[Puck]

O.K. Here it goes. I thought that I would put forth the rest of the history that the Azchirgnoth are just a part of . I will use the names that I originally used because that is familiar to me (there were a few posts that discussed the crazy names of some game worlds but to explain who and what things are each time I mention them becomes a bit tedious).

The curtain opened on a golden age, the first age of mankind’s remembered history. This was an age of myth and legend and I left it intentionally ambiguous. The People were an eldar race of man that I called the Shea, or elves (yes elves, but this name could easily be dropped, I liked the reference to totally over the top unrealistic heroes. This age was supposed to be a little corny). These Shea were mighty builders, sorcerers, and warriors who lived life spans of hundreds of years. They taught culture, particularly writing and magic, to barbaric mankind. The Shea were one part Tolkien’s elves, one part Biblical antideluvians, one part Greek myth and legend, with just a dash of unrealistic D+D feel. They were to the fourth age (the age of PC adventuring) what the Homeric heroes were to the Classical Greeks.
The opening legend was a great battle between the Shea and the Orms. The Orms of course were Dragons. The Shea were mighty, particularly in magic, but they were few. They aligned themselves with the numerous race of man for this struggle. Together they forged three crystalline blades of incredible magical power. With the help of these powerful blades the Shea-man coalition defeated and slew the Orms at horrible cost. Very few Shea remained. The men and Shea formed a great council, and the world was at peace. The united kingdoms were called Perosia.

Diversion: One important event here was the gifts of dominion that the Shea gave to the kings of men. One was the Crown which signified wisdom and authority, One was the staff or rod which signified justice, building and culture, the third was the sword which signified skill at arms. The three were common symbols on architecture, ruins as it were, and based on myths, there were certain choices that rulers needed to be made between the three. Kings even in the fourth age had three advisors: the Crown bearer, staff bearer and sword bearer.

At this point Koru-Su was banished from the council for digging into forbidden knowledge. I mentioned him in the other post. He gathers a couple Shea, but many of the new race of men and flees to the mountains and builds a fortress called Terracull and is forgotten. Years pass and then out of Terracul come the Lesh: they are the first of the Kraechedd (kra-sheeth) or the created. Koru-su has learned knowledge from the gates… yada… yada.. and messed with the very nature of life itself and created these creatures. (Do to suggestins from players the Lesh have changed a good deal from the original concept). They are expert hunters and trackers and immune to any form of magic. There bodies are covered with tattoos. The tattoos kind of writhe around on their skin. A couple of proto ideas here are that the Tattoos are the Lesh themselves and they act as a kind of parasite on the creatures they kill, animating them for a short time. The other is that the tattoos can form into shapes and make the lesh look like anything they want kind of like doppelgangers.

Anyway, the lesh sneak into the groves where many of the remaining Shea had retired to and begin to slaughter them (Azchirgnoth ruins often have depictions of this event in sculpture and frescos ) (I love this death of D+D type elves and embellish it when I can. It is very fun to explain this event to ex d+drs). The second time the gates of Terracull open the Chilops, or Gorfekus come out. They are a twisted bat-goblin but they are Kaechedd and not really natural Trogod. They are not powerful by the standards of that time period but there are thousands of them, they multiply rapidly and they carry diseases. Well they wear down the men and surviving Shea who hunt them vigorously.

Then for the third and final time Terricull opens its gates. This time Koru-su himself comes out at the head of his generals and sorcerers, the Azchirgnoth. They are leading an army of ogres. Ogres are not the Gloranthian type but rather huge quite intelligent brutes who can wield magic. They are kind of like very evil mistress race trolls. This powerhouse army joins with several barbaric tribes of men and blasted into the weary lands of the Shea-man coalition. Several legendary battles were fought and the Persosians are shattered. From here they run to the corners of the earth and go into hiding. One great stronghold is left at the gates into the mountains called the Thule Dunnan. Koru-su returns to Terra-cull leaving his Achirgnoth Generals to mop up. One Azchirgnoth army sieges Thule Dunnan, but cannot break the defenses. The others scatter and begin to conquer various remaining kingdoms throughout the lands.

At the dawn of the Azchir age, the second age, the Azchirgnoth begin quarrelling. Various surviving magicians and heroes slip through the Azchir kingdoms and secretly gather outside the gates of Terricull. They are very few in number but among them are the most powerful remaining sorcerers and warlords of the Shea. In brilliant Hollywood manner that becomes the subject of song and legend they storm the fortress and attack Koru-su. With them they brought the remaining Chirifalis sword (one of the three crystal swords I mentioned earlier. I forgot to mention that it was important to Koru-su that he gained the three swords. He gained the first two in earlier battles. The third one was believed to be trapped in Thule Dunnan which Koru-su thought would soon fall). With this remaining sword Koru-su was finally hacked down. Only a couple of the heroes survived and they were sorely wounded. They took the remaining chirifalis sword and vanished into myth.

Since most of the heroes who were protecting Thule Dunnan had left to assault Terricull it quickly falls to the Azchirgnoth. Instead of consolidating their victory the Azchir are quickly at each others throats. Many set up kingdoms throughout the world. This is an age of horror. The Azchir age is rife with slavery. The Trogod are enslaved as is much of humanity. Many of the Azchir delve into the forbidden magics of necromancy as well as the creation of new creatures to fill their armies, others mutate existing creatures. These later Azchir Kraecheedd are not as powerful as the originals, many are sterile and horribly mutated. Other things are called from the Gates, diseases are flung at one anothers kingdoms. In their wars with one another the Azchir squeeze out the most they can from their dark arts and drain themselves.

Onto the stage from the far reaches of the north come the Thurons. They are barbarian horsemen who crash into the sorely depleted Azchirgnoth kingdoms. Surviving strongholds of men, leftover from the Perosian age, rise to the call and aid the Thurons. It was thought that they have developed magics that protect them from the powers of the Azchir. Through divinations the Azchir realize that their time is at an end and they begin building tombs. They seal themselves up along with many of their followers in these tombs to awaken when the world is again ripe for their conquests. This is the end of the second age.

Well as I have a habit of digression and this post is way bigger what I originally intended, I am going to end here for now. I do not know if this history is palatable or whether it works with other peoples ideas. Hopefully though it will lead to some discussion. There is more but as it gets closer to the fourth age( the age of adventuring) the stories begins to have profound effects on how individual writers may envision their lands.