For thousands of years the Elvesh, an ancient race, lived alone on the continent of Eboris. Only conquering and taming the wild landscape for their own benefit. They fought hard to forge a prosperous and peaceful kingdom where they ruled uncontested over the entire continent. However, this reign of dominance would not last, as one day an event known as the Conflict would change the world forever. Simply put, the Conflict was when two different realities collided and merged together. No one has ever known what caused it but the results were immediately apparent. New races of intelligent life suddenly appeared on Eboris, and while none were as advanced or organized as the Elvesh, they had a distinct advantage over their native counterparts: magic. An unknown force that these otherworldly races brought with them, magic proved to be extraordinarily useful and deadly. While there was originally an uneasy peace between the Elvesh and these new races - humans, dwarves, beastfolk, and goliaths - soon war broke out as the new races sought to establish their own territories and empires.
The Elvesh quickly found themselves outmatched by the sheer power and potential held by magic. A human mage could burn down an entire forest or village before the Elvesh were able to stop them. Hopelessly outmatched, the Elvesh turned to prayer. The Elvesh had a history of worshiping the concept of light and purity as something that protects them against the darkness that lay over the untamed world. After centuries of meditation and study Elvesh priests learned to hone their bodies and senses to use the power of the light around them. While this had initially been used exclusively for religious purposes, the emergence of magic necessitated that they seek a counter to this foriegn and destructive force. It is at this time that a Elvesh priest allegedly received a holy vision in which he discovered the ability to purify the space around him with light. This power served to nullify the effects of otherworldly things such as magic. This new found power turned the tide in the war, and while the Elvesh had lost a great deal of territory to the new invading races, they managed to keep their foes at bay and force them to make peace. Thus the First Great War ended, and the mortal races started to build and thrive in co-existence. The humans took much of the land to the south, eventually separating out into multiple different countries and subcultures. The beastfolk spread out across the continent, favoring the lush forests found on the western half, and the goliaths claimed the isolated hills and mountains. Meanwhile the dwarves found comfort in land just below the surface, where they thrived through mining ore and gems. On the other hand, the Elvesh (now known as elves), had retained most of their land to the north, where they tended to take an isolationist stance towards the other races.
This period of relative peace between the surface races lasted for centuries, until the demon race from below began to stir. They noticed the surface races, particularly the dwarves, exploring deeper and deeper below and felt threatened. They had dwelled beneath in silence for too long and could no longer tolerate the abominations that were surface dwellers. The attack came swiftly and the other races were far from prepared. Just as the elves had created a response to magic by utilizing the natural force of light, the demons created a powerful weapon through darkness. While light allowed for purification, darkness created corruption. Demons had learned how to take magic and distort it’s users, turning them into monstrous abominations. Legends say they also managed to corrupt beasts and non-mages, turning them into servants of the demon horde. By the time the surface races noticed the rash of kidnappings of magic users it was already far too late.
The dwarves were the first to be attacked, as hordes of demons rushed through the since forgotten tunnels that connected their world to the surface. The Dwarvish kingdom of Agrosh was all but wiped out, and its survivors forced to flee to the surface world. They spread the word of the coming attack, of the demon army and their hordes of monsters. Thus began a war unlike any other in the history of Eboris. The forces of all the surface races had to unite in order to combat the demon threat. The army that was created as a result of this alliance was referred to as the Hammer of Eboris. Eventually the surface alliance was able to drive back the demon horde as the elves purified the abominations, the beastfolk rushed to battle in beast form alongside the goliaths and humans and dwarves used magic to overwhelm their foes. The demons had no choice but to retreat deep underground, vowing to return. In response, human mages developed a spell to seal the tunnels for good, locking away demons below the surface forever, or so they thought.
Small pockets of demons had remained on the surface, becoming little more than wild animals over time. After a thousand years the idea of a demon empire below the surface faded to legend, but the demons never forgot about the surface.
The World Today
The current year is 1318 and while Eboris has recently seen two decades of relative peace, the last few years have brought turbulence and conflict. This is in large part caused by the recent interest in ancient magical and holy artifacts that are being discovered across the continent. These treasure troves are being discovered in underground chambers and tunnels and hold riches and weapons that could change the balance of power irreparably. This discovery has functionally created a three way war between the nations of Dascus, Athela, and Tashar who over the last year have skirmished over these artifacts wherever they are discovered. For example Athela and Dascus fought a bloody battle at Eckers, a border city between the two countries, when an underground library filled with texts regarding magic was discovered.
As this spills across the continent, smaller countries have taken sides or involved themselves in the fight. The Eshon Confederacy has sided with Dascus in conflicts with Tashar, as the Confederacy fears that new power and magic granted by these artifacts would embolden Tashar to start a new invasion of Eshon; on the other hand, Tashar has called upon the aid of their allies, the Sartharians, to even the odds. Dascus seeks to study the magical potential and origin of these artifacts while Athela seeks to destroy and censor them altogether. Meanwhile the Freelands have mostly stayed out of the conflict, their only involvement being expelling and refusing any parties searching for these artifacts. The Antoran League and Hercynia have likewise opted to remain neutral, with the latter aggressively driving out any attempts by Tashar to search for artifacts in their territory.
Certain factions have found themselves involved with these artifacts as well. The Bank of Ashar and the Street Crawlers have created a black market for these items, and even some religious factions such as the Knights of Shotarr are seeking them out for their own purposes. The Foresters have entered the fray as well, fighting to ensure that the woods and groves of Eboris aren’t destroyed in the fight for the ancient relics.
This conflict has recently taken a turn after an ancient temple of unknown origins was discovered on the border of Dascus and Tashar. However rather than fighting, the opposing factions have agreed to a temporary peace in an attempt to avoid more bloodshed. A research team has now been put together made of a variety of different representatives. This team is also accompanied by a small fighting force for protection.
Your characters, for whatever reason, find themselves a part of this group. However the expedition will not go as planned and Eboris will soon be thrown into conflict and turmoil like it has never seen before. This begins an epic adventure where players join forces to rebuild the legendary army, the Hammer of Eboris, to unite the warring nations and preserve a future for all mortal kind.
Rules & Applications
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