Arete has a long history to discover. This is the thread where I'll keep the notes on what you learn.

  Age of Elves

For centuries, the Dark Elves used their undead army to slaughtered the other races. After nearly eliminating the Orcs, they turned their attentions to the Dwarves.

Realizing it was only a matter of time before the Dark Elves turned their full attentions to mankind, three friends: Thovis the Hunter, Gianam the Sword, Zohlkahn the Smith, gathered the greatest heroes of the human tribes. Together, they set out on a quest to find Sahman, the Patchwork God, he who maintains the balance of the world.

After many trials, the three pleaded their case to the god, convincing it that the Dark Elves threatened the balance. But rather than interfere directly, Sahman granted the three divine powers. With it, they were able to call forth the spirits of those who died to the undead hordes, creating an army of phantom. The Ghostwalk.

The two army of the dead faced one another, battling for decades, until the Ghostwalk managed to push the Dark Elves into the depths of the Wasteland. To this day, both side still harvest the souls and bodies of the dead to continue their battle.

Thus ended the age of Elves.

  Age of Nuat

With the elves gone, humans and dwarves spread freely around Arete. For a time, they lived peacefully in small villages, trading with one another. This changed when the shaman Nuat made a deal with Vendak the Keeper. The slaver's god revealed the secrets of the Djinni crystals to Nuat, and the shaman set out on to conquer the surrounding human tribes. He built a large empire, and took the title of Caliph.

At first, the Caliphate was content to merely trade with the dwarves. But when they learned that the Caliphate's official god was Vendak, the dwarves were horrified, and refused to have any more contact with them. Alas, if the Caliphate couldn't get the items it wanted through trade, it would get them through kidnapping. Multiple dwarven villages in the north were enslaved, and forced to work for the servants of Vendak.

The leaders of the dwarven tribes gathered together, and for the first time in their history, they elected a King who declared war against the Caliphate of Nuat. The war... did not go well. The dwarven fortress were nearly impregnable, but the Caliphate's forces easily routed their opponents in the plains. The war stagnated for nearly a century. It would have lasted longer... had the human and dwarven general not received a strange missive.

They met in secret, and discovered that they had been called to a peace meeting by a Light Elf. Unlike their dark cousin who turned to necromancy, the Light Elves decided to step down from the pedestal they built for themselves, and seek to protect Arete from the shadows, until the time was right. And this was the time for them to act.

After centuries, the orcs who had been nearly wiped out by the elvish armies had rebuilt their forces. The only way to stop them is for the remnants of the dwarven and human armies to join forces with the elves. They agreed, and after a long battle, they managed to break the horde. The war was over, but it cost the Caliphate so much, that it could no longer keep their slaves under control. The rebellion shattered the nobility, breaking apart the empire.

Thus ended the age of Nuat.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:54, Wed 21 Oct 2020.

Adventuring Guilds are organized groups of mercenaries, explorers, assistants, and general trouble shooters. They regularly receives requests from potential clients, and either hand out those task to those most fitting, or put them up for grabs on a job board for adventurers to choose.

Guild members are identified by a small magical item, usually disguised as a cheap piece of clothing or jewelry. The item is made to look as cheap and uninteresting as possible, to avoid the risk of it being stolen by thieves. When it's assigned member activates the item, an illusionary image of the guild's symbol appears in front of it, proving the person's place in his guild.


   The Phoenix Blades

Symbol: An upward pointing sword with flaming wings
Motto: No matter how low we fall, or how hard we're beating, we rise again!
Guild Hall: The Phoenix Nest, in Methrosan's Breach, in the Province of the White Sword.
Identifying item: A small beaten iron medallion.

The best know Adventuring Guild in the Province of the White Sword, know to be honest, honorable, and ready to aid the downtrodden. They also have a reputation for causing a lot of collateral damage in their quests.

Leader: Della Quake, Earth Elementalist
  A well known wizard, usually busy building, repairing, a strengthening the city's wall... as punishment for all the damage the Phoenix Blades tend to cause. Treats the guild as her family.

Renowned members: Gilbert Horneater, Barbarian
  An imposing barbarian from the Savannah of Nuat in the north, who grew up in the guild. He is nicknamed 'the Giant of the Phoenix Blade' for his size.

Mortimer Arcane, guild wizard
  A red-haired elf with sapphire eyes, usually dressed in white robes. He is Khaaven's uncle, and invited him into the guild when he felt he was ready.

Royce Comet, guild alchemist
  A former slave, freed by Gilbert. He has chocolate-brown skin, and black hair and eyes. He is a follower of Noric, and credits his survival to both his priest and Gilbert. His daughter, Corlis, is considered the mascot of the guild.

Nicholas Drake, scout
  A slender, black-haired man with beady blue eyes. He often travels into the Plains of Nuat, scouting out the movement of slavers, and the actions of the various barbarian tribes.

Russel Albion, thief
  He considers himself a 'lovable rogue', but most other guild members think of him as a slacker and a goof-off. He used to be a mercenary under the command of Garth Jerico, but after annoying too many people, he left to join the guild. Despite his laziness, he's quite skilled at using his meteoric axe.

Leo Dunn, bard
  A sweet talker with a penchant for dishonesty, he spends most of his time drinking and goofing off with Russel. Unless kicked out by Garth, he'll find any excuse to stay at the Nest and slack off.

Irene Seraph, phantom knight
  A long dead knight, and companion of Gianam. She was sent to the realm of the living to investigate the Ancient Ones. After being rescued by Gorrid and his friends, she became an honorary member of the guild.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:34, Tue 09 Nov 2021.

  Hanging Tree
A small human town, on the north-east shore of Dragon Lake. Rumors claims a pirate ship occasionally visits this town, but no guards were able to confirm this.

  The Ghostwalk
The Ghostwalk is the primary religion of humanity on Arete. After attaining divinity from Sahman's gift, Thovis and his friends gathered the spirits of the dead to push back the undead army of the dark elves into the depth of the Wasteland. To this day, the Ghostwalk still fights the undead, recruiting the spirits of their followers to protect the world from the dark elves.
The leaders of the Ghostwalk are Thovis the Great Hunter, Gianam the White Sword, and Zohlkhan the Smith Guardian.

  Gianam
God of justice, with the duty of holding back the darkness and defending those who cannot defend themselves.  His justice not that of the courts, with it's clever word plays and technicalities, but of natural law and balance, striking precisely where needed to cleave evil.

  Heresy of the buriers.
To prevent the dark elves from increasing their forces, the church of the Ghostwalk dictates that the dead should be cremated, so as to not leave a body to be turned into an undead.
However, a small faction of believers have latched on to a legend of unknown origin. It states that should a spirit in the Ghostwalk manage to find it's body in the undead horde and defeat it, the spirit will be able to reclaim it, and return to life. As unlikely a scenario as it sounds, some people are desperate enough for a chance to see their loved ones again that they are willing to risk the anger of the church.

  The Wastelands
When the Ghostwalk defeated the dark elves, they pushed them all the way to a place called The Wastelands. When contacted, the spirits of the dead have confirmed that the battle against the undead horde still takes place in this afterlife. Some people think there must be a way to access the Wastelands from Arete, but no one knows how. Finding this mysterious path is one of the Legendary Quests that only Thovis and his friends were able to complete.


  Dwarven Ancestors
The Dwarves of Arete worship their oldest, and most revered ancestors. It's not well known how they have achieved godhood, but their powers and interventions are undeniable.

  Noric
The Dwarven god of Darkness, Thieves, and Freedom. While the dwarves rarely seek to spread their religions to the other races, the priest of Noric actively spread words of their god among the slaves of the north. Their goal is only to help the slave escape, so the worship of Noric remains little more than an obscure cult outside the Kingdom of Deepearth.

  Elven Pantheon
The elven gods were chosen by Sahman, the Patchwork god, to maintain the balance of major aspects of the world.

  Dirthspar
The elven god of Meditation, Serenity, Silversmith, Moon, and Time. When Sahman assigned the task of maintaining the balance of the world, Dirthspar said the world needed a mean to keep track of time for periods longer than days. Seeing the wisdom of his words, Sahman gave him the power to create such a method. Dirthspar created the moon, an invisible hourglass with glowing silver sand. One side of the hourglass was left clear, so people could see the sand pool in and out of it, while the other side blocks the sand's light. And so, every month, the clear side fills in to light the nights, before emptying out again to grow dark, and start the cycle a new.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:24, Fri 06 Aug 2021.

  The Sapient Races
Most of the intelligent races of the world are divided in two categories: the Major races, created by the gods, and the Minor races, born of mixed breeding. There are multiple races that philosopher have been unable to classify, mostly through the difficulty of discussing the topic without insulting people. Questioning the origin of centaurs has lead to great advances in the field of medicine.

  At the present time, the known Major races are the human, the dwarves, the elves, the giants, the shark-folks, the orcs, and the goblins. The legendary dragons are believed to be a Major race as well, though their rarity makes research difficult.