by Captain Commander » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:40 am
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EARTH.
Pre-History and the Serpent People
After the Preservers left Earth to explore and organize the wider universe, the Earth Consciousness fell into a kind of torpor akin to that gripping the Sleepers of the First Race. Numerous species of animals and plants rose and fell. Whenever a species seemed on the verge of sentience, the Earth Consciousness would stir and mass extinctions followed. It was almost as if the Earth itself found the current inhabitants to be unworthy of inheriting its vast powers. There seemed no hope for a sentient life-form to ever gain a foot hold on Earth. In truth the first sentient came not from Earth but beyond the dimensional veil.
The Serpent People originated in the Outer Astral plain as Phantasms (often referred to as Fey Folk) of the First Race Sleepers. They came to Earth from the Astral Plain around sixty-five million years ago. Finding a bountiful planet uninhabited by intelligent life-forms, they claimed it as their own. Under the watchful eyes of their divine rulers, the Dragons, they engineered a number of servitor races from the large saurian population then existent. For countless millennium they prospered. Learning great mastery of magic and making headway into technology. However their sages detected the war between the Light Bringer and its brethren and realized that all they knew would be destroyed when the fallout of that the battle reached Earth. Thus they created a haven to house their citizens and a large number of their pets, against the coming destruction. When the destructive forces of the Light Bringer war finally reached Earth, it caused massive extinctions, ending the saurian age. However the Serpent people were safe in their haven. After ten million years of hibernation, the Serpent People awoke and returned to repopulate Earth.
Re-writing of Reality
When the Preservers returned to Earth 100 000 years ago, they found it populated by a vast and wise population of Serpent People. The Serpent People had slowly expanded their rule over much of the Milky Way, bringing general peace and prosperity to the galaxy. The Preservers accepted the Serpent People as a success until they discovered that these beings were the accidental creations of their Sleeper brethren. Believing that such creations were inherently flawed, the Preservers bent time and space itself to re-order reality. They traveled back to when the Serpent People had left their safe haven and stopped the return. To ensure the existence of a race more fitting to take up their mantle, they manipulated the genetic histories of entire species to allow for the evolution of humanity. Once humanity had evolved to a level of intelligence compatible with the Earth Sentience, the Preservers made further alterations to their genetic coding to allow them to survive other worlds. They then took these altered humans with them to seed various planets and thus ensure the survival of their favored race.
The Preservers' manipulation of reality was so thorough that no record of its occurrence would have been possible had it not been for the existence of a very powerful Dragon. The being, which came to be known as the Rainbow Serpent, was in fact an awoken member of the Sleepers. Its wisdom was such that it had fore-knowledge of what the Preservers were to do and enough skill in magic that it managed to remain hidden even from them. Once the Preservers had returned to seed the stars, the Dragon enacted its master plan. It went out into the Earth, tapping into the dreams of its brethren and made changes to reality to ensure the survival of the Serpent People. Its alterations changed the nature of reality a second time, though in very subtle ways. Humans would still be allowed to evolve but the Serpent People trapped within their Haven would also be allowed a chance to compete for Earth. Thus the Rainbow Serpent created an even playing field for the two races to see who would truly be deserving of inheriting the Earth. After its vast undertaking, the Dragon rejoined its brethren in sleep.
Lemuria and Far-Side
Two million years ago, the Rainbow Serpent allowed the Serpent People to return to Earth from their haven. The Serpent People, were delivered from destruction but they had been advised by their living gods to remain hidden from the Preservers. For millions of years, the Serpent People watched from the shadows as humans evolved. When the Preservers returned, they were astonished to find that the Serpent People had managed to survive their attempt at erasing them from existence. A number of Preservers called for yet another alteration in reality to expunge the Serpent People. However, many had found a new respect for the Serpent People and instead allowed their continuance on the stipulation that they move away from the humans. The Dragons accepted the terms and moved their people to subterranean and under-sea kingdoms, away from the eyes of humans. In their turn, those Preservers who desired the destruction of the the Serpent People were appeased by the creation of Far-Side. Armed with the Preserver created Moon Stone, the Far-Siders were created as a safe-guard against Serpent People domination of Earth.
For a time it seemed that the Serpent People and humans would end up being able to co-exist. However, one under-sea kingdom was contacted by the being known as Leviathan. It is unclear exactly what manner of being Leviathan truly was but what is known is that it was a servant of the Shadow Realm. Leviathan questioned why the much more advanced and noble Serpent People would abase themselves for the sake of humanity. It promised the Serpent People enough power to oppose the Preservers. Finally, it introduced the Serpent People to worship of the Unspeakable One. A number of Dragons challenged Leviathan to a formal duel but were humbled by its power. They were forced to flee their kingdoms and people, many settling in the region which would come to be known as Asia. Afterward, most of the Serpent People came under the sway of Leviathan and in direct rebellion against their pact with the Preservers, they founded an above-sea kingdom named Lemuria, from which they began the conquest of the rest of the Earth.
Arrival of the Primearchs and Atlantis
The Serpent People quickly tried to subjugate humanity. However their conquest was cut short by the arrival of the Primearchs. Sensing the power of the Earth Consciousness, the Primearchs arrived to feed off this energy source. They ended up battling the Serpent People and were accepted by the humans as guardians. The Primarchs realized that their worshipers actually allowed them to more readily utilize the energies of the Earth Consciousness and came to defend their human followers. The veneration and prayers of the humans had unseen consequences. The Primearchs very natures, motivations and psyches were altered by the humans and the Earth Consciousness they were tapping.
One Primearch in particular, Ahura Mazda, so came to love his human worshipers that he gave them the option to tap into their true potential. While most of his followers rejected the offer, a number of his people, led by his former high priest Atlan (Earth's first Master Mage), embraced their chance for true freedom. They traveled to an island prepared by Ahura Mazda and founded the fledgling state of Atlantis. This island nation, allied to the Iranian pantheon (and later many other gods), but at the same time unrestrained by devotions to the Primearchs, quickly ascended to preeminence amongst the human civilizations. It's magical prowess and technological might came to rival Lemuria which greatly antagonized the Serpent People. A number of Atlantean sages called for peace, but were drowned out in the chorus for war. They would leave Atlantis before its sinking to found Shangra-La and live in harmony with a number of Serpent People, including Dragons, who also renounced the ways of war.
The Atlantean-Lemurian war lasted centuries. The Atlanteans had on their side the power of numerous Primearchs and a unified empire. Lemuria had the mercurial whims of the Unspeakable One and was constantly torn by civil war. Atlantis looked certain to gradually win the war of attrition. However a minority of gods perceived the Atlanteans as a threat to their status. They met in secret to formulate ways to undermine Atlantis. At first engaging in small sabotage and general snobbery, this consortium of gods finally decided to covertly assist the Serpent people. Their secret assistance allowed the Serpent people access to Atlantean technology and countered the attempts of Atlantis' divine allies to defeat the Serpent people. It is popular belief that had they not interfered, Atlantis would have defeated Lemuria without itself being destroyed. In the end Lemuria attempted to manifest the Unspeakable One upon Earth. The Atlanteans had no other recourse but to sink Lemuria under the waves. Their effort, although successful, required the unleashing of a powerful but experimental cosmic weapon, which had the unforeseen side-effect of destabilizing the island nation and sinking Atlantis.
After the sinking of both Lemuria and Atlantis, the surviving citizens of the two great powers were forced to find new homes. The Serpent People attempted to retake their past subterranean realms but encountered fierce resistance from degenerate Serpent People, mutated Saurians and even Dragons who had been driven mad. A few managed to establish settlements, though they too in time would degenerate into savagery. One group would remain in sunken Lemuria under what they mistook to be the Leviathan's protection but were instead mutated into Cthonic nightmares. The majority of Atlanteans re-settled in the Caribbean. These settlements would in time become the basis of Utopia Isle. A smaller group of outcasts, mutated by exposure to the Atlantean cosmic weapon, were to settle in the Arctic Circle to form Ultima Thule. A final group attempted for a short time to remain in the sunken city of Atlantis, but the fall out from the Atlantian cosmic weapon eventually killed most of them off and forced the rest to become nomads.
God Wars
With Atlantis and Lemuria sunk, the gods rose to undisputed control. The secret consortium who had assisted in Atlantis' downfall believed that they had forever secured their futures as Earth's masters. However a number of gods who had ventured into the Outer Astral Plain, brought back stories of the Angellos. Beings claiming to be members of the First Race who had returned for unknown reasons. The power of the Angellos dwarfed that of even the most powerful divine matriarchs and patriarchs. The secret alliance convened a general meeting of divinities to address the Angellos problem. They put forth that true enslavement of humanity would allow them to fully harness the Earth Consciousness and increase their powers exponentially. The gods were divided on what to do and the majority decided to adopt a wait and see attitude. The secret coalition decided to enact their domination of humanity regardless. They were largely unopposed due to the shock and fear the rest of the gods were dealing with in the face of the Angellos.
The god Ahura Mazda decided to snap his allies into action. He had managed to gather evidence on how the secret alliance had sabotaged Atlantis and presented his case to an assembly of gods. Instead of denial, the collaborators put forth the case that Atlanteans had been unworthy of their eminence. They then created a formal and open alliance named the Infernal Legion. In his turn Ahura Mazda gathered his allies and prepared for war. This God War reached all levels of divine interaction. In some pantheons, brother was turned against brother and father against son. The Olympians overthrew their Titan fore-fathers, Marduk defeated Tiamat and the Hindic Devas and Asuras broke their millennium old peace treaties to war each other once more.
In the end the God War was won by Ahura Mazda's coalition due to the intervention of mortal champions and magi who lent their power and often sacrificed their lives to help their divine allies. Their deaths furthered the resolve of Ahura Mazda and his allies that the Infernal Legion were indeed wrong and rallied otherwise neutral deities to their side. The Infernal Legion came to be outnumbered. Their the Serpent People allies were unreliable. The end came for the Infernal Legion when the pantheon of Apophis, amongst the most active of the Infernal Legion, was betrayed from within. Lord Apophis made a pact with Leviathan. In return for greater personal power, he sacrificed his own pantheon to the Unspeakable One. He was rewarded with enslavement to the will of the Unspeakable One. The Infernal Legion was weakened in number and racked by paranoia and in-fighting. Eventually the Infernal Legion's members were defeated and cast down into prison dimensions.
The Concord and The Infernal War
After the God War, the various divinities returned to their own followers and continued to cultivate the psychic energy of their worshipers. However, while most gods viewed themselves as benevolent, the Master Mages and many others came to believe that their influence was stifling the evolution of humanity. Most obviously, they were draining massive amounts of energy from the Earth Consciousness. More importantly however, humans came to rely too much on the gods to not only protect them but also to inspire them, thereby retarding their own potential for greatness. So a group of Magi and their allies voiced their concerns to a gathering of divinities. Most of the gods considered the Magi's request with good humor and even proposed a few extra "freedoms" for their worshipers to placate their human allies. They gifted certain worthies, mostly half-divines, with great powers to protect and inspire their fellow humans. This so called First Age of Heroes saw the rise of legendary figures such as Gilgamesh, Hercules and Yu. A small group, led by Set, found the demands offensive and put forth a need to better control the "upstart" Magi. A final group, led by Brahma and Woden actually agreed with the human envoy and decided to secretly meet with the champions of humanity.
Both Brahma and Woden possessed powerful divination powers and a strong connection to the Earth Consciousness that allowed them to see that a future where the current status quo was maintained, would only end in misery for all. They managed to convince other divinities, including Ahura Mazda, Athena, Osiris, Posiedon, Rudra, Viracocha, Vishnu & Yi Huang to withdraw from continuous interference in the Prime Material Realm. For their troubles, many of these gods became pariahs in the eyes of their pantheons. Athena and Posieden were imprisoned by Hades on Zeus' orders. Brahama, Rudra and Vishnu were forced to battle their pantheon's leaders; Indra, Mitra and Varuna. Osiris was killed and dismembered by Set. Viracocha was challenged by his son, Inti. Woden himself was evicted from Asgard and replaced by Tyr as ruler of the Aesir. Yu Huang faced a rebellion, albeit briefly, from the Lords of Yama.
As the gods waged a new war amongst themselves, they failed in their duty to upkeep the various Infernal prisons that had been created during the closure of the God Wars. The convicted of these Infernal dimension often took over their own prisons, making them into personal kingdoms. They formed alliances with each other and when their former brethren were at their weakest, the Infernals attacked. This second war forced the bickering divinities to cease their civil hostilities and instead concentrate on repelling the Infernal Legion. Many of the gods believed such an undertaking would be a simple task for they had already beaten the Infernal Legion once before. However the first victory against the Infernals had only been made possible by unity amongst the allied gods and the assistance of mortals. This time, many gods were unwilling to commit their full strength in fear of being set upon by their fellows once the Infernal threat had passed. Also, few human heroes and magi joined the gods in this second battle. To worsen matter, the gods found that when they pursued their enemies back to their Infernal Realms, they were greatly weakened and thus could not win decisive victories.
It seemed as if the Infernals, much better unified and utilizing unknown powers, would actually win this second war. However Brahma and Woden brought forth their secret weapons. During his exile, Woden had studied with humanities greatest mages and learnt the true subtleties of magic. He used this new found knowledge to forge enchanted rainments which allowed the gods to maintain their full powers when within the Infernal Realms. Brahma, through his meditations had come into contact with the Moon Stone and for a short time harnessed its powers to link his own mental might with that of his allies Shiva (formerly known as Rudra) and Vishnu to create the Trimurti. This psychic gestalt drained the Infernals of their very will to fight. Thus with the gods able to pursue them to the Infernal Realms and slowly losing the will to fight, the Infernals had no recourse but to surrender.
The triumphant gods' celebrations did not last long however. Brahma and Woden threatened to turn their new found powers on their fellow gods unless they accepted the Concord put forth by the humans. With no other option available, the gods did as demanded and from that day forth have greatly limited their manipulation of the Prime Material Realm.
Classical to Modern Age
During the Infernal Wars, humanity was forced to rely more and more upon their own skills as their gods were often too preoccupied or weakened to lend them aid. They came under attack from the Serpent People and in some cases degenerate Atlanteans. Powerful Fey Folken attempted to subjugate various tribes and evil magi unleashed monstrous beings on their fellow humans. This led to the Second Age of Heroes, thoguh unlike the heroes of the First Age, these men and women were not gifted by the gods but rather were self-empowered or directly tapped into the Earth Consciousness. Some of these Heroes did gain a degree of divine assistance in the form of advise or artifacts, but nowhere near the extent of their First Age predecessors. Many went on to found cities and kingdoms which carry their names still.
After the Infernal Wars, the Compact kept the gods from returning to their previous levels of interference. Though there were certain exceptions, very few were of an overt nature and fewer still were wantonly malicious. Any gods caught breaking the Concord were pursued and punished by the Council of Concordia consisting of the Master Mage, the Gate Keeper (who maintains the security of the various portals into the Infernal Realms), the Ancient (a representative sent by Shamballa), Ahura Mazda, Brahma and Woden. It was a time when humanity finally gained true freedom to walk on their own. Most gods were grudgingly content with the new order. A few however ventured from Earth to settle new planets or even other dimensions.
Empires rose and great advances in magic and science were re-discovered. The foundations for modern civilization were set and for a long time, the previous ages were largely forgotten or otherwise regulated to myth. Heroes did arise, though with each subsequent generation, these beings seemed less and less powerful. That is of course until the modern age.
The coming of Centurian was interpreted by the Earth Consciousness as the precursor to new troubles that could threaten the Earth's very survival. The energies of the Terminus not only reinvigorated Leviathan but also spread to later empower super villains throughout the world. The Earth Consciousness' reaction was to invest native humans with wondrous powers and thus far the tactic has worked. However the continued prosperity of humanity and indeed the very existence of Earth is not a certainty. It is up to those who constitute the Third Age of Heroes to safeguard the safety of their fellows and reality itself.
Last edited by
Captain Commander on Fri May 08, 2009 3:44 pm, edited 4 times in total.
