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~Modern Shadelandic Script~

~Typical Bel'tha'gian Templar~

~The Elemental Accord~

In the wake of the Crimson King's downfall, six elemental Gods reconvened in Cynosure soon after the turmoil of the year long battle had passed, many centuries later. The Lady of Air, Akadi. The Lord of Flames, Kossuth. The Queen of the Deep, Umberlee. The Earthlord, Grumbar. The Dark Lady, Shar. The Lord of the Sun, Ra. The six elemental deities met with much tension between them, especially between Shar and Ra, to discuss a secret contingency plan should the Crimson King or an even greater power rise. It took decades in mortal time for the six Gods to reach an agreement, six locations on the Material had been chosen by each of the elemental lords to be infused with the essence of the representing deity's element, using the remaining concentrated essence of their predecessors entrusted to them upon their ascension into Godhood. These six allods were torn from the Material through a series of rituals by these God's unknowing followers, first starting with the Shining Citadel of Ra, then the World Storm of Akadi, the Raging Magma Fields of Kossuth, the Riptide Maelstrom of Umberlee, the Poison Wilds of Grumbar and last the Shadelands of Shar. The Accord was meant to construct a super weapon of cosmic proportions within the pocket of space between planes called The World Between Worlds, using these six planar allods as the energy source. Should another threat of such magnitude as the Crimson King ever arise again, the six elemental Gods would take it upon themselves, using their followers who were whisked away with the expanses of land, to activate this weapon and eradicate the threat before it could rise in strength. The Accord was struck, and the six elemental lords spoke not a single word to the rest of the Pantheon. However, as centuries passed outside the flow of time, a mortal bearing the Mantle of the Crimson King learned of the potential power this weapon held and, with the dark whispers guiding him, seized control of this solar system sized weapon. This mortal was Ran'Ku Liadon. Hellbent on the utter destruction of the Material, and subsequently the entire fabric of reality that held the planes in tact, Ran'Ku activated one of the most destructive abilities of the Accord, the Entropic Cannon. The wave of negative energy generated by the Cannon was so great that it bled into the Material and further into the realms of the other Gods, slowly beginning to tear the Planar Multiverse asunder. Apalled with her sister's actions, Selune the Lady of the Cosmos chastised Shar and forced her to see what she and the other elemental lords had done. With no Multiverse meant no followers which meant no divine power, for any God, so Shar made the only choice she could. She merged with her sister Goddess and became Lady of Night. With the aid of five of the Material's mightiest heroes, empowered by Shar's cosmic radiance, Ran'Ku was defeated and his hold on the Entropic Cannon was severed. The Cannon's singularity effect ceased, but one urgent matter remained. The six elemental lords all agreed to decommission the Accord returning the allods back to the Material, albeit still touched by the elemental essence of the relative elemental God.

The Aegalorean/Shadelands Connection and the Cosmic War
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Back in earlier times, before the Ritual of Ever Night performed by the Bel'tha'gian Chancellor Xyr Liadon several years after the demise of Ran'Nik and Aka'Ra Liadon, the Shadelands was known as the Aegalorean Barrens. The Barrens was a vast desert wasteland between major Aegalorean settlements in the Aegalorean Highland that surrounded the barren desert sands. The Barrens was a nest of organized bandit clans, savage raiders and deceptive highwaymen that would jump trade caravans passing through the dunes, making the Aegalorean Barrens a very hostile territory albeit a territory rich in mineral resources. After the ritual which blanketed the desert in supernatural night and whisked it away into the World Between Worlds, the Aegalorean Royals, a group of lords and princes under the direct command of Aegalore's royalty, met to discuss what should be done. The frequent meetings resulted in the Aegalorean Magocracy erecting a crystal gateway that would open the fabric of space to allow entrance into the null plane between all other planes to their confiscated lands after several months of planning. The Aegaloreans amassed a supreme force of the Royals' handpicked soldiers to enter the Cosmic Gate into what was now known as the Shadelands, but were unprepared for what awaited within. The Royals entered into the ivory sands of the ever night desert inside a ruined city inhabited by the Blood Vultures Clan, the physical forms of the bandits warped and distorted to that of living shadows with barely any resemblance to the humans they once were. The Aegalorean Royals attacked the Blood Vultures without hesitation, seeing them as corrupted monsters rather than men, and annexed the city for further study of the effects of the world in which they now stood. After what seemed like a month to the Royals, mere days to the outside world, the survivors of the Blood Vultures Clan sought Keh'Jan's aid in reclaiming their territory from the intruders, the Emperor seeing the opportunity to declare their sovereignty from the Aegaloreans sent legions of early Soldats bearing crystalline weapons that resonated with the power of the mana geysers from which the Irok'Cael had been harvested to the Eastern Ruins along with the Blood Vultures' top executioners. As the battle raged far off in the East, Bel'tha'go's Highlord, Ran'Ku Liadon, heard rumors of the extraplanar war from resident bandit Shiekh Noxx'Zus of the Shadow Hand Clan. Knowing his ravenous brother had thrown in his lot with the Blood Vultures after the slaying of their parents, Ran'Ku became heavilly involved in the battle by sending in Captain Vas'Kaa and his Templars to try and intervene. By the time Bel'tha'go's forces arrived, the battle had spilled all over the Eastern territory, the Blood Vultures running ambush raids while their Kehjani allies set up defensive standing points against the Aegaloreans' early age firearms, confiscating nomad camps for use as command outposts as the Aegaloreans pushed outside of the ruins. Ran'Ku used many techniques taught to him by the Shadow Hand Shiekh to strike at the Aegaloreans, as well as the Blood Vultures, and forced the human Royals back into the city where they were slaughtered by the awaiting Kehjani. The Bel'tha'gians were about to head back home when Highlord Ran'Ku stumbled upon a vampire girl cowering in one of the fringe buildings on the edge of the ruined city, her uniform bearing the crest of the Aegalorean Royals. Out of mercy, Ran'Ku escorted the vampire back to his city, where she was sheltered and treated like a queen by the Bel'tha'gian Highlord. Unbeknownst to Ran'Ku, Keh'Jan had also captured an Aegalorean, whom they imprisoned and interrogated for several of their 'months' until the man finally broke down, revealing knowledge of the Aegaloreans firearm weaponry as well as many Aegalorean tactics that the Kehjani used to form their own superior army in secret.

{[Aegalore]}
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After the ancient Aegaloreans' legendary failure at the Cosmic War, the Royals agreed unanimously to seal off the Cosmic Gate and focus on the rise of their great empire. For decades after, the country of Aegalore slowly conquered much of the Thayan and Mulhorandi deserts, both through diplomatic negotiations and acts of force, to create a sprawling empire under the crown of Aegalore. The Aegaloreans were the most technologically advanced people on the planet even before electricity could be harnessed, having created steam engines and flying machines while those nestled in the Sword Coast still relied on horse and carriage. When the incarnation of the Crimson King, Ran'Ku Liadon, unleashed the Entropic Cannon on the world, the resulting cataclysm caused earthquakes of epic proportions, breaking the single land mass of the continent of Toril into four separate continents, while many of the already present isles and landmasses sank to the bottom of the Sea of Stars. These four continents, Aegalore, the MoonSword Compact, the Chultan Equator and the Frozen North, became the New World, a world that the Aegalorean Monarchy desperately wished to be united under the crown. Aegalore's influence spread over their continent, gaining the favor of all who called themselves Lord or Lady and uniting them under the Aegalorean Shield and Crown, while the human and elven people of the MoonSword Compact gathered arms to defend against the growing power should the Royals become too ambitious. Aegalorean Monarchy consists of the Royalty, at this time the Queen, and her Hands. At the Queen's right hand sits the Grand Marshal of the Aegalorean Military Police, an honorable man dedicated to preserving the peace through diplomacy and tact, while at her left hand sat the General of Aegalore's Military, in many ways the complete opposite of the Grand Marshal, a man who views peace as a byproduct of conquest. Under the Grand Marshal are five Marshals in command of specific divisions of the AMP, each as noble as their Grand Marshal while under the General are five Majors, these men easily as bloodthirsty and narrow minded as their commanding officer. Despite the differences between these two divisions of Aegalore's forces, the Queen's court is in complete balance due to the extreme opposing views of the Grand Marshal and General, each man's opinions aiding the Queen in making a fair and unbiased decision. The modern, near future tech, cities of Aegalore enjoy unprecedented peace due to the AMP's inside protection as well as the Military's outside protection, though beneath this glorious peacetime lies a cold war between the Royals and private corporations who only see profit, the biggest of them being Megalith Industries. The CEO of Megalith has begun spreading rumors of an Aegalorean invasion in the less advanced nation of the MoonSword Compact, gaining favor with the Lords of Waterdeep City as well as the Nobles operating within the fringe cities near the coast. Now, due to Megalith's intervention, there is much animosity between the two countries, so much that the General of Aegalore's Military has persuaded the Queen to dispatch troops to the MoonSword's borders to keep the "lesser beings", as the General calls them, from rising up, an act the Grand Marshal greatly disapproves of.