Ep 199: Alien Encounters with Rich Howard

Throughout all time, and indeed, before time began, there are but two forces that influence all the universe… Form and Chaos. In the timeless ebb and flow between these two forces, the World Egg was created. Just as it was created by Form, it was consequently sundered by Chaos and split in two – creating the Material Plane and the Chaos Realm. Along with this two halves of the universe, so too were created ten Immortals – beings which embodied their respective forces of Form (known as the Primordials) and Chaos (known as the Chaos Lords). These two factions, diametrically opposed at the most fundamental level, thus began their cosmic war. In the fighting, the two halves of the World Egg became separated. While neither the Primordials nor the Chaos Lords were able to kill or destroy one another, the Chaos Lords did manage to gain the upper hand and captured the Primordials into Void Crystals. In an ironic punishment, they banished them, still trapped in the Crystals, to the Material Plane and set it adrift, separate from the Chaos Realm.

Through force of will, the Primordials were able to create Avatar’s so they could continue to interact with the Material Plane. The war with the Chaos Lord’s was far from over, but for it to resume, bridges to the Chaos Realm had to be created. The Avatar’s set about this work by creating Chaos Nodes throughout the Material Plane. These nodes were sources of great, whimsical, and chaotic power – and from which magic as it is presently known is made possible. Properly interacted with, they also served as gates to the Chaos Realm through which the Primordials could resume their war.

However, these gates were discovered by the Chaos Lords in advance of the Primordials attack, and the Material Plane was preemptively attacked by the agents of the Chaos Lords, wreaking havoc and destruction wherever they went – indeed, ripping at the fabric of existence itself. With literally the universe at stake, the Avatar’s subjugated the mortal races in order to resist the invasion. In the defense, and with the help of the mortal races, a great fortress was created from pure star metal, and thusly named the Star Metal Citadel. With the combined efforts of the mortals and Avatar’s fought the Chaos Lord’s agents to a virtual stalemate, and with a series of perfectly timed and executed attacks, were able to regain control of the Chaos Nodes, stabilize them, and seal them… at least for the time being.

With the immediate threat nullified, the mortals expected to be released from their Avatar master’s bonds. However, fearing another sudden attack, the mortals were left in slavery to the Avatar’s to shore up the defenses of the material plane. Though their individual powers were limited, the mortals collectively had gained a great deal of knowledge about the Chaos Nodes during the war and used them to create a masters of their own choosing – The Celestial Gods.

The Avatar’s immediately retreated to the Star Metal Citadel and began to create new subjects to quell the mortal rebellion. Forged from pure elemental energies, the Dragons were born into the world and the war began in earnest. While very powerful, the Dragons were no match for the Celestial power that the mortals were able to bring into the world. Empowered by their Celestial masters, and constantly uncovering new and devastating weapons, the mortals found themselves able to defeat their Avatar overlords. One by one the Avatar’s were destroyed until only one Avatar remained. Besieged in the Star Metal Citadel, and seething with anger at the insolence of the mortals, a final, petty, and devastating act took place. In a great conflagration of pure evil, the Avatar destroyed itself – shattering the Star Metal Citadel into countless pieces. The energy released corrupted all the Celestials and mortals near it and created a division amongst them – corrupted Celestials became Fiends and corrupted mortals became known as the Horde Races. The victory over the Avatar’s was bittersweet, but the mortals left uncorrupted saw this as a sign – a new beginning to a world they had fought for and won time and time again. They became known as the Chosen races and sought to press their success.

A new war began, one quite devastating between the Celestials and Fiends for dominion over creation and their respective subjects. However, several realizations halted the total war. First, because the Celestials and Fiends were reliant on their respective mortal servants for the powers they had, total war would only decrease the total power left in the world. Second, if the Chaos Lords were to ever return, no matter how ineptly, a weak world would lead to the total destruction of all existence… as such, power, regardless if it was held by the Fiends, Celestials, Chosen or Horde races, had to be preserved. In a disgruntled accord, the Celestials and Fiends created and retreated to alternate planes to continue their war and only fought in the Material Plane in far more subtle ways.

This was the beginning of the First Age. A time of great prosperity and power for the mortals, specifically the Chosen races. Great cities of opulence and wealth were raised, powerful technologies and magics were developed. As the Chosen grew in power, so too did their Celestial patrons and great temples were built in worship, with many large powerful religions developing. As they grew, however, the completion was no longer against the Fiendish Gods of the Horde races as much as it was with one another. Prestige and wealth began to supplant actual religion and the scales of balance slowly began to shift away from the Chosen, who were too preoccupied with obtaining the most lavish relics rather than growing their faith to prepare for future threats from the Chaos Lords.

In time, this lack of focus was their downfall. Cities were raised and replaced by marauding hordes, pacifist temples were now the sites of horrific sacrifices to the dark lords of the Horde races… The Frist Age had ended, and the Age of Darkness had begun as evil conquered and enveloped the land. The Age of Darkness persisted for thousands of years, with irreplaceable knowledge, technology, and magic lost with each passing day. It was all the Chosen could do to eke out meager existences and wait for the opportunity to come where they could regain the advantage.

That day did come, nearly 5,000 years ago. It has been a long a difficult struggle, but the Horde races have once again been driven to the edges of the map or besieged in their subterranean hovels. Once lost magics have been remastered, and while they do not compare to the legends and myths of the First Age, the Chosen races are once again the masters of the world… for now.