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====== The Tale of the wizard Bar and the Great Map ======

==== I. Introduction: ====

At the beginning of time, the gods all lived on the mortal world.  When the
rivalry between the disparate groups threatened the destruction of all, the gods
made a pact now known as //The Concordant// (or sometimes //The Great Tribunal//).
In this pact, the gods agreed to
leave the mortal world for places unknown and rule the mortals only indirectly.
To ensure their own cooperation, they cast a great enchantment to seal
themselves away from this world, effectively imprisoning themselves in
[[Godsland]].  Because of this spell, they could not directly interfere unless
called upon by the mortals. To this end, the gods ensured that the mortals would
have an ample amount of [[mana]] with which to invoke the magical powers
necessary to summon them back if needed.

Thus, the gods constructed [[wall|the wall around the world]], not to jail the
mortals to a more confining region, but to concentrate the [[mana]] to make this
world the richest of [[twenty_worlds|the twenty]]((In fact, this world does
//not// have the highest level of magic.  Experts in the field who are familiar
with the [[twenty worlds]] suggest that the [[prime world]] is actually quite
low in magic and the [[wall]] simply brings it to a more //normal// level)).
Also, the constructed the great [[Heaven Spire]] and cast it back to the world
to be used as a magical anchor.  No kingdom who rightfully possessed the [[heaven
spire]] could be defeated by any outside force!

There were some immortals, though, who felt that the gods should not have left.
Only one, though, was able to remain when the gods cast their fateful
enchantment which sealed them away from the world.  He was the elemental lord of
evil, called by many names, but known throughout as The Deceiver.  He cast a
powerful illusion so that the gods would mistake him as a mortal and leave him
behind.  His plan worked magnificently and after the gods sealed themselves off
from the world, he dropped the illusion and ruled the planet as his own.

The gods, seeing that The Deceiver needed to be stopped, devised a way of
imprisoning the demon.  They created a magical map of the portals, so tied to
their existence that if the map were destroyed, so would the portals
(temporarily).  Using The Deceiver's own trick of illusion, the gods granted the
map with other powers of location and presented it to worthy mortals as gifts
(lawful under the great tribunal's charter).

Thus it was, that early in the realm of The Deceiver, a group of heroic mortals
confronted the great demon with the map, tricked him into standing within the
confines of one of the ninety-nine portals and destroyed the map.  The portals
connections were separated from this world and The Deceiver was cast into a far-
away dimension, never to return.

==== II. The Wizard Bar: ====

Late in the 27th century of the first age, a master of illusion named [[Bar]]
stumbled quite by accident upon a fragment of the great map.  For the next
several years, he used the magic of the fragment itself to track down the
remaining pieces.  On April 4, 2700, he assembled the pieces together and the
map miraculously reassembled itself.  On the spiritual plane of evil, though,
[[Kost]], one of the powerful demon princes, noticed the reassembly.  [[Kost]]
had more allegiance to The Deceiver than he did to his successor and so he saw
this event as a means to perhaps release the "rightful" demon lord.

[[Kost]] tricked [[Bar]] into summoning him and confronted the wizard on
November 9, 2700.  [[Bar]] fled with the map, only to be followed by the demon
prince at every step.  For nineteen months, the demon prince carefully tracked
down the wily wizard until on June 20, 2702, [[Bar]] made his last stand and
dispersed the map while [[Kost]] stood on a portal.  Unfortunately, [[Bar]]
himself was imprisoned as well.

Many battles were fought in those nineteen months and many ruined castles litter
the world as signs of the destruction.  One casualty was the sorceress
[[Shardanna]], whose warrior-husband was killed by [[Kost]] on September 23,
2701. [[Shardanna]], herself, was stripped of memory and powers and sealed in a
tomb of ice by the prince in an attempt to trick [[Bar]] into rescuing her (and
thereby placing himself at risk).  That plan failed, though.

==== III. The Pioneers: ====

The following calendar is a brief account of the adventures of [[Rhae]] and
[[Larindel]] (along with their cohorts) known collectively as [[pioneers|"The
Pioneers"]].

== 2711: ==

**//20 Apr//** -- A man named Karsa uncovers the gem [[Cyrillus]], a controlling gem
which when combined with the great map will pinpoint the location of the racial
weapons. Karsa wishes to reassemble the map, find the gem of the portals and
establish a broad, power-base across the world with it.

**//13 Aug//** -- [[Larindel]] meets [[Rhae]] in the wilds around [[Rhae]]'s
home kingdom of [[Lural]].

**//20 Aug//** -- The two team up with a colleague of [[Rhae]]'s: a ranger named
[[Loquen]].

**//23 Aug//** -- People working for the wizard [[Alsif]], a long-time rival of
Karsa, uncover the gem and immediately send it to [[Rep Klin]].  Aron, one of
the chiefs of security betrays the knowledge of the gem's discovery to minions
of Karsa.

**//25 Aug//** -- Karsa sends a pack of goblins to uncover the gem from
[[Alsif]]'s messengers.  As fate would have it, [[Rhae]], [[Larindel]], and
[[Loquen]] discover the remains of the caravan which had been carrying the gem.
The sole survivor: a young girl named Thryza, whose parents were killed, tells
them of a box containing a very valuable item which the goblins stole.

**//28 Aug//** -- After tracking the goblins to the [[Heaven Spire]], the three
meet a druid named [[Logan]].  He vows to help them defeat the goblins.

**//29 Aug//** -- The goblins are found in a secret, underground passage near
the base of the spire and vanquished.

**//30 Aug//** -- The four uncover the magical gem [[Cyrillus]], though they do
not know what it is.

**//1 Sep//** -- In [[Rep Klin]], the wizard [[Alsif]] informs the group what
[[Cyrillus]] is.

**//9 Sep//** -- The group is in [[Vollarin]] to explore some ice caves. They
are assigned a young warrior girl named [[Trevvi]] as a guide.

**//12 Sep//** -- The five enter the caves and revive the frozen body of
[[Shardanna]].  The wizardess remembers nothing except her name and a very few,
simple spells.

For the next year, the five adventurers travel the world uncovering bits of the
great map, always trying to keep one step ahead of Karsa and his enthusiastic
servant, Aron.  Finally, on September 30, 2712, a great battle erupts when the
assembled map is presented in one of the portals and the demon prince [[Kost]]
emerges.  Karsa joins forces with the heroes to fight the demon and the prince
is pushed back into his imprisonment dimension when the map is dispersed once
again.  Luckily, though, the imprisoned wizard [[Bar]] emerges from the portal.

As it turned out, the wizard [[Alsif]] was a replica of [[Bar]] constructed
before his imprisonment in 2702.  [[Alsif]], being artificial, is more "fragile"
than a normal human and if seriously wounded could disintegrate.  This, along
with the fact that [[Bar]] tied his essence strongly to the city of [[Rep
Klin]], forces [[Alsif]] to remain within the city.  If he were to venture too
far out for too long, he would die.

[[Shardanna]], with the aid of [[Bar]], has regained most of her lost memories,
and she, along with her son (now only seven years younger than herself) and
[[Bar]], live in [[Alsif]]'s castle in Rep Klin.

[[Trevvi]] returned quietly to her native kingdom of [[Vollarin]]; [[Loquen]] is
back defending [[Lural]] from the orcs and goblins in the wild lands;  [[Logan]]
has returned to nature, wandering who knows where; and [[Rhae]] and [[Larindel]]
continued their adventures and later joined up with [[d'hari campaign|a new group]].

\\
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