Vindeon: An Adventure Role-playing Game

By Tom Oden Ahlqvist

Vindeon is a brand-new fantasy role-playing game focusing heavily on immersive acting and fast action rules, enabling players to get the most out of their game sessions.


The Setting

The world is not healed. The elves, dwarves and humans have just begun to recover and rebuild after the devastation wrought by conflict and change. But not all. Some realms fell in the chaos, and now lies in ruins or serve even darker purposes. In this time of instability, you are trying to find your place in the world. There is no telling what fate Vindeon has in store for you or your companions. No telling how small or grand adventure looming just beyond the horizon or behind the next bend of the forest trail.


Player - Character

You play a character in a darkening, torn world, who embarks on an adventure or campaign, forging your destiny along the way or die trying. The world is unforgiving an often brutal, but it is not yet bereft of love and joy. There will always be hope.

Embark on these undertakings as one of the three playable races: humans, dwarves and elves, choose from nine unique human, dwarven or elven cultures and their culture-specific professions, to customize your character to fit your preferred play-style and acting. Or go rogue and create a profession of your own. Fate is in your hands!

Welcome to Vindeon

• Language: English
• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Release date: Mar 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9789178513499

Tom Oden Ahlqvist

Tom Oden Ahlqvist is a Swedish writer of fantasy books and games. He was a combat medic in the Northland Ranger Regiment and did service abroad in peacekeeping operations. In 2015 he graduated as a Master of Arts in the field of Archaeology at Stockholm University. He has written lore and intrigues for various LARP-events, and released his first book 'Nifelhelsfärd' (Journey to Misty Hel) on kickstarter in 2016. In 2019, he released his grand fantasy role-playing game Vindeon, together with skilled illustrators Jonas Gustafsson and Nomi Bontegard. 'Never let reality get in the way of that which you want to achieve' is his motto.

Book preview

imagination!

The History and Origin of the World

Here follows the account of the history of the world, from its creation to the present age. Tales of elves and gods will be told - the emergence of the humans and the origin of the dwarves, the rising of mountains and forests, and also of Illsvinn the Dark God and his hideous acts. This account is but a fragment of the history of Vindeon, determined only to tell of the most important and grandest events. Many are the books about the history of Vindeon, and one needs to delve deep into the libraries of Uth Enax, or listen to the skalds of the Vorgar, to learn more about the events of the ages.

The First Age

Time Immemorial – Age of Arrival (year 0)

Known as: Time of Tales, Mountain Cradle, Birth of the World, Age of Songs, Somviël

Originally, the Elves where gods. Splendid and beautiful, they ruled over their own dominion in the Realm of the Gods. Like the other gods they were immortal, and as the time passed they collected wisdom and knowledge of everything, including Magic – the power that has the ability to convert nothingness into matter.

The power surrounding everything. They soon realized that Magic was everything - it was the energies that flowed through the air, the power to create or end life, and the power to build and destroy.

As time passed, the elves became skillful in the use of magic, and began to create enchanted wells in which they could amass the void force to enable greater spells to be used which demanded excessive reserves of energy. When the wells were finished, they continued to create. Thus came their stunning, enchanted cities to be upon the plains of Godrealm. To make them even more beautiful, they constructed lanterns of light everywhere - shining beacons of warmth and illumination, but even then, they felt as if there was something they missed, and they could not figure out what it was.

At the same time as the elves began to use magic, the other two god-kins created a new world beneath their shared Realm. They created this new world because they had long felt the excruciating pain of loneliness, which the elves only recently had begun to feel. Therefore, they began to form a new realm, and the time it took to complete it will forever be veiled in mystery for both elves, humans and dwarves.

First, the gods created the oceans. It was mainly done by Nikea – the Goddess of Fate, and she formed them after her own characteristics. Like her, the oceans became stunningly beautiful to behold; calm and secretive, and deeper than any of the other gods would ever know, for it was formed from the deepest fathoms of her soul. After the oceans, the gods raised land over the waters, which came to look like their desolate home realm far above this new one, but they were far from finished. They raised the Heights and the Mountains, carved out Valley in between, and River were drawn were the waters of Nikea were meant to run. Then realized Nidesfarn - Ruler of the Sigan kin and the husband of Nikea, that the water would cease quickly if they were to just let it run into Lake and Ocean, and also that it would cause floods that destroyed Earth. Nikea then enriched all lakes and seas with images of her infinite aspects, which were given the task to carry the water from the seas to the mountains again. The aspects were named Clouds.

When this had been done, the gods began the most strenous work that had ever existed, or ever will exist. They started to create life.

First, they created Forest. They forged different moods for Forest; Maple, Birch, Pine, Palm, Oak, Fur and many more. They formed the First Leaf, an imitation of the very crown of Nidesfarn himself, and many more shapes thereafter. But they were not finished after they had created all different kinds of trees and flowers. They wanted to bless the world with life that could walk and think. Thus, beasts that walk on four legs were created, as well as insects, fish and birds. They all came to live in the new world.

Nikea and Nidesfarn, as is known, had other gods by their side who helped them to create this new world, but there was one of an evil mind, obsessed with pain and suffering. His name was Illsvinn, from which the word ill is derived. He created other creatures in secrecy, which was meant to kill the others and snuff the flame of life from them. This was how all the predators came into existence.

Alas, the gods were, even after all this, not completely satisfied with their work, for they felt they wanted to create life which looked like themselves, who could talk like them, who could show compassion and cleverness. They created nineteen individuals, almost as big as themselves. Those beings later became know as the Primordial Ones. Nikea placed them as protectors of their creation, especially the forests which contained most of the animals, but also the green plains of grass and the mountains. Nine of the Primordial Ones were set to guard the oceans.

Then Illsvinn disappeared, not to be seen again for a very long time. He made his way to the northernmost reaches of the new world and made home at the southernmost part of the great Northern Mountains (later split into an eastern and a western part known as Whitenfrost and the Evershards). He carved a giant crater around him and lay his own water in the gap, but this was not blue and beautiful like the waters of Nikea; it was green and unfathomably cold. It never froze no matter how cold it was. Illsvinn then created Wind, Storm and biting Cold. With those tools, he made the waters of Nikea to change colour and consistency, but he did not turn it black, for the other gods would certainly interfere if he did. He simply turned the waters in the lakes to Ice so that it lost its alluring depth, and he shattered the aspects that carried the water from lake to mountaintop so that they turned into a million little snow flakes, which he then spread across the forests and plains of the world.

Despite of Illsvinn’s intended secrecy, the other gods noticed the winds, ice and snow, but they did not think of it as bad or evil, and as Illsvinn intended they did not suspect him to be the creator of those things. The gods did not think much of it for many years, until they noticed that their own creations took damage from the coldness that followed with the snow, and as a countermeasure, they spread warmth over the world. This led to the melting of snow in forests and upon plains, and many little streams flowed freely upon the lands. And just like Nikea had ordered, the water rose up into the sky after a while, now as invisible fumes, and was brought back to its origin wherever that was. But the shattered aspects could never recover fully from Illsvinn’s sorcery, and when they fell from the skies they did so as Rain.

The cold created by Illsvinn did not disappear completely. With his tremendous powers, he held back the warmth of the gods from his northern lands, which thus remained snow laden and dead. He created an opposite to the kind and herding Primordial Ones; a race of giants that became know as the Frost Giants, or Rhimethursar as the Vorgar call them. Those giants were evil, breathed ice and frost and were malicious in everything they did.

The strain upon Illsvinn’s powers caused by the constant struggle to stop the warmth of the gods weakened him so much that he could not again spread chill across the world, but all the same he enveloped his own lands in eternal frost. Because of this, he later became known as the Frostbringer. On his island, surrounded by the deadly waters, he dwelled for a long time, and the world remained the same.

Then, the elves turned their eyes westwards, and saw that the other gods had been gone from Godrealm for a long time.

They went far and wide throughout the Realm of the Gods, but they found no-one. At last, the lovely and wise elf maid Elendia happened to look over the edge of their realm, only to be completely stunned by the sight of the new world that met her eyes, resting far below their own. The elves called a council, where it was quickly determined that they should descend upon the new world to investigate what had actually come into existence. Swift was their journey down, and when they treaded upon the soil of this world, they were completely spellbound. Here there were living things like themselves, some even moved and sang! Some flew effortlessly through the air; those hummed the most captivating of songs. Others walked around on four legs, frolicking on the living things which did not move. The last ones that the elves discovered hid underneath the water surface; they flew through the blue depths with grace and freedom. They quickly realized that this was the work of the other gods, and became jealous, but it disappeared just as fast when they realized it was life they had missed all those years they had dedicated to the study of magic. They were filled with such respect for the combined work of the other god kins, that they decided to settle in the new world and move their cities from the gloomy Realm of the Gods. This they proclaimed to the other gods, who did not want the elves to settle their new creation, for it would then seem as if it was the elves who had created everything, and thus they forbade them to settle the new world. So entranced by the new life were the elves, that they were ready to declare war against the other gods in order to live amongst the wonderful creations. They armed themselves, made mighty and smooth weapons, and just as perfect armour. The other gods then retreated to their own realm. Hurt and angered, they turned their powers toward the elves, and shattered the connection between the worlds so that no elf ever may return to their homeworld. When the Sigans arrived, they discovered the creations of the elves - their beautiful cities bathed in light and magic. They then created forests and plains upon their realm, and began studying the work of the elves to be able to create the shimmering lights themselves.

The elves felt remorse, having broken the friendship with the other gods, but at the same time they were much delighted at having this land of possibilities all by themselves. They wanted this world to shine like their own cities. They immediately began channeling magic into their newly constructed wells, and this time they would make a lightsphere so grand and bright, it alone would be able to bathe this world in its rays. Throughout many millennia, the elves collected the infinite magic, and at long last the sphere was finished, glowing of heat and brilliance. They named it Solendia, and placed it high up in the air, and from there it cast its infinite, golden radiance upon the world, drenching it in sunlight. The earth quickly became overheated, and to Illsvinn’s disappointment, his snow started melting away in his northlands. Alas, the heat from Solendia caused the forests to catch fire and the earth to scorch. It was quickly decided to have Solendia orbit around the world, and the elves discovered after some experimentation, that the best time span for Solendic uptime coincided with the time required for one Arch Sorcerer to fill one well with magic. This is how Day and Night came to be, and also how Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In time, Sun came to change its course by itself. Sometimes it lasted longer under the world, sometimes shorter. This caused the snow to melt away during the seasons called Spring and Summer, and the coldness to return during the seasons known as Autumn and Winter.

At long last, the elves felt complete. They had united with the wildlife all around them and their beautiful cities stood tall, deep within the Forest of Light - the forest in the southernmost tip of the world they had come to love most of all. Things remained unchanged for a very long time, until the Age of Peoples.

In time, the other gods discovered the secrets behind the brilliant magic of the elves, and at the same time they looked down upon their creation, to see the new fabulous sphere that journeyed the skyline. It enchanted everything in golden light, especially Nikea’s oceans and lakes that shimmered like a million diamonds. They immediately knew it must be the work of elves, and felt that they too should light up their own world. Because of this, they made a lightsphere, but their skills in the art of magic were far lesser than the most skillful of the elves. They could not get this new sphere to glow like the sun, and it could not reach the same size. But the light it cast was more the sweeter; calm and tender like the touch of love, pure like silver. It too got an orbital course; the gods deemed it wiser to do like the elves, because they must have had a good reason to make it moving, even if they did not know exactly why it had to travel over and under the world.

The first moondown, which accordingly came to be the new world’s first moonrise, astonished the elves. They could now behold a wonderful silver sphere bearing down from the realm of the gods. Solendia had just retreated underneath the earth, and the new sphere cast its silver light upon them and bathed everything in its perfect sweetness. It was then that the elves lamented their foolish hostilities against their kindred gods, and they wished dearly that they could reunite with them. Because of this, Fëranalas, Master of the Bow, sent an arrow made of pure magic through the void between the worlds, bearing a message. The elves desired peace, and since many of the Sigans wished the same, the gods dispelled the void barriers in both ends. As a peace offering, the Sigans offered the moon to the elves, and even though they would miss its lovely light, they considered it much more important to have peace and once again share tales and love with the elves, then to have the beautiful sphere gracing them with its presence.

Now followed a time of peace and unity. The elves and Sigans sat at each other’s table, dining and drinking in friendship and joy. The elves made the perfect sun for the Sigans as thanks for the moon - it was weak enough to be able to shine constantly, but strong enough to cast all of the Realm of the Gods in golden radiance. This was how Vindeon got its moon and Godrealm its sun.

Such is the story of the creation of the world, which the Sigan queen Nikea named Vin’deon, which, according to Sigan faith, means Our Realm. The elves’ part in it has been told. As of them, they lingered on within their forest kingdoms, continued to develop and control the magic. They studied the works of the gods, both living and dead creations, and this combined came to distinguish the elves more than anything else. In time, they taught plants to speak, what the songs of the birds meant, as well as the tounge of beasts. They learnt how to summon living things through their magic, and surrounded their forests with invisible walls that could not be seen, only felt.

As the time passed, Illsvinn got knowledge of the elves settling in the farthest south, and immediately he grew angry that some gods still lingered in this ripe new world. He had rejoiced at the sight of the Sigans leaving Vindeon, thinking the last of his hated kin had left. This made him emerge from his black pit on his barren island and fly all the way to the magical elven capital Andîala, the first city formed by the elves, in eagle form. Maintaining this disguise, he stole knowledge of the magic as well as its interactions and intersections with the force of nature. Every night, he went in through the windowless Spires of the Grand Tomes – the storerooms of the greatest spellboks in the elven main Library of Knowledge, read from the scrolls and tomes, and meditated in its many Spellshrines. This happened in a time when the elves had no reason to station guards and Watcher spirits, for there was no threat to their homes and lives. Or so they believed.

When he had fully learnt the spells and secrets, Illsvinn returned to his dead island, situated in the middle of the storm-plagued, freezing Ice Sea. With his newfound knowledge, he began to summon hideous creatures who would later come to ravage the world. The first being he created was a huge, burning monstrosity, whose distinct form later became known as Demon - as large as the gods, but with batlike wings on its back and two horrific horns on the forehead, which looked like curved spears, ominously pointing forward as if wanting to impale everything that was unfortunate enough to get in their path. Illsvinn let the combined might of his divine hatred and blackened soul flow into this demon, which he named Erth’Aridon – Demon Emperor. He then created lesser demons, his powers drained and unable to make another Erth’Aridon, but nevertheless, those evil creatures possessed incredible strength and powers. Among them were Kheridôn – Lord of Fear, Ordreth – Lord of Suffering, and Ûrnurang – Lord of the Black Arts. He contained his demons far below the surface of his island, in the deepest reaches of his pits and dungeons. There they remained, plotting dark plans and growing in strength, awaiting the awful day they were to be unleashed upon the world.

In such state remained the world, until the creation of humankind many years after the creation of Solendia, and it was with their arrival, the elves first began counting the days.

The Second Age

Years 0 ~ 6000

Known as: Age of Arrival, Gal’Rîdith

As it was, the Sigans where still not fully pleased with the world in which the elves had settled. Their thoughts carried back to the Primordial Ones; they wanted to create more such creatures. They descended once more upon Vindeon and greeted the elves, and to their great amazement, they found that the elves had diminished.

They had even shortened beneath the tree tops along with their great cities, and it was then they realized that the power of the elves had been fading. Their divinity ceased because they choose to live in a world created by others. But the elves themselves had felt this already, and readily accepted their fate. All along, they considered Vindeon to be far superior a place to live in than Godrealm. They still had the gift of immortality, and the energies of magic flowed through their veins as it always had.

The Sigans deliberated with each other. They wondered if it was a good idea to create more giants, with the fading of the elves being what it was. Many days passed in discussion, when at last they agreed that they would honour their old friends in creating creatures slightly shorter than the elves. They decided that this new creation would have no help to develop, neither by them nor the elves, and they would come to have mortal lives so that their spirits sooner or later was allowed to leave Vindeon and rejoin the great void which is Infinity. Thus, Nidesfarn and Nikea, together with Rimmur – God of War, and Vorbar – God of Souls, created Mankind. Vorbar gifted them with spirit, Rimmur gave them will and strength. Nikea gave them body, Nidesfarn gave them mind, sense and the blooming and withering of the body: mortality. According to legend, they created nine hundred humans in the center of the world, just west of the Thunderhowl Mountains. This is debated amongst the peoples of Vindeon though, as some claim the first humans were created in the Artoll Highlands and others still that they emerged from the heart of the Ur Forest.

So it came to pass that humans began trodding the earth of Vindeon. At first, they were simple. They lived in huts and gathered plants and berries for food. Like this, their societies remained for three thousand years, and during all this time, the elves observed them from their hidden lookouts in the forests. They wanted to help the humans, but they listened to the words of the Sigans and remained dormant.

The Sigans did however return to Vindeon, frustrated by the slow development of their loved humankind. They created four kings which were taught the arts of city architecture, organization, the wisdom of writing and farming, and warfare. Those four became known as the Four Kings of Old, and the first of them was called Vanngrim Godson. He was ruddy and sturdy, and the sword swung easily in his hands. The second king was Garfing Yldi. He was fair and gentle, and plants sprung out of the ground over which he walked. The third king was Randgar Vromar; he was very skilled in moving through the wilds, and he surpassed the other kings in hunting and fishing. He was a quiet but wise man. The last of the kings was Umagius Akbe; he was a man of law, order and peace. He was the most distinguished of the kings in the arts of city handling and trade, and he knew how to organize the smallest to the largest of undertakings.

The Kings of Old were granted to stay middle aged until the day they married a woman to give birth to their children. Their descendats were granted prolonged lives for five generations. They rallied the simple humans of the world and led them all to the Ur Forest, to a clearing never again found by man nor dwarf. It has henceforth been known only as the Glen of Kings.

When order had been established in the great crowd, Vanngrim marched forward. He held a brave and powerful speech, as sprung from burning fire and the hardest rock. He ment to move northeast, and as Solendia began to rise over the tree tops, he left the Glen of Kings with many followers, who had been appealed by his grand words. Those humans later came to be known as the Vorgar.

As the last of the Vorgar left, Garfing climbed a large stone, and immediately wild plants started to climb toward him. He spoke about good harvest, eternal peace; a good life on the farms and fields and cattle in abundance. Many humans were amazed by his speech since they did not know of cattle or agriculture, but those who had seen what happened to the plants at his stone joined without further hesitation. Garfing left in the middle of the day with his followers, but he did not go east, for he suspected war and hard times there. Thus, he led his people northwest and settled in the rich lowlands of Midhem, with forests and mountains as their only neighbours. His people became known as the Rhuedi; the most peaceful of all peoples, and excellent farmers.

Day turned to night, and this is when Randgar left with those who did not need wealth in food or security. Those were hardy and quiet folks, and Randgar moved them to the southwest. They crossed the great plains of central Midhem and settled on the isle which makes out the southwest tip of Vindeon. The story of the Alerians, how they clashed with the orcs during the war which was to be later known as the Hellghoul War is of great importance for the history of the world, but that tale is told further ahead.

Now, only Umagius was left, but the crowd that gazed intently upon him was the vastest of them all. They had not been convinced by any of the other kings, and were very different from one antoher. Some liked music and culture, som trade. There were hunters and warriors, and they all had as different interests as the Gods and Illsvinn. Umagius deemed it safest to wait through the night, but held his speech which was a perfect blend of the other kings’ speeches. Those left listened to his words, and towards the end they all nodded approvingly to him. In the morning on the second day, he left with his part of the original humans. He went to the southeast, not because he needed to, but he wanted to leave the other peoples in peace, and he felt a strange reluctance to travel north. Like the other kings, many of Umagius’ deeds have been written down in books and told in songs - from the beginning of the journey of his people, the Enaxians, to the founding of their great capital - the shining gem of Uth Enax.

Around this time, Illsvinn was notified about the existence of humankind, and consequently he began to form new sinister plans with his minion creations, deep down in the burning depths of his ice-covered island. Evil laughter echoed through the deeps and seeped out to the surface of Nigorat, the name given the island by the Dark God, but nothing more could be noted in the north during that time.

The elves who, during all this time, had observed the humans, considered the acts of the gods a breaking of the oath they had forced the elves to swear. They had given mankind help to evolve, and when they saw how their fields and cities grew, they stepped forth. They offered their help and knowledge, and the humans praised them for it. They taught them how to work metals and build towers, citadels and keeps. They taught them magic.

Then came short but sturdy beings to the human towns.

So surprised were the elves, that they could not speak for nine days. The short and robust creatures called themselves Dwarves, and claimed to come from within the mountains. They bore tools both simple yet intricate. Their men had great beards and square armour and clothing, and their women sleek dresses and hair descending to their feet.

The dwarves were created in a twist of fate when one of the Sigan gods descended upon Vindeon to crush one of Illsvinn’s frost giants who had ventured too far south. The Sigan was none other than Rimmur, God of War, but the dwarves call him Ironhammer. On the highest mountain – the enormous Klimmerfang, he met in mortal combat with the Lord of the Frost Giants – Mortenga of the Brutal Pain clan. The battle raged for days, but both combatants were inexhuastable. Lastly, the great giant cut Rimmur’s left arm with his axe, but exposed his head which Rimmur then crushed with his hammer with such force that it passed right through the giant and slammed the mountain so hard a deep crack emerged. The god sat down and began stopping the bleeding, but much blood had already seeped down into the heart of the mountain. Of his blood and the soul of the mountain, the dwarves were born. Since they were of Rimmur’s blood, they had longer lives than humans, and they also inherited the courage, toughness and strength of the God of War. The mountain gave them their tireless will to extract and form the minerals and ores of rock, their ability to see in the dark and the eternal love for all that is stone.

Long the dwarves dwelt inside the mountain, until one day when they happened to dig through its outer shell. They were met by the intense light of sunrays, and thought they had discovered a new marvelous ore. But as they crawled out of the hole, they were met by a sight that completely astounded them. There were green forests and a blue unreachable roof, but the shining orb was farther away still. Some dwarves immediately became so fascinated by all this that they decided to leave their mountain home to go discover the world, which later became know as the Outhalls. This is how the dwarves came out of their mountain and in time met both humans and elves.

The three races bonded over the time of this age. The dwarves did think the buildings of humans and elves looked unstable and feeble, with their thin corner pillars and beams. Therefore, they taught the humans what they knew about building robust constructions. This did not create tension between the races as one might believe, and the combination of human, elven and dwarven architecture came to be a real odd combination of strong and weak, square and round, which were later to be considered common human architectural style.

In continuing friendship, elves, dwarves and humans lived and developed, even though it was dwarves and humans who established the strongest bonds to each other, the elves being very different and distant in many ways. Towards the end of the Second Age, the great citites had emerged. Trade roads of stone stretched between different cities and lands, and thus began the Third Age.

The Third Age

Years ~ 6000 – 8878

Known as: Age of Peoples, Fortune’s End, Gal’Varmeth

In the beginning of the Third Age, the civilizations flourished. The Alerians had many keeps in the southwestern montain regions, wherefrom they could gaze far into the distance. There they lingered, out of reach for traders and travelers from other lands, just like they themselves wanted. The Rhuedi, in comparison, expanded in every direction, although they did not build grand castles and keeps but small farming settlements and forest camps. They even settled the hostile environments on the brink of the Whitenfrost mountains. The northernmost part of their people, those who lived north of the great Greenwood forest (renamed Blackwither in the aftermath of the Hellghoul War), slowly splintered and created a culture and society of their own, which became known as the Drom. This people wandered further north and then eastwards under the reign of their third Grand King, Fener Bitlis. They built a majestic kingdom under the mountain, like the dwarves, which were to be named Ardabil. This realm had one major flaw, which later came to seal its fate. It was built only three days away from the western shores of the Ice Sea. The island of Nigorat could be sighted on clear days from their easternmost outpost Erüm Senthrosür – Eastguard.

The Vorgar developed their own style of animal imagery and knotted bands, and built a few large cities at the northeastern coast as well as thousands of gards (settlements consisting of one owning family and their housefolk and serfs) scattered throughout the plains, fjords and highlands. They were a people of trade and war; they did a lot of naval trading with the Enaxians, establishing trade routes along the eastern coast of Vindeon, but the scarcety of comfort and wealth genereated in their own lands forced them to sometimes wage war upon one another. Raiding and pillaging became a common negative impact upon the Vorgar, until the emergence of the palegoblins in the eastern Evershard Mountains, which turned their swords in that direction instead of each others’. These new targets caused the Vorgar to create light assault ships, capable of high speed, shallow keel height and at the same time large carrying capacity. The plundering of gold and silver along the northernmost parts of the eastern fjords slowly turned the Vorgar into a people of wealth, and the armour and clothing of lords and jarls could even compete with that of the overly prosperous Enaxian Empire.

As for the Enaxian people, they grew fastest of all the human peoples. Their citites flourished of culture and trade; their walls became great and their towers greater. They came to be the grandest of all humankind, and they maintained strong relations with both dwarves and elves. They expanded throughout all of Midhem towards the Rhuedi in the west, and stopped only when they faced the impenetrable Dragonback Mountains in the north. What lay north of them was nothing more than a boundless land of barren earth, known only as the Wastelands.

As the different peoples developed, contact between them diminished by a fraction each passing year. The unique spirit of each different culture had since the following of the four kings made them more different from one another. Lasty, it became clear that the humans that had once stood side by side now had become independent and largely uninterested in each other, save the trading going on between them and the ever-present allure of individuals to travel to the other ones to experience their ways of life and faith. They did however remain neutral or allied to one another, and no war ever broke out between them, even though the battle-hardened Vorgar sea raiders had some skirmishes with Enaxian merchant fleets.

As for the dwarves, they ventured farther away from the Thunderhowl Mountains. Some went to the west and settled in the Dragonbacks, whose tops and peaks were visible all the way from Thunderhowl. Henceforth, those settlers were given the practical name Dragonback Dwarves by the Enaxians who traded with them. After that, some ventured north through the desolate Wastelands and built a city underneath the hostile, inhospitable Cliffs of Solitude. According to their own legend, they were placed in those mountains by Ironhammer himself, to keep stalwart watch over the Ice Sea and Nigorat, as well as the infinite northern mountains of Whitenfrost and Evershards. Because of this, they called themselves Lidrotja – Borderkeepers in common, and ever since their settling in, they have lived under threat from every direction; frost trolls and giants from the north, predators and steppe raiders from the west and east, and desolation to the south. Therefore, they built the strongest fortress gate in the history of Vindeon (and still is); Egûm Adengrûm. To this day, it has not been breached.

The dwarves followed the same sundering path as the humans, only that theirs was worse. They settled in their mountains and founded many kingdom cities, and each and every one of them eventually turned into a distinct people with their own names and laws. The dwarves ceased to communicate with each other completely; no trade or news reached any of the isolated kingdoms, save for occasional gossip by human traders travelling between the different cities. The elves however remained united and continued to teach the humans about magic energy and the forces of nature. They remembered well their legacy and heritage, and like old gods they lived on together, as always. A huge number of elves did nevertheless move from the Forest of Light to claim the vast forests of the Deepwoods as their new realm, on the easternmost great headland of the world. This undertaking was well planned and supervised by the Sorcerer King Vilneleth the Dawnbringer, ruler over all elves. For here and there the monsters of Illsvinn nestled into the peaceful forests of the world, and they needed to be guarded. The Deepwoods was one of the most tainted forests. Led by Gelannion the Wise - High Priest of Solendia, the chosen began their journey toward the Deepwoods. A small elite force was sent ahead of the people to safeguard their passage through the lands of Midhem, and later on create a safe perimeter beneath the forest crowns so that the others could build their homes in peace. These rangers were led by an influential elflord by the name Lominëar, known for his valor, wisdom and diplomatic skills. After a journey of many days and nights the bulk of the elves finally arrived and began settling the lush lands under the green thicket of leaves and branches. These elves became known as Deepwood Elves, but they always maintained the bonds and contact with the heartrealm in the Forest of Light. Such as it was, the two realms never divided in spirit, only split by the vast lands in between them.

Alas, the darkness crept ever closer to the warmer places of Vindeon, for in secrecy, Illsvinn had accomplished more evil than the elves believed. He had sent several of his demons to the different forests, for he knew that the elves would respond to this malice. Together with fearsome beasts and creatures of hate and night, the demons poured into both Greenwood and the Deepwoods, and then they lay in hiding, waiting, watching. The elves did come, at least to the Deepwoods, and immediately started to cleanse them from the filth of Illsvinn. Many bloody hunts then followed from both sides, and the ones that ended in the victory of evil were hideous. Elves that were captured by the demons were taken prisoners. Tortured and tainted by the demonic presence, they slowly succumbed to darkness, their minds twisted and malevolent. They were kept in pits beneath the earth, beaten and forced to toil. This was how the captured elves was broken, and when the demon tyrants deemed an elf obedient and converted, they were sent to the black strongholds in the far north, carved into the mountains by Illsvinn himself. There, they became the slaves of the gruesome, puregrim palegoblins.

Day and night the Deepwood Elves fought against the forces of darkness. Day and night their numbers dwindled, their strength diminishing. Lominëar then saw that there was only one thing to do, if they wished to purge the forest of evil. He summoned half of his people, those trained in war and those brave enough and those with great magic skills, and marched north towards the demon lairs. They fought valiantly and with such ferocity that they overrun the demonic fortifications. Fueled by hatred and the taste of victory, Lominëar and his army cast aside their divine compassion. They hunted the demons and their minions day and night. When Illsvinn heard of the news from the Deepwoods, he grinned wickedly. This was exactly what he had hoped for. He withdrew all his forces from Greenwood and sent them towards the Deepwoods through the barren lands north of the Dragonback Mountains. As for himself, he turned into a globe of fire and brimstone, and quickly flew to his retreating demon army to aid them and command them personally. Having reached his destination, he swiftly transformed himself into an average demon, so that Lominëar and the elves would not recognize him. At the base of the Artoll Highlands, due northwest of the Deepwoods, Lominëar’s advance was almost completely halted. They could not engage the enemy in open terrain anymore, and the demons fled up in the mountains and scattered to the winds. Several months passed where Lominëar and his army hunted the remnants of the demonic horde in the highlands, and when they found their hated enemy, they made short work of them. But one day when they turned their heads south, they could se a black mass at the foot of the highlands. The demons of Greenwood had arrived, led by Urnurang, Lord of the Black Arts himself. At the base of the southern slopes of Artoll, the elves were surrounded. Against such endless hordes, Lominëar knew there could be no victory. Their food all but spent and the piles of his wounded littering his camps, Lominëar surrendered. There was nothing else to do, they would die if they battled on, and Lominëar thought there was a minimal chance they could parley with the leaders of the hordes. Lominëar strode forth, and stood strong and composed in front of the hideous battle line that had formed in front of him. Illsvinn intercepted him in the disguise of an ice giant.

Facing Lominëar, he proclaimed that the elflord and all his people would indeed make it out alive and unharmed. Because now he could do with them as he intended, he thought evilly. Then the Dark God mustered all his incredible power, having grown stronger as his hold over the world increased. With the aid of Urnurang and his demon sorcerers, he transformed the magic for miles into a giant blackrune spell, which he then unleashed upon the elves. The power and malevolence of the runespell twisted them into hateful beings with even greater powers than they possessed before the tranformation. The runespell erased all their thousands of years of memory, and saved only the blood thirst and hate they only recently had begun to feel in their hearts. One thing did the runespell fail to erase though; their love for the nature of Vindeon, especially the trees and flora. Illsvinn perceived this, but did nothing about it, for he saw that it would do them nothing good anyways in the years to come.

When the elves had been bewitched, Illsvinn told them where they came from and what their purpose in this world was. They listened with keen ears, and when he had made them believe his false legend, he released them towards the Deepwoods, withdrawing all of his remaining demon forces to his icy northern domains.

Lominëar and his followers entered the Deepwoods on Willows’ Eve (the name of the day of mid-spring), settled among the northwestern groves and created an elven homeland similar to their brethren’s, only this homeland was ruled by might and sinister evil. Their love of nature stretched only to the tip of the tree branches, and they knew that blood was the most potent of all energies – virtually amassed void energies waiting to be harvested into pure power, at the cost of life. Thus, they began sacrificing the beasts and animals of their woodland realm, strengthening both themselves and their blood-enchanted realm. The groves where they dwelt sprung to life with new power, a power so profound that the trees grew wider and thicker than all other trees, no matter how old. The rivers and springs began to shine with a gloomy red light; the fusion of blood and magic spells residue. The Sinister – that is what they came to be known as by their own kin, and sometime in the middle of the third age, they encountered the Deepwood Elves. The Sinister immediately imprisoned their former friends and took them to their forests where they sacrificed them, extracting their blood to use in their dark but still enthrallingly graceful rituals. That is when the Deepwood Elves understood what had become of Lominëar and the stronger part of their people. They mourned day and night the fate that had befallen them, and regret of ever having descended to this troubled Sigan creation mounted. At last, they turned to their kindred gods for help. Gelannion, wisest and oldest of the Deepwood Elves, cried tears of anguish and sorrow upon the altar of the gods, which was on a hill far taller than the tallest of trees. And the gods heeded his tears and plead.

In the realm of the gods, time had passed uneventfully, but the Sigans always looked down on their creation. The demons of Nigorat did not escape their watchful eyes, neither what had happened to the Deepwood Elves. They went to council, and decided on whether or not they should intervene once more in their world. It was a hard decision to make. On the one hand, they wanted to help the elves and make justice upon Illsvinn, but on the other they did not want to reveal themselves to the humans, as they would surely discover the true and dark state of Vindeon and the evil stirring in the northlands. At last, Nidesfarn rose to speak.

We shall wait for the pleading of the elves, for in their utmost end of needs they will remember our vigilance, and when that day comes, we can be assured that our realm needs our help once more.

A few hundred years later, Gelannion made that plea, and the gods prepared for war. They travelled across the night skies on horses of pure light - their hooves made the air tremble; the earth shook and the mountains quivered. Frightened, the humans looked to the skies, seeing these spectres of immesurable power move north in speeds unknown to them. Illsvinn saw the divine charge. Cursing this unfortunate turn of events, he unleashed the full power of his demonic armies, hoping to buy time to create a black sanctuary, untouched by the gods, unreachable by the gods. He summoned the palegoblins of the Evershards, and called upon the Sinister of the Deepwoods to rush to his aid. The iron bastions of the northern mountains were all but emptied, and the Sinister sent a huge army of their skilled vanguards and blood priests. Even the captured and twisted humans lost on the steppes came to Illsvinn’s aid.

At the plains of Vermor a great battle ensued, never dreamed of even in the darkest hours of the night. Ruthlessly, the gods charged into the enemy lines, beings far superior to the grandest of demons, and many evil creatures met their end on that plain. Some of the gods, especially those of the Celestae, being inferior in power to the Sigans, met their end on that day, diminishing the divine dominion over cosmos. However, after only one single day, Illsvinns lines broke and fled north towards the Ice Sea. Urnurang and the remnants of the blood priests summoned a great bridge of ice across the water, but only half of the remaining forces got to the safe end. Infuriated by the betrayal of his forces, Illsvin himself shattered the bridge, hoping the gods would be stalled long enough for him to make his escape through the caverns. It did not come to pass, as the gods summoned their winged mounts once more and surrounded Illsvinn and his remaining army. Pleading falsly, Illsvinn and his demons asked for mercy and forgiveness. They stood at the southern shores of Nigorat. For a long while, the gods discussed what to do with Illsvinn. Most of them argued it was the wisest thing to do away with the Dark One once and for all and have an end to his tyranny. But Nidesfarn said no. He too knew it would be doing the world a great favor to disintegrate this God of Darkness, but then they would not be gods if they succumbed to murder.

Illsvinn has created life, just like us, but there our similarities end. He is the living evil. We are not. What gods would we be if we surrendered to violence, as he has? Would we be better than him? After a quick glance at his companions, drenched in the blood of a thousand nightmares, he continued:

No, we would become Illsvinn, Dark Gods. Therefore, I condemn him to walk this island for eternity. By our combined power, let him never set foot on anything else that is our creation. Nidesfarn then created an insurmountable spell of light which he cast on Illsvinn, binding his divine essence to the island of Nigorat. He made sure none of his demons or elves could summon bridges or otherwise escape the island, and that was the sentence Illsvinn was doomed by the gods.

However, many gods still disapproved, and ascended into the heavens with troubled minds. The field of battle, littered with the corpses of the demonhordes and fallen gods, was submerged into the bottom of the Ice Sea by Nikea. This created a bay which is now known as Vermor, its origin never known to mortals.

Illsvinn disappeared into the deepest of his dungeons in the greatest of his island mountains. His pride deeply hurt, he nurtured a new, undescribeable hate against the gods and all that lived, and began to create plans more horrific than ever. His ability to move freely had been taken away from him, but his powers had not diminished, and he did still have remnant minions scattered throughout the world. In his anger, his powers grew ever stronger. Burning with rage, he blew a hole in the dungeon floor with a fire spell, only to see that the world ended beneath the smoldering crater. When he looked over the edge, he saw only an infinite, empty void gaping at him, like the one that had existed long before Vindeon was created. From his blackened mind, a new idea was born. For he new - when the creatures of the gods died, they ascended to join their creators in the infinite void, or began roaming freely and at peace in the world as spirits. Illsvinn sought to change this.

Now having all the time in the world, he created the Black Sanctuary - a dim shadow realm, empty and desolate, without forests, lakes or mountains. He created razor sharp stone walls around his realm so that Solendia could not pierce them with its golden rays. He was determined to make the dead come to this place by the power of his blackrunes, where they were to walk endlessly for eternity, or until their new master had need of them.

The God of Death, as he was named by some of the cults, saw that it was easier than he thought