The Green-scales, the Brown-scales, and the White-scales.

The Reptoids are a reptilian-humanoid species from hollow center of the earth.  They come in three varieties, Green-scales, the mountain and jungle dwellers, the Brown-scales, the inhabitants of the coasts, plains, and hills, and the White-scales, the mystics of the Reptoids, who dwell in burrows.  The Green-scales are the herders of woolly mammoths, who were taken by the Reptoids down into the center of Earth, and are skilled scouts and spear-throwers, they also fight and argue constantly with the Brown-scales.  The brown Reptoids are explorers and skilled warriors, who, long ago, discovered the surface world, and were amazed and frightened of the openness.  As time wore on, the Brown-scales, and some Green-scales, returned to the surface, and thought it good land, but they found another race, which they thought only existed in stories, the humans drove back the Reptoids, thinking them some kind of demonic brutes, which was the case with some Reptoids.  The White-scales, who lived with both Green and Brown Reptoids, foresaw it was unwise to mingle with the humans, but some, who could change there outward appearance, took the shapes of men and mixed with the human race.  The White-scales are the mystics of the Reptoids, who live in burrows throughout the hollow earth, and are seen in ceremonial garb and have decorated spears.  They are few, and their powers are not fully known, even by most other Reptoids, but through mating into Green and Brown-scales, the power of shape-changing has spread here and there, enabling the Reptoids to blend in among humans.  The technology of these reptilians is a mystery, they use spears and dart shooters, though they have some type of flying machine, or animal, that allows them to reach the surface, and any human that went down there, saw only primitive villages, but many people think they have hidden technology.          

Magic, and Nature people.

Magic can seem like a very complicated thing, though in truth is fairly simple.  Magic is a high form of energy, invisible to the naked eye, that penetrates all of Creation, or is sometime thought of as an affect of the Fall, the shattered power of Man.  Angels use the power God gives them, Nature folk, Faerie, use magic, and are even seen as the patrons of it.  Some humans can tap into the magical energy, wizards, magicians, and so forth, and use it to their will.  Large streams of magical energy on Earth are called Ley lines, and can be seen on the sixth plane, by those with planar sight, or by a Leyode, and there are many famous ley lines around the world, Mt. Olympus, the Jordan River, Stonehenge, Mt. Adams, and many other places.  There are different ways of casting spells, wizards, an archaic term not used very often today, tend to draw magic from items or faerie, magicians draw off their own energy, druids draw upon ley lines and nature directly, and witches tend to summon faerie and monsters to do their biding, daemons use monsters as their minions, that is why witches were persecuted, and not wizards and sorcerers, besides, monsters and the like tended to stand around as their master witch was burning.  

Nature people, are beings of magic, comprised of one of the five Elements: earth, water, fire, air, and aether.  Gnomes, for example, are earth faerie, elves, on the other hand, are aether faerie.  Faerie come in all shapes and sizes, from small, winged pixies, to big, tall trolls, and are found all over the world, like the dragon, a greedy, winged, fire-breathing monster in Europe, to a benevolent, wise, wingless creature in the Orient.  Mankind has been in contact with nature folk from day one, faerie lived in the trees and rivers of Eden, and were looked after by Adam, though faerie also looked after Adam and the human race.  Faeries' task in this world is to look after their particular Element, gnomes look after dirt and minerals, nymphs watch over rivers, springs and lakes, and so forth, part of their tasks are to bring Elemental nourishment to babies, since we are a combination of all the Elements, and children until they are seven, then the child's Elemental nourishment is complete, and a guardian angel is to look after the child.  Nature people are beings of free will, and normally exists as essence, their raw Element, but can take on a physical form via magic, and can be good and evil, or rather better or worse, though faerie, unlike men, are usually either extreme.  The Twelve Peoples of the Faerie are as follows: elves, gnomes, goblins, pixies, nyads, centaurs, sprites, ogres, dwarfs, daemons, gremlins, trolls.

Kelnin goes south.

Kelnin ran through the forest, but then he ran right into a group of drow warriors.

"What are you doing, Gray Elf?"  asked the lead drow.

"Uh..."  Kelnin decided he wanted to get away from drow, so quickly as he could with his diminished speed, notched his two arrows, the Dark Elves hadn't given him more, and shot two of the drow.  Then he levitated one of the fallen warriors spears into his hand, then attacked the nearest dark elf.  The remaining four soldiers leveled their spears and charged at Kelnin, he made one of the trees fall in their path, Kelnin gasped with effort, killing all of them, except one, who pulled out a throwing knife and hurled it into Kelnin's left shoulder, making drop his bow in pain.  Kelnin took the knife out and threw it at the drow, completely missing him.  The drow drew a short sword and ran at him, Kelnin acted as quickly as he could and took up a spear and threw it into the chest of the oncoming drow.  Then Kelnin No-House ran, he didn't know where, he just ran, blood dripping from his shoulder, and finally had to stop for breath, his running was becoming only as good as a Man's, by a small creek.  Kelnin smelled something, swamp gases, he must be near the Morkut Swamp, a great swath of bogs and marshes to the south of the Avwan and Alsthrinyulner.  Kelnin now had no arrows, though he had taken the slain drow's sword.  He wet his face in the creek, as the water settled, he saw his reflection;

"Grayer every day, weaker, slower everyday, less connected with nature everyday."  He smacked the water with his hand.  Then Kelnin got up, refreshed, gathered some food, and set off for the swamp. 

   

Death, death knights, Deathshold, and wiccan.-From the library of the White Mages.

One of the most mysterious figures in Eilendor, is Death.  People who can see quintessence said they have seen Death on his black horse, wielding a sharp, scythe, some people say the scythe's blade is as cold as a frozen arctic mountain stream.  It is said Death is also called the 

Warlock-King, and lives on an island no one can find, called Deathshold.  The island holds Death's castle, a graveyard to the south, the Forest of Decay to the east, the Great Mausoleum, the Black Forest, and Witches' Hollow to the west, The Ebony Temple to the north, and Mt. Witchgard in the center of the island.  Deathshold is home to an underground society of undead, the majority of witches and warlocks, and the powerful order of Death Knights, the personal knight-army of Death.  Death knights are few, but have a limited spellcasting ability, have a command over undead, and dress in dark gray armor and black cloaks.  The death knights go all over the world, doing tasks for the Warlock-King, they are often seen in the Gray Plateau, keeping the pact between the High Liches and Death.  Death knights are hand picked by Death from the best warriors of all races, except nature folk, Trolls, Ellsidur, and Dragons, and are, after excepting, knighted, and are imbued with magic, then are given a crest, herald, and steed.  Witches and warlocks used to be Men and Elves, but when the Elder Ones bound magic, the wiccans refused to conform to the Laws of Magic, that, and their proximity to Death and Mt. Witchgard, has changed witches and warlocks almost into a new race.  The child of two wiccan, is depending on gender, a witch or warlock, though witches and warlocks sometimes marry into Men and have Half- Witches.  The undead society of Deathshold is smaller than it's Gray Plateau cousin, and exists on the side of Mt. Witchgard and around the Bay of Death and the Bay of Decay.  The main use of the civilization is to man the boats that transport the death knights, to take care of Death's Citadel, the Ebony Temple, and the Great Mausoleum, and many serve in Witches' Hollow and in the graveyard.  No-witch eve, Death's eve, and Midsummer are the only holidays on Deathshold, when all the wiccan stay inside, and on Eilendor, leave out candy.  On this day, all the inhabitants, even Death, of the island go to the Ebony Temple, and many wiccan from Eilendor goto Deathshold, which is strange because you can only find the island when the Warlock-King has invited you.             

Astronautical exploration.-From the library of the White Mages.

The study of the sky and the planets is called astronomy, the study of the more mystical aspect of the sky is called astrology, a person who goes up into the Space, is called a spheronauts, stemming from the belief that the Space is a sphere. All these fields are referred to as astronautical studies, and are a great interest to the Than people. The first astronomers were Fairies, but when they died off, many of their texts were lost, but Elves, then Gnomes took up the science. The Elvish astronomy and astrology is more centered about studying the movements of the sun and moon (Lirea and Alsthrin, in elven) and reading the stars to predict the future and understand the past. The Gnomes are interested with studying all the celestial bodies, and wonder whether the stars are great balls of white fire, or are a cosmic race, they also have telescopes that can see the moon. Later, the Thans started looking up and making telescopes, and a famous Than astronomer, Lord Tha-Elsidd XI, discovered the eighth planet, Tha-Elsidd, named after himself. The eight planets being: Athean, Bulseri, Lyrwin, Ulen, Gnoln, Gnelwyr, Gelm. and Tha-Elsidd. The Thans started to become interested in the idea of traveling to the Space above our world, so their magicians found underground mana drafts; thermal, magical winds that come from the Core, so the Thans made light, metal spherical pods, connected to the ground by magical cords and the pods are lifted by the mana drafts. And so the first spheronauts, Asi, and Tha-Urd, went eleven miles above the surface of Eilendor, later, the Thans had pods going sixty miles high. Some Gnomes and Thans dream of going to the moon, though this would require a very long rope, but mana drafts can travel through the Space, and some people even dream of going to the planets, or the stars. The way that astropods are constructed is this: First, the bronze pod is constructed, usually only able to hold two men, then they put a magic recording astrolabe in the center and two seats next to each other, facing the astrolabe and a big window on the opposite wall of the pod. A silver canister is attached to the outside, containing an air elemental, to supply the astropod with an infinite amount of air, also on the outside are three gliding wings. The spheronauts wear padding armor, since the pods only have a little insulation, for the Space is very cold. The mana drafts can lift the pods all the way to the Ether, but the magic ropes are only so long, and to get down, a massive group of slaves pulls the rope, which is anchored to the ground and vessel via magic, and pull the pod against the mana drafts down to earth. Ideas about the shape of our world has not yet been answered, but most spheronauts agree that the world is flat, but many argue it is spherical, though people say that there must be an area where people walk upside down, so most say it is flat. But if it is flat, scientists think there must be some type of support, they call the Monolith of Earth. So that covers the basics of of astronautical exploration.

From the library of the White Mages, in Graystorm, Gelldor. To learn more about spheronauts and astropods, read A Guide to Spheronautical Travel.

Eilendor,-From the library of the White Mages.

Eilendor:  Many commoners think Eilendor is the whole world, and that Men, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, Orcs, and so forth are the only inhabitants, this is not so.  The city Bator-Gotha and the kingdom Galgoth, are thought to be founded by the same race, Elderus Primis, a race, we still think lives in Galgoth.  Besides the Bator-Gothan race, the first known races on Eilendor were Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Orcs,Yargal, Trolls, and some races of the forest, the first found evidence of Men were found in the Bay of Alvurea, and date around 2095, though the Ruins of Kazburn, are far across the Ardur in the east, and date around the same time.  It is said Dragons and Ellsidur came from far across the Great Eastern Sea, and Dragons flew the Ellsidur all over Eilendor, and indeed, Ellsidur and Dragons have similar magical qualities in the Astral plane.  Fairy came over the Western Sea in great crystal ships, and are akin to no other race that we know of.  Fairy went west, across the Dathur Plains, and settled just west of the Delvair forests, but at some point in time, an unknown force destroyed the fairies and shrouded their kingdom in mist. Nymphs are said to have come out of the sea itself, we are not sure where nymphs came from. Demons and devils are not native to this world in the first place, but they have a kingdom in the East, called Karax, on the north border of the Desolate Strip and harasses the small kingdom of Shanshur.  The various other sentient races of Eilendor, are Giants, who originated to the far north, Dreamsayers, a strange, future-seeing race, that is close to extinction, Mer-folk, who have dwelt in the sea as long as anyone can remember, and Pyrelings, an infernal race, similar to demons.  We speculate, if it really exists, the magical island Dragongard is where Dragons and Ellsidur came from, and the island Death's Haven is where witches and warlocks were first seen, and where many live, but still stay in their homes on No-witch eve.  We have no idea where Men came from, but it was apparently from two different places.  

          From the library of the White Mages, in Abdvard, Alvurea.  For more information on Bator-Gotha, Galgoth, and the Domain of Anzar, look in Across the Ardur: Exploring the East.  For more information on demons and pyrelings, and demonkin, look in Runeus's demonology.  To find more information on pre-Man Eilendor, and the arrival of Men, look up Lirean duvali Eilendora, by Elvier the monk.     

Kelnin among the drow.

It has been four days since the Dark Elves brought Kelnin to their trading city, Malullcho.  They welcomed Kelnin to their city, then drafted him into the army, putting him into the Wizards's Brigade, and marching him to the frontier of Cho with Alsthrinyulner.  So Kelnin, along with a few hundred other drow soldiers and mages, went back across the Avwan Mountains through a secret pass.  Kelnin saw a few other Gray Elves among the army, and he thought he saw whipping scars on them.  Though he had no major grudge against Night Elves, they would most likely see him an outcast, he mostly wanted Wood Elf blood, and above them, Nanlyr, his former associate in magical experiments, the one who convinced him to do a certain banned ritual, and the one who then turned around and told the guards and had him exiled.  After a few days, the Dark Elf army reached the drow front in Alsthrinyulner, a swath of cut down forest, riddled full of arrows and bodies, Kelnin could hear some fighting back in the forest.  Kelnin was sent of with a small group of other spellcasters to be artillery on a knoll a little farther in the forest, along the way he could see a summoning in progress, he had seen some magical creatures already, summoning had always frightened him, he had also always failed at it, and there was an incident a few years ago.

"Summoning is unwholesome."  Shuddered Kelnin, memories coming back to him.  On the knoll, he and the other mages started, combined together, firing spells into the Night Elf forces.  Kelnin found a way to escape, since he was magically connected with the other spellcasters, he sent killing spell to all of them, breaking through their will and snapping their spines. 

"Yes!  And now for my escape!"  Kelnin said to himself, as he ran south to the Sylvan Sea.             

Carvings in a temple.

Who ever walk into the land of Nod

Shall only see the Shadows and the Dark

That await those who walk into the land of Nod

Those who follow Cain along the path of rejection

Shall only find the chains and beasts and the brands

That await those who walk into the land of Nod

Shall see what they are not meant to see

So stare not into the Deceitful Eye

Who ever walk into the land of Nod

-Found on the walls of an ancient temple on an island atoll in the Great Sea, a great interest to leyographers.  Dates to around 45,000 B.C.

Kelnin crosses the Avwan.

The transformation into a Gray Elf is a continuous process.  First, you're given slightly dull skin and darker hair, which get duller and darker as time goes on, until they are gray and jet black.  Secondly, you loose the sharp elfin sight, hearing,  and smell.  Lastly, the touch of Caswen, the ability to see and feel the life of animals, and plants, and command it, diminishes until you can only feel the life of a useless shrub and dying desert lizard.  The only atonement is to get a blessing from a high priest, and to walk the Path of the Hiryali.

Kelnin grabbed the edge, and hauled himself up onto the cliff's top.  He rested there a moment, and drank some water, even though he started out with one day's worth, he had found a mountain stream part way up.  He had been climbing the Avwan Mountains for several days now, he did not care to keep count, and had had his first meal of meat, which Wood Elves do not eat meat.  Kelnin got up and continued on his way, toward the peak of the mountain he was on.  Some hours later, Kelnin reached the frozen mountain peak, so high up he had trouble breathing, he looked around but could already tell his vision wasn't as sharp as it had been.  Kelnin breathed on his hands to warm them, he was nearly frozen.  He yelled a curse into the night, the night responded with a flurry of snow, he fell down into the snow and, slowly, his eyes closed.

When Kelnin woke, he was in a stretcher of some kind, and in a dark tunnel.  He could not see who were carrying the stretcher on which he lay, they blended in with the shadows.  But then one turned to him, and Kelnin could see pointed ears, and glowing red eyes.           

Kelnin No-House.

Kelnin, stripped of his house, was exiled for the use of dark wizardry, and was escorted to the northeastern edge of the Faelir Forest, and left there as a gray elf.  Kelnin No-house looked around him at the foot hills of the Avwan Mountains, the giant mountain range that divided east from west.  He hefted his pack, exiled elves are given a pack, one day's water supply, a bow and two arrows, a compass, and dull colored skin and black hair, and started his journey toward the east.  Kelnin thought were he would go next,

"Maybe to the Drow, my Dark Elf cousins almost always welcome Sylvari outcasts."  He thought, as he started climbing the foot hills.  

"Or I could travel to the city of Bala, and see just how big and grand it is."  Kelnin reached the top of the hill and looked at the towering Avwan Mountains.  Now Kelnin was a wizard, and good at weaving offensive spells in a short time, thus was a good 'Battlemage', as some people called him, also because could fight with bow and spear as well as incantations.  He then thought that he might slip back through to the west, but the enchantments of his kin would stop him.

"But someday I shall find Nanlyr, and slay him.  That will teach him to snoop around and discover that which is not for him."  Kelnin used his magic powers to probe the mountains for an easy pass between them, and found none, so he began the long climb up the Avwan, and to the east.    

Gnawain Golsh's tale.

Once Andras was done, Gnawain Golsh, a gendian Gnome pulled out his mandolin, adjusted the collar on his flamboyant shirt and began his tale.

"This is a tale I heard while traveling in the tunnels of the Bulduur Dwarves, so here it goes:

There once was a Dwarf warrior, named Gildin, who was so skilled with the blade, that he never found worthy opponents in his clan, so he traveled the world, searching for worthy adversaries.  After traveling all over Eilendor, he met a valjulfr swordsman by the Sylvan Sea, and there they made duel to see who was stronger.  Finally, the valjulfr, Nelneri, used some elf trickery to defeat Gildin.  So angered at the elf's trickery, Gildin swore that his kin would never be friends with the valjulfr again.  Later as Gildin headed west, an Orc barbarian came to him and challenged the Dwarf to combat, Gildin agreed, thinking the barbarian easy prey and would help heal his pride.  But the Orc was a savage opponent, and finally cutting down the Dwarf, and from that day forward, Dwarves and Orcs have been sworn enemies."

"A short tale, I know, but dwarf tales usually are."  Said Gnawain, finishing his tale.  And so Dihlah Levorenn stood up to go next, as the wind howled outside.    

Universal holidays in Eilendor.

Neasratide, January 1st, the celebration of the creation of the world, it is said the spirits of the Gods fly through the world.

Death's Eve, December 13th, when Death takes no souls from the Living, and he returns one dead soul.

Harvestfeast, September 21st, many races celebrate a productive harvesting season.

War End, March 14th-21st, no fighting, began after the Saurak War.

Midsummer, a day and night in which magic flows like water, and magic creatures like sprites are visible.

No-Witch Eve, November 30th, a day and evening when witches and warlocks stay home and leave out candy.

Councilform, October 20th, celebrating the Council

Bator-Gotha.

It is said, far in the east of Eilendor, an ancient city called Bator-Gotha lies.  Bator-Gotha is older then any known active city, older then Draco Arcora and Arceanum, and is west of the Zurza Archipelago, east of the Gotha Plains, south of the Bator Mountains, and north of the Mountains of Dusk.  It is also the biggest city in all of Eilendor, and most likely the world, it spans many, many miles in all directions and is split in half by the Great Eastern River that flows from the Eastern sea, all the way to Delvair.  The city is home to many races, from Eilendor and beyond the Eastern Sea, or Zurzan Sea, and is ruled by the Ten Guilds, Assassins, Merchants, Paladins, Wizards, Fighters, Thieves, Artificers, Gamblers, Rangers, and Wardens, who fight with each other for dominance in Bator-Gotha.  No one, not even the Guilds, know who built Bator-Gotha, but many people tell tales about a barbarian named Bator, and an archer named Gotha.  Bator-Gotha is famous for it's size, it's brawlers and bar fights, and the Underworld, a night-time place in the old sewers and back alleys, ruled by the Thieves Guild.