Before the dawn of time, there was an endless void.
Neither a black, shadowy realm that Evil would've
liked, nor a white, blank oblivion that the Light or
Neutral gods would like, it was merely... nothing. The gods
came forth, reaching their minds across the great
void, and joined their power. They poured forth the
world, each contributing. They called forth a
featureless, formless sphere, a lumb of unmolded clay.
Those inclined to neither Good nor Evil were the first
to pick up the clay, creating an atmosphere so that
there could be life. They put air around the world,
that their could be life. Next, those of Good nature
stepped up, and they gave the world features, form.
They created plants, trees, grass, and moved the
earth. They created mountains and valleys, moving the
rock aside, down around. Then they covered most of the
world in water, made rivers and oceans. Lastly, Evil
stepped in. They made fire, to give lights and warmth,
but mostly to destroy and burn. This done, they moved
to the next task.
Then, they created animals. Once again, Neutrality
lead off by creating all sorts and forms of
animals.Fourlegged mammals, birds, reptiles, fish. All
kinds off animals, but only one of each kind. Good
then took these, and improved on them, changing. They
created cats, dogs, moles, tropical fish, trout,
catfish, rabbits. Evil then took some of these, and
made them larger, more warlike, with fangs and claws
for ripping and eating. All kinds of animals were
created, and created were all animals.
After a while, quarrels arose. Nobody would mind
their business, leaving this person to their own. It
was seen that the animals would need to be watched
over, or problems would arise. So, tasks were
relegated.
Healing, Life, Morning, and Seasons. These were the
tasks the gods of Light took.
Nature, Magic, Night, and War. These were the
tasks given to the gods of Neutrality.
Death, Destruction, Hatred, and Terror. These were
the tasks given to the gods of Evil.
The Twelve then decided that, though their world
was wonderful, it lacked something. So they came
together, and created a new creature. They called them
Humans. (Eromil the Enlightened has made many notes
about them, see his studies for more information.)
They found this so satisfying, they created a new
race. Slightly like the humans, but shorter, thinner,
more agile and long-lived were the elves. They decided
to create one for each following, creating the Dark
Elves (Drow, Black Elves), High Elves (Some call them
the Sun Elves or Golden Elves), and the Wild Elves
(Wood Elves, Brown/Green Elves.) The Elves were regal
and proud, and the Twelve continued.
The Good-followers next created Dwarves, the
builders. Sturdy, short, the Dwarves could live
through the most adverse conditions. Those following
Evil saw this, and made something like the Dwarves.
The Minotaurs, the strongest race ever created, the
most bloodthirsty and savage. Since the Neutral gods
preferred Nature and the animals, they created the
Kanthrops, a race that resembled elves and men, except
for their eyes and abilities. Each Kanthrop could
assume the form of a single animal, and their eyes
were those of their animal. (Those who transform into
birds of prey are often spies or scouts.) They loved
their new creations so much that they created the
Felinia, which were essentially half-men, half-cats.
They were smaller in stature than most other races,
about the size of a short elf, but they were
incredibly agile, fast, and stealthy.
The Dark gods wanted to create something that could live forever, and grow more and more powerful, for their plans, and so they made vampires. Vampires were
undead, neither living nor dead. Thus, they could live
on forever in immortality, and are also unnaturally
hard to kill. Their preferred meal is blood. The God
of Hatred saw these, and wanted his own race. He
poured his hatred and evil nature into a new race,
which were a bit like vampires, a bit like minotaurs,
but more like demons. They were undead, as the
vampires, but they were even more powerful. The other
gods, even those of Dark, were furious at this. They
came together and destroyed all but one of his
creations. He managed to save her, his most powerful
creation, Emisha Shidar. He poured his power into the
last of his creations, making her the most beautiful
person on Karness, and the most powerful person not a
god. He hid her away, and with his creations no longer
destroying everything, the other races spread
throughout Karness, populating it, and the Gods mostly
withdrew to leave their creations to do as they would.
They still managed their tasks, however, and were
never too far away.
With the exile of Emisha and her race, peace
returned to Karness. Everyone settled, and made
boundaries, and the Kanthrops went to a forest region.
All was well as they lived in harmony with nature, in
perfect balance, but the Wolf-Kanthrops were not
content. The Chieftain of the Kanthrops was a
Panther-Kanthrop, and his favourites were all other
cat-type Kanthrops. The Wolf-Kanthrops felt that they
were being treated unfairly, and so for a whole year
they plotted. Then, on the Feast of Birth and Death
(New Year's) they struck. While everyone else was
lifting their table knives, the Wolf-Kanthrops lifted
their swords. They came down on their unarmed and
unsuspecting victims, killing many of the
Cat-Kanthrops before they were stopped. The Chieftain
exiled them, and cursed them. He disrupted their
transformation abilities, chaining them to the Moon.
Only on a Full Moon, they assume their Wolf form
without control, and go into a horrible rage,
destroying anything near. Thus the Werewolves were
created, a legacy of blood and death. The Feast of
Birth and Death saw the Death of many Kanthrops, and
the birth of a new race. To this day, Werewolves and
Kanthrops feud and fight with a boiling hatred.
As the plague of Emisha spread across the once-fair land of Karness, the three rulers of the elves saw that their beloved land was truly threatened. They watched as slowly, inevitably, all who attempted to stand in the undead army’s way were brutally crushed. The three rulers agreed that something drastic must be done in order to save the land from the tyranny of Emisha that was already soaking the earth in blood.
In a last-ditch effort, the three decided to put aside their various differences and to band together to stop the terror that was rapidly sweeping across the land. It was determined that they would launch a three-pronged attack, catching the army in the Boulivar flats, then driving
it through the mountains and into the Kalanos marshes to trap the slower moving undead scourge in the mire while the light-footed elves dispatched them.
The quickly hatched plan was debated well into the night and when the dawn
broke, the fleetest runners sent the orders to the three armies. It was not long before the armies were set in place, waiting to spring the counter-offensive. They attack was a success, and although the terrifying
army of the dead inflicted numerous casualties, the combined might of the elves eventually drove back the dread army, forcing it through the mountains, and then through the marsh; cutting the army down even further.
Eventually, the elves hounded the defeated dead army back up to the peninsula where The Desolation of Shidar lies. Although the evil Emisha was soundly defeated, the three wise elves knew that she would try to rise again and get revenge. It was decided there, as the massive army camped near Soleth that a large wall would be built and guarded to prevent such a
catastrophe that they had just narrowly averted. This large structure known as Carroon’s Wall still stands today against the dark tide of dead, ready to
slow their advance, and to warn Karness if the troops begin to mass once more.
Now, under the combined rule of three mighty elven lords, Karness prospers and thrives in the peace it enjoys once more.
Once they had their land and orders worked out, they sent their armies to every city on Karness. In every city they put up an Alter of Elves to show that the Elven royality had control of the city. The region the Elves could not take was teh Desolation of Shidar. Since Emisha's army and fortress was to big the Elves had another plan. They gathered the Dwarves out of thier cities to build a wall. The erupted a huge wall across of Desolation of Shidar, seperating it from the rest of Karness. Now with Emisha and her army out of the way they could rule in harmony.
And So It Begins (Creation)
And It Continues
(The Creation Of The Races)
Uprising
(The Werewolves)
Defeat And Anger Breed Revenge
After the uprising of the Werewolves, peace and
tranquility were upon Karness. All was calm, but this
calm was merely the pause before the storm. During
this time, Emisha grew more and more powerful,
studying and increasing her power. Moriture, the God
of Hatred, poured his power into her and created her a
Tower and gave her land. The Desolation of Shidar, it
was called. He found her followers, people as full of
hatred and anger as he and she, and they gathered an
army. Those that would not join them freely were
"recruited" by force. By his power, Moriture killed
people and revived them. An army that could not feel
pain, fear, and did not care about death. Emisha and
her army came down like a plague, wiping away all
before it.
The Elves Rule
After the attack and the ruling of Emisha. The Elves decided that they would never let that happen again. So as the three breeds banned together they spread out to rule over Karness. Each breed knew that without the others they would never be able to rule Karness and keep peace and tranquility. They each took a region of their own turning it molding it to be their land.
