History of Aravantia

The moment when an enormous Gem of Arcana hurtling through the Astral Seas came into contact with the husk of an ancient, primordial deity. The force of this magical contact was like a flint to stone and its spark ignited the flame of life, creating Ulandra, Entity of Life.

Ulandra used its Gem of Arcana to transform the husk of the primordial deity into the Elemental Chaos and, in turn, the Elemental Planes of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

After creating the Elemental Planes, Ulandra used the elements of fire, water, earth, and air like a palette of paints.  With these elements, Ulandra created the Material Plane, including all of its geographic features.  This event marked the end of the Post-Arcane Spark era and ushered in the Era of First Creation.

In an attempt to remedy the overcrowding of the Material Plane, Ulandra, Entity of Life drew another husk from the Astral Seas and created a reflection of the Material Plane where it placed its most unusual, troublesome, creative, and tricky creations.  This plane, rowdier and less predictable than the Matieral Plane, became known as the Fey Wilds.

Ulandra, Entity of Life pragmatically realized life needed limits and divided its Gem of Arcana into two: one containing positive magical energy and the second containing negative magical energy. From this second Gem of Arcana, Ulogot came into existence. As Ulandra created natural beginnings, Ulogot provided a natural end.

Ulogot, Entity of Death created a new reflection of the Material Plane from a third husk pulled from the Astral Seas.  This Plane, known as the Shadowfell, served as a place for the sentience of the creatures reaped from Ulandra, Entity of Life's world to be kept.

As greater Entities, Ulandra, Entity of Life and Ulogot, Entity of Death were unable to create separate creatures in their image, which was why their world was so varied - nothing could encapsulate their likeness. However, they were able to once again split their Gem of Arcana into smaller gems, which, in turn, birthed lesser deities known as Gods and Goddesses. With the help of Exult, the Platinum Greatwyrm, the Entities imbued each Gem of Arcana for the deities with a different concept: Light (Ludra), Knowledge (Suth), Nature (Fethreen), Tempest (Everendith), and War (Borthak). Thus began a new era.

When the Gods and Goddesses were created, they immediately began establishing planar spheres, know as Divine Domains, to serve as the ultimate embodiment of their ideals. Ludra, Goddess of Light, created the Divine Domain of Light. Suth, God of Knowledge, created the Divine Domain of Knowledge. Fethreen, God of Nature, created the Divine Domain of Nature. Everendith, Goddess of Tempest, created the Divine Domain of Tempest. Borthak, Goddess of War, created the Divine Domain of War. The creatures of the Material Plane took notce and found not only purpose and solace in a life of following these ideals, but also found a meaningful death within the Divine Domains of these Gods and Goddesses. Rather than keeping all the souls in its domain, Ulogot, Entity of Death began to guide the souls across chains throughout the Shadowfell to the domains of the other Gods and Goddesses.

The destruction wrought by the conflict, coupled with the raw arcane power the Entities, Gods, and Goddesses deployed against each others' forces, unleashed a new element: Chaos, a powerful and dangerous force that thrived in the absence of order. Chaos was not only capable of corrupting mortals into twisted fiends, it had the ability to create demonic forces fueled by wicked desires to consume the Planes.

Suth, God of Knowledge focused the efforts of his followers on the creation of an enormous portal called The Threshold in the center of the continent of Aravantia.  Together, the Entities, Gods, and Goddesses coralled the forces of Chaos in one final, costly push and banished them through The Threshold and into the infinite layers of the Abyss.

Eventually, Ulandra, Entity of Life and the other Gods and Goddesses managed to defeat Ulogot, Entity of Death. Ulogot was stripped of its body and sealed away in a Storm Giant's skull, chianed to the Shadowfell.  The remaining Gods, Goddesses, and Entity were not seen since, the Portal Network was deactivated, and the worlds eventually began to heal from the scars of war.

A century after the end of The Cataclysm, the adventures of the Seasoned Metes are recorded in the Adventures in Aravantia Chronicles.