Enduwin: Legacy OOC

[Darkmatter]

The First Age
The First Age was the time before before time in which the first life was created, initially by Naduir and then by the other gods. The creatures of this time period were few in variation as many attempts failed, but great in number as successes were repeated. However, in the millennia that have passed since, especially with the moving on of the deities, the creatures of the First Age are in deep decline, both in number and strength.

The first life in Enduwin were massive hulking creatures, before the Nine experimented with different variations. Dragons are considered to be one of the few original forms of life left. Lasair, Tintrayach, Solas and Naduir all had a hand in their creation Ancient as a species, each individual can live for centuries. These creatures ruled Enduwin for the First Age and much of the Other Age. They are now, however, extremely scarce, many have been barbarically killed by younger species whom overwhelm them with sheer force of numbers. The unique qualities of a dragon's scales, hide and bone make them among the best materials from which to craft arms and armaments. This makes the loss of life in hunting them, more often than not, worth it. The few dragons that remain live isolated, individual lives, only ever appearing in groups every two centuries or so for breeding. There have been rare occasions where a dragon has deemed a lower race worthy to work with and enters into a mutually beneficial pact whereby the dragon will wage war alongside them, and they in turn will openly oppose and prevent the hunting of its kin.

Golems are regarded as being Trayig's initial idea of life. They were the design which he first crafted, in his own image. Before committing himself and creating the material needed for their creation, he passed the design to Naduir. It's unclear wether she started with these or her own ideas but they were undoubtedly among the first, and shortly before the dragons. Even fewer golems remain than any of the other large, original forms of life and seeing one is as rare as contact from one the deities in Neyav. The few that remain spend their time buried deep in the sand of The Soul or in the depths of DuFair. Many outcroppings of rock are considered to be golem corpses although only a few actually are.

The Gryphons are one of Tintrayach's creations. When Lasair introduced war to life, the Gryphons were among the first to wage it. They sought to rest control of the skies from their scaled opponents and to dominate the hunting grounds below. Although smaller than other early species, in fact often regarded as the bridge between the First and Other Ages, they had weight of numbers when engaging the dragons. However, their fire spewing enemies were quicker witted and eventually forced peace once again, themselves being dominant. The Gryphons went into decline and held a vehement grudge against the drakes. During the later half of the Other Age, as the dragons' power began to recede the Gryphons' expanded slightly. Now, in the Last Age, with the hunting of dragons, Gryphons have become invaluable partners for would be hunters and often wage war for their allies in return for aide in hunts. While more numerous than Golems or Kraken, they still only number in the few hundred.

Often colloquially referred to as Scáthna Farriga, or Shadow of the Seas, the silhouette of these behemoths, if seen, is likely the last thing a sailor will see before an untimely demise. Lurking deep in the vast depths of the Encircling Ocean, these beasts only approach the surface when food is scarce deeper down. There are not many instances of sighting in living memory but each sighting leaves a lasting impression, as few escape with their lives. One of the few creatures who's origin is in great debate, there is even speculation that Dúv crafted them secretly to spite his mother and stole Naduir's gift from another form of life to give to his own, although this a controversial theory. More commonly believed is that they were an extra measure by Oiyaer to dissuade would be travelers, not fully trusting in her brother Tintrayach

Known as Spioradna Gaoithe, the Roc is another of the great winged beasts. The Spirit of Gweeha, it represented the wind god and was the blue print upon which she designed all other aviary creatures, in the Other Age. The Roc represents Gweeha ideologically, also. The fantastic bird graciously soars high above Enduwin, higher than anything else. The Roc was created to feed as little as possible and to stay aloft for as long as possible. In this role, it provided company for the wind goddess before the Last Age. Today, only a dozen or so Rocs remain, and all are to be found in the Zephyr Plains, carving out an existence in the absence of Gweeha. Occasionally they will venture out to sea and prey on vessels.

The Great Deer is one of Naduir's own designs although the basic concept was originally suggested by Solas. The All-father didn't make much life himself, preferring to observe before it caught on with the others. The FiaMór is symbolic of this and is nothing more than a watchful grazer. These bulky creatures move slowly and purposefully, and nomadically make their way across Enduwin in family groups of a dozen or so, always headed by the largest buck. Roc, gryphon and dragon alike refrain from hunting the FiaMór as within all their cultural memories it has been ingrained that these are Solas' eyes and to blind the god of light would be to blind themselves. This however, hasn't stopped several of the Last Age species treating the timid FiaMór as fair game.

The Other Age
The Other Age, or more casually the age of in-between, was a distinctly discernible time period succeeding the First Age and preceding. This period saw a much greater variation of life than the First and a wider spread of smaller creatures. The mid point of this Age saw the creation of life which is given the broad category of 'animals.'

The 'Lake-hound' as it is known to most is a swift and agile predator both in water and and on land. Created by Naduir and Oiyaer and as a tribute to the All-mother Farriga. The Dobhar Chu hunts in the lakes which are the scattered remnants of Farriga, not cast into the Encircling Ocean. Many fishing settlements in the early years of the Last Age spoke of swimming wolves that would besiege their boats. In the many years since then, such settlements have tamed these creatures and few of these amphibious canines remain in the wild, instead used as fishing aides and pets.

Some think that the Hippalectryon is a refinement on the formula of the Gryphon, however, this is not quite the case. In actual fact the Hippalectryon was created as a bet. Gweeha and Naduir made a gamble with Tintrayach that they could best his Gryphon design. The sisters made a much smaller creature, but in many more numbers than their larger rivals. After the Hippalectryons were made they were brought to Solas who declared the bet void because neither creature was 'superior' as such notions were not Trayig's original intention. Both parties laughed off the gamble. The Gryphon however, despised the Hippalectryon but did not wage war against it, having learnt from their aggravation of the dragons. The Hippalectryon today, is one of the most widely used aerial transport both for message carrying and combat. The Hippalectryons currently number in the thousands.

[Serpentine8]

Right, time to start new conversation!

Subject: Joint histories! (National histories that interact with each other). Besides getting others to think about this, in my history I am going to have a slaver empire that once ruled my land 420+ years ago before the "Chainbreaking Revolution" (Slave/populous revolt followed by aristocratic/military coup) that formed the Republic. I ask if any of the slaver nations would consider being the original rulers of what is now the Glorious Republic.

@DM: How old is this world? What is the acceptable age for a nation? When did the world enter the "Medieval level technology" era?

[The Nexerus]

I'm not a slaver nation, I'm afraid, so I can't talk.

[Darkmatter]

Right, time to start new conversation!

Subject: Joint histories! (National histories that interact with each other). Besides getting others to think about this, in my history I am going to have a slaver empire that once ruled my land 420+ years ago before the "Chainbreaking Revolution" (Slave/populous revolt followed by aristocratic/military coup) that formed the Republic. I ask if any of the slaver nations would consider being the original rulers of what is now the Glorious Republic.

@DM: How old is this world? What is the acceptable age for a nation? When did the world enter the "Medieval level technology" era?

The first two 'Ages' are pretty undefinable, Millenia long each. However, the 'Last Age', the current one started when the Gods left Enduwin for good which was approximately 5,000 years ago, it was as they left that they left behind "civilized" life. So you would have been at hunter/gather/bronze age about 5,000 years ago, and developing faster than humans on earth, you could have entered this 'medieval' era hundreds of years ago, by all accounts.

[Arxia]

Dark, is my timeline acceptable?? It starts about 4500 years ago. (Page 15 if you want to check)

[Darkmatter]

Dark, is my timeline acceptable?? It starts about 4500 years ago. (Page 15 if you want to check)

That's fine. 4000 was an estimate and I've extended it too to 5,000

[Lord Monbodo]

My nation isn't a slaver that would rule over others, but they control land routes through the central jungle. Perhaps one or more powers have arranged safe passage with my people.

[Arxia]

Well my people own some jungle themselves, don't say you have absolute control over jungle...

[Darkmatter]

Ok so since y'all are clambering for a political map, do you guys want something along the lines of the Sraite where circles are used to denote your general area of influence or do you want more defined borders, i.e. sections of land colored to your nation, each approximately equal. I can put up examples of both and let you choose.

[Arxia]

Borders!!! On my NS I have a suggestion for mine.