The Tomes of Other Worlds
The Lands of Modera
50,000 Years Ago
Across a vast and dangerous ocean, the Continent of Modera rested. To the North, The Whisperlands and the ruins of what was once the foundations of Ehumera and its capital city of Amestos. To the south, separated by a cursed sea lay the dark and cursed realm of Demortus. The northern islands of the The Whisperlands was surrounded by a could of fog. All who attempted to venture through it were never seen again. While the land of Demortus is covered by a cloud of ash and dust, so thick that it blocks out the sun.
It is rumored that believed by most that The Whisperlands is the home of the Ehlderkin and the entire Northern part of the continent is the land of Amestos (The mountain city that the Ehlderkin called home). It is believed that when the Ehlderkin vanished thanks to Ehumera's creation of a new world, the disturbance of all the magic left a neverending storm on this once beautiful land. Across a narrow sea to the South, the land of Demortus was the first land the Descendkin came upon. When the children of the Ehlderkin, the Descendkin watched their parents die at the hands of Ehumera's creation. They left their home and traveled South. They found a land unspoiled by their parents troubles. For centuries, the Decendkin created their own world. They began the first civilization and even started laying the foundation for what would become The Arcane Arts. However, like their parents, it was clear that they all had different views of what the world should become. This led to the division of the Descendkin into three different factions. The Order , a group that protected the un-evolved and lesser species (elves, orcs, etc..) that inhabited the world. While the other Descendkin saw them as cattle to be farmed for food or slaves to do their bidding. The Order believed them to be no different than themselves. The believed that more had to exist on this world than just this one continent. So they set off into the ocean. They would eventually find lands and name them Rhungara and Avorene. The other two factions however... did not wish to share the land of Demortus. The North was claimed by a group known as The Rendkin and the South was taken by The Brood. The North was named Morte and the South became known as Blokurn. A land that was once a sprawling garden of plant and animal life began to grow darker as these two civilizations began to consume and grow over the centuries. Instead of taking the wisdom from The Order of Light and simply leaving to find a new home. These two factions decided to instead fight for the land.
The Rendkin of Morte varied in appearance from other Decendkin. They can best be described as Naruen, but with various skin colors and all had horns growing from their temples. They are believed to be the ancestors of modern day Netherkin. The Rendkin were more civilized than their Brood relatives and they preferred building their world around nature instead of destroying it like the Brood did. The Rendkin built massive sprawling cities but did very little damage to the world around them. All of their beliefs were soon put to the test as the battles with the Brood began. They began to realize that they needed to take advantage of the resources around them if they wished to win the continent back. The Rendkin began to win more victories, but at the cost of destroying their world. The largest of the Rendkin cities was known as Alturn. It was a labyrinth of a city, spanning several hundred miles in every direction. From here the Rendkin population began to swell. It was their plan to overwhelm the Brood with pure numbers. Each child was taught the ways of the Arcane Arts and with each generation the spellcasters became more powerful and the spells themselves began to alter the beliefs about what was possible in the world. One of these spellcasters was known as Raziel Selvarak and he would change the world forever.
On Blokurn, the Southern half of Demortus, The Brood were building an army of their own. They were decades ahead of where the Rendkin were because they didn't have many morals about the laws of nature. They saw the primitive species of the world as cattle for them to feed on. Over the years, that thurst for blood is what the Brood became known for. They are believed to be the ancestors of Reavers and Vampires. The land around them became as dead as these creatures were on the inside. Even though they had the power to alter the world. Instead they chose to feed of their own lust and pride. They fought among themselves and answered to only one. A being known as The Dark Lord. His real name is unknown. And it doesn't need to be known. He adopted the mantle of the title he was given. With one hand he could pick up a person and he would rip them in half with the other. Then proceed to drink their blood. And with each drop of blood he and his followers became more and more powerful. It became clear to the Rendkin that something needed to be done to stop him.
The Kingdom of Rendkin sent an army in force South. They were greeted with The Dark Lord's newest creation. A new form of magic known as Necromancy. This black magic was able to reanimated the dead and create monsters the likes of which, the world was not ready for. Hundreds of thousands died and the bodies of those that died got up and joined the fight against Rendkin. That is when the North sent their most powerful Archmage South. His name was Raziel Selvarak and he went toe to toe with the forces of evil.
The tide of battle began to change in the favor of Rendkin. Raziel Selvarak was capable of using forms of magic previously thought impossible since the passing of the Ehlderkin. It became obvious to The Dark Lord that Raziel found a way to begin creating his own magic as well. He knew he had to do something. In secret, he sent one of his feared warriors North into the Rendlin capital city of Alturn. This cunning warrior went by the name of Fang. Once inside the city, he found the wife of Raziel Selvarak, her name was Shaitana and she was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Ehumera. He took her South and laid her at the feet of The Dark Lord. He wasted no time in sending a message. He bit into her neck, infecting her with his bloodline. Slowly turning her into one of them, one of The Brood. The Dark Lord then sent a messenger North to inform Raziel of the news. He was to surrender himself. If Raziel would allow himself to die, then The Dark Lord would cure Shaitana. Furious, Raziel traveled South. Ignoring the pleas from his own people to not give into the demands. He traveled into the The Tower of the Cursed Dawn, the capital of Blokurn and there on a throne of burnt corpses sat the most evil being the world. At the feet of the Dark Lord laid an ill Shaitana. Raziel approached The Dark Lord with the intention of surrendering himself for the safe return of his love, but then he saw it. The Dark Lord's final insult to a lost man. Shaitana was pregnant with a child.. that was not Raziel's. Enraged, he charged the throne, killing a handful of The Dark Lord's guards. Shaitana pleaded with Raziel to stop, saying that The Dark Lord has granted them passage to Rhungara to start a new life, but Raziel was blind with rage. That is when the rest of Rendkin's forces began to storm the Cursed Tower. The battle lasted for hours. And at the center, Raziel and The Dark Lord fought. The end was drawing near and both forces stopped fighting and watched the battle between these two titans. One harboring the power of the Ehlderkin and the other summoning evils from the world beyond. In the final moments, both casters let their most powerful spells soar toward one another. At the point where the two spells collided, it was too much for the laws of nature to take and a rift tore open. A rift between two worlds. For a moment, thousands watched as an entirely new world stood in a doorway in front of them. This world was a dark and evil place. It was a planet with no atmosphere and the stars, nebula and constellations themselves were open and exposed. Raziel saw his chance and cast a second spell to draw The Dark Lord into the rift. The Dark Lord had no intention of going alone. He anchored himself to the world. Soon, the world began to crack and crumble around him and he and a vast expanse of land was pulled into the rift. Along with more than half of the Brood's forces. As well as some unfortunate Rendkin soldiers. In its wake, a canyon now known as The Void rests. A chasm in the world, a hole in the planet with no bottom. Or seemingly, none that they could see. When the battle ended. Raziel Selvarak passed out and would not wake up for months. When he did come to. It was to the news that his wife, Shaitana had died due to wounds suffered during the escape from The Tower. However, the child inside her was saved. Raziel wish nothing to do with the child and it was taken away from him. Raziel Selvarak returned to Alturn. A man with nothing to live for. Decades passed and no news of the hero was heard of. Until another great disaster occurred inside the city of Alturn itself. Another rift opened and hundreds were killed before the rift closed. Many rumors began to spread that Raziel himself was responsible for the disaster The King of the Rendkin, an old friend of Raziel came to his home and found a shell of the man he once knew. And what he found, scared the King enough to have one of his land's greatest heroes imprisoned in the deepest dungeon of Rendkin. He found a map. Not to this world. Or any on this world. It was a map of worlds themselves. Raziel Selvarak had been opening small rifts and peering into alternate worlds and dimensions. Looking for other worlds that had life. He theorized that all these worlds were the same planet, only in different realities. When he threw The Dark Lord into the rift on the battlefield that day, he saw into another world. It was a world in which The Brood had won the war decades earlier. And although that world was destroyed. It had been alive at some point. And if The Brood once lived there. Then the Rendkin had to have as well. Meaning, at some point in time. His wife, Shaitana had also lived.
The moment Raziel Selvarak returned home from the war. He began looking for ways to open rifts. New magics or ancient devices. He found one. He traveled North in secret. To the Whisperlands. He managed to find a way into the mountain city of Amestos. He was the first to step foot on the land in a hundred thousand years. He traveled to the deepest dungeon and found the stone that Ehumera herself laid upon. It was there that he understood the truth of it all. Upon returning home, Raziel began his travels. He was able to open portals to alternate worlds. He was looking for his love, Shaitana; born in an alternate dimension. He traveled to thousands of worlds in a span of a hundred years. And his adventures would have gone unnoticed if it wasn't for the fact that each time he opened a rift. The world he came from became a little more and more unstable. Eventually, it caused the rift that destroyed a part of Alturn. The King had no choice but to imprison him. All would have been well. If not for the fact, that this is exactly what Raziel Selvarak wanted. A few days later, when the King ascends the dungeon steps to speak some sense into his old friend. He finds Raziel Selvarak has vanished. Along with a treasure that had been buried deep underground centuries before. What that treasure is and that Raziel needs it for still remain a mystery. A few decades later.. The fusion of Ehumera and Earth sends Mondara and its lands on a collision course with Earth. Demortus attaches itself to the continent of Africa and The Whisperlands envelope what was once known as Europe. And the remnants of scattered lands claim China and Russia - now known as Behedor. Across the ocean, the lands of Rhungara and Avorene have fused with North and South America... and thus a new world was born.
".........."