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	World History (Twin Worlds 3e version) | Annals of the Age of High Culture

The Four Ages of the Twin Worlds

• First Age: The Cataclysm Age
• Second Age: The Age of High Culture (FY Calendar)
• Third Age: The Twin Worlds Age (CY Calendar)
• Fourth Age: The After Age (DY Calendar)

History of the Twin Worlds

The Two Worlds

Long ago, there were three worlds clustered close together. In a cataclysmic event one of the worlds was destroyed -- with only a handful of refugees surviving by fleeing in flying ships. Due to the effects of the cataclysm, the twin worlds of Asteria and Parasonnea stopped communicating with each other and travel between them became extremely difficult; these events happened long enough ago that the planets developed along different routes. The western mainland of Asteria, developed Renaissance technology and the psionic potentials of the mind, thus losing touch with the arts of arcane magic. Through the combined use of psionics, divine magic and new weapons, the presence of magical creatures dwindled until it became the stuff of myth. A new age of exploration is dawning there, and tales of eastern lands where mystic arts and magical beasts are quite real are spreading rapidly. The skies over Asteria are a brilliant blue. Meanwhile, Parasonnea has stayed rooted primarily in medieval traditions and arcane lore. All manner of creatures, from orcs to dragons, have staked out their patch of earth. One hemisphere of the planet is covered by water and is home to xenophobic aquatic races. The green sky that hangs over the planet is the result of the high concentration of argon in its upper atmosphere.

The Age of High Culture

The Age of High Culture was a time marked by a rise in patronage and a formalized code of combat on Parasonnea. Powerful nobles and merchant houses dominated the economy of the Southland. The House of Franfaust spread the Franfaust Year (FY) calendar developed by the druid-scholars of Graul. Wars raged between the dominant races: the humans, the orcs, and the yuan-ti. During this time, slavery was an accepted practice in large parts of the Southlands. It was also during this time that the dragon god Tiamat unsuccessfully attempted to raise armies on the world in order to establish her presence (in FY2107).

The Death of Zalenkas and the Year of the Comet

In FY2117, the mighty lich Skull of Ashes, trusted servant of undead overlord Zalenkas, rose up against his master and slew him. In doing so, Skull of Ashes took Zalenkas' place as the god of the Undead. Zalenkas' death was marked by a great comet passing narrowly between the two planets. The comet rained down massive shards of ice imbued with dark energies, and the greatest heroes of that day took to the skies to fight off the incoming debris. Many of the shards were able to impact the planets. Severe flooding occurred in Eastern Asteria, and the Southlands of Parasonnea were so badly devastated that the Age of High Culture was brought to an end and the lands were plunged into anarchy for a short time. This event, the Year of the Comet, was used as the new calendar year zero under the CY (Comet Year) system.

The Rise and Fall of Lucas Nightshade

In the year 522CY, a great war erupted on the planet of Parasonnea. Lucas Nightshade, the respected mage-king of Tear, began a systematic conquest of the surrounding lands. But in wasn't until 525CY that his expansionistic tactics became unbearably cruel and oppressive. The presence of any non-evil religion was violently purged from the lands under his control. As his empire grew to encompass most of the Darklands and Vina's Arm, he secretly manipulated those nations that had the potential to oppose him and set them fighting amongst themselves. Eventually a shaky coalition was formed in opposition of Lucas, and in the final battle he died at the hands of the Six Legendary Heroes. In the aftermath, mage-kings became feared & were slain amidst bloody revolts. The truth of his reign, known only to a few, is a tale far more sinister. In 525CY, Lucas Nightshade summoned Magraravich, a powerful pit fiend whom Lucas intended to bind to his will. Unfortunately, Magraravich was too powerful for Lucas to control and the devil slew Lucas and took his place. This was the cause of the dark shift is Lucas' ruling policies. It was Magraravich, not Lucas, whom the Six Legendary Heroes actually slew.

The Return of Magraravich

The year 548CY was marked by a return of travel between the worlds of Parasonnea and Asteria. A new generation of heroes from both worlds, many with ties to the legendary six, arose to combat the menace of armies on the move, dangerous cults, and Magraravich’s destructive tiefling progeny. In the end, a final showdown with a reborn Magraravich took place. Magraravich died, but so did the surviving members of the Six Legendary Heroes.

Quanthosk'alys and the Stars of Destiny

The multiverse-spanning offensive of the overgod Quanthosk'alys touched upon the Twin Worlds, burying the Darklands and Vina’s Arm beneath and sea of ichor, and bringing chaos and ruin to the Southlands. The new generation of heroes were now unsurpassed in power among the people of the worlds, and joined an interplanar coalition known as the Stars of Destiny to fight against Quanthosk'alys and his minions (including a revived and corrupted Magraravich). They staged their counter-offensive from the City of Exile on the plane of Outlands and the plane-traveling airship-city known as the Planejammer. The Stars of Destiny were successful in driving back Quanthosk'alys and removing the ichor from the land. However, they did not reveal the details of how they accomplished this, because the knowledge of what transpired is forbidden to mortals. Almost all of those heroes departed the twin worlds, never to return again. This is Destiny Year (DY) zero for the new calendar system.

The After Age

The reconstruction following the Quanthosk'alys wars is long and hard. The areas in the Darklands and the Southlands affected by the ichor were replaced by a lush Genesis Forest that sprung up as the ichor was cleansed by the Stars of Destiny. Since the land seems suitable for settlement, a great recolonization effort of Tear has been undertaken by Queen Marie SilverRose.