sageoffablesardowin

[sageoffablesardowin]

Storytime with the Sage: Aurim’var, the Crown Melter

Apologies for the delay—an issue arose within the Dwimmerwood that had to be addressed. On with the story…

Aurim'var was Archdragon of Khardûn from 2530 P.C. to 2985 P.C., the third longest reign of any Archdragon in the continent's history. Aurim'var's legacy is one of a ruthless conqueror. His name nearly directly translates to "Golden Fanged," and was the inspiration for his title, alongside his many conquests. Aurim'var was a member of a group of powerful dragons known as the "Scales of Reclamation." Each of the three dragons in this group served as Archdragon of Khardûn, covering a total span of over 1,000 years. The other two served their stints first, with Khor'il'maar, the Usurper ruling from 1919 to 2213, and Mix'il'draz, the Willbender, serving from 2213 to 2530.

Before the Scales of Reclamation, Archdragon Khrudal'il'mox had brought Khardûn into a new era of prosperity. Focusing on rigorous trade and communication with outside cities, especially Freyglen and Tsers. As these practices continued, Khardûn's legacy as an unstoppable force under previous Archdragons had begun to wane. Other civilizations were viewing the continent as "just another people in our world." While there were plenty in Khardûn who were content with this, Aurim'var was not. At the time, Aurim'var was Dragonlord of Clan Duloric, responsible for the mighty mystical forges in the Queen's Spine of Khardûn. Without the pretext for conquest, and being a period of relative interplanar neutrality, the need for Duloric's forges grew lesser and lesser. The same could be said for the training of Clan Shochranari's warriors. Their Dragonlord, Khor'il'maar, shared his grievances with Aurim'var. That is when the two hatched a plan with the help of the Scale of Irthos Lex, Mix'il'draz. Aurim'var gave them each tasks to complete, to ensure what he saw as a return to Khardûn's global image.

Using his innate arcane abilities to manipulate the minds of the lower managers of the trade routes, Mix'il'draz began to sow seeds of distrust between the countries of Xeqash. He spread rumors of the return of the yuan-ti empire in the South, hinting that various smaller states may have been involved in its rebuilding. With that rumor underway, it was not difficult to convince other members of clan leadership across Khardûn that Xeqash posed a potential threat. While Khrudal'il'mox was popular, it was well-known that he had no wartime experience. Thus, the vigor with which the Clans rallied behind war-driven Khor'il'maar at the next Tjor'mat'al was unmatched. Under him, Khardûn began to arm the world with its mighty forges, warning of some looming threat. With the immediate support of Irthos Lex, Shochranari, and Duloric, Khor'il'maar had no issue gathering support. Using connections in the Barren Moors of Xeqash, Aurim'var arranged for a "sudden" emergence of an undead yuan-ti army on Xeqash, allowing Khardûn the opportunity to rush to their aid and subdue the "threat." After this, Khardûn felt that Khor'il'maar's wartime personality was no longer needed, which made for an easy transition to the well-spoken and thoughtful Mix'il'draz. All according to Aurim'var's plan.

Through Mix'il'draz, Aurim'var arranged for the smuggling of Khardûn's mighty wealth to other continents, where it would be miraculously "discovered" by various adventurers and taken to their cities or used to prop themselves up as nobles. All the while, Mix'il'draz aided Aurim'var by poisoning, mind-controlling, and otherwise dispatching of dragons and mortals alike who stood in their way in Khardûn. Eventually, the time came for Aurim'var to take the throne.

With a fiercely loyal Dragonlord at the helm of nearly every clan (Clan Uskeol's Dragonlord, Mizkari, was unimpressed with Aurim'var's personality, but respected the established hierarchy of Khardûn), Aurim'var "discovered" the mountains of Khardûnian treasures in the vaults of leaders around the world. As he expected, some were willing to relinquish what did not belong to them... others were not. Using this as an opportunity, Aurim'var led campaigns of war across every continent of Ardowin. In these years, sometimes referred to as the "Age of Fire" (though the sporadic nature of these wars makes some scholars hesitant to call it one long "age"), Aurim'var established Khardûn as the singular most powerful continent of Ardowin, putting on full display the sheer power of a military filled with dragons. Aurim'var himself went on many of these campaigns, bathing their leaders and their riches in white-hot flames. Once a city or country was defeated, he would take the smoldering remains of their wealth and mold it into a massive spike, which he would plunge into the landscape as a marker of his victory. Always the leaders of the people would be encased in the molten structure.

As his warpath grew bloodier, many of the people of Khardûn wished to step in his way, but he was in the prime of his strength, and nearly all the mightiest dragons of the time were in awe of his power. Eventually, even Mix'il'draz grew uneased by Aurim'var's wrath, and went to Aurim'var's own child, Auravil, to discuss. Auravil was certainly a powerful creature, but was fresh from his years as a wyrmling, far from being able to resist Aurim'var. Mix'il'draz trained Auravil over the years until Aurim'var caught wind of the treachery. Mix'il'draz tried to savage the Crown-Melter's mind, but was unable in his old age to outspeed the Archdragon. As punishment, Aurim'var created a globe of molten gold and shoved it into Auravil's skull in place of one of his eyes, an eternal reminder of Aurim'var's title and power.

Only a hundred years later, Auravil would earn the trust of many other young dragons of Khardûn and overthrow his father in Tjor'mat'al. In a tense fight, Auravil was able to make use of his father's hubris and blast his own flames down his father's throat before Aurim'var could react. As he reeled from the pain, Auravil's allies rushed in, in a rare breaking of Tjor'mat'al tradition, and worked together to subdue and slay the Crown-Melter. The spirits of Khardûn later approved, agreeing that Aurim'var was a threat that had to be stopped. Auravil would be the one to institute the presence of mortal authorities in the Clans of Khardûn under the title of Clan "Fangs," who would represent the mortals of each Clan in the decisions of the Draconic Council.

While Aurim'var was an undoubtedly ruthless creature, some of his crusades were, in fact, legitimate. In ages past, rival dragons of Khardûn had, in fact, stolen relics of the continent and kept them for themselves. The Archdragon, for all his wickedness, was fiercely vengeful toward those who harmed Khardûn's people, history, or culture. While no longer an aggressive force, it is thanks to Aurim'var that Khardûn was inspired to keep a close, standing army, in case such a plot ever arose again, and kept a peaceful rapport with the world for nearly 1,500 years afterward, until the rise of Ûn’dor’thal. As is often the case with history, out of the fires of pain and destruction, heroes rose and the world was rebuilt with greater resilience. The Crown-Melter was a reminder to Ardowin of what can happen when power goes unchecked, though few in power now were alive to witness the horror.

[sageoffablesardowin]

Tried to see if you had answered this question before but couldn’t quite find it:

Do gods ever send mortal avatars as representations of themselves on the material plane? We have seen gods come down in person before, but their allowed interaction with the material plane is quite limited; would the gods ever make themselves temporarily “mortal,” or give life to a blessed creature in order to protect their interests?

Ever since Bane’s Upheaval, the gods have been very cautious with their forms. The death of a deity, even temporarily, can cause massive waves in the Wheel, as was seen with the creation and later use of Godsbane, as well as the aftermath of the Great Catastrophe. While gods have offered direct blessings to mortals in the past, such as Sardior and his charge, Ardan Harlow, even that much of a direct influence is uncommon. It is largely thanks to such direct champions that the Great Catastrophe occurred in the first place. When such champions do exist, most Upper-Plane gods tend to keep them discreet, while those of the Lower Planes keep them as powerful tools to use at the most opportune moment, as was the case with Tivor and the Black Order during the War of Sinew and Steel.

[sageoffablesardowin]

Storytime with the Sage: Farah Mariday and the Rebel Nations

As the Great Catastrophe unfolded, those families who had once been the safeguards of the Material Plane against the Nephiri began to reveal their colors. In the end, any mortal can fall to corruption. The center of their web of power lied in Xeqash with the Alabaster family, whose power and influence swept over the continent.

As their forces spread, smaller cities began to band together, connecting through Xeqash’s robust teleportation circle system. As leaders rose among the people, individuals of particular prowess began to take it upon themselves to resist the growing threat. The first and most notable of these was Farah Mariday. A competent abjurer and former soldier in the militia of her hometown of Gabros, Mariday had experience in combating foes greater than those at her disposal. Her people had fought against the yuan-ti empire to the south many times alongside the other southern townships.

Farah spent the formative years of her life traveling the expanse of Xeqash, learning from dozens of different teachers in both magical and martial combat. She was inspired by the story of her mother’s life. Kaliya Mariday was an adept mage herself, and traveled the world in search of new ways to practice the craft. Farah’s returns home were brief, few, and far between, but she was always met with warm smiles, warm hugs, and warm food from her family. When the Alabasters rose to power, her father encouraged her to use her talents for the aid of others, and helped to send her further south, away from the Alabasters’ sphere of influence before it was too late. He would go on to speak out loudly against Cassius Alabaster, and suffer the fate so many did for such an act. Her mother went to stay with her sister, and helped evacuate smaller towns during the conflict.

Headstrong and determined, Farah gathered other capable adventurers and began a series of coordinated attacks against the focuses of the Alabaster operation. One of the party’s greatest feats was the liberation of Tsers, which had previously fallen under Alabaster control. Having previously bested captains and generals, the party expected the same from Tsers, only to find that it was defended by the son of the family, Marcain Alabaster. Marcain was a difficult opponent, his magic quite different than any she had studied. As her party battled on, one by one they were subdued, though not outright killed. Farah noticed this and trapped Marcain in a magic seal. She was able to convince him in the possibility of resisting the family, which he despised, and, albeit reluctantly, brought him into the fold.

With Tsers back in the hands of the people, it became the center point for the Rebel Nations, a group of cities and towns across the continent who were able to fight off the Alabasters’ armies. Their unity would be what got them through the Catastrophe, and serves as a core pillar of Xeqash’s current interwoven nature—a continent of people forced from an early Age to band together against unthinkable evil.

With their help, and the help of her party, Farah would co-discover a method to restrain the Black Dawn and press the Prime Pantheon’s advantage just enough to seal victory, though not without extreme costs having already been paid.

After the Catastrophe, Farah was crucial to the Rebuilding, offering education alongside Marcain Alabaster to those who wanted to learn the ways of magic, with many writings and wizards having been lost to the conflict. She returned to help her family restabilize their lives, and would eventually become the first Abjuration Representative in the Syndicate Arcanum, an organization begun by Marcain as a blend of magical academy and temporary structure in a world that lacked direction and leadership. Since his deeds were unknown to many outside of Xeqash and his name carried such infamy, Farah was the face of the Syndicate for millenia until Marcain’s resurfacing in 5006. Xeqash’s Rebel Nations disbanded, though their tethers remained strong as their economies and cultures returned to normal. The continent was simply too big for one massive state. But with Farah’s guidance, future wars between the non-empirical societies would be non-existent, allowing them to unite against the empire of the yuan-ti.

Other leaders like Nubium’val’dor of Khardûn and Archdruid Loam of Raewahld would bolster the Material Plane’s physical defenses while the Levastra sisters would establish trade routes across Ardowin’s oceans, and all would share their progress with Farah and the Syndicate until the world began to properly heal. Farah also tried to work Marcain back into favor wherever she could, knowing his long life and experience would be crucial once her own was spent.

While he took over the research and martial defenses of the world, she continued to guide young minds and help world leaders structure laws to help resist a future rise like the Alabasters’ until her death of natural causes in 76 P.C. Her funeral was a widely attended event and her passing was mourned across Ardowin. Although her name has fallen out of popular use in the wake of more politically prominent figures, her contributions to the history and life of Ardowin can never be overstated.

[sageoffablesardowin]

are planets real

Yes, planets are real. There are many discoveries to be made about Ardowin’s cosmology, but it may be folley to go into too much detail at this time, given the state of the multiverse.

[sageoffablesardowin]

what is the most populated city in ardowin? and what is the least populated?

Truly depends on where you cut off “city.” Easily the largest city of Ardowin before the Nine Hells’ attack was the city of Tsers in Xeqash. Hopefully, in time, it’s beauty can be restored. In the meantime, Inderus holds that title.

The smallest major city, I would wager, is likely Mavera, a largely farming community in Raewahld.

[sageoffablesardowin]

does ardowin have a pride month? or is gay so cool pride month is every month?

Ardowin has not had struggles with issues of sexual orientation and gender identity to the extent that Earth has, though there have been cultures/organizations who have had specific practices that didn’t always have room for such lifestyles.

In fact, many older languages do not have gendered words; they are a development of modern Common. Many languages take what would commonly be considered as the role of “gender” and apply it to more intrinsic traits. For instance, the words for “he, she, etc.” are more accurately translated as “one who laughs, or one who is bright.”

That being said, identity plays a major role in every life on Ardowin, so while there is no conventional “pride” month, many holidays/celebrations incorporate prayers, practices, or acknowledgements of the many identities in the community.

[sageoffablesardowin]

Ily sage

🤟🏼 (but platonically)

[sageoffablesardowin]

when was the prophecy that we just received written? The horn and devil, veil of maiden girlie pop one. (canon and real-world time answer pls)

You should definitely look into that. It’s likely to give you hints as to future happenings in the world.

[sageoffablesardowin]

How many Great Sword?

Several, I would have to assume. It is a tried and true weapon, wielded to great effect by many a brave warrior, especially from Khardûn.

[sageoffablesardowin]

what continent has the most cats?

It depends a bit on where you cut off “cat.” But assuming we’re acknowledging distinct species (and not being grossly reductive), probably Raewahld.

[sageoffablesardowin]

Where you are keeping the wizards from being immortal?

I assume this was meant to say either "why" or "how." To which I would reply that we are not keeping anyone from being immortal. It is, in fact, a very difficult task to achieve naturally, even for powerful mages, and it is not a gift that we dole out whimsically to anyone.

[sageoffablesardowin]

What would the role of soldier characters be in a generally United Material Plane on Ardowin (specifically army drummers) (definitely not for any future campaign characters)?

Ardowin has not had large-scale international conflict for many years, given the Pact of Arcane Engagement. These rules were put forth by Marcain Alabaster in 142 P.C. when Alexi Cycero of Notorask attempted to launch an offensive on the larger part of the Shakari Desert in an attempt to stake claim on the lost territories of Har'Akir. The high mages of each country laid waste to the land of Notorask, which would later be called the Barren Moor. Thousands of innocent lives were lost by the continuously escalating magical warfare, including some less than moral tactics employed to try and mitigate the damage.

The Pact of Arcane Engagement state that, in the case of armed mass conflict, no country or state is to employ the use of unnecessarily destructive magic, which is described in detail in the Pact. The consequences of large-scale arcane conflict would be catastrophic for Ardowin and thousands of its inhabitants. As such, the leaders of each country have since agreed to more amicable means of conflict resolution when dealing with other countries.

That being said, all countries have armies, namely in the event that one of the less cooperative nations, such as that of Emperor Itzotzal of the Yuan-ti, decides to launch an assault on another country, but also to defend against extraplanar threats, such as the Nine Hells. While they are not at arms, most countries' soldiers are given one of two options: take up a useful trade in a less-well-off town, or to serve as some sort of security, city guard or otherwise.

Army drummers would likely find good employment in the courts of nobility as it gives them quick access to authority in case conflict does break out.

[sageoffablesardowin]

There have been a lot of notable events/disasters on the material plane and hell. Are there any notable events in that have happened in planes like the fey wild, elemental planes, etc throughout history?

Well yes, of course. Too many to go into detail here, but there are several examples in those realms. The discovery of the Dwimmerwood in and of itself was a fascinating event, as it was almost stumbled into by accident by a young mage experimenting with interplanar travel and not setting his destination with enough certainty. The search for that mortal within the realms of the Fey spanned many months on Ardowin, but he was only aware of wandering the Dwimmerwood for a few moments.

Of course, the Elemental Planes have always been rife with chaos. In fact, many criminals of Ardowin would flee to the Elemental Planes in an attempt to lose whatever law enforcement was chasing them.

But these have relatively little effect on Ardowin itself. The Dwimmerwood, the Elemental Chaos, and many other planes do not directly interfere with the Prime Material, so the events occurring there frequently do not cause any ripples. The Nine Hells are directly linked to the fates of mortals on Ardowin, so anything that happens there is immediately of note.

If you would like to learn more of the histories of these worlds, the best people to speak to are any scribes, sages, or other explorers who have gone there themselves.

[sageoffablesardowin]

How far has the written word gone in Ardowin? are there typewriters in Ardowin?

Early implementations of the typewriter are indeed in use, though they are only most widely used by universities, academies, and businesses.

[sageoffablesardowin]

You mentioned that any soul that has passed can choose to pass through the final threshold; why wouldn’t those souls facing damnation in the hells pass through that threshold, especially if it’s known to be peaceful?

Well, for those who bargained with devils, the devil owns that creature's soul for however long is specified in the contract. They are trapped. Similar circumstances can occur with other such pacts. Souls who are damned by their devotion never pass through Kelemvor's halls. In fact, there are some who willingly bargain with devils in order to prolong their having to face the Silver Sentinel, for fear that his judgement of them would be far harsher.