Some scholars argue that Mennara is now entering a Fourth Darkness. At first they were ridiculed as overly dramatic, but as the days go by more and more begin to consider this true.
Darkness Rises
It is said that the ink of history is made of blood and ashes, and nowhere is this more true than in Terrinoth. From the mythical Founding itself, from the time when Humans first set foot upon its lands, tragedy has swept down upon them on inescapable wings of fire.
The worst tragedies were the Ages of Darkness, those times when unspeakable evil emerged from beyond the veil into civilized lands to ravage, pillage, and destroy. More than mere chaos, this evil comprised forces whose purpose was to annihilate Terrinoth. Llovar, Waiqar, the Dragonlords: these are names that echo through time, whose very utterance stirs ancestral fears.
The first, Llovar, was a Dream Walker of immense power who had been born with a gift for magic and a connection to the forces of that cursed, demonic realm known as the Ynfernael. He raised a great war host of his people—the Uthuk Y’llan—as well as demons, Orcs, dragons, and any others who would fight alongside him. The era when he and his forces attacked is known as the First Darkness, the conflict that nearly destroyed Human, Dwarven, and Elven civilization. Next came the betrayal of Waiqar. Once a mighty general in the war against Llovar and his horde, Waiqar became jealous and mistrustful of his allies, succumbing to the allure of necromancy and dark magics. Scant decades after Terrinoth averted destruction at the hands of Llovar and his demonic horde, it was again fighting a war for its very survival. In this era, known as the Second Darkness, the living warred against Waiqar’s unfeeling, unthinking army of undead horrors.
Waiqar, too, was eventually defeated, and for a time, it seemed that darkness had been banished forever. There were no great conflagrations, no titanic wars, and the ancient battles drifted into the tomes of history. Then, the dragons came. Nearly five hundred years after the defeat of Waiqar, the Dragonlords fell upon Terrinoth in a great storm of talons and flame, driven with a hunger for the near-infinite magic of the Stars of Timmorran. The Third Darkness had descended.
The dragons burned cities and slew scores of great heroes who fought against them valiantly and desperately. The world of Mennara itself roiled under the baleful, consuming heat of the terrible invaders. Many of the races of Terrinoth banded together to resist the dragons, but the war ended as suddenly as it had begun, with the dragons returning to their distant homeland laden with plundered magical treasures. The remnants from this era, such as the dragon hybrids left behind and the feral dragons raised outside of draconic society, still ravage and terrorize the countrysides of Terrinoth without warning.
The Dragon Wars left Terrinoth devastated, a shadow of its former self, a desolate wasteland. In the aftermath, its people were so drained of vigor, of life, of hope, that they feared Terrinoth could not withstand another Age of Darkness. The strength of the ancient heroes was gone, and the dragons had shattered the old royal lines, plunged fortresses into ruin, and stolen countless Stars of Timmorran. Now, shadows grow long on the ground, and the chill in the air foretells that something is coming. Perhaps another Darkness brews on the horizon, one more devastating than any in the past.
The Defense of Civilization
Decline is sometimes incremental, sometimes disastrously sudden. The lands of Mennara are caught somewhere in between. Though dangerous forces are growing on the horizon, without a powerful enemy to unite against, its leaders will squabble to the very last. In Terrinoth, various powers compete with each other for dominance over the continent. In the Daqan Baronies, familial politics dominate all, with parochial feuds and blood oaths over ancient grievances often embroiling whole counties. Even the once-strong unified front that protected the Free Cities is slowly being replaced by selfish competition. While they are unwilling to declare outright war on one another, the Free Cities are not above encroaching upon each other’s territory, and sabotaging trade and craft guilds for their own benefit.
The imperial splendor that once marked the peninsula of Lorimor as the jewel of Mennara is fading, and many of the Empire’s famous legionary outposts and warrior schools have been reclaimed by the wilderness.
In the Torue Albes, the Queen’s fleet struggles to keep warring pirate crews under control, and feral monsters grow stronger in the islands of the archipelago. Elsewhere, from Isheim to Al-Kalim, little that is good seems to be thriving in the current age. Waterways are becoming infested with strange aquatic creatures, and the shadows of winged beasts pass over lonely hills. As the nights begin to teem with monsters both common and uncommon, watchtowers and fortresses remain largely empty.
The Latari Elves, too, feel the world slipping through their grasp. The Aymhelin’s defenses are still strong, but the might and splendor of the ancient Latari forces has long since waned, shattered during the cataclysm of the Third Darkness.
Elsewhere, the Orcish tribes range farther and farther across the plains in search of food and shelter. Raiding, a long-abandoned tradition of the nomadic Orcs, has made a return, although the tribal leaders openly denounce such barbarism.
To the north, the Dwarves seal themselves into their holdfasts and allow trade routes to descend into lawless highways infested with bandits and rogues. With each passing season, the number of Dwarven shipments decreases, and as the Dwarves further distance themselves from the world, the world distances itself from them.
All is not lost, however.
Within each of these lands there have been those who have risen to the challenge of facing down darkness, for whenever Mennara has been threatened, its heroes have arisen. Warriors stood firm against swarms of twisted raiders and their demonic allies from the Ynfernael. Leaders rallied people to take up arms against Waiqar Sumarion and his legions of undead horrors. Diplomats gathered a mighty alliance to challenge a seemingly unstoppable host of rampaging dragons. Without them, civilization would have fallen to ruin many times throughout Mennara’s history. With shadows looming once again over civilization, the need for new heroes to defend it rises as well.
As the Locust Swarm has returned to threaten Terrinoth, Daqan patrols have thus far been able to repulse their bloodsoaked efforts. Battlemages from Greyhaven have lent their mighty rune golems to halt the vile necromantic magics of the Undying One and his armies of the Mistlands. In other lands, Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, and other races face similar perils against their own civilizations. The threats are growing, but the actions of courageous individuals can have a large impact against them.
Rampaging hordes might be poised to ravage disparate villages along a countryside, but a single person with a powerful voice can unite the disparate inhabitants to form a united front. Ghastly creatures can slither out from the ruins of long-forgotten keeps, only to face a group of brave adventurers ready to stop their terrible menace before entire baronies would be devastated. Eldritch entities and sinister wizards probe for weaknesses from which to attack, only to be repulsed when met by valiant scouts or even piratical sailors.
This is a never-ending battle against the dangers that would consume Mennara. The combined heroism and courage of people everywhere, from Isheim to Zanaga and Al-Kalim to Terrinoth, must prove themselves ready and equal to the task of its defense lest the light of civilization be snuffed out forever.
References
- Realms of Terrinoth