Era of Beasts Lore

Entry posted by Gorthor21 in Lore January 21, 2023

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some fluff
Era of Beasts in Arranoc.

-rite of life stabilizes magic in Wellspring of Life and the Isle returns to Verdia where if first fled from and crashes to ground

-After rebuilding and soul pods overtaking the ruins of the city, an arch revenant arrives heralding the arrival of a Warsong Revenant at the head of a host of Gossamid archers and dragonspite riding revenants. At his arrival to the base of the crashed mountain, a swelling note picks up in his song and vegetation bursts to life around his and awakens all of the soul pods upon and around the city. With a great ethereal song now audible to the non-Sylvaneth, a great procession of the various Sylvaneth forms aside the Warsong Revenant. At his side strides the Oaken King who now bears the guttering Font of magic the once fueled the Wellspring of Life. As the song abruptly ends the momentary silence is replaced by the sounds of a great frost departing on a pilgrimage.

-with the source of their life magic gone the inhabitants of Arranoc under go cataclysmic changes. The council becomes destabilized from infighting and crime spreads to many of the districts. The Druids loose power and new Arcanite Cults spread seeking a way to get to the Font of the Wellspring now that it has left.

-Khainite cultists and Witch-Aelves orchestrate a millenia old vengeance as the acolytes of Morathi bring about the downfall of those who betrayed her to flee upon the Isle. Through subtle manipulation they create a palatable tension between the daurdin and aelves that comes to a head after they assassinate the duardin king. All out war breaks the Covens and only a handful Sorceresses escape with their meager thrallhosts in tow.

-Seeing an opportunity that regain power a select group of the Order of Druids meets in secret to orchestrate the rise of a cult of personality based on the Oaken King. Desperate to be near the limitless power of the Wellspring of old these Druids ensure the rise of the Temple of the Oaken King, proclaiming him as a divine Avatar of Allarielle and given a scared mission of restoring the Wellspring of Life. Though the cult grew well beyond their ability to control. Rogue elements of the Temple themselves met in secret and created the Blades of Dramareth a select group that would itself guide the Temple of the Oaken King which would in turn influence both their rivals in the Council and the disparate communities of minorities still clinging to life in the verdant ruins.

-All the death that the various conflicts have inflicted upon the cities inhabitants have left many innocents slain as a result . The sheer level of death and misery at such a quick pace drew the attentions of Nagash. His agents quickly raised up a great host of Nighthaunt as the corporeal remains of the death were often mulch within days. These tormented souls are given over to a cruel Knight of Shrouds who uses them to drive the forces of the living from Arranoc.

-Galvanized by their religious fervor the Temples of the Oaken King mobilizes the remaining military forces of the city and drive the Nighthaunt back for a time. It is then the Council meets and rules to support the Temple in their Crusade as the Wellspring has left and it is their duty to serve it.

With the changes wrought by the Rite of Life, Arranoc stands in the verge of civil war as well as economic collapse. Whole districts have been consumed by the forests of Verdia. The local populations of Sylvaneth and human refugees have flocked to this center of life magic. This influx of immigrants and refugees has left a strain in the established powers and without the mediating hand that the Oaken King once provided, the Druid Council has divided. Scheming of the ever present minions of the Feathered Lord have left many of the leaders in shame and they have even begun to incite interracial violence. Several great magical fires have burned whole districts before they could be dispelled. Many militias and mobs have seen to many minorities being dragged out and slaughtered in the streets. These chaotic conditions have seen the introduction of the Cult of Khaine among the thralls of the Darkling Covens often leading to witch hunts that see more aelves slain that would have been worth the effort as the khainite blood wives slaughter whole platoons of thralls. These attacks have lead to subversion in the treaty with the Duardin and has lead to open war between the two factions as a khainte assassin was captured after he slew the the duardin King. This attack has incised the stout folk into a great vengeful wrath. The whole of the hold now marches to destroy the treacherous aelves and all who harbor them. Left with little choice the Council decreed neutrality in the war, seeing it as an opportunity to finally shift the balance of power between the different factions of Arranoc.

With so much turmoil in the city, a movement has been called to begin a Dawnbringer Crusade that will follow the Oaken King on his warpath until they find a suitable local to raise a new city in the hopes they will found it better than the cesspool that Arranoc has become. The Dawnbringers have taken to calling themselves the Blades of Dramareth. Hailing from all the factions and races of Arranoc the first bands of disparate warriors and soldiers march shoulder to shoulder with gromril plated duardin and small bands of darklings who stay well away from the duardin. A whole cult of personality has begun to spread among the human inhabitants of Arranoc who view Dramareth as the Avatar of Allarielle’s Divine Wrath and view him as a messiah who will lead them to a new paradise that they will make for themselves and will spill blood if necessary. A great many of the disgraced Druids have clung in to the cult in its early days and have acted as priests and prophets and many as fiery orators who galvanize the downtrodden mass with promises of salvation. This rapid spread of hopeful faith has seen an exponential growth of refugees and mercenary minded warriors swelling at the base of the great fallen mountain. And on the change of the spring to the summer season in Verdia the declared a Holy Crusade would be taken to follow the Oaken King and his mighty Sylvaneth warriors and once the met up with him proclaim their devotion. He will then lead them on to their promised land. With that the entirety of the order of Druids begin to enact great spells upon large pieces of the broken Isle. With an industry of the truly devoted the cult worked the floating platforms into means of conveyance with great harnesses for packbeasts and men to pull and large warehouses for all the conceivable needs of such a great mass of people. With hope they drive out to seek their Oaken King.