History

*What follows is the current history of Etresni with appropriate dates. More will be added in the near future.*

## **Age of Creation**

**???:** The two Cycle Bearers create the Compass. They start with the Physical Realm and work outwards. Other planes created include the Dark Green which overlaps with the Physical Realm, the Forest which is West in typical illustrations, Selrun (Land of the Angels) to the North, Pomes (Land of Judgement) to the East and the Spiral (otherwise known as the Spawning Pits) to the South with the Void below it.

The Cycle Bearers soon after come in contact with another realm known as Fradas (otherwise called the Distant). They create Gods in their image as protectors and warriors of their new creations. The Gods create the planet of Etresni and form Primordials from the base elements of the universe to help them shape the planet. The First Continent is created, and the Gods begin to form life.

## **The Uprising**

**????:** The Primordials turn on their creators for reasons unknown. They leave Selrun and retreat to the Spiral where only the first Guardians currently live. They form pits from the earth that give birth to horrible fiendish creatures not unlike the outsiders of the Distant. The Gods create the first celestials to fight them. The First Continent cracks and splinters into five pieces.

The Gods eventually destroy the Primordials and the celestials attack the Spiral to eliminate the fiends. They fail, but are able to turn some of the fiends to their side. These become the first Devils and the remainders become the first Demons. The Gods become angered at the celestials threatening to unmake them and the Cycle Bearers intervene to save them with their recently created servants who have taken up Pomes as their home.

The fiends and celestials are allowed to live, so long as the celestials continue to serve the Gods eternally and the Devils agree to keep the Demon threat in check. The Cycle Bearers see the good in having such an evil in the universe, maintaining balance.

## **Time of Establishment**

**0 AC (After Creation):** The Cycle Bearers take up residence in Pomes, intending to watch over the universe from afar. The Gods continue to nurture the first bit of life they created on the planet and create the first races which are almost as powerful as celestials.

Not much is known about the first races, other than their great power and their great greed.

## **The Time of War**

**5571 AC:** After thousands of years of relative peace, with all the first races living on separate continents, war breaks out. With their power and technological might at the time, the first races began a bloody war to see who would rule over the world of Etresni.

**5982 AC:** Running out of space and always craving more, the first races wiped themselves out. The only known surviving descendants of the first races thought to survive were the ancestors to the Dragon and Giant races. They attempt to rebuild society.

**6124 AC:** Small animals, creatures and monsters begin to appear not just on Etresni but in the other realms too. The Gods continue to form more and it is around this time that the Dragons and Giants we know of today are born.

**9527 AC:** The Dragons and Giants, disregarding the past failures of their ancestors go to war with one another. This war last for hundreds of years with both sides finally deciding to come to a truce. The Dragons are given the continents of Alfold and Cherven while the Giants are given the larger continent of Carmasara.

Both sides leave the continent of Szaraz for their new homes, leaving behind the desert of the South that was once their battlefield. Some from both species stick around in the North of Szaraz but most leave.

**11743 AC/0 ND (New Dawn):** The first humanoid races begin to establish empires on Szaraz, generally sticking to the desert. As their empires grow, they eventually face hordes of monsters that were not originally a problem for the first races and their descendants.

They also begin to meet both the Giant and Dragon races. Dwarves begin to make friends with the Giants while humans make alliances with the Dragons. While the Giants show the humanoids how to forge weapons, the dragons help them learn magic and produce a new calandar (the New Dawn Calendar).

Dragonborn and Firbolg are born.

**11869 AC/126 ND:** The first pact with a devil is made by a human. She eventually gives birth to the first tiefling.

**11870 AC/127 ND:** A civil war breaks out in the empire. This cause many of the races to split and form their own kingdoms. Some retreat into the sea while others into the jungle and forest. Others still into the mountains but most stay in the desert.

These who left would eventually become the subraces we know today. Other races would eventually be born thanks to divine intervention from the Gods or just from the natural cycle created by the Cycle Bearers.

**11871 AC/128 ND:** Humanoids began to establish kingdoms across the world, some finding the main populations of Dragons, and others finding the main populations of Giants. More kingdoms would be created on these new land masses.

The Empire of Carmasara would be established, taking after the original empire in Szaraz. The country of Yerravos would be established on Erdesh. The settlement of Vertelen would be formed on Cherven and be terrorized by an incredibly evil red dragon living there.

**859 ND:** While Carmasara and Yerravos would expand greatly in the nearly 650 years since their establishment, Vertelen would remain mostly the same. The red dragon who they had come to know as the Jaw of the North, Bastor the Bloody would prevent any advances into his territory known as the blood desert.

The Empire of Carmasara established new kingdoms across the continent, all united under one banner and Yerravos would attempt something similar under the rule of their new King, a former Knight who stole the throne named Sir Ivas Draken. He continued to expand his empire, encroaching on the territories of the Dragon Clans of Alfold.

**862 ND:** Finding themselves on the brink of war once more, the Dragon Clans allied themselves with the few remaining settlements not under Draken's rule. Each clan chose one to receive their Clan's power and become their chosen Lord. These ten Dragon Lords rallied those who wished not to live under Draken's tyrannical rule and lay siege to his castle of stone.

Dark magic was afoot that day as they laid waste to the King's fort. He wielded magic not of Etresni but was still no match for the Dragon Lords. When he fell, his castle began to crumble around him. Barely escaping alive, the Dragon Clans, the Dragon Lords and their armies watched as Draken and his castle were swallowed up by the ground, never to be seen again. Only his electrum coins remained scattered across the kingdom.

And so the kingdom was split among the Dragons and their Lords, each receiving a piece of the pie. It remained split like this for some time afterwards.

**1208 ND:** With all of the previous Dragon Lords long dead, the kingdom of Yerravos was as unstable as ever and once more, war seemed inevitable. Meanwhile, the Empire of Carmasara was stronger than ever and while Vertelen had managed to make a deal with their ancient dragon ruler, they were still quite a small nation.

Those still on Szaraz were mostly humble folk. Elves and dwarves lived North with the Giants and Dragons there in small colonies of their own, while other lived still in the desert. Those in the jungle had gone silent long ago, and very few remained in the ocean, having adapted or died.

**1222 ND:** The war of Magic (also named the war of Twenty) commenced. Thousands began to die in the conflict as all ten Dragon Lords fought among themselves. Alliances were forged, but so equal in power neither side could gain any real ground.

**1242 ND:** After twenty years of waiting and watching a bloody and fruitless war, the Gods had seen enough. One Goddess named the Rose descended from Selrun and summoned all of the Dragon Lords to her using magic too powerful to resist. She demanded they stop this foolish war and set aside their differences at least for now until they had a better reason to fight other than political power they would never achieve.

A truce was signed, and the magically summoned armies of the Dragon Lords were destroyed. Technology had advanced greatly during war time, and many of the Dragon Lords continued to work on secret projects despite the treaty. Both sides and their allies settled into a sort of cold war and the kingdom split in two in order to prevent further quarreling.

Thus was born the countries of Erdesh and Melyasni. The Metallic Dragon Lords would rule over Erdesh, forming a council and overseeing things from the safety of their port city of Port Koushik. Melyasni would be very poorly run by the Chromatic Dragon Lords who split their country into states.

## **Current Era: The Era of Peace**

**1245 ND:** The Red Dragon Lord would eventually break the truce three years later. He claimed they (the Chromatic Dragon Lords) had been wronged by the other Lords of Erdesh and that he required more land and resources to better rule over his people. Of course Erdesh refused to help, and so the Red Dragon Lord revealed his new war machine, or rather war machines.

With an army of metal men he called the Warforged he attempted to assault the border of Erdesh with his army alone. He was stopped and was forced to withdraw as his new warforged, while more obedient were not as tough. He was not the only one to display his pet project that day, as it was revealed that Erdesh had cracked how to create stable flying machines with aid from the Empire of Carmasara to their East.

The Red Dragon Lord would try again to conquer Erdesh, instead trying to attack the Eastern part of the country which was less fortified. However when he arrived he discovered that his plan had gotten out. On the shores were monumentally huge towers which slung spells at his ships. Once more he was forced to fall back.

His third and last attack was on the Capital of Erdesh, Port Koushik. Once more Erdesh revealed technological marvels in the form of ships with elemental cores much faster than those of the Red Dragon Lord which obliterated his fleet. Now with no army it was clear to him he had lost, and so was it to the Gods as well. The Rose descended upon the remainder of his army and freed them from his control by gifting them sentience.

In rage for both being created and being controlled the majority of the warforged attacked the Red Dragon Lord and killed him. Received at the shore by the forces of Erdesh and guided by the Goddess herself the warforged were taken in as friends of Erdesh, thus ending the Conflict of Red.

1**246 ND:** The warforged established a major colony in Erdesh, and revealed the secrets of their creation to the Metallic Dragon Lords to thank them. While they knew not the key to their sentience, they hoped the Dragon Lords could one day unlock it to continue their race.

**1252 ND (Current Day):** The Chromatic Dragon Lords continued to rule their states in Melyasni, but since that day seven years ago there has not been a single person able to hold onto the throne of the Red Dragon Lord. Each that tried ending up disappearing or dead, never lasting more than a week. Only recently has a Red Dragon Lord been able to survive more than a week, perhaps thanks to the general good reception of his people.

Meanwhile Erdesh continues on, advancing technology and fighting back the few monsters that continue to plague their borders. They have much stricter rules on magic now, requiring for all magic users to register themselves and receive a license so that no one can ever again raise an army of warforged or undead.

The Capital remains free, and thanks to numerous Houses sponsored by the Dragon Lords the country is now more connected than ever with recently a train having been installed to allow for easy access to the city. A hero by the name of Eldon Kostenlos also transports paying customers around by airship.

The other continents are more or less doing well too, but with the Empire constantly putting down small rebellions across the continent of Carmasara, one has to wonder if their regime will last. Cherven is still ruled by the dragon Bastor the Bloody but otherwise is intact and happy. Even the kingdoms of Szaraz seem to be getting along finally.

But as they say, all good things must come to and end. Who knows what awaits Etresni just out of sight.