Edward Larel's Blog

Pick up Zen's Heritage on Amazon for free between 5/4 and 5/6! That's right, for this weekend only, I'm celebrating getting started on the final book of the Zen Chronicles by giving away the second novel for free. It's the chance you've been waiting for to get caught up.

http://www.amazon.com/Zens-Heritage-Z...

Courtesy of Andy Linden, the real world Black Forest in Germany.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andylind...

I'm excited to say that I have been nominated as a finalist in the Chanticleer Book Reviews Cygnus Awards for Steampunk, SciFi, & Fantasy Writing for my novel, Arawn's Quest. Now I look forward to hearing how everything goes to make first place.

http://chantireviews.com/2013/04/24/t...

Hey everybody,

If you're reading this, it's because you've expressed interest in my novels and/or worked with me to promote them in the past. First, thank you for your continued support; it really means a lot. Second, I wanted to announce that I plan to begin work on the final book in the Zen Chronicles this coming May.


The last book will be "The Third War of the Elements" and focuses on resolving the primary storyline we began with Arawn's Quest. That is, the return of the xendauni and how their presence back on Pnumadesi will affect the elementals' hold on the continent. Arawn and the other Children of Destiny have already done quite a bit to weaken that hold, and the events in this novel will illustrate that as well as push them ahead as both individuals and what has become a family.


I look forward to bringing this arc in the history of Pnumadesi to a brilliant end while still laying the groundwork for future novels set in the same world. Rest assured, if any of your favorite characters live through this, you'll see them again down the road. So, enjoy the next few months of piece as I plan out the novel and share my writing with you up to the point of release. When that day comes, we go to war! Until then, enjoy.

I wrote this back in 2011 for the annual contest Blizzard holds, but I never submitted it. Maybe next time I'll actually turn in something and try my hand. Until then, enjoy! (note, this was not recently edited, I simply took what I had)

Arrogance

Tawa'po looks past Malar to another Tauren on his right as he cuts through another of the foul Quillboar that encroaches on his homeland. Compared to his lighter, tan companion, Tawa'po's muscles brim with strength through his dark coat of thick fur. His horns are shined and free of blood, despite its presence over the rest of his body.

"Does your battle go well over there, Brightmane?" he calls across the field. He can see her battling with ferocity almost equal to his own. The squeal of another pig as it begins an incantation to his left rises over her response, but the geomancer's spell is interrupted when the mighty warrior stomps over and backhands it with enough force to spray blood from its snout. He grabs the spellcaster by the throat and slams it to the ground, bringing his axe down to end the wretched creature's time among the living.

"You waste your time, Tawa'po," says his comrade as he kicks another of the Quillboar from his own weapon. "She will not find your arrogance as flattering as the others."

With a smirk, Tawa'po turns from his friend and begins walking toward the warrior, Aponi. When he reaches her, he stops for a moment and admires the powerful woman before him. "I couldn't hear your answer over the din."

His beautiful ally lifts her large mace over an otherwise delicate shoulder and looks up to meet his eye, "I said it goes as well as your own, Ragetotem. Now, let's get back to this, I want to be home before sundown. Besides, aren't you leaving for Orgrimmar in the morning?"

She points over his shoulder and Tawa'po turns to slam his deep black fist into an incoming Quillboar's flank. The creature's charge is halted as the air is knocked out of it, and it falls to the ground clutching its belly.

Ignoring the beast again, he faces her with another strong smile, "Yes, there is talk that the Scourge continue to bolster their forces. If there is truth in the rumors, the strongest warriors from all of the Horde will likely be called upon to stop them once and for all. I, we, could be needed to travel away from here.”

He watches her for a reaction to this news, but she gives away nothing of her thoughts on the prospect, so he continues, “Speaking of Orgrimmar, I could use some company during the trip, Aponi. The Orc's Warchief has a new advisor. I hear he is one of the strongest of their kind. If I'm lucky, he will give me an opportunity to prove my worth to him. You would look good there at my side."

She gives him a confusing look, something resembling a cross between frustration and pity, "No, I don't think I will go, if only to avoid looking good at your side. I will stand for myself, thank you."

His smile falters, and he reaches to hold her in his gentle but firm grasp for a moment, "That is disappointing to hear, Aponi. There are others who would wish for such an opportunity."

She pulls away, "Then let them join you. My place is where the Earthmother sends me, protecting our people. For now, that place is here."

He turns from her, hurt and angry, though he wishes not to show the woman how he feels about her reaction, "Fine, then I will prove myself to you as well. I will be stronger. So strong that you will want to be with me."

To lend credence to his point, Tawa'po slams his hoof down upon the Quillboar he incapacitated moments before. The blow crushes its skull with a sickening, wet crack. Sated, the warrior stalks off back toward where Malar continues to battle the swine.

*****

Orgrimmar is large, Tawa'po realizes. Larger even than Thunderbluff. The Orcs have done much with the wasteland of Durotar. Their Warchief, Thrall, is a proud shaman, and for good reason according to others Tawa’po has spoken to. The Orc leader's new advisor is a brown skinned warrior by the name of Garrosh. Tawa'po didn’t know the race as any color other than green, so this Orc's skin comes as a surprise at first. Asking around, the Tauren learns that Garrosh Hellscream is a true-blooded Orc from beyond the Dark Portal, free of the bloodlust that ruled the horde before Thrall took over.

“Surely the Orcs, and the Horde as a whole, would do well to have a strong, pure leader, then,” Tawa’po comments to another onlooker as the Warchief, Hellscream, and Lady Sylvanas Windrunner of the Forsaken discuss the Horde’s plans to travel into Northrend. The Orc pays his comment no mind, as the conversation before them begins to heat up.

When negotiations break down between Thrall and his second, Garrosh challenges the Warchief to a duel. While everybody in the Valley of Honor makes their way into the Ring of Valor, Tawa'po quickly pushes past the smaller members of the horde to get a front row seat. As he takes his place with the crowd, he thinks about how sorry Aponi will be for not coming here to see this with him.

When the battle begins, the Tauren cheers on Garrosh. Some who sit by him whisper of this Orc's arrogance in challenging Thrall, but Tawa'po shuts them up with a glare. They should be facing the Scourge in Northrend, after all, not standing by and waiting while some advance scouting unit is massacred by the Lich King before they react.

At one point, it looks as though the proud Hellscream will indeed best his leader, but, unfortunately, the battle is forgotten when one of the Lich King's minions suddenly attacks Orgrimmar.

Hurrying out of the arena beside the Orcs' Kor'kron Guard, Tawa'po draws his axe and faces off against an oversized, four-armed undead others have named an abomination. As the battle wares on, Tawa'po takes a couple of minor wounds to his arms and chest. He cares not and continues to push against the putrid, bloated thing. He reflects on how his victory this day may even be recognized by Thrall, or better still, Garrosh. Aponi and Malar will both be proud of them, to be sure. She will finally stand at his side, proud to be his.

At last, his weapon bites into the abomination's already gaping stomach and lodges itself into its spine. Still holding onto a semblance of animated life but unable to hold itself up, the monster falls onto him. The strong Tauren gives all of his effort to push the thing off of himself, and grabs his axe to finish cutting his way out when another skeletal beast falls from the sky, crushing his arm beneath one of the bones in its ribcage.

An unwanted scream pulls itself from his lips and gets the attention of a nearby ghoul that was feasting on the remains of one of its own. The thing looks up and moves toward him, slavering over a fresh opportunity.

Unable to stop the monster as it bites into his shoulder and begins to devour him, Tawa'po lets his mind go on to ignore it. He thinks of Aponi and offers her a silent apology for his arrogance. He then thanks the Earthmother for giving the Tauren woman foresight enough to avoid this day, lest she to come to such an inglorious end as he.
*****

When unlife is breathed back into him, the warrior remembers nothing but his strength and skills in battle. Powerful he was then, but moreso now that he is blessed with the might of the Lich King. No longer does the frailty of life hinder him and hold back his true strength. He is arrogant still, but now he can prove that it is well deserved.

In no time, the Death Knight demonstrates how quickly he has mastered the runes he himself carved into his axe when he defeats several other would-be warriors on his way to becoming the greatest of his new lord's soldiers. His talents at the runeforge are unparalleled, and with the gifts of the Scourge at his command he is able to best even the Scarlet Onslaught.

Now, his final test is upon him. He shines his horns and checks that they are sharp enough to gore his enemies, then he goes to the appointed location. The once-human Commander who leads him and encourages his pride has given him the honor of slaying one of the prisoner's they captured. He agrees these failed warriors deserve no honorable death and strides into the one room holding cell.

Inside, he looks upon those who were bested by the Scourge. All are weak, broken. They have earned nothing more than death at the hands of his kind. Looking over the heads of the Forsaken, Dwarves, and Orcs in the room, he finds his victim.

The Tauren is easy to spot amongst the lesser condemned in the building. With a smirk, the Death Knight walks over to him and speaks with the chill of the grave still fresh upon his vocal cords, "I condemn you to death in the name of the Lich King, Tauren. You have failed your people, and now you will be made to serve."

To the Tauren's right, a Night Elf woman cringes in anticipation of the blow that would be dealt any moment now. The bull of a man doesn't shy away, though. He lifts his head to look into the Death Knight's cold, lifeless eyes, "Come to finish the job, have you? You'll look me in the eyes when..."

Something flashes in his eyes then, bringing pause to the killing strike, "Tawa'po?"

The word means something, he knows, but what that may be is a mystery to the undead warrior, "What did you call me, prisoner?"

"Tawa'po, I'd recognize those horns anywhere... What have they done to you, my friend?"

He laughs at this outburst, "Done to me? I am stronger, more powerful than ever before. Who are you to question to might of the Lich King? I am not this... Tawa'po, as you claim." But even as the word passes over his dark lips, he feels something stir within him. He lowers his axe and listens more closely to the soldier for a moment.

"You don't remember me, do you? It is I, Malar. Blasted Scourge... They've tried to drain you of everything that made you a righteous force of reckoning. Every last ounce of good... Everything that made you a tauren!"

The slander irritates him, and the Death Knight raises his axe again, repeating himself, "The Scourge has made me stronger than ever. With the gifts of the Lich King, I am stronger even than you, fallen tauren."

Undaunted by the blade looming over his head, the warrior continues, "Think, Tawa'po. Think back. Try and remember the rolling plains of Mulgore, where you were born. Remember the splendor of life, brother. You were a champion of the tauren once! This isn't you."

Something is clawing at the back of his mind. A warrior, this warrior, beside him, and another... Aponi. That name forces him to take a step back.

"Listen to me. Forget your arrogance. You must fight against the Lich King's control. He is a monster that wants to see this world - our world - in ruin. Don't let him use you to accomplish his goals. You were once a hero and you can be again. Fight, damn you! Fight his control!"

Memories of the life he lost flood's the Death Knight's head and he hesitates once more in lifting his axe. Looking on his comrade with true recognition for the first time, he realizes now what his pride has truly earned him.

Thinking quickly, he shoves his friend over onto his face and cuts the bonds that held him. He then stands him up and gives him a strong, powerful hug even as his voice echoes with the ring of death, "I remember."

Several others in the room begin to beg him to do the same for them. Their voices are too loud, drawing attention to him and Malar.

From outside, the cursed voice of his commander yells, "What's going on in there? What's taking so long?"

Malar's eyes brim with pride more than tears, and he kneels down again, "There... There's no more time for me. I'm done for. Finish me off, Tawa'po. Do it or they'll kill us both. Brother... Remember Mulgore. This world is worth saving."

"No, I will not. Not now that I have been reminded of who I truly am," the fallen warrior says setting his axe on the ground. "I'll not be the Lich King's weapon any longer. We must get away, quickly."

Another woman, a blood elf this time, yells that she must be freed as well, to return to her family and friends back in Quel'thalas. The sound of boots outside begin their trek toward the doorway.

Malar grabs the axe from the ground and forces it into his hands again, "Do it, Tawa'po! Put me out of my misery!"

Looking to the door, then back to his friend, the once arrogant Tawa'po raises his axe in grim supplication and brings it down upon the warrior who, in his own way, returned him from the grave.
*****

With the Lich King's demise imminent, the Tauren battles fiercely beside the other Death Knights of the Ebon Blade. They have come far since their inception back at Light's Hope Chapel. He has been to see Thrall, in person, and was accepted back as a member of the Horde. Though his own race still sees him as a cold, merciless monster, he continues his grim fight against the Scourge in hopes that he will prove his worth to them again.

To this day, none of the warriors who pass through the entrance of the Shadow Vault have recognized him. He prefers it this way and refuses to use the name he held in life. This existence, if any could call it that, is lonely and filled with pained memories that he can never be rid of.

As he slays one of the Scourge's abominations with ease, he surveys the field of battle for another target. Strewn about him are the fallen, members of the Alliance and Horde both, Scourge creatures, all are dead around him. The only three beings left here for the moment are he, a dangerous looking flesh giant, and the warrior who battles him. The monster's back is to him, hiding its foe from his vision. He takes the opportunity to charge the giant, calling upon his runes to cut through it with a powerful strike that gives the warrior a boost in his own morale even as the magic closes some of his wounds.

The flesh giant falls to the side and the warrior it faces rests with her hand upon the cold ground of the Broken Front. She is beautiful, despite damaged armor and a severe wound to her arm. She looks up at him and smiles, "Thanks."

"Aponi?" The word escapes him before he realizes it and he stands there, staring at the injured woman. Her roan fur is matted with sweat and the blood of her enemies, but still she gives off a light against which all else pales in comparison.

She manages to stand and with her good arm places her mace at her back, "You have heard of me, Death Knight?"

He frowns, realizing now that even she does not recognize him. Has he changed so much? No, he wouldn't let this opportunity pass. This was his chance, at last, to make things right.

"Yes. I have heard you are a great warrior; greater than many who would think themselves strong enough to deserve you by their side."

She tilts her head in confusion, "Thank you for that. What is your name, soldier?"

He smiles at the thought, "I call myself Arrogance, now. To remind myself of the follies of my previous life so that I may never forget the pain such thinking has brought me."

She nods, "You are wise in such thinking, Arrogance. I would be honored if you would please help me get back to the Argent Vanguard where they can decide if I need to be treated there or back in Thunderbluff."

He helps her walk to the soldiers guarding the pass. Along the way, they speak of Thunderbluff and of the Horde's Hellscream pushing into Icecrown Citadel. When at last they reach somebody who would take her to a healer, she stops and turns to him. Laying her hand upon his face, Aponi smiles. For his part, the Death Knight realizes he cannot actually feel her touch, and tries his best not to weep the ichor that would come from him should he begin to.

"Thank you for your help, Arrogance. I must rest now. With this wound as bad as it looks, I'll probably have plenty of time to contemplate the things we have spoken of. Ishnu'porah Tawaporah."

As she says those last words, recognition crosses Aponi's features. She begins to stammer, but he only smiles and turns to walk away. Behind him, he hears her call out, "Tawa'po," but he continues on without looking back.
*****

As Arrogance feels the last vestiges of the Lich King's will leave him, he knows the man the Human's called Arthas is dead. He is free at last. Still, his stigma as a Death Knight haunts him wherever he goes. The other races, even his own, only accept him because they are told to.

Rather than suffer the looks of others he stays in the Shadow Vault until the Cataclysm changes the face of Azeroth and he is called upon once more to protect those who will never accept him.

With this fact on his mind, the Tauren still leaves with several other members of the Ebon Blade to help contest the minions of Deathwing and the Twilight's Hammer. He finds himself back in Kalimdor, just north of his once proud home of Thunderbluff. The new chieftain, Baine, son of Cairne has personally requested him and a few other fallen members of their race to represent them in the Stonetalon Mountains.

Landing his mount and handing it off to the stablemaster, he sees how much has changed since last he visited Sunrock Retreat what felt like ages ago. It was here that he first met Aponi and Malar. How naive they all were back then.

Looking around he sees several Sunwalkers and priests of An'she gathered to welcome his kind. At first, the Death Knight expected trouble when he heard that the holy warriors of the Tauren would be working alongside him. Now, though, he feels a kinship with the men and women who surround him. They are all soldiers with their own talents; his, the unholy blight and cold of the former Lich King's power. The Sunwalkers' power was antithesis to his own; the warmth of the sun and the light of the eye of the Earthmother.

"Arrogance, I am glad to have you join us in these dark times," comes a familiar, feminine voice from among the throng of Tauren." Aponi steps into his view. She has healed well, and carries her weapon of choice over her shoulder as always. She smiles at him in her Sunwalker's raiment.

The Death Knight looks at the woman with some incredulity, "You are... A Sunwalker now?"

She nods, "After I returned to Thunderbluff, I was restored to health and shown a new way for our people. I live for the day now, much as you live for the night."

She is truly his opposite in every way now. It amazes him how far this great warrior has come by following her own path. He has to know, "You asked Baine to bring me and my kind here?"

Again, she nods and walks up to offer a solute and her hand, "In this way, as warriors, we can stand together. And I will be proud to stand by your side as we face this new threat to our people, Tawa'po."

Look for a giveaway on both Children of Destiny books, as well as the anniversary edition of Arawn's Quest very soon.

I'm also compiling the short stories I've written up to now into a book (some of which I've posted on our facebook page, Northwinter Press) that will hopefully keep you entertained until I'm ready to start putting information out about the next Zen Chronicles novel, The Third War of Elements.

See you soon!

Zen Chronicles book 3 is now available in both paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon. Enjoy!

Northwinter Press is celebrating the end of the world on 12/21/2012 with the release of both Children of Destiny books. Look for Born of the Elements and The Highborn King at the end of this week on Amazon Kindle and later this month (due to timing of printing, etc) in print.

I am so very happy and thankful to those who helped get what turned out to be such a large project completed when we did. Thank you all so much, and though I'm taking a short break to rest now (while working on other projects, of course), I will come back next year for the conclusion to the Zen Chronicles and a few sneak peaks at the future of Pnumadesi. Until then!

Spoilers and easter eggs abound in this final preview from The Highborn King. Next week, the release date for Children of Destiny!

When the group finally found the large, robust doors at the end of a large, open ballroom, it was Pisken who spoke first, “This may sound crazy, but I don’t like open spaces when it would make more sense to have a smaller area for potential invaders to come in through
. Something is wrong here.”

A low growl confirmed the halfling’s suspicions, and the capitalist backed up in front of Rich and the others. From the far corners of the hall, two creatures, seemingly torn from nightmares unimaginable, stepped into view.

One of the beasts looked as though it was once a giant trapdoor spider, but thousands of tiny, human eyes sat where multifaceted lenses should. The eyes all moved independently of the others, making it look like the creature was constantly shifting its gaze around the room. Where another beast might have smaller legs for pulling prey into its maw, this thing had a pair of human arms, complete with hands that wove back and forth, weaving shadow into magic.

The other monster was almost elegant compared to its counterpart, which made it scarier to behold. The wretch was shaped like a large, hairless cat, though it had six legs and was the ugly green and purple color of a fresh bruise. Its face had clearly been elven at one point, but the flesh was stretched so thin over the creature’s flat skull it looked like it could tear off at any moment. In spite of eyes pulled into slits, the thing stared right at the group and growled again.

Navara drew her swords and nodded to the end of the room, “They’re syn.”

The capitalist pointed at the abominations, “I’ve seen those before. They’re the queen’s pets, Drin and Urden.”

If the queen kept them as pets, Rich was sure they would be a challenge to handle, “Navara, take Lina back around the corner while we keep them apart.”

The fey nodded and ushered the priestess away from the grisly scene. When they were gone, Rich turned back to Pisken and pointed at the spider, “I’ll take this one.”

“Wonderful,” the halfling mumbled as he drew his own dagger and stepped around one of the pillars on the side of the room. The elf-beast that he called Urden quickly followed.

Rich looked back to where his foe had been, but the beast was gone. Thinking quickly, the half-orc looked up in time to see Drin fall from the ceiling toward him. Before it landed, the spider’s humanoid arms used its magic to pull darkness from the surrounding area and shape it into a noxious vapor around Rich. Choking, the warrior almost fell when his opponent landed on him, but managed to roll the thing onto its back and stab his dagger into its thorax.

An ear-piercing screech emitted from the spider’s mouth and echoed across the room. Grabbing at his skull, Rich rolled off of it and stood back up with his dagger at the ready. A quick glance to his left showed that the half-orc wasn’t the only one having trouble.

Pisken was pinned down by Urden’s hind and middle legs and was flailing back and forth to avoid being slammed by the monster’s forelegs. The smallkin had done some serious damage to his target while he had the advantage of surprise, but the former elf must have caught onto his tricks and captured the man where he was now.

Rich was about to run to the halfling’s aid, but Navara returned from the back of the room and forced the cat to back away with a flourish of her swords. The walker between worlds stepped over Pisken and backed the beast into the corner.

A clicking sound next to him told Rich that his enemy had finally righted itself, and the half-orc swung his blade in a wide arc down through several of the spider’s eyes. Wounded, Drin reared back and cast a burst of flame at him with its human appendages. Rich stepped into the ball of fire and used the opportunity to slash both limbs. While the syn backpedalled, the warrior followed it and continued to stab at the perverse being while inside its reach.

When he delivered a killing blow, the entire room shifted into a collapsing tower surrounded by dragons of all shapes, colors, and sizes and Rich was seeing the world through Drin’s eyes. On the roof with him was another half-orc wielding a large double-axe, an elven druid with her pet tiger, and a handful of others; all fighting or lying on the ground, dead. There was a tugging sensation, and Drin was pulled into a vortex he created before his plan could succeed.

Cracking his neck, the half-orc stood back up and lumbered over to Navara and Pisken as he let the spider’s final memories dissipate. The pair was standing, transfixed over the fallen creature they had faced. As one, they clutched at their stomachs and fell over.

Rich waited for the vision to fade before helping his friends stand, “Are you okay?”

Pisken checked his midsection, “So that’s what it’s like to experience the death of a syn. It isn’t as impacting as the stories make it when you’re already dead.”

“I guess not,” the warrior agreed and paused to listen to something from beyond the doors at the end of the room. “They’re inside. Let’s go see what we can do to help them.”

What follows is one account of the history of Pnumadesi, written as it was understood from the Book of the Forgotten Bard.

:The First Age:

In the first age of the world, when the gods were still present, they created the first races to walk on its surface. Dwarves, elves, and humans existed to make a worldly representation of the deities’ homes within the Astral Realm. This map of the universe at the center of its cosmos became the world of Pnumadesi.

Jealous of the gods’ creation, the elementals met with the divine beings and made their case that the map was incomplete without including the chaos from which the races of air, earth, fire, and water heralded. Reluctantly, the gods agreed, and lesser elemental beings joined the other races at the southern edge of the world.

The elementals were indifferent to the gods’ plans. With their control over the essence of Pnumadesi, they quickly rose to power over the other races and turned them to shaping the world which, by extension, changed the domains within the Astral Realm.

Before the elementals could deface the world entirely, the gods extrapolated from it a perfect image; an Overrealm. This realm became the perfect incarnation of the first world. Only the elves could enter the Overrealm, and because they wished nothing more than to cultivate the world as it existed, this layer of Pnumadesi would remain unchanged for millennia.

Unaware of the gods’ layering of Pnumadesi, the elementals continued their changes to the world. They leveled mountains, burned down great forests, and split realms with wind and water. Through all of this, the gods debated and lamented their plight and the suffering of the mortal races at the hands of the elementals. They knew what had to be done, and though some would later question the intentions of their brethren, the gods declared war upon the elementals.

The battle within the heavens quickly became a world war across Pnumadesi, as the dwarves and humans turned upon their elemental rulers, while the elves returned from the Overrealm with the gift of magic. The slender race taught their allies to use their new weapons against the enemy to devastating effect, and the war was over within two human lifetimes.

Unfortunately, those who fell during the great skirmishes across Pnumadesi were left to suffer and torment the many who survived. Distraught by what their warring caused, the gods created an echo of Pnumadesi, called the Underrealm, upon which the dead could exist out of sight and out of mind. The mortal races honored and grieved the fallen in their own ways. In answer to the prayers of the devout, the gods spent a fraction of their considerable power to restore some of the greatest heroes of the day to life.

Because many of their brethren had died in the conflict as well, the elementals were equally aware of the Underrealm and sent their own to be forgotten there. Unable to channel the gods’ divine magic, however, the elementals instead discovered its inverse and used their newfound power to steal the souls and bodies of the dead, raising them as a shadow of their former selves. Though they were defeated in the greater war, the elementals would use the undead to harass the other races in any capacity they could forever more.

Both the elementals and the gods appointed a guardian of the Underrealm who would govern the dead and help those who were able to pass to another life or the great beyond. Those who were particularly faithful were granted a resting place in the homes of their deities.


:The Gift of Creation:

With The mortal races greatly diminished because of the war, the gods were weakened. To bolster their worship, they gave the secrets of mortal creation and evolution to the elves and asked that they help regrow the world to its former beauty while they focused on repairing their own homes. But, like the dwarves and humans, the elves had been changed. Marred by the war, they now found weakness in the mortal races where before they saw only beauty. With the gods’ gift, they had the power to remove that weakness so the elementals would no longer be a threat.

The elves began experimenting with the creatures of the world, using different combinations of species, magic, and the essence of elementals captured during the war. After using the cleansing power of water to remove what they felt were their own flaws, one group of elves took to calling themselves children of the Overrealm, fey-blooded, or just fey for short. The fey then conceived of several races they felt were superior to the remaining elves, humans, and dwarves.

Earthen energies were siphoned to the brave and powerful Annodam dwarves, killing their males and warping the remaining females, making them larger, stronger, and violently obsessed with keeping their race alive.

The fey next turned the great and subtle powers of air upon the xendauni elves of the black forest. The magic of change imbued itself upon the xendauni and gave to them the power to transform and appear as other beings.

When the elementals discovered the new races upon Pnumadesi, they traveled to the lands of Ganalodel, where the fey held court. Utilizing their few remaining human slaves, the smallkin, the elementals stole a portion of the elves’ power back to the Elemental Plateau, where they would use it to create more beastial races they could rule unopposed.

In response to the theft, the fey turned the destructive power of fire on the human race living near the equator. Twisting and malevolent magic flowed into and through the race, burning into them a sense of righteous fury and a hatred for the elementals that unwittingly helped created them. This race accepted the name of fire-bred.

Not to be outdone, the elementals responded by changing some of their own pets, the dragons, into humanoid beings known as dragonkin. In a strange turn of events, many dragonkin betrayed the elementals and aligned themselves with the fire-bred and the xendauni. This forced the elementals to reply with more loyal subjects, goblins, minotaur, and the elementborn.

In their haste to counter the fey-blooded’s creations, the elementals damaged their source of power. The damaged piece was hidden away far at the frozen northern tip of the world, where not even the elves traveled. What remained of the power could only be used sparingly. A civil war grew out of arguments on how to utilize the power that forced the gods to return briefly so they could resolve it. But when the divine beings looked upon what the elves and elementals had done on Pnumadesi, they despaired.

:The World Sundered:

It was finally clear that the gods could no longer interfere with the races of Pnumadesi. They took the power they had given the elves away, but did not punish the race, for the fey did as they were told and helped repopulate the world; just not as the gods had intended. Angry at their loss of power, the elves ceased their worship of the deities and devoted themselves to nature instead. From then on, they would draw their divine magic from the Overrealm.

Since they still cared for the races that now covered the world of Pnumadesi, the deities did not want to destroy them, but they had to separate themselves from the plane to which they so closely associated themselves. To that end, they created one final race, the god-blooded. These heralds of the gods quickly spread throughout Pnumadesi to warn of the coming separation of the continents. Entire races that had spawned in the ages it took the god-blooded to prepare Pnuamdesi were relocated to what would become the continents of the world.

When the mortal races were as safe as they could be, the god-blooded reconvened on the eastern-most continent and sent word that Pnumadesi was ready to be sundered by the gods. After the world settled into its new configuration, the deities left it to grow and change on its own while they disappeared into the Astral Realm to watch from afar.

:The First War of Elements:

The elementals that remained on their own continent of Zufarig put an end their civil war and established generals on what remained of the central continent of Pnumadesi. The generals were given the last of the creation magic and were ordered to disrupt the other races so the elementals could once more rule the world.

The generals were immediately met with resistance from the humans, xendauni, dwarves, dragonkin, and fire-bred who lived along their borders. By the time the elves, and the annodam arrived, the elementals had already captured several groups from the resistance and used their magic to change them into beastial races including the ursaren, moonbred, and gnolls.

The animalistic warriors ravaged the mortal races and captured even some of the elven and annodam forces before they could be restrained. The elementals delighted in torturing their most hated of enemies from the first days of the world. They stripped away what divine and natural connection many of the elves had, turning them into creatures of shadow and leaving them to the Underrealm. The shadowkin were then let go to cause havoc among the dead, but most of the race exiled themselves to the continent of Meptbidin instead, where they could learn to accept their new lives away from their blessed cousins.

From the strongest of their opponents, the elementals bred ogres, orcs, and other deadly, powerful creatures lacking in intelligence and eager to follow.

Finally, unable to affect the xendauni with what little power they had left, the elementals took a different approach. They created special canines with the ability to revert a xendauni to its natural state with only its bark. These beasts became known as xendaugs and were sprinkled throughout the continent of Pnumadesi where they intermingled with regular dogs until the two were indistinguishable from each other.

Once xendaugs were populace enough, the elementals began a campaign against the xendauni. They claimed that the race was out to subvert the other mortal races of Pnumadesi and take them over. According to the elementals, they fought for a world free from xendauni control.

When several examples of their exploits were revealed to the masses, the xendauni were no longer safe to come and go among the other races. Their ability to look like any creature was suddenly met with skepticism and fear that they would try to take over if they could sneak into the greater society. To avoid the backlash of the elementals’ deceit, they closed themselves off in the Black Forest and became increasingly xenophobic.

:The Mages’ Council of Pnumadesi:

When the human kingdoms of Pnumadesi could no longer hold out against the elementals in what had been officially declared the First War of Elements, the greatest spellcasters of their age met and formed the Mages’ Council of Pnumadesi. The council would direct the other races and train those who wished to know about arcane, divine, and natural magic. Unwilling to teach the other races about their own fey magic, the elves excluded themselves from the council and closed off Ganalodel with a powerful spell that would turn even the most savage of creatures into peaceful interlopers.

With the elves hidden away, the council approached the xendauni and brought them back into the fold. The shape-changing race proved adept with both arcane and natural magic. With the aid of moonbred who had since revolted from the elementals, the xendauni even developed a style of fighting that gave them an advantage few others had. Where arcane magic could be countered with some practice, sentinels could rely more on their natural instincts to defeat the elementals.

In search of a place to call their own, the mage council traveled to most of the countries in western Pnumadesi before they found what they had been looking for.

The Veriqhan Plains was the region of Pnumadesi to which several of the elementals’ minotaur armies moved and changed their ways after the world was sundered. The plains also happened to sit directly over a cross section of the ley lines that ran through all of Pnumadesi.

After a peaceful gathering with the now tribal minotaur of the Veriqhan Plains, the mage council established Magelord Keep over a vein of potent natural and arcane magic. From here, they were able to increase their talents and power enough to rival the strongest of elemental spellcasters.

:The Books of the Forgotten Bard:

Around this time, strange tomes began to crop up across Pnumadesi that detailed the past, present, and future of the world. Nobody knew who penned the first book, or how they were linked, but the council dubbed and marked each tome as a Book of the Forgotten Bard. Some believed the tomes to be a parting gift from the gods in the war against the elementals, while others held to the belief that a single being from outside of Pnumadesi’s time and place in the cosmos wrote the book in the final days of the world and sent it back in time to warn them.

However they came to be, the Books of the Forgotten Bard became powerful tools in the battles against the elementals, but they had a terrible drawback as well. When the tomes were read by most mortals, even the magelords who now headed the council, the readers would become obsessed with their own history, forever reading the book until they died from common ailments such as malnutrition or insomnia.

In spite of the danger they posed, the Books of the Forgotten Bard were still sought after by the rulers of kingdoms, the leaders of armies, and scholars hoping to find they were lucky enough to be immune to the lingering effects. Several human nations and one dwarven kingdom soon fell as a result of the artifacts’ great influence.

At first, the tomes were believed to be cursed. As many as could be found were collected and destroyed, only to be rediscovered in a new location the following day. Since it was obvious they couldn’t just destroy the Books of the Forgotten Bard, the mage council decided instead to hold onto the copies they found and store them for the good of the mortal races.

:The Children of Destiny:

There were some among the council, and even throughout the greater continent, who could read the Books of the Forgotten Bard without fear for their safety. These individuals often found their own history unreadable. Something about the magic of the tomes couldn’t pick up on what would happen to them because every possible outcome was changeable with the slightest choice.

After much research, the council deemed these relatively rare and unique individuals the Children of Destiny, for it was they who could change the fate of others with the decisions they made, for good or ill. When they discovered one of these special individuals, the magelords would go out of their way to encourage them to join the fight against the elementals. This didn’t always work out, and some Children of Destiny even allied themselves with the enemy, willingly or otherwise.

Children of Destiny shared another trait between them. Each was an optimal specimen of their race, able to pass on traits from their heritage to any race with whom they mated. Since most races intermingled regularly anyway, nobody ever questioned the existence of half-breeds, but there was more to the offspring of the Children of Destiny. Their lineage could be found and traced back several generations.

This became apparent when, for example, a child born to dwarven parents had elven traits. Those with lesser traits became members of a heritage, while those with stronger ties to their parent races became members of a legacy.

Looking back through the past history of the world, the mage council learned that Children of Destiny had actually been around since the first wars between the elementals and the gods. They were always portrayed as great heroes or villains, but nobody ever linked them together until they discovered the Books of the Forgotten Bard.

:Culmination:

With so many sudden developments, the Mage council was positively overwhelmed with candidates. The vedros, dwarves born with a knack for arcane magic, were soon tasked with tracking the Books of the Forgotten Bard, of which a few copies remained in the possession of the council. Masters of the language of magic, the vedros were able to quickly and succinctly document every known race, heritage, and legacy. They kept this information in their Great Library under Vedros Island off the western coast of Pnumadesi.

The vedros also learned how to tie their own historical journals to the Books of the Forgotten Bard and set out across the whole of Pnumadesi to document every last piece of information they could ever find.

Meanwhile, the council was finally ready to put an end to the First War of Elements, which had now gone on for the better part of six human life-times. When at last they met in combat, the elementals found that the council had used an ancient ritual the gods left behind to artificially extend their lives. The powerful spellcasters they battled in this age were the same they had fought previously.

To make matters worse for the mages’ enemies, the information they gleaned from the tomes helped them strategize and review their battles so they could improve over time. The elemental’s advantage of being nigh immortal had at last been overcome and they were beaten back into their plateau. The mortal races had finally won.

:Changing Times:

With the war over, the Children of Destiny moved on with their lives and helped found great societies, but they were not meant to lead in such a way. To keep them from becoming drunk on power, the mage council ruled that no Child of Destiny could be the leader of a free country without the blessing of a member of the council and no member of the council could rule a country without the blessing of all other members. Only those who could provide other benefits to the regions of Pnumadesi would be fit to rule otherwise.

The council’s decree led the humans on the eastern half of the continent to elect their greatest of artisans, the mastersmiths to office, while the mages took the western countries and divvied them up between them. Each country was named for its new ruler, and efforts were put forth to help form each society.

Ever mindful of another assault by the elementals, the xendauni left the safety of their forest at the end of the war and earned back the trust of the new nations by training them in the arts of the sentinel. In particular, the race earned the respect of the men of Fedeck, whom they taught to breed special horses capable of travelling faster and longer than any other on the continent. With its centralized location on Pnumadesi, Fedeck soon became the chief means of passing mundane messages and letters between the countries quickly and safely.

There was relative peace for several generations, during which members of the mage council found there were limits to their ritual. When most of the original group passed on, the remaining few elected new members and taught them their secrets and the ritual as well. This new council usurped the rule of the mages’ countries and renamed them for themselves. There was a brief and poorly documented fallout between the eldest council members and the new that, when resolved, left an opening in the mortal races’ defenses through which the elementals could once again break through.

:Repercussions:

Just as the Mages’ Council of Pnumadesi learned from their mistakes during the First War of Elements, the elementals assaulted Pnumadesi once again with a force and vigor not seen since before the gods abandoned the world. Much of this new ferocity was found to be a result of a new fire general who brought with him a different strategy that threatened all life.

The great fire elemental had convinced his brethren to allow him to spearhead the advance into Pnumadesi. He gave no quarter, held no negotiations, and left nothing in his wake. Everywhere the elementals went on their new crusade, death and destruction followed.

Unfortunately for the mage council, none of their generation were Children of Destiny, so they couldn’t safely read from the Books of the Forgotten Bard. Without the wisdom of their elders to guide them, many of the spellcasters who comprised the council turned to infighting and bickering.

While the mages argued over how best to protect the continent, the eastern countries were left to fend for themselves, so the xendauni, with the aid of the other mortal races and the few mages who cared more for the greater societies of Pnumadesi, organized and declared the Second War of Elements.

:The Second War of Elements:

The elementals quickly gained footholds in Desmond, Shieldbarrel, and Zalery and started their progress north with the intent of seizing all of eastern Pnumadesi. From there, they would make their push west and finish the mage council. Then something miraculous occurred.

As if in response to the reignited tensions and war, Children of Destiny were once more becoming prominent among the mortal races. This fact was brought to light by one mage who suffered his own lapse of sanity to discover them. Before wiping his own memory so he would not devolve further into reading from the tomes, the mage passed along the secret to tapping the Children of Destiny’s power when they may not see it themselves.

With the secret divulged, the mage hid himself away for a time within the Black Forest, where the xendauni continued to lead the defense of the southern countries. He used his magic to transform the forest itself into a weapon against the elementals. When he was fully recovered, the mage set out on a great quest across the eastern half of Pnumadesi to create a more accessible and potent weapon.

As the elementals continued forward into Pnumadesi, they were stalled and eventually beaten back at the home of the race that had become their greatest rivals since the elves. The fire general was unable to progress through the forest and suffered heavy losses trying to go around.

In the meantime, the dwarven king of Shieldbarrel and his bravest of divine warriors sacrificed themselves to sanctify the ground of their country so that the elementals could no longer tunnel through it and get to them. The earth general was forced to rely on his mortal allies, the orcs, to keep the dragonkin and the fire-bred occupied while he worked to find another way in.

Seeing that the mage council had still not resolved their differences, and tired of fighting off elementals on three fronts, eight of the eastern-most countries of Pnumadesi formed one united entity and named themselves the Octacracy.

Over the next twelve years, the Octocracy sealed itself away behind both a magical and physical barrier that many started to call the Great Wall. Once they were entirely closed away from the rest of Pnumadesi, the Octocracy declared themselves independent of the Mages’ Council of Pnumadesi and ceased their war with the elemental generals of earth, air, and water.

:The Treaty:

The Octocracy’s declaration of independence finally convinced the mage council to act. They sent envoys to the elementals with a deal that even the fire general was willing to accept. If the elementals quelled the war, the mages would sign a treaty that outlawed arcane magic in the countries not under mage rule and greatly limited the use of divine and natural magic to those born with a talent for either. This would mean the council could no longer, legally, leave their homelands on the western half of Pnumadesi.

Suspicious of the mages’ intentions, the elemental generals added the stipulation that education would be similarly restricted so that future generations could not even read of the past. Since the mages would be safe in their own countries, they agreed without quarrel. The treaty was enacted and the war was ended for all but a sparse few who felt the mage council had done Pnumadesi a great harm by signing away their power.

When the Mages’ Council of Pnumadesi realized what they had done, they sought out the vedros, who now lived exclusively beneath their island and away from the remaining two dwarven capitals of Helmdar and Stonesour. The head of vedros society, who held the esteemed title of Librarian, consulted the vedros’ copy of the Book of the Forgotten Bard and determined that the mages would eventually be killed off by the angered races of the continent if something wasn’t done to distance them from the rest of Pnumadesi.

Taking the Librarian’s words literally, the mage council was thoroughly divided on how to prevent their fate. Until now, most of the younger generation of magelords kept themselves in check only through lying, cheating, and manipulating their fellow spellcasters. Some argued that they should just relocate to another continent, while others saw no reason to leave their home. They felt the Librarian could be mistaken and wanted to see how everything transpired.

:The Last Magelord:

Unable to cope with how much everything had changed, the last remaining member of the original council went outside of his fellow magelords and elected his own replacement. With the aid of his only friend and ally on the council, the mage sought a Child of Destiny, who he felt had proven a perfect candidate to help bring some semblance of control back to the Mages’ Council of Pnumadesi.

When they found the one they were looking for, the boy was waiting for them. It seemed he had learned to read from the Book of the Forgotten Bard at a young age and could even decipher some of his own story by reading about those who surrounded him. By doing this, he was well aware of why the mage had come and accepted his new role as the youngest magelords ever inducted to the council.

Satisfied that his decision had been the right one, the spellcaster gave his life to pass his magic, along with his wisdom, to the man who would take his place. When it was done, both mages, new and old, said their goodbyes to the man who brought them together as friends and returned to western Pnumadesi.

When they reached Veriqhan and the seat of the mage council’s power, the two mages tried to convince their equals that the decision made in their absence was far too dangerous and could destroy all of Pnumadesi. The council ignored the words spoken directly from the Book of the Forgotten Bard, though, claiming the young mage was not a true member of the council because he had not been properly elected.

Outvoted and outnumbered, the mages left back to the eastern half of the continent to try and prepare it for a potential apocalypse.

:The Separation of Pnumadesi:

By tapping into the nexus of power beneath Magelord Keep, the mage council created a mighty spell to rival the power of the gods. Calling upon the power of a being so chaotic that even the elementals locked it away in the center their plane in the astral realm, the council summoned a mighty Leviathan to chew its way through the very ley lines of Pnumadesi, splitting the continent in two and disrupting the flow of the oceans across the entire world.

Quickly, the mages acted while they still wielded their great magic to raise an island that was just west of the continent high into the air and suspend it over the new western edge of Pnumadesi. This new moon was named the Watcher, and the mages would use it for purposes unknown to the rest of the world.

Finally, with the last power garnered from their spell, the council moved their new home far enough away from Pnumadesi that none could see it without finding some way across the still very active Leviathan. They named this new land Pnumadeja in honor of their lost home. Since only some who remained on Pnumadesi had the power to do this, the mage’s were confident they would be safe from the foretold danger.

With the Watcher in place, the tides around what was left of the continent returned to normal, though the rest of Pnumadesi was changed forever. The islands that were considered the continent of Yokaizi Deren found land bridges suddenly connecting them and bringing alien societies together for the first time in eons. The resulting tides clashed between Yokaizi Deren and Cas’Dilae, and a whirlpool powerful enough to even cancel magical means of travel destroyed trade routes maintained for centuries, followed soon after by the societies supported by those routes.

:Faltering Magic:

The imperfect separation of Pnumadesi further crippled arcane magic on the continent, forcing the spellcasters who remained there back to a point where they had to choose whether to relearn their talents, move on to a different life, or retire. Similarly, the other forms of magic began to concentrate and build up until they would spill over. Children, particularly those related to dwarves and humans, were born with a condition now known as Having the Faith. They could still use divine power as potently as priests of the past, while others were greatly diminished.

In areas where natural magic became overly strong, tears into the Overrealm would occur and the fey-blooded found they were once again part of Pnumadesi. This also meant that others could now venture into the Overrealm if they could find a path. The fey would spend the next few centuries trying to maintain their realm from the taint that permeated Pnumadesi.

So too were concentrations of the elementals’ shadow magic building up and causing tears into the Underrealm, through which undead creatures and monsters of nightmare rose to haunt the living. One particularly dangerous type of beast, called the syn, would spring up from the deaths of those killed before their time. Ravenborn, agents of the queen of the dead, now worked endlessly to keep the realms from collapsing upon one another by keeping the undead in line and preventing the living from overflowing into their lands.

With magic so unreliable, even the elementals were forced to retreat and reevaluate their place before they took full control of the continent. This provided the only opportunity the mortal races would have in the next five-hundred years to remove them once and for all.

:Brister’s Folly:

The last three mages on Pnumadesi found each other and were able to retrain some of their own power together before one of them, who only now returned from his adventure across the continent, revealed that he had finally completed his perfect weapon. After transporting the gauntlets that would be the end of the elementals to the xendauni, the mage stood by and watched as the race made one final, disastrous push into the Elemental Plateau. An early success against their ancient and immortal enemy became the xendauni’s doom when the wielder of the gauntlets was tricked by the fire general and killed for his impudence.

Now in control of the gauntlets, the fire general strode, unopposed by the other races of Pnumadesi, to the Black Forest, where he used the power of the collected artifacts to banish the region and its denizens to their own dimension. He then separated the gauntlets from their power source, the Gems of Power, and gave the gems away to the remaining opposing races in exchange for accepting the elementals as their overlords. The governing bodies of each country would remain, but anything found to be a direct threat to the elementals would be stamped out; if not by the elementals, then by the other countries who wished only to have peace at last.

Utterly defeated, the mages dispersed and hid for four and a half centuries while the continent suffered under false leaders who answered directly to the elementals. In order to maintain some hope that they would one day free themselves again, the races of Pnumadesi elected to send men and women from each region to the southern country of Desmond, where a standing army could be kept to prevent the largest group of elementals from decimating them entirely.

:Resurgence:

At a time when Pnumadesi forgot about any other continent but their own, and when humans had all but forgotten the xendauni, a sudden emergence of Children of Destiny began again in the northern regions of Pnumadesi. The first to be recognized was an elven girl born to the region of Ganalodel.

As the girl grew and trained to be a hunter, the hidden mages, who were waiting for this sign, knew that the world was ready again to try and cleanse itself of the elementals. After spending the last age studying, living relatively normal lives, and looking for clues, they met once more at the doorstep to the Elemental Plateau. It was here that, with the aid of the Book of the Forgotten Bard, they decided on a plan of action.

From the uniform and militaristic country of Desmond, they set out to tap others who would aid them in the days ahead. While the other two moved north and east, one of the spellcasters turned his sights to the plateau itself. From the very homeland of the fire general, a small resistance had formed.
This remaining pocket resistance worked under cover for some time, and eventually gained its greatest ally in the fire general’s elementborn daughter when she secretly defected from her people to lead the revolution. Through much effort, the mage was able to earn the trust of the resistance, and their leader with them.

Enacting his part of the plan, the mage brought the elementborn north, where most of them separated and moved to the frozen area of the continent to form their own society out of the reach of the fire general. To aid them, the second mage had negotiated on behalf of the resistance and worked out a tentative peace with the dragonkin and the northernborn humans who inhabited the country. The mage himself returned south with his compatriot to pass along the rightful use of his home before he lost it to the Desmondi government.

While the two spellcasters sorted out their affairs in Desmond, the third ran into some trouble in the east when he was intercepted by a rogue water elemental and forced to use his copy of the Book of the Forgotten Bard to set up events that would eventually lead to the tome falling into the hands of another Child of Destiny who was recently born to the annodam.

With everything prepared, the fire general’s daughter snuck back into her former home and stole the legendary gauntlets, which she brought to her ally. Together, she and the mage traveled to where the Black Forest was banished and the elementborn used the gauntlets to get into the forest where she could give them over to the xendauni once again. In fifteen years’ time, the elementborn told her new allies, she hoped to also recover the Gems of Power so they could finally return to the real world and end her father’s rule once and for all.