The Three Kingdoms - Background

Thekbar and the Ignathans

Legend has it the geographical area known as The Three Kingdoms is tied together by ages old lore. In ancient times, long before the Shattering, the kingdom of Thekbar spread across all of the land that is now the Three Kingdoms. Their relationships with the other ancient nations, The Empire of Suepen and the Elven Empire were peaceful. The realm of Thekbar was threatened only by the race known as the Ignathans.

The Ignathans were a humanoid race who worshipped the Dragons of the Glitterpeak Mountains. A violent and chaotic race, the Ignathans always sought conquest and war. The Ignathans were held at bay by the ruler of Thekbar for centuries.

The Royal line of Thekbar had a magical gift tied to a distant draconic bloodline in their ancestry. This gift allowed them to intimidate and sway the minds of Ignathans and Dragon kind. The power did not show itself until a royal child’s coming of age; their sixteenth birthday. For many years, this gift held the Ignathan hordes at bay and slowly over generations the gift was forgotten.

Forgotten until, one fateful day, it came to pass that the King and Queen of Thekbar died in a terrible accident leaving their only daughter, a young girl of thirteen years. Iliani was well supported by advisors and counselors as she took on her role as leader. However, as months passed the Ignathans found that they could encroach further into Thekbar. Soon, their raids turned into full blown invasion. Thekbar struggled to hold back the horde and called upon their neighbor, the Empire of Suepen and the Elves, for help.

Suepen did not help them, but built up their own naval defenses in preparation for the Ignathans reaching the coast. Thekbar and the Ignathans fought for two years. During that time, scholars on both sides sought to discover what had changed to allow the war. They both soon learned that Iliani was the key to long term victory. The Ignathans had the advantage and Thekbar had been brought to its knees. Iliani’s gifts were already starting to come into fruition and she spent much of her waking time in hiding, sketching places and maps that she had never seen before that held unknown secrets of the Dragons.

The Ignathans used all of their means to kill Iliani before she could come of age. The sorcerers of Thekbar were tenacious. They set a trap for the Ignathan army, drawing them in and around the city of Thekbar using news of Iliani as bait. When the army arrived, a series of magical traps devastated the Ignathans.

The last few Ignathans hunted for Iliani’s true location. They found her just in time to see her being sent through an ancient magical portal that the sorcerers had changed to push her somewhere beyond her enemies knowledge and hopefully to safety. The sorcerers were slaughtered, but Iliani was safe.

In the meantime, the Suepenese had displeased their Goddess Novrius because they had dishonorably chosen not to help. Novrius ordered that when the time came, the Empire of Suepen would send their finest warrior to help the descendants of Thekbar.

The Sixth Age

When the Northern Empire swept down to destroy the Elves, the land of the Three Kingdoms succumbed and became a part of the devastating war that ended in the Shattering. The Elves’ perspective on the humans that populated that land twisted. The ancient peace turned to fear, hate and arrogance.

In the Sixth Age, after the great Reformation, a large part of the Storm Coast has formed into three human dominated Kingdoms. The Kingdoms of Shale, Gothna and Diamar have evolved from a cultural mixing of the ancestors of Thekbar and a number of the wild tribes of the North, remnants of the Northern Empire.

Over the past few centuries, these kingdoms have been in an almost predictable cycle of war and cold war. A state of cold war has existed during the past few years and there are concerns that national sensitivities have begun to increase again and a wrong move from one of the nations, or from an external source, could lead to bloody conflict on the border lands once again.

Though trading treaties have been developed between these three nations, raiding and conflict still occurs regularly along the borders. Perhaps, more of a concern is the strong smuggling community that has developed along the Storm Coast. Over land travel between the Kingdoms has become increasingly expensive over the years as border and import taxes have steadily risen. Though, there are significant risks in taking overland routes around the Kingdoms or taking long sea voyages, bigger numbers of traders are willing to arrange such caravans to increase their profits. Such maneuvers are steadily eroding the coffers of the Kingdoms, another element that could be a prelude to war.

The Three Kingdoms have the coldest climate on the Storm Coast. In the South-West, from the ruins of Thekba to the Arkenfell Mountains, the snows never completely melt. Further east, the climate becomes more temperate. Of the Three Kingdoms, Gothna is the warmest.

The humans of the Kingdoms are a tough breed. They live off the land, having developed agricultural techniques that suit the harsh climes. Even the farmers are fighters, used to having to fend off raiding beasts from the mountains and dark forests, and warriors from other nations. The people of the Kingdoms have more in common with each other than they like to admit. Most of the differences have grown out of the politics and policies of the three royal families.

The Fallen Empire of the Elves

Before the Shattering, the Elven Empire had conquered all of the lands now known as the Storm Coast. During the wars leading to the Shattering, the Imperial Elves were pushed back and finally off the continent by the competing Human held Kingdom called Thekbar, a province of the Great Northern Empire. The nucleus of the Elven Empire survived by retreating into a form of self exile for centuries on the Isles of Ael’Kandar. Their retreat left ruins of temples, forts and towns scattered across the Storm Coast, some of which, in the Sixth Age, have been used as the foundation for new settlements.

Ael’Kandar

Nine surviving Noble Houses of the Great Elven Empire withdrew to the Islands of Ael’Kandar after the Shattering. These islands had always been a center of commerce and politics for the Empire. The ruling House of the Empire, the Imperial House, originated from these islands and had its center of power there. As the surviving elves began to resettle across the island chain, it became evident that even the civilized Imperial Elves would quickly devolve into violence and civil war without leadership. Small skirmishes for land and resources had already begun to break out on each of the main islands.

Dyana Ce’lene Morningstar, Empress and House Elder of the Ce’lene Noble House convened a council of the remaining House Elders and called for peace and the reforging of the Empire in the name of the future and Baryus (see religion). The Imperial Accord was scribed and signed by each of the Elders. The Accord provided lands to each of the Noble Houses to be ruled as they saw fit. The Empire would be governed by the Empress, a High Council and a reformed senate. The Noble Houses would always have a say.

For a thousand years, the Elven Empire has flourished under the rules of the Accord. The Noble Houses vie for power and influence in the Senate. Rarely does the power struggle develop into open conflict, but acts of subterfuge, subtlety and assassination are common throughout the islands. On the surface, the noble families are civil and honorable. However, the dark side of the empire is a deep mire indeed.

Only two years ago, Dyana was succeeded by her only daughter, Eleana, to the role of Empress. Dyana remains as a member of the Senate and House Elder for the House Ce’lene. Politics and intrigue in the Imperial capital have never been so involved. The senators, the holy church and the labor council try to take advantage of a naïve Empress. Young Eleana and her aging mother are only now beginning to learn how many enemies they have and how much may be at stake should they lose control of the Empire. .

Imperial Elves

The Imperial Elves or Aelar Elves are only one of several races of elves that survived the shattering. They are the most numerous of the races, particularly along the Storm Coast. However, the Aelar population is concentrated in Ael’Kandar. They are very rarely seen anywhere else. Rumors of rogue noble houses and small pockets of Aelar continue to seep into the river of gossip that flows through the mansions and palaces of the Empire.

Elves are the only innately magical mortal species in the Shattered Lands. They are the only species who produce Sorcerers without the need for other external magical influence or magical bloodlines. It is more common for elves to be sorcerers than wizards. There is a certain northern race of humans, the Issiyari, whose descendants also have some innate magical talent. Legend suggests that this is because they have the blood of ancient dragons flowing in their veins. The point is moot as the Issiyari bloodline is all but extinct. However, rote magic can be performed by any sentient being who wears a shard or ingests shard dust. See section on Elven magic.

The society of the Empire is based on a caste system. There are five primary castes: The Sun caste is the warrior caste and is commonly the caste to which the nobility belong; The Star caste is the labor or peasant caste and makes up 80% of the population; the Moon caste forms the merchant community; the Dawn caste is the caste of priests, priestesses and other holy people; and the Dusk caste forms the community of magicians, sorcerers and other academics.

An elf’s caste is based on their lineage. Very rarely, an elf will be born a different caste to that of his or her parents. When this occurs, the event is usually foreseen and overseen by a member of the Holy Church of Baryus.

The Houses of Ael’Kandar

The general day to day governance of the provinces held by each Noble House is administrated in any way the House Elder for that region sees fit. Some provinces are found to be more accommodating than others where specific laws are concerned.

Oversight of the Empire is initially carried out by the Imperial Senate. Each Noble House has one representative in the Senate. The representative for a Noble House is not necessarily the Elder of the House. Most commonly, a trusted advisor or first born offspring are given the role of Senator for a Noble House. Senate sessions are held at the Palace in Aemon’ra, the capital city, and usually occur once a month. Each representative is allowed to bring three advisors to the Senate sessions. The Senate formulates Law and Policy and votes on each change. Any changes to the law, usually in the form of an amendment to the Accord, are passed to the High Council for ratification.

The Empress, the High Priestess, the Guildsman, the Niavin (first peasant) and the Archmagus make up the High Council. They are the de-facto leaders of each of the castes. They can:

• Make changes to a policy and pass it back to the Senate for revote
• Veto the policy
• Pass the policy into law

Finally, the Empress may veto the policy against the wishes of the High Council. This is very rare. The Empress also has absolute power over the Law but that is also very rarely used.

Elven Religion

The Aelar Elves have a unique perspective on the God Ebrus. Most of the rest of the surviving species in the Shattered Lands believe Ebrus to be a mad, power hungry and chaotic god. The Aelar Elves believe that Ebrus is only one face of a much more complicated deity, albeit the most dangerous face.

The Holy Church of the Empire is a vast organization that provides Elves a conduit for the worship of Baryus, their patron deity. Baryus is the goddess of magic, law and healing. She is a benevolent and strict god offering protection and love to those who are worthy. Ebrus is the dark shadow of the same god. There are those who believe that the aspect that is Ebrus always exists struggling to destroy all that might bring weakness to Elves, magic and ultimately himself. The Holy Church believes that Ebrus is a corruption of Baryus that occurs only when her worshippers seek dominance and tyranny over all things. There is a third aspect of the God, rarely spoken of, called A’ruan. The monks of A’ruan believe that this aspect was the original androgynous god of elves, enlightenment and inner reflection. Some cataclysm in the heavens, perhaps the destruction of the First Ones, caused A’ruan to transform into the being that now exists.

The church is possibly the most powerful organization in the Empire. Every town, large to small, has a Temple of Baryus. At least seventy percent of the Elves of the Empire are worshippers at such a temple. Religious gatherings occur on Saturday evenings (Dusk Call) and Wednesday mornings (Dawn Mass). The Church is extremely wealthy and maintains a Cathedral of extraordinary beauty in the Rurian Province.

The Priestesses and Priests of the Church are not considered members of a House during their service with the Church. However, when they do leave the church (including through death) they are returned to their House. Priestesses of the Church are respected members of a town. They usually have healing abilities. They tend to be a little arrogant and stuffy believing they are one step closer to God than the common elf.

There are two Monasteries of A’ruan in Ael’Kandar. They are respected holy sites and places of quiet contemplation. The monks of these sites do not claim to belong to a religion. They seek to find the place within themselves where violence and peace can reside in harmony. Monks of the order are a powerful ally of the Empress. She has done much to protect them from the gossip and lies that are spread about their esoteric practices.

Rumors of cults of Ebrus crop up from time to time. These heretical groups are usually crushed by the church before they become a significant threat. However, there are tales that a secret network of cult members continues to prosper and safely proceed with its activities, successfully hidden from the prying claws of the Holy Church.

The Cult of the First Church also occasionally rears its head. This spiritual cult uses ancient texts to perform rituals as old as the Land. They are worshippers of the energies that remained after the destruction of the First Ones. Their numbers are few and the Holy Church considers them harmless.

Elven Magic

Elves are inherently magical and with a little training can perform magical feats easily. All other species in the Shattered Lands require a magical talisman to perform magic. These talismans come from two different sources. Beyond the Empire, the shattered pieces of the Crystal of the Gods, commonly known as shards are the most powerful talismans. Such artifacts can give a mortal magical power or enhance the magical talents of those already capable. There are many shards scattered across the geography of the land. Many apprentice mages must seek such a thing to continue their education with a mentor.

The second source of the shards is the crystal mines of the Empire. In the provinces of Amastan and Enalis, there are deep mines where shards and shard dust can be found. It is uncommon for the mines to produce shard crystals of any size and such shards are treasures beyond value. More often, an ore is dug from the mines and shard dust is extracted from the ore. This dust can be dissolved in alcohol and imbibed by a skilled magic practitioner to enhance her abilities. Untrained use of the dust can lead to erratic visions, magical accidents and madness. The shard dust is highly addictive and only the most affluent magic users tend to use it. It is a highly sought after substance.

The mines from which the shards are extracted are populated by dragon-like serpents called shardworms that make mining extremely hazardous. The creatures are sensitive to vibration and heat. The hammering of the miners always brings them eventually.

Ancient magical portals connect the Islands of Ael’Kandar. However, they have fallen into disuse. They are often found in remote and dangerous locations on the islands. It is rumored that the pathways between portals have become infested with violent alien life-forms and that opening a portal can be quite hazardous.

Gods and the Mythic Timeline

The Land was created by the First Ones. There were two First Ones Aria and Aerer. In their beginnings they took joy in each other and in the Universe that seemed to form around them without effort. After a while, measured in their time, they decided to direct their creativity in a new way. The First Ones created the Land from some of the essence that formed the Universe. They created the elements and then from those elements they created the oceans and the continents, the seas and the islands. With new places to inhabit, the First Ones created many fantastic species to walk the Land, communicate and become something more

This wondrous Land was a delight to look upon but Aria and Aerer had made it too fragile and they could not interact with it directly for fear of harming it. They decided to create stewards that they could relate with, almost as powerful as themselves, who would look after the Land and make changes when necessary. After all, the Land was a work in progress.

They created ten Stewards to watch over different aspects of the Land. The Stewards became Gods of the Land and watched over it and added to it. Soon, the Gods wished to create their own species and allow them to inhabit the Land. The First Ones would not allow it and the Gods conceded, knowing their actions were limited to the First Ones wishes.

One of the Gods took matters into his own hands. Seeing only one way to wrest control from the Gods he arranged an intricate plot to trap the First Ones and destroy them, scattering their essence across the Universe. The other Gods observed the disappearance of the First Ones but it was unclear to them how or why they had gone. However, with the First Ones gone, the Gods could now manipulate the Land as they wished. The First Age of the Land was at an end.

The first mortal species were created soon after that. The mortal species were clever and spawned quickly. They learned new things promptly and soon they were building towns and fighting amongst themselves for resources. The Gods could see that their creations were getting out of control and the Gods understood their motives less and less. The Gods decided that two amongst the mortals must be brought up and imbued with the power of the Gods. One would be a God who understood battle and war. He would be strong and magnificent, loving life as much as he loved battle. The other would be brilliant and understand the complexities of the human mind, a lover of plots, subterfuge and diplomacy. Thus, Oculus and Arah, brothers in nature, were brought above the Land and were gifted with the power of Gods. Up until this point the Gods had always worked together. The Second Age of the Land ended.

The introduction of Oculus and Arah changed the relationships between the Gods in unforeseen ways. The Gods started to see themselves as unique and no longer mere parts of one fundamental whole. They all began to develop new plans of their own for the Land. The Land was thrown into chaos. Empires grew and were toppled, the Gods walked the Land as mortal Avatars and the Races of the First Ones, the Titans, began to make ready to protect their own territories.

The War between the Gods and the Titans began. Vast armies of mortals did battle with hosts of dragons, giants, demons and other extraordinary beasts. The whole Land was at War. The War was leaving the Land devastated and no side could win. The destruction of the Land seemed inevitable. A last ditch effort was made by the Gods, particularly Oculus and Arah to bring the fighting to an end. Arah issued a challenge to the Titans to send their greatest and most violent into battle while Oculus found a way to talk to some of the smarter Titans into forming a pact while the dangerous and chaotic element were out of the way.

The Pact was made. It was a huge and complex spell woven by the Titans and the Gods. The Gods would leave this plane and give up their right to appear as mortal Avatars on the Land and the Titans would return to their own territories and protect only those lands leaving the mortals to their empire building. Not all of the Gods agreed with this Pact but none could see another way to stop the utter destruction of the Land.

The Gods disappeared from the Land but when they returned to the Heavens, two of their number were missing. Ebrus, bright God of Magic and creator of the Elves and Novem, Violent Goddess of Storms did not return. It soon became clear that Ebrus had found magical means to circumvent the Pact. Fortunately, the Titans remained unaware of his presence at least for the time being. Of Novem, nothing could be found. The Third Age of the Land ended.

Ebrus became a God-King in the Land. His Empire became a shining monument to the achievement of his Elves. The other species formed vast empires also, but none of the others lasted. Other Empires rose and fell at the whim of Ebrus. It was only when an Empire started to form in the wild, cold North that Ebrus became greatly concerned. Fierce and strong humans were gaining in numbers quickly and their innovations both in war and peace were far exceeding those of his Elves. Thus began the war of the Shattering. The humans were strong and hardy, and only the toughest warriors had survived the centuries of tribal battles amongst themselves and the elves were bright warriors backed by the sorceries of the God-King Ebrus. The War of the Shattering was insignificant compared to the Titan-God wars, but it was the biggest war between two mortal armies in history. After many decades the Elven Empire began to push the Northerners back. However, a small band of humans, dwarves and Boreal elves moved secretly through the defenses of the Elven Empire and found their way into the inner chamber of the God-King himself. They discovered an amazing magical device, the bright Crystal of the Gods and shattered it into many pieces. Those who survived the supernatural explosion escaped with the pieces and scattered them far and wide. This Crystal was the anchor Ebrus had used to remain in the Land; with it gone he felt his mortal Avatar dying. As an act of vengeance, Ebrus unleashed awesome dark powers that changed him forever and shattered the Land sinking three quarters of the landmass and annihilating the Northern Empire. The Land was left in Chaos. The Fourth Age of the Land ended.

The Shattering sank the Northern continent and splintered the Southern continent across magical planes. Goblinoids and foul beasts began to rise out of the wastelands and mountains in numbers. With the influence of the Gods all but gone, the mortal races struggled to defend themselves against the hordes of chaos. Small communities of Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings and Gnomes gathered and those last remnants of civilization joined forces and grew. Places, such as the Kingdom of Midion and the core of the Elven Empire, became beacons of peace against the chaos. Meanwhile, factions of the Dusk elves set plans to collect all of the shards of the Crystal of the Gods so that they could bring the Avatar of the God Ebrus back into the world. They were thwarted by a band of adventurers who had one piece of the Crystal swallowed and consumed by the dread Dragon Malignon at great sacrifice.

Ebrus had not been the only God who had tried to circumvent the power of the Pact. Moments before the last spell was woven into the Pact, Oculus tricked Novem into imprisonment on the Isle of the Eye. When the Shattering occurred, the Isle of the Eye was left untouched, protected by a powerful maelstrom. Oculus left the keys to her imprisonment in the Land fearing their detection by the other Gods. The keys were in the form of two powerful and sentient magical swords, Malice and Fate. Malice was found by a ‘broken’ warrior and after causing much devastation of its own was consumed at the same time as the Crystal shard. With only one key holding Novem’s magical prison closed, she found a way out. The Pact was at an end.

Novem would have her revenge. She called upon her old allies; Arah, God of War and Ebrus, God of Magic. She called upon new allies, giving the Dragons and their kin reason to fight for her. The War of the Gods began. The Land became the battlefield of the Gods once again.

In the midst of these events, three powerful Elves of the Old Empire, one Human orphan of the lost lands of the North and a Dwarf of Karak’Thor sought knowledge of the First Ones, Aria and Aerer, and their passing. They discovered the truth, that one God had destroyed them. They also learned a way to tap the power of the First Ones. The mortals took the fate of the Land into their own hands with the help of Ianuar, Goddess of Wisdom. They halted the war of the Gods and banished the Gods from the Land. The Gods were shattered into forty one demigods. In a similar way as the Gods had once done to Oculus and Arah, the mortals, the three Elves, the Human and the Dwarf gave up their mortality, imbued themselves with the power of the First Ones and took on the mantle of five greater Gods to watch over the demigods. They took five of the names of the old Gods: April, Ebrus, Ianuar, Novem and Oculus.

Using their new powers they reformed the Land. The Northern Continent was lost to them, but the Southern Continent was reformed to its original state, though its inhabitants were forever changed. The Fifth Age of the Land was at an end.

The Sixth Age would be dominated by events in the far south of the continent, in a region called The Storm Coast.