Avlis: Basic Descriptions

[Orleron]

This thread is being started as a basic description of the world, Avlis, which will be hosted as a persistent world for Neverwinter Nights by the Black Dagger.


1) Description of the world itself, the people and all that good crap.


It's a large world with a basic medieval fantasy theme. The main real difference is that there's no human dominance like in all other worlds. Humans are just another race, and being good aligned is not the only approved way to be.

The world is heavily based on 9's. Nine major gods. Nine major races. One of each of the nine alignments. Of course there are whole slews of minor gods and races, but the big nine have the most impact on the world. Each major race is VERY intelligent... Thus, orcs, for example, are the lawful evil race. That means that in Avlis the orcs are the politicians and tricksters and the like. They build cities and make holy warriors and have religions just like everyone else, except theirs focus on personal gain through covert means. That's just one example, but there's eight more. The other races are either combinations or sub races of some sort.


2) How challenging will life as an adventurer be?


At low levels the adventures will be the typical challenges, but once you get high level you start to have an influence on the way the world turns out because your challenges may include screwing around with powers greater than yourself.



3) What other stuff will be in it? Life as a merchant perhaps? Or if item creation feats are in, life as a custom magic gear maker for the rich (occasionally adventuring to regain exp)?


Aside from the normal life of adventuring and questing, there will be a couple of extra things. The world will build slowly, of course, but we plan on instituting some cool things. One of them is a country run by humans mostly. Originally the country was a huge empire with a mostly lawful neutral attitude. The emperor was killed by an evil mage about a couple centuries before the players time period, and the mage who killed him didn't exactly do it because he wanted to take over the empire. He did it to obtain an artifact that the emperor had. Well, the artifact goes on to appear in a different story later on, but the empire itself fell apart quickly without its strong leader to hold it togethor. Today, it is nothing more than a bunch of independent fiefdoms ruled by lords who squabble all the time. We are planning to put this country togethor and let the *guilds* come in and be the fiefdoms. In other words, THEY will build the castles and the towns in the fiefdoms, and they will decide all the names (with our approval of course). Then they can go ahead and fight over them and squabble all they want, but they've gotta stay within the bounds of the original empire.

As for the merchant stuff, we do plan on doing stuff like that. I think Silk will enjoy putting it togethor if he decides to do it. He likes that stuff. On parts of Avlis, there's huge amounts of trade, in some cases it's even a slave trade. (NPC's of course.)



4) How customized will quests be? How many DM-monitored quests do you expect?

There will be lots of very customized quests for parties that catch our attention, and there will be even more scripted quests. The amount will be limited only by our time (me and Silk) and the time of the DM's we bring aboard, of which we don't know much about yet.

[Orleron]

Brief overview.... There's nine major races corresponding to the nine major alignments. Now, this does not mean that if you are a member of that race it means you must be that alignment. All it means is that the AVERAGE member of that race is of that alignment, with one exception. (more later)
This also does not mean that there are only nine races. Quite the contrary. It just means there are nine MAJOR races, i.e. very numerous and popular races.

Here they are with alignments:

Lawful Good: Dwarves
Neutral Good: Fairy kin, i.e. nymphs, sylphs, dryads, nixies, true fairies, sprites, including half-nymph, half-dryad, etc.
Chaotic Good: Elves

Lawful Neutral: Dracon (good luck finding this one, it's from the Spacefarer's Handbook, 2nd Ed D&D)
Neutral: Humans (this is the only exception, humans have no average alignment. They are balanced among all alignments.)
Chaotic Neutral: Changelings (read up on them in the Shapeshifter threads on Avlis boards)

Lawful Evil: Orcs
Neutral Evil: Lizard Men, Sahuagin
Chaotic Evil: Ogres, Giants, Giant-kin

[Orleron]

This info is all written down in notes I've made over the years. I'm giving it here piece by piece just to give people thought as to what kind of characters they would like to play. A while ago, I sent Silk some stuff to post on the website about the world, history, etc. I'm sure he'll get around to putting that stuff up eventually, but in the meantime:


The Nine major gods of Avlis.

These are by no means the only gods on the world. But, they are the original ones that were responsible for the world's creation, or at least the creation of the starting races. The gods' alignment and name will be followed by a blurb on his outlook:

LG: Gorethar The creator of the dwarves stresses virtue through hard work. Evil must be contained or destroyed at all costs. The world is meant to be orderly and productive.

NG: O'ma Catering to the greater good is the main precept of the master of the fairy races. Actions may not be blatantly good or evil at first. It may take some time for their results to become evident, but once it is known where the results stand, action must be taken.

CG: Dru'El Goodness does not necessarily mean zealousness or apathy, or order. The god of the elves believes that rules can sometimes get in the way of what's really good. Breaking a rule for this reason is not such a bad thing. The world should look out for the little guy and not let legality interfere.

LN: Toran War, evil, or even peace, and goodness do not really concern the creator of the Dracon. His message is one of order. If everyone can go about their business in an orderly way, things will run much smoothly, whether they are wars, or good deeds. Absolute discipline is the key.

True N: Mikon Everyone has the right to choose their own path in life. But extremes are often a problem for Mikon, the creature of the human race. It does not matter what you are, so long as what you are does not overwhelm anybody else.

CN: Forian Um, 42, yeah that's it. 42. That's the answer to everything. Remember that, and you'll be fine. Now good. Always remember 42. Or was it 52?

LE: Valok Orcs were created by Valok in a different manner from other worlds. They follow his mindset.... that it's ok to get what you want, but don't make people hate you in the process..... having friends can be very helpful for getting what you want later. Now, if someone screws you over, by all means, take care of them. But not in public! Ideally, we can all get along with everyone else if only they just wouldn't get in our way. We don't want to destroy them. We just want to win as much as we can.

NE: Aarilax Lizard folk and sahuagin tend to follow their creator, Aarilax. Getting what you want is essential. You may have to work with others to get it, or then again, you may have to eat them. He doesn't care if anyone else exists or not, so long as he can get what he wants. This does not necessarily have to involve hurting everyone in sight, but it could.

CE: Maleki The god of ogres and giant-kin is pure evil, and so are his followers. Organization is not a concern. Taking what you want is a concern. If it's given freely, good. If it needs to be taken by force, better. Working with others is tough, but can be done in a pinch.... stupidity is only a trait of SOME of the giant-kin specimens. For the intelligent ones, subtle means are key.

[Orleron]

There are a few different kinds of races and subraces that are unique to Avlis.

The fairy group of subraces is one of them. Two major kinds of full-blooded fairies exist in the world. One type is the creation of the god O'ma (see above). His fairies generally align themselves with the precept of goodness and peace for all. The other type is similar in stature and demeanor, but are instead the creation of the fairy queen, Titanea. Eons ago, Titanea instructed O'ma in the creation of fairies, but was disatisfied with his work. So, in an effort to balance the situation, she created her own race of fairies for Avlis to counteract those of O'ma.

The main difference, and sticking point between the two races was that some of O'ma's fairies were able to interbreed with the humanoids created by the other gods to create half-races. None of Titanea's fairies were able to do this. Although some of them used humans or elves to procreate... the offspring would always be fully fairyd.

Here are some examples below:


Half-Dryad:

Half-dryads are even more peculiar than full dryads because they have the blood of two
races in them. The life-giving attachment to an oak tree that dryads possess is not shared
by them. However, even half-dryads are staunch lovers of oak forests, and are almost
impossible to tell apart from full high elves.. Their exact features depend on their
non-dryad lineage, but they always have hair that changes to a platinum blonde in the
winter, and a dark brown in the summer. On rare occasions, there is a tinge of green in
their dark-colored hair in the summer time. Style of dress among them varies widely, but
it usually takes after their non-dryad parent.
Half-dryads can speak the language of dryads, the language of their other forbearer
(in most cases), and the common tongue. In seldom cases, (10% of the time) they can speak
the language common to all the fairy races.


Habitat/Society: Most often these beings are the product of an elven parent and a dryad
parent. It is this type of half-dryad that usually winds up becoming a druid and
dedicating their entire life to nature. On the other hand, if they have a parent from a
non-nature emphasizing race, they tend to have severe conflicts in their life between their
pull to the forest and their pull to fulfill another destiny. These types of half-dryads
are often very sad, and very confused individuals who constantly struggle to find themselves
. Whatever their ancestry, they are always very individualistic people and are known to
follow many different philosophies of nature. This often helps them to remain sane in
their difficult life as a half-breed. Since their dryad parent will live as long as its
oak tree, half-dryads inherit the longevity of their other parent. So, human half-dryads
will live about 80 to 90 years, whereas elven half-dryads will live much, much longer.
This aspect of their race enables them to form many long-lasting relationships with people
who live as long as they do. Out of all the half-breeds, half-dryads who are half elven
are the most accepted in elven society, and in some places they are even considered a
blessing from nature. In any other place, human and elven half-dryads are almost always
mistaken for high elves, even if neither parent is elven. The only ones who are not fooled
by this are the high elves themselves.

PC Rules:
Wis -1
SR 10


Half-Nymph:

Half-nymphs are the result of an unusual union between an Avlisian nymph and a humanoid
(usually a human or an elf, but there are exceptions.) These beings are exceptionally
beautiful, however they are not quite as beautiful as their nymph parent. Looking at a
half-nymph is not dangerous, just pleasant (automatic comlieness of 19). Their frame is
usually a lot stockier than a nymph's. This is especially true if they are from non-elven
decent. Clothing styles of a half-nymph can also vary depending on the culture they arose
from. They rarely ever go nude, though, as their nymph relatives like to do.
Half-nymphs usually speak the language of nymphs, the common tongue, and the
language of their non-nymph parent. A few half-nymphs (20%) can speak the tongue common
to all fairy races.


Habitat/Society: Half-nymphs have very little trouble fitting in with either society that
they are derived from, unless they are half-evlen nymphs. In the latter case they can just
barely get by in elven society. Full nymphs are not prejudice against any race that is not
evil, and so as long as the half-nymph is of a kind heart, they will be fully assimilated
into nymph society. On the humanoid side of things, they use their incredible comeliness
to get on the good side of their relatives, and thus get accepted. Some problems with
half-nymphs will arise once in a while in elven society due to the slight xenophobia of
the elven race, but these problems are nowhere near as big as the elven wariness of
half-elves of human decent.
The biggest conflict in a half-nymph's life, therefore, is an internal one. They
are constantly torn between the urge to indulge in happiness, and the urge to have a
serious impact on the world. Their nymph relatives tell them to be happy and let life
drift by, whereas their human or elven relatives tell them to pursue a cause that will
further something. This troubles them a lot of times, and often a half-nymph will go back
and forth between the pursuit of happiness, and excellence. They have success more often
with pursuing excellence than happiness, though, because they are missing the magical
abilities of full nymphs which they use to amuse themselves and help others.
A half-nymph's lifespan varies depending on what kind of non-nymph parent it has.
This can cause some social problems as well. A half-nymph with a human parent will often
live 200 years, in which time they will see their human relatives die out, and they will
age too quickly for their nymph relatives. On the other hand, a half-nymph with an elven
parent will live roughly 600 years. In that time, they will outlive their nymph relatives, and age a little too fast for their elven family. This is too often the case with a half-breed race.
Half-nymphs of other humanoid decent experience the same cruel juxtaposition of
lifespans as the usual half-nymphs.


PC Rules:
SR 5
19 Charisma
Int -2

[Orleron]

After the Supreme God created Avlis, he populated it with many different kinds of nature spirits. There were no mortals, and almost all of the spirits attached themselves to some kind of favored natural formation or area. Peace and harmony reigned on the planet for a long time.

This tranquil environment was ruined one day when a visitor came to the planet. He was a very rare type of planar fiend of the greatest evil. Few specimens of his species, the Negerai (pronounced ne-GER-aye), have ever been found, much to the relief of the universe.

The designs of the Negerai were lofty and complicated. He did not desire conquest of a mere world. He desired more than that.... He desired Godhood. In his research on the subject, he uncovered the fact that many gods obtain their power from their worshipers, and it is both their number and affinity towards good and evil, and law and chaos that controls the nature of the god's power. This fact interested him very much, and he wanted to find out the mechanisms behind this. So in his travels he captured nine human warriors, one adhering to each possible combination of good/evil and law/chaos. Desiring to study the interactions between them, he placed them all in separate prisons scattered around Avlis, which was practically empty and very easy for him to conquer. One of these prisoners was a man named Mikon. To guard the prisoners, he imported Ta'Nari from the Abyss as jailers. However, this had the unfortunate effect of causing chain reaction summonings that soon overran the planet with Ta'Nari.

The huge influx of Ta'Nari and the immigration of the evil Negerai caught the attention of the Supreme God. He knew something had to be done about this before his world was utterly destroyed, so he gave the warriors a gift. Each got a very powerful magical sword. It is said that the sword of Mikon could destroy extreme good and evil on contact, or even from a distance by propelling a pure concentrated force of good or evil at the subject to annihilate them.

With his newfound weapon, Mikon escaped the prison easily and made his way to the Negerai, cutting through hoards of Ta'Nari on his way. When he reached the Negerai, he was met by the eight other warriors who had just gotten there also. In unison, the warriors pointed their swords at the Negerai and unleashed their respective deadly powers, and it would have destroyed him but for an unfortunate miscalculation. All nine of the beams togethor had SO MUCH god magic in them, that instead of annihilating the Negerai, he became a God himself!!

Mikon was frightened and appalled by this, and immediately fled the scene with all the others. On advice from some of the spirits who were left, the warriors fled to the center of the world to find the Eternal Spark, which was the artifact the Supreme used to create Avlis. It is said that this item could also imbue one with godhood. Mikon stepped forward to use it, claiming that since he was the only one who would use his powers to kill the Negerai and balance the world, he should get the privledge. But the other warriors refused to accept this. They all had their own reasons why they should be the one. Mikon was very angry at some of the warriors who wanted to use it because they overtly claimed that they would either destroy all evil or take over the world for themself.

The debate was ended prematurely however because the Negerai, now a god, caught up to them. Just before he was about to destroy them, all niine warriors grasped for the Eternal Spark and were transformed into gods as well.

A great big battle broke out. The sky was darkened and the continents of Avlis were ripped apart. Mountain ranges were destroyed and new ones were made.

It was almost immediately a stalemate. There was nothing that could be done. However, one day suddenly, the Negerai was destroyed. Mikon never found out exaclty what destroyed him, but it was rumored that there was an artifact equally powerful as the Eternal Spark that did it. No one knows who wielded the artifact and did the deed.

Having established peace once more, the new gods all went back to their respective planes of appropriate philosophy.... except for Mikon. He remained behind on the Prime Material Plane. The Supreme charged him with the task of keeping all Gods out of the Prime Material Plane, so that the balance is not destroyed. This is his job until this day.

When Mikon wanted to create a race for himself, he was undecided. With the help of an older god named Ptah, he decided to create humans. Unlike the other races, the humans would not be forced to believe as he did. Instead, they would be given the right to choose their own destiny and way of thinking. If they chose to follow his laws of Balance, so be it. If not, then it is all for the best.

Too much of any extreme is unpleasant to Mikon. He dislikes any who are too good or too evil, as well as any who are too rich or too poor. He will often help the poor to bring them out of their hole, but not so much that they are no longer struggling. His actions against the rich.... they are undocumented.

Those are the principles of Mikon.

[Vrok]

Dumb question but relatively important. Where does Dagath fit into all of this as he doesn't seem to be in the religion description?

[Orleron]

Dagath is not one of the major nine gods. He's an intermediate god who came along during the Age of Immortals.

Dagath was born of a union of Mikon and one of his mortal followers. Because of the unusual nature of his parentage, he was born a god but had to watch his mother grow old and die eventually. However, he realized that when this happened, her soul went somewhere else and that she was in fact not obliterated, she was just changed and living somewhere else. All mortals shared this fate, and he soon became aware that all mortals are actually immortal and capable of rebirth.

Thus he took on the mantle of Life, Death, and Rebirth. Political matters of nations and cities do not concern him as much as actual life and death itself. He oversees changes in life such as the birth of a baby, marriage, retirement, death, and even the afterlife. Sometimes his job is pleasant, and sometimes not.

Because of the wide nature of his ethos, Dagath has all kinds of worshippers ranging from saintly to vile. He is one of the only gods who's worshipers can be of any alignment. His priesthood is divided into three orders that deal with his charge: The Order of Life, The Order of Death, and The Order of Rebirth.

By and large, the Life clerics are good aligned, the death clerics are evil aligned, and the rebirth clerics are neutral aligned. They all have different ways of dealing with things, and sometimes they work togethor. For instance, if the Order of Life feels that a living being has been wrongfully killed, they will often enlist the Order of Death to take revenge for the killing. The Order of Rebirth is usually there to clean up the mess.

[Orleron]

Each of the nine major gods of Avlis has an order of warriors that fight for his cause.

To be a holy warrior you MUST be a worshipper of one of these gods. None of the other gods in the realm are capable of giving this type of power to their warriors. Only the greater gods are able to do this.

Some of the warrior orders are described below:

Paladins (Lawful Good):
Paladins worship Gorethar.

This is the only holy warrior class that is not a prestige class and does not take any special questing or intervention from a DM to become one.

While Gorethar is the creator and patron god of the Dwarves, he also has an affinity for warriors that fight to eliminate evil. His warriors are staunch in their beliefs that evil must be destroyed at all costs. When it comes to being good, Gorethar has no prferences or cares for the race of his worshipper. He is as kind and fair to his human paladin followers as he is to his dwarven and lizard man followers. All races are found in his service, though Dwarves are the largest in number.


Champions (Neutral Good):
Champions worship O'Ma.

This is a prestige class and it takes a lot of questing and DM intervention to become one of these. (So far this has not been developed for PC's, only NPC's.)

The "Champions of O'Ma" were founded around 50 years ago by a half-nymph lady named Vanoviel Niltaurwen. She still heads their order to this day.

Years ago, the Templars of O'Ma were the warriors who were hired to guard and protect O'Ma's temples and priests. Some of them had clerical training, but it was not required. As time went on, the Templars became more and more loyal to the church and eventually when Vanoviel Niltaurwen founded the Champions, the Templars were taken in and absorbed by the new order.

Champions are staunchly opposed to evil, but their actions are tempered by common sense and reality. They know that evil exists for a reason: you cannot see the light without the dark. Thus, instead of trying to eliminated it, they only try to contain and balance it by doing good.

While O'Ma was the creator of the fairy races, he accepts any who wish to help in balancing evil. Many who make up his order are fairy hybrids who found a purpose in life and a sense of belonging from joining the order.

The requirements for this class are that the player must have a minimum +6 melee attack bonus, 10 ranks in religion knowledge (was a pnp requirement), two weapon style feat, ambidexterity feat, and be able to cast at least level 2 clerical spells.


Equalizers (True Neutral):
Equalizers worship Mikon.

This class also requires DM intervention and questing.

The Equalizers were also founded nearly 50 years ago by a human man named Nimonay Dunster. He was in the service of Mikon and was rewarded with the order when he helped foil a scheme by Valok to enter the Prime Material Plane.

These warriors are found all over the world. Wherever things are out of balance, the Equalizers step in. If a nation is being quashed by another nation, or more than one other nations, the Equalizers rescue it. If a lord or a wizard becomes to powerful, the Equalizers step in the foil them. Many times they are found fighting on opposite sides of the same conflict but for different reasons... sometimes they do this just to keep the battle going. Many people do not trust the loyalty of an Equalizer, and with good reason. However, once an Equalizer feels that their cause is in favor of the Balance, they will not abandon it... until it becomes Balanced.

Currently the Equalizers are fighting on the side of M'Chek against the elves of T'Nanshi. They find themselves at odds with the Champions of O'Ma in this case because the Champions side with the elves.

The requirements for this class are that the player must have a minimum +6 melee attack bonus, 10 ranks in religion knowledge (was a pnp requirement), Improved critical feat, Improved Disarm feat, and be able to cast at least level 2 clerical spells.


Dominators (Lawful Evil):
Dominators worship Valok.

The Dominators have been around for centuries. They are the charismatic holy warrios of Valok who fool many people into thinking they are being helped, when in fact the Dominators are only helping themselves.

Overall, Dominators seek glory and prestige. They do not care how it is obtained, but they wish to be recognized by large amounts of people for their skill and prowess. If they achieve this by helping the poor, so be it. But often times they will make deals on the side with the enemy in case things don't pan out, or to enhance the perceived glory they get for the "valiant rescue". In the end, it comes down to looking out for number One.

Dominators can be of any race although the two most common are human and half-orc. They get a lot of support from the Church of Valok for their efforts and have been known to get supplied by the Church in exchange for a cut of their belongings that they obtain from then on.

The requirements for this class are that the player must have a minimum +6 melee attack bonus, 10 ranks in religion knowledge (was a pnp requirement), 10 ranks in Bluff skill, 5 ranks in Taunt skill, and be able to cast at least level 2 clerical spells.


Anti-Paladins (Chaotic Evil):
Anti-Paladins worship Maleki.

This class exactly follows the Anti-Paladin given in the DM's Guide for 3rd Edition. DM intervention would be needed to achieve it.

The chaotic warriors of Maleki have no distinguishable organization. They only have a recognition and a reverence for the god that they hold dear. Their god-given desire is to spread destruction, hardship, and evil in the world in order to benefit themselves. Wherever things are found to be proceeding in a good and orderly fashion, Anti-Paladins can be found working against it, usually for the sheer pleasure of it.

[MacLeod]

Man, you missed the most important alignment! Chaotic Good!

Also Neutral Evil, Lawful Neutral and Chaotic Neutral are missing.

Also as a piece of advice (that may or may not be helpful) on implementing your holy warriors. In another thread I read that they increase their caster levels as clerics do, so you could have them choose to level as a cleric whenever they wanted to increase their holy warrior level and then give them bonuses through scripting.
The bonuses could be implemented by giving him a Creature Armor with all the needed bonuses (like a +1 base attack bonus for every 3 Holy Warrior levels).

It's not perfect, since I don't think he'll be able to take feats like Improved Crit (+8 Base attack prereq) until his base attack without the creature armor mod is +8, but it's the best thing i can think of, short of having DMs do all the work.

[Orleron]

Oh I know I left them out. I was too lazy at the time to put them in, but they exist.

Your thiking along the same lines I am with implementing them. They will probably advance as clerics and I'll give them creature items to make up for the differences in feats and melee attack bonuses. Still in the early planning stages though....

[Orleron]

At the dawn of the Age of Immortals, also referred to as the Age of Peace, tranquility settled once again across the planet's surface.

The Fairy War had ended when the Orcs attacked the two warring Fairy Races which caused the Great War. As the Great War worsened, the dragons of Avlis came into the fray and almost immediately produced a standstill. Some say it was Mikon that brought the evil dragons to combat the good ones so that evil would not be eliminated. But whatever the truth may be, the standstill lasted up to the very point when the Orcish mages unleashed their massive invocation spell that destroyed every orc mage on the planet, and countless members of all other races.

This explosion was like a wakeup call. The stunned silence in its wake lasted almost 1000 years. This period of time is what is known as the Age of Immortals.

Having no wars to fight on the planet gave the gods times for... other things. Thus, with the help of many of the powerful figures who arose as Immortals from the Great War, the gods multiplied.

These unions brought about many gods of all levels of power and areas of control.

Berryn was wrought of the union between Gorethar and a unique dwarven druidess named Kitanya Meygle. The druidess was not an average dwarf, yet her courage and prowess which she showed during the great war impressed Gorethar greatly.

Berryn was born with a great love of nature, as taught by her mother, yet her father conveyed on her a strong importance in stability and comfort. These feelings governed her actions, and led to her adoption of the mantles of Morning and Spring... for both were the peak symbols of nature, yet their regularity held much stability in the face of much death and change.

When it came time for Berryn to create her own race, she chose to make halflings. Her father had related to her the nature of halflings whom he encountered on other worlds and Berryn liked their description. She wanted a race who was stalwart and stable, yet able to live in nature with a sense of comfort and style.... not stodginess. Halfings suited her well.

Being of the mind that the universe is a balanced place of good and evil, but feeling that her good actions were an integral part of the balance, Berryn allowed her creatures to choose their path on their own for good or ill. Many of the halflings hold Berryn in high regard, although most of these reside in the Halfling nation of Ferrell.

Ferrell lies just northwest of T'Nanshi. It is a very small nation of mound homes and villages populated mostly by halflings. Politically it keeps to itself but is very compliant when asked. The halflings there are largely unconcerned with the hardships of life created by adventure. They prefer a more comfortable existence of possession and hominess.

Many halflings diverge from the norm. A secondary trait among the race is that of wanderlust. Most get over the wanderlust after a couple of years, but some leave their lives of stability behind forever in search of other professions. These beings can be found in almost any profession whether it deals with arcane magic, the clergy, or even... acquisitions.
They can be good at many things they set out for, not so much because of their size or strength, but because of their determination and unflagging goal oriented nature.

[Orleron]

The Format is:


Name, Deity Alignment, Worshipers' Alignment, Mantle, i.e. Area of Control, Deity Status, i.e. Greater, Intermediate, Lesser, Demigod, Hero, Immortal

Pelar, NG, Any good, Hunting & Rangers, Demigod

Dra?Nar, NG, Any good or Neutral, Heroes & Orphans, Lesser

Dre?Ana, NG, Any good or neutral female, Warrior Maidens, Lesser


Dagath, N, Any, Life, Death & Rebirth, Intermediate

Berryn, NG, NG, Morning, Spring, & Halflings, Lesser


Fegall, CN, Any Chaotic, Craftsmen & Gnomes, Lesser

Angadar, LE, Any Lawful, Drangonari Elves, Arcane Knowledge, Deceit & Trickery, Intermed

Andrinor, CN , Any, Mortal Magic, Intermed

Gorethar*, LG, LG, Dwarves, Craftsmen, Warriors of Goodness, Greater

O?Ma*, NG, Any good, Fairy Races & Forests, Greater

Dru?El*, CG, NG & CG, Elves & Nature, Greater

Toran*, LN, LN, Dracon & Soldiers, Greater

Mikon*, N, Any, Humans & Balance, Greater

Forian*,CN, CN, Changelings, Chaos, Greater

Valok*, LE, Any Lawful, Orcs, Politics & Intrigue, Greater

Aarilax*, NE, NE, Murder, Lizard Men & Sahuagin, Greater

Maleki, CE, CE, Giant-Kin, Hatred, Slaughter & Disease, Greater

Aryeh Gidol, LN, Any Wemic, Wemics, Demigod

Balgar, N, Any Wemic, Wemics, Lesser

Titanea, N, Any Fairy,Titanean Fairies, Greater

Corellon Larethian, CG, Any good, Elves & Battle, Greater

Clangeddin, NG, Any Dwarf or Gnome, Dwarves & Blacksmiths, Greater

Tobin, N, Any Dracon, Dracon, Greater

Ptah, N, Any, Travel, Greater

Gruumsh, CE, Any evil, Orcs, Greater

Blipdoolpoolp, NE, Any Sahuagin or Lizard Man, Sahuagin & Lizard Men, Greater

[Orleron]

There's a hieherarchy of beings on Avlis.

Mortals are the obvious ones. They live and die like anything else, and they can be killed by just about anything with enough power... and some things without so much power.

When a mortal attains a very large amount of power, as well as the attention of the gods, they may sometimes be transformed into an Immortal. Immortals never die of age or sickness. But they can be killed normally, however, this may prove to be an almost impossible task. Weaklings don't become immortal. Only the very powerful and influential can ever even hope to attain this.

Some Immortals choose to just live forever in comfort and relative inactivity. But, others sometimes try for more. Sometimes those who follow an Immortal, i.e their henchmen or soldiers, may become very fanatical in their devotions. This fanaticism can spread sometimes under the right conditions, especially if there are a lot of charismatic followers who can convince normal laymen of their leader's greatness. Once the number of these people who idolize and devote their lives to this leader gets up into the thousands, the leader starts to notice subtle changes in his or her abilities. They become stronger and gain some very magical qualities. They can still be killed, but they begin to find that it takes an Immortal to kill them or even another Hero. Petty physical attacks hurt, but they don't seem to produce any lasting damage.

As the number of followers increases, the Hero begins to change further. By this time, there are tens of thousands of followers, and they are now outwardly worshipping the Hero.... it is at this point that the Hero becomes a Demigod. He is immediately approached by Mikon and lead to a new home on another plane. But he soon finds that he is able to send small pieces of himself once in a while back to his old home. These pieces are called avatars and they are very powerful in and of themselves, but nowhere near as powerful as the Demigod. The new deity now finds that nothing can kill it except another deity of higher stature... meaning a Lesser, Intermediate, or Greater god. The demigod also finds that it can function in two places simultaneously fairly easily.

As the number of followers of a Deity increases, or as the Deity gains power in other new ways available to it, its status also increases. Demigods can become Lesser gods who can become Intermediate gods who can become... rarely... Greater gods.

Greater gods in the sphere of Avlis all answer to The Supreme, although the role of this entity is almost non-existent.

[Orleron]

There are tons of races on Avlis, but I thought I would first outline the player character races available in NWN. So here goes:


Elves

Initially there were two types of elves on Avlis, and later on a third kind arose.

The most common type of Elf, referred to simply as an Avlisian Elf is generally akin to a high elf in 2nd Edition AD&D terms. Their skin tones range from a milky white, to a mild tan, although there are sometimes grayish or bluish undertones visible in rare individuals. Their hair can range from a deep black or blackish green, to a bright blonde or red, much like the human hair colors. The almond shaped eyes of these elves can cover the entire human range of blues, greens, and browns, but violet is also seen. All other statistics for physical stature and size, as well as gameplay, are identicle to high elves.

Society of the Avlissian Elves:

Being close to nature, the elvish society is loosely organized. Most individuals are conentrated in the elven nation of T'Nanshi. This nation is run effectively, yet informally, by noble families who take care of foreign affairs and the standing army only. All other affairs are usually taken care of locally by whatever system the given settlement or village has set up for itself. In many cases, there isn't much of a system needed at all. Elves are inherently reverent towards their elders and will usually defer to their word if there is a question of action.

Evlen dwellings are often built in the trees, though they are also fond of beautifully camoflouged ground dwellings as well. Cities exist, but they are few, for most elves settle in extended family units somewhere out in the forest. Usually one of these units consists of about 20 to 30 individuals who work cooperatively to support themselves off the land. There are often one or two individuals in each of these bands that practice a trade, and make items to barter with other bands to get what they need.

In elvish cities there is the usual hustle and bustle of trade. However, most of the cities seem to exist as an outlet for the nobles to gather and discuss national affairs. Noble families will often keep luxurious tree homes in these cities in addition to their regular homes. Elven nobles do not pretend to hold claim over portions of land like humans do. They see themselves simply as individuals who have more money than average, and therefore have an obligation to protect their country. They do not claim any serfs or personal armies, although there are many who have followers that support their household in addition to the paid servants.



The other type of elf that was created initially by Dru-El is called the Light Elf, or more commonly the Ghost Elf.

Physically, these elves are much more thin and frail looking than Avlissian Elves, but their state of delicacy is a beautiful one. Their skin is almost always a bright yellow, or bright yellow with a very slight greenish tinge. From some angles, their skin almost seems to give off a faint glow, hence the name ghost elf.

Though these elves look much weaker, they are really just as hearty as their cousins, although they do have a propensity for broken limbs sometimes under rough conditions. Dru-El created them as his personal touch to the elven race, and although they are fairly rare, they mix well with the other elven subrace. Half-breeds of these types are extremely rare because ghost elves do not often survive copulation with non-elves of a larger size. Their thin frame usually won't allow it.
The society of the ghost elves is largely the same as the Avlissian Elf society. They occupy the same land, although no nobles of this race are found. The Ghost Evles are known to be even closer to nature than their cousins, and they particularly have an affinitiy for the night time, when their skin seems to glow even brighter, like the moon and stars.

Suprisingly, their family units do not often mix with their cousins. They mainly keep separate, yet always on good terms. They can be found in the cities very often, sometimes as tradesmen in fine goods. However, they rarely, if ever, leave T'Nanshi.



The third type of elf is the newest to arrive on Avlis in the grand scheme of things, though they have been around for almost three centuries: The Drangonari Elves

Unlike the other two races, these elves were not created by Dru-El, but instead by the god Angadar.

In life, Angadar was himself an elf, and he once ran with another elf who was what they call an "Avariel". On their travels, the Avariel made the unfortunate mistake of trying to kill Angadar, and she almost succeeded. In fact, she came closer than any other ever did. For this, Angadar was exceptionally angry, and after killing the Avariel, he vowed to make a mockery of her race one day. (Avariel are winged elves who once had established a small foothold on Avlis.) Thus he did, when he reached godhood.

Physically, the drangonari look like Avlissian Elves, except they are covered by a reptillian green hide. Their eyes are yellow with slitted pupils, and their hair is usually always black, should they choose not to shave it.

At one time, they had thick leathery wings, akin to an Avariel's, but during the war that brought about the extincition of the Avariel race on Avlis, the drangonari lost their wings in an unfortunate magical accident. Now they remain as scaly reptillians with no ability to fly.

These elves are not native to T'Nanshi. They come from the nation of Drotid, to the east of T'Nanshi. This is where their main city lies.

Unlike the other kinds of elves, who are generally chaotic good on average, the drangonari are more organized and devious. They tend to be lawful evil, although just like in all other cases, there are exceptions. Because of their lawful attitude, their society has a strict hierarchy. Breeding is everything, although an individual can reach great power through deeds of cunning... yet they will always be regarded as a second class citizen if their family is considered to be an inferior stock. The higher families usually claim to be direct descendants of Angadar, while the lower ones are often regarded as Angadar's direct magical creations. The degree of a family's bloodline goes down by one for every generation that marries into a magically derived family. Nowadays there are not anymore direct descendants of Angadar left... they have all met with unfortunate accidents. Yet families of 2nd and 3rd degree exist and are currently in control of the race. The drangonari elves have no nation to call home, but they control a small portion of land inside Drotid, and they are constantly defending it against the lizard men who claim it.


To select one of these races, pick Elf as your character race and under subrace type either:

Ghost Elf
Drangonari Elf

Leave the subrace category blank if you want to be a normal Avlissian Elf. The abilities for these subraces are not implemented yet, but they will be.

[Orleron]

Humans are very proliferative on Avlis. They can be found almost anywhere, but from a national perspective they make their homes in either the nations of M'Chek (m'CHEK), The Kurathene (CURE-a-theen) Empire, Jechran (je-KRON) or Tyedu (tee-YAY-doo). This is not to say that it's difficult to find a human native to any other place. There are plenty that were born outside the human nations.

Depending on their birthplace, humans can have very different cultures. The humans of Mikona and the Kurathene Empire have a very imperialistic attitude towards life, whether they are a commoner or a noble. Each member of society realizes that they have their place: they are either a subject or a master. Nobles of both of these nations have serfs and peasants that live on their land and pledge their loyaty to the local lord City folk are usually an exception, and especially in Mikona, the city folk are loyal to the nation as a whole most often.... though they usually have a favorite noble.
(See the Mikona info threads for more on this.)
The exception to this rule in the nation of M'Chek are the Romini. These folk are akin to the gypses in other campaign worlds, except for the fact that most of then they are staunchly neutral. Again, there are plenty of exceptions, but the average Romini is in it for the balance. Some are very subtle, while some are blatant about it... even keeping a mental tally of the good and evil acts they commit from day to day.

Consequently, the Romini are usually not trusted. If it wasn't for the fact that they are one of the favored peoples of the god Mikon, the government of M'Chek would probably not tolerate them. Living a nomadic life, the Romini are usually not found anywhere for long, although some factions have settled down in small areas throughout M'Chek. It is unlikely that these settlements will compose more than a few tents scattered about.


The humans of the Kurathene Empire are much like their cousins in M'Chek, except that each of their nobles is the ruler of his or her fiefdom, and that fiefdom is an independent country. The term "Kurathene Empire" is a loose one to define the whole contested area that was once a true empire. Romini are not plentiful in the empire, but other races can be in some spots.

The barren tundra of Tyedu breeds a different sort of human. Here life is very harsh because of the climate, and also because of the creatures that lurk everywhere. Humans in this land have no concept of nobility... might makes right. They can be of any alignment, but all will bow to the notion that the strongest survive, and the strongest should rule. Individual tribes dot the land, usually led by their toughest warrior. Often these warriors have a shaman backing them up.

These people worship a myriad of gods and goddesses, and even local nature spirits at times. There is often a cohesive interplay between the laws of the gods, nature, and the warrior way within these societies.


Jechran is an oddity on Avlis. North of the wastelands that lie above Drotid, there is a nation called Jechran. The social hierarchy in this country is dominated by women. Early on in his godhood, Mikon took on a wife named Yeriaha (yer-AYE-ah). Although she did not create a race for herself, Yeriaha took on some followers and helped them to survive in the area they called home. Jechran is located at a point on the continent where the weather is sharply divided down the middle of their country. To the south is a tropical forest, but north of the forest it turns into a more temperate, and slightly chilly climate. The women of this race have risen to the challenge and eked out a living by hunting the creatures there and plying crafts. The men of this race are subdued and their numbers are kept very low. Each village is only allowed to possess 10 males and 10 male children at any one time. When one of the male children comes of age, the oldest male is thrown out of the village and given a head start before the hunters go out after him. If he can escape the area, he gets to live... but he must never return to Jechran.

This nation is often a tumultuous one. There is some organization among the tribes. Each sends representitives to a larger council body that governs national affairs, but each individual village or tribe also has autonomy. This paradox often leads to squabbles between tribes that can sometimes branch out into large wars. But these wars never last very long... a week maximum, but tribal grudges can persist for lifetimes.


These races are all the same in terms of game mechanics. You do not even need to put them into your subrace category, but you can if you wish. Enter them however you would like.

[Orleron]

There is only one kind of Dwarf on Avlis as far as the rules are concerned, but from a roleplaying perspective, dwarves can be either Galdokin or Dubgaldokin.


When the dwarves were first created by Gorethar, they occupied the inside of a very large mountain range in the center of the continent. This vast network of underground cities, towns, and villages comprised the nation of Galdos, which was united under a single king. The royal family of the dwarves passed the crown from generation to generation, and still continues to do this until today.

Once upon a time the nation of Galdos was VERY large. The dwarves of Avlis who all trace their roots back to this nation are all exactly played like the dwarves in the rules for NWN. The stature, manor, and coloring of the Galdokin are exactly that of the generic dwarf of the Player's Handbook.

Around 2000 years ago, when the Great War was just ending, a dwarven hero by the name of Fegall arose. He was an instrumental figure in ending the war through the use of his craft and prowess in battle. Fegall's talent was for inventing, as he called his craft. Aside from being able to come up with new ideas, Fegall was extremely studious and handy with a hammer and anvil. By all accounts, he was a "Rennaissance Dwarf"... a master of all trades both manual and academic.

His role in the Great War won him many followers, many of whom desired to learn some of his more interesting trades from him. So once the war ended, Fegall set himself up in the southern portion of Galdos and begun to teach many new disciples.... for disciples are what they became. Fegall's works were legendary, and many were magical. Over time Fegall's talent became somewhat exaggerated in tales, but this served only to increase his following.

In the southern portion of Galdos there were two major groups of Dwarves.... one group that followed him religiously, and another who acknowledged his great talent, but declined to take part in the hype. This state of affairs grew in proportion until one day Fegall ascended to immortality and eventually godhood. His followers on the Prime Material Plane continued on his tradition as they do to this day.

Over time, the followers of Fegall began to change. They were getting a little shorter, with more bulbous noses and a skinnier build in some cases. The change took a little over 1000 years, but eventually the dwarves of Fegall were no longer dwarven, but gnomish. Thus, the dominant race in southern Galdos was the gnome, although there were still a great many dwarves around who acknowledged Fegall but didn't follow him. These dwarves and gnomes were influenced by their new god in subtle ways. They became more outgoing, and industrious.

The dwarves of northern Galdos were subdued, quiet, a little greedy, and very hierarchical.... not to mention a bit xenophobic. The gnomes and dwarves of southern Galdos no longer shared these traits. They became more open and cosmopolitan, and in the eyes of the northerners... liberal. Many of them even started to live on the surface of the mountains instead of inside them! And on top of that, they began to establish deep trade ties with nearby human and elven populations!

The trade guilds of the north could not abide by the new attitudes of the southerners, and the first evidence of a split came about in the guilds themselves. They divided into separate northern and southern trade guilds. This fractionation soon spread to the government, and even the royal family.

At times it looked like there would be a war between the north and south, but this was thankfully avoided by the good natured people of the area. The King of Galdos allotted the southern part of the nation to his younger son, who married a gnome. The new King of the South split his country from Galdos and called it Deglos. Thus the dwarves in the new nation called themselves the Dubgaldokin. In appearance they are much the same as the Galdokin, except they are often tanned by the sun from being outside, and their ideals are often more openminded.

The new King of Deglos did one more act soon after splitting the nation away from Galdos: he transferred control of the country to the guilds, and abdicated his throne. Naturally this outraged his father in the north, but there was nothing to be done about it. The guilds had already set up a governing council that still works to this day.

[Orleron]

Let me know if there are any more gaps that you would like your character to be able to portray in their worship.


The Format is:


Name, Deity Alignment, Worshipers' Alignment, Mantle, i.e. Area of Control, Deity Status, i.e. Greater, Intermediate, Lesser, Demigod, Hero, Immortal

Skern, N, N or CG, Centaurs, Community, Natural Balances, Lesser


Evrak, NE, Any Evil, Suffering, Strife, Famine, Demi


The'ton, LE, Any Evil, Fear, Intimidation, Demi


Verossa, CE, Any Chaotic, Natural Destruction, Lesser


Hurine, LN, Any, Merchants, Trade, Lesser


Vorin, N, Any, Knowledge and Information

[Orleron]

All of the character classes that exist in the 3rd Ed PHB and NWN also exist on Avlis. We also have some new holy warrior classes, but as of yet, they are not implementable in a way that is satisfactory.

All of the rules that govern the classes are the same way on Avlis. The point of the world is to be as all-inclusive as possible so that everyone will have an opportunity to play the kind of character they want. The general rule is that if you want to play it, you can probably manage it on Avlis. You may have to make your character a new arrival from another world to explain it, but it can probably be done with a little help from us. This is the exact opposite of a lot of worlds that I have seen where the writers say, "There are no elves here" or "There's no monks or druids.", or something like that. That's their perogative if they want to do it that way, but I feel that a world must adapt to its players and not the other way around. By the same token, the world should keep its feel and tone, which means it would probably not be good to have zillions of drow paladins running around on Avlis, but one or two could be expalined if need be. You get my point.

So, that being said, I just wanted to give out some roleplaying notes on a few of the notable character classes... this is more of a roleplaying guide than anything else:


Druids:

As everyone knows, druids are essentially priests of nature. In the older editions of the PHB, druids had a very hiearchical structure to their organization. This is possible on Avlis too, but it is not the only norm. Structure depends on alignment. Therefore druidic orders with neutral or lawful alignments will have more order than chaotic druidic orders.

Not all gods on Avlis can produce druids. In fact relatively few can. They are:
O'Ma, Dru'El, Pelar, Dre'Ana, Titanea, Dagath, Skern, and Verossa.

Avlis may have been around for 10+ years, but the number of gods I've actually developed is about what we've got here on this thread. If you find that your alignment is not represented for the druid you want to play, speak to me because I have a few more not-so-developed gods on hand as well.

Druidic orders are often not related organizationally to the church of the same god. However, sometimes they work togethor, like in the case of the Church of O'Ma and O'Ma's druidic order. Sometimes there is tension between the church and its druidic order because they do things a little differently ritualisticly and they have concern in different areas.



Monks:

Monks on Avlis are very varied. There are a few monk orders attached to gods, like O'Ma, again for instance. About half of the monk orders are attached to some natural formation or area, such as a mountain or river, and the remaining quarter of monk orders are simply contemplative... i.e. not attached to anything except existence itself. The orders that follow a deity or a philosiphy are the most likely ones to produce adventuring monks. Orders that attach themselves to a formation usually stay within the vicinity, although sometimes their members are sent on vision quests.

Orders that are attached to a god will usually be closely associated with a church if they are of lawful alignment... much like the Catholic orders of nuns and monks are today.... as opposed to let's say, some Zen Buddhist orders.



Sorcerers & Wizards:

Practicioners of arcane magic are usually accepted, or tolerated is the better word. The only place where this is not true is in Orcish society. Orc mages are hunted down and killed by the other orcs because long ago all of the orcish mages banded togethor to cast a spell against their enemies and it backfired, destroying almost every Orc in the world. Only the intercession of Mikon saved the orcs from being wiped out completely by the other races.

Any non-orc mages entering into orcish society are also hunted down and killed. Generally, all orcs and half-orcs raised around orcs have a hatred for mages that borders on violence. Luckily, the orcs who ARE mages have banded togethor underground to be safe.

Thus, things like public spell casting and talk of magic are generally a no-no around orcs, but in other places they are only met with suspicion.

[Orleron]

In the beginning, there was chaos?? Reigning over that chaos was a boundless Supreme Being with no name and no form. The crystal sphere containing this chaos was called ?Avlis?, and for untold millennia the Supreme Being of Avlis wandered through the chaos without any purpose or aim. At one point, no one knows exactly when, the Supreme of the crystal sphere grew weary of the chaos and decided to restore order in Avlis once again. So, the swirling chaos was gathered up and the stars where formed along with the planets, and the world itself. The Supreme saw that this work was done well, and the decision was made to keep the world in existence.
Having completed that task, the Supreme populated the world with primitive gods. These were all peaceful and orderly gods that had limited control over a certain natural formations, such as ponds or groves. Each of them was perfect in every detail, and the Supreme was happy with the way they would attend to their areas while worshipping him. To honor his perfect creation, the Supreme named the world after the crystal sphere in which it was cradled...Avlis.

The Age of the Gods:

One day, almost by chance, Avlis received a visitor that would shape its history forever to come. The Negari, an evil entity from the depths of the Abyss flew into the crystal sphere on a Spelljamming vessel with nine human prisoners. Now this Negarai was extremely intelligent and twisted, like most specimens of his kind, and oddly enough, this individual had a great love for humanoid (especially human) psychology. His greatest fascination was the study of good, evil, and neutrality in humans. Even though he was a vile creature in every way, he still had interest in the mechanism that made people behave in alignment with a certain philosophy. He felt that if he could study these attitudes more in depth, he would be more apt at controlling large numbers of the creatures to do his bidding.
Time was his greatest asset. So, during his travels, he captured nine human warriors of varying belief patterns from various other spheres he had journeyed through. Intending to run a study on how each of the nine individuals interact with the other eight, he searched for a secluded place where no outside influence could contaminate his experiment and found Avlis.
Most of the experiments he had planned involved bringing two of the warriors together in order to monitor how they interacted. If his experiment were to work, each of the prisoners not in use at the time would have to be kept in isolation. So, just to make sure that no interaction would occur between prisoners who weren't being observed, the Negarai built a separate prison for each human. The nine prisons were scattered all over Avlis. Slave labor was needed for the construction, and he would need guards after the construction was complete. So, the Negarai imported various lesser Tana'ri to do the work. These denizens would watch over the idol humans when he was elsewhere.
Now after the construction was done, the leftover lesser Tana'r,i who were not guarding prisoners, were allowed to roam the planet to do anything they pleased. With hoards of lesser Tana'ri roaming the planet, the order that the Supreme created was put into severe jeopardy. The Dretches were multiplying and gating in larger demons who in turn gated in even larger demons...and so on. Eventually, things got really out of hand on Avlis and the lesser gods of nature were annihilated. So, in order to combat this problem, the Supreme created a Holy Sword made of pure Godmagic and power for each of the warriors. The swords had special powers, which were in accordance with the respective philosophies of the warriors. Late that night, the swords were magically sent down into the cells of the prisoners by the will of the Supreme. When the prisoners awoke, they found their respective swords hovering in the center of their cells.
With the great power given to them by their newfound weapons, the warriors easily escaped from their prisons all having one thing in mind, the destruction of their captor, the Negari (although in truth each had a different reason why he wanted to kill the Negarai). The warrior Gorethar wanted to eliminate this evil for its own sake and impurity, whereas the warrior Maleki wanted nothing but good old-fashioned cold-blooded revenge. So, cutting through demon after demon along the way, each made the perilous journey separately to converge on the master of all the Avlisian demons.
When all nine of the warriors finally arrived at the Negari's stronghold catching him by surprise, they surrounded him. Each of the warriors was intent on destroying this Negarai, and each of them had the means to do it all by himself. All of the Holy Swords had a different invocation power that could cause serious damage, however, there was something that the nine warriors and even the Supreme didn't know about those powerful weapons. They contained so much godly essence that if a subject was hit with all nine invocation powers at the same time it would become instantly deified. So, it was very bewildering to the warriors when they all simultaneously unleashed their powers on the Negarai in order to destroy him, but turned him into a very powerful god instead! Now, with the Negarai thoroughly more powerful than the nine warriors, the only thing they could do was flee together to a place deep beneath the surface of Avlis.
After a long and treacherous journey to the center of the planet with the Negari hot on their trail, they came across the Eternal Spark, which was one of the artifacts that the Supreme created and used to form the world. The magic of the Eternal Spark is beyond all magic ever seen in an artifact, for it has the power to create crystal spheres, and transform mortals into gods. Coming to this treasured secret artifact, the nine warriors began to squabble over it. The warrior Gorethar thought that the Spark should not be used by anyone because its power would most likely corrupt anyone who used it. However his friend, the warrior O'ma, thought that the stone should be used only by the warriors who believed in justice and balance, and that the balance between good and evil could be helped by creating a force of good Gods through its use. Dru-el saw the merit in O?ma?s thinking, however he believed that the stone should only be used by whoever was Good and deserved to be made a god, whether they cared about balance or not. As for the others, the warrior Toran believed that anyone who would practice lawful principles of any kind in order to help balance the universe could use it, but Mikon disagreed and argued that anyone who would try to live in total balance between law and chaos, good and evil could use the Spark. By this point, the squabbling was becoming a little more heated, and this disturbed the warrior Forian who stopped the conversation with a wave of his hand and announced that perhaps they should all think of a number and that everyone who thought of an even number should use it. But no one took him seriously, for they learned on the journey down to the center of the planet that Forian was a bit odd. Valok, who was usually quiet and scheming, spoke up and said that everyone?s ideas were well and decent, but he believed that only he should use it so he could conquer Avlis for himself and set up his own kingdom after he defeated the Negarai. Aarilax had a similar idea as well. Atlhough he didn?t believe Valok had any claim. He thought that he should use it because he was the only one who could get the job done. Finally, Maleki, also wanted the Spark all for himself so he could kill the miserable Negarai and then finish off the rest of the warriors. But, before any decision could be made, the Negarai god himself burst forth out of the rock ready to slay them all. So, in a quick reaction, all nine warriors grabbed the Eternal Spark at nearly the same time.
A grand fight ensued. The continents of Avlis were torn apart. Fire filled the skies and explosions rocked the planet's axis. But throughout all the grand battles and vicious attempts to slay the Negarai, no one could kill him or be killed by him. Eventually, the nine gods figured out that a greater god could not kill another greater god on Avlis. This troubled them very much because it was taking a great toll on the planet. However, in the nick of time the Negarai was mysteriously slain, and it was not slain by any of the nine warrior gods. Apparently, while the battle was raging on, a lowly Ta?Nari uncovered the counterpart artifact to the Eternal Spark, known as The Black Dagger. Upon grabbing the Black Dagger, the Ta?Nari became noncorporeal and struck a fatal blow at the Negarai. Immediately after, the Supreme recovered the Black Dagger from the Ta?Nari and hid it? a little more carefully this time.

Time of the Dawning:

Soon after attaining godhood, the warriors got to work clearing out the infestation of Tana?ri on the planet. With peace settling across the land, and all the Tana?ri banished, the gods all found new homes on the plane that suited them best. Only Mikon stayed on the Prime Material Plane. The Supreme charged him with the responsibility of keeping the other gods where they belonged, unless they were needed on the Prime Material Plane to restore balance.
This gave the gods a lot of time to think about creating races for themselves. Each god wanted to be the patron to its own race of beings that would spread about the planet as an extension of their own selves. The gods of good wanted to establish a unified world of peace where all the different races would work together in their goals. This sentiment was not shared by the evil gods, however. These gods each wanted their race to be dominant and enslave the other races, be it blatantly or in concept only. The six gods were squabbling over this point when the neutral gods stepped in and stated that every race should have the free will to establish what it wants. Mikon went on to suggest that they, being very new to godhood, should consult with some more experienced deities in order to find out how they dealt with this problem. Thinking this to be a sensible idea, each of the gods sought to find an older god that had similar ideals.
Gorethar enlisted the aid of Clangeddin the Dwarven god. Clangeddin told him that he should never fall prey to the imperfect ideals of others, and that he should create a race that will spread goodness and work hard, regardless of what the other gods and races would do. Taking this point further, Clangeddin went on to state that dwarves suited Gorethar's character the best, since they were so hardworking. He insured Gorethar that Dwarves would work hard to spread goodness throughout the planet in an effort to make it a better place. So, taking Clangeddin's advice, Gorethar created dwarves in the same way he suggested. To show his gratitude and satisfaction with his new race, Gorethar allowed Clangeddin to teach the dwarven people craftsmanship, and to have a few priests of his own on Avlis. So, being the first race to walk Avlis, the dwarves quickly got started on improving their living conditions and philosophy before anyone else. They also spread out over a pretty sizable chunk of land.
Toran journeyed around his plane to find a strange god that he remembered hearing about once when he was traveling around in his mortal days. Eventually, he found Toblin, who received him in a serious manner when Toran posed his question to him. Toblin told Toran that he would need a numerous, yet organized race that could lend aid to keeping order in the land so that the chaotic designs of some of the other gods would never come through. Toblin added that his own race, the Dracon, were well suited for this task because they performed well under pressure. So, Toran created the Dracon with the aid of his newfound friend, Toblin. And so, because of Toran's gratitude towards Toblin, he was allowed to hold priests on Avlis. The Dracon, took well to their new land, and in a very orderly fashion, they set about creating a lifestyle for themselves.
Valok sought the aid of Gruumsh the Orc god. Valok wanted a race that would be good in a war of treachery, and at first he doubted the wisdom of Gruumsh's suggestion that he create Orcs to do his bidding. However, Gruumsh pointed out that if Valok were to imbue them with some intelligence, they would have the ability to form strategies and make large cities. This would enable them to corrupt and take over, just like Valok wanted. So, thinking this to be a commendable idea, Valok made Orcs with surprising amounts of intelligence and ambition. The newborn race settled itself on the east coast of the main continent on Avlis. It was not long before they figured out how to make raiding parties to destroy wandering beings, and how to control their own lands with a cruel justice system that suited their own purposes. This pleased Valok, and he thanked Gruumsh just as the two gods before him, by letting Gruumsh hold a few priests on Avlis.
Mikon found the aid of Ptah when he wanted to create a race. Ptah suggested that Mikon stick with humans because no other race had proved more balancing and wide-ranging as them. Ptah also pointed out that the humans would be more than willing to make the choice between good, evil, or neutrality. This would be a good example to the other gods on how their races should live. Seeing the wisdom in this, Mikon populated the world with humans in order to make a balance. The human race, being the most versatile yet, spread out over the entire planet. Many of them adopted the ways of the already existing races, while others invented their own new cultures.
Aarilax, asked Blipdoolpoolp how he should handle the problem that the gods of good and neutrality had with his goals. Blipdoolpoolp suggested that Aarilax make a race that could adapt to the present conditions of the society around them. This would enable them to avoid the wrath of the neutral gods because they could choose to employ either law or chaos in their mission to corrupt the world, and accumulate power for themselves. At the same time though, the good gods would not be terribly enraged because his race would on occasion work with others to accomplish a goal. Lizard men would be a wise choice for his race because they had the ability to further the goals of evil using either law or chaos on their own or with help. The lizard men started a society of their own as soon as they were born. They also set out on foot to intermingle a little with the other races in order to gain some notoriety among their own people.
Corelon Larethian was sought out by Dru?El so that he could ask the god what he should do. Corelon said that Dru?El should father a race of beings that were proud enough to stand up for themselves when they were concerned, and yet were kind-hearted enough to try to achieve a peaceful goal in the end. The god suggested that elves suited Dru?El best because they were not afraid to use force in order to preserve their goodness and their society, but at the same time they never sought out a fight. So, eager to try out his new abilities, Dru?El created two varieties of elves, the stunningly beautiful yet tremendously delicate ghost elves, and the tough, rustic, yet elegant Dru?Elian high elves. These proved to be two very successful creations. The two related races worked together and built beautiful cities in the forests. At the same time, they efficiently kept out any unwanted evil races. To show his thanks to Corelon Larethian, Dru?El offered some influence over the planet in return. The older Elven god gladly accepted some minor Elven followers among the elves of Avlis.
The evil god, Maleki, was approached by Grolantor the god of the giant-kin. Grolantor told Maleki that all the other evil species combined were not as capable of brutally defying the other gods as any one giant-kin was. Liking this, Maleki made ogres, ettins, and hill giants in order to spread chaos indiscriminately around the globe. This angered all the other gods, but it was not enough for Maleki. He then betrayed Grolantor by not letting him have any power in the sphere.
One of the other gods, Forian, always wanted a highly versatile and unpredictable race. He did not want them to have the unpleasant disadvantage of having only one form all their life. He also did not like the idea of depending on another god's advice when that would just take away from his individuality and originality. So, feeling especially nutty one day, Forian went out alone and created the changelings, a race of beings that can change form. These beings immediately spread much confusion about Avlis. The confusion that they spread was not good, nor was it evil. It was just...well it was confusing.
O'ma sought the aid of Titania the fairy goddess when he wanted to create a race. Titania said that no other race was as effective at working with others towards goodness and uncomplicated at the same time as the fairy races. O'ma liked this idea, but he did not like the fact that a lot of fairy races needed humanoids of other races to reproduce. He didn't want any of his races to be dependent on any other, so he imbued all of the fairy races with the ability to reproduce amongst themselves by making both males and females in every subspecies. Soon after, the planet was populated with nymphs, both male and female, as well as sylphs and dryads of both sexes, among others. Titania was outraged by this act because she thought that O'ma was criticizing her creations and upsetting a delicate balance in the reproduction of the other eight races. So, in order to set the balance right again, or at least sway it, Titania created some fairy races on a demiplane of her home that could not reproduce by themselves because they were only female, and some fairy races that were just like her old fairy creations, i.e. sprites, nixies, etc. She then gave the fairies the means to travel to Avlis magically by themselves, since she couldn't use her own magic to put them there by herself. Titania did this without permission, or the knowledge of O'ma. Not knowing what was going on, O'ma later granted Titania direct access to Avlis in order to ease her anger. The two fairy races existed in different places for a short while, each without the other's knowledge. O'ma's fairies fit well into the scheme of common goals of goodness that the three gods of good favored.

[Orleron]

The creation of these new fairies by Titania went largely unnoticed by O'ma for a long time. However, for the fairies themselves this was not the case. Neither fairy race was informed of the other's existence, and they were both created in two different geographical areas, so it was a big shock to them when they would meet up with individuals belonging to the other race. Titanian Fairies where shocked to find a male nymph or sylph flying around. By the same token, the male fairies were equally puzzled by the existence of females whom they could not interbreed with. Even the carefree sprites of O'ma were a little befuddled when they met up with the neutral sprite races of Titania. Gradually, each race became resentful of the other, but, being the benevolent beings they were, they had no reason to do anything about it...until one thing started occurring frequently. Some of O'ma's larger fairy races had the ability to interbreed with humans, elves, and other humanoids, which they often did. The resulting offspring were half human or elf, etc. with many fairy qualities. The very existence of Half-Nymphs, Half-Dryads, Half-Sylphs, etc. was a bane to Titania. So, stepping out of line for the good of her race, she ordered her Fairies to purge Avlis of the "tainted" fairies. And so, they mounted assaults (as best they could anyway.) Thus begun the Fairy War.
The Great Fairy War, as it is often called, was an almost comical, but very dangerous battle. The whole planet was enraptured in illusion and sorcery. In some places, the Half-fairy races would quickly gain the upper hand over Titania's Fairies because of their versatility, only to be charmed and used against O'ma in other places. In yet some other places, brutal forest battles would take place between the woodland creatures friendly to the fairies of each side. The outcome of some of these battles would only leave a trail of animal carnage behind. Even under the sea, battles raged between the Nixies and water Sprites of Titania and O'ma.
The main leaders of this war where the High Priests of the respective gods. The priests on both sides would hire adventurers to help fight this war and organize the fairies on each side. Consequently, armies of fairies and adventurers would clash in fields, in forests and in oceans. The priests themselves would pitch huge battles of magic with the help of mages that they hired from the surrounding lands.
Even O'ma and Titania were fighting in the planes above in order to stop the other from giving aid to their priests. They fought so brutally and fiendishly, that blood flowed from them freely and mixed on the ground. The mixing of their blood brought about some very confused races of centaurs, and satyrs, among other things through the mischievous tinkering done by Pan and Skerritt who then retreated off into the planes laughing between themselves.
The war raged on like this for 30 years. In the meantime, almost every forest on the planet was wrecked. The Orcs grew tired of watching this and decided to capitalize on this war by trying to wipe out both fairy races. And so the war expanded as the Orcs easily mounted up their forces and attacked with menace...

[Orleron]

Taking heavy losses on both sides, and deciding that it was better to fight evil than to have good fight itself, the Fairy Races grudgingly signed a truce that stated that as long as there was evil on Avlis, they would postpone their war. They then agreed to join forces against the Orcs. However, the damage done from the Fairy War was too great and the Fairies were seriously handicapped in their efforts. Because of this and the fact that they had help from the baatezu conjured by their mages, the Orcs remained on top of the battle. Thousands of fairies of both gods perished at the hands of the well-organized and intelligent Orcs.
Not liking this one bit, the elves and the dwarves decided to join the Fairies in order to destroy the Orcs once and for all. However, they felt that they did not have enough power between all three races to totally annihilate the Orcs, so they decided to call on one more entity...His Most Splendid Majesty, the Platinum Dragon. This creature was a powerful entity that settled on Avlis some time past, and he had a small cult of dwarves and elves on Avlis, which caused him to be elevated to demigod status. Disliking Orcs more than anything else, he was more than willing to help. His aid was given in the form of hordes of metallic dragons to aid the three good races. These were the first dragons to appear on Avlis aside from the Platinum Dragon himself. They were met with much fear and awe by all sides, and they quickly begun to obliterate all Orcs and devils in sight.
This action was enjoyed by everyone except the evil races and one more...Mikon. There was no way that the god of True Balance was going to stand by and let a key component of the Balance be destroyed. Mikon did not like the fact that there was the full brunt of the three good races plus the dragons teaming up against one race.... the Orcs, even if they were using devils to aid them. It was bad enough that every single Orc on the continent was chased from the east coast all the way to the west coast by the good aligned races. So, just before the Orcs were about to be driven into the sea, and eradicated once and for all, Mikon created evil dragons from the stones found on Avlis. And so the Granite Dragons, Coal Dragons, and others were created.
The Great War was immediately brought to a standstill and a constant din of fighting erupted all around the world. Although they had lost much by now, and they only had one area of land left under their control, they were able to hold their own for a while. However, even the Orcs themselves knew that they could not last forever in their newfound territory of Brekon even with the help of the dragons sent by Mikon. The Orc mages had what they thought was a solution. All the while, they had been conjuring baatezu and working on a final end to the conflict. Their covert efforts were directed towards researching an invocation energy spell of great power to wipe out all the good races in one shot. When the spell was completed, it was unleashed. However, it didn't exactly work like it should have. A small group of adventurers sacrificed themselves causing the spell to backfire on the Orcs, which wound up killing hundreds of thousands of them including ALL of the Orc mages. In addition to their losses, tens of thousands of dwarves, elves, fairies, and even humans, lizard men, and changelings who were not involved were also killed. As quickly as the fighting deadlocked, it ceased. Both sides withdrew to regroup. But it never resumed because the dragons of evil and good agreed among themselves that they would keep each other at bay. And so, the Great War ended.

[Orleron]

With peace being preserved by the dragons, all of the races enjoyed 1000 years to recuperate and better themselves. During this time, magic flourished among all of the races except for the Orcs who would hunt down and kill any mages arising among themselves. Many orders of magic were created, each with their own specialties.
Heroes as well as mages walked Avlis. Occasionally, a Hero who was favored by a god of some alignment would be granted immortality and allowed to continue to roam Avlis. Immortality was not godhood, but it was almost as good as being a demigod. Immortals would frequently befriend their benefactor, and on more than one occasion, children were born of this union. Usually, the children were gods themselves, although not as powerful as their greater god father, and not as weak as their immortal or demigod mother. Some of these children went on to father races of their own. The most widely known case of this is the union between Mikon and the jungle-dwelling heroine Aryeh Gidol. Their son, Balgar, was born a lesser god, who with the help of his father Mikon, created the race known as the Wemic. There were a few more affairs of this sort between the nine great warriors and plane traveling heroes and immortals in the Age of Complete Peace.
The biggest difference between immortals and gods was that Immortals did not have any worshipers unless they chose to go out and get them. In rare instances, an Immortal would be elevated to demigod status here and there. Between immortals and mortals were two main differences. Firstly, Immortals could not die of old age or disease, however they could be killed like any other mortal. This however, proved an extremely tough feat for anyone who tried. The second difference between mortals and Immortals was that Immortals who were also mages had access to an extra set of spells that only the gods had access to originally. Consequently, many "God Magics", as they were called, were being casted among the Immortals on Avlis. Although, the magics were powerful, they were never really misused in any way that would spark a large war. Small skirmishes were common in some years, but for the most part, there was peace like Avlis had never before seen.
Overall, there was a proliferation of all things?. people, gods, races, magic. A general feeling of prosperity ruled over the world.

[Orleron]

Along the border between M'Chek and T'Nanshi lie many small villages. Some rest in the lands that have always been controlled by M'Chek, and some are built on newly conquered areas.

The trouble with these villages is that they change hands very often.... sometimes on a scale of days or hours. The citizens in these towns lead tortured lives, but they have no choice. Practically all of them are human citizens of M'Chek who have nowhere else to go. The lands in the south cannot support them, nor will the elves take them in. Thus they are doomed to live in these villages, like Blandenberg.

Sometimes, goodly individuals will make their way to these villages for charitable causes. They will feed the citizens, or heal them. The church of O'Ma is especially dedicated to this cause in Blandenberg. They have quite a presence there among the fighting. Though they never get directly involved in the skirmishes that take place there daily, they often lend help to both sides in the form of healing.

O'Ma does not like this war, and neither does his church. They see it as unfortunate, and not serving any purpose other than increasing loss of life. Some members of the clergy argue that the elves should allow the humans to have part of their land, for the greater good. But there is another element to the matter that most do not realize. Rumor has it that the Titanean fairies, enemies of O'Ma's church, have sided with M'Chek against the elves. Why, you may ask? In return for helping the humans defeat the elves in T'Nanshi, the Titanean fairies have been promised by the M'Chekians that they would aide them in destroying their ancient enemies... the O'Ma fairies.

This places O'Ma's followers in a difficult spot.... the war is not something they like to see, for it does not suit the well-being of all. However, the end of the war could mean the rekindling of the Fairy War which almost led to the destruction of all Avlis once before......

[Orleron]

Present- Time period where players are using the world

-50 years- Time period of "Avlis Campaign 1" (see posts for details). Valok tries to enter world and is foiled. Equalizer and Champion orders are formed. Angadar is rumored to have taken on the mantle of Deceit & Trickery upon the death of the goddess Tianna, killed by Mikon. Andrinor becomes a deity and takes the mantle of Magic and starts his church.

-100 years- The Jade ordeal, destruction of the Avariel city of Toostan, and most of the Avariel race. Drangonari elves take a portion of Drotid as their own.

-150 years- Angadar's ascention to godhood

-175 years- Death of Kuras by Nemeril, collapse of the Kurathene Empire
Nemeril banishes O'Ma from the world with the "Godslayer".
Angadar takes the Godslayer from Nemeril and rescues O'Ma. Returns the weapon to O'Ma for safe keeping.

-1000 years- Age of Darkness, not much is known about this period... legend has it that the all powerful counterpart to the Eternal Spark, The Black Dagger, was found and a god was destroyed with it. This is rumored to have touched off a devastating war between the gods and their followers.

-2000 years- Beginnig of Age of Peace.... many of the newer minor gods and minor races were created
during this time. Immortals ran rampant.

-2001 years- Orc mages create the huge explosion that ends the war and kills nearly everyone on the planet. The remaining orcs found the nations of Brekon and Dubunat on the west coast.

-2050 years- Great War is just ending up. The dragons have entered the fray

-2100 years- Great War begins when Orcs attack the warring fairy factions

-2200 years- Fairy War Starts.

-2500 years- The 9 gods finish creating their races.

-2600 years- The Negarai is killed by an unknown assailant with a powerful weapon.

-3000 years- The warriors and Negarai become greater gods and start fighting.

-3010 years- The warriors are captured by the Negarai and brought to Avlis. Their prisons are built and the Tana'ri start to ifest the planet.

-3500 years- Avlis is at peace. Nature gods roam.

-4000 years- Supreme creates Avlis


I will post more details about certain events below.

[Orleron]

This stuff is based on a pnp campaign that I DM'ed. My players were Silk, Misty, Vanoviel, Andreva, and my wife. All except for my wife are on this board.

The recent history of Avlis is marked by one major event, Valok's attempt to re-enter the prime material plane.

The short version of this story starts innocently enough: a band of people in Blandenberg were captured by an orc raiding party. No one knew what the hell orcs were doing in Blandenberg, but they seemed to be kidnapping people left and right.

The heroes in the story: Vanoviel Niltaurwen, Aratelda Ringthong, Andrinor, Orianna (aka Raven), and Tupaia Dagroth.

When they awoke after being kidnapped, they realized they were on a slave ship. Evidently, the nation of M'Chek is prime pickings for slave traders because there are so many people. Just who is buying the slaves is often a mystery, but in this case, a lord in the Kurathene Empire by the name of Crullath was suspected.

The heroes escaped the orcish ship when they were rescued by a wemic named Borrr'Gorak, general of the armies of Lord Joral Arvanos V of the Kurathene Empire. The wemic general enlisted the heroes' help in determining why Lord Crullath wanted slaves imported from M'Chek. Crullath and Arvanos were involved in a bitter war at the time, and the wemic feared that Crullath was using the slaves as conscripts for his army.

The heroes agreed, and they were dropped off in the city of Andarr, which is one of the Seven Cities... independent city states that have banded togethor in a confederation. Through a series of adventures, the heroes uncovered a few things...

* Crullath was indeed collecting slaves for his war against Arvanos

* Crullath was dealing with orcs to get the slaves, specifically an orc named Mandaharuk, a high priest of Valok in Mikona.

* Crullath was also dealing with a major lord in Mikona named Lord Dagroth. The plan was for Dagroth and Mandaharuk to help Crullath crush Arvanos in return for some land of their own in the Kurathene Empire.

After eliminating some slave trading outposts in the north, the heroes decided to help Borrr'Gorak further by journeying through Mikona to find out more information. It was on their way back to Blandenberg where they were headed anyway. Once in Mikona, the heroes met a woman named Jade, an elven noble diplomat sent from T'Nanshi to help negotiate with M'Chek on the war.

Jade helped the heroes expose Mandaharuk and Dagroth. Mandaharuk was banished from Mikona, and Dagroth was fined. Feeling particularly angry about this, Mandaharuk ambushed the party a couple of times, resulting in a desparate battle where the heroes and Jade had to flee Mikona or be destroyed.

The heroes fled into the Plane of Shadow and decided to head off Mandaharuk wherever he was headed. Through a series of adventures on the plane of shadow, the heroes reached the orcish city of Brekon, where they believed Mandaharuk would go because it was the stronghold of the Church of Valok.

In the city, the heroes were approached by a orc named Khalik. He told them that Mandaharuk had to die for his audacity to attack the Kurathene Empire because such a move would undoubtedly turn them against Brekon and the orcs would be destroyed. The heroes agreed to kill Mandaharuk for him.

Soon after that, they found out even worse news about Mandaharuk. He was assembling a slave army to conquer Arvanos, but he was ALSO working below the Valok temples to summon up armies of Baatezu to augment their forces. The combined slave/baatezu army was going to destroy Arvanos, then turn on Crullath and take the whole of the Kurathene Empire, to start with.

When they returned to Khalik and told them this, Khalik thanked them and walked away.

The heroes planned an assault on Mandaharuk. They learned that he was working in the basements of the main temple of Valok in Brekon to summon armies of Baatezu. Vanoviel enlisted help from the Church of O'Ma in the matter, through the network of urban sprites she met in the city. The heroes and their cleric helpers from O'Ma staged a large attack on the temple of Valok.

When the heroes fought their way to Mandaharuk, they noticed Khalik had sided with him. Hearing about the army of baatezu, Khalik decided that it was a plan that may work, so he renegged on killing Mandaharuk and instead joined him.

A large battle broke out and Mandaharuk was killed, but Khalik escaped through a pool into the elemental plane of water. The heroes had to make a long journey to the nixie city of Qwandovia to find a portal of their own so they could go after him. After gaining passage to the portal, they made their way through the plane of water and traced Khalik to Sigil, city of doors.

In Sigil, they learned much. Andrinor discovered his lineage as the son of a cambion and an elf... the elf was Aratelda's aunt. Through another series of adventures they also learned some dire news....

Khalik was making bigger plans.... He had enlisted an old pupil of Angadar to help. Togethor they would gather the components necessary to enter the Nine Hells and open a portal from there into Avlis where Valok would be able to come through. Normally gods cannot enter plain portals with their entire essence. They can only send avatars through. Khalik was under instruction from Valok to build him a portal where he could take his entire godly essence into Avlis. Angadar's pupil was a powerful mage who was happy to oblidge, if they paid him. The payment was to be the death of Angadar... the pupil had a grudge. Valok accepted the payment and they all got to work.

The heroes found out these details, and they decided they could not stop them without help. Avlis was in danger, and without divine help, they were almost powerless. So they made their own journey over the top layer of Hell to find Angadar's realm and alert him of his danger.

Angadar was the god of arcane knowledge, and his realm was a vast library underground which opened up into a foresty ground level with dwellings both at the base of the trees and IN the treetops. He received the heroes guardedly and told them he needed time to think. One of the heroes, Jade, was his daughter whom he had not seen in a while, though she was not pleased to meet again.

After thinking it through, Angadar summoned Andrinor. He told him that he needed Andrinor's help. In the library there was a book written by the Negerai who first roamed Avlis. It told about methods of becoming divine, or increasing power of something that was already divine. Angadar however could not read the book for it only readable by an undisciplined mind. So he impressed upon Andrinor with a favor, that Andrinor should read the book for him and Angadar would link to his mind and absorb the information that way. Angadar linked to him and gave him some power to boot.

Andrinor oblidged. He found much information on the book about deities and deification... including a certain spell. It was a ritual incantation. It would only work if casted in the presence of at least two deities... true form, not avatars. The two deities must be one good and one evil, or neutral, and the caster must be the third polarity. So good, evil, and neutrality must all be represented in the mix. Andrinor memorized the spell and held off on it for fear of retribution by Angadar if he should cast it.

After this Angadar summoned the rest of the heroes. He told them that they would be making a pre-emptive attack on Valok's realm. He brought aid from avatars of O'Ma, Pelar, Dre'Ana, and Dre'nar.

O'Ma gave gifts to the heroes, and to Vanoviel, his cleric, he bestowed a sword of great power and charged her with the mission of forming an order of Champions to further O'Ma's ideals. She accepted and became the first Champion herself.

Shortly after that, they mounted the attack. The heroes were sneaked into the realm of the goddess Tianna, which adjoined Valoks' realm. She was his consort, and the goddess of Deceit and Trickery. They made their way through the realm, narrowly avoiding conflicts with the goddess, to come up in Valok's realm.

Through keen planning, they destroyed Khalik and Angadar's pupil, among others, but the time was too late. The portal was opened.... and both Tianna and Valok were very mad.

Standing in front of the portal, the heroes found themselves face to face with Tianna's true form, and they were about to be obliterated when suddenly Angadar showed up and pushed Tianna through the portal into Avlis.

Through another series of events, this caught Mikon's attention. He was furious. He immediately destroyed Tianna utterly, for it was Mikon's job to keep the gods off of the Prime Material Plane and out of Avlis.

He then went through the portal the other way into Valok's realm and warned Valok not to go into Avlis. Valok was incensed at this but he made no motions. Mikon then closed the portal and destroyed it after going back to Avlis.

Angadar and the heroes fled Valok's realm and recuperated back at Angadar's place... but before long, Angadar's realm was under full attack by Valok himself and his army of hell creatures. He was no longer interested in tact... he was interested in killing.

Angadar feared for his existence. Valok was a much more powerful god and could easily dispatch him, so Angadar and the heroes fled the realm as it was being destroyed. They made their way to Acheron... Valok followed... then Mechanus... Valok followed... For each plane they fled through, Valok was on their tail.

Eventually they reached Elysia where O'Ma was able to use his true form instead of an avatar. O'Ma, Angadar, and Valok fought there.... Andrinor ceased his chance... he recited the spell, for he felt that Angadar was distracted and could not stop him...

He was right... Andrinor transformed into an intermediate deity and entered the battle against Valok. Soon Valok was very weakened and had to retreat. The battle was over.

The heroes said their goodbyes and returned home.

Tupaia Dagroth inherited the Dagroth estate, as her half-brothers were killed in battle. Aratelda Ringthong became Aratelda Rinthon and took charge of the armies of T'Nanshi. The half-nymph, Vanoviel Niltaurwen formed the order of Champions and founded the city of Elysia. Orianna, aka Raven, formed a thieve's guild in Mikona with ties to the Seven Cities, and secretly, Elysia itself.
Andrinor took his place among the gods and started his church. Jade went back to diplomatic duty... Angadar took on Tianna's discared mantle of Deceit & Trickery which elevated him to an intermediate deity. He was happy.

Mikon found out about Valok's plan and was there to kill Tianna and stop Valok due to the actions of a man named Nimonay Dunster. He was the lord of Equaloria Keep and the founder of the Equalizers of Mikon.... the holy order of neutral warriors.