[center]Elder
The First Era[/center]
In the beginning... – Genesis 1.1
And Erlankiv, Lord of Creation, strode through the void, and where he passed there was life. All around, where once there had been nothing but emptiness, now there was life – green forests, dusty red canyons, sparkling blue oceans. Life. But as he looked around, Erlankiv saw the balance of Creation being disturbed, simply by Creation itself. And so, Erlankiv, Lord Creator, made the Elder; nine wise beings, led by the Old One, to maintain Equilibrium. Erlankiv cast his eye once more across his world, then strode away, further, always further into the void.
Chapter 1
The Birth of the Mages
There was among the common folk one who held great power within his village. Yiroll Goldentongue he was called, for from his tongue came words of beauty and – dare it be said – magic. Yiroll’s village, near to the centre of Ea, was a plain place; with nothing remarkable or extraordinary occurring there. But then, once, a little to the south west of Tiranhome, Yiroll’s village, a disturbance surfaced. One of the Elder came to the source of the trouble, and found he could not destroy it as it was. So, he gave to the disturbance a physical form, and soon hordes of unholy, two legged jaguars were swarming towards Tiranhome. As the jaguar creatures descended on his town, Yiroll prayed to Erlankiv that he could do something to protect his people. But he heard no reply, and so he resorted to his old methods. He was making a speech, rallying the people of the village to his cause, when suddenly he spoke a word that none had heard before. And suddenly, the swarming jaguars stopped. Surprised, amazed, Yiroll spoke the word again – and slowly, the jaguar creatures began to melt away, out of existence. Yiroll had spoken the First Word of Power – and with it, had become the first mage.
Yiroll Goldentongue travelled across Ea, searching for others who shared his gift of speech. And among the people of the world, he found many who shared his gift, and so they set out, across the desert, and found a lush place. There they founded the Mage’s Academy; and within a few centuries the city of Maerin grew around it.
Chapter 2
The Seed of Destruction
In the 833rd year of the First Era, long after Yiroll Goldentongue went to his grave, one of the mages found himself unhappy. His name was Hoaris Fendelhir, and he wanted more. He grew unhappy with the mages’ preachings of Equilibrium, and sought greater power. Within one of the Lore Books, he found one enchantment as yet unused – the summons. Many months later, after much agonizing rehearsal, Hoaris performed the first ever Summoning – he summoned a White Djinn; one of the lesser of the spirits, but its power was still too great for him to command. The White Djinn rampaged through the Mage’s Academy, burning and destroying. Eventually Reiadin Goldentongue, descendant of Yiroll, was able to dismiss the creature – but it cost him his life. Afterwards, during the rebuilding of the academy, the mages discovered their most terrible loss – the destruction of the Lore Books. Lost forever were the important laws of Equilibrium, that governed the balance of the world’s power. In punishment for this terrible loss, Hoaris Fendelhir was exiled forever. But in anger, his son Urpoll ran from the Academy, and founded a darker order, dedicated to a far greater and more dangerous power. Urpoll, first of the Sorcerers.
To be continued...
Elder is a Strategy game set in the world which has been very shallowly explored in the above paragraphs. It draws heavily on our very own LOTR, as well as elements of Warhammer 40,000. To start off with, I will begin by explaining the profiles as used in Elder.
Erlankiv, Mage Lord First Era 1467-1509
Named after the Lord Creator, Erlankiv is a great Mage, one of the most powerful of his time. Sadly, like all of his generation, he has no knowledge of the Laws of Equilibrium, and so, at the hands of a terrible creature from the void, suffered an unthinkable death.
CS MS RS S T MP ED W A
3 5 2 3 3 7 2 2 1
CS = Combat Skill. The warrior's all-round skill in hand-to-hand combat. The average for a normal man is 4.
MS = Magic Skill. The being's skill in employing magical powers. An average Mage would have Magic Skill 3
RS = Ranged Skill. The warrior's all-round skill in using ranged weapons.
An average man has Range Skill 3.
S = Strength. What do you think? Average man is Strength 4
T = Toughness. Kind of obvious. Average man is Toughness 4.
MP = Magic points, used in casting magic. An average mage has 6 Magic points.
ED = Equilibrium Displacment. The amount that this being disturbs the balance of Creation. Average Mage is 1, Average Man is 0.
W = Wounds. Same as ever.
A = Attacks. Yep, same old.
Weapons
Erlankiv is equipped with a defensive knife.
Defensive Knife Req. CS WM (Weapon Mod, modifies Strength/CS)
2 0
Wargear
Erlankiv can take the following items at an extra points cost.
Serpent Necklace xxxxpts
Erlankiv serves the Serpent Spirits and is invigorated by their power. Whilst wearing the Serpent Necklace, Erlankiv may expend 1 Magic Point per turn without reducing his own store.
Magical Powers
blah blah blah I can't be bothered to write these now, but you get it.
Retinue
Erlankiv has 3 Retinue spaces. He can take demons or normal humans in his retinue.
OK... Now, basically the game functions similarly to current GW Strategy Games. Differences are mainly due to the nature of the world, i.e demons can be summoned from the void, and most importantly, Equilibrium rolls must be taken to avoid unbalancing Creation...
Thror.
_________________ Thror Clawhammer
Is it sad that I spent hours trying to think of a signature?
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