The Grand Plot

## Precursors

Eons ago the world was ruled by the Nephiliim. While slight in build, their intelligence more than made up for their deficiencies. They were gifted in the Arcane, and had a special connection and understanding to the nature of life and the soul. They did not appear on the scene suddenly, but slowly built their strength and otherwise took over the world and all that was in it. They began to experiment with life. First they took animals, adjusting them and changing them to suit their own needs. Later, they began to experiment with their own bodies, shaping them to suit theor own desires. One particular note of frustration for them was that they could not manufacture sentience. If they changed themselves, they would retain sentince, or soulishness. They were able to identify the existence of a soul within a being, study it, measure it. But only some animals seemed to contain souls, and not whole species, just individuals. If these animals were changed, they too kept their souls. The Nephiliim began to pursue this seemingly unattainable goal. They could identify the soul, measure it, but just couldn't seem to figure out what it was made of or how they might make one. One discovery they found was the soul's connection to their life force. Some souls burned brighter, and therefore longer than others.

Then, the Nephiliim began to notice something strange. The life of a soul began very dimly, brightened over time, peaking at the prime of life, before dimming again. One Nephiliim researcher tested an animal for a soul, which didn't have one, and then mistakenly tested again and found the animal now had a very bright soul. He reported this to his peers, who began to look for similar happenings. It didn't happen often, but continued to happen. Inexplicably, certain animals would gain a soul. This soul would start very bright, and then quickly dim to whatever level it's age was at. Some animals were gifted young, others old.

This discovery took the Nephiliim like wildfire. It proved that beings could be gifted souls. How this was happening, was more or less inexplicable. They began to experiment with these animals that were blessed, culminating in giving them intelligence and the faculties for communication. This posed a challenge, as sudden intelligence and the ability to communicate are extremely overwhelming. A few things were learned, however. Those who were gifted sentience (a soul) COULD remember something, but it faded quickly in line with the brightness of the soul. These souls were not granted by the Nephiliim but a powerful being known as Pro'Weden. Nothing else was discovered after this point, leading many to believe that nothing else could be learned, though they continued trying. These attempts were the creation of all of the sentient races of the world.

But the desire never disappeared. They poured themselves deeper and deeper into their work. Learning the nature of the arcane, mana, life force, and the soul. They learned that old age and protracted illness caused the soul and life force to fade unto disappearrance, but that sudden death left life force in the body where it quickly decayed. The Nephiliim then learned that this life force could be transferred through arcane means, revitalizing a soul. They began using their created beings to transfer life into themselves, allowing them to live far longer than their bodies would normally let them.

## Revolt

Over time, the numbers of sentient, soulish creatures grew. While they were allowed to live their own lives, they were never left to forget that they were created and that they may one be day called to sacrifice their life force for their creators. The seeds of rebellion began to be sown. The Nephiliim, were far above the rest of them in terms of technological advancement and arcane ability. Nonetheless, the sentient races began to band together, to plan a revolt. Prior to this point, the Nephiliim intentionally experimented with creatures and races without arcane abilities, knowing it would be unwise to have beings that could challenge them to live. But they continually sought more and more power. They began to wonder what the relationship between life force, mana and the soul had. So they began to experiment with innately magically gifted beings. But they were arrogant, and a small group were able to escape and evade capture. The fugitives began to study almost ceaselessly, to find a way to end the tyranny of the Nephiliim. When they did stop, it was only to teach othes and to flee their hunters.

## The Shattering

Finally, they invented a spell. One that would allow them to banish the Nephiliim to a realm of their own, to prevent them from ever coming back. However, the Nephiliim caught wind of this plan and sought to prevent it. What ended up happening was known as "The Shattering." Mages from both sides attempted to cast spells. The rebels attempted to banish