned out and found a new place for the souls to continue on. When these souls were placed on the world below, they wandered in agony until Kameakias felt pity and gave them that which they needed, flesh. A few were over looked or even escaped his grasp, but most of the wandering souls were given a home to a new body to begin life on the world. With these new additions added to the world, the Gods had new reasons to battle.

Kiamana saw the untamed oceans below and sought to tame them. He did and by doing so, populated it with wonders from the souls that still wandered or that were missed and over looked by Kameakias. Kiamana also taught mortals about the ocean and how to respect her and sail her, teaching them to navigate by the stars so they would not get lost.

More to follow. . .

 

[Mourngrymn Dasha'r]

Odhran was impressed with some of the other Gods additions to the world. Mainly Kiamana and Horatius. Odhran continued with one step further by creating the different types of vegetation in the world. Filling it with trees, plants, all manor of growth to populate the world and let it grow on its own. With Horatius’s help he taught the mortals how to cultivate these plants to live and grow off them and make them flourish.

Ptah was important, even beyond some of the other Gods. She came when the mortals were still learning to live. She brought them one thing the others had forgotten. She taught them the ability to speak. She taught them language, and while she tried to teach them the value of art. It would not be for many centuries later that they began to appreciate it.

Sethalis arrived and brought pain and suffering. The other Gods looked down on him for his desire for pain, destruction, and power. Even among the Gods he was unusually power hungry. They tried to force him away from the world but his determination halted their progress. He waited until their was a shift in the Gods and when they began warring with one another he stepped away and began his work in private. He looked down on the world at what the other gods had created and laughed. With a wave of his hand he began corrupting that which the Gods had created. Slowly he started creating creatures to populate the world in small numbers at first then growing to take over small islands. The others failed to see this as they were in the process of battling for control. By the time they were finished he had corrupted 1/3 of the worlds population with his abominations.

Shehrevar saw the mortals milling about on the world below and gave them a special gift. He taught them magic when the other Gods were fighting. He taught them his secrets and hide many more throughout the world for them to find when they were ready. This is only legends as no one has ever found this hidden knowledge of magic. The gift of magic brought the mortals into the world with their eyes open. They accomplished so many things with the use of magic they never thought possible.

Xukthalis arrived and was instantly curious of the world below him. He immediately began watching the world and the Gods to gain incite into this new realm for him. He sat still as he watched, never moving from his perch. He circled every day and every night until his body started to harden. He realized his error to late, but by sitting still for so long he had become hard as stone. To this day the mortals below can still see him watching from above as he passes by every night in the guise of the moon.

After the Awakening, the mortals were slowly carving out their claim on the untamed lands and growing as much as they could while above the Gods squabbled, argued and occasionally fought with one another for these new prizes. These souls became the forefathers of the Ginesh, the Gison, and the Derevo; although the Derevo would split multiple times before their Age came and went.

Over 300 years had passed since the arrival and birth of moral men and they were beginning to prosper quickly. They learned early on the benefits of talking to the Gods. They learned the way of magics from the Gods and by other means taught to them. Certain Gods gave boons for talking to them every day. Small sects began to spread through the groups of mortals and began to separate the mortals from one another. They started separating themselves, not by race, but by the Gods that they talked to. During this split of factions, the two God Brothers began to fight more and more over those below them who they claimed meant little to them

Then it happened. The Gods began to war. The skies rumbled and flashed with their might, and the ground below them shook with their rage. That’s when the sky fell on those below. For nearly a year, fire and stone fell from the sky as the two brothers fought their battle in the sky above. The flames and stone ruined homes and crops, it killed cattle and people without mercy. Anyone caught outside during the fire storms were doomed. They were what caused a race to go to war with itself.

Gotruis and Perteum were the more respected of the Gods by the Gison. They were the fire in the sky, they were everlasting and gave life and warmth to the world and battled every day over who would gain the respect of the Gison. This is how the War of Brothers began. It is lost in history on how the war started or who started it first, but that it was over the twin Gods Perteum and Gotruis, and that Gison spilled the blood of their own is apparent and well documented. The date that it all began is documented in some ancient history tablets throughout the different races. Right after the first nights of the Night Fire, the Gison went to war over their Gods. Men killed life long friends because they spoke to a different God. Fathers killed their own children for speaking to the wrong God, and brother ended up killing brother as the war raged on. Powerful forced were unleashed at their fellow Gison. So powerful that the Gods took notice. They saw what they had given to the mortals below, saw what they had given them to use against their own followers. And they felt worry. The war raged on for nearly 300 years with over 50% of the original population of Gison having been killed. In their shame they went to hiding in the mountains, building their new homes under ground in the sanctity of the stone that could not burn. And vowing never to lay a hand in anger on another “brother” again.

While the war between Gison was raging on the plains and mountains, the Ginesh were growing. They were learning everything they could that could benefit them and expand their control over the lands that they claimed as theirs. They saw early on when the fighting between Gison began that they would never physically match up against the other races that populated the world so they went and built walls around their coastal homes and hid from the outside world. They did this and prospered for over 500 years.

More to come. . .