History

0-99 BW (Before Whitewolf)

Zodiac - the creator of the Universe that Ashirion resides within, gave life to the Great Wolf, who in turn found the dying embers of a fading star and blew on the embers until they burned brightly, and the core of Ashirion was as a furnace. But it was too fierce so he turned his breath to ice and covered it with that. Over time the world formed as it was then, a green a pleasing sphere - lush and set with all forms of life. The first of this life were the children of the Great Wolf, those called Shakari - the wolves of Ashirion.

100 BW

The Cat Lord petitioned the 13th one (Zodiac) to allow his people to settle on the world of Ashirion - the Great Wolf agreed to his father's demands and so the Eldrin came to the sphere. But the cat lord's folk were warlike and proud - they clashed with the Shakari in many wars of tooth and claw. But as time passed and many events unfolded for both the races, a compromise was reached and the two became staunch allies. Shakari and Eldrin blood no longer was spilled by reckless acts of pride and prejudice. It was during this time that the renegade Fae Lord Arasaekar of the Obsidian Halls broke from the lands beyond the mirror and came to Ashirion.

250 BW

With the arrival of a relative time of peace for the two races and the passage of time, other beings came to inhabit the sphere. The Elf kind, the Dwarf kind and the savage but noble Felin - how they came to find the world of Ashirion is a fact that tends to be shrouded in mystery and half-truth. But it is known of this time that alongside these other races, came the human - those who in their hearts are capable of acts of great evil and great kindness. The balance in the universe kept by a constantly evolving and expanding species. While some were content to find allies and new lives with the previous inhabitants of the planet, some human kind was determined to conquer and so the line of King Kyrus spread like wildfire across the face of Ashirion. Forcing the Eldrin and Shakari into retreat.

300 BW

Forests burned and rivers were dammed, great cities arose out of the ashes of war and progress. Some belched black smoke into the air and fouled the waters of ancient places. It was time for the two gods to set the record straight and to forge their alliance into something to teach the overly ambitious human kind a lesson they would never forget. So both the Great Wolf and the Cat Lord gave their folk the gift of shapeshifting - so they might go among the humans and learn of their weaknesses and strengths, to guide them away from a dangerous future and a terrible destiny. For at this time they awoke a dark and hungry evil in the shadows of progression. They disturbed something that should have remained a secret for a long time to come, but often things like this are woken when they are least needed - thus Ashirion learns of a merciless foe - the Shadoen. These dark beings turn on every life form in an attempt to destroy the world.

301-399 BW (The first war of progression)

The first war against the Shadoen and the encroaching human machine began on the first year after the dark beings had come and ended exactly one year before the reign of the war's greatest hero. It lasted nearly one hundred years and claimed the lives of countless beings on all sides. During this time there was a forging of an alliance between the various races. Humans, Felin, Elves and Dwarf kind all stood head and shoulders with the Shakari, Eldrin and Dragons - dying to bring peace once again to the sphere. Orders such as the Knights of the Raven, the Dragonmasters (Warriors of the God - Dralgos - God of Dragonkind) and the mysterious Wayfarers banded together and fought against the Shadoen in many pitched battles. It was unto the final battle of this war that a solitary Wizard (Serbannen the wise) and a race of dimensional interlopers came (The Sh'roud) - they turned the tide of battle and the Shadoen were defeated - their Shadow Lord slain. The final dark act of retribution was for the Shadow Lord to strike down the Dragonmasters and send their god to the sleep of ages. One Dragonmaster survived long enough to place the leader of that order in the place known as Sanctuary Rock - in the hope that one-day she might rise again. Thus sleeps in stone and crystal the Lady Christina Drachalis.

400 DW (During Whitewolf)

At the end of the first war of progression there were many casualties, but the alliances between the various races had held strong. From the ashes of victory came the heroes of the war. The Lord Whitewolf (Who rose to become the King of Ashirion) The Lord Shakarovar (His second in command) The Lord Kayne (A noble but ambitious Shakari) The Lord Darkwolf (A treacherous and ignoble Shakari Lord) and Aeon (A stranger who was able to make the forests and mountains come alive to attack his foes - so called Summoner by those who did not know the true name of his kind.) These were but a few of the heroic individuals who fought against the Shadoen and it would take a tome grander than we have to account for them all. And in these years that followed peace would once again come to Ashirion - for a while at least. But plots and counter-plots flew like Dragons across the lands.

500 DW

In the one hundred years that passed the peace lasted for a goodly while, but as is, with all things - they must come to an end. Even the good ones, so it was that the elves - supposedly perfect beings of Fae history explored the world and reached a place where none were supposed to go. The dark forest known as the Bloodwood, they ignored the signs and portents of this place dismissing them in favour of reckless exciting explorations. It was here that they discovered a ruined crypt and cavern system and broke loose many evils on the world. The guardian wards lain by Serbannen were broken in the elf kind's desire to reach the hidden treasures that surely lay within. They unleashed the undead (Risen) on the world, and their horrible masters - the Void, who had been imprisoned here many years ago by the mage after he learned of the mad god's desire to destroy the world his son had created. It was during this time that the Shakari Lord Darkwolf and his daughter Shadowewolf (Isharyn) were slain by the Void and their spirits replaced with dark mirrors of their souls. Isharyn's spirit was not claimed by Death and instead became lost in the realms between life and oblivion - later to be claimed by the Shadow Lord once more in his desire to bring ruin upon the world. These two beings would almost sow the seeds of destruction for the Shakari and the sphere. And while the Shakari fought outside enemies, they now had to worry about the turncoat Lord Kayne, who joined Darkwolf and his daughter. The Lord Bronzewolf (The bigot) dubbed all who followed these three and the Shakari who were not pure blooded - as Vikari and sparked a civil war inside the once peaceful lands of Wolfhome.

510 DW (The Risen Wolf)

Beset on all sides, ten years of brutal conflict once more roiled across the Shakari's lives and those who touched them. Kayne, Darkwolf and Isharyn had been banished from the Kingdom of the Wolf and on pain of death were not allowed to return. They established their own land - known as Darkhaven, and it would become a haven for all that was rotten and evil in all forms of life. Still the Shakari fought against that which the elves had unleashed, employing magic and powerful weapons, forged of starfallen metal - while they battled their own traitors and those who sought power. On one such skirmish at Craggen Mor - The Lady Isharyn betrayed and slew Lord Whitewolf's most trusted Knight and General (Also her one time lover) seeking to convert him to the cause of her father. She failed and so took his life with a dark blade, but rather than kill him he was taken back to her home and raised again as a Risen. But Isharyn had forgotten the rules of the undead of Ashirion, those that are brought back to life are returned with minds and abilities mostly intact - she succeeded in bringing to life a creature that made the Risen pale in comparison. Something that embodied many forms of darkness - bound into a Shakari's powerful shell. Thus began the age of the Risen Wolf.

The Lord Shakarovar turned against those he had served and led the armies of undead in countless successful campaigns. Darkwolf pledged his banner to the undead Shakari Knight and Kayne was swept along for the ride (Not that he minded of course.) Kayne and Whitewolf met on the field of battle and the White King was reportedly slain (This was not wholly true - he was struck down by Kayne's magical demonblade and his soul trapped within the dark metal.) Whitewolf's body was taken and interred in a casket of silver somewhere by the Wizard Serbannen. Serbannen returned to the conflict and with the aid of the Sh'roud faced down and slew the Lord Darkwolf - expunging the Void from his shell and taking the body of the warmonger again to inter it, this time in a casket of obsidian next to his once King and brother.

Now the Wolf people had no leader, no ruler and they were in disarray. Quickly however, Bronzewolf took the reigns of power - before any other could stop him. And while the Shakari's Warmaster (Roninwolf) had given an order to retreat, he ruthlessly pursued Isharyn and slew her. This sent the Risen Wolf into a terrible and incalculable rage. Thus, he broke across the sphere of Ashirion like a torrent, unleashing a red waterfall of brutality that would last for almost two hundred years.

700 AW (The Sundering)

Whitewolf was slain, Shakarovar continued his rampages unchecked and barely challenged. Cities fell to his undead hordes and it seemed like nothing could stop him. Once again from the sands of the east came a stranger, the one history remembered as Aeon. With this traveller were the Sh'roud and the Wizard Serbannen. While Bronzewolf struggled feebly to defend his borders, they gathered the remains of the orders that purged the Shadoen back in the first war of progression and met Shakarovar, the Void and the Risen in a battle that shook the foundations of the world. Fearing victory would be lost - Kayne (Who had been silent in history's marker) wove the great spell of unmaking with the aid of the Risen Wolf - this shattered Ashirion in terrible savage storms of magic unleashed. As the world broke, Shakarovar was lost in the rift that opened beneath him and vanished from the battle. In Wolfhome, Bronzewolf found the Risen and Void in great numbers - assaulting his home and slaughtering his people. When he fled the battle of Moonheart Castle he found Lord Kayne there waiting for him. They fought, Kayne slew Bronzewolf but not before the Shakari could break the demonblade and shatter it into a thousand shards.

Meanwhile at the battle with Serbannen and the others, the tide there too was turning. The Void were forced to flee the degrading sphere and opened a rift back to their home plane. Seizing his chance to follow them and take the fight elsewhere, the Lord Roninwolf gathered his mercenary company (The Ronyn) and charged into the rift after them - as the rift closed two thousand strong had entered and the allies wondered how many (if any) would return. With the Void gone, the Risen Wolf lost, the armies that he commanded broke into open flight and were soon destroyed by the defenders. Still the world seemed to be lost, until Serbannen used the magic of the Waystones (Magical portal stones that connected far off places) to hold the broken shards of the world together - thus Ashirion now had a new name - the broken sphere.

The Shakari were a broken people, homeless and without a leader. They vanished into history and at that time even Legend. The Sh'roud likewise were lost when their homeland on Ashirion was sundered and all seemed bleak in the wake of victory as many learned that other races were likewise destroyed in the cataclysmic events that had transpired. The Reptil were no more and their shard was consumed in the breaking of the world. And the great City of Draconis vanished in the maelstrom, some had said it vanished into another dimension to await the time when Dralgos awoke and returned to the sphere.

1700 S (Sundering)

A thousand years gathered and passed in the blink of an eye for some, but for others this time was one of an uncertain world. Magic had turned inside out and many things they knew as good a pure, were twisted and nightmarish. Dark times bordered on all the races and they fell into old habits, alliances broken and open war raged in fits and starts. The human aggressor once again beat back their rivals and forced many of the Felin into slavery and brutal gladiatorial games. Humans turned to worshipping other figures of power, they forgot the Shakari and the Great Wolf and even the 13th One (Zodiac) to their detriment. Zodiac had decided long ago that his son's world was too perfect to allow it continue, it was he who had created the Void long ago to destroy the universe come the time of the unmaking and it was he who had pushed events in the mortal world towards the planet's Sundering - but his son and his allies continued to best him. But now the world was broken and magic failed to perform as it once had done, old powers of even the Gods turned hollow. Fate was betrayed and murdered by Zodiac who shed his portfolio of creator force and stole Fate's powers - now as Fate he could finally see Ashirion broken further into chaos in the cosmos. The other deities were not aware of Zodiac's treacherous acts and he slipped by them as time began to gather steam and momentum.

Unto the age of man came the next in line of Kyrus' spawn (This line was not what it seemed of course) King Brecht - who was just as terrible as his forefathers and in actuality was a twisted Seelie from beyond the mirror who could take human shape and form. He established his power base in the largest shard on Ashirion - Kelbarden and sat in the desert realm of Sudelar, turning the human population there into bigots and racial monsters. Non-humans found themselves in chains or slaughtered as the King closed his gloved hands around the shard.

The Great Wolf worked in secret, in the background and forged with the help of the smith Silverwolf, four magical swords. One for each Season of the world - Fae of Seelie blood and unquestioned character could only wield these blades. The swords could take the shape of magical rings at will and defeat dark terrors with a single stroke. They also gave to the wielder the power to become as a God - it was thusly that the Seasons came into power and each took a shard as their own, bringing them into the shape of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. These Seasons became known as the Ashirion in accord with the name given to all beings of deific power upon the broken sphere.

2000 S (The age of the Risen and the second coming of the Void)

The Shakari, Serbannen and all the heroes that fought and died for the world were mostly forgotten. In this time of misery and woe the human world was at the throat of the other races, while some sought to destroy them, many sought to defend the other races from the onslaught of the Sudelarian expansion and Brecht's terrible and evil powers. The Ashirion of the Seasons worked their wonders in their own realms and allied with each other to hold back the darkness - the greatest of all of them, Lady Summer used her magic to shape a new and more haunting vision of the Shakari's homeland in her realm and bade the Wolf people come to her so that they might once again have a home. The Knights of the Raven and the Wayfarers formed new friendships and suffered against the tides of twisted mankind to bring the world back to a fragile peace. Just as folk thought they were getting somewhere the King of Sudelar broke the seals that the Great Wolf had placed to protect the world from the Void and freed them once more into the world of Ashirion. So now the lands once more had to stand against the Risen and Void, but they were not alone in that stand. For during their time of exile and wandering, the Shakari had learned many secrets from a few Sh'roud who remained behind when their realm had gone into shadow.

Even the Dragon Lord, Blackmoor, was forced to abandon his own dreams of power and conquest to protect the sphere from utter dissolution - he allied with the Wizard Serbannen and seven other powerful Mages (Thus the Nine were born) and they too returned to battle the evil of the Void and their servants. The Nine gathered in a secret place (Some said this place was the same as where the leader of the Dragonmasters was entombed) and performed a powerful spell to reunite Whitewolf's wandering spirit with his body. The spell was successful and a more powerful White King rose from death and returned with the Mages to face the enemy once again in battle. Many had clung to the belief that Whitewolf would return and lead the Shakari out of the darkness - they were proven correct in more ways than one.

3000 DW (During Whitewolf again)

Out of the realm of summer the White King took this time to strengthen his hold on the light and settled as Lady Summer bade him. He drew a new castle stronghold out of the very rock and crystal of the mountains in her realm. The new castle was called Moonsinger and would serve as a bastion of good for aeons to come. The forests grew lush and the waters ran clear. The sound of the Wolves and the Wolf Folk sang once more in the far corners of the realm. Into his lands the Raven Knights came and many other allies rallied to his banner, when they were at last ready they sent out this army to challenge not only the human realm of Sudelar but the Risen and Void. During many campaigns the enemy were driven back further and further - it seemed like it was the Shakari's time to defend the world once more.

3470-3478 DW (The time of trials)

For over four hundred and seventy years the Shakari campaigned to drive back the Void and the Risen - restoring order. But the ancient stories told of a third and final time for the return of all that was dark, when the triad of blackness would once more rise and attempt to engulf the world in a wicked shroud of ignorance and destruction. Human kind continued to rise in power across the face of the broken sphere and it was at the turn of the 8th year that once more the prophesised darkness again rose in power. First it began with the rise of the being known as the Fallen who opened the gateways for the Void and Risen once more, and then they in turn managed to unleash the Shadoen by accident, when they waged war on the Lich King's realm - the magical destruction of his ancient tomb and crypt caused a tear in the dimensional fabric between Ashirion and the Shadow Realms. The Lich King is driven from his homeland and seeks refuge in the Far East. Civil war erupts in Sudelar and at the same time Brecht is forced to defend his homeland against an invading horde from the Eastern realms, he wins this war and subjugates the provinces of Emerald and Jade in revenge. He sends out countless warriors and assassins from his secret orders, they sow dissention and chaos in the realms. The emperors of Jade and Emerald are killed and the provinces taken over by Brecht's pawns, the prince Tsien is driven from his homeland (Jade) and seeks refuge in the lands inhabited by the gaijin - he takes a new name and a more fitting name now that of Steel. Little is heard of him again until he helps defeat the Shadoen at Kemman Dell.

3481 DW (Current Time)

In the 3 years following the rise of the dark triad many atrocities befell the sphere of Ashirion. Many more lives were lost when the evil Shadoen destroyed the village of Kemman Dell, the lands of the Cattan race and the servant of the Shadow Lord slew all the Seasonal incarnations, all but one. He claimed the three ringblades for his own and took them back to his master - only the summer ringblade remained untouched and free from corruption. So the Seasons were lost and their lands crumbled to ashes along with those connected to them, more shards lost to the darkness that now opened its foul maw and sought to purge the lands of life for good.

Kemman Dell was ruined and now the Void and Shadoen turned on each other, the rest of Ashirion was caught in the brutal conflict that followed. Those who died in the battles were brought back to serve either side, as the Risen, the undead servitors in the war to decide who would rip the sphere apart. Heroes rose and fell in this time and many good souls perished to the grip of the Shadoen, as they seemed ready to finally finish Fate's work for him. When all seemed lost aid came from many directions, quests that were undertaken by brave souls found fruition and although their deeds are too numerous to mention here, they will be remembered as those who finally broke the hold the enemy had on the world. It was during this time that the allies discovered Lord Roninwolf had returned and once more came to aid them with a substantially reduced Ronyn mercenary company.

The allies fought to take back the shell of Kemman Dell and united they won in a decisive battle half way through the year of 3481. Although the losses were high the heroes triumphed and the lost sleeping Dragon God was finally woken from his slumber - and in turn the order of the Dragonmasters was rekindled - Christina Drachalis was freed from her healing sleep of ages at Sanctuary Rock by two brave heroes aided by a resurrected Dragonknight and his companion, one of the Dragons. The massive Shadoen army that was preparing to siege the city of Ruatha was driven from the valley and back into their shadowy homeland to lick their wounds and plot again. During the taking of Kemman Dell one of the many casualties to the Shadoen's war on the living was the Fae Knight - Lord Blackraven, when he fell his order eventually collapsed into mist and memory. It was also at this time the Lich King returned and fought the Void who had settled in his old realm.

Now the world watches in silent prayer and hope that at last the shadow that lurked for so long has been defeated. All seems to be at peace, but in the darkness of the Iltyr cities and the underworld beneath the broken sphere. The darkness once more gathers in strength and number and unleashes a revenge on the peaceful dark elves - the Iltyr lose city after city until only a handful remain. The King in Sudelar is replaced during these chaotic years by a man known as King Antaeus, once more the same shape shifting Fae who now pretends to be another human ruler - driving his people into a clandestine war with the largest kingdom in Kelbarden. The Kingdom of Ruatha and the Fae Queen who rules it with a velvet glove of sometimes-dark diplomacy. The Ronyn who served the sphere faithfully was broken by the acts of some of its members and the order was disbanded. Only Ronin serves the Queen now as Ruatha's Warmaster, guiding her warriors to countless victories.

A final page turns in the latest chapter of the history of this world, as the God Sanguine unleashes his life force and blood magic to fortify Ruatha's protective barriers, to stop the enemy from overwhelming the city. His high priestess assumes the mantle of Goddess. The Shakari once more reign in Wolfhome - speaking not of how their Lord Shakarovar came back to them and was forgiven for the near destruction of the world. Some find it odd that in the moment when the city magic was rekindled, the Lord Kayne came back, arriving moments before the Summoner Aeon returned. Perhaps there are other forces at work here to maintain the balances between light and darkness, these forces will continue to pit their mortal and immortal chess pieces against one another until the Great Wolf discovers their games and puts an end to them. But what is that saying, while the Wolf is looking the other way - the twisted will play.

Only time will tell what the outcome of the third and final war against the Shadoen will bring, for this is the history that is written in the blood of those who stand against the darkness again. And what of the Void, they vanished at Kemman Dell and have not been seen since - what lurks out there in the mist? You can rest assured that as long as the fires of ambition burn in the hearts of man and humanoids alike - there will always be something to sharpen your sword or wit against.

And so at last the Third War of Shadows has come to an end, the magics which have long since kept a portal to the world of Ashirion, open...for the dark Shadoen to enter, have dissapated. Why? Because of the actions of a brave few heroes who fought against the darkness when it was strongest.

It is whispered that the Elemental Master Quick faced down the Shadow Lord with the aid of his once servant Lord Shayde. No one bar Quick knows the true details of this event, but it was said to have brought Chaos to his world, and the Shadow Lord is reported slain. The recent plague of Shadoen attacks on Ruatha seems to have ended with naught but a few isolated incidents against some of the populace, and none of the terrible War that threatened to loom before.

Rumour whispers that the rings that were seized by the Shadow Lord have now found the hands of others and darkness is beginning to lift. Other reports have shimmered through that the Province of Emerald has been plunged into a desperate fight to free it from the grasp of the Emperor of Jade (A known ally of King Antaeus) and that a call to arms has been issued by several factions. With his Shadoen allies gone, Antaeus' eyes must once again turn to his own lands...protecting his borders, thus the balance of power once more turns in the favour of light.

Quick's actions brought to end the War in a way that none thought possible, without the loss of life on the Surface World, but the Iltyr Cities were all destroyed, their loss of life was incalcuable...and while they had many allies from the City one of their own betrayed them to the detriment of all. Only Beneath stands now, a lonely beacon in a dark night for that race.

And only time will tell if the actions of two Iltyr, Cathal and Sithen have truly saved their people from a twisted fate. And while another Iltyr plots to change the course of her race, the spectre of Antaeus remains to challenge all, nothing is ever simple for the people of the Broken Sphere.

As time moves on once more with Ashirion, it was King Antaeus' turn to feel the wrath of those who he had caused great trouble in the past. The Lich King Kharyon forged an alliance with the Fae Queen and along with the Iltyr Sorceress - Kalamysta turned his baleful eyes upon Sudelar, they embarked upon a campaign of destruction against that realm.

Prince Tsien of the lands of Emerald was able to retake his homeland with the aid of the Wayfarers and a few others, now his forces secure it from further invasion by the puppet monarch of Jade.

A change came over the City of Ruatha as the Risen began to rise against it, there were reports of more attacks than ever...and while a newly formed Church to the Goddess 'Crimson' was dedicated...the dark Lord that once sat by her side fell to the Goddess' wrath herself - Lord Kayne was dead. There was a new Marquessa of the Bards Guild, a promising young woman called Namira...who proved herself more than adequate for the role, and had joined Crimson's worship...

This age was indeed the age of heroes and there are too many to list here, but within the ranks of such always lurks Captain Nae'rran of the Cattan, who's tireless and often cynical support of Ronin forges a great path forwards. But in times of heroic actions, great darkness often comes and with the failing of the City's defences due to the actions of the Self Proclaimed King of the Sewers...an old enemy arose.

Kestillan, he waited and did bide his time. At a critical battle with Valarian and Bluewolf...both fell, this plunged Quick and the Queen into a terrible state, their unleashed grief became a storm which destroyed the City's protections and shattered them to naught. The City was overrun and all had to flee to Wolfhome to escape destruction.

There in the Shakari lands a group of allies gathered and over time grew strong enough, aided by the Sh'roud and others...they forged weapons the like of which have not been seen in aeons. Even the Iltyr were forged by this, into weapons of war...proving that their race is not one to stand idly by, Kelindel and Silstri, Sithen and others all did their part...a mysterious woman known only as Imree...worked alchemical potions to blast Risen to dust.

Many forays went into Ruatha and slowly the City was retaken piece by piece...under the watchful eye of Eydan (Ronin) the City's Warmaster and a man who finally took his true and rightful place as the White King. Lord Thanatos, was so aided by the actions of others in the rededication of the Church of Pale and from this catalyst a great hope arose...a hope that rekindled all the fires of the allies hearts and souls.

One by one the Guilds were retaken and placed back into the hands of the City folk, as they fought near-death battles to aid the cause.

Upon Moondawn, the 10th day of the first month of winter in the year 3482.

The City of Ruatha was freed from the Risen that had held it in their grip.

An army of the defenders of Pale rose from the sea to aid Captain Nae'rran and his men, as they fought for their very lives upon the docks of Ruatha, vanishing only when it was over.

A band of brave souls, lead by the Warmaster Ronin, descended upon the Bards Guild and fought the battle of their lives...a battle that nearly claimed all involved:

The Marquessa, Namira, fought bravely for the life and souls of all...with hope and the power of the Great Wolf at her fingers.

The Foxlin Alexander, who battled against great odds to aid his fellows in this final confrontation.

The Iltyr Silstri, who's mastery over the arts of alchemical and scientific lore produced a weapon that could spit the very soulsfire to harm the Risen, twice nearly finding his death at the hands of his own makings...yet brave enough to battle on.

Kelindel, the Iltyr woman who proved that once and for all, she was one of the wisest choices that Markus had made when inducting her into the Wayfarers.

Redclaw, the newly appointed Elemental Master of Spirit, in the wake of Valarians...death, who proved that she was the perfect choice for such, never giving up even when faced with odds that could beat her, fourty feet to all of her eight feet of height.

Magnorous, who thought himself a simple card dealer...found a new power by the hand of the Goddess of Death, and Railer, likewise bonded...Master and Rat. His daggers of Corvus proved a deciding factor in the final confrontation.

Jolan, Captain Jolan White of the City Watch, who thought himself beyond faith and a troubled man indeed, proved at last that if you have faith in yourself - the power of those you call upon flows unbidden like a wellspring of hope. His actions that day will never be forgotten.

Perhaps even thanks to the Great Wolf and the Goddess of Death who saw fit to aid the City with a silver pillar of fire, funneling their power through those present when called upon, not turning a blind eye as many Gods would do.

And lastly to the unsung heroes who were there to see things as they finally defeated a creature that was beyond a nightmare, to see the City retaken. The entertainers who kept up morale and the healers who patched the wounded up and continued to save lives, to all those who cannot be named due to such a length of history's marker...they will all find thanks in time as naught is forgotten.

But as time on Ashirion oft tells, this is but a parchment turn in the pages of the Broken Sphere...not the end, by far.

There have been numerous events in the recent years since 3482. Some have been small, some have been almost world shaking and have seen the face of Ashirion's Kelbarden shard change as a result.

A wicked plot has begun in the City of Nightfall that caused numerous ripples across the Broken Sphere itself, part of that story has been closed but always the tatters of the order dedicated to chaos and dissention, flap raggedly at the edges of the world and provide an ever present shadow of looming trouble.

This plot saw a devastating event rip through the City of Ruatha, it turned the noble Queen Nennuir into an enemy and almost overwhelmed her...the Shadoen that were once loyal to the city and the Sh'roud that protected it were consumed and turned against the very people they were guarding.

A mechanical monstrous collector known only as the Artificer, a shade from the destroyed iltyr City of Brath Shadis brought its terror to the streets of Ruatha, murdering dozens of innocents and destroying the Lich King Kharyon before it was finally tracked back to the ruin and silenced for good by several brave adventurers, they in turn managed to free a survivor of that terrible tragedy.

During this time another dark spectre of the planet's past arose, freed by agents from Nightfall, freed from a centuries strong prison and now loose upon the world again - but oddly enough not choosing to act, perhaps biding its time.

Not all was gloom and doom, as the Shakari's ancient lands of wolfhome were restored to their rightful place upon the shard of Kelbarden and Eydan, the White King finally came into his power as the shredded energy of the old Great Wolf was restored to its former glory, the seperate mortal hosts for his power were not harmed but the deity now walks taller and brighter than before.

And so to with him walks Lord Shakarovar, now the God of War.

A harsh winter last year forced the Wolvren of the Blood Wood to seek out fresh meat, they began to attack outlying villages and settlements, something was turning them from a disparate warring band of savages into a sharp almost military-minded attack force, and the whispers from the shadows were that the normally magic-hating beasts had begun to revere a dangerous shamanic leader.

Other events rippled past as the years ticked on, but now there have been several wars for the Dock area of the city, between two opposing groups of thieves, this has drawn the attention of powerful investors from across the water, these men and women will stop at nothing to capitalise upon the dissention in the city, to make a play for power.

The city was terrorised by a stalking Rat creature, man and rat both, not much was known about this horror save that one night the report came in that the beast had been slain? Winter's grip fell over the city as well, some whispered that it was Blizzard herself that froze Ruatha for reasons known to only her and the Queen...

Assassins stalk the shadows, mysteries abound and the next chapter of Ashirion's history proves to be just as interesting as all that have gone on before.