Mythological history

The below is an account given by the poet Romulus (a High Elf poet who adored the Yargyez Empire) in the year 25 YE. It is the official account of the Yargyez Empire, and the most complete account of mythic pre-history, but there are many contradicting myths in Conliah.

In the beginning, the universe existed in a state of chaos. The elements fire, water, air, earth, sunlight, and moonlight existed as unformed, chaotic motion diffusely scattered throughout the void of the universe.

Gora was a benevolent and intelligent being who could mold the elements and give them structure. Her desire was to bring order into the universe.

Her first and most important act was to fashion soul material. Soul material was a substance which animated all living things. This task was very difficult for Gora, and not all the soul material she created was of uniform quality. The finer the soul material, the more benevolent the living thing was. Lower qualities of soul material resulted in less benevolent living things. However, she decided to use both higher and lower qualities of soul material in creation, because she still judged that existence is better than non-existence.

Her second act was to divide the cosmos into three realms: Asteria, Cthonia, and Ksylia. The purpose of Asteria was to house the finest soul material, the purpose of Cthonia was to house the elements, and Ksylia would bind soul material with elements into structured matter. Ksylia was divided into The Skies, The Neaths, and Arbigard between them. The Firmament was created to separate Ksylia from Asteria, and The Hade was created to separate Ksylia from Cthonia.

Her third and last act was to create the souls of Agathoi out of first-rate soul material. These were benevolent and intelligent beings, who listened to Gora's will. Each Agathos was assigned responsibility for a fundamental principle of the cosmos. The souls of the Agathoi resided in Asteria, yet their influence extended into Ksylia. Gora explained her plan to the Agathoi, delegated all further tasks to them, and ceased to develop the cosmos further herself.

The first act of the Agathoi used second-rate soul material to create the souls of mortals. Because their souls were inferior to the Agathoi, they could not permanently reside in Asteria. These beings were capable of reason and virtue, but also error and corruption.

The second act of the Agathoi was to craft mortal bodies out of the six elements in order to sustain mortals in Ksylia.

The third act of the Agathoi was to establish a system of transmigration to purify mortal souls and eventually reunite them with Asteria. Mortal souls continued through the cycle of life and death over multiple lifetimes according to the morality of their actions during life. The Agathoi did this because Gora did not desire for these mortals to permanently exist in Ksylia. However, the soul adjusted its memory and perception to the realm it occupied. Prolonged exposure to the brilliance of Asteria caused the soul to adjust, and eventually lose its memories of mortal life. Again, when they returned to Ksylia, the soul adjusted to its darkness, and forgot its experience of Asteria. Therefore, mortals did not retain memories across their lives.

The fourth and last act of the Agathoi was to create all other animals using third-rate soul material. These creatures populated Ksylia with simpler beings which would help mortals to sustain themselves.

During the infusion of the elements with soul material, there were highly degraded fragments of soul material which unintentionally descended into Cthonia and combined with the raw elements. This animated the elements spontaneously, making them alive and intelligent but alien to the celestial order established by Gora. These creatures were called Cthonians. Some of these Cthonians were lesser beings, much like typical mortals and animals, but some were incredibly powerful. These powerful Cthonians became known as Archons.

The soul material of Cthonians was so degraded that they could not permanently reside in Ksylia, much as mortals could not permanently reside in Asteria.

Mortals perceived the might of these Archons, and fearing them, began to worship them as gods. They sacrificed to them, formed cults, and raised temples to them. As a result there remained a cosmic struggle between these two sets of powerful beings: the Agathoi who were made with first-rate soul material who reside in Asteria, and the Archons who were formed with highly degraded fragments of soul material who reside in Cthonia.

After creation was finished, the Agathoi withdrew from Ksylia. Over time, distinct races emerged across Arbigard with their own cultures and identities. Civilizations rose and fell over the ages, with worship of the Agathoi and the Archons shifting back and forth.

Written History

c. 3000 BYE - 1567 BYE

Before any continent-spanning empires, Conliah was politically decentralized. This era is often referred to as the "Age of Might Makes Right". The various races populated the continent in city-states, small kingdoms, and tribes. Borders were constantly shifting, and warfare was a common means of resolving disputes. The Archons were openly worshipped across Conliah. Their cults promised strength to their followers in exchange for submission. The Agathoi were unknown to most of Conliah, and were only a small cult within the Wood Elves in the Kara Ates mountains. Every province was divided into many cultures and political formations. Nonetheless, the kernel of higher political formations were present, and every province was yearning for the rule of law. This paved the way for the fast rise of the Magellian Empire.

Worship of the Agathoi spread across Westerwood, which had a long history of war, conquest, and economic exchange with Fair Island. As a result, the High Elven empires of Fair Island gradually adopted Agathos worship themselves.

1566 BYE - 566 BYE

A great kingdom consolidated power across Fair Island, and declared itself the Magellian Empire. It rapidly conquered the continent of Conliah with advanced technology powered by unprecedented arcane science. They banned Archon worship and instituted Agathos worship, which was unknown outside of Westerwood and Fair Island at that time. The provinces were united for the first time, and the High Elves imposed their worldview on the other races. This worldview included an emphasis on rationality, control, and introspection. They constructed centers of arcane scientific research across the continent.

After a long period of stability and prosperity, unusual ways of thinking emerged. One school of thought referred to themselves as the Cloudruled. They evaded persecution because although they denied the divinity of the Agathoi as mere superstition, they worshipped the clouds instead, and not any Archon. The Cloudruled claimed that lightning comes not from the wrath of Iazus, but the clouds themselves. They questioned why the Archons were able to send their Cthonian minions to Arbigard to corrupt mortals, but even as Agathos worship was dominant in Conliah nobody could observe Asterian minions of the same sort. It seemed to the Cloudruled that if the Agathoi were as described, they could intervene more directly to cleanse the Archonic threat. They established centers of learning called Phrontisteries, which were enormous floating buildings. At these Phrontisteries they trained the youth to argue against elders, defy norms, and scorn tradition. Their rhetorical methods were so excellent that they could make an unjust position appear just.

In an event later called "The Great Nothing", group of youth educated by the Cloudruled plotted an assassination against the Emperor and his heirs. The result was a succession crisis that could, theoretically, be resolved legally through an election at lower levels of government. However, the assassins made arguments that there could be no rightful successor that were so strong that government was gridlocked. What resulted was a continuation of the imperial bureaucracy that no longer had an emperor. Within a few years, the empire dissolved into rival states ruled by provincial governments. Over time, the magical technology spread by the Magellians was lost and the only remnants are magical, mechanical, and monstrous mysteries of their past. The magical knowledge behind the floating Phrontisteries was lost, and they collapsed into the ground.

565 BYE - 1 BYE

After the Magellian Empire collapsed, there was a long dark age. Various successor states claimed legitimacy, but none were able to consolidate power over the whole continent. Agathos worship remained the dominant religion, but each state interpreted the myths differently and combined them with local traditions. Archon worship was taboo, but it gradually gained a minority of practitioners. The teachings of the Cloudruled, in the form of written dialogues, were lost. This period lasted until humans from Eastgardia conquered Conliah and established a second empire.

During this period, many Magellian structures fell into ruin, or were repurposed by the locals of each province. As Agathos worship became blended with syncretic practices, new temples were constructed and old ones were modified. Practices of ancestor veneration became common again, and the rituals involved tended to interfere with transmigration. As a result, ghosts were bound to their resting places. Lastly, the many small kingdoms that arose were constantly at war with each other. Great fortresses were constructed to defend the land, and to prepare attacks on others.

1 YE - 189 YE (present)

Humans conquered Conliah, uniting it once again. 1 YE marks the consolidation of power of the Yargyez Empire. It conceived itself as the successor of the Magellian Empire. The eight major races were brought under one government, each having partial autonomy in its own province. Agathos worship was standardized under the Imperial Cult, displacing local rites, and Archon worship was banned again.

Now, in the past twenty years, the below events happened:

• 170 YE: Contact was made with peoples from a continent in the east named Lodumpis. They called themselves the Uzvu Confederation, a coalition between Orc warlords, Goblin traders and craftsmen, and Ogre manual laborers and soldiers. They have brought with them arcane technology superior to the Yargyez but inferior to the Magellians, and claim to be on a divine civilization mission to bring the continent under the ruler of the Uzvu Confederation.
• 172 YE: A group of high ranking Human officials launched a failed coup against the emperor in Inton. It was later uncovered that they were Brannenlads, cultists of Lundazing.
• 175 YE: In Nightglade, a faction of Lizardfolk launched a rebellion against the Empire. They were suppressed with force, undermining the legitimacy of the Empire.
• 178 YE: In western Helscar, a coalition of Chieftains have agreed to revive forbidden forms of ancestor worship that interfere with transmigration, which the Imperial Cult considers a heresy.
• 178 YE: Philosophical lodges across the continent have joined forces for mutual protection, calling themselves the Philosophers Guild. While not promoting outright Archon worship, their questioning opens the door to heresy.
• 180 YE: The Osti Tribe has openly revived worship of Dreze, the Archon of Endurance, against the will of their fellow Ashfallen Tribes and the Empire.