History of Ardania

A summary of the history of Ardania as known from "Spirit of the Land" and "History of Ardania"According to "Spirit of the Land", Krolm is creator: "From the vast nothing, Krolm brought everything into being" and created the world known as Ardania. He then brought into existence humankind who would worship and revere Krolm's power. The first humans lived a simple nomadic lifestyle and became known as "barbarians". Soon, the barbarians came into conflict with the Dragons. With the assistance of a sword forged by the Dwarves, Krolm slew the dragon king to return peace to Ardania. (The Dragon King's tomb is to be found in the single-player game). After the exhausting war against the dragons, the exhausted Krolm retreated to recuperate, during which he begot a son and daughter named Lunord and Helia. It was now that city-state civilizations first began, over a thousand years after the first barbarians of Krolm. Rendishire and Garuta being the two most powerful states. As time passed, the former came to patronize Lunord while the latter supported Helia. The two factions broke out in a long-destructive war until both sides were finally defeated by the original Barbarians who dissented from city lifestyle. However, none of the threes sides were strong enough to place the land under strong rule. The destructiveness of the war caused a great recession in civilization and the emergence of greater evil led by Scrylia the serpent queen and the malevolent Witch King. During this time, Lunord and Helia sired seven chidren, including the four younger gods (Fervus, Krypta, Dauros, and Agrela, deities of Chaos, Death, Law, and Life), as well as Grum-Gog the dissident god of the Goblins. The final two children were Rrongol and Url-Shekk, both monstrous yet too weak to be a god. Abandoned by Lunord and Helia, Rrongol and Url-Shekk roamed the lands for decades.Weakness following the Rendishire-Garuta war allowed Grum-Gog, Scrylia, and the Witch King to take advantage. Each had their plans of domination but were ultimately set back. Grum-Gob's goblins never gained the upper hand in war against the humans, Scrylia's serpent forces were ultimately decimated due to rebellion within the ranks, and the Witch King's minions were eventually beaten by Sydrian and his knights. Victory over the evil forces effectively restored order to Ardania. It was now about a thousand years after the flourishing of the old city states. By now, neither Lunord nor Helia had the will to reestablish their lordship over the Ardania. Rather, the following of both gods gave way to their four powerful children: Fervus, Krypta, Dauros, and Agrela. Temples to the four new gods grew in numbers while the followers to the old gods Lunord and Helia were shunned by the rest. Followers of the even older Krolm persisted, but their numbers were few compared to the days of the old. Among the four newer gods, due to differing ideologies, the followers Fervus and Krypta polarized from those of Dauros and Agrela.In the face of such revival in civilization and religion, new challenge arose for the Ardanians. The revival of magic largely abandoned for two thousand years resulted in the creation of the first undead when a high priestess of Krypta who later became known as the "Liche Queen" misused her powers and sworn defiance to all things living. Newer monsters such as Black Phantoms and Minotaurs began appearing. Many of the new menaces, such as giant spiders and the Oculus, were due to dark sorcery. It is in this timeframe that the event of the game take place. Sources and NotesThere are two canonical stories about the background mythology of Ardania: "Spirit of the Land" which appears as a short story in the manual, and the much longer "History of Ardania" written in Prima's Strategy Guide which also details the events leading up to the time as played in the game. The two sources have a few implicit discrepancies in the portrayal of Krolm and the development of the Pantheon. "Spirit of the Land" described Krolm as more powerful, portraying him as the creator who begot two children to divide up his rule. History of Ardania, on the other hand, does not explicitly credit Krolm as the creator of the world but begin the story describing Krolm's loneliness in a time when the "land was young" where there were no humans and "no creatures knew of him." In addition History describes the role of Krolm's weakness after the battle with the Dragon king in brining about the next generation of gods and does not mention Grum Gog, Rrongol, and Url-Shekk as offspring of the gods. The two sources do not necessary contradict due to the brevity of one and the thoroughness of the other, but differences in emphasis of the storyline is readily seen. In addition, the account presented in "History of Ardania" is presumably written after the story in the manual in order to elaborate the storyline relating to quest characters.