Age of Lost Spirits - Lazaron

Introduction

This is the history of Lazaron, although it was not named until the end of the Age of Chaos.

The world was indeed new. For decades, no one knew where they were in relation to where things used to be. The eye could find nothing familiar, nor could the ear hear anything of comfort. It was as if they had been picked up and placed on an entirely new planet. Now it is necessary to begin telling the history in two parts, as the world itself was effectively separated into two parts.

During this time, the races established where they were and where everyone else was. Some races were not seen or heard from for many years. The Rift was discovered and it was very clear life would never be the same. Humans gathered on the Karatta side of the Rift, but heard nothing from the Dwarves, Tree Elves or High Elves. Many years would pass before the Humans met the Gnomes and discovered they were not alone. Many more years would pass before the Stone Elves and the Under Dwarves emerged.

Both sides had come to determine that Xaltion had once again became angry and thrust his wrath upon the world. Why, no one knew. The new Sun now signified the time After Xaltion, or after Xaltion's Wrath.

Page 1

Small groups of the races began to meet in their wanderings and within a few years, camps had been established. People came with stories of strange beings, and stranger still, the story that if one walked too far east, they would disappear and never be seen again.

Some camps grew larger than others and as people began to realize and relate to where everyone was, more stable and permanent villages were established. The High Elves were the first to establish their new home. Simply starting where they stood when the world stopped heaving, they called their new homeland Quenae after the daughter of Queen Darnelia, the only member of the Royal family to survive.

The Humans, having been spread all over the known world, were a little slower to establish a new domain. A woman by the name of Lara grew tired of wandering from place to place as she and her husband managed 13 children. She demanded that they stay in one place and simply refused to leave. Many others took up her cry and stayed in what became the town of Laraville.

The Tree Elves wandered considerably longer attempting to find their lost grove. They were unable to locate it and only stopped their search when Toita sent one of the Druids a vision of a huge and ancient tree. It is believed to be one of the few trees to have survived the Age of Rending intact. The Tree Elves promptly made this their permanent home and believed they had a divine duty to protect and nurture the ancient tree they called Qway. Thus the village Qwaylan was born.

Page 2

The Dwarves took a great deal of time to settle down, as they were involved in a nasty clan war over who would be the new King of the Dwarves. When only three clans and 72 dwarves remained out of the seven clans and 416 dwarves who had survived the rending, a truce was called and the agreement made that no king would be chosen. It was determined that survival was more important than ruling. They combined and dissolved the tradition of clans for all time. The Dwarves took over a cavern in a mountain range, later named Mt. Iceback due to the 200 foot thick ice covering the ridge of the entire mountain. The village was named Chelsa after the first dwarven woman to marry after the dissolving of the clans.

Strange creatures were reported immediately after the Age of Rending. Someone from all the races had seen them, but no one knew what they were. There were many new creatures, some found to be violent and some determined to be non-aggressive. Most people simply avoided all of them, as they were more concerned with survival than investigating.

Once the races had settled over the course of three to four decades, they began to cautiously explore the land. Makeshift maps were made from the reports of citizens and brave scouts soon took on the task of leaving the relative safety of their villages and finding out about the new world in which they now lived. These expeditions, at times, became long quests for knowledge and often spanned several years.

Where were these strange and bloodthirsty creatures coming from? Where were the other races? What was to become of the world? What had happened to anger Xaltion and cause him to nearly destroy the world? These were questions that all the races had in common. The quest for answers to these and many other questions began in earnest.

Page 3

Tree Elves, having wandered over most of the world, came in contact with Dwarves and Humans, letting them know what they had seen and found. The only missing race was the High Elves who were eventually found in Quenae. The High Elves had been exploring as well, and had come in contact with many creatures, only three of which they considered intelligent and evolved.

Thus the world was introduced to Pixies, Sprites, and Gnomes. It would be many years before they were completely trusted, as no one could quite say where they came from, not even them. Scholars theorized that Xaltion created them, and there were later theories that they had come from the newly discovered 'Rift'.

All the races came in contact with the Rift and learned very quickly that venturing into it was not wise, as no one who entered ever returned. A barren area along the edge where nothing would grow and a slight shimmer in the air were the only indications of where the Rift was located. The half-mile of barren rock seemed to grow wider every year. The world around the Rift was extremely unstable and there was some speculation that this was the end of the world; that it had somehow broken during the age of rending and walking into the Rift resulted in falling off the earth. They also discovered that many foul creatures were routinely spit out of the Rift and patrols were established along the entire border of the strange area in an effort to keep the creatures under control.

Government remained unstructured, as no race wanted to place another in power over them again. There were times of great tension between Humans and the other races as they were blamed for the wrath of Xaltion. Pixies, Sprites, and Gnomes were collectively labeled the 'Fae' and kept mostly to themselves.

Page 4

The Aspects of Xaltion had begun to reveal themselves from the moment the earth settled, but it was not until many years later that they were actually recognized as Deities and the face of religion began to change. People were so afraid that they groveled to these various powers, begging for protection and guidance. Xaltion was no longer strong enough himself to affect all his children, so like a jealous parent watching a favorite child fawn over someone else, he was forced to watch as his creations began to worship and devote themselves to the various Aspects.

It was with horror that Xaltion watched the Aspects battle like starving animals over the attentions of his creations. They began to grant favors to people to earn their devotion and worship. They also began to restore people to life when they died at the direction of Parsons who chose to devote their lives to the glorification of a particular Aspect. People were required to spend a great deal of time worshiping the Aspects in exchange for this lide-after-death. Xaltion found this a twisted and dangerous meddling with an already fragile world, but was unable to stop what he had set in motion.

As the races began to grow confident in the protection and promises of the new Aspects, they began to grow bolder and more adventuresome in their newfound immortality. They once again began to build and within a couple hundred years, the world was once again 'right' in their eyes. Then something happened that would later come to haunt scholars, mages, and the world in general. One day, a man appeared in the Sprite city, Desta. He appeared to be an ancient human, blind, wrinkled and hunch backed. He told them his name was Lazaron. When he disclosed where he had come from, he was quickly pronounced quite mad.

Lazaron said he had come from the Rift and had seen the other side. He announced he was there to warn them of the destruction that was to come. The Sprites quickly disavowed him and escorted him out of their village. For over 25 years, Lazaron wandered the entire land preaching to everyone about the dangers found on the other side of the Rift, and the horrible things the future held in store.

Page 5

He claimed to have the gift of second sight, granted to him by a goddess of great mercy and compassion who wanted to save the world. He also claimed to write down all his visions and dreams of what was to come in his book that he guarded carefully. For the most part, people ignored him. Believed to be only a poor soul broken by the hardships of the world, he was cared for by Parsons and given shelter at temples as he wandered. His prophecies of doom were discounted and ridiculed.

In the year 600 A.X., Lazaron died in his sleep in the bed of a temple in Quenae. His possessions were studied and the book he carried was found to be written in a language not even the Elven scholars could read. This raised a few eyebrows, but was dismissed as insane scribble and not even a real language. It was placed in their museum and the world went about its business. In the year 675 A.X., life once again would change forever.