"When Hero's Rise": RP forum (Open to All)
((The History of Gealan and the Dark War))
Gealan was a prosperous land, filled with green fields, lush forests, and good people. The land was split into three separate provinces, but all was well between the three lands. Belairio; the human land, was the largest province in Gealan, followed by Famelrahd; the elven land in the east, then Galvar; the dwarven lands to the north west, deep in the Collum mountains. There were of course other races in Gealan: Centaur, Faries, Gnomes, and Halflings; who all lived in harmony with others.
There was rarely ever a dispute between the different races, but when there was, it was usually about the amount of crop space the Halflings had taken for there village, or the amount of trees the Humans had cut out of the Famelrahd forest, or other things of that nature. All of which were easily remedied with a few days of discussion between the opposing parties, with a mutual judge to decide the outcome.
Of course, not everything was fine and dandy in Gealan. There was the ever present crime in the cities, and there were races in Gealan that would cause a stir every once and again, such as Minotaurs, Orcs, and Goblins. That's not to say that everyone one of that race was bad or evil; there were quite a few good natured Minotaurs living with there cousins, the Centaurs; and there were many Orcs working in the ship yards along with humans and elves. Not nearly as many Goblins were good, but there were a few. But even then, with the occasional looting band of Orcs, or the drunk horde of Goblins, these races liked to stay to themselves, hidden away the huge Dark Forest, the "evil", scarcely traveled forest at the base of the Collum Mountains. That is, they stayed to themselves before the invasion.
300 years ago, hundreds of ships stormed the port city Tibus, which was also the capitol city of Belairio. The ships were maned by Orcs, Goblins, and evil Men; and upon seeing this, every evil race in Gealan came out of their holes to join this invasion army. It took only 1 month for this invasion army to completely take over Tibus, and with the help of the "new recruits", all of the main cities in Gealan were engaged in war within the year. For 2 years the armies battled for control, yet no one knew where this invasion army had come from, or who was its leader. It wasn't until far into the third year of fighting, that the skies were blackened over Tibus by the wings of a huge dragon.
There had been tales of dragons in Gealan history, hundreds of years ago, but never had one been seen by anyone that was still alive. The dragon, along with its rider, who was only ever identified as the black speck that sat behind the dragons head, began a long reign of terror. For 30 years, the dragon and its master laid waste to the land, and were unopposed.
After 33 years of pain and suffering, the Gealanian people came together to fight. Who knows why it took so long for the races to come together. Some would say that the kings of the races had to much pride to ask for help. Others would say that the kings were under a spell, and were not allowed to lead their people. This theory was more widely believed, only because when the good races came together, each army had a mage at its fore front. Where mages came from, no one knew, but they were powerful, and all of the kings would later write that it was only because of them that they were able to come together.
There were four sorcerer's; one of fire, one of water, one of air, and one of earth. The one of fire was fierce, and helped train the good races to fight with tenacity. The mage of water stayed with the kings and captains, giving sound advise, always remaining cool and collected when the camps were ready to burst with anticipation. The mage of air began working on giant engines of war. Using not but her hands, she would bring cyclones into the camps carrying logs which were in turn made into giant devises that launched huge sharpened logs like arrows, and boulders, into the enemy lines. The earth mage was a hulking man who carried a giant hammer. He was soon taken as the standard for the army, as they now felt as big as he with their new found strengths.
The two giant armies clashed a final time on the plains of Alesea, in the northern lands of Belairio, and there, the four mages, on the backs of griffons, went to battle with the dragon. It was a long fight, a fight that lasted days high above the battle field. At night, men would stand outside their tents and look up in the sky, only to see flashes of fire and lighting.
On the third day of fighting, the air rang with a roar that some would later write "sounded like the gods themselves had torn open the heavens and screamed for the fighting to stop". For a minute, nothing happened, but then it began to rain blood, giant droplets of blood. Then to the south, the hulking body of the dragon fell from the sky, spiraling towards the earth like a giant meteor. Upon seeing this, the evil army retreated. Many went back to the ports, got onto ships and sailed way, others went back to hiding in their dark forest. The army of men, elves, dwarves and other good races rejoiced in their victory, and when the mages returned, hoisted them onto their shoulders, singing them praises and offering them any amount of land, gold, jewels and other such things. The mages only request was food and a bed to sleep in.
After the sorcerer's were rested, they flew to the place where the dragon had fallen; an island in the middle of huge Lake Jorkah in the center of the continent. After making sure it was dead, they burned the giant carcass. The mages then disappeared. For the five years after the invasion ended, the mages were no where to be found. The main cities were rebuilt, and the people of Gealan now had the task of starting anew. But then, word started spreading that four schools of magic were opening, one for fire, one for water, one for air, and one for earth. Of course everyone wanted into the schools, but no one could ever find them. After another year, random people began to get letters; invitations to the schools of magic. With nothing but the letter, and the vague message of what direction to start traveling, the invitees would pack there bags, and begin their journey.
But of course, like most mysterious things, the schools of magic went to the back of every ones mind, and the thoughts of farming and restarting the market came to the fore front of every ones mind. Only the most dedicated people still sought out the schools of magic, and soon, mages began to appear all over Gealan. Some sorcerers helped grow crops by making it rain over just the fields, others helped till the land, by merely raising there hands, and the dirt would turn and crumble. Others helped get rid of the unwanted trash the invaders left behind, by creating spontaneous fires, or lend their fierce nature to the defenses being put up at the edges of the Dark Forest. While more still came flying...FLYING!... into the cities, bringing with them knowledge of giant machines that turned in the wind, using the energy to grind corn and other crops at twice the speed of the normally animal turned machines. It was the beginning of a new life for all of the Gealanian people.