Harnec

[Kerrah]

The time has come to introduce the fantasy world I've been working on for the past two and a half years or so, Harnec.

I've been very enthustiastic about walking for my whole life, the speed at which I walk is faster than a normal persons jogging speed, and my imagination works the best when I walk. Ever since I read Warcraft Lore, I've been trying to create my own world, with its own history, geography and inhabitants. I have always done this while walking outdoors, sunken to my own thoughts. Two years ago, during a walk in the brighness of a summer night, I started writing the history of Harnec. It was, unlike all my earlier projects and totally unlike Warcraft, based on the idea that nobody knew about the earliest parts of history, so I based it in the History of The Human Race, which would play the main role of the possible book.

Harnec molded in my mind for two and a half years, and today, after moving some islands south from their earlier location, I decided it's as ready as it needs to be in order to be presented here to you all.

(note about the map; I used to have a handdrawn version, but it got lost, and i made this one instead to work as a replacement untill I gather enough willpower to draw a new one)
*drumroll*
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/HarnecMap.jpg
Blue is water, Brown are mountains, Green is every other terrain.

About the places:
Gimradd is a giant valley in the middle of tall mountains. Accouding to history passed amongst men, they arrived there thousands of years ago, just after the race of Elves had gone extinct, leaving their empire of Gimradd in ruins. The Humans had two civil wars, ending the age of Emperors, and begun moving out of the valley, concuring much of the surrounding areas. Flernia, Astalka, Sateka, "The Endlessness", Werania and the Isles of Onenn' were taken by force and put under the rule of the kings of Gimradd (who ruled the nine city states that had been formed before the second civil war).

The Endlessness is an enormous coastal area, which was named due to the fact that men had never seen sea in their life when they sailed down the river to find the area, not to mention an Endless-seeming coast, stretching south from the rivermouth. Sateka is a giant mountain range that is slowly but surely being inhabited by the humans in places beyong the valley in the middle, where the three main cities of the ragion are located. Astalka is a small colony, which is fanatically loyal to Gimradd, unlike the other colonies which want independance, both in its leadership of kings and queens and its populance, who are more positive about the Colony-based humankind than most Gimradians. Flernia is a coastal area, full of people who live with agriculture or fishing. It is also has the second most soldiers in its populance of all the provinces of Gimradd, second only to Werania.

Werania is a giant plain area (the map doesn't show it, but it stretches all the way from Ash'Kalar to the western coast), which was, by the time the men of Gimradd arrived there, inhabited by tribes of simple men, who hunted for living and lived in peace (mostly). The Gimraddians, unable to start war to so many of their own, used every dirty trick they had thought of to turn the entire populance, clan by clan, into the largest colony possible. It is still ruled by barons, counts and mayors, whose power is based on the clan-based society the Weranians once had. The populance of Werania are very rebellious, many of them think they deserve freedom, since they have about as much area and half as much people as all the other zones in human control combined.

Equinia is the land of Centaurs, who were driven away from Gimradd, their ancestral home, by the elves countless millenia ago. The Centaurs live in peace with The Humans (which is amazingly rare for a humanoid race of their own) and have quite good trade connections with them as well. They have no interest in conquest, and instead focus on improving their own kingdom as well as possible. The isle off the coast of Equinia is called Hastaena, and is a large area, which holds most of the agriculture of the centaurs. It is occasionally attacked by Naga, but has held them off this far.

Gergannol is an Orc Kingdom, ruled by the chieftains of the Clans of Gergannol, of which one will be elevated to the position of King by a tournament of battles in their capital of Gergan every time the current king dies. Gergannol has a very strong navy, which is the only thing that keeps The Humans from attacking it, their ability in navigation and shipbuilding mostly covers fishing and transportation, not naval warfare. The orcs of Gergannol are not particularry warlike, but seem to want the area of South Werania very much, and have even warned the humans to stay out of the area.

Ash'Kalar is the ancestral home of the goblins, it is a giant rain forest, which is kept unbearably warm by the vulcanic actions of the nearby mountains. The majorty of goblins have lived in Ash'Kalar, accourding to Goblin forklore, ever since the beginning of their race. All that time there has been five major families of Goblins, who share the area, hating each other. Of the current five ones, originally three were parts of a massive family, which split into three after two earlier families left Ash'Kalar (one of them lives in Gergannol as the engineers, alchemists and mages of the kingdom, but is massively hated by the Ash'Kalar Goblins).

The Northern Islands are a crisis area, just like South Werania, which is fought over by Trolls, Orcs, Hisherians (Lizard people) and Humans. The Islands were inhabited by several clans of trolls, who were however hunted down and killed by Throglodytes several deckades before humans found them. Now the humans are trying to drive the cave-dwelling Throggs back to the deeps, which is going to take forever due to the guerrilla tactics of the Throggs. At the same time The Orcs of Gergannol have sailed to the islands, completely concuring a single island for themselves and inhabiting it. The orcs have refused to specify a reason for their actions, but have promised not to intervene with the Humans' plans for the islands anymore.

Finally, The Endless Mountains are just what the name suggests; an endless mountain range. Nobody in the knowledge of Men has ever found any kind of inhabitable land south from the point when the mountains begin, and after almost half of the explorers of mankind were lost, trying to figure out what was on the other side, the monarchs quit sponsoring such tries. Some tried sailing down River Garn, which seems to create a safe way past the mountains, but the trolls living in its shores are extremely xenophobic and do not let anyone exit their lands alive.

Any questions, critics, whines, interesting remarks are welcome. Send me a Personal Message if you are interested in further info (like "the history of mankind" text file).

[Ziilyn]

Very Cool!

I'd like to see that hand drawn map if you ever find it or get around to making a new one and maybe a little more info on each of the races, you know, just to set them apart from all the other Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins from countless other fantasy genres.

At I like it and hope to see more.

[icy]

very nic

:thumbsup:

[Inquisitor]

The map is pretty cool, but do you have a scale for it so we can know approximately how big the place is? Secondly, do you plan on religion and magic playing a role in this world of yours? And perhaps most importantly, any designs for a more unique race than the standard, orcs, humans, elves, trolls, etc?

By the by, I like the fact that the orcs of Gergannol are a naval power; the only orcs I have ever heard of that have had a navy of any significance were the orcs of the Warcraft II.

Anyway, I think you've got a good concept, and I wish you the best of luck with it.

[Kerrah]

The map is pretty cool, but do you have a scale for it so we can know approximately how big the place is? Secondly, do you plan on religion and magic playing a role in this world of yours? And perhaps most importantly, any designs for a more unique race than the standard, orcs, humans, elves, trolls, etc?
The scale..... I thought of it at first, but I was never able to put it in the map. From The Northern Islands to The Endless Mountains, the distance is about as long as from Northern Europe to Northern Africa, so the world is a little smaller than others, though its not completely explored yet.

Races.... There's at least one that's significant and that I've completely designed myself, but it's not mentioned here since Humans don't know of them yet. Hisherians are something like Aragonians in Elder Scrolls universe, so they don't count.

[Wulfang]

Sounds good, Kerrah. I like the map and the way you've positioned every race across it, with distinct kingdoms and histories of warfare with each other. I'd like to know more this world of Harnec and its inhabitants, if possible!

Also, I wish you the best of luck with any project you have that is related with this world.

[Flamestrider]

Nice job, Kerrah! Reminds me a bit of Elder Scrolls. I've been doing work on a fantasy world myself, so I know how hard (and how much fun) it can be. Hopefully, I can get something with which I can scan my maps (I've made a whole fuckload), and show them to you all.

Keep up the good work!

[icy]

I've been doing work on a fantasy world myself, so I know how hard (and how much fun) it can be.

Same here

[Doomsday]

I am a little confused by the river system. It seems in some places, for example from Gimradd to astalka and Fernia, the water would have to flow up stream in some way to get through them. Are there giant canyons there for the water to flow through or is Gimradd actually a plateu and not a valley?

The humans seem to dislike the orcs as is implied in the Gergannol section. If the reason they do not attack the orcs is out of fear of the navy, why don't they attack by crossing the 2 rivers that seperate Gergannol from Werenia? I would assume that the humans who live there would allow them to pass through on their way to the orcs. Is the river very wide, and therefore large enough for an orcish armada? Is the Southern Bank well guarded, or has the area between the 2 rivers been a battleground for the races?

Those are just some questions that occurred to me while readin gthe background and looking at the maps. Regardless, this seems to be very well written and very interesting, I would read any further information you can provide.

[Inquisitor]

The humans seem to dislike the orcs as is implied in the Gergannol section. If the reason they do not attack the orcs is out of fear of the navy, why don't they attack by crossing the 2 rivers that seperate Gergannol from Werenia? I would assume that the humans who live there would allow them to pass through on their way to the orcs. Is the river very wide, and therefore large enough for an orcish armada? Is the Southern Bank well guarded, or has the area between the 2 rivers been a battleground for the races?


The Orcs might very well have control of Lake Weran, giving them the ability to attack any where along the coast of that body of water; any human invasion would risk leaving their rear open to counter-attack.

Edit: Also, the Orcs might very well have fortified the sides of those rivers, making them difficult to cross.

[Kerrah]

About rivers: I know its quite stupid and all that, but when I made the river going south among the mountains and not entering Astalka, I just imagined this Grand Canyon style "river amongst mountains" thingie. Also, Gimradd is ALOT higher than Werania, so the river just flows downwards = south. Maybe one day the river will eat the mountains between it and Astalka away, kill thousands of people by flooding their farmlands and completely dry up Ash'Kalar by changing its course, who knows.

About Humans not attacking Orcs: There are three main reasons:
1) The Orc Navies would OWN any human ships on Lake Weran and The Eastern Sea and might even attack northern areas. They could also just load millions of troops in any shore of Weran, which are too large areas to fortify.
2) Gergannol has been fortified ever since Gimradians concured Werania.
3) The Goblins have quite good relations with The Orcs, they might join if given enough bribes, this would start a World War, which men don't want.

Also recently, some quite dangerous things have started happening in Gimradd (which The Books are about). Most human strategists know that starting a war against Gergannol would severly endanger their own northern homelands.

[Doomsday]

I am very interested in what you are reffereing two in your final response Kerrah.
Is this an internal threat?

[Kerrah]

Well, you see, The First Civil war ended up with the first dynasty of Human Emperors (The Ramglades) escaping Gimradd with those loyal to them. Recently, a massive army of their soldiers has appeared in Sateka, claiming their king deserves supreme power over all of Gimradd. Even though their army is not large enough to cause any serious danger to Gimradd now, they very succesfully use Guerrilla Warfare against their enemies and seem to be next to impossible to drive away from the area.

Also, almost all the mountains surrounding Gimradd are under Troll rule, once upon a time there were six great troll empires, of which only one survives nowdays (men destroyed the five that no longer exist while expanding all around Harnec). The Trolls however inhabit the mountains, living in villages, of which all are hostile to each other. Recently, due to an unforseen factor, over fifty villages of trolls in The Eastern Mountains have been bent under the rule of one Warlord, who claims to destroy Gimradd when given enough time to preapre his armies.

And as a third thing, a cult has been formed recently, but has gained incredibly much power. Death Cults have existed in harnec for milleniae, but none of them has been as powerful as "The Dark Palm" is now. Consisting of Dark Priests, Necromancers and Demonologists, the cults corruption seems to have an incredibly powerful hold over certain areas in Gimradd. And the worst thing is, they seem to hold the idea of A Necromantic Nation (Dark Casters rule, undead do the work) dear.

[Drirlake]

Well, you see, The First Civil war ended up with the first dynasty of Human Emperors (The Ramglades) escaping Gimradd with those loyal to them. Recently, a massive army of their soldiers has appeared in Sateka, claiming their king deserves supreme power over all of Gimradd. Even though their army is not large enough to cause any serious danger to Gimradd now, they very succesfully use Guerrilla Warfare against their enemies and seem to be next to impossible to drive away from the area.

Also, almost all the mountains surrounding Gimradd are under Troll rule, once upon a time there were six great troll empires, of which only one survives nowdays (men destroyed the five that no longer exist while expanding all around Harnec). The Trolls however inhabit the mountains, living in villages, of which all are hostile to each other. Recently, due to an unforseen factor, over fifty villages of trolls in The Eastern Mountains have been bent under the rule of one Warlord, who claims to destroy Gimradd when given enough time to preapre his armies.

And as a third thing, a cult has been formed recently, but has gained incredibly much power. Death Cults have existed in harnec for milleniae, but none of them has been as powerful as "The Dark Palm" is now. Consisting of Dark Priests, Necromancers and Demonologists, the cults corruption seems to have an incredibly powerful hold over certain areas in Gimradd. And the worst thing is, they seem to hold the idea of A Necromantic Nation (Dark Casters rule, undead do the work) dear.


Reminds me of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

[Kerrah]

Reminds me of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.
There's no assassination of an emperor, since there's no emperor.

[Doomsday]

The Dark Palm look really cool. the nation they want to create reminds me of Warhmmaer 40k where the humans on Earth destroy convicts' minds and make them do manual labor.
The whole being surrounded by your enemies thing also brings iit to mind

[Kerrah]

I updated the map, since i did the last one without anything to compare it to, and i have now drawn a new, better map on IRL paper. I'm still pondering how to get it to digital form.

Here is a Political Borders Map.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/HarnecMapPolitical.jpg

[Kerrah]

THE MIGHTY BUMP!

Here's the thing I'm most proud about Harnec, the system how magic works and the physics how the universe exists, so without further ado, I give you:

The Consistance of the Universe and How Magic Works (in Harnec)

The universe consists of three separate planes of existence. The physical world, the spiritual plane (also called the astral plane) and the arcane plane. All living beings exist on all three planes at the same time, their body on physical, their Spirit (not to be confused with soul) on spiritual and their magical aura on arcane plane. When ones magical aura, spirit or willpower are strong enough he or she can limitedly affect the spiritual or arcane planes.

Spiritual magics are most often religion-based. When a person believes in something very strongly, he can tap into the well of spiritual energy that feeds on the faith of all its believers, and thus manipulate the spiritual plane, or even bring that change forth on the physical plane, for example by healing a wound. Some spiritual magics can cause massive effects, even rivaling the mightiest Archmages in power. Areas that are very strongly spiritual, like Temples, can also improve the power of spiritual magic, since the Spiritual Wells normally exist on these places. Many spiritual spells require ceremonies, such as prayers, to work.

Arcane magic, or simply referred as "magic", is based on the Arcane Plane, which is an ever-changing and chaotic plane of existence. The Arcane is known to have been manipulated even before the humans broke free and moved to Gimradd, but the oldest historical documents do not mention Magic at all. Because of the chaotic nature of the Arcane Plane, healing and other "positive" spells are not common for users of the Arcane, even though they do exist. The use of Arcane is by no mean related to ones Faith or other spiritual factors like that, but more to ones Willpower and Intelligence. Like spiritual magic, the arcane may require ceremonies or reagents to work, but in the latter case, the requirements are based on collecting the correct amounts of power in the place, while all filters of power in the spiritual magic are based on the belief itself.

Some inanimate objects and materials also exist in the Spiritual and Arcane planes, but they are very unlike. In the case of Arcane, certain materials (most notable of them being MÃ:raptor:thril) exist both in the Physical and Arcane planes at the same time, objects made out of them can be used to make it easier to channel the changes in The Arcane Plane to the Physical Plane. However, the stronger the bond of the users Mind and Arcane Aura is, the more strongly magical objects he needs to actually empower his or her magic. Objects made out of Magical materials can deflect spells back at their casters (yes, exactly like lightsabers and blaster shots). In the case of Spiritual items, it's not the material the object is made of that makes it especially Spiritual-Based, but rather the possible spiritual bond the person shares with that object. For example, the Symbol of Ârginnâs can be used to empower a priests magical powers even if it is made of Wood.

There are some forms of magic that use both the ways, most notable of them being Necromancy, in which one uses ways similar to Dark Priests to bind spirits to himself, and Arcane magic to actually make the body belonging to the soul to do his bidding.

Here's a more accurate description of the Arcane plane, which I made recently (that text above is ancient, though I fixed it before posting it here):

In the physical world around us, order is the way of things. A chair is a chair, not a pile of wood shards. A chair is where it is, not a meter to the left. The only way to change order into chaos is for some being to use power to turn the chair into a pile of wooden shards or move it a meter to the left.

In the arcane plane, the natural way of things is chaos. Objects shift between different forms of existence and places continuously. The only way to change this chaos into order is for some being to use power and force it that way; Force something to stay in its shape and location, force the natural elements in the air to come and form a spell.

Because order is such a rare thing in the arcane plane, enough order causes disturbances that come forth in the physical plane as well. When the natural elements of the arcane plane come and form a spell, the effect comes forth and changes something in the physical plane. A chair can be turned into a pile of wooden shards or moved a meter to the left.

Though it is rare, the elements of the arcane can accidentally form a spell on their own. For you to understand how rare this is, try to imagine a giant sandstorm. This sandstorm is the arcane plane. Now imagine it having millions of different kinds of sand in it. Now imagine, that in order for a spell to form, a thousand grains of the same kind of sand have to touch each other.

As it is said, nothing is easy. Being a wizard is even harder.

[Rowan Seven]

I can tell you've put a lot of thought into this world, and I find the setting interesting. The humans seem fairly factious, and, as others have mentioned, it's a unique approach to depict the orcs as a naval power. It pleases me to see goblins in this setting too. The differences between your centaur and trolls and Blizzard's versions of the same serve the purpose of differentiating your fantasy world from Warcraft, which is good. I also appreciate that you took the time to make maps of the setting. They really helped me place the lands and kingdoms geographically. As for your description of magic, it seems reasonable enough and should work fine so long as you stay consistent with your own metaphysical scheme.

[Kerrah]

Paladins:

The main religion of humans all over Harnec is Ârginnaism, according to which a godly family, lead by Ârginnas the Glorious, saved the world of a dark scourge of evil and inherited the place of The Nameless God, who created the world.

While the Church of Ârginnas is pacifistic and normally has nothing to do with the armies of the human nations, there are two expections. The first one are Battle Medics, who are given the basic training of a Priest of Ârginnas and assigned to help the wounded in war. The second one are Paladins, who are something totally different.

The Paladins first appeared about two hundred years before the present date, during the last Necromantic Uprising. The Uprisings were eleven small wars, where one or more necromancers rose a small army, trying to establish a nation for himself. In the last one, the necromancer was named Xar'Jem. He was perhaps the most violent and ruthless of the modern necromancers, and many of his own considered him to only "give the rest of them a bad name".

Xar'Jem's nation failed and most of his army was destroyed. He ran away, willing to kill and raise more people to get another try. He was finally caught and killed in southern Endlessness, but his revenge was dire. From his corpse rose a giant cloud of disease unlike anything that had been seen before. The wizards who has killed the necromancer died in seconds, but the cloud was not satisfied. It moved onwards and killed townfuls of people, leaving the nearby lands empty of any life.

The Church of Ârginnas was quick to act against this, collecting a number of high ranking priests to stop the cloud. The priests collected near a mountain pass between The Endlessness and Gimradd and begun to pray. As the cloud approached, it was stopped by the giant amounts of spiritual energy channeled forth by the priests. On the side of the mountain, where the cloud had vanished, appeared the picture of a giant sledgehammer.

The leader of the priests took this for a sign and got himself a sledgehammer like the one pictured in the side of the mountain. He learned to use it and trained six other priests as well. As their training was complete, the seven first Paladins spread out into the world of Harnec, hunting darkness and evil that had been left there in the wake of the Necromantic Uprisings.

Seven years later the Paladins gathered, deciding to train seven more of their kind. On the very moment that decision was made, a tome appeared on the table they were gathered around. On the tome were written the names of thousands of young men, seven for every seven years. From that on the Paladins were the military arm of the Church, aiding the army where it needed aid. Every seven years the Tome of Paladins is opened and the names of the next Seven are read.

The ones to seek out the new Seven are the ones who were themselves sought seven years ago. The first seven of his many years as a Paladin the trainee follows his seeker around, learning, the next seven he spends training the one after him, after that, he spends the rest of his life freely seeking and destroying evil where he can find it.

The eldest of Paladins are named "Grand Paladins", they work as the official representives of the Paladin Order. One Paladin native to the Nation of Tas'Eras is chosen as "Paladin Lord", he leads the armies of Tas'Eras in battle and works as the leader of the nation in times of war.



Tune in later for information about another interesting number of people...

The Necromancers!

[Omacron]

I've been working on a science-fantasy world with a friend of mine, with her doing a majority of the artwork (I'm more of a technological and architectural artist). We've attempted to give a scientific basis for a lot of common fantasy archetypes, as well as examining politics beyond bloody battles. I'm glad to see other people give as much thought into their universes as I do.

[Kerrah]

Once again, I am bumping this. But this time I've actually gained something.

I've been able to scan my map!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/jerenkartta1.jpg

[Omacron]

This isn't a criticism as much as it is a peculiarity about me. If a fantasy "world" as it is, takes place on only one continent, or even worse, kingdom, I always wonder what's going on with the rest of the planet.

[Kerrah]

This isn't a criticism as much as it is a peculiarity about me. If a fantasy "world" as it is, takes place on only one continent, or even worse, kingdom, I always wonder what's going on with the rest of the planet.

That peninsula is separated from the rest of the world (if such a thing even exists). The inhabitants haven't invented boats to sail far enough, and the Endless Mountains have killed every single explorer who has dared enter it.

But worry not, it's a very large area.

[ARM3481]

This isn't a criticism as much as it is a peculiarity about me. If a fantasy "world" as it is, takes place on only one continent, or even worse, kingdom, I always wonder what's going on with the rest of the planet.

Just remember, when our own earth was on a comparable level of technological developement to most fantasy, the primary powers of the world were only really capable of affecting events on continents that are reachable by land or moderate sea travel (i.e., Europe, Asia and Africa either overland or across the Mediterranean). During the middle ages, Australia and the Americas were effectively still cut off from any form of regular trade orf communication with any other land masses. Sure, humans had reached those lands initially and via the occasional ship or two later on (like the small number of vikings in the Americas), but the locals weren't in a position to join the "world stage" in any meaningful way until the interests of the developing nations in the "older" continents began to outgrow their own landmasses' constraints. The Aztecs are likely the most advanced, fully consolidated nation that developed in any of those continents (and it was still rife with unrest and fractious tribes under its sway) before Europeans started arriving, and they still weren't yet capable of trans-oceanic travel.

Unpleasant or outright hostile landscapes also provide a serious barrier in such situations. Siberia was certainly "reachable" as far back as the days of the Romans or Ancient Greeks, but who in their right minds would have any reason to contemplate heading in that direction across unknown thousands of acres of frozen tundra and uninhabited wastes when more than likely nothing but more of the same waited on the other side? As a result, even lands adjascent to those inhabited by existing nations often remained uncharted, impassable barriers even long after the native peoples technically became capable of braving the conditions and theoretically traversing those places.

Magic certainly adds a possible means of circumventing this limitation, but at the same time, it'd be a brave or at least crazy mage who just set out to find a distant continent that might or might not even exist unless he or she found some sort of definitive evidence to suggest specifically that it does.

[Omacron]

But the landmass of Eurasia-africa was KNOWN, at least, if not mapped, known. During the high middle ages, the world as far west as greenland and as far east as Japan was known, as far north as Norway and as far south as the Congo (no one knew about the southern reaches of Africa, but they knew there was something there). That's more than a peninsula or worse yet, a single kingdom. I'm lookin' at YOU, Hyrule.

[ARM3481]

But the landmass of Eurasia-africa was KNOWN, at least, if not mapped, known. During the high middle ages, the world as far west as greenland and as far east as Japan was known, as far north as Norway and as far south as the Congo (no one knew about the southern reaches of Africa, but they knew there was something there). That's more than a peninsula or worse yet, a single kingdom. I'm lookin' at YOU, Hyrule.

Exactly my point. With the exception of Greenland, all of those places are accessible overland or via a moderate trip across the mediterranean. hence, they were part of the known world. Places such as Australia and both Americas were at best "rumored" to exist among the scholars and historians of the world, since rather than following any predetermined path to reach them, one would have to point his ship off into the great unknown and set sail for months and months without even knowing if there was a landmass waiting at the other end. Hell, for a good long time it was assumed that nothing but ocean existed west of Europe and Africa, eventually ending with the shores of the known Far East. Nobody really expected there to be two entirely distinct continents resting in the way, and when they were finally discovered, many initially thought it was just a remote part of the Far East that hadn't been charted yet.

I'm just saying, given the roughly middle-ages comparable level of technological and nautical developement that generally defines fantasy worlds, the idea of entire continents' existences remaining completely unknown to the inhabitants of the story's locales isn't that hard to imagine.

Incidentally, WC is a bit of an anomoly in this. With Northrend in particular, it's kind of odd that the humans of the world would have bothered establishing holdings and settlements in such a frozen, far-northern continent (and not just in response to the Scourge: supposedly the small number of human villages and towns weren't completely cut off from the Eastern Kingdoms, so apparently they weren't just isolated groups of humans who developed there after the sundering, removed from the planet's human nations in general.) It took a really long time for our own civilizations to reach such a point that they had any reason for venturing to the farthest polar regions of our world, or even possessed the capability of surviving in such climes.

[Omacron]

I'm not asking for "other continents", I'm asking for the rest of the continent which the game takes place. Using Harnec as an example, it's a peninsula of a larger landmass.

So, where's the larger landmass?

[Kerrah]

I'm not asking for "other continents", I'm asking for the rest of the continent which the game takes place. Using Harnec as an example, it's a peninsula of a larger landmass.

So, where's the larger landmass?

To quote myself:

The inhabitants haven't invented boats to sail far enough, and the Endless Mountains have killed every single explorer who has dared enter it.

Thank you for ignoring the answer when it was said for the first time.

[Omacron]

Hence why I said I'm not yelling at you, I pointed out it's a peculiarity of mine.

I can design an island and then think I need an arcipelago and then a peninsular landmass and then a continent and then a planet and then a star system and then a galaxy, which is exactly what happened to my own fantasy world.

[Kerrah]

Hence why I said I'm not yelling at you, I pointed out it's a peculiarity of mine.

I can design an island and then think I need an arcipelago and then a peninsular landmass and then a continent and then a planet and then a star system and then a galaxy, which is exactly what happened to my own fantasy world.

I don't want to figure out things that nobody in the fiction knows. If nobody knows them, what fun is it to have them?

[Omacron]

I don't want to figure out things that nobody in the fiction knows. If nobody knows them, what fun is it to have them?

Geopolitics, larger scale wars, more modern ideas to parody.

[ARM3481]

Geopolitics, larger scale wars, more modern ideas to parody.

And such things can come with time. Like the real world, where there were plenty of sizable wars before half of the continents were discovered, but the really massive ones happened once the powerful nations of every continent across the globe were able to throw in their lot when the fighting started.

Kerrah doesn't have more lands beyond the known peninsula on his map today, but someday he might.

[Kerrah]

I actually toyed at one time with an "Age of colonisation" idea, but I deemed it too boring and mundane.

[Omacron]

I actually toyed at one time with an "Age of colonisation" idea, but I deemed it too boring and mundane.

Well, technically my entire planet is colonized, and the idea of air travel is already a reality, so exploration is easier on my planet, not to mention that, since it has artificial continents, ground travel is easier.

[Kerrah]

The History of Harnec
as it is known to men:


What Men know about the past of Harnec is not much. For they are a race which mostly cares for what they can see and touch, not that which existed dozens of millenia ago. However, the earliest facts known of the human race's history were once legends, recently proved true by those who want to know where their race came from exactly.

A large race of beastmen, nowadays extinct, ruled the southern part of Harnec long ago. Inside their temples archaeologists have found human skeletons, proving true the stories about men being slaves of a master race and releasing themselves by the assassination of an emperor. It is very likely that the legends of the Humankind travelling many years northwards, losing much of its population and finally reaching Gimradd are just as true.

However, before telling what the humans accomplished in the Valley of Gimradd, it must be told what the area held before the Humans arrived there.

The Elven Empire:

A Race, known by men as the elves, had itself moved into the Great Valley many millenia ago. All that is known of their once glorious society is based on the writings on the walls of their buildings. Elves worshipped their Goddess of Sun, Vainná, and built great temples for her around Gimradd (which actually means 'valley' in Elvish).

The elves had once lived in harmony with the other humanoid races of Gimradd, but, according to their writings, "on the fourteenth year since the sun first rose", the elven race unified into a single force, called the Elven Empire, and chased all the other races out of the valley. Some historians claim that this could have been the first war in the history of Harnec.

The first Emperor of Elfkind was Phli-Lipus (who also called "The First Mage" by the elven texts), who was content in building the greatest Temple of Vainná, not wanting to expand his empire. His son Alyn-Xyandrus, however, gathered the greatest army in the history of Harnec and conquered nearly all of Northern Harnec.

The only land that Alyn The Great could not take was Equinia, the kingdom of the centaur, who had fled there from Gimradd. The elves destroyed the centaur capital, but could not face the desert warfare required to take the entire kingdom. Equinia was left alone, the first dynasty of Elven Kings was overthrown, and both kingdoms decided to live separately, hating each other to no end.

The elves were not aiming on controlling the minds and souls of all who lived within their borders. Being a citizen of the Elven Empire meant paying taxes and, at times, giving tribute to the Emperor in the means of building monuments or supplying His army.

About a thousand years after Alyn-Syandrus' rule, the empire started to crumble. The goblins of the south, the trolls of the north, and especially the gnolls, who appeared out of nowhere and killed all elves they could, quickly drove the elves back into Gimradd.

While the goblins and trolls were happy with the lands they had acquired, the gnolls did not want to build an empire or rule the mountains, they wanted to destroy all Elfkind, not stopping at any cost...

The Arrival to Gimradd:

Five Decades before men arrived to Gimradd, the gnolls from the surrounding mountains finally collected their warring tribes as a single army and attacked the proud people. For those fifty years between our two events, the savage gnolls savagely butchered the elves until only the great Temple of Sun, Ja'Tol, stood as a remainder of the Elven Empire.

The men arrived in Gimradd just in time to see the Elven priests of Ja'Tol get slaughtered by the gnoll warlord, who then turned against the newcomers. Men were able to kill the savage beast, sending his armies into chaos and braking the battle morale of the gnoll race. It is still a said to be set by the gods that the gnoll tribes broke into a massive war against each other three days after their leader had been slain, allowing the men to drive them once again away into the mountains.

The men first lived in the ancient halls of Ja'Tol, living simple lives of survival and battle against the elements of the hostile land. Soon, however, the race adapted to their new home and built some simple settlements all around their surroundings when the elven ruins started to get too small for their race.

When the human race had lived in Gimradd for two decades, their leader, a wizardess named Heyka, passed on. This quickly created political crisis between the men of Ja'Tol, raising the question about the leadership of the race. The strongest members of each family were risen to apply to the place by violence, but finally a war was avoided with a tournament, allowing those young men to battle each other for the leadership of their young nation.

The tournament lasted for weeks and much blood was shed, but finally a young man named Pemnarr Ramglade defeated his enemies and rose to lead the city of Ja'Tol. While the King grew older and his people flourished, Ramglade saw that those of his people who lived away from the capital defied his rule. Finally King Ramglade gave direct orders for people to move back to the area around the ancient elven temple and to destroy all human settlements outside that area, believing in keeping his people as united by that way.

The First Civil-War:

Nobody had large reasons for breaking the law until some of the scouts found an valley at Western Gimradd, which glimmered with magical energies. The newly founded Council of Magi, which had ensured the training of wizards for five years at that time, pleaded the king to allow the construction of a School of Magic, which would allow young magi to be able to learn the arts of magic faster.

The King refused the plead, fearing the magi to once try to become and independent nation. The wizards and the King continued quarreling about the subject for dozens of years, until the King died in an unfortunate accident. His only son, Farkannus Ramglade, quickly took his father's place. The young king quickly realised that the Council of Magi quickly disappeared with their apprentices, friends and family.

King Ramglade II took a small army and quickly travelled west to find the location the scouts had such a long time ago told about, but was betrayed while travelling. Back at Ja'Tol, the leader of another family started a rebellion against the young king, claiming that the winning family of the Tournament was actually supposed to lead the Nation for only one generation.

That man rose to lead the people who didn't want to be lead by a man who was willing to slaughter the Council of Magi just because they had dismissed an order given by a man who they considered mad. The rebels took over the ancient temple-city, took what was left of their army and marched to help the Council of Magi against the young king.

When the Rebels arrived at the valley that had started the entire Civil-War, they found the wizards being tightly cornered by the highly trained military of King Ramgrove. The rebel leader, a young warrior named Tarvannar Oakscythe, attacked his enemies fiercely, without giving them a chance to surrender. When Ramglade found out about what had happened at his capital, he ran away with his armies, leaving his enemies behind. The Council of Magi and the followers of Oakscythe did not follow the army, but instead promised to be ready if the first line of kings ever returned to their beloved homeland.

For the next centuries, the Oakscythe family ruled the recently renamed Capital of Oaks'Tol, while the Council of Magi built a beautiful city named Xalnas. Small cities sprouted everywhere around Gimradd, and finally king Fes Oakscythe IV gave seven new cities around the area a permission to lead themselves as long as they all obeyed the supreme rule of the Oakscythe Family. This raised the number of human nations to Nine, making the list of them (in order of founding) sound like this: Oaks'Tol, Xalanas, Gerasha, Kuerty, Lacish, �ennas, Tas'Eras, North-�ennas and New Fasnar.

The human nations, still lead by the eldest Oakscythe Male, (humankind is better known as the Oakscythe Empire during this time) flourished and conquered the entire valley of Gimradd, driving away a number of hostile races. It took five hundred years of flowing time to finally make a crack in that united human race to finally split into pieces when the past came to haunt the Oakscythes.

The Oakscythe Plea and the Second Civil-War:

Five hundred years after the Oakscythe dynasty began, the humankind were still not brave enough to go and cross the mountains around their beloved home valley. Instead, the race was exploring every inch of Gimradd to chart it as completely as possible. One day, a cave was found not more than a day's ride from Xalanas, in the mountain ring surrounding Gimradd. The cave was gigantic and hosted recent signs of camping. Also, at one camp site, there was a complete piece of Ramgrovean battle armour.

Oakscythean armies were quickly risen to cross the mountains near that cave and find out if the missing Ramgrove army (or rather its descendants) could be there. King Silian Oakscythe VII gave the orders to collect fifteen thousand capable men for military training from each and every nation in Gimradd in addition to half of the nations' standing armies. Messengers were sent to give this order to the nations.

One of such messengers was an Oaks'Tolian man named Gerald Milton, who was hired to deliver the order to New Fasnar. New Fasnar itself is founded on the ruins of an ancient elven keep, built to hold off the harpies which live on the slopes of Mount Zmerah, a gigantic mountain at the center of Gimradd. The Messenger arrived in the city during an attack by the Harpies, and helped to fend the creatures off.

Upon seeing the desperate state of the city, under constant attack by the harpy clans of Zmerah, and the state of the local army, Milton shred the order and talked to the governor of New Fasnar, creating a plan together with him. The next day Milton rode towards Gefasa, carrying a plea for the local governor to promise his aid to make King Oakscythe abandon his mad military action.

During the next six months, Milton rode trough all the eight "lesser cities" of Gimradd, seeing the local life and requesting a name of the leader of that city to the plea to the King. Starting from Gefasa, the army that would have been sent to hunt for Ramgladean refugees started following him, growing larger by every city, finally he came to Oaks'Tol, finding a small party of New Fasnarian soldiers at the city's gate, ready to represent their city in the march to the king.

Gerald Milton, along with one representive from each city state, finally came to the Throne Room of Oaks'Tol, handing the plea to the King. It is not known exactly what happened inside the temple walls that day but half an hour after the gates had closed behind the nine men, their heads were thrown at the army standing outside.

King Oakscythe did not however end the "rebellion" by his actions that day but ensured that even the common folk in the Oaks'Tol slums joined the attack that ensured later that day. Within five hours of enraged attacking, the inner walls of Oaks'Tol crumbled and the rebels killed the guards. They finally made it to the King, who was ripped to bloody pieces with the bare hands of the angry mob.

The Re-Establishment of Order and the Gnoll War:

The leadership of the (again) renamed capital of Gera'Tol was contested for the next decade, after which the quarreling by the eight other states ended as a massive force of gnolls quickly attacked Xalanas. The gnoll clans of the surrounding mountains had united once more under the rule of a feral warlord named Názzt, and were attacking from somewhere at the southwestern part of the mountains.

The wizards of Xalanas were hardly able to repel the attack, but quickly recieved help from the other nations and began a counterattack. However, the gnolls were able to spread all around Gimradd like a disease, burning fields and forests and killing innocent folk with no mercy. It took two months for the united armies of Gimradd to drive most of the enraged gnolls back to the origin of their military attack, a gigantic ebony tower called Ra'zhie Yrchus by the Gnolls, up in the mountains near Xalanas.

The gnolls fought with no care of their own lives, just making sure to do as much damage to the humans before their own deaths, which made the human leaders amazed. The elves had described gnolls as cowardly creatures. Finally an archmage named Dargirr took the lead of the attack against the tower and raided it with the help of "39 other brave souls" as legends would later tell.

On the top of the tower they found the Gnoll Warlord kneeling before a twelve-member council of Green-Skinned Brutes, dubbed as orcs. The council was full of dark magi and demonologists, and used its dark powers against the raiding party, but finally had to flee when Dargirr was able to slay their leader and the Gnoll Warlord. The gnolls forgot their zeal the moment their leader died, and ran scared to the mountains for the second time in the known history.

The Last King of Gera'Tol:

Dargirr returned home later, carrying with him a small amulet which he had found Názzt to be carrying. The item was something he had never seen or felt before, it was carved full of dragon heads and in the middle of the front side stood a single orc. There was was writing in some language no human had ever seen before on the opposite side to the orc. The archmage also felt a power within the locket, a great power which he studied for two whole years after the Gnoll War.

Finally, when the wizard was called to Gera'Tol to testify the three-year anniversary of his victory over gnolls, he decided to use the power he had found in the artefact. When Dargirr Gnollbane spoke to the people of Gera'Tor, the amulet which was grasped in his hand began to glow and the powers hidden within it, made originally to ensure the orcs remained faithful to their king, activated. As it had done to orcs and gnolls, the amulet made each human who lay his eyes on Dargirr to see him as a god.

Dargirr became the next king of Gera'Tol, just like Názzt had become the warlord of gnolls. He knew that the orcs had ruled the whole gnoll race by ruling over one individual who had the amulet. He did not care however, the dark powers in the item had corrupted the old wizard's mind.

The Powers of "The Amulet of Yrch'Feran", were too much for the old man however, and he passed on after two weeks of ruling the capital of Gimradd. The moment life moved out of Dargirr's body, all those put under his power by the amulet were freed. It was soon found out how he had acquired his position and the amulet was destroyed by the Council of Magi itself, Dargirr was buried in an unmarked grave under Temple Ja'Tol.

The problem with the leadership of Gera'Tol was solved finally as it was decided that no single man should ever lead the greatest city in Gimradd, but instead one representive from each of the other cities and a single representive of the citizens of Gera'Tol itself were to decide the matters together instead of a single ruler.

Two thousand years later Dargirr's grave was checked and it was found out it had been plundered and two items had been removed from the body; the archmage's mÃ:raptor:thril helm and his left hand.

The War for the Mountains:

After the Dargirr's death, mankind decided it was time to leave the safety of Gimradd and explore the world outside.

The first obstacle that stood against this exploration were the trolls. While this brutish race had been seen before, their rule over the mountains surrounding Gimradd was staggering. All in all, the mountains housed four troll empires, lead by four absolute rulers.

When men begun founding new cities in the valleys between the tall mountains, the trolls took it as a personal challenge and begun a holy war on the "valleylings", attacking all who dared exit Gimradd. However, this very war, the first thing in a thousand years that all four emperors agreed on, was their own end.

When the men of Gimradd were able to root themselves in a valley and defend it from the trolls, their morale and unity grew. Like the trolls, the men saw it as a challenge, which they had to win.

This war lasted for nearly one hundred years. Men advanced, one valley at a time, trough the mountains. They never had to siege the troll capitals however, as the empires crumbled into millions of small pieces as a result of the low war success. Each troll tribe became independent of any outside rule.

A silent pact was made. The trolls would be left alone in the mountains, and they would leave men alone in the valleys.

The Age of Discovery:

After the four troll empires had crumbled into warring villages, Gimraddians were finally free to look at the (mostly) peaceful side of exploration.

In the northwest lay the kingdom of Equinia, the homeland of the centaur. Even though they saw men as the followers of elves, the centaur were able to develop friendly relations and trade with Gimradd.

In the northeast was a coastal region called Flernia by the trolls who inhabited it. Settlers from Tas'Eras and Kuerty settled there, at first living peacefully with the trolls, then driving them into the mountains.

In the southeast was yet another coastal plain. It was essentially uninhabited at the time the Gimraddians arrived. That was, however, fixed as settlers from all over Gimradd founded cities and a small noble-based government in the wilderness, taming it within a few decades. It was named Astalka, "the eastern plain" in Elven.

The mountains south of Gimradd were called Sateka after the grand troll empire of Sateka that had risen to power there after the Elven Empire's demise, but later split to two halves. The valleys of these mountains were colonised. Three major cities were founded in the larger ones, each one ruling a few dozen small valleys around themselves.

South from Equnia was a long coast, leading almost straight south. The men arriving here saw the seemingly infinite strip of land meeting water, and named the entire area it housed "the Endlessness".

For a few hundred years, Gimraddians focused on colonising Flernia, Astalka, Sateka and the Endlessness. However, in the south their explorers found a new land, not unlike Gimradd itself...

Werania:

South of Sateka was a land of vast, seemingly never-ending plains. Gimraddians were truly shocked when they arrived to the middle of the land and found the Weranians.

It has later been agreed that the Weranians were originally a group of people who had been left behind during the Great Trek, and had later come to inhabit most of Werania.

Gimraddians were at first shocked to find men who did not originate from Gimradd, but after the initial shock was over, they came to realise the possibilities that their "primitive brothers" offered. Founding cities and settling people to live in a new land was a slow and painful process, but could be eased if the land was already inhabited.

The invasion of Werania begun slowly at first. Diplomats were sent to the kings of the small nations, promising peace and prosperity. Soon, however, each king was fooled into thinking that their rival rulers were trying to ally with the Gimraddians to take all of Werania under their rule.

Though this may sound very simplistic, the plan worked perfectly, and in a few short years, all the different clans were in warfare with each other, each ruler believing they alone had the northern people's support.

Then, Gimraddian armies marched south, defeated the small amount of resistance left and instituted a puppet ruler in the throne of the "grand colony of Werania" their invasion created.

However, the Weranians, after realising they had been fooled, promised vengeance.

The Weranian Empire, Federation and Confederation:

The Weranian will for vengeance boiled under their law-abiding and tax-paying surface for fifty years, after which a seemingly harmless gesture by the Gimraddians made it explode.

This gesture was Gerald's day, a Gimraddian holiday that celebrated Gerald Miltion's arrival to Oaks'Tol. When forced to attend the celebrations, the Weranians were finally pushed over the edge, resulting in violent riots and civil disobedience.

At this point, the Weranian puppet-leader had already formed an army of obedient soldiers, but turning the soldiers against their own families and friends was impossible.

In the moment of chaos, a man called Wilhelm Farnus, who was the long-lost prince of one of the ruined kingdoms, appeared. With swift and decisive action, he rallied the rioters and the army members, who quickly deserted, under a common banner and lead them into a crusade against the northern oppressors.

The puppet-king was hung and the prince was crowned Emperor Farnus II, the king of Werania. Showing surprising compassion, he declared that not all who were not standing besides him were against him, and that Gimraddians who lived in Werania, but posed no threat to the native Weranians, were to be left unharmed.

The king earned many allies among those who would have been his enemies with this act. It was not enough to stop the oncoming war, however, as the Gimraddian armies marched down from the mountains.

The War of Werania went on for many decades solely because of the stubbornness of the northern rulers, who would not give up, even though their armies were bested time after time by the Weranians, who used their superior knowledge of the terrain and their indefatigable morale to defeat wave after wave of invaders.

Finally Farnus II died, and his son inherited the throne. Farnus III, however, was not the strong, charismatic and sympathetic leader and fearless tactician his father had been, and soon the lines broke and the young Weranian Empire shattered, once again under Gimraddian occupation.

A long time passed before the victors made a decision about the fate of Werania. A new generation of idealists had risen to power in Gimradd, and instead of continuing the oppression, they decided to give Werania its independence.

At first Werania was declared "the Federation of Werania", a federation of small duchies and dukedoms, lead by Weranian noblemen who swore loyalty to the Federate Leader, whom they chose in a bi-annual gathering.

The new system worked for a long time, but the bureaucratic system crashed due to its uselessness five hundred years later, after which many of the duchies and dukedoms merged into smaller kingdoms, that elected a direct descendant of the Farnus Bloodline as a High King.

Finally Werania had found a stable system of power as the Confederation of Werania.

The Rise of the Necromancers:

During the exploration of the world, the formerly rare art of Necromancy, a corrupted branch of Magic attempting to raise the dead to serve its users, became common in Gimradd for no seeming reason. Several uprisings were experienced, with a single Necromancer rising more and more minions and forcing the military to bring troops from other territories to defeat the caster.

Many of the necromancers were former supporters of the Council of Magi, but had fallen to the Dark Arts by one way or another. The reputation of the Council was badly damaged, and many of its members began to commit their lives to hunting necromancers. Of the armies of Xalnas, one fourth was put for disposal to quickly move and destroy the armies of walking dead.

The total amount of uprisings, which were major enough to force the local military to seek aid from other armies, was eleven. The Leader of first one was a former leading member of the Council of Magi, Archmage Ka Antwhisper. Antwhisper was also an oracle, and before the military crushed his army, he told his apprentice that the Twelfth Uprising would create what the Necromancers hoped to accomplish, a Necromantic Nation.

Antwhisper had long ago told that as Xalanas worked with magic, every physical task being done by different kinds of created constructs and other kinds of non-human means, one day there would be a nation of dead where a group of Necromancers would decide about things and their undead minions would do all the "commoners' work".

After the eleventh uprising was defeated, there seemed to be no necromancer great enough to become a serious threat again. Some say that all of the necromancers held back, feeling they were not great enough to fulfill Ka Antwhisper's prophesy, and were waiting for someone else to go forward so they could help the brave one. Whatever the reason is, no necromantic uprising after that has forced a nation to seek outside help.

The Birth of Paladins:

During the last (eleventh) necromantic uprising, the leading necromancer, a ruthless man called Xar'Jem, was driven into a ravine at southern Endlessness and attempted to escape to Werania by using portal magics to cross the mountains without having to pass trough the heavily guarded Fasnarr Gateway, which guarded the only road from the Endlessness to Werania.

Xar'Jem only found death in the ravine as Xalanasian magi attacked the corrupt wizard, not letting him finish his spell. Xar'Jem promised with his last breath to have vengeance, and as his body was stabbed to death by an archmage, a cloud of poisonous disease appeared and killed all the attackers within minutes.

The cloud moved north, seemingly controlled by the vengeful spirit of the necromancer, killing many towns and villages on its way. The souls of the ones who died to the disease made the cloud even stronger and the Church of Ârginnâs in Gimradd begun to prepare for its inevitable arrival to Gimradd.

One hundred clerics were collected from around Gimradd and brought to the southeastern border to read a holy prayer to destroy the cloud and save millions of people from certain death. All people present later claimed that Ârginnâs himself answered the clerics' prayers, ascending from the heavens and stopping the disease with his divine fury. What can be proved is, however, that ever since that day, there has been a writing in the wall of the mountainside, written in letters ten feet tall.

The 'Message of Ârginnâs', as it was later dubbed, runs thus:

Wisdom. Compassion. Holiness.
Strength. Zeal. Experience.
Flame.
Steel.
Heal.
Hurt.
They shall be protectors,
and seven shall be their number.

The archbishop of Ârginnâs, Havin Kerhay, who had also lead the clerics' prayer, took it to himself to fulfill this direct command from his God. He selected the six most pious priests in Harnec, and together with the general of Tas'Eras trained himself and these six others into becoming warriors as well as priests.

After seven years' worth of training, Kerhay declared he was ready in his task. During these years, the other priests had declared him mad, seeing battle unsuited for holy men. When Kerhay arrived to them, however, Ârginnâs himself gave his sign of favour to the former Archbishop.

A tome appeared in a flash of light in the middle of the bishops' gathering room. This tome was empty, save for its first page, where were written seven names, along with locations. Kerhay declared that Ârginnâs wanted the church to search for the men identified there and give them the same education he and his friends had.

Kerhay founded the Order of Paladins (after the Elven word Paldain, meaning 'protector'), which still serves as the military arm of the Church of Ârginnâs. Even today, every seven years, seven new names appear in the Tome of Paladins. The young named are sought out and trained. The Paladins serve as the ultimate testimony of the human race's faith to Ârginnâs, and have time after time proved their forth in the battlefields of the growing lands inhabited by men.

The Southlands:

During the wars of Werania and the necromantic uprisings, mankind kept exploring the other southern lands. They met even more peoples that they didn't know before, like the naga, hisherians and three more empires of trolls. However, in the eastern shores of the Great Sea stood two nations that stood as more important than any other of these new discoveries: Ash'Kalar and Gargannol.

Ash'Kalar was the jungle homeland of the goblins, a race that had been known before, but that had not been considered capable of forming a working society. In the deep jungles, however, the goblins lived highly liberal lives, extremely well-versed in arcane sciences and mechanical engineering. The goblins were ruled by a king, who was watched over a multitude of nobles, who could prevent the monarch from abusing his power.

Goblin and man slowly became allies. Not because of personal trust or liking the other, but because of mutual benefits. Wizards of north were academically interested by the sorcerors of the south, and the generals of the human armies immidiately saw the help the goblin trebuchets would have on their conquests. The goblins, on the other hand, knew well what had happened to the other lands men had arrived to, and realised how much such a powerful ally would gain to them.

South of Ash'Kalar was the mountainous region of Gergannol, the homeland of the Gerganni Orcs. Men, remembering the stories of the green brutes who had lead the Gnolls against them, advanced carefully to meet the orcs. To their surprise, they only met friendliness in the Gerganni, who shared the human hatred against the trolls of the mountains and in fact proposed a military alliance to fight the trolls.

The Gerganni people were composed of half a dozen clans, united under the rule of an emperor. Each time an emperor died, each clan chose a candidate, who fought for the position in a tournament. A number of goblins also lived in Gergannol, having moved there from Ash'Kalar many years ago. They served as the alchemists, doctors, scientists and sorcerors of the nation. After being told the legends of the council of orcs, the Gerganni told they knew of the council, but refused to share their location.

The Gimraddian rulers were at first very aggressive against these newly discovered nations, but later softened after both Gergannol and Ash'Kalar refused to help Emperor Farnus in his independence war. What was seen as a sure war between greenskins and pinkskins turned into a loose relationship of military friendliness, with the northern and souther peoples fighting against the naga and trolls of the shores of Lake Weran together.

The Current Situation:

A couple of hundred years after Werania became a confederacy, a dozen hostile human armies appeared in Sateka, carrying the green flag of Ramgrove. The armies sieged the major towns of the area and proclaimed they had come back to take what rightfully beloned to their king, Sabian Ramgrove XIX. The nine nations of Gimradd sent embasssadors to tell that the Oakscythes had lost their power centuries ago, but the Ramgrove armies told they still deserved the land they had lost.

Around Harnec also appeared warbands of orcs, flying the banner of the Council that had lead the Gnolls to attack Gimradd. They were much more subtle about their methods than the Ramgroveans, seeming more interested in seizing different kinds of resources than actually fighting anyone. Like the Ramgroveans, they were immensely secretive about their place of origin, favouring suicide to being captured alive. It remained a mystery to everyone where these enemies came from.

The leaders of Harnec's human nations sent armies to fight these hostile forces, but could not ignore yet another problem that had appeared wihin a decade all around Harnec. Among all human nations sprouted a cult called "The Dark Palm", which drew bored peasants and corrupt politicians into it and spread darkness amongst the nations of men. The Paladins and wizards teamed up to hunt the Dark Priests and Necromancers (who seemed to dominate the cult together), bringing the separate pieces of humanity together.

This is Where our story begins....

I wrote an original version two years ago, re-wrote it within the last month. Some of the original, "sloppy" writing is still there, you can probably spot it.

Anyways, discuss.

[Lon-ami]

Oh my god...

Very good.

Anyway, looks like cool. Now write some books, and you'll get a good universe.

Only one thing: If you ever become famous with these story, don't fall into darkness! Don't destroy the universe...

[Kerrah]

Oh my god...

Very good.

Anyway, looks like cool. Now write some books, and you'll get a good universe.

Only one thing: If you ever become famous with these story, don't fall into darkness! Don't destroy the universe...

Of course not!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to my business talks with Vivendi Games...

*evil laugh*

edit: On a serious note, thanks a lot for reading.

[Omacron]

I'm not "TLDR"ing, but I didn't read the whole thing, I plan to come back to it.

Gimradd doesn't sound very "elfy" to me, though. Sounds like a dwarfish word.


Also funny, is that the main storyline of my own world is about a magically fueled civil war, though instead of wanting to enstate magic, the war is against people who want to scientifically analyze it and people who want to retain the mystery.

[Wulfang]

Your world does have a lot of potential and the history you've laid for it is really interesting. I wish you the best of luck for this project of yours and, as I've said before, I hope you continue to post information like this about your world ;)

[Kerrah]

Your world does have a lot of potential and the history you've laid for it is really interesting. I wish you the best of luck for this project of yours and, as I've said before, I hope you continue to post information like this about your world ;)

Thanks.

Originally (maybe even now) Harnec was just an Azeroth copy. I've changed a lot of stuff since then, though many of the Warcraft-inspired things is still there.

[Omacron]

Yeah, I didn't add the steampunk and programming elements to my world until my friend told me "Your world is just a higher fantasy Pern that doesn't suck".

[Kerrah]

Having elves extinct really works to unique-ify the world.

[Lon-ami]

No elves. No annoyance.

[Omacron]

Having elves extinct really works to unique-ify the world.

The joke in my universe is that every family of elves calls themselves a different subspecies, even though there's really only 1 elven species and 2 species which have similar genetic modifications.

[Kerrah]

The joke in my universe is that every family of elves calls themselves a different subspecies, even though there's really only 1 elven species and 2 species which have similar genetic modifications.

That sounds like a very funny joke.

Ha-ha-ha.

...

But on a serious note, post some info about your world some day.

[Omacron]

That sounds like a very funny joke.

Ha-ha-ha.

...

But on a serious note, post some info about your world some day.

I've resigned to write a whole short story set in this universe during the Christmas break and then flesh it out into a novel over the summer, and since I have connections in the publishing biz, it shouldn't be hard. I'm torn over telling the story of Flux or finishing "God Damn the Lone Wolf", which is about a man turning into a serial killer as told by the man.

[Kerrah]

Ryan Sohmer, the writer of "Least I Could Do (www.licd.com)" and "Looking for Group (www.lfgcomic.com)" has requested Fantasy and Sci-fi authors to send him examples of their writing. He is looking for somebody to collaborate on his oncoming novel!

*jumps up and down*

[Omacron]

Incidentally, I've decided to finish my first short story on Teirnue over my christmas break, so I might send this guy a sample, too.

[Kerrah]

BUMP!Chapter One,
Sunrise


Haykan stood still, letting the light pouring from the sky flow past his straightened hands and feet. The sun kept throwing its warmth at him while dangling low above the mountains. Haykan couldn't remember ever being so absolutely relaxed.

On the other hand, it did lower the value of his current relaxation that it was caused by his staying awake since the sunset before this one. He was so tired he could have fallen asleep there, standing with his limbs spread out, if he hadn't been on duty.

Remembering that he wasn't paid to daydream, the young man leaned down and filled the buckets with water.

Back during his childhood, such a long time ago, Haykan had come to this spring during the summers to swim. Few knew of the place, which is why he and his friends called it their secret pond. After they had swam as much as they at that time felt like, the children had lain on the grass and told stories to each other. Stories about wars of the distant past, fables about brave knights fighting vicious trolls or paladins defeating evil wizards.

One of Haykan's friends had been different in his stories than others. His father owned the small book store in the town, and he had heard many more stories than the others. However, he had not been content in narrating the ones as he had heard them, but he had mixed them to create his own ones. Some times multiple small ones would parallel and create a larger entity.

However, Haykan had also visited the spring on his own once or twice. It had always been a place of nigh divine silence and peace to him. When Father Hayton had told the people in church about how the Nameless God had created the world of Harnec in the middle of darkness, the young Haykan had always imagined that this spring was where it all had begun.

Perhaps He had first created the rock, then a small hole in the stone, and then the water flowing from within. And maybe then He had created the pond to gather the flowing water, and the small cleft in the ground to transfer it forward.

After all of this was done, perhaps the Nameless God had watched around himself and thought that the spring was terribly unprotected in the middle of the empty terrain, and created the forest of trees to surround it. And then, since the forest looked so alone, He had risen the tall mountains around it. Since the ring of stone fangs surrounding the newborn valley of Gimradd looked so unnatural, maybe He'd risen the single lonely mountain in the middle of it all.

Haykan gave a sigh as he lifted the buckets up from the water. It truly was a shame he couldn't stay for any longer.

The young man stood up and started taking wobbling steps back into the camp. The autumn leaves flew around him, harassed by the warm southern breeze. Suddenly a voice caught his attention and made him stop. He had moved in forests for all his life and recognised the sound of a snapping twig when he heard one. Someone was watching him from the bushes.

Haykan lowered the buckets into the ground (as fast as he could without spilling water) and turned around to face the noise. He couldn't see anyone, but forests were full of good hiding places, so he started taking swift steps towards the bushes. He saw no panicked movement, or any movement at all.

When the young man arrived to the bushes, his suspicions were confirmed. The leaves on the forest floor were obviously disturbed within the last few minutes and he could even find a largish broken twig, but there was no sign of the direction this spectator had taken after being spotted.

Shaking his head, Haykan turned around and walked back to the water buckets, idly making sure his sword was loose in its scabbard. As he lifted the buckets back up, he took a moment to watch at his reflection from the water.

He would probably never get used to seeing himself in the hardened leather and chain mail of the Tas'Eras Regional Army.



Nothing out of the ordinary happened during Haykan's return to the camp, and nor was there even any hint that he was still being followed or watched. After some time of walking, he decided to forget the whole thing. It was probably just one of the kids from the village, wanting to catch a glimpse of a real life soldier. Even if it wasn't, he was too tired to care.

At long last he arrived to the entrance of Hartbog Mine, which was surrounded by tents and barricades of the army. Haykan had now been in the army for six weeks, most of which had had been spent hunting for a pack of wolves that had killed a farmer's sheep and answering to seemingly false reports of trolls. Four days ago, however, the reports' veracity had been confirmed, when a patrol of soldiers, passing the mine, had been attacked. The men, though outnumbered, had gotten away and called for backup.

The local major's first attempt to march into the mine with a few units had been disastrous; Five men, the major among them, had died before his second-in-command ordered a retreat. The surviving men had told that the entrance was full of traps, some of them magic. After this, most of the troops in the district, Haykan's unit among them, had been called in for help.

It was still unclear what the trolls wanted. It had been close to five hundred years since the great troll empires of the north had been destroyed and trolls had lived far on the mountainsides, out of man's way, ever since. While trolls and men still saw each other time to time, most of the troll villages were unreachable without their long and agile limbs. In addition, most of them seemed to prefer high places over valleys and plains, which was why it was so strange that they had came all the way down into Gimradd.

The Great Valley had always been the cradle of civilisation in the middle of barbaric lands. Millennia ago it had been the elves, and now men, who lived there. Before human kingdoms had claimed the entire valley to itself, part of it had been inhabited by trolls, but it was common knowledge that they wanted the land for themselves out of greed rather than need, since they could live high in the mountains, unlike men.

It wasn't hard to explain why the trolls had chosen to hide in the mine, for they liked, in addition to the high mountainsides, dark caverns. Neither was it unheard of for them to travel down into Gimradd. However, if all the recent sightings had been true, there were more trolls in that mine than in any one place in Gimradd during the last few hundred years. The estimates for their numbers moved anywhere between five and one hundred.

Haykan let his gaze sweep over the tents and thought that the army had overreacted; Even if there were a hundred trolls, they were outnumbered at least three-to-one. In addition, Commander Othoa had told the troops he had been ordered to wait for something. What it was, the soldiers could but fathom. There was no need to wait, trolls didn't even use armour and rarely had metal weapons.

Shaking his head, he went on into the camp. Did it matter if the army was overreacting? Nobody would miss a few hundred soldiers for two or three days, especially in Gimradd, where little skirmishes like this were the only situations in which the army was needed. It was better to worry than to later be sorry, as his mother had often said.

Haykan finally arrived to the cook's tent. He lowered the buckets into the ground and gave a shout of confirmation to the chef. After he got a reply, the young man turned around and started making his way to the tent he slept in. His eyes could hardly stay open any more. Haykan gave a mighty yawn as he arrived there. Karl sat next to the entrance, polishing his sword.

Karl was one of those friends with whom Haykan had swam in that spring in his childhood, as well as his reason for joining the army. When Karl had been young, he had read a book his father owned that told about the great war of Werania, and had ever since wanted to be a solider. As the years had went by, Haykan had decided to follow his friend's footsteps, though for different reasons.

His friend saw the army as a way of defending his homeland and experiencing a small spark of that glory he'd read about so long. Meanwhile, Haykan himself didn't believe they'd get either, but was more interested in the relatively high wages. After a year or two of service, he'd have enough in store to start his own business in some city.

The only thing they both agreed on was that the uniforms would prove useful when they got their time off.

Haykan sat next to his friend, who sighed. "This is exactly what I dreamt about," he said sarcastically, "polishing some smith's handiwork, wondering if it'll ever actually do any damage to an enemy of my homeland."

Haykan yawned again and repeated the question he'd asked a million times during the last year: "If you want action and danger, why didn't you join the foreign troops? You'd get to travel half a world away, into South Werania, and fight trolls and orcs and those snake people?"

Karl leaned back and gave the same answer as usual: "I don't support invasions."

"And why do you admire the generals who conquered the others parts of Werania?"

"That was a different time. North Harnec was running out of room and food, while the southlands were practically uninhabited."

"And that explained why the Weranians had to be defeated in battle and put under our taxes?"

"Weren't you tired just a moment ago," said Karl, avoiding the subject.

Haykan didn't even answer, but just staggered into the tent and started undressing. After a time that could not have been what it usually took for him to take his armour off, he finally fell into his sleeping bag.

His mind turned off the moment he hit the bunk.



The absolute emptiness of sleep ended suddenly when a voice yelled: "Let us pray, men!"

Haykan scrambled around for a moment until he got out of the sleeping bag and got to peek out of the tent. The soldiers were in formation around the entrance of the mine, with weapons in their hands and ready for battle. In front of the first row stood a man Haykan at first mistook for Commander Othoa. It did not take many heartbeats, however, before he realised his mistake. This stranger was dressed in an armour that seemed to be woven of gold and silver, he had long white hair, a short beard and was carrying a magnificent jeweled claymore carved with elven runes.

A Paladin, Haykan realised. Commander Othoa had been ordered to wait for a Paladin to lead the assault.

The man lifted his sword high in the air. "Ârginnas Darkbane," he howled, "bless us, as we march against this shadow of unholiness. Give us strength to repel these thieves and invaders, like you yourself were blessed by the Nameless God!

May your fire be our beacon, and your voice our guide!

Harnec vilaun eteckra luke oun."

Haykan saw clearly, how the Paladin spun the ring in his finger a full spin around. It was a ritual that every Ârginnaist repeated after a prayer. Behind him, every soldier repeated the last sentence and spun their own rings. "Harnec vilaun eteckra luke oun," or 'may Harnec live forever under thy light' in Elven.

The Paladin stood still, adamant, like the mighty marble statues in Tas'Eras. An unexpected wind flew his hair back.

The Paladins were the champions of Ârginnas in Harnec. They were the hand and weapon of the Church, and often worked as army commanders during wartime. A common rumour insisted they knew where they were needed by listening to the voices of the gods themselves.

Haykan had never before seen a Paladin, and had always suspected the stories were exaggerated. However, on that moment, with his eyes glued on a man who seemed to define nobility and piousness, standing before the army, ready to march into a mine that had already claimed the lives of soldiers, Haykan realised all the stories must have been true.

And then that moment went past and the Paladin marched into the cave, followed by over two hundred men.

There's a very early beta version of my future book's first chapter. Wrote it for my Literature course about creative writing, and translated it yesterday.

[Omacron]

Ironic- spring break just started for me (in New York Spring Break has to coincide with passover) and I had just begun working on the first chapters of Quantum Magic.



My mother met with the president of Dark Horse at comic-con and I spoke to him a little bit about my fantasy universe (very, very briefly). He seemed interested. Perhaps if I ever become at least a moderately successful author I could turn it into a comic series.

[Vicious]

Whoa, nice going there. Who wonder that you could actually make connections in Comic Cons.

[Omacron]

Whoa, nice going there. Who wonder that you could actually make connections in Comic Cons.


Again, my mom's a literary agent, she already has connections. I just reap the benefits.