Charon History

In the beginning of time, there existed a single being, known only as Cosmia. This being was creation itself, time and space combined into a single mind. Cosmia existed alone in the darkness of space, drifting through endless time devoid of purpose or desire. Cosmia was considered omnipotent, the cosmos being woven directly into their being. Over time Cosmia became conscious, understanding who they were and the void they existed in. In an attempt to better understand themselves, Cosmia split their being into two halves, creating the first-ever gods of the universe. Solaria and Lunala were created, two halves of the same cosmic being, now separate entities wielding the power of the universe.

Solaria took dominion over the sun, light, and life itself, while Lunala took domain over the emptiness left behind, darkness, and the cold of space. Together they ruled, creating the infinite universe, from stars to planets and everything in between. Over time they came to admire their creations, however soon became lonely, their emotions and feelings forming as they realized they were the only two in existence. So Solaria and Lunala set out to create companions, and thus their children formed, obtaining dominion over the lesser details of reality. Ginma was created first, taking control of the physical, creating earth and fire. Then came Salina, the creator of waves, seas, and emotion. Then formed Avasha, god of the sky, wind, and power of storms. These five gods lived together in the heavens, creating worlds and environments.

However, these five became bored again, lonely, as they only had each other. So the gods came together to create life, beings that would worship and follow them. So they chose a planet, the best they could make, and set out to create life. Each god created their idea of life, from plants, and animals to elves, dwarves, and humans. They spent thousands of years populating and forming the earth, creating their world. After the world was formed and creation set out, the gods retired to themselves, vanishing into the cosmos to let their world grow.

The first thousand or so years of creation are a little vague, as not too many details exist about this time. Some argue about how long this period actually existed, with the consensus landed at about 1,000 years. This is referred to as the first years, and is almost completely unknown. What is known is that this is the period in which mortals began to grow, with their newly given consciousness the mortals of earth set out to create their world, learning to live with each other. They knew about the gods, as information was given to them at creation, and then slowly passed down through the years from family to family. For most of the first years, people lived their lives trying to learn how to survive in this wild world. Languages were formed, races collected together, they began to build and eventually, civilization rose. At about 900 history starts to become more clear as a young Sun elf begins to organize his people. Mathias Solarian, named after the god the sun elves believe they descend from, begins to build a structured society, creating schools, libraries, and cities and allowing for communities of independent mortals to flourish. This marks the end of the first years as mortality begins to advance, society elevating itself to new heights.

The Age of Wonder is considered the golden age of civilization, it is the rise of the empire of Charon, the exploration and settlement of the land. Cities were built, communities formed, and mortality lived happily ever after. This was the time in which new technologies were being explored, scholars were learning, teaching and pioneers were at the forefront of advancing civilization even more. During this time a man known as Malaki Maazeric began to experiment with magic, learning the ins and outs of the mysterious power. Magic was the essence of the gods, it was their power manifest in the world, and Malaki was attempting to harness it. Over the years technology and magic grew hand in hand, building up society. This allowed for unique, amazing things to happen, elevating the world of Charon. Mages started to study magic, schools popped up to teach others, and it was so popular that magically became a normal part of everyday life.

However not everyone used it for good and progress, some used magic for personal gain, evil intentions that harmed others. Small factions of fanatical believers started using magic to cause chaos, kill, torture, and maim. They attempted to overthrow the ruling class, causing the struggle to spill out into the open. Villages burned, cities fell, and open conflict spread across Charon. From their place of retirement in deep space, the gods began to watch what was happening, seeing their creations kill each other with the very essence used to create them. Sadness filled their hearts as they watched their world suffer, and so they returned.

As the gods returned they attempted to intervene, filling mortal bodies and coming down to Charon. What they did not realize was that during their absence, and the rise of magic, many of the mortals no longer needed the gods, or even worshipped them. The gods thought they were doing mortality a favor by coming down and putting a stop to the fighting, however, it only escalated it, as various factions split apart and began to blame the gods for everything going on. And so a war broke out, the gods and their followers on one side, and those who cast out the gods on the other side. nearly 800 years of bloodshed began, families being born into war. It was a devastating time for the world and mortals and gods clashed across Charon. After years of fighting the gods were finally victorious, killing off the majority of the dissidents and quelling the uprising. However because of this most of Charon was left in rubble and dismay. Technology had been set back hundreds of years, civilizations had fallen and the relationship between the gods and mortals had been strained even more. Seeing this the gods decided it would be better to leave, letting the world figure itself out and returning to the heavens. So they left, vowing to never return to Charon again.

The age of renewal is considered the silver age of Charon and is one of the longest ages in history. From the rubble of the collapse arose a grand and mighty empire. United by the war against the gods, Mamadon Solarian, a sun elf and descendant of Mathias, united the people and created Sol City, the main hub of the region. Over the next several thousand years Charon rebuilt, forming complex societies and civilizations. Magic was a key component in rebuilding the world, and while the issues from ages before resurfaced, things continued to grow. Generations came and went as villages were established and communities flourished. This is where many people mark the beginning of the primary timeline, where most people's family lines start, and where many of the current villages were formed.

While things were growing and working, chaos loomed on the edges, as evil, hatred, and discourse settled back in. The sun elves held the title of nobility and sat on the throne, however, there were two other sections of elves that assisted in the battle of the gods and the regrowth of Charon. The moon elves and dark elves were just as prominent in the region, however were delegated to rule underneath the royal family. Thistle Solarian, the current king, formed a pact with the leader of the moon elves and the leader of the dark elves. The moon elves would control Eclipse City while the dark elves would maintain the pale city. They would rule together for years as a triumvirate, working together to build their world. This alliance lasted for several generations and was the key to getting Charon to its current state.

Charon had settled back into a time of peace and tranquility, civilization had finally reached a period of growth, and even though evil acts still happened, things were considered to be going pretty well for the people. Cities were rising, people were flourishing, and society had finally reached a moment of peace. But things never last, and while good things rise, they eventually must fall. The leaders of the three elven families had created a pact years ago, one where they would all work together for the betterment of Charon. However, the Sun elves were the only ones to hold the throne, claiming the title of King. This alliance worked for the most part, however as a new king took the throne, young Davian Solarian, tensions began to rise between the three families. Davian was a very arrogant, rude, and somewhat cruel leader. He saw the other branches of elves as beneath him, lesser in all aspects, and treated them as such. 

This did not sit well with the other elven families obviously, and as the years went on the resentment grew, causing the moon and dark elves to eventually turn against the king. It started small, tiny rebellions across their respective regions, however, things quickly ramped up, with skirmishes popping up throughout the land. It looked as if war was on the horizon, all sides gearing up for a full-scale conflict. Furious at what he considered their betrayal Davian ordered the heads of the families to be killed, inciting direct war on them. This conflict only lasted a few hundred years, with generations of families being conscripted into this war. However, it was not an overly bloody war as most of the conflict stayed contained on the borders between soldiers. 

In a sudden twist of events, one of the dark elves hired an assassin to remove King Davian from his throne and was surprisingly successful. With King Davian dead, his son Darius took the throne. Not wanting any more bloodshed or violence, Darius put an end to the fighting and agreed with the other families. He would give each one of them a seat on his council and act as equals, each having their vote when it came to matters of Charon. However the mass majority of the people failed to realize that Darius was indeed his father's son, and was probably more vile than his father was. He harbored secret resentment towards the other elven families. On the surface, he came off as a logical and kind leader, but behind the curtains, he was plotting an even more disastrous plan.

Not even a year after taking the throne and forming a new pact with the other elven families, Darius put his plan into action. Several spies were planted into the other elven armies, with their only job being to cause chaos in the lands. They started attacking local villages and settlements, blaming it on the leadership of the minor elven families. This caused discourse and confusion through the land as people we beginning to turn against their leaders, not sure who to trust anymore. Taking advantage of this Darius declared that he was the true descendant of Solaria and that the other elven families were trying to turn against the gods. He portrayed himself as the holy ruler, divine and just, and that anyone who opposed him opposed the gods. He pulled the reigns in on things like magic and religion, creating rules and regulations for practicing these things. The free use of magic and religion was outlawed in Charon and only people with direct permission from the crown were allowed to use it.

This caused a rift in society as those who had access to magic and religion started to use it to subjugate and abuse those they considered beneath them. Average citizens of Charon were now being treated like lesser, even as slaves in some portions of the world. Those in power used these restrictions as a justification to punish or even kill those who opposed them, claiming it was the will of Solaria. Corruption and violence moved through the land as rebellions began to spring up, with a group known as the Charon Four forming. This group's primary focus was to overthrow the crown and bring peace back to Charon. Now labeled as enemies of both the crown and to the gods, Darius waged war on his people. 

The end of the war came when Dante, Darius's oldest son and next in line to rule was captured by the rebel army and held for ransom. Dante would be returned if Darius stepped down and gave the crown over to his younger brother, who was considered to be a much kinder, more level-headed man. Darius refused and said he would rather burn the entire kingdom to the ground than give it up. And so his son, Dante, was killed on the steps of the castle, his head severed and stuck on a stake outside Darius's home. In retaliation, the king began ordering every village and settlement in Charon to be burned and looted. His council however had had enough and realized Darius was going too far. They figured it was time to do something and instead of living in fear, his closest advisors turned on him, killing Darius during a council meeting. His younger brother Emanious Solarian then took the throne, trying his best to rectify the wrongs his brother had caused.

The Years that followed the Rune wars were long, hard, and cautious. The relationship between Charon's people and its leaders had been shattered, and their trust no longer in the royal family. It took Emanious several years to fix things, starting with giving magic and religion back to the people. Temples were rebuilt, and an academy was constructed to teach magic safely and respectfully. While it was a long and grueling process, the king was eventually able to get things back on track. Most of the violence subsided, tensions were quelled and the elven families were allowed to rule over their given cities once again. New laws and regulations were put into place to protect the rights of the people and to allow them the freedom to live their lives with the direct intervention of the crown itself. While this did not fix everything, and smaller pockets of people were still scarred by the events of the past, the majority of the kingdom was able to heal, grow, and move on.

We have now arrived at the current age, the age of progress. After several hundred years of rebuilding and reform, the nation has finally reached a place of stability. Settlements have grown, the economy is booming and the average citizen has returned to normal life. Not only has life rebalanced itself but progress is beginning to return to the world. Magic is being taught throughout the land, technology and innovation are booming, and rule under King Eldenwar, Emanious's youngest son, has been pleasant so far. The people are happy and Charon is moving into a new age of happiness and prosperity.

Adventurers from across Charon spent countless months hunting the fabled Sol Stone, confronting various hazards and cultists until they finally located the object in question. Though not all was as it seemed as the cultist Scern had beaten them there. What started as a conflict against mere mortals turned into a battle with an avatar of Ziev, the god of time and space within a demi-plane contained within the Sol Stone.

Things took another turn when Scern revealed he was on the adventurers' side and asked for help in defeating the avatar in order to reveal the truth behind the Sol Stone, Ziev, and himself. All he needed was for them to agree to buy him some time as he worked on an ancient and powerful ritual. After an arduous battle, the adventurers brought the avatar to its knees and Scern's spell took hold before it shattered the Sol Stone. 

Scern revealed Ziev's lies as follows. 

The Collapse was a time in which the gods and men were at war. Battles raged on for hundreds of years until finally, the war came to an end. History books have long told that the gods took pity on mortals, tired of shedding the blood of their creations. So, they left and returned to their heavenly abode.

But in truth, the gods never left Charon. Solaria, Lunala, Ginma, Salina, and Avasha were all killed in the Arid Mesa. A seven-man group was sent in to combat the gods. All were heroes, legendary members of Charon chosen to rid the world of the godly scourge, and they were successful. Their leader was a powerful Archmage known as Mathias Ziev. He created an object that would tear the divinity from the gods and seal it away.

Stealing the gods’ divinity made them mortal, allowing the heroes to enact the final killing blow, ending the war, and ridding Charon of its gods. But then an ulterior plot was revealed as Mathias took the divinity for himself, absorbing the gods' divine energy and ascending to godhood. He activated the secondary function of the stone which shrouded Charon in a veil, sealing the world off from the greater realms of magic. Beings like angels, fey, demons, and devils who were fighting in the war became trapped along with the lingering essence of the gods.

Mathias, then known only as Ziev, slayed his fellow adventurers. He created a false story, building the myth that the gods were still around so that the people would continue to worship them, and inadvertently, worship him. Ziev masqueraded around as the other six gods and used it to grow stronger, all the while protected by the Sol Stone.

After revealing this information, Scern was arrested by the adventurers and surrendered to the authorities of Capitol Landing. 

This did not stop the news of the revelation from spreading. The monarchy of Capitol Landing took to controlling the blasphemy by limiting the spread of information within major city walls, though members of Scern's cult carried his words into the rural areas to sow the seeds of truth wherever they could. 

Despite this, Charonians continue to follow, believe, and even worship the original six gods of the main pantheon, pulling the same magical energy from their respective domains. Some worshippers reject the truth, believing it to be false, while others believe there may be a way to revive the dead gods one day. Others have turned their faith towards other entities, growing their own cult followings and spreading whispers of dissent towards the monarchy for their part in profiting off the lies of a deceptive god. 

Now that the seal is broken, entities such as fey, primordials, celestials, fiends, and other otherworldly beings are finding their influence can be much more widespread in the world than before.

Adventurers across Charon responded to a mounting threat in the Ash Lands which started with earthquakes across Charon followed closely by investigations into mysterious ritualistic kidnappings. As the situation grew more dire, a group of elite warriors gathered on the slopes of Mount Drakolt in the Ash Lands to confront the being that lurked deep within the molten depths of the volcano.

An intense combat against the ancient primordial deity of destruction and rebirth, Vulcadreaus, ensued. It was a hard-fought battle, but ultimately the adventurers managed to succeed in protecting Charon from mass destruction. 

In the days that followed, news of the Ashen Father cult and their connections to the rise of Vulcadreaus and the threat that could have been unleashed upon all of Charon is picked up quickly by local Stablemen operatives. The operatives successfully located several cultist dens, though only found fine piles of ashes in each hideout they scoured. A few surviving victims of the kidnappings were questioned before being freed, but as far as anyone knows none of the cultists remain active in the area.

Rumors of Count Mallock potentially escalating the situation by calling citizens to report any members of the crime syndicates still using the Ashen Father moniker circulated for a few weeks following, but nothing came to pass from this. Whispers suggest that the faceless crime lords have taken decisive action to silence the Count in an attempt to stop any accusations of them partaking in the cult rituals.

The Stablemen remain eager to take advantage of the situation to finally put the nail in the coffin for the Ashen Fathers as a whole, but they do not have the force necessary to do so.

Yet.

Word of what happened quickly reached beyond Darkveil and the Ash Lands, first arriving at the docks of Zeinav City to the south and Thorock to the north.

Zeinav responded by sending a squadron of naval ships to Darkveil, anticipating that the Council from Thorock would be sending their opportunist plunderers to Darkveil in the wake of this disaster. While no conflicts have occurred yet, tensions are high.

The Capitol, having already declared their intentions for Charon as a whole at the Summer Festival, dispatched several units of the Legion of the Black Sun to Darkveil specifically. It is anticipated that upon their arrival the Stablemen will have the support they need to start putting serious pressure on the remaining Ashen Fathers.

The skies over the Ash Lands are intermittently visible, though volcanic activity is still present thanks to smaller volcanos throughout the region. Mount Drakolt has been reduced from a mountain to a massive crater and has slowly begun to gather rainwater. Researchers speculated that with time, it may become a large lake. For the time being, the Lava Pits remain active, though the Ash Ruins suffered major damage from the earthquakes.

In the following weeks after the disaster, locals noticed major changes in the behavior of local fauna mainly in how creatures previously comfortable being seen during the day now only reveal themselves at night. The Consortium has expressed interest in sending its members to collect plant samples specifically from around the Mount Drakolt crater for study and alchemical experimentation.

Other strange observations include sparkling lights around the crater's rim at night, hushed song-like voices carried on the winds, and the occasional disappearance of small trinkets from pockets and the insides of homes around the city.

While things in the Ash Lands seemed to have settled, for better or worse, there's still uncertainty if the cycle of destruction and rebirth heralded by Vulcadreaus' return is broken...or if time will tell a different story.


Where one life ends, a new life takes root.

The battle was won thanks to the efforts of adventurers of all shapes and sizes. Thunderhoof was spared whatever disaster would have befallen it should all those who risked their lives not be at the right place at the right time.

During the following days, the Knights of Duros conducted a thorough investigation of the battlegrounds and collected as much information as they could. Though given their mind-controlled stare during the events that led up to the arrival of the adventurers, an internal investigation is sure to follow. Rumor is that the Knights of Galavance may be facilitating the interrogations of the Knights of Duros who were under the Fae Queen's spell.

Dormant portals into the Land of Wonder open and close irregularly, leading to continued chaos as creatures entering Charon from them interact with the general populace. The Crown’s ability to maintain order sees a sharp decline as regional and Imperial forces struggle to protect the citizenry.

The Knights of Tegrid and the WEF receive extra support in order to prioritize finding more of these rifts to the Land of Wonder to assess them for any large scale threats that may traverse the veils into Charon.

The Mage's Guild and Golden Consortium receive additional financial support from the Crown to bolster increased efforts to research the strange magic utilized by fae powers. It is through their research that the identity of the entity the adventurers vanquished has been uncovered.

The massive fae entity known as Setryd was an anomaly amongst even the Fae. While it referred to itself as a Queen of Kelpies, it was not in fact part of the Land of Wonder’s Seasonal Courts, thus its rise to power was merely happenstance and the monarchical title entirely self-proclaimed.

It's theorized that this entity may be related to creatures like morphleons and mimics due to its shapeshifting, though it clearly had more intelligence and was able to practice various domains of magic itself. It also has similarities with oozes, able to split itself into multiple pieces that can act independently from the whole. Unfortunately, there was no body of the creature to collect from the battlegrounds, so further research into its biology and the extent of its capabilities will yet remain a mystery.

This ever-ravenous being grew more powerful by feeding on the magical energy of Charon, and even its denizens. It has been tied to other instances of strange fae incursions across Charon that introduced new creatures to the realm never documented before. It's unclear if the lost knight found in Sunset Glade in King's Valley may also be connected to Setryd, though given the entity's use of space domain magic it is not out of the realm of possibility.

The Crown is particularly concerned about the ramifications of magic that can be used to mind control political figures in power and also the city-spanning illusions that have physical implications could prove to be disastrous for Charon if left unregulated.

Despite the Crown's efforts to restrict the practice of fae magic, many mages have already found ways to add it to their repertoires. Magic in Charon continues to evolve at a rapid pace, whether the bodies of authority want it or not.

With the Crown supported guilds so overtasked, there has been an opportunity for privately owned and operated guilds to make a mark in the world. For better or worse, Charon is entering an age of growing instability and independence from the long ruling monarchial powers.