The world of Avonia was designed by the gods to be a new begining. Having grown uncontent with the other planes and of how the races of these worlds have shapped themselves, it was agreed that a new Prime Material Plane would be created and would replace all of the known multiverse. However, it was clear that they must try something grander than what they had previously envisioned. Therefore a selection of the gods would be allowed to create a new Material Plane and 'start again' in the hopes that the new Material Plane's development would be closely monitored and it's history recorded as it matures, exposing the less-successful properties and hilighting the perfect solutions to creating a population of mortals that embody the traits that all the divine would accept.
Not every divine power was accepting of this 'experiment', however, and great wars where fought in the heavens over the creation of this 'testing plane.' In the end the plane was created anyway and the selected divine where placed as it's patheon.
Other forces in the metaverse, such as the demon lords from the Abyss and the 9 Lords of Hell took notice of this 'pet project' of the heavens and where angered that their influence could not be had in this new plane filled with potential. Through conspiracy, bloodshed and trickery they tried to place their agents onto the plane in order to corrupt the plane and claim the souls and resources established in the realm. All attempts failed until two particular mortals questioned the nature of the universe. It was then that an agent of evil was able to reach the Material Plane and stay long enough to 'educate' the mortals concerning the nature of the metaverse. Of the two, one rejected the evil that could have been and was blessed by the divine to become their champion. The other grew in contempt for the patheon that he was under and embraced the energy provided by the evil agent. Another war started between the divine and underworld. The divine fought viciously along side the inhabitents of the plane against the devils and demons to save their experiment. After nearly 8,000 years of conflict the new plane was almost utterly destroyed.
Most of the divine where content to leave the plane as it was - a reminder of their failed implimentation of a perfect system. One deity challenged this thinking, realizing that the diversity among the divine was not enough to create a controlled environment to watch the natural progress of mortals. The plane would have to allow every influence possible, including several 'new beginings' with which would create their own destiny. With the support of several other deities the plane was regenerated to a state of rest and the history of what the multiverse knows as Avonia begins...
Avonia - World of New Horizons is a campaign setting where the celestials and the demonic constantly influence the world behind-the-scenes in order to please their masters or to make things right according to their will. Many other influlences have come to Avonia to take advantage of the 'sandbox' nature of the plane in order to devise new powers or master existing ones. It is a high-fantasy land where almost everything has more than one story and almost anything can be obtained. Below follows the account of history that most learned scholars take as fact in the continent of Nostandor.
Although commoners know little of history, the pages of old tomes and the memories of long ago are kept alive in the minds of the ‘adventuring class’ in society. What is legend for the typical farmer is a fact to pay attention to for a traveling explorer. Although the age of the world is young, there has been many things that have shaped it since.
The Emergence of Humans
Elves covered the entire continent known as Nostandor from it’s frigid northern lands to it’s southern deserts and dry mountains. The dwarves kept to themselves in their mountains and hills in the center of Nostandor letting elven kind do as they wish with the rest of the land. Although no hostility ever came of it, the elves looked down on the ‘lesser’ races of the world, the gnomes and the halflings. In during the time of the third rebirth (which is approximately 3,000 years after the elven calendar started) is when a new race was placed in Avonia by the hands of the deities. These creatures, called humans, seemed to have a certain appreciation for the elven way of life. Choosing to no longer ignore the existence of other races, the elves in the west took the humans as a wizard would take a young apprentice.
The Divergence of Chaos
For 500 years humans flourished under the elven way. The elves taught the art of magic to them and the value of nature. Unfortunately the daring spirit that seemed instilled in every human began to tear the society that the elven people created for the humans apart. Two large sects of humans migrated away from the peaceful lands that elves freely roamed to go northward and southward in hopes of finding another way of life. The Deifisaled journeyed to the extreme south of Nostandor to live in the wastes of the desert. The Deifisaled did not feel that such a strong usage of magic was good for the soul, and thus stopped using it for a period of 480 years. In this time they forsake all that they had learned of the heavens and magic and began to place trust in a new pantheon of their own creation. Creatures known as illithid, or mind flayers, took advantage of this and began to appear to them as deities and divine ambassadors. The Deifisaled worshipped the mind flayers for most of the time that they thrived in the region The humans that migrated northward where called the Templaedan. The Templaedan did not forsake magic as the Deifisaled did, but did not rely on it as much as their human brethren that they left behind did. They formed a governmental structure that encouraged people to speak their mind but ruled over all the people. Unrest began only 57 years into the settlement’s history, and many traveled eastward intent on returning to a lifestyle without a large government over their heads. The Hobgoblin Campaign It was in the elven year 3641 that hobgoblins began to amass with alarming numbers and began a military campaign to seize Nostandor. The elves in the desert region had no advance warning and therefore where defeated and slain within two years. The hobgoblin forces pushed northward to the Brim Mountains in hopes of gaining control of the heart of Nostandor. The dwarves in the hills routed and where defeated, putting some clans into the wilderness to survive on their own. It seemed as if the hobgoblins had outwitted the dwarves as well until a legendary dwarven commander named Urgrosh Blackstone conducted a miraculous maneuver with a special trained troop of dwarven warriors in the southern mountain lands. The Hobgoblins attempted a second time to push into the mountains, but had no luck in their success. The legions pulled back from the Brim Mountains and moved their forces to the east and progressed to move up the coastline towards the north. About one-third of the hobgoblin forces went to the west where the elves and the humans lived together in peace. They did not gain much ground, however, and thus where forced to turn back into the arid hills and dry plains south of Brim Mountains.
The Great Kingdom
The Deifisaled nation was crumbling into ruin. Many tried to seize power, however most where either rejected or where simply murdered by rivals. The restless spirit of the humans inspired many to migrate again going northward. This time, however, they where fueled by dreams of The Perfect Lands: a land without sorrow, or starvation, or bloodshed. As the people moved northward they met the hobgoblin resistance. With great struggle and preservierance they pushed their way into the heard of the dry plains and continued through to the north around the eastern side of the Brim Mountains. Many people did not see what good it was to fight the legions of trained hobgoblins and where easily persuaded by several charismatic people to settle in the plains. They build a city and appointed an emperor over themselves. In arrogance, they called their realm the Great Kingdom. It did have some merit to it, however, for the reigion proved to be fruitful in several different crops and contained many different metals. A strict code of ethics was created and adopted by all. Unfortunatly they did not have the foresight to build a code that would withsdand the change of people, and thus the empire collapsed, giving birth to several nomadic and barbaric tribes that spread across the plains and hills.
Northern Peace
While the hobgoblin hordes pushed closer towards the north, the Templaedans and the barbarian tribes that called themselves the Ancient Rights struggled for land as the two nations grew closer and closer together. After only two years of very bloody battles the two nations decided to put aside their differences and once again unified themselves, calling their new country Nordan.
The Formation of Leness
The human tribes that pushed through the hobgoblin hordes to go northward fought hard for almost 35 years with the thought of The Perfect Lands in their minds. Eventually, they reached the obstical that stopped the progression of the hobgoblins – the elves in The Forest of the Tier. Convinced that the elves where guarding The Perfect Lands, they continued their militant peoples march through the woods, attacking and razing villages as they progressed. However the elves kept their steadfast defenses up and struck back with a strength that had never been witnessed by the tribes. The humans backed off from the forest and began to settle in the lands south of the large forest and east of the Brim Mountains. They named the land Leness, and created a power seat and set up a monarchy for themselves.
Conflict between Human States
The new country of Leness began to spread in the only direction they could – back south. They quickly met the newly formed country of Brax. Brax was formed by several barbarian tribes that still had some ideas that where generated by the formation of the Great Kingdom. These tribes united and created a leadership system that put emphasis on the power and intelligence of their ruler. As the Lenessans spread into Brax, a barbarian tribe defended themselves and even raided the settlements on the boarder of Brax and Leness. The continued forward until met my another Lenessan military core. Leness saw this as an act of war, not knowing the nature of the barbarian tribes, and thus started a war that lasted for 5 years between the two nations. Afterwards, a peace treaty was signed, and hostility between the two quickly dropped. Meanwhile, Nordan was still forming in the northern tundra. Explorers and eager merchants where misunderstood as they went northward with the elven kingdom’s blessing. Many where slaughtered by savages as they came through The Forest of the Tier. Before further hostilities occurred Nordan sent Ambassadors to Leness in hopes that things could be settled. The visit proved to be more fruitful than expected. A trade agreement between the two countries was formed and peace was created between Leness and Nordan. Meanwhile in the west, the humans seemed to want to create a country of their own. Not seeing why they shouldn’t the elves encouraged the view and let them to their work. The country of Farland was named and was ran much the same way the people had lived prior to becoming a country. In fact, most people didn’t feel any impact of this change until years after dealing with Brax, Nordan and Leness.
Realization of Psionics
The illithid had a talent that was not unheard of in the multiverse called psionics. It was originally believed that this was a baneful thing that belonged to only those foul creatures. A force from the Forest of the Tier and from Deathwind Swamp rose it’s ugly head and was armed with psionics. Blue-colored goblins and lizardfolk emerged from the ranks of their brethren and lead armies against the inhabitants of the regions. The elves where pushed into hiding in the Forest of the Tier and barbarian tribes where all but eradicated around the Deathwind Swamp. Heroes emerged from the land and brought an end to the hordes within a few years. It was now known that the power known as psionics could thrive in other creatures, and the countries of the world quickly began to build defenses against such an attack if it occurred again.
The Creation of Seleryanna
In the Templaedan Calendar year 729 a large floating continent appeared in the sky from a large portal. The floating continent, called Seleryanna, mysteriously appeared in the sky, bringing with it another celestial body for the night sky. A very mild understanding between the highland (called dendor by the elves) and the lowland (called lovindor) has been created, however much is to be expressed by the lands of Nostandor and Seleryaana.
The Current State of Avonia
Two moons, the larger named Antha and the lesser named Karoc, now bless the
night’s sky across Avonia. A large floating mass of rock glides across the world
with a waterfall pour it’s native waters into the oceans of Avonia and another
waterfall forced to pull water from the oceans back up into the land of
Seleryaana. Much has changed quickly in the world and little has been done to
explore it all.