Rise of New Loraen

***Preceded by:** God War / **Followed by:** The Reformed Lands*

Known as the Rise of New Loraen, this age was a period of uncertainty in the wake of God War. The world itself was crumbling and many feared that it would not recover. In some areas people continued as if nothing had changed, but in others there was a pervasive fear that it was the end times.

**Goblins in Gateway**

In the city of Gateway an unusual cleric of Evangellein begins converting the goblins of the city to her goddess. Despite the dismissiveness of locals and her church, she is quite successful. The goblins confused the cleric for the goddess herself and took enthusiastically to her service. While she never could get through that she was not the goddess, the goblins became surprisingly literate and educated.

**New Loraen**

In the years following the end of God War, the dwarf Enkiel oversaw the building of the Temple of the Gods in the badlands between Tieralto and the Jongura. After the fall of White Castle much of the established trade routes continued to be held together by various nations. This allowed word of the temple's purpose to spread quickly throughout much of the Continent. Pilgrims came from every corner and carried with them the ideals of their god. Working in unity the temple was built at an incredible pace. During construction traders and craftsman of all kinds were drawn to ply their trades. Only slightly slower than the temple a city began to take form. Enkiel had foreseen this and so already had blueprints ready for the city and plans for organizing its government. Through the use of magic, alchemy and some of the most talented engineers of the time New Loraen was built. Quickly its Guilds would make alliances and contracts with pre-existing guilds throughout nations the Continent over. No nation had ever risen from nothing so swiftly in all of history.

**The Shackled**

Post God War there were a number of consequences that became apparent. Some slowly and some swiftly. The death of Grell left the dwarven nations in chaos. Evangellein's death had a similar impact of the norn settlements. Though the armies of Kravos had been defeated the giants still remained a threat. Newly crowned giant lords filled the power vacuum and swiftly set upon these weakened settlements. Throughout much of the deep mountains of the Grey Peaks dwarven cities were enslaved. Any norn city on the border of Muspelung fell as well. Once again, the dwarves and norns found their kin slaves to the giants.

**Signs of the End**

The battle between the warriors Goolah and Ziegfried had caused incredible destruction. The world had almost been destroyed and was only held together by the direct intervention of Madrian herself. Adventurers were sent out by the University of Ivennius to investigate. It was discovered that beyond the Sea of Storms and the Sea of Dagon that the world was broken. Fragments drifting through elemental energies in the void was all that remained. Worse still, cracks were spreading. In the hidden vault where the Tarasque is bound, chains were showing signs of strain. The fighting throughout the Baronies worsened, bandits and dark forces seemed to spread in all corners of the world. Bards warned that the death of Elrin has left a stain on the hearts of mortals. An angel was sighted above the Temple of the Gods holding a trumpet and remained there for a night and a day. It responded to no attempts at communication before blowing a single long note and then disappearing.

**A Dark Resurrection**

A group of adventurers travelling in Tieralto discovered a strange ruin in the Bone Marsh. They managed to get inside evading the dragon guarding the area. Within the cursed halls they located a lock box containing an unusual jewel. After the party's wizard identified the object as a phylactery for a lich their leader got an idea. So, the adventurers faced the dragon, hoping to kill it and take its treasure. They used magic and martial skill to force the dragon to swallow the phylactery. Their plan hinged on the lich possessing the dragon and showing gratitude those who had freed it. The first part of the plan succeeded. But the phylactery was a prison carved in the deserts of Rafiah by powerful wizards to contain the soul of the Necromancer. Now that terrible evil was reborn in the form of a dracolich. In the following years Tieralto would be ravaged by the Necromancer's undead plagues.

**Guild Plans**

Enkiel died peacefully an old dwarf who had honored his people. After his passing the leadership of New Loraen passed to Guild Council, a collection of Guild appointed leaders. Their chief agenda was the expansion and consolidation of New Loraen's economic influence over the Continent. Two major projects were undertaken to promote this agenda. The construction of the Continental Railroad system and the rebuilding of the city of White Castle. The two projects became intertwined. Architects and engineers from all over were drawn to the projects. The railroad would wind from New Loraen first east away from the plagued land of Tieralto and then wrapping all the way around Feylan Wood to the lands of White Castle. This would done by using the vast underground tunnels of the Continent with existing dwarven lines and Loraenian knowhow. It would be a symbol of New Loraen and mortal progress.

**Magic on an Industrial Scale**

One of the many ideas left by Enkiel in the Book of the Prophet was the industrializing of magic. This grand design involved multiple new industries. The creation of places dedicated to producing/gathering components known to be effective in enchantment. The creation of machines capable of harnessing the mana necessary for enchantment. Schools to educate workers in the most basic ideas of magic needed to run such machinery. It requires incredible mental capacity and years of study to cast truly powerful spells. But magic on the level of cantrips can be learned by anyone of at least average intelligence within months. At first the industry proved costly, but with adventurers willing to buy magical items it was possible to sustain. As the system cemented into place, machines improved, resources stockpiled. Magic was now for sale at reasonable prices on a scale never before seen. The world was revolutionized within a handful of years. Not just by cheap potions and scrolls. But minor magical items available for everyday use. Intergration of clockwork technology in numerous areas. Message stations that could send communications across whole regions. While airships and the growing underground rail systems allowed for faster safer travel.

**Elemental Furnaces**

A discovery was made by the arcanist Pelis Colum which would push the growing science of arcanics still further. A way of harnessing the elemental energies in certain natural locations. In regions with strong ties to the elemental planes large collectors could be built. This tower like structures known as elemental furnaces would produce massive amounts of energy which could be used to power whole regions. This energy could be piped or stored into batteries for later use in other arcane mechanisms. However, these furnaces would cause a drain of the natural energies of the world around them.

**Iron Wings of Vengeance**

A group of adventurers came together in the Dalelands in the village of Rosefiddle. The group started merely as local heroes engaged in the typical sort of adventures one expects. Eventually they would build a reputation as a force to be reckoned with. First gaining true fame from defeating an army of fire giants led by hags. This army attempted to use a furnace's energy to open a gate to the lower planes. After disrupting the ritual and routing the army, the Iron Wings then went on to discover the lost dungeon in which Queen Maeve had been imprisoned.

**Keeping of the Treaty**

The norns and dwarves now living under the yoke of giant lords were in dire straits indeed. Many of them would be forced to live in mines or even be taken to Muspelung. The giants were cruel masters, still bitter from old losses against their new slaves. Even under these conditions the determination of dwarf and norn could not be crushed and they formed secret means of passing information, goods and even people between the giant settlements. When the fire giant king fell to the Iron Wings of Vengeance, these slaves seized the opportunity. The giants were pushed back from the Grey Peaks and deep into Muspelung once the Iron Wings themselves joined the uprising. By the end, it was a half-elf woman who would sit in the Throne of the Giant King.

**Rosefiddle**

Destruction of Lyllian

Post Iron Wings

*See Also; the Goblin Mystic*