Ik'th

From Spiritwood Wiki

== The Races of Ik'th == 7 March 2001

Again this is a rough draft, so if anyone has questions, please ask.

Synopsis of the primary races of Ik’th By L. M. Killmaner

There are many legends of the creation of Ik’th and the races which now inhabit its surface. All of these tales, though have a few common threads. When taken alongside the doctrine of the Church of Ik’th. A definite pattern emerges. This pattern goes as follows:

Ik’th was created, along with the other seven children of Isis, from the union of Isis and Ra. After this event Ik’th decided that it wanted to have a race of servitors of some type. This race was to be its great achievement and would accompany it throughout time.

The first attempt resulted in the elves. The elves proved to be inferior, so Ik’th created the dwarves which were shorter lived and lived with nature in a different way. The dwarves also proved to be inferior. At this time Ik’th decided that it would try breeding these two races which is where the halflings came from. After it had established that these were also not correct it produced the gnomes. Then it produced the humans and again attempted breeding all of these races with one another. Somewhere in here the goblinoids and orcs were produced, which when tried also proved inferior. As a last resort Ik’th created an extremely short lived, unnatural race. It created the sarin. When they proved wrong it bread them step by step until it bread them with the elves. This match, which would never occur in nature due to the animosity between the two races, created a hybrid which seemed to appease Ik’th.

Other than in legends the high sarin are unheard of, there are not even myths of them living in some remote mountains, such as there are with most everything else. The high sarin are seen as reminders of a time in which the races were no more than breeding stock. This time was over about ten thousand years ago and most would rather not know about it.

According to the Church of Ik’th shortly after the time of testing Ik’th was going to destroy all of the mistakes. The reason that it did not do this lies in the fact that eight thousand years ago, during the first god-war, Ik’th was killed by Set. The Church claims that they await its return sometime in the next three or four thousand years.

Now we will move on from speculation to the more readily tested subject of the actual races and their characteristics. Each race, that is herein covered, may have a far greater variation than that which is listed. Also there are areas of this world that we have no knowledge of. When possible this manuscript is outlined with the eldest races first and the youngest last.

Elves

All elves are smaller than the average humans of the respective sex. They tend to live for at least seven or eight hundred years. No elf has more hair than that found on their head and eyebrows. Most elves share very finely chiseled features and a near hatred for the sarin. Elves generally have a high aptitude for magic. There are four major classifications of elves: the Syl, the Drau, the Kii’frien, and the wild elves. The first three groups are actually sub races, while the last encompasses all elves that do not fall neatly into one of the first three.

The elves of Ka’moor, known as the Syl, seem to most resemble the original stock as witnessed by the ancient tome dy’Elorae. On average the females never exceed five feet and two inches, while the males tend to reach heights of up to five feet and seven inches. Nearly all Syl are slender with a delicate appearance. Their eyes are generally of a green tint, with a few browns as the exceptions. The Syl all have skin tones ranging from olive to copper, and their hair is generally of a dark hue. The Syl have always maintained a secret language, which they share only with a very few. The Syl enjoy nature more readily than any other race, they are rarely seen outside of a forest or other highly natural setting. There are only a few that have ever lived in cities and none that do now. After the Westreach barrier was opened, and technology began to spread across the globe, the Syl seemed to vanish. In recent years the Syl have been making bold raids against the cities nearing their homesteads. Any incursions into their forests have been met with devastation at their hands.

The Drau, commonly mistaken for a subterranean race, are nocturnal. Their skin tone rarely varies from black, sometimes they possess such a dark tone of skin that it appears to be nearly blue. Their hair is also of a black nature, while their eyes exhibit yellow or orange colors. The male Drau generally stand at around five feet and nine inches, while the females never exceed five feet and four inches. They are far more aggressive than any of their fellow elves, being primarily hunter-gatherers by nature. They rarely form large groups, instead wandering in small numbers. The Drau are known to be scattered across most known lands save for Westreach. They share a common language with the Kii’frien, with only minor variances in the dialects. To the amazement of most scholars, the Drau have shown a remarkable interest in modern technologies. Since the opening of the barrier they have flocked into the cities in order to not only purchase technologies but also to help further the fields of technology and technomagic with their unique perspective.

The Kii’frien, also known as moon elves, appear to be the step between the Syl and Drau. They have grayish skin tones and white hair. Their eyes are usually a shade of green or yellow. The Kii’frien of Ka’moor are the only known elves in which the males and females have identical averages in height, both sexes average five feet and five inches. The Kii’frien cannot be classified as either diurnal or nocturnal due to their utter lack of structure in life. They tend to live off of the land as they can and where they can. Many of them have taken to city life, while others shun it. During two of the Syl raids on Tzade, Kii’frien were spotted amongst the ranks of their cousins. At the same time Tzade had not a few Kii’frien defending its walls. Also the Kii’frien tend to live slightly shorter spans than all other elves, they live no more than seven hundred years.

All over the world there have been many reports of elves varying greatly from these three stereotypes. Many of the sightings have that there are elves that stand over six and one half feet tall living on the island chain far south of Westreach. While others claim that there is what appears to be a half-dwarf, half-elf breed surviving somewhere in the mountains near Farther’s Reach. To this day it has not been established whether any of these rumors are authentic. It should be noted, though, that the Reachers are descended from a now extinct breed of elves, called the Ooriniae closely resembling the Syl. The major difference was that they tolerated humans far better than the Syl ever have.

Dwarves

Dwarves typically average four to four and one half feet tall. Dwarves are all quite stocky but are rarely obese. With very few exceptions they have dark eyes and dark hair. Most dwarves, both male and female, are very hairy and quite often grow long thick beards. They generally live for three hundred and fifty years. There are very few dwarves practicing the magic arts, and these usually live far from any dwarven strongholds. They are a boisterous race at times, enjoying foods and drink. While most of the time they appear quite sullen and serious. They usually dislike traveling and interacting with other races, save for when in the act of trade. Dwarves build massive underground cities during the process of mining, which is their favorite occupation. All known dwarves have made a mad rush to buy up any technologies that they can. The Farther’s Reach dwarves have even built a factory to turn out some tools. As far as work, battle, and abilities dwarven societies make no distinction between the sexes. Their monarchies are the only exception to this rule. They always have a king. World wide there are only two sub races of dwarves. The dwarves of Farther’s Reach and the dwarves of the Iron Mountains. All other dwarven communities belong to the Farther’s Reach sub race. In all actuality there are no physical distinctions between these sub races.

The dwarves, collectively known as the dwarves of Farther’s Reach or mountain dwarves, all share allegiance to the king of Farther’s Reach. This position is currently held by Ronal Steelforger the fifth. They have their own language, which consists of rumblings and consonants. These dwarves will not even speak to the Iron Mountain dwarves.

The Iron Mountain dwarves, more commonly called ship dwarves, do not actually live anywhere on Ik’th. They were at one time an off shoot of the kingdom of Farther’s Reach. During the first god-war they took in and protected a small nation of humans. For some forgotten reason a few of the peoples from these races interbreed, which produced sterile offspring. What then happened is not quite clear but they somehow discovered a series of transits that allowed them to travel to the other worlds and beyond. The only drawback was that only a special type of sorcerer could make use of these tunnels. It was then discovered that the sterile offspring of human and dwarf couplings had the highest occurrence of this form of sorcerer. The society of the ship dwarves now consists of a large population of humans and dwarves with a small number of crossbreeds. Once per year they run a lottery and each non-pregnant adult breads with the drawn member of the other race. They all participate because they rarely even produce offspring. Over time the minority, the crossbreeds, came to rule the majority, and today they have a ruling council of only half-dwarves. They are referred to as ship dwarves due to the myth that they live in a ship between the worlds. More than this is not known to any non ship dwarves or humans. Whether or not they even have a distinct language is not known. The only reason that any of this is common knowledge is because they regularly trade valuable materials with a few cities worldwide.

Halflings

While halflings are one of the least populous of all races they are spread all over the globe. It is said that, no matter where in the world you are, if you don’t see a single halfling in a week then Set has turned his stare upon your head. Although the Church of Ik’th claims halflings are the cross of elves and dwarves, no elf will comment on it and no dwarf will accept it. Halflings on the other hand do not care one way or the other. All halflings, or slingers as they sometimes refer to themselves, stand about three and one half feet tall, with the males averaging about two inches taller than the females. They tend to have just as much variance with weight as do humans. Most halflings have darker colored hair and eyes, but there are quite a few exceptions to this rule. Many halflings are very hairy but rarely have much facial hair. There are no known females with facial hair, but many have thick patches covering their bodies. Halflings generally live to be about one hundred and fifty years of age. Of all the races, slingers are the only one that genuinely cares little for wealth or power. Most of them are quite happy if they have a comfortable home and can spend their money on foods and drink. Halflings claim to have a quite distinct language of their own, but this is rarely believed. Either they are very clever in keeping their language hidden, or they simply use this as an excuse for jokes.

Halflings are classified as having only one race, but it helps to note that there are two quite distinct forms of halfling society. All halflings tend to live in or around other races’ cultural centers, rarely forming groups larger than a few dozen. The exception are the, so called gypsyslingers. These halflings form relatively large groups, up to three hundred, which travel all over the world. They are primarily traders, but nearly any occupation can be found in their ranks. They will stay near a city anywhere from a few days to a few years and then move on. They have often been known to take in members of any other race and to lose members of their own to other cultures.

Gnomes

The life expectancy of gnomes is guessed to about two hundred years. Gnomes tend to reach similar heights as halflings, but usually weigh less. Physically they are often remarked as looking like small elves. Their skin tones range from green to brown, making them perfect for hiding in a forest. This suites them fine seeing as how that is where they generally make their homes. Gnomes love nature nearly as much as the Syl, while at the same time loving the finer points of dwarvish live as well. Gnomes have at least two known languages, one of which they have kept secret from all outsiders. Gnomish males are often found in larger cities for the purposes of making purchases or perhaps tinkering. Except for tinkerers there are very few gnomes living outside of their own communities. Gnomes keep their homesteads as secret as they can, and there have only ever been locations for a few on record. All of these known communities vanished shortly after they became known. From appearances, gnomish females are considered second class members of their race and are rarely allowed out of the community. The few females ever seen have been completely shunned by all males. Behind the sarin, the gnomes of Ik’th are probably the rarest of all races. Because of their rarity no one knows whether or not they have any distinct sub races.

The topic of tinkerers deserves further discourse. Tinkerers, as they call themselves, are gnomish inventors and repairmen. Gnomes appear to have a knack for technology. They will set up shops in some cities and will repair all manner of items, while constructing fascinating devices. Although these devices are rarely operable, the few that are by far make up for the rest. It has been quite surprising that the gnomes appear to be shunning technomagic and the advanced technologies of Westreach, the reason for this is unknown.

Humans

Human males average six feet in height and vary greatly in weight. The females tend to be slightly smaller and shorter. Humans rarely live longer than one hundred years. The variances in skin tone, hair and eye color, and general appearance are staggering, and will not be gone into in this paper due to a lack of space. Humans also seem to have as many languages as their are stars in the night sky. The only consistent item which all humans share is their tendency to spread and conquer. Many scholars believe that, if it were not for the sarin, humans would have long ago dominated the world and pushed the other races to extinction. Of course this is also said in reverse of the sarin. Many have said that if our world had not had both the humans and the sarin, the other races would never have learned to adapt to the one that the world did have. As it is there are pockets of humans all across the globe ranging from small frontier villages to the metropolises of the far south. Humans also reproduce far more rapidly than any race but the sarin. Much like their language, the cultures and sub races of humans would be impossible to list here. Most humans tolerate all other races and seem to revel in rivalry for territory, thus all of the pointless wars.

Sarin

Sarin generally stand around the six foot mark the same as humans but have a far wider variance, ranging from as low as four and one half feet to as high as seven and one half. They are nearly always slim, yet very broad of shoulder. The sarin appear as if they were created from reptilian stock. They have scale instead of skin, on their heads, front torso, palms, and feet they have very small and fine scales. The rest of their body is covered by coarse scales nearly half of an inch across. Their scales can be nearly any color found in nature, while most are either a dark green or brown. Sarin do not truly have either noses or ears, instead having four holes in the correct location. Their faces are an extremely smooth oval appearing much like the face of snake stretched upon the head of an elf. They usually have long powerful fingers which they put to good use in their trades of choice. Sarin all love to build, they build structures and items of all types. They rarely even stop to admire their own work before they move on to a new task. The reason for this is that they rarely exceed sixty years of age. The only race that comes close to them in speed of reproduction and spreading rate are the human.

After the last god-war nearly all sarin were killed or enslaved. Within the last century some have been surfacing in the civilized world. It would seem that there may be whole nations of them beyond the known world. Also in the far south there are at least two city-states which maintain large populations of enslaved sarin.

There have never been any divisions in the sarin race. They all maintain a very similar lifestyle and culture. They have no problem, much as many humans do not, with enslaving others. They build massive structures seemingly in defiance of nature and have very strict class systems. If one wishes to learn more of the sarin as a whole, one should study up on the ancient nation of Great Qemet.

Orcs

Orcs are usually no taller than six feet, with no apparent height differences in the sexes. They usually weigh in between one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty pounds, usually tending towards the bulkier end of the spectrum. Their skin is often either a sickly green or dull light brown color, with their eyes and hair often matching. Their hair is quite coarse and straggly covering their body in random patches. The single most distinguishing feature of orcs is not their excessively long arms nor is it low sloping forehead, it is instead the up-jutting tusks that all of the males possess along with not a few of the females. They often have quite feral faces, with broad flat noses and sharp spiky teeth. The reason for their teeth being quite pointed is due to their habit of picking their teeth regularly with sharpened bones. Most orcs live no longer than five decades but a few have been reported to love for nearly ten. These long lived ones are usually of the so-called “domestic breed.”

Most civilized people mistake orcs for being horribly evil and chaotic creatures. In truth orcs form very rigid social structures based off of honor and ability. They are very barbaric but will usually give fair warning before attacking. The biggest problem is that very few non-orcs know the customs of orcs, and thus do not know how to pull out of a confrontation without losing anything.

There are three major variations of orcs. The first and most common sub race are known as the hordes of Ka’and. Members of the hordes usually have extremely strong honor based systems which guide their everyday lives. They never fight without attempting to resolve it some other way first, and usually live far longer than their less “civilized” brethren. The horde orcs have adapted to the desert by having sand colored skin and hair. They have very dark patches of skin around their eyes and very broad flat feet.

The second groups of orcs belong to the sub race known as the barbers, or to other orcs as the fallen ones. These barbers are very brutal and violent. They care little for honor except as a means to produce excuses for battle. Being the least populous orcs they do not pose a problem on a wide scale, although for any people traveling the roads of Ka’moor in small groups they can be quite a nuisance. Most barbers have light brown skin with patches of dark green hair. Their eyes are normally of a darker shade. Barbers also possess tusks which exceed seven inches in length, and sometimes have smaller downward tusks as well. Quite often barber hair is actually used to make exceptional bow strings, usually this is done by horde orcs.

Lastly are the Onyxian orcs, or domestic orcs. The primary reason that they are called domestic orcs is because they often breed with humans and have nearly become extinct. These orcs usually live a little longer horde orcs, because they tend to be slightly less violent and just as honorable. They, obviously, hail from Onyx. Very few of them are ever found in Ka’moor, and most that are seen are within the ranks of the New Onyx guard. Most Onyxian orcs have dark skin and hair with yellowish eyes. And shorter tusks than either of the other sub races. They usually are a little taller and bulkier than the other orcs.

Native Onyxians

Native Onyxians are actually half-orcs, but have become so common that, much like halflings, are now considered to be a separate race. Both of the Onyxian orcs and the Onyxian humans are nearly extinct. Usually they are referred to just as Onyxians, even though anyone under the rule of Onyx is technically an Onyxian. They usually have the variance of build of humans without the longer arms of orcs, but are generally slightly bulkier than a human. Their skin tones are usually dark but rarely green. Their eyes and hair have just as much variance as any group of humans, although they have the coarser hair of orcs. Female Onyxians are slightly smaller than their male counterparts, and usually have softer hair. Onyxians rarely have tusks, when they do they are relatively small. Most Onyxians can easily be mistaken for rather brutish humans, while some few could be taken as very domestic orcs. For further reading on Native Onyxians, one should read “Onyx, a history in perspective.”

Reachers

Reachers, much like the Native Onyxians, are a crossbreed. Reachers are the long time descendants of a now extinct elven sub race and a likewise extinct sub race of humans. The term reacher comes from their homeland of Westreach. They have very widely varied skin tones ranging from a pale tan to a dark olive, a few even have dark brown to black skin. Their hair and eyes can be nearly any human shade, while some have beige eyes and greenish hair. No one yet knows where these oddities originated. Male reachers rarely stand taller than si feet and average at about five feet and eight inches. The females are generally a couple of inches shorter. They are almost all on the slender end yet have smoother features than a typical elf. While some of the men can grow facial hair, it is rarely thick or even full. Most of them have at least a little body hair, but nothing compared to the average human. The average life span of a reacher is around the one hundred and fifty year mark.

The language of all reachers is known as Westin. Westin is quite similar in structure and vocabulary to the Onyx language. They both shared the same parent language which was the world wide common language at the time of the god-war. Most of the time speakers of these two languages can communicate if they try, although some of the more extreme dialects of Onyx are quite incompatible with Westin.

Thoran

The thoran are a nearly extinct race of sentient great-apes. This is one of the very few races ever to be successfully created by anyone other than Ik’th, and they are the only one known to still survive. During the first reign of Great Qemet the thoran were created by sarin wizards to provide the perfect slave race. Thoran are not true bipeds, in that they can only walk upright. They have shaggy brown to black coats of hair, and dark colored eyes. A thoran face is very expressive with large eyes and a very maneuverable mouth. While on all fours their heads can reach a height of seven and one half feet, while when standing they can tower as high as thirteen feet. They generally weigh in at around one quarter of a ton.

The thoran are exceptionally dumb in regards to problem solving, language, and social skills. Though, they are quite capable of taking care of themselves and even surviving in the modern world. Much like with the sarin they were thought to be extinct until further contact with the far south brought the known lands into contact with there surviving members. The thoran have no languages of their own and have no sub racial offshoots.

Crossbreeds

First of all it should be said that: any half-elves will tend to closely resemble reachers with variations due to the particular sub race of elf, half-orcs will also closely resemble Native Onyxians, and half-dwarves will generally resemble ship dwarf crosses. While these are the most common crosses, there are a few others which have been known. (Half-sarin will not be included, because of the lack of evidence in their favor.) Gnomes and halflings have been known to breed, and although they are rarely successful they do sometimes produce virile offspring. These offspring rarely exhibit any of the characteristics of their gnomish parent, and instead appear to be perfectly normal halflings. The only other crossbreeds of note are goblinoid and either sarin or human crosses. These are not nearly as uncommon as one would assume, but they are to varied to make an account of them here.

== Ik'than essay == 2 March 2001

I wrote the following while board. it is written about 15 years or so after the events of "Calvin Bellam" it is pretty sloppy, i may go back and change a lot of it, or i may never look at it again. *shrugs*

Treatise on the Interaction of Technology and Magic By L. M. Killmaner

“When one embarks on a subject of such magnitude.... one must begin at the large end of the spectrum and work ones way down from there.” -from a conversation with Calvin Bellam

Technology is a word, which is generally used incorrectly, or at least on too narrow of a scale. Technology, according to the New Westin Dictionary, is defined as the study or development of tools not incorporating magic. It is further defined as any tool not incorporating magic. An example of the incorrect use of the word is using it to describe everything that is produced by either the peoples of Westreach, the Islands of Norale, or any of the few other locales that produce like materials and objects, which is very common. Also people use it too specifically by discludeing such things as a sword or bow, while these are obviously technological devices.

Magic on the other hand is a word which has very little dispute over its meaning. Many people refer to objects or events incorrectly as magical, but this is only because they have not taken the time to study, in any depth, what they are labeling as magic. The word magic is not included within the bounds of any Westin dictionary. It has however been written down in two other languages. In a tome chronicling the dialect of the Dwarves of Farther’s Reach, magic is defined as that which is done not with the hands and the results of that which is done not with the hands. And, although no one else has ever seen it, the Halflings of Doursmour hold that they have a dictionary of all Halfling dialects, which defines the word magic as the stuff that makes the world go round. It can be stated that, although both of these definitions have merit, neither quite encompasses the entirety of the subject. As my good friend, Call Bellam, once said, “To understand magic, one has to experience it.”

For the sake of ease of speech in this document, and those that may follow, I have coined a new word. Technomagic. The definition of this word is anything, which incorporates both technology and magic and requires the presence of both in order to perform its basic function. Obviously, by this definition, we natives of Ik’th have been employing technomagical items for quite some time. It should be apparent, though, that in comparison to the limited uses of times past, we now are entering a golden era of technomagical wonder.

The first civilization to successfully achieve any “advanced” technologies was the continent-wide nation of Westreach. When the barrier was breached, some fifteen years ago, the Reachers, as a whole, had forgotten the existence of magic. While they were shielded from the rest of the globe they had developed their sciences far beyond everyone else. Now, the average civilized individual, world wide, encounters at least three items produced by the factories of Westreach on a daily basis.

After it was established that technology and magic could safely interact, the High Wizards of Norale began experimenting with various combinations. Within a few years this small island nation exploded into worldwide popularity, but not without undergoing massive changes. Norale’s entire political and societal structures shifted to not only incorporate technological study but to embrace it. Norale has since become the world leader in technomagic. While there are other producers of technomagic, none come close to rivaling Norale in either quality or quantity.

One of the simplest examples of a technomagical machine is the remote activation device. This breed of device is becoming quite common, as its uses are becoming realized. The device consists of two boxes each with an enchanted rod within. One of the boxes has a button on one side, while the other box is capable of supporting any number of attachments. When the button is pressed it applies a force, through a spring, upon the rod. When this happens, the force is transmitted to the other rod, which then exerts the force upon the particular attachment in use. These devices are mass-produced in a Reacher factory. The secret behind the spell and the ease with which it is produced either, but these devices are relatively cheap.

A more sophisticated technomagical contraption is a device that has very little to no commercial value. It is a device designed to see that which is too small for the mortal eye. There are only two known working models both of which are located in the University of Diversified Studies in the city of Kiilayn in Norale. This device is the perfect example of the interaction of magic and machine on a larger scale. The device, known as a smallsight, consists of one of the new Westreach cameras, a platform for the object which you are to view, a remote activation device, and two magic shutters (a device that has a specific magic resistance on the inside and can be rolled around to reveal the rod contained within) one with a shrink enchanted rod and the other with an enlarge enchanted rod. The level of shrinking can be adjusted by the duration of exposure, while the enlarge spell has been designed to only increase something to its normal state. What happens is that the specimen is placed on the platform and the camera is then exposed to the shrink spell. After it is the correct size the remote activator button is depressed. Then the camera is exposed to the enlarge spell. Whether or not this device will ever be mass assembled is unlikely, though the principles of interaction are demonstrated quite well.

So far we have looked at two distinct forms of the interaction of magic and technology. The first of which incorporated magic in order to transmit a force, which would interact between two machines. The second form incorporated the direct altering of a machine, by magic, to produce a desired result. Another way that they interact is exemplified by the healing arts. In this field it is quite obvious how technology is supporting magic and not the opposite. Whereas a healing potion is still brewed the same and has the same potency, it is now possible to use a syringe to directly inject it at the target location. And since, no matter its potency, when a potion is swallowed it is diluted by ones own digestive system; this advancement makes one potion go much farther. Thus the syringe, which is factory produced in at least three nations, supports magic quite a bit. Surgery has also made it far quicker and cheaper, on the priest, to repair more serious damage, by allowing the priest to actually get down into the damaged area and make repairs step by step.

The last form of interaction, that will be herein explored, is a form in which technology supports magic in order to further support technology. That is to say we will now look a little closer at the sole product of the MicroRod Corporation. The reason that we will only look a little closer is not the fault of the author, but of MR. Corp. itself. Since the first of the rods were produced their manufacture has been steeped in mystery and vague suggestions. What is known though is that the rods, which are obviously turned out from some mould, are capable of holding an activated spell for far longer than should be possible. No matter the means of manufacture, these devices in turn support many of the further technomagical inventions of late. Thus, this device, which supports most of the best technomagics today, is a great example of how the two fields are blending.

There are many other incredible ways in which these two fields support each other. They range from a variant of the grease spell that allows one to make a frictionless surface for the internal parts of a machine to the mysterious mentioning of a “spelldrive” by the renowned Technomagi. With all of these great creations and the many more that are out there it is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between magic and technology. One day we may only have technomagic, and neither of its constituent parts.

Two sources for further discourses on the subject of technomagical devices are, “Technomagi” by L. M. Killmaner and “Worlds Uniting” by Calvin Bellam.

== Ik'than Essay Two == March 200

A Brief History of the Severing of Westreach By L. M. Killmaner Commissioned by the University of Diversified Studies, history department

The time of the second god-war, lasting from 2416 to 2399 years ago, was a time of unparalleled chaos. It was a time marked by unexpected betrayals and even more unexpected unions. Great armies swept across the lands now known as Ka’moor. Great navies battled in its waters, some coming from as far as the island nation known as Onyx. Two gods fought for dominance. The most powerful warred, while the weakest cowered in fear. This war was centered on Ka’moor but its impact spread across the globe.

The Scholars of Life attribute the entire war to the machinations of one man, a sarin wizard known as Ychernofret. Ychernofret had long ago discovered a way to extend his life and to make a single trip through time. This man single-handedly maneuvered the gods with the intent of having his race dominate not only this world but also others beyond.

How Ychernofret’s plans were foiled is not known, but that they were is obvious. The gods left while the world remained intact. And the great sarin armies were eventually crushed. On Ka’moor all of the remaining dwarf, elf, gnome, and human populations with only a few exceptions formed the Combined Alliance of Stewards. The CAS systematically wiped the sarin from the face of Ik’th, that they were thorough is obviously untrue, for there remain a few sarin to this day. For the last 2500 years Ik’th has been recovering from this devastation.

The continent across the Forever Sea from Ka’moor is the only exception to this scenario. This continent, known world wide as Westreach, did something no other nation was in a position to do, they cut themselves off.

Westreach, composed mainly of elves and humans, was at that time ruled by a council of wizards known as the dJoral. Early on in the war they declared that since a wizard caused all of this destruction, if there were no magic it could not have happened. It took the dJoral little time to convince the sub-councils that they should attend to their own problems and not those of the world. They set up a strict mandate that required the death of any sentient being that was neither elf nor human. This mandate was far more effective for Westreach than CAS was for the rest of the world. There are no natives of Westreach who possesses blood of any race save elf or human.

After establishing the racial mandate and seeing that it was progressing, the dJoral began to recruit all spell casters from the population. If a spell caster refused to go along with their plans they killed them and made the individuals into examples. After they held sway over all spell casters, they did what no one would have expected, they killed themselves off while sealing away their home.

The dJoral had developed a powerful spell, which would cause any lifeform nearing it to turn about and go the other way. This compulsion would get so strong as one neared it that there would be no way that anything could go through. The oddity of this spell is not that it was so powerful, but that it seems as though the dJoral intentional designed it to kill the casters. After due preparation the dJoral killed all unnecessary spell casters, of their own ranks, and then destroyed themselves while surrounding the continent with this protective barrier.

Only one of the dJoral remained alive, and he did so secretively. This caster’s name was Imanolial. This powerful man remained alive for nearly two centuries, working to establish a secret organization, which would protect Westreach both from itself and the outer world if ever necessary. This organization's members, known as the Hidden, worked diligently to rid the Reachers’ memories of all that was magical including the Hidden. They also took care of the few stray creatures, both intelligent and animal, which somehow managed to breach the barrier.

If it were not for the fact that Imanolial did not go through with the spell Westreach would not at this time be open to the world. By not casting the spell in his assigned location, he created a weak spot in the barrier, which was latter taken advantage of by the halfling wizard Norfid Knuckleweary. Knuckleweary was at that time a member of the Stone Cutters. During his chance encounter with the barrier he studied it as much as he could stand, and then created a limited number of amulets, which would nullify the effect. If it were not for his contribution, which is still not understood by the magical community, this article would not have been written due to the fact that these two rich worlds would never have been reunited.