The Legends of Panumbra

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Legends of the elder Ages Welcome, traveller. I am Zorast, sage in the library of Methus, foremost authority on the history of our troubled world. There is too much to tell in one meeting, but I can speak of the important things, things you must know to understand why we live now as we do. We live in a time of Darkness. Deserts cover what once were forests, strange energies twist living things into monstrous new shapes, and the sun does not shine as brightly as once it did. The power which lets us shape reality, the power of magic, flows wild and untamed through the once ordered and controlled Matrix. The Ley Lines warp the land around them as never before, and the great Crystal Tower has been lost for millennia in the Ring of Fire. The people who once ruled the world are now ruled by it. Ages ago, there was the Golden Age of light and life on Taera. The Ancients were wise in things beyond imagining, and they strode the world, the sky, and even the very stars as gods might. Ruled by the Immortal Council, they roamed the universe happy and free, and everywhere were welcomed, for they used their power to help younger worlds. All knew the name of Taera, and knew it as a place of life. The Darkness had slept for eons. Banished to the black plane of Anti-Life by forces of Light, soon after the Multiverse came out of Chaos, it had been broken and crippled, but not destroyed. The war began anew. Lord Damok, greatest of the Immortals, took with him his most trusted companions, and left the plane of Taera to help the forces of Light. The Darkness was defeated again, and the Sword of Time sealed it in oblivion forever. But the Darkness had its revenge. Younger members of the Immortal Council, trusted to continue the wise and benevolent rule of their predecessors, betrayed that trust. Concerned only with advancing his own position, the Immortal Tiegon ruthlessly took control and crushed all opposition. Worlds rebelled, and what had been impossible for centuries- a civil war- began. The weapons and magic used shook the foundations of the universe. At last, the desperate rebels called for help, called to the other planes of existence, where Damok and his friends had long ago gone. Far away as they were, they heard the call, and answered. Tiegon, powerful as he was, could not withstand the full might of the Ancient Ones arrayed against him, and at last was beaten back to Taera. With Damok and his companions blasting a path into the heart of Tiegon's fortress, his doom was sealed. But the Annihillator was defiant in his defeat. What happens at one Node of the Matrix happens at all of them. Tiegon knew this, and earned his despicable title by doing the unthinkable. His fortress was built on a Node, and he destroyed it in a massive explosion of raw power. What happens at one Node, happens at all of them. The explosions shook the world to its very core. In mere seconds, the work of countless millennia was laid waste. Great cities vaporized, seas evaporated, continents shifted, and Old Taera died. This was the Annihillation. Tiegon the Annihillator, powerful as he was, survived. Damok and the other Immortals survived as well, and they consigned him to the same oblivion saved for the Darkness in the Celestial War. The Annihillator joined the Darkness which had spawned him, but the world was destroyed. Even from the full fury of destruction, there were mortal survivors. With the help of the Immortals, they made great cities underground, to live until the surface could be reclaimed. The Immortals then left again, to live and explore on the other planes of existence, but they keep a constant vigil on the world. Their promise is for Life; there will not be a second Annihillation. Centuries later, the world is becoming livable again, and people have begun to build anew. New races have risen from the dust to join the old, and though most of the old knowledge is gone, they may help us learn new things the Ancients never knew. Every year brings new advances, though they are poor compared to the feats of our ancestors. We live in a time of Darkness. We live underground, in the ruins our ancestors left behind them. We hope to rebuild what they once had, and sail again among the stars. Heroes explore the ancient ruins, fight the monsters left by the Annihillation, and bring back knowledge and devices to make life better. The fight for life is constant, but it is a worthy one. We live in a time of Darkness, but we live. I was once an adventurous youth, travelling over this wide world looking for glory and riches. I found them, but lost many dear friends on the way. In the ruins of Old Eldor, I found a new purpose. Mine is the fate to guard this place of knowledge, and add to it what is found of the times before. I can no longer stand against the tides of the Darkness, but perhaps you will succeed where I did not. Farewell, traveller, and may your journey in this world be a long and fruitful one. Details of the current world

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