Time and History (Aegenon Supplement)
The Calendar
324 days long, Aegenon calendar is counted by eight half seasons, each lasting forty days, divided by their solstices and equinox. (Expand)
Holidays
Brief Description
Holiday Name
Date Brief Description of Holiday
The history of Aegenon
Abstract
The Passing
Aegenon existed long before life on the plane did, the earth a simple foundation for the wilderness that conquered the continent. While the material plane held no life, there existed a realm that shared its space with Aegenon. This realm was known as the sea of souls, filled to the brim with wandering motes of power, the basis of life, but without the intention to be.
This changed when a great being, centuries older than time itself reached the end of its life. The being collapsed onto Aegenon, and, as its blood poured into the soil, it kindled life, through sheer will. The souls that wandered without meaning noticed this will, and became curious. They wondered what it meant to have will, intent, a desire to be.
The Wandering
The souls were weak, however, and very few could bridge the gap between what was and what could be. These fragments of will tore through the unknown, basking in the blood of the great being and creating form. These beings rose from the soil of Aegenon, and their power, along with their newfound will created the first of beings. The Paragons.
Each Paragon grew their own forms, shaped by the world they grew to live within. Some Paragons shed their titles, instead coming to be known as Primordials, embodying forces of nature rather than independent life. Many weaker souls also followed the Paragons, slipping through the rifts that connected the sea of souls to Aegenon. These smaller, weaker souls came to be beasts, filling the empty wilderness with life.
The Birth of Life
The Paragons that held onto their will, with their power, created beings from their image. These beings became the first Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes. The races started as simple tribes, living day to day with no concept of civilization. There was conflict between tribes, but rarely was much bloodshed before a Paragon would intervene. The Paragons would move between their tribes, guiding and teaching, walking these new beings into what would be civilization.
The new races moved and mingled, changing and evolving quickly to new environments. Some Humans made their way into the sea, becoming Merfolk, Some elves found passages to another realm, becoming Fae in the Feywild, and some stout gave in to their wilder temptations, becoming the Goblins. In this time, the Primordials chose to push their power into being as well, creating the Genasi.
As the races grew more intelligent they began to mingle, while Elves, Gnomes and Dwarves could not breed between each other, Humans could, bearing children that shared traits of each race. Half Elves were born from Elves, and Halflings were born from the Dwarves and Gnomes.
During this time, after the first wave of Paragons found their way into Aegenon, other wills found their way from the Sea of Souls, some slipping onto the material plane to become Dragons, the great Dragons were able to manipulate the blood in ways similar to the Paragons, and, with that power, created Kobolds as a being in their own image, Giants, who found were gifted power by the Primordials, and other new beings. Other powerful souls felt the material plane was crowded, and instead searched for something new. The understanding of their being led to the formation of a new realm, grown from the wills of these tangential souls. The Mirror realm known as the Shadowfell was created, and began to house the defiant souls, gifting them with forms of Great Demons and Devils.
The End of the Paragons
After 200 years of guidance and growth, The Paragons found themselves growing beyond their own limits, their power becoming stronger than the souls that originally cultivated that power. They understood their deaths were coming, and that, when they died, their power would be divided into simple concepts, creating forces of will that would govern the laws of nature and reality. These beings held the memories and wills of their Paragon's, but through the nature of the division, came to hold their own ideals, creating a will independent of the Paragon's to which they owed their existence. Some of these gods used their new power to create their own life on the plane, being in the form of Aasimar
The Paragons then divided, their souls fragmenting into the beings that would come to form the godly pantheon, and their bodies transformed, becoming masks that held a fragment of power. These four masks were then scattered, lost to time.
For the next 450 years, the races maintained a status quo, growing into burgeoning civilizations and societies. In this time, the differences between the races became more apparent. Many humans would pass in the single lifetime of a Dwarf or Gnome, and several stoutfolk in the lives of a single Elf. This established a sense of superiority in the Elves, which started to infringe upon the peace that had held Aegenon for many years.
The Consuming
No great changes occurred until what had become deemed as the consuming.
A great shadow cast itself upon Aegenon, a being larger than the continent itself passed by. This being took interest in Aegenon, being the only place it had witnessed the existence of knowledge. Curious, the being decided it wanted this knowledge that had eluded it for so long. The shadow cast down tendrils of power, ethereal that consumed all that held history, knowledge and ideas. After all it could take was taken, the shadow disappeared; not moving away from Aegenon like it had arrived, instead dissolving into nothingness.
None are sure where the being went, but many believe that fragments of itself remain in Aegenon.
After this event, Aegenon moved from its first Era, shifting into the Era of Resolve.
The rise of the Elves
The Era of resolve started with the event known as the Elven imperium, wherein the elves took advantage of the confusion created by the consuming to conquer the surface of Aegenon. They used their knowledge and power to enslave the human's that called the surface home. In this time, The Dwarves and Gnomes made their way underground. The stout races had feared that the elves hubris would lead them to action, and had prepared several underground cities and homes. Some human nations remained, but only after promising servitude to the elves that ruled Aegenon. The elven dominion lasted for several centuries, allowing the race to claim the world as their own and separate into their own clans and civilizations.
The Birth of the Cursed
During this time, humans’ hatred of elves grew, becoming so strong that it could be sensed by beings of great power. Demons of the Shadowfell slipped their power between planes, offering it to the humans in exchange for what made them human. Due to this, the first Tieflings were born, children of man and demon. Tieflings were quickly outcast, as humans learnt of the nature of their deal, but Tiefling children continued to be born.
Having learnt they could gain power from others, some humans saw desire to become like the great dragons that ruled the skies, never swayed by the power of the elves. Deals were struck and power was stolen, but never was the gift good for the likes of man. Dragonborn were created from these actions, and many fled their human homes, due to ostracization. The greatest migration was southwards, across the Silver Seas to the island Fritherum.
Opening the Seal
During this time, the Stout dug deeper, finding themselves in twisting natural tunnels and enormous subterranean chambers. The endless expanse they found was titled the Underdark, and was quickly sealed away as what seemed to be pure chaos had seeped into the greatest depths of the world. As the great being died on the surface of Aegenon, its blood poured into the soil, but little stayed near the surface. Most sunk deep, creating the beings that now inhabited the deep earth. Unfortunately, sealing this realm away would prove ineffective, as their disturbing of this once secluded realm proved to the beings within that elsewhere existed, and they began to move up towards the surface.
These actions brought old blood to the surface, which wove itself into the bloodlines of the surface dwelling races. Most of the blood remained dormant, but some were transformed irreversibly. From this tainting, the first vampire Progenitors were created, and such, the first true and half vampires also came into existence. This blood also formed the first traces of Lycanthropy of all kinds.
The Elven Collapse
On the surface, in the year 743, the Elven Dominion had grown to encompass all of Aegenon. Factions established themselves amongst the elves, and internal strife began to grow. In this time high elves had established themselves as greater than the others of their kind, their pride the greatest of all elves. This fragmented the elven nation into an enormous civil war. The high elves fought with those they considered lesser than them, and many humans died as a result. The high Elves were inevitably overpowered by the sheer numbers they faced, but out of spite, they refused peace, instead choosing to destroy as much of the elven society as they could before they fell themselves.
The Elven Dominion crumbled, and humanity rose from the rubble, free from their century’s long captors. While some elven societies stood, Humans once again were free, and went on to claim the land on which they had been enslaved for generations.
The Human Expansion
Humans in their newfound numbers went on to divide amongst most of Aegenon, during which they met with the elusive races of giant, that had, since their creation, remained mostly solitary, only venturing beyond their clans out of desperation for food or exile. Due to this meeting, the first of the Goliaths were born.
By 795, the Stout had returned to the surface, and learnt about the evil they had inadvertently released. In this time the wealth of the stout had grown greatly, their reserves of knowledge and resources larger than all contained on the surface. The Gnomes believed they should share this knowledge, and assist the humans grow after their suppression, but the Dwarves were intensely selfish, and refused. Several Gnomes left for the surface to help the humans, and, when the population of Gnomes had shrunk in the Stout cities, the Dwarves betrayed the Gnomes.
The Stout Betrayal
The Dwarves exiled the Gnomes from their homes, sending them all to the surface no matter their importance or beliefs. The Gnomes were quickly found destitute, their centuries of wealth stolen in less than a year. The humans, understanding of the trouble they faced, offered to help the Gnomes, and assisted them in growing into a sizeable nation of their own. The Humans and Gnomes works together for a long time, and share a lot of traditions and ideals.
The Birth of the Beasts
By the year 900, the old blood that tainted the surface became toxic, and the dormant bloodlines from centuries back began to poison the beings of Aegenon. It started with the formation of the beast races. The same blood that created the Paragons centuries passed twisted the many beasts that roamed the land.
From this came the races of beast. Aarakocra, Tabaxi, Grung, Mogogol, Firbolg, Kua-Toa, Lizard Folk, Tortles, Canim and the Yuan-Ti. These races quickly established themselves, the older races believing it was their responsibility to nurture these young races. In an act of retribution, the remaining Elves of the now established Zoleran Empire promised to teach and guide these new races.
The Dwarves, also remorseful for their betrayal of the Gnomes breached the surface for the first time in nearly a millennia and offered peace to help the new and growing nations. Upon breaching the surface, however, the Dwarves accidentally brought cursed bloodlines together, and The Mutilation began.
The Mutilation
The Mutilation, was an event that occurred during the year 914. Each of the Paragon races were transformed, twisted into amalgamations of what they once were. From this The races of Orcs were born from man, Bugbears from Elves, Hobgoblins from Dwarves and Goblins from Gnomes. These twisted visages of the noble races were most always cursed with insanity, due to the toxicity of the old blood. Many after they transformed fled into the wild, only finding peace with other blooded races.
The races of Aegenon agreed that, for the sake of peace, the Blooded races should be excommunicated, and were forced northwards, to the place known as the Exiled Plateau. While many of the Blooded Races were gripped with insanity, some maintained lucidity, and were not exiled with their kin.
Relative peace held Aegenon for the next two hundred years. Then came the Sundering.
The Sundering
The gods until this point, the year 1104, had been formless, simply ideas and concepts, conscious but unable. They existed by the Paragon's Virtue, and acted independently of each other. This was until the old blood had tainted them too. Many gods slipped into insanity, their desires and wills magnified beyond what they could control. The blood gave them physical forms, and strife quickly arose. Jealousy of power, desire for dominion and pure insanity led to a war between the gods.
All but two gods participated in this war, Polumrak the watcher and Tzuna, the Ordinator of death. They observed as the gods tore themselves and each other apart. They rained devastation upon the mortal plane, gods blood fell like rain, as the forces of nature and reality fought for domination over the rest. As these beings fought, they drew the life-force from the world around them, the greatest battle culminating over the exiled plateau, wherein many gods died.
As only a quarter of the pantheon remained, Tzuna had enough. She descended, deciding that this death was not her desire, she removed the blood from the minds of the remaining gods, and took the remains of the dead gods from the plane. Returned to their senses, many of the living gods locked themselves away, restraining their own power to stop another such event from occurring.
After the Sundering, Tzuna held the motes of reality that the dead gods once were. Although dead, these fragments of power remain, and can be tapped by those faithful to who they once were. While they can deliver power, they care dead, and hold no change to the world, their domains waiting to be claimed. After the Sundering, Tzuna became regarded as the leader of the pantheon; many believing her judgement and will was the greatest.