A General History of Balbydos
The following paragraphs are brief descriptions outlining the general rise and fall of the multitude of civilizations and races in our World of Balbydos. This is information is gathered and compiled from Brief History of Magic and Its Concepts, specifically they have been compiled from volume 1 of the set "A History of the World and its Magical Heights" and volume 4 "The Ebbing Tide; How Civilization Comes a Goes". I have gathered this information and compiled it here at the behest of my superior, Rodan Durak 'mek Mathrandor. I assume it has been done so to better aid those who seek not to repeat the past, or perhaps it is placed here for one of his secretive missions that he so often takes in the far north. In either case I can only pray to Leto that it reaches it's destined eyes.
- Ssaraven Duranor, Novice Sunlord of Siege Windrest.
- Ssaraven Duranor, Novice Sunlord of Siege Windrest.
The Time of Beasts
How or when a material plane arises from the primordial soup is up for debate and in fact we have little information on the subject. Fortunately, we an approximate picture as to what occurred in the proceeding times thanks to the few civilizations that arose from the early eras of this world... at least we believe as much. It is said that in the eons unmarked by any sentience that the great beasts roamed the lands of Balbydos. These were the great Lizards, and the unintelligent beasts of the world. In this time magic and wit were unknown. It was from this era of thunder and great beasts that the first civilizations emerged and claimed mastery of magic.
The First Blossoming
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As the Time of the Beasts reached its apex, a few creatures began to stand heads and feet above their dim-witted compatriots. Whether this was due to external forces or the natural progression of the world is unknown, but, what is known is that these creatures would eventually close the time of beasts and begin the period in time that they dubbed the Great Blossoming. Incidentally, we in the modern era refer to this period as the First Blossoming.The First Blossoming refers to a time period in which 4 Master Civilizations and 3 Minor Civilizations arose; I feel I should clarify. A Master Civilization is a designation granted to a culture or a people who have mastered spellcasting, the arts and span more than a single continent. Another feature that often is associated with these civilization is that the claim multiple races as part of the culture and are not isolated to a single Race; though this is not a requirement. A Minor Civilization, often includes only a single race that has not mastered more the rudimentary skills necessary for Magic, while possessing some art or culture it is limited and has yet to experience the idea or need for "artists". What is a definite sign of civilization is that, they as a people have a centralized worship, a society often based in agriculture or other resources, and distinct hierarchy in society. The civilizations to emerge in this time period were (in order) as follows:
The Aviarians
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This civilization was a Master Civilization composed primarily of the intelligent Birds of the world. At the top of its Social Structure were the largest and most magically inclined Birds of Prey. Often small Nest communities were headed by a Giant Eagle or Owl, while the Largest TreeTop Canopy Cities were ruled by a Phoenix or Roc. It is said that they had mastered Magic to such a degree that the most powerful phoenixes could cast any spell with nothing more than a whistle or a few choice notes. It was at the height of this civilization that phoenixes became so intertwined with the forces of Magic and Life that they gained their now iconic resurrection abilities.
The Great Crawlers of the Sand and The Leviathans of the Sea
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I place both of these civilizations together simply because I know not which emerged first nor do I know if they were indeed different civilizations at all. The Great Crawlers were the beasts that evolved most directly beasts that lived in the open deserts of the world, while the Leviathans came descended from the massive beasts that claimed the oceans. From what little evidence we have gathered we know that they were in near constant communication and that they were indeed good neighbors, that sought one anothers' counsel on matters of philosophy and government. The Great Crawlers consisted of earlier versions of Purple Worms, Ash Worms, various intelligent Monstrous Vermin, and other intelligent burrowing creatures. Chiefly among them were the Great Sandworms who ruled over the deserts and were masters of elemental magics. The Leviathans on the other hands didn't rule over the other intelligent creatures of the seas; so much as enforce a begrudging peace and carefully maintained order.
The Fey
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The Final and Fourth Master Civilization to emerge from the time of beasts were The Fey. We know them as the various Pixie, Fairy and Nymph races that populate or world today. It should be noted that their civilization in its Heyday looked nothing like it does now. At its Height the Fey civilization spanned every continent, the ocean floors, had cloud cities, and had sparkling glittering cities made of pure crystal that dwarfed even the most elaborate and gigantic cities of today in both size and intricacy. They mastered magic to such a degree that many of the inhabitants need no other sustenance than that which the forces of magic could provide; and indeed this if still perfectly true for many of the Fey creatures that roam our wild countrysides to this day. It is important to note that many fey territories existed both in our natural Prime Material plane, as well as, in the coexistent Fey Wilds, or "fairylands".
The Saurians
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The second of the minor civilizations to emerge during the Great Blossoming was the Saurians. They were primitive lizardfolk-esque civilization that focused on hunting and gathering though in the later years of this time period they began to settle small pockets of fertile lands and began agrarian lifestyles, they even managed to learn the rudimentary magic and worship. Ironically, it is these same creatures that would one day give rise to the Sarrukh, and take magic to the highest point it has ever reached.
The Abeil Race
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The Third Minor civilization to emerge was that of the Abeil, or the race know as the "bee people" The creatures were in fact created by the more powerful fey who sought powerful and intelligent laborers. In time the Abeil sought their freedom and had it granted to them. The Fey found them "wanting for the purposes to which they had been created" which is a nice way of saying "all they really do is make good honey". In the span of a few centuries the Abeil mastered the natural forces which were infused into them, and became great wielders of druidic powers. unfortunately they never managed to grow past a handful of hives and never managed to master much else other than the arts of creating, literally thousands of different kinds of honey.
The Unknown Race
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The first minor civilization is indeed an enigma. We know virtually nothing about them. What we do know is as follows. Sometime after the Great Crawlers had become established and before the Fey had reached their greatest heights. A race of creatures developed within the kingdoms of the Aviarians. They were semi-intelligent and cunning but possessed no special traits or knowledge of magic. Indeed it has been openly stated by what little documentation that we have, that had it not been for their prolific breeding abilities and the short maturation time the species would have easily died out in a century. At some point the race learned the basics of weaponry and were able to claim vast swaths of territory in a few decades. Eventually, the race even began to learn rudimentary magics and worship. Their sudden population explosion combined with a monotheistic worship through off the balance of power both in the Prime Material Plane, as well as, in the Heavens. To top it all off their deity was violent, aggressive and power-hungry. What followed was a series of events known as "The Breaking of the Faith" the result of which the downfall of many civilizations, and a great loss of knowledge and culture in the world.
The Breaking of The Faith
"My mother, The 'White Hot Queen' was called to fight the great evil. In a desperate act to ensure the survival of the race, she returned myself and all my nest mates to the egg. When I hatched the world had multiplied in size, all I knew was gone, dragons flew in our once peaceful skies, 4 moons that had not been there before hung in night sky, and my mother and kin were gone."
-Lapis Lazuli, The Blue Phoenix of the White Wastes.
Not much is known about the event known as 'The Breaking of the Faith'. What we know is that the evil war god of the unknown race had gained a great deal of power suddenly. The explanation is simple enough to decipher. It was the unknown race's prodigious population explosion coupled with their devout worship that can most easily explain the god's meteoric rise. In any case, once he had achieved a certain level of power he began attacking weaker gods in quick succession and absorbing their portfolios and power as quickly as possible. He started with a few of the Saurian gods, then killed the Honey goddess, then moved onto the multitude of fey gods. Once he completely finished off the seelie court, he went after the gods of knowledge worshiped by Leviathans and Crawlers, followed by their elemental gods. In a matter of days he had turned the heavens upside down. As a last ditch effort the Aviarians Lords called a meeting. It was decided there that all the other races would quickly switch their worship to that of Chelandra of the skies, the goddess of the Birds. Together with her new found worship and several epic spells cast by the Fey, the Crawlers, the Leviathans and the Phoenix population she would destroy the war god. We don't know what happened next, but the results were catastrophic. The Fey races were shunted forcibly into the feywilds, and for the most part lost their connection to our world. Fey still exist in Balbydos but only as a mere fraction of their former population and their vast kingdoms, and cities exist only in the farthest reaches of the wilds far from mortal eyes. The Crawlers, and Leviathans both opened immense gates to the elemental planes, presumably in an effort to gain control of massive quantities of raw power for their epic spells. Whether or not those spells ever occurred is up for debate. What we know is that the Crawlers, and Leviathans, lost all conscious thought becoming mindless rage filled beasts, no different than the worms from which they descended. They also left gaping holes to elemental planes scattered all over the world. It is estimated that Balbydos quadrupled in size from the sheer mass of elements that came pouring through those gates before they finally closed naturally. As for the Aviarians, most of the races from the original civilization still exist, but their entire society, history, culture, and everything that made them great was lost. It is said that the older and more magically inclined a Phoenix becomes the hotter they burn. To this day Lapis Lazuli, the oldest Phoenix only burns blue, whereas her mother, much younger at the time of her death burned 'White Hot'. It is suggested that the the very nature of Magic shifted greatly in the catastrophe making it much harder to control, wield and master magic thus making the relatively common White Phoenix an impossibility.
-Lapis Lazuli, The Blue Phoenix of the White Wastes.
Not much is known about the event known as 'The Breaking of the Faith'. What we know is that the evil war god of the unknown race had gained a great deal of power suddenly. The explanation is simple enough to decipher. It was the unknown race's prodigious population explosion coupled with their devout worship that can most easily explain the god's meteoric rise. In any case, once he had achieved a certain level of power he began attacking weaker gods in quick succession and absorbing their portfolios and power as quickly as possible. He started with a few of the Saurian gods, then killed the Honey goddess, then moved onto the multitude of fey gods. Once he completely finished off the seelie court, he went after the gods of knowledge worshiped by Leviathans and Crawlers, followed by their elemental gods. In a matter of days he had turned the heavens upside down. As a last ditch effort the Aviarians Lords called a meeting. It was decided there that all the other races would quickly switch their worship to that of Chelandra of the skies, the goddess of the Birds. Together with her new found worship and several epic spells cast by the Fey, the Crawlers, the Leviathans and the Phoenix population she would destroy the war god. We don't know what happened next, but the results were catastrophic. The Fey races were shunted forcibly into the feywilds, and for the most part lost their connection to our world. Fey still exist in Balbydos but only as a mere fraction of their former population and their vast kingdoms, and cities exist only in the farthest reaches of the wilds far from mortal eyes. The Crawlers, and Leviathans both opened immense gates to the elemental planes, presumably in an effort to gain control of massive quantities of raw power for their epic spells. Whether or not those spells ever occurred is up for debate. What we know is that the Crawlers, and Leviathans, lost all conscious thought becoming mindless rage filled beasts, no different than the worms from which they descended. They also left gaping holes to elemental planes scattered all over the world. It is estimated that Balbydos quadrupled in size from the sheer mass of elements that came pouring through those gates before they finally closed naturally. As for the Aviarians, most of the races from the original civilization still exist, but their entire society, history, culture, and everything that made them great was lost. It is said that the older and more magically inclined a Phoenix becomes the hotter they burn. To this day Lapis Lazuli, the oldest Phoenix only burns blue, whereas her mother, much younger at the time of her death burned 'White Hot'. It is suggested that the the very nature of Magic shifted greatly in the catastrophe making it much harder to control, wield and master magic thus making the relatively common White Phoenix an impossibility.