Imagine a land filled with lush tropical forests and great rivers. A land that is simply bursting with life and energy. A land devoid of human civilization. For the predominant life on the land of Larrena are great,gentle beasts that come in all shapes and sizes,ranging from giant reptiles to vast,shaggy haired mammals. And all of them share something in common. They are not dumb brutes,but on the contrary,are intelligent,wise beings that lives in small viilages. Their forests they treasure and love,never submitting them to the rape of the axe and plow,choosing instead to gather from the abundant forest all the nourishment they need. Even their homes are built by using their powerful grasp of earth and plant magic to twist the surrounding foliage and terrain into imposing but natrual dwellings for them. Herbivorous for the most part,they abbhor violence and detist from even slaying the dangerous predators that sometimes prey on them,choosing instead to avoid or deter them. Primitive tribes of beast things? Not quite. On the contrary, they are very advanced in some ways. Their great knowledge of astronamy is testifed to by their lunar temples of magcally shaped earth that are erected in clearings,from which they observe the Quanaa move across the skies and their herbal medicine skills are beyond anything known to humans. It is from there that they observed the great stars that are belived to carry the Qunanna across the skies everyday.
They are the children of the herbivorous beast spirits or the Quaana,that feared for the safety of their children when men and the other sentient races begun to despoil the world. Unknown to the gods,they slipped away to a vast mountain range and rent it into two,creating a gaping hollow. There they reached for the essence of each plant eating animal and .. ..enhanced them. Violating the laws of life,they gave these new creations the intelligence of the sentient races,as well as exaggerated strenth and size to protect them from the fearsome flesh eaters that roamed the land. And to further ensure their continued existence,they also raised a shield that would conceal this land from the prying eyes of the world. And before they departed,they named it Larrena or ''Blessed Home.''
And so for centuries,they lived in prosperity and happiness,the offspring of the beast spirits. But disaster would strike. When the gods finally realized what the Quaana had done,they were angered and destoyed them. Then,they tore down the magical barrier of this blessesd land,leaving it to the mercies of humans and others. On the scared month of Hana,there was an immense keening sound that shook the skies above,closely resembling the scream of a tortured soul and the people of Larenna shuddered,at that moment feeling an intense chill cut through their bodies as the shield was disamantled by the gods. And there were others who heard it too,those who noticed that where an immense mountain range once stood,there was now an enourmous crevice opening into a great forest.
Soon,voracious armies of humans,orcs and gnomes arrived,eager to claim and exploit this land. And thus the struggle begun. For years,the children of the Quaana kept the invaders at bay,using their great knowledge of elemental magic. But ever armed with new and terrible weapons,the humans and others encroached closer and closer,intent on wresting this land from it's native inhabitants.
The idea that the greatest and most powerful native kingdoms band together against the threat posed by the invaders had never crossed the heads of their leaders and kings. The various beast folk kingdoms had always lived in seclusion from one another,convinced that this would prevent conflict of any kind from arising. Isolation would also ensure that the unique culture of each land would remain pure and untainted,free from the threat of pollution that influences from another kingdom would pose. Thus it was that each kingdom had to rely on itself,never requesting help from any of it's neighbours when coping with external threats such as a flesh eater raid. This is not to say each race only cared about it's own selfish needs,ignoring the plight of it's neighbours. In times of a plant blight,food to feed the affected kingdom would always arrive,left at the border that separated it's lands from those of it's neighbours. But to come together to face a common crisis? Such ideas of cooperation simply did not exist. And thus it was that as the smaller kingdoms fell to the hordes of the invaders,the larger ones simply turned a blind eye,hoping that they would be left alone,only to realize too late that this was not going to happen.
Inevitably,as this great upheavel progressed,the beast-folk slowly begun to question the absence of their spirit forbears in this dire time of need. All realized that the Quaamna could no longer hear them. But as to why this was the case,serious divisions soon emerged. Some felt that the their spirit gods had been destoyed or no longer cared and thus stopped praying to them. The other,more hot blooded races instead saw this as a test of their faith. The Quaamna wanted to see how pious ther children would be if they had to rely on themsleves rather than instant help from them. Becoming even more devout,this group condemed those who had lost their faith as apostates and forsook the use of magic to defend themselves,not wanting to use the Quamnnas gift in this time of self-reliance. Embracing the hithero unknown concept of self-defence,they raised armies to stop the advance of the invaders. For this,they were condemened in turn by the new unbelivers who were appalled that they had taken up violence like lowly ''flesh eater vermin. The rancour between these two groups grew so strong that each actively wished for the destruction of the other,with some of the more enraged unbelivers actually revealing the location of the hidden kingdoms of the zealous ones to to the invaders,hoping that the destruction of these violent ones would distract the attention of the invaders from them.
The invaders for their part, carved out kingdoms and domains out of their spoils and then proceeded to bicker with one another,even as they continue to push on against the beast folk to this day.
But native and invader alike,caught in their war and squabbles,remain oblivious to the dark threat that slowly emerges,working it's fell deeds slowly but inexoerably,in preparation for the day it will unleash great horror on us all. For he has awakened,the savage one with the terrible hunger,the Bone Crusher,the Blood Drinker...
Accueil 
