Other Myriden Lore

## Cosmology

"We can no better understand the cosmos from our standpoint than a fish can understand the nature of waterways across the entire world. What we know, we have surmised from the effects we exert upon our world and our experience in travelling between the worlds.

"We accept the premise that a place we refer to as the Original World was shattered, presumably during the Dawn Wars. The largest shard of the original world represents what we consider to be Earth, terra primus as it is referred to by many scholars. The Feywild and Shadowfell are the two other primary fragments, and all three have evolved in parallel, mirroring each other.

"And of course, these primary spheres float between the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos, like a child’s ball floats on the surface between air and water. That analogy is obviously flawed in many regards; there is no clear plane which separates the Astral Sea from the Elemental Chaos, and there are definite shifts and deviations in the influences each realm has. It also doesn’t even begin to address the mystery of what the Far Realm is, and how it compares to any of what we know now.

"Advanced cosmological theories suggest that each of these three worlds is actually a collection of numerous shards. The theory suggests that certain shards actually cross between worlds, and it is the shifting, rotation of the shards is what dictates the cyclical nature of the paths between these worlds. Eladrin cities, according to this theory, exist within shards straddling Terra Primus and the Feywild. Approximately twice each millennium, the cities of the Eladrin shift from one world to another. Still existing along the pathway between worlds, the cities merely shift from one end of the pathway to the other, although many Eladrin sages tell me it may be more accurate to say that it is the pathway which shifts and not the city.

"This same theory also accounts for the idea of mythical lands; smaller shards may never have been fully absorbed into one of the three primary spheres. These shards may be either on some sort of rotation which limits their proximity to one of the primary spheres, or may have (or will) only intersected once in history."

– Anthus Kormiiri

## The Races of Myriden

"Scholars categorize the races into four main groups. Well, perhaps I should say five, or that we categorize the ‘civilized’ races into four categories. Although in this age, the distinction is mostly academic.
"The first of these would be the Eldar. During the Dawn Wars, the gods and the primordials both realized the need for troops. It isn’t clear even to the members of those races which one came first, but both sides bolstered their strength with these new creations as footsoldiers, generals, and champions. The gods created the deva and the illumians, while the primordials created the giants and the genasi, races we now consider to be fallen.

"These ‘fallen’ races now hide in the shadows of our world. The giants still lick their wounds and remember the days of the Stone Kingdom when they held the other races beneath their boots. The genasi have never found their place in the world, though the few recorded encounters with the genasi leave no doubt that they hold the races created by the gods with nothing but contempt."

"Second amongst these are the races known as the Atani. The word itself means "second-born" in the Supernal tongue, and is typically only used by scholars and the Eldar when referring to the races which were created by the gods following the Dawn Wars. There is often debate as to which races this actually includes. A purist point of view would limit this group to dwarves, humans, and halflings. More liberal schools of thought would include the dragonborn of Ryujin and tieflings in this group…although the dragonborn would argue that their race was born \*during\* the Dawn War, and the tieflings are technically an offshoot of the human race."

"The tieflings actually straddle the boundary between the Atani and the Indyosén, or "children of men". In many ways, the race of man is a very adaptable one. Unlike most races, they have proven to be able to procreate outside of their own people. In most cases, this results in the creation of a minor bloodline or, more often, a mule incapable of reproducing beyond its own generation. However, in some cases, this cross-breeding resulted in families which persisted and evolved into races of their own. Among these are half-giants (or goliaths as they prefer to be called), half-orcs, shifters, and half-elves.

"Some scholars have noted the drastic difference between a bloodline, which is might only retain some minor characteristic of one parent, and a true hybrid of the parents. Some have posited that the difference must be due to some special condition, or in some cases, a special kind of human. Others oppose this idea, suggesting instead that a shared community of multiple bloodlines would be the key to a race’s creation."

"And then there are the Fey. There are many stories of how the fey came to be…some of these are wildly contradictory, so we will leave those for another day."

- Daniel Grumbar, senior scholar of the Calx Sapientia

## Dragons

"Perhaps a bit of a cliché, but I’ve always thought the subject of dragons to be a bit of a mystery wrapped in an enigma, with a bit of misdirection peppered in. Dragons seem to defy description, every time someone thinks they understand at least a facet of what they might be, someone else learns something which completely contradicts it. I’ve often suggested that the best way to approach the nature of dragons is to simple accept that there is an inevitable contradiction at the core of any comprehension. Dragons simply are.

"There are some who have suggested that they represent some uncorrupted branch of the Elemental Chaos which created the world, or at least a branch which did not involve itself in the Dawn War. There are also some who suggest that they were simply the first race of sentient beings, possessed of wisdom and power accumulated since the dawn of time. If this were true, it opens an intriguing debate regarding why other races followed, or were created along a far inferior evolutionary path.

"What do we truly know about dragons? We know that they have an unrivaled command of magic. Members of families claiming a bloodline descended from dragon-kind are often possessed of an innate magical ability. We know that they are among the mightiest creatures in creation, if not the mightiest. Yet they have never attempted to forge an empire.

"Are there other facts we can agree on? Perhaps. Personally, I believe that this tells us something about them. Since there is little doubt that if four or five dragons dropped into the capital city of any empire in history, and simply announced that they were taking over, they would have been crowned within the hour.

"So why haven’t they? I believe that there is something lacking in every story, fact, or tale we have ever heard regarding dragons. That of cooperation; there are no tales of two or more dragons working in concert. Are they truly solitary creatures, or are they more of a threat to each other than we ever could be?

*– Professor Johann Rohander, senior lecturer in the Calx Sapientia*

"Aye, I’ve heard the tales that dwarves hate dragons and dragons hate dwarves. Bullocks if you ask me. We have no hatred for any creatures as a race…except giants…and trolls…and well, goblins… Orcs... Trolls.... And elves can be real assholes. But Dragons? Nay.

"But we have had more than our fair share of trouble with them. Too many times, a dragon has learned of a mountain fortresses that we dwarves have mined, and taken it from us. We have learned to dig deep before we dig wide, our strongest holds do not appeal to the beasts."

*- Kalderrak Duermek, eldest scholar of the Calx Sapientia*

Author’s Note: In short, forget everything you know or have ever read about dragons. It is all, at the same time, as true as it is false.

## Dragonborn

Many people think that the dragonborn have been keeping their empire alive in exile. This could not be further from the truth. Seventeen centuries ago, when the treachery of the Circle of Thirteen laid the Arkhosian Empire low, the damage to the dragonborn people was greater than the historians tell. The dragonborn people were slaughtered by the beasts called forth by the Circle. Infernal hunters were called forth with the intent to exterminate all of Io's blood. (Some dragonborn elders believe that the Circle were fully cognizant of this extermination, others feel that the Circle was ignorant although guilty of calling forth something beyond their control.)

Still, survivors found each other on the far side of the Spine, the shelter of the Stone Dragon's bones protecting Io's children. Painfully few of the dragonborn remained and some of the greatest clans were gone forever. There were rumors that some of Akha's blood survived, in hiding, or ignorant to their heritage, and this gave people hope that they would not only survive but that there would some day be prosperity for the descendants of Io. And for over seventeen hundred years, the dragonborn people have survived.

One might wonder why the dragonborn have stayed in exile for so long. While there is honor to be gained for the clans in combating the harsh environs, there would also be glory to be found in the homelands of their ancestors. Again, the truth is avoided by many dragonborn as an unpleasant reminder of their fall. But the great clans of the Empire are all gone. Though the remaining clans have leadership, none have the influence to rally the other clans to their side. However, this may be changing. A warrior has emerged, one who has claimed to be a scion of Akha's blood, and who has satisfied the challenges needed to claim that honor. Many of the clans are beginning to come to his banner. However, others are concerned that rallying the clans against the other races would lead to the death of the remaining clans..