The Lands of Warlderia

History

Origin Myths and Ancient Traditions

The true origins of Warlderia are lost in the mists of time. Every race, culture, and religion preserves its own creation myths, each claiming to reveal how the world and its peoples first came into being. Whether any contain more than a fragment of the truth is a question that has occupied priests, philosophers, and scholars for countless generations.

Among the followers of the Old Faith it is taught that Beory, the Earth Mother, gave birth to the world itself. Mountains rose from her bones, rivers flowed from her lifeblood, forests grew from her breath, and every living creature sprang forth from her fertile embrace. In time, the other gods looked upon this new world with wonder and scattered their own children across it, each race reflecting something of its divine creator. Thus began the great tapestry of life that would one day become Warlderia.

Other faiths tell very different tales. Some claim that the gods shaped the world together from the raw chaos that existed before time itself. Others believe Warlderia is but the latest in a long succession of worlds, each rising, flourishing, and eventually passing away before another is born in an endless cycle of creation and renewal. A few ancient philosophers even argue that the gods themselves arrived long after the world already existed, claiming dominion over lands that were never truly theirs. No evidence exists to prove or disprove any of these traditions.

What all scholars accept, however, is that Humanity has become the most numerous race upon the continent. From the frozen lands of the far south to the sun-scorched deserts of the north, mankind has settled almost every environment imaginable. Human kingdoms have risen and fallen with astonishing speed, their peoples adapting to climates, customs, and challenges that many older races would consider impossible.

This extraordinary adaptability has earned Humanity both admiration and resentment. Elven scholars often remark that humans spread across the world like wild grasses, taking root wherever opportunity allows. Dwarven chroniclers have been known to compare them to ivy, relentless in their growth and impossible to contain. Yet even the harshest critics acknowledge the same undeniable truth.

Where other races endure through longevity, tradition, or mastery, Humanity survives through change. Whether this adaptability is the greatest gift bestowed upon mankind, or merely the consequence of its brief and restless existence, remains one of the oldest debates in Warlderian history.

The Time of Harmony

The oldest traditions of the Druids speak of an age before kingdoms, before cities, and before the coming of the Higher Races. They call it The Time of Harmony, an era so distant that many scholars question whether it belongs to history or legend. According to the Old Faith, Humanity once lived alone upon Warlderia, scattered across forests, plains, mountains, and river valleys in small tribes and family clans. Their lives were simple, their tools primitive, and their understanding of the wider world limited. Yet they lived in balance with the land, taking only what they needed and offering thanks to Beory, the Earth Mother, whose bounty sustained all living things.

The Druids, said to have been Beory's first servants, wandered amongst these early peoples as teachers, judges, healers, and keepers of sacred tradition. They settled disputes, preserved ancient lore, and ensured that no tribe grew so powerful that it threatened the harmony of the natural world. There were disagreements, rivalries, and the occasional blood feud, but there were no great wars, no conquering kings, and no cities to scar the face of the earth.

Whether this age truly was as peaceful as the Druids claim remains the subject of considerable debate. Many historians argue that the Old Faith remembers the past through the lens of nostalgia, whilst others believe the scattered nature of Humanity simply made conflicts too small to leave any lasting mark upon history. Whatever the truth, all agree that this ancient way of life came to an end with the arrival of the Others. The coming of Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and countless other races transformed Warlderia forever. New knowledge, new kingdoms, and new ambitions reshaped the world, whilst Humanity gradually exchanged the freedom of the wilderness for the security—and servitude—offered by greater powers.

To the followers of Beory, however, the Time of Harmony was never truly lost. It remains the ideal towards which the Old Faith still strives: a world where civilisation lives in balance with nature rather than in dominion over it.

The Coming of the Others

In the earliest ages, when Humanity dwelt alone beneath the skies of Warlderia, the world was a place of untamed wilderness. Great forests stretched from horizon to horizon, mountains stood unconquered, and mighty rivers flowed through lands untouched by city or kingdom. Men lived as scattered tribes of hunters, herdsmen, and farmers, knowing little beyond the lands immediately around them. Their world was harsh, yet it was their own. That age would not last.

From places now forgotten—or perhaps from realms beyond mortal understanding—came the Others. The first were the Dragons. They descended from the heavens like living storms, creatures of such majesty and terrible power that early mankind could scarcely comprehend them. Some regarded Humanity as amusing curiosities, collecting villages as others might keep exotic animals. Some demanded worship and tribute. Others viewed mankind merely as prey. A rare few became protectors, teachers, or even allies. Wherever Dragons settled, they shaped the surrounding lands according to their own natures, and their presence became the source of countless legends that endure to this day.

Then came the Elves. Wise beyond mortal reckoning and masters of arcane magic, they established glittering kingdoms of extraordinary beauty. To Humanity they appeared almost divine. The Elves taught men to quarry stone, raise cities, cultivate orchards, record history, and master the arts of writing, architecture, music, and learning. Under their guidance, Humanity advanced more rapidly than ever before. Yet this generosity came at a price. The Elves regarded mankind as gifted but immature—a younger race requiring guidance rather than equality. Humans became labourers, soldiers, craftsmen, and servants within the Elven realms, entrusted with responsibilities their immortal masters considered beneath themselves. Many lived comfortable and prosperous lives, but few possessed true freedom.

The Dwarves emerged from beneath the mountains. They revealed the secrets of mining, engineering, metallurgy, and law. Human settlements that prospered under Dwarven influence became places of order, industry, and discipline. Roads were laid, fortresses raised, and rivers bridged with stone that has endured for millennia. Unlike the Elves, the Dwarves respected honest labour above noble birth and often treated Humans more as valued apprentices than servants. Even so, mankind remained subordinate. The greatest decisions were always made by Dwarven kings, and Humanity's destiny remained in the hands of another race.

Not all who came were so generous. The Orcs, Goblins, Gnolls, Bugbears, and countless other humanoid peoples spread across the wilderness like a gathering storm. Where they settled, conquest followed. Human tribes were enslaved, driven from their lands, or absorbed into brutal warrior societies where only strength commanded respect. Mercy was rare, survival uncertain, and countless ancient cultures disappeared beneath the tide of invasion. Yet even these harsh masters taught Humanity lessons that would shape its future.

Men learned endurance. They learned courage. They learned that weakness invited only domination. Nor were these the only newcomers. Giants carved kingdoms amongst the high peaks. Fey courts established enchanted realms beyond mortal understanding. Strange beings emerged from forgotten places, whilst monsters of every description claimed forests, swamps, mountains, and seas as their own. The world became richer, stranger, and infinitely more dangerous than it had ever been before. By the end of this great migration, Humanity had spread across much of Warlderia, yet almost nowhere did it truly rule itself.

Some served beneath the graceful banners of Elven princes. Others laboured within the ordered domains of Dwarven kings. Many endured the cruelty of Orcish warlords or the whims of Dragon lords. Others entered pacts with the mysterious Fey. Though their masters differed greatly, the result was much the same. Humanity had become a race of subjects rather than rulers. Yet not every people submitted. Beyond the great forests, deep within remote mountains, across lonely islands, and upon the furthest frontiers, scattered Human tribes remained beyond the reach of the Higher Races. Small in number and often overlooked, they preserved their independence through isolation, determination, and no small measure of good fortune. Few at the time considered them important. History would prove otherwise.

The Higher Wars

Long before the rise of Kaegor and the founding of the Human Empires, Warlderia belonged to the Higher Races. The Elven Kingdoms, Dwarven Holds, Fey Courts, Giant Jarldoms, Dragon Realms, and many other elder civilisations dominated the continent, shaping its mountains, forests, and rivers through magic and craftsmanship beyond modern understanding. For hundreds of years these great peoples coexisted in an uneasy balance. Alliances shifted, rivalries simmered, and occasional border conflicts flared, but none threatened the overall stability of the continent. Humanity, Halflings, and many younger races existed largely on the fringes of this world, serving as allies, subjects, mercenaries, craftsmen, or traders within the domains of their more powerful neighbours. Eventually that balance collapsed.

No historian agrees upon the precise cause. Elven chronicles blame Dwarven greed and relentless expansion beneath the mountains. Dwarven records accuse the Elves of arrogance and interference in lands that were never theirs. Fey legends speak of ancient oaths broken by mortal ambition, whilst Dragons claim the younger races disturbed powers that should have remained forgotten. Whatever the truth, the result was catastrophe. The conflict that followed became known simply as The Higher Wars.

For centuries the greatest civilisations ever to exist upon Warlderia fought one another with a ferocity unmatched before or since. Entire mountain ranges were hollowed by Dwarven engineering. Ancient forests burned beneath Dragon fire. Elven archmages unleashed spells capable of reshaping rivers, levelling cities, and permanently scarring the landscape. Fey hosts marched beside creatures no longer seen in the modern age, whilst Giants shattered fortresses that had stood for millennia. The wars were fought across every corner of the continent. No kingdom escaped untouched.

The younger races became unwilling participants. Human kingdoms supplied soldiers to rival Elven lords, Dwarven kings recruited generations of Human miners and engineers, whilst countless villages found themselves caught between armies whose struggles they scarcely understood. Many Humans first learned the arts of war, governance, engineering, and magic whilst serving beneath Higher Race banners. As the centuries passed, victory became impossible. Each triumph merely exhausted another civilisation. The Elven Kingdoms sacrificed irreplaceable lore and countless immortal lives. The Dwarven Holds abandoned ancient cities whose halls had echoed for thousands of years. The Fey Courts withdrew ever deeper into their hidden realms. The Giants vanished from much of the civilised world. Even the Dragons became increasingly rare, their mighty domains reduced to isolated mountain eyries.

Though the Higher Wars eventually came to an end, no side could truly claim victory. The Higher Races survived, but their age of unquestioned dominance had passed forever. Their empires lay weakened, their populations diminished, and their confidence shattered. It was into this fractured world that Humanity began its own rise.

The Human kingdoms inherited the roads, cities, fortresses, mines, and learning of the Elder Peoples. They also inherited their rivalries, prejudices, and unfinished disputes. Many Humans remained loyal servants of their Elven and Dwarven rulers, whilst others increasingly questioned why the younger races should remain subjects of masters who seemed no longer capable of ruling themselves. From those questions would eventually arise Kaegor and the Wars of Liberation, conflicts that would complete the transformation of Warlderia from the Age of the Higher Races to the Age of Man. Even today the scars of the Higher Wars remain visible throughout the continent. Deserts born from forgotten spells, abandoned Dwarven halls, ruined Elven cities, haunted battlefields, shattered mountain fortresses, and forests where ancient magic still lingers all stand as silent reminders of the greatest conflict Warlderia has ever known.

Among scholars there is an old proverb: "The Higher Wars were not won. They were survived."

Kaegor the Great 

No figure has shaped the history of modern Warlderia more profoundly than Kaegor the Great. To the Divine Empire he is remembered as the Liberator and Father of Humanity. To the Old Empire he remains the first and greatest Emperor. Amongst the Elves he is often recalled as the greatest traitor of their age, whilst others acknowledge him as the inevitable consequence of a civilisation that had forgotten how to value those who served it. Whatever the truth, no historian disputes that the world which exists today was forged by Kaegor's hand.

Kaegor was born a half-Elf, the illegitimate son of the Elven Senator Cal-P'arthian, whose charm, ambition, and countless affairs became legendary even amongst his own people. Like many children of mixed blood, Kaegor inherited exceptional intelligence and ability but could never truly belong to either society. Too Human for the Elves, too Elven for the Humans, he grew up between two worlds, accepted fully by neither. Recognising his remarkable talents, Cal-P'arthian arranged for his education within Elven society. Kaegor learned history, philosophy, statecraft, engineering, and the arts of war alongside the sons of noble houses. He mastered the language and customs of his father's people and rose rapidly through the military ranks, eventually becoming a Captain commanding Human auxiliaries in the service of the Elven kingdoms.

During the final decades of the Higher Wars he distinguished himself in the brutal campaigns against the Orcs of Bilederth. While his nominal Elven commander remained comfortably removed from danger, Kaegor led his Human soldiers through years of relentless fighting. It was his men who endured the hardships, stormed the fortifications, and secured victory after victory, whilst the glory was claimed elsewhere. Many of the officers who served beneath him during these campaigns would later become the founders of Humanity's first great noble houses. The events that transformed loyal captain into rebel remain fiercely disputed.

Elven chronicles claim Kaegor coveted the daughter of his lord, murdered her father, and seduced his followers into treason through lies and ambition. Human historians tell a different story. They maintain that following the victories in Bilederth, Cal-P'arthian attempted to erase both Kaegor and his Human officers from the official histories, attributing every success to absent Elven commanders. When several prominent Human officers questioned this deception, orders were quietly issued for their arrest and execution. Whatever truly occurred, the result was the same. Kaegor refused to surrender.

What began as an attempt to protect a handful of loyal officers rapidly became something far greater. Across the western provinces, Human soldiers, engineers, administrators, and officials who had served the Higher Races for generations began to question their place within a civilisation that depended upon their loyalty while denying them equality. Entire military formations declared for Kaegor, bringing with them armouries, fortresses, and invaluable knowledge of Elven strategy. Not all Humans rebelled. Indeed, many remained fiercely loyal to their Elven and Dwarven rulers, believing the uprising both reckless and dishonourable. Civil war erupted within Human communities themselves as neighbour fought neighbour over the future of their race.

Alarmed by the speed with which the rebellion spread, several Higher Race kingdoms attempted to disarm their Human populations. Others imprisoned experienced officers or dissolved Human military formations altogether. Such measures achieved the opposite of their intended effect. Every attempt to suppress the uprising merely convinced more Humans that Kaegor's warnings had been justified. For the first decade of the conflict, Kaegor fought almost entirely on the defensive. Time and again Elven armies defeated him in open battle, yet they could never destroy his army. His officers possessed intimate knowledge of Elven tactics, supply systems, and command structures. They avoided decisive engagements, withdrew before overwhelming force, and counter-attacked wherever the enemy was weakest. Though repeatedly driven from the field, Kaegor consistently inflicted heavier losses than he suffered, gradually exhausting opponents who could no longer replace centuries-old warriors as easily as Humanity could raise fresh recruits. After ten years of relentless campaigning, the western Elven kingdoms finally agreed to negotiate. The resulting peace proved little more than a pause in the fighting. Neither side trusted the other, frontier skirmishes continued, and within five years open war had resumed.

By now Kaegor's ambitions had changed. He no longer sought merely to protect Humanity. He intended to secure its future forever.

During the second phase of the Liberation Wars, Kaegor systematically united the Human kingdoms of western Warlderia before turning eastward. Rather than assault every Elven stronghold, he bypassed many of the greatest cities, isolating them politically and economically whilst conquering the surrounding countryside. His remarkable strategic patience denied his enemies the decisive battles they sought whilst steadily expanding his own power. One by one the Higher Race kingdoms accepted treaties, withdrew into their ancestral homelands, or acknowledged Human rule over territories they had once governed. Those who adapted survived. Those who refused were gradually overwhelmed. On the first day of the thirtieth year of the Liberation Wars, Kaegor entered the ancient city chosen as his capital and was crowned Kaegor I, First Emperor of the Empire of Man.

The ceremony marked not merely the end of a rebellion, but the beginning of a new age.

The End of the Higher Races' Dominion

The Liberation Wars did not destroy the Higher Races. The Elves, Dwarves, Fey, and other elder peoples survived, but they no longer ruled the continent. Many retreated into ancient forests, mountain kingdoms, or hidden realms where they might preserve what remained of their cultures. Others accepted Humanity's growing dominance and adapted to life within the new Empire. Elves continued to advise kings, Dwarves remained unmatched craftsmen and engineers, whilst countless mixed communities flourished beneath Imperial rule.

The races that refused to adapt generally fared far worse. Orcs and many other humanoid peoples were driven steadily towards the margins of civilisation, their kingdoms broken and scattered into isolated tribes that survive to this day upon the frontiers of the known world. 

As one contemporary chronicler observed: "Those who stood like the oak were broken. Those who bent like the reed endured."*

The Kaegorian Empire

Kaegor ruled for a further thirteen years, devoting himself not to conquest but to building the Empire he had fought to create. Roads linked distant provinces, laws replaced tribal custom, and former enemies were encouraged to become loyal subjects rather than conquered peoples. His reign established the institutions that would endure for centuries. His successors inherited a stable and remarkably prosperous realm. For nearly two hundred years the Kaegorian Empire dominated Warlderia, enjoying an age of peace unmatched in previous history. Trade flourished, cities expanded, and Human civilisation reached heights unimaginable only a generation before.

Yet peace carried its own dangers. Without great external enemies, later Emperors gradually became more concerned with courtly intrigue than frontier defence. Ambition replaced purpose, luxury replaced discipline, and the vigour that had created the Empire slowly faded. This long decline reached its inevitable conclusion during the reign of Kaegor XIII, remembered by history simply as the Mad Emperor.

His conversion to the worship of Nerull, together with increasing cruelty, paranoia, and despotism, shattered the unity painstakingly created by his ancestors. Provinces revolted, noble houses divided, and the Empire descended into a devastating civil war. From its ruins emerged three great powers.

The western provinces rallied behind the half-celestial hero Innocence, whose victory transformed the old Empire into the modern Divine Empire.

The eastern provinces fragmented into the fiercely independent Successor States, wealthy merchant realms that rejected Imperial authority altogether.

Far to the south-east, isolated by distance and war, one province remained loyal to the old Imperial tradition. Cut off from events yet refusing to recognise the new order, it continued to proclaim itself the legitimate heir of Kaegor's legacy.

Today it is known simply as the Old Empire.

Thus ended the Age of the Empire of Man, and thus began the divided world that endures to this day.

The Galsitanic Intrusion

The Galsitanic Intrusion is one of the most extraordinary events in modern history, marking the first large-scale incursion of the Fey Realm into Warlderia since the end of the Higher Wars. Though only a year has passed, it has already become the subject of countless songs, scholarly debates, religious arguments, and wildly conflicting legends. At the centre of every version of the tale stands one man. Galsitan, the famed Half-Elven bard.

No figure of recent centuries has attracted such admiration, or controversy. To some he is the greatest musician ever to have lived, capable of stirring the hearts of kings and peasants alike. Others remember him as an irreverent rogue whose wit was matched only by his appetite for coin, wine, and mischief. Legends credit him with everything from selling the victory of the first female Knight of the Rose for a purse of gold, to saving the Duchy of Everwatch through nothing more than a song and a well-timed lie. Whether hero, scoundrel, or both, none dispute his extraordinary gift.

The tale begins near an ancient planar weak point, where the boundaries between Warlderia and the Fey Realm had long been thinner than elsewhere. There Galsitan performed what many still describe as the greatest musical performance ever witnessed by mortal ears. Some claim he sang for seven days without rest. Others insist he performed a composition never before heard in the mortal world, a melody so perfect that birds ceased their singing and the very trees bent to listen. Whatever the truth, his music carried beyond the mortal world.

It reached the ears of the Queen Aelirith of the Sidhe. The Queen of the Fey is a being of immense beauty, ancient power, and unknowable temperament. To mortal minds she is both magnificent and terrifying, capable of overwhelming kindness one moment and casual cruelty the next. Whether she was captivated by Galsitan's genius, offended by his audacity, or merely curious remains unknown. She came in person. Not alone, but with her entire glittering court. The performance that followed has passed into legend. Some claim the Queen applauded. Others insist she laughed. A few whisper that she wept. Before the assembled witnesses could comprehend what they had seen, Galsitan and the Fey Court vanished together into the Fey Realm.

To those left behind, scarcely a heartbeat seemed to pass. For Galsitan, an entire year unfolded. What transpired within the Sidhe Queen's court remains one of Warlderia's greatest mysteries. Galsitan himself rarely spoke of it afterwards, dismissing every question with a smile or a joke. Those who knew him best observed only that he returned changed. His music possessed an almost supernatural beauty, his humour became tinged with melancholy, and at times he seemed to listen to voices that no one else could hear. When the Sidhe Queen finally departed from the mortal world, she left something behind. Whether through carelessness, whimsy, affection, or deliberate design, fragments of the Fey Realm remained anchored to Warlderia. Forests where the seasons no longer obeyed mortal law. Islands that seemed to shimmer between worlds. Crystal rivers that flowed uphill beneath moonlight. Gardens where flowers bloomed in impossible colours.

Among the greatest of these new domains are the Golden Woods of Alwyn, the Silver Woods of Puevon, the Crystal Isle, and the mysterious Ablach Isles, though many smaller intrusions have since been discovered across the continent. Collectively these regions became known as The Galsitanic Intrusion.

The consequences continue to reshape the world. Trade routes have altered to avoid enchanted forests where travellers lose days, or years. Scholars journey to study impossible plants and creatures unknown to natural philosophy. Adventurers seek forgotten treasures hidden within landscapes that seem to change with every sunrise. Entire villages have vanished after wandering too deeply beneath Fey boughs, whilst others prosper through cautious trade with beings who should exist only in children's tales. Relations between mortals and the Fey have likewise entered a new and uncertain age. Some courts welcome ambassadors from the newly established Fey domains. Others forbid all contact, fearing bargains whose true price cannot be understood until centuries later.

The Sidhe Queen herself has never explained why portions of her realm remain within Warlderia. Some theologians argue they were gifts. Others believe they are trophies. Many suspect they are merely pieces upon a game whose rules only immortal beings can comprehend.

Galsitan, when asked, simply smiled and replied: "Her Majesty has exquisite taste in scenery."

Whether that answer concealed profound truth or one final jest has never been determined. Whatever the reason, historians agree upon one point. The Higher Wars marked the end of the Age of the Elder Races.

The Liberation Wars began the Age of Man. The Galsitanic Intrusion reminds all who dwell in Warlderia that the old powers have never truly departed—and that the boundaries between the mortal world and the realms beyond are far more fragile than anyone once believed.

The Present Age

Every age has left its mark upon Warlderia. The Higher Races left magnificent cities, forgotten kingdoms, and wonders of magic that can no longer be recreated. Kaegor united mankind beneath a single banner, whilst Innocence sought to temper strength with justice and faith. The Empire has since fractured, the Fey have once again crossed into the mortal world, and ancient powers stir beneath mountains and forests long thought forgotten.

Though many proclaim that they live in an age of peace, few historians would agree. Across the continent old rivalries awaken, forgotten ruins yield dangerous secrets, ambitious rulers pursue ancient dreams, and the boundaries between worlds have grown increasingly uncertain. Whether the present generation stands upon the threshold of a new golden age or another great catastrophe remains to be seen.

Stock Art by Dean Spencer Art

Timeline of historical events for the Lands of Warlderia

Deities of Warlderia