thomas.berubeg
Wandering the World
I just wanted to let you all know I created a wikipedia page. though it is barebones, as of now, it'de be nice if people added stuff.
This is the text of the page, if Wiki deleates it (stickit back up)
This is the text of the page, if Wiki deleates it (stickit back up)
Fall from Heaven is a total conversion fantasy modification for [[Firaxis]]'s turn based strategy game [[Civilization 4]]. The Mod team has modified nearly every aspect of the base game, from adding civilizations to new game mechanics, while retaining a complex and coherent back story.
== Back Story ==
'''The Birth of Time'''
In the beginning there was the One creator. Such was his power that all he spoke and thought was Truth. When first he spoke he made a place of glory and a throne from which he could sit and view all of his creation. This place he named Heaven and his throne was called Order. The One spoke of a blue orb that rested on the arm of his throne. This orb he named Temporance and to it was given the power to control the flow of time.
'''The Time of Angels'''
It was now that the One began to speak of new creations. Each one he created he gave a unique name and the twin gifts of life and free will. Each creation was created differently but to the whole he gave the name Angels. There were 21 angels created and each was appointed to be the head of a divine precept.
Each Angel was made to serve the One and to serve the creations that would come after. For the first time other voices were heard as they began to sing and praise the One. The Angel were: Lugus- Angel of Light Sirona- Angel of Wisdom Bhall- Angel of Fire Nantosuelta- Angel of Faith Nemed- Angel of Life Amathaon- Angel of Fertility Junil- Angel of Justice [TAB]Arawn- Angel of Death Oghma- Angel of Knowledge Danalin- Angel of the Water Dagda- Angel of Balance Kilmorph- Angel of the Earth Sucellus- Angel of Nature Tali- Angel of the Air [TAB]Camulos- Angel of Peace, who would become the Angel of War Aeron- Angel of Strength, who would become the Angel of Rage Ceridwen- Angel of the Stars, who would become the Angel of Magic Mammon- Angel of Foresight, who would become the Angel of Greed Esus- Angel of Trust, who would become the Angel of Deception Mulcarn- Angel of Ice, who would become the Angel of Winter Agares- Angel of Hope, who would become the Angel of Despair
'''The Birth of Man'''
Heaven was full of many wonders which the angels spent centuries studying and praising. When the One felt them ready he commanded them to take flight outside the boundaries and to fill the vacuum with creations that mirror those of Heaven. He gave them the power of creation. So the angels set off in every direction, creating as it pleased them to create a host of worlds true and good that would serve the One. When the creation was done there was a variety of worlds and a nearly endless array of life upon them. Each angel created a world in their own preference and all the angels contributed to a common world, called Erebus, which was their greatest creation. Although all manner of life and substance had been created in the world the angels wished to create something greater than their individual aspects. Together they agreed to create a race of men that would contain a gift from each of them. This race would be directly descended from the angels and Nemed agreed to sacrifice his precept and become the father of this new race. His precept, that of Life, was given over to Arawn and the angels created an immortal female named Gabella to serve as his wife. The one entered creation where he stood upon a white stone slab and viewed all things. Seeing this work as good the One took back the power of creation from the angels.
'''The Fall of Agares'''
Unknown to the other angels, and some say even to the One himself, Agares was not willing to lose the power of creation. Knowing he could not hope to keep the power from being taken from him and that he would be left only with the power to manipulate what already existed he used the power while he had it to create infinite wells of raw elements, air, earth, fire, water, life and death. At the center of these infinite reaches he placed gems of each of these elements which he had secreted out of heaven itself. When the power of creation was lost to him he still had enough matter and energy that he could go on creating until the end of time. Once the power of creation was gone to him he continued creating in his own world, which he called Nyx, with his infinite plains of elements. He created Nyx not in the fashion of heaven but as he desired. The creatures of this world were not told of other angel's or the One, and Agares commanded they worship him alone. Nyx was a world painted in black and gold, a shadowy reflection of heaven, where the precept of hope controlled every aspect. Dreams, desire, worship and want ruled the shallow creatures that inhabited the beautiful world. The other angels noticed that Agares continued creating. Agares claimed that it was cruel to take the power of creation away from them and that the One was jealous that their creations had outshone heaven itself. Six angels sided with Agares as they were eager to regain the power of creation and he showed them his infinite wells and how to use them to create. These angels were Camulos, Aeron, Ceridwen, Mammon, Esus and Mulcarn. It was then that the One intervened. Seeing Agares' blasphemy he sought to remove it from all of creation. By this point however Agares' taint had spread through all of creation, nothing existed that would still exist if he removed the evil from it. Unwilling to destroy creation the One condemned all the Angels out of Heaven, to live among creation until the day he returns to separate the good from the evil. The One tasked the angels still loyal to him with protecting creation and guiding it toward enlightenment until the day he returned. Those angels that followed Agares opposed the One's decree and took up arms against the angels loyal to him. From this point on the angels that fell were known as Evil by men, those that opposed them and were charged with protecting mankind were known as good and the 7 tasked with maintaining the functions of creations besides man were known as the angels of Neutrality. After throwing all of the angels from Heaven the One sundered the path between Heaven and Creation so that none but him could pass between them. In response to this all the angels, except Agares, created a host of new angels to serve them. The first they created was their archangel, and behind them thousands more to spread their will across creation. The archangels were: Amathaon- Maponos the Young, Sucellus- Cernunnos, Bhall- Brigit the Shining, Kilmorph- Goibniu, Lugus- Baelious ("fortune"), Aeron- Odio (who was imprisoned by Kilmorph during the age of dragons,) Dagda- Cassiel, Mammon- Hastur, Lord of Nightmares, Junil- Sabathiel, Oghma- Embarr ("imagination"), Camulos- The Avatar of Wrath, Nantosuelta- Splendor, Ceridwen- Kanna, Mistress of Pain, Sirona- Pelian the Suffering, Esus- Iaegus, Tali- Leucetious (Bringer of Storms), Arawn- Gyra and Basium (the twins), Danalin- Condatis, Mulcarn- Taranis the Unchanging, Agares- None (until the later creation of Hyborem, Lord of the Balors) But Agares, not satisfied to play the Ones game, did the opposite. He returned to Nyx and destroyed everything there, every creature he had created, every monument that had been built. In one burst of power the beautiful world of Nyx was reduced to ash. The world lies to this day barren, it is called the deepest hell and none would suspect that it was once a world of surprising life.
'''Creation'''
In the beginning all manner of natural animals and plants existed in creation, much as in our world. Gabella mirrored the rebellion of Agares by refusing to endure her role as a subordinate to man. She fled from Nemed and retreated to the Bair of Lacuna. Further generations of men have the gift of immortality removed from them. But still their divine birthright makes their soul immortal, even if their body fails. It is this connection to the divine, through the angel of Nemed, that allows men to channel the power of the angels and allows their souls to pass to them when they die. At the 6th generation of men Os-Gabella returned and stole two children, Alexis and Flauros to raise as her own. These children become the first vampires, killing others to sustain their life throughout the ages.Age of Dragons[\H1] Unable to overcome their differences the gods begin to war across creation. As in all things the gods desires become physically manifested and their aggression was acted out by powerful creatures that battle against each other. Dragons, giants, great elementals and the gods themselves unleashed incredible magic and threaten to destroy creation with it. Mountains are created and destroyed, chasms and lakes were created like gaping scars. During this time hundreds of angels succumbed to the whispers of Agares. These fell from the service to the angel that had created them. To this day Agares has more angels in his service than any other angel, but none of them were created by his hand. Even his archangel, Hyborem, is a corruption of another. Cernunnos, the great horned one, was the archangel of Sucellus. He dared to attack Agares directly. Agares picked up the powerful archangel and showed him visions of himself dark and corrupted. So powerful was the vision that it became real, splitting Cernunnos into two creatures. They were identical in form but the new creature, which Agares named Hyborem, was dark in aspect and colored in blood. Hyborem and Cernunnos fought but neither could defeat the other. As such, even the archangel of Agares was stolen from another, he is a perversion of the natural. Sucellus and Danalin remain largely out of the fighting. Instead each tends to a group of men that venerate them and that become changed by the close presence of their god. For Sucellus these men become the Ljosalfar, elves born to nature. For Danalin these men become the Aifons, men who can breathe water as well as air. Mankind, the greatest pride of the gods, was almost threatened with extinction. Immanuel Logos, a tribal leader, began the order of the Elohim at the close of this age to care for those injured in the Godswar. When it becomes obvious that the gods battle threatens creation itself Dagda calls for the war to end. The gods meet and the compact is formed, an agreement that the gods would withdraw and only interfere with creation through certain limited means. The Godslayer is formed as a physical manifestation of that agreement, a weapon capable of killing any god. For some the compact does too much. Basium, the archangel of Arawn, rebels and continues his battle against the Infernals regardless of the compact. For others it does to little. Cassiel, the archangel of Dagda, rebels believing that the gods should withdrawal completely from creation instead of using men to fight their battles for them. Cassiel enters creation to teach men to ignore the will of the gods.
'''Age of Magic'''
Without the destruction of the Godswar man is able to form civilizations. One empire of men is created, Patria, and the people learn from and trade with the Ljosalfar and the Aifons. The Patrian nation becomes strong. Basiums battles are mostly in hell, Cassiel is revered among the Patrians who are more philosophical than religious. The children of Os-Gabella, who have learned to leech life from others to sustain their own, are a scourge to mankind and the only real predators to humanity. It is the most peaceful time in mans existence. During this time Kheldon Ki sculpts the dwarves from his prison home and they are given life by Kilmorph. They tunnel out over a few generations, exploring the underworld. They settle on hills near the human lands. After abuse by corrupt Patrian merchants, many will retreat back to their tunnels, forming the unified nation of the Khazad. Other tribes stay on the surface, creating the Luchuirp, open-sky Dwarves. Kylorin becomes the king of the Patrians. He is a wise and popular ruler, loved by his people. When his wife betrays him Kylorin considers suicide by jumping from the top of his palace. Ceridwen, queen of pain, talks to him there, offering him another deal. That she will give Kylorin eternal youth and have his wife be resurrected in a new form each time she dies so that he may find and remarry her without the memory of her betrayal. The price is that Kylorin will worship Cerdiwen and lead the Patrians according to her desires. Kylorin agrees. Cerdiwen gifts Kylorin with eternal youth and teaches him magic. He becomes the first archmage and begins teaching others how to use magic to enforce his ever more corrupt rule over Patria. In a few generations his rule is absolute and vile. Sorcerers practice bizarre experiments, creating creatures like manticores, chimera and trolls and rule the fiefdoms in their control as gods. Kylorin directly trains 21 students and puts each in charge of a separate magical school. These were the names of Kylorin's students: Air- Greysun Body- Kezef (whose experiments killed all the animals on the Grigi plains) Chaos- Carnivean Creation- Majen (elven) Death- Barbatos Dimensional- Os-Gabella Earth- Jenkin Enchantment- Velgyr Entropy- Asmoday Fire- Mikel Dylantyr Force- Paimon Ice- Badb Law- Soqed Hozi Life- Leucetios Metamagic- Gastrius Mind- Perpentach Nature- Herve Shadow- Wode (elven) Spirit- Laroth (who would create his own empire in the underworld) Sun- Tamesis Water- Trenton Majosi (aifon) Kylorin eventually becomes regretful of what he has done to the empire of men and prays for help. Nantosuelta answers those prayers and teaches him how to be an even more powerful mage. Kylorin uses that power to lead a rebellion in his own empire. He sets about subduing or killing those sorcerers who refuse to repent, though some escape his purge. Perpentach was a master of mind magic, and a favored student of Kylorin. Kylorin was unwilling to kill him, imprisoning him instead in a dungeon in the Palus (the Tower of Eyes), guarded by unthinking golems. But Perpentach was more talented than Kylorin suspected, and was able to send his consciousness out wandering further and further from his prison. Searching, creating illusions and controlling minds miles from the dungeon in a process that strained him to the point of fracturing his mind. But he drew hundreds of men to his prison, made them fight and defeat the golems, release him, and declare him their ruler. The war splinters the empire with Kylorin leading good religious forces against the creations and unholy magic of the sorcerers. By the end 9 human nations have been formed; the Elohim keepers of memories and guardians of the sacred parts of the world; the Bannor, keepers of the sacred fire and the greatest enemies of the sorcerers; the Malakim, desert nomads and men of faith; the Lanun, traders and seamen; the Hippus; horse lords and mercenary's; the Grigori, followers of Cassiel; the Balseraphs, lead by the sorcerer Perpentach; the Illians, who dwelt in the tundra and ravaged lands; and the Calabim, who became ruled by Alexis and Flauros. Creation settled into its new form. There were still many powerful evils in the world. Sorcerers who still hid in the land and monsters who roamed the wilderness now that their masters were dead. There were many jobs for adventurers willing to recover lost artifacts or investigate hidden areas. And there were wars. It was during this age that the Aifon Trenton Majosi set out on a quest to save his people. He returned with the only salvation possible, a ritual that would allow Danalin to enter creation and save his children. Rather than return to the Godswar Trenton didn't perform the ritual and the Aifons and Trenton were destroyed. The loss of his children from creation caused Danalin to withdraw, falling into a sleep from which he hasn't yet woken. Agares, the first to fall, whispered to Bhall, the angel of fire, and she eventually succumbed to his words. This was the end of the age of magic. Bhall fell from heaven and that night the sky rained fire. Men loyal to her were transformed into hideous orcish races, becoming the Clan of Embers. The capital of the Bannor empire, which held her greatest temple, dropped with her into hell. The ritual uncovered by Trenton Majosi had found its way into the Illians hands. They had no fear of a Godswar, since Bhall was responsible for opposing their patron deity Mulcarn. With Bhall fallen their lord was unopposed, and this dispossessed people saw an opportunity to have more than the scraps left for them by the rest of humanity. The world was on fire and although many seers and prophets immediately knew when the ritual began few empires could afford to send armies to stop the ritual that was being performed. Only a the Luchuirp rallied an army. They were golem makers so the burning food supplies didn't affect their army as strongly as other nations. The Luchuirp assailed the Illian capital with the full force of their battle machines, but they were too late. Just as they broke through the city walls Mulcarn entered creation and with a whisper the Luchuirp army was wiped out. A permanent winter set in across creation.
'''Age of Ice'''
The gods considered this breaking of the compact. They were unwilling to restart the Godswar, but couldn't let Mulcarn move into creation unchallenged. They agreed to let one god go into creation to fight Mulcarn. That god was Sucellus, the god of nature. Sucellus entered creation and battled with Mulcarn. At the same time the Ljosalfar turned on themselves. They had agreed to shared power between two queens, one to rule during summer and the other during winter. The winter queen claimed dominance for years as winter showed no signs of ending and refused to give up the throne. This argument created a civil war and the new branch loyal to the winter queen called themselves the Svartalfar. Sucellus lost the battle and was killed by Mulcarn. Creation froze even further and the elves were forced to stop their civil war as they could no longer mobilize armies or travel. They tried to find hidden places in the world to remain, and waited for the winter to end to continue their war. The empires of man were crushed by the blizzards and the power of Mulcarn. A few scattered tribes remained, but even these were little more than animals on the edge of survival. All the advancement of the Age of Magic was lost. The Illians themselves lived better than most, but their god had little compassion and even they were forced to forgo basic conveniences or technology to maintain the unchanging will of Mulcarn. Some tribes gathered together into a new civilization, the Doviello. These men embraced their bestial nature and became more like a pack of wolves then men. They served a use to Mulcarn, by hunting and killing other tribes, and not interfering with the actions of the Illians. And they had little interest in the advancement and change that Mulcarn abhorred so they were allowed to remain. One corner of Erebus held a respite from the winter. The fiery pit that had been the temple dedicated to Bhall held a small portion of her essence, and so continued to burn, giving shelter to the orcs, who prospered in their corner of the world. Meanwhile their kin the Bannor, trapped in Hell, faced a constant struggle for survival. Junil, admiring their determination, sent his Archangel Sabathiel to lead them out. They emerged late in the Age of Ice, in the heart of the orcish territory, sparking a rivalry that persisted for generations. Creation would have remained indefinitely like this had Kylorin not returned. He gathered the scattered tribes of men under one banner, naming them the Amurites. He reforged the broken pieces of the Godslayer and took it into battle against Mulcarn, killing him and ending the Age of Ice.
'''Age of Rebirth'''
After the death of the god of winter Sucellus was reborn, now the god of life. For the first time a god passed between the underworld and creation and doorways were opened between these realms. Through one a group of living elves, pulled long ago into the Dungeon of Laroth, escaped. They brought with them some stolen tomes from Laroth's studies in the underworld. One of which would be used by Sandalphon to teach men to become shades and create the Sidar. Much like the Doviello of the prior age men from various tribes began to gather under a dark banner. This time they are responding to a promise of arcane power. Lead by Tebryn Arbandi and Os-Gabella they are called the Sheaim, powerful summoners who share their secrets openly. Lastly Hastur, archangel of Mammon, invades the watery vault of Danalin. Finding the god still sleeping Hastur begins whispering to him, causing nightmares that are reflected in creation.
== Civilizations ==
'''The Good'''
Luchuirp: Dwarven Craftsmen<br />
Kuriotates: Loose Alliance of Metropolises under a boyking<br />
Malakim: Desert Nomades<br />
Elohim: Order of Holy Monks<br />
Bannor: Crusaders determined to destroy hell<br />
Mercurians: Angels come to fight the Infernal<br />
'''The Neutral'''
Sidar: Shades<br />
Grigori: Antideistic Heroes<br />
Hippus: Mercenary Horsemen<br />
Khazad: Dwarves<br />
Ljosalfar: Elven Summer court<br />
Amurites: Mages<br />
Lanun: Loose pirate/sailor organization<br />
'''The Evil'''
Illians: determined to bring their fallen god back<br />
Balseraph: twisted Carnival<br />
Svartalfar: Elven Winter court<br />
Calabim: Vampires<br />
Sheim: Determined to cause armageddon<br />
Infernal: Demons<br />
Doviello: Northern animalistic barbarians<br />
Clan of Embers: Orcs.<br />
