Legend Weaver: History of Panjere

The History of Panjere

In the beginning:

The plain of heaven is empty except for a single gigantic mountain. Alturus comes upon the mountain and climbs to its peak. He surveys the plain of heaven and realizes that he is alone and in a fit of anger and rage tries to destroy the mountain. The mountain shudders under his anger and pieces separate and spread out throughout the plain of heaven to become the stars and planets.

The universe has been created, but its creation has tired Alturus. Alturus splits into two beings and for the first time he realizes that he is not alone and has never been alone. Burgaud looks out over the plain of heaven and sees how great and glorious a place it shall be. Mathia looks out over the plain of heaven and sees the universe and sees how vast it is in its own way.

How long for anger to be spent
For rage to Boil Blood
How long for eyes that see be blind
An instant or an eternity
For a god
It lasted long enough to tire
For us
It lasted long enough to create the universe.

Burgaud erects a huge castle upon the plain of heaven upon the top of the mountain, the mountain that they name as Kordell. The Castle become known as Goodwynn. As Burgaud is constructing Goodwynn, Mathia breaths life onto the worlds that fill the plain of heaven.

Listen Now,
and worship that which is the greatest of all
that which is more powerful than any
for when Altura whispers,
Goodwynn itself shivers,
for nothing can touch the great gods power
when the two become one.

Burgaud and Mathia again unite to become Alturus. They bear two offspring, a male and a female. Each a full god.

Kaminari, Keeper of the Dead
Leya, Keeper of the Law

The birth of a god
Quiet, Serene, Tranquil
A speck in the great hall
Within the mighty castle of the Gods
Not so, the Son or Daughter of Altura
Not so, the bringer of justice or the gatherer of souls
Heaven itself shakes
Worlds rock
in the birth cry
of a god!

The birth of these gods again tires Alturus, who once again splits into the two gods. Burgaud teaches the younger gods of the plain of heaven. Mathia looks at the universe and creates Titans, Fairies, Djinns and a large host of magical creatures that descend upon the worlds of the universe to turn each world into a paradise.

The son and daughter of Alturus test the limits of their power. They create another generation of gods. These gods are known as the Race Gods. The Race Gods each have forms that are variations of their own basic form. Some are taller, some shorter, and some stockier. Some have pointed ears while others have hairy feet. Many Race Gods are created. Some very dark Race Gods are created, twisting the basic form to the point where the viewing will cause a mere mortal to loose his mind.

The Race Gods learn about the plain of heaven and about the universe. To test their power they pick a world and make a male and female version of themselves. These created beings are called the First Ones. The First Ones do not age and are the father and mother of the races. They are very powerful and virtually immortal.

The First Ones live in peace and harmony for eons. Life is very easy within paradise. It is Darkheim that upsets the balance. Darkheim is initially just one of the Race Gods. He, like the other Race Gods creates a male and female “First One” and places them on the world. The names of these two creatures are Demon and Beast.

After many years of life upon the world, Darkheim looks in on Beast and Demon. He is disturbed by what he sees. They are growing soft in paradise. Nothing is a challenge, nothing ever happens. Darkheim talks to Burgaud and convinces him that there should be gods of places and things and that these Gods should be able to roam freely and do as they please upon the worlds of the universe. That this would make the First Ones powerful since they would have to deal with the things these gods would do. Burgaud agrees and creates the Gods of Places and things. These gods are much weaker than the other gods are, but still powerful enough to destroy or create continents. These gods descend upon the worlds of the universe and start to tear them to pieces. This angers the Fairies, Djinns and Titans who put such effort into the making of their perfect worlds. They view Darkheim as the master of the glib tongue as well as the one ultimately responsible. However, they also feel that some of the blame falls onto Burgaud whom they no longer trust since none of them understand why the world has to be such a 'challenging place to live within'. They will no longer bidding of Burgaud and still only ever heed the call of Mathia.

The Titans, Djinns and Fairies made the worlds into paradises. The gods of places and things create chaos. There is conflict between these two groups. The Fairies, Djinns and Titans hate the place gods because they ruin the work of eons. And they hate Darkheim because he was ultimately responsible for the creation of the place gods. The place gods hate the Fairies Djinns and Titans because they see these creatures as weak and frivolous, even though some are very far from being weak or frivolous.

As the First Ones learn to cope with the world, Darkheim’s will is felt throughout the world in whispers and dreams. He teaches the races the secret to bearing children of their own. He teaches them how to harness fire and finally how to make use of magic.

The other Race Gods have had enough. They ban together and demand that Darkheim be forced out of heaven. The Race Gods petition Burgaud and Mathia but before a decision can be reached, Darkheim enters the world of Panjere and states that this is his new home. His touch withers the continent as the world tunes itself to his power. Thereafter his home is known as the Dark Continent. His initial touch corrupts the continent. Plants turn to living stones. It becomes a bizarre place. Darkheim picks the Dark Continent due to the mountain range whose central peak is largest in the world. He creates a castle upon this peak that is a smaller version of the great castle of the gods. He issues an invitation. Any being upon the world is forever welcome within his castle. He says that any that enter the Dark Continent shell have safe passage.

When the First Ones start to bear offspring Mathia grants each child a soul. Burgaud sees this and commands two things. The first is that Kaminari collect the souls and guard over them once the flesh is finished with them. Kaminari travels into the mountain of the gods and fashions a huge dungeon. This is the creation of the lands of the dead, which is sometimes called the dungeon of the dead. The dead go here.

The second decree by Burgaud is that no offspring from Darkheim’s First Ones should be granted a soul. This would be Darkheim’s punishment since Darkheim himself shunned heaven. Mathia tells Kaminari that he cannot have all the souls that come to the lands of the dead, she will from time to time take souls and place them back into the bodies of newborns. When the other gods find this out they too demand that they may take the occasional soul. Mathia says that this cannot be so the gods seek out Burgaud and receive permission from him to do this. At the bidding of Mathia, this is later rescinded. Although outlawed the lesser gods will take souls from time to time. Although not always the case, the Gods generally take a soul in order to make a Ben–Sidi, a messenger of the gods.

Darkheim responds to Burgaud’s decree by teaching Demon the ability to corrupt. To Beast he grants the ability of mutation. With these abilities, Beast and Demon produce offspring of their own. Offspring that are different but with one thing in common, none have a soul. This is the basis of Monsterkind; the aberrations produced by beast may be powerful or weak, small or large, smart or stupid. All have one thing in common; they do not have a connection to the divine that is granted by having a soul.

Over the eons, Beast and Demon produce hundreds of offspring. These 'children' are the beginners of the races that make up Monsterkind. Demon is disturbed by the fact that her offspring do not have souls and none really look as they do. Beast tells her that Darkheim knew that this would one day disturb her and that she should steal a male and female child from one of the other races. Demon would then be able to use Darkheim’s gift of corruption to make these two children her own. Beast even has the children picked out, ones that would 'survive' the process of corruption.

Demon enters the lands of mankind and steals a male and female child. She kills the mother of one child as she does this. Fairies learn of the kidnapping, and allow the parents of the children to see what tortures are being bestowed upon the children as Demon Corrupts their form. The parents seek revenge. The Fairies convince the parents that the children are beyond the parent's help but that the fairies are willing to end the children's suffering if the parents are willing to reek revenge on the creature that actually stole the children. The parents agree and are told that it was Beast that stole the children.

With the aid of the fairies, the three surviving parents enter the Dark Continent. They find and kill Beast. Darkheim himself enters the room to see Beast on the floor at the feet of the humans. Darkheim’s anger explodes as the Fairies whisk the humans away to safety. But two of the three are burned by Darkheim’s rage. The first is so horrible burned by Darkheim’s anger that despite healing from the fairies, his skin remains black. The second is also burned but not to the extent of the first. Once healed, his skin becomes yellow. The third is unharmed. None of the parents ever learn that the fairies do nothing to alleviate the suffering of their children.

Demon learns of Beast’s fall and weeps with Darkheim. She swears that the humans shall pay for what they have done. She shall teach the human children the art of corruption. And the only ones that shell be the brunt of the power will be the humans. She produces the first of Demonkind. Other Race Gods watch what Demon does and bestow the gift of corruption on their own creations. The creation of Devils now comes into being.


When the wind stops blowing
and the heart is calm
Listen Closely to the sound that travels on the still night air.
It is Darkheim
his cry carries forth
carried through the centuries.
Hear his anguish
hear his pain
for it is this sound that the world shall hear
as the last of the Children Fall.

Darkheim is furious and weeps tears for a thousand years. The tears flow down the mountain and eat the rock to form inland seas within the dark continent. As his tears subside his anger again begins to grow. The world shudders.

Leya has seen the events and has foreseen the end of the universe and of heaven. She states to all the gods. 'The end of all our work now takes place; the destruction of the universe and of heaven. Darkheim. Stop now. I present to you and to the rest of the Gods the Book of Law. The book that we, the gods must live by, for if we do not, it ends now.' She allows Darkheim to share her vision of the future, of the battle as gods take up sides and tear heaven itself apart. Darkheim’s eyes narrow as he considers. He says, 'very well, I shall abide by your book. Armageddon does not happen this day.'

With Leya and Darkheim in agreement the rest of the gods look towards the book of laws and find that they too agree with the idea that the gods themselves need a source of rules that will allow them to live by. The gods band together and each imbues the book with a tiny bit of their power.

Darkheim now looks about the world and swears to the plain of heaven itself. 'Very well,' he says. 'I will not seek to avenge the death of my Son directly, but I swear that Demon shall control the world even while abiding by the laws set forth in the Book of the Gods. For the loss of Beast Demon will kill the last of the First Ones that live on this world in a war that starts today and shall not end for twenty thousand years. Beasts sons and daughters shall inherit Panjere.'

At this, the other Race Gods take action. A great sword appears and severs the Dark Continent from Aikiva. The seas and oceans around the Dark Continent begin to froth as traitorous reefs and areas of continual storm rage. Darkheim laughs and says; 'One day all the world will belong Beast’s children alone. But know this, all are still welcome to my castle but must now cut a swath through the sons and daughters of Beast to reach it.'

Recent History

Following is a time line that lists the major events in the history of Panjere. There are many more (relatively) minor events and wars against monsterkind, where the hordes have been defeated and pushed back. The occurrences listed below are the more catastrophic events and battles that have taken place between the races and monsterkind.

    Year    
–18000
Darkheim Awakens and swears revenge on The Children. The 20,000 year war begins.
Monsterkind is populating the Dark Continent, as all of the races spread out from Akiva to populate their respective areas of the world. The Nagis begin their exploration of the seas and oceans of the world as the rest of the races explore the lands.
–17500
The birth of the first mortal fairy takes place so the race deity Flit annexes Risa (from North Aikiva) and uses creation magic to protect the fairy populations that will one day thrive there.
At about this time the Ankt god instructs its children on the fortification of Brynn. In addition, Ankt contacts KyRon who becomes the first human priest for the god.


Fortify.
Fortify...
Fortify!!!!
Brynn must be protected.
It must stand against the horde.
Start your colonies along the coast
and expand to protect the heart.
Not one of Darkheim's creations,
Not one of Demons Corrupted minions
must be allowed to stand unchallenged on our shore.
For our shore will be the last bastion of defense
and the last hope for the world.

    Year    
–17000
The Elves use creation magic to create their magical kingdom. Although the Elven kingdom includes the lands of Carita, Ghita, Lida and Hosea, only the lands of Ghita, Lida and Hosea are changed by the magic. The land of Carita becomes known as the outer kingdom as the other three lands become known collectively as the inner kingdom.
–16500
The Nagis empire blooms into a great ship building empire. They explore and map the world and even manage to successfully sail their ships to and from the Dark Continent. The one land that is denied to them is Brynn.
–16000
The Nagis is hired by monsterkind to transport a large invasion force to the mainland. Once on the mainland some of the forces head North and some head South along the mountainous coast. The bulk of the force heads through the pass towards the (at that time) fairly small city of Constantine. The city's leader sacrifices his soul to give the city the eternal wall; the wall that will not be breached until the Armageddon. The city is saved and the horde is repulsed. But now monsterkind has a foothold on the main continent.
–16000
to
–13000
Monsterkind spreads out on the main continent. It hires the Nagis (who are now known for letting the genie out of the bottle) who are contracted to give passage for various groups of monsters to some of the more remote spots on the continents. Over the next 3000 years monsters set up colonies on the continents of Uta, Eir, Tyrus, Eira, Rog and on the Western Edge of the Marara and Kalli mountains. Their populations grow over the period to the point where open warfare between the monsters and the races takes place.
–12000
The war with monsterkind rages. Tyrus and Eir are controlled by monster populations. The races learn of Demon's two children; Drakow and Uropa, and learn to fear and respect the two as Darkheim's greatest generals. Drakow leads a huge force through South Aikiva and then on through Central Aikiva. Their intent is to hit Constantine from the west when a second horde, led by Uropa, comes through the Aikiva Pass to hit Constantine from the East. Darkheim wishes to control the Aikiva Pass by removing Constantine as a block. The plan would have succeeded except for the combined Leonid and Lazinar force that reaches the west side of Constantine, just ahead of the horde. With the city under siege, and hanging on by a thread, Elven armies from Carita, Trock armies from Wyda and Dwarven armies from Taryn combine to attack and utterly destroy the western horde. With the destruction of the western portion of their army, the eastern horde returns to the Dark Continent, fighting a retreating battle through the entire Aikiva pass as well as the Sword Thrust Straight. The civilized lands are safe for a time. Both Drakow and Uropa escape unharmed, learning from their mistakes.
–10500
The war again rages against the monsters. Their plan is the same as that used fifteen hundred years earlier except that now secondary forces are sent off the main force to slow or stop any armies that might be sent from Oryna, Hermosa, Carita or Wyda. Constantine is besieged and in desperation, humanity can see but one way to save Constantine. Knowing that the Elves used creation magic to create their magical kingdom, the ruling council of Constantine decides to use creation magic to remove the horde. Their attempt succeeds but also fails in the most horrible way. The creation magic destroys the horde but continues on in a wall of magical fire that spreads out to pass over the entire surface of the world. What took thousands of years to build is destroyed in a few seconds in what is known as the first great purging. Vast tracks of land are laid to waste and all of the worlds civilizations return to a stone age condition. The Elven Inner Kingdom fairs better than most, mainly due to its magical nature. With the destruction of the outer Kingdom, Inner Kingdom Elves decide to restart their calendar at this point.

Sky of Blue
Grass of Green
Run, Flee, Hide, Burrow into the ground,
Leap beneath the water...
or find sturdy structure.
For if you don't
When the great fire comes
kneel and pray
kneel and pray

    Year    
–10500
to
–8000
The worlds civilizations crawl out of the dark ages. The worlds cultures recover, old knowledge is rediscovered and there is peace in the world for a period of time.
–8000
The worlds civilizations met Darkheim's creations and the fighting resumes. Monsterkinds position starts out relatively weak compared to the other civilizations found on Panjere. The presence of monsterkind is removed from all the lands of the world save for the Dark Continent and isolated positions within the Taryn Island chains and the western edges of the Marara and Kalli mountain ranges. Humanity even mounts assaults against the Dark Continent itself and set up several settlements upon that continent.
–8000
to
–6000
The war against the monsterkind reaches a 2000 year stalemate. The civilized centers of the world cannot mount an assault large enough to wipe the hordes from the Dark Continent but neither can monsterkind find a way off their continent except through the Aikiva pass and Constantine. The human settlements that were within the Dark Continent are officially declared destroyed by the end of this time. A few of the settlements actually survive since the people in them realize that the only way to survive is to change the very nature of the settlement. . .
The races lose the desire to wipe out the threat once and for all. In – fighting among the races starts to deteriorate the alliances that have lasted for so long.
–7000
The temple of Ash and Blood Is erected by the followers of the god Baruk, who enjoys an influential, albeit brief, stay upon Panjere.
–6000
Humanity wishes to use creation magic to strengthen its position against Darkheim's creations. The ruling council of Constantine uses creation magic in an attempt to build a system of forts, roads, and permanent gates throughout the kingdom. After years of preparation the attempt it made. It is only partially successful. It does fill the land with a network of roads, forts and gates, its just that many of the roads go nowhere, most of the forts enter into multi–dimentional areas that are inhabited by creatures of those areas and only a few of the gates seem to go where they are supposed to. Even so, it was generally considered a successful attempt although no one in the world would have called it such had they realized that Darkheim himself had several gates constructed within the Blasted Lands; gates that had direct connections to the lands of humanity. It was a disaster waiting to happen. With a smile, Darkheim has his minions seal up the entrances to his gates knowing that the time to put them to use lies in the distant future.
–5900
to
–5800
The city of Teulane builds its first wall around a graveyard. The corruption of the area in the previous great purging creates a problem with any individual that dies within the city limits. Just befor the end, the dead are simply thrown over high stone walls of the cites graveyards to rest on the corrupted earth of the burial sites. In a single night of madness, the city falls and everyone in it dies at the hands of the undead that escape from the graveyards. The area and city are thereafter shunned, unsafe for any of the races or even for monsterkind.
–6000
to
–4000
Monsterkind gains more power and presence in the main continent. They have colonies and control area's on every continent except Brynn. In fighting among the races allows this to happen. In the Dark Continent Darkheim and Demon both aid in the growth of the monster population.
–4000
Darkheim finally views the time as right. He orders his monsters to attack. At the same time he opens the gates created in the first attempt by humanity to use creation magic. The trap is sprung and humanity is taken by complete surprise. The system that was meant to aid humanity against the horde, allows the horde to sweep forth and conquer vast tracks of land in a matter of a few weeks. The horde pours through from the Dark Continent, sweeping all of man's armies from their path. Monster kind attacks Constantine though the Prin pass. South Aikiva is the first area to fall to the horde. Central Aikiva falls shortly afterwards. Humanity views the situation as lost. With the horde marching on Constantine and no help in sight, they decide to take the risk of all risks and use creation magic to destroy the advancing armies. They are not in a position to make use of it immediately.
Preparations to use creation magic will take several months; humanity does not know nearly enough to do what must be done. While preparations are going on, the Elves learn of the humans desire to use creation magic. Of all the races, the Elves are the only ones that are capable of sending an army to protect the great city of Constantine. Their magical kingdom offered as much protection to them as Darkheim offered to his monsters within the Dark Continent. Humanity refuses to listen to the Elven warnings against the use of Creation Magic and in frustration and fear the Elven inner kingdom declares war on the human empire.
The approaching Elven army is ordered to attack Constantine, to hasten its fall so that its council would not have the time required to activate the creation magic. This was not to be since the horde left its position from around the besieged city and met the Elven army on the battlefield. The battle was fierce and lasted for two days. It would have lasted longer had the human council not finished its preparation and called forth the creation magic.
It is an irony too great for words that Constantine was on the verge of collapse. It would have fallen from a single additional attack from the horde or from the Elven army. A situation that both the Elves and the horde wanted very badly to see. For when the creation magic was released, the results where not as the council hoped. They where far worse than they dared dread them to be. The creation magic destroyed the horde, as it destroyed every gathering of creatures whose gathered numbers where greater than 100. The time of the second great purging had come, and neither the Magic of the Elven Inner Kingdom or Darkheim himself could protect their respective populations from its effects. Entire cities fell lifeless to the ground. flocks and herds of animals were effected as if they themselves had been part of the threat. For the first time, there was no–where one could go, that did not have the smell of death. In addition to this, the creation magic combined with other magic in many areas to produce hideous results.
The undead city of Forlin is created with the second great purging.
The Elves outer kingdom starts its calendar from this purging. Even the sea fairing elves of the Adiva Sea are effected in this purging.

Hush my child
Be good
For those that are not...
die in Forlin or Teulane
where the dead claw at the dirt
and pray for peace

    Year    
–3000
The insanity that took place in the second great purging finally wanes. populations may again grow to beyond 100 individual members. The world and its civilizations begin to recover.
–1000
The Elven city of Erit falls to Monsterkind. It is the first time ever that an Elven city has been attacked by Monsterkind, let alone been taken from the Elves. Although it is a catastrophe that is spoken of in whispers (even to the present day) the Elves do nothing about it.

Present

A lot of the magic that was set up in Panjere's past still effects the planet today. The teleport system found in Aikiva still functions. Monster populations have been cleared from Northern Aikiva but through the second dark ages monsterkind was able to leave the Dark Continent and set up colonies in central and south Aikiva as well as throughout Eir, Uta, Tyrus, Eira, and Wyda. In addition, the monster settlements that started on the western side of the Kalli and Marara mountain ranges have spread throughout the mountain ranges and have even conquered some territory from the Elven inner kingdom. Lastly, the southern section of the Semira mountains as well as the Taryn island chain is completely dominated by monsterkind.

The only continent and species that has managed to avoid virtually all contact with monsterkind are the Ankt . Their continent, Berya, is furiously guarded against any type of ship that might reach its shores (by order of the Ankt god Anzerus). A few Lazinar, in conjuncture with the Nagis have managed to build up trade relations with an Ankt family or two and know the penalty for breaking the ultimate law of allowing a monster to step foot on Berya.

Only a few Lazinar and their Nagis trading partners know of the existence of Berya. It is a well kept secret known only by a few of the most powerful trading families.

Most calendars date from the second purging. The Elves' inner calendar dates from the first purging. All of the civilizations are working out of a dark age. The Elves now have a basic distrust and contempt of humanity since they view them directly responsible for both of the great purging (only the oldest of the Elves (i.e., inner kingdom elves) know that there are two great purging. As the races recover and gain in strength, so does monsterkind. Many areas in the world are contested by monsterkind and the race that originally inhabited the area. In addition to this, most of the world is filled with magic and effects from humanities three attempts to use creation magic.


The World Of
Panjere
Top

Gaming
Main Page
Top

Site
Main Page


Material on this page is copyright David Pemberton 1998