Historical Overview

***A note from Uthis**: Don't like reading? Details are boring to you? Go to the Timeline, a condensed version of this page, except with the years (the same as earth years) that everything happened.*

## Creation

Eons upon eons ago there was but one being. It named itself Solin, meaning blackness, for that was what he was.
But he had a special talent. He could bring colours and shapes and anything he wanted out of shadows. Being young he was filled with joy and happiness as he shaped and formed many things. In the true vein of childhood, all his creations were beautiful, but lacked practicality. Circular lights hung in the sky, lighting up Solin's blackness, and balls of ice hurtled through him, racing each other. Spheres of earth and water stood desolate.

As Solin grew, he discovered that he could create more than just these stagnant things. He covered the earth and water spheres with seeds, and formed his first creations. He created them in vibrant hues of greens and reds, and all the colours of the spectrum. They grew by themselves, without Solin's direct aid, and this caused him no end of interest, as he watched them grow and change.

Yet his development had not ended. Solin then took his largest step into being fully grown. He created living, breathing, animals. He started small, with creatures no larger than mice, maybe even smaller. But with a little practice, he moved onto larger creatures. Yet true to the formula as he had moved to adulthood, his imagination had diminished, and his need for practicality increased. His creatures were never made beautiful, and always they were practical.

### **Fall of creation**

Then came the first fall. One of the planets he had populated with creatures discovered to harness his energy. At first he was delighted, but soon they turned to destruction. Using some of his power for destruction, even just miniscule amounts, when he'd only ever used it for creation drove him mad. He vowed to never touch the planets again. He renamed himself Delrak which meant broken.

Many eons passed. The planets that had been overcome by his magic became pure energy, but seperate from him, because he truly only had the capacity to create. Again and again planets fell. All of the seven planets he created turned into energy, but they seperate from him, and his heart was broken.

The universe was silent. Yet silence never lasts forever. These seven bodies of energy held the sentiece of all the souls that their planets held. They each learned to harness their energy in specific ways. Delrak came to them, inviting them to help him in creation, but they were bitter and planned together to strike him down. they combined all their powers and cast Delrak into a deep sleep. That was truly the last they saw of him.

### **Reconciliation**

As Delrak slept he dreamed. Even though no dream is perfect, this one was close. Worlds popped up. Worlds with a very limited access to Delrak's power. So these worlds thrived.
On one of these worlds, Delrak created a race all his own that kept the knowledge of him. He called them the Elderin , which meant Ancient People. He addressed them not as Delrak, but as Elda which meant Ancient. And so began the world.

Yet these eight powers found this world and took over, setting themselves up as the Gods of Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Darkness and Light. The Seventh, the embodiement of Chaos, left the other seven to explore on his own.

## The Battalion and the Fallen

The gods began to create. Creatures sprung forth, good and evil, loving and hateful. Arin, God of Light, became the patron of two such beings. They resembled truth and life, and they lived together and in harmony. Opposing them, were the Devils, evil taken form. Arin created a city for his creatures and sent them down to the world. He charged them with making sure peace and paradise were to be found on the planet, and they were to drive these Devils back to whence they came. They were all too happy to accept. They eventually succeeded, sealing the evil Devils into their world of Tartarus. They closed the magical doorway with the Hellgate, a gateway the Devils could not open. As well, upon their victory the San'ari and San'aron named the world Tel'Arin, meaning 'For Arin'.

The San'ari (meaning 'Of Light') and the San'aron ('Of Lightning'), over thousands of years after they completed their mission, began to neglect their duties. They became but a mere legend. The floating citadel of Olympus that these 'Angels' and 'Tempest Angels' lived in had risen above the clouds, out of the sight and minds of the people below.

But one day The Battalion discovered that the Elderin had disappeared from the face of Tel'arin. They lowered Olympus and decided that they would have to find something to atone for their lenience. A search began, and the Angels and Tempest Angels constructed a city around a cavern system, deemed New Olympus, that they believed held the key to turning back time and fixing their mistake.

### **Elda's First Avatar**

During this time of confusion, Elda's subconscious reached into the world, wrapping it's thoughts around the mind of a hero, Kindle. Kindle was to go on a search for the Elderin's ancient groves and awaken them. He would then lead the Elderin against New Olympus and take back the artifact beneath it, a source of power great enough to partially awaken the Dreamer. But Kindle's mind was infected by the rogue Shakaedi, Karakriss (it is currently unknown how he managed to escape from Tartarus, but it is thought he was never originally sealed in tartarus after the ancient war), and he was made to think he did not need the Elderin, and instead enlisted the aid of the Elves and Dwarfs. As he marched on New Olympus, he was confronted by the rogue Shakaedi. In the ensuing battle, Karakriss wiped out the Elves and the Dwarves, and corrupted the artifact without Kindle knowing. Kindle, bruised and battered, stuck his sword into the source intending to draw its power, and all the Shakaedi's corruption came into him. Power erupted, destroying New Olympus, and Kindle was proved dead. Thus the first avatar failed.

### **Exile of the San'aron**

After this tragedy, the Angels began to beleive that the Battalion's problems came from within. They took the Tempest Angels, whom they now considered impure, by surprise and exiled them from Olympus. The Tempest Angels swore that someday they would have their revenge.

Fearing that some may not have agreed with the decision to rid Olympus of the Tempest Angels, the High Council of Angels convinced their people to form into a militaristic society to ensure security. They elected Cailin Sashir as their General-King, but the Tempest Angels had banded together and stormed Olympus, killing him. They named his daughter, Lenaea Sashir, as General-Queen. Not long after, Lenaea's brother, Lieutenant Valadin, opposed to the strict rules of the new Olympus and ammassed a rebellion.

Even the close relationship between Lenaea and Valadin did not stop the General-Queen from punishing her brother. Him and his rebels plead guilty to treason. As the worst crime that could be commited, trespassers were stripped of their wings and thrown from Olympus. When asked for his final words, Valadin claimed that Olympus was corrupt and that he would wipe out the San'ari or die trying.

### **Forming of the Fallen**

Valadin took his large rebel force underground, where they turned their backs on Arin and embraced the power of shadows. Their skin grew dark, their eyes shades of red and black. He gave his people a new name, the Cullenar, San'ari for 'Vengeance". As High Lord of the Cullenar, Valadin decided that larger armies would be needed to take Olympus by force. He brought his finest necromancers above the surface to the enormous mass graveyards of the elves and dwarves.

They opened a rift to the world of shadow, Shodar. They drew immense amounts of energy to raise the corpses of the diseased as undead warriors. Energy from Shodar was used on a regular basis when dealing with Shadow Magic, but on such a large scale, Shodar was left but an empty shell. The inhabitants of Shodar came out from their destroyed home and attacked the Cullenar. They were no mach for the Undead hordes that awaited them. Most of the Umbron, the inhabitants of Shodar, escaped. The Cullenar forgot about this seemingly barbarous race as they continued to prepare for the attack on Olympus.

As Valadin was preparing his soldiers for his assault on Olympus, he realized how hypocritic he really was. He had started armed rebellion because of his hate towards strict procedures, and here he was controlling warriors to do his bidding. He comanded his Necromancers to release their mind control over the Undead armies. Now free, the Undead elected their most intelligent and strongest to be their leader, Karmack Scythegore. Their new king openly declared an alliance with the Cullenar because "its not like we have anything better to do".

### **Birth of the Lightborne**

After years of preperation, the Cullenar and the Undead (who deemed themselves 'The Fallen') marched on Olympus. The Angels had been prepared, and retaliated. An enormous battle ensued. The Angels began to find themselves outnumbered, but all was not lost. A large group of Undead were sent on around to the other side of the mountain to initiate a flanking attack. As they rounded the hill they saw the magic that the Angels used, and eventually they were blessed by Arin. The Lightborne were conceived.

With newfound hope, the Angels and Lightborne ('The Battalion') fought back at the Fallen warriors. War raged throughout Tel'arin, sweeping through the world that the humans had long thought was theirs. Eventually, even nations began to take sides, but were often rejected from joining either armies. The Battalion and The Fallen seemed equal in strength - no end of the war was in sight.

## The Rise of the Topaz Heart

### **Elda's Second Avatar**

After the War had been going on for a couple of decades, Elda's sleeping subconscious decided that this was the perfect time to initiate another strike at the Gods, so contacted a mortal who had a spirit akin to his own. This mortal was the hero name Uthis. Elda (who introduced himself to Uthis as The Dreamer) planned for Uthis to search for the enchanted forests of the Elderin, and also recruiting any people who are tired of the oppresion and the constant fighting between the Fallen and the Battalion on their planet.

### **Tempest Angels**

As he set forward to find the forests, he was captured by the Tempest Angels, who could detect that he had once supported the Battalion, and Arin. Before they could execute him, he proved to them that he wanted to overthrow the Battalion. Hungry for veangence, and wanting to regain their honour, they pledged their Keep and the few towns they had formed to helping Uthis and The Dreamer defeat the Fallen and The Battalion.
For the next year, Uthis spent his time with them, training with their warmasters and learning of their culture. At the end of this time, they declared him an honorary Tempest Angel and cast an enchantment on him allowing him to sprout the wings of a Tempest Angel at will.

### **Umbron**

Along with a small contingent of Tempest Angels, Uthis once more set out to find the enchanted forests of legend. But as they passed through a city that was a known Fallen base, a strange thing occured. Yelling filled the Fallen outpost and Uthis saw burning. Someone was raiding this town, and they were doing a good job at it. The Tempest Angels and Uthis decided to join in because whoever was doing the raiding obviously shared their common goal. When they reached the site of the burning they were shocked to see that fighting the Cullenar and Undead were warriors of slightly diminished stature. But the most surprising part was that their outlines often faded in and out of vision.

These were the Umbron, previously drawn out of Shodar. When Uthis and the Tempest Angels joined the fray, the scales were tipped in favour of the Umbron, and the battle was won. Instead of thanking Uthis and his band, they simply dissapeared. Not wanting to lose a potential ally, Uthis waited near the town, hoping these shadow people would reappear. Instead, a larger force of Fallen came out of nowhere and assaulted Uthis and his warriors. Desperately outnumbered, they fought valiantly, and all would have been lost if a group of Umbron came back and saved them. Those Umbron then brought Uthis back to their council of elders who deemed it their most logical course to join under Uthis' banner.

### **Elderin and the Battle for the Heart**

His forces strengthened, he moved onward. After many months of searching, he found the forests, but no Elderin. They had mingled so much with Elda that they had become partially ethereal. Elda once again visited Uthis in his dreams, warning him against marching on the Fallen and the Battalion without the aid of the Elderin. Also he instructed Uthis to seek the core of power Elda implanted on every planet he made. In essence, the heart of the planet. Uthis stayed in the enchanted forests, planning and communing with the Dreamer, he was given the location of the Heart. It was the power source under the ruins of New Olympus. With his Umbron and Tempest Angels he set out for the heart.

After much toil, fighting, and searching, Uthis and his companions found the heart along with a mysterious Demon guarding the Heart. He introduced himself as Crimson, the new form of Kindle, the first chosen of the Dreamer. The power of both the Shakaedi and the Dreamer blessed him with immortality and destructive malevolent power. He named his new being and his creations Demons. After a long and brutal battle, Uthis summoned the power of the heart and cast it at Crimson. Enraged, the last of the demon's strength was put into a final attack. He sliced off Uthis' hand at the wrist. The corruption of the blade caused Uthis to grow faint, and he knew that as soon as the corruption flowed to his heart he would die. He staggered and the stump of his left wrist fell against the heart. Suddenly in a flash he felt cleansed.

Crimson was caged and condemned to a life in the mystical alternate mirror world of Khaos. Its origins unknown, it is a land of chaos and death. Tapping into the power of the Heart, Uthis crafted a gateway in the form of a mirror. He sent Crimson inside, but soon the cavern shook. Uthis smashed the mirror with the power of his hammer, shards flying everywhere. Crimson's words resounded from the peices:

"You have trapped me in this freakish world, but it is not the end. One day I will reign free. One day the hordes of chaos and destruction will ravage your world like a plague. Death is the beginning. Death is the end. I will return."

The shards disappeared, taken away by the Dreamer. Their location is unknown, and it is even wondered if they still exist.

### **The Topaz Heart**

After the event, the Dreamer spoke for the final time; "The heart has been activated and I have bonded with the chosen. Rise Uthis and bring this world back to me once more." When Uthis drew his arm away from the heart, a hand of topaz crystal adorned the end. The warriors camped out in the cavern for a few nights while recovering their strength in this time, Uthis heard the men referring to this crystal as "The Topaz Heart" Uthis convened with the Dreamer, and they decided to keep that name. Also, he decided to use that name for his organization.

Later, they began to erect a fortress over it on the ashes of New Olympus, to keep it from unwary eyes, but also because Uthis saw the need of an anchoring base of operations. After their recovery, and once Uthis saw that the fortress was well on it's way to completion, he once more made the sojourn to the enchanted forests. To his shock, the forest that was previously still and lifeless was full of movement. Yet he was also met with the site of burning trees and the wounded. Some of the Fallen had followed them to the forests and attacked. Thankfully, the Elderin had been awoken before the combat had started, but it was a rout against their favour. They met Uthis with grim happiness, ready to fight to protect what was their's.

So Uthis took a contingent of the Elderin back to the newly christened fortress, Vryhelm (meaning "Home of the Free"). For a period of six months, Uthis and the leaders of the three races - Elderin, Tempest Angel, and Umbron - planned strategy, as well as conferring with their generals. Eventually, when they felt they had enough troops, training and strategy, they set out, and openly declared war on both the Fallen and the Battalion.

## War Begins

Even though the Topaz Heart fought valiantly and with a passion, they were clearly and hopelessly outnumbered, as well as being buffeted on both sides. Even with tactical and terrain advantages, they were blown open and suffered heavy casualties, beaten simply by numbers. Uthis and his generals knew they could not go on with these losses, so they withdrew all their troops backto their four key locations. Vryhelm, Nightrun (the dwelling of the Umbron), Stormwatch (the Tempest Angel's castle) and Eldurna.

### **The Fiends Emerge (tieflings)**

The night it was reported that the armies of the Fallen and the Battalion were both about two weeks away, Uthis had another dream. In this dream, the legions of the Topaz Heart marched beside strange evil-looking armies, warriors who were half-man and half-Devil. Some were covered in runes, some in fur, some horned, some tusked, but all terrifying and savage. These half-breeds ravaged the armies of the Fallen and the Battalion. Uthis woke to the shouts of the guards, calls of creatures from the abyss, floated into his room. Quickly he put on his armor and ran to the battlements. He commanded the guards to put down their arms, saying "we have not come upon our doom, but our salvation."

So they waited, training with their new allies, who called themselves "Fiends" creatures whose father had been a denizen of the abyss and whose mother had been a mortal. Fortunately, the Fallen and the Battalion had sighted each other and had began skirmishing, leaving the Topaz Heart time to plan strategy with the Fiends. Finally, the Battalion and Fallen concentrated once more on the Topaz Heart and advanced. Savage fighting broke out, death everywhere.

### **Attack on Vryhelm**

It was apperant that there was a traitor in the Topaz Heart, because they concentrated their attacks near the entrance to the Heart. Thankfully, the aid of the Fiends evened out the lack of troops, and the Topaz Heart was able to match their military power.

Even though Valadin and Lenaea saw the beginnings of a rout, they and their elite guards stormed into the heart chamber and Valadin, Lenaea and the guards began a vicious, all-out battle to see who was worthy of touching the Heart. The two siblings were equally matched - Lenaea's defense versus Valadin's speed and strength. Lenaea suggested a momentary truce, and Valadin agreed. They sheathed their weapons and reached out to the Heart. The power sent them flying back and knocked them both unconscious. Their bodies crackled with energy as their troops lifted them out and escaped the city. Their powers magically enhanced beyond their previous capabilities, they soon recovered stronger than ever before.

Thus begins the current chapter of Tel'arin. Three armies, equally matched. The Battalion, fighting for Arin and for peace and prosperity. The Fallen, fighting for a world free of the restrictions of the gods and to let the world live how it wants to live. And finally, Uthis and the Topaz Heart fight to reclaim Tel'Arin in the name of the Dreamer and to return the world to how it was originially created to be.