A Brief History of Loam
This history has been compiled by, Dhoghuln, the head Librarian at the Wizard’s College in High Tower, with help from the Archives of the Temple of Scientia
In the beginning... Well we aren't sure. None of us were there. But what we know is that Sol-Temperus, the God of Time, and Itcator, the God of Space, were first. They never spoke of what was before, any time they spoke it was to argue over who owned what. It was from this confrontation that Luris, the Goddess of Justice, was born. The way Luris tells it, her first memory is yelling at them to shut up. Through Luris they worked over their problems. Mostly. Anything that Itcator, the God of Space, would create, Sol-Temperus, the God of Time, would wear down and age. So Itcator created Natura, the Goddess of Nature, to create a cycle so even if something died, something new would be reborn. Sol-Temperus, the God of Time, was furious, so he created Fortum, the God of Luck, out of pure spite. However, it wasn't too long before even Sol-Temperus was displeased with Fortum, for even though Sol-Temperus was his father, Fortum only looked out for himself. Fortum messed up Sol-Temperus and Itcator's plans. Mainly by bringing two new Godlings into the Pantheon, Dilectio, the Goddess of Love, and Nex, the Deity of Death. These two Godlings would intertwine the lives of various creatures, messing with both the natural lives of creatures, binding some together and ending some early. This was too much for Natura, the Goddess of Nature, to handle, he sliced off pieces of his Domain and created his children. Res-rustica, the God of Agriculture, Silvestris, the of Goddess Wilderness, Tempestas, the Goddess of Storms, Aecor, the God of Sea, Bestia, the God of Animals, and Nenum, the Goddess of Decay. After this sacrifice Natura retreated from almost all of the pantheon, only responding to his children and oddly enough with Fortum, the God Luck.
A few centuries later four new Godlings showed up claiming to be the children of Fortum and Natura. But none of Natura’s kids knew of these four, and Fortum could never be pinned down to get an answer. These four, Praecantatio, the God of Magic, Artis, the Goddess of Craft, Milia, the God of Family, and Tenebris, the Goddess of Darkness, are no doubt the children of deities, but their apparent parents seem unlikely.
Praecantatio, the God of Magic, was overwhelmed by the immensity of his domain, so he split himself apart, essentially killing himself, to create the eight schools of magic, and a Deity to look over each school. Reverbero, the God of Abjuration, Voco, the God of Conjuration, Hariolatio, the Goddess of Divination, Fascinare, the Goddess of Enchantment, Partum, the God of Evocation, Alucinate, the Deity of Illusion, Dicio-Vita, the Goddess of Necromancy, and Immuto, the Deity of Transmutation.
Artis, the Goddess of Craft, created two offspring, from his own form he made Pulchritudo, the Deity of Art, and Scientia, the God of Skill, out of all the Godlings these two seemed to have the best relationship, truly seeing each other as equals.
Milia, the God of Family, stepped up to watch the entire pantheon. But decided to not create any children of his own.
Tenebris, the Goddess of Darkness, stayed away from the rest of the pantheon. Milia, the God of Family, would seek him out to check in, as would Dicio-Vita, the Goddess of Necromancy, the daughter of Praecantatio, the God of Magic, supposedly Tenebris was often found in the presence of Nex, the Deity of Death.
Years… Decades… Centuries… Millennium…
Some amount of time, as we as mortals understand it, passed. And at some point, Artis, the Goddess of Craft, created Gnomes. He started with just a few, as helpers in his workshop, but soon they started to create more of themselves. They were more like golems, with a divine spark, then the fully living animals that Bestia, the God of Animals, was creating. But since Artis had more then he needed he started loaning them out to the other deities. Bestia was more than willing to let them take over tending of the beasts. The Children of Praecantatio were more than ready to take on apprentices to teach them the different Schools of Magic, Scientia, the God of Skill, took the same approach and started teaching them lessons.
Pulchritudo, the Deity of Art, liked the little gnomes but thought that they could be improved upon, and the Elves were born. Taller than the gnomes and more graceful, they excelled at magic but were not as skilled builders.
It was at this time that Itcator, the God of Space, and Sol-Temperus, the God of Time, finally agreed on something. The Celestial Palace was too crowded, so they forced the walls outward. Instead of a single vast building a world was created, the Celestial Plane. The Palace was the only building in this world, well the only two buildings in the world. On each side of the plane stood a Celestial Palace, one for Itcator and one for Sol-Temperus, both connected to each other but as far away as possible. Meaning you could step into one and step out the other.
Each Deity stepped out into the world and started shaping a city to their personal desires. Res-rustica, the God of Agriculture, created humans to work the land, they thrived in the new Plane. It quickly became apparent that with this new Plane for the deities to rule over came new rules. These races that the Gods created became mortal after leaving the Celestial Palace.
This new Land and more space to grow gave birth to new deities.
Milia, the God of Family, and Tenebris, the Goddess of Darkness, gave birth to Timor, the God of Fear, much to Milia’s chagrin, Milia quickly grew worried about this wayward child and created Praecorus, the Goddess of Protection, as a response.
Nex, the Deity of Death, and Dicio-Vita, the Goddess of Necromancy, created Immortuos, the Deity of Undeath, to rule over the creatures that refused to enter into Nex’s Domain
Tenebris, the Goddess of Darkness, created a new form of life, they were not Godlings, but they were not mortals. These Angels were his followers, while some mortals decided to follow them, Avaritia, the angel of Greed, Invidia, the angel of Envy, Gula, the angel of Gluttony, Superbia, the angel of Pride, Ira, the angel of Wrath, Desidia, the angel of Sloth, and Tentigo, the angel of Lust, these seven angels followed and answered to Tenebris.
Timor, the God of Fear, was alone, his parents had moved on to newer children, Tenebris, the Goddess of Darkness’s angel, Ira, the of Wrath, goaded and provoked Timor, the God of Fear. Timor couldn’t take it anymore and his anger forced its way free of him, creating Bellum, the God of War. Before Timor could even recover and try to contain his child, Bellum created two angels to follow him, Regnum, the angel of Tyranny, and Caedis, the angel of Slaughter. It didn’t take long before Bellum, the God of War, created his own race to follow him, the Dwarves, able to work metal into war machines and mighty warriors.
Sol-Temperus, the God of Time, and Itcator, the God of Space, saw that in giving their descendants an inch, they had taken a mile. So, they created the three planes of mortals, and the plane of the dead.
The Elves were sent to the Elemental Wilderness, a realm of four constant seasons. Itcator created Angels of his own to watch over this plane.
The Dwarves were sent to the Shaded Realm. A harsh realm for the war like race, burning stone raining down from the sky. Sol-Temperus created Angels to watch over this plane
Nex, the Deity Death, volunteered to watch over the plane of the Dead.
The Humans and Gnomes were sent to share a plane, out of all the races these two got along the most. They were sent to Loam, a world based on the Celestial Plane, a lush green world with large oceans. To watch over, Loam Sol-Temperus and Itcator tried to create a Moon and a Deity of the Moon. But they created the Lunar Brothers, Lunarius and Lunatus, twins, and two moons appeared in the sky above Loam.
And that is how it stayed for a seemingly endless time. The races forgot each other, even the humans and gnomes move away and forgot they shared the plane with others. You may think the deities would have reminded their creations but there was enough turmoil in the skies to keep them occupied.
The dwarves were the first to break free from their plane, they dug deep into the earth and into a Leylines of Magic, one that courses through all planes. They foolishly dug into it, hoping to use its seemingly endless power. They were able to create portals to other planes. The first portals were stable, and they raided Loam, taking back Humans and Gnomes and setting them free to be hunted like animals. Other Portals were too unstable and left the dwarfs unable to get back home. When they entered the Elemental Wilderness the Elves quickly captured them and grilled then for all useful information on these portals, the elves were able to use the primal magic of the Elemental Wilderness to open up a one-way portal into the Shaded Realm. They escorted the dwarves back to the Shade, but because of how damaged the Leylines were they were not able to travel home. The Dwarf gained great power from mining the Leylines but at the cost of magic in their world. Only the most powerful wizard can cast the simplest of spells in the Shaded Realm.
And that’s how it stayed. On Loam, eventually humans and Gnomes discovered each other, as they were on neighboring continents. Dwarves lived on a Loam too but separated by vast oceans.
The Elves lived in peace on the Elemental Wilderness. Other races grew around them as the magic there seemed to increase after they dealt with their intruders.
In the Shaded Realms, Dwarves were no longer the only intelligent race. The Elves who had escorted their intruders back made camp in a deep forest and thrived. The Gnomes made for caves too small for the dwarves and made their way underground. The humans used their wit to spread far across the realm. But with the destruction of the Leylines magic was growing wild. Humans seemed the most effected as they spread and adapted to the surges or wild magical energy across the realm.
And that’s how it was for an unknown amount of time, until the moon fell from the sky.
It’s hard to keep time without a starting point. Most of the races on Loam used the reigns of kings to keep track of time. But if each race has their own king, then it’s not a good way of knowing when different events happen. So, when The Shattering happened, while a global catastrophe, it did lead to better record keeping. So that is where most of our historical records start. Post Shattering or P.S. as it came to be known.
The Shattering is the oldest known event that isn't exaggerated with myths and legends. And while we aren't completely sure what happened, I will tell you what we do know. It was something to do with the Gods, but that’s about all we know. The Priests of the Lunar brothers went insane, and the moon deities were not heard from again. Most of the chunks of the moon seemed to burn as they fell from the heavens, but an especially large chunk hit the human continent of Alon and created Lunarius' Lake. It is said that a war of the Gods was held on the surface of the moon which caused its destruction, which killed the Lunarius and made Lunatus insane, but these are the ravings of the mad Priests of the Lunar Brothers. It wasn’t until the world had settled back to normal that the priests of Nenum, Goddess of Poison, noticed her absence. It is unclear what happened to her, perhaps she was the cause of the deity’s fight? And even though a few still worship her, she was never heard from again.
In the Year 921 PS, the human sea fairing vessel crashed on the rocks of the Dwarven continent of Tabelle. Fortunately, they crashed onto the southernmost point of Tabelle which is the only beach of the continent. This was the first contact these dwarfs had had since coming here from the shade. If that story is anything more than myth. Trade relations were made, and these two civilizations soon had a good commerce going.
In 1198PS portals from the Elemental Wilderness started appearing all over Allon, Elves started pouring through in droves. It seemed that a strange Magical Plague was sweeping across the Elemental Wilderness and those elves that were not yet infected left as quickly as they could through the portals they had protected for millennium. The humans did not know what to make of these strange long-lived creatures and soon the elves set off to find a place of their own. The found the continent to the south east of Allon and named it Noh Hogar, which loosely translates to Not Home. They keep most of their records and internal workings a mystery. After the last of the elves made their way here from the Elemental Wilderness those portals were destroyed, and access was completely cut off to the Eleven home Plane.
The Human/Gnome War or The Ten-Year War started in 1407PS and ended, 10 years later, in 1417PS. At the time it was seen as the Gnomes were tired of being treated unfairly, not getting paid full wages, while still being charged full price for a half-sized housing. But in the years that followed it was discovered that the war was a cover for a coup against the human king, Caydon Allon, but it was not successful. After this civil war a large number of Gnomes and Halflings left and settled the continent to the South West and called it the Civil States.
Around the Year 1500PS a continent is discovered to the Far West. Explorers figured that if the dwarven Continent was discovered by going west, perhaps another continent could be discovered. And they were right. The Western Continent was a harsh environment, mostly mountains and deserts, with only a few small oases where creatures called Orcs, Minotaurs, and Loxodons seemed to thrive. In 1508 a large trading expedition set out and landed near one of these settlements. They were taken hostage and forced by the natives to teach them how to sail the ships. These Orcs would sail west and eventually reach the human continent where they crashed the ships and started making settlements, pillaging and raiding any human towns they came across.
In 1650 after much demand from his people, King Shermane Allon declared war on the Orcs and the army drove the Orcs back over the mountains of Allon and back to the Western beaches. According to the time, it was successful. But small bands of Orcs still roamed the countryside for years after.
In 1818PS The Grand Magical Storm washed over the entire world. The Gnomes and Elves recorded it first int their southernmost towns indicating it started somewhere to the far south. The storm was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, including anything the elves had seen in the Elemental Wilderness. Magic Items of all kind went haywire and ceased functioning, Spells wouldn't work as intended, and Magical creatures acted erratically. These waves of Wild Magic lasted for three days before subsiding. A number of expeditions were mounted to go see what caused this, but none would return. Once Magic and the world returned to normal, a few oddities were noticed. The most noticeable one, was the calmness of Tempestas Pass. The stretch of water between Allon and the Civil States. It is called so because storms plague the area but Lightning only hits the islands located in the Pass. The other noticeable difference was with Immortuos, the Deity of the Undead. According to their priests, they were not the same. A few claimed it was a different Deity entirely answering them when they prayed. This would lead to a large majority of Immortuos's followers switching to follow Dicio-Vita, the Goddess of Necromancy.
2116 Marks the start of the Orc War. A large Orc Army is seen coming out of The Open Flatlands, led by a Half-Orc, Ekin Skullchopper, her human side allowed her to strategize and conquer a few human strongholds in the mountains. King Desford Allon sent his armies but only after making alliances with the Gnomes and Elves, was he able to match the Orc Army's might. It ended when one of the High Elf generals, Tirishana Bofdarm, convinced Ekin and Desford to negotiate. The Orcs were finally recognized as an equal race and were given the Open Flatlands to live in as long as they lived in peace.
It takes almost 400 years till our next great event in 2507 P.P. when a small Island is discovered to the west of the Civil States. This island is inhabited by the descendants of a human merchant ship washed ashore here 700 years during the Grand Magical Storm. The streams and caves of this island radiate an elemental magic, either by this magic or by the storm that brought them here, these people are no longer just human but Genasi, an old word meaning elementally gifted. It is eventually discovered the caves and waterways of this island are a natural portal to the elemental wilderness. Soon after a party of elves sent by the elven council is sent into the Elemental Wilderness to see what happened to those that got left behind. These elves go through and find not the ruins of their past. But a thriving civilization of survivors of the Magical Plague. These Elemental Elves have taken on a new name, the Eladrin. Eventually this leads to trade being opened and they are able to open permanent portals in better location
Starting in the 2700s the Eladrin start setting up Portals through the Elemental Wilderness for trade. Because of the Magical geography of the planes you can travel the same distance in the elemental wilderness in one quarter the time. Eventually opening a portal in each major city in Loam.
And that brings us to present day. We are in the year 2996 Post Shattering and our heroes are about to stumble their way to greatness.
Footnote.
It is worth saying, there are mentions of another deity. A Deity of Shadows and Lies, Umbra. The name appears in a few myths and legends. There is one story that I believe, it happened around 1000PS, so only 200 thousand years ago. It is the story of a group of dwarves that went deep into the earth looking for the last remnants of a mithril vein. Only one dwarf returned, clutching a large chunk of stone laced with mithril on one side, and covered in quartz on the other. If his story is to be believed, his group came across a large mithril laced geode, and when they broke it open to get the mithril, something came out. Umbra. He disappeared a short while after, and all we have are the court records which is where this information came from.