MrSeth
2006-05-19, 10:41 PM
We do not remember, exactly when it was when the Scourge came to be. They claimed to be from our future, from a place where they ruled absolutely. They brought forth mighty powers of the mind to subdue us, to enslave us, to slaughter us.
Naturally, this was their downfall.
We learned much about the powers of the Scourge, for many of those that survived their assault soon developed abilities identical to theirs. And, woe unto them, within a number of generations - perhaps three, perhaps thirteen, as I said, we do not remember - of the beginning of the war, our powers were on par with theirs. However, we had the stronger wills. Toiling as their slaves had hardened our bodies, the desire to rebel and the need to resist their mind-lashes had toughened our spirits. We overcame the invaders, and regained our lands. Then came the Abberants; the Flayers and the Eyes. Each sought to use us as a tool against the others. We were done being the tools of those from beyond our plane; another two generations and we had exterminated the Flayers, and subjugated the Eyes. That was when our lifespans began to lengthen, when the boundaries of our plane began to break down. We hardly noticed it at first; it took a near brush with a third insurrection, this time of the Raiders, to make us realize our plight. This, chlidren, is why the columns were forged. They keep our world from completely falling apart, although they do nothing to stop the Winds. We must rely on the city walls for that.
Now, remember. Our world is no longer a bubble, but a yawning cavern, with many caves through which the beasts of the great Astral Realms may enter. Keep your wits about you, and learn to sharpen your mind until it could cut through a warrior's Quan. It is Will that has saved us, the Will of All and the Will of the One, and it is Will that will keep us free.
Sha'e kem tomot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With numbers in the millions, the race of Abberations known as the Zhagnai - or Scourge, to those they opposed - swarmed over the Prime Material plane, exterminating millions and enslaving those races they deemed "useful, but not threatening". Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Orcs... even a few Elves and Giants escaped death by being underestimated. (Kobolds, too, were spared, but... honestly, it's impossible to underestimate a friggin' Kobold.) The attacks of the invaders caused huge gaps to appear in the memories of their victims, and wracked their forms with incredible pain.
For a time, the races of the Material plane tried to resist; this led to more mindlashings, which led to the slow degeneration of the races. What little technology they had was lost, and the people slowly were driven back to the stone age. They could scarcely remember anything else.
After a time, the Scourge began to notice that their slaves were beginning to develop an immunity to their powers. Rather than take caution at this, the Scourge began to abuse their slaves all the more, hoping to break it down by harsher psi-effects. For a time, it worked... but then a handful of slaves began to develop psionic abilities. The original few were executed, but more and more took their place, and after a while they could be repressed no more. A small rebellion became a second war, and the slaves repelled the slavers.
It has been nearly 700 years since then. The Prime Material plane is now devoid of Dragons and virtually all other mythic beasts that once roamed free; only the sentient races and animals still live there. Ithillids do not exist for the purposes of this campaign, having been exterminated many years ago, and Beholders (Eyes) are a slave race.
The peoples of the Material plane that were once slaves have found a common background, and no longer are their any social boundaries between them. In fact, crossbreeding between races is extremely common in this world. Having lost the reverence for their racial Gods in the cruel lash of their keepers, they've now adopted a faith centering around The One Who Is All (or simply The One), the Overgod of their world. There are a handful of people who still keep the old ways, but they're mostly young people who do so out of novelty, or else backwoods folk who have somehow managed to keep more of the memory than their fellows. A piece of irony that often escapes the Material races is that their minds have become like their captors in more ways than one: they were once enslaved, and are now 'enlightened' slavers themselves.
While their technology had been pushed back to the stone age, now the races of the Material Plane have passed their old levels, bronze and iron and some steel, and have learned all the techniques of their captors. Steel is common; Titansteel, one and a half times as strong with no difference in weight, is somewhat expensive and sought after but not particularly rare. Titansteel is also what makes life in overground settlements possible in certain areas; with gaping holes between the Material and Astral planes, mysterious winds have begun to rise. Winds that tear apart anything softer than stone in their path... winds that always follow the same path, and the same schedules, predictable as the tides. There are broad expanses that the winds don't touch, but if not for the Titansteel walls that protect the large cities, the areas that are in the path of the Rending Winds would be lifeless except for moss and some grasses.
Psionics have also become common for at least one other reason; Arcane magic has become dangerous in certain parts of the plane. While the Astral Plane does not normally react with magic in any harmful way, it is thought that the mingling of Astral matter with the Material plane is causing unnatural planar anomalies. These are not normally harmful (or noticable) to most people, but casting a spell near one can result in an accidentially maximized spell (and yes, that stacks with the normal "maximize spell" bonus), an enlarged spell (ditto), a reduced spell, a spell that fizzles out completely, or a completely different spell being cast. Divine magic is, thankfully, still reliable, but fewer Clerics exist nowadays, many choosing the path of the Divine Mind instead. Paladins are almost entirely unheard of. All other core classes are more or less as common as they are in the core D&D world.
Naturally, this was their downfall.
We learned much about the powers of the Scourge, for many of those that survived their assault soon developed abilities identical to theirs. And, woe unto them, within a number of generations - perhaps three, perhaps thirteen, as I said, we do not remember - of the beginning of the war, our powers were on par with theirs. However, we had the stronger wills. Toiling as their slaves had hardened our bodies, the desire to rebel and the need to resist their mind-lashes had toughened our spirits. We overcame the invaders, and regained our lands. Then came the Abberants; the Flayers and the Eyes. Each sought to use us as a tool against the others. We were done being the tools of those from beyond our plane; another two generations and we had exterminated the Flayers, and subjugated the Eyes. That was when our lifespans began to lengthen, when the boundaries of our plane began to break down. We hardly noticed it at first; it took a near brush with a third insurrection, this time of the Raiders, to make us realize our plight. This, chlidren, is why the columns were forged. They keep our world from completely falling apart, although they do nothing to stop the Winds. We must rely on the city walls for that.
Now, remember. Our world is no longer a bubble, but a yawning cavern, with many caves through which the beasts of the great Astral Realms may enter. Keep your wits about you, and learn to sharpen your mind until it could cut through a warrior's Quan. It is Will that has saved us, the Will of All and the Will of the One, and it is Will that will keep us free.
Sha'e kem tomot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With numbers in the millions, the race of Abberations known as the Zhagnai - or Scourge, to those they opposed - swarmed over the Prime Material plane, exterminating millions and enslaving those races they deemed "useful, but not threatening". Humans, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, Orcs... even a few Elves and Giants escaped death by being underestimated. (Kobolds, too, were spared, but... honestly, it's impossible to underestimate a friggin' Kobold.) The attacks of the invaders caused huge gaps to appear in the memories of their victims, and wracked their forms with incredible pain.
For a time, the races of the Material plane tried to resist; this led to more mindlashings, which led to the slow degeneration of the races. What little technology they had was lost, and the people slowly were driven back to the stone age. They could scarcely remember anything else.
After a time, the Scourge began to notice that their slaves were beginning to develop an immunity to their powers. Rather than take caution at this, the Scourge began to abuse their slaves all the more, hoping to break it down by harsher psi-effects. For a time, it worked... but then a handful of slaves began to develop psionic abilities. The original few were executed, but more and more took their place, and after a while they could be repressed no more. A small rebellion became a second war, and the slaves repelled the slavers.
It has been nearly 700 years since then. The Prime Material plane is now devoid of Dragons and virtually all other mythic beasts that once roamed free; only the sentient races and animals still live there. Ithillids do not exist for the purposes of this campaign, having been exterminated many years ago, and Beholders (Eyes) are a slave race.
The peoples of the Material plane that were once slaves have found a common background, and no longer are their any social boundaries between them. In fact, crossbreeding between races is extremely common in this world. Having lost the reverence for their racial Gods in the cruel lash of their keepers, they've now adopted a faith centering around The One Who Is All (or simply The One), the Overgod of their world. There are a handful of people who still keep the old ways, but they're mostly young people who do so out of novelty, or else backwoods folk who have somehow managed to keep more of the memory than their fellows. A piece of irony that often escapes the Material races is that their minds have become like their captors in more ways than one: they were once enslaved, and are now 'enlightened' slavers themselves.
While their technology had been pushed back to the stone age, now the races of the Material Plane have passed their old levels, bronze and iron and some steel, and have learned all the techniques of their captors. Steel is common; Titansteel, one and a half times as strong with no difference in weight, is somewhat expensive and sought after but not particularly rare. Titansteel is also what makes life in overground settlements possible in certain areas; with gaping holes between the Material and Astral planes, mysterious winds have begun to rise. Winds that tear apart anything softer than stone in their path... winds that always follow the same path, and the same schedules, predictable as the tides. There are broad expanses that the winds don't touch, but if not for the Titansteel walls that protect the large cities, the areas that are in the path of the Rending Winds would be lifeless except for moss and some grasses.
Psionics have also become common for at least one other reason; Arcane magic has become dangerous in certain parts of the plane. While the Astral Plane does not normally react with magic in any harmful way, it is thought that the mingling of Astral matter with the Material plane is causing unnatural planar anomalies. These are not normally harmful (or noticable) to most people, but casting a spell near one can result in an accidentially maximized spell (and yes, that stacks with the normal "maximize spell" bonus), an enlarged spell (ditto), a reduced spell, a spell that fizzles out completely, or a completely different spell being cast. Divine magic is, thankfully, still reliable, but fewer Clerics exist nowadays, many choosing the path of the Divine Mind instead. Paladins are almost entirely unheard of. All other core classes are more or less as common as they are in the core D&D world.