The world's history, according to Conarist Scholars

The creation of the world was chaotic, a roiling sea of potential is all that existed before it was taken and shaped into creation. The cosmos were birthed in an instant. The world was born in a tumultuous fashion, the chaos from before leaving a mark on the new world.  

The first beings to exist were accidental snips of chaos that happened to take a breath of life, called the Children of Chaos.  Elohndi (the first to discover knowledge), Azimh Teb (the first to take physical form), and the Buried Ones (beings of pure magic, which eventually solidified into an element call Ethereum), and perhaps others. They were powerful, with nearly absolute power to shape the world around them, to create more of themselves, and destroy others.  As scraps of their power were left behind in their triumphs and squabbles, something called Nature was formed. 

The cosmos churned for eons, until structure and order began to form, and then eventually, life.  For eons, the Children of Creation watched in awe as a little speck of a planet spawned living things, which began to grow in complexity and capability. 

Ese, one of the Azimh Teb, took an interest in fur and scale and feather, and wanted to embody the beasts of the world with a bit of himself and his kin.  He sent spirits into the world, who infused themselves with beasts and gave them sapient mortal souls.  The Zoa became the first mortals. 

The Elhondi saw what Ese had done with the beasts and decided they could do better, creating the elves from their own blood and in their own image. Nyxanna, one of the Elohndi, had been excluded from the creation of the elves, and instead created the Elvar from her own blood.  Despite their similarity to the elves, the Elvar were nearly wiped out in conflicts them due to their inferior numbers, so Nyxanna decided to hide them away.  She dug her spear of darkness into the earth and gave it a twist and a jerk, and a crack formed in the ground, creating the Ebonryft, a massive canyon with a fresh water river down below and coniferous forest up above, and that’s where the Elvar have thrived throughout their history. 

Different human and bantam cultures have stories on who created them and how.  There are many deities that various humans believe in, some of which may be false, others might be different aspects of some existing Children of Chaos.  

Truthfully,Humans happened simply as a result of evolution.  The Children of Chaos did not create them, but observed with curiosity as Nature formed a sapient species of its own.  A smaller strain of this species migrated across a land bridge that no longer exists and took up residence in what is now Diminora, eventually deviating into the Kender, Hin, and Gnomes. 

I don't like this explanation for the bantam races and I'm open to ideas.  

All this time, the Buried Ones were only vaguely aware of the other Children of Chaos, but were able to sense the flow of souls from life, to death, to rebirth, so they shaped stone into flesh and created the Dwarves.  The dwarves knew magical light down in the Tenebra before they ever knew the light of the sun.  There, they erected their great home city of Gavan. 

The Children of Chaos found mortal souls to be something special, to be revered and valued, and so they do not allow them to be destroyed by Death. Thus, mortal souls reincarnate.  With each cycle, small amounts of Good and Evil dripped from them, which coagulated into beings called Synigora and Katergis, who exist outside of the mortal realm.  

Around this time, the first cities began to exist.  This is when things like agriculture, writing, metal working, and government started to form.  The Humans were the first, and started to become aggressive toward the other races as they expanded their territories.  In some places, the other races made tenuous peace with humans and learned from them.  In others, they had to organize in response to wars over land. Around this time, the Zoa were nearly exterminated in several parts of the world. 

Strengthened by the care and dedication of their servants, the Buried Ones were eventually able to send avatars of themselves to the surface in the form of ethereal spirits, where they befriended the inhabitants of an elven city. These elves learned to see bits of these spirits in all things.  The Elohndi viewed the Buried Ones as an affront to creation and led the elves to start a war.  However, a faction of elves who had befriended these ethereal spirits turned on their creators instead. 

The Buried Ones were eliminated in the war and their elven supporters were nearly wiped out.  The elven survivors were driven across the sea to Kyoshu, where they diversified from their Faelin cousins and began to call themselves Eldrisi.  The entrance to Gavan was destroyed and the Dwarf were forgotten, left to their own devices. Though the event wasn't in recorded history and no living dwarf is truly certain this is how it happened, an instinctual mistrust of lithe surfacefolk with pointy ears still persists to this day. 

Shards of the shattered corpses of the Buried Ones scattered throughout the world, appearing to mortals seemingly at random and gifting them with Magic. 

As the Elvar began to attempt to expand their territory, the Faelin decided they did not like their shadier cousins and enforced a strict border.  Due to societal instability and a period of harsh winters, the Elvar began to suffer, and fell into a dark age, in which their numbers dwindled and their quality of life regressed.  

The Elvar, in defense of their existence, found a way to add a quick boost to their numbers, bolstering their small, failing society with a host of hearty laborers and deadly soldiers. They abducted some Faelin and twisted them into the Orcs using alchemy and Jesnite magic.  History paints this act as motivated simply by pure evil, something they did only to harm the Faelin out of sadism and hunger for power.  But though this was certainly an evil act, the Elvar felt they were driven to this atrocity to preserve their existence.  

The Elvar also experimented with doing the same to Zoa, but compared to the Orcs, the experiment was a failure.  Many Zoa could not survive the transformation, and the only variant that gained any traction was the Gnoll, which was derived from Hyena-folk.  Compared to the Orcs, the Gnoll’s high need for protein made them more difficult to keep.  There is also something unstable about Gnolls; they do not live very long, and they don’t reproduce as readily. 

Rather than pursuing other Zoa-variants that might produce better results, the Elvar focused their efforts on the success they had already found with the Orcs.  Their numbers took off, and soon, the Elvar were ready to go to war with the Faelin to assert their right to expand past their Ebonryft. 

In the ensuing war, the Faelin still brought the Elvar to their knees.  Had they known what the orcs truly were, the Faelin might have wiped out the Elvar completely, but as it were, they simply beat the Elvar back further into the harsh southern reaches of Arindor.  

Eventually, the Faelin found out what the Orcs truly were, and so invaded Elvar territory once again.  The Faelin took as many Orcs as they could, killing any Elvar who stood in their way.  The Faelin tried to find a way to “fix” the Orcs, but by this point, the ones created from abducted Faelin were dead and gone, and almost all existing Orcs were their descendents.  The Orcs resisted their help and fought for freedom, resulting in moral debates amongst the Faelin scholars.  If the Orcs did not want to be “helped” or turned into something new, it was decided that it was immoral to force them, so all they could do was allow them to exist. 

In kind, the Faelin rose to a moral high ground and refused to respond to the Elvar’s atrocities with genocide, and so the Elvar were allowed to continue to exist as well.  The way the Faelin tell this chapter in history, it was purely an act of mercy and kindness.  The way the Elvar tell this story, it was anything but, since many of the natural resources in the area surrounding the Ebonryft were depleted.  The way the Elvar see it, the Faelin gave them the right to exist, but contained them in a space that couldn’t sustain them, thereby sentencing the Elvar society to a slow and humiliating collapse.  The truth is, the Faelin decided not to move against the Elvar’s right to exist, but if Nature was such that their home couldn’t sustain them, that was their problem, and the Faelin were not obligated to give up territory that was theirs to help. 

Still fighting the odds to make their society thrive, the Elvar leaned into the only abundant natural resource they had, which was their Jesnite.  They continued to cultivate their population of Orc slaves from what they had, while focusing all of their research and advancement efforts on Jesnite magic and what it could do for them. 

A human named Tiberius Gallio Caelius declared himself the first emperor of Ascelia and began conquests to claim more and more territory.  Humans and Zoa spread like rabbits.  A civil war broke out, with battles decided mostly by mages of incredible power, who caused a lot of unnecessary destruction and casualties.  This is the main reason why some cultures fear magic.  

In the brutal 23 years of this civil war, the death rate of the world exceeded the birth rate, and many souls were lost to oblivion.  Some of the Children of Chaos advocated for the outright destruction of the ethnic groups who caused this carnage, while others wanted to give them an opportunity to grow and change, pitying them for not having guidance from their creators as the elves, Dwarves, and Zoa did.  The heat of their arguments stirred wars between mortals and spawned magical beasts that began to terrorize the world.  

The Children of Chaos reached a consensus, deciding to instead fracture the world and let various societies further develop in isolation.  As punishment for the destruction they caused, the Children of Chaos made sure that Ethereum Shards would not appear on the humans’ side of the world, and that the earth beneath their feet contained no Jesnite.  They broke the once unified land into several continents, and sent their beasts of rage to patrol the depths between them and ensure that their creations would be safe from each other until their societies could further evolve. 

Another observation was that each cycle of reincarnation deepened the essence of what a mortal really was.  An evil soul became more evil, a good soul became more good, the weak souls grew weaker, and the soul of a mage grew in magical potential.  The discussion turned into the following questions: How can we mitigate these extremes?  How can we ensure that no soul is lost to oblivion due to death?  

Katergis and Synigora had circled the earth throughout its history, watching the journeys of mortal souls as they repeatedly made their way through life and death, and so they offered to create a place for the souls who had endeavored and transgressed as much as they could here in the mortal plane.  This final resting place would be divided into two realms, called Heaven and Hell. 

The Children of Chaos approved the idea to send souls to Heaven and Hell, and let Katergis and Synigora get to work and make that happen. Together, they devised the fundamental ideas of Endeavors and Transgressions. 

The two of them took a mortal form, and built a home in a place called Dymarnios.  They populated Dymarnios with thousands of companions and servants of their own design, called Dymarnians.  Some resembled mortals, while others were beautiful or monstrous fantastical creatures. 

They sent Gabriel out into the world as the first Prophet. His task was to spread the ideas of Endeavors and Transgressions and tell the story of how the world got to the way it was, so that the world will know all about the journey of the soul and what it takes to get to Heaven or Hell.  He traveled as far and wide as he could before he was sacrificed under the light of the same comet when it came again on his 73rd birthday.

After Gabriel's death, Synigora and Katergis had an argument over which of them their son would join in the afterlife, which quickly became violent.  This also caused a divide in the Dymarnians, polarizing their ideals and even their physical forms as they each chose their side in the Battle at Dymarnios.  The traveling soul of Gabriel sided with his mother, unable to fight in that state, but lending her his strength.  Synigora won the battle, weakening Katergis, who became hateful and spiteful toward the world and especially toward Synigora.

Angered by the disagreement, the Children of Chaos banished Synigora and Katergis to Heaven and Hell, never to walk amongst mortals again.  The Dymarnians continued to fight over their home city, each wanting to drive the other side out so that their leader could uproot the city and take it home with them.  The Children of Chaos tried to let the Dymarnians reach peace on their own before trying to offer mediation.  During the deliberation amongst the Children of Chaos as to what to do with the warring Dymarnians, the city was destroyed.  There are different theories as to who was responsible for this; was it Gabriel’s last wish for this world?  Was it Katergis and/or Synigora themselves?  Was it one of the Children of Chaos?

Soon after, the Children of Chaos and the Dymarnians reached an agreement.  Each Dymarnian would be given a choice between either being banished to Heaven, banished to Hell, or allowed to remain in the mortal plane with significantly reduced power.  It's said that sometimes, a banished Dymarnian can leak out of Heaven or Hell and influence our world. 

As for the city of Dymarnios, Some say it's at the bottom of the ocean, others say that the Children of Chaos erected a volcano in its place, and others think it's just buried beneath a layer of Dymarnian corpses that decomposed into soil.  No one in recorded history has ever been able to prove that Dymarnios even existed, but there are plenty of efforts to find it. 

Now, a new Prophet must be sacrificed every time Gabriel’s Comet comes by, or Katergis will challenge Synigora again, claim Gabriel’s strength, and end the world. 

However, despite the unforeseen conflicts, the original goal was achieved.  Souls that are ready can now leave the world to join Synigora in Heaven or Katergis in Hell.  However, their hatred of one-another makes them unable to peaceably agree on who is ready to pass on, and where they go when they do, so the decision is made under advisement of any higher powers that had an interest in that soul’s journey.

The Elvar developed sunglasses made from stained glass to make it easier for them to be comfortable venturing out of Ebonryft and exploring other areas. 

The Dwarves, who had always lived in the Gavan, find the surface and begin to establish relations with the Hin, Kender, and Gnomes. 

Small kingdoms in Serenya coalesce into what we call the Saharian Empire today.

The Shallow Passage is an area of more shallow ocean which allows for travel between the various continents.  The areas of ocean around Nordavia/ Serenya, Diminora, and Arindor/Kyoshu are separated by deep ocean that is jealously guarded by horrible seamonsters, making it impassible, but the Shallow Passage allows travel by sea from any one of those areas to another. 

Travelers from New Asceliasettle in Aure Nova and founded Duburi. 

Lost explorers at sea washed up on the shoes of Diminora.  Soon after that, the curious Kender sent explorers to Nordavia and then later  Serenya. 

Duburi begins its war for independence from New Ascelia. 

After a few decades of fighting, Duburi gained its independence from New Ascelia but lost control of the northern shores of Aure Nova.  The settlements here that developed into bustling city-states over the next few centuries became known as the Auresian States. Seno, the seventh prophet, had a major role in establishing peaceful relations in Aure Nova. 

Slow to change, the elves developed maritime technology slower than many of other races.  The Elvar were the first to venture across the seas, curious about these strange people they'd met in Aure Nova a few decades ago. 

They happened to find Serenya first, then learned how to get to Nordavia and Diminora from the people who lived there. 

Still struggling with numbers due to the harshness of their homeland and fearing oppression like they had in the past, the Elvar settled new areas in small groups, and put their curiosities to work at developing more types of Savagefolk from different types of people.  They took the Dwarf and created the Troll, they took the Human and created the Ogre, and they took the Bantam and created the Goblin. 

The University at Molasba was founded.  Followers of the Path of Seno believe that Seno was involved in its founding.  An apocryphal text implies that Seno was a mage. 

Once united as the Kingdom of Lombardia, this region flourished under a single sovereign rule. However, the fate of Lombardia took an unforeseen turn when a dispute over the rite of succession erupted among the five brothers of the ruling dynasty. In a tragic twist, two brothers fell in the ensuing civil war that ravaged the kingdom for a decade. The relentless conflict left Lombardia fractured and vulnerable. Eventually, the realm splintered into three distinct city-states: Brenthia, Oralia, and Verontoir. Brenthia, positioned on the opposite side of the river from its counterparts but closest to it, claimed control over the vital trade routes, fostering its own unique identity. Oralia, blessed with fertile soils and abundant crops, became the prosperous breadbasket of the region. Meanwhile, Verontoir, a coastal city boasting a strategic port, embraced its maritime heritage and established itself as a prominent naval power. The division of the once-mighty Kingdom of Lombardia birthed an era of independent city-states, marking the beginning of a tumultuous chapter in their intertwined histories.

According to a treaty between the Elvar and various others, the Elvar are not to take any new prisoners to create any new Savagefolk.  All living Savagefolk in existence are descendants of prisoners of war from centuries past.  Whether the Elvar will forever obey the treaty, or whether there are still Savagefolk being created in secret remains to be seen.