Mord

The Land of Remains

*"And what will become of us should legions trespass and vandalize our homes? What will become of us when our churches are ruined and supplanted? What will be left if his nation hungers for our soil, and lusts for our women? Tell me master!"

"There are many who asked these same questions before you. And there will be many who ask them in the future. For if this comes to pass, we shall become just one more memory of the long reminiscence of these lands."

— The Wizard Lloyd, speaking to his young apprentice, John, on the nature of Lorian's coming.

Mord (pronounced: /M-ohr-d/), is a major continent of Taea. The name is of a Dwarvish origin, unique amongst most major regions of the Mortal Sphere. The name was first coined by the dwarvish elder, Saint Jenn the Pilgrim Yeoman in the Age of the First Hustea. In Dwarvish the name evokes the color purple, specifically the color of purple seen in the sky at dawn while looking west from The Arbasmendi Mountain Range. This "purple land", or as it came to be known as, "Mord", would be the new home for the ancestries guided away from Az-Mundu during the trials and tribulations of the First Hustea, and the name has persisted over one-thousand years.

Overview

The continent of Mord is the most central and interconnected continent on the globe, and inhabited by a diverse range of ancestries and species. The history of Mord is particularly rich, and it has come to be known as the Land of Remains for its long and storied past.

Geography

The continent of Mord contains diverse terrain and climates. It is composed of temperate forests, fertile farmlands, scorching deserts, and soaring mountains. The continent is a host to life of all sorts including both Mortal Ancestries and monsters. Of the super-continent made up by Mord, Volgaea, and Sannaea, Mord occupies the western third. Aside from its western coastline along the Bellatorian Ocean, the continent's most dominant feature is the The Arbasmendi Mountain Range, which completely separates the western regions of Mord from the east. The second-most prominent geographical feature is The Shai-Rakis Desert spanning the entirety of Mord from east to west. Other major geographical features include the Sea of Areppo, an interior sea bordering Astrgolfel, The Erdlands, and Kynigetti that serves to connect coastal regions through commerce and trade, and the The Alabaster Sea which borders Astrgolfel, the Erdlands, and Midani to the north.

Regions of Mord

Mord is a host to a multitude of environments. The most important thing to remember about Mord's geography is the separation between east and west along the Arbasmendi Mountains. The east includes the regions of Cordelia and Old Noitavik, while the west includes The Ragat Song,The Shai-Rakis Desert, Shaijaqim, The Erdlands, Kynigetti, and Astrgolfel. It is incredibly difficult to overcome this separation, as pathways through the mountains are treacherous, and no sailor has yet to prove that a voyage from one side to the other is possible.

The regions of Mord include:

• Astrgolfel
• Cordelia
• Kynigetti
• Midani
• Old Noitavik
• Shaijaqim
• The Arbasmendi Mountain Range
• The Erdlands
• The Holy Empire of Nahraam
• The Ragat Song
• The Shai-Rakis Desert
• The Southern Arbasmendi Range

History

Known as the Land of Remains, the history of Mord is particularly rich. Within its land, the continent has harbored the once-great dwarvish halls of Az-Mundu, the razed shires of the Halflings, and all of the cultures that have sprung from the Shai-Rakis Desert. Most notably, the Empire of Lorian originated from within the region of Cordelia, to the east of the Arbasmendi Mountains.

Ancient History

The geological and natural history of Mord stretches back for millennia, but it has been established that during the Elder Days, the continent was first populated throughout the regions known today as the Arbasmendi Mountains, Midani, and Old Noitavik by the Giants under the kingdom of Ostoria. Historians and archaeologists do not agree on what the culture or civilizations that followed the fall of Ostoria may have looked like. In the east, it is well-accepted that the regions were developed thoroughly by the world-spanning empire of the Elves. Though the nation was said to have "set root in all places where the moon watches", all evidence suggests that the regions west of the Arbasmendi Mountains developed separately from the reign of the Elves in disparate pockets of wilderness. Following the fall of the Elves and the rise of the Dwarves, Mord became the seat of the world-city Az-Mundu. It is argued still to this day that the old halls of Az-Mundu in its prime were far larger than the Megalopolis of Cordelia today. It was during this age that other mortal ancestries began to establish themselves in the West more prominently, particularly those nations throughout Shaijaqim.

The Middle Ages

Following an incursion of dragons and underdark creatures, the halls of Az-Mundu fell, triggering a mass-exodus of the population known as the Age of the First Hustea. It was during this event that Mord was given its current name. The ages to succeed Hustea were marked with turmoil all hard-fought growth all throughout Mord as those pilgrims fought to settle throughout the wild regions of the continent for hundreds of years. The culmination of these efforts resulted in a strong, dwarvish dynasty headed by Queen Tetra IV who recaptured the halls of Az-Mundu, inadvertently beginning the Age of Burning Skies. This conflict spanned many years, and the war between Dragon and Giant-kind nearly razed the east, and set fire to much of the west, particularly the Halfling Shires. Entire populations fled to the safety within the mountain-kingdom, where the Dwarvish lords welcomed them with open arms. This phenomenon led to a multi-generational, inter-ancestry centralization and blending of culture, families, and language referred to as the The Alloy.
In the latter years of the Age of Burning Skies, groups from Az-Mundu began to once-again begin settling throughout the frontiers in the west and east in the Age of the Horizon.Though most of this activity was directed to the east in Noitavik and Cordelia, many groups also travelled west. Noitavik became the veritable capital of the new world when the College of Mordenkain was founded. The first magical college attracted many powerful magicians, and their alumni invented the Clone spell, becoming the first mortals capable of living forever. The wizards of Noitavik invested heavily in expeditions throughout the deserts of the Shai-Rakis in order to fund their experiments with the region's plentiful reserves of gemstones and diamonds. Thus, the cities of Karima were born, and the Orcish natives were made wildly rich.
The rise of Vecna, and his Lucernan Age of darkness, hailed a final turn of fate for the continent of Mord, and the whole world seemed on the verge of succumbing to the armies of evil released from the Necropalace. Az-Mundu was hollowed out and turned into the volcanic ruins of Il-Mundu, and the College of Mordenkain was destroyed. When Vecna was at last defeated by the Last Aliance, led by Lorium-Rex, it was the human westerner, Nicolas Lipovsky, who sealed the lich into the Dark Moon.

Mord Today

The regions of Cordelia were completely rebuilt following their destruction during the war against Vecna, and the Empire of Lorian became the strongest nation in Taea. The region today resembles a sprawling megalopolis of towers and castles in the old-elvish revival style. Old Noitavik is now inhabited by Vecna's self-proclaimed successor, Zhdan, and the Empire of Zhod. The west, meanwhile, persevered as it always had. Today the regions west of the Arbasmendi Mountains coexist alongside the wilderness and monsters that have always pervaded the land. The Colleges of Magic notably relocated to Shaijaqim. Working together under the shrewd planning of St. Zhefarah zi Nahri, the colleges and Nahri prepare for the inevitable invasion from Lorian.