Book: A Look at Racial Histories, Life Before Kaezul

A Look at Racial Histories, Life Before Kaezul is a book received during the Main Quest. It can also be purchased in the Erudin or Underhill Library. The following is not a set of spoilers for the Main Quest, but the actual text of A Look At... in its entirety.

Introduction

In this text, I have made an attempt to compound the known histories of the most common races into a short overview. A longer chapter has been offered the Iksar, as I believe their history is largely glossed over in existing texts. From studying old documents and books retrieved from Ikisith by explorers and adventurers, I have been able to piece together their earliest time. For more detailed histories of the Younger Races, the library in Erudin offers excellent surveys of each race - Shaina, Sage of the Lorekeeper

Chapter I: The Iksar

The Iksar were the first intelligent race to behold the sun of Dalaya. Evolved from a race of giant reptiles in the steaming jungles of Ikisith, the Iksar named themselves after the land, whom they believed a living being, "Ikisith-sar" or later the simplified "Iksar", meaning "Child of Ikisith". While somewhat sluggish of mind and not suited to quick adaptation, the Iksar nonetheless evolved - slowly - over time, aided by a strong sense of loyalty to the brood which unified the race and prevented the tribalism present in the earlier days of Men. Forming a martial society of warriors and hunters, the Iksar were ruled by a council of elders, warriors who had grown too old to fight the savage beasts that roamed the wilds of Ikisith. Over time, the Iksar learned to commune with the flow of energy that pervades all living beings, and tap into it. They were the first Shamans. The Elder Council picked up on new, wondrous abilities that the Shamans could channel, and from a martial society, the Iksar changed into a theocracy, Elders now chosen from the wisest and most powerful shaman at a young age, trained to assume a position in the Council when an Elder passed away.

The Iksar enjoyed continued prosperity for thousands of years, spreading across every part of the continent, building great cities and monuments, and driving the beasts of the land into the deepest jungles. Roads were built and secured, connecting the more distant parts of the Empire to its capital, Ikild (Heart of Ikisith). Trade flourished as raw materials were brought in from the mines and forests. Amidst the peaks of Ikisith's mountains, the Iksar encountered a new race - The Orcs. Brutal but stupid creatures, the Orcs were quickly subdued by the Iksar military might and shamanic magic, and put to work in mines and forestries. Researchers among the Iksar claimed to have discovered a new source of power - a power much unlike the spiritual flow of the living, a raw energy that seemed to be carried b the winds themselves, a background magic that seemed at disharmony with nature itself, but yet, coexisted with it. They tapped into this force, and with it learned to bend the minds and forms of other creatures. They became the taskmasters and slavekeepers of the Iksar, and were the very first Enchanters.

The end of the first Iksar Empire was not to come from ambition, internal strife or hybris - the fates which has taken the greatest death tolls among kingdoms - but rather the random forces of nature itself. A series of natural disasters, unprecedented in frequency and power. Earthquakes split the land. Volcanoes erupted among the mountain chains, covering Iksar cities in lava, and under the water, sending massive tidal waves surging over the shores. A great chasm torn into the land near Ikild itself swallowed the very center of the Iksar mages, the temple-city of Yclist, taking most of the race's skilled enchanters along with it. Unrestrained by the mind-warping magics, the Orcs broke free, using the chaos to incite a brutal uprising. Iksar and slaves clashed across the continent. At first the skill and might of the Iksar cast the slaves back, but over the ages, the quickly breeding Orcs had come to outnumber their masters, and so suffered far less from the deaths created by the chain of disasters. With attack after attack, they blunted the Iksar defenses, and eventually forced them from the majority of the continent, sacking cities and slaughtering Iksar citizens. At last, as winter came the second year of the uprising, only the heavily fortified Ikild remained. The Orcs converged, an innumerable army of howling savages, their watchfires burning across the fields around Ikild as numerous as the stars in the sky. Faced with total annihilation, the Council took a desperate measure. The Iksar had never been proficient seafarers, mainly making use of river trade vessels, and their explorations across the continents had been few and far between. One such expedition, however, lead by the prominent explorer Shystik, had reported a vast land in the far east, where frozen water covered the land and giant beasts dominated the skies. A fleet of surviving Iksar ships were hastily assembled, and led by two members of the Council, Ythilis and Hijilk, set off from the harbors of Ikild. it is unknown what happened to them, or for how long the beleagued defenders of Ikild held out - only that the Orcs eventually overran the city and left no Iksar man, woman or child alive. All traces of Iksar history have been lost until much later, when in 597 B.F., an elven explorer reported the presence of "Intelligent reptiles that walk on two legs - exceptionally primitive - living amongst the ruins of the dead continent. They bear an unmistakable resemblance to the statues dotted across the land, but such advanced stonework could impossibly have been undertaken by these simple creatures.". Scholars are divided on whether these were returning members of the group that fled over the seas, or a remnant that somehow escaped the destruction at orcish hands. The fact that Orcs are now entirely extinct on Ikisith can suggest either theory. For further information on the Iksar of recent history, I refer the interested reader to my earlier published text, Wars of Kaezul - The Great Fall.

Chapter II: Birth of Mankind

At the peak of the Iksar Empire, the first humans evolved from savages living on the lands of the Old World. Carving a living amongst the scattered forests and wide wastelands of Young Dalaya, the Humans founded tribal societies. These highly territorial tribes lived off the land, hunting and fishing. Over the centuries, they learned to harvest the earth and use advanced tools. Villages appeared and alliances were formed, tribes unifying against their foes, and eventually intermixing, melting together. Larger tribes became clans, and the clans built cities. Little remains today of these cities of old, swept away by the many wars that have wracked our continent, but the ruins of one city, founded by a prosperous clan that stood at the peak of power in roughly 5400 B.F. formed the foundation of Freeport. The clan was eventually overcome and destroyed by its rivals, and none today can recall its name or traditions. This part of human history is a largely uninteresting era, and few real advancements were made until the construction of Freeport. Freeport was originally founded as a trading post between the clans, where old rivalries were put aside, but eventually became a society of its own, supported by many of the more powerful clans who found themselves prospering from the trade and exchange of ideas. Freeport became the center of human advancement, and such practices as metallurgy and advanced masonry were developed. Side by side with the technological advancement, the first humans began to discover the ever-present forces of magic. Naturally inclined towards the Arcane, the magic of the mind, human sorcerers mastered several arts of the Arcane in relatively short order, though their focus was towards elementalism and war magic, rather than the more practically-inclined mind magic of the Iksar.

Iron and wizardry brought further power to Freeport, and its overseers - a coalition of tribal chiefs and traders - realized the opportunity at their disposal. Rallying the willing, they seized absolute power over Freeport and began to expand into neighbouring lands, creating what is nowadays known as the "Trading Alliance", referring to its foundation from the richest of the tribes. A series of wars were waged with the tribes unwilling to yield their lands or subdue to the Alliance, but the superior technology and numbers of the Alliance, and the unwillingness of old tribal rivals to band together even against this common threat limited the outcome to one - all tribes near Freeport were either conquered and assimilated, or forced to flee into the western, unsettled lands. The Trading Alliance were to have a short reign - a mere forty years after its founding, a bloody coup staged by the Wizard's Guild slaughtered the entire leadership of the Alliance in an unsuccessful attempt to seize power. The ensuing chaos caused the Alliance to fall apart into warring factions whose battles for the possession of Freeport came to scar the lands and saturate the earth itself with magic. To explain the ensuing effects, I must first take a moment to explain that Magic is the antithesis of materia. It is the raw stuff the void, filled with the imagination, fears, hopes and dreams of all which lives, and thus over time, it will warp anything unprotected it comes in touch with. Sufficient levels of magic can even change and twist living beings and mutate entire races. Centuries of warfare between the spellcasters of the varying factions created this exact effect - but not in the factions themselves to any greater extent, being far too well-protected by their wizards and far too aware of its consequences to allow the few mutations that invariably occurred to live. Rather, the winds carried the magically saturated earth west, scattering and settling it over the lands where the descendants of the tribes that had fled the Alliance lived. The changes were minor at first, given shape by the distinctions of each race, heightening them to a level where over time, the children born to the tribe were no longer human. These tribes, through the mutating influences of magic, became the various humanoid Races that now populate the world - Dwarves, Gnomes, Ogres, Halflings, Trolls, Elves* - as well as more grotesque mutations such as Ratmen and Merfolk. It is unknown exactly how many races were created by this mutation, and exactly which races of today that trace their descent to these tribes. The only known tribe to escape this favor was the folk which we now call the Barbarians - who settled amidst the tundras of the harsh north, far away from Freeport.

* It is worth to note that Elves are the only non-human race that retain the ability to breed offspring with humans. Why this is so is the subject of speculation.

Chapter III - War of the Races

As the struggles for the possession of Freeport continued to diminish Human power and the race of Humans fell into recess, their unwitting creations fared little better. The animosity between the tribes of the Younger Races hardly fared better from the physical distinctions that now separated them. Many blamed the Humans for their mutations - though in this they were correct, they were erroneous in their reasons, believing themselves to have been expelled to a cursed land - and a faction of the most brutal and warlike of the Younger Races, among them the Ogres, Dwarves and Trolls, spoke openly in favor of returning to destroy the shattered descendants of the Alliance. Others, the Halflings, Gnomes and the majority of Elvenkind, wished no such conflict, believing it wholly destructive, and instead spoke of unification and the eventual assimilation of the Humans. Bred by hundreds of years of animosity and feuds, the disagreement soon turned into conflict, and from conflict into open war. Outnumbered and outmatched, the Elves that now became known as High Elves* and Smallfolk fled West, seeking to warn and seek refuge with the Human factions. Their reception was no warm one, but rather, the Humans turned onto the alien-looking creatures, and thousands were slaughtered, a tiny fraction eventually escaping the continent by boat, vowing to have nothing more to do with the savages of the Old World**. As for the races that remain behind, I can not hope to in this short text describe the thousands of years of bloodshed between Humans, Ogres, Trolls, Elves and other races that remained behind which ensued. Worth of note is that the Dwarves, sickened by the ignoble slaughter that their lust for vengeance had turned into, betrayed the Ogres and Trolls in a crucial battle and followed the High Elves and Smallfolk across the waves, an event which is the source of considerable animosity between these races even to this day.

*The Elves that remained evolved into and eventually became known as today's Dark Elves.

**This name of the continent is believe to have been invented at the time by the escaped races, who wished to form a New World, devoid of the brutality and violence of their old one.

Chapter IV: Dusk of the Old World

The Old World just before the Fall, while not the disorganized anarchy of war that marked the time past the creation of the Younger Races, was a divided land, split into warring city-states. The Humans, the eventual victors of the War of the Races, controlled the majority of the central continent and its major cities, ruled from the mountain city of High Keep, seat of the High King of the Races - a grand title that hid a less grand reality - the Human King of the Races barely had any power over even his own race. The Ogres and Trolls had been driven into the southern jungles, continuously raiding Human lands but being little more than a nuisance at the time, and the Dark Elves co-existed with the Humans in a loose non-aggression pact, founding their own underground city near Freeport, and the Barbarians lived largely undisturbed in the northern wastes. The Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings had forged an Alliance of their own, a peaceful and prosperous nation stretching across the New World, or Faydwer* as it was named.

*Elven: "New Lands". Similarly, Faydark literally means "New Woods". I fear my ancestors of the time were not all so creative.

Chapter V: Other Races, Quick Footnotes

There are multiple races not covered by this history, most notably the Dragons, Giants and Erudites, as well as the innumerable demi-humanoids such as the Frogloks, Goblins and Kobolds. Of the Giants and Dragons, little is known, and even despite the fact that we live in exile amongst them, the Erudites are very tight-lipped about their own descendance - and how they seem to have such an intricate knowledge of the history of the other races! I am certain this mystery will be solved in time, and the very human resemblance of the Erudites hint that they are perhaps another of the Younger Races, one that took a different path and was lost amidst the pages of history. I have made several excursions to Stormekeep and Dragonhorn Keep and spoken with the inhabitants there. I have been able to piece together some Dragon history by speaking to the High Priest of the Dragon God Wer'Zarad, but the giants have refused me access to their extensive libraries located below the crust of the land in a fortified keep called Storm's Eye. I hope to eventually write a full publication on this matter. Of the less important races, there is mostly a lack of disinterest in their descendance. Goblins are in the eyes of most scholars vermin that should be eradicated, and their history of little consequences. Perhaps one day I will have the chance to look further into this.