History
SETTING
The
setting for Arklain is an original one. There are five ages that
may be used for this game, and one setting age.
Prehistory:
The Time Before Records
This portion of history is not explored and any artefacts found
older than Age 0 is carefully catalogued but not explored.
AGE
0: The Age of Gods [Age duration 30000 years]
In the beginning there was only men and women and the Gods they
worshipped, then darkness grew and eventually came about the
evilness of the Underworld. These fought with the supreme
holiness for power in the last years of the Age. During this age
the Gods battled the Demons their war ravaged the lands and the
people cried out in fear and pain.
This
age is only a setting age and spoken of in other ages as
history. This is the age when Arklain gained its name from its
legendary Immortal Prince and Arklain gained its Clans from the
Shukhne that fought in the holy battle of Gods and Demons and
won it for the mortals then gave each clan their traits and
gifts. For a detailed history read the Volumes of Arklain –
The Immortal Prince.
AGE
I: The Age of Clans [Age duration 10000 years]
The Age of the Clans came soon after the devastating war of the
Immortal Creatures. Yet the mortals themselves did not learn,
they fought the Second War of Arklain amongst themselves. The
ingenious and dexterous humans, the long-lived clansman both
produced weapons of vast power and the lands were ravaged beyond
recognition, Wastelands were produced and landmasses were
reduced before the war finally ended.
The
Temple and Council system that eventually prevailed then banned
most uses of technology other than simple devices or harmless
like comlinks (Communication devices), Screens (TVs etc) and the
Skyrail (An airship that transports people over the land).
AGE
II: The Age of Rebellion [Age duration 3000 years]
As the iron grip of the Council crushes the resistance from
humans and Clans alike a new breed of the two arises, rebels
that seek to destroy the Council system and all that it stands
for work in secret around the outskirts of the regime. This is
the Age of Cold War and guerrilla warfare. This is the most
commonly used Age for starting RP in Arklain since it is a
reasonably stable world.
Clans
are organized by Kether (Male leaders) and Ketheria (Female
leaders), the people have settled into a tenuous peace, the
humans are out for profit in this environment since peace makes
trade a natural course of action to take. The trade routes have
been built and despite the harsh political climate the Immortal
Council that rules from the Temple does manage to keep the
balance of the world.
The
Phylidathos rise during this Age to prove their existence and
bring a new balance.
AGE
III: The Age of Chaos [Age duration 1 year] CURRENT AGE
The rebels openly attack the Temple and those opposed to its
rule make a stand, this is an Age of Chaos and mayhem. This is
the shortest Age of Arklain since it is a war waged by man and
most of the human leaders live less than the time it took for
Arklain wars to end. The Clan system collapses and the Temple
rendered into ruin. The leader of the movement disappears
however and most believes him dead. This is Arklain War III.
AGE
IV: The Age of Death [Age duration 5000 years]
A
new leader arises and a new Council system is formed but a
democratic process elects this one and their terms not lifetime
long. The last True Healers of Arklain die out and magic is
quickly taken with less gravity due to the human occupants that
are mostly untalented for the art, most mages perform mere
parlour tricks at the end of this Age. The Dragons that stood by
their pact leave and Draconia vanish into the mists of the sea.
During this time technology flourishes, the humans have explored
the bowels of the Temple and found labyrinths of laboratories,
they have not freed the subjects of Mor and instead have
furthered research, their most famous test subject, Einta dies
in the facility on the Isle.
Alekh
the legendary Vampire Kether is unfrozen from Cryostasis and
tested. His son is hunted for scientific reasons. The long-lived
Clans of old slowly die out as their numbers decline due to
human intrusion and interbreeding. Most Clans have lost the pure
genes and 500 years of age is considered venerable. Ynrai
remains the most pure of the races but their numbers have
decimated to the brink of extinction. Imae remains numerous due
to their breeding habits and thus have managed to escape the
worst fate.
Rumours
of the Phylidathos rise once more across Arklain, and a strange
people that are called the Dragonbreath walk the lands.
As
the people decline wars and battles arise, the stories of old
are forgotten and quickly Arklain Wars IV, V and VI rise and
fall. Weapons of time before time are used again and Arklain
stands on the brink of destruction
AGE
V: The Last Breath
The old leader of the rebel movement appear, he is only
recognizable as he has changed little from the way the legends
describe him, blue hair and sapphire eyes, the large sword
strapped to his back. At his side stands a man that calls
himself Arklain and beyond stands certain beings that call
themselves by the names of the Shukhne.
A
shift tears through the world as the weapons created by the men
that now rule it destroy it. The dimensions rip souls from
bodies and throw them into new ones on Earth. Time is warped and
the creatures of Arklain are given a new life in people from the
past, people they last saw in Age II, during a shift to New York
City. The clansmen sleep in their hosts while some awaken. Those
that do seek power still in this environment and it is up to the
Shukhne to stop those that do and gather alliances with the yet
unawakened ones.
Alekh’s
awakening results in a war of Arklain unfolding on Earth and in
the aftermath it is decided for all Arklainians to be sealed in
the Dark Side of the Moon until such a time comes when humans
disappear from the Earth and it will be repopulated by the
people of the Shukhne.
The
hosts watch their soul twins depart and thus end the Ages of
Arklain and a culture of magic, myth and Gods.
Age 0: The Age of Gods
Arklain War I: War of the Heavens
Temple Scripts tell of the
War between the Gods and the Demons, it says that the Battle
raged on while our Ancestors cowered in fear. The sky was
blackened, the land lit up with furious power, plants wilted and
animals fled. Seven years passed since the day the battle begun
and there was no end in sight...
"In the darkness He
came to me, a man clad in white, black eyes that shone like
ebony stilled my trembling as He held His hand out for
mine."
-
An account of meeting the Shukhne.
They came from no where.
Strange Ones that called themselves the 'Shukhne'. It was not
known to our people what the word meant and since then it has
simply become a world we call them. And we dubbed them the Holy
Children. Their powers were astonishing, and a war that had been
waged for almost a decade was ended in less than that number in
days. The Age of the
Gods was Ending. Age
I: The Age of Clans "Oh
how we rejoiced, for peace was upon us at least. We were but
simple farmers, and such is the power of these people that we
soon sought to make them our new Gods. But they declined, saying
only that their power is but a Gene and a Tech away..."
-
A record of the Shukhne's links to the modern world. The
Shukhne did not leave immediately. Indeed all but one of them
shared their gift with the people of the land. One chosen mate
of each bore the seed of their power and thus the Clans were
born. Each with the hidden strength of each Shukhne. Eventually
the Holy Children had to leave. And after farewells they winged
into the air, never to be seen again in those forms. The one
left however, was seen slipping away quietly into the shadows,
wrapped in the heavy cloak he was always seen in. Arklain
War II: War of the Clans The
stories of the Shukhne was always passed on by the Temple, yet a
few factions grow restless, especially the humans, believed to
be descendents of those that missed out on the Shukhne's
blessing because the last would not give it. "War
is upon us, Arklain's lands shall see the setting of yet another
sun on the bloodied field of death, all for an ideal, all for
opinion and prejudice, all for nought..."
- Yiimakunuine
Iamiith Kirianter -Poet. The
War ended badly. The technology developed over the years by the
industrious and ingenious humans, and the long-lived Clans soon
wiped out whole species, decimated cities, polluted oceans and
burned the very air with its toxic intensity. Arklain
was left with less than 2/3 its original landmass and more than
2/3 of that is Wastreland, where the new breed of humans rule... Arklain
Age II: Age of Rebellion After
the Second War, the Council has become increasingly cautious and
most forms of technology was banned from being freely
distributed. Those that were are also heavily monitored. So it
was people begun to look back at the scriptures, more and more
flock to Temples around the land, more and more took up Magic
once more. Yet the
rebels do not rest. In its desperation to keep power and peace,
the Temple ordered the destruction of many Clans, and out of the
ashes rises a new faction, a rebel faction. Aided by secret
insiders from the Temples and indeed throughout the very
hierarchy that the Council operated on, the Rebels are gaining
power... |