Generally accepted timeline of Londe: 0 - 1000 yrs old
Primordial gods Primus and Kethys roamed in the still, darkness of their being. Primus ordered the blackness around him and Kethys disordered it. Their union created a spark that Kethys could not extinguish nor Primus fan into flame, and so they wove matter around this spark. From the single emblem of light, Kethys pulled out the darkness of the skies, pinpricked with Primus’ ordering of stars in the tapestry of night. Primus expanded the spark to a ball, to a sphere and a globe, layering the surface over the miniscule spark with water, creating the oceans. Kethys, watching her husband with her mix of amusement and fascination, dove into the oceans for a long breath, circumnavigating the globe of water. From within the spark, still at the centre, she threw out land, islands, forests, sands, deserts, mountains, snow.
Primus marvelled in his wife’s creation and began to order it, setting up forests and lakes - order and chaos working in complete harmony to create matter. The ordeal of creation done, they wandered the shores and seas of their new world. Finding it empty, a blank canvas on which to paint, Kethys brought forth new creations for her husband - from the chaos of entropic matter she designed animals, birds, fish, and organisms which Primus sorted and categorised, bestowing on each a land and a place. Then Kethys began to warp and change those she had created - elongating snouts into noses and ears into horns. Great monstrosities rose from the oceans as she delighted in her ‘creations’. Primus watched with anger as her creatures tore out sections of the land they had wrought together, toppled the mountains risen from their union, and saw he must act.
Somewhere high in the mountains, as Kethys’ creatures reigned destruction on all below, Primus hid in a cave and captured Kethys’ beings one by one. Into each one, he blew his own life, carving out his flesh to instill in these creatures the order that they so lacked. Slowly, Primus created the races out of the abominations Kethys had wreaked upon the Londe. They quietly filled his cave, some tunneling deeper into the earth to make a home, others finding their way out into the light and learning the land that had been created before them.
When Kethys resurfaced from her favourite haunt of the oceans and saw what her husband had done, she flew into a frenzy and raised her hand to rain chaos down on those beings that he had created from her babies. But the new creatures bowed in supplication and worship to her, and she discovered a new part of herself: a deity. She revelled in the awe and worship of those that found her - punishing those who did not do her will with harshness and cruelty. She brought forth ideas to them, and they separated into tribes and factions, creating wars with one another.
Primus watched his own creations, and waited. One day, an acolyte of Kethys, a young human boy named Nepta found Primus in his cave. Primus took the boy in, and educated him in the ways of order and logic. As Nepta grew, he began to understand how to harness the chaos that Kethys brought. The winds could be used by sails, the tangling grass could be used to plant and graze. As he learned at the feet of Primus, Primus also learned - if their creations were to survive, he and Kethys must quit the Londe and promise never to interfere directly again.
Kethys refused and tried to swallow Nepta up into the spark at the centre of the world, but the spark would not allow it. She threw oceans at him, ruptured mountains below his feet and plunged him into the darkest icy abyss of the north, but still Primus protected him. Begrudgingly, Kethys agreed with one stipulation: Primus must agree to leave mediators in their stead, to be worshipped and to rule over the beings they had built. If they did not, the beings would lose their purpose and turn on each other.
Primus saw that Kethys had considered this long and hard and agreed. They left Nepta with the task of dividing the nations and bestowing his learning on the beings across the world, and retreated to the mountains, to the same cave in which Primus originated logical life. The mountains trembled and shook with the force of their co-operation, and for years no creature dared step foot in the mountains of what would be called Morthos.
Eventually, the rumbling subsided, and the cataclysmic argumentation between the two primordial beings faded into the hollows of the earth, their spirits and essence soaking into the planet they had created, passing beyond the physical world to a Primeval Plain, where they promised that they would never again create something like this. Left behind them, the fruit of their unions, were 4 beings: The Master Gods. Tuva, (Dragon goddess of Time), Brultune (Human goddess of fate), Aldiran (Elven god of knowledge) and Moradin (Dwarven god of creation). With orders from their parents, they spread out across Londe and begat races, creeds, myths, younger and minor gods. Thus created the Pantheon of Londe.
The 4 master Gods thought it good that their final meeting would result in a being of little power but immense purity, whom they named Adam. They installed Adam as a messenger between themselves and the peoples of the Londe, to carry out their instructions, punishments and rewards, so they did not get involved themselves. They arranged themselves in four corners of the Londe - Tuva in Hazrae, Brultune in Javan and Angin, Aldiran in Caradhys and Moradin in Gorst Drun. There they engaged their own followers and began building civilisations with their neutrality.
Adam was a tall man, unencumbered by greed or need for anything other than the nectar on which the Gods fed him. He was gifted equipment to be the wielder of the Gods’ word across Londe. Armour, lighter than air and covered with a cape that enabled faster travel than could be comprehended, adorned his muscled body. Sandals made from the comfiest leather and imbued with the knowledge of every path in the world cocooned his feet. They gifted him a Necklace of Comprehension, which allowed him to understand and communicate in every language, even to the animals. He bore a simple staff as both messenger and weapon, encasing the words of the gods so they could communicate directly with him. They wove strands of their hair together to form the Cord of Imperus, which gave Adam the command of anyone he spoke to. Finally, they placed on his head the Crown of Youth, into which they poured some of their precious immortality - and told Adam he must never remove it or he would surely die.
For 200 years, Adam did their bidding across the Londe, communing with animals, plants, mountains, peoples and oceans, moulding the world into the shape of the Major Gods. He settled judgements with the wisdom of neutrality, collected disciples and followers from across the world to serve at the feet of the Gods themselves, and patiently taught the peoples how to live and thrive on the lands they had been given. Civilisations developed and largely became independent - shrines were built and Adam became obsolete, walking more and more among the animals and plants of the lands, enjoying their company.
Thus, Adam stumbled across an old man in a clearing, many miles from anywhere in the South of the Angin Empire. Adam’s insight and wisdom were overcome with concern for this human who seemed to be struggling. He offered aid, but the human waved him away and instead admired his armour and staff. They got to speaking, and Adam found himself talking about his encounters with the gods, revealing their places of residence and their strengths in those places. Strangely, he felt no shame or concern - he was an old man, after all, and one so wise would know the necessary place of gods in the chain of being. Finally, the old man asked about the Crown on Adam’s head, which Adam had come to regard as a sign of his allegiance to the Gods. The old man asked if he could hold it, and Adam explained that it would surely bring about his own death if he did. The old man looked shocked and mentioned that surely these gods, who rule the world with their wisdom, neutrality and power, would not chain their most beloved messenger to an item that could kill him if removed.
Swayed by the stranger’s eloquence, Adam began to question in his heart why he had been given the position he had. Over time, and more visits with the man, Adam began to regard it as a chain, a sign of servitude. Thus, when the old man (Demonfather Xaex in disguise) began to tempt Adam with his own glory and freedom, Adam readily agreed. Xaex introduced him to ‘friends’ who continued his ‘education’ until Adam trusted them enough that he handed them his items, including the Crown of Youth. As soon as Adam lifted the Crown from his head, the Master Gods were dealt a blow to their hearts that weakened them, while Xaex and his followers were granted a temporary burst of power. From Adam’s rapidly decaying body, they opened a Soul Portal to the Shadowfall, suspending Adam’s pure soul in torment and allowing demons to pour through and begin to lay claim to their new land. Thus began the first of the Demonic Wars.
However, a demon named Xaex (father of all demons and the only one that unites demonic forces) broke through the Demonic Gates to pour evil into the world and came across Adam, walking through a glade. Xaex appeared as an elderly man simply wanting the pleasure of company, so Adam spoke to him. Xaex the Unholy – ambitious acolyte in the realm of Shadowfall, enlisted the help and vision of Lord Vistrun, the strongest Shadow Demon, and Mistress Bladestaff (the Mistress of Universia Academy). Together, they befriended Adam under the guise of tutors – encouraging him in his missives to the Gods but imbuing his education with dark powers and opening the delights of temptation to him. Eventually, he worked ceaselessly to anchor Shadowfall in the Material Plane, under the secret promptings of Uzdar and Uzdona - primal evils begat by Kethys in a fit of passion and banished to the demonic realm far beyond the Gates. Once created, the anchor used Adam’s body and soul as a doorway to the Material Plane, through which Vistrun and Xaex stepped, consuming Adam’s body in the process. The Master Gods felt the uncreation of Adam, as The Unholy Trinity moved throughout Angin, ripping a hole in the planes at Jax and allowing demons to pour through.
A simple storyteller, Joven Hendelson, woke one morning to his township being raided by demonic forces and he felt the call on his life to be a missive for the Master Gods, as Adam had been. He escaped the raid and met with the four Master Gods on the top of the Angin Peaks. The Gods themselves had been sworn not to intervene directly in the lives of the peoples, and so crafted Instruments for Joven to use to destroy the souls of Xaex and Mistress Bladestaff. Lord Vistrun, however, was too quick for them and dove back through the portal at Jax which the Master Gods put a seal over to prevent any returns.
In the meantime, Joven was set up in Haldoria as the first Emperor Haldor. As he set the world running again, the Master Gods retreated, delving further into their places of civilization to be lost in misty legends and myths, knowing that their presence on the Londe was a beacon to those seeking power. Joven set up the Trade Triangle, encouraged free trading between the lands, and explored (mostly peacefully) the nations to the East and developed trading routes with them. On his death, he appointed his son, Joven, as his successor, and their line reigned for many peaceful years. They made the Karak Varn Alliance with the dwarves and then underwent a dwarvish rebellion when they refused to help aid in a famine. They established the Angin Accords detailing protocols for disasters and wars. They mobilised the army from the reptilian invasion from the South and defeated it, then drew up a peace treaty and established a spice trade.
The last of Joven’s line eventually died, leaving a democratic choice open to the Haldorian Council (a selected group of 50 individuals representing most sectors and nations within the Empire). Together, they chose to promote one of their own under the anonymous title Emperor Haldor, which has been carried on through to this very day.
Some variations on the Division and Restoration do appear, though:
The Dwarves of Gorst Drun take the majority of the credit for forging the Instruments
Uz'ranka, Thirean and Uk'haitha are completely impartial in all matters and do not acknowledge any god or authority other than their own
The Frost Giants of Harrowgarth remember the Demonic Wars as their people being enslaved by humans and elves to fight against those who meant them no harm and the enmity between the two has remained.
Many cultures have their own take on Joven, who has now passed down through so many generations that the name has been mangled and adopted by most cultures as their own, depending on who you speak to.
As the Master Gods faded into the mists of time and legend, and their sons and daughters grew older and wiser and began to fade themselves, with civilisation established and thriving, the world began to experience peace.
Meanwhile, the demons surged and battered against the site of the portal in Jax, testing the Seal with all of their strength to no avail. One demon, however, a promising student and lover of Malconthet the Queen of Succubi, traversed the demonic realm. The Demon Frostar endured torture, pain, blinding fire and apocalyptic visions to find another weak point in the planes, a small altar near the tip of Morthos’ highest peak. Once there he sat patiently, unlike his forebears, and waited, sending his essence through the shifting planes to search for a follower. He found one in Kilcran, a drow warrioress named Fortran with zeal to prove herself.
Silently, he coached her and pulled her towards the altar, gathering a small following, a band of powerful adventurers termed the Wanderers, and led them to his mountaintop. He instructed them in rituals of sacrifice and summoning, building a cult of worshippers until the power of their adoration was enough to gorge himself on. Still he held back and waited, gathering demons to him now. Few answered, but Malconthet would never abandon him and brought herself along with her entourage to his mountaintop.
When she saw what he had achieved, her eyes filled with greed at the thought of a following of her own, and she dove through the gap in the planes, embodying the Warrioress Fortran, heedless of her lover’s warnings that it was too soon. Inside Fortran’s form, Malconthet rejoiced and slaughtered the entire following, drinking their souls to swell her power and burst open the portal temporarily to allow her demonic hordes to push through. They swept down from Morthos into Alayan, capturing Caradhys, Javan, Chalior and Coradruin before her power gave out and the portal snapped shut behind them, effectively trapping them on the Londe. Frostar, anguished and angry that his Queen had ruptured his plan, attempted to force the planes to open again, to revenge himself on her. He even pleaded to Kristos, lord of all demons, to break the Gates open for him. Hopeless and blind with fury, Frostar threw himself at the portal in Jax, cracking the seal enough to let the light of the material plane shine through, blinding and scorching him. His fury led him onwards, hurling his body at the crack between the planes until he burst through, falling into the sea at Jax, where the Silent monks of Haldoria waited with destruction for him.
Meanwhile, Malconthet stalked the continent, laying waste to whatever she could. General Duncan Darkglider of the Research Unit in the Caradhys military, however, had other plans. In secret, he took young men and women from their families and captured demons. Using wizards and alchemists from across the world hidden within the mountains at Kevno, they unlocked the secret of demonic powers and began to inject themselves with their powers. And so the tide of the war turned, and Malconthet became hunted until she finally faced off with the then Elven King of Caradhys, Eldern Lightstaff. The battle raged for days and claimed life after life, but Eldern held strong until he smote the final blow on the body of Fortran and, with Starsteel gifted by the Gods, banished the soul of Malconthet once again to the deepest depths of the demonic realm.
Peace reigned again, though uneasy now, as demon insurgencies echo across the continents, whispering for a return of the ‘Darkwind’.