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A Treatise on the Religions of Cantarbria

Ice Haven

Before the dark times, Cantarbria was a beautiful world, rich in weather, resources and life. Eagles soared in the clouds, and noble stags frolicked in the woods. Dwarves and men mined ore and precious gems from the rich mountain rock, and the countryside was filled to overflowing with bountiful fields and good harvests. The gods smiled down upon the world from their homes in the heavens.

Well, that’s what the surviving records tell us about the land before the star fell. Although I don’t doubt that Cantarbria was a beautiful (not to mention warm) place once, I really don’t see it as the fairy tale land that many speak of. I’ve spoken to many of the longer-lived races and consulted with the Druids of the Green Wood and the following is what happened to freeze our world. I can’t say how accurate it is, but it should suffice to teach anyone who reads my works.

It all started just over a thousand years ago, with the appearance in the night sky of a new star. At this time, only the elves with their keen eyesight and the divinations of the druids were able to see it against the black shroud of night. The elves took it as a sign of evil; some say that many took their own lives because of dark tidings prophesied in some earlier age. The druids however were not so self-destructive. They cast more auguries and communed with the nature spirits and elementals that are there guides, and learnt that the current age was ending. Slowly and calmly the Druidic orders drew their plans together.

It took ten long years before the new star was visible to the naked eye of most peoples, and few even noticed its arrival. When the clerics of the gods became aware of it, they too did cast divinations and prayed for guidance, but the gods were silent. The gods continued to bestow spells and they did speak to their servants, they were unanimously silent whenever questions arose about the new star. A number of druids did appear in cities across Cantarbria warning the populace of the impending disaster but the churches quickly put down such heresies. The high priests decried such apocalyptic words, proclaiming that the gods would never allow such harm to their children.

Thus began a series of crusades to drive the pagan druids from the civilised lands. Many kings had druid advisors and only through sheer political power did they protect them. As you can guess, this did nothing to endure such Cantarbrian kings to the high priests. It was considered heresy to harbour such doomsayers.

These crusades lasted for only a few years before the druids vanished back into the woodwork and disappeared from sight altogether. Although hidden they were not complacent. Over the years they constructed sacred stone circles and built underground stores where food, clothing and if needed people could be safely protected. Thus, druids vanished from the minds of all but a few.

As the years progressed, the new star became visible even in the daytime sky. A red flaming star trailing a tail of light. Well, that’s how various ancient scriptures portray it anyway. As you can well imagine, the fear and anxiety of the people increased and still the gods were silent about this new star, and still… the star grew bigger day by day. Mass hysteria followed. Murders, persecution, and revolts… the dark times had come before the star actually fell to earth. Smaller stars are said to have fallen from the heavens in the days before the red star hit. Even now in the northern wastelands, huge craters mar the ground where these small stars hit. A few elven and dwarven records that I have seen, say that such small stars were frequent both by day and night. Where they did hit, huge fireballs erupted. The Dwarven mountain city of Korad- Haras was completely obliterated by one such small star. Even now, a mighty crater at its centre breaches the Drakensgraab Mountains.

Then one night in the middle of spring, the star finally fell to earth. I can only imagine the events, but I shall try to include as much fact as I can.

The star fell from the heavens (thankfully) somewhere on the other side of the world. The night sky was turned into day by the impact and the ground shook like the gods themselves were fighting an almighty battle! The winds picked up and hurricane force gales battered the world. Huge chunks of rock were flung by the impact and avast cloud of ash and dust was thrown into the sky to blanket the stars from gaze. The desert lands of Agyptus (A heathen desert people, who worshipped different gods to ours) in the south were destroyed by colossal waves that stood a mile high! All that remains of their civilisation now are a few stone giants and pyramidal tombs buried in the snow and ice.

Thousands died and many more either went mad or killed themselves. I do not know how the monstrous races survived or whether those we encounter now are just aberrations of what existed before.

When the star fell the gods did not aid us, or were perhaps, unable to help. Within a day or so, the sky was the colour of pitch. Snow and ash began to fall, blanketing the world under a cold sheet of ice. The crops died, and water sources froze or became polluted with ash and poisons. Farm animals died as well, except for a few protected from the falling poison.

Thus it has remained for the past thousand years. The cities have fallen into armed camps. The kings of old are dead and gone, now only survival matters. Each is a separate state with only minimal contact with other cities.

It is in these days that druids returned from wherever they had secreted themselves. They returned and with their knowledge of nature and with guidance from the elemental spirits, they have begun to help and rebuild society. They have shown people how to harvest the fruits of the wilds and how to grow food even in these cold climates. I can imagine how that grates on the clerics. The priests still receive spells from their gods and still speak with them, but they rarely gain the knowledge to aid people beyond healing and curing ills. It makes me laugh some times to see how the mighty, arrogant priests have fallen. Perhaps that is what caused the dark times… I guess if the gods know, they aren’t telling.

The sky is perpetually dark with ash filled clouds, and snow lays heavy on the ground. Strong winds continue to blow and blizzards are not uncommon these days. Times are hard but we endure. Barbarians and humanoids raid our lands but we endure. The great white wyrms spread their wings and spread terror, but we endure.

What the world needs now are heroes. Brave souls willing to explore the wastelands and try to find a way to restore the world back to its former fairy tale glory.

Acastus Preem, Loremaster of IceHaven. 1003 ASF (After Star Fall).