Old Gods/Chronicles
Our story starts long ago, in a time before the coming of Man. At the dawn of the Age the land called Beluaterra was a wild and alien place, home to the Children of the Old Gods and watched over by the Gods. They lived in peace with their brethren, race beside race an in harmony with their world. But then through a quirk of fate a single ship from the east was blown far off course leading to Man's arrival. The humans on board had no idea what their discovery would do; nor did the children who saw them. The sailors quickly repaired their ship and sailed away and the Children thought it was over....
Soon after returning home news of this strange land to the west spread and Man decided that they would make this land theirs. And so great fleets were sent and along the eastern coast civilization struggled to make the wilderness theirs.
Soon enough Man and the Children met. To the Children, man was a strange creature, small of size, weak of form and lacking in all the usual blessings of the Gods, but the Children had learned that difference bread strength and approached the human lairs with gifts and good intentions. But to Man the Children were horrifying. Unwholesome in appearance, the shambling monstrosities from twisted nightmares made even the bravest tremble like a child, and so out of fear, revulsion, and base instinct Man lashed out.
The Children were furious, they had come with gifts and were met with steel claws and iron skin. And were that not enough these creatures were desecrating holy sites all along the east. So the children met and it was decided that they would treat these creatures as they had treated them, and so the war began.
After repelling the initial group Man underestimated the Children and thus was caught completely unaware when the attack came. Descending as a tide of claws and teeth the Children slaughtered thousands of colonists in settlements across the coast before even a token defense could be mustered. If not for more ships arriving in the southern bay Man may have been routed then and there. Yet even with the reinforcements, mankind stood on the brink. Oh Man had it advantages, steel, battle tactics, and all the other fruits of civilization, but the Children had raw power, an understanding of the land and as was soon discovered, unholy magic.
In the north shamans called upon the wind and snow burying Man's cities in a never ending winter, in the south blight crept across the land turning all human farms to desert. Against powers such as this humanity could see no hope and were it not for the timely intervention of another all would have been lost.
A mysterious woman came to the cities of man, she brought with her knowledge, terrible knowledge and a chance for victory. She gave mankind strange rituals that defied the most learned scholar and carried the wispier of magic about them. Many refused the woman’s knowledge and perished but some agreed and were given Incendia, an ever burning flame to ward off the worst cold and Fertilis, enabling but a few peasants to produce enough food for many. But before leaving as mysteriously as she had come the woman explained that the New World was under the control of the Old Gods and their Children and that she would be watching their efforts with great interest. And so Man met the Dark Mistress.
Armed with counter measures against the deadly magic, mankind managed to push back against the Children and as more humans arrived from across the sea victory followed victory until humanity stood seemingly alone in control of the continent.
But while Man rejoiced the Old Gods met, and they were furious. The Wolf Lord was beside himself with rage at the Dark Mistress' interference, the lesser gods mirroring him and even the Ice Queen, who normally said nothing pronounced angry judgment. Thus humanity was almost destroyed then and there, but the Dark Mistress pointed out that it was the gods firm belief that the strongest were most worthy of their favor, and that she believed Man was stronger then their own Children. The Gods listened to her words and it was decided that they would not act themselves, but instead test these creatures from across the sea to see if the Dark Mistress was right. Their temper cooled a little the Gods decided to punish their wayward sister and she was chained to her throne to stop her from meddling any further.
And so a prophecy went out among the Children that a champion would rise up to lead them to victory against their enemies and sure enough, a mighty one was birthed, as tall as a castle wall, able to rip apart men in iron skin with it's bare hands and smash cities with but a wave. Thus with this mighty symbol of strength the Children rallied, the scattered tribes gathered and the Gods watched with interest.
This was the first 'monster invasion' as humans call it, when the Children of the Old Gods crawled out of hiding to follow behind their champion and wage war against the humans. Many men died, kingdoms destroyed and only by virtue of the overwhelming number of human soldiers was humanity saved from annihilation, but only just.
And so while Man began the task to rebuild the Old Gods met again. The Dark Mistress sat smug upon her throne pointing out that humanity had survived, that it was stronger then their Children. The Wolf Lord raged claiming that the Children were more then a match provided the creatures did not gain more help from across the sea and that it was only because of the large number of bodies that could be thrown in the way that they achieved victory. The Dark Mistress agreed saying that she would turn this advantage of humanity against it, and that if Man could achieve victory when its strength became a weakness it would prove her point even more. Almost the offer was rejected, but then the Ice Queen nodded, and so one of the Children acquired an artifact of the Dark Mistress and once again a prophecy was spoken and the Gods watched.
This time Man was not surprised when the drums of war began to beat in the hills and deep woods marking the beginning of the second monster invasion. The armies of Man were ready for the Children this time and the fight was going well, or it was until the new champion spoke. Who knows what he said in the strange language of these creatures but what occurred brought terror to the hearts of all present. Champions of the last invasion, brave heroes and nobles who gave their lives in the defense of humanity dragged themselves from their crypts and graves to turn on their kin and kine. Where the revenants walked, men died, and when they struck the ground the peasants who fought for them in life returned from the grave to fight anew. And so the Children's ranks swelled with dead of their enemies with each army they defeated being added to the growing hoard. So even more men died, and even more kingdoms were burned but through heroic efforts and legendary bravery humanity managed to slay the champion destroy the artifact and survive.
And so while man struggled from the ashes and the Children retreated deeper into the wilds to lick their wounds the Old Gods met. Once again the Dark Mistress sat saying that the proof was irrefutable, humanity was the stronger, and once again the Wolf Lord stood in opposition but no longer raging. He pointed out that humanity still had the gifts of the Gods and that if they were the stronger they should prove victorious without them. But the Dark Mistress refused to remove her gift of Incendia and once again an argument broke out; until the Ice Queen spoke. So the Wolf Lord removed his blessing and Man discovered that the ritual of Fertilis no longer worked for them and that their farms were not as productive as they once were and then the Wolf Lord unleashed a plague on the land cursing man to die of hunger rather then grow weak.
And so once again the prophecy was heard, the Children rallied and the drums of war sounded the third monster invasion. The Children marched upon Man, and though some still had the gift of Necromancy, the loss of the artifact limited their power and the heroes remained in their crypts. The slaughter was terrible, even more kingdoms were destroyed and men that were spared the children's claws succumbed to the plague as food grew scares. But once again humanity rallied, and refusing to surrender they pushed back the tide and survived.
My Emperor,
To date this is all we have been able to translate from the ancient scrolls, but many history monks continue to work diligently and more is translated each day for viewing by your enlightened eyes.
Your loyal scribe,
Omar