| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Wizbane |
Posted - 17 Aug 2006 : 07:29:17
Following this message is a custom timeline I've prepared as background for a NWN2 module project, named "Sun, Wood & Fire".
Some things diverge from canon realmslore and are just plain invented, as you'll also notice the resulting plot sounds a bit "cliché", but I'm not a writer neither a wannabe one. Much credit goes to other realmslore authors, but can't quote them all without forgetting someone.
I'm looking for comments, suggestions, criticism, corrections, additional backgrund stuff and don't hesitate to point out grammar errors or better ways to express some sentences, 'cause english is not my native language.
The timeline is built with slightly longer than usual blocks of text, because the plan is to include them in "realmslore books" inside the module itself.
Ok, enough talking. Did I mention it all started when I went looking for realmslore about the first faerunian elven vampires? 
Thanks in advance,
Wizbane
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| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Zireael |
Posted - 15 Oct 2010 : 12:59:32
Anything else? I like the idea very much.
Has the module been published?
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| Wizbane |
Posted - 17 Aug 2006 : 07:35:13
"Sun, Wood & Fire" timeline (PART 3/3)
-1100 DR Illefarn's last Coronal commands a Retreat to Evermeet. Aelinthaldaar, the capital city of the elven empire of Illefarn in western Faerun, is razed by elven high magic on the order of the Coronal; the remnants of the empire fragment into small independent elven realms and communities. A small group of Illefarn moon elves gathers in the Emerald Grove, in the southern reaches of the High Forest. Soon thereafter many magical gates are created by the moon elves looking for an easy way to access far away resources, allowing their community to grow and prosper in peace without moving away from the grove.
191 DR Year of the Broken Lands A two-way magical gate leading to the dwarven trading outpost of Blinkingstone, in the Serpent Hills, is created in Emerald Grove by the resident moon elves.
278 DR Year of the Fallen Banner In exchange for various precious minerals, the moon elves of Emerald Grove accept to help the dwarves of Blinkingstone in their expansion down the deep caves below their outpost. Thanks to elven magic, an ancient underground portal leading to Twalathandun is discovered and opened. Soon thereafter what is left of Blinkingstone are a couple of blasted ruins, as it becomes the theatre of the battle of dwarves and elves united against the undead rising from the “Vault of the Doomed”. Emerald Grove's Coronal Yvoman and his right arm Lord Dergesh the "High" disappear in Twalathandun in an attempt to discover the source of evil. They uncover the truth about the Nar'Tel'Quessir, buried inside the deepest chamber of the ancient vault, and in order to prevent the unliving from pouring outside they seal the entrance portal of Twalathandun from the inside. The few elven and dwarven survivors recollect in Emerald Grove, where the magic sustaining the gate leading to the ruins of Blinkingstone is dispelled too.
280 DR Year of the Secreted Phylactery The moon elves abandon Emerald Grove and retreat to Evermeet, leaving behind only the old Ar'Gisir Valdamas (LG male moon elf wizard/olin gisir/divine champion of Labelas Enoreth), elected custodian of the unspoken truth about the Nar'Tel'Quessir they've uncovered. Alone in his tower, the Ar'Gisir commences a retired life in order to fulfil his duty, marking the time in honour of his patron deity Labelas Enoreth day after day.
1159 DR Year of the Cloven Stones Some human druids establish a small outpost in Emerald Grove. The “Friendly Flame” tavern is built and becomes the meeting place between humans and the small wood elven companies living in the deeper reaches of the High Forest.
1309 DR Year of the Sunset Winds Current year. The old Ar’Gisir Valdamas dies. Some elves gather and eventually meet in Emerald Grove, driven by different circumstances. At the same time, the orc tribe of Skullthrower Clan, coming from the Graypeak Mountains, sets a camp near the north-eastern edge of the High Moor, not far from the Serpent Hills.
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| Wizbane |
Posted - 17 Aug 2006 : 07:33:28
"Sun, Wood & Fire" timeline (PART 2/3)
-17200/-16800 DR The War of the Three Leaves. Under the secret guidance of Karjan, Ilythiiri spies and assassins thwart the unification plans of the three minor elven realms of Thearnytaar, Eiellur, and Syorpiir in the Satyrwood, by abducting their Coronals and guiding the three nations to battle each other. With conveniently forgotten rites involving the blood spilled by the three wood elf leaders and his own blood, Karjan forges Crimsonface, an enchanted mithral mask said to be imbued with the eternal Karjan thirst for elven blood.
-15300 DR The sun elves of house Vyshaan rise to power in Aryvandaar.
-12000/-9000 DR The Crown Wars. Initiated primarily by the sun elves of the Vyshaan family, by attacking the close realm of Miyeritar, the war soon degenerated in what is later to be remembered as a four generations long period of raging battles and hate between all the elven races. While many elves suffer and hide back in awe and horror from the havoc brought by the Crown Wars, shocked over the expansion of the cruel and supremacist Vyshaantar Empire, as Aryvandaar eventually becomes known, others, the Ilythiiri, degenerate in a spiral of corruption and malevolence, leading them to openly worship the outcast evil gods of the Dark Seldarine.
-10500 DR The Dark Disaster. Miyeritar is devastated by killing storms, which reduce the entire forest and the realm into barren wastelands in three months. While no proof could ever be found, many believe the high mages of Aryvandaar inflicted the Dark Disaster on Miyeritar. At the same time Velar'Nikerym Chlodian Vyshaan (LN male sun elf fighter/sorcerer), high captain of the sun elves, leads a cruel campaign against the elves of Ardeep and the surrounding wood elves outposts, finally claiming the city for himself and annexing it to the Vyshaantar Empire. As the hundred years long conflict between the Vyshaan and Ardeep, comes to an end, Chlodian slaughters all those he doesn't consider Hond'Tel'Quessir, true elves, a title he obviously reserves for himself and the Ar'Tel'Quessir only.
-10270/-10000 DR The Stone and Claw Campaign. During the fourth Crown War, the Vyshaantar Empire and the Ilythiir Empire clash as the great Forest of Tethyr becomes the middle ground of their expansionist plans. To the north, Karjan the “Firstborn of Kiaransalee” and his company of undead Ilythiiri, busy defiling every forest and life form in their path, and Chlodian, “Great Blade Lord” of the sun elves, guiding his soldiers in a crusade against the unfaithful dark elves come to a dramatic conflict. In the end Karjan prevails and in present day Bloodsoaked Grove, in the Forest of Wyrms, instead of just killing his opponent, he rips Chlodian’s face off and replaces it with Crimsonface, driving Chlodian on the verge of insanity as an overhelming lust for blood possesses his mind. No more conscious of his actions, Chlodian is forced to accept Karjan blood as nourishment, transforming himself in a never before seen abomination, as his sun elf blood mixes with the primeval dark elf blood of Karjan and undeath slowly prevails over the last sparks of life. Thus the first sun elf vampire of Faerun is born. Both Kiaransalee and her Chosen gain a new unholy servant, but for decades Chlodian (now a NE male half-dark sun elf true vampire fighter/sorcerer) can't do anything but wander in the darkest reaches of the Forest of Wyrms, despising his very own nature and begging Kiaransalee for freedom from the curse bestowed upon him.
-10000 DR The Descent of the Drow. As the destruction brought by the Ilythiir Empire continues more fiercely than ever, the answer to the prayers of the good elves arrives. Corellon Larethian's magic, as directed through his priests and high mages, transforms the dark elves, whether the corrupt Ilythiiri or others, into the drow. Whether by magic or by the weaknesses that banish them from the sunlit lands, all drow retreat within two month's passing into the Underdark. Elves are summoned by the Seldarine to the site that becomes Elven Court one month after the Descent of the Drow, to settle differences and restore peace among the elves.
-9800 DR Enraged by the Descent of the Drow and by the end of the Ilythiir Empire, Kiaransalee looks with disfavour at her champion. Lord Karjan, sharing the destiny of all drow, retires in the obscurity of the Underdark below the Forest of Amtar and loses his privileges as Chosen of the “Revenancer”. All his spawns are destroyed, but not Chlodian. Even if condemned to the Descent, due to the acquired dark elven heritage, the vampire half-drow Ar'Tel'Quessir survives and regains the mental lucidity lost years before, as a strong desire of vengeance against his master Karjan boils in his veins. With the “Vengeful Banshee” Kiaransalee silent approval, Chlodian finds Karjan and defeats him, putting an end to the “Lifedrinker” existence. Soon thereafter Chlodian, now a vampire lord, master of his own destiny, finally accepts his fate and starts depicting himself as the first of a newborn elven race, superior to all others and blessed by Kiaransalee with the power of undeath and a duty of dominion over sun and dark elves with no distinction.
ca. -9700 DR Lord Chlodian Vyshaan emerges from the Underdark below the Forest of Amtar and begins travelling north, finding that the Vyshaantar Empire has greatly expanded its boundaries, beyond those of the High Forest and down to the south forests once dominion of the Ilythiiri. He bathes in sunlight protected by Crimsonface and confidant in his sun elven blood, and proceeds to move towards the Vyshaantar capital, with the intention to claim a position as Coronal of all Vyshaan.
ca. -9650 DR Not many tales witness the reaction of the Vyshaan to Lord Chlodian reappearance. Fear, disdain and refusal animate the Vyshaan leaders as they come to know the abomination pretending to be a noble Hond'Tel'Quessir. They instead name him Nar'Tel'Quessir, he who is "Not of the Sun People", and summon a council of high mages to get rid of the dangerous unliving being before he reaches the High Forest. Beyond any possible opposition, the power of sun elves high magic buries a furious and enraged Chlodian in a secret chamber of Twalathandun, the “Vault of the Doomed”, a large complex in the outskirts of the Misty Forest where the Vyshaan used to burn the corpses of wood and dark elves killed during the war with Miyeritar. The spirit of Chlodian is confined away for the eternity, separated from his body, and the memory of the Nar'Tel'Quessir is wiped out from those unfortunate enough to have seen his bloody visage.
-9200/-9000 DR The proclamations of the Elven Court leads to a fifth Crown War, that ends with the utter defeat of the Vyshaan and the dissolution of Aryvandaar. Much of the High Forest is abandoned for an age, leaving the forest open so the benevolent gods might restore its peace. The madness of the Vyshaan clan compelled even their most fervent followers to abandon them before all the elves lay dead at their hands. While the final fate of the Vyshaan elves is not recorded, most Tel'Quessir believe them dead and executed at the hands of Elven Court. Still, some rebellious elves across the centuries whisper tales of the four sons of Vyshaan who escaped to the west and to the stars to quietly marshal their strength and await such a time as they could return in glory to Faerun.
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| Wizbane |
Posted - 17 Aug 2006 : 07:31:21
"Sun, Wood & Fire" timeline (PART 1/3)
ca. -35000/-33000 DR The dark elven necromancer queen of Threnody, Kiaransalee the "Lady of the Dead" (CE female dark elf necromancer/cleric), is deposed by her husband, the King of Threnody, and condemned to a perpetual exile and to be forever recognized as "dhaerow" of the elven race, for her unholy acts with the once-living. Before leaving Threnody with her most loyal followers, Kiaransalee rises and commands an army of undead, as a retribution to her husband decree, to lay waste of all her previously dominated realms. Her firstborn, Karjan the "Lifedrinker" (CE male dark elf vampire lord fighter/blackguard), openly fights at her side and eventually follows her in the exile.
ca. -33000/-30000 DR What is left of Threnody realms after the queen retribution war is a waste plagued by hordes of wandering undead, as the dark elves killed by Kiaransalee army rise from death as mindless aberrant creatures. While their native world slowly transforms into a lifeless environment, the surviving dark elves flee elsewhere, looking for more hospitable lands, eventually setting in the south-western forests of the land later known as Faerun. The memory of Kiaransalee deeds on Threnody gains her the nicknames "Vengeful banshee" and "Revenancer" among the dark elves refugees, the deadly queen still remembered even after their distant world has long been forgotten.
-32000 DR Kiaransalee, fled to the Abyss, starts to gate in her new lair in Thanatos (a cold abyssal layer of ice, thin air, and a black, moonlit sky, also known as the “Belly of Death”) the undead roaming her dying world, building a large army and sizing a whole realm for her own. As her talent in the art of necromancy increases trough vicious experiments, her power grows strong. As soon as free-willed undead minions and the frightened exiled dark elves start to worship her as a deity, she achieves a measure of divine power, gaining immortality in the process. Her rivalry with the resident demon lord of Thanatos, Orcus the "Prince of Undead", dates back to these years.
-30500 DR The Ssri'Tel'Quessir, heirs of the dark elves refugees from Threnody, begin to expand their area of influence in the new lands. They come in contact with other elven populations also coming from far away places, namely green elves, sea elves, avariels and the ancient lythari. Driven by her desire of supremacy over the Ssri'Tel'Quessir and powerful beyond the constraining boundaries of mortal beings, Kiaransalee attention is turned to the rising elven civilizations. As she becomes aware of the Seldarine strong influence on the elven affairs, instead of openly acting to fulfil her goals she acknowledges Araushnee the "Weaver" as head of the elven pantheon and sends her firstborn Karjan to Faerun, to seize control of the dark elves destiny. Karjan the "Lifedrinker" is bestowed incredible powers over the undead, as he becomes the first Chosen of Kiaransalee.
-30000 DR The War of the Seldarine. For the “Lady of the Dead” some ages long unwilling servitude to Araushnee overhelming power begins. By a decree of Corellon Larethian, true leader of the Seldarine despite the evil plot of his consort Araushnee to depose him, the destiny of all dark elves is placed in the hands of the “Weaver” as she is banished from Arvandor and cast away in the Demonweb Pits. Araushnee assumes the name of Lolth the "Spider Queen" and all her allies, since then known as Dark Seldarine, share her destiny as outcast. The repeated banishments and the anger towards the supremacy of Lolth and Orcus over what she considers her privileged sources of power, dark elves and undeath, slowly drive Kiaransalee to descend into madness, even while mantaining enough of her twisted cunning to perpetually scheme and plot her revenge against all who slight her. Moved to the Demonweb Pits, her realm retains the name and many of the characteristics of Thanatos, as she desires to conquer the whole abyssal layer one day, once thwarted the rulership of Orcus and achieved a position higher than Lolth among the Dark Seldarine.
ca. -25000/-24500 DR After uncontrolled high magic sundered Tintageer, their city in the realm of Faerie, sun and moon elves migrate to the lands already sought by dark elves and the other elven races. They call their new home Faerun, the "One Land".
-24000/-12000 DR The First Flowering. The great elven civilizations of Faerun reach their peak during this age. With the elves' success against the orcs, dragons and giants, the other races thrive in safety and begin the slow climb on civilization. Green elves ethnic groups begin splitting in wood elves and the more barbaric wild elves; avariels and sea elves become fewer as the time goes by, while the lythari gradually diverge from the true elven races.
-23900 DR The Ar'Tel'Quessir (sun elves) establish the first great elven kingdom, Aryvandaar, in present day High Forest.
-23200 DR The Ssri'Tel'Quessir pose the first settlements of the dark elven Ilythiir empire in present day Shaar, once completely covered by the Forest of Amtar. Skirmishes with northern smaller elven realms begin soon thereafter, as the Ilythiiri look with ambitious eyes at the resources of nearby territories.
-22900 DR The elven kingdom of Illefarn is founded when wood elves join their moon elf cousins in the city of Ardeep.
-18800 DR The first elven settlements of Miyeritar in the Misty Forest, in present day High Moor, are established by wood and dark elves, due to political differences with the sun elves of Aryvandaar. Miyeritar soon becomes a flourishing place for elven civilization and high magic.
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