Greater Starstruck Valley

When the travelers that would come to be known as the Peninsulan People journeyed east in search of a home, not all endured the full trek. As they travelled, many of the wayfarers decided that following the wind was too great a task, and settled along the path that followed. One such group gazed upon a gloriously beautiful valley carved out of the mountains, and decided to call that place their home. Ancient carvings found there depicted a large meteor tearing the valley out of the mountainside, and so they named their new home Starstruck Valley.

The Valley Settlers soon discovered they were not the only sentient life to make home where the meteor struck. Small tribes of gnomes, halflings, dwarves, and even elves had settled long before they. The gnomes and halflings were of no trouble to the Valley Settlers. In fact, they welcomed newcomers with open arms. However, the dwarves and elves, who resided on the bordering western and eastern mountains respectively, were less welcoming. Both these races, with their tendency towards longer lifespans, remembered a time before when humans attempted to settle in the Starstruck Valley. There was much bloodshed, something that the Dwarven Clan Chief Barduk and the Elf Prince Valerian did not wish to repeat. Fearing a potential massacre, the Valley Settlers sent an emissary who came to be known as Pax the Soother to both sides of the mountains to make peace. Pax forged an agreement with both settlements known as the Treaty of Harmony, in which a part of the human Valley Settlers would live with the dwarves and the elves to learn the cultures and traditions of each, in an effort to integrate their societies together. Conversely, both elves and dwarves would be sent to the human settlers to learn their culture as well. Pax’s proposal was universally accepted, and it was not long before the societies of nearly every species in the Starstruck Valley were harmonious in culture. Pax was given the title of Grand Harmonizer, an individual in charge of ensuring all people in the Starstruck Valley have their needs met.

It was at this point that, with almost complete unity in the southern parts of the Valley, the Settlers were able to attempt expansion to the northern valley. Upon expedition, however, it was discovered that the vast majority of the northern valley was populated by violent Orc tribes. Pax attempted to strike a peace treaty with the Orcs using the same methods utilized for the Treaty of Harmony. At first, it had seemed that the Orcs accepted. However, weeks into the integration, the integrators sent to the Orc tribes were slaughtered in an event known as the Greenskin Massacre. This was devastating to relations between the two. Many Orcs took the opportunity to begin invading the southern valley, as they viewed the populace there as a non-negotiable enemy.

This caused a major problem, as the Starstruck Valley had no organized military, and therefore no way to combat the sudden raids. Distraught and unable to think of a solution, Pax resigned his title of Grand Harmonizer and passed on the title to Fenli Stonesmith, a Dwelf that had studied under Pax for many years. Fenli was able to perceive the problem from a new perspective: The people of the Starstruck Valley were not lacking in combat prowess, but rather, lacking in organization. It was with this mindset that Fenli established the Adventurer’s Guild. The guild’s primary purpose was to provide people with a method of contacting strong individuals for protection. Combat-ready individuals were sought out by dozens of Conscriptors, all looking to induct adventurers into the newly formed organization. Many in Fenli’s court initially scoffed at the idea of such a structure-lax method, and insisted that a military of some sort be drafted. However, a mere few months after the Adventurer’s Guild conception, the Orcish raids had been quelled, and the courts were shocked at the wild success of the Adventurer’s Guild. Furthermore, the access to what was essentially “moral mercenaries” gave farmers a way to protect their crops, and traders a way to transport their goods. The Guild also provided a method of exploring the mountain ruins that speckled the surroundings of the Valley, and from their depths, the first magical items were discovered. The economy across the Valley exploded, with peace of mind as the motto of this new era.

The discovery of magical objects in the depths of Elven and Dwarven tombs caused a great change in the Starstruck Valley. Study of these objects led the more inquisitive residents to the discovery of an entirely new plane of reality called The Weave. Scholars theorized that all magical energy comes from The Weave, and that, given training, individuals would be able to harness that same energy to change the world around them. This discovery led many people to believe the legends of different culture, including the fairy tales of Unum, to be true.

Many years passed. Magic was experimented with like never before. It wasn’t long before the first casters began to emerge out of the population of the Valley. Whether they emerged from heavy study of The Weave, or from the Well of Magic that was discovered in the bastion to the northeast, magical individuals were making their mark on the world. Though few and far in between, the presence of mortals capable of creating fire with their thoughts frightened the general populace. This point was driven home in the Gaviloss Incident, wherein which the settlement of the same name was razed to the ground by a magically capable individual irresponsibly testing a Fireball Spell. This tragedy led the people of the Valley to ask the current Grand Harmonizer, a dwarf by the name of Gilgamesh Copperbeard, to find a solution. Gilgamesh met with the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild, the elf Dionys Greenember, and the two agreed to the formation of a subgroup within the Adventurer’s Guild. Thus, the Mage’s Guild was born.

Rather than be composed of mages, the Mage’s Guild was composed of individuals in charge of the regulation of magic. Those who were magically inclined were required to register their abilities with the Mage’s Guild so that they may be monitored in their use of magic. Some mages objected to this, wishing to pursue their endeavors independently. A select few even refused to associate with the guild entirely, effectively severing themselves from society. However, the majority of the few mages that existed agreed to register, as it gave them a method of coming into contact with other individuals such as themselves. One mage in particular, the elven wizard Persephone, wanted to establish a school to allow new mages the ability to study and perfect their unique gifts. After petitioning the Mage’s Guild, she was granted the deed to a mountain ruin which she turned into a functioning school of wizardry, coined the School of Evocation.

The School of Evocation was incredibly successful in its teachings. Knowledge of The Weave, as well as general control of magic exhibited by mages, skyrocketed. Seeing the success of the school, the Adventurer’s Guild approached Persephone and requested she dedicate a section of her school to training adventurers in the use of magic for combat purposes. Initially reluctant to accommodate the request, Persephone changed her mind when the Mage’s Guild offered special access granted to the college if they were to accommodate the request. Thus, the Eldritch Knights and Arcane Archers were born.