Wintermoor

A Travelers Welcome.

A vast nothingness surrounds you, as far as you look in each direction nothing but a shapeless formless mass of gray can be seen. Silence, absolute, yet deafening assaults your senses; you see nothing, hear nothing, and can feel only a slight tingling of unease creeping up your spine. You sense suddenly that you are not alone, fear of the unknown stalker lurking somewhere near you begins to prevail over all of your senses.
Wait! There, a small subtle movement just out of the corner of your eye, yet when you focus upon the area nothing is there…

“Hail Traveler,” a sudden deep voice speaks, you twirl about trying to focus on the voice’s location, but it seems to be coming from all around you “I have been expecting you.”
The thoughts form in your head, but before you can speak the Voice once again permeates all around you; “Your questions shall be answered, sit, we have all the time in the multiverse.” You feel the sudden want to sit; the floor of this place seems comfortable enough. “I have called for you Traveler, and you have come. Our existence is controlled, not by the fickle hand of fate, but by the collective free will of all those around us. The worlds revolve as they have since the beginning, and as they shall till the end.”
“The gods may be numerous, but they all answer to higher and greater powers. The two basic forces in the multiverse are Good and Evil, both are beings that shape the very fabric of the worlds. Well more to the point, the Prime created the worlds; while the Fallen seeks to control them all and to over power the Prime. I am an emissary of the Prime, he is the force that binds me to this place.”
“Before you ask Traveler, there is no name for this place, well not in any tongue that you can utter… I am also forbidden from ever speaking my own name, this place has a special magic to it. If someone here spoke your name they can summon you here, and control you. That Traveler is why I have such power over you, I know thy true name, but fear not I am forbidden to abuse such powers.”
“You have been brought here for a purpose, how you choose to complete that purpose is up to you. I have seen how you watch the worlds you travel, how one in particular garners most of your attention. After all, Winter is such a diverse and unique plane, but I am here to teach you… You must know of what you are about to meddle in before you can fully affect the world.”
Knowledge seems to seep into your mind, it begins as a slow process, but not unlike the flow of water from a spout it increases swiftly. Soon, the knowledge seems to be exploding into your mind, images and words race past the vision of your minds eye.

~ The Beginning

The planeswalking wizard Vintener is responsible for the creation of this artificial plane, his will alone bound it into being. It all began when he sundered a shard of the elemental plane of water, and the quasi-elemental plane of ice. These two shards were used to forever bind Winter between these two planes in the multiverse, the final shard was taken from Vintener’s home plane far across the multiverse in the prime material planes. This shard was taken to solidify the balance of elements on the plane of Winter; all three shards were combined, three pieces of infinity joined to create one complete plane.
After forging the basis of his new plane, Vintener brought forth the lands that would be the home of the varied peoples of Winter. At Vintener’s call seven continents rose from the shifting seas, each was then covered with an array of terrain and plants. Next the beasts and creatures of lesser intellect were brought from other planes, animals as strange as the Tressym, and as common as the cow were chosen. The final step that he took was to create the spells necessary to draw in the chosen beings to populate his plane.

~ The First Activation of the Seeker Spell

For the first true intelligent beings in Winter, Vintener chose the ancient ones, he used his seeker spells to bring ancient and powerful dragons to his realm. Fifty years the spells brought the majestic beasts to his world, the spells sought good and evil equally and every single one of the myriad of dragons was represented here.
Next the spells followed Vintener’s will to bring beings of the Celestial, Infernal, and Abyssal planes. Also the spells pulled other planes creatures as well the Githzerai, Githyanki, Mercane, and Bauriar.

~ The Foundation for the Future

Acting upon their own wills, the creatures of Winter formed the Council of Elders, a collaborative grouping of representatives from each race and village. The Council set laws protecting the persons it represented, a form of peace arrived to Winter. The first High Councilor was elected, the venerable solar Elidron, his wisdom was to guide the Council until he no longer chose to serve, or those he served no longer wished to follow.

~ The Coming of the Beasts

One thousand years after Winter was born, Vintener chose to introduce hundreds of monstrous races to it. His spells sought goblinoids, giants, minotaur, centaur, illithids, and many others; each refused to join the Council.
In less than twenty years an alliance of the monstrous races was forged, this alliance sought to destroy the Council and all that it represented. Many of the monstrous races chose not to join this alliance; some even sided with the Council.

~ First War of Winter

The alliance and the Council were soon at war, though the war did not last long, several million creatures perished before it was over. Many of the great cities lay in ruins, and the alliance was broken, the forces of the council stood victorious. Not was was recorded of this war, to history the war only lasted one year but the effects of the war reached much farther than anyone could anticipate.
After being broken in the war, the members of the alliance were accepted into the Council, as long as they followed the edicts of the Council.

~ Arrival of the Humanoids

Vintener brings humans, elves, halflings, dwarves, and many other humanoid races to Winter. Quick to realize the status of Winter, these creatures gladly join the Council and begin to build new cities across the world of Winter. The arrival of an undocumented race shakes the very foundations of the council.

~ The End of the Beginning

With the new arrival the Council shatters under its own weight, the War of Equals begins. The plane of Winter shudders under the chaos that follows, everything that the Council represented crumbles in the space of a day. Nothing exists to record what happened in this war, merely that it happened and then nothing.

~ The Reseeding

Hundreds of thousands are brought to the now empty plane of Winter, they represent the full myriad of races that had arrived before the Unnamed. They quickly break into factionalized regions and cities, each keeping its own law and setting its own rules.

~ The Race Wars
Each of the factions rallies behind their respective race, many races form tremulous alliances, and the wars begin. The wars all serve one purpose the domination or elimination of the other races, even those allied…
The Race Wars are brought to a screeching halt soon after they began, with two dragons are credited with ending these wars. The half-celestial red dragon named Rubisca, and her cousin a half-fiendish silver dragon named Silvarin. The two dragons are leagues beyond larger than any other dragon ever seen in the multiverse, each a colossal beast spanning the size of a huge city. They claim to be the only survivors of the War of Equals, they foretell the doom that worldwide war will bring to those involved and bring the laws of the Old Council to the people. While the Race Wars dominate over two-hundred years of Winter’s history, their end is heralded as the beginning of a new age. The formation of the Council of Equals, and the foundation of a completely open city, called Wintermoor, which houses the Council.

~ The Golden Age

Twenty years after the end of the Race Wars, Wintermoor has exploded to a hub of commerce, research, and civilization. With no war to focus on, areas such as Art and Philosophy flourish. The Golden Age had begun, the beings of Winter have now seen the way of war, and what the way of harmony can bring.

Authors Note: I decided to do this chapter now, instead of as an aside. It is semi-important that you know what has come before, after all – If you do not know from where you came, how can you know where you are going?