Crestlyn Isle

Map of Crestlyn Isle, created by Frznbullet

History

Guilds, Organizations and Knightly Orders

• Continental Dwarven Confederacy
  • The Ironbeards
  • The Goldbloods
  • The Gearhearts
• Order of Liches
• Knightly Orders
  • Grey Knights
  • Oasis Knights
  • Light Bringers

Prehistory

The earliest memory in the known universe is of a time when all was boiling with unformed potential; whatever preceded this entropic state is lost to mystery. As the tendrils of consciousness reached through the abyss, they split and tapered as they went eternally down and united and expanded as they went eternally up. Distinct entities inevitably began to cool down and take form from the void, and the first individuals came into being. The first great distinction was one made between two greatly abstract entities of complementary nature. Others were created within and between them, and these became what the people of the world know as gods. The deities were divided into three groups based on the state of their origin: Black, White, and Gray. Seeing the potential to guide the formation of the more concrete worlds below them, they decided to shape the life that would grow below them. The gods in each faction decided to each send a single representative to take part in the creation of the lower world, the White gods elected the god of knowledge, the Black gods elected the god of fire and earth, and the Gray gods elected the god of the forge and life. The gods would later gain names in order to introduce themselves to the beings they would create at the lower fundamental frequency.

Creation of the World

The world was created by the three gods; Hentastous, Torrentious and Kirntle. Various other gods exist and have existed during the creation of the world, though they took no part in it for these three were chosen by vote, by the other gods, to create a world in which they could interact with. After the creation, the three gods began to bestow life onto it in four forms. The humans were first; a simple race of simple people who grew to be creative, innovative, industrious. The elves came next; an elegant race of fair skinned peoples who were naturally graceful, nimble, intelligent and enjoyed the beauty of nature. The dwarves came after; a race of small, stocky peoples who enjoyed drinking and construction. Lastly came the siddh; a race of peoples that came to life from the shadows of the earth. They were mysterious, had an inept ability with magic and enjoyed history. Various other races had spawned after the first four, but the four continue to be the most prominent in the world. Magic was introduced, both divine and arcane, by Henstastous, the god of knowledge. Torrentious, the god of the forge and life, taught the four races the skills needed to smith and to grow food. Kirntle, the god of the flame and earth taught the races how to live on any terrain, no matter how harsh or barren. With this, the four races populated the world though some territory is left unexplored. Since creation it's been 4800 years. The world's calender year 0 is based off when Torrentious announced he would live among the mortals to guide them, though he would not reveal himself. This being 900 years after the world was made. It is now year 3900 on the mortal calender.

Arrival In Crestlyn

Crestlyn was inhabited in year 870 on the calender by the first four races. The siddh and the dwarves arrived first together, as both races sailed on the same ships. The siddh's knack for cartography and sailing, along with the dwarves' brawn, allowed them to be the first before the other races. At first, only 6 ships landed off on Keeper's Coast, though after discovery two ships were sent back to speak about the discovery. Keeper's Coast has constant fog, protecting the shadownspawn from the sun though annoyed the dwarves. The first houses were built four weeks after discovery and it was agreed by the two races that Keeper's Coast would belong to the siddh in exchange for help in exploring the rest of the land. 10 years after the discovery the shadownspawn and the dwarves had made the nearby mountains inhabitable, including an unfinished map of the island. By the year 840, the humans, along with the elves, arrived on the isle on the west coast. At this time Keeper's Coast was populated by 12 cities and various towns and the dwarves were rumored to have begun construction of a stone city, carved from the mountains. The elves claimed the Southern Forest, leaving the humans to explore more towards the north. In time, year 900 had passed, with the dwarves nearing completion of the great city, Keeper's Coast housing thousands of siddh, half the Southern Forest converted into elven housing and the humans acting as nomads in the Center Plains. Year 1000 passed and half the island had been explored, it was possibly the largest island in the world, already being larger than some countries. 1000 years later and the entire island had been explored with the capital being located in the Center Plains. In year 2600, a great plague had spread throughout the island, brought from mainland when importing meat and iron, killed hundreds every year. By 2900 the plague had ended, though half the island's population had died, only the dwarves living in the mountains and the forest elves being unaffected. They had to rebuild and with so many dead, progress was slowed. Now in year 4800 the island has finally recovered from the plague, emerging in its golden age. The dwarves had invented refined steel, the siddh had mapped the island and constructed schools of magic, the elves created better medicine to prevent such a plague from happening again, and the humans had built many cities and towns now spread throughout the island. There are now a total of 10 major cities, and hundreds of other cities. Though much is still left unexplored and mysteries awaits for the bold adventurer.

Wars

The War of The West

In the year 3500 a war was fought between the siddh and the elves. The siddh are masters of magic, every race knowing their great feats involved in magic as when they introduced alchemy to the other races. Now, the elves are well versed in magic, able to use it with little difficulty. The elves from the southern forest wanted the secrets to advanced magic. The magic that could alter the laws of reality, but the siddh refused to give up such powerful secrets as in the wrong hands, it could cause another epidemic. The elves, infuriated, threatened war. Now, the elves of the Abudar forest were against this and the southern elves were known to be problematic before. The southern elves argued that everyone should be able to use advanced magic and that the siddh should step down from their throne and contribute something to the other races. What the elves really wanted was more power to hold a powerful kingdom in the isle. After yet again another refusal from the siddh, war was declared between the elves of the southern forest and the siddh nation in the central plains. So war was waged against these two races for 4 years, the siddh suffering heavy casualties. The elves then raided a siddh capital in Keeper's Coast, finding information about a secret magical ritual of great power. After this event, the siddh and dwarves agreed that extreme measures must be taken to stop the elves. In 5 days, the siddh created a ritual to end the war. With permission from the council of mages, they cursed the entire southern elven kingdom. The elves skin became the color of ash, their hair was purged of all color, their eyes became a pale yellow, and all involved in the war was brandished with the curse mark on their palms. The curse would continue to spread for 1000 years, though the now cursed elves would not stop the attacks, forcing the dwarves to take action. The ironbeard clan threatened to help the siddh in this war if the elves did not stop and the siddh announced they would destroy the forest with their magic if it would stop this madness. The elves then admitted defeat, they didn't want to take on the dwarven nation as well. The war ended with that, with the elves retreating to the forest and the siddh left to rebuild their nation. Strong distrust now exists between the siddh and the southern elves. The siddh are also distrusting of the elves of Abudar for not taking any action during the war. The newer generation of elves continue to bear the curse, but the next will not. After it all ended, the dwarves and the siddh became good allies, now helping each other in national affairs, though the siddh magic still remains hidden except for the ritual stolen by the elves, which continues to remain a mystery as to what it is.

20 Day War

A rather quick war between the nomadic humans of the Kahlri Desert and the Southern Elves. In the year 3200, some unrest came between the elves and the humans. Now, the humans already had some hate against the elves for claiming the entire forest all those years ago and then the elves demanded the humans move farther north, away from the forest. The elves wanted more territory as they had discovered how to use their magic to grow plant life in even the harshest of terrain and they wanted to turn a section of the desert into land that could support them. Of course the humans refused, arguing that they shouldn't have to move because the elves were beginning to overpopulate the forest. In an attempt to settle the issue, a meeting was called in the neutral country of Zihan. There the issue was presented to find some sort of compromise between the two parties. The elves indeed had an overpopulation problem, though turning part of the desert into woodland would ruin the natural attractions the humans use for income. At the end of the meeting, it was decided that nothing should be done as the humans refused any sort of compromise since the elves can simply move far south. Three days after the meeting at midnight, a human settlement in the Kahlri desert was attacked. Half the settlement was destroyed, burned to ruins. No one was seen attacking the village, though upon investigation it was deduced the village was destroyed through magic. The elves were immediately blamed, though they denied everything. Enraged, the whole of the Kahlri desert declared war against the Southern Elves and attacked the forest cities. The humans organized a surprise attack, catching the elves off guard and burning the forest as they continued. The elves fought back with their troops, who were superior in skill to the humans, but the humans had siege engines. Though the humans were taking heavy casualties, they continued to burn more and more of the forest by launching flaming boulders over the canopy using their catapults. In 18 days one-third of the forest was burned down, the humans continuing their advance. After two more days of fighting the elves surrendered, in fear that the whole forest would be burned to ashes. The humans agreed to stop the assault and go back to their desert, as long as the elves stay away from the desert for the next 500 years. The war ended with the elves losing 4,000 men, while the humans lost 19,000. A victory for the humans, many men were lost though the message was sent. The elves eventually rebuilt using their magic to regrow the forest and the humans rebuilt the lost village, which later became a very busy place of trading and exchange.

War for Queb

In the year 2900 an island was spotted off the west coast of Crestlyn. This information was spread throughout the island though only the humans and southern elves were interested. The dwarves had an entire mountain range and the earth beneath so they saw no need for more land. The siddh couldn't live in sunlight and didn't want to go through the trouble of artificially making heavy mist on the island. The humans of Dhey-Rye and Wihym, as well as the elves of Kirst saw the island now named Queb as an opportunity to increase their military power by having a naval base. The three countries sent people to colonize the island and after some years they settled. Year 2910 and the three peoples met by chance in the center of the island, attempting to colonize more and an argument arose between the three countries. None wanted to lax their hold on the island and all wanted to expand. After unwise comments from the elves, war broke out between the three. For two years the three battled on the island to decide who would conquer it and for those two years a boat from Dhey-Rye explored north of Crestlyn. It seemed that the elves were winning, as they controlled more land than the other two countries, though the humans had more men to fight and wouldn't lose any key strongholds. Message of a new landmass 50 miles from Dhey-rye was received by diplomats of Dhey-Rye. The leaders of the country had an idea, and with good effort they would be at peace and have more land. In a private meeting between the leaders of Dhey-Rye and of Wihym, they agreed to stop fighting each other and ally. They decided to relinquish their hold on the island, allowing the elves to take it. Both countries, now working together, declared defeat and left the island while secretly sending galleys to the large landmass just north of it. The elves boasted about their superiority in war, and named the island Queb. Months later, the allied countries publicly announced their colonization of a new island named Thurnall. The elves realized that they were tricked, they got control of Queb, but the humans now had an island that was at least three times the size of Queb. Naturally this angered the elves and they threatened war, but they did nothing as soon after the humans gave the forest region of Thurnall to the siddh. If the elves invaded, they would have to deal with Dhey-Rye, Wihym and the siddh. They were defeated before they could even invade thanks to the human's guile. Because of this the southern elves had a great hate for the humans while the siddh found themselves grateful to the humans, pledging to help them with any issue on Thurnall.

Places in Crestlyn Isle

Cities

Races

The various races of Crestlyn_Isle and their cultures.

Siddh

The siddh are a mysterious race and not much is known by the other races. They try to keep their culture and practices hidden when they can. Their skin is the color of caramel, their eyes entirely black, their bodies extremely thin. Jet-black hair covers their heads, even the males have long, wild hair which usually covers their faces, adding to their strange appearance. They are weak and fragile, though their mastery of magic makes them formidable foes. They are reluctant to use powerful magic, only doing so in dire situations. They have been known to destroy multiple cities with a single spell. One same situation where their existence on mainland was threatened by attacks from a nation of orcs. 13 days was spent preparing a spell, the result from the casting caused a chasm, 100 miles wide, to open in the center of the orc nation, forcing them to surrender in fear of another spell. The siddh despise conflict, caring only to further their understanding of the world. In secret, they wish to discover the power to ascend their race to a higher plane of existence to create their utopia. A healthy siddh lives on average, 350 years before natural death.

Elves

The typical "run of the mill" elves. They are tall, thin and fair skinned. Elves are adept at casting magic, the reason the southern elves believe the siddh should share their secrets. Life span of a healthy elf is 300 years.

Dwarves

The opposite of the elvish race. Dwarves are small, stocky and usually muscular. The dwarves grow large beards, and beardlessness is reason enough to suspect a dwarf of insanity. They enjoy drinking strong alcoholic beverages, brawls and shouting about stone-craft. Life span is about 200 years max.

Humans

Standard humans that live to be 170. The humans arrived on Crestlyn last, right behind the elves. They were the first to create siege engines and are known to have the most advanced forms of such. They are a fragile race as well as living the shortest life span. Humans have a knack for building, creating large, stable structures using natural materials. Humans are inept at magic, though some human wizards manage to wield advanced magic. Most of the human population is located in the Kahlri desert and the Frozen North.