The Tears of Ice

The valjg, the skül, and the záparov, all part of the Tir; the seeing folk; men of the northen ice. The repetition of three-in-one is seen in all.

Born from the melting ice of the frozen fields of the north, this race of men first lived in a mythical land history has named Tirnjord. Eventually fate caught up with the prosperous land; under pressure of the hateful ice-winds brought by the ice giants, conflict made it split in three, and Tirnjord was abandoned. The hardy folk of the skül [skul] made it east, ever facing the cold winds. The battle-spirited valjg [vɑltʃ] remained and fought the ice giants, but in the end they where driven south by the giants superior might. The veiled záparov [zɔɑpɑroʊw] fled west while the giants where pre-occupied with their brothers, and then hid in the rocky spine of the land.

The valjg

Fleeing south, the valjg found themselves in the now named Redlands; the stony fields of iron dust and labyrinthian valleys and hollows. There the first cities and villages where founded. Still worried about the ice giants stalking their steps, they spread to cover the surrounding green lands; going east to settle anon Trihold, full of resources found in wood and stone; going south to settle the Mede, finding cover from the elements among long forgotten ruins or metal; going west to settle Sehmnfell, a stretch of fertile land clad with the color of rainbows. While the people found bountiful resources and fantastical fields to call home, they where met with the fiery force of the ashen ones; they came face to face with the hecini of the edomirian empire.

The valjg stood no chance against the ashen elves’ transcendent magicks; quickly they where broken and enslaved under strict hecini rule; their blood and bones being used in mystical rituals. Their enslavement lasted for over 700 years, until Astrid Kalder anon the Great united the people under the banner of the luminous one, and with the help of the good dragons and the benevolence of Va’al fought back and claimed the land now named Kalderig as their home.

The záparov

Through the stony spires of the highlands the záparov escaped into the rocky spine of the western-most land they named Brumir. They built cities among dwarven ruins and fought the hecini that tried to enslave them like they had done their brothers, and while they held their ground longer than the valjg, the superior strength of elven magicks slowly but surely eroded the záparov defense. Abandoning their cities and resorting to guerilla warfare in the mountainous region, the záparov stayed free but ever fighting the elven invaders.

300 years of fighting in the Westian war gave birth to the man we know today as the warrior of the west, Dimm, the lord of the night. By forming a pact with an unknown force he and his followers where cursed with other worldly strength and power, the sun inflicted terrible disease on their skin, and only the blood of their brethren could satiate their eternal hunger. The now vampiric záparov were guarded by dragon mages, ever present to control their brothers’ crimson need. The Westian war met its end with the final rush of the záparovian people; Lord Dimm’s army pushed the edomirian forces out of Brumir but with his army severely diminished the war met its desperate end in the fields of flowers anon Dailijana, the fields of death. As the záparovian army gave into their feral nature, the dragon mages rained down fiery storms from the heavens, torching the armies of both elf and man, leaving fields of ash and bones where flowers once grew.

The skül

Shuffling through the snowy fields, traversing the glaciers and finding their way over broken land, the skül eventually arrived at the aeskulian peninsula. The forests stood tall and mighty, full of life, a close connection to the fay world of the Deepwoods that spoke to the skül. By listening to the Words of nature the skül settled the peninsula by lake and forest. They were enlightened by nature’s druidic teachings and shared the land in harmony and prosperity.

This peace with nature lasted for over 200 years, until a greater power came to Aeskulien’s southern shores. The bright elves of Lumedali, with their arcane magic and zealous faith in the moons and sun, came bearing an air of superiority. They did not wish to annex or conquer the land but their presence and trade created a want in the skül, a wanting to reach for the stars and wield the same power the lumedali did. The slow and sturdy power of the Deepwoods are a stark diffence from the immediate, sharp and destructive force that is the arcane. And while some stood strong with nature on their side, others gave into the tempations of the elven magic. So the skül was split, a divided people between land and sky. Only a shared enemy would later unite them, an enemy found in brothers of old.