It is said that during a time of great despair and malcontent amongst the greater, old, and dead gods now centuries past, a number of great and bloody battles were fought amongst the stars.
A host of the deities, and the worlds and realms they presided over were removed and obliterated in their entirety. New suns, and orbs to court and marry them were brought into existence to replace them and continue the cycles of life, worship and of course, the documentation of both time and important happenings – tasks that most gods do not deem worthy of their title and/or power.
One such survivor of the wars, now known and referred to as The Great Catastrophe, was a Goddess known as The Spider Queen, Lolth. Wanting to start anew and craft a world consisting of her most favoured race and followers, the dark elves, she summoned all but the last reserves of her power and forged a small planet. The first, and what was meant to have been the only intelligent, sentient race to populate the orb was of course, her beloved Drow. The dark elves named the world Udossta Valshath, or ‘our palace’, a name that would forever cement and celebrate their thanks to the benevolent goddess for her gift to them.
The prosperity of the dark world was not to last, however. Being that a good portion of the gods that survived The Great Catastrophe were indeed cowards, destroyers and sadists, not unlike the history that Lolth is usually regaled with, once the world became known to them.. so too did they come to know Udossta Valshath.
When Dahak, the God of Destruction, Dragons, Evil and Treachery noticed the new, ever so peaceful and vulnerable orb, he descended upon it almost immediately. Dahak was the first of many to taint and alter the course of Udossta Valsath. Bringing with him a legion of Dragons, the deity introduced anarchy, desolation, terror and chaos to the once calm ecology of elves. The Drow were not without their own powers and defences, however, and many wars waged against the daunting and terrific might of the Dragons for Centuries – carving out massive craters, plains and scars across the continents. The eldest of scholars have maintained that this occurred roughly 7000 years after the worlds inception.
As the fighting waned and the two races licked their wounds, other Gods turned their heads to the interesting swathe of chaos and confusion. Seeing that Golarion by this point was already prospering when compared to the depressing sights on Udossta Valsath, the righteous Iomedae and the God of the Dwarves and the anvil, Torag decided they would shed some light on the world and joined forces to forge a powerful sun for it to orbit. This was an unsuspecting blight for the current surface dwellers, as much as they thought it may have been a boon – blinding the majority of those whose unfortunate sense of curiosity at the sudden glow in the sky caught them unawares in a white instantaneous flash of screams and hot agony. As the eyes of the few who hadn’t stared straight at the event adjusted to the sudden change of atmosphere, they noted that not only did they now have a day/night schedule to adapt to, but were greeted by two new races of a much friendlier, humanoid background.. Dwarves and Halflings. The introduction of a sun to the planet also allowed for easy documentation of the passing of time. This occurred allegedly 1000 years or so after the descent of the dragons. Over the years that followed, a number of subraces also started to appear.
This period was an interesting one, as it brought with it a small number of lesser gods, who also wished to capitalise on the fresh beginnings of Lolths finest creation, and of course, probably the most fascinating change to note – the eventual creation, segregation and division of the Elven hierarchy. If the introduction of dragons to the orb wasn’t irritation enough for the Spider Queen, the tip on the proverbial burg was of course the creation of a sun, which effectively destroyed in one fell swoop, the entire point of Udossta Valsath. A pilgrimage the face of the planet would never see again took place over the course of the next few months, wherein entire cities and/or villages of the Drow packed up and departed, rendering beautiful and articulate castles and palaces into veritable ghost towns. The migration moved deep down, guided by Lolth herself, into the deepest expanse they could find, where no natural light would ever find them. There were families and in some rare cases, large populations left behind in surface-based cities and towns that opted to stay instead of move, believing the trip and ideal unnecessary, accepting change and wanting to learn from and with the new friends they had acquired above ground. These elves called themselves precisely that in front of their peers, ‘elves’, discarding the once proud and maintained title of Drow. As time waxed on, and the globe worked its cycles around their sun, even the skin tones and colours in their hair would change, as if their physical features were also letting the past slip away. A true division occurred between the Drow and the Elves, many trade missions between what once would have been considered family, or distant relatives, now breaking into heated disputes and fights, sometimes ending in tragedy. For some Elves, especially the new, the Drow are only spoken of as if speaking of legend, or fairy tales, although any elder, if asked, will sigh and recall the distant memories of what once was, and what some fear may eventually be again.
While some speak in dark corners that The Spider Queen, infuriated and distraught at the division the idiot gods had crafted amongst her pets had waged a war on the two and lost, many advise that she has simply concealed herself for now, only communing with the highest of Drow Elders in strictest secret.
As the Dwarves and Halflings settled into their surroundings and carved out places they could call their own, a number of dragons returned to the skies. Heralded by an aged, black dragon whose wings could shut out the sun for miles, Terraxus, the group played Scourge to the Fanged Coast where new ports were being erected.
Terraxus dominated the Midseas, Dragon Isands, and the entire Fanged coast for years – scorching and decimating acres and acres of farmlands to the north west and populating the once vibrant area with abysmal fog and baked marshland – transforming it into a suitable base of operations, bringing slaves and stolen riches.
Abadar, the God of Cities, Wealth, Law and Merchants saw the strife being wrecked on the people of Torag and Iomedae on this new realm and felt compelled to jump in. And so it was that the human race was brought in to Udossta Valshath. Quick to socialise, commune with their neighbours and erect industrious towns that could train and bolster the ranks of paladins and fighters across the coast, the humans rapidly integrated themselves into the lives of their kindred brethren. As their ranks grew, so did their power; Fighting sects arose, trained in specific arts and worshipping specific deities – of note, the Paladins of Eastwatch, the Bloodmyst Barbarians to the Northeast, and the Rangers of Knightsvale to the northwest.
A resounding call to arms was issued during the year 1704AC, by a human paladin adventurer, by name of Lord Aaron, to finally bring down the menace of Terraxus.
Small armies of elves, dwarves, halflings and banded against the fiendish dragon in the coastal marshlands he’d engineered. The casualty-laden massacre went on for 3 days, the final blow being dealt by two men, Lord Aaron himself and the leader and founder of the new Barbarian Bloodmyst tribe, Axel Bloodmyst. The humans true arrogance was revealed when they celebrated the victory by erecting their Capitol city over the marsh, infusing the decapitated head of the beast with a divine magic to keep it from decaying and placing it as an elaborate mantelpiece over the doorway to their Kings hall. Advising the realm around them that it was truly the humans who wrought the destruction of Terraxus and no others, caused a huge dissent between them and their former allies. The Kingdom itself was even named after Terraxus, allowing the large breadth of the capitol walls to sit as a constant reminder to those who pass by of what happened, and whom apparently bested the beast.
Although peace has never truly found its way back to the realm, it certainly is at a much calmer state of rest as it has ever seen. There are many rumblings and stirrings, however, and more couldn’t possibly be happening behind closed doors than ever before. The introduction of a massive law banning the study and use of arcane magic arts in the kingdom of Tarraxus has pushed out hundreds and brought even harder strains to the fragile relationship the humans currently share with those around them. Paranoia and scepticism are close friends of the trade caravans and lonely walkers of the beaten paths that bridge the towns, and reports of more and more unusual beasts from all corners of the realm continue to abound.
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