Recent History

Recent History is intended to be just that. It's history summarized, aimed at helping newer players gain a foothold of the game, or for older ones to have a sort of "scroll" to look back on. The more minutiae rumors and histories of day-to-day life, including rumors involving current plots, are in the rumor posts. Think of Recent History as a grander take on things, and if you are just starting out, this is where you want to begin. You can pick the rest up as you go.

Most recent events are at the bottom.

999: The Crumbling of Vardama's Temple in Alexandria

Stuff about Barnatos goes here.

1000: Theft of the Sword of Ea

Agents in Charn working in concert with the efforts of a Demon Cult known as the Cult of the Flesh, and it's leader a Balor named Tyrhannix, orchestrated an elaborate theft of the Myrrish artifact known as Einlazer, the Holy Sword of Ea. They believed this weapon was at least partially responsible for the laws that prevented demon kind from freely entering the world and soughtt o corrupt or destroy it. The sword was recovered through the efforts of Dragonier, Myrrish and Adventuring participants from Alexandria though in the process it was discovered that Charn had the capability of creating stealthed airships.

1003: The Merkabah Siege

Ten years passed beyond the Sorcereress Wars, and Alexandros remained under Myrrish guardianship...and control. Unsurprisingly, the people of Alexandros began to clamor for freedom and a return of sovereignty. Their nobility scattered, it looked as though the complaints would come to naught but angry grumbles...until Augustus reappeared. Angrily, the man who would be king denounced Myrddion and their actions. He reinstated the Phalanx Falcis, who were now seen as terrorists.

Augustus' actions ushered in a new era of tension and strife as his and his followers' actions became increasingly angry and desperate. His attempt to overthrow the Myrrish from Alexandrian land resulted in a strain upon his sanity and those around him. Such was the chaos and desperation that the most holy of holies, the Eidolon Court was nearly destroyed...and Myriddion and Alexandros began to view one another as potential enemies.

Events would reach their peak when the late summer and fall of AR 1003 in an event known as the Merkabah Siege. Two events heralded its eruption. First, the Eidolon Court was revealed to be the same fountain of divine energy of the days of ancient Kulthus, an incredible source of power and divinity, and what would mark it a sacred place of pilgrims in years to come. Second its uncovering forced the revealed identity of the Myrrish Governor...a surviving High Artificer. Saluven proved to have been responsible for much of the tensions and policies that had existed.

During the Merkabah Siege, Saluven's forced raised the floating fortress-city of Merkabah and called upon an ancient army of its constructs, undead, and the cult members of The Illuminated Order to descend upon Alexandria. The assault destroyed much of the city and many lives from the still-tired nation...yet in the end Saluven was defeated and Merkabah crashed into the mountains beyond the city.

The following winter, during an international summit, Myrddion agreed to restore full sovereignty back into the hands of Alexandros' ruling merchants, guild leaders and remaining nobility and the confederacy known as the Argent League was formed.

1004: Whitefoot's War

Whitefoot was a ghost who wished for everyone to have immortality. As part of his plan, the city was overrun with undead and constructs so that he could steal Big Ben, the giant war golem, from the Engineer's Enclave. He hoped that he could rip peoples' souls from their bodies and implant them into immortal war golems, freeing people from what he considered to be Vardama's tyrrany. However, a group of adventurers were able to free Ben, who then attacked and killed Whitefoot so no one else would have to share his fate. This latter part of the story is not known by many people; all they know is that suddenly the undead and constructs stopped attacking.

1005-1008: The Sendor War, Fall of Animus

Kinnevack strode into Sendor years ago and turned the once-Myrrish land into a place of slavery and domination. She toppled old temples and ruled with an iron fist. The streets of Sendor turned to chaos, and where men fell, ogres and the old goblinkin took their place. Images of Maugrim dominated the Temple Square, and tribal spears ran red with the blood of Kor the Warlord, and drums sang of more to come.

Alexandria joined forces with Myriddion, and drove its armies into Sendor. The pull required they withdraw troops from Blar, and that nation fell once again. Yet, Sendor and Myrddion marched with purpose to rescue friends and family. They marched into Sendor and drove demons from the town of Versis, they toppled the once-unsurmountable fort of Gettys. Despite losses and the crashing of airships, the gods of Light appeared to bless their efforts.

Except, tragedy struck just the same.

As they lay camped at Versis, the clerics of the Knowing God suddenly went blind. Animus was struck from the world through Taara's hand, and his loss sent magecraft into chaos, and began the unraveling of the nation of Rune. Shortly after His fall, Taara and Eluna's agents went to war over the dominion of magic. And, licking its wounds, the army still marched on--though now they looked over their shoulders, for gone was the Father of Wisdom and magic now bore two mothers, one of Evil and one of Light.

They eventually would fell Kinnevack, and retake Sendor. And as the armies gathered beneath the combined flags of nations, world peace lay on the horizon, despite the fall of a god. The ancient king of Myrddion and the elder king of Bludgun saw much in common with one another, and began, in Alexandria, to reach towards one another with the hand of peace.

Behind the falling of Sendor, the ghost of a whisper suggested that the twisted god of war, Kosomoth, was gone as well. To most, this is at best a worrisoem suggestion. Those deeply involved within their faith, however, heatedly debate the correlation between the fall of Bludgun and of the god so many of its people worshipped. They also look to Taara, after the dust between her followers and Eluna's settled, but did not abate. And wonder at the reach of the dark goddess' greed.

1008-1013: Vanishing of Alexandria

With the end of the Sendor War, Alexandria became the center of world events. The weathered kings of two nations, Myrddion and Bludgun, gathered and shook hands over the beginnings of world peace. It was at that time that Alexandria was ripped from the world--though to the world at large, she simply disappeared. She vanished from the world for five years, though Alexandria would not age but days. In the meantime, the world plunged into war and once-proud Rune crumbled.

The former followers of Animus were taken in at various temples. Navos switched from the pantheon of Light to that of Neutral, and absorbed many of them. Others too, went to a war-scarred Eluna, and yet more to other temples. Of Kosomoth's, little is known.

When Alexandria reappeared, it became a source of hope as well as suspicion. The world wondered why it had vanished, and Alexandrians quickly came to find that so had the great kings of Bludgun and Myrddion. Its walls were swiftly swarmed with politicians, accusers, ambassadors, hopefuls, and...refugees.

Refugees from near and far fled into Alexandria as a place of sanity in a world gone mad, where food stores had been destroyed or life had just become "uncertain." Politicians held heated talks.

Amid this backdrop, rumors spread of a man and a woman in the Mists, of ancient figures of Alexandria's history coming forth again. The Mists however, faded, and since then, those rumors have been scoffed at. And, so far, the kings have not been found. Instead, Alexandria has found its greatest ally, Myrddion, locked in a cold war between two brothers.

The Fake Mists

Roughly a year after Alexandria's reappearance, the mists returned... or so it seemed. They rolled out of the Red Ridge mountains as they did before, crossing over the countryside from east to west. Panic grew as they settled into place and farms shut down. Some people crowded into the city while others fled the area all together for fear of being trapped outside the world again.

Food became more difficult to obtain and crops rotted in the fields, unharvested. Prices on essentials of all kinds rose and the coffers of merchants who sought to exploit the situation swelled.

Slowly, through the dilligent work of the city watch and adventurers, it became known that the mists were fake, unlike the ones that had swallowed the city before, and were coming from some place a near the mining town of Denston in the Red Ridge Mountains. It was believed that a Mul'niessa known only as Malik, was behind the growing fear. Many military forces and workers were made to work the farms that had been abandoned to secure the harvest and others still, along with mercenaries, went to work rooting out the source of the mists in the mountains.

Eventually, it was found in the fortress known as Khamon Sotch--an old khazadi fort lost to ages. Small, for khazadi standards, but still formidable. It was there that bold adventurers and city watch men struck a blow against the allies of the Shadow Sorceress by destroying the mist generator and putting an end to the mul'niessan's plans.

Officially, Malik is said to've been killed at the battle of Khamon Sotch, but it is believed that the thwarted bank robbery, on the same day of the assault of the fort, is no coincidence. Many speculate that Malik was killed or captured there, and that the mists were nothing more than a large effort to swell the bank's coffers and then rob it -- nothing more, nothing less.

Either way, Alexandria is again free of the fear that had gripped it and stands strengthened in the views of those who thought it might slip away again.