HISTORY
Recorded history in Rowan begins about four hundred years before the present day; however, Rowan itself is a great deal older than that.
THE TREE
Elves and demons have spoken of legends, legends lost for thousands of years, that tell of the Tree being a gate to other realities, with travelers moving back and forth through it regularly, if not commonly.
The most coherent legend to date is as such:
~*~
Once, there were two worlds, one square and one round. The round one was a sphere, an entire planet, and the square one was bounded, on all sides. The square world was one of magic, and the round one of mundane, but they both shared equally, and there was a balance.
Then there was drought, famine and disease in the round world. They blamed magic for their problems, and banished it through the gate to the square world. Once there, the gate was sealed, and travel stopped.
~*~
Whatever else is certain, the tree is an object of great power. Before the arrival of the worldwalkers, it was dead, and had been so for thousands of years; now, there are new leaves growing on the branches, and new power stirring in the land. Things are changing, and the worldwalkers are either a cause or a symptom.
THE WAR
The war has lasted since long, long before the advent of the latest era of recorded history, The Silver Age. Currently, this war has several opponents, shifting alliances, secrets, and violence, all tied up with magic and intrigue.
The main fighters, are the moment, are the three races of Elves, Humans and Demons.
Demons are at the apex of their power. Led by the charismatic general River Royal, they have conquered in every battle they fight, even to the point of taking the usually-neutral Mage City, a haven for those who wield magic, regardless of side. The Demon army is incredibly diverse; they're only about two-thirds racially Demon, with the rest made up of a mix of humans, nymphs (including dryads, naiads and oreads), goblins, orcs, trolls and more.
Elves, creatures of the West, claim that they are outnumbered, and that they face extinction at the hands of the demons. They are extremely skilled, highly-trained fighters -- and would have to be, given the length of their lifespans and how long it takes them to mature. Furthermore, Elves are racially pure, and do not accept outside allies easily.
Humans are still an unknown quantity, to the worldwalkers, but appear to be philosophically, biologically and geographically between the Elves and the Demons.
The current front of the war is between Elves and Demons. A recent series of battles between Elves and Humans appears to have made the Humans retreat, giving themselves time to recover while the Demon attacks make the Elves weak.
THE GAME SO FAR
Note: This section may be incomplete, as events may be happening currently.
In late June, the Gate was opened for the first time in thousands of years. The first arrivals came out of the tree to be greeted by several ethereally beautiful creatures that identified themselves as Elves. The arrivals (worldwalkers) were given space to live, in an abandoned city, and warned about the forest to the West and North of the city.
Naturally, several of the arrivals decided to explore the forest. They experienced the disorienting confusion of the Labyrinth, and found themselves at the End of the World. All who went into the forest came back alive, to the Elves' confusion.
In the forest, the worldwalkers also found a group of dryads, living there, driven insane by the presence of the Labyrinth and by the mere fact of living in a world that constantly changes.
Slowly, the worldwalkers got to know their Elf caretakers.
The head of the Elves was Quahl, a stern and beautiful woman who identified herself as the Fifth Daughter of the Elves. She was obviously concerned with keeping the worldwalkers safe and comfortable, but her rigid control of her emotions and her unwillingness to share information about the Elves led to many of the worldwalkers distrusting her.
In contrast, Mikney, a sorcerer working for the elves, wore his emotions on his sleeve. He readily admitted to loving his wife, who died two years ago, and was much more forthcoming with information about the elves.
Finally, the worldwalkers decided that enough was enough, and went out to explore their world. Mikney got word of their attempted exploration and left with them, to keep them safe. Several of them, upset at the lack of secrecy in their plans, doubled back and explored in the opposite direction of the group with Mikney.
The group with Mikney went towards an elf village, as Mikney intended to steer them towards safer areas of Rowan. Unfortunately, the elf village had already been visited by a conquering army, and burned to the ground. Mikney admitted that the elves were embroiled in a war, against a horrifying race called the demons.
The other group, heading east, made it to a mountain range and encountered a group of centaurs. The centaurs were very friendly and welcoming, but in the end, didn't know everything that the worldwalkers wanted to hear.
Meanwhile, back in Jhelbor, a couple worldwalkers, exploring under the city, found a prison with a single prisoner inside. She identified herself as Devorah, claiming that she was a Gate Guardian, and that the elves were holding her there. She then asked for help escaping. The worldwalkers didn't know what to do.
Later, a few worldwalkers found a note floating on the breeze. It was from someone who said they were imprisoned in a tower in the city center. Using teleportation abilities, the worldwalkers made it inside the tower and found a man, severely injured and dying, chained to a wall inside an empty room. They rescued him, and nursed him back to health. On waking up, he identified himself as Arlen, and managed to convince them to help Devorah escape. The worldwalkers put in place a plan that would break Devorah out.
Once Devorah and Arlen were both free, they immediately left the city through the Labyrinth, which they didn't fear, heading towards a demon city across the mountains.
The Elves in the city discovered the breakout, and arrested everyone they knew to be responsible. Quahl was appalled at the worldwalker's rejection of Elf hospitality, and she wrote to the Father, the head of the elf Family, asking for a judgment on the prisoners.
Incensed at Arlen's betrayal, a few worldwalkers left the city through the Labyrinth, in pursuit.
Before the judgment could be passed by the father, the city was attacked by River Royal's demon army. The demons won handily, killing a few elves in the process, and imprisoning all of the worldwalkers. Once they were subdued, an extremely charismatic general named River Royal offered them all a deal: release from prison, in exchange for no averse action against the demon army. Every single worldwalker agreed, and they were released.
However, the captured elves Tamber, Mikney and Lhoral were kept in prison.
Unlike the elves, the demons didn't take care of their charges. The worldwalkers were thrust into the developing economy in Jhelbor, and they had to earn money to buy food and comforts.
Soon after the demons conquered the city, they held a tribunal to decide what to do with the Elves. It was revealed that the sorcerous tattoos all over Mikney's body were a spell binding him to the tree, one that ensured the safety of the worldwalkers, and kept them alive as they moved through the tree to enter Rowan. Mikney's life was spared by the demons, and he was kept alone, under house arrest.
Meanwhile, the worldwalkers who had left the city arrived in the demon city of Kingstown. It took weeks, but they hired a private investigator and managed to locate Arlen. They tried to interrogate him, but he claimed that he couldn't tell them anything about the Tree, and that if they killed him, his status as a Gate Guardian would pass along to someone in the room. As such, they killed him.
Arlen was apparently lying. The next Gate Guardian was chosen from far away, and both of the worldwalkers were arrested by demon authorities for murder. Subsequent tribunal manged to get them both freed (as Arlen was a demon exile and a criminal, this wasn't too hard), but it was a close call.
One of the worldwalkers managed to get to the land of the dead, as he was coming into his abilities as a necromancer, and, there, the ghost of Arlen forgave him, and insisted that he bring a message to Mikney that Mikney was the "first of this age" and that the world was in his hands. On return to Jhelbor, the Kingstown worldwalkers conveyed this message to Mikney, and Mikney was shocked. This meant that Mikney was a druid, a majik that had been extinct for millenia.
After several weeks of relative calm as the demon army rebuilt the abandoned city of Jhelbor, Royal brought the army together and sent them out on a campaign. The demons returned victorious, and brought back the leader of the Elven nation, a woman the elves simply called The Mother. Her capture, and her interrogation, could mean the collapse and defeat of the Elven nation.
Quahl, through the journals, pleaded with the worldwalkers, begging them to help the Elves, and break the Mother out of prison. A few of the worldwalkers relented, and mounted a successful rescue operation. This seemed to divide the worldwalkers into two camps: those who chose the demons, and those who chose the Elves.
But then, barely two weeks later, the mermaids found out about Jhelbor and the power of the tree. They attacked with incredible brutality, summoning a hurricane and slaughtering the inhabitants. A water mage allied with the mermaids, a twisted young woman named Elimyr, was killing a great deal of people on her quest to find the tree.
Restless, with his magic starting to go out of control, Mikney finally snapped. He broke out of prison with druid-fire, and attacked Elimyr, to defend Jhelbor. Thus followed an intense magical battle, leading out to the Rowan Tree itself. Elimyr was winning -- she was too powerful, and Mikney was too scattered, too overwhelmed with his new abilities. In desperation, Mikney reached within the tree for extra power -- however, Elimyr reached in too, and instead of replenishing Mikney, the power hit her.
The ground collapsed beneath them, turning the area out next to the tree into a giant crater, and Mikney, broken, afraid for his life, teleported far, far away, to someplace dry and free of magic.
By accident, Mikney brought with him all of the worldwalkers, and nearly all of the major figures among the Rowan natives -- that is, anyone who had a diary on the diary network. They were trapped on the oasis for weeks, with no way of leaving, until Mikney finally woke up.
One day, a caravan from the human royalty arrived to investigate the appearance of an oasis in the desert. The humans brought news that a druid -- Elimyr -- had taken over Jhelbor and the entire northwest part of Rowan. They came to the oasis to request help from Mikney.
The Queen, who was in charge of the human caravan, granted all of the worldwalkers passage, with the caravan, through the desert.
THE TREE
Elves and demons have spoken of legends, legends lost for thousands of years, that tell of the Tree being a gate to other realities, with travelers moving back and forth through it regularly, if not commonly.
The most coherent legend to date is as such:
~*~
Once, there were two worlds, one square and one round. The round one was a sphere, an entire planet, and the square one was bounded, on all sides. The square world was one of magic, and the round one of mundane, but they both shared equally, and there was a balance.
Then there was drought, famine and disease in the round world. They blamed magic for their problems, and banished it through the gate to the square world. Once there, the gate was sealed, and travel stopped.
~*~
Whatever else is certain, the tree is an object of great power. Before the arrival of the worldwalkers, it was dead, and had been so for thousands of years; now, there are new leaves growing on the branches, and new power stirring in the land. Things are changing, and the worldwalkers are either a cause or a symptom.
THE WAR
The war has lasted since long, long before the advent of the latest era of recorded history, The Silver Age. Currently, this war has several opponents, shifting alliances, secrets, and violence, all tied up with magic and intrigue.
The main fighters, are the moment, are the three races of Elves, Humans and Demons.
Demons are at the apex of their power. Led by the charismatic general River Royal, they have conquered in every battle they fight, even to the point of taking the usually-neutral Mage City, a haven for those who wield magic, regardless of side. The Demon army is incredibly diverse; they're only about two-thirds racially Demon, with the rest made up of a mix of humans, nymphs (including dryads, naiads and oreads), goblins, orcs, trolls and more.
Elves, creatures of the West, claim that they are outnumbered, and that they face extinction at the hands of the demons. They are extremely skilled, highly-trained fighters -- and would have to be, given the length of their lifespans and how long it takes them to mature. Furthermore, Elves are racially pure, and do not accept outside allies easily.
Humans are still an unknown quantity, to the worldwalkers, but appear to be philosophically, biologically and geographically between the Elves and the Demons.
The current front of the war is between Elves and Demons. A recent series of battles between Elves and Humans appears to have made the Humans retreat, giving themselves time to recover while the Demon attacks make the Elves weak.
THE GAME SO FAR
Note: This section may be incomplete, as events may be happening currently.
In late June, the Gate was opened for the first time in thousands of years. The first arrivals came out of the tree to be greeted by several ethereally beautiful creatures that identified themselves as Elves. The arrivals (worldwalkers) were given space to live, in an abandoned city, and warned about the forest to the West and North of the city.
Naturally, several of the arrivals decided to explore the forest. They experienced the disorienting confusion of the Labyrinth, and found themselves at the End of the World. All who went into the forest came back alive, to the Elves' confusion.
In the forest, the worldwalkers also found a group of dryads, living there, driven insane by the presence of the Labyrinth and by the mere fact of living in a world that constantly changes.
Slowly, the worldwalkers got to know their Elf caretakers.
The head of the Elves was Quahl, a stern and beautiful woman who identified herself as the Fifth Daughter of the Elves. She was obviously concerned with keeping the worldwalkers safe and comfortable, but her rigid control of her emotions and her unwillingness to share information about the Elves led to many of the worldwalkers distrusting her.
In contrast, Mikney, a sorcerer working for the elves, wore his emotions on his sleeve. He readily admitted to loving his wife, who died two years ago, and was much more forthcoming with information about the elves.
Finally, the worldwalkers decided that enough was enough, and went out to explore their world. Mikney got word of their attempted exploration and left with them, to keep them safe. Several of them, upset at the lack of secrecy in their plans, doubled back and explored in the opposite direction of the group with Mikney.
The group with Mikney went towards an elf village, as Mikney intended to steer them towards safer areas of Rowan. Unfortunately, the elf village had already been visited by a conquering army, and burned to the ground. Mikney admitted that the elves were embroiled in a war, against a horrifying race called the demons.
The other group, heading east, made it to a mountain range and encountered a group of centaurs. The centaurs were very friendly and welcoming, but in the end, didn't know everything that the worldwalkers wanted to hear.
Meanwhile, back in Jhelbor, a couple worldwalkers, exploring under the city, found a prison with a single prisoner inside. She identified herself as Devorah, claiming that she was a Gate Guardian, and that the elves were holding her there. She then asked for help escaping. The worldwalkers didn't know what to do.
Later, a few worldwalkers found a note floating on the breeze. It was from someone who said they were imprisoned in a tower in the city center. Using teleportation abilities, the worldwalkers made it inside the tower and found a man, severely injured and dying, chained to a wall inside an empty room. They rescued him, and nursed him back to health. On waking up, he identified himself as Arlen, and managed to convince them to help Devorah escape. The worldwalkers put in place a plan that would break Devorah out.
Once Devorah and Arlen were both free, they immediately left the city through the Labyrinth, which they didn't fear, heading towards a demon city across the mountains.
The Elves in the city discovered the breakout, and arrested everyone they knew to be responsible. Quahl was appalled at the worldwalker's rejection of Elf hospitality, and she wrote to the Father, the head of the elf Family, asking for a judgment on the prisoners.
Incensed at Arlen's betrayal, a few worldwalkers left the city through the Labyrinth, in pursuit.
Before the judgment could be passed by the father, the city was attacked by River Royal's demon army. The demons won handily, killing a few elves in the process, and imprisoning all of the worldwalkers. Once they were subdued, an extremely charismatic general named River Royal offered them all a deal: release from prison, in exchange for no averse action against the demon army. Every single worldwalker agreed, and they were released.
However, the captured elves Tamber, Mikney and Lhoral were kept in prison.
Unlike the elves, the demons didn't take care of their charges. The worldwalkers were thrust into the developing economy in Jhelbor, and they had to earn money to buy food and comforts.
Soon after the demons conquered the city, they held a tribunal to decide what to do with the Elves. It was revealed that the sorcerous tattoos all over Mikney's body were a spell binding him to the tree, one that ensured the safety of the worldwalkers, and kept them alive as they moved through the tree to enter Rowan. Mikney's life was spared by the demons, and he was kept alone, under house arrest.
Meanwhile, the worldwalkers who had left the city arrived in the demon city of Kingstown. It took weeks, but they hired a private investigator and managed to locate Arlen. They tried to interrogate him, but he claimed that he couldn't tell them anything about the Tree, and that if they killed him, his status as a Gate Guardian would pass along to someone in the room. As such, they killed him.
Arlen was apparently lying. The next Gate Guardian was chosen from far away, and both of the worldwalkers were arrested by demon authorities for murder. Subsequent tribunal manged to get them both freed (as Arlen was a demon exile and a criminal, this wasn't too hard), but it was a close call.
One of the worldwalkers managed to get to the land of the dead, as he was coming into his abilities as a necromancer, and, there, the ghost of Arlen forgave him, and insisted that he bring a message to Mikney that Mikney was the "first of this age" and that the world was in his hands. On return to Jhelbor, the Kingstown worldwalkers conveyed this message to Mikney, and Mikney was shocked. This meant that Mikney was a druid, a majik that had been extinct for millenia.
After several weeks of relative calm as the demon army rebuilt the abandoned city of Jhelbor, Royal brought the army together and sent them out on a campaign. The demons returned victorious, and brought back the leader of the Elven nation, a woman the elves simply called The Mother. Her capture, and her interrogation, could mean the collapse and defeat of the Elven nation.
Quahl, through the journals, pleaded with the worldwalkers, begging them to help the Elves, and break the Mother out of prison. A few of the worldwalkers relented, and mounted a successful rescue operation. This seemed to divide the worldwalkers into two camps: those who chose the demons, and those who chose the Elves.
But then, barely two weeks later, the mermaids found out about Jhelbor and the power of the tree. They attacked with incredible brutality, summoning a hurricane and slaughtering the inhabitants. A water mage allied with the mermaids, a twisted young woman named Elimyr, was killing a great deal of people on her quest to find the tree.
Restless, with his magic starting to go out of control, Mikney finally snapped. He broke out of prison with druid-fire, and attacked Elimyr, to defend Jhelbor. Thus followed an intense magical battle, leading out to the Rowan Tree itself. Elimyr was winning -- she was too powerful, and Mikney was too scattered, too overwhelmed with his new abilities. In desperation, Mikney reached within the tree for extra power -- however, Elimyr reached in too, and instead of replenishing Mikney, the power hit her.
The ground collapsed beneath them, turning the area out next to the tree into a giant crater, and Mikney, broken, afraid for his life, teleported far, far away, to someplace dry and free of magic.
By accident, Mikney brought with him all of the worldwalkers, and nearly all of the major figures among the Rowan natives -- that is, anyone who had a diary on the diary network. They were trapped on the oasis for weeks, with no way of leaving, until Mikney finally woke up.
One day, a caravan from the human royalty arrived to investigate the appearance of an oasis in the desert. The humans brought news that a druid -- Elimyr -- had taken over Jhelbor and the entire northwest part of Rowan. They came to the oasis to request help from Mikney.
The Queen, who was in charge of the human caravan, granted all of the worldwalkers passage, with the caravan, through the desert.