The Lore of Ergus
The History of Ergus
Compiled in the Year 1023 for the Betterment of All
The Cataclysm & The Mourning
The earliest knowledge of history begins as Ergus found defeat in the war against the Wither. Infrastructure, magic, written records, and the majority of the population were destroyed in the war and lost to the ages. As the triumphant victor, the Wither settled into a long and mysterious dormancy. In the decades after the Cataclysm, settlements across Ergus struggled to meet basic needs of survival with the loss and tragedy that trapped them in overwhelming despair.
One winter, the denizens of Ergus had visions in their sleep every night for seven days. An unidentified figure, recognized as a trusted friend and ally or family member, came to them in their dreams. The figure told them that the time for the people of Ergus to begin to flourish had come. They were to establish nations and find joy in creation, for the people of Ergus needed to once again breathe life into the land. All of Ergus was told that by the rise of the red moon, the people needed to complete their mourning. On the seventh night, an illuminated red full moon lit the night sky. As instructed in their dreams, the people lit bonfires and across Ergus, funeral rites were held to mourn the deceased and celebrate the times they had shared. Any settlement could be host to people from a number of cultures, so the denizens of Ergus paid respect in the many traditions of those who were lost and those who still lived. In time, the Mourning would come to be called the first day of the First Year of the Current Era.
Post-Mourning
In the days and years following the Mourning, the lands offered subtle new energy. Faint, gradual progress towards healing.Though ties to the Bloom were not as strong those could recall, the connection was present nonetheless. As the residual tragedy and trauma of war slowly emptied from the lands itself, the people found the crops were more abundant, the livestock more hearty, and the weather was more pleasant.
While the few nations that had a significant surviving populace began reforming, other new nations were birthed from the remains of those that had fallen. The Nation of Loudur reconnected with the Blood Cyprus and re-established Councilors. The leadership structure was mostly unchanged from the previous era, and was one of the earliest governments to reestablish. Other nations followed suit, though with more drastic change in the Current Era. The nomads of the Ice Crystal Plains decided to break from the warring ways of their ancestors and established a loose monarchy, in the hopes that a single leader will bring more sustainable governance to recover the nation as a whole. The people who remained scattered across the Red Craigs begin relocating to Caldera, seeking better fortunes
Mastery of the Bloom
The majority of the population could access some powers by Bloom magic, primarily used as a tool to better their lives across all disciplines: farmers could enchant scarecrows, alchemists and artisans could imbue intent into their creations, and warriors could display shocking feats of physical prowess. While the use of Bloom magic was common, there were those who had greater talent with Bloom magic. Some of those who mastered Bloom magic became known as Sorcerers, though the title had been used in the Previous Era. While it is debated if Novak is the first to truly reach the rank of Sorcerer by his skill, Novak was the first person to be given the title of Sorcerer in the Current Era when a fallen soldier was called back to life on the battlefield by his magic.
The Council of Nations & Creation of the Gate System
For over a year, it was pontificated whether an alliance among all nations should be formed. Loudur and those of the Desert citing the economic and political stability and support of a council would lead to great growth within Ergus. The Shimmering Glens stated that their ideals for independence and freedom stood against the proposition. Aradel’s state was built on isolationist policies, and were also opposed to the formation of an allied council. Despite these concerns, the Council of Nations was formed in the year 447, although with not all nations present. The Zothar were the last of the recognized nations to join the Council of Nations in the year 451.
The year 522 saw catastrophe in Ergus when the Omenborn Sorcerer caused an irreparable fracture within the great nexus located in the Shimmering Glen during a faulty attempt to create a new domain which was intended to be more powerful than any before it. From this fracture, a saltwater torrent poured forth, flooding the lands and draining into the Acrye Lake. Within seven days, the Acrye Lake had doubled in size, completely submerging the Shimmering Glens. The people of the Shimmering Glens were forced to flee, migrating into Zothar’s neighboring lands and finding refuge in the peaks of the Acrye Lake. The nation and the identity of the Shimmering Glens were effectively drowned and lost with their homes.
In the wake of this disaster, forums across Ergus were held to answer the people’s concerns for their safety: how could the Council of Nations protect the people of Ergus from potential destruction, when it is caused by the rituals of such powerful individuals as Sorcerers? Solutions proposed included putting all Sorcerers under the supervision of the Council of Nations to control for any heinous, reckless, or misguided rituals. The Sorcerers offered a compromise, and agreed to create an internal auditing process of any experimental rituals.
Annother suggestion was made that offered safety and support for all nations which instantly garnered the majority of international support, with Aradel as the only dissenter. The Argent Guardians and the Red Crags had created potential plans for establishing a network of gates for near instantaneous travel across Ergus. The Argent Guardian’s unique knowledge and abilities of leyline magic could be modified and made accessible for all nations by utilizing the Red Crags’ natural resource of fireglass, which had been specially treated with Bloom magic to interface with the leyline. Year 569 saw the final preparations for the gate system across Ergus, and a great ritual activated the gates system that year.
Crystal Currency
With the establishment of the gate network, the transcontinental economy quickly developed beyond the efficiency of bartering and exchange. The nation of Lodor proposed a unified form of currency, and offered up a solution: Lodor had developed a way to extract Bloom crystals from their mines and could use them to create a form of currency. The crystals could be verified as genuine by nearly anyone, making forgery near impossible. The new nation of the Dread Isles opposed, feeling that currency would remove the skill and finesse in trade. Those of the Ice Crystal Plains also dissented. Despite the opposition, in the year 584 the “Unified Crystal Currency Act” was signed into existence.
War and Strife
King Fredrick Zel’Rokk had not long ascended to the throne in the Ice Crystal Plains when he began a campaign to disband the Council of Nations. His intentions were to wage war with the Dread Isles as a maneuver for power, and he believed the only entity that stood in his way was the Council. His proposition garnered support, and year 643 was thought to be the last with the Council. Before it could come to pass, King Zel’Rokk was assassinated. His murder was the first formal appearance of the Sages, a discreet network of assassins operating all across Ergus.
In the year 799, the people of Tala of the Shattered Earth joined the Council of Nations. Within weeks of allyship and recognition, a great earthquake destroyed the nation of Tala. This was the second case of a spontaneous disaster decimating a group seeking to establish as a nation inside the Shattered Earth, and the people of Ergus began to whisper rumors that the Shattered Earth had sentience and was creating the disasters as to not allow any nation to establish upon it.
The winds and storms that had blown in from eastern Ergus obliterated the agriculture of Aradel and Azrenth. This was followed by the drought of 812, and desperation wrought tension to the two nations. War was declared, and before the Council of Nations could take a stance, Aradel destroyed Azrenth using a magic thus unknown to the people of Ergus.
Another century of peace passed within Ergus before another tragedy struck. A massive, ancient draconic beast with white scales from the east ravaged the Ice Crystal Plains and the Dread Isles, and the defenses of the two nations were ineffective against the beast’s hunt. Renowned slayers of malicious and dangerous creatures, Sir Darvos and the Onyx Knights were called upon to kill the beast. Sir Darvos called forth great magic from the sky and struck down the great dragon in the fall of 901.
The next two decades were rife with the activity of Sorcerers disgruntling the nations. Twin Sorcerers claimed a portion of the lands between the contested boundaries Zothar and Aradel. The Heartwood Sorcerer established The Greenbriar Academy in 909, as a place for young druids to develop their skills. In the same year, The Wanderer claimed lands within the Lodur Swamp. These events lead to the Council of Nations signing and enacting the Sorcerer Domain Act, in an attempt to keep peace between the great Sorcerers and the Nations.
The Reckoning
In the year 928, on the eve of the Spring Solstice, the Reckoning struck the lands. Bloom magic was stripped from the people of Ergus and the land itself was drained of Bloom. Many of the strongest practitioners of Bloom magic perished and the gate system crumbled, causing the collapse of nations.
Without the gate system linking the nations across the expansive continent, Ergus lost all facilities to enable inter-nation trade, forcing the nations’ economies to become isolated and suffer under unexpected self- reliance. The most sprawling nations were forced to reduce their claim to the land when faced with untenable journeys to the outskirts on the edges of their boundaries.
The Dread Isles had been ruled by the Merchant Kings and relied on magic to hold back the great sea. The Reckoning led to the Merchant Kings’ death, and the Dread Isles became overwhelmed by the rushing seas and increasingly rising tides. The majority of their terrain became unusable, submerged by hundreds of meters of sea water.
In 942, the Night of Nightmares fell upon the lands of Ergus, twenty- five years after The Reckoning Almost all were awoken in the night to horrific dreams. The nightmares were distinct to the dreamer, preying on personal fears and unfounded anxieties. There was no clear influence to cause this frightening communal experience.
The Last Half-Century
The unexplained events of The Reckoning began to fade from memory as Ergus and its people continue to recover. The Council of Nations was effectively gone with the disappearance of portals, but trade across Ergus is growing. The Onyx Isles used massive ships to control most international trade and transportation, until the year 979 when the trade city of Sarova established itself as the most major point of commerce and industry.
Sarova’s economic success led to significant funding for newly-founded academic institutions, with the intent to turn investment into innovation. Findings from these instiutions led to much controversy within Ergus, as theories that developed from the scholar’s findings challenged the commonly- accepted understanding of the world at the time.
A number of aquatic creatures known as Ferloren were discovered outside their expected territory in the waters of the Acrye Lake, along the primary trade route between Sarova and the Onyx Islee. The Ferloren were first noted when they were found to be the cause of the damages dealt to cargo ships during their aggressive attacks. The sporadic and unpredictable destruction of the ships caused massive shipping delays and undue strain on the nations that could not manage without the Onyx Isles trade ships for necessary supplies.
In the year 1017, King Warrick Von’Karr of the Ice Crystal Plains attempted to reform the Council of Nations by proposing that representatives of each of the most recognized nations attend a continental summit, to be held in his great keep in the summer of 1018. Unfortunately, the summit was never held due to King Warrick’s death during the harsh winter of 1017.