LibriumArcana.Games

The History of the World wrote:Grandilar is the name the Manilac nomads gave this land.

The roaming Humans clans claim to be the first inhabitants, their spirit ancestors recalling a time long ago before the Dragons came. But they are only humans, and spirits of the dead are riddlesome at best, and often untrustworthy if not murderous in these dark times.

What is known that the Dragons came to Grandilar, bringing with them their servants, the orcs. So too, it is said, came the Dragon's mortal Enemy, although none dare to even whisper that Enemy's name. Grandilar became a battle zone between these two powers, and portals were opened by both sides to bring allies and slave-soldiers to the battle. Grandilar suffered, but the Dragons finaly won. The Enemy fled, but those who had been summoned as soldiers were left behind. Thus the Elves, the Dwarves, the Vorn, the Vermites, the Tigerans and Foxwings were left with the Humans to find a way to survive on Grandilar, as the Dragons retreated to their Holds to lick their wounds.

Thus came a Golden Age, so it is said. Elven and Dwarven kingdoms grew and prospered, as well as the rare Human kingdom that lasted more than a generation or two. Scholars would petition the Dragons for knowledge, and the Dragons would give scraps that they felt the lesser races could understand. In this Golden Age, the Three Schools of Magic were formed: the primative spirit-based Shamanism, the religion-magic of the Earth-goddess Elethnay/Jikadel, which some called Witchcraft, and the formulative science of Wizardry. Great strides were made in these magics, and all prospered.

The Dragons even began to take mortal mates from the people of Gandilar, although not all mortals knew their loved one was Dragonic. Blood will tell, however, and chldren of these unions inheritated some of their parent's shape-changing power. Thus the Dwarven Gargoyles, the Elven Unicorns and Pegasi, and the Human Werewolves came to guard both the Dragon's Holds and the kingdoms of their mortal parents.

But Golden Ages end. Some say the Elves asked for and were denied the Dragons' immortality. Some say the Dwarves built great stone castles and stongholds for the Dragons, yet did not receive their just payment. Some say the Wizards and scholars felt the Dragon were hiding the best knowledge, keeping the secrets of Highest Magic out of their reach. Some were jealous of the power and influence of the Shifters. Some whisper in secret the Enemy returned, dripping these poisons into willing ears, offering to teach a secret of their own.

Out of Wizardry, a new class of magic appeared: Necromancy. While Shamanism borrowed from the spirit world, Witchcraft from the land, and Sorcery from natural law, Necromancy ripped energy from life itself, and left a stain on the world in its wake. Dragons spoke out against this new magic, as did the priests of Elethnay, but there were always those who seek power at all costs. That the Dragons did not want them to have it was merely more reason to use it. Kingdoms began to fall, as Necromancers rose to power, and their kingdom fell in turn to stronger Necromancers or to armies backed by Priests and Sorcerors.

Then came the end of the Dragons. On their highest holy day, the Day of the Dead, where Dragons left their bodies to commune with their spirit ancestors, the Necromancers struck. Led by dwarves, the Necromancers' army invaded the Dragon Holds via secret passages, killing all who stood in their way until at last they reached the Dragons themselves.

It is said on that day, the Dragons cursed the Necromancers, and Grandilar as a whole, as the DragonStorms began.

These are no mere storms, but massive vortexes of tainted magic that corrupted land and beast caught within its power. Those even brushed by the storm would fall ill with "The Tox", a sickness of life and soul that would kill the lucky and leave the rest twisted in body and mind. No kingdom was untouched, many left as ruins overrun by the 'mad spawn' of the storms, the remains of their population mindless inhuman beasts.

As Kingdoms fell, the Necromancers rose again. Strong from their victory over the Dragons, they fed on the misery of the land, offering protection from the Storms if people would follow. Slowly, the Necromancers took over the schools of Sorcery, turning Wizardry into a stepping stone to real power, driving the Shamans back to the wandering tribes, closing the temples of Elethnay, promoting worship of the Dark Twin Jikadel. The Necromancers then began hunting the last of the Dragons and their mortal bloodline descendants, the so-called Shifters, killing and draining their bodies for the Dragon magic within their blood. All the while, the Jikadel priests told one and all the Dragons caused the storms, and the DragonBlooded Shifters were there to continue the curse. With the wild magics of the Dragonstorms triggering many latent Shifters, the link between Storm and Shifter was easy to see. Despite the the Necromancers' purge of the Dragonblooded, the Dragonstorms only grew worse.

Now, hundred of years later, the Dragonstroms still rage across the land, some drifting with almost intelligent malevolence to the richest croplands, draining the land of magic and life. Some lands have been hit so often they are blasted, empty of magic and thus safe from the storms. Other lands are so corrupted by the taint left behind they are dangerous to simply walk across, even without the deadly madspawn creations of flora, fauna, and formerly intelligent being. The rare land is untouched by Taint, but instead so full of the natural land magic, or "Od", that it burns out mortals who attempt to live and till the land. Thus all the people of Grandilar are forced to dwell in the Blasted areas under control of the Necromancers or the Jikadel Temples, or risk the DragonStorms.

Yet the bloodline of Dragons is hard to kill. More than one servant of the Dragons survived the purges, and they remain a danger. Calling themselves Valarians, they teach the old Schools of Magic, keeping alive the old Draconic traditions, and claim to heal the land and people of taint whenever they can. Some say the Valarians are Shifters themselves, fighting the Necromancers and their tame Jikadel Priests. The Necromancers do try to kill any Valaran they find in their land, for no ruler wishes open rebellion. And still, scholars wonder if the Enemy still lurks in the shadows.

Thus is Storm Age of Grandilar, the land of DragonStorms.

Soontir948 wrote:Name: Geoff
Race: Dwarf (2 CP 1d6 HP)
Background: Spirit Speaker (2 CP)
Shifter Species: Gargoyle - 12 CP, STR 0, COR 1, DEF 3, SPD 1, WIS 1, HP 26

Soontir948 wrote:Oops, I copied the stats from dragons. I've fixed that though I see gargoyles are at a slight (?) disadvantage with 0 Wis.

Not sure if I am done yet as part of me feels like I should prune one or two aces to give multiples to others (ie. combat aces).