Unending void, without purpose or design.
Then from everywhere at once came the Voice of the Creator speaking the first spell: the Alpha Arkana. The Words of the Creator resounded throughout the void filling it with life, magic, and wonder. The spell of creation filled the void with rules, mechanisms, life, and purpose.
Moments after the Alpha Arkana, life and oceans of magic began to merge to create new consciousness. Law and Chaos turned and bubbled within each other, mixing and melding to form new creations. Hungry creations, filled with primal impulses and needs. It was said these new creations numbered more than the newborn stars in the sky, or the grains of sand in a thousand beaches to come. Then each newborn spirit found another.
Each spirit was suckling on the magic of creation, and while it was vast it was not unending. Each spirit hoarded the primal energies of creation, and when they found each other they lashed out to take the hoard of the other. A war in the heavens began that was unlike anything ever seen since. There were no alliances, no cease-fires, and no mercy. Each of the spirits ate the essence of every other they could find. Slowly, over the millenniums that seemed like eternities, they absorbed ever greater power and magical energies.
Eventually, most of the smaller spirits were killed or fled to hidden locales spoken of only in the dreams of the most deranged. Of the countless spirits that warred since the beginning of time only twelve gods remained. Each individual god was too puissant for another to destroy alone, and none of the gods could conceive the possibility of alliance. At first. More time passed with each god stalemated against the others. Eventually they agreed to change the terms and methods of their celestial war. Instead of attempting to destroy each other in a futile and pointless war, they would play a game. This game would have agreed upon rules, limits upon even their actions, and penalties for transgression.
Together they created the playing field: our World of Selan. For the first time in history the gods worked together towards a common goal. The creation of Selan demanded it of them, and even working in concert drained much of their energies for a time. They created the building blocks of the physical world in the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. To each element they gave a consciousness, semblance of life, and a minor fraction of their power. These four elemental essences were given free reign to shape the world as they chose, and they shaped the deserts, oceans, and mountains as they moved upon the world.
For their thanks, the elementals were given their own world separate from our own. Aside, but apart from Selan these elementals tried to return to their creation but found that they could not. The gods had blocked their return fearing that they were too powerful to remain in the game. It took a very long time, but eventually the elementals fractured their essence in their desire to return to their creation. Smaller fragments sneaked through the boundaries of the world becoming the elementals and domovoi we know today.
The gods focused upon creating mortal life next. Their earliest creations were the plants and the animals, creatures without souls or wills to work upon their world. The gods kept trying to create sentient life, but each attempt fell short. One of gods, Loreth, played a major role in this work – finally finding a greater purpose and love of the work. The other gods look upon him with envy, but none wished to challenge him for the right to create nature.
With Loreth focused upon creating more of the natural world, the other gods returned to the problem of creating sentience. Each tried to single handedly create sentience, but each failed. Some of these partially sentient creatures and misshapen beasts still roam the land. You know some of them by their names: pecks, ogres, and trolls. Others are known only to bedtime stories, and nightmares of men. Eventually several of the deities decided to work together once more.
It was not until all of the gods pooled their essence into the project that they were successful. While all of the gods were involved in our creation, several of them helped create the cycle of life. Loreth sculpted the outward shell of their new creations. Mures created the method of channeling this pool into each of their children at the moment of their conception. Khadina was the first to realize that they did not wish other immortals with never changing ideas and lives. He created the moment of death, when the spiritual essence returned to the gods.
Once the world and their new pawns were created, the gods began to negotiate the rules of their game. No mortal has yet to discover the true rules, and none of the deities have ever disclosed more than how they each wish the younger races to act. Scholars believe that the game is still in the early stages, but aside from cryptic prophesy and divine hints they have little proof.
The deities were on the verge of beginning the Great Game when they were approached by two groups with mysterious origins and unknown motives: Angels and Demons. They each claimed to be at war with their counterparts longer since before the Alpha Arkana. Their war was much like that of the gods, neither side was able to gain an advantage. Their war was beginning to stagnate and each begged for assistance from the gods. While exceptionally skeptical of this tale, each god made agreements with the side that best suited their needs.
The angels come from a world called Elysium. Their world and philosophy is one of justice, law, and virtue. They try to elicit mortal aid through acts of compassion, strong will, and community. While they are rarely ever seen upon the face of Selan, they are often seen as omens of times terrible and great.
The demons hail from a blasted and twisted world known as Gehenna. In nearly every way they are the polar antithesis of the angels: cruel, sadistic, filled with rage, and lawless. Their society is built upon torment upon those of lesser stature and power. Demons often try to escape to our world in order to foment chaos, hatred, and enjoy tormenting the “lesser” races of our world.
Anyone with the skill or power can summon both angels and demons. Like all otherworldly creatures they can be barred from homes, held at bay, or driven back from Selan. Even when summoned, keep in mind that they always have an ulterior motive. Their agendas will always take precedence in their own minds, regardless of who controls them or what their current mission may be.
The events during the early days of Selan are shrouded in time and mystery. Only a few myths and legends remain of those ancient times of great discovery, powerful enchantments, and unparalleled heroism. The few scraps of facts or recovered documents are jealously guarded by their owners, and only rarely does such a treasure see the light of day. However, common knowledge does speak about a once great empire that sprawled across all of the E'gathin Peninsula. This long dead empire was jointly ruled by two of the most powerful of the ancient races: the Elves and Dwarves.
Rumor and legends tell of mighty spires of polished gold and ivory. They speak in hushed tones of palaces built out of ice, bone, and and water frozen in time. In this time of legends their empire grew. Along with it, so did the egos of its people.
The hubris of both the elves with their magics and the dwarves with their astounding mechanics is still legendary to this day. The elves drove themselves to create ever more powerful spells, enchantments, and auguries. Many of their most powerful artifacts and rituals have been lost, but most of the spells used today are descended from those early sorcerers.
The dwarves dedicated their lives to natural philosophy, mechanics, crafts, and other fruits of science and technology. They invented and hand-built colossal behemoths of steam and clockwork. Most of the tunnels and mines of this early empire were created by dwarven mining technology. Their lives were much like our own, rooted in Synnia's crafts and skill.
The once cooperative races began to splinter and distance themselves from their counterparts, their separate philosophies breaking apart a once great alliance. They argued and fought with words far before they began to rain blows down upon one another. Eventually, war once again returned to Selan.
The war raged for many of their expanded lifetimes. Most of our races cannot even conceive the span of time that blood was spilled between them. Desolation, destruction, and death rang through their tunnels and mines as axe met glimmering shield, and magical death sought the hearts of even the most stalwart.
As with all things, the war finally abated. The surviving elves were driven upwards to the realms of the surface while the dwarves dug deeper into the bosom of Selan. Thus our era of unhappiness began.
The elves found a surface world already populated by hundreds of small kingdoms, city-states, and villages of the modern races. They returned to their evil ways of plotting, scheming, and manipulation to conquer the world above. Some of the smaller communities they simply conquered, other more powerful groups were seduced by dreams of power and glory. Their extended lifespans easily enabled them to think in decades while our shorter lives were able to comprehend only a few years. As the centuries passed, their betrayal and treachery bore fruit.
They slowly reassembled their once lost empire and christened the newly borne Warlon Empire. This vast empire stretched at its height over half of the known world, and the half it did not cover was mostly swamp and uninhabited territory.
The Warlon Empire spanned a period of several elven lifespans. They created mighty cities and fortresses fashioned from the blood and sweat of slaves. They expanded their knowledge of magic and sorcery only to horde it and prevent dissemination to the “lesser” races.
Their cruelty and sadism, while simply hidden and never truly gone, returned publicly with a vengeance. Their boredom, ennui, and disdain for the other races drove them to greater acts of depravity. Thousands of slave were tortured or killed at the slightest whim of their lords. Vile magical rites and hideous experiments were the standard of the day. This cruelty helped to pave the way for their eventual undoing.
A small rebellion at an out of the way chateau was the birthplace of the Great Rebellion. An elven lord built this small retreat to avoid the stress and bustle of the cities. Here, in great seclusion, the elven lord could relax and enjoy a bit of peace.
There are no exact details of what happened next, nor are there many first hand accounts. Each of the numerous legends and stories contradict each other in details if not in wide variation. What is known is that the elven lord was killed by one of his own gladiatorial slaves. That gladiator then raised an army from the local slave population and marched forth to wreak havoc on the empire. It is believed that he originally expected to die quite quickly, but that was not to be his fate.
Modern scholars believe that there were two primary reasons that the Warlon Empire fell to a tiny force of formerly agricultural slaves. The most obvious reason was due to the fractious, duplicitous, and downright ugly nature of their internal politics. Each of the elven lords maintained that this latest rebellion was their responsibility, and that they should not have to deal with the situation. They bickered, negotiated, and back stabbed each other until the rebellious army was outside the front gates of the capitol.
The other, less well known, reason was the extended elven lifespan. Tiny rebellions were constantly arising in small sections of the empire. Most of these attempts were easily defused, their leaders publicly killed in horrible ways to prevent another uprising. The longest ones lasted at most a year or two, nothing for such a long lived race to concern themselves with. The elven lords all believed that this was just another tiny uprising that would soon be quelled. They were wrong.
The Great Rebellion used this hesitation and bickering to great advantage against their former masters. The leader of the rebellion was known as Tahlin. Rumor and legend holds that he was able to negotiate the aid of an ancient dragon to aid him in his quest. Most modern scholars discount this legend as being allegorical and completely false.
Tahlin did have assistance however. During a particularly formidable battle, Tahlin cried out for celestial aid. His troops were in desperate trouble and needed celestial aid. It is said that only Sullum answered his call, sending assistance in the form of several fallen heroes from past rebellions. Ever since that day the Empire has considered Sullum their patron god.
Other records speak of a wandering craftsman who traveled with the band of heroes for a short time. This craftsman is supposed to have forged Tahlin a suit of armor, a shield, and a blade blessed by the gods. The mysterious craftsman left the band shortly after that, never to be seen again except in stories and legends. Some scholars wonder if he was in truth a defecting elf, a disguised dwarven smith, or even a Synnia herself. The three gifts each have great legends and stories that revolve around supernatural abilities and powers. No one is certain, as the three artifacts were lost around the time of Tahlin's death.
Fifteen years of bloodshed and strife passed before the Great Rebellion ended. By the end of the war, the last of the elven lords were pushed over the Dragonspine Mountains or were mercilessly slaughtered. At the end, Tahlin returned to his home at the chateau. A great city was erected there, the capitol of the new Empire of E'gath.
The Empire of E'gath has stood for more than 2300 years since that day. The Imperial nobility still claims Tahlin as a direct descendant, but some scholars disagree with that assessment. While the empire is still standing, there are many cracks in the masonry at its foundation.
Several of the rebelling races have declared only a select number of races “citizens” and turning the rest into second class citizens. All the other races are considered inferior and beneath the citizen races, although as everyone knows “there is no prejudice in the E'gathin Empire”. Racial tensions have escalated over the years, with the elves churning the resentment and the Dogs of War fighting against the ruling classes.
A dark shadow has passed over the current Emperor, leaving him comatose in his sumptuous bedroom. A new Regent has risen to power with motives unknown. War seems to be around the corner, and armies of Undead are rumored to be lurking in the mountains. This is an uncommon time for E'gath, and it needs its heroes.