PreHistory
Formed in the center of creation, sitting atop the Ethereal plane, the Material plane was designed to be a place of change. Where all the planes that had come before it were shaped with a single purpose, the Material plane would be an ever-changing place of power and conflict. And while such a place is inherently dangerous, the opportunities it presented are what drew three brothers to stake their claim upon it.
The eldest and most powerful of these brothers was Zol, and he along with Balmoth and Hadurin set out to craft the Material plane and the world which would be its focal point. At the start there was much harmony, each brother using his talents and dedication to execute their vision. As the workload increased, Zol and Balmoth sought out other beings to aid them in their toil, and to bring new perspectives to their work. Each of these was bound into the Material plane by Balmoth and what became referred to as the "Contract of Creation". They recruited Solarius, who was tasked with the bringing light and warmth required for life to flourish. Velona and her younger sister Astreil, who filled the souls of creation and the heavens above them. And most importantly Feyja, who would become the wife of Zol.
As great a goddess as he a god, Feyja worked to bring life to the world. She wrought the plants and animals from the soil. Together with Zol, they began to create complex creatures with minds of their own such as the Linnorms.
Upon the death of the first of these beings in the Material Plane Oros let his presence be known. It became apparent that he had always been here, and chose never made himself known to the gods until the first soul was killed. He explained little about himself to the other Gods other than he would attend to the Dead. While this troubled some of the gods (particularly Balmoth, who disliked any who would not abide the rules of the contract). Zol in his wisdom, decided to let the matter slide. Considering their work too important to be derailed to oust a stowaway god from their realm.
The union of Zol and Feyja brought forth many things. Not the least of which was their children, the minor gods. Andreios, Kemi, Theora, Dicitus, Polis, Geth, Shezeth, Zachkaz, Livanna and Sithrak. Each a spark of creation from their parents. Each with a personality of their own, and a task set to their ability. These minor gods swelled the ranks of the divine, and aided them in their vision.
In this time, Balmoth had begun to chafe at the relationship between Zol and Feyja. He had long been his brother’s most trusted ally and confidant. He grew jealous of how closely the goddess worked with Zol. And worried deeply that her more chaotic nature was drawing him from their perfect vision.
His fears seemed justified, when without warning or consultation, the pair created something new. They brought into being mortal creature with their own mind and soul. These creatures (such as dwarves and elves) would be driven by their own mortality to grow and shape the world around them. Driven not by divine edict, but by their own survival. Zol considered these creatures no less important than his children in the shaping of the world that was to be. He exclaimed that this would bring forth the innovation and creation that the other planes lacked, and make each soul a small god of its own.
This caused the first true rift among the gods, as Balmoth thought that these mortals would bring chaos, and destruction to the world they had all worked so hard for. To prove this, he brought the two gods Messara and Gazek into the world. Driven to show Zol that his creations were weak willed and would destroy themselves if they could. Zol disagreed, claiming that their capacity for creation balanced their capacity for destruction. Thus his brother's pleas fell on deaf ears. From this moment on the attitudes of the gods began to slowly shift. Even while working together, small alliances and animosities began to form between them.
Age of Stone
Time passed, the world grew more complex, and the union between Zol and Feyja began to bring forth more than mortals. A litany of lesser gods were born and given tasks to suit their temperament. This act that was originally supposed to unite the fracturing gods only seemed to divide them further; as God and Demi-God alike separated into camps of "Good" and "Evil", "Law" and "Chaos". During this time Zol never rested, becoming obsessed with imbuing himself and his power to mortal kind, creating powerful beasts of magic such as dragons. He continued to believe that the true power of this world did not lie in the gods, but in the wildfire of creation that they had built. And as above, so too below did mortal kind stretch its horizons and begin to wrestle with the wide world before them.
This was time of great strife for many; fighting for survival with the many great beasts of the land wrought by the gods. Many found safety by forging alliances among clans and developing new skills in crafting and agriculture. One of the first great alliances was struck between the clans of orcs and dwarves whom dwelt at the South Pole. The dwarves skill in crafting arms, coupled with the orcs natural physical gifts gave them the strength to create large townships with growing culture. Though this alliance was eventually shattered by the machinations of the dark spirit Nimora.
Others tribes found their strength instead in embracing the savagery of the land around them. The orcs of the eastern mountains became fierce hunters of mighty Linnorms; prehistoric dragons they believed they could gain the strength of by consuming their flesh. While tribes of the shattered plains in the west captured slaves of other races to harvest food and valuables for them. Those who fled bondage often did so to the great halls of Kear Maga; a city touched by the gods, with a history lost to time. This was the first true metropolitan city of Pherum, and its vast multicultural tunnels would become a focal point for many a tale in the ages to come.
The worlds of gods and men were both turned on their head by the death of Zol. It came as an incomprehensible surge of energy flowing over Pharum; causing panic among god and mortal alike. The gods called an emergency meeting, one to which neither Zol nor his protégé Discitus never arrived. Confusion reigned supreme, as Balmoth claimed he had slain his brother who had grown weak in his love of the mortals, and claimed his leadership over the gods; this was rejected out of hand by many of the other gods, who insisted that Zol could not be slain, and must have given his power in a final act to make gods of men. But what were they to do? Oros would only confirm Zol's death, and would not give up his remains to study no matter how the gods pressed. With no hard evidence, and Discitus absent for testimony, Polis was chosen to take Zol's place and the gods had the tough task of continuing on in a very uneasy peace.
If anything, the death of Zol was even more strongly felt by the mortal world. Soon after his fall, the elves discovered this energy left behind could be wrought into magics that shaped reality around them. As this knowledge spread, humanoids began to gain supremacy over the great beasts of the land. Many of the larger creatures, such as dragons and dinosaurs were driven to endangerment or extinction by this new shift in power. A new age was dawning, one where mastery of the arcane arts would surpass strength of flesh; and legends were born.
Age of Legends
What began as the wild experiments with words of power slowly became refined into the most powerful force of progress and power in the world. Progress was led primarily by the elves, whose long lives and natural arcane talents allowed them to grow a deep understanding of this new power.
Greatest among them was the wizard Anduril, who was gifted both as researcher and statesman. It was he who founded Pherum's first schools of magic, centered in Irr'Illium. He believed that the knowledge of magic was a gift to be shared among all races. The Archmage Anduril was a name venerated across the globe; for his knowledge and the wonders they created ushered in an era of peace and prosperity.
This time of harmony would not last for long. Anduril’s peaceful reign was rocked by a series of catastrophes which claimed many lives. He destroyed a great host of dragons that had driven the dwarves of Pendryt from their mountains; and managed to halt an army of orcs who invaded the lands of his people under the elder magma dragon Dothrag. His end would come however, at the hands of a great monster known as the Terrasque; who had risen from the ocean in the east and laid waste to much of the south, including slaying a hero from the west who weilded the great flaming sword of Kaer Maga. While the archmage fell to the beast, the allies he had mustered to fight with him managed to banish the beast and cease its rampage. This would prove to be the beginning of the end for peaceful relations among the races.
Successful generations of elven Archmagi would become more secretive with their knowledge; while human universities began to select human Archmagi to govern them instead of bending to elven rule. This tension was driven to a head, when an elven king came into possession of a prophecy which foretold a group of dwarves unleashing a world-ending calamity. As a precaution, the elves began to round up groups of dwarves (whom were already considered second class citizens due to their limited arcane magical ability). In response the human king Turon of Valora sought guidance from the well of prophecy in Rivermouth. This led him to his own revelation that it would be the elves who would be the harbingers of war and death. These conflicting prophecies lead to a series of escalating threats and posturing; until the human Archmage Zordal the Ancient was defeated in a duel by a young but powerful sorcerer named Talzar . He supplanted Zordal as the new Archmage and declared war upon the elves. What followed was forty years of brutal warfare.
At first, it seemed the natural arcane talents of the elves would lead them to an easy victory. Though while human casters could be replaced, each elven master who fell was a loss of centuries of skill and experience to their cause. As the fighting became more desperate, each side developed new and horrifying weapons in the attempt to gain advantage. Often these new magical weapons would cause the deaths of thousands of common folk for each enemy caster slain. The great mage war finally ended during the third clash of Highbattle Hills. When the Archmage Talzar, and newly minted Archmage Ishtar faced each-other in combat. Ishtar manage to defeat Talzar, but when victory seemed assured, his closest advisor who was known only as “The Faceless Master” led a desperate counterattack with his students. The details of this struggle are lost to history, though its results are woefully apparent. The magical confluxes of energy lead to the destruction of all in attendance, along with half the continent; leaving only a great crater of jagged mountains and mist that in the ages to come would be known as “Ishtar’s Folly”.
With almost all of the powerful magic casters in the land wiped from the globe in one day, and a blatant warning of the great danger magic could cause to the world; a shift of power soon would follow. The peoples of the land seized control from the magical schools and brought it back to the nobility. Magic became outlawed, and the elven peoples where driven from their lands and into the wild. Zealous mage-hunters became a common sight, ever seeking any with connections to the hated arcane arts, their methods cruel and callous in pursuit of this goal. This ended the time of magic and legends. As from now on, it would be the technology and innovation of cunning minds that would shape the future of the world.
Age of Technology
In the age of legends, much of the progress of technology was stifled by the abundant use of magic. Most tasks could be easily accomplished by the use of magic or slave labour by those under the yoke of powerful casters. As such, the fall of magic was followed by a brief dark age of witch-hunts and the return of religion and superstition. This would not last long however, as the discovery of a new power created by the mage war would create a technological revolution.
When powerful magic met upon the great battlefields of the last age, it created residue of volatile energy-rich crystals that became known as Zolium (after an ancient god of magic). Zolium quickly became highly valued for its ability to disrupt arcane magic, and later for its wide variety of uses in powering the vehicles and firearms of the age. Former battlefields now became valuable Zolium mines; none more rich, or more hazardous than Ishtar’s Folly itself.
This was a time of great opportunity, where any man could make his mark upon the world with his own wits and cunning. Prosperity was never greater than in the great mountaintop cities of The Folly which swarmed with airships and commerce. In only a few hundred years since the fall of magic, humanoids once again flew across the skies and made marvels to shape the world. And yet, it was this pursuit to recapture the past that lead them to its same self-wrought destruction.
A group of dwarven researchers in the east, who were attempting to recreate the mythical teleportation gates of legend, instead managed to rip a hole in the fabric of the world, and unleashed a demon-lord and his host from the abyss. By the time the world at large came to recognize the threat at hand, the demons had already created a permanent portal in the Tri-Fire Desert, from which flowed endless hordes of their spawn. Thus began the demon wars.
Legions of mercenary soldiers were sent against the demonic hordes in an attempt to seal the breech, and yet each was cast aside be the growing horde. The firearms of the tech-age proved to be of little use against the innate resistances of the demons. One by one, the kingdoms of Pherum fell before the tide; powerless before the eldritch powers and magic of these monsters. The five great kingdoms of the Folly held for over twenty years behind their impassable peaks. But in time, even they succumbed, falling with them their great holds of Zolium, and the lifeblood of the age of technology.
The situation was no less dire in the heavens; as the demonic gods of the abyss struck hard and fast at the disorganized and leaderless gods of the material plane. It was all the gods could do to survive, and thus did the demonic hordes rampage accross the globe, unchecked by its makers.
The denizens of Pherum would be driven back to the brink of extinction by the demonic hordes. Their magic forgotten, their technology shattered, with nothing left but courage and faith to stand against this overwhelming foe.
Age of Faith
As they last vestiges of glorious technology lay rusted and ruined, the free people of Pherum were pushed to the very western edges of the world. While some pockets of resistance remained in the Kingfisher Forest, and the mountain homes of the dwarves; the bulk of all who remained dwelled behind the impassable doors of Kear Maga.
Thus it was at the towering cliffs of the Vurc highlands, the demonic hordes fixed their gaze. Though the gates of the ancient city had withstood invaders of every sort since time immemorial, the fate of those behind them seemed a grim foregone conclusion. And yet, in the deepest darkness of despair, a new spark of hope was kindled.
The leader of the city’s militia High Marshal Hgalrig, was approached by a group of ratfolk who gifted an artefact that had been in their keeping for generations. The mythical Holy Sword of Kaer Maga had been returned to its home. With this blade in hand, the High Marshal rallied the refugees who had clung on for so long without hope. From his first spark of hope, came a blazing star of defiant faith that drove the hordes from the city gates. Marking the first victory for the people of Pherum in decades.
And as below, so too above; as it was Solarius the goddess of light and hope, who had looked down upon this sputtering flame of defiance and blessed those that carried it with her divine grace. And thus her newly minted paladins combined the will of gods and men into a weapon to strike back the enemy. While this was the first union of its kind, it would hardly prove to be the last.
The gods found that imparting their strength gave mortals a chance to fight back against the horde. While in return, the growing flock of faithful worshipers bolstered the might of the gods themselves. In the south, the country of Asterax had found itself on the verge of destruction. And so they struck a deal with the god Balmoth for their salvation in return for servitude. The queen of Asterax signed in her blood a contract with Balmoth of eternal loyalty for the nation, in return for his guidance and protection. This Balmoth did deliver upon, with the creation of his hellknight orders, which were given the infernal powers of hell to strike back against the invaders.
What had for decades been a grim and bloody retreat now turned into a true war for the land. Heroes rose up to take back the world that was stolen from them. The prophet Renvar rallied a massive army of common folk with his steadfast personality, and uplifting oration. While the leader of the Hellknights, the Black Prince Valakan, waged numerous successful campaigns to drive back the foe. Master Valinar, Foreman Culver Taves, Padros the Silver and his rider Barret, Sir. Dimitri Valakovf, Guurdrack, Roddrik Firethorn, Silsinar Greenleaf, these and countless more heroes each played a part in the decades long struggle to cast the demons into the abyss.
When at last the unified forces of Pherum drove the last of the demon lords back through the gate, they sealed it with the powers of gods and men, so that it may never open again. Atop it they built the city of Thronestep, to be a place for the followers of each faith to gather in shared vigil over the seals upon the gate. With this came the first global peace Pherum had felt in a century. Though there was much work to be done in rebuilding, and hunting down the numerous demons that still dwelled leaderless in the dark places of the world; the coalition of faiths and nations would bring about an age of balance and understanding that had never been seen before.