History of Matria

In the beginning…

…there were two, Mira and Kito, the mother and the father. Kito felt the need to build his bride a house, and so he created the world, every stone and mountain, every stream and ocean he created. Every land both near and far he scattered through the water. He hung the sun and moon to light his bride’s chambers, the stars to guide her way. And he let her take her pick of all the world where to make her home. She chose the cavern in the south of Matria, for the rushing of the waters soothed her. So say the priests, so sing the bards. But Mira soon grew lonely, with just she and her spouse. And so she created the great beasts, the dragons, to dwell in the mountains of all the world. These were fierce creatures made to keep her company, and protect the world gifted to her by Kito. But the dragons were reclusive beings, and did not mingle with the gods. And so she remained lonely still.

Seeing his bride's loneliness, Kito decided to attempt to rectify the situation himself, and so he created the other ancient races, the elves and the drow, the dwarves and the naga. Gifting these children to the mother goddess, he saw her loneliness ease. But the relief was temporary, for the creatures they had created were mortal and would die. Mira's sadness grew.

Several millenia after these creatures were created...
...MIra found herself with child. As the life within her grew, rather than make his bride walk herself, Kito designed a grand carriage. To pull this carriage, he created a race of strong beasts, intelligent enough to keep his wife company as they drew her carriage, and strong enough to get the job done. These creatures were the centaurs. And for awhile, the arraingement worked. But he had created the centaurs too proud, and they rebelled against the god and his bride. So Kito let them loose in the plains of the south, the land that would oneday be called Sawa.

Mira would eventually give birth and name her daughter Ramana. To guard her new child, a race of large beings was made. Not making the same mistake as her husband, the mother gave them limited intelligence. She called this race the giants. But with their brute strength, and limitted intelligence, they spent most of their time fighting among eachother, and so she exiled them to the north, to the land that would become known as Spierwit.

More children were to follow: Aseen, Usara, Jhara, and Ipuro, born within millenia of one another. To provide her children with playmates, the mother goddess created the race known as humans, meant more as pets than anything else with their short lifespan. But one child would become far too fond of them.

Ramana fell in love as she grew, with the human race at large, and in particular with the human known as Vampiros. She would slip out at night to meet him. However, when he cast her aside for one of his own race, the goddess flew into a fit of rage. Weilding the sword of her brother Ipuro, who had grown to be the general of his father's armies, she slew her former lover, and his newly taken bride in the midst of a forest. Her hand was cut in the process, and when the froth of her crimson blood mixed with her victims', seeping into the ground, a new race rose from the ground. In honor of her lost love, she called this race the vampires. To this day, the forest where the race was born is a constant canopy of crimson leaves known as the Blood Forest.

Ramana would not be the only one to have problems with love. Usara, who would become the goddess of love, would be wooed by an elven male. Her younger brother, Jhara, was a trickster of a man, and warned her that in time her love would die. To prevent this, he told her, she had to steal from the father god, Kito, the secret to immortality. Usara did this, and taught the secret to her lover. When Kito found out, he flew into a rage. Not even the vampires, who could not fall victim to illness or old age, lived forever! That was a gift for only the gods. To prevent the secret from further spreading, he banished Usara and her lover to the Land of Sands, a pair of islands that were nothing but sand. Giving the pair rule over the larger island, he forbade the lesser life forms from trespassing upon it.

Jhara's mischief didn't end there. He was convinced that he was more clever than his father, and that he would make a better race than any Kito and Mira had created. A race strong enough to serve him. He dabbled, trying to get the race perfect, and in the end created three subraces which, when classified together, were known as the shifters. Lykos, who took the form of the wolves, loyal and strong. Werecats, who were clever and quick, quiet and resourceful. And Ursulines, who took the form of bears, whose brute strength was their gift.

But more mischief was at hand...
And Jhara was at it's center. He would go to the different races, feeding on their pride, and tell them that they alone had the right to rule Matria. He went to Ipuro, telling him their parents did not think he could fill his role as god of war. Between these two acts, a civil war was brewing. The racial tensions were high, as were the tensions between the gods.

It wasn't long before those tensions came to a head. The races were at eachothers throats, and war broke out. For centuries it raged. Certain populations, the naga and dragons for instance, were decimated...others, like the humans, thrived.

<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;">Eventually the war ended...
<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-font-kerning: 14.0pt;">...and the races were left not knowing what they had even been fighting about. Peace settled over the land, but it had been torn into five realms. Now each nation is in the midst of struggle, looking to be lead to greatness. the gods have little interaction with their creations, and when they do, they usually disguise themselves so as not to be recognized.