History of the Valley - since Ba'a Zarn

The Archivists of Parn Tandalorn tend to view the history of the Valley of the Old Ones as, enigmatically, beginning with the departure of the Old Ones themselves.  At some point, in the distant past, the King of the Old Ones Ba'a Zarn disappeared from the world.  After this time, the many creatures and creations of the gods of the Old Ones began to spread and to rule over the world.  The chief creations amongst all of these are Men, Elves and Dwarves.  The Men seem to have been a companion gift to the Old Ones, constructed by the Elemental Gods.  The Elves were first created by the forest goddess Earnissa.  The Dwarves were created by The Krung, lord of the mountains.

As the power of the Old Ones began waning, many of the Men who were living with them in their fabulous cities began to flee, and to already spread across the world.  At this time they began worshiping the gods and goddesses of nature, especially Bronc the Storm King, and Photoss the Sun King.  The Three Goddesses were not unknown at this time, but the complicated nuance of the modern churches did not exist - they were simply worshiped as Fertility, Magic and Agriculture.

The tribes of the Storm King grew in power and strength, until they threatened both the Dwarves and the Elves.  This brought about the first Elf war, which pitted the ancient tribes of the Storm King against the original forest tribes of Earnissa's people.  The Dwarves were pledged to help the Elves, but due to unknown reasons they never appeared at any of the battles.  The barbaric humans were losing in the war against the elves, but in the end the Elves capitulated and settled an uneasy peace with the humans.

There are still groups of humans that worship the Storm King, however (and this is true within the Valley) much of human civilization is now built around the worship of the Three Goddesses.  These three, and a complicated hierarchy of saints and scions, are the object of much of the modern Church that is key to human civilization.

Within the Valley, the human city of Narn is home to the feudal kingdom of Neill family.  Duke Alasdair IV is the current head of the family, and he rules with the blessings of the Arch-Cleric Neveross, of the Cathedral of St. Narn.  Across the valley there are many small baronies and other realms that all, in theory, owe feudal loyalty to the Neill family, however the distance and the politics involved mean that at any time any number of these can be at war with each other, or against the Neills themselves.  Complicated church politics don't make matters any simpler.

Within the valley, there are several forests where Elven domains are evident.  These are largely Wood Elves.  There are, in the mountains surrounding the valley, several hidden cities of High Elves as well.  During the war with the Storm King barbarians, the High Elves felt betrayed by their brothers who surrendered to the Humans, and so went, mostly, into seclusion.  Other than their hidden mountain cities, the High Elves also have a floating city that travels up and down the Great River.

Several underground colonies of Grey Dwarves exist in the mountains surrounding the valley.  These are the types of dwarves who feel compelled to pursue their traditional role as miners and craftsmen, working with stones and gems, and digger deeper and deeper into the mountains.  Offshoots of these 'traditionalists' often move down out of the mountain, and build towns and villages where they trade with the feudal human cities, and others.  These Dwarves who leave the mountains are often referred to as Brown Dwarves.

Countless other races of beings (magical and natural) occupy the areas within and around the Valley.  Among the more numerous are the Halflings, Gnomes and of course all the Goblin races, from the goblins themselves, up through the trolls.  Many variants of beastmen exist as well.  In addition to the underground empires of the goblins and dwarves, there is another race of elves that have taken up life under the mountains - the Dark Elves.

Since the departure of the Old Ones, and the war between the Barbarians and the Elves, the rise of Human civilization has dominated the valley.  Today they are the most numerous people within the valley, although the strength of Narn has faded in recent decades.