Telara bloodstorm

Millennia ago… the gods create Telara

In the beginning, the gods of the Vigil modelled Telara from sourcestone into a world of exceptional wealth, placed at the junction of the Planes, allowing the equilibrium of elemental forces to sprout life and magic upon the world. Sourcestone is presented as something akin to pure magic: Only sourcestone shapes the shapeless, materializes the immaterial and expresses elemental energy as tangible places and things. Sourcestone is power incarnate and, for better or for worse, Telara is a veritable goldmine of the stuff. This worked out fine for the races of Telara, many of which used the native sourcestone to establish magic or magical technology and live pleasant lives.

The Vigil are a group of five gods who created the world of Telara out of sourcestone, at the junction of the Planes so as to create a prosperous world. They participated in the Blood Storm Wars by fighting alongside Telara's inhabitants to defeat the Blood Storm. Afterward, they helped create the Ward to defend Telara from the planes by keeping the Blood Storm at bay.

Since that time, despite the weakening of the Ward and the threat of Regulos' return, the Vigil has been silent. The Guardians are confident that the Vigil will return again to help drive back those forces which seek to destroy Telara. The Defiants, not so much. They’ve turned their backs on religion and only trust the tangible.

Tavril, one of the gods known as the Land, creates Elves.

Tavril is the land; she is the earth mother to the wilds, the power and majesty of nature. It is through her that we are able to survive; the bounty of her forests, her fields, her plants and the animals that feed upon them sustain us all. From her the beasts of the world pour forth to sustain us, to enrich our lives and even to challenge us. Those that learn to live in harmony with Tavril receive her blessings; those that attempt to despoil her bounty soon find her wrath, which is great and terrible.

Before the Vigil, she was the patron of the High Elves with whom she shared a special bond. She was their protector, and they were hers. It was this relationship with the gods that all the Guardians now enjoy. The other gods of the Vigil work to protect Tavril, who is the most vulnerable to the elemental invasions. But they draw from her strength; with every rift that is sealed, every elemental foothold destroyed, we witness the power of Tavril reasserting her will, and healing the land.

Bahralt, the god of crafting, on the other hand, creates Dwarves.

Bahralt is the city. He wishes us to labor and learn, to become skilled at a crafting and then teach our knowledge to our neighbors. The more trades you learn, the more pleased he is by your efforts.

Bahralt was the patron of the dwarven race before the gods joined together as the Vigil, but even in the ages gone he was worshiped by Mathosians, Eth, even those elves who left their cabals to live in the city paid homage to him. Now as part of the Vigil, he asks us all to work hard and improve ourselves. Learn a skill, make something with your hands, and then share it with the rest of the Guardians.

Thedeor is known as the Sword.

The god of the swords values courage and an adventurous spirit. If you bring him victory honorably gained he will bring you glory in this world and the next. If you flee from a challenge, or fight dishonorably, then you will anger him, and woe to the mortal that earns great Thedeor's anger.

Before the Vigil, Thedeor was the patron of the Mathosian people, who taught them courage and the arts of war. Now he oversees all those that march to combat the threats to our world, the dragons, their elemental invaders, and the heathen Defiants. We devotees who are not in the field on a crusade give honor to the Sword of the Vigil by testing our prowess against each other by sparring. We must keep in excellent fighting shape, for only our skill in war, can ensure a peace for Holy Sanctum.

Mariel-Taun is known as the Heart and, indeed, Valentine’s Day is known as the Festival of Mariel-Taun on Telara.

Mariel-Taun is the heart of the Vigil. She blesses those who love selflessly. She is the goddess of community, the hearth and compassion. The more you show empathy the stronger we all become. She wishes you to show compassion when you can, protect your community when you are able to, and improve Telara for others.

Mariel-Taun was the matron of lovers, healers, and the arts. As part of the Vigil she reminds us that while we live in violent times, we do not fight only to beget more violence. She wishes us all to take joy in our fellow mortals, revel in community, and take some time to find the beauty and joy that is Telara. We Guardians strive to bring about a better world, free from the corruption of the dragons. The heart of the Vigil wants you to find your love for this world, and to share it joyfully.

Thontic is the god of Mystery.

To know the god of mystery is to discover, to travel, to explore. Sanctum is a beacon of safety, beauty and wonder. There are so many wonderful things in Telara to be discovered. Thontic gives blessings to those that travel the world. Thontic doesn't care if it is to uncover the evil plots of the dragons, to fight the elemental invaders, to find rare and valuable treasure, or just to find that one mountain with the best view. The world of Telara is a world of wonder and beauty, of dangers and adventure. Explore!

Thontic was the patron of merchants, sailors and explorers. Now as part of the Vigil, Thontic shows us that there is always something more to the world than what we have previously believed. Thontic is said to have created the porticulums, which allows Guardians to travel further in the world than any have been able to previously.

On a ship at sea, a sailor plots his course, a merchant dreams of distant shores, and a scholar charts the stars. Each in their way prays to Thontic, God of the Sea, of trade, and of mystery. When the gods formed Telara from sourcestone at the dawn of days, it was Thontic who shaped the clouds, filled deep places with water, and sparked the thirst for knowledge in mortal minds.

The faceless Abyssal say that Thontic merely imitates Akylios’s genius, but this is a filthy lie. Akylios represents the profane darkness of the crushing deeps, where sanity flees even the design of nature and hideous secrets wait, hidden from the light. Thontic is the deity who guides travelers to safe harbor, who hides teeming life and fantastic revelations beneath the briny tide. While the Abyssal are misers of knowledge, hoarding secrets until their minds burst, Thontic’s priests are patrons of wisdom, answering life’s great questions and revealing their discoveries for the benefit of all.

Of all gods of the Vigil, Thontic is the most inscrutable. They say he moves across the land wearing the night as a cloak, his voice just barely softer than the lapping of the waves and the clinking of coins. His ways are not always kind—at his whim one merchant opens new cities for trade, while another is swallowed by the tide. Yet exploration is hollow without risk, and Clerics say those who die at sea have a place at Thontic's side.

The Guardians pray to Thontic when they embark on long journeys, solve crimes, or study the ways of magic and nature. And in Sanctum, most commerce takes place in Thontic Square, where every exchange pleases the god of the seas.

Thontic provides the Vigil with his wisdom, his craft, and a necessary ruthlessness that righteous Thedeor or gentle Mariel-Taun simply could not imagine. Like the trader who must outbid his competitors or the storm that rises without warning, Thontic knows that some events are unavoidable and had best be wisely managed. It is thanks to him that Rogues prowl the night to strike at hidden evils and Cabalists bring their forbidden rites to bear upon the Guardians’ enemies.

Without Thontic, the Guardians would truly be the guileless crusaders of Defiant propaganda. Guided by his canny insight, they are a subtler and more adaptable force than their enemies imagine. Like their god, their methods are a tightly-woven secret for the clever to unravel.

This all said, the Elves and Dwarves are placed on the continent that we know as Mathosia. Later, the Vigil creates a new race, the Humans, who will develop their culture across the continents of Brevane and Dusken. The Empyreans, a group of Humans, develop a high degree of magitech, which is a mixture of magic and technology, and build artifacts destined to amplify and link the power of the gods and mortals: the Divine Engines. The Infinity Gate, which would allow mortals to join gods in their dimension, would become the instrument of a cataclysm the likes of which had never been experienced before.

-1500 to -1000 years: the Blood Storm

The Blood Storm roamed the cosmos, cracking worlds for their sourcestone like marrow from living bones. Their trail of annihilation led them to Telara and, in the forms of vast dragons, the Blood Storm fell upon our world in a frenzy of greed.

Alien dragons, known as the Blood Storm for the violence they inflicted upon the world, invaded Telara through the Infinity Gate. One thing to keep in mind: they were brethren, but they quarrelled amongst themselves quite a bit, and definitely against Regulos their leader. One might say they each wanted his mantle of leader, mm? During this infighting, with Crucia and Maelforge teaming up to try to defeat Regulos, is when the mortals came in to imprison them.

Some sources call the dragons gods, and yet others do not mention this. I’m currently of the opinion that perhaps the Vigil and the Blood Storm are two factions of gods: one good, one evil. In any case, here are the dragons of the Blood Storm and their descriptions:

Regulos - (The Destructor) - black/undead

• Leader of the Blood Storm, Dragon of Death.
• Prides himself on being the most powerful of the dragons. Regulos is based on lies and deceit which in turn is used to protect one's pride.
• Cult: The endless court
• Champions: Alsbeth, Alekor, Mahr
• Ravages Dusken, creating the Shapers, zombie servants, that control the quasi-totality of the territory

Laethys - (Queen of Avarice) - yellow

• Dragon of Earth (strength)
• Greedy: wants control and power, and shiny things including gold. Kind of like your average Rift player ;)
• Cult: The golden maw
• Dungeons they are present in: Infernal Dawn

Maelforge - (The Flame Sire) - red

• Dragon of Fire, power of aggression
• Wants eternal chaos for the sake of chaos. Revels in his wrath.
• Cult: The wanton
• Champion: Emberlord Ereetu

Greenscale - (The Primeval) - green

• Dragon of Life
• Hungers for everything. In the lore the following is mentioned "At last, she heard the thunder of wings that stretched the sky, and a great green shape came down and feasted on the sicklehorns" which would suggest that he would feed on anything.
• Cult: House of Aelfwar
• Champion: Hylas (high elf)

Crucia - (The Broodmother)- white

• Dragon of Air, power of mind control & tyranny
• Crucia wants everything, she wants an empire, to have all the power. Due to her envy she controls people into serving her because in the end if you can't earn it then you just take it.
• Cult: The Storm Legion
• Champion: Caelia, etc.
• Settles on Brevane, and positions herself as a goddess of the Ashoran empire. When part of the population rebels against her tyranny and hides behind a magical barrier, she abandons Brevane and turns toward Mathosia. The Eternal City prospers sheltered behind their ramparts, while the Ashorans are wrecked.
• In Mathosia, she ravages the lands of the High Elves, which provokes the secession of part of the survivors. Faced with this destruction, the Kelari elves turn from Tavril to search a more direct protection with the spirits and the minor gods. Exiled, they take to the sea and settle on Ember Isle.

Akylios - (The Profane) - blue

• Dragon of Water, power of madness
• Technically not a dragon, as he is an Akvan who usurped the Dragon of Ice's position
• Has a need for knowledge (secrets and magic) at all costs. It’s told later that he is actually an Akvan who joined the dragons in their quest for destruction (see Nightmare Tide for more on the Akvans), and therefore his is not a dragon form. He was just a counterfeit that took the place of the Dragon of Ice, who was otherwise indisposed during the blood storm war.
• Cult: The Abyssal
• Champion: Tidelords (the faceless man once belonged to the cult)
• Akylios waits deep beneath one of Telara’s great secret shames, a place of terror and darkness and forbidden magic. He sleeps and he dreams, remembering endless eons marauding through the cosmos with his Blood Storm brethren, learning every tragic secret, every evil spell, sipping the nightmares of dying worlds.
• Telarans can comprehend the other dragons’ urges to consume, to conquer, to hoard, but Akylios is beyond understanding. The living interest him because the tortured howls of races sound almost like music. He does not seek victory over men any more than the ocean strives against the land. One day he will simply wash all mortals away just to hear them scream their silly symphony. He was mad even before he learned all fears and secrets. There are no words for what Akylios is now.

Originally the Blood Storm would destroy planets in an effort to send everything to oblivion according to Regulos's whims. However, due to Telara’s amazing amount of sourcestone, the other dragons began to want the world for themselves alone and fighting broke out among them all. This gave the Vigil and the mortal races of Telara time to banish the Blood Storm to the elemental planes and erect a Ward to keep them there. Soon afterwards, the Vigil went silent, without anyone knowing why. Were the gods dead? Were they listening? Were they watching? I believe it is still not quite known.

The Shalastiri, elemental lords from the Plane of Air, had escaped Crucia’s domination and battled on the side of the Telarans, and now were prevented from returning to their Plane due to the Ward, and so they settled among the Eth civilization they had helped, and procreated with them. Thus were the Bahmi born.

Human survivors from Brevane and Dusken arrived on Mathosia from the sea, dividing into two groups of different philosophies: the Mathosians stayed north and studied with the High Elves, and the Eth headed south of the continent, choosing a nomadic lifestyle and devoting themselves to survival through magic and magitech, which they had taken up again. The Eth discovered sourcestone’s properties again and constructed war machines. They also developed new forms of magic, like chloromancy, which was perfected by the Eth archmage Kazuzu.

By the way: Azdah

The reigning Gods of the Elemental Planes during the Blood Storm Wars. The majority of them are greater dragons that have hatched from the eggs of the dragon Azdah.