The History of Avlis - Volume I

• Published by the Academy of Mortal Magic, an Entity of Andrinor's Trust. Information within this book may not be used without the permission of the High Mage Council of Avlis*

VOLUME 1 - Creation and the Age of the Gods, Revised Edition

Foreword:

These texts are a history of our world. A complete account of all the events that have occurred on Avlis would require far more space than I may take, and far more years than I am likely to see. Instead, what I have set down here is a summarized story of the events, as we understand them, which have shaped the world that you see around you. As a frame of reference, time is reckoned in this history according to the number of years that have passed since the end of the Great War and the dawning of the Age of Peace. Thus, the year of this writing is the two thousand one hundred twentieth since the commencement of the Age of Peace, or 2120. Events prior to this time are counted backwards, and designated "Before the Age of Peace", or "BAoP".

My hope is that in reading this work, students of history will come to understand some of the forces of the past that guide us yet to the future, for knowledge of ourselves is the greatest of powers. As this collection follows in the footsteps of many other historians through the years, I must acknowledge the work and dedication of all my colleagues, past and present. Their stewardship of our world's knowledge, in the name of Vorin, the true Keeper of Lore, has made this accounting of our past possible. In particular, I must also thank the esteemed Lorewarden, N'uquerni-Delothion, whose own collection of works regarding the deities of Avlis has provided a wonderful resource in describing the earliest events of our world, and who has kindly provided valuable comments and criticisms of this work. Further, I extend my appreciation to the Temple to Vorin in Derome Delem and to the Mikona Tower University, who provided invaluable facilities for my research, to the Melonius Mannellin and the Academy of Mortal Magic for supporting publication of this work, and of course, the Great Library of Mikona, where this endeavor all began.

May the light of knowledge grace your paths. Hilde Meyldur, Lorewarden of Vorin

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• • • The Nine Gods and the Tanar'ri. (~2000 years BAoP)

The course of Avlissian history has ever been shaped by clashes between light and dark, and between chaos and order. Even the very stories of our creation, as recorded by the dwarves of Galdos, recount this theme (for a more complete account, see Lorewarden N'uquerni-Delothion's Of Gods and Mortals on Avlis, Volume 1: Creation, The Hand of the Supreme).

Avlis was called into being from a swirling nothingness by He who stands above all gods, the Supreme Being who forged and wielded the Eternal Spark of Creation and the Black Dagger of Destruction. By His will, Avlis was made an orderly world of skies and stars and earth and seas, and at its very center, He set the Eternal Spark, while elsewhere in the deep places, He hid the Black Dagger. The Supreme created in this world spirits of nature, who communed in harmony throughout the lands and seas. But paradise was broken by the first coming of evil. From a land beyond the stars, a fiend known as the Negerai traveled to our world. The creature brought with it nine prisoners, warriors whose names are graven deep in our history: Gorethar, O'Ma, Dru'El, Forian, Maleki, Aarilax, Valok, Toran, and Mikon. The Negerai scattered its prisoners across the face of the world, and summoned from the Abyss hordes of its lesser brethren, tanar'ri, to guard over them. But the demons spilled across the lands, destroying the spirits and the harmony that had been created by the Supreme Being, until finally He was angered.

The Supreme chose the nine warrior prisoners to be His wrath. He granted them each a sword imbued with divine power, attuned to the heart of each warrior, and He bade them to banish the Negerai and tanar'ri. Each of these nine was of a different heart and followed a different philosophy, but they were all allied in that first war to banish the demonic armies from Avlis. The Nine broke free from their prisons, and came upon the Negerai, each turning their Supreme-given weapon upon the fiend. But just as the hearts of the warriors were balanced against each other in good and evil, law and chaos, so too were the swords balanced in power, and not meant to be turned on their foe all at once. The Negerai was spared from destruction by this balancing of each force against the other, and instead, was infused with their deific power, becoming of godly might.

In the face of this, the Nine fled from the Negerai, seeking refuge in the great Underdark, to very center of the world, where the Eternal Spark resides. In this place, the nine grasped the Spark, and through its powers, became the Nine Gods of Avlis. With the ascension of the Nine Gods, a war between the divine and fiendish commenced. But the Nine were balanced against the Negerai. None of them, the Nine Gods or the Negerai, was able to vanquish the other. But as is often the case with the tanar'ri, the Negerai was betrayed by one of its own servants. In secret, a lesser demon discovered the Black Dagger. Imbued with the power of the Dagger, the demon became much more than it had been, a great force of destruction, and struck the Negerai, destroying the god-fiend utterly. With the death of the Negerai, the Supreme recovered the Black Dagger. The Nine Gods drove the newly remade demon into the deep Underdark below, and cleansed Avlis of the remaining tanar'ri, restoring peace to the world and making way for a new order.

In the wake of this first war, the Supreme withdrew from the world, but set the warriors as stewards of Avlis, Nine Gods to guard the heavens and hells and all that is between. Eight of the Nine passed to divine realms beyond, while Mikon, alone, was charged by the Supreme to remain among us, guarding against any future threats from outside that seek to break the fragile balance of our world's existence.

• • • The Time of Dawning. (~500 years BAoP) ***

At the fighting's end, little remained of what had existed before. Only a few of the nature spirits survived in the northern lands that we now call Tyedu, hidden from the rest of the world. Avlis was largely empty. But in the planes beyond, the Nine Gods communed with other beings, and learned from them the skills of creating life. With this knowledge, each god chose for himself a race to create, which would work for that god's will in the mortal world. Thus, the nine eldest mortal races were created: the dwarves made by Gorethar, the fairykin (also called fey) made by O'Ma, the elves of Dru'El, the changelings of Forian, the ogres and giants (collectively called giantkin) of Maleki, the shaahesk lizardfolk and sahuagin (together, called scalykind) of Aarilax, the orcs of Valok, the dracon of Toran, and the humans (also called men) of Mikon. Although we know little directly of those ancient times, the creation of the nine races is thought to have occurred roughly five centuries before the Age of Peace, that is, approximately two thousand six hundred years ago.

Under the tutelage of the gods, the races learned of civilization swiftly. Religions venerating the Nine Gods were founded, and mortals were first graced with the favor of divine magic from their creators. The earliest of the holy orders, the Paladins of Gorethar and, just slightly later, the Blackguards of Maleki appeared. The races also learned to touch the arcane magic that permeates our world, just as the nature spirits had before their demise, and each race established an Order to guide the practicing of the arcane arts according to one of the nine philosophies, resulting in the White, Silver, Green, Yellow, Ebony, Violet, Gold, Blue, and Gray Mage Orders. The Orders together founded the Fold of the Nine as a guiding organization to watch over the use of arcane magic throughout the world.

Centuries of history took place, though much knowledge of that is lost now through wars, decay and forgetfulness. Settlements were founded, and these grew together into townships and counties, and finally, the first nations were born. Some of those homelands still stand. The dwarves yet dwell beneath the mountains of Galdos, ruled by the same line of monarchs founded millennia ago. So too, the elves for thousands of years have held sway over the great southern forest of T'Nanshi where they were created, and the shaahesk rule the swamps of Drotid under their Voivode.

Other races were more restless. Many humans remained in the land of M'Chek, which Mikon had set aside for them after their creation. But others spread across the world rapidly, particularly the folk known as the Romini, as the histories of all the races speak of their presence from nearly the beginning of the written word. The dracon also spread from their birthplace of Toran Shaarda, settling many lands as well and often intermingling with the humans. The orcs originally remained in their homeland of Dobrekon but, as we shall see in coming chapters, were eventually forced to abandon it. The fairies, of all the races, swept most quickly and pervasively across Avlis, inhabiting land, water and air.

However, it was also during this time that schisms began to form among the races. In the deeps far beneath the surface, demonic forces remained, spurring dissent from below, while on the surface it was the spread of the fairies, generally considered to be the epitome of goodness, which ironically contributed to the first great conflict among the mortal races of Avlis. Thus, the first few peaceful centuries of dawning ended.

By Hilde Meyldur