The World of Avarath

You'll find a more detailed history of the world of Avarath in the Core Compendium, but here's a brief snapshot of history (for the creation account, check out the Pantheon page, which goes into more detail about Ruhn, the Worldbuilders, and the Divines).

 

The First Cycle - Years 1 to 5000 (1 FC - 5000 FC)

The first beings created by the gods were the dragons and the titans, who ruled over the young world for a thousand years before the other mortal races were brought into being - Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Gnomes, etc. There were no 'evil' races at this time. As the races grew and developed with the aid of the gods, they spread out across the world, cultivating fields and forests, building cities and nations, and digging deep underground to harvest the minerals and hidden riches below the surface.

     The first sign that something was wrong with reality came in the year 4,000 when a series of massive earthquakes shook the world. Over the next one thousand years, more events would occur, such as rogue storms, wild magic, new volcanoes forming, and more earthquakes. When the Great Cataclysm finally occurred in the year 5,000 everything and everyone was caught up in the chaos as reality itself began to split at the seams. The gods went to great lengths to try and limit the devastation caused, and in the process, they were changed and altered along with everything else - some gods had their nature corrupted, and the first evil gods came to be.

     When the gods finally managed to quell the "nature quake", all reality had changed beyond repair. New realms were born which mirrored the mortal realm of Avarath in different ways. Many creatures were corrupted and tainted, giving birth to orcs, goblins, and others. The dragons went crazy and went on a spree of destruction before the greatest of their kind, Bahamut, was able to restore order.

 

The Second Cycle - Years 5001 to 9988 (1 SC - 4987 SC)

The second cycle of the world saw new races formed and new kingdoms and empires established. The dragons created the Dragonborn to serve them. A whole nation of elves was corrupted, becoming the dark elves that dwell underground. As the influence of the evil devils seeped into the world, wizards hungry for power made pacts with the fiends, and the Tiefling race was created.

     The second cycle went on much as the first, but with many sources of evil now present in the world, war and strife became the way of things. The titans and dragons warred with one another, even as they fought amongst their own kind. Men and elves clashed as dwarves and orcs hunted each other in the dark. The gods, too, warred with one another, striving against their own siblings for power and influence, some with good intentions, and some with evil and chaos driving them.

     The god Sigul - a prophet of sorts among the deities - foresaw the next cataclysm to come, but for all of his striving and the work of other gods to aid him, nothing could be done to prevent it. As before, earthquakes and other disasters heralded the destruction to come, only this time, it came sooner than expected, catching even the god of knowledge off his guard.

 

The Third Cycle - Years 9989 - 12,719 (1 TC -  2730TC)

The second Great Cataclysm was worst than the first. Entire nations and races were wiped out and whole continents were lost to the rising waters. Millions of creatures and people died in the chaos, and the world was a scarred, torn, and ugly place when the quiet finally came. Much of the world was now covered in wilderness and ruin, and with the great empires of men, dragons, and elves gone from the earth, nature soon reclaimed the world for itself as it pressed against the edges of what was left of civilization.

     First Era: 9989 - 10,500 (1TC - 511TC)

     For more than five hundred years, people continued to die off as the lingering effects of the cataclysm remained and as nature pushed back. There are no kingdoms recorded as having existed during this time. Instead, it seems as though pockets of people from different races banded together here and there in an attempt to survive. Nomads roamed the wilds in search of a place to settle, finding none.

     Second Era: 10,501 - 11,576 (512TC - 1587TC)

     With the "lesser" races scattered and weak, the chromatic dragons sought to reclaim the world they felt belonged to them. Waging war on the world as a whole, they dominated the skies and grew in number. Their presence was a constant reminder to others that the world was not safe - and likely never would be again. Many dragons took entire regions as their own to rule and prevented men and other races from building large cities or kingdoms or establishing any armies of significant size. The metallic dragons - thought to be dead - eventually returned and waged war against their kin, but the ferocious battles that ensued brought almost as much destruction to the world as the cataclysm had. Both sides were devastated in the war, and when the chromatics were finally outnumbered and on the run, the metallics realized too late what the cost of their war had been. They retreated from the known world again, but it would be a long time before people felt safe enough to build larger and strike out further into the unknown wilds.

     Third Era: 11,577 - 12, 080 (1588TC - 2091TC)

     The dragon wars had decimated the populations of most races, leaving a barren, empty world behind. Numbers slowly began to grow again over the next five hundred years, and once more, small settlements starting popping up here and there. It was during this era that the first truly permanent, predominantly human city was built in the third cycle. The official founding of the city of Siguldur would later be recognized by scholars as the start of the fourth era, in the year 12,081.

     Fourth Era: 12,081 - 12,719 (2092TC - 2730TC)

     Civilization had once more prospered, and a region of the central continent called The Shattered Sea had become a hub of commerce and trade and the most heavily populated area in the world. Vast areas of untamed wilderness still surrounded the region, and there were still plenty of dangers and monstrous threats lurking everywhere, but people once again believed that the world was tamable. The dragons began to return in small numbers here and there, including one particularly evil and chaotic dragon who sold his soul to the god of undeath, became a dracolich, and ushered in the dark cataclysm, which would reshape the world once again, long before the next true cataclysm was due. The dracolich, Szalitharr, was defeated by heroes wielding the legendary spear of the sun, Solaris, but the world was still irreparably changed in the year 638 of the fourth era, and the devastating events brought about a new cycle, albeit prematurely.

 

The Fourth Cycle - Years 12,720 - (1FC - )

The Dark Cataclysm created by Szalitharr and Bodan (god of undeath in the Third Cycle) would become known as the dawn of the fourth cycle of the world. The central continent is a shell of its former self, with the entire western half gone - torn about and sunk below the waters of a new ocean. The Shattered Sea now borders the Broken Coast, and new powers have risen to claim their place in the region. As kingdoms try to recover from the cataclysm, new alliances are forged and new wars waged, even as old evils return to the world, drawn by the destruction and thirsting for power and dominance.

     New Era: 12,720 - (1FC - )

     The Avarath campaign is set in the year 5NE of the Fourth Cycle, five years after the dark cataclysm. Many new opportunities and threats are present. Pirates roam the seas in increasing numbers, ogres and giants in the north appear to be amassing great numbers for a possible march south, and dragons once again patrol the skies. Relationships between kingdoms are tense as new borders are negotiated. It's a time of chaos and turmoil, but of great promise as well - a time for adventurers.