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The Origin of Aeurn

The Age of Chaos

In the beginning, before time started, all was chaos and void. The universe was boiling in the seas of Pandemonia, the waters of Chaos. Nothing that lived existed save Pandemonia.

Then came the Maker, whose light bore the power of Order, and with his divine power waged war against Pandemonia. Neither side could truly best the other, but Pandemonia could not withstand the might of the Maker and was forced to retreat into a hole in existence: The realm of Chaos. The Maker could not completely destroy Pandemonia, but instead would contain the chaos. Thus did the Maker forge the world of Aeurn, a planet whose inner most core contained the last vestige of Chaos energy in the cosmos. As he worked, the Maker called his servants, the great dragons of light from their realm of pure order into the world. Each one pierced the firmament of reality, creating the stars in the night sky as they appeared. The Dragons came to the Maker's side, guarding the new universe as Pandemonia bled through cracks in the planet. The Maker needed to make a custodian for his planet, and he created beings of magic called Elvenar. They populated the entire planet creating a civilization that drew on the power of the maker's light to hold back chaos from escaping.

With his labors finished, the Maker rested, placing his chief Arch-dragon in charge, a being known as Maelgurn. Ordering Maelgurn to guard his sanctum, the Maker rested from his work with the arch-dragon's wings shielding the divine light as he slept. For millennium, Maelgurn guarded the Maker as creation carried on. The dragons labored on Aeurn as well as the divine realm, each coming to worship at the sanctum of the Maker when they could. Maelgurn heard all their prayers and praises to the Maker while keeping the light from incinerating those that came to view him. Eventually Maelgurn, having heard all the praises began to believe that they were praising him; that he was not shielding the light of creation, but was the light of creation itself. He soon began to bask in their worship over the centuries, growing more and more that he was the Maker.

When the Maker finally awoke, the light passed on and Maelgurn grew confused. He had lived so long in the presence of the light that with it gone, it unnerved him. The praises of the other dragons fell back to the Maker and Maelgurn was incensed. He had forgotten about the Maker and turned on him, accusing him of stealing his power. The Maker was confused by this and tried to convince Maelgurn otherwise, but the Arch-dragon would not be persuaded. So furious at this, he called his own flight of loyal dragons, one of the three great flights and attacked the Maker. The other two flights came to their God's aid and drove back Maelgurn and his flight. The Maker beseech Maelgurn to stop this, but the Dragon would not be moved. Reluctantly, the Maker cast Maelgurn and his flight into the core of Aeurn, banishing them into the realm of Pandemonia. There Maelgurn cursed the Maker and swore to reclaim the light that he believed was his. Thus was the name of Maelgurn given the title "The betrayer" The dragons of Maelgurn's flight along with him were consumed by the chaos and became the Drakken.

The ending of the first age and the coming of the beast-kin

On Aeurn, the Elvenar fought their own battles against chaos, sealing up breeches of chaos and dealing with the wild magic of the land where Chaos energy and mana swirled in combat and drove the land mad with its tumult. With the Maker banishing Maelgurn and his Drakken, the Elvenar now had to face not only the Chaos energies but rampaging Drakken who joined the battle for Pandemonia. The Elvenar could not face against the dragons and were soon losing ground against the forces of Chaos.

Then something strange and wonderful came to the land of Aeurn, the Beast-kin appeared on the world. How the tribes of humanoid animals came to be is lost to antiquity, but the Elvenar saw their worth and cherished these new beings were able to use both forces and became a turning point in the conflict. The Elvenar took hold of these beings, calling them 'beast-kin' and for many generations, raised and taught them to speak and craft. The Elvenar could not procreate and cherished the beast-kin and their children, seeing them as a hope for the future. The battle against Pandemonia shifted once again, the Elvenar and their beast-kin allies fought back against the Drakken and drove them back into the realm of Pandemonia. Only Maelgurn escaped, finding refuge in the southern lands where he plotted and schemed.

The Maker saw all this and was pleased with his children and the Beast-kin whom he loved as well, but knew that Chaos would not be contained forever. What happened to the Elvenar after this remains unclear to historians, but it is said that they sacrificed themselves to permanently seal the chaos realm from Aeurn and prevent it from returning. Thus did the Elvenar depart from the realm of Aeurn and left the world to their adopted children, the Beast-kin.

The Second age and the Lineage of King Galen

With the Elvenar gone, the Beast-kin wandered the lands of Aeurn, seeking out their mystical masters. In time, tribes formed mainly of kin of similar species, forming villages and towns. Many of these tribes dwelt in the left behind cities of the Elvenar, using what they could remember of the ancient race to continue living. For the next several generations the Elvenar all but vanished into legend and the Beast-kin tribes began to grow and populate the planet.

For the first 500 years or so, the tribes lived in a form of semi-isolation from one another, not really communicating or getting along. Disputes over land and resources soon result in clashes and feuds among rival tribes. The fighting among the races draw animosity and racial hatred between certain species: Catkin vs. Dogkin and Rabbitkin against wolfkin.

One bunny-kin leader, Gaylen sought to lead his own family's tribe, but he had been visited by a divine being, said to be one of the Maker's dragons. This Dragon instructed Gaylen that he was to gather the other tribes and unite them, for the maker forsaw the coming of the Drakkul. Gaylen, under the guidance of the dragons and divine inspiration, gathered the small tribes around his own and grew into a powerful kingdom of their own.

Other scattered tribes grew concerned over Gaylen's new kingdom, and many drove their own troops against them, only to be either subjugated by Gaylen's superior forces and tactics. Many of these tribes saw the power and wisdom of this rabbit-kin leader and swore fealty to him, being absorbed into the kingdom that would be known as the Illuminarian kingdom.

After 20 years, Gaylen became king of this new rulership and the tribes maintained their own territories, but were subject to the King. During this time, the first wave of attacks by the Drakkul began. Gaylen led his people into battle, the united free beasts of the realm using their combined tactics, resources and magic to fight back the dragons of Chaos. The Beast-kin had fought off the immortal beings and their animated undead until Gaylen, riding atop of an earth dragon named Zaku'ra struck the decisive blow against Maelgurn himself, driving the Drakkul and their leader back into the southern desert.

King Gaylen ruled for another 60 years before he finally passed on, leaving his crown for his son, who took the name Gaylen the Second. It is rumored that Gaylen married the earth Dragon, Zaku'ra and his son was the offspring of that union. Gaylen II was a bunkin with unique magical powers and during his rule up until his own death at 120, the Kingdom of Illuminaria prospered and solidified into a mighty empire. They attributed Gaylen II's longevty to the rumor that he was the son of the earth Dragon.

After the death of Gaylen II, his son took the crown, and thus renamed Gaylen III. This young king was a religiously devout young bunkin and helped establish a centralized church and doctrine in worship of the Maker. He even established the coat of arms of his kingdom in the shape of a golden dragon holding up six stars in its upturned claws. It is said that Gaylen III had a vision of his family bloodline and the final ending of that line through betrayal.

Gaylen III died at the age of 92 and was succeeded by not a son, but a daughter, who became the first Queen of Illuminaria, but still named Gaylen the fourth. King Gaylen IV's rule was that of politics and trade. She helped establish the trade routes between the various territories and encouraged new technologies and magical applications like lighter-than-air Airships. She married a cousin from her own family, though rumors had spread that Gaylen IV had numerous lovers from other lines and even other races. She was reknowned for having a ravenous libedo.

After Queen Gaylen IV passed on, Gaylen the fifth, her second son took the crown, after her first son was killed by assassins from the southern deserts. Gaylen V was said to be a poor ruler, but still inspired loyalty among those of lesser moral quality. It was late into Gaylen V's rule that the Drakkul had reemerged, with an army of the rarely seen lizard-kin who lived in the deserts to the south. Establishing their own radical religion around the chaos dragons, the Lizard Kin of the deserts of Tar'Mozan (Dragon for 'seat of divinity') led a campaign to attack the free beast kingdom and destroy all of the realm. Gaylen V sought to lead his army, but being fearful about the death of his past brother who would have been king, he was relucatant to lead.

It was during this war known today as the dragon war that Palador Goldenmane, a horse-kin from the southern fief of Stormreach appeared. Born originally as a humble blacksmith, Palador's unnatural strength and ferocity when the Lizard-kin attacked his village brought him reknown. Seeing Palador as a symbol for the people to be inspired, he promoted the commoner blacksmith to become a commander of a small regiment, later known as the silver hammers, named after Palador's signature smithing hammer turned weapon.

For the next two years, the forces of Illuminaria fought against the Lizard-kin armies of Tal'Mozan. Palador's leadership and rumored divine power inspired the free beasts of the realm to drive back the hordes. As his fame grew, King Gaylen V grew worried that Palador would even seek to take over his own throne and become king. Many believe that paranoia from seeing the death of his older brother along with agents of the Drakkul who poisoned the King's mind drove him to plot betrayal against Palador.

Eventually the free-beast kingdom fought back the horde, driving them back to the fields of sorrow, which was a natural barrier between the southern deserts and Illuminaria's southern fief of Thornbriar. There Palador, now a general, led the armies for the king. King Gaylen had been present at this event, but had one of Palador's own friends, the mousekin thief Isthrum, prepared to assassinate Palador.

At the battle, Palador called out to Maelgurn himself who had appeared during the battle and challenged him to one-on-one combat. Maelgurn was amused and accepted, agreeing his armies would retire the field should he fall. Palador faced off with Maelgurn in an epic showdown and during the battle, Isthrum fired a poisoned dart at Palador in an act of betrayal, under the orders of King Gaylen V. Despite the virulent and fatal toxin, Palador continued to best Maelgurn, until his body could hold up no more. Sensing victory, Maelgurn called his troops in to attack before slaying his opponent. In one last act of divine power, Palador's hammer struck the ground with unnatural force, as divine lightning split the heavens and rent the ground. The cataclysm tore the land apart, sending many lizard-kin into the split ground which soon became filled with the ocean. The blast had seperated the southern part of the continent off, exiling the Drakkul and the lizard-kin from the rest of the realm. With his duty done, Palador succumbed to the poison and died.

Knowing what he had done, Gaylen V offered a hero's funeral for Palador, but his son Yohan openly exposed the king's betrayal to their champion, no doubt because of Isthrum's secret confession before vanishing from knowledge. Yohan even went so far as to draw his own sword against his father along with the other companions and Palador's men. Before civil war was about to erupt, Palador's body was encompassed with fire and light, and before the eyes of all in attendance, Palador Goldenmane's body rose and was restored to life.

Knowing now that he had truly betrayed the son of the Maker, Gaylen knelt in front of the ressurected God-king and abdicated his crown to him. Instead of taking the crown himself, Palador placed the crown on the head of prince Yohan, declaring him the sixth and final King Gaylen in the realm. Gaylen V was sent into exile where he spent the remainder of his life in dishonor.

Gaylen VI declared Palador as the God-King of Illuminaria and established a new order of knights: the order of the Silver hammer, led by Palador's adopted brother Alistar and charged them as the divine guardians of Illuminaria. Palador's hammer was returned to the monestary from where he was found as a child and placed upon his old blacksmithing anvil. By divine will, no one has since been able to lift the hammer from the anvil, save the one Palador himself chooses as his successor. Gaylen VI himself would rule for over 100 years, reestablishing peace and order in the realm under the watchful eye of the God-King and the Maker.