World History

### **The Creation**

Depending who you ask, creation came about due to the actions of different entities, but most creation legends follow the same pattern.

In the beginning, there was nothing. Either this nothing was absolute void, or a sea of undifferentiated “stuff” (sometimes called Chaos or Illiaster or Gate Force). Within this nothing arose a something. It was a mind, or a light, or a thought. Call it The Creator. Once the Creator existed, by force of its will, it brought the universe into existence, created the first gods, separated land from sea, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then the Creator ceased its involvement and withdrew, died, or perhaps the entire universe \*is\* The Creator.

### **The Time of the Gods a.k.a. The Age of Miracles**

In the fullness of time, the Earth was created, or perhaps “an” Earth. This Earth was considered prime real estate by the various Gods and reality was not quite as fixed as it is today. Great things happened; mountains were created, races spawned, etc. Epic-scale events occurred, creating the world we have today. But there was a limited amount of real estate available and over time, conflict escalated between the gods.

**The Calamity a.k.a. The War between the Gods**

Basically, the Gods couldn’t get along and a war started. This was bad for the mortals caught in the cross-fire. The Earth came perilously close to destruction. No record remains of the terrible war that followed, but its effects are still felt today. The sheer magnitude of the energies unleashed in the ensuing battles of gods and mortals alike was enough to fray the boundaries holding back the elemental chaos, spilling unbridled destruction into the world.

At the last moment, peace broke out. The Gods erected The Great Barrier (a.k.a. The Divine Gate), sealing off this Earth (all Earths?) from their direct presence. Thereafter, they would be dependent on their worshipers to influence the Earth,

### **The Divergence a.k.a. The Polysporia**

Much time has passed since the world was reborn; something like 5000 years. The gods still exhibit their influence and guidance from beyond the Divine Gate, bestowing their knowledge and power to their most devout worshipers, but the path of mortals is now their own to make.

Humans have out-reproduced and out-developed most other races and have become the dominant culture on Earth. (Of course, these is history from a human point of view, so what do you expect). Humans have spread from being a small group to dominating most the Great Landmass (Europe+Asia) and are even now beginning to ~~infest~~ explore other continents.

## **The History of Eire**

The earliest oral traditions in Ireland date to around 33,000 years ago. The first encounters with humans begin 300 BC (in human reckoning).

Around 300 to 400 AD, humans began to arrive in significant numbers, bringing with them their Monoistic religion.

By the end of the 6th century humans had introduced writing along with a predominantly monastic Monoistic church, profoundly altering Irish society.

Dwarvish “Viking” raids and settlement from the late 8th century AD resulted in extensive cultural interchange, as well as innovation in military and transport technology. Many of Ireland's towns were founded at this time as Viking trading posts and coinage made its first appearance. Viking penetration was limited and concentrated along coasts and rivers, and ceased to be a major threat to Elvish culture after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

The Norman invasion in 1169 resulted again in a partial conquest of the island and marked the beginning of more than 800 years of English political and military involvement in Ireland. Initially successful, Norman gains were rolled back over succeeding centuries as an Elvish resurgence reestablished Elvish cultural preeminence over most of the country, apart from the walled towns and the area around Black Pool (Dublin) known as The Pale.

Reduced to the control of small pockets, the English Crown did not make another attempt to conquer the island until after the end of the Wars of the Roses (1488). However, the nature of Ireland's decentralised political organisation into small territories (known as túatha), martial traditions, difficult terrain and climate and lack of urban infrastructure, meant that attempts to assert Crown authority were slow and expensive. Attempts to impose the new Protestant faith were also successfully resisted by both the Gaelic and Norman-Irish.

1534 marked the beginning of the prolonged Tudor conquest of Ireland lasting from 1534 to 1603. Henry VIII proclaimed himself King of Ireland in 1541 to facilitate the project.

Elvish Ireland was finally defeated at the battle of Kinsale in 1601 which marked the collapse of the Elvish system and the beginning of Ireland's history as fully part of the English and later British Empire

During the 17th century, brought the Elvish Rebellion of 1641 and the ensuing “Confederates War” of 1642-1648, leading to the mass invasion by Oliver Cromwell in 1649, from which Eire has not yet fully recovered.

1717 (Game setting) has an Eire firmly a member of the British Empire, but with strong Elvish influence in the south, while the north of Eire is human dominated.

Side note about half-elves:

Half-elves have it tough. In England, humans think they’re elvish, and in Eire, the elves think they’re human (meaning English). Outside of England and Ireland, pretty much no one cares.

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