History In Brief

The Humans and Elves teamed up with each other because they had sworn an oath on the sword of the Paladin Erasdas. At the very beginning of the Dark Times, the Orcs began to invade Ryke, the Elven home city. Erasdas, a human saw what was happening and tried to convince the Humans of Nane that the Elves were a valuable resource in the beginnings of this war. The humans, lead by Murin Tarnople, refused to listen, being stubborn as most Humans are, and left the Elves to fend for themselves. Erasdas, not pleased with this, left Nane and ran off to help the Elves. Soon the Orcs began to attack Nane and the Humans begged Erasdas to come back and help fight and possibly see if the Elves would help too. Erasdas, though he knew the Humans deserved no help went to the Elves anyway, asking if they would be willing to help. The Elves became insulted, but agreed to meet the Humans on the crossroads from Nane to Ryke. When both parties arrived, instead of agreeing to help the Humans, the Elves attacked them, feeling it was justified. Erasdas tried to stop the battle and, in the process, got killed. The Elves and Humans then realized their mistake, and Helf took Erasdas' sword, and asked both races to swear an oath never to attack each other again. Soon after Nane and Ryke became integrated, with both Elves and Humans living together peacefully. Of course, their lives outside were not quite so peaceful.

The Dwarves and Orcs formed an unusual alliance in that it's not really an alliance. It's more of a trade agreement. When the Dark Times came, the Orcs were the first to flee to the Shady Mountains, feeling it the right atmosphere to encourage their troops. They took up residence in the Hewn Mountain. The Dwarves came from the Northlands a little while later, having migrated from place to place and finally decided to settle on The Canyon, which was quite far from the Hewn Mountain. While scouting for more advantageous sites, several Dwarves ran across several Orcs. A battle ensued, but there was no victor. Both sides were equally powerful. Both retreated back to their home base to tell their groups of the news. Upon hearing the news, Cherebere, a sinister Dwarf, and Grule the Conqueror, a powerful Orc, sent their men to battle again. And, again, neither side was the victor. Stuu Me Si, an influential Orc called a meeting and ma naged to convince Grule that the Dwarven Army, and their metalworking abilities could prove to be especially useful in the dark times. When Stuu Me Si approached the Dwarves about the proposal, they seemed less than pleased to team up with Orcs. After hours of negotiations, it finally boiled down: the Dwarves and Orcs would team up indirectly in exchange for weapons from the opposite sides. Thus, the Dwarves and Orcs lived peacefully and separately, in the mountains. Of course, their lives outside were not quite so peaceful.

The Furries have a relatively simple background. They've always been shunned throughout the majority of their lives, but when the Dark Times arrived, it became much worse. Furries used to be able to walk through town, roam the forest, and go anywhere they wanted freely, but now they can hardly step foot out of the forest boundries without getting attacked. Several of the biggest towns heard rumors of large dog-men and wolf-men running about at night, killing whomever they wished. This spread even to the tops of the Shady Mountains. Furries were soon banned from towns and unwritten laws were established that allowed Furry Flogging on certain days (especially holidays). The Furries became angry, but knew they were outnumbered, so they sunk into the forest, waiting for the proper day to spring. In the mean time they held celebrations and worshiped Mother Gaia, the god of the forest life, and asked her for strength in such dark times. They cleared a small Amphitheater in the middle of the Kypacevine Woods. In the middle of the stage, Kievn, the largest tree, was left to stand because it was believed he held the magical power called Kesmaria. After a little while, the Furry Flogging ceased and half man-half creatures lived in relative peace. Of course, their lives outside were not quite so peaceful, and they still held a grudge against much of the outside world.

The Vampires conspired with the werewolves and formed The Shaded Kinship. Under the leadership of Lord Baneful, they built The Cathedral Calais for many reasons. They could better summon their dark spirits and converse with their dark masters from the Sanctuary and large thirty foot walls surrounded the building, making it nearly impenetrable by an outside force, or so it was thought. Within the first year of the finishing of the Cathedral, the Humans and Elves, not agreeing with the ideas of The Shaded Kinship destroyed most of the structure. Deciding that they needed more than just defense, they called upon Professor Zeilitzheim to create an undead army. The undead army patrolled the streets, warding off anybody that didn't belong, converting the once cheery town of Calais into a dark, seedy underbelly. Few were brave enough to enter the city, or attempt to destroy it. The Vampires, Werewolves, and other undead creatures were able to perform their rituals in relative peace, though rarely was the atmosphere peaceful. Humans, Dwarves, and any other group of creatures that were unfortunate enough to run across a horde of undead were relentlessly captured and used as sacrifices, or for torture hostages. Because of this, many groups hold The Shaded Kinship as one of the worst groups to have ever been formed, and blame them for The Dark Years, though, anybody who paid attention to history would realize that The Shaded Kinship was formed after The Dark Years began...or was it?

Specifics:
--Lord Baneful and Kierra of the Kesmarian Circle have a feud for some reason or another, probably a duel over land or something.
--Allottendorg, had the ability to take off his skull and throw it, causing terrible shock nightmares. Unfortunately, during a battle, Horoculus managed to cleave it in two with a throwing hatchet and bury it somewhere high in the shady mountains. Allottendorg has since replaced his skull, but has yet to imbue it with magic.

The Howllligans, by far the most unusual formation of groups really isn't a tight formation. Many of the groups, such as the Ogres and Trolls, work separately from each other, but, by cooincidence, fall on the same side of battle because of an unfair bias. The grouping was actually made by the Furries, who are constantly being raided by the Goblins, beaten by the Ogres, pestered by the Trolls, and irritated by the Imps. The furries who were honored enough by the humans spread the word about this group of pesky creatures, and the humans spread it to the dwarves, th e dwarves to the Orcs, the Orcs to the Werewolves, and so on until everybody regarded these completely different creatures in the same group. Because of this, Ogres, Trolls, Goblins, and Imps have unofficially gathered together to fight under a very unofficial treaty. The Howllligans are renown for over running areas and wiping them out by shear luck, leaving a trail of chaos behind them. In this way, the Howllligans are never at peace. Few Ogres have been seen running around the forest, but those who have are renown for their strength in specific areas. And while Ogres tend to travel in families, the Trolls tend to stick to themselves. Goblins are, by far, the most organized groups and produce the closest thing to an army, and the Imps, who have immense intelligence in magics, help to keep things interesting on the battlefield. Zaredro, an evil Imp is often seen conspiring with the Shaded Kinship.