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time jump record - history and lore

Time Jump 2013-14

Source: https://www.fanwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Time-Jump-2013-14.pdf

Status: ok 12 pages 21494 chars. Characters: 21494.

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Time Jump 2013-14 Part One:
Table of Contents
Shadowlands Aftermath
Vampire Power Struggles
A New High Queen
The Blackspire Uprising
Return of the Wild
Slayers from the West
Rastkuru Unweavers
Oracles Darkness
28 years have passed. Year is 15,996.
Shadowlands Aftermath: (background info) It is
now well documented that a major war took place
in an attempt to not just defeat, but fundamentally
destroy the island nation of Sorikonia and that this
war was driven by agents of the alternate dimension known as the Shadowlands, a
terrifying and evil realm filled with demon/oni and contaminated by a corrupting
infection. Over past seventy five years, first vampires, and then Shadowlands agents
infiltrated the island of Pacifist Masters and planted Morganti weapons inside of
seemingly innocent boxes of silver pieces. These were if fact traps, set to explode when
the masters used any Chi based abilities around them, causing a momentary rift between
the sacred spiritual realm of each shrine and releasing terrible Morganti spirits into these
shrines, beings which of their nature destroy spirits. For years, the Masters and heroes
worked to thwart the vampires, and their agents. In the end, however, they were
unsuccessful and found there island slipping into the Shadowlands, and the ancient spirits
of their ancestors and the powerful life spirits they had taken an oath to protect since
prehistory were dieing. It appears that the spirits themselves were sacrificing themselves
to try and close or neutralize the Morganti spirits and the “holes in the world” they were
causing. It is an infamous year, in which countless heroes where lost, and commenced
with the release of all of the sacred life spirits from this world, so that they could not be
misused by the Shadowlands and it’s dark forces. This release, required the Sorikonia
Martial Masters to sacrifice their connection to the spirits of their ancestors and in so
doing unforged all passively warded items across the known world! The gateway to the

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Shadowlands was blocked by
thousands of spirits upon this release,
and the immediate threat of the
invasion was thwarted, but at a
tremendous cost.
In the years that followed,
Sorikonia attempted to rebuild a
culture and society whose core
principle was now gone. It proved to
be a daunting task, and one most
suspect will take them hundreds of
years to recover from and even then they will never again possess the power and art they
were once the masters of. It has been a tremendously humbling experience, and for some
it has been useful, as the masters seem joined and committed to each other in a way they
have not been since the beginning of the wars. This bodes well for the nation, though
recently they have reported increasing attacks by the Grim who for a long time after the
battle left the island alone. The Dark City of Serpenton lost half its fighting forces when
the Sorikonias sealed the Shadowlands portals, trapping them in the alternate dimension,
and this left the Dark City weak and vulnerable. Armies lead by Cashi Shinjin of the Bull
Clan were aided in advancing on the city in the years that followed and great victories
were won, including the destruction of at least four of Walls Carakwaith (Wraithlord,
Toby Oakenshade, Serpent, and Sara). The city of Icashi has kept a watch on the
vampires these many years as has Estorock Keep, and it has kept many safe until
recently, allowing Sorikonia time to pull itself together. It appears Sorikonia now has
little the vampires want, and thus is perhaps a blessing to the tortured island which seeks
solace and peace.
Vampire Power Struggles: Over the past 28 years the Dark City has been in a great
deal of inner turmoil. Failing in their plan with the Shadowlands, loosing half their
forces, and loosing their assault in the north on the Priestesses of the Elder Goddess.
There appears to have been a breakdown of the usually efficient chain of command and
for years the Dark City has seen infighting, counter moves, vampires sabotaging each
other to climb the ladder of favor, and a general disregard for overall goals and agendas.

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It appears that the
loss of so many
Carakwaith has
caused instability in
the vampire order
and many see this
as an opportunity
for a real attack on
the city which has
been far more chaotic and haphazard in it’s assaults lately, even attacking some of its
own living troops at times which has caused a great deal of political unrest and rebellions.
This would be very good news indeed were it not for the mounting evidence that
Temnor, the age old enemy of Dsesnor is now being run by vampires as well, and that
they have succeeded in summoning a Litch of great power to assist them in their
domination of the region. This Litch is believed to be non other that Rhysic, an ancient
arch mage of Stormwatcher Tower, believed to be dead, who, during the second age, tried
to take the throne from Dsesnor. He was thwarted in this, when Sorikonia who had
remained neutral up to this point, gave Dsesnor Li Tesashi, the legendary Di Katana, to
help win the war. Furious at this, Rhysic turned on
Sorikonia and invaded to seek revenge. We was
eventually stopped, with the aid of Dsesnor, but it is
now believed that he was not killed but rather turned
into a Litch and has been sleeping for the hundreds of
years. Temnor is now asserting its independence
from the Free Republics and operates under its own
set of spell law and governance, abiding by none of
the Free Republics rules. Undead are becoming
increasingly more common in the region and while
most outside the region feel the situation is obviously
degrading to an undead government, those within the
region are apparently taught that the Free Republics is
trying to control everyone, and that the only way to

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stay free is to fight their every move. This has made for a very tiring and stagnated past
few decades, with little growth for anyone, and mostly losses all around, as more and
more resources have been poured into military use and fortifications across Roekron, and
culminates in the recent Generals Rebellion which has stripped the Free Republics of
almost all of its military control, a very dangerous situation for the future.
A New High Queen: Kuni Kendrai stepped down as the High Queen on her seventy
fifth birthday (eighteen years ago), retiring to Mithil Ulienen with the Dragon Clan of
Dsesnor. Her granddaughter Kuni Tayshen Sinthrea, then age 23 assumed the throne,
and has attempted to steer the Free Republics towards a more unified purpose. Sinthrea,
while technically a Samurai, and a skilled one at that, is often mistaken for a mage, as she
rarely if ever wears armor, even in combat, and is known for a mysterious and enigmatic
style of speech usually reserved for Arch Mages and dragons. She is said to have the gift
of foresight, an ability to plan far in advance, for even though in the past eighteen years
many things have fallen apart for the Free Republics, it’s core principles and culture has
grown in strength. Economically, it has been a disaster, as the government poured
resources into seemingly useless recovery projects for Sorikonia and even sent aid to
Blackspire at certain periods, resulting in a major
economic collapse that saw the entire population
reduced to a tenth of their previous wealth! The
tremendous military budget and magic item
rebuilding projects were absorbing so many
resources that the markets had reached a very
tenuous pitch in which loans had been growing
steadily. Suddenly, one of the major backers of
these loans pulled all their money and this started a
chain reaction. Initially assumed to be vampires,
the actual mystery backer turned out to be a foreign
investor from distant lands to the south, now
confirmed to be a Wizards Trade Order spy. While
this succeeded in revealing the Orders continued
interest in thwarting Roekrons plans for peace, and
the far reaching power of their spells, it did little to staunch the now chaotic markets, and

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currently the production and sales have not recovered. The Dwarves who had been
struggling to run their business without slave wages, threatened to return to old practices
if they could not make ends meet. Embarcarious Petrofloutous, the Arch-Mage of Pinicle
School and Master of Magic for the Free Republics met with Queen Thresa Svod and
assured the Dwarven empire that they would regret breaking the treaties guaranteeing all
people in the Free Republics a fair wage, and while Thresa agreed, the consequent
stalling of the production and closure of numerous mines across the region contributed to
the economic collapse. What follows is a series of historical choices to maintain the
philosophical principles of the Free Republics regardless of the economic hardships this
might cause the more wealthy individuals. Many magic items were traded away, lands
sold, and projects abandoned to feed the people of the Free Republics and many would
say this has actually brought them all closer and made them stronger as a people.
One element everyone agrees is an alarming one was the Generals Rebellion in
Dsesnor which spread across the Free Republics recently. Without sufficient pay and
resources, many of the Generals leading the armies of the Free Republics rebelled, stating
they would be unable to do their jobs without the many magic items and custom items
they were use to using. In an often quoted conflict between The High Queen Sinthrea
and General Crane Whitneng, two years ago, the queen remarked, “An army requires no
gold, no precious toys of war, if they are doing their job correctly.”
Furious, Whitneng retorted, “I suppose if one is divinely protected you do just fine to
battle in not but a Kimono, but we are mere mortals!” Jeering at Sinthrea’s lack of
protection or armor.
Coldly, Sinthrea replied, “No
amount of magic items will
compensate for a lack of skill or
intellect. It is not the strength of
arms which will win the day
Whitneng, but knowing how to pick
your battles, and when to avoid the
conflict all together.” Whether it
was the Queens intent to start a
rebellion or not, the Generals

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Rebellion has left the Free Republics with no standing army, as all of the various military
factions refused to work for no pay, and have returned to their respective homelands in
search of work for local governments. Tremendously exposed, many believe this lack of
any real military to be the reason for the recent attacks by the Dark City and Dagdeoth.
The Blackspire Uprising: As many suspected years ago, Blackspire has been slowly
infiltrated by vampires from the Grim. They were exposed as having a large influence on
agitating the group to attack the Priestess of the Elder Goddess in Randwin years ago, and
those close to the politics of Blackspire discovered that the two leading factions, the
Shamans and the Hunters, were not getting along. Apparently, the Shamans were of
more use to the vampires, being innately skilled with magic and familiar with
necromancy, and the Hunters were merely fleshy soldiers easily made into better undead
troops. This was not well received by the Hunters who agreed to go along with the
vampire influence as they had no means to defeat them. But shortly after the defeat of
the Blackspire army at Randwin, things began to fall apart for the Blackspire troops who
saw all their dead allies turned into an undead army and it became clear that the attack on
Randwin was not an attempt to defeat the Priestess but rather an attempt to wipe out the
Hunters and bolster the Shamans undead armies. This caused a major civil war in
Blackspire and the Hunters would have surely been destroyed were it not for a few
Shamans who recognized that they were being used as well, to destroy their own culture
and leave them ready for a new vampire overlord. In a strange twist, the Shamans rooted
out the vampires spies and turned their attention to the Grim to the East in a war that
lasted for the next
seventeen years.
During this period, first
Kendrai, and then
Sinthrea sent aid to
Blackspire in the form
of Uruaki Samurai
Clans willing to help,
food and magical
healing items, and
Paladins trained in

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removing Charms. This is partially what caused such a depletion of the resources of
Roekron, and what agitated the Generals to their Rebellion in the end. In the last five
year the war has slowed down, and Blackspire appears to have survived though their
clans are decimated, and their shamans almost completely wiped out. Many speculate
that the Grim will make their move soon to stake a claim to the region now that the area
is so depleted.
Return of the Wild: The last twenty eight years have seen a resurgence of the wild
magic of the fae. Slow at first, the fairies across Roekron and distant lands as well
appeared to begin to recover from a what was known as the “Dimming of the Fae” a loss
of their powers and erratic behavior. However, there have been odd shifts in the structure
and manners of these mysterious creatures
which has caused some trouble across the
region. As their magic seemed to return, so did
their need to touch and explore every part of the
world, much to the irritation of many travelers,
cities, and farms which previously had little
trouble with fae antics. Completely abandoning
their old homes and glades, the fae appear to
have become nomadic, traveling in loose
swarms or packs, sometimes disguised as
animals, and will take up residence anywhere
they please for as long as they please. They
seem overly fond of playing jokes on mortals
and tormenting them at every chance they get,
and also appear to be developing a fondness for
city life, something previously only seen in the Nymph varieties of fairy. Most scholars
are not sure what to make of this, and are choosing to view it as a good.
Slayers from the West: Shortly after the coronation of Sinthrea as the new high queen,
a previously unknown group of assassins began to be reported, first in Pinicle and then all
across Roekron. Little is know of the culture of these strange people who appear to be
human, but in the few encounters with them have called themselves the Hoatyalie Roime.
Their arrival was met with intense hostility of many of the local dragons, including some

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of the main Elder Dragons who were still seen in and around the cities at various dragon
shines. It became clear in the coming year that this small group of humans, totaling
twelve, had successfully killed three of the Elder Dragons of Roekron already, the
Platinum Dragon (who recovered), a Mithril Dragon (and possibly its mate), and most
alarmingly, a rather famous Steel Dragon known to frequent Pinicle (this one Morganti).
There
assassination
skills
extended far
beyond
dragon
slaying, as
they were
reported to be
dropping
vampires with
equal ease, accounting for at least another five Carakwaith and at least one attempt on
Wall. Several demons which had cropped up in Blackspire also reportedly where
assassinated by these odd humans who seem to have no lack of skill at disposing of
terrifying opponents. The presence of these strange humans, while initially a cause for
excitement due to the scarcity of encountering anyone from across the Western Sea was
doused by the realization of their murderous intent and the potential threat they posed.
Dragon began to mass in very large numbers in defense of their kin and relations between
humans and dragons became deadly, forcing the high queen to intercede, quickly
branding the group outlaws and murderers and the Silver Service was assigned to their
arrest. Over the past twenty years ten died either fighting the Silver Service or attempting
to kill various dragons, vampires, and demons, across the land (which they did with
surprising skill!). It has been discovered by studying the bodies of the slain that they are
indeed human and possess no innate skill in dealing with dragons, vampires, or demons,
all of their abilities apparently being learned or associated with magic items that are
closely guarded state secrets. Two still remain at large, and as their names have never

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been learned they are simply known as Violet (named for his odd eye color) and Saber
(for the weapon he most often is seen using).
Rastkuru Unweavers: Over the last twenty eight years, Embarcarious Petrofloutous
revealed a new order of mages from Pinicle, tasked with harrying and unmaking the
Rastkuru. This group was initially to be made up of mages from Astengrad, but they
refused the offer from the High Queen to supply the school with the necessary mages and
training, saying the task was below them and better suited to those with less to do.
Relations between the High Queen and Astengrad have become strained since this
confrontation and many speak of open rebellion against the independent school who
appears to be taking a hands off approach to assisting with any of the ruling issue of the
day. Regardless of their lack of interest, these new order of mages are being called the
Unweavers, and apparently are trained in a special style of Elder Sorcery known as Rune
Weaving. They
wander across the
lands making a
study of tracking,
recording, and
countering the
actions of the
Rastkuru. They
are usually met
with a great deal
of relief by most
mages, as the
presence of one in the area usually guarantees safe spell casting just as the “safe zones”
did for Elder Sorcerers in the past. It has been discovered over the years that they are not
just countering the Rastkuru’s effects but are slowly “unmaking” it piece by piece, and
the more they learn about it the more they are able to take it apart. Already, the Rastkuru
is much less wide spread, and unlike in the past when it was more random and
unpredictable, it now appears to be more localized for long periods of time (days), and
targets specific spells only during that period. While this is a cause for some celebration,
it has also been a new source of concern as new, very odd accounts of those who fumble

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their spells being “taken over” by the Rastkuru and used to fight the Unweavers became
more and more common. It became clear that the Rastkuru was learning from these
attempts to thwart it and evolving to survive in the new environment, something that has
given many Elder Sorcerers pause.
Oracles Darkness: During first few years after the Shadowlands War, the Priestesses of
the Elder Goddess performed a ritual in Randwin that was felt across the lands, though it
appeared to have little to no noticeable effect. The spell, originated by Anne Ironbranch,
High Priestess of the Elder Goddess, is now understood to have been a healing spell
which “strengthened the tethers of the world.” While many were unaware that the world
tethers needed strengthening (or that the world had tethers at all…), the effect of the spell
was noted by many who had noticed an increase in supernatural activity, haunt behavior,
demons entering the world, and a host of other troubling issues. The spell appeared to
shift something and over the past twenty-eight years these occurrences have become
more and more rare, returning to a more normal level. Why these two event are related is
a question for mystics and prophets. But Anne was heard to grumble about children and
time and the lack of appreciation for those who came before, and mostly that many things
needed shoring up, for “the world, she is old, and has had to carry us all for far too long,
and is in deep pain…”
Until recently things seemed to be going well for most of Roekron in relation to
the spell of the Elder Goddess Priestess and the “strengthening of the tethers.” But six
years ago, Oracles began to fail across Roekron with very troubling results. At first, the
Oracles were just dark or confused, but then they became dangerous. Numerous Nature
Mages reported coming out of their rituals with both eyes hacked, and shortly after it was
discovered that many could never be
healed of these wounds. Some chose
to continue to Oracle, given their
permanent blindness but most shy
away from the spell now, and others
like it, fearing what has happed to the
world that their attempts at
understanding are so thwarted. The
problem seems to originate with the

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nature of the connection to the divine plane, as this effect has been noted in every
pantheon, across every faith and even with those without any religion. As time has
passed, and mages continue to test the waters, some have been cursed, others killed
outright, and there is now a blanket ban on the use of the spell, for the mages own
protection. When asked about the situation, Anne shook her head and said the Temple
was researching the issue. Many mages from different schools met to debate the issue,
and have not agreed on a cause, some citing the Rastkuru as having evolved to a new
form, others pointing to the decimation of Sorikonia as relating to this spirit connection,
and still others finding conspiracy theories more apt, blaming the Wizard Trade Order as
out to get the Free Republic yet again. While many of these may be true, most are fond
of quoting Electra Bosium on the subject, as one of the oldest living mages in Roekron
outside of Astengrad who said famously, “the Eye of the World is weeping and Fate is
blind…. Never liked the spell much anyway.”

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MORE TO COME:
Game Play Locations
Updated Political Map
Character Updates